Open Thread

Let’s try something different. This is an open thread. Feel free to use the comments to pick and discuss a particular topic of your own choosing.

Or ask me a question or two, and I’ll see if I can write a blog entry about it in the next few days or so.

(Yes, I’m starting to run out of ideas. Or maybe it’s just that winter is a pretty slow time of year for many folks’ barefooting.)

 

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Fangs For The Memory — NOT

You may have noticed that Kristen Stewart (of Twilight fame) walked the red carpet at the Academy Awards on crutches. The excuse? The story is that she cut her foot on broken glass.

But I have my doubts.

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Dual Survival: Belly of the Beast

First, don’t forget that there will be a new episode of Dual Survival on tonight, 9:00pm EST. The new one is titled “Castaways” and the description says:

Joe and Cody are left stranded on an uninhabited island in Fiji, and as they brave tropical storms, shark-infested waters, limited resources and other unpredictable odds, they show viewers how to survive and make it back to civilization.

And now, here are some thoughts about last week’s show, “Belly of the Beast”.

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Oh Deer

We got up Sunday morning to see that a bunch of deer had bedded down for the night in our pine trees.

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DeFalco v. Vibram

Yesterday I blogged about the current state of the Bezdek v. Vibram lawsuit, and posted a copy of the order allowing the suit to proceed. If you read that whole order (you did read the whole order, right?) you might have noticed that there is yet another lawsuit against Vibram.

Again, it’s a class action lawsuit for fraud.

Let me say a few words about this newer lawsuit, DeFalco v. Vibram.

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Lawsuit Against Vibram Survives Motion to Dismiss

We’ve been following the lawsuits against Vibrams for making unsubstantiated claims (including claims about the benefits of barefoot running). There was a pending motion to dismiss before the court, and that motion was denied on Wednesday.

So, here’s what’s going on.

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Jewish Priests

When I wrote about Discalceation, there was a brief mention in the work I quoted about barefootedness in Jewish temples.

The following expounds on that a bit.

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Nude Men—But Not Really [NSFW]

One of the “Weird News” stories going around yesterday was this one from the Leopold Museum in Austria, Nude Museum: Austria’s Leopold Lets Visitors Enjoy Without Clothes.

It was part of their current exhibit, “Nude Men from 1800 to Today”.

But there was something just not quite right . . .

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Dual Survival: Meltdown

First, don’t forget that there will be a new episode of Dual Survival on tonight, 9:00pm EST. The new one is titled “Belly of the Beast” and the description says:

Cody and Joe are stranded in a labyrinth of caves beneath the isolated mountains of Romania, and as they attempt to best the pitch-black maze, dying headlamps and opposing survival techniques hinder their effort to escape.

And now, on to “Meltdown”.

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Discalceation

Here’s an interesting article on “discalceation”, which it defines as the taking off of the shoes as a sign of respect for holy ground. It comes from a book entitled “A Lexicon of Freemasonry” by Albert Mackey.

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Just a Bit of Snow . . .

And the birds flock to my feeder.

Obviously, the snow is covering their other sources of food.

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How Barefoot Running Works

I’d like to highlight an interesting video. It is of Lee Saxby of the Vivobarefoot Training Center at the Barefoot Connections Conference.

What I found fascinating about the video is its explanations of the kinetics and the kinematics of running. As Lee explains it, “kinetics” studies the forces involved while “kinematics” studies how we shape our bodies as we move.

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What Barefoot Stupidity Leads To

Duct-taping a child’s shoes and socks onto their feet?

Really?

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Dual Survival: Twin Peaks

First, don’t forget that there will be a new episode of Dual Survival on tonight at 9:00pm EST. The new one is titled “Meltdown” and the description says:

Joe and Cody dodge hippos and elephants as they search for water and shelter in Zambia.

There is also sad and very unfortunate news. One of Joe Teti’s best friends was killed yesterday morning in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles. Mike Donatelli, along with two others, was involved in a military-style reality show for the Discovery Channel when the crash occurred. Mike was a former Army Ranger, Green Beret, and Delta Force Ops Sgt. He left behind a wife and two children. There are news stories here, 3 dead in helicopter crash on Discovery Channel reality TV set and Reality Show Cast Member Who Died in Crash Was Special Forces Veteran. Our hearts and thoughts go out to all his friends and family.

Now, on to “Twin Peaks” (and you can catch the rerun of it at 8:00pm EST just before the new episode).

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O’Meara O’Vencha Hike: Half-Shod

Last Saturday was another of the monthly Adventure Hikes led by Columbus MetroParks Executive Director John O’Meara. The starting temperature was around 25°, and the forecast high was only about 34°.

Did I do the hike barefoot? Do I look like an idiot? (Don’t answer that question.) But I did do it half-shod (one foot bare and one foot shod 😉 ).

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