I have mentioned kettlebells in this space previously. I first learned of them because one of my favorite boxers, Kostya Tszyu (who is getting geared up to fight Ricky Hatton in June), is a spokesman for an Australian firm that pushes the peculiar lumps of iron. Since the kettlebells have been experiencing an odd spike on the buzz-o-meter lately, I was interested to read this myth-busting article: Kettlebells : An Antidote to the Hype
The author makes several salient points. I, of course, will focus on the most trivial among them:
Kettlebells are Russian
No, they are not. In fact, they originated in the Highlands of Scotland. A popular pastime in the Highlands in winter is the sport of curling. This was originally played using birch brooms and round stones on frozen lakes and river mouths. In freezing temperatures, picking up a round stone covered in frost in the midwinter gloom can be a tricky proposition. Therefore, a cast iron handle was attached to the stones to make then easier to handle. Highland and Cumberland wrestlers then began using the stones during the spring as a training tool (one among many) for the Highland Games. The handle made it easy to pick up for pressing motions, so why not?
This is not a reason not to use kettlebells, but more of a hype-busting exercise. If you want to be an “authentic� kettlebeller, then learn to play the bagpipes and wear your kilt with pride.
That’s the best reason I’ve heard so far to get me some kettlebells! 
Of course, I also have to come to terms with the fact that curling originated in the land of my ancestors.
But then again, so did golf…
Monkey makes escape and hates dental care
Raised at the Chengdu Zoo, the monkey was recently moved to a medical school for lab experiments on oral cavities.
Dissatisfied with the dental work and known for his hot temper, the monkey escaped from the lab around 1 pm on Saturday. After arriving at a nearby community, he bit an old woman in an attempt to take away some biscuits. He also stopped for some tea.
OK. Jesus.
All my monkey paranoia aside, I’m on this little trooper’s side. Nobody wants to be the guinea pig for new dental procedures.
… doesn’t mean you can’t climb Everest or get a hole-in-one.
Most folks with all of their senses available to them can’t do either one of those, actually.
Men accused of tattooing vulgar phrase on teen’s forehead arrested
Authorities have jailed two men after they allegedly held down a teenager and tattooed an obscene phrase onto his forehead.
Police in Norwich, N.Y., about 60 miles south of Syracuse, wouldn’t identify the phrase, saying only that it was vulgar and offensive.
I’m guessing it was a three-letter epithet for a homosexual, but I could be wrong. The NY Post says the tattoo “is an extremely obscene phrase and a diagram.” A “phrase” is more than a “word”, so I’m probably not guessing right.
End of the road for marauding Simla monkeys
Once they provided idle amusement to the officers of the British Raj, but today the monkeys of Simla have officially been classed as an urban menace.
After a spate of thefts and biting incidents in the former summer capital of British India, India’s supreme court has ordered the offending animals to be rounded up and sent back to the forest.
It’s about time the Indians enforced a little discipline. Everyone knows that if you give the simians an inch, they take a mile.
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