Laughing Wolf
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Cooking with the Troops Sponsorship Video
Yes, I’ve been quiet, in part because I want/need to redo the site and lack the funds and skills to do so. That said, lots of things have been happening, and Cooking with the Troops is moving forward. We’ve gotten a lot of good people involved, and done an amazing amount of work. Some of the good people involved are 3Media Partners who have put together this amazing video as part of an effort to get us the sponsors we need to really kick it up a notch—or three:
Enjoy and spread the word.
LW
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas!
From Jenny and myself, we wish you a Very Merry Christmas! May your day be bright with love, laughter, joy, and health. Take a moment to remember those who serve far away so that we may enjoy this day, and those who have paid the price for freedom.
LW
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Repeat: Oldie But A Goodie
This does need a drink and keyboard alert, and an alert that this plays into my very warped sense of humor. If you are easily offended, an extreme social con, or other wet blanket, don’t click. For the rest of us good people, a repeat from last year, click and enjoy. 
LW
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Into The Light: John Steakley
Well, damn. John William Steakley Jr. has passed into the light. John was an acquaintance from way back, and one of those people that when you bumped into him it was as if no time had passed at all. A character, in the good sense, he was an author, a speaker, and much more. His book Armor is one of those that most should read but don’t. He was a good person to share a panel with, listen to when he spoke, and even better when you just sat and talked with him. He will be missed.
LW
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Giving Thanks
Today, Americans gather to eat a massive meal, watch parades, events, and competitions on television, and otherwise enjoy a day off. The original meaning is, honestly, probably lost for many because we do not fear starvation in the coming months of winter cold. Despite that, quite a few will take at least a minute to say thanks for the last year, and it is especially right that I do so today with you.
This last year has been quite a year for me, one such that someone I know upon hearing “the latest” from someone a few months ago blurted out “How much more can he take?!?” Looked at strictly for the negatives, it is a valid question. My employment ended after a bit over a year of hell. Jenny has gone fully blind, had a series of strokes, and has what appears to be the onset of canine dementia (think Alzheimer’s for dogs). There have been other delights on the same level. Quite a few, in fact.
I could never be so lucky again.
Let’s step outside the box and look at this last year from a different perspective. It can be hard to do, but is so worth the effort…
For all that I could say about the last year plus at Purdue, I can also honestly say I met and had the chance to work with some amazing people—particularly out away from my area. One example is meeting and working with someone that if I ever have to stage an event or production, they will be the first person I call. Together, we did what some said was impossible, and not only did it get done it got done well. There are a couple of other examples, but that’s a good one to share. It is people like them that cause me to respect Purdue as an institution, no matter what I think of anyone else. As long as they and those like them work there, it will be a good solid place at the core.
Time is indeed catching up with my dear sweet Jenny. Her eyesight is pretty well gone, and there are days I am pretty sure it is gone completely. She had a series of strokes in June and July, such that I thought she would not survive the 4th. Checking on that led to the realization that she is showing signs of mental drop as well. I treasure the good moments with her more than ever. If it has slowed her down, and forced her to become an inside dog, well, she still will go patrol the yard and vigorously announce and attack any four-footed thing that comes near or in. Those she hunts have little to fear, but she does it still and I actually enjoy having her try to steal my spot on the sofa from me. Many things are lost, but the love and companionship grow stronger for the loss.
The year has tested relationships of various types at various levels. I will be honest and say that in a few cases, I have been the one to let others down by not stepping up as I should have. I will be honest and say that I was very disappointed by some others. Yet, as but one example of many, I saw someone I would go so far as to describe as an active enemy become a friend, and show signs of becoming what I call a true friend. For all that was lost, and some treasured things were indeed lost, I have gained so much more.
I have had some of the proverbial sleepless nights, worred (in a panic even) over finances and other delights. The next dawn may not have brought the answer, but the next several dawns have invariably done so. Hard choices were and are needed; yet, a right answer (even if not the one I wanted) has always arrived. When you realize that, how can one not have faith, and confidence in the ultimate good of all that takes place?
My blood family sadly continues to shrink. Yet, I am glad for those that are left and for having known those that are gone. I am quite happy to know that others join me in remembering those gone, for as long as they are remembered in laughter and love, they really are still here. My mail this morning brought a message from a former neighbor, a friend, who on this day each year raises a toast to my parents. You see, when my parents were alive and did Thanksgiving at my house, we made him a part of it. The fact that he was ethnically different, of a different nationality, and even a very different cultural perspective was not an impediment. Indeed, it was what made it wonderful and special, for he was and is that and it added so much to the day to have him a part of it.
Which brings us to a very important point, and to you. That point is family. One definition is that family is a group that has to take you in, no matter what. I think that there are better ones, and that an important concept is that family are the individuals who know you for good and ill, and will invite you in any way. There are some here that fully fit that definition. Another is that family are those we fight with unless and until someone else comes along. Again, there is some truth to that one here as well. Fact is, you come here and attack anyone without just cause, and I will have their back. Like doesn’t factor in to it, brotherhood does. Come here and demand that we walk in some rigid lockstep (or insist that we do so no matter the obvious disagreements in posts and comments), well, don’t let the door hit your obvious brain compartment on the way out. The first is your problem, not ours. The second, well it shows your mental shortcomings clearly and I suspect that it is a sign of, er, other shortcomings as well. Both are your issues, not ours. I’ve found that those who insist on a, er, measuring contest do so out of deep-seated and well-founded insecurity…
If you’ve stuck with this, what this all means is that family can be and is more than just mere blood. One of things for which I have been thankful for many years are some of you here. Getting to meet a number of you in person has been a blessing, and has enriched my life and that has continued this last year. Some of you I still haven’t met, but you’ve stepped up by e-mail or phone and enriched my life that way. For that, and for the simple opportunity to get to “meet” you here in comments, I truly do give thanks.
This last year has seen my passion take form, and for that I am truly thankful. As background, I have never felt more alive, and more confident that I was in the right place, at the right, time, for the right reasons, and doing the right thing than when I was on embed with the troops. It was not so much that I was telling their stories; rather, it was that I was the means for them to tell their story. Doing that also set me on a course of trying to do more for them, and in particular for the wounded and those that give care.
That led directly and ultimately to Cooking with the Troops. Concrete Bob and I probably drove some mad both with our determination and on getting “bogged down” with a level of detail that some thought unneeded and unnecessary. That detail, however, has paid off. In just about six months time, we have gone from incorporation to ringing the opening bell of the NASDAQ stock exchange. We are moving fast to raise funds and not just do food events, but to take the first steps on three major new program areas. It took having some people hit me over the head with it (yes, that is the best way to get something in there), but it is not just something I care about, it is my passion in life.
It is a passion that may well allow me to eventually do the embeds that I love and the troops support I have to do. Not want, not need—have to do. I can do no less, and want very much to do more. How can one not be thankful to clearly see what one should do, and have the means to do it take form? It has come with a cost, but I give thanks that I not only could pay it, but that I did so. My life is much the richer for that cost and the loss that went with it.
I give thanks for Bob, and having the opportunity to get to know him better. For the opportunity and privilege to get to know Susan Katz Keating and Mary Katharine Ham. For the opportunity to get to meet and do with those who serve. For we do not do for them, we do it with them, and that makes all the difference in the world.
For all that is lost, I am the richer. For all that has come into my life, I am richer. For those that have come into my life, I am richer. For the new family that includes so many here, I am richer.
For the richness and opportunity this year has brought, I do truly give thanks this day. I also offer my thanks to all for the opportunity to share and make a difference for the better.
As a final thought, I give thanks to all who serve. For those of you on the line this day so that I and others may enjoy it, my profound thanks. We deserve not people like you, but are damned glad that you serve anyway.
LW
Saturday, November 20, 2010
NASDAQ Tuesday Opening Bell
Yes, the reports are true: Cooking with the Troops will be ringing the NASDAQ opening bell on Tuesday 23 November. You can watch it live here or go here if you have trouble.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Some Commentary In The Washington Times
Check it out and help us spread the word.
LW
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Your Keyboard Urgently Needed!
With your help, we’ve had a good start in new and social media. Now, we need to take this to the traditional media. We need you to contact your local newspaper, radio, and television stations to tell them in your own words about Operation FPH Blues. Point out that Gina and all are available for interviews. Keep in mind that local media feeds regional, and if you get it into the local news it will help it grow. We also need you to e-mail and/or tweet the following :
Tweet @TheEllenShow and tell her about Operation FPH Blues, and why Gina, Ellen, and Mike would make good guests on her show. If there are other shows/hosts you follow on Twitter (or here), hit them too. There is more to come today on how you can help with a few clicks of a mouse and a few keystrokes. It’s easy, it should be fun, and it can make a huge difference.
Hit http://www.cnn.com/feedback/tips/index.html and tell them why they should cover Operation FPH Blues; and, do the same at http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/feedback/fb_news_form.shtml?tag=ftr for CBS Evening News, CBS Evening News w/Katie Couric, CBS Morning News, & The Early Show.
Then hit your e-mail and tell mailbag2@thebigshow.com and bobandtom@bobandtom.com why they should cover this, and have Gina, Ellen, or Mike as guests. Point out to Bob and Tom that Mike is local, and that CwtT is Indiana-based. Then e-mail warstories@foxnews.com, redeye@foxnews.com,kelly@foxnews.com, americasnewsroom@foxnews.com, friends@foxnews.com, hannity@foxnews.com, glennbeck@foxnews.com, newswatch@foxnews.com, oreilly@foxnews.com, newsmanager@foxnews.com
Thanks for your time and help on this!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Operation FPH Blues Launches
Go see the details. Please help.
LW
Sunday, October 24, 2010
If You Are Trying To Register
The ongoing attacks by spammers have damaged the registration system, which is why it pretty much wipes out all new registrants after registration. If you are not a spammer and trying to register, drop me a line at blake at blakepowers make dot a character net and let me know your name and e-mail and I will try to make sure the next attempt succeeds. Meantime, don’t get mad at me, get mad at the spammers and crackers (hackers are good people) who do their best to ruin sites. More soon.
LW
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
In Vegas, Finally(!) Got To Meet DaGoddess
I’m in Vegas for Blog World, and finally got to meet DaGoddess face-to-face. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but she was one of the first bloggers I got to know those many years ago when I started, and we’ve talked on the phone and exchanged e-mails ever since. Several attempts to meet up before have fallen through, but yesterday, well… She met me at the airport, drove me to my abode, and we spent several hours talking and catching up. From some of the sea changes in the blogosphere to photography, we caught up. Even better, we finally could do it in person and with a hug.
More to come, but already off to a busy day. Woke up waaaay earlier than I should have, but headed to the gym, breakfast, and then last minute things for the military track at Blog World and for Cooking with the Troops. I am also pleased to announce that Jake Rademacher will be joining our media and military panel tomorrow.
LW
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Headed To Vegas
I’m in the airport and on my way to Blog World and what I hope is a #miltrack that is informative and fun for all. Blog World is our chance to reach out to new audiences, hear from outside viewpoints, and network in worlds far removed from normal military, military family, and such. If you aren’t there, shame on you. Come on out: it’s fun, informative, and most of us do not bite. Hard. Or often. Really.
LW
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Fitness Challenge Guest Post #1
This comes from Kelli Hein and the team at Club Newtone:
OK so you’re ready to take on the fitness challenge, but you need a little direction. Here at Club NewTone we focus on 3 areas of fitness to help guide you in creating a structured fitness program.
Food Consumption plays a major role in reaching your fitness goal. As we all know food has calories. The amount of calories you take in can be detrimental to obtaining that slimmer waist. It’s a pretty simple calculation. Every 3500 calories equals one pound of fat. Keeping this in mind, if you want to lose one pound in a week, you must put your body at a deficit of 500calories a day… multiply by 7 days in the week and BOOM you’re one pound lighter. You’re probably thinking, well how do I know if I’m eating 500calories less? The key is to keep a food log. Write down everything that goes into you mouth for a week. If you do not have a good sense of calories then Google the food + calories. The answer will appear. Then the next week eat 500calories less and the pounds should start falling off.
Cardio, Cardio, cardio…then do some more cardio. What counts as cardio? Cardio is any type of physical activity that elevates your heart rate into your target heart rate zone. You can find your target zone by taking 220 minus age = max heart (50%) and (70%). The guidelines published by the American College of Sports Medicine suggest 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise 5 days a week, or vigorous cardio 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week. The main reasons for doing cardiovascular activity are for weight loss, stronger heart and lungs, and an increase in bone density.
Resistance Training is termed as any type of strength conditioning. It is important to incorporate resistance training into your weight loss program. The goal is to maintain your muscle as you start to lose the weight. The more muscle you have the more calories you will burn. If you are strictly looking for weight loss and toning up then keep your weight light and your reps high. Performing two sets of 15 to 25reps of total body exercises 3 days a week is a good place to start for a training program.
Friday, October 01, 2010
Fitness Challenge: The Begining
If you’ve read me for any time, you know that fitness/exercise is something I enjoy. I actually created a category for it on this version of the blog, and am really wishing I had done so on the old. One of the best things about the job at Purdue going away is that I am once again getting to exercise—and, in so doing, deal with the negative effects to my health from the stress of the last year-plus.
Some other things have reinforced the need to get back into good shape. First, Concrete Bob gave us a good scare about a year ago. Quintuple bypass is not a minor thing, even if he did bounce back incredibly fast. Second, Kalashnikatz, another partner in Cooking with the Troops, has had her share of cardio issues this year. Finally, the stress I had was doing bad things to my blood pressure, not to mention literally causing parts of my back to twist into new and interesting positions.
So, when the chance finally came to really do something, I did it. I joined a new gym (the old one being tied to my employment at Purdue), took full advantage of the free health assessment, and began a new exercise program and made diet changes to boot. The results have been spectacular. Since Cooking with the Troops deals with nutrition and health, Susan Katz Keating and I got the idea to take our personal fitness goals and do something more with them. Something involving you.
We challenge you to get fit.
This is not a weight loss challenge, as weight is not a really good measure of fitness. We want you to get fit, get healthy, and enjoy life more. My goal for October is to reduce the amount of body fat I have by at least ten percent, and in so doing lose one to three inches in the waist. We want you to set a similar goal for yourself. If you lose the fat, the weight will take care of itself.
The thing is, we want you to do it smart. Here are some strongly suggested guidelines:
• See your doctor. Before starting any diet and/or exercise program, get with your regular doctor and discuss what you need to do, how you need to do it, realistic goals, and—most of all—the things you should NOT be doing. If you are badly out of shape, the doctor may need to run some tests to determine your limits and give you the best guidance they can to improve overall fitness, led by cardio fitness.
• Join a good facility. Be it a gym, a club, or whatever, join a reputable fitness facility. There is a lot you can do on your own, but a good program that covers the entire body really does need more than most can do at home. A good facility will insist on doing an initial assessment, will ask if you have checked with your doctor, and will make sure that you do things that will help you rather than hurt you. They will also have trained and certified instructors on staff who can work with you on developing the right program for you. More than that, they and the other members give feedback, encouragement, and make it something harder to drop out of.
• Stick with it. Slow and steady does win the race, and a regular program of exercise will have immediate and long-term benefits.
• Don’t try to do it all at once. Crash diets and massive amounts of workout at the start are not good for you and will HURT you. Don’t do it.
• Monitor what you do. I use a monitor that records my pulse, calories burned, and other data so that I can see what I’m doing as I do it, have a record of data for each workout, and make sure I don’t over do it or under do it. They are well worth the investment in my (biased) opinion. If nothing else, keep a record of what you do each day, how you do it, and what you need to do next.
• Change it up. The body adapts quickly to things, and you need to change things around to keep getting the most out of your exercise. Another reason to join a gym/facility with a good staff as they can help with this.
I started working out again (seriously) about mid-July. I put a lot of effort into cardio conditioning and endurance, and into core work. The core is the key to getting back into shape, and cardio is the key to the core, in my opinion. The better the cardio conditioning, the more you can do. Once you can do, the quicker you can get the core where it needs to be and work total body. I really didn’t try to push too hard at first, but worked out to a reasonable plan designed to get me back into good shape. A lot of this was based off talks with my doctor, the work done with a trainer before my first Iraq embed (and a big thank you to the friend & sponsor who made that possible!), and some input from professionals.
When I switched to Club Newtone, a free assessment came with the deal. I took it, and the head of fitness went over not only the equipment they had, but did a work-up on me and my current workout. Net result was a shake-up of my workout and a change in diet to help speed things along.
Since cardio is key, and endurance is something much needed in life and in embeds, I am doing cardio and endurance work on an ARC trainer. It is between an elliptical trainer and a treadmill in that it allows a running motion (more than an elliptical) but doesn’t have the impact on the joints of a treadmill. Most days I try to do an hour; however, three days a week this is done in two 30-minute segments broken up by crunches and abdominal work aimed at the core. The two segments are aimed at fat burning. The other two days a week are aimed at endurance, with some serious cardio work being a delightful bonus. The resistance levels continue to go up, to keep it interesting. This took a while to work up, it did NOT come overnight.
On the core work, I am doing more than 200 crunches/ab exercises a day on a good day. It took a while to work up to this, starting at just 20 or so a day. Crunches that work the upper abs are part, as are exercises that work the lower abs and the sides. Balance is key here, as you need to work all the complementary muscle groups. I’m also trying to work in some pec and delt work as well, gradually.
The other big advantage to the gym are the classes. While I have done and will do free weights and machines, the classes are helping with core, general fitness and tone, and flexibility. You need all of these things as a base, and classes are a good way to work into them. Right now, I am doing Body Pump and Body Tone classes, and they are challenging, fun, and kicking my rear a bit.
Short version: Since mid-July, I’m down more than three inches in the waist, have gotten my cardio system into much better shape (very happy with current resting pulse, blood pressure, and related), and gotten my endurance back to a more reasonable level. Have I lost weight? You bet, but that is secondary to the true fitness gains.
Over the next few weeks, Susan and I are each getting some guest posts from experts in fitness, nutrition, and more. I will talk more about what I do, and why I do it. We challenge each of you to join us in getting fit by getting a good assessment, setting some realistic goals, and sharing what you are doing via the comments. At the end of the month, we can compare notes and see where we are.
So, join us. Let’s do this together and share the benefits.
LW
Sunday, September 19, 2010
A Semi-New Beginning
My days as a full-time real employee of Purdue University are at an end. On Monday, if all goes well, I will be starting some contract work at Purdue. It may or may not last long, and it may or may not lead back to being a real employee. I’m fine with whatever comes.
The experience I had at Purdue was complex, as all good things in life should be. I was hired at Purdue originally to do communications for the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. It was a good challenge, and somewhat unique in that it was yet another opportunity to create a sub-brand and identity within an already established brand, and yet work with a tabula rasa situation. There was literally a blank canvas presented, and working with the leadership at Weldon it was well filled. Indeed, the head of the school credits those efforts with a significant increase in ranking ratings (among other accomplishments). The accomplishments within that communications and marketing framework were good, and the results that came from it significant.
It was a chance to learn and grow, and while not all the goals I had in that area were met, progress was made. In fact, closer examination has caused me to change some of those plans a bit, and to consider some new things and new options. The contract work I’m scheduled to start (contingent on final approvals up the chain) will also give me a chance to take a closer look at those new options, and see if they are indeed what I wish to do.
Frankly, I can’t say enough about the unstructured learning that came from getting to know and work with Professor Leslie A. Geddes. In his 80s, he still came in at 0430 every morning right up until almost the very end. He worked until lunchtime, then went to work at his second job. From his lab, if not his fertile mind, came modern defibrillators, advanced pacemakers, extra-cellular matrixes that make possible all sorts of medical miracles, and so much more. One thing that I got to document (and even participate in to a small degree) was the development of a new method of CPR, that I hope gets through the regulatory and approval process quickly—it is a massive improvement on current methods.
Dr. Geddes was a rare breed, and it was an honor to know and work with him. He not only had a gift for thinking outside the box, but he was somehow able to pass that along to those he taught, both in the classroom and in practical activities. If you do a search of the leaders in the biomedical field, you might find that many of them—the people developing the equipment and treatments that truly make a difference—were taught by him.
Almost unheard of in academia, he didn’t care about your degree—just your ideas and your willingness to work. If you had a talent he needed/could use, you were on his team. If you had a good idea, he would listen and help you run with it, no matter what. Almost no one in academia does that, and so many good ideas die on the vine as a result… But, not in Les’s lab. Also, once you were on the team, you were on the team. He pushed people to do more, to learn, to grow, and to make full use of whatever talents they had even as they learned new ones. He did push students to degrees and new degrees; but, he also pushed people simply to learn and grow. He also had a short way to deal with the usual academic hubris (and pomposity) of getting published in a prestigious (or any) journal: “Great research. Now, what are you going to do with it?”
Where so many focused on the research, on getting published, and could care less about doing anything with the knowledge, Les Geddes lived the mantra of doing, and doing for others. Research, and research ideas, were only as good as what could be done with it. It might be a few years before anything could be done (for example, some 20 years passed between some of the original CPR research/ideas and being able to move it forward), but you always looked ahead to the practical application. Sometimes, that was planned and sometimes it was serendipity, but you always looked for it.
Frankly, I learned more from working with Les Geddes than I did from all the classes and seminars I attended while at Purdue. I learned far more important things from him as well. Below is my take away of what I call the Code of Geddes.
1. A degree or lack of it doesn’t mean a thing: it’s what you can do/bring to the team and the ideas you have that count, not a piece of paper.
2. Once a member of the team, you are a member for as long as you want to be.
3. Credit doesn’t matter, only results. Try to be sure that credit is given where it is due, but if you can share a bit with others, it adds and does not subtract. Be sure to credit all members of the team.
4. Ideas are great, but cheap; results are what count, and are truly valuable.
5. Identifying and treating a symptom of a problem is good, but identifying and treating the root problem (medical or otherwise) is best.
6. If you are not trying to better the human condition, why are you bothering to do what you do?
7. Always look on the bright side, and try to find something good to say about anyone.
More than 99 percent of academia, and 100 percent of academic administration, could benefit from studying Les Geddes and his methods. Had they done so, the onrushing academic bubble would never have been a pimple, much less a bubble.
We all can benefit from it. So, rather than saying a lot of things right now, I will simply point to Leslie Alexander Geddes. That’s real education, from a real teacher, and real benefit for all.
LW
Content copyright C. Blake Powers and the individual authors. Comments become the property of C. Blake Powers and may be altered, edited, deleted, and used by C. Blake Powers or the individual authors without restriction or recompense.
