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  • Making Workouts Feel Shorter

    Making Workouts Feel Shorter

    Did you know? You can greatly shorten the perceived duration of an aerobic workout by slightly increasing the length of songs you play while exercising. Your Astonished Tamale! editor is pretty buzzed about this new Jedi mind trick. New to me, anyway — and it works like magic: Exercise time flies by so fast that a long, hard workout…

  • What is an Astonished Tamale?

    Just what is an “astonished tamale”, anyway? Several people have asked me what the name means and why I chose it for this blog (AstonishedTamale.com). There are several answers. The first two were promptly pegged by my friend Patricia Visser, in her thoughtful comments on the first article: 1. I love to be astonished! It’s…

  • It Sings!

    It Sings!

    From the movie “Don Juan DeMarco” (1994): Sultana Gulbeyez (played by Jo Champa): “Undress!” Don Juan (played by Johnny Depp): “Kill me if you must! I am prepared to die, for I cannot go on living, knowing that I defiled the memory of the woman who brought my manhood alive, and made it sing.” Sultana…

  • Knoxville: Lover’s Lane for the Prematurely Old?

    Can America’s most geriatric city top our nation’s “hot to trot” list? Yes, we can! Let’s contrast two hot-off-the-press news flashes: ITEM ONE: It’s official: During the run-up to Valentine’s Day 2012, we learn that America’s most romantic city is Knoxville, Tennessee, home of the famous Astonished Tamale! (Also the University of Tennessee Lady Vols, manytime national…

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