Reboot. Recharge.

Raw Marinara Sauce

2010-06-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

It's almost (not quite yet) tomato season, and I can't wait. In the meantime, using sun dried tomatoes is a good way to get your tomato dose in. You can use both fresh tomatoes and sun drieds to make a robust, raw marinara sauce.

First off you need to soak your sun dried tomatoes (~1 cup) to rehydrate them; to keep it raw, soak for about 4 hours in lukewarm water. After soaking, drain the tomatoes, reserving the soaking water to use to thin out the sauce as you process. Put the soaked tomatoes in a high speed blender.
In the meantime, rough chop 5-8 Roma tomatoes, depending on size, a garlic clove, 1-2 tsp fresh oregano and thyme, and a handful of fresh basil. Put all of those ingredients in the blender with the sun drieds.

Add the following to the blender: juice of 1 lemon, 2 TBS best quality cold pressed olive oil, 3 dates (pitted) and sea salt to taste.
Process the ingredients, adding the soak water to thin as necessary. Season with S+P to taste after processing. The consistency of the sauce will vary based on your preference.

So, what do you eat the sauce with? Well, to keep it raw, you can make "pasta" out of veggies. I used zucchini, summer squash and carrots.
I used a tool called the Spirooli Spiral Slicer. Its basically a tool with 3 different blades that can be used to cut vegetables into thin cut slices, or 2 different size spiral slices.
Here's a pic with the zucchini in place:
Here are a couple of pics of the veggies as they come off the blade:

And the finished product:

Before I sauce the noodles, I add a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice to soften them up a bit.
Though not totally raw, but enjoyed by raw food enthusiasts, for a cheesy taste like Parm cheese, you can top it the sauce and noodles with some nutritional yeast.

I had a bunch of sauce left over, so I took some and added ground flax to it and then blended it together in the high speed blender. I spread it on the dehydrator sheet and dehydrated it into a tomato wrap. Today I enjoyed it filled with sprouts, avocado, grape tomatoes, hemp seeds and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast:
Enjoy! Eat something raw today!

Spin Cycle

2009-09-17T14:35:00.001-07:00

Ride, Ride, Ride.....I'm glad I ride.....keeps my fat ass moving.
Here's my playlist from a few weeks back:

1. Undermind - Phish (Hampton 03/08/09)
2. 25 Miles - Edwin Starr
3. Celebration - Madonna
4. Duel - Propaganda
5. Some Days Are Better Than Others - U2
6. 4 Minutes - Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Timbaland
7. Kill Devil Falls - Phisj (Chicago, 08/11/09)
8. Jump - Madonna
9. Shine - Trey Anastasio
10. Party Girl - U2
11. Panama - Van Halen
12. Uninvited - Alanis Morissette
13. Roam - The B-52's

I had a couple weeks of using older playlists due to the Labor day weekend....this week's playlist I threw together yesterday morning in a panic, knowing that I had to teach last night and I hadn't made a playlist yet. That was due to the fact that we had some hard wood floors redone, and had to be out of the house over the weekend.....
But, what I put together worked quite well, and here it is:

1. Sign O The Times - Prince
2. Two Prince - Spin Doctors
3. Underneath - Alanis Morissette
4. Higher Love - Steve Winwood
5. Boogie On Reggae Woman - Stevie Wonder
6. Restless Wind - String Cheese Incident
7. We'll Be Together - Sting
8. The Stand - The Alarm
9. Backwards Down The Number Line - Phish
10. Upspin - Agents of Good Roots
11. Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart - Stone Temple Pilots
12. It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over - Lenny Kravitz
13. Joy - Phish

Life is so busy - staging our home to put on the mkt, cheffing, working for KitchenAid @ Williams Sonoma.....just not much other time to do much of anything else.....
Ride, Ride, Ride....I'm glad I ride, it keeps my fat ass moving.....

Spin Cycle Hot August nights

2009-08-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

Wooh, August has been hot!
Here are a couple playlists from the past couple of weeks:

2 weeks ago:

1.Throw It All Away-Zero 7
2. Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution-AC/DC
3. Sweet Inspiration-Derek Trucks
4. Wanted-Jessie James
5. Dead and Gone-T.I. (with JT)
6. Medicine Man-Zero 7
7. I know You Want Me-Pitbull
8. Crosseyed and Painless- Talking Heads (Live version 01/25/84)
9. Stand and Deliver-Adam Ant
10. 'Round the Wheel-SCI
11. Fly One Time-Ben Harper
12. Seven Below-Phish

Last week: (I happen to LOVE this playlist...very funky)...
1. Shaft-Issac Hayes
2. You Got the Love-Rufus & Chaka Kahn
3. You Dropped a Bomb on Me-Gap Band
4. Mustang Sally-The Commitments
5. Once You Get Started-Rufus & Chaka Kahn
6. Machine Gun-Commodores
7. Tell Me Something Good-Rufus & Chaka Kahn
8. The Rubberband Man-The Spinners
9. Ain't Nobody-Rufus & Chaka Kahn
10. Kung Fu Fighting-Carl Douglas
11. Brick House-Commodores
12. Burn Rubber on Me-Gap Band
13. Mercy Me-Margin Gaye
14. What's Going On-Marvin Gaye

This week's playlist contains Madonna's new song, Celebration, which I'm digging right now - great beat in typical Madonna fashion. Will post the final playlist at the end of the week!

Spin Cycle Past 3 weeks

2009-08-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

Hola!

Here are my playlists from this week and the past couple weeks....

3 weeks ago:
1. Pick Up the Pieces - Avg White Band
2. I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
3. Hit Me Up - Gia Farrell
4. Boom Boom Boom - Black Eyed Peas
5. Zoo Station (GHP Remix) - U2
6. Cemetery Walk II - Umphrey's McGee
7. Cemetery Walk II (Club Remix) - Umphrey's McGee
8. 19-2000 (Soulchild Remix) - Gorillaz
9. Get Up Offa That Thing (Ali Dee Remix) - James Brown
10. Calabria 2007 (Club Mix) - Enur
11. Love Sex Magic - Ciara ftg Justin Timberlake
12. Missing Groovejet (GHP Remix) - Everything But the Girl
13. Ever So Lonely - Sheila Chandra

Last week I used a set of music that I love to spin to - it's what I spin to most often when I spin at home. It's a collection of club music called Body & Soul, Volume 3...I've blogged about it before, but I am too lazy to find the link....

Here is this week's selection:
1. Shake Me Like a Monkey - Dave Matthews Band
2. All Mixed Up - 311
3. Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
4. Hey Baby - Jonas Brothers
5. Paper Planes (DFA Remix) - M. I. A.
6. Rockin to the Beat - Black Eyed Peas
7. Why I Am - Dave Matthews Band
8. Hey Baby - No Doubt
9. Paranoid - Jonas Brothers
10. Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
11. Sweet Dreams - Beyonce
12. Funny the Way It Is - Dave Matthews Band
13. Here It Goes Again - OK Go
14. Words (Instrumental) - Umphrey's McGee
15. Higgins (Instrumental) - Umphrey's McGee

Good stuff. I love when the class is receptive to my music. 2 weeks ago, I had someone come up to me after class and tell me it was the best class she had ever taken.
That about sums it up!

Go Jeanine Go!

Spin Cycle, end of June -> this week

2009-07-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

Hiddy Ho - life gets in the way.....all I'm gonna say.
Here are my playlists for the past few weeks.....

Last week was all Beatles, all the time :) It was quite well received (Surprisingly)...
1. Back in the USSR
2. Maxwell's Silver Hammer
3. Sun King,Mean Mr Mustard
4. Polythene Pam
5. She Came In Through the Bathroom Window
6. Golden Slumbers,Carry that Weight
7. The End
8. She Said She Said
9. Come Together
10. Day Tripper
11. Helter Skelter
12. Magical Mystery Tour
13. We Can Work it Out
14. Paperback Writer
15. Taxman
16. Revolution
17. Tomorrow Never Knows
18. Glass Onion
19. Money (That's What I Want)
20. Good Day Sunshine

RIP MJ....you know that I have used all MJ/Jacskon 5/Janet Jackson for a playlist in the past. For some reason, I couldn't find it, so I made a new one to honor MJ:

1. Jam
2. I Want You Back
3. ABC
4. The Love You Save
5. Beat It
6. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
7. Off The Wall
8. P.Y.T.
9. Burn This Disco Out
10. Thriller
11. Billie Jean
12. Working Day and Night
13. Rock With You
14. Never Can Say Goodbye

This playlist I actually taught the Wed and Thursday classes (the day of MJ's death) and didn't use it for my Friday class, as I switched to the MJ playlist:

1. 51 Ft Ladder - Toubab ftg Rayna Gellert
2. Snow (Hey Oh) - Red Hot Chili Peppers
3. Paranoid - Jonas Brothers
4. Head in the Clouds - Equaleyes
5. Got Me Going Crazy - jonas Brothers
6. Divine Thing - Soup Dragons
7. Lazerbeam - Everyday Prophets
8. Work To Do - Public Property ftg Toots Hibbert
9. Tonight - Jonas Brothers
10. Torture Me - Red Hot Chili Peppers
11. BB Good - Jonas Brothers
12. Pleasure - Soup Dragons
13. Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers
14. Otherside - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Still working on this weeks.....over and out...

Spin Cycle End of May/June 2009

2009-06-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my playlists from the past couple of weeks:

1.Who Did You Think I Was- John Mayer Trio
2. Mix- Gomez
3. Join Together- The Who
4. Peace Frog- The Doors
5. Don't Bring Me Down- ELO
6. A Little Less Conversation- Elvis
7. Philadelphia Freedom- Elton John
8. Lay Down Sally- Clapton
9. How Sweet It Is- Jerry Garcia Band
10. Bold As Love- Hendrix
11. Deep This Time- moe.
12. She's So Cold- Stones
13. Mary Jane's Last Dance- Tom Petty

2 weeks ago I made a mix of mamba, salsa and cuban music. My classes love international music like that, and so the ride was alot of fun:
1. Puehunguita - Los Zafiros
2. Dun Dun - Los Amigos Invisibles
3. Maria Moita - Carlos Lyra nad Bossacu
4. Carnival - Mark Endresen and the
5. Da Lata - from Compliation album, Brazilified
6. Pio Mentiroso (Guaracha) - Afro Cuban All Stars
7. Beatbox Cha Cha - Ursula 1000
8. Funky Spanish - From Soul of Brazil
9. Mambo No. 5 - from Entertaining Made Simple
10. Samba - Faze Action
11. Mambo Gozon - From Entertaining Made Simple
12. La Cubanita - Los Ninos De Sara
13. Dance Maria - From Entertaining Made Simple
14. Superpop Venezuela - Los Amigos Invisibles
15. Mambo Holiday - Joe Holiday

Last week was a totally random mix:

1.Traffic Boom-Pierro Piccioni (Big Lebowski)
2. About Nothing-PM Dawn
3. Dig In-Lenny Kravitz
4. Blue Monday-New Order
5. Knock Me Down-Red Hot Chili Peppers
6. Peppyrock-BtK
7. (Oh No) What You Got-Justin Timberlake
8. Baby, Baby, Baby-Joss Stone
9. Reggae Got Soul-Toots & The Maytals
10. Jerk It Out-Caesars
11. Just Fine-MJ Blige
12. Ready To Go-Republica
13. I'd Die W/Out You-PM Dawn
14. Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam-Nirvana

For my Asperger's Awareness Spinning Ride, I pulled a variety of songs that I had played over the weeks leading up to the event. The event was extremely successful, and I raised $2500 and donated it to the Asperger's Association on New England!!! I felt good about it.
Here is the ride:
1. Blue Jeans Pizza - moe.
2. Sweet About Me - Gabriella Cilmi
3. It's A New Day - will.i.am
4. Obama Song - Michael Franti and Spearhead
5. Down with Disease - Phish
6. Rainy Day - Coldplay
7. Pretty Young Thing - Michael Jackson
8. Just Dance - Lady GaGa
9. Tailspin - moe.
10. Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
11. Live Your Life - T.I.
12. Beggin' - Madcon
13. 4 Minutes - Justin Timberlake, Madonna
14. Amsterdam - Coldplay
15. Silent House - Dixie Chicks

I don't have a playlist made for tomorrow's class, but I might be able to pull one off tomorrow. We'll see.

Spin Cycle

2009-05-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

I have made a couple of great playlists over the past few of weeks.
Viola!

Nothing special about this one, just some neat tunes that go good together. The first song is actually from and album of String Cheese Incident songs that were remixed by some DJ who calls himself DJ Harry. Airstream Driver, song 4, is from the new Gomez album, A New Tide. Upon first listen I was disappointed with it, as it is quite mellow. But I just listened to it a bunch of times over the past couple of days and I am beginning to appreciate it more and more each listen.
1. Collision - DJ Harry
2. Heartless - Kanye West
3. Magnificent - U2
4. Airstream Driver - Gomez
5. Welcome to the World - Kevin Rudolf
6. In Love With a Girl - Gavin DeGraw
7. Ain't No Other Man - Christina Aquilera
8. Lady (You Bring Me Up) - The Commodores
9. Forever - Chris Brown
10. No More Words - Berlin
11. Just Dance - Lady GaGa
12. Go - Groove Armada
13. Take a Bow - Rihiana
14. Quiet Times - Dido

I call this one "Old School" - it went over very well - lot's of singing along, and hootimg and hollering; how can you not when you hear Baby I'm a Star???

1. Buns O'Plenty - Issac Hayes
2. Rock Your Baby - George McCrae
3. Computer Blue - Prince and the Revolution
4. Flashdance...What a Feeling - Irene Cara
5. Shake - Prince and The Time
6. Love Machine - The Miracles
7. Never Can Say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor
8. Papa's Got a Brand New Bag - James Brown
9. I'm Every Woman - Chaka Khan
10. Now That We've Found Love - Third World
11. Babe We're Gonna Love Tonight - Denis & Denyse
12. Baby I'm a Star - Prince and the Revolution
13. Let's Stay Together - Al Green
14. Do Right Woman-Do Right Man - Aretha Franklin

3 weeks ago, I used Trey Anastasio's solo album, Trey Anastasio, and mixed the tunes around to spin to. I loved it, and I think the class did too, or well, at least they tolerated it - good melodies, nice horn section etc.

2 week's ago, the playlist I used, I actually made with my benefit class in mind. Here's the playlist that we spun to - I am going to make a couple of changes for the benefit class.....I'll post that after the event is over:
1. Blue Jeans Pizza - moe.
2. Learn To Fly - Foo Fighters
3. Live Your Life - T.I.
4. Toxic - Britney Spears
5. Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
6. Burnin' Ip - Jonas Brothers
7. Down With Disease – Phish
8. Love Stoned/I Think She Knows Interlude
9. Bring It Up – James Brown
10. Shakedown Street – Grateful Dead
11. Where Are We Runnin? - Lenny Kravitz
12. Black Capricorn Day – Jamiroquai
13. 4 Minutes – Madonna
14. Sweet About Me – Gabriella Cilmi
15. Not Ready To Make Nice – Dixie Chicks

Last week, I used an old, random playlist - lots of Madonna and Lionel Richie in it - first played in Sept, 2007. Here's a link.....
My playlist for this week is FUN. I'll post it later though, no time right now....
:) have a good one - don't forget to sign up for my benefit Spin ride to benefit the Asperger's Association of New England...Sat June 6th 12-1pm @ Healthworks Fitness Center, Chestnut Hill, Ma...call 617-383-6100 to sign up. Contact me to find out how to donate if you cannot ride....
thanks!

Spinning ride for Asperger's/Autism Awareness

2009-05-12T10:57:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, our son Max was recently diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome/ADHD. Asperger's is a syndrome that falls on the Autism spectrum. The Asperger's child is usually highly intelligent, but can have delays in social development and can have trouble with executive functioning, such as organization, prioritizing, and follow-through of day to day activities. With the correct interaction and support, people with Asperger's can lead very normal lives, even using some of their Asperger qualities to excel in areas that other "neurotypical" people can not. We are lucky in that Max is extremely intelligent and so with the proper social skills training and occupational therapy, we believe that he will be quite successful.

AANE was the place that I first turned to in order to learn more about Asperger's and so this ride is to support their efforts. As a non-profit organization, AANE relies primarily upon membership dues and donations from the community to function. AANE also receives support from a number of foundations and corporations. The efforts of volunteers from the community also help out by way of a variety of administrative, technical, and fundraising projects.

My ride will be Saturday June 6th, at 12pm, at Healthworks Fitness Center in Chestnut Hill, MA, one of the Healthworks clubs that I teach at.
The ride is open to the public, so you do not have to be a member of the club to attend. Both men and women can attend.
The suggested donation for the ride is $25.00, and can be made at the time of the ride as a check made out to the Asperger's Association of New England.
You can sign up for the ride by calling Healthworks @ 617-383-6100.

Autism Awareness Spinning Ride
with Sharon Shiner
Saturday June 6th, 12 PM at
Healthworks Fitness Center
1300 Boylston Street
Chestnut Hill, Mass 02467
Sign up by calling 617-383-6100

For those of you who aren't lucky enough to ride with me because you don't live close by :), you can still donate none the less.I realize that times are tough right now, but even $5.00 can make a difference.

Please consider signing up for this great event and help support a cause which is so personal to me. If you can not make the ride but still wish to donate, please contact me for how to make the donation.

Thanks so much for your consideration! Feel free to email me if you have any questions regarding the spinning ride or questions regarding Max and Asperger's.
Sharon

Spin Cycle

2009-04-12T09:26:00.001-07:00

I know it's been a long stretch w/out posting my playlists....I have had a lot on my plate lately, and it has been time consuming. I have made a couple new playlists and have used some old ones over the past few weeks.
Here is the first:

1. Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes
2. Lucky Strike - Merka
3. Yo No Se - Los Amigos Invisibles
4. Don't Let Go - Pacha Massive
5. Break It Up - Gaby
6. Sweet About Me - Gabriella Cilmi*
7. Dead and Gone - T.I. w/Justin Timberlake
8. You Can't Hide - Maktub
9. Untouched - The Veronicas
10. Poker Face - Lady GaGa
11. Rockin' - Phunk-A-Delic
12. Get On Your Boots - U2
*This chick has an amazing voice - check it out....

The other playlist I made used many songs from Slumdog Millionaire; the soundtrack is GREAT.

1. Here I Go Again - Rihanna
2. How High - Madonna
3. Disco Anal - Los Amigos Invisibles
4. Mausam & Escape - A. R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
5. Aaj Ki Raat - Sonu Nigam - Slumdog Millionaire
6. Ooh Yeah - Moby
7. Jai Ho - A. R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
8. Paper Planes - M.I.A. - Slumdog Millionaire
9. Millionaire - A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
10. Atari - Marco Benevento
11. O...Saya - A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
12. Amsterdam - Coldplay

Going to try to put a new one together for this upcoming week....over and out...

Spin Cycle up until now (march 09)

2009-03-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

Slacker!
Sorry!
I have alot going on.....
I'm just going to say that my classes have been packed and have been great.
Here's the recent music:

Last week (March 04-06), I used an old playlist from 2005 - all 2005 top 40:
1. The Way You Move - Outkast
2. Lose My Breath - Destiny's Child
3. Dont' Phunk With My Heart - Black Eyed Peas
4. Stupid Girls - Pink
5. Check On It - Beyonce
6. Sorry - Madonna
7. Crazy In Love - Beyonce
8. Toxix - Britney Spears
9. Independent Women - Destiny's Child
10. This Is How a Heart Breaks - Rob Thomas
11. Hot in Herre - Nelly
12. Hey Ya! - Outkast
13. Pump It - Black Eyed Peas
14. Bigger Than My Body - John Mayer
15. In the Sun - Michael Stipe w/Chris Martin
Two weeks ago, (Last week of Feb), I used some music from a DJ that I've used before, Mark Vidler of Go Home Productions (GHP). He does mash ups and remixes that are alot of fun. He'll stick in all sorts of music and you'll hear a riff and think, now what song is this??? Very talented!
1. Bring Your Lovin' Back Here - Gomez
2. Pink Gees - Go Home Productions (GHP)
3. Just Walk On By - Joss Stone
4. The Kids Don't Stand A Chance (Chromeo Remix) - Vampire Weekend
5. Dance Like There's No Tomorrow - Paula Abdul
6. Gives You Hell - The All-American Rejects
7. She Sells Tax, Man - GHP
8. Break I Off - Rihanna & Sean Paul
9. Missing Groovejet - GHP
10. Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz
11. Rock In Black - GHP
12. Train in Vain - The Clash
13. Beautiful Day - U2
14. Real Love - Katherine McPhee & Elliot Yamin
15. Eileen's Song - Burlap To Cashmere
New playlist this week (if I get to listen to it, I' currently listening and listening to the Phish shows that happened this past weekend - they sound AMAZING, and I can't wait for June...now I just need tix)....

Spin Cycle End of January, Beginning of February

2009-02-05T16:28:00.000-08:00

Yet another 2 great playlists.
My classes have been packed and they have been really great. My Wednesday night class is officially my favorite class - sorry Thursday morning, you just can't beat the energy of Wednesday evenings!
Here are the playlists:

Jan 25-27, 2009
Stevie Wonder Week!
1. Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
2. Divine Thing - Soup Dragons
3. Master Blaster (Jammin') - Stevie Wonder
4. Fine Line - Jiggle The Handle
5. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
6. Everybody Got Their Something - Nikka Costa
7. Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
8. To Know You is to Love You - Greyboy (song written by Stevie Wonder)
9. I Wish - Stevie Wonder
10. Sugar Daddy - Jackson 5
11. Boogie On Reggae Woman - Stevie Wonder
12. It Feels So Good - Sonique
13. Please Don't Go - Stevie Wonder

Feb 4-6, 2009
1. The Look of Love - ABC
2. Obsession - Animotion
3. No More Words - Berlin
4. I Predict A Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
5. Love It When You Call - The Feeling
6. Sex On Fire - Kings Of Leon
7. Tubthumping - ChumbaWumba
8. I Want You Back (Z-trip Remix) - Jackson 5
9. You and I - Rick James
10. ABC (Salaam Remi Krunk-A-Delic Party Mix) - Jackson 5
11. Ruby - Kaiser Chiefs
12. That's What You Get - Paramore
13. Take a Bow - Rhiana

I'm off to start a new playlist!

My Letter to the Editor, RE: Boston Public School's Bus System

2009-02-05T15:17:00.000-08:00

I have been in a battle with the Boston Public School Dept of Transportation since day 1 of school in September.
Max's bus has been late literally EVERY DAY since day 1 of school. I am serious. The bus has never been on time - well, let me rephrase that - the one day the bus was on time, there was a substitute bus driver.
I called the bus department every day to complain about this chronic problem, and received no call backs, no response, NO CHANGE! Bottom line - the bus is late an average of 16 minutes each day. This then creates the snowball - Louise is then 25 minutes late for her long 3 hour day, and I am an hour late to start my cook days.
An article ran in the Boston Globe on Feb 2nd which spoke to the "efficiencies" of the bus system - efficiencies??? The efficiency that was spoken to in the article was that the buses on average do 5.9 routes, back to back, per day. What the Transportation Director doesn't realize is that the multiple routes per day is what causes the buses to be late.
This Wednesday, Max's bus was 25 minutes late. I immediately got on the phone with the bus department and finally got someone who listened. It was the route coordinator. I told her about the chronic lateness of the bus, and the fact that I have called to complain almost every day. Her response? "Oh, I'm surprised, this is the first I've heard of it".
My god, I almost screamed!
She said she would look into it and call back.
Well, she did, and she told me that Max's bus is consistently late by 10 minutes to every school that he goes to!!!!!
One GIANT snowball.
Here is my letter to the editor (I wrote it and submitted it prior to talking to the route coordinator, and spoke with the editor regarding what I learned from the route coordinator):

A NEW LOOK AT BUSING IN BOSTON
The Boston Globe
System's efficiencies need an overhaul
February 5, 2009

RE "SCHOOL buses' vacant seats costing Hub" by James Vaznis (Page A1, Feb. 2): I couldn't disagree more with Richard Jacobs, transportation director for the school department, when he says, "We always strive to be more efficient, but I believe we do an excellent job, given the demands this city presents." There is nothing excellent about the job the bus system does.

The article cites a survey that found that Boston had the second-highest utilization rate, at 5.9 routes per bus per day, well above a national median of 3.9 routes. Some might boast that this represents efficiency, but this utilization rate causes my son's bus to be late every day, sometimes by five minutes, sometimes more than 30. This causes my daughter to then be late to her school, and me to be late for work, day after day. After multiple complaints to the bus department since the beginning of the school year, I finally spoke to someone yesterday who is working to provide a solution.

It is high time that something gets fixed in this broken bus system. First, Jacobs needs to realize that 5.9 routes per bus per day cause major breakdowns in service. Second, the bus department needs to provide better customer service.

Sharon Shiner
Jamaica Plain
Here is the link, just in case you want to check it out online...
Bus BS
Thanks for listening!

Spn Cycle Jauary 7-9 and 14-16 09

2009-01-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year.
My Spinning year started off with 2 killer weeks of playlists. Both were high energy and the response was great. My classes have been packed, of course, it's the new year and those resolutions are strong. I always get a handful of new students in January (and of course, they show up with like 2 minutes to go before class - set up on the bike and a good explanation of proper form and use of the bike takes like at least 5-8 minutes).
I make the recommendation to the new spinner to simply stay in the saddle, play with the resistance and get to know the positions and the calls. Some new students listen, others do not.
Anyways, here are the tunes....

Jan 7-9, 2009
1. Intro - The New Deal*
2. I Feel Love - The New Deal*
3. Bad Girls - Donna Summer
4. This Love Remix - Maroon 5 (Call and Response Album)
5. Viva La Vida (Thin White Duke Mix) - Coldplay
6. Hot Stuff - Donna Summer
7. Don't Stop The Music - Rhianna
8. I Feel Love - Donna Summer
9. If I Never See Your Face Again Remix - Maroon 5 (Call and Response Album)
10. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
*The New Deal is a great band that plays on the jam band scene; I might call them techno jazz. Their version of I Feel Love by Donna Summer is GREAT. Since I was plying Donna this week, I couldn't resist putting The New Deal's version on.

Jan 14-16, 2009
1. Dee-Lite Theme - Dee-Lite
2. Far Behind - Eddie Vedder
3. Rescue Me - Hans Zimmer
4. Radio - Beyonce
5. Declaration - David Cook (American Idol winner from last season. His self titled album rocks, and he wrote or co-wrote 9 out of 12 songs on the album - AI Haters, stick that in your pie hole)
6. Let It Rock - Kevin Rudolf
7. Burnin' Up - Jonas Brothers
8. It Thought I Lost You - Miley Cirus and John Travolta
9. Ego - Beyonce
10. Shattered (Turn the Car Around) - O.A.R.
11. See You Again - Miley Cirus
12. Tonight - Jonas Brothers
13. Hold On - Jonas Brothers
14. Wipe Out - The Safaris
15. Last Dance - Donna Summer
16. Ave Maria - Beyonce
17. The Time of My Life - David Cook

I just made my playlist for this week's upcoming classes....gotta give it a few listens to make sure it's rideable.......over and out.

Spin Cycle Last 2 weeks and Happy Holidays

2008-12-25T15:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas....
My past 2 weeks of Spin have been killer - packed classes, high energy and great music.
2 weeks ago, a few songs on the playlist came from the soundtrack to Madagascar 2 - I LOVE the soundtrack. It was mainly composed by will.i.Am and Hans Zimmer. Hans Zimmer is a legendary composer and has done so many movies, I couldn't know where to start. will.i.am actually does a great job going on this excursion out of hip hop. The playlist also has 2 songs by Coldplay from their recently released EP Prospekt's March. In my (humble) opinion, these 2 songs are 2 of their best, and I am wondering why they didn't make it onto Viva La Vida. Prospekt's March is really a continuation of Viva La Vida and is really solid.
Here is the playlist:
1. You Are The Best Thing - Ray LaMontagne
2. Just Dance - Lady GaGa
3. Glass of Water - Coldplay
4. I Like To Move It - will.i.am
5. Live Your Life - T.I. (with Rhiana)
6. Volcano - Hans Zimmer
7. Not My Time - 3 Doors Down
8. Spend Some Time - Jimmy Eat World (Is this the correct title, or is it Pain???)
9. Rainy Day - Coldplay
10. Made To Measure - Umphrey's McGee
11. The Travelling Song - will.i.am
12. Party! Party! Party! - Hans Zimmer
13. Rescue Me - Hans Zimmer
14. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce
15. If I Were A Boy - Beyonce
16. Best Friends - will.i.am

Last week's playlist I acutally made in early November, but never got around to playing until this past week. It's just some random tunes that I put together, no rhyme or reason behind them, other that I liked them....
1. Dancing Queen - ABBA
2. Down Boy - moe.
3. The Hustle - Van McCoy
4. Get Down - Groove Armada
5. Get Down Tonight - KC & the Sunshine Band
6. Begin To Spin Me Round - Dannii Minogue (from Nike Remix Album)
7. Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana) - Santana
8. Lady Marmalade - Labelle
9. Bright Lights, Big City - Umphrey's McGee
10. Dicso Lies - Moby
11. You Don't Need To Dance - Breakestra
12. Falling Down - Durna Duran
13. Can You Feel It - Karl Denson

With the holidays this week and next, and the fact that all my classes fall on the day of the holiday and on either side, I will not teach for 2 weeks! So, look for another spin cycle in about 3 weeks. In the meantime, I'm going to post some pics of the kids and of the Chanukah cookies I made last week....

Spin Cycle Mid November-> now

2008-12-07T15:26:00.000-08:00

yeah, yeah, I know, it's been a while. Well, I haven't made a playlist since my last post, and last week, with Thanksgiving, I had no classes to teach :(
This week I used the old playlist made up of primarily Joss Stone and Jamiroquai, last used here:
good music......the classes loved it, since the music is funky and has a great beat. Joss Stone has the greatest voice, and no, I'm not afraid to say, she is hot. Jamiroquai, I think is a musical genius....
My classes were packed this week as well, Wed night - 30 students, Thursday morning - 23 and Friday morning - 19...good numbers = good energy.
I'm working on a new list for this week (I just DL'd lots of new tunes, so hopefully I'll come up with something good and creative).
:) be on the lookout!

Spin Cycle 11/12-14/08

2008-11-16T07:53:00.000-08:00

You know, it gets hard to stay fresh when making playlists, and at times, I need some inspiration to get myself going.
So, I got help from on e of my students for the playlist this week. We talked about specific artists and songs and from her recommendations, I made up the playlist. She also transferred some music to me, so in the future, look for another playlist with her name on it. Thanks Cheryl!

1. Say It Right - Nelly Furtado
2. Runnin' Down the Dream - Tom Petty
3. Shattered - Rolling Stones
4. Jerk It Out - The Caesars
5. Makes Me Wonder - Maroon 5
6. Lets Get It Started - Black Eyed Peas
7. Who Knew - Pink
8. Just Like Heaven - The Cure
9. Beautiful Day - U2
10. E-Pro - Beck
11. Stupid Girls - Pink
12. Closer - Ne-Yo
13. Sorry - Madonna
14. Underneath It All - No Doubt
15. Lost Cause - Beck

I put it out to all 3 classes that if anyone wants to collaborate as I did with Cheryl, then I'd love to do it...we'll see.... :)

Spin Cycle 10/30-31/08 and 11/05-08/08

2008-11-06T12:26:00.000-08:00

Hiddy ho campers.
I'm gonna post my Halloween setlist and my birthday setlist (my bday is Monday the 10th and so in honor of myself, I made a ride of songs that I like to ride to this week).

Here is Halloween week:
1. Life In Technicolor - Coldplay
2. Cemeteries of London - Coldplay
3. Hells Bells - AC/DC
4. Thriller - Michael Jackson
5. Addams Groove - M.C. Hammer
6. Runnin' With The Devil - Van Halen
7. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker JR
8. Disturbia - Rhiana
9. Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
10. Ghost Town - The Specials
11. Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
12. The Devil Went Down To Georgia - The Charlie Daniels Band
13. Love Potion No. 9 - The Searchers
14. I Want Candy - Bow Wow Wow
15. Spooky - M. Sharpe
16. Gravedigger - Dave Matthews
It was a fun playlist, and the classes enjoyed the music....

On to my birthday playlist. I picked some songs I like, by artists I like.....
1. Evenflow - Pearl Jam
2. Careless Memories - Duran Duran
3. z02 - moe.
4. Calabria 2007 (Club Mix) - Enur
5. Chalkdust Torture - Phish
6. 4 Minutes - Madonna (Featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland)
7. What Goes Around Comes Back Around - Justin Timberlake
8. New Moon on Monday - Duran Duran
9. Death and All His Friends - Coldplay
10. Hard Sun - Eddie Vedder
11. Here It Goes Again - Okgo
12. Miles End - Gomez
13. Apologize - One Republic (with Timbaland)
Lots of fun doing speed intervals to chalkdust torture!!!
:) ok gotta go.....till next week!

Spin Cycle October so far

2008-10-19T15:46:00.001-07:00

Wow - when I logged on it said "Last time published, Sept 27, 2008"....I've missed 3 weeks of Spin Cycle!
Well, the first week was a wash, because I used 2 old playlists for the 3 classes I taught. The past 2 weeks, however, I have made 2 neat playlists that I really dig.
For Oct 8-10th, here's the set:
1. Another Way To Die - Alicia Keys and Jack White - yes, they made a song together, and it is pretty powerful
2. Can't Find The Words - Karina
3. Me Cai - Pacifika
4. Neo Violence - The Tough Alliance
5. Leavin' - Jesse McCartney
6. Lovebug - Jonas Brothers
7. Papa Nidaye - Orchestra Baobab
8. Rainy Day Blues - Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis
9. Light On - David Cook
10. Love Lockdown - Kanye West
11. Shape of my Heart - Noah and the Whale
12. Keeps Gettin' Better - Christina Aquilera
13. 1, 2, 3, 4 - Plain White T's
14. Madly - Tristan Prettyman

Last week's playlist, Oct 15-17th I really liked as well. I got some older electronic music going as well as some newer songs (not necessarily electronic). Good stuff, lots of energy....
1. The Bomb - Bitter:sweet
2. Miss Independent - Ne-Yo
3. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk
4. Don't Stop....Planet Rock - Afrika Bambaattaa
5. She Cries Your Name - Beth Orton
6. Pump Up the Jam - Technotronic
7. Possession - Sarah McLachlan
8. Spotlight - Jennifer Hudson
9. Wrong - Everything But the Girl
10. 6 Underground - The Sneaker Pimps
11. It It's Lovin' That You Want - Rhiana
12. Dancin' In the Street - Mick Jagger with David Bowie
13. Hold On - Sarah McLachlan
14. Catfish John - Old and In the Way (Jerry Garcia and Friends)

Both weeks classes were great and I'm ready for this week. I had the cortisone shots on Thursday afternoon. I did teach on Friday morning, and rode pretty reserved. I am only just beginning now to feel better (Sunday evening). There is hope for me yet!
I'll post this week's setlist in a more timely fashion!!!

Spin Cycle 09/24-26/-08

2008-09-27T04:25:00.000-07:00

Back update: So, I am about 60-70% better. I no longer have pain all day long, which is good. The bad part is that I do still have pain, and it really can't be remedied by PT, and to get rid of the pain, I'll need to have cortisone shots. From the Degenerative Disc Disease in my L3-L4 and L4-L5 discs, I have Facet Arthoprothy, which is basically arthritis of the disc joints.
For pain control/reduction, other than doing strengthening of the core and spine, and working the 2 motions which cause the pain (twisting and extending), which I do on a regular basis through exercise and PT, cortisone shots are the next answer.
Read about it here: Frigging back pain
Well, having said all that, I am able to Spin with relatively Low pain, so that is good. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to practice Yoga to it's full effect, and so that is bad. However, since I know what the deal is now, I do believe that I can start yoga up again, modifying the moves that will cause me pain.

My classes this week were killer. I did intervals with the class, which are always good and hard (but only if you don't cheat). The majority of the classes were full on into it, and were disciplined enough to make the intervals effective. There's always the few stragglers that come to class (WHY? I don't know), and don't follow along. Funny, they are the students that never seem to show any change or progress....hmmm...how strange.
Here was the inspiring playlist (which again, I really dig):
1. Charity Case - Gnarls Barkley
2. American Boy - Estelle ft Kanye West
3. In Love With A Girl - Gavin DeGraw
4. Run (I'm a Natural Disaster) - Gnarls Barkley
5. Crosseyed and Painless - Talking Heads (Awesome song....)
6. Feel Good, Inc - Gorillaz
7. Go-Go Gadget Gospel - Gnarls Barkley
8. Shake It - Metro Station
9. Rehab - Amy Winehouse
10. Amazing - Seal
11. Into the Night - Santana ft Chad Kroeger
12. I'm Every Woman - Whitney Houston
13. Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne
14. Tell Me 'Bout It - Joss Stone
15. Say - John Mayer

Oy! Happy New Year to those that practice.....
Till next week...

Well, having said all that, my classes this week were killer. I am

Spin Cycle 09/17-19/08

2008-09-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

You know, I had no time to post about my ride last week. I was so busy the week before, that I didn't have time to make a playlist. We rode to Earth Volume 4, a music selection I used back in April of 2007: Earth 4.
It was a great ride and many people commented on how they liked the music. One person in the Friday morning class didn't like it so much. She said "I do much better in class when the music has words". Well, you can't please them all. And it's interesting. I have had 1 complaint about my music in the 13 yrs I've been teaching. That was about 3 years ago. The woman complained about the music and then never came to class again. Fast Forward 3 yrs and she's back, and she's complaining that she wants music with words. I can't win.
Well, this week, my playlist does have words. I went back to the 80's and grabbed some tunes.
Here it is:
1. The Show - Lenka
2. Goody Two Shoes - Adam Ant
3. Calabria 2007 (Club mix) - Enur*
4. Strip - Adam Ant
5. Pearl in the Shell - Howard Jones
6. Friend or Foe - Adam Ant
7. What is Love? - Howard Jones
8. Forever - Chris Brown
9. Desperate But Not Serious - Adam Ant
10. Things Can Only Get Better - Howard Jones
11. So What - Pink
12. Come On Get Higher - Matt Nathanson
13. No Air - Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
* This is the song from the Target commercial with the 2 girls setting up their dorm room. I love that commercial, and the song is even better!

Spin Cycle 08/20-22/08, 08/27,26/08 and this week

2008-08-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

Ah, the earth turns and the sun sleeps longer and longer, thus making my 5 am workouts sort of a drag.....when I'm not teaching at 6am, I'm working out at home at 5am...
The music from 2 weeks ago was my International playlist. You can check it out here: Ole!
Last week's music was an old playlist from Memorial Day 2006. It was before I started posting the lists. So here it is for the first time:
1. Seniorita - Justin Timberlake
2. Sin Wagon - Dixie Chicks
3. Tear Your Love Apart - Gomez
4. Walk Away - Kelly Clarkson
5. How We Operate - Gomez
6. Otherside - Red Hot Chili Peppers
7. Caught Up - Usher
8. Everybody Got Their Something - Nikka Costa
9. Gotta Jibboo - Phish
10. Hamoa Beach - Gomez
11. AM Radio - Everclear
12. Hips Don't Lie - Shakira
13. Cry On Demand - Gomez
14. See The World - Gomez

This week we rode to music by a DJ called LTJ Bukem. I have used his music before, and do not have that much time to explain it; it basically is jazz/techno/downbeat music that is melodic and good to ride to.
New playlist for next week's classes.....

Spin Cycle 08/13-15/08

2008-08-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

Therapy is working! At least on my pelvis it is. My back however still pains me, and it's getting old. The PT guy and I just started working on my back on Monday, and unfortunately, I had to cancel my 2nd session this week. The exercises he gave me are not really doing much for my back. I'm continuing to do my pelvic exercises though, because they are strengthening my glutes (AKA my butt) and my core as well. If there is an upside to all this, I guess it would be my backside is getting a workout.

Anyways, I L-O-V-E Love my music from last week. I did a 10 minute lop with the class and repeated it 3-4 times depending on the length of the class, adding in some intervals to make the loop harder as we went along. It was great.
Here is the music:
1. Underneath - Alanis Morissette
2. Give it 2 Me - Madonna
3. Suitcases - Lotus
4. Ray of Light - Madonna
5. Burnin' Up - The Jonas Brothers
6. Blue Monday - New Order
7. Jacqueline - James Hunter
8. Music - Madonna
9. Surprise - Gnarls Barkley
10. Disturbia - Rhianna
11. Just Fine - Mary J Blige
12. S.O.S - The Jonas Brothers
13. Stop and Stare - One Republic
14. One - Mary J Blige and U2

I had a bunch of songs picked out for my spinlist this week, however, I haven't had time to arrange it. I most likely will use it next week.
Till next time!

Spin Cycle 08/06-08/08

2008-08-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

The back saga continues.
I went to the back specialist that I was referred to. Not only did he NOT look at the MRI films, but he only skimmed the radiologist report, didn't test my reflexes or give me a neuro exam (as my husband the doc said he would). Instead, he had me bend over to touch my toes, lift my left and right knees and poked my butt cheeks asking, does this hurt?
His diagnosis: it has nothing to do with the degenerating discs in my back, as that is "normal for my age", but rather, it is my pelvis. Hmm, is a 2nd opinion in order?
Anyways, physical therapy is in order, so if after the 4-6 weeks of PT, my back is no better, I will seek another opinion.
For spin this week, I was working on a new playlist, but wasn't able to complete it, so I went back into the archives to June 2007 and used my "summer" playlist, a compilation of songs having to do with summer, to recognize the heat that we have endured.
You can check it out here: summer
I am finishing up the playlist for this week....

Spin Cycle - the last 2 weeks

2008-08-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I never posted last week's music...hmm, I've been extremely busy (which I guess is good)....
Both this week and last were tough for me. My lower back has been sucking lately, and I finally went to the DR about it. My back has actually been hurting for over 4 months.
I had an MRI last Saturday. FREAKY. Have you ever had an MRI? Yikes. It's crazy. Total claustrophobia. Anyways, thank god for the MRI. Just got the results, and basically my L3-L4 and L4-L5 discs are screwed. So many terms (disc herniation, dessication, spinal stenosis, bulging discs)....who knows. On to step 2 of the process, the back specialist. I'll keep you informed.

Music from last week:
1. Le Femme D'Argent - Air
2. Pon de Replay - Rihanna
3. VooDoo Child - Angelique Kidjo
4. You Should Be Dancing - The Bee Gees
5. Shakey Ground - Phoebe Snow (NY Rock-n-Soul Review)
6. Closer - Ne-Yo
7. Knock on Wood - Michael McDonald, Phoebe Snow (NY Rock-n-Soul Review)
8. You're No Good - Betty Everet
9. Closer - Chris Brown
10. Musicology - Prince
11. It's Not Over - Daughtry
12. Praise You - Fatboy Slim
13. Deep Water - Seal
14. Behind Blue Eyes - The Who

Music from this week was my SexyBack playlist that basically consisted of Justin Timberlake, Breakestra and 2 others (Kim Carnes and Gary Numan). You can check it out here: Justin is hot.
I'm working on a playlist for next week already....should be good.
:) have a good weekend.

Spin Cycle 07/16-18/08

2008-07-20T03:48:00.000-07:00

Back from the Cape! A successful trip with great weather!!!
I came back to a packed week with 4 cook days and was unable to prepare a new playlist, let alone choreograph a ride, so I went with a fallback: my Groove Armada playlist.
I have raved about the Groove Armada before on my blog. They are 2 Brits who have a keen sense about musicality and groove. You can't help but move when you hear their songs. They pack in house, funk, reggae, soul, R+B, techno all in one. Their website is
here: Get your groove on!
I suggest to start, if you are interested, with their relase, Goodbye Country, (Hello Nightclub), it is very listenable.
It was good to get back to teach. I gave 3 killer classes, yet, I am plagued by lower back issues again. I am afraid that I have to go to the doc, as something just isn't right and it is affecting my working out.
New playlist this week......

Spin Cycle 07/02-03/08

2008-07-04T05:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday USA - no spin class today, which is too bad, because my music this week rocked!! It was very well received and my students worked HARD. The middle section included the use of the light and heavy ends of their moderate range. I gave them a 30(s) acceleration in the saddle at the lower end of the moderate spectrum, a 15(s) recovery, then the addition of resistance to the heavier end of the moderate spectrum where they took it up into third for 1 minute. REPEAT! A number of times!
It was good.
I did some serious strength training on Tuesday and Wednesday, and taught Wed eve and Thursday morn. My hamstrings are in sooooooooooo much pain. I'm taking today off.
No Spin Cycle next week, and I'll (hopefully) be enjoying hot, sunny weather on the cape.....see you July 16-18th.....

Here is the music:
1. Time to Get Away - LCD Soundsystem
2. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
3. I'm Every Woman - Whitney Houston
4. How Bizzare - OMC
5. Blue Monday - New Order
6. I Ran - A Flock of Seagulls
7. U Got the Look - Prince
8. Viva La Vida - Coldplay
9. Love Like This - Natasha Bedingfield
10. Gone, Gone, Gone - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
11. You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) - Dead or Alive
12. Chariot - Gavin DeGraw
13. Please Read the Letter - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Happy 4th of July!

Spin Cycle 06/25-27/08

2008-06-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

This week I used 2 different sets of music for my classes. I couldn't get my act together in time to make a new list....c'est la vie.
Wednesday evening's class was my 2007 Grammy nominees playlist. You can check that out here: 2007 Grammy Nominees
Thursday and Friday mornings I used an album rather than a playlist. I have used it before in the past, and it is probably my must "spun" to music. Its a compilation called Body & Soul. I used Vol. 3. I love it and spin to it regularly at home. It is a mix between house, electronic, low grade techno. It gets me moving, and I know it gets the class moving.
Only 2 classes this week b/c of July 4th. Then I'm off the following week for "vaykay".
I will post next week what we rode to on Wed and Thurs.....

Spin Cycle 06/18-20/08

2008-06-22T17:10:00.000-07:00

This playlist actually came from a playlist I had made last june. I added a number of tunes to the playlist that I didn't use last year, and so this june, I just picked them up and made them into the playlist.
It was a good week of Spin, though, now that the weather is (fairly) nice, a number of students have stopped coming b/c they work out outside. It happens every season.
No worries. The students that stay are die hard, and they can make up for the lost energy.
Here is the list:
1. Steal My Sunshine - Len
2. Twist & Crawl - The English Beat
3. When I Come Around - Green Day
4. Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind
5. Brick House - Commodores
6. California Soul - Riot Act
7. This Love - Maroon 5
8. Ring My Bell - Anita Ward
9. Jump Around - House of Pain
10. Got To Be Real - Cheryl Lynn
11. Smooth - Santana
12. Soulchild Remix - Gorillaz
13. Sunday Morning - Maroon 5
14. Girl - Beck
15. The Real Thing - Bo Bice
16. Pick Up the Pieces - Gomez

Have you heard the new Coldplay?????? GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!! It's pretty darn good....

Spin Cycle 06/11-13/08

2008-06-15T04:17:00.000-07:00

A neat melange of music for my rides this past week. I started out looking for reggae, which led into ska, which led into funk, which led into R+B....you get the picture.
The rides were good and solid. and honestly, I was pooped after Friday's class.....
Here is the playlist:
1. Hot, Funky and Sweaty - The Organites
2. Le Moogy Regaee - Dimitri
3. Itch and Scratch (Part 1) - Rufus Thomas
4. All Mixed Up - 311
5. Rudie Can't Fail - The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones, covering The Clash
6. Don't Stay Home - 311
7. Love Invincible - Michael Franti and Spearhead
8. Overpowered by Funk - The Clash
9. Come Out and Play (Keep 'em Separated) - The Offspring
10. Can't Stop - Ozomatli
11. De Esa Nada Monada - Ray & His Court
12. Paleo Sun - Topaz
13. Tuning In (Dub Mix) - Groove Armada
14. Everyone Deserves Music - Michael Franti and Spearhead
15. Feelin' Free - John Butler, Michael Franti, and Spearhead

Happy Father's Day!

RIP Tim Russert

2008-06-15T04:04:00.000-07:00

I was absolutely in a state of shock when I heard about the death of Tim Russert on Friday night.
I had a food demo at Williams Sonoma and had to be there at 5. So, I left at 4, and cranked tunes the whole way. I was in the store until 8, and returned home @8:30, still not having heard any news. Even then, I got into bed and clicked around, and it probably wasn't until after 9 that I heard the devastating news.
Now, I'm no politician, I don't like politics, and I don't "follow" politics. But, I am an NBC watcher and have grown to look forward to seeing Tim Russert.
He was an absolute gentleman and presented himself with style and grace.
I will miss seeing his jolly face and infectious smile.

Spin Cycle 06/04-06/08

2008-06-08T05:59:00.000-07:00

My kids have been watching 2 concert movies with us, The Kids Are Alright, a documentary of The Who, and Stop Making Sense, a Talking Heads concert movie.
It's pretty funny b/c my kids are 6(Max) and 3.5 (Lou). Lou especially loves to watch the Who film, I think, b/c of the smashing guitars, and the slick moves Daltry makes.
Anyways, for the spin list, I threw in a couple Talking Heads songs. I also put in some Squeeze, and a song called Lil' King Kong by Simple Kid. That song is the song that Saturn is using currently for the Vue commercials. You know the one with the slide guitar sound.....
Anyways, here is the list:
1. Cars - Gary Numan
2. Cool For Cats - Squeeze
3. Viva la Vida - Coldplay
4. Lil' King Kong - Simple Kid
5. Glass Onion - The Beatles
6. Rock Your Body - Justin Timberlake
7. Pump It - Black Eyed Peas
8. Beat Connection - LCD Soundsystem (GHP Remix)
9. Ain't No Other Man - Christina Aguilera
10. Annie Get Your Gun - Squeeze
11. Shattered - The Rolling Stones
12. Crosseyed and Painless - The Talking Heads
13. Beatnik Beach - The Go-Gos
14. The Great Curve - The Talking Heads
15. Time of My Life - David Cook

End Note: Louise was driving in my sis-in-law's car yesterday when My Generation came on the radio. Louise casually said "This is The Who"......not what you'd expect to come out of the mouth of a 3.5 yr old......

Girls gone wild????

2008-06-08T05:35:00.000-07:00

From my cousin's daughter's Bat Mitzvah this past May.
My niece is on the left, Hannah Moon, and my daughter on the right, Louise.
Check out the move that Lou does at app 21-26 seconds.
You go girl!

Spin cycle 05/28-05/30/08

2008-06-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

Hello!
I had a request for the music I played in my classes this past week; someone asked if I would please play some Spanish music. And so, I gratefully obliged. I used the music from the Latina Cafe in Paris, France. I have used this compilation before, and if always gets the class going - they are very receptive to Latin music.
The Latina Cafe is a restaurant/club in the heart of Paris. They pump Cuban music throughout the place, and sell the music/mixes that they produce. It's very up beat really gets you moving. I have volumes 1,2,3, and they are all double discs. I don't know if they have released any others, but if they did, it's a good bet that they'll be quite listenable.
New mix this week.....

Spin Cycle 05/21-23/08

2008-05-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

Tito, please get me a tissue.....Janet, Ms Jackson if you're nasty.....Wardrobe Malfunction....ah, the list is endless, and yes, I used my Jackson Family playlist for my classes last week.
The classes needless to say, were fast and furious! I also subbed on Sunday the 25th, but didn't use that playlist, but the class was pretty fast as well.
The Jackson playlist can be found here: Michael Jackson used to be good.....
One note about the classes. In each class, there was at least 1 person who did whatever she wanted, throughout the whole class, and did not follow my ride whatsoever. No big deal, as I do stress to "make it your own ride"....however, it is a bit distracting when we are all seated, riding a hill and the person is up in 3rd....or when we are doing jumps, and the person is up in 3rd climbing a hill. Annoying.
Anyways, I'm off to teach 1 of 3 classes for the week.
Ciao!

Spin Cycle - the last 2 weeks

2008-05-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

Man, what a slacker I am. Last week, I traveled to St Louis on Friday, right after I taught, so I didn't have time to post. I have been pretty busy this week, so I haven't been able to sit down until now to post.
Last week's ride was set to a playlist that I called "Dig". The message was dig in and get the drive to get fired up and ride like mad.
Here it is:
1. Dig - Incubus
2. Dig In - Lenny Kravitz
3. Drive In, Drive Out - Dave Matthews Band
4. Drive Like Lightning (Crash Like Thunder) - The Brian Setzer Orchestra
5. Burn This Disco Out - Michael Jackson
6. Wind It Up - moe.
7. Firestarter - Prodigy
8. Westerly - Strangefolk
9. Workin' Day and Night - Michael Jackson
10. Always on the Run - Lenny Kravitz
11. Ready to Run - Dixie Chicks
12. Saturday's Alright (for Fighting) - The Who
13. Winning - Santana
14. Love on the Run - Galactic

This week's music is a great mix of old and new music, including 2 songs sung by David Cook. Yes, David Cook from American Idol. He is frigging great, and I hope he wins it all......
The class itself has been killer - it's all hills. Starting off with a couple 1:30 hills, moving into a couple 3:00 hills, then a couple 4:00 hills, a couple 5:00 hills, finishing up with a couple 2:00 hills into 1:00 of speed. Between each hill is a 1 minute recovery. After really riding it 2x in 11hrs, my hams are cooked. I may change up the ride for tomorrow, but use the same music.
Here it is:
1. Pocket full of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield
2. You Know I'm No Good - Amy Winehouse
3. Mercy - Duffy
4. Lady Marmalade - Labelle
5. American Boy - Estelle (featuring Kanye West)
6. I'm Alive - David Cook
7. Candy Shop - Madonna
8. Give It Up or Turn It Loose - James Brown
9. Miles Away - Madonna
10. Flashlight - Parliament
11. Missing - Everything But the Girl
12. Life - Sly and the Family Stone
13. Word Up! - Cameo
14. Little Sparrow - David Cook

Till next time!

Spin Cycle 04/30-05/02/08

2008-05-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

Good classes this week. The weather was still cool enough (and wet enough) that people haven't totally migrated to outside workouts.
I did a favorite "every other" ride, where every other song equates to some type of hill.
Lots of hoots and hollers from the crowd during the ride. I love that. It gives me reinforcement that at least some people like the ride, and it also gives me some more energy to keep kicking their asses.
Heres the music:
1. A Girl Like You - Edwin Collins (remember this one...one hit wonder?)
2. Run (I'm A Natural Disaster) - Gnarls Barkley (new album, The Odd Couple, is GREAT)!
3. Love Song - Sarah Bareilles
4. See You Again - Miley Cyrus
5. Old Enough - The Raconteurs (new album, Consolers of the Lonely, is ALSO GREAT)!
6. Mama's Pearl - The Jackson 5
7. My Sacrafice - Creed
8. 4 Minutes - Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Timbaland (new album, Hard Candy, IS ALSO GREAT)!
9. In Love With A Girl - Gavin DeGraw
10. Shake It - Metro Station
11. Violet Hill - Coldplay - New song!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pretty mellow. I'm surprised, all the reviews I've read of their pending release says the new album is an excursion from their past 3 albums....this sounds pretty much coldplayish...
12. Toxic - Britney Spears
13. Surprise - Gnarls Barkley
14. Machine Gun - The Commodores
15. Apologize - Timbaland, OneRepublic

On the playlist, but didn't really get to was I Will Possess Your Heart, by Death Cab For Cutie. This song is 8 minutes long and totally jams. I am impressed. I haven't been too turned on by their music but this song has peaked my interest....
I have now turned my motto into TOO MUCH MUSIC, TOO LITTLE TIME!!!!!!!!!
Oh, what do I listen to next?

Spin Cycle 04/23-25/08

2008-04-30T09:34:00.001-07:00

I rode on the bike for my classes last week. I felt much stronger and was able to move around a bit more. The music I used was a playlist with a bunch of "bouncy" songs on it in order to promote moves in position 2. I forget when I originally rode to it, but here it is:

1. Bring Your Lovin' Back Here - Gomez
2. Get Back On the Train - Phish
3. This Is Us - Mark Knopfler + Emmy Lou Harris
4. New York City - moe.
5. Vertigo - U2
6. I Can't Explain - The Who
7. Ride the River - Eric Clapton
8. Where Are We Runnin? - Lenny Kravitz
9. Want You More - Duran Duran
10. Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
11. Think I'm In Love - Beck
12. Clocks - Coldplay
13. Here It Goes Again - OK Go
14. Love Invincible - Michael Franti + Spearhead
15. Take the Money And Run - Steve Miller (Acoustic version)
16. Sabrosa - The Beastie Boys
I made a new playlist for this weeks ride. I like the songs on it - mostly newer releases, though there are a couple of "oldie but goodies".....I'll try to be more on the ball about posting it.

Spinc Cycle 04/16-18/08

2008-04-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I'm a week late, I know....but, I am better! Not all the way, but much better than I was. After some PT, it was determined to be the Psoaz muscle group that was giving me trouble, not nerves.
I've been doing the exercises that I was given, and I am now at least able to work only at a reduced level, but at least its better than not working out at all.
I did teach on the bike last week, but simply just turned my legs.
I really loved the playlist I put together.....here it is:
1.New Soul - Yael Naim
2. Supernatural Superserious - REM
3. I Don't Wanna Be - Gavin DeGraw
4. Feels Like Tonight - Daughtry
5. Funplex - B-52s (which BTW, is an amazing new release by them! Pick it up if you are a B-52s fan, it's fun, and man, are they horny)
6. Intro - The New Deal
7. I Feel Love - The New Deal (These 2 songs are a downbeat electronic version of Donna Summer's I Feel Love - really great)
8. Higher - Creed
9. Hard Sun (Main) - Eddie Vedder (need I say more?)
10. Ooh Yeah - Moby (also off his new release, which is good - lots of dance music)
11. Get Down - Groove Armada
12. Pump - B-52's
13. Love Remains the Same - Gavin Rossdale
14. Say - John Mayer

The weather is SO beautiful today, I'll be surprised if I get anyone in class tonight....
till next time....

Spin Cycle 04/09-11/08

2008-04-13T11:56:00.001-07:00

Oh woe is me.
And, I really mean that.
Those who know me understand that an injury to my body, causing any pause in my exercise, would be DETRIMENTAL to my mental health.
Well, I don't know what the "f" I did to my back, but last Sunday, the 6th of April, around mid day, as I sat on the toilet, and then tried to get up again, but couldn't because my lower left back/hip went into spasm, I knew I was screwed.
I had a tedious rest of the day and sleep (read, I got no sleep), and tried to do some yoga on Monday morning to loosen up my back. That was a semi disaster.
I called the doc on Tuesday, and got in to see him on Wednesday. He concluded that there was a nerve coming off my spine, running into the hip area that was "aggravated".
So, I taught my classes last week, off the bike completely. I have never in 12 years of teaching done that before. It actually was pretty interesting and empowering.
Though, I felt a bit compelled to talk the entire time, I felt pretty comfortable with it.
It is killing me though, that I haven't been able to exercise, thus the "detrimental to my mental health" portion of my story.
I am going for some physical therapy on Wednesday. In the mean time, I just am damn uncomfortable.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel - I do feel a bit better, and I now can actually do a standing forward bend, as well as lift my left knee, 2 things I couldn't do at the beginning of last week.
It is my hope on Wednesday, that they tell me I can at least start light exercise, like some modified yoga flow, or even some slow cycling, or else I might just be insane when I post Spin Cycle again.
Since I knew I wouldn't be riding, I didn't want to "waste" a new playlist, so I used an old one. My students felt bad for me and were convinced that I made the class much harder to compensate for the fact that I couldn't ride. Probably, subliminally I did.
Here's the music.....first used in July of last year, in a class that our former nanny, Lynn, (who now sits for us on days that I cook), came to...

1. I don't know the title or the artist!
2. Give it to Me - Timbaland
3. Hips Don't Lie - Shakira
4. What Goes Around Comes Back Around - Justin Timberlake
5. Lets Get it Started - Black Eyed Peas
6. Pon de Replay - Rhiana
7. Life is a Highway - Rascal Flatts
8. God Digger - Kanye West
9. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
10. Jump - Madonna
11. Talk - Coldplay
12. Not Coming Down - moe.
13. It's Not Over - Daughtry
14. Say it Right - Nelly Furtado

I'll of course keep you posted on my status. I just might try to ride (gently) tomorrow morning, and do some upper body weights, just so I only partly lose my mind.
I happen to be working on a new playlist, so I hope I get to use it this week.
Over and out.

Spin Cycle 04/02-04/08

2008-04-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

In Wednesday night's class I kicked my own ass, and if felt great.
I teach at one club, but in 2 locations (there are actually 5 locations). I guess April is Instructor appreciation month, which I had no idea about, and as I was beginning my class on Wed. eve, the fitness director entered the spin room. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, as she was smiling at me, but still, I was confused as to why she was coming in.
She announced to the class that it was Instructor Appreciation month, and that Wednesday was my day to be appreciated. All the students clapped, etc, and the fitness director presented me w/ and instructor tank top. It was nice, and totally unexpected. I guess that inspired me to teach harder that night.

The ride was a loop ride:
2 min down to build hill
2 min climb in 3rd
2 min jump on hill from 3rd
take resistance down a bit and band into 2nd for 2 min
jump from 2nd for 2 min
2 min acceleration seated
Repeat.
I stuck a hill on the end to finish up.
The 3 classes really liked the ride - loops always go over well....

Here's the music (some classics!!):

1. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
2. Bohemian Like You - Dandy Warhols
3. Steve McQueen - Sheryl Crow
4. King Without A Crown - Matisyahu
5. Amazing - Seal
6. Steal My Kisses - Ben Harper
7. End of the Line - Traveling Wilburys
8. Kentucky Woman - Neil Diamond
9. You Wreck Me - Tom Petty
10. Ramblin Man - The Allman Brothers
11. Why Bother - Gomez
12. Righteously - Lucinda Williams
13. Heavy Metal Drummer - Wilco
14. Burnin' For You - Blue Oyster Cult
15. Avalon - Bryan Ferry

Have a good weekend...

Spin Cycle 03/26-28/08

2008-04-01T05:26:00.000-07:00

I used my women in music set list to spin to last week. I don't even remember when I made the list up, but again, like last ride, I moved some songs around, added some, deleted some etc. It went over pretty big, since I teach at an all women's gym.

I also had to berate the classes again. Well, not berate, but lecture gently about making a change. I am sick of seeing people come into class and sticking the resistance in one spot and going the same speed. Nothing irks me more. There are a few people in each class that do that, and you know what? THEY NEVER CHANGE - THEIR BODIES NEVER CHANGE!
I pointed out that the change to the wheel and the change to the speed is what makes the difference and makes the change. We'll see this week if they heard me....

Here is the muzak:

1. Tomorrow Never Knows - Sheila Chandra
2. Naked Eye - Luscious Jackson
3. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
4. Delerium - Enigma w/ Sarah McGlaughlin
5. You're Not Alone - Olive
6. U + Ur Hand - Pink
7. I've Got To Use My Imagination - Gladys Knight and the Pips
8. They - Jem
9. It Don't Mean A Thing (If it Ain't Got That Swing) - Ella Fitzgerald
10. Tell Me 'Bout It - Joss Stone
11. Ring My Bell - Anita Ward
12. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield
13. One Way or Another - Blondie
14. Tattooed Love Boys - The Pretenders
15. Silent House - The Dixie Chicks
16. Breathe (2AM) - Anna Nalick
New Playlist this week.......

Spin Cycle 03/19-21/08

2008-03-25T14:48:00.001-07:00

So sorry for the late post. I really just can't seem to find the time to sit at my computer for fun anymore. My kids are all consuming.....and work, is semi-consuming. However, I am also going for my Fitness Nutrition Coaching certification, as well as a Children's Nutrition Specialist certification, and that is taking up my time too.
I actually did not teach on Wednesday - my husband, Rob, was in a car accident coming back from Loon MT and I had to get an emergency sub. He, remarkably, was not hurt. His car on the other hand.....7500$ worth of damage. Ouch.

Anyways, the music I used was an old mix of music that I revamped - swapped out some songs, deleted others outright, moved around the order etc.
Here's what I came up with.

1.The Song of the Heart - Prince
2. Hit Me Up - Gia Ferrell
3. House on Fire - Arkarna
4. Tell Me Something Good - Pink
5. Further on Up the Road - Eric Clapton
6. VooDoo Doll - Fergie
7. Wonderful Night - Fatboy Slim and Lateef the Truthspeaker
8. I Wish - Patti LaBelle, Yolanda Adams and Fantasia Barrino
9. Somebody to Love - Brittney Murphy
10. Rodeo Clowns - G. Love and Special Sauce
11. Jump N' Move - The Brand New Heavies
12. Pink Wedding - Go Home Productions
13. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
14. Uninvited - Alanis Morrisette
15. The Joker/Everything I Own - Jason Mraz/Chrissie Hynde

I can't even remember what I did to it, it seems so long ago.
I still haven't picked music for this week's rides....let's see what I can manage to pull out of my hat...

Spin Cycle 03/12-14/08

2008-03-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

Another eclectic mix of music this week. Totally different ride than the 30 minute climb from last week....Prevention magazine reported recently that you can burn something like 15% more calories by simply picking up the pace and dropping it throughout your work out. You know, intervals.
So, that's what we did...some intervals of speed, some speed w/resistance, some w/o resistance. Some were seated, some were up in 2nd, and/or 3rd.
Good stuff.
Here's the mix:
1.Hawaii Five-0 - The Ventures (interestingly enough, the Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week)
2. I Melt With You - Modern English
3. Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen - Santana
4. Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses
5. In A Big Country - Big Country
6. Roam - The B-52's
7. She's So Cold - The Rolling Stones
8. Big Me - Foo Fighters
9. Possession - Sarah McLachlan
10. Hollywood Nights - Bob Seger
11. The Ocean - Led Zepplin
12. The Impression That I Get - Mighty, Mighty Bosstones
13. Nothingman - Pearl Jam
14. Feel Us Shaking - The Samples

Have a great weekend!

My word

2008-03-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

I just got my butt kicked. On Comcast On Demand, they have a Sport and Fitness section. Jillian Michaels has a spot on the exercisetv.com section of the Sport and Fitness channel and has 2 sections of her most recent workout video, called Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred on there.
I've added strength training to my exercise regimen, and I didn't get to get to yoga today, so I did her 2 workouts. The DVD actually has 3, and they get progressively harder. I did sections 1 and 2, and man, they were HARD! Each section is 27 minutes log and includes strength, cardio and abs. I can't imagine what section 3 includes.
Obviously you can work as hard or as not hard as you can, but you know me, I have to do it all, to the max, or it doesn't count.
I think I am actually going to buy the DVD; you know, shows come and go on On Demand, and I liked the ass kicking enough to buy it.

Spin Cycle 03/05-07/08

2008-03-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

I judge my classes based on many things. One is whether or not someone comes up to me and comments on the class. If I get 1 positive comment, I fell all right about it.
Between last night and this morning's class, I had about 12 positive comments. I'm feeling real good about that. I still have to teach tomorrow morning as well, and I hope the response is just as good.
The class included a good ass kicking in the form of a 30 minute hill climb to start the class, followed by a 10 minute jump sequence which led into a hill, and a speed sequence to close. YUM.

Here's the muzak:
1. Pump It Up - Elvis Costello
2. Sugar Sugar - The Archies
3. Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies
4. Firestarter - The Prodigy
5. American Girl - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
6. Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
7. I Like To Move It - Madagascar Soundtrack
8. Hitchin' A Ride - Vanity Fair
9. Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger
10. Breakout - Swing Out Sister
11. Bye Bye Bye - 'N Sync
12. One Week - Barenaked Ladies
13. Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours - Stevie Wonder
14. I Think We're Alone Now - Tiffany
15. Song 2 - Blur
16. Hey There Delilah - Plain White Tees
17. Falling Down - Duran Duran

Have a good weekend!

Spin Cycle 02/26-29/08

2008-03-03T04:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Leap Year!
Here is my list for last week. It's my Mission Impossible ride....
1. Theme From Mission Impossible - Adam Clayton and Larry Mullens (U2)
2.Arranca - Manzanita
3. Free Ride - Edgar Winter
4. Men In Black - Will Smith
5. One Way Out - The Allman Brothers Band
6. One of These Mornings - Moby
7. For Once In My Life - Dionne Farris
8. Tire of Waiting For You - Green Day
9. I've Seen All Good People: Your Move - Yes
10. Run-Around - Blues Travelers
11. You Never Can Tell - Jerome Patrick Holan/Chuck Berry
12. World Keeps Spinning - The Brand New Heavies
13. Well I Lied - The Robert Cray Band
14. Mission Impossible Theme (Mission Accomplished) - Adam Clayton and Larry Mullens (U2)
15. Angel - Sarah Mclachlan
16. Dreams - The Cranberries

It was a good week - I'm busy though, and can't really describe the ride....

Spin Cycle 02/19-22/08

2008-02-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

I actually taught 4X last week, using the same playlist each time. Given that it was school vacation week, I simply used and old playlist, from June 2007.
Here is the link: Spin
New playlist this week!

Spin cycle 02/13-15/08

2008-02-15T10:33:00.000-08:00

I treated my classes this week to a fine assortment of love songs, in honor of the Valentine's holiday. It was a fun playlist to put together, and I think everyone enjoyed the ride (interestingly enough, I gave 3 totally different (but similar) rides to the same music).
Here is the breakdown:

1) Freeway of Love – Aretha
2) Loveshack – B-52’s*
3) Thing Called Love – Bonnie Raitt
4) If You Don’t Love Me (I’ll Kill Myself) – Pete Droge
5) Tunnel of Love – Bruce Springsteen
6) Higher Love – Steve Winwood
7) Lust to Love – The Go-Go’s
8) Best of My Love – The Emotions
9) To Know You Is To Love You – Greyboy
10) The Love You Save – the Jackson 5
11) Now That We’ve Found Love – Heavy D
12) The Power of Love – Huey Lewis
13) Feel Your Love Tonight – Van Halen
14) This Love – Maroon 5
15) Lovers In A Dangerous Time – Barenaked Ladies

*Have you heard the B-52's new song, Funplex? It's pretty good!
Have a great weekend.

Spin Cycle 02/06-08/08

2008-02-08T11:29:00.000-08:00

I sort of cheesed out for my rides this week, music wise, that is!
However, having said that, I actually like the tunes I played (I'm not ashamed) and the classes loved them.
My ride went something like this: warm up, hill, jump, fast flat, hill, jump, fast flat, hill...etc you get the point.
Each hill, jump, fast flat, I built on, technique wise. It was very effective.
I like teaching 3 a week. I might even try to pick up a 4th, who knows.

Here it is:
1. The Way I Are - Timbaland
2. Maneater - Nelly Furtado
3. Shut Up and Drive - Rhiana
4. Beautiful Girls - Sean Kingston
5. Give It To Me - Timbaland (w/Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado)
6. Rehab - Amy Winehouse
7. Lovestoned/I Think She Knows Interlude - Justin Timberlake
8. Amazing - Seal
9. Jump - Madonna
10. Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado and Timbaland
11. Toxic - Britney Spears
12. Just Fine - Mary J. Blige
13. (Oh No) What You Got - Justin Timberlake
14. No One - Alicia Keys
15. Put Your Records On - Corrine Bailey Rae

I'm published, well, sort of

2008-02-01T11:38:00.000-08:00

Some of you might know that moe.'s new release, Sticks and Stones came out last week. Well, it's been getting some great reviews.
I came across a not so great one in Boston's Weekly Dig mag, a free, weekly magazine.

Here is the review (printed w/out permission):
MOE
STICKS AND STONES
GENRE | HAZMAT FOLK
VERDICT | WORDS CAN NEVER HURT
LABEL | FATBOY RECORDS
RELEASE DATE | 1.22.08
MOE.ORG

Now a fully matured rock band, Moe is starting to tighten up its sound into a more Americana style. Their 12th album (!) is the most concise to date, with a grungy rock vibe and stoner lyrics like "When you're movin' slow enough / It's like it's not really happenin'." It's actually not that bad. Just kidding. It is. Because by "slow moving" they mean "poo." [Debbie Driscoll]

The review was so off base that I wrote a rebuttal letter, and they published it this week!
Here it is (re-printed w/ my permission, only their caption is printed w/out it :) ):

"SERVES US RIGHT FOR QUESTIONING THE ARTISTIC INTEGRITY OF A JAM BAND"

Debbie Driscoll's review of moe.'s new release Sticks and Stones (CD Reviews, 1.23.08) is so far from accurate, she should really wipe the "poo" out of her ears. The song "Darkness" that she refers to as having "stoner lyrics" in her review actually deals with the shitty way (no pun intended) that Hurricane Katrina was handled. Had she listened, she would have heard this: "Who ya gonna blame when the rain comes in? Got a 40 mile fence made of bones and tin. Waters gettin' higher as the rain falls down".

moe. is constantly pushing their boundaries in terms of recording and releasing albums. Sticks and Stones was unique in that only two of the songs had ever been played live prior to its release. The remainder of the songs were written in the studio and were not played live until the tour started to support the release, something moe. has never done before.

So Debbie, next time you review an album, do a little research on the band first, and before you listen to the music, be sure to wipe the crap out of your ears.

SHARON
JP

How's that?!?!?
Love the first amendment....

GO PATS!!!

Spin Cycle 01/30-02/01

2008-02-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

Word up people.
Spin this week was good. I liked my playlist - it was a good mix of songs. I did something my class enjoys - a loop course which I repeated 3.5 times. It started flat for a short time, and built in the saddle. Out of the saddle we then climbed and jumped on the hill. To finish the loop, we rode down the backside of the hill onto a flat.
The class likes knowing whats coming at them.....
Here's the playlist I used for Wed and Thurs:
1. I Just Want To Celebrate - Rare Earth
2. 15 Steps - Radiohead*
3. Break It Off - Rhiana and Sean Paul
4. Bright Yellow Gun - Throwing Muses
5. Mach 5 - The Presidents of the USA
6. Macho Man - The Village People
7. Women, Wine and Song - Umphrey's McGee
8. Money, Love & Change - Trey Anastasio
9. Dance The Night Away - Van Halen
10. My Generation - The Who
11. Trouble - Ray LaMontagne
12. Beverly Hills - Weezer
13. Look Who's Dancing - Ziggy Marley
14. House of Cards - Radiohead*
15. Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve

*These 2 tracks are from Radiohead's newest release, In Rainbows, which is frigging amazing. It's kind of out there, but it is totally melodic at the same time. I think it might be their best work.

GO PATS!

New Thyme To Cook website

2008-01-29T15:01:00.000-08:00

I've made some changes to my website as I've recently been certified as a Personal Fitness Chef :)

Thyme To Cook

Anyone need a fitness chef????

Spin Cycle 01/23-25/08

2008-01-28T04:34:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know, it's Monday, and I haven't posted the playlist yet....I was swamped last week, cooking for a party last Friday night.
Lots of prep to do, little time to computerize.
The classes were good. I broke the class down int 4 minute blocks. Each 4 minute block worked a certain body position. It was good - high energy.
Here's the music I used:
1. Highway to Hell - AC/DC
2. Dig In - Lenny Kravitz
3. Walk Away - Kelly Clarkson
4. Think I'm in Love - Beck
5. Better Way - Ben Harper
6. All Roads Lead to Home - moe.*
7. Dancing With Myself - Billy Idol
8. Pump It - Black Eyed Peas
9. Jerk It Out - The Caesars
10. Fine Line - Jiggle The Handle
11. These 3 Sins - Gomez
12. Police On My Back - The Clash
13. It's Not Over - Daughtry
14. Finally - Jiggle The Handle
15. Amsterdam - Coldplay
16. Grace - Jeff Buckley

* moe. just released their 12th album, Sticks and Stones. It was recorded in the studio without ever having played the songs live, with the exception of 2 songs, something moe. has never done before. It is a real great album, sounding at times like Cracker, The Rolling Stones, Jackson Browne and a bunch of 70s rock bands spun into 1.
Nothing like reinventing yourself :)

Spin Cycle 01/16-17/08

2008-01-17T11:29:00.000-08:00

I got a bit exotic with this playlist, using some Indian electronica, as well as some Duran Duran and Paolo Nutini. I guess you could say it was an international ride. I wanted to stress some hills, as last week, I worked up in 2 quite a bit. The Indian electronica was perfect for climbing, with downbeat grooves and interesting textures and sounds. The Indian music came from a release called Tantra Lounge - Volumes 1 and 2. Good stuff!
It was a solid ride, lots of climbing (my hams are letting me know just how they feel, and unfortunately, I need to suck it up and teach tomorrow morning as well!!!).

Here is the playlist:
1. Dunya - Karuan (from Tantra Lounge, Exotic Indian Electronica)
2. New Shoes - Paolo Nutini
3. Ready to Go - Republica
4. Falling Down - Duran Duran (co-written with none other than JT, Justin Timberlake)
5. Punjab de Rang - Dhol Foundation (Tantra Lounge, Vol 2)
6. Jenny Don't Be Hasty - Paolo Nutini
7. Nite-Runner - Duran Duran
8. Red Desert - James Asher (Tantra Lounge)
9. Drowning Man - Duran Duran
10. Brand New Delhi - The Tao of Groove (Tantra Lounge)
11. Rehab - Amy Winehouse
12. Ordinary World - Duran Duran
13. Vanilka - Transglobal Underground (Tantra Lounge)

If you like downbeat electronica check out the Tantra Lounge releases (2 volumes that I know of)....till next week....

Spin cycle 01/09-10/08

2008-01-10T14:11:00.000-08:00

I went for another super instruction type class, and worked every other song up in 2nd position. It was good. The Wed night class rock and rolled. The Thursday morning class did as well, however, there are a couple of students in my Thursday morning class that just don't take instructions.
One student cranks the resistance, no matter what we are doing, and climbs the entire class. She never rides with low -> moderate resistance.
Another student never adds resistance, and so, never really catches the hill.
There are other students that just don't do the "stunts", like accelerating to pick up speed, etc.
It kind of pisses me off.
I mean, I know that Spin is personal, individual and really, the student can personalize the class to make it work for him/her. But in this situation, it is out and out not trying. The students are just not making an effort.
I felt compelled to address this in class this morning - not calling anyone out, but making general statements during the ride about not trying.
I said to the class, It's ok to modify the class, but why not try the different things first, and then if what you are doing doesn't work for you, change it up. I said, if you don't try, then why bother getting up at 5am to come to a 6am class? It's just not worth the effort.
I don't know. I feel like I'm talking to the wall though, as these students didn't change anything when I said it during class.
Too bad for them - no wonder they have looked the same for years....
Here's the playlist. Every other song was up in 2, and so, every other song has a nice bounce to it:

1. You Dropped A Bomb on Me - The Gap Band
2. Lay Down Sally - Eric Clapton
3. Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me) - The Gap Band
4. Back On the Train - Phish
5. Up In Arms - Foo Fighters
6. This Is Us - Mark Knopfler + Emmy Lou Harris
7. Bring Me To Life - Evanescence
8. Ride The River - Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale
9. Party Train - The Gap Band
10. I Would Die 4 U - Prince and the Revolution
11. Church - OutKast
12. Let's Go Crazy - Prince and the Revolution
13. Purple Rain - Prince and the Revolution

I've picked up the Friday morning class, 6:15-7am. This week I am not going to use the playlist, since my legs are shot. But next week, I'll probably use the same music that I use on Wed/Thurs....

Spin Cycle, December 26, 27 and January 2,3 2008

2008-01-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

Ola, sorry for the lack of posts. With school vacation and going away, it became almost impossible to computerize.
Last weeks classes were all hills. The class was very effective and it was set to music that I have used before, Body and Soul, Volume 3. It is a compilation of dance tunes with a steady back beat making it perfect for hill work.
This weeks classes were set to another continuous beat, this time from the Latina Cafe series. I also have written about this music before - cuban/french dance music. The series of compilations comes from the Latina Cafe, a posh restaurant/club in Paris. Great food, great drink, great atmosphere. To start off 2008, I gave a super instructional class this week - instructional, but with flair. It felt good and I think the class appreciated the refresher. I know the dug the music!
Happy 2008.
Look for a new playlist next week.
Sharon

Spin cycle 12/19-20/07

2007-12-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

20/20 - 20 students on Wednesday night and 20 students this morning. Good stuff.
I taught totally off the hip as I just had no time to coreograph out a ride. I had the playlist made and rode to it on Monday, but I had to make changes to it. I did the changes on Tuesday, but didn't get a ride in to "make" the ride.
I love improv. Last night's class was totally different than this morning's class. I think this morning's class was a bit harder than last night (but that could have been because my body was pooped - I did a 90 minute power yoga class yesterday in the morning as well as taught the class last night).
Anyways, here's the playlist:
1. Early In the Morning - The Gap Band
2. Pleasure - Soup Dragons
3. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again) - Sly and the Family Stone
4. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
5. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
6. Divine Thing - Soup Dragons
7. It's Your Thing - The Isley Brothers
8. Hit That - The Offspring
9. Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
10. Need You Tonight - INXS
11. The Warrior - Scandal
12. Rescue Me - Madonna
13. Kick Out the Jams - Presidents of USA
14. Show Me The Way - Peter Frampton
15. If You Love Somebody Set Them Free - Sting

Have a great holiday!
Sharon

Spin cycle 12/12-13/07

2007-12-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

Great Spinning week for me. A friend and fellow teacher had asked me for a profile, so I used the same one that I gave to her to use. It was an add-on type loop that repeated itself, with 2 hill climbs.
It was a very satisfying ride without being exhausting.
Here is the music (I've been sneaking in a lot of Phish lately, I love it!!!):

1. Muria - Metro Area
2. Another One Bites The Dust - Queen
3. Lust To Love - The Go-Go's
4. Anthem - Gus Gus
5. Disko Doctor - Groove Armada
6. Machine Vibes - Metro Area
7. Twist - Phish
8. Anthem - Moby
9. Respect - Aretha Franklin
10. Papa Was a Rolling Stone - George Michael + Queen
11. Lock and Key - Rush
12. Under Pressure - Queen
13. A Man and a Woman - U2

Have a good weekend....

Spin Cycle 12/06/07

2007-12-07T07:20:00.000-08:00

I've become a bit disenchanted with my Thursday morning group, but I've fallen in love with my Wednesday evening group.
Really, Thursdays are becoming a bit tedious. Where I used to pull an avg of 20 students, the overall numbers have dropped to an avg of 15. Now that might not seem like a big drop, but it is. It makes it much harder to get my sorry ass out of bed at 5am to go out in the cold to teach at 6am. They seem tired and its bumming me out.
I know after the new year the numbers go back up, but still, in the mean time, it's pulling me down a bit.
On the flip side, my avg number on Wed. eves has increased to 20, and they are a lively bunch, hooting and hollering during the class, it's great. This past Wed night's class was awesome. The students were fired up, as was I, and it was a strong, fast ride.
Here is the playlist:
1. Bring It On - Seal
2.Tomorrow Never Knows - The Beatles
3. How High - Madonna
4. Zig Zag Dance - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
5. How Far We've Come - Matchbox 20
6. Head Over Heels - The Go-Gos
7. Stronger - Kanye West
8. Mambo I, I, I - Gloria Estefan
9. Into the Night - Santana with Chad Kroeger
10. Just Fine - Mary J Blige
11. When I Met the Girl - Big Kid
12. Free - Phish
12. This Is How a Heart Breaks - Rob Thomas
13. Can't Stop the World - The Go-Gos
14. MacIntyre Range - moe.
15. Headmasters of Mine - Jeffrey Gaines

Have a good weekend.
sls

Spin Cycle 11/29/07

2007-11-30T07:51:00.000-08:00

Shrek is big in my house these days. My kids love all 3 of the movies. So, I usually try to get the music to go along with it. That diverts them from actually sitting down and looking at the movie, yet, it's still a connection with it. So, I used a couple of songs from the Shrek 2 soundtrack on this ride, and a bunch of other songs for no rhyme or reason.
Here they are:
1.Hitsville UK - The Clash
2. Le Freak - Chic (Shrek 2)
3. Accidentally in Love - The Counting Crows (Shrek 2)
4. Livin' La Vida Loca - Antonio Benderas (Shrek 2)
5. Christine Sixteen - Kiss
6. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
7. Cars - Gary Numan
8. Caught Up - Usher
9. Come Out and Play - The Offspring
10. The Stand - The Alarm
11. Electricity - OMD (Orchestral Movements in the Dark)
12. Is It Any Wonder? - Keane
13. Seven Below - Phish
14. Rhythm & Blues Alibi - Gomez
15. Last Goodbye Jeff Buckley

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-23T04:29:00.001-08:00

Happy post thanksgiving morning.

That I did.....

I hope you all don't feel like I do - a walking piece of frosted stuffing.....I was a failure in the department of self control when it came to the stuffing bowl, and this outrageously good, messy chocolate cake, with vanilla frosting.
UGH.
Now begins the damage control....

Anyways, you can check out more of my cool cookies that I made for the holiday on my Thyme To Cook blog, cookies:

For some of you music lovers out there. Here's a funny conversation that took place between Max, age 5 and Louise, age 3 this past Wednesday.
Max had early release, and so Lou and I went to get him at 1:15. We came home and started rocking out. I happened to be listening to Rush, because I heard New World Man on the radio in the car and said to myself, Gee, I need some Rush!
So, when I put Rush on, here's the conversation:
Max, age 5: Mom is this moe.?
Me, (age, who cares): No honey, it's Rush!
Max: oh Rush, cool, proceeding to go crazy dancing like a freak.
Louise, age 3, No, this is moe..
Max: No Louise, it's Rush!
Louise: No, it's moe.!
Max: Well Louise, you can think it's moe., but it's really Rush.
Brilliant! Get 'em started early with music, You'll appreciate it.

Spin cycle 11/15/07

2007-11-16T14:30:00.000-08:00

Again, sorry for the late post. The days have just been getting away from me!
I wanted to spin to some Dead, and so this week I threw a couple Dead tunes on the list as well as some Jerry Band songs for the cool down. I also included a favorite of mine by the Black Crowes, Wiser Time. Right in the middle was Crocodile Rock. One of my students came up after class and thanked me for putting that song in the ride, and she said it "took her back to high school".
The class was strong, as we climbed 2 long, large hills. My legs were on fire, as I had an interesting experience on Monday, and you can read about it on my Thyme To Cook blog.
Here's the ride:
1. Bossa Per Due - Nicola Conte
2. Deal - Grateful Dead
3. Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode
4. Franklin's Tower - Grateful Dead
5. Wiser Time - The Black Crowes
6. Crocodile Rock - Elton John
7. A Message - Coldplay
8. Save Tonight - Eagle Eye Cherry
9. December - Collective Soul
10. At the River - Groove Armada
11. Waiting For A Miracle - Jerry Garcia Band
12. Get Out of My Life - Jerry Garcia Band
Happy Thanksgiving - no spin cycle next week :)

Spin cycle 11/08/07

2007-11-09T16:41:00.000-08:00

In honor of my birthday, I picked some songs that I like to spin to for my rides this week; they are not my favorite songs, just songs that work well on a spin.
Here it goes:
1. Break it Down Again - Tears for Fears
2. Wind It Up - moe.
3. Funkytown - Lipps, Inc
4.The Long Way Around - The Dixie Chicks
5. Everybody Got Their Something - Nikka Costa
6. Girl - Beck
7. What Goes Around/Comes Around Interlude - Justin Timberlake
8. Good To Be Alive - DJ Rap
9. Freedom - George Michael
10. Violet - Hole
I actually forgot to put cool down music on, so that's it for the list this week. It was a good ride, especially Violet. I got everyone ramped up, thinking about all the people that piss them off on a daily basis. I haven't seem them ride it out like that in a while....thanks Courtenay!
Happy Birthday to me.

Spin cycle 11/01/07

2007-11-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

Suck the head, Squeeze the tip......
Get your head out of the gutter. We're talking crawfish! Louisiana baby, Louisiana.
Music from Louisiana this morning. You know, a bit of voodoo, a bit of creole spice and cajun flair.
The crowd appreciated it and 1 student even asked if I'd burn it for her.
I have been to NOLA 4 times, every time for Jazz Fest, which is an amazing celebration of music. We haven't been since Max was born, and I think I'm ready to go back. (I gotta start making some money!!!! COOKING)

Here's the list:
1. La-Ti-Da - Marcia Ball
2. Two Step Mamou - Wayne Toups
3. Caravan - Dirty Dozen
4. Hey Labas - Queen Ida and the Bon Temps Zydeco Band
5. Bow Legged Woman - C.J. Chenier
6. Crazyhorse Mongoose - Galactic
7. Voo Doo - The Neville Brothers
8. Door Poppin' - Carol Flan and Clarence Holliman
9. Lafayette Breakdown - Cajun Playboys
10. Ayiti - The Neville Brothers
11. Louisiana - Percy Mayfield
12. Piano Roll - Eddie Bo
13. Louisiana Two-step - C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band
14. Johnny Can't Dance - Wayne Toups and Zydecajun

Happy Halloween, and Happy November....9 days until I turn 38....

Proper dog walking etiquette

2007-10-27T06:15:00.000-07:00

First off, I don't have a dog, nor do I want to have one. Sure they are cute and furry, etc. But they stink, and you have to walk them.
There are lots of dogs in my neighborhood.

Some people walk their dogs on the leash; others let their dogs walk with them, off the leash. Most are good about picking up the poop, and some aren't and it enrages me when I find dog poop in my yard.

Well, lately, someone has taken to dropping off their poop bag in our lawn waste barrel. Each day there's a new plastic bag in the barrel, filled with crap.

So, what's the etiquette? Our lawn waste barrel is in our driveway, and so the person is walking down our driveway to drop the bag off. The barrel is not at the top of the driveway with trash in it. Am I wrong to be pissed? I think it's extremely rude!
Some dog owner please fill me in....

Spin Cycle 10/25/07

2007-10-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

SO SORRY for the late post!!!! Time is getting away from me.....
First off RED SOX NATION, baby, RED SOX NATION!

I had a request for the music that I used to teach to this week, and so for that reason, I had my first repeat of a playlist in over a year!
I used the music of the Afro Celt Sound System, a very high energy, fast paced music that is GREAT to spin to. The Afro Celt Sound System is an amazing ensemble of musicians who combine the driving beats and textures of Africa, with the haunting sounds of the Celtic fiddle. It doesn't sound like the combination would work, but it really does.
Here is a link to my blog for the Spin cycle from August 24, 2006, the last time I used this playlist:
Afro Celt Sound System.

Enjoy!!!

Spin Cycle 10/18/07

2007-10-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

No rhyme or reason for this playlist - just songs that were deleted from last week's playlist. Both classes were great, 23 students on Wed night and 18 students this morning.
A true dichotomy in the music, starting with Guns N Roses, Welcome to the Jungle and ending with Shiny Happy People, REM and Better Way, Ben Harper.

1. Welcome to the Jungle - Guns N Roses
2. Dude Looks Like a Lady - Aerosmith
3. Maneater - Nelly Furtado
4. Stiched Up - Herbie Hancock Featuring John Mayer
5. Walk Like an Egyptian - The Bangles
6. Should I Stay Or Should I Go? - The Clash
7. September - Earth, Wind and Fire
8. Lady Marmalade - Labelle
9. No Rain - Blind Melon
10. Get Off This - Cracker
11. Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode
12. Get the Party Started - Pink
13. Shiny Happy People - REM featuring Kate Pearson (B-52s)
14. Better Way - Ben Harper

Spin Cycle 10/11/07

2007-10-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the late post.
I used a song in this week's ride that I used to ride to, and sort of lost for a while, but found again recently with my "CD importing into itunes" project.
It is a 12 minute song by a band called Percy Hill, from New Hampshire. They were an excellent band, very jazzy and improvisational, that got lumped in the jam band category. I really appreciated their music, and was disappointed when the band sort of fell apart as a few of the members left and went on to other musical ventures.
The song is called Sooner or Later. Given that it is a 12 minute song, it gave me the opportunity to really mix the choreography up. It started on a hill for 2 minutes into a flat for just over 2 minutes into jumps for just over 2 minutes, into a flat for just over 2 minutes, up to a run for 2 minutes and back down to a flat to finish. Good stuff.
The ride also included songs from Phish, moe., George Benson, and Aretha Franklin. A truly diverse ride.
Enjoy,

1. Oh Lei - Commotion
2. Like the Way I Do - Melissa Ethridge
3. Witness - Roots Manuva
4. Sooner or Later - Percy Hill
5. Since You Been Gone - Aretha Franklin
6. On Broadway - George Benson
7. You Can't Hide - Maktub
8. Tailspin - moe.
9. Two Princes - Spin Doctors
10. Birds of a Feather - Phish
11. Steve McQueen - Sheryl Crow
12. Reelin' in the Years - Steely Dan

Spin Cycle 10/04/07

2007-10-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last week I spoke about the 200G music hard drive in my computer. I have been loading in music that I have forgotten about, simply because there was no room on the ipod, or in itunes for that matter.
When I first started teaching Spinning, I made all of my rides on cassette tape. With technology, I then moved on to burning CDs, around 1999. As I was gathering up some more music to put onto the music drive, I found one of those Spinning CDs, that Rob named, Spinning with Sharon S, Vol.X (Rob actually did the burning end of the CDs, and I picked out the music)...
I found Vol 7. That's what we spun to last night and this morning.

I am really beginning to like my Wed night class. The students work their tails off, and I've been seeing numbers steadily go up. Last night there were 19 students, and for the past 3 weeks, I have actually had more students in my Wed eve class, then my Thurs morn class.....weird.....

Here's the playlist:

1. She Thing - Salt N Peppa
2. Just Can't Get Enough - Depeche Mode
3. We Gotta Love Thang - ?, I don't know the artist...
4. Walking Backwards - Jiggle the Handle
5. Funky Music - Wild Cherry
6. Whippin' Picadilly - Gomez
7. Praise You - Fatboy Slim
8. Rough and Tumble - Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
9. That's the Way Love Goes - Janet Jackson
10. Now That We've Found Love - Heavy D
11. Boogie Shoes - K.C. and the Sunshine Band
12. Here Comes the Breeze - Gomez
13. Can You Feel It - Karl Denson's Tiny Universe

Spin Cycle 09/27/07

2007-09-28T03:13:00.000-07:00

I really liked the music that we rode to this week in my 2 classes. Rob installed a 200 GIG music drive into my computer, so I've been loading in music like nuts, including some music that I don't really listen to on a daily basis, but is good to have none the less. This includes some older Madonna and Lionel Richie. Sure, I get nostalgic when I listen to some of it, but I don't need to listen to it every day...thus the ride. Oh, and the Lionel definitely makes me feel nostalgic as I prepare for my 20th High School Reunion this year....GULP. Next on my list - The Go-Go's!!!!!

Here is the ride:

1. All Night Long - Lionel Richie
2. Music - Madonna
3. I'm Your Boogie Man - K.C. and the Sunshine Band
4. Deeper and Deeper - Madonna
5. Missing - Everything But the Girl
6. Listen to the Music - Doobie Brothers
7. Dancing on the Ceiling - Lionel Richie
8. Keep it Together - Madonna
9. Lady (You Bring Me Up) - Lionel Richie
10. Vogue - Madonna
11. Ain't No Other Man - Christina Aquilera
12. Home - Umphrey's McGee
13. Bright Lights, Big City - Umphrey's McGee
14. Secret - Madonna

YARDSALE

2007-09-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

Just one thing to gripe about:

Yard sale signs all over the place.
Now, I'm not objecting to the yard sale itself, but the signs really irk me. You know why?
Because whoever puts them up, on that unassuming telephone pole or tree, LEAVES them there after the sale is over.
Who's responsibility is it to take the signs down?

I've been passing the same one everyday when taking the kids to school.
Lots of STUFF to go! 9-2 Saturday the15th! Yada Yada address.....

Just an observation.
You know inevitably, that sign is ending up as litter.
Let's lobby for a law that all yard sale signs must be taken down within 4 hours after the sale.
Who's in?

Spin cycle 09/20/07

2007-09-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

Going back to the 90s for most of the ride. Sure, there were some songs from the 00s in there, but for the most part, it was an 90s love fest.
90s you say? One hit wonder you say? Chezwick songs you say? YES to all of them!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here you go:

1. No One - Alica Keys
2. Bitch - Meredith Brooks
3. Macarena - Los del Rio
4. Mambo no.5 - Lou Bega
5. If You Could Only See - Tonic
6. I'm Too Sexy - Right Said Fred
7. Counting Blue Cars - Dishwalla
8. The Way I Are - Timbaland
9. Barely Breathing - Duncan Sheik
10. Wannabe - Spice Girls
11. Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers
12. Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
13. Come Talk to Me - Peter Gabriel
14. Green Eyes - Coldplay

I really liked Tonic - what happened to them anyways?

Spin Cycle 09/13/07

2007-09-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hiddy Ho - just getting to post now, 8:27 pm!

We rode last night and this morning mainly to British music mixer Mark Vidler. I have posted about him before, and his music effort called Go Home Productions.
He just released a "best of" collection called This Was Pop, 2002 - 2007, a 5 year bootleg retrospective. With the exception of the warm-up and cool down songs, all other songs were either off this release, or from Vidler's website.
He is the master of mixing the music together, sometimes mixing in 6 or 7 songs into 1 song!
Some people loved it, others didn't.
One student said, You have the best music, where do you get it all?
Another said, I felt like I was stuck between 2 radio stations.
Well, as the music enthusiast that I am, I loved it!

Here is the playlist:

1. Anthem - Shiva Rea
2. Velvet Sugar - MV
3. Work It Out With A Foxy Lady - MV
4. Shannon Stone - MV
5. Karmastition - MV
6. Paperback Believer - MV
7. Backstab Me One More Time - MV
8. Abba&The Bunnymen - MV
9. Wrapped Detective - MV
10. Girl Wants (To Say Goodbye To) Rock and Roll - MV
11. Rock In Black - MV
12. Bus Stop Runner - MV
13. Go-Go Gadget Gospel Instrumental - Gnarls Barkley
14. Crazy Insrtumental - Gnarls Barkley

I am too tired now to go into the ins and outs of what's in each song. I will post an edit at a later time....and you can go listen for yourself on the website :)
Good evening!

Max's first day at kindergarten :)

2007-09-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

It's bittersweet for sure, but I can't wait for his big brain to blossom.
He's a 5 year old who does Sodoku (the 9 square game, not the 4 square game for kids), plays chess and has beaten a 40 year old, does lego sets for 12 yr olds, and can do math.
Go Max!

One side note on moe.down

2007-09-08T01:17:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot 2 other things worth mentioning about moe.down,
1) The lights were AMAZING. Jefferson Waful just keeps getting better and better as lighting director.
2) moe. often does band switches where during a moe. song, they'll switch instruments with another band, mid song, and let them segue into one of their songs, play for a bit, then moe. "switches" back in. Well, not only did they do a switch, but they did it with their CREW! It was awesome - Waful on Chuck's guitar, Steve Young (their sound man) on Al's keys, Cass on drums, Frank on Al's guitar, and I forget who was on bass. They played the Neil young song: Everyone Knows This is Nowhere. Truly unique. Got to love moe. - innovation!

To Satisfy March To The Sea

2007-09-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

A quick post about moe.down.
The weather was awesome, cool overcast mornings, sunny warm afternoons, crisp cool evenings.
The music was good.
moe. played great, however, I didn't love their song selections.
Other bands that played included The Meat Puppets (interesting, but did they fit in with the moe.down crowd? I don't know....) and Perry Ferrell's new band, Satellite Party. They were the highlight of the weekend for me. They rocked. I stood on the stage, off to the side, with Louise for almost the entire set. She loved it! Perry's myspace site
Both the puppets and Perry Ferrell sat in with the moe. and that was interesting.
Other bands that played were Lotus (great), Strangefolk (sucked), Al and the Transamericans (standard), Ha Ha the Moose (didn't see them, but heard they were awesome) and Medeski, Martin, Wood and Scofeild (way out there, not as funky as I would have liked them to be).

I'll post some pictures soon of the kids at moe.down.....there was an awesome Kids Tent on Sat and Sun which was jam packed with activities for the kids to do, including a Buster parade, which brought the kids up on stage in their Buster the Flying Pig get-ups, while moe. played Buster to start the Sat afternoon set.

Spin Cycle 09/06/07

2007-09-06T05:46:00.000-07:00

No spinning this morning. I got a sub, because I woke up yesterday with a raging sore throat and low grade fever. I got a sub for last night's class as well as this morning's class. I do feel better today and I am glad I didn't schlep my sorry ass out of bed to teach.
Check back in next week for Spin cycle.

Spin cycle 08/30/07

2007-09-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay.
I was moe.downing it! :) It was lots of fun and I am pooped.

Last week's ride was made for a friend of mine, Beth, who took my class religiously for years up until last January, when she moved to Morocco. Her blog is Beth in Morocco

She was back visiting last week, and so she came to class on Thursday.
I made a ride of songs that I knew she liked. It was a pretty mellow ride, as far as rides go. I felt like I needed to give my students a brake after last week's insanity.
Here it is:

1. Talisman - Air
2. California Soul - Riot Act
3. Could You Be Loved - Bob Marley
4. This is Drum and Bass - John Brown's Body
5. Janie's Got A Gun - Aerosmith
6. King Without A Crown - Matisyahu
7. Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi
8. Heart and Soul - John Brown's Body
9. Prayer to Rudra - Krishna Das
10. Send Me on My Way - Rusted Root
11. If Everybody Looked the Same - Groove Armada
12. Breathe (2AM) - Anna Nalick
13. Eileen's Song - Burlap to Cashmere

Spin cycle 08/23/07

2007-08-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

Based on the insane class I gave last week, I wanted to tone it down a bit for this week and give a more "mellow" ride. I picked music that was upbeat in tempo, with a backbeat for the students to grab on to. We climbed 2 20 minute, gradual hills, with a break in between. I actually used a bunch of Ace of Base songs (didn't even know we had them on our music server....they weren't on my ipod). remember them? A modern ABBA....

Here's the list:

1. Solar Spirit - Asiatronic
2. All That She Wants - Ace of Base
3. Elation - ?, don't know artist, came off a compilation
4. The Sign - Ace of Base
5. Viva a Povo Brasileiro - Bazeado
6. Fatmazeau - Bagatelle
7. Just 'n' Image - Ace of Base
8. DJambee - Althea W
9. Stomp - The Brothers Johnson
10. Beautiful Life - Ace of Base
11. Hit Tha Flo! - Breakestra
12. Drifted - Groove Armada
13. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt 1 - The Flaming Lips

Spin cycle 08/16/07

2007-08-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Today's class was the hardest class I given in a long time...in fact, it might have been the hardest class I have given, ever.
I was moved by the music, which was made up of 3 artists/bands that were influential in my musical upbringing: Pear Jam, U2 and Lenny Kravitz.
Here's the list:

1. Zoo Station - U2
2. Are You Gonna Go My Way - LK
3. Alive - PJ
4. Beautiful Day - U2
5. Dig In - LK
6. Better Man - PJ
7. Mysterious Ways - U2
8. Always On The Run - LK
9. In Hiding - PJ
10. In a Little While - U2
11. Let Love Rule - LK
12. Where Are We Runnin? - LK
13. Around The Bend - PJ
14. Wishlist -PJ

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome.

Till next time!

Thyme To Cook blog up and running

2007-08-14T05:32:00.000-07:00

I've created a Thyme To Cook blog - I'll be posting recipes, pictures and stories about what its like to be a personal chef. The actual website for Thyme To Cook is still under construction, and will most likely be up and running at the end of August. I will let you know.

For the blog, click below, and be sure to bookmark!!!!

Thyme-To-Cook

Good news.

2007-08-13T05:17:00.000-07:00

I for one, am very happy about this YUMMY news!!!!!

Has anyone tried this stuff????

It's hard to eat just one bit, but then again, who just eats one bite of ice cream?

:)

Spin Cycle 08/09/07

2007-08-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

A bit late today, I know. This is my first week home from work, and I am swamped, trying to do it all.
today's spin was all about empowerment. I'm into that these days as I start the next stage of my life.

Try to guess the link between the songs....it's not that hard.....

1. Tomorrow Never Knows - Sheila Chandra
2. Naked Eye - Luscious Jackson
3. Silence - Delerium featuring Sarah McLachlan
4. You're Not Alone - Olive
5. I've Got To Use My Imagination - Gladys Night and the Pips
6.Tell Me 'Bout It - Joss Stone
7. Tattooed Love Boys - Pretenders
8. They - Jem
9. Makes Me Wanna Pray - Christina Aquilera
10. Son of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
11. Silent House - Dixie Chicks
12. One Way Or Another - Blondie
13. Ring My Bell - Anita Ward
14. Angel - Sarah McLachlan
15. Breathe (2 AM) - Anna Nalick

Gotta run to pick up the Maxter from camp. Over and out.

Sincerely, Sharon

2007-08-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Barry Bonds, Michael Vick and Deon Sanders,
You can kindly ALL kiss my ass, you no good, low life sacks of shit.
Thank you.

Spin Cycle 08/02/07

2007-08-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

Whirlwind mind, that's what I've got going on. It's my last day today at Genzyme. Damn, I don't know what to feel.
It's crazy.

Anyway, You know, a little bit of Poison won't kill you....take a look:

1. This Love - Maroon 5
2. Darlin' Do Not Fear - Brett Dennan
3. Maneater - Nelly Furtado
4. Hey There Delilah - The Plain White Ts
5. Harder to Breathe - Maroon 5
6. Shut Up and Drive - Rhiana
7. Nothin' But A Good Time - Poison
8. All Good Things (Come to an End) - Nelly Furtado
9. Dig - Incubus
10. Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado + Timbaland
11. Wake Up Call - Maroon 5
12. The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani
13. It's Not Over - Daughtry
14. Free - G.Love
15. Infatuation - Maroon 5
16. Only Fooling Myself - Kate Voegle

When Poison came on, 3 of my riders had an immediate connection to it. I could see it on their faces. And that makes it all worth it.
So, I've been thinking. If anyone out there in cyber land who's looking at this has any music suggestions at all, please feel free to email me them. I'm always looking to keep it real, you know?

Spin Cycle 07/26/07

2007-07-26T06:02:00.000-07:00

You know, it's interesting to me. I subbed spin last Sunday, and used the same music that I used last night and today, and I gave 3 totally different rides.
The rides on Sunday and last night were very fast paced, and this morning's ride was not as fast paced, but still hard none the less. This morning we climbed 2 20 minute hills with a 10 minute flat in between. Good stuff.

I used the music from Chicane. Now, I've been struggling with how to explain what type of music it is. I went to the website to search for a better explaination. Chicane is the project of a person named Nick Bracegirdle. He writes and produces all of the music, as well as directs the band's live performances. I guess he has trouble defining his music too, because the website has quotes like "It is a common mistake to think that Nick is a DJ" and "For years Chicane has been pigeon holed as a dance act".

The music is definitely electronic and has a techno edge to it, but it's actually pretty sounding and not annoying like techno can be. I used his release Far From the Maddening Crowds for the ride. I'm not going to list the songs, because I basically put it on (started on song 3) and let it go from there. Only 1 of the songs actually has words in it.

Like a chicane, which actually is a word for a winding road, the music on this release flows and winds around, circling through a theme which recurrs in the music. There is a back beat to it so it's great to ride to.

I listened to Chicane's most recent song that was released and unfortunately, it has words and is a bit cheesy. If you want to check out the music, listen to selections from Far From the Maddening Crows and not the more recent music. If you go to the Chicane website, there is a music player in the upper right hand corner. Fast forward until the song OFFSHORE, which is from the release I used today. Apparently, based on information from the website, this release is no longer available.

Anyways, have a good one. I'm actually listening to the song Dig by Incubus, over and over and over. I love it.

Spin Cycle 07/19/07

2007-07-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

Damn, I am exhausted. I taught last night and thins morning and rode hard both classes. The one difference though, is that my daughter was up from 12:30 am to about 3:30 am last night. I normally get up at 4:30 - 4:45 and so I basically got about 2 hrs of sleep last night.
I "woke" up miserable and feeling sorry for myself thinking that there was no way in hell I could get on the bike and ride.
Well, I did it, and I gave a killer class. I just got in the zone, and it felt good. I used the same music both last night and this morning and gave two TOTALLY different classes. One girl said this morning after class, That was Hard. I normally give my best classes under duress.
I could barely walk up the stairs to work this morning!

The music I used is a collection of songs that I picked for my good friend and (former) nanny, Lynn, as she came to my class last night.
Here it is:
1. I don't know the title or the artist!
2. Give it to Me - Timbaland
3. Hips Don't Lie - Shakira
4. What Goes Around Comes Back Around - Justin Timberlake
5. Lets Get it Started - Black Eyed Peas
6. Pon de Replay - Rhiana
7. Life is a Highway - Rascal Flatts
8. God Digger - Kanye West
9. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
10. Jump - Madonna
11. Talk - Coldplay
12. Not Coming Down - moe.
13. It's Not Over - Daughtry
14. Say it Right - Nelly Furtado

I am subbing this Sunday morning, and will work up a ride that I will use next Wed/Thursday...

Motivation

2007-07-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

I've been into motivation these days, it's what's keeping me going. I'm usually not into motivation to tell you honestly, but it's working for me right now.
I joined Tiger Woods's newsletter and read his blog regularly now. He is very inspiring.

My dad passed this on to me, and I had to post it. It's regarding Dave Feherty, a former PGA golfer and now writer and broadcaster on golf; here he describes a shot that Tiger made and Ernie Els's reaction to it (Ernie is another golfer, who is excellent in his own right):

David Feherty on Tiger

"People have accused me of being so far up Tiger's arse that he can
barely make a full swing, but I maintain that he is a special person.
There's no one else on the planet who can do what he does or even think of
doing what he does. I've often thought, instead of showing Tiger's reaction
to a shot he's hit, we really should show the reaction of those around him."

But here is the next best thing. "I'm walking down the 18th fairway at
Firestone Country Club with Ernie Els and Tiger, who has popped up a
three-wood about 40 yards behind Ernie into some wet, nasty, horrible,
six-inch rough," Feherty says.

"Tiger's cursing and taking clumps out of Ohio with his three-wood. And,
of course, we're not showing this on TV because we want to be able to
interview him later. Ernie and I walk past Tiger's ball, and it is truly
buried.

"Ernie is tied with Tiger and he's in the middle of the fairway. I'm
standing with Ernie and my microphone is open. Ken Venturi [in the CBS
booth] sends it to me and I say, 'Tiger's got 184 yards with two big red
oaks overhanging the green. He's got absolutely nothing. With a stick of
dynamite and a sand wedge I might be able to move this ball 50 yards. Steve
Williams [Woods' caddie] tells me [with a hand signal] that he's using a
pitching wedge.'

"Tiger takes his swing. Every muscle in his body is flung at the ball.
It looks like he's torn his nutsack. The divot went as far as I could hit
the ball. I've got my microphone at my mouth thinking, what the hell was
that! The ball sails over the trees, lands behind the hole and backs up to
about six feet from the flag. I open my microphone and Ernie turns and says,
'F*** me!'

"My producer comes on in my earpiece and says, 'Was that Ernie?' I say
yes.

He says, 'Fair enough.'

"I could have described that shot for 15 minutes and not done as good a
job as Ernie did with two words. This is one of the best players in theworld talking, and you wanna know how good Tiger is? Ask Ernie Els."

Hopefully you've read the whole thing and are either smiling or in awe right now....

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

2007-07-12T06:19:00.000-07:00

Genzyme is tanking - thank god I'm out of here in 3 weeks. August 3rd is my last official day. It can't come soon enough. I am soooooo done mentally with working there. I'm wearing shorts today, what a hoot.
Anyways, one of my divisions most promising drugs in development had negative results in it's major clinical trial, and so commercialization of this product is unlikely. Thank god I sold my stock when I did! Since I sold a few weeks ago, it's down 6 bucks and change!
Development of Thyme To Cook is moving along. I'm just about ready to take my 3 exams through the Culinary Business Academy. My website is under development, and should be ready to go as early as first week of August, but probably will go live in mid August.
I already posted my logo here for you to view.
I'm looking into a Personal Fitness Chef certification which would go great with my Spinning - I could connect with many people at the gym where I teach. I'm already considering running a special for members - like a one time 20% off deal or something like that....
Exciting and anxiety causing.
Will I be able to do it? I certainly hope so.
I'm working on some low grade marketing and hopefully that will gain me some clients. I have a lead to either write an article for a local town newspaper, or possibly have a story written about personal cheffing and my story?? I don't know, but if either of them pan out, it could be very good for me.
I'm struggling now with whether or not to introduce my new "biz" to high rollers at Genzyme. Some of them could benefit from my service. However, it would open up that can of worms that I don't necessarily want to deal with at work - it's getting too personal maybe, but again, it could be good for the business.
Decisions, decisions. Hopefully they'll work themselves out....

Spin Cycle 07/12/07

2007-07-12T05:59:00.000-07:00

Long live Tito!

Continuing with the tropical theme, because it's been so freaking hot, today's ride is brought to you by Cuba (and the like). It came down to the wire, and I literally figured out the ride yesterday. I gathered the music late Monday, selected the songs for the ride on Tuesday, and planned the ride yesterday. It's the working part time thing that has me a bit off schedule where putting rides together is concerned.

Part of the problem is that I don't have itunes yet on my new computer at home, and have my itunes music on my work computer, as well as on Rob's computer at home. Rob got the Airport Express and is trying to gather all of our music to one spot (Airport Express is some device to play your music through your stereo remotely from a computer - brilliant concept, if it works).

I taught at 6:30 last night, so I could finesse the ride for this morning. Both classes were great and hard - 15 students last night and 21 this morning. Cuban/Salsa/Mambo music is always a big hit with my students, so they were pumped.

Love it.

Here's the list :)

1. Saludo Company - Compay Segundo

2. A Namorada - Carlinhos Brown

3. Soy la Candela - The Salsa Kings

4. Samba - Faze Action

5. I Like it Like That - Peter Conde Rodriguez

6. Coro Miyare - Fania Allstars

7. El Ritmo de Verdad - Lego

8. Atabaque - Jazzanova

9. Descarga - Tito Puente

10. Salsa Caliente - Tito Puente

11. Si Tu No Sabes, No Te Metas - Ricardo Lemvo

12. Guallando - Fulanito

13. Yay Boy - Africando

14. Campina - Afro Cuban Jazz Project

There were some other songs selected that did not make it into the ride:

1. Tree, Air and Rain on the Earth - Mondo Grosso

2. Sensemaya - Carlos de Nicaragua

3. Lambada Timbales - Tito Puente

4. No Me Cambie Camino - Celia Cruz and RayBarretto

Here it is!

2007-06-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

My Logo!!!!!!!!!

Spin Cycle 06/28/07

2007-06-28T11:22:00.001-07:00

Wow! 3 days, or is it 4 days of 90+ weather.... I LOVE IT! No, really, I'd have it no other way.
In celebration of the weather, please check out my awesome playlist (not to toot my own horn or anything....):

1. Under the Sea - Samuel e. Wright, from The Little Mermaid
2. Summertime Blues - The Who
3. Taste the Summer- Duran Duran
4. Good Day Sunshine - The Beatles
5. Boogie Nights - Heatwave
6. You're So Damn hot - Ok Go
7. Seven Days in Sunny June - Jamiroquai
8. Brighter than Sunshine - Aqualung
9. Time Outside - Go Home Productions
10. Summer Song - Joe Satriani
11. Soak Up the Sun - Sheryl Crow
12. Walking on the Sun - Smashmouth
13. Burning Down the House - Talking Heads
14. Steal my Sunshine - Len
On the playlist, but not on the ride:
15. This Cat On a Hot Tin Roof - Brian Setzer Orchestra
16. Road Trippin' - Red Hot Chili Peppers
17. Summer, Highland Falls - Billy Joel
18. It's Summertime - The Flaming Lips
19. Summersong - The Decemberists
21. Summer Love - JT

I have so many things I'd like to post, I'm just finding it hard to get to it. I've been working on starting up my business, Thyme To Cook, and damn, it takes alot to do it!
My logo is done, and I've just begun to design the website.
I gave my notice with a tentative date (july 27), and I hope to be up in running in August!
:)
Off to the Cape for the weekend, and my class is cancelled for next week due to the July 4th holiday, so no Spin Cycle next week.
Happy holidays - enjoy the heat!

Spin Cycle 06/21/07

2007-06-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

Ever wake in a panic, knowing you've overselpt?
Yup, that was me this morning.
My daughter had a tough sleeping night, and I was up with her a bunch of times. So when I fell back asleep again at 4 am, having to get up at 5 am, I was doomed!
Well, I woke up at 5:33 am, and bolted to make it to my class at 6 am.
I brushed my teeth in the car!

Again, no rhyme or reason to the tunes. Just a bunch that I like:

1) Teardrop - Massive Attack
2) Real Gone - Sheryl Crow
3) Who Knew? - Pink
4) Soulchild Remix - Gorillaz
5) Semi-charmed Life - Third Eye Blind
6) Rich Girl - Gwen Stafani
7) California Soul - Riot Act
8) Jump Around - House of Pain
9) Speed of Sound - Coldplay
10) Ring My Bell - Anita Ward
11) Smooth - Santana
12) Girl - Beck
13) Got to Be Real - CherylLynn
14) Pick up the Pieces - Gomez

The season has begun

2007-06-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

I bought my first quarts of native strawberries today and they are truly scrumptious. They came from the Connecticut River Valley. It is a sign that farm season has begun. And wouldn't you know it, I got the email that my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share will start next week for the season!

Amazing, can't wait for the bounty to begin.

Spin Cycle 06/14/07

2007-06-14T06:08:00.000-07:00

I call this my 2005 mix, because I think a lot of the songs on the list came out in 2005. I like this mix. It’s got a little bit of everything where pop is concerned. Again, it was pretty high energy, like last week, and the class worked hard. I also used this play list last night when I taught, and that class REALLY worked hard. It’s good to see.
Here it is:

1. The Way You Move - Outcast
2. Lose My Breath – Destiny’s Child
3. Stupid Girls – Pink
4. Don’t Phunk With My Heart – Black Eyed Peas
5. Check On It - Beyonce
6. Sorry – Madonna
7. Crazy In Love – Beyonce
8. Toxic – Britenay Spears
9. Independent Women – Destiny’s Child
10. This Is How a Heart Breaks – Rob Thomas
11. Hot in Herre - Nelly
12. Hey Ya – Outcast
13. Pump It – Black Eyed Peas
14. In the Sun (Gulf Coast Relief) – Michael Stipe with Chris Martin
15. Poor Me – Cold Play (I’m not sure if this is the correct name – it’s from the Fix You EP)

Spin Cycle 06/07/07

2007-06-07T06:10:00.000-07:00

WOW.

That's what I have to say about this morning's class. I haven't taught a class this high energy and fast paced in a long, long time. It was good all around, everyone loved the music, everyone worked hard, very positive.

Tito, pass me a tissue, and Ms Jackson, you are nasty. That's right, it was a tribute to the Jacksons.

What more can I say?

Here's the list:

1. Don't Stop Till You Get Enough - MJ, Off The Wall

2. Pretty Young Thing (P.Y.T.) - MJ, Thriller

3. I Want You Back - The Jackson 5 - Jackson 5 Anthology

4. ABC - The Jackson 5 - Jackson 5 Anthology

5. The Love You Save - The Jackson 5 - Jackson 5 Anthology

6. Rock With You - MJ, Off The Wall

7. Black or White - MJ, Dangerous

8. Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814

9. Workin' Day and Night - MJ, Off The Wall

10. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' - MJ, Thriller

11. Escapade - Janet Jackson, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814

12. Off The Wall - MJ, Off The Wall

13. Love Will Never Do (Without You) - Janet Jackson, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814

14. Never Can Say Goodbye - The Jackson 5 - Jackson 5 Anthology

Good stuff - when MJ was still a "guy"....ahh, the good old days......

Spin Cycle 05/31/07

2007-05-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

The last day of May!

Since I spent time in the UK last week, I thought I’d pay homage to 2 artists from the UK that I dig – Jamiroquai and Joss Stone (1 outlier is a song by Maroon 5 that I thought went well with the style of music).
Jamiroquai has funk, soul and style and creates songs with a disco feel, but with more maturity.
Joss Stone has an ethereal voice which has soul and body.
On my ipod, I named this playlist New Soul - I think that sums it up....
We did primarily hills today, since I've been torturing the class with alot of work in 2 lately, and wanted to shift the focus a bit. 16 students - not bad for this time of year, where there is always a decline in students due to the great outdoors.

1. Hot Tequila Brown - Jamiroquai
2. Tell Me What We’re Gonna Do Now – Joss Stone
3. Makes Me Wonder – Maroon 5
4. Put Your Hands On Me – Joss Stone
5. Electric Mistress – Jamiroquai
6. Tell Me ‘Bout It – Joss Stone
7. (Don’t) Give Hate a Chance – Jamiroquai
8. Arms of my Baby – Joss Stone
9. The Kids – Jamiroquai
10. Baby Baby Baby – Joss Stone
11. Planet Home – Jamiroquai
12. Headturner – Joss Stone
13. Canned Heat – Jamiroquai
14. Light Years – Jamiroquai
15. Black Devil Car – Jamiroquai

Home Home Again

2007-05-31T09:42:00.001-07:00

I like to be here when I can......

Back to the US, without a hitch, thank god, and feeling good in the neighborhood.

I waivered back and forth on my trip, with my decision to start my own personal chef business, but by the end of the trip, I confirmed with myself my decision to do it.
Now, I struggle to actually work at my current job. I mean, it takes effort to come in each day.
Starting Monday, I'll be part time and that will continue through July, then I'm done.
In the mean time, I'm working on my new "career" and might already have 2 potential clients.

I think I've settled on a name: Thyme to Cook, Personal Chef Services....well, that's the front runner anyways.
I'm trying to work on a logo etc.
Anyone know any logo designers/web designers who'd want to work for cheap???
:)

Albanach = Scottish

2007-05-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

It's true, the word Albanach means Scottish, in Gaelic.
Tonight's dinner brought to you by the Albanach Whisky Bar and Restaurant - more info here:
GoodPub
The menu was packed with modern takes on traditional Scottish food, like beef stew and dumplings, fish cakes, haggis (yes, haggis), smoked salmon, grilled salmon, you get the idea.
I decided to keep the streak alive, and eat fish again.

For starters, I had one of the specials that they were offering - scottish mussels in a scallion, garilc, cream and wine sauce. The mussels were tiny and sweet and delicious. It was served with 2 big chunks of brown bread that I used to sop up the cream sauce. Couldn't get better at home, that's for sure.

My main meal consited of fish cakes made with smoked haddock and shrimp. They were bound with mashed potatoes and has some scallions in them. They were substantial, but were supposed to have salmon in them, not shrimp, so I was a bit disappointed about that. They still were extremely tastey, smokey from the haddock and firey from a sweet chili sauce that was draped over them. 2 large cakes were served with a small salad and potato chips - really fries.
You know, chips are crisps over here, and fries are chips....

Dessert was a chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice cream - the cake was ok, but the ice cream was more icey than creamy. That's ok, it didn't stop me from eating it...

One more day of auditing, then we fly to London, Heathrow tomorrow night to stay overnight, as the flight out of London on Sat morning is at 10, and we'd never make the connection if we flew direct from Edinburgh on Sat morning.
I can't wait, really, as I miss being at home very much.

I have decided though, that I really dig Edinburgh, and would like to make a return trip here some day, not on business.
I'll try to post tomorrow.

From Nature to Plate

2007-05-23T13:55:00.001-07:00

That is the philosophy of the restaurant I ate at tonight.
The Kitchin, wonderful , truly a wonderful eatery.
The chef, Tom Kitchin, believes in using sustainable, fresh and local foods. In fact, one of the items on the menu, the scallops were not offered this evening, because the waters were too rough last night, and the divers could not dive for them!
That's how fresh and local the ingredients are.
The meal started again, with an Amuse Bouche, a petite dish of small chunks of Burgundy potato, olive tapenade over a salt cod mousse, with burgundy potato crisps and pea shoots. The salt cod is made by Chef Kitchin, and it is cured for 2 weeks, then washed continuously for 24 hours before using.

I then had the Spring Salad, a mix of greens, including herbs and pea shoots, with shaved fennel, thin rounds of beets, burgundy potatoes, burgundy potato crisps, baby artichoke, aspargus, green beans and a hard boiled quail egg. So fresh and light - the perfect way to open the meal.

For dinner, I had roasted halibut, served over a confit of squid, with olive tapenade and a brilliant green pea sauce and sauce of local garlic.

I had dessert tonight - fresh mint tea, with "Peach and Pistachio", a grilled, quartered peach, with pistachios, homemade pistachio ice cream, and an almond cookie. A drizzle of chocolate sauce crossed the plate.

WOW. I am at a loss for words, and can only say that this has been a great eating week, and I feel fortunate that I have gotten to experience this fine dining. As a foodie, its what I dream of all the time, and to have it 4 nights in a row, its crazy.
I told my supervisor that I happen to be travelling with, who is NOT a foodie, that he could pick the restaurant for tomorrow night, and that he has been a good sport for coming to these restaurants.
I'll report back, but don't expect anything other than pub food.....not that there's anything wrong with that either.....