Have you always wanted to learn how welding works?  Me too!  So, last weekend, 5 of us (including Twitters Courtney Johnston (@c_johnston), Jason Vonnieda (@vonnieda), and Jeff Smith (@JeffreySmith), plus my wife and I) took a Seattle Welding Intensive class to learn about welding, and to get get hands-on experience and practice with several different types of welding equipment.  In three words, “it was awesome!”.

Class was held at the Hazard Factory, in South Park (a neighborhood south of Seattle, near the Georgetown neighborhood), and it was amazing how fast the 5 hours flew by — we learned about the different types of welding (MIG, TIG and Stick) and got to practice with different machines — we were actually welding things together in the first 1-2 hours, and I’m actually feeling competent enough to do some work around the house — really, I highly recommend it.

The teacher, Rusty Oliver, has been welding for the last 13 years, and is also a sculptural artist — he was a fantastic instructor (he said that his mom was a teacher, so he learned the skills from her), and made it a fun day that I’m pretty sure I’ll never forget.

This video was from early in the day, as he explained the differences between MIG and TIG welding:

And, here are a few photos of us decked out in our gear:

Daryn and I have been down this road before (hint – it didn’t go well for Daryn), and since he’s a glutton (for punishment), we’re at it again.  This time it’s a summer of weight loss enjoyment thru better nutrition classes and exercise.  The bet — who can lose more weight on a percentage basis over the course of the summer.  The winner (the person who loses the most % weight) at the end of each month gets dinner (drinks, appetizer thru dessert) paid for by the loser.  The grand prize (at end of summer) winner gets the same, including wife and dog

We weighed in at our favorite Seattle gym, Denali Fitness, on Thursday morning, and I was at 196, and Daryn was at 213 (granted, both were with shoes on, but still, that’s just gross).  We’ll be tracking our % weight loss on this chart, dubbed the ‘Fat Index’, which will update as we add weigh-in-data via Google Docs — enjoy!

Also, for those of you wishing to join us, check out New York fitness classes, Chicago yoga classes, or more TeachStreet weight loss classes.

Announcing New Features:
The team here at TeachStreet is pleased to announce a suite of new features to help people find the best classes, experts, and instructional content. Whether you’re currently an expert, or you’re aspiring to become one, these new features will help you connect with the resources you’re looking for.

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We hope you enjoy the new and improved TeachStreet — www.TeachStreet.com

On the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month

Commemorating the End of World War I

Tomorrow is November eleventh – the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year. That’s a lot of ones! Aside from reminding you to brush up on your arithmetic, what’s so special about this numerically homogenous date?

A lot of cool things have happened on the eleventh of November. In terms of math, in 1675 Gottfried Liebniz first demonstrated integral calculus, using it to find the area under the graph of the function y=f(x). In 1864, November 11th marked the beginning of General William Tecumseh Sherman’s infamous March to the Sea, with the burning of Atlanta in preparation for taking a scorched-earth policy. And, in a perhaps slightly better known military event, November 11th, 1918 was the end date of World War I.

Officially, the war was over at 11:00am – the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month. The armistice agreement was signed between the Allies and Germany in a repurposed railway car near Compiegne, France. The first world war was more than just the first significant global conflict; it also marked the first instance of trench warfare, widespread use of chemical weaponry (especially poisonous gas), and high-powered artillery, including mortars. Other technologies previously not available in military contexts, such as telephones, walkie-talkies, armored cars, tanks, aircraft, and, near the very end of the war, gigantic ships called aircraft carriers, contributed to the suddenly changing landscape of warfare in the modern era. These increased communication capabilities, combined with more advanced weaponry (projectile as well as chemical and aerial), made World War I a bloodbath. In the end, more than 20,000,000 civilian and military deaths were recorded.

On November 11th, 1918 the world knew peace for the first time in years. In Europe alone more than 60,000,000 soldiers had been mobilized; the armistice finally allowed them to return home. And so ended the great battle of a generation, though many would argue that the treaties signed and policies enacted at the end of World War I set the stage for many modern conflicts to come, as well as changing forever the political and social map of Europe – making the so-called Great War a relevant study for anyone interested in modern politics, geography, or economics.

Creative Commons | Flags of the World

So this month, in addition to commemorating the Gunpowder Treason (November 5th – Guy Fawkes’ Day in England, date of a foiled conspiracy to blow up Parliament and an important plot element of the film “V for Vendetta”), don’t forget to remember Armistice Day, honor those who died in World War I, and reflect on the significance of the first true global conflict.

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Goblins and Ghosties and Ghouls

Traditions of Halloween and Where They Started

So what is noteworthy about fall? For one thing, the weather is getting colder, inspiring people to pull on warm socks and other cozy knit garments. For another, the light, refreshing foods of summer are being replaced with heartier autumn fare, like stews, chili, and dishes made of seasonal goodies like apple, pumpkin, cranberry and potatoes. The world is exploding into picture-perfect fall color, and in cooler climes, many folks are embarking on some last-minute home improvement projects to batten down the hatches for the coming winter. But what else is cool about fall, besides the weather?

Creative Commons | Halloween Moon

Boo! Gotcha! At the end of October, Halloween is celebrated by people across the United States, and in many other nations including Mexico, Britain, Japan and New Zealand, to name just a few. This international holiday manifests slightly differently from country to country, but there are a few constants. One is the holiday’s focus on the dead; in the US, that emphasis now emerges as cartoon images of mummies, zombies, vampires and cartoon skeletons…In Mexico, it is recognized with altars to dead relatives, all-night vigils in cemeteries and the eating of skull-shaped sweets.

Well, everyone loves a good party, and Halloween costumes are a riot at soirees. Carved pumpkins lit up at night look swanky, and spiderwebs, creepy decorations and “smoking” dry ice punch are all fun too! But where did all these traditions COME from? What was Halloween like for Americans in the past, and what is it like today?

Let’s start with a little information about how the whole tradition got started in the first place. Irish immigrants brought the tradition with them in the 19th century. Before that, Puritan ideals had pretty much prohibited most holidays (though the Spanish had introduced Halloween traditions to Mexico and Latin America some time before). After the Irish potato famine, though, a wave of millions of Irish immigrants to the United States began pushing aside lingering Puritan traditions. Halloween, called Samhain by early Celts, had become a state holiday in Ireland in 837 CE. Ireland, which is now predominantly Catholic, embraced what was then known as “All Saint’s Day”, or “All Hallow’s Day”. One common theory claims that Pope Gregory IV standardized All Saint’s Day so as to overlap with a popular pagan autumn harvest festival, overlaying indigenous Celtic tradition with a palatable patina of Christianity.

Creative Commons | All Souls’ Night

In most of the world today, Halloween has lost much of its religious significance. In 20th century America, Halloween emerged as a children’s holiday (or, for slightly older children, a night of mischief and vandalism). Costumes popular in modern Halloween celebrations, however, are throwbacks to the original holy implications of the festival; outfits like black cats reference old superstitions, costumes such as nuns, monks, angels, and brides or grooms refer to the hallowed nature of the day, while spookier garb like skeletons, vampires, ghosts, mummies, zombies, etc refer to the restless souls of the undead said to rise and walk the earth on the night before the holy day on which all saints were honored. (Remember “Night on Bald Mountain” from Fantasia?)

Other traditions, such as the iconic jack-o-lantern, derived from older traditions of carving faces into potatoes, turnips or other starchy root vegetables, and placing them in the windows of a home to ward off wandering spirits in the dangerous night before the return of goodness at daybreak.

Creative Commons | Halloween Pumpkin

In 21st century America, Halloween has continued to evolve, becoming less of a children’s holiday and a more popular event with adults. While trick-or-treating in costume is still an extremely prevalent practice for young children, many adults and older children continue to dress up on Halloween, attending parties, parades or visiting bars, clubs and other community gatherings in lieu of knocking on doors for candy. Many modern costumes have departed from the more traditional wear, including such outfits as celebrities, political figures, animals, famous artworks, video game or cartoon characters and many other funny, clever, unique or bizarre ideas (some sweet, some cute, some sexy, some weird and some scary or gross). In fact, many Americans even put costumes on their pets for Halloween! No wonder some people’s dogs seem to have rage issues…

Creative Commons | Boston Terrier Halloween

Any way you slice it, Halloween is a holiday with a ton of cool history – ranging from religious history, to immigration history, cultural encounters and exchange, and traditions about autumn harvest and the coming of winter. And more importantly, it’s fun! Really, it’s only once a year you’re really allowed to go to work dressed as Scooby-Doo, or walk around the supermarket wearing fairy wings and waving a sparkly wand at small children. In most circumstances, that would probably result in the cops being called. On Halloween, though, everyone has an excuse to break away from the every day!

So, what are YOU doing this weekend?

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Creating the Amazons

Archery, Fitness and the Women of Legend

So what do archery, women in the military, DC Comics, Greek mythology, and women’s fitness have in common? More than you might think.

An ancient Greek myth about a ferocious tribe of women warriors, resurrected in modern times as a part of the DC Comics universe, has come to permeate many facets of popular culture today. The Amazon tribe has come to symbolize a great many things, ranging from female independence, to active-duty women in the military, to sacrifice and devotion (referring, of course, to the elective masectomies allegedly employed by these legendary women to enable them to be better archers).

Picture: Creative Commons | Girl’s Archery

Today, the term “Amazon” is usually used to indicate a woman of notable strength, fitness, indepence, or exceptional ability in some dimension of her life (usually physical, though I have heard the term applied to women who excelled in the boardroom as well as on athletic scoreboards). The Amazon tribe, which may have actually had some factual basis – historical evidence suggests that the mythical tribe may have been based on a real-life nation, lead by women and bordering on Scythia – is most famous for its depiction in Greek myth as being a society of beautiful, fierce women who were so dedicated to the pursuit of their martial skills that they actually had one breast removed in order to better draw their bows.

Well, to be a woman warrior today, no surgical alteration is needed! Today, people of both sexes enjoy the ancient art of archery (alliteration is absolutely addicting, apparently…) as a hobby, shooting on ranges at targets as well as taking their skills further afield during hunting season. Modern bows run the gamut from fiberglass to laminated wood or horn in composition, and come in a variety of shapes and styles, including longbows, recurve bows, and compound bows (though some purists consider the compound bow a form of cheating).

Archery is tricky, requiring patience, arm strength, hand-eye coordination, breath control, and more patience to top it off. If you’re like me, you might want to combine your exploration of archery with an anger management course…If you can get past the frustration, though, and remain calm and patient, you’ll see why this ancient military practice has endured into the modern world, and has in fact become less an art of war, and more of a practice for recreation and pleasure.

Picture: Creative Commons | Archery and Fencing

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Recess4GrownUps

Let your brain out to play.

Hips Don’t Lie

Why We Love Slinky Dance Moves

Whether it’s a shimmy, a swivel, a sway or a sashay, movement from the hips gets attention. Bilingual beauty Shakira really said it all; hips don’t lie. Everybody knows there’s something sensual about a swiveling pelvis – just ask all the Elvis fans! – but recent science has emerged that explains the why of it.

So just what is it that makes swaying hips so sexy? Well, a research team at the University of West Scotland did some homework, and what they discovered is perhaps more intimate than most of us would have predicted. In women, at least, the results of the study suggested that a lot about a woman’s sexuality (specifically, how easy it is for her to reach climax) can be determined just by observing the way she walks. The more swivel a subject had in her hips when walking, the more likely she was to…well, you know.

Picture: Creative Commons |Woman

Greater stride length and vertebral rotation (fancy ways of saying, the more visible motion in the pelvis – motions that are generally considered “sexy”) were observed in women who reported the greatest physical pleasure from intimate activities, according to the researchers. Observers in the study were 80% accurate (based on the women’s self-reported sexual histories and preferences) at gauging what a woman liked in the bedroom just from watching how she walked. Granted, the observers were trained sexologists, but the results are surprising nonetheless. Like I said, everyone knows there’s something sexual about pelvic motion, whether the swivel is on Elvis, Shakira or in a cheerleading routine. But apparently there’s more to the motion than just eye candy – really, the motions of belly dancing, tango or samba say a lot about the muscle tone and flexibility in your core abdomen and pelvis!

Researchers also suggested that increased stride length and vertebral rotation were correlated with overall core strength, balance and confidence. So activities that increase strength and flexibility in the core not only contribute to better posture, firmer abs and general sex appeal…but they might have other benefits, too, if you know what I mean.

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Recess4GrownUps

Let your brain out to play.

Waltzing to Your Own Tune

The History of a Famous Dance

How positively obscene! There ought to be a law. It’s a threat to common decency! Can you imagine, doing a thing like that with a man in public?

…OK, get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about one of the most famous, and popular, ballroom dance styles in the world today; the waltz. Today, the waltz is considered a refined and romantic activity; doing the waltz is unlikely to provoke chaperone intervention at a high school dance. In fact, the waltz is, in the modern world, more likely to be associated with high society or the older generation, than with hormonally charged youngsters “getting jiggy with it”. But this has not always been the case.

“Waltz” comes from the German word walzen, meaning to glide, roll or turn. The dance is performed in 3/4 time, in two-person pairs of (traditionally) one man and one woman.

The waltz first emerged in a suburb of Vienna, Austria – it was immediately popular, evolving quickly from its origin in Austrian peasant dances, or wellers, into the more familiar style we know today involving a close hold between partners. By the seventeenth century, waltzes were being performed in the court of the Hapsburgs; by the eighteenth century, it had spread to high society in other nations, such as France. Though popular among recreational dancers, the waltz was met with furious opposition from religious leaders, professional dancers, traditionalists, and moralists. The close physical proximity of the dancers, the rapid turns of the dance, and the unconventional three-quarter timing of the dance angered many people of the day. England, ever the bastion of conservative social mores, was one of the last European nations to embrace (pardon the pun) the waltz. As late as 1866, articles published in Britain denounced the waltz as a “horror”, a “wicked dance”, and an activity of “violent embraces and canterings”.

Picture: Creative Commons | Waltzing

As so often in history, violent opposition did nothing to diminish the popularity of the dance, and in fact the controversy provoked even greater interest in the waltz. Despite its place today as an activity of elegance and panache, the waltz is actually the historical equivalent of modern breakdancing, freak dancing, or pole dancing; hardly a pasttime approved of by the establishment…though much enjoyed by merrymakers the world over! Scandalous.

Recess4GrownUps

Let your brain out to play.

The Urge to Herbal

Minty Magic and Mythology

You can find it in candy, in toothpastes, in gardens, in teas, in oil form, as a garnish, as part of a recipe, or even prescribed as a medicine. You could sample its sweeter side with a PCC Cooks class in Seattle to bake it into chocolate cookies; or you could explore its savory side in Mediterranean cuisine with Whole Foods’ cooking classes. You might find muddled with club soda, sugar and rum…or in the name of one of Portland, Oregon’s most famous cocktail bars. There are about 25 different species and many hundreds of varieties of it; they have distinctive square stems, and a fragrance recognizable to world over.  With a place in everything from Greek mythology to Moroccan tea, what could I possibly be talking about? Why, mint, of course. Mint is a sturdy, fast-growing perennial herb with a long history and numerous interesting properties.

Picture: Creative Commons |Chocolate Mint in Bloom

The modern English name, mint, comes from the Greek Minthe – the name of a nymph who angered Persephone (herself the goddess of the underworld, associated with pomegranates and the turning of the seasons). As her revenge, Persephone transformed Minthe into a lowly plant, intending her to be stepped on by passersby for the rest of eternity. Pluto, wife of Persephone, was unable to reverse the spell. However, out of some combination of good will and guilt (it was, after all, his love affair with Minthe that had so enraged his wife), he was able to grant Minthe a certain lovely fragrance, that would be released when her leaves were trod upon. Personally I am not sure how much that did to ease the torment of being trapped as a plant for the rest of eternity, but perhaps that’s why I’m not part of the Greek pantheon.
The herb itself is native to the Mediterranean and to parts of Western Asia. By the avenues of various trade routes and the vagaries of imperial conquests, the herb spread around the world, and its hardy nature made it well-suited to growing in a variety of climates. Mint was brought by early European settlers to the Americas, primarily for medicinal purposes. Mint was (and by some naturopathic medicine practitioners, still is) used to treat upset stomach, heart pain or palpitations, as a digestive aid, as a diuretic, a mild decongestant, to soothe sore throats, and as an antipruritic (anti-itch compound) on insect bites. Mint also has natural stimulant properties, and as an essential oil, can be a gentle alternative to consuming caffeine when you need to stay awake – and it commonly makes an appearance in aromatherapy scents. Mint can also be used as an insect repellent, for pests ranging from mosquitoes to cockroaches.

Picture: Creative Commons |Watermelon and Mint

In the modern world, the most common use for mint is, of course, in cooking, particularly in confections, desserts, and drinks. Moroccan Mint tea is a popular hot beverage; the Mint Julep is a classic Southern cocktail, made with mint, bourbon, sugar and water over ice; peppermint candies, including the classic candy cane, are eaten worldwide. The most popular varieties of mint are spearmint (used in drinks), chocolate mint (used in desserts), peppermint (for desserts and drinks), “garden” mint (for general cooking), and pineapple mint (for use in cooking and in particular, used in salads). Refreshing!

Recess4GrownUps

Let your brain out to play.

Three Hundred Sixty Five and a Quarter

Popes, Orbits, Rotations and the Origins of the Modern Calendar

December 31st marks a day most modern people are well acquainted with; the end of the old year, and the beginning of the new. In fact, we’re quite used to the year proceeding as expected; spring, summer, fall and winter all happen more or less on a predictable schedule.

There are 365 days in a year…with the one small (and frequently under-appreciated) exception that occurs every fourth year at the end of February. In its simplest description, a calendar is a system of time-tracking based on astronomy. Why do I say that? Well, because despite the numerous different calendars that have been invented and used throughout the ages, all of them have something in common; a single unit of time, based on the earth’s rotation on its axis.

That unit consists of a period of light and a period of darkness. We call it a “day”. Calendars group these individual units into larger units (weeks, months, years). These larger units are where there is a lot of variability among different calendar systems. The Jewish calendar, for example (which is the modern official calendar of Israel), bases its months and years purely on lunar cycles.

On the other hand, the “Christian” (also called the “Julian” after Julius Caesar, or “Gregorian” after Pope Gregory XII, who declared it the official calendar of Christendom in 1582) calendar, which is the most common calendar in use around the world today and is the standard for business and international affairs, bases its year on the Earth’s orbit around the sun.

Picture: Creative Commons | Earth

Although the Gregorian month is approximately as long as a typical lunar cycle, its months have no connection to the actual cycles of the moon. This difference is why holidays such as Chinese New Year or Hanukkah fall on different Gregorian dates from year to year; the Chinese and the Jewish calendar don’t line up perfectly with the Gregorian calendar, so a Chinese holiday may happen on the same day of the Chinese calendar every year, and yet appear to “migrate” on the Gregorian calendar.

The science of determining the precise length of a year is a tricky one, because the rotation of Earth on its axis doesn’t necessarily correlate perfectly with the Earth’s completing one full orbit around the sun – that is to say, the true length of time it takes the Earth to go around the sun isn’t perfectly 365 24-hour cycles.

So a 365 day year is actually slightly inaccurate – as is every other calendar ever used, in fact. This is why we have “leap years” (or for some calendars, a “leap month”) – because the true time it takes the Earth to complete one full orbit is three hundred and sixty five days…and one quarter day. To prevent that quarter day from accumulating over time and causing months and holidays to round-robin such that December is 120 degrees in Minnesota, we add in an extra day every four years to compensate. The year with the extra day is called a leap year, and the extra day is the cumulative “spare” quarter days that went unaccounted for in non-leap-years.

In what we now call 46 BC, Julius Caesar introduced a calendar reform in an attempt to better measure the year, and avoid the irregular years that came from the inaccuracies of the common-use calendar at the time. In order to put all the seasons back into their appropriate places so that summer was hot, winter was cold, and the summer solstice happened in June, Caesar was compelled to “make” a year last 445 days! This is known as the “Year of Confusion”, or annus confusionis in Latin, and it served the purpose of normalizing the calendar and syncing it with the realities of the Earth’s solar orbit.

The exact length of a complete orbit changes over time, as the sun and our planet both age (on average, the Earth’s rotation slows by about half a second per century, meaning it’s slowed a total of 10 seconds from 1 AD until today). Many different systems of measuring months and years have emerged over the centuries. However, the calendar we use today is not the first calendar to measure a year as 365.25 days.The first was the calendar of ancient Egypt – first recorded, with a 365.25 day-long year, in 4326 BC. So much for the advances of modern technology, I guess.