Speak it, believe it, achieve it!

Biceps is one thing but The Bucks count for a lot, too.

How’s this for interesting trivia?

A 16-year-old high school student with a part-time job who invested $35 a month and upped that contribution as incomes rose could stop saving at 45 and still accrue $1 million by age 65 as the interest (8.5 percent in this example) built on itself.

That tidbit is from an article by Cecelia Goodnow of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Savingforcollege.com: Basic tips, strategies and savings calculator.
Finance.yahoo.com: Its personal finance section includes “Planning for Those Just Starting Out.”
Moneycentral.msn.com: Articles and tips on personal finance.
Bankrate.com: Articles, tips, calculators and rate comparisons.

And here’s one that I have enjoyed: http://www.fool.com/index.aspx

Danica Patrick became the first female winner in IndyCar history. I’m not such a race fan, actually, but I am a Danica Fan!

P.S.

Okay, okay, she wore clothes during the race!

Man, even Superman gets picked on. Nah, it’s not Lex Luthor making smart remarks. It’s not even the bully of the beach picking on some underweight geeky guy.

It’s a football scout!

“I can’t believe how skinny his calves and his shins are. It’s almost scary. It’s like a skinny wide receiver. At the running back position, you want a guy who’s a little wider on his base. McFadden is built on top, but he’s got a very skinny base. I think that’s a little bit of a concern.”

That quote was attributed to an unnamed scout with regard to Darren McFadden, the Arkansas running back who could be picked up by the Raiders or the Jets in the upcoming draft.

P.S.

I asked the question, "How can you not feel just a little bit guilty?" with regard to those less fortunate a few blogs ago. Guilt is apparently the wrong word for many people. I agree. I did nothing to make anyone’s life a hardship, so regret is probably a better word choice. I’m saddened that the world is not a perfect place.

With that in mind as I was spending my Sunday surfing the web, I stumbled across a speech by Arnold Schwarzenegger on the changing image of environmentalists.

I’d love to know who wrote that speech. Maybe there’s a list of staff members on one of the governor’s Web sites. And, hey, is there any chance that Arnold writes some of his own text?

Here’s the quote:

“Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t think that any movement has ever made it, has ever made much progress based on guilt. Guilt is passive. It is inhibiting. It’s defensive and the approach just simply doesn’t work. Successful movements are built on passion. They’re built on confidence. They’re built on Teddy Roosevelt’s bully pulpit. They’re built on critical mass and, often, they’re built on an element of alarm that galvanizes action. I believe the environmental movement is switching over from being powered by guilt to being powered by something much more positive, something much more dynamic, something much more capable of bringing about revolutionary change. Its image is also changing from one of hand wringing and whining to that is more hip, an image that is cutting edge, forceful, and self confident, and even sexy.”

I boldfaced the last few words of that text because they nearly echo Arnold’s words in the movie Pumping Iron. Arnold’s job in that film was to see bodybuilding - a niche sport that was unpopular and viewed as a group of freaks hiding in dungeons to the countless gyms across the U.S. today. Arnold, in my opinion, played no small part in the new paradigm of bodybuilding as an acceptable activity. For those who watched Pumping Iron then I suspect you’re familiar with Arnold’s mention that the pump is equivalent to the feelings he would get from reaching an orgasm.

Sex sells.

Later, Arnold stated that he was selling the sport by making that statement. And so it is with environmentalists. Sexy? A spotted owl? I don’t think so. Regardless, Arnold’s selling it as only he can. Hopefully people will buy what he’s selling.

Later in his speech, Arnold discusses the 100% electric Tesla Roadster. Oh, yeah. Arnold, for those unfamiliar with this tidbit, singlehandedly made the Hummer vehicle available to civilians. He saw an Army vehicle and said he wanted one. Arnold has power. Power that comes from his celebrity, but also from his confidence and force of will.

Arnold for president? There’d have to be an amendment, but I can see it happening. After his term ends as governor he may make a run for senator in 2010. Stay tuned.

P.S.

P.P.S.

How did the General Motors EV1 tank while Tesla seems on the verge of success?

And I’ll even throw in a "D’OH!" Too funny.

I was searching through YouTube for some Arnold clips to include in the previous blog and found the following when I searched terminator:

Are you an Arnold fan? If you’re a true or all around Arnold fan then you are a fan of his bodybuilding days, his movie success, and now his political career.

Certainly YouTube and seemingly countless BodySpacer video lists can provide you with plenty of Arnold training and posing videos, but have you checked out the following videos?

http://gov.ca.gov/multimedia

Sensational. Or, as Arnold might put it, “Fantastic!”

The Governator!

P.S.

This guy is pretty sad.

“I think they are laughing at me all the time.'’

He’s bald like me. He’s an art teacher (well, was) like me. You’d think he’d have a better sense of humor.

I frequent a Usenet newsgroup by the name of misc.fitness.weights. A fellow MFW patron posted the following, uh, post recently.

Here’s a bit of what I wrote in that thread:

THERE is one man who needs an intervention. BALD PRIDE, BALD PRIDE FOR YOU, MR. CAMPBELL! BALD PRIDE!

And he’s a former art teacher! Priceless.

But what a sad, sad man. I work in an urban school, one rich in racial diversity, but I don’t identify as white, black, Hispanic, Asian, or otherwise. I consistently make reference to myself as ‘the bald man’ or ‘the bald guy’. I embrace the bald. My hair was never thick and “pretty” and so I’m very glad that men like sports superstar Michael Jordan and actor Patrick Stewart helped make baldness acceptable.

Despite my bald identification and contentedness, one student recently said, “You’re not bald! You’ve got a cul de sac!” (If I let what’s left of my hair grow, I’ve got the typical male pattern baldness horseshoe.) And they say that inner city kids have no intelligence or vocabulary! Not so! Big laughs from the class and a great story for me to share.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?cul_de01.wav=cul-de-sac

Confidence comes from within and, sadly, Mr. Campbell is apparently lacking that inner fortitude. Plus, I’ll guess it’s more his attitude than his appearance that created his dissatisfaction.

Not diamonds, and not actual ice but rather an ice pack. Physi Care’s reusable hot and cold pack. I picked it up at Becker Chiropractic in Lemoyne, PA, USA. The pack is 8″ x 11.5″ and is flexible when frozen and reusable. There are two Web sites listed on the pack:

http://www.lsiinternational.com and http://www.medicaloutfitters.net

I was doing close-grip benches with an Olympic bar loaded with a gargantuan 150 pounds (okay, gargantuan for me) and I’m feeling it right now. Spent the last half hour with the pack nestled between two tight-fitting t-shirts. No, I don’t wear tight t-shirts typically. These are for under dress shirts. But, yeah, I have been known to wear tighter tees when I’m out on the motorcycle. Most motorcyclists wear tight clothes for some reason. Probably safer than having loose clothing flap all over the place as you ride.

My right shoulder is the one with the bugaboo. I’ve had an MRI and been looked over by an orthopedic surgeon, however he told me that there’s no visible tear. With that in mind, I ice as necessary for pain relief. I’ve never had a complete tear, but I’ve had knee pain, ankle pain, wrist pain, a muscle pull in my middle back, a twinge in my left biceps, neck pain, what else? Gotta love this aging thing. And, yes, I’m lifting heavy for me. I’m not just going in the gym and doing these quarter movements with light weight.

Anyway, the ice pack has traveled pretty much all over my body. Ice and Triple Flex or some other similar joint relief supplement are the friends of the aging weight trainer.

How can you not feel just a little bit guilty?

Across Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger, written by Marc Lacey, appeared in the April 18 issue of the New York Times. One part that really struck me was about people eating dirt.

Dirt.

In Haiti, where three-quarters of the population earns less than $2 a day and one in five children is chronically malnourished, the one business booming amid all the gloom is the selling of patties made of mud, oil and sugar, typically consumed only by the most destitute.

I was going to include a YouTube, but you can click on over all by your lonesome. I don’t need to include the images most are aware of already. And I’ve never sent a nickel to any foundation helping poverty-stricken countries. I donate to a number of organizations, but even those have been seeing an empty mailbox on my account. St. Labre’s School, leukemia, alzheimer’s, paralyzed veterans. It never ends.

And neither do my feelings of gratefulness. I have half kidded that I’m a guilt-propelled person, however I am indeed grateful for my riches. No, I’m not Bill Gates or even his broke cousin^*, but I’m not eating dirt and I have a roof over my head.

^*What, you think he bankrolls his entire family? I don’t think so.