An Awesome New Year's Eve LOL

What better way to end the year than with a chakra-deep guffaw fest? Take a deep breath and get your laugh on!

Vid not working?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMC1_RH_b3k

A Move Gone Wrong...Very, Very Wrong

A guest post by DH (dear hubby) explaining how our move this week went careening off the rails. Literally. In this retelling, the IY is using the code name Betty.

*

Buster and Betty Buyer hire Money Movers at an hourly rate to move their furniture and boxes into their new condo.  Money Movers send Larry, Mo, and Curley to do the job.  Unfortunately, due to traffic, the movers show up almost an hour late.  In addition, although the movers assured Buster and Betty that an 18-foot truck would be more than sufficient for the job, Buster and Betty's belongings (which included a few more boxes than they estimated) cannot fit in one truck load, necessitating two truck trips and extra time on the job. Ten hours into the move, which was originally estimated by Money Movers to take six to eight hours, Larry begins having a racing and irregular heart beat.  Buster advises Larry to take a break and begins helping the other two Movers (Mo and Curley) himself to help expedite the process.  Buster checks on Larry after about ten minutes and finds that Larry still has a very  irregular pulse.  Concerned, Buster insists on driving Larry to the emergency room, where Larry is immediately admitted to the hospital. 

Buster returns from the ER to the new condo to find Mo and Curley attempting to move Buster and Betty's couch, the last item to come off the truck on the second load, up the stairs.  Unfortunately, the couch can't make the turn at the top of the stairs, and Mo and Curley decide that it must instead be hoisted into the condo.  Since the hoist requires three movers, Mo and Curley call in Schemp (also a Money Movers employee) to assist.  Because there is no clear path to hoist the couch directly into the new condo, which is the upper unit of two units in the building, Buster asks Nice Neighbors who live in the downstairs unit to allow access to their back porch, where the Movers will first hoist the couch before, in turn, hoisting it from Nice Neighbors' porch to Buster and Betty's porch above.  (The two porches are terraced.)  Nice Neighbors agree to allow access to their porch for the hoist.  It is 8:30 pm, dark outside, and, after holding of all day, now raining.

The Movers wrap the couch in the hoist bands, and Mo and Curley go to the Neighbors' porch, which is on the second floor of the building, to perform the hoist, leaving Schemp on the ground to guide the couch from below.  Buster watches the operation from his porch on the third floor of the building.  Before the Movers begin the hoist, Buster asks whether he should move his brand new car, which is parked directly below the area of the hoist.  The Movers insist that this is unnecessary over Buster's desperate pleas, and Movers begin the hoist.  With the couch in mid air, and Mo and Curley pulling the couch up, the railing to Nice Neighbors' porch gives way.  Mo and Curley, whose bodies are physically strapped to the couch are pulled off the porch.  Schemp dives for cover under Nice Neighbors porch and is unharmed, as the couch plummets to the ground, pulling Mo and Curley behind it.  Mo, who is a trained ninja and hopped up on Tylenol with codeine, grabs onto an intact porch post and swings to a soft landing on his feet.  Unfortunately, Curley falls less gracefully and lands on Buster and Betty's car, caving in the roof of the car and injuring Curley.  The railing of Nice Neighbors' porch, which was not secured properly in construction by Crappy Contractor, follows Mo and Curley down, smashing in the rear window of Buster and Betty's car.  The couch is damaged upon impact with the ground.

 *

Yeah...so that's the long and the short of it, I'm afraid. Now, two days later, I can tell you that Larry's safely out of the hospital and Mo, Curley, and Shemp appear to be (miraculously) unharmed. The couch is still on the back of the truck. We may just donate it and buy a sectional. Or miniature couch. Or do without a couch. I know moving is never easy, but this??! COME ON!!

$1M Yoga Lawsuit

Bikram Choudhury, the controversioal speedo-clad yoga guru, is suing Yoga to the People, a donation-based yoga studio in New York City for $1M in damages.

This re-raises, among many things, the issue of what, if anything, about yoga can be copyrighted. And also raises the question of what this dude will wear to court. Fingers crossed for the speedo. Not.

YJ: Bikram Sues Yoga to the People

NYT: Off the Mat, Into Court

As I understand it, the Bikram side is indicating that they're going to use the analogy that since you can copyright a musical or a song--even though words themselves have been around for centuries--you should be able to copyright a yoga sequence (even though yoga has been around for centuries). Their argument seems to be that putting something in a specific order makes it yours/copyright-able.

The Yoga to the People side seems to be indicating that they're going to use the recipe analogy--you can't copyright the ingredients but you can copyright how you talk about them (sort like a song or musical?) but since yoga is the ingredient, they didn't infringe.

I consulted my intellectual property lawyer hubs (wow! For once his IP knowledge *did* come in handy!) and he pointed out that neither analogy is perfect--each side is using the analogy that best suits their side of the case (obviously).

Where it gets all squirmy is that we in the yoga world think of yoga as something more than recipes and musicals. It's this (sometimes) spiritual practice that can be used for something more than exercise. And because of that, in addition to its ancient roots, we don't like to think about it being a business or subject to the legalities of other businesses.

I personally think that you should not be able to copyright yoga. The poses have been around for way longer than any of us have been alive. Rearranging them or altering them slightly doesn't make them yours. But that's just my two cents.

What do you think? Should yoga be copyrighted? Is this all about money? 

Yoga for the Exhausted Post-Painting Mover

It's been almost seven years since I last moved house. Apparently, that's the amount of time it takes to forget how freaking sore your entire body gets from painting/moving/whatever this process is. Yeah...I remember now and it ain't good.

So in case anyone's in the same boat, may I suggest the following yoga assists. They'll be brief because I've gotta get back to doing them myself. ;)

Problem: Mid-Upper Back (aka painting muscles).
Yoga Assist: Eagle/Garudasana

This can be done sitting or standing. Though why you'd still be standing after standing up and painting all day is beyond me. I just did this slumped on the couch and it worked.

Bring your palms and elbows together at a 90-degree angle in front of you. If this is enough of a stretch, stay here. Otherwise, drop your right elbow below your left, and twine the backs of your forearms and palms together. Stay for eight breaths and release. Reverse the arms (left below right) and repeat.


Problem: Lower Back (aka lifting muscles).
Yoga Assist: Janu Sirsasana


Sit on the floor and bring the sole of your left foot into your right groin. Stagger your hips so the left (bent knee side) is slight behind the right. Sit tall. Bring the right forearm inside the right shin and arc the left arm high over your head and then reach over your head and in front of you.

Also try Child's Pose (Balasana) Kneel on the floor and sit back on your heels. Bring your toes together and keep the knees a bit wider than the hips. Rest your forehead on a block or your stacked hands.

Hope that helps! Now back to it...resting I mean. Not painting. No more painting.

Until tomorrow...{vodka shot} {hot shower} {sleep}