Sunday, October 6, 2013

My thoughts on the government shutdown

1. Republicans are crybabies. They lost fair and square. Now they’re throwing a temper tantrum. Man up.
2. Health care has been a ticking time bomb for decades. For the 12 years before Obama, Republicans controlled the House & Senate. In that time, they did not produce a conservative solution to health care.

3. No one really knows what Obamacare will do to our economy, hospitals, or employers. To anyone who says they know for sure what will happen: shut the fuck up. In case you slept through science class, you can’t know the results of the experiment until after it runs. To everyone else: sit back and give this legislation a chance.
4. Standard & Poor’s downgraded US debt in 2011. Do you remember why? They said that political gridlock threatened America’s ability to repay debt. Well… here we are. You can’t say we didn’t have fair warning.
5. Lobbying has ruined our democracy. I have a hard time believing that John Boehner and Eric Cantor care this much about mammograms and colonoscopies. A much more likely explanation is the $102 million insurance companies spent to prevent Obamacare. Make no mistake: 95% of politicians are prostitutes. (Examples of the 5% who aren’t include Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul.) We need a constitutional amendment to ban lobbying ASAP.
6. Obama has done a piss poor job of selling Obamacare to the public. As President, he can literally interrupt every single TV show when he wants to give a national address. He sold himself so well during the 2008 election. What happened to the salesman I knew and loved?
7. In general: we must cut government spending. By a lot. America is a business, and every year we’re slowly going bankrupt. This is one concept I’ve never seen a Democrat truly comprehend. You, yes you, are going to have to settle for less.
8. If only 12% of Americans are satisfied with congress, why do we keep voting for incumbents? Hey, you who are reading this: Stop voting for Team 1 and Team 2. You are part of the problem… not the solution. Instead, find a candidate you really believe in and vote for them. If your neighbor has good ideas, tell him to run.
9. America is still racist. We’re just more subtle about it. Part of the way we’ve treated Barack Obama is due to his race. We wouldn’t be giving the President such a hard time if he was white and grew up in Georgia.
10. Watching politics on TV is like watching bad sex. He’s squishing her. She’s only pretending to be into it. He wants to be more assertive, but doesn’t know how. She’s thinking about someone else. He can’t quite get it in. She is rolling her eyes when he’s not looking. (It’s the only analogy that truly fits.)
11. The bottom line is this: Our representatives have stopped caring about America and only care about winning. We’ve got two parents who are so busy arguing over what’s best for the child that they haven’t noticed the child is starving, tired, and just wants her parents to stop fighting.
Stop fighting America. Think about the child, and get something done instead.

Frontside bottom turn

The bottom turn is the most important move in surfing. It is used every time you catch a wave, and every time you do a maneuver. Having a solid bottom turn is essential to improving other areas of your surfing.
The first thing you need to do is catch a frontside wave, stand up, and ride down the wave face with all the speed that you can. Ride to the bottom of the wave until you reach the flats, the area in front of the wave with no transition. Right when you reach the flats start your bottom turn so you don't loose any speed. Bend your knees slightly, and lean on to your toe side edge to initiate the bottom turn. Be careful not to lean too far because you will bury your feet under water, loose all your speed, and fall off your board. Your weight should be evenly distributed between your front foot and your back foot, and you should be focused on the part of the wave where you want your bottom turn to end. Hold your line, keep your knees bent, and when you come off the flats on to the transition shift most of your weight to your back leg. Push on your back foot in order to gain as much speed as possible while driving up the wave. To finish off a good bottom turn hit the lip hard, or do a powerful cutback. Once you've completed a maneuver at the top of the wave continue down the line and start your next bottom turn. After some practice your bottom turns will be wired, and you can start leaning into them by putting your trailing hand in the water. As you can see there isn't that much to a good bottom turn, but attention to detail will give you a little bit of extra speed. This will allow you to make all your maneuvers faster and more radical. Cliffs: 
  1. Start your bottom turn as soon as you get to the flats.
  2. Do Not bury your feet under water during the bottom turn.
  3. Carry your speed up the wave by bending your knees, and putting pressure on your back foot.

How to Perfrom a proper Cutback by former pro surfer Matt Reynolds.

The cutback is the most crucial maneuver in surfing. Without it, we would have no way to get back into the pocket to perform all the radical tricks we see being executed today. In beachbreaks, knowing how to use your rails and do solid cutbacks to get back into the pocket is absolutely critical.
A surfer should try to stay within a 3 foot square of the whitewater as they ride. But if you are at a break that's chugging off like a freight train you won't have to worry about staying too close too the whitewater.

Ok so lets get this started.

First of all you need speed, you don't have to be going the speed of light but the more speed you have the more spray you'll throw and the sicker your turn will look. Pump down the line looking for a section that has a nicely sloping shoulder to turn on. Start your bottom turn as soon as you reach the flats, and drive up the wave face at a 40 to 60 degree angle.

When you reach the middle of the wave face bend your knees and shift your weight from your toe side rail to your heel side rail to initiate the cutback. Twist your upper body in the direction you are turning, and extend your leading arm towards the water to keep a low center of gravity. Most of your pressure should be applied to your back foot while your front foot guides your board through the turn.

Halfway through the turn your leading arm should be touching the wave face. This keeps you low to your board as well as providing a point for you to pivot around. Lean on your rail as hard as you can during this part of the turn to create a tight powerful arc. Be sure to watch the tip of your board as you turn because you want it to fit into the transition of the wave perfectly in order to maximize speed. As your board turns back towards the white wash you want to finish the turn. Do this by straightening out you back leg, and centering your weight over your fully bent front leg. This will add snap and style to the turn and also keep you low to your board. Your board will finish with the nose pointing straight back towards the white water.   Stay low and focused on the front rail of your board, and how it fits into the transition of the wave. Now that the turn is finished turn your board back towards the open face of the wave by pressing on your back foot. Watch the transition of the wave as you pivot so you don’t nosedive, and go straight into your next bottom turn.  The only way to learn cutbacks is to go surfing so get off your computer and get out there. Check out Sepp Bruhwiler, Kelly Slater, Andy Irons and most importantly Taylor Knox because he has the best cutback in the business. KEYS:
  1. Start your bottom turn with lots of speed.
  2. Put your leading arm in the water, and use it as a pivot point.
  3. Finish the turn with your back leg straight and your weight over a bent front leg.