In the year 1989, the three-man punk rock machine called fIREHOSE, which hails from San Pedro, California (and also fROMOHIO), mused and ruminated on the decade gone by. What did it all mean? So much excess. So much loss. A good dose of fun and games. And then of course, truckloads of great music! So, they penned the song, “Riddle of the 80s,” an opaque homage pondering the past.
The 80s. It was a time when a young man didn’t listen to the tunes of the times through a sophisticated computer machine. Instead, a lad in his youth would venture to Circuit City in search of a Sony Walkman cassette player, a 100-watt Panasonic boombox with a sturdy handle for travel or, if by some chance there was enough in the savings account from mowing the neighbors’ grass, a multi-component home stereo hi-fi complete with a 1000-watt receiver, double cassette deck for dubbing purposes, turntable for spinning them LPs and two large-as-you-could-afford floor speakers with 18” woofers, 10” mids and horn tweeters.
The 80s. A time when UNC Coach Dean Smith devised a means of gaining the lead and then subsequently wearing down an opponent with an admittedly boring, but historically successful strategy called “Four Corners.”
The 80s. A time when the now-seasoned, quasi-celebrity meteorologist Greg Fischel had just gotten into the business of studying the skies for signs of celestial turmoil.
All this and more bubbled to the damp surface during the course of this week’s edition of Green Flash amidst a thunderous Thursday morning. Those who chose the fartsack missed drinking deeply from the full goblet of joy and merriment.
Thus, the men of Green Flash sought to solve the riddle of the 80s on this dark and daunting, lightning-lit, pre-dawn voyage.
THE THANG:
WARMUP
Start at one end of the parking lot:
Run Karaoke across the lot / Good Mornings x15 / Giraffe Run across the lot / Windmills x15 / Alternating side shuffle run / Imperial Walkers x15
CIRCUIT CITY
Follow the Circuit:
1) Bunny Hop up stairs
2) Quick Feet x30 on tires
3) Alternating Step-Ups x30 picnic tables/bench
4) Downstairs Bear Crawl
5) Net Crawl (crawl through the alien netting apparatus)
6) Burpee Broad Jump ¾ of the Circle
7) Balls to the Wall x30
REPEATO x2
DEAN SMITH STALL TACTICS
At Each Corner:
1) The Big I x20
2) Std Mericans x20
3) Aquamans x20
4) Flutters x20
PLANK HURDLERS
. Plank Hold side to side
. Last man stands, runs and hurdles the PAX, then planks; go all the way through till each man has hurdled
MARY
LBCs x20 / Boat-Canoes xSeveral / American Hammers x20 / Crab Toe-Touches x20
DONE.
MOLESKINE:
Upon arrival, only site Q Zima and YHC occupied the AO parking. It was looking grim. And then, beautifully, eight more men broke the veil and charged in ready for the mission.
YHC gave the PAX an out at the conclusion of the WARMUP portion if anyone wanted to bail due to the potential of mid-workout lightning strikes. None accepted, and on we moved.
At least one man confided later that the M doubted his level of judgment at saying yes to all of the above on a morning rocked by thunder and some lovely sky-to-ground lightning strikes. She may be onto something.
Along with Greg Fischel, Capt Kangaroo mentioned Bobbie Batista and either Java, CDC or Fazio mentioned Bob Debardelaben, both solid #tbt mentions.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
. 3rd F event with James White speaking on Thursday 11/3. Mark your calendars.
. Look for details on a Haven House Thanksgiving Meal from Macgruber and Franzia.
PRAYER:
. CDC’s co-worker, who has lost their baby in utero.
. Zima called for prayer that all of us would take on leadership wherever we are given the opportunity–in marriage, family, work and in the community.
To close, YHC shared two items:
1) THEOPHANY – A Theophany is an appearance of God, and God regularly appears in the midst of a thunderous storm in Scripture–for example, when Moses is on Mount Sinai with the Lord, receiving the 10 Commandments. It reminds us of the power of God. Good to be reminded of. This was an unplanned seminary freebie for the PAX.
2) No Favoritism – There’s been a lot of racial strife in Charlotte and around the US. Which reminds YHC of the apostle Peter, who needed to be corrected and taught by God that he and the other Jews were wrong to exclude and avoid non-Jews. So Peter says in Acts 10:34-35 – “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.
So too, we need to be men who include. Who recognize that every person, whatever nationality or race, matters to God. And we need to speak up for the excluded–in our kids’ schools, in the workplace, and wherever else there’s unequal treatment. Aye.
Honored to enter the storm with you men. Tuck, out.
