tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post686914830567257484..comments2024-03-28T01:45:31.400-07:00Comments on Diary of a Fat Slob: Salad play-by-playUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-30176714672965823862023-03-18T18:05:19.010-07:002023-03-18T18:05:19.010-07:00I came home to the family, but Uncle Socrates neve...I came home to the family, but Uncle Socrates never comes to breakfast on Saturdays.<br /><br />The cat, I'll confess, took so long to warm up to me — more than a year before she let me touch her — that I considered returning her to the adoption agency. Sure glad I didn't. Now she's the best friend I have in the real world.Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-59911993435171906362023-03-18T16:55:30.741-07:002023-03-18T16:55:30.741-07:00I'm not going to argue about it, but you can&#...I'm not going to argue about it, but you can't post a Pathetic Life like today's and tell me you lack profundity. I didn't accuse you of being Socrates: maybe his younger, slightly askew nephew. And you've never been anything but a gentleman to me and, I suspect, your cat. People who treat cats well would be carrying God's message to the world if there were a God and if johnthebasketnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-28398880635322497412023-03-18T11:39:18.812-07:002023-03-18T11:39:18.812-07:00I think most of the profundity in my writing comes...I think most of the profundity in my writing comes from your reading of it. Absolutely I agree with your thinking on the two lines of human progress, but I'm not sure I believed it yesterday. :)<br /><br />The mid-1990s certainly seems about the time the world's rollercoaster ride to hell started gaining speed.<br /><br />And if I'm a gentleman, I'm very far in the closet.Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-41191906102309687172023-03-18T01:20:09.232-07:002023-03-18T01:20:09.232-07:00Doug, I hadn't thought explicitly of that, but...Doug, I hadn't thought explicitly of that, but it's a hell of an idea. There might be a year, or a decade, or a century, where two lines cross: one line describing "human progress" aggregated in a number of areas (e.g., medical technology, exploration of Earth and the universe, human potential (like the high jump and the development of quantum theory to explain the universe), johnthebasketnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-60446637588905950672023-03-17T20:59:12.984-07:002023-03-17T20:59:12.984-07:00Lectures from John the Basket could be a popular c...Lectures from John the Basket could be a popular channel on YouTube. I'd watch. Always you have something interesting to say, in this world full of people who NEVER have anything interesting to say.<br /><br />As for 1993, I wonder if humanity has jumped about as high as it can. Or maybe 1993 was a mistake in measuring.Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-80117244798497889842023-03-17T03:48:22.096-07:002023-03-17T03:48:22.096-07:00. . . and I'm sure your research showed that w.... . . and I'm sure your research showed that within a few years of Dick Fosbury's peak, virtually every high jumper was flopping. My initial comment celebrated human innovation, although rereading the comment it sounds like a commercial for my lecture series. I'd have to discourage any interest in that direction. I was doing it for the thrill of the imposture.<br /><br />Johnjohnthebasketnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-69417715879721937552023-03-17T03:42:40.978-07:002023-03-17T03:42:40.978-07:00Fair enough. I've noticed that in the last thi...Fair enough. I've noticed that in the last thirty years, we've learned much about nutrition, and equipment has had billions of dollars thrown at it, as have shoes, yet the current high jump record was set in 1993. Was all the information and money thrown at athletics wisely until 1993 and foolishly thereafter? <br /><br />Just one small element: training tables. College athletic dorms johnthebasketnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-44090506718801630442023-03-16T18:46:52.506-07:002023-03-16T18:46:52.506-07:00You must know more about the the evolution/revolut...You must know more about the the evolution/revolution of the high jump that I do, but the Captain's link to Walter Marty's Wikipedia page got me curious. <br /><br />The progression of athletic accomplishment and record-breaking has to be due to better nutrition, equipment, shoes, and training.<br /><br />Marty kept breaking world records and seems to have peaked at 6 feet 9 1⁄2 inches. Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-65669383864063946942023-03-16T16:12:24.685-07:002023-03-16T16:12:24.685-07:00I do not. By the time I met his daughter, he had p...I do not. By the time I met his daughter, he had probably been dead for a year or two, and it never came up with her.Captain Hampocketshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11849547698251622931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-30663275244785869342023-03-16T13:13:07.366-07:002023-03-16T13:13:07.366-07:00In the "for what it's worth" departm...In the "for what it's worth" department, I used the evolution/revolution of the high jump in a series of presentations on the evolution of global economies I presented at a half dozen economic/market forums in the 90s. I don't know much about microeconomics, but I've spent some time on the 300,000 year history of human/global economic practices. At the time, humanity was johnthebasketnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-56770201809318636782023-03-16T13:02:00.088-07:002023-03-16T13:02:00.088-07:00Very cool, Cap. Do you happen to know what Mr Mar...Very cool, Cap. Do you happen to know what Mr Marty thought of Dick Fosbury and his flop? I assume as a former U.S. champion and near-Olympic competitor, Mr Marty would have some views on the evolution of jumping.<br /><br />Johnjohnthebasketnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-70703988072310357662023-03-16T06:13:18.169-07:002023-03-16T06:13:18.169-07:00Fun fact - my very good friend's father was Wa...Fun fact - my very good friend's father was Walter Marty, who was possibly the best high-jumper in the world in the early 30s. He was quite old, about 55 when my friend was born.<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_MartyCaptain Hampocketshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11849547698251622931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-1750348256740113762023-03-15T18:46:47.217-07:002023-03-15T18:46:47.217-07:00If *this* is what you were trying to post, thank y...If *this* is what you were trying to post, thank you for the effort. I only knew the vaguest outline of the Fosbury Flop, never knew the intriguing details.<br /><br />And same as Mr Fosbury, you made it over the hurdle.Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-47707766467910794452023-03-15T18:43:47.799-07:002023-03-15T18:43:47.799-07:00This one made it through their defenses...This one made it through their defenses...Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-20591660356473449932023-03-15T16:06:24.711-07:002023-03-15T16:06:24.711-07:00Inventing something new is REALLY hard. Reinventin...Inventing something new is REALLY hard. Reinventing something is even harder, because of all the unthinking you have to do.<br /><br />For decades, high jumpers used the scissors technique to clear the bar. Then, in about 1912, George Horine invented the Western Roll, which won him several new world records. For fifty years at track and field events, including the Olympic Games, jumpers rolled johnthebasketnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-31274268067255517672023-03-15T15:37:31.006-07:002023-03-15T15:37:31.006-07:00My last comment went into Googland. This is a test...My last comment went into Googland. This is a test.<br /><br />love,<br /><br />Johnjohnthebasketnoreply@blogger.com