Steven Joniak – the Blog

Got caught and was an experience all around … more to update later tonight…

Today was a good day to run – the first chance since early January! The sun was shining, the weather was just above freezing and little wind so it felt warmer then it looked. Of course part of winter running means having proper warm clothing layers and wind breakers or warm jacket but one other new item I tested today was an extra add on to help your running shoes Get A Grip when running on ice and snow.

Get a Grip Advanced™ are a pair of specially formulated stretchable rubber that maintain their shape in all temperatures and reduce slipping when running on snow and ice. Along the bottom of the shoes are 6 Ice Diamond™ carbide spikes that are strategically placed to help improve traction the ice and snow as you run. I picked up a pair for the Running Room in High Park and then later headed out for a run.

Thoughts: Stretching them over my size 11 Nike Zoom Vomeros was fairly easy, but some effort was required to stretch them the heel and ensure the 2 heel spikes were straight. Walking around in them on pavement or indoors feels comfortable with hardly any different feeling on your feet BUT they are loud as the spikes clack against the hard surface.

While running, I purposely tried to run over all the snow and ice patches I could find in my run throughout High Park and the grips help up very well and confidently gripped the surface as I ran without any slips. The only time I did feel a bit of slipping was running up an incline and the ice was wet and melting – but I still felt having a better chance maintaining some balance with the spikes then in just plain runners alone.

Overall seeing how I easily kept pace and ran by other struggling runners today, I would recommend these for anyone who are serious about outdoor running through a lot of snow and ice on a regular basis. For casual runners, a less expensive version is also available but do compare in the store as there are distinct differences. Otherwise save your money and do what my friends keep telling me – ‘get a treadmill!’

The fact the Pentagon made a video, held a press conference and shared their ’success’ with the world says it all. This is the world we live in boys and girls – welcome to the ‘new’ cold war – IN SPACE!

If you haven’t heard, this Thursday the US military is going to attempt to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite before it crashes to Earth and possibly release toxic materials in the process. The concern is that if the satellite did crash into a populated area, and the near full tank of hydrazine ruptured then there would be the potential for harm to human life from the toxic gas released. As the story has unfolded over the last month, today new details confirm that the ‘best scenario’ would involve firing the missile from a US Navy ship situated west of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean which would result in a possible debris field to fall over northern-central Canada due to the orbit path of the satellite when its hit.

Alternative paths to shoot over the Atlantic would have posed a greater risk to African and Europeans, but also offer greater possibility that if any security sensitive materials did survive the fall without burning in the atmosphere that then Russia or China might be able to recover some of those materials. It should be noted that Russia has been publically critical of the shoot-down attempt as a simple excuse for the US to test its anti-satellite ‘Star Wars’ system. The US had previously criticized China for its shooting down of one of its own defunct satellites, albeit without any warning to the rest of the world at the time.

Full coverage here:
link (Wired.com): Satellite Shoot-Down Set: Intercept Near Hawaii; Debris Cloud Over Canada (Updated)

link (CBC.ca): Blasting the spy satellite: The secret’s out

link (Wired.com): Inside America’s Satellite-Killing Missile

link (Space.com): China’s Anti-Satellite Test Widely Criticized, U.S. Says No New Treaties Needed

Thanks to AmberMac for posting this – I’m reposting here as its a ‘must see’ for a simple yet knowledgeable explanation of a not-so-well-known source behind our pollution, environmental and even political problems around the world – consumerism.

The clip is in 7 parts – part 1 is the introduction, but I’ve also included part 5 which I think has the biggest impact and eye-opening revelation of what we are doing without realizing it, are embedded below OR watch the full video here.

Part 1: Introduction

Part 5: Consumption

2007 is history, long live 2008! Where has the year gone? We’ll save the retrospective for a later post, but one tradition I’ve continued in recent years is taking a scenic walk on New Years Day to reflect on the past year and help clear my head with a fresh outlook for the year ahead. Its also a perfect excuse to stretch my creative side with the top 10 photos taken during the walk – enjoy!

Watch the video and then sign the pledge at AVAAZ.org, as part of Live Earth, to help send a message to the world that you want something to be done, and will do your part, to help slow down and prevent further effects from Global Warming.

I found this strawberry tucked away within my pint of Ontario Strawberries I picked up earlier today – its a freakin’ mutant strawberry with like 6 small bumps – its like a popcorn kernal hooked up with a baseball glove in a strawberry patch and this was their lovechild! Cool

.

For all those nay-sayers out there – its a scientific FACT! This is scary & serious stuff! We need to stop being dependent on fossil fuels and other non-renewable habits and start addressing this now before its too late … your air-conditioned SUV or Hummer won’t save you then…

Gary Braasch is a photographer who put together an excellent website documenting images of the effects of Global Warming from around the globe. Also, he’s added some tips for everyone to employ, especially us North Americans who seem content in thinking ‘its not us’ – well guess what – if the planet goes to hell, NO ONE is going to safe.