Misadventures of Chris

Join the Vaynernation

2008-02-04T20:22:00.000-05:00

Here's the deal folks. Have you had wine before? Liked it? Not liked it? Wondered what the fuss is about with these folks that spend thousands of dollars and talk about odd things coming out of their glass of grape juice? Leave the wine reviewer snobbery behind, and watch Winelibrary TV. Gary Vaynerchuk is a funny dude with a lot to say about wine. He's honest, open, an all around swell guy, and he brings wine tasting down for the rest of us. Awesome program I can't recommend enough.

http://tv.winelibrary.com

crazy for the vino

2007-12-03T16:11:00.000-05:00

I've been going a little wine crazy lately. I had about 20 bottles until a little around a week ago when I had a wine tasting with David Lawrason, Toronto Life's wine critic. I ordered some wines from Hidden Bench and Creekside immediately after, and grabbed some more from vintages, and now I'm up to 55. Check out my cellar here:

http://www.corkd.com/people/spirit77/cellar

Love the wine.

RSS feed links for my PSP

2007-09-23T16:04:00.000-04:00

This post is almost entirely just to make it easy on myself putting podcasts into my new PSP.

http://revision3.com/systm/feed/quicktime-small
http://revision3.com/infected/feed/quicktime-small
http://www.cbcradio3.com/podcast/radio3/standard/
http://www.cbcradio3.com/podcast/r330/standard/
http://www.cbcradio3.com/podcast/trackoftheday/standard/
http://leoville.tv/podcasts/ww.xml
http://hbsp2.libsyn.com/rss
http://feeds.conversationsnetwork.org/gigavox/channel/itconversations
http://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts/feed/rss2
http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/podcasts/6/XPlay_Daily_Video_Podcast.xml
http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/podcasts/23/AOTS_Hardware.xml
http://www.ted.com/themes/rss/id/46
http://askaninja.com/ipod/rss
http://feeds.feedburner.com/webbalert

12.75 Steps

2007-07-06T08:54:00.001-04:00

Lately I've been pondering the idea of getting from "should" to "must". In the past this has been a mysterious process, but one that typically leads to success. I just can't seem to wrap my head around exactly what it is that helps make that mental shift from "gosh I should really lose a few pounds" to "i must lose 10 pounds". The fitness thing is an easy one to pick on, and one that most people seem to have issue with, so I'll keep on that track. I know that I've been about 20lbs overweight for the past 2 or 3 years. It's disturbing, really. As I sit here now writing this, I can feel that spare tire around my waist, and it's not a happy feeling. Ask me if I want a donut while I'm in this particular state. Uh, no thanks. Rewind to about 3 years ago, when I was in what I would consider the best shape of my life. I was running 5k every morning, had martial arts workouts 3 to 4 times a week, visited a personal trainer once a week and I was eating obscenely healthy. I'm trying to understand what made that a must for me then. I do remember hitting a breaking point before I started that training regimen. I had just got some new clothes for work, and I remember my wife looking at the label going "you wear a 38?" and my heart sank into my gut. Something stirred inside me at that point. I snapped. Phrases like "enough" and "no more" and "never again" came into my mind. Coincidentally (or not, the universe is an interesting place), I saw an infomercial for Tony Robbins's "Get the Edge" a couple of days later, and decided what the heck. Once it arrived I devoured it, and many of the tools inside helped me to make those shifts from "should" to "must". In the program he actually says we have to make our "shoulds" into our "musts". It's a great program, I highly recommend it to anyone that's interested in making some real changes in their life. Come to think of it, I should probably go through it again myself.

Just thinking about those days makes me feel more committed to treating my body right. These days I find that I can very easily wake up in the morning and say "that's it today I'm going to drink 3L of water, drink some greens, no coffee, and lots of raw vegetables". It's an easy statement to make, but then it seems like I get in these zombie like states where I'm on autopilot and I run downstairs from the office to get a muffin, scone, coffee or whatever. I'd like to figure out where that state comes from. I know it doesn't have much to do with hunger - most of these times I am sure I'm probably really just looking for water - but what is it that triggers these things? Slightly lower blood sugar, a little tired from the day "oh I'll just treat myself for now" kind of thing? I'm not sure even now. I think the next step here is to actually catch myself in one of those modes and stop, assess what state I am in emotionally, physically, and why.

Fun and games

2007-04-25T10:50:00.001-04:00

Johhny C. said I should put a post up. Here it is. Lots of stuff going on, MTB season is back and lots of races on the go. I'm going to make a concerted effort to update this blog more regularly.

Windows Live Writer

2007-03-06T22:17:00.001-05:00

I have to say I've been impressed recently by Windows Live products. It really seems like MS is slowly getting ahead of the game again. I am not a MS fanboy, but using Vista, Local Live and now Live Writer, they're really great products. I have a lengthy daily commute, I'm going to use live writer to post entries daily. Look for more creative stuff to come!!

Testing Using Word 2007 as a blog entry tool

2007-02-12T14:51:00.001-05:00

This is just a test. It'll be pretty darn cool if it works.

welcome to your new world

2007-01-02T13:38:00.000-05:00

Two thousand and freakin' seven. I did some MTB races last season, and it was a great motivator to make time to work out and eat right. This year, my buddy Jani is planning on riding some of the same races to show me what a wimp I am. He's already down to 11% bf, and does an insane amount of working out in a week. Time to step it up. Starting tonight, I'm putting down stats on the sad state of my body, and start tracking how things are working out. He's got the advantage of time, but I think I have an advantage 'cause I've got some tricks up my sleeve. pH Miracle stuff, core training that I've learned over the years, and a personal trainer living next door may be helpful. This is shaping up to a great freakin year already I can't wait to get on the course.

Our first race will be the Paris to Ancaster. www.parisancaster.ca

a whole new world

2006-11-18T11:52:00.000-05:00

Vista RTM installed, Office 2007 RTM installed too. No more release management on my laptop, I'm just working on it now. Seems much 'snappier' as clichee as that sound. The only thing I've noticed so far is the difference in icons, and the speed of logging on. Takes about 30s to shutdown, 35s to boot and 3s to login on my T42p. Cool.

I'm addicted to bluedot.us now, reading my RSS feeds just so I can find something to dot. Not entirely sure why, I think that's something to explore.

Vista RTM on MSDN Today!

2006-11-16T22:03:00.001-05:00

Just found Vista RTM on MSDN. Just posted tonight yahoo, I'm downloading as we speak.

virtualized application spaces

2006-11-06T20:50:00.000-05:00

I've got an issues.

Technical issues I mean. I'm trying to figure out how the heck to load balance an application service. A stateful application service. Very silly. All I need is a VIP and a service that will balance traffic across window servers in a stateful manner based on perfmon stats. Is that too much to ask? Doesn't look like NLB does it very well, and I don't think Veritas does it either. CSS boxes might do it - perhaps we need to test that out, maybe that would do it.

wiki for corporate IT standards documentation

2006-11-03T07:07:00.000-05:00

I've been working on trying to get IT standards defined in several documents in my organization, but I never seem to be able to make time to get this done. So, after listening to an IT conversation (www.itconversations.com) podcast about facilitating collaboration I thought holy crap we're supposed to be IT guys, let's implement a high tech solution that works for this. I'm going to beta a wiki for our standards docs, so the team can make changes to the documentation, and it's all online.

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Installing_MediaWiki_on_Windows_Server_2003_SP1

back in the real world

2006-09-22T08:04:00.000-04:00

So, I've made it back to the real world. It's interesting to see how the emotional hooks come back once you return to the familiar environment. I feel tugged in the old directions, but I feel like something has really changed inside. I think it's self image. I feel like I want to do some of the silly things I used to do regularly - eat crap, drink coffee, drink beer - but I feel the urge and I feel like that's not who I am at a fundamental level. Which is kind of cool I think.

Here are the principles I'm committed to adhering to, especially in the arena of health.

1. Hydrate - half my body weight in ounces every day.
2. 70% water rich live foods - essentially, a salad with every meal
3. Reduction in acid forming foods - less meat, less refined sugars, less cola, no alcohol
4. Greens every day - a green drink every day in addition to the water
5. Regular cardio exercise - 3x a week cardo
6. Strength training exercise - 2x a week, strength training
7. Flexibility training exercise - 1x a week, flexibility training
8. Essential oils - ensure I get the appropriate amount of essential oils, like through Udo's oils
9. Supplementation - take multis and any other appropriate, natural supplements

That's about it. Shake it easy y'all.

here we go day 5

2006-09-14T11:18:00.000-04:00

Day 5 is upon me, and I'm really actually itching to get home. I miss my girl!!

Last night was interesting, we had a 'trance dance' to finish the day. Basically there were very tribal beats playing, and we moved different body parts as we went, finishing in a frenzied sort of no-mind all body dance that really got the ya yas out. Removed some of the filters between mind and body. Finally I can speak without any filters like my buddy Dan. Heehee. Just kidding bud.

No substantial food yet, although we got like a third of a banana yesterday, which was stellar. The broths, soups and juices that we get throughout the day are really outstanding - high on the list when I get back is a juicer. They made this one that's more like a smoothie with almonds in it and I'm not sure what else but it's really great.

I'm feeling light today, very alert, very happy. I feel like lots of tension has been released from my body - whether that's a result of the relaxed pace around here, the colonics (yes I've had more than one now) or the seminars, I'm not sure. At any rate, it's fun and games.

Oh, and btw, Microsoft is introducing the Zune today see www.comingzune.com for a sketchy little movie. I think things are about to heat up in the portable media player market. I'm actually pretty excited. Something that will work with my laptop, my xbox 360 would be great.

shake it easy y'all

Day.. erm.. 4?

2006-09-13T20:21:00.000-04:00

Holy smokes time is passing slowly. It's good I guess lots of time to relax, which is the point - relax and detox. So this is Day 4. 3 days of not eating any solid foods. I abandoned the gym after day 3 - it just doesn't feel like my body would like to go for a run at this point. Strangely, I feel pretty energetic. I should say I feel very alert. My body feels a little sluggish at times, but I feel really light. Lost 7 pounds since day 1, which means I'm back under 200lbs yahoo. When I get back I will be unstoppable. I'm going to crush the competition at the 8hr relay!!!

Today's stuff was more on relationships, and went through an exercise where picked the traits that we would want from an ultimate relationship with the perfect mate. Then went on to define exactly what kind of person we would have to be in order to bring that mate into our life, or as in my case, bring that out of your current mate. Makes you think. Good stuff. Ended the session with John Gray (Men are from Mars Women are from Venus) talking about differences between men and women. He is one funny mofo. So, all in all everything is going quite well. Feeling like my body is really responding to the detox, and I've got lots of great info to bring back to friends, family and peers about health, relationships, etc. Cool.

crazy days

2006-09-13T01:12:00.001-04:00

Ok, yesterday was bonkers, so I didn't really get a chance to post. Lots of fun and excitement during the day, and lots of really cool information. Day 2 was 'Emotional Mastery'. The most important thing I learned (I think, sometimes you find out you learned things later that you weren't aware of) was that urges can be controlled, if you take the time to do so. Tony Robbins isn't actually here, a lot of the work is done by his trainers, and we have a big screen that plays vids. One of the videos had Tony bringing this guy up on stage that LOVED pizza. He specifically asked people to volunteer who really loved pizza. I imagine he was preselected without his knowledge (when you come to these events, you supply a questionnaire, and a picture...) but it was pretty cool. He got this guy on stage, and at life mastery you eat nothing but wheatgrass juice and some special broths and juices. So he was HUNGRY. Tony brings out this cheese pizza for this guy, and he's salivating all over it. He says on a scale from -10 to 10, 10 being omygodgivemethatnow and -10 being don't get it near me I'll barf, what do you rate it. The guy says 8 or 9. Tony says what would you have to notice or believe to make it a 10. So the guy says well, the crust looks crispy, and if I imagined it was a little warmer with a little more cheese, it'd be a 10. So make it so. He does, says it's a 10, and you can actually see he's ready to scarf it back. So then Tony says what would you have to notice or believe for it to be a -5. The guy says, well the crust looks a little dry I guess, and well, there's not enough cheese on it, and if I imagined the cheese was something yucky and tasteless it would be a -5. Tony says make it so, so the guys looks at it, imagines those things and he's like ya, it's a -5 now.

So we tried it ourselves, and I used the idea of a starbucks pumpkin scone, which I have been eating far too many of. Sure enough you can dial in your urges just by playing with your brain a little. Cool, and very helpful when I return to the real world.

Today was another story. Relationship day. I woke up feeling kind of weak and fatigued, got to the resort for my blood test. Dr. Mike pricked my finger then put it under a dark field microscope. I actually got to see my blood cells alive, which was very cool. Everything was pretty good, he had a few suggestions on where to improve my diet. I'll show off the pictures when I get back. Then our ritual wheatgrass and the day began. Some good stuff in the morning, but the afternoon was where the real cool stuff was. We did an exercise during this time that was geared towards understanding your current relationships, but I got something broader out of it, and that is this:

If you want to make a difference, you need to really allow yourself to be fully present at all times. By that, I mean that the Chris at the office should be the same Chris that's at home should be the same Chris that's jumping around like a maniac at a Tony Robbins event. Of course there's different skills involved - I'm not likely to ask Scott S. to stand like a tree and I'll pretend to be a bear scratching his back - but essentially the same guy should be present. Anything less is easier on me, because I don't have to be afraid of rejection when I make a stupid joke or fall off my chair, but uiltimately it hurts everyone else because I'm not sharing all of my gifts. That goes across the board, into my family relationships, marriage, everything. Good stuff.

Mystery solved

2006-09-10T23:52:00.000-04:00

You actually self-cleanse, no Boris, no hottie. Interesting day.

Where to start. We got to the joint and had breakfast, which strangely consisted of entirely fruit. Researched, I'm sure, but I thought fruit was too sugary? Maybe that was on purpose. I met a few nice people, and we went off and jumped off some poles. No really. Very high poles it was fun.

We got back and had our last solid lunch, which was delicious - salad, couscous, hummus and various toppings for the salad (none of which were meat and/or cheese Dan if you're reading this). It was actually awesome. My body must have already kicked into cleanse mode, because I wasn't all that hungry.

Later, came the colon fun. I'm going to avoid the gruesome details, but imagine a reclined plastic lazy boy with a channel down the middle and a hose sticking up that you impale yourself on and then flick a button that turns on the firehose. Einstein was bang on about relativity; 20 mins in that chair seemed like a whole day. The disturbing part, I thought, was that after 20 mins of flushing your innards with warm water, there was still solid waste coming out. How is that possible?! I'm no doctor, butt.... hehehe

Went to the resort's spa after and had a massage. I'm sure Lor will kill me it wasn't exactly cheap, but it was honest to goodness the best damned (professionally administered therapeutic) massage I've ever had. I am fighting to keep the tension from building up in my shoulders as I type.

Last, tonight's activities were cool. I've never spent that much time on a rebounder, ever. Rebounder is a little one person trampoline. Apparently the bouncing is great for getting the lymphatics moving. Tony on the big screen was great, actually. Talked about lots of great stuff.

What was great about today: chatting with a former CFL, NFL player who now works at one of the shops on the resort about the a teaching career in Palm Springs, meeting a bunch of really cool people, really nice wheatgrass, and a possibly psychotropic vegetable juice they gave to us right out the door. Just kidding of course, I'm sure the crazy dreams will come on their own. Funny, but it seems as if the cleanse is already affecting things. During the meeting tonight, I was starting to feel more energy, at one point it was literally throbbing down my arms into my palms. Feels like my sense of smell is keener already, some gal had incense going on our way out and I could smell it a block away.

Regained respect for my body again, and I'm committed to returning to a healthy lifestyle. My new (old) mantra: Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels.

I'm pooched and going to bed.

Day 1 Pre-Event

2006-09-10T09:20:00.000-04:00

Up this morning before 5am, I went to the gym for some cardio - on the the bike for a warm up and then on the treadmill for 30mins or so at an aerobic pace. I figure that if out diet here is going to be about cleansing, light cardio is important - keep the blood moving!!

I've got a 'complimentary' hydroscopic colonic today. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that. I think my TCM would think it's great, but again, I'm not entirely sure how 'complimentary' it will be. I hope the therapist is cute! Nothing quite like a big hairy dude named Boris shoving a hose up your ass. Then again, I'm not exactly sure how a cute one would do it. Nevermind.

My roommate is a gentleman from here in California, originally Argentina. Seems like a nice guy, drove a black isuzu trooper that's like 10 years old. Big boxy thing, it's pretty cool. Wish vehicles would survive that long in Canada!! We're going to check out bike rentals at the resort and see if we can just ride there every day - it's pretty much just around the corner, probably take 20mins on a bike.

Excited about what today might bring, hopefully have time to write more tonight.

palm freakin springs!

2006-09-09T20:07:00.000-04:00

I made it all the way to Palm Springs. LAX is a silly airport. Coming over the mountains (are they called mountains really?!) into Palm Springs was a little nutsy - the poor pilot has to make it over all that turbulence, and then dive bomb into the airport. I'm hoping that the ride out isn't quite as nerveracking.

The rest of the week is detox, so tonight I had my last meal. Or at least I think it's my last meal, I guess I'm up for another 4-5 hours, even though my body thinks I should be going to bed in another hour and a half or so. What did I have for a last meal before detox? A club sandwich on this fantastic whole wheat bread with fries and two pints of beer. I know it's so wrong, but really it was so good. Well, the beer was so so, but not bad for american crap. I suspect I will be regretting this meal in a couple of days when I'm drinking wheatgrass and trying my damndest to get all those toxins out of my system.

So all this way and all that money, what am I looking for from this conference?

First and foremost, I'm looking for tools to help on my everyday followthrough. I consistantly have great ideas in business and in regular life, but I typically have problems following through. I'm hoping I can pick up some tools here that will allow me to stay excited about my ideas and help me follow through.

Next most important, is actually the detox process. I've been a naughty, naughty boy for a few months now, and I'm definitely looking forward to cleaning out my body, making it a temple again. I think a big part of this is rewiring how I feel about food. For the last little while, I've been looking for food for emotional comfort versus nutritional value. I'm going to work towards getting back my nutritional ninja status.

Last, is really the rest of that 'stuff'. The brochures say there are sessions on finances, relationships, emotional health. I think these are all extremely important areas, but I'm really focused on the other items. I'm also looking forward to just breaking my patterns and doing something different. Getting up and going to a gym in the morning, then going for a swim (oh crap I just remembered that I forgot my swim trunks crap crap crap) then cranking it out at a TR event all day is enough to break anyone's patterns.

Should be a good time had by all, I'm looking forward to all of it.

Heading to California

2006-09-08T16:33:00.000-04:00

Welp, sure enough I'm off to California. I've created this new blog so there will be a place to keep my thoughts on my trip to Palm Springs. I'm attending a seminar entitled "Life Mastery" there. There will be lots of like minded folks there, and many notable speakers providing guidance in various areas of our lives - most notably, health (physical and emotional), romantic relationships, finances. I want to share my experiences almost real time with friends and family, as well as give myself the opportunity to really learn anything that feels to me like its really useful.

I'm looking forward to the trip, flight leaves tomorrow morning.