Dear Dr. Laura,

Anyone else in awe of the U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps?

As his gold medal hunt in Beijing ends he leaves the Water Cube eight golds heavier, breaking Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in one Olympics.

He’ll be netting a $1 million bonus from Speedo for his performance now that he’s one-upped Spitz’s record count, cementing his place as one of the best athletes of all time.

Superman. Magical. The King. The Dolphin. The Fish. The Phenomenon has a unique diet.  Let’s just say he eats well with his typical breakfast being:

‘three fried egg sandwiches, with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, fried onions and mayonnaise, followed by three chocolate-chip pancakes; a five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast and a bowl of grits (a maize-based porridge), washed down with two cups of coffee.’

On it goes as he consumes 12,000 calories during a typical day! With no mention of John West tuna? Another endorsement on the way, perhaps? Whatever next, endorsing credit cards to pay for his food bill? 

Comments welcomed on this superhuman achievement, his calorie intake and other suitable swimming related sponsorship ideas, flipper.

My son left a CD in my truck stereo Friday Night, and yesterday I listened to it while driving to work.  This isn’t some blatant promotion for the band, Blue October, but it is a blatant promotion of a certain song that made me think about how we tend to hide ourselves.

I am in the process of meeting new people, creating a new corporate network, and starting out at the bottom of the barrel in a new job culture.  I don’t want any of my co-workers and team mates to see “my ugly side”.  Quite frankly, I don’t want anyone to see the side of me that is deeply opinionated on several levels.  Most because at this time in my life, I don’t have the energy or the time to engage in licking the flavour (a line I stole from another Blue October song) of something until it’s tasteless. 

And isn’t that what happens?  You get a few people together who have cemented their belief in a philosophy or a tradition on completely opposing sides of the table; compromise isn’t going to happen.

Why? 

Diplomacy insists that we behave according to moral structure in a civilized setting, and yet we continue to battle it out on the war-field.  Lives are lost, countries are left in ruin … because when we show our “ugly side” we are really ugly.

It happens in Divorce, the end of friendships or relations (which is just a different kind of divorce) and history begs us to remember how we hide until guns are loaded, lines are drawn and then we are free to behave as horribly as we want or can.

Why?

What is at the basis of your “ugly side” and what do you NOT want people to see the most about you, your character or your philosophy? 

I go first, in the comments.

Did anyone catch the fastest 100m sprint of all time as 6 foot 5 Jamaican Usain Bolt won the Beijing Olympics 100 meters gold medal in a world record 9.69 seconds, gesturing to the crowd and slapping his chest before crossing the line.

Word is 9.5 seconds for the 100m is well within his reach as he approaches his 22nd birthday. He only started running the 100m to help him train for his preferred event, the 200m!

How much faster can man GO!? Do tell…..

It seems these days that anyone with a beef about something seems to automatically assume the rest of us need to hear about it. Last week a huge traffic jam was caused and millions of pounds lost due to a “Fathers for Justice” protest.

So far almost every day the Olympics has been spoilt to a certain degree by the ‘Free Tibet’ mob. Each year in many countries untold inconvenience is caused by anti G8, anti globalisation and many other forms of demonstration, surely they’ve made their point by now. Whilst it is absolutely the right of people to protest what about the majority of us who don’t agree with their view point or perhaps their methods and have our lives disrupted, what about the effect on us. We bear the brunt of the cost of policing a marauding gang of Swampy lookalikes, the revenues lost by business, the fact you can’t go into the city and do what you want to do on that day, etc, etc.

Should we put a lid on this sort of thing and restrict it to certain days only or should these people actually use the deomcratic process and get themselves elected to the government and force the change from that side, after all its supposed to be the best system in the world and this is the way it works isn’t it? 

It is an alternative. Stamping your feet and screaming in public is what kids do when they can’t get their own way right?

Need some weekend inspiration? Check out this peace by inches speech by Al Pacino, it’s worth watching:

Inch by inch, play by play, second by second as it all comes down to the moment.

 Do tell, what can you relate to from the speech in your life to date? Dig deep and share!

Mighty Morgan Here!

I have been a smoker since I was 15 years old; when I started smoking I had no understanding of how addictive this habit was and that it would be one that would still control me close to twenty years later.

I have been thinking a lot about the best way to finally quit and desperately trying to muster up the courage to begin a day without my favorite little friend. Monday was that day and today is three days without a cigarette.  I also decided that I would begin fasting this past Monday, beginning each day with a saltwater flush to help rid my body of the toxins that have built themselves up in my system through the years.

Amazingly enough I have found that the fasting aspect has made my transition to a non-smoker, dare I say “easy“. In the past few days I have found that the desire to eat has far outweighed any desire to smoke, helping me along the first few days of nicotine withdrawals.

As visions of steak sandwiches, smothered in caramelized onions and melted cheddar served on toasted garlic bread dance in my head, I find no room for the insane thoughts of smoking!

Anyone else ever kicked the “habit”? Any tips or tricks you can share from your own success?

Five years of Internet publishing (and one excellent print venture) — we’ve never gone more than a couple of days late.

This time around, we went a full ten days past deadline – and if we were getting paid a tidy sum (or any sum at all) we would have been fired.

This Internet zine of mine was started some years ago partially due to the publication I wrote for closing it’s doors, stopping the presses and leaving me feeling unfinished.  I had written inspirational & motivational articles as “The Irreverent Reverend” (you didn’t know I had a degree in theology & a ministerial license, didya?)  and I needed an outlet.  What started as a small endeavor has ended up becoming a full time gig. 

Here’s the secret no one else knows … shhhh …we really went late because I’m the production editor and my daily life truly does interfere with the cyberspace form I inhabit on the net.   24 hours in a day just isn’t enough.  If ONLY I didn’t HAVE to sleep, yanno?  How I wish I could find a way to make a living doing what I do best. 

Which brings me to my truest point besides announcing the most recent edition — what is your passion?  And what would you do simply because it brings you satisfaction, joy, and a sense of accomplishment?

You know mine.  Go read the latest issue of The Hiss Quarterly — hey man, it’s free!

On Saturday, officers ’swept’ the city centre of Manchester, UK, with a number of drug dogs.

Police randomly stopped and searched people walking through the city centre, resulting in over 30 arrests. Its all part of Operation Notebook (don’t you just love their imagination) which has been running since April.

So far a total of 250 stop-searches have been carried out since the start of the operation, which has included arrests for alleged possession of drugs and five warnings for allegedly carrying small amounts of cannabis. 1 person has been arrested for carrying a knife.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are certain areas in the city centre which are notoriously dodgy and I’m pleased that they are attempting to clean them up but I have beef with the fact that I can’t walk down the street without potentially being under suspicion.

Chief Constable Michael Todd says the searches can help police detect crime (no shit sherlock)

But he says officers can only search someone if they suspect them of carrying drugs, weapons, stolen property or items that could be used to commit a crime.

The officer must tell the person what law is being used and their rights, the officer’s name, the station they work at and why they stopped the person.

The officer must also say what they are looking for.

The police authority says it aims to improve the trust and confidence in the police.

Does it? Not for me it doesn’t.

Is this the way it’s going to be?

Meet Ed Gajdel - one of the finest and highly acclaimed photographers in the world who we recently met in Toronto. Check his inspiring work out and you’re sure to spot a few familiar faces. He recently submitted one of his photographs in recognition of becoming a flower smeller:

We’ll be adding him to the flower smeller gallery we’re building up after awarding him the badge at the end of July. Maybe you know more flower smellers? Just let us know and pass it on!

When do you let your heart lead your sight? Do tell!