Keep the camping fire going over the winter
If you live at my latitude, these are the weeks hope, when every trip to the basement reminds you that the camping gear is still there, still not packed away for the season. Part of you wants to believe you might get out again this year, but you know the odds get slimmer with each...
There will be dope-slapping
“Do you think God is going to come down here and save you for being stupid? He doesn’t save stupid people, Abel.” Those lines—from There Will Be Blood, a movie about an obsessed oil driller—came to mind reading the Center for American Progress’ recent report on oil and gas drilling within national parks. Surprising fact:...
A bad travel guide for midlife crises
Travel publisher Lonely Planet just sent me an email with a subject line that promised “The top 10 places to have a midlife crisis”—an enticing come-on for a huge load of inexperienced posturing, a smoky glance from a virgin. The travel article (which was, oddly, two years old when it appeared in my mailbox)...
The season’s first ski story
New Zealand’s Otago Daily Times just ran a story about an adaptive ski program for disabled skiers and snowboarders, which is a pleasing piece to read if you like the idea of disabled people enjoying all the good things in life, and if you’re looking ahead to winter and are happy to see a ski...
How much T is enough?
This is a story about sex, drugs and sports—things we love to talk about. And, for extra spice, porn and cancer. Pharmaceutical companies are aggressively marketing drugs to combat low testosterone—“low T’ in the ads—in older men, and they are doing it with the same enthusiasm (and big budgets) that they market rejuvenating creams and...
Fitness can compress your inevitable debility. Yay.
If you turned 65 in the middle of the last century—in 1950—you could expect 13.1 years more of life if you were a man and 16.2 years if you were a woman. If you turned 65 in 2007, your remaining life expectancy was 17.2 (male) and 19.9 (female) years. So, in theory, that’s about four...
L.L. Bean AT 55 Pack: built for speed and some comfort
Backpacks are like golf clubs. You make your selection based on your size and how far you’re going. The first part is easy: you get a pack that fits your frame. The second changes constantly, which is why golfers lug around 14 clubs and why it’s not uncommon for hikers to have more than one...
