Hatton losing and then Fred Thompson losing.... the Slowdown is slowing down.

But the real reason I ain't been posting is that the little lady and I are probably leaving for Thailand in a few weeks.  I've been busy preparing.

Some random thoughts before I go work out:  

That Subway  'can I photocopy my ass" commercial is great

  Fulton Five in Charelston is a top 5 favorite restaurant.Corrie and I dined there last weekend.   The figs went downhill for  11 years ago, but the Masi Amarone, Gnocci,  Service, and prosciutti wrapped mozzarella were all top notch.     

Exercise is only 10% of the formula for losing weight. And only a smallpercent of that has anything to do with burning calories. The other 90% of losing weight is diet.  A Calorie isn't a Calorie.  We eat too much because we got fat, not the other way around.   If you want to lose weight you need to mobilize your fat. To do that you need to eliminate sugar from your diet.    




Fitness, however, is critically important for other reasons. if you can't see the practical application of being able to excel at sports, lift 300 pounds, chase down a criminal, or push a car down the road, and all that, then  think Healthy, happy life. And all that.  You may not think you need to be fit now, but there won't always be such space between fitness and sickness.  My point, as Coach Glassman put it, is that if you don't want to get sick, stay away from being well.  Or you can just install the Toilet Rails right now, put a motorized scooter on lay-away and buy some of those mechanical claws to pick stuff up off the ground for you.  Because someday you are going to get old, and when that happens you want it to be inconvenient,   not devastating.

Or something like that.

The best Crossfitter in the world just did Helen in under 7 minutes.

Helen is Three Rounds of :

Run 400 meters,
21 55lb kettlebell swings
12 pull ups.

This is the same guy who did Fran in 2:19 (basically 45 pullups, 45 95lb shoulder presses, and 45 95lb front squats).

Wow.






Corrie and I are off to Charleston for the long weekend.

The Michigan Primary, between the last debate and the S.C. Primary, is unfortunately placed, since it interrupts Thompson's big push.  That doesn't keep one prominent blogger from Predicting that Thompson will be the next President.

Johny come lately, he is (The Blogger, not Fred.................well.... both actually). Well, I can't brag, since I stopped short of predicting his presidency. I still do, actually.

I have to assume Instapundit is a Fred fan too, considering the multitudes of Fred related posts on the site.   Anyone know who Lieks is endorsing?

In other news,  Corrie and I are probably going to Bangkok for a few months, starting in February.

UPDATE: Here is lilek's take on most of the candidates. It's good all the way through, probably coming out most in favor of Thompson who reminds him of Emperor Palpatine,  in a good way, but ends with this comment about The Wire:

Yep.


Actually, that bleat ends with a glowing review of Shoot 'em Up. I didn't read the whole thing, cause I am wont not to read reviews until I have seen the movie, but now my interest in the movie has been upgraded from Cheerfull Enevitablity, to How Should I Pitch this one to Corrie.

Ron Paul has lost the plot.  Yeah Ed,  he 'gets it' on some things,  as most libertarians do, but his Foreign policy positions are unforgivable.   

Before you roll your eyes, first accept two facts:

1.  It's possible to hold isolationist libertarian positions without repeating KOS file talking points.     I used to make myself argue against the Iraq war just to prove this very point, and isolationism provided much of my ammo. 

2. Conservatism is not merely a corrupt form of libertarianism.    Smart, idealistic people may find flaws in libertarianism. It doesn't make them control freaks.     I bring this up simply because it is often overlooked, when in the spell  of the Libertarian  ideology.

 I'll concede that the Republican party is headed in the wrong direction, and we should therefore be wary of any politician who doesn't have the principles and backbone to change things.   

 I realized last night that Huck's Fair Tax support could just be shrewd posturing. What better way to pick up the support of doubting conservatives like myself.   He can campaign on it, and blame congress for it's inevitable death.   There are little downsides for a candidate in his position.    If he was truly behind it, we'd have heard more about it during this last month.    Meanwhile Rudy has adopted Fred's tax plan, which provides tax payers with an optional single-page tax form.  It's a half step, and I hate half steps, but it's probably a more honest approach to real reform.   The thing about half steps is the same as the thing about libertarians: it doesn't matter which way you want the country to move in, what matters is what direction you are pushing.

Anyhow,  if you are a real conservative, the only reason not to get excited about Fred is that he himself doesn't always seem that excited.  I would have laughed this concern away 8 years ago, but Bush introduced doubts as to the effectiveness of a hands-off president. I believe that style of government has better champions than Bush, but the doubts remain.

I can't hear the sound on this, because Corrie is asleep, but it looks like there is going to be some serious fallout from Fred's great debate.

I should mention, for the sake of consistency, that Huckabee has mentioned the 10th amendment a few times in the last two debates.  He has also espoused his Fair Tax. 
I'll say it again,  there is a lot to like about all the candidates.   

There are a few moments in the final sequence that are hard to believe,  not in a that-could-never-happen-in-real-lift kind of way, but in in a not-sure-why-he-would-do-that kind of way, but 3:10 to Yuma is still a damn fine movie.

It a terriffic story, a great morality play, and full of  tense action.  I'm not  a Bale fan,  but this role was perfect for him.   

Russel Crowes 2nd in command is one of the best villinous gunslingers I have ever seen, and that there is a crowded field.    Jack Palance as Jack Wilson (Shane),   Biehn as Johnny Ringo ,  and now Ben Foster's Charlie Prince round off the top 3 I think.

The directed also did Cop Land, btw.    Which was another movie that wrangled complex morality drame from  a 'tired' genre.  

 

 

 

 

Fred is Kicking Ass.

The corner agrees. And John Podhoretz wrote: 

…is not only winning this debate, he is giving the most commanding debate performance we’ve seen from any candidate in either party since the beginning of this endless primary process.

Yep.   It can't be too late.   I just can't be.

Guilliani has a talent for delivering short effective comunicados  in his allotted time.   Not sure how much credit I should give him for it. It's nice though.  its a great leadership characteristic beca confidence.


Oh, and Restaurant Eugene's food rocks too.  Last night Trent and I had  dinner at the bar.  I had the best Fois Gras Terrine EVER.    Later, I tried to throw a  curve ball at the bartenders,  requesting a drink that contains fennel.   He didn't have one--he had many.   Those guys are good. 

Fred and Eugene for President.

Ok , Here we go.

 Restaurant Eugene has the best bartenders in Atlanta. They are Absinthe’s Southern siblings. Go to the corner of Peachtree and Peachtree Memorial and have drink right now.  If you need a snack, get the sweetbreads.     Order a Sazerac, just so you know what the heck I have been talking about. Then, after that, describe what you like and let them pour you something spectacular.  

 

Seriously people, I wasn’t grinning the whole time because the bartenders were my kind of people , I was grinning because I felt validated.  I no longer have to feel guilty about holding bars to such high standards.  These guys get it.    I mean, they make their own tonic water for pete’s sake! 

 

Bravo guys. 

 

If my car didn’t have expired tags I would drive back right now. Heck, I might still do it.  Or maybe I will jog.

 

Ecco still has the best bar, all things considered:   Scene, atmosphere, location.  If they have to power, Seth and Tobias should take the next step and move towards house-made syrups, and a fuller liqueur selection.     You guys are so close already.

Fred is tanking in the debate.    He is tired of the whole process I think.  He just had a James Stockdale moment answering an oil question.

 Paul is doing bad too, spouting off the enemies propaganda. I have to go back to being anti-Paul again.

How come they can talk about innovation as a way to achieve lower fuel prices, but when they  public debates health care,  the issue centers around government control.  The Dems won this debate a long time ago.  People like Paul, when they aren't actively undermining our security, are supposed to shift the debate to the right, which is why I would like to support them.

On a positive note, there is a lot to like about Huckabee, Romney, Guiliani, and McCain.  It was a good debate format.


UPDATE:  I have a history of disagreeing with EVERYONE about who did well in the debate.  Glad to hear Steyn disagrees with me.  This from the corner:



Hey, even Lowry though he did well:

All in All, 3.5 people in corner thought he did well.