Weekly Rewind 02/01/2026 - Elliptical, Cooking, Movies, Basketball

Emmylou getting toasty

Exercise is Hard

I awoke Sunday morning, remembering - to my horror - that I'd told myself I'd start really exercising again on February 1. 

The goal is to get back to the gym 3-4x a week, use our home elliptical and do my little floor routine of weights and crunches and whatnot while also walking Emmylou in the mornings in summer and evenings in winter.  

Alas, the gym requires stamina, which I currently do not have as I've been mostly a couch potato since breaking the foot in September.  The last month, I've been taking Emmylou on regular and long walks, but that's just been getting me back to a baseline of ambulatory human activity.  

I will say, though, it's surprising how walking the neighborhood with hills and varying terrain does work completely different muscles than just doing the elliptical, which is good for cardio but not the same as "I need to be able to deal with unstable ground".

And, of course, I would like to be back at the gym lifting weights again in short order, which is actually my favorite cardio.  A whole lot of reps.  

Anyway - back to it.

Beef Bourguignon

Saturday we had some pals over for dinner - for about eight months I'd been swearing I'd make them Julia Child's recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon, and now the bill was due.  

I'd made it twice before - once with disastrous results due to an ingredient error, and once where it went great.  But it is *hours* of cooking.  We were well underway by 9:30, and I wrapped up around 3:30 to serve it at about 7:45.  

My one regret is that I didn't go to a big enough liquor store to secure Burgundy and just wound up with a Pinot that worked fine, but next time...  Burgundy.  

The most fun part is spending time with Jamie.  She co-pilots, acting as sous chef and double-checking steps as we decide what's next.  And, it really helps to do dishes along the way, so one of us is constantly doing that.  

I've made coq au vin before as well.  But, look, maybe one of the most on-the-nose-correct movies ever put out there was Ratatouille.  Anyone can cook.  Ie: I can follow a recipe guide.  But I can't take credit for what's on the table any more than I can take credit for how a Lego set looks when its put together.  But I enjoy doing both, and like having something at the end.  And, with cooking, I do learn a bit about how a flavor profile is built, step-by-step.  Because, man, that is some mad science.

But it is time to try some new recipes out of the book. We'll see what we see.

Robert Wise Watch

I've admired what movies I've seen by director Robert Wise.  Whether noir, horror, sci-fi, western or drama - his work is stellar.  On the heels of ChabertQuest (still ongoing until one of us keels over, I guess), I decided to watch films that were by a director instead of an actor - and as Wise spans multiple eras of Hollywood, starting with some work on The Magnificent Ambersons and wrapping with films like Star Trek: The Motion Picture, I got kind of giddy at the idea.

A sampling of his work:

• Born to Kill - noir
• The Set-Up - boxing drama noir
• The Day the Earth Stood Still - sci-fi
• Run Silent, Run Deep - submarines!
• The Sound of Music - you know this one
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture

So, watch along, if you like.  

I am anticipating I'll blow through these movies before August, so my back-up will be John Sayles.

Unrivaled Basketball and Women's Sports

I've been watching a good amount of Unrivaled Basketball, which is pretty easy to catch if you have cable (TruTV) or HBOmax.  

It's essentially 3-on-3 basketball, full court with some modified rules to keep things going (ex: you only shoot one free throw worth 2-3 points).   And most of the players are the all-stars of the WNBA, minus a few (no Caitlin Clark, no A'ja Wilson).  Game's are quick as quarters are 7 minutes, with the 4th quarter being decided by whomever reached +11 of the higher of the two point totals at the end of the 3rd quarter.  So it could drag on or finish quite fast, depending on pacing.

Aside from one weekend in Philadelphia, the players don't travel - everyone is in Miami.  And it seems like everyone is having more fun than during the WNBA season.  This last weekend they filled an arena in Philadelphia with almost 22,000 spectators. 

I have no idea what the ratings are, but as a viewer it's at least as dynamic as the WNBA - and the players more or less run their own league.  This is bad for the WNBA, as the players are developing a pretty good understanding now of what works and doesn't for them, for TV, for money, etc...  just as the WNBA and players are deadlocked in negotiations heading into the 2026 season.  

In fact, I am now not so certain the WNBA will play this year.  I am also not certain that the various alternative women's leagues coming up might not finally make the WNBA moot.  Which would be a shame.  The WNBA was a dream, but it seems like the folks running the league maybe have a skill set more in line with the money-printing machine that the NBA has been since the 1980's than making the most of a modern league where people do feel invested in the players as more than people to bet on.

Anyway - here's hoping they get it sorted.