Attention: Save your AZ State Parks or Kiss them BYE BYE Forever!

Sorry to interrupt your day with this but its really important and you should understand why. Currently Arizona is facing a huge budget shortfall because of the slow economy. One idea that the legislator has is to close down the state parks to save about $20 million dollars against the $4 Billion deficit that the state currently faces. Thats less that 1/10 of 1% yet the parks generate around $250 Million in local business revenue each year, and guess what? That revenue is taxed and helps out the State… Huh?

The problem with this is not just that we are shutting down everyday peoples access to affordable outdoor recreation but that we are eliminating a significant portion of revenue for local business and in turn State revenue:

AZ Family Channel 3 report:

“State parks take nothing from the general fund and actually give back to the state budget a big fat $22.7 million in state and local taxes. The state legislature has swept millions from state parks to help balance the budget, leaving them too short to operate the 30 parks in the system.

Three have already closed.

Does this make sense since state parks bring in more than $225 million dollars to the state’s economy through the 2.5 million visitors each year.”

AZ Republic Report on AZ State Park Closures

“Bahl noted that last year parks contributed $25 million to the General Fund, even though parks themselves receive no General Fund dollars. A Northern Arizona University study found that the parks generated $266 million annually in economic activity for rural communities.

“We’re important to the economy,” Bahl said. “We’re important to the people right now. Folks can’t afford to do much these days, and parks are one affordable luxury that we want to keep open.”"

The AZ State Parks foundation points out that if this is allowed to happen we may be looking at a huge land grab of pristine public land handed back over to private owners. Maybe they will put a chairlift on the Superstitions and install a KFC on the Flatiron…

AZ State Parks Foundation

“The cuts will force major reductions in Parks staff and closure of more than half of the State’s 30 parks this fiscal year.  The resulting loss of Park revenue is projected to leave the Parks System with no money to start the next fiscal year, July 1, 2010.  The next step will be to shut down the entire system and dispose of Parks properties, returning most of them to their original owners.”

According to the AZ State Parks Foundation there are a number of ways you can take action:

#1 – Call Governor Brewer and Email this sample letter (Word Doc):

Phone:  602-542-4331 or 800-253-0883

Email via Governor’s Contact page at:

www.governor.state.az.us/Contact.asp

Mail:  The Honorable Jan Brewer, Governor of Arizona,

1700 West Washington, Phoenix, Arizona 85007

#2 – Attend the AZ State Park Board Meeting on Jan 15th at the Phoenix Zoo and let them know how you feel about this.

#3 – Email this sample letter (Word doc) to your legistators (find yours here: AZ senate – AZ house – Find your District)

#4 – Let the AZ State Parks Board know where you stand.

Take 30 minutes out of your day today and address this issue. Please.

Edited: January 13th, 2010

Hacking Yoga: Can Yoga help me lose weight?

This is a great question and the answer is: yes it can! (surprised?)

Yoga can affect your weight in a number of ways:

1. Yoga increases your metabolism
2. Use yoga to prevent injury from other exercises
3. Learning to calm the mind with yoga allows you to recognize unhealthy eating patterns

Also keep in mind that weight loss is not the best measure for health. As you start working out you will build muscle which weighs more than fat and you may see some weight gain. Do not be discouraged. Think about how you feel. Are you stronger and more comfortable during the day? How about your energy levels? Consider that Western Science may not have all the answers.

If weight loss is your biggest concern exercise will only get you so far. The biggest factor here will be your diet. Focus on eating more vegetables and fruits while reducing overall consumption especially of Corn Syrup.

What do you think? Has Yoga helped you lose weight? What have I missed?

Edited: November 10th, 2009

My post @elephantJournal: Being Vegan is Easy

I ran into Waylon of Elephant Journal about 7 weeks ago at the Yoga Journal Conference in Estes Park. We talked about a number of things and exchanged some different ideas about the Internets, Yoga, and being Vegan. He explained that he would be a vegan if it weren’t so difficult to do so when going out on the town.

I thought that this was a valid issue and started to explain how I coped with the issue. This resulted in my writing a little post that was published there about Being Vegan is Easy. I have been encouraged by the comments and effects it has had on a number of people.

In the end remember to do your best to eat with a conscious mind, always being aware of what you are consuming. Being vegan doesn’t require a snobbish or religious attitude. It just requires that you care about what you are putting in your body and what it takes to get that food to your plate.

Edited: November 10th, 2009

My First Capoeira Class

In preparation for Project Runaway I am focusing on expanding my cultural influences. One possible destination is Brazil because of its party culture and surfing spots. I figure that exposing myself to some Brazilian culture will only help with things like speaking Portugese and even finding work. Then on two seperate occasions the term Capoeira resurfaces and its a sign that I have to follow.

I put it out to the Twitterverse that I was looking for a Capoeira spot in the AZ area and got a response from Philippos Savvides (@savvides) to come and check out their Grupo Capoeira Brasil in Tempe, AZ. Its always cool to see more and more people using Twitter to connect and make things happen! Naturally I had to take him up on his offer and check out their next available class.

Capoeira is an “Afro-Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, games, music, and dance.” (Wikipedia) It was developed by slaves as a way of practicing their martial arts while disquising them as a dance, fooling their owners into thinking they were just partying. It was outlawed in Brazil for much of the 19th century, but was later recognized as having cultural value and has now become a popular sport with expansion all over the globe.

Practitioners of Capoeira form a circle with some playing instruments, some singing, and pairs sparring in the middle with fluid/acrobatic movements. In the class that I attended the focus was on the musical instruments and singing. Apparently this is very different from ‘normal’ Capoeira class where the sparring aspect is the focus. However in order to progress in the sport one must learn to play all instruments and sing solo during others sparring time so this may have been the best way to introduce myself to the sport.

As we started I was welcomed warmly by everyone in the class on an individual level. I was not called out at any point to explain who I was or anything like that, which I appreciated cause I was nervous as a diabetic on too much caffine. One very large guy named Reggie was super cool and helped me get accustomed to the tambourine(pandeiros) and the method of playing it in the circle. I am certain that this was the first time I handled a tambourine since elementary school and pretty sure I butchered it, but I had a blast and thats all the matters right?

After a bit of the tambourine I was handed the most intimidating musical device I have ever seen: the berimbaus. This thing looks like a bow with a bowl attached to the bottom. You play it by holding the bow(Verga) with one hand; which with your pinky finger you are keeping the bowl(Cabaça) from falling off, then using the two middle fingers you hold the bow, and the thumb and index hold a rock or coin(Pedra or Dobrão) which is applied to the wire string(Arame) for certain notes. The other hand holds a basket with beads(Caxixí) in the palm while the thumb and forefinger hold a small stick(Baqueta) used to hit the Arame and make notes.

With all of that in hand you then have a few ways to create music, or in my case noise. The Cabaça is open at one end, so holding it against your chest makes a difference to holding it away. Applying the Pedra or Dobrão to the Arame also makes a difference. Take these combinations and then throw in a modulating rythmn and I was pretty well lost with this one. Just holding the Verga and keeping the Cabaça up with my pinky was causing smoke to come out of my ears. Thankfully everyone was cool about my noobness and we jammed on.

Then the singing started and it was really awesome. I tried to join in a bit but found it difficult to keep pace with the instrument at the same time so I kept my mouth shut for a rare occasion. I have no idea what was being sung but it was beautiful and I forgot about everything else: where, when, who, how, why, and what for… At one point it struck me that I was still in AZ but it didn’t feel that way at all.

After a bit of playing the instruments we broke off into smaller groups to learn some of the songs. Keep in mind everything is in Portugese and I have enough trouble with English. Nonetheless I managed to learn a few lines and was able to contribute in my own little way. We formed a circle up with the entire group again and each smaller group went around teaching each other their song. Good stuff.

The next phase of class was sparring and for my first live experience of a Capoeira spar I definitely stayed in the circle and watched. There were some serious moves getting thrown around and on a few occasions some contact was about to make it a bloody afternoon. My cautious self won out and kept me sidelined as this went on. I really wanted to jump in but knew it would probably end with at least one black eye.

My concept of time completely disappeared during this class so I cannot say how much time was spent on each section, what I can tell you is that 2 hours were over and gone before I knew what happened. Professor Trovão runs a great studio and I recommend that everyone go and give it a try. I will be back for the Thursday beginner class for sure.

Edited: October 11th, 2009

Hacking Yoga: @gangplank Presentation Sept 16th 2009

So the first Hacking Yoga Presentation went down @gangplank on Setp 16th 2009 and if you weren’t there then you missed out on the group transmutation into trancendent beings, bummer. =)

I had a total blast talking to the group about two passions of mine: Hacking and Yoga. While I am pretty much a n00b at both I still have fun thinking and talking about them and thought that the presentation was a good intro to how the two work together. The questions afterward were the best part and I want to thank everyone for asking them. Please feel free to reach out to me here if you have more of them.

Edited: September 18th, 2009

Keeping perspective – Sunrise hikes

The sun is definitely rising a bit later these days. The park ranger decided to sleep in a bit too. Finally got into the park at 5:10 about 15 minutes later than last Friday. Started off in the dark which was cool.

Last week I finally spoke up to the lady with the dog off the leash who always tells us her dog is friendly. I asked her if she knew there was a leash law which she didn’t respond to.

I understand that this is a sensitive point for dog owners. My point in bringing this up us for a few reasons: 1) it’s the law and there is some type of penalty for breaking it, 2) not everyone loves your dog, 3) it disrupts the wildlife which your domesticated pet is not, 4) if enough people violate this law they will eventually ban all dogs from the park.

Well this week we came across her at the bottom of the hill and the had her dogs on leash. I walked by and when Caroline went by the lady said to her dogs that we “are not nice people.”

Naturally Caroline wasn’t too pleased with that remark and let the lady know. I turned around to see what was going on and the lady began shouting at us. We both chuckled and continued on.

It’s funny how we let people affect us so easily. From the ladies perspective we intruded on her morning routine and further insulted her by ramarking that her dog needed to be on a leash. With that perspective in mind I see how she is upset.

Unfortunately or fortunately South Mountain is not her park. It is everyones park and we should respect that.

For Friday I will take some video if it sparks up again. Too funny. Stay tuned.

Edited: August 12th, 2009

Happy friday! Nice morning for a hike!

The temps have settled down a bit here and it is mid 70’s this morning. Got the ridge line loop done with Caroline and Chance and had good discussion about current drama and moving on.

In yoga we are learning about Sanskaras which are imprints of prior experiences that we carry around and use for future situations. These are not of benefit to us since new situations should be handled as unique experiences that we haven’t had before.

Becoming aware of this is the first step to acting as a true being and not an autonomiton reacting the same way everytime.

So today forget what you have done in the past, who wronged you, where you have been, and be present for the newness that is your life.

Edited: August 7th, 2009

Back on home turf – sunrise hike

First hike since doing Humphreys on Saturday. The rest was welcome by all but it is nice to get a reprieve from the city. Humid and warm this morning at 91 degrees.

Edited: August 5th, 2009

Video of the Assault up Humphreys Peak

The break of dawn is only a figment of the imagination. At this point it’s so early it may as well still be yesterday. At least the roads are empty.

This early morning depature is necessary because we will be driving a few hours to the trailhead for Humphreys Peak just north of Flagstaff, AZ. At this rate we should be at the trailhead around 7am which means the trail should be empty.

My last trip up Humphreys was a number of years ago in May. When I pulled into the trailhead parking lot there was snow everywhere and some guy was getting his cross country skis ready to go. I had flip flops on.

This time is different, no snow and we have an EMD (Early Morning Doggie) which means we should move quickly and get back before dark. The climb was steady but not overly difficult. It took us 4 hours to summit and close to 3 to get back down. The dog pulled us all the way up and was ready for more when we got back down.

Here is the Flickr SlideShow:

Edited: August 4th, 2009

Chilly morning – South Mountain Sunrise Hike

Completed the 4th week of sunrise hikes with the sister and we were greeted with a nice chilly morning. Felt much less creaky this morning which told me that a few days of rest with easier yoga and plenty of sleep was very needed.

We were the first car into the park right after the ranger opened the gate. That means we were their early. Like pre sunrise early.

We hit the dark trail with sleep still in the eyes. My mind was still rolling with dreams and questions about recent events. Doubts were replaced with breathing and the sounds of nature. We made the ridge well before sunrise and saw only two others on the trail.

Time for a great Thursday.

Edited: July 30th, 2009