Finkel's Fast Five - #151

1. BOOKS

First fat was the enemy. Then just saturated fat. Then carbs. Then cholesterol. Then sugar. Then high fructose corn syrup. It’s all nonsense. The only thing nutritionists and health experts have been consistent about over time is that they’re almost always wrong. Hell, they used to say cigarettes were healthy. Camel even had a tagline, “More Doctors Smoke Camels.” It’s insane. Why am I writing all of this? Because I came across a book, The Dorito Effect, by Mark Schatzker that takes the most lucid, common-sense look at why most food that’s marketed to us isn’t even food - and why our body rejects it. He dives into the science of flavor, farming, mouthfeel and marketing that is designed to trick people into feeling one thing regarding food while they’re body experiences something completely different. It’s a fascinating read, especially if you have kids.

2. HOOPS

NBA TV ran an awesome one-hour show this week called The Glove and The Reign Man about Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton. Yes, there’s obviously a tie-in to my book on the Sonics and the ballers from Seattle (plug: you can buy it here), but the show was a great look back at the 90s NBA. If you didn’t record the show, this 30-minute video of the Top 10 Payton-to-Kemp alley-oops should suffice. It’s awesome.

3. FITNESS

I hate running but I enjoy sprinting. A three mile run all at once? No thanks. 24 x 200? I’m down with that. I’ve been sprinting at least once a week now in between heavy lift days and I like this workout from Men’s Journal. I did it Tuesday. Took about 45 minutes including a 10-minute warm-up jog:

• 3 x 600m or 90 sec. @ 80% effort (or 2 MPH below top sprint pace) with a 2-min. recovery walk or jog in between sets

• 3 x 400m or 60 sec. @ 90% effort (or 1 MPH below top sprint pace) with a 90-sec. recovery walk or jog in between sets

• 3 x 200m or 30 sec. @ 100% sprint speed with 1-min. recovery walk or jog in between sets

4. FOOD

We’ve done Taco Tuesday On Wednesday in the Finkel household religiously for the past year. Why on Wednesday? I don’t remember. We had to move it from Tuesday once and now it’s TToW. Instead of buying guac and salsa, which we did in the beginning, we’ve now graduated to making our own fresh guacamole and salsa. I now present to you what I believe is my best salsa concoction:

Jonboy’s Salsa: roma tomatoes, fresh minced garlic, cumin, fresh cilantro, small red onion, sea salt and pepper

I never measure anything. Just toss what you think the right amount of each of these is into a blender and hit ‘chop’. Let it go for like 10 seconds. Maybe 5. Done. (I’m a wuss with hot stuff, but if you want it spicy add jalapenos or chilis or whatever other heat you fire lovers like).

5. A QUOTE FROM JERRY SEINFELD

“You need talent, you need brains, and you need confidence. Those are the three things you need to do virtually anything. Confidence is a fascinating commodity. There’s no upper limit on the usefulness of it, as long as it doesn’t bleed into arrogance.”

BONUS: Check out this really cool animated graphic a fan made for Hoops Heist.

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