Issue Date: August 13,
2006
Get
great thighs
Strong
(and toned!) thighs are an important part of avoiding injury and
looking good while you do it.
Our
quadriceps and hamstrings -- the front and back muscles of the
upper leg -- get worked with walking, hiking, biking and other
workouts. The adductors and abductors -- the inner and outer thigh
muscles -- get ignored. Because we move our muscles primarily in
front-to-back motions, the side-to-side muscles get weak. Those
muscles are important in helping us to avoid both knee and hip
injuries.
Begin
with the basics if you are getting the inner and outer thigh muscles
back into shape. Two of my favorite moves:
Seated
Pillow Squeeze. Sit on a chair with your feet on the floor and
knees bent at 90-degree angles. Place a pillow between your thighs.
Exhale and squeeze pillow. Hold for one minute while breathing
normally. Release, then proceed to the move below.
Seated
Hip Push. Still seated with your knees at 90-degree angles, place
your palms on the outsides of your knees. Keeping palms and arms
stationary, push knees out against hands while pushing hands in
against knees. Breathe normally while holding for one minute.
Complete
four repetitions of these moves without a break.
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The
best gambling vacations
Now
that Texas Hold'em has entered the lexicon, it's not too
surprising that gambling vacations rival visits to theme parks. The
Travel Industry Association of America reports that 14% of those
planning summer leisure travel will visit a casino.
Some
$30.3 billion was spent atU.S. casinos in 2005, according to the
American Gaming Association. And much of that was left on the gaming
tables of Las Vegas, which has transformed itself into a sexy,
celebrity-infused destination. On the East Coast, Atlantic City is
going upscale with its new slogan, "Always Turned On."
Gambling
spots on the Gulf Coast were hard hit by Hurricane Katrina, yet the
Isle of Capri Casino Resort, Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino and
Palace Casino Resort all have bounced back in Biloxi, Miss.
In
Nevada, Lake Tahoe, with Harrah's and Harveys casinos, still is going
strong.
But some
of our best gambling action is at the tribal-owned casinos. Niagara
Falls features the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel. Connecticut offers
both Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard and Mohegan Sun in Uncasville.
And although Cabazon, Calif., may not have the same ring as Vegas,
the Morongo Band of Mission Indians is betting it will one day. The
group owns the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa, a 27-story hotel and
casino complex with elaborate pools and VIP lounges. It rises in the
desert about 20 minutes outside Palm Springs, Calif.
Sign up
for Everett Potter's free travel newsletter at everettpotter.com.
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Let
your computer pick a tune you'll like
Discovering new music that you're practically
guaranteed to like is easier than you think. Simply log onto
pandora.com, then enter in the name of one of your favorite songs or
bands, and the site will begin playing a succession of songs similar
to your choice that it thinks you'll dig. It's both cool and a little
scary.
The site
was created by the Music Genome Project, a group that analyzes music
by breaking it down into its fundamental elements. A staff of trained
musicians has listened to some 500,000 tunes and noted their various
characteristics, including "repetitive melodic phrasing," "subtle use
of vocal harmony" and "minor key tonality," among numerous others.
These traits are used to discover similarities between songs and to
build playlists that are geared specifically toward your own taste.
Best of
all, it won't cost you a thing.
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Dogs
"teach" reading
Among
the latest things dogs are being credited with is helping kids
learn to read. Children participating in a program called Sit Stay
Read practice reading aloud to their canine "instructors," who won't
criticize or tease. The dogs helped boost the reading skills of
second- and third-graders in Chicago almost three times as much as
kids in classes without the therapy dogs. Says Kathy Klotz, the
executive director of Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ) in
Salt Lake City: "The dogs never judge, and they help kids to relax.
Also, the kids want to do well for the dogs, as if they're teaching
the dogs."
READ has
programs nationwide, and the 30 Sit Stay Read dogs passed a test
before being accepted into the program.
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