Alligatorob's Diary
- Thread starter alligatorob
- Start date
alligatorob
Respected Member
It was a good day, I ate well and feel good. No exercise, doctor's orders, what a great excuse.
Petal, LaMa, Rob, Emily, Cate and W2L, thanks for the nice words, it is much appreciated. Hey Emily, you mean you don't give your kids practice hand grenades and related munitions as Christmas gifts? Seems downright unAmerican!
Wednesday
breakfast yogurt 80
cereal - grapenuts 110
lunch sardines 220
snack
pear sauce 25
cereal - grapenuts 100
dinner
meatloaf 220
lettuce salad 45
orange 64
snack
banana 100
crackers 50
nightcap whiskey 140
total calories 1,154
The Birmingham (UK) Bullring was established in 1154. It was originally and still is a large market and shopping area. So far as I can tell there have never been bullfights there, seems odd given its name. I attended a bullfight once in Mexico City, it was an interesting experience, but once is probably enough for me. Due to my limited Spanish we ended up in the cheap seats, high above the action and in the sun. But that may have been for the best, not being able to see the bullfight close up was probably a benefit. The people sitting around us were poor Mexicans, and seemed to be a lot more friendly and fun than the folks in the expensive seats. I think they actually liked have a couple of gringos in their midst. I quickly learned that I have not idea what to watch for, the crowd seemed to cheer or boo for what seemed to me to be no apparent reason. And what I thought was a memorable moment, when the bull's head got too low and his horns plowed into the dirt flipping him over his head, seemed to be met with great disapproval. That matador did not fare well with the crowd.
Petal, LaMa, Rob, Emily, Cate and W2L, thanks for the nice words, it is much appreciated. Hey Emily, you mean you don't give your kids practice hand grenades and related munitions as Christmas gifts? Seems downright unAmerican!
I am eating 2 cans of Pacific Crest Sardines in Tomato Sauce, 4.4-Ounce I get them in boxes of 50 from Amazon. To be honest they are not my favorite sardines, but they are relatively cheap (~$1/can) and quite low calorie for sardines. They are now 110 calories per can, that is up from 90 calories not long ago and I am not sure why. I prefer sardines in mustard sauce or just oil, but they are 2 to 3 times the calories.
Wednesday
breakfast yogurt 80
cereal - grapenuts 110
lunch sardines 220
snack
pear sauce 25
cereal - grapenuts 100
dinner
meatloaf 220
lettuce salad 45
orange 64
snack
banana 100
crackers 50
nightcap whiskey 140
total calories 1,154
The Birmingham (UK) Bullring was established in 1154. It was originally and still is a large market and shopping area. So far as I can tell there have never been bullfights there, seems odd given its name. I attended a bullfight once in Mexico City, it was an interesting experience, but once is probably enough for me. Due to my limited Spanish we ended up in the cheap seats, high above the action and in the sun. But that may have been for the best, not being able to see the bullfight close up was probably a benefit. The people sitting around us were poor Mexicans, and seemed to be a lot more friendly and fun than the folks in the expensive seats. I think they actually liked have a couple of gringos in their midst. I quickly learned that I have not idea what to watch for, the crowd seemed to cheer or boo for what seemed to me to be no apparent reason. And what I thought was a memorable moment, when the bull's head got too low and his horns plowed into the dirt flipping him over his head, seemed to be met with great disapproval. That matador did not fare well with the crowd.
I spent a month in a tiny Spanish village in the middle of nowhere once and they organized a bullfight of sorts for their patron saint's holy day. I sat on a rooftop with a couple of friends and watched from up there. Nowhere near as efficiently gruesome as the professional thing but it was still a terrified animal just trying to keep its tormentors at bay.
alligatorob
Respected Member
Long story, but I actually "fought" a "bull" once, years ago. It was in Tijuana, I was at a professional meeting in San Diego and they had arranged a kind of bull fight demo for us in Tijuana. I had a few too many margaritas and when they called for a volunteer from our group it ended up being me. I went into the ring with a cape, much larger than a real matador's and they turned the "bull" lose, really more of a big calf without horns. None the less he was a lot bigger than me and seemed mad. I was the one terrified, but pretty quickly I could see the animal was focused on the cape, not me. So it was easy to just hold the cape to my side and watch the "bull" charge it and miss me, after a couple of passes they mercifully took the animal away. No damage was done to either of us, and I am sure they kept the "bull" fed and happy to entertain a new batch of tourists the next day. I've got pictures somewhere to prove it!
I´m sure he was fed but if he´d been happy he wouldn´t have charged at a harmless cape, no matter how colorful. Fighting bulls aren´t aggressive by nature and usually need quite a lot of harassment before they start to do "entertaining" things.
Oh good!
Seriously, great result from the visit; I'm so glad you got a good all-round check-up. And six stone... fantastic result! You are a great role model here.
I suppose the Birmingham ring was for cattle sales?
I’m glad you survived the bullfight Rob. I have no experience with this aspect of life. I did watch the ‘Don’t Fuck With Cats’ documentary on Netflix last night, which is a great watch by the way. I guess there is always that push and pull between tradition and knowing better now about how animals should be treated. It’s an interesting one.
I have no experience with this aspect of life. I did watch the ‘Don’t Fuck With Cats’ documentary on Netflix last night, which is a great watch by the way. I guess there is always that push and pull between tradition and knowing better now about how animals should be treated. It’s an interesting one.
alligatorob
Respected Member
Well put, I know that as Mexico has been limiting bullfighting and is talking about outlawing it I am kind of ambivalent. There is something about the idea of the tradition that I find attractive, on the other hand I don't like mistreating animals. I also believe that up to that last day bulls used for bullfighting probably have a better life than the cattle we eat, so opposing bullfighting and eating meat is a bit hypocritical. In the US we don't have traditional bullfighting, but we have the rodeo, its a big deal in Utah, you can certainly argue that those animals are not always treated well. In California the Portuguese community does have a kind of traditional bullfighting, but they put Velcro on the bulls and the various lances, no blood is drawn. As I said I probably will not go to a bullfight again.
alligatorob
Respected Member
It was a good day, ate well and I feel good.
Thursday
breakfast
pear sauce 56
cereal - grapenuts 100
lunch
eggplant Parmesan 269
banana 100
snack
seaweed 30
dinner - taco salad at a restaurant, kind of a WAG, lowest calorie thing I could find on the menu
shredded chicken 225
lettuce 30
avocado 100
cheese 100
3 tortilla chips 23
snack
banana 100
total calories 1,133
More than you ever wanted to know about 1133:
Thursday
breakfast
pear sauce 56
cereal - grapenuts 100
lunch
eggplant Parmesan 269
banana 100
snack
seaweed 30
dinner - taco salad at a restaurant, kind of a WAG, lowest calorie thing I could find on the menu
shredded chicken 225
lettuce 30
avocado 100
cheese 100
3 tortilla chips 23
snack
banana 100
total calories 1,133
More than you ever wanted to know about 1133:
So much talk of bulls I had to check:
"The area was first known as Corn Cheaping in reference to the corn market on the site. The name Bull Ring referred to the green within Corn Cheaping that was used for bull-baiting. The 'ring' was a hoop of iron in Corn Cheaping to which bulls were tied for baiting before slaughter."
"The area was first known as Corn Cheaping in reference to the corn market on the site. The name Bull Ring referred to the green within Corn Cheaping that was used for bull-baiting. The 'ring' was a hoop of iron in Corn Cheaping to which bulls were tied for baiting before slaughter."
overlandflyer
Well-known member
aside from the "eating part", i can't help but relate the feeling some have about bringing back public executions... the guillotine or hanging, ... none of this putting convicted murderers "asleep". it might well change views about capital punishment and at least serve a modicum of deterrent.
alligatorob
Respected Member
It was a good day, ate well and I feel good. Should be able to get back on the bike in a day or two.
Friday
breakfast yogurt 80
cereal - grapenuts 100
snack orange 64
lunch
meatloaf 220
lettuce salad 30
snack
orange 64
dinner
steamed broccoli 60
turkey 200
homemade pear sauce 59
banana 100
snack
grapes 77
nightcap
whiskey 140
total calories 1,194
I know I have had 1194 before, at least twice so its getting hard for me to find much, but here is a small nugget: In 1194 Kaikei sculpted Vairocana in Ishiyama-dera, an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Vairocana is a celestial Buddha. Ishiyama-dera is Stony Mountain Temple in Japan. I was going to post a picture, but Kaikei sculpted a number of surviving Buddhas, and I was not able to be sure which picture matched his 1194 Buddha.
Surprising that it has kept the name for so long, maybe that's not so unusual.
Thanks LaMa,makes sense. I did do some online research but was not able to find that.
Not too sweet, we made it by cutting up a bunch of pears, adding a little water and then boiling them for a long time, no sugar or anything added. We have a freezer full of it. A few of the pears were ours, but our trees are still small, most of them came from a friend, we traded peaches for the pears.
I don't disagree with you, I am ambivalent, but more anti than pro capital punishment, but if we are going to do it I don't know why we don't do it openly. As you say that might sway more people against it. And to the extent it is a deterrent it might be more so. I am not convinced that capital punishment really is much of a deterrent. I think most murderers are stupid people or acting on emotions and not capable of thinking that far ahead. Enough politics.
Friday
breakfast yogurt 80
cereal - grapenuts 100
snack orange 64
lunch
meatloaf 220
lettuce salad 30
snack
orange 64
dinner
steamed broccoli 60
turkey 200
homemade pear sauce 59
banana 100
snack
grapes 77
nightcap
whiskey 140
total calories 1,194
I know I have had 1194 before, at least twice so its getting hard for me to find much, but here is a small nugget: In 1194 Kaikei sculpted Vairocana in Ishiyama-dera, an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Vairocana is a celestial Buddha. Ishiyama-dera is Stony Mountain Temple in Japan. I was going to post a picture, but Kaikei sculpted a number of surviving Buddhas, and I was not able to be sure which picture matched his 1194 Buddha.
overlandflyer
Well-known member
jackbenimble
New member
The reference to Vairocana got me curious, more for the Japanese than the Buddhist association. But I found out that Vairocana represents the Buddhist concept of Śūnyatā which is "translated most often as emptiness and sometimes voidness" per wiki.
That concept is something Echkardt Tolle sometimes refers to, using terms such as the "unmanifested" or "formless", which he says represents our true selves, as opposed to the ego-based, transitory selves we usually think in terms of.
Not to go too far down that rabbit hole, but it is a concept that I'm coincidentally running into my as I go through his books.
That concept is something Echkardt Tolle sometimes refers to, using terms such as the "unmanifested" or "formless", which he says represents our true selves, as opposed to the ego-based, transitory selves we usually think in terms of.
Not to go too far down that rabbit hole, but it is a concept that I'm coincidentally running into my as I go through his books.