Oliver's blog
Marketing Triumphs
Lebron's Workout Playlist
Straight from the Equinox Battlestar via panting press release: Lebron James's workout playlist! That's right, Equi got Lebron (or Lebron's handlers) to create a workout playlist just for them, and the proper way to listen to said playlist turns out to be while wearing Dr. Dre's trademarked over-the-ear headphones, "Beats by Dr. Dre." Mad props to the Equinox marketing axis for opportunistic deal making, (despite any obvious sign of real hip hop street cred around the club.) They're on a roll over there. This is the same marketing department whose latest billboard campaign puts David Barton to shame: Half naked models in bed wearing stilettos and fondling a Polaroid cameras. "What are they thinking?" asked one appalled Equi yoga teacher to an SW operative. "They're dishing out cheeseburgers, and I'm serving up filet mignon. But I want a raise, so I'm not going to say anything." Ah, capitalism. So, right, click through Lebron's playlist....
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Inspiration
Jack LaLanne: 1914 - 2011
When he turned 60, he swam from Alcatraz to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, with both hands and feet tied, and pulling a 1,000 pound dinghy. Tweny years later, Outside magazine profiled him at 81, declaring he was still an animal. I was inspired by that piece, remembered watching him on TV as a kid, and had secretly begun to believe that Jack LaLanne might keep right on going forever.
In the end, it wasn't a heart attack that got him, but pneumonia. He was 96, upbeat to the end, and at home in Moro Bay, CA with his wife Elaine of 51 years.
He was going strong to the end, touting the benefits of raw fruits and vegetables and hawking his latest project: the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer. When NPR's Tom Goldman caught up with Jack in 2004, at 89, he found him working out in the pool at 7AM: ""I usually hit the gym around five or six in the morning," he quipped. "To leave a hot bath, leave a hot woman, go into a cold gym takes a lot of discipline, boy I'll tell ya. ... I never liked to exercise, but I like results."
Thanks for the inspiration, Jack. May we all get as far as you did, and with some of that old school attitude.
Wake Up Call
On Food and Poetry
Any healthy man can go without food for two days - but not without poetry.
Wake Up Call
Notice Things
All there is to thinking is seeing something noticeable, which makes you see something you weren't noticing, which makes you see something that isn't even visible.
Progress Reports
Holidayasana Week Two and Big Deals on BluePrintCleanse
It's Day 6 of our Holidayasana challenge, and just about 300 yogis have logged 396 hours of yoga, 718 healthy meals, 70 hours of volunteering, and collectively avoided thousands of disposable plastic bags. All that good work will not go unrewarded! Today we add another free trial class to your virtual gift bag, as well a special deal from our generous sponsor BluePrintCleanse. Read on for the details, and some helpful challenge hints. Also, not to worry if you haven't joined the challenge or started logging your activity yet. There's still time. Come along!
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Site News
Survive the Holidays with Social Workout and Friends!
It’s the first Monday of the holiday season, and I’m standing on the deck of Social Workout 2.0 frantically tossing life preservers into a quietly rising tide of egg nog. December is challenge time around here. It’s also shaping up to be a coming out party for our new site.
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