THE SCENE: Upper 40s or so, wet, but no rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x 21 (4 ct)
Little baby arm circles forward x 21
Little baby arm circles backward x 21
Little bit of this and a little bit of that x 2
Michael Phelps
21 merkins
21 squats
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Rocky Mountain High
21s – Incline merkins at the top, squats at the bottom
Mosey to Everest
20 burpees at the bottom, run to the summit, 21 burpees at the top
Mosey to the Colosseum
21 derkins at the bottom of the loop, 21 calf raises at the top on the steps of the admin building
Rinse and repeat
Mosey to the Cloud
21 box jumps, 21 dips (no running in between)
Rinse and repeat
Mosey to the Pavilon
21 bench pull ups, 21 CDDs
Rinse and repeat for 4 total rounds
Mosey to Little Cardiac
Sprint to the AO
MARY:
21 flutter kicks (4 ct)
20 hokey pokeys (10 each leg)
1 merkin w/ a clap
Plank until time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
24 HIMs, including FNG Flo and Jetlag and Chugger (who are not tagged)
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I Q’ed at the Equalizer on Wednesday, the last Equalizer Q for 2020. I reflected back on my Q from 1/4/20, almost a year ago today, which was the first Saturday workout in 2020 at the Asylum. I wrote this in my back-blast for the 1/4/20 workout:
It is a new year and a new decade and no one knows what it holds. It could be the year that someone is added to your life, or it could be the year that someone is taken away. It could be the year of the promotion, or it could be the year of the demotion. It could be the year of kindergarten, or it could be the year of graduation. It could be the year of the big win, or it could be the year of the big loss. Regardless, you don’t need a resolution, you need a constitution, a foundation. On a big scale, it should be God, your family, your friends, etc. But, it can be anything that grounds you. It can even be as simple as the F3 workouts. The asphalt, concrete, and grass do not change, and they are always there waiting for you whether you have a good day/week or a bad day/week. They are checkpoints after good times or bad and before whatever lies ahead. If nothing else, start there and build. Have a good new year but not just for what good fortunes may come your way during the year but based on what you keep your eye on and focus on while the year goes by.
I wrote this for my back-blast on 12/30/20:
I certainly did not know (nor could I have imagined) how 2020 was going to play out. It has been a year of a whole lot of something and a whole lot of nothing at the same time. It’s been a long year and one that has hardly existed. I’m usually reflective at New Year’s, but this year is different. The usual events are not there to reflect on. But, it has been a good year to get back to those basic foundations that I mentioned in January. I’ve spent more time at home and with my family. I’ve attended more F3 workouts thanks to my telework schedule. I’ve prayed a lot. A lot people are happy to end 2020 in favor of 2021. Those people need to be careful. We should not wish our lives away in hopes of better days to come. Find the joy now. If you can’t find any, then look harder. If you still can’t find any, then make some. We have to live the days we are given as there is no guarantee of tomorrow. Also, things are not going to change just because the year changes from 2020 to 2021. Things will change with positive attitudes and actions. When you look back on 2020, look for the good and don’t dwell on the bad. As you look forward to 2021, look with hope and with the intention of doing something positive with it.
Wednesday night, Noel Gallagher released a song that summed up what I was trying to say about the struggle to be positive with all of the endless negativity being thrown at us. Before I talk about his song, I wanted to provide some context.
Noel Gallagher was the lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and secondary vocalist for my favorite band – Oasis. As I have said before, I was born in the 70s, I am a child of the 80s, but I am a product of the 90s. Few bands captured the essence of the 90s – its brash positivity, its depressing angst, and its impenetrable rebel spirit – better than Oasis. The band’s music, as with most music of the 90s, was about being yourself, challenging authority, pressing the boundaries, and pushing the envelope. It was dreaming and aspiring for greatness while being burdened with existential philosophical and theological questions of right and wrong and simply “why.” Noel wrote some of the great songs that defined that era. Those songs also contained gems such as:
I’m free to be whatever I/Whatever I choose/And I’ll sing the blues if I want/I’m free to say whatever I/Whatever I like/If it’s wrong or right it’s alright/Always seems to me/You only see what people want you to see/How long’s it gonna be/Before we get on the bus/And cause no fuss/Get a grip on yourself/It don’t cost much – Whatever
Listen up, what’s the time/Said today, I’m gonna speak my mind/Take me up to the top of the world I wanna see my crime/Day by day there’s a man in a suit who’s gonna make you pay/For the thoughts that you think and the words they won’t let you say – Listen Up
Some might say they don’t believe in heaven/Go and tell that to the man who lives in hell – Some Might Say
Look into the wall of my mind’s eye/I think I know, but I don’t know why/The questions are the answers you might need/Coming in a mess, going out in style/I ain’t good-looking, but I’m someone’s child/No one can give me the air that’s mine to breathe/I met my maker/I made him cry/And on my shoulder he asked me why/His people won’t fly through the storm/I said listen up man, they don’t even know you’re born – D’You Know What I Mean?
Take the time to make some sense of what you want to say/And cast your words away upon the waves/Sail them home with acquiesce on a ship of hope today/And as they land upon the shore/Tell them not to fear no more/Say it loud and sing it proud today – The Masterplan
I need to be myself/I can’t be no one else – Supersonic
(The title of this back-blast is also a line from one of Noel’s songs – All Around the World.)
I could go on. Those are just a few and are not even from some of the more widely known songs. But, I am not trying to sell anyone on Oasis.
My point is that music today has changed. It is not only missing actual instruments, it is missing its revolution. Ever since Buddy Holly challenged the status quo and the comfort of the established class in the 50s – through and including Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and, of course, the Beatles, music has reflected a “we are not going to take it,” “we are who we are and we are proud of it,” and a “we are going to live our lives and no one is going to tell us otherwise” mentality. Music is the mirror that the youth hold up to everyone else to keep them in check and to improve things. In a way, music is society’s conscious. Not today. Today’s music does not even have a Madonna, let alone a true revolutionary. Everyone falls in line and sings the same tune.
Want proof? Old-school British rockers have been rising up a lot lately against COVID masks, protocols, and things of that nature. The list includes Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, and Ian Brown from the Stone Roses. Noel has also chimed in. He did not say that the virus wasn’t real. He did not say that people weren’t dying of the virus. He simply pointed out that a lot of liberties had eroded and questioned why he has to wear a mask in public unless he is eating – will the virus recognize that he is eating and skip over him, he asked. He was attacked for his comments by some. I say that not to raise the usual debates about COVID, but to get to this.
Noel has a 20-year-old daughter. She was asked to respond to Noel’s comments. Her response is the point, and it demonstrates a larger problem that was revealed in 2020. She said: “I get where he’s coming from but I’m less full-on than him. I’m generally less revolutionary than my dad. I’ve never not worn a mask. I think my generation is quite lenient and that’s not necessarily a good thing. We do what we’re told a bit too much, we come from an era of fake news and Facebook telling us what the news is. We are also hugely afraid of being cancelled. It’s very dangerous to stand up and be your own person in my generation. If you are going against the grain, you can be totally cut out.”
That’s scary. In one generation, the Gallagher line has gone from striving for greatness and revolutionizing the world with such great lyrics as those mentioned before and countless others to being afraid to speak out and being afraid of being cancelled. If the children of rock-n-roll rebels are falling in line, then where does that leave the rest of us? If the youth movement is not there to keep the older generation in line and on its toes, then where does that leave the rest of us, not just now but with whatever lies ahead in 2021 and beyond?
Luckily, Noel is still around and still willing to comment. So, back to the song that I mentioned earlier. I don’t think it is controversial. I think it is hopeful and positive. Here are the lyrics:
Remember the dream that you’re keeping alive/Remember your love for the loved outside/Don’t fight the feeling/Don’t stop believing in what you know/‘Cause you can’t let go, my friend/We’re gonna get there in the end/Tonight! Tonight!/Gonna let that dream take flight/And when the morning comes/Will you wake up by my side?/Love, real love/Is all I’m thinking of/Give it half a chance/And the world might find a way/Don’t be afraid when you’re rolling the dice/Life is a trip that you don’t take twice/If you think that your faith is enough/The weight that you carry is love/We’ve spent too long inside/Take a walk outside/It’s a sad, sad song that the world keeps singing/Well let love try to sing along/Don’t fight the feeling/Don’t stop believing in what you know/‘Cause you can’t let go, my friend/We’re gonna get there in the end
The video with the song shows what appears to be drone footage of a locked down city in England. It ends with a shot of a crowd of people filling the streets as they walk across an intersection on both sides. I’m not sure when that footage was taken, but let’s hope that it becomes more common in 2021. Who would have thought that such a simple and mundane daily task like walking across the street in a crowd would be the focus of so many hopes and goals of a new year. But, here we are. And, I hope that Noel is right and that we’re gonna get there in the end. And, while we are trying to get back to better days, I hope that we also get back to a point where we are all free to be and say whatever we want, especially our youth.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Jordan, Ribbed’s wife and family, and for a great 2021
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Asylum CSAUP on 1/30