Recently the “old scientist” and I renewed our membership in the Changing Aging program at UBC. We are entering our fourth year in this program and every year, as part of your membership, you receive three sessions with a personal trainer, including a fitness assessment. I have written about “going to the gym” previously so I won’t repeat all of that again. However let me assure you that we still go faithfully to the gym three times a week and very rarely miss.
We each follow a different program but basically it takes us about an hour and a half and we seem to finish at the same time although we do not cross paths on our journey around the equipment. I start with two miles on the treadmill while I read a book and the rest of my program, on the Keiser machines, with free weights and stretching, I think I could do in my sleep. It’s rather a zen-like experience as I complete it while listening to music on my iPod.
But it was assessment time and I was contacted by my “new trainer” to arrange a time for this. For the first three years my trainer was the young woman who runs the program, but this year I met up with Tania, a graduate of the Human Kinetics program and intending to go into physiotherapy in the Fall.
Now I’m five foot six and more substantial than I should be. Tania turned out to be five feet, slender but wiry, with tiny hands and feet. But she seemed to know her stuff and was not the least bit intimidated by me looming above her. Off to the lab we went to go through the usual set of tests which allows them to design a personalized exercise program for you.
Of course there’s the usual weighing and measuring and checking of resting heart rate and blood pressure. After all we are old and they don’t want us conking out while following our program, although you do require a doctor’s clearance before starting and regularly thereafter.
To assess your aerobic fitness you ride a stationary bike while wearing a heart monitor which is connected to a computer and the program shuts down if you exceed the recommended heart rate for your age. I have never been able to complete this test since my heart rate always shuts the machine down. However it does not stop me doing aerobic exercise and I have never had any problem, touch wood.
The other tests assess strength and flexibility and I am glad to say I am in the excellent range for those, for my age, and I have improved considerably in these areas since my first assessment, just over three years ago.
One of the tests is quite strange to my mind. You are required to stand on one foot for a minimum of 30 seconds. Apparently I can stand on my left leg indefinitely but the right one is a bit more difficult. Then you have to do it with your eyes closed and that turns out to be almost impossible for me. I seem to manage about 8 seconds only. You try it and see how good you are at it. Well you can’t time yourself with you eyes closed, so you will need help with that. It’s quite an interesting test. We went over the tests results together, I gave her my program card to look over and we arranged to meet in the gym in a few days where she would tweak my routine.
One of the first things she did in the gym was get me onto the elliptical machine, a relatively recent addition to the gym, but which I have been avoiding like the plague. Five minutes and I thought I was going to die. My heart was racing, I was sweating and muscles 
I did not know existed were screaming, Stop! Now this was planned to replace some of my treadmill time. Good luck! Well would you believe that a few weeks later I can do twenty minutes on this machine, which thankfully is the time limit? Unfortunately it’s quite boring and you can’t read a book so I listen to my iPod and grind away at it. Then I escape to the treadmill with my book for a bit of a rest. Well it seems like a rest after the elliptical.
Just as my mother always told me, Tania said my posture was not good so some tips on improving this were bandied about, but the thing that really got me was I was told that I did not walk up and down stairs correctly. What? Apparently I walk on the stairs with my feet turned out. Well yes, I have big feet and stairs seem to have very narrow treads. So can you believe I have to practice planting my foot straight and walking up and down on some wooden stairs in the gym? She added a few other exercises to my program and corrected some bad form I had on some of the machines, but basically that was it with my personal trainer until we meet again in six months.
Well she might be a tiny little thing but Tania was very professional and I was impressed by her knowledge and she dealt well with the tough old lady who is now good to go after her tune-up. Changing Aging. Well I’m doing my best to stem the tide.
Recently the “old scientist” and I renewed our membership in the
Changing Aging program at UBC. We are entering our fourth year in this program and every year, as part of your membership, you receive three sessions with a personal trainer, including a fitness assessment. I have written about
“going to the gym” previously so I won’t repeat all of that again. However let me assure you that we still go faithfully to the gym three times a week and very rarely miss.
We each follow a different program but basically it takes us about an hour and a half and we seem to finish at the same time although we do not cross paths on our journey around the equipment. I start with two miles on the treadmill while I read a book and the rest of my program, on the Keiser machines, with free weights and stretching, I think I could do in my sleep. It’s rather a zen-like experience as I complete it while listening to music on my iPod.
But it was assessment time and I was contacted by my “new trainer” to arrange a time for this. For the first three years my trainer was the young woman who runs the program, but this year I met up with Tania, a graduate of the Human Kinetics program and intending to go into physiotherapy in the Fall.
Now I’m five foot six and more substantial than I should be. Tania turned out to be five feet, slender but wiry, with tiny hands and feet. But she seemed to know her stuff and was not the least bit intimidated by me looming above her. Off to the lab we went to go through the usual set of tests which allows them to design a personalized exercise program for you.
Of course there’s the usual weighing and measuring and checking of resting heart rate and blood pressure. After all we are old and they don’t want us conking out while following our program, although you do require a doctor’s clearance before starting and regularly thereafter.
To assess your aerobic fitness you ride a stationary bike while wearing a heart monitor which is connected to a computer and the program shuts down if you exceed the recommended heart rate for your age. I have never been able to complete this test since my heart rate always shuts the machine down. However it does not stop me doing aerobic exercise and I have never had any problem, touch wood.
The other tests assess strength and flexibility and I am glad to say I am in the excellent range for those, for my age, and I have improved considerably in these areas since my first assessment, just over three years ago.
One of the tests is quite strange to my mind. You are required to stand on one foot for a minimum of 30 seconds. Apparently I can stand on my left leg indefinitely but the right one is a bit more difficult. Then you have to do it with your eyes closed and that turns out to be almost impossible for me. I seem to manage about 8 seconds only. You try it and see how good you are at it. Well you can’t time yourself with you eyes closed, so you will need help with that. It’s quite an interesting test. We went over the tests results together, I gave her my program card to look over and we arranged to meet in the gym in a few days where she would tweak my routine.
One of the first things she did in the gym was get me onto the elliptical machine, a relatively recent addition to the gym, but which I have been avoiding like the plague. Five minutes and I thought I was going to die. My heart was racing, I was sweating and muscles I did not know existed were screaming, Stop! Now this was planned to replace some of my treadmill time. Good luck! Well would you believe that a few weeks later I can do twenty minutes on this machine, which thankfully is the time limit? Unfortunately it’s quite boring and you can’t read a book so I listen to my iPod and grind away at it. Then I escape to the treadmill with my book for a bit of a rest. Well it seems like a rest after the elliptical.
Just as my mother always told me, Tania said my posture was not good so some tips on improving this were bandied about, but the thing that really got me was I was told that I did not walk up and down stairs correctly. What? Apparently I walk on the stairs with my feet turned out. Well yes, I have big feet and stairs seem to have very narrow treads. So can you believe I have to practice planting my foot straight and walking up and down on some wooden stairs in the gym? She added a few other exercises to my program and corrected some bad form I had on some of the machines, but basically that was it with my personal trainer until we meet again in six months.
Well she might be a tiny little thing but Tania was very professional and I was impressed by her knowledge and she dealt well with the tough old lady who is now good to go after her tune-up. Changing Aging. Well I’m doing my best to stem the tide.
Recently the “old scientist” and I renewed our membership in the
Changing Aging program at UBC. We are entering our fourth year in this program and every year, as part of your membership, you receive three sessions with a personal trainer, including a fitness assessment. I have written about
“going to the gym” previously so I won’t repeat all of that again. However let me assure you that we still go faithfully to the gym three times a week and very rarely miss.
We each follow a different program but basically it takes us about an hour and a half and we seem to finish at the same time although we do not cross paths on our journey around the equipment. I start with two miles on the treadmill while I read a book and the rest of my program, on the Keiser machines, with free weights and stretching, I think I could do in my sleep. It’s rather a zen-like experience as I complete it while listening to music on my iPod.
But it was assessment time and I was contacted by my “new trainer” to arrange a time for this. For the first three years my trainer was the young woman who runs the program, but this year I met up with Tania, a graduate of the Human Kinetics program and intending to go into physiotherapy in the Fall.
Now I’m five foot six and more substantial than I should be. Tania turned out to be five feet, slender but wiry, with tiny hands and feet. But she seemed to know her stuff and was not the least bit intimidated by me looming above her. Off to the lab we went to go through the usual set of tests which allows them to design a personalized exercise program for you.
Of course there’s the usual weighing and measuring and checking of resting heart rate and blood pressure. After all we are old and they don’t want us conking out while following our program, although you do require a doctor’s clearance before starting and regularly thereafter.
To assess your aerobic fitness you ride a stationary bike while wearing a heart monitor which is connected to a computer and the program shuts down if you exceed the recommended heart rate for your age. I have never been able to complete this test since my heart rate always shuts the machine down. However it does not stop me doing aerobic exercise and I have never had any problem, touch wood.
The other tests assess strength and flexibility and I am glad to say I am in the excellent range for those, for my age, and I have improved considerably in these areas since my first assessment, just over three years ago.
One of the tests is quite strange to my mind. You are required to stand on one foot for a minimum of 30 seconds. Apparently I can stand on my left leg indefinitely but the right one is a bit more difficult. Then you have to do it with your eyes closed and that turns out to be almost impossible for me. I seem to manage about 8 seconds only. You try it and see how good you are at it. Well you can’t time yourself with you eyes closed, so you will need help with that. It’s quite an interesting test. We went over the tests results together, I gave her my program card to look over and we arranged to meet in the gym in a few days where she would tweak my routine.
One of the first things she did in the gym was get me onto the elliptical machine, a relatively recent addition to the gym, but which I have been avoiding like the plague. Five minutes and I thought I was going to die. My heart was racing, I was sweating and muscles I did not know existed were screaming, Stop! Now this was planned to replace some of my treadmill time. Good luck! Well would you believe that a few weeks later I can do twenty minutes on this machine, which thankfully is the time limit? Unfortunately it’s quite boring and you can’t read a book so I listen to my iPod and grind away at it. Then I escape to the treadmill with my book for a bit of a rest. Well it seems like a rest after the elliptical.
Just as my mother always told me, Tania said my posture was not good so some tips on improving this were bandied about, but the thing that really got me was I was told that I did not walk up and down stairs correctly. What? Apparently I walk on the stairs with my feet turned out. Well yes, I have big feet and stairs seem to have very narrow treads. So can you believe I have to practice planting my foot straight and walking up and down on some wooden stairs in the gym? She added a few other exercises to my program and corrected some bad form I had on some of the machines, but basically that was it with my personal trainer until we meet again in six months.
Well she might be a tiny little thing but Tania was very professional and I was impressed by her knowledge and she dealt well with the tough old lady who is now good to go after her tune-up. Changing Aging. Well I’m doing my best to stem the tide.
As you approach the entrance to the Museum of Anthropology which I wrote about
previously, you are greeted by the figure below, carved in 1997 by
Susan Point, an internationally renowned native artist of the
Musqueam band, on whose traditional land the Museum is built.
Imich Siiyem – Welcome to good people
The collections at the MOA comprise many objects from the First Nations (or native) cultures of British Columbia. Since most of these are composed of wood they deteriorate over time and many fine pieces have been collected here in an effort to preserve them.
Haida Totem pole fragments
You may remember the soaring glass windows of this building in my previous post and they form the outer wall of the Great Hall, where there are some magnificent examples in red cedar of large totem poles and house poles which held the beams of the structures.
Sun streaming through the full length windows
into the Great Hall
Close-up of the house post with built-in
seat, seen above at the end of the hall
Detail of figure holding up the seat
Potlaches which are ceremonial gathering involving feasts require large vessels for the food and below are some examples of very fine feast dishes as they are called, along with assorted storage boxes.
Ornately carved feast dishes
Haida Bear, large sculpture carved by Bill Reid
in 1963, standing in the Great Hall
Bentwood boxes were used for many purposes by First Nations people. As well as for storage they served as drums and cradles and even coffins. They are made from a single plank of cedar wood which is notched for three corners. After steaming until pliable the plank is then carefully bent into a box. The fourth corner is sewn with cedar roots or pegged, with the bottom attached in the same manner.
This fine
Haida bentwood box dates around 1870
Weaving was a traditional craft of the Musqueam and other coastal communities for thousands of years until around 1900 when it died out as a craft with the Musqueam. However around 1984 it was revived and this spectacular blanket was woven for the Museum by Debra and Robyn Sparrow in 1999.
Contemporary woven blanket
Of course the highlight for me in this museum is the monumental Bill Reid sculpture, the Raven and the First Men which naturally I considered deserving of its
own post. There is an excellent gift store in the Museum where you can buy many small items and books plus some very fine modern art pieces.
$1150 will buy you this very powerful Cannibal Mask by
Rupert Scow
Thank you for making it to the end of this very long post about a museum of which I am very fond, so much so that I have an annual membership and can visit whenever I wish.
As you approach the entrance to the Museum of Anthropology which I wrote about
previously, you are greeted by the figure below, carved in 1997 by
Susan Point, an internationally renowned native artist of the
Musqueam band, on whose traditional land the Museum is built.
Imich Siiyem – Welcome to good people
The collections at the MOA comprise many objects from the First Nations (or native) cultures of British Columbia. Since most of these are composed of wood they deteriorate over time and many fine pieces have been collected here in an effort to preserve them.
Haida Totem pole fragments
You may remember the soaring glass windows of this building in my
previous post and they form the outer wall of the Great Hall, where there are some magnificent examples in red cedar of large totem poles and house poles which held the beams of the structures.
Sun streaming through the full length windows
into the Great Hall
Close-up of the house post with built-in
seat, seen above at the end of the hall
Detail of figure holding up the seat
Potlaches which are ceremonial gathering involving feasts require large vessels for the food and below are some examples of very fine feast dishes as they are called, along with assorted storage boxes.
Ornately carved feast dishes
Haida Bear, large sculpture carved by Bill Reid
in 1963, standing in the Great Hall
Bentwood boxes were used for many purposes by First Nations people. As well as for storage they served as drums and cradles and even coffins. They are made from a single plank of cedar wood which is notched for three corners. After steaming until pliable the plank is then carefully bent into a box. The fourth corner is sewn with cedar roots or pegged, with the bottom attached in the same manner.
This fine
Haida bentwood box dates around 1870
Weaving was a traditional craft of the Musqueam and other coastal communities for thousands of years until around 1900 when it died out as a craft with the Musqueam. However around 1984 it was revived and this spectacular blanket was woven for the Museum by Debra and Robyn Sparrow in 1999.
Contemporary woven blanket
Of course the highlight for me in this museum is the monumental Bill Reid sculpture, the Raven and the First Men which naturally I considered deserving of its
own post. There is an excellent gift store in the Museum where you can buy many small items and books plus some very fine modern art pieces.
$1150 will buy you this very powerful Cannibal Mask by
Rupert Scow
Thank you for making it to the end of this very long post about a museum of which I am very fond, so much so that I have an annual membership and can visit whenever I wish.
As you approach the entrance to the Museum of Anthropology which I wrote about
previously, you are greeted by the figure below, carved in 1997 by
Susan Point, an internationally renowned native artist of the
Musqueam band, on whose traditional land the Museum is built.
Imich Siiyem – Welcome to good people
The collections at the MOA comprise many objects from the First Nations (or native) cultures of British Columbia. Since most of these are composed of wood they deteriorate over time and many fine pieces have been collected here in an effort to preserve them.
Haida Totem pole fragments
You may remember the soaring glass windows of this building in my
previous post and they form the outer wall of the Great Hall, where there are some magnificent examples in red cedar of large totem poles and house poles which held the beams of the structures.
Sun streaming through the full length windows
into the Great Hall
Close-up of the house post with built-in
seat, seen above at the end of the hall
Detail of figure holding up the seat
Potlaches which are ceremonial gathering involving feasts require large vessels for the food and below are some examples of very fine feast dishes as they are called, along with assorted storage boxes.
Ornately carved feast dishes
Haida Bear, large sculpture carved by Bill Reid
in 1963, standing in the Great Hall
Bentwood boxes were used for many purposes by First Nations people. As well as for storage they served as drums and cradles and even coffins. They are made from a single plank of cedar wood which is notched for three corners. After steaming until pliable the plank is then carefully bent into a box. The fourth corner is sewn with cedar roots or pegged, with the bottom attached in the same manner.
This fine
Haida bentwood box dates around 1870
Weaving was a traditional craft of the Musqueam and other coastal communities for thousands of years until around 1900 when it died out as a craft with the Musqueam. However around 1984 it was revived and this spectacular blanket was woven for the Museum by Debra and Robyn Sparrow in 1999.
Contemporary woven blanket
Of course the highlight for me in this museum is the monumental Bill Reid sculpture, the Raven and the First Men which naturally I considered deserving of its
own post. There is an excellent gift store in the Museum where you can buy many small items and books plus some very fine modern art pieces.
$1150 will buy you this very powerful Cannibal Mask by
Rupert Scow
Thank you for making it to the end of this very long post about a museum of which I am very fond, so much so that I have an annual membership and can visit whenever I wish.
WOODEN
Surely this had to be one of the easiest photo hunts ever. Well in one way. In another way there was just too much choice. Finally I decided on some photos that I took at the
Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver recently. Click to enlarge for more detail.
These magnificent carved door panels once framed the entrance to the museum however they now reside inside, at the entrance to the gift shop. You can see how large they are in comparison with the items nearby. It was very difficult to photograph them because they are so tall and the light was poor.
These doors were were made in 1976 by four master Gitxsan artists: Walter Harris, Earl Muldoe, Vernon Stephens, and Art Sterritt.
Represented on the doors is a narrative of the first people of the
Skeena River region in B.C.
Detail of the previous door showing a magnificent Sun image
SUN – Healing Energy, Guardian of the Earth by Day Released from a box by Raven, Sun Chief inhabited the sky and it is believed he could be reached by climbing a chain of arrows, and sliding down its long rays. The Sun is often carved on totems and masks and sits atop the tallest totem pole.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE
Surely this had to be one of the easiest photo hunts ever. Well in one way. In another way there was just too much choice. Finally I decided on some photos that I took at the
Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver recently. Click to enlarge for more detail.
These magnificent carved door panels once framed the entrance to the museum however they now reside inside, at the entrance to the gift shop. You can see how large they are in comparison with the items nearby. It was very difficult to photograph them because they are so tall and the light was poor.
These doors were were made in 1976 by four master Gitxsan artists: Walter Harris, Earl Muldoe, Vernon Stephens, and Art Sterritt.
Represented on the doors is a narrative of the first people of the
Skeena River region in B.C.
Detail of the previous door showing a magnificent Sun image
SUN – Healing Energy, Guardian of the Earth by Day Released from a box by Raven, Sun Chief inhabited the sky and it is believed he could be reached by climbing a chain of arrows, and sliding down its long rays. The Sun is often carved on totems and masks and sits atop the tallest totem pole.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE
Surely this had to be one of the easiest photo hunts ever. Well in one way. In another way there was just too much choice. Finally I decided on some photos that I took at the
Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver recently. Click to enlarge for more detail.
These magnificent carved door panels once framed the entrance to the museum however they now reside inside, at the entrance to the gift shop. You can see how large they are in comparison with the items nearby. It was very difficult to photograph them because they are so tall and the light was poor.
These doors were were made in 1976 by four master Gitxsan artists: Walter Harris, Earl Muldoe, Vernon Stephens, and Art Sterritt.
Represented on the doors is a narrative of the first people of the
Skeena River region in B.C.
Detail of the previous door showing a magnificent Sun image
SUN – Healing Energy, Guardian of the Earth by Day Released from a box by Raven, Sun Chief inhabited the sky and it is believed he could be reached by climbing a chain of arrows, and sliding down its long rays. The Sun is often carved on totems and masks and sits atop the tallest totem pole.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE
Looking towards the mountains beyond the
BC Place Stadiumhome of the opening and closing ceremonies
of the 2010 Winter Olympics
Out and about today with my
Thursday walking group I took some photos that might convince you that they were not wrong.
Warm enough for a stroll, more mountains to enjoy
Time to get the old
trimaran ready for some sailing
Mr or Mrs Bald Eagle is back, to the left of the huge nest
a little difficult to see unfortunately
Later on my drive home I stopped to take this
photo looking back towards downtown
Looking across the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club towards
the North Shore Mountains
February 21st and Spring is here, almost
I think you have to agree that Vancouver has a few things going for it. When did this blog turn into a photo blog?
I did not know existed were screaming, Stop! Now this was planned to replace some of my treadmill time. Good luck! Well would you believe that a few weeks later I can do twenty minutes on this machine, which thankfully is the time limit? Unfortunately it’s quite boring and you can’t read a book so I listen to my iPod and grind away at it. Then I escape to the treadmill with my book for a bit of a rest. Well it seems like a rest after the elliptical.
Musings of Nobody Important 