Daddyhunt Blog Posts from November 2008

Those of us 50 or older have seen fitness trends come and go. I, for one, used to jog the entire length of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in the late 70s (about five miles). When I moved back to Los Angeles in 1980, I started training for 5K and 10K races in Griffith Park. Jogging morphed into running, and then aerobics in all its various forms consumed the fitness world. It is fitting that so many have devoted so much time to cardio-vascular training as these heart-pumping exercises form the base of the fitness triangle, with weight training and flexibility training as the other two sides. Nevertheless, motivating ourselves to do these often-repetitive (i.e. boring) exercises can be a challenge, despite loads of studies showing how regular aerobic exercise can reverse or reduce the risk of heart disease and Type II diabetes, lower blood pressure, eliminate unwanted body fat, lift our spirits, and even keep Mr. Happy perky.

Our understanding of how best to perform cardio, as we’re calling it now, has changed as we’ve learned more about the human body’s response to different kinds and different styles of cardio training. Joggers and runners, for example, discovered that running on hard surfaces or with the wrong shoes could lead in time to join degeneration and injured tendons and ligaments, so wise runners choose their shoes and running surfaces more carefully nowadays. A visit to a store that...

In a word: WOW.  More than 100 retired generals and admirals called Monday for repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays so they can serve openly.

According to a statement obtained by The Associated Press, the generals reportedly said it was time for the United States to join other nations in allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. "Our service members are professionals who are able to work together effectively despite differences in race, gender, religion, and sexuality."

The Obama administration is not about to make the same mistake President Clinton made in 1993 and said that repealing "dont ask, don't tell" is not really on their immediate agenda. Aubrey Sarvis, of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said that Obama sees 2009 as being about "foundation building and reaching consensus."  See more on the Obama team's response here.

Sure Obama's lack of drive to send the dinosaur of "don't ask, don't tell" into extinction might -- on the surface -- be a tad disappointing but remember this: is it better to have a President rush into something, even if it might be the right thing, or approach it with skill and intelligence? "Don't ask, don't tell" is definitely on the way out, it's just Obama's considerable challenge to make its passing smooth and, most of all, lasting.

In the meantime, let's celebrate this VERY impressive list...

Most American men around my age (over 50) attended schools in which physical education was a required part of the curriculum. This was John F. Kennedy’s innovation to education in the 60s to help young Americans get strong and stay fit physically as well as academically. The idea was that a sound foundation in physical culture acquired at an early age would create a habit of fitness to last our whole lives.

Well, it sounded good at the time.

Many of us participated in extra-curricular sports or leisure activities that involved plenty of physical exercise in those halcyon days. A few hardy souls even might have maintained that high-school weight-training routine and laps around the track into adulthood. But, most American men at some point, and for any number of seemingly good reasons, put aside regular exercise for other compelling activities like working for a living and operating the remote control on the television.

A Long Walk With a Friend is a Good Way to Start Exercising Again

Many of us may recall with a chuckle the first time we heard the saying, “Whenever I get the urge to exercise, I lie down until it goes away.” Actually, this saying is only really funny to younger men just starting to neglect themselves who do not yet experience the genuine feeling of loss that comes with diminished physical fitness and the unpleasant changes in the way we look and feel as we avoid physical exercise over time. Those of us who...

My husband and I had the great luck to get tickets to the premiere of the film “MILK” at a packed Castro Theater last month. The film is directed by Gus Van Sant, stars Sean Penn (as Harvey Milk) and was produced by Focus Features (producers of “Brokeback Mountain”) so we went in thinking that it wasn’t going to be a waste of two hours… and we were right.

The film chronicles the story of Harvey Milk who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, becoming the first openly gay man elected to public office in America. Milk was murdered by Dan White in 1978.

The film focuses on the last eight years of Harvey’s life. It opens with with Milk picking up Scott Smith (James Franco), the man who would become his partner. It is the eve of Milk’s 40th birthday and he is living in New York. Shortly thereafter Milk and Smith relocate to San Francisco where Harvey begins his journey as a neighborhood activist and ultimately the first gay politician.

I felt like I went into the film knowing a lot about Harvey Milk. I had seen “The Times of Harvey Milk” and countless other documentaries about the gay movement...