Peaceful

A sage close to us had some interesting thoughts the other day about life and trade-offs. Yes, one can't have everything but part of the the secret to being happy is learning to appreciate what we have. And we do have much to be thankful for, living asthma and allergy free in a beautiful place surrounded by nature, and being together, although Zexiv does at times miss his friends from the sea (i.e. pufferfish, lionfish, clownfish, batfish, trumpetfish, grouper, sgt. major, moray eel, etc.), family, and the antics of his little nephews and nieces. And the taste of San Miguel beer :).

This old song sung by Helen Reddy (remember her?) from the 70s seems to sum it up all. When we last heard this song, it was from a cassette player.

Thank you, Grasshopper ...

A happy (and peaceful) long weekend to everyone.

Hail to the Bike Commuter!

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race" - H.G. Wells

Zexiv, Inverbras and I have a lot of respect for cyclists, especially those who brave it out on today's dog-eat-dog dangerous car dominated roads. Zexiv considers himself a relatively latecomer to the 2 wheeled bike, having learned at the "old" age of 11, on Inverbras's light blue bike, from Patria (or was it Atlas?). Inverbras had already been biking for a number of years and it took a number of failed attempts, most of them in grassy lots in the provinces, before Zexiv finally learned to balance. He remembers the excitement of the first ride, with the wind blowing in his face and the invigorating feeling of freedom, as he went a block around the house. His first bike, shortly after that was a red 10 speed road bike, from Atlas Bicycle Shop in Cartimar, which was a bit too big for him. Only a day or two after acquiring it, Zexiv swerved trying to avoid another neighbor heading straight for him, and ended up sprawled on the curb with a broken front tooth. Ouch!

When Zexiv was much better and had learned to stop and turn properly, he and Inverbras would explore the villages around their parents' house. Somehow biking didn't seem too popular with most teens in the home country, who seemed to dread breaking any kind of sweat and acquiring a tan and preferred being driven in air conditioned cars, even for ridiculously short distances. Zexiv and Inverbras reserved their utmost contempt however for the spoiled rich kids in the village who liked to show off and ride their expensive minitrails around the village. Nothing compared to the freedom of the bike; one wasn't limited by availability of gas but the power of ones own legs. In their later years, Inverbras and Zexiv even made the trek to Tagaytay City from Makati, which they did in about 4 hours going there.

And now on to the real subject of this post:

Zexiv's old friend, former air police squadron mate and lifting partner, Reader has just started commuting daily to work on his Specialized road bike, a very worthy endeavor, especially in today's world of high fuel prices. Zexiv first met Reader in high school, where they attended a summer class in Chemistry together, and became friends when they found out they both shared a keen interest in weight training and powerlifting. Throughout high school, Zexiv remembers Reader and him being neck and neck in weight, and having a hard time gaining mass, both being ectomorphs. It was during college years that Reader really surpassed him in strength gains and size. Reader took his love for sports and fitness further in college, majored in Physical Education, and excelled in sports such as powerlifting, weightlifting, table tennis, badminton, wrestling, and judo. He and Zexiv started to lift together early mornings in this hardcore hole-in-the-wall gym close to the university, and Zexiv remembers being impressed seeing Reader arrive in the gym on his road bike, a 5 kilometer commute, and proceed to do 20 reps of 225 lbs on squats!

Today Reader makes his home somewhere in the Midwest, where he works in the I.T. industry. He admits not having the incentive to train as much or lift as heavy as before, and actually considers himself unfit by his standards, although he continues to lift and run 2 to 3 times a week and play (and coach) badminton for fitness.

His daily bike commute covers a distance of about 7 miles, which take him through mostly flat terrain of bike paths with trees and a lake, downtown through residential and then office buildings. Yesterday he says he completed the trek in about 33 minutes, which is much better time than if he had taken the bus. Zexiv asked him how he felt and he mentioned that he was "really hurtin today" and that right now his thighs "feel like jello". He added though that the ride does perk him up for the workday, although he starts getting really tired towards the end but that he sleeps so much better at the end of the day. He told Zexiv that since he started the bike commute, he's been too tired to go to the gym but expects to start training again once his body adapts. He is looking at "rethinking his training" and "training specifically for endurance", which for him means 2 sets of 50 reps. He also just started taking glycogen supplements.

Zexiv asked him if the whole change in routine made his life more complicated. "Not really", replied Reader, although he added that it makes him too tired to do other things for now. He says he is able to get up at about the same time every day, and that he is happy being on the bike, and can even stop if he wants to watch a volleyball game, a softball match, or a soccer game.

When asked what his first day thoughts were, Reader's reply was "this hurts ... the seat, the shortness of breath, the burning legs". He says though that it is "actually nice, just physically tiring but has it's advantages. I'm not dependent on gas, bus schedules, etc.". He also said that since starting he's dropped 3 lbs. and his abs lines are beginning to show, albeit blurry for now :). He hopes to continue this onto the winter. Zexiv and I wish him a lot of luck in this.

A very worthy endeavor, Reader. There is indeed hope for mankind if we can get more adults on bicycles, as H.G. Wells says ... Ride safely.

A Comic Book Summer

Ah, summer! Our favorite time of the year in Vancouver. Gelato ice cream, prettty girls in shorts, eating in restaurant patios, walking around in T-shirt and jeans and best of all, lots of sunlight - pretty much the only time of the year when we don't have days of overcast skies or rain.

For Zexiv, childhood summers bring back pleasant memories of burgers, chocolate milkshakes, exploring the village in his red racer bike, and memorable trips to Dagupan City where his maternal grandparents lived. The best part about those trips to Dagupan, he thought, were eating steamed oysters, swimming in the beach, playing with his many cousins and spending hours poring over their huge collection of ladybird books and comic books. He remembers staying up late at night reading comics such as Unknown Soldier, Sgt. Rock, Justice League, Superman, Haunted Tank, Jonah Hex, House of Secrets, House of Mystery and the Witching Hour. His cousins, thought Zexiv, had impeccable taste in books and comic books, although he would often be too scared to sleep after spending hours reading those horror comics. In the provinces, the nights seemed somewhat longer, darker, and more mysterious and the sound of dogs howling from far off would make Zexiv shiver, pull the sheets over his eyes, pray for daylight ... and resolve to himself not to read any more horror story comics. Of course this would all change when it was morning again ...

About a year ago, on a trip to New York, Zexiv discovered the DC Showcase Presents editions of comic books in his favorite comic book store, Forbidden Planet. These are comic book collections of notable silver age comics - the era Zexiv and Inverbras grew up in - and are softbound, printed in newsprint in black and white and run more than 500 pages long. Did I say black and white? Yes, they are not colored unlike the original comics but this allows DC to keep each volume at a very reasonable price (below CAD 20 in the local Vancouver stores), instead of running up to hundreds or over a thousand dollars, which is what it would cost if you were to to collect every original single comic book in the collection nowadays. The lack of color does not take away from the brilliant artwork and great storytelling. Zexiv particularly loves the war and horror comics of DC Showcase Presents. During the past year he has added more volumes to his collection such as House of Mystery 1 & 2, Haunted Tank, Sgt. Rock, Unknown Soldier, and just yesterday, Jonah Hex (thanks, Puff!).

Being of the silver age era does not make them at all "campy" in our opinion. We much prefer the way comics were written and drawn back in the "good old days" to the many so called "graphic novels" being churned out today which seem quite boring and pretentious and seem to lack great storytelling. We look forward to acquiring even more of these editions, such as House of Secrets, Enemy Ace, Batman, and the individual stories of the Justice League members.

I was pleased to discover a good likeness of myself - and Mademoiselle Marie - deep inside the pages of Sgt Rock while Zexiv was excited to find that the Unknown Soldier had his roots in the home country, where his brother Harry lost his life in the grenade explosion that also took away his face.

To Zexiv, these comic book collections bring back fond childhood memories of those long and hot summers in Dagupan. Except that now there are no dogs howling at night over here to keep him awake, just the rocket like sound of the Skytrain and police sirens ....