First the fat and pudgy Governor of NJ vetoed a bill that would have legalized gay marriage in New Jersey, than a panel of men (not one women) went to capital hill to talk about contraception.  On top of all this Rick Sanortum sees sex as a necessary evil that should be used only to make babies.   What in the wild world of sports is a goin’ on here ?

There is probably no greater way to show that you love someone than to make love with them but in reality there are some people who just need to feel another naked body next to them because it feels good emotionally and physically.   I personally don’t think that there is anything wrong with that but the way some people think you would think that two people naked is going to lead our civilization into the depths of hell.

Men and women are different and have different needs emotionally.  Men are expected to sleep around yet if a woman does the same thing she is often referred to as a “slut”.  Why ? Because she enjoys sex ?  I mean people just don’t understand that sometimes others just need to get laid.

As I  have written before most Europeans have no problem with their bodies.  In many countries public nudity is not a problem when people sunbathe or go to the beach.  Here we have special beaches for skinny dipping because seeing naked people surely means the decline of society.

As far as we have come as a society we still have a long way to go.   If two people are in love and want to get married than why shouldn’t they be allowed to do regardless of their sex ?   If a single woman feels the need to hook up with a guy because she needs some really good passion than just do it !    Frankly it’s none of anyones business what two people decide to do in the comfort and privacy of their own surroundings.

The vocal minority of conservatives has too much to say in this election.  I believe that most people are to the left of some issues and to the right of others but we live in a free country where we have the right to say what we think and believe without being labeled.

Sex is a beautiful act between two people and if more people made love instead of war the word might be a better place to live.  Let’s focus our attention on why we tolerate violence so much rather than why two people decide to get naked.

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The latest announcement of OS X Mountain Lion, available in the summer, is again another letdown.  Sure they have a lot of new features but most of these features are copied from apps that are already out there and OS X Mail and the Safari web browser are woefully out of date with other browsers like Rockmelt and Chrome.

It’s easy to see what is happening here; OS X and OS are going to merge into one operating system but that could be a huge mistake.  Despite the growth of the iPhone and iPad what Apple seems to have forgotten is that people use desktop/laptop computers differently than mobile devices.  For the most part mobile devices are used to consume online media desktops are used to create presentations and online media.  I have 4 BLOGs with over 200,000 readers monthly and it’s a major pain in the ass to try and BLOG via the iPad or iPhone.

I’m not the only one who feels this way.  Over the course of the last few years many people have wondered what happened to OS X and why the innovation has slowed to a crawl.  There are still substantial problems with the way Mail connects to third party ISP’s, Rockmelt is head over heels way above Safari in both speed and features and even Apple’s iLife suite is not as good as it once was.

What Apple is doing is leaving the door wide open for the next version of Windows (Windows which is drawing rave reviews from people who even dislike Microsoft.  Windows 8 is innovative and has a lot of great new features and if Microsoft can improve their customer service and launch Windows 8 without a lot of people reporting problems they are going to make some big bucks.

Let’s not forget that one of the reasons that so many people purchase Apple products is because they like the service and support.  Try to get service and support from Microsoft and you’ll enter a maze of confusing information and contacts that leave many people frustrated not to mention the fact the people in India they use are often hard to understand.

I want Apple to floor me with OS XI if it ever comes about.  I don’t want a version of their mobile OS on my iMac I want an OS that integrates the apps with social media, I want to ditch the finder, I want mail that works better than the current version and integrates with iCal and I want Safari to be the fastest browser out there while also allowing me to be more productive by filtering all the incoming information that is  headed my way.

The new line of Vizio PC’s coming out in the spring look like iMac’s and if Windows 8 can help people be more productive I think a lot of people are going to lean towards Windows.  Of course there will still be the Apple zealots who live breath and die Apple.  To these people Apple can never do any wrong but unless they start looking at the evolution of their desktop/laptop OS X they are going to be sending invitations to Microsoft that say “come on in the doors open”.

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First let me state that anyone who believes men and women are alike is drinking too much.  We are not alike. For example women talk to express emotion while men talk to communicate.   Women average 20,000 words spoken a day where men average less than 5,00 words.   Another major difference is that men can have sex without emotional connections but in most cases women need that emotional connection.   When men meet women they often do wonder what they would like naked while women tend to wonder if “he is a jerk like all the others”

The easiest part of any relationship is taking off your clothes and jumping each others bodies in bed.  The hard part is getting to know that other person laying next to you naked.  What are they REALLY like ?  What are their fears ? What are their dreams ? How do they feel about giving of yourself ?   This is the area where in my opinion a lot of relationships break down.

Love means different things to different people and too often people feel a relationship should be like those in the movies, full of passion, compassion and friendship.  The problem is that is not reality.

We are all individuals and being in love does not mean that we should stop being individuals.  You should never give up on your dreams and hopes.  However the circles of our individuality overlap and that is where we need to give of ourselves to others and make sacrifices to show our partners that we love them.  That is where a lot of people have problems..how much should those circles overlap ?

When you make love with your partner do you spend time talking and cuddling afterwards or is it up to check your email on your smartphone or make some calls ?   Have you ever done housework for your wife/girlfriend as a way to show her that you love (besides getting physical that is)?  When was the last time  you two took a shower together because you just don’t have time to get physical whole you’re earning a living ?

With lust most men will do and say anything to get into your pants.  With love they will really listen to what you are saying and say things like “I lover your eyes” or “I love your smile” because it makes them feel good.

Can lust lead to love ?  Yes. I mean it all starts with physical attraction but relationships take time because it often takes time to tear down the walls that we put around us to protect us.

For me an intelligent woman is very sexy regardless of what she looks like but with today’s magazines too many women feel they have to have perfect bodies to be attractive.  The men who are drawn to those woman are usually not keepers.

Those who “hook up” are missing a lot.  There is nothing like waking up with someone in the morning and having someone to share a bottle of wine with at dinner and just talk about the day.

Love triumphs lust any day of the week.

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When I think about how people are using technology today to communicate I believe that a lot of them are really missing something; the memories of personal interactions that make us who we are and whose memories keep us warm on the coldest days.

OK, I am a romantic too but whenever I watch the movie Radio Days I can’t help but think back to how life must have been back then.  People would huddle around their radios waiting for the latest shows like the Masked Avenger and having fun meant ringing someones door bell and running away or playing football in a snowstorm.

Social media and electronic has made communication so impersonal today.  It’s so easy to send someone an email and be passive agressive than it is to share some good times with them.   Is the art of personal conversation becoming a lost in smartphones and email ?

On the block I lived on we couldn’t wait to go outside and play football, baseball of hoop and that included the girls on the block who were just as good as the guys.  We would often stay out so late that our parents had to come outside and yell for us to come home for dinner.   We had paper routes and had to get to “working papers” to take a job after school.   As much as I love new gadgets and the Internet I do miss those times.

The good news is that a lot of people are using social media to reach out to long lost friends as life has taken us down different paths.  Those friendships should never have ended because we knew each other as we were growing up before we were expected “to act a certain way”.

If I had to give some advice to younger people today it would be to cherish the moments you spend with family and friends.  Don’t ever let those friends leave your life and never be afraid to tell them that you love them for being part of your life.

As Woody Allen says at the closing of Radio Days..

I’ve never forgotten any of those people…or any of the voices we used to hear on the radio.

Although the truth is…with the passing of each New Year’s Eve…those voices do seem

to grow dimmer and dimmer.

How true it is and most of us realize that way too late…

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Home prices in parts of San Francisco and parts of Silicon Valley are soaring due to the new found wealth of social media’s billionaires.  While a lot of people within this country are struggling just to put food on the table these people are busy building 9,000 square foot homes and luxury cars.   I guess when you’re worth over a billion dollars, on paper anyway, a couple of hundred million here and there to splurge is OK but frankly I expected a lot more from these people who always pretended that it was not about the money when at heart it really was about “their money”.

If I suddenly came into hundreds of millions of dollars I would not build a hew home or buy expensive cars.  My home here in California and my Subaru Outback are fine thank you.  What I would do is to spread the wealth and give a lot of money away to friends and good causes that I believe in.  In that way I can both leave the world a better place and share my money with those who need it most.  Believe me my friends and family could use the money.

I personally do not believe that this “boom” is going to sustain.  Once Facebook has to answer to investors and their growth stalls we’ll see just how much they like being a “business” as opposed to doing what they “want to do”.   It’s not that these people shouldn’t spend the money on themselves it just that how many hundreds of millions of dollars is enough at a time when so many people need help ?   In good conscious I could not build a 9500 square foot house that costs $14 million while we read stories of people who are cold because they cannot afford to pay their heating bills.

America is about making money for a lot of people but I never thought that social media companies were about making money I thought they were about innovation.  Can you do both ?  I guess so but I just don’t think that these companies are worth the billions of dollars that they seem to command.   The new billionaires prove that it’s about money and not trying to make a difference in a meaningful way.  God bless capitalism !!

Last year I rode over 3,500 miles on my bike.  I usually ride between 15-20 miles a day during the week and luckily I can usually ride year round because I live in Southern California.  I ride because I really enjoy the exercise as it helps clear my thoughts and energizes me to take on more challenges not to mention it’s really fun and a hell of lot better than going to a gym or doing stationary exercise at home.

Bike riding is both fun and good exercise but I often find that some people get intimidated by riders and the choices they have when it comes to bike riding.   It’s a great hobby and you don’t need to spend a lot of money to start riding you just need to want to exercise and get to see a whole new perspective on being outdoors.

Here are my top 10 reasons for riding a bike:

(1) Cycling improves heart health

According to the British Medical Association, cycling just 20 miles a week can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by 50%. A major study of 10,000 civil servants suggested that those who cycled 20 miles over the period of a week were half as likely to suffer heart disease as their non-cycling colleagues.

(2) Bike riding is a good form of low-impact aerobic exercise.  

Aerobic exercise is any form of exercise that provides a steady increase of oxygen into the blood stream.
(3) Bike riding improves Blood Chemistry, including HDL, “good” cholesterol” & lowers Blood Pressure.
(4) Bike riding can decreases risk of cancer.
(5) Bike riding builds strong bones.
(6) Bike riding reduces the chance of diabetes (now at epidemic levels in the US)
(7) Bike riding promotes greater muscle strength.
(8). Bike riding reduces stress.
(9) Bike riding  decreases chronic pain (arthritis, back pain, and more).
10. Bike riding improves digestion, lung function and joint flexibility

So where do you start ?

The best way is start is to visit some bike manufacturer websites.  I have been riding Trek Bikes for over 10 years now and find them to be a great brand with very good customer service and a lot of models to choose from.   You can choose a road bike, primarily for riding on paved roads, a mountain bike or a hybrid bike for riding on both paved roads and other paths.

Once you are comfortable with model head down to your local bike store and talk to the people there.  They should ask you some basic questions like how long has it been since you have been riding, what type of riding do you plan to do and where do you see yourself in a year from now.  They then can start to show you some models and most will even allow you to take bikes on a ride within the parking lot.

The other thing that you should be aware of is that you need to save some of your budget for additions like bike helmets, warning lights and water bottle cages and containers.  Never, and I mean never, ever go riding without a helmet.

The other issue that you need to consider is just how friendly your town/city is for bike riding.  When I lived in Indiana I was able to ride over 20 miles a day in the back corn fields but bike riding in New Jersey, where I used to live, was not fun.  If I had to move today I would definitely want a home that was near some good bike paths or was in a town that was bike friendly.

So what are you waiting for ?  Just get out and ride !!

Abraham Morgentaler, the director of Men’s Health Boston and author of the book “The Viagra Myth,” said he was startled by the expectations that people initially poured into one little pill. It became, at least subconsciously, a panacea for all that was missing in their life. “Men look to these types of pills as a savior for other aspects of their lives where things are not going well,” he said.  The other key aspect that a lot of couples don’t understand is that making love takes time.

Men and woman’s sexual prime of their lives comes at different times.  Men, in their 20′s and early 30′s, are ready to have sex with anything with a pulse but later, as they age, men need more sexual stimulation to become aroused.  Woman also need time to become aroused as they have more of an emotional connection with the needs of their bodies.  So what we have hear is “failure to communicate”.

Time is the new currency and who has time to spend “becoming aroused”.  Foreplay ?  Most couples are lucky if they have two play ! That’s why so many vacation spots now have rooms that cater to arousing couples who want to get to know one another again.  A lot of couples go away on vacation and wind up having sex everyday but as soon as they come to time constraints and interruptions really great sex seems hard to come by.

Here are some things you can do to spice up your sex life:

(1) Sleep naked:  Couples who sleep naked together report that they wound up not only having more sex but having better sex.  This is especially true for men who wake up aroused.

(2) Get rid of the distractions:  No cell phones, iPad’s or other distractions in the bedroom

(3) Not too much alcohol:  It can detract from sexual performance and make it harder to become aroused.

(4) Timing is everything: Get in tune with your partner and openly communicate during lovemaking.  Too fast and you could orgasm before your partner.  Slow down and enjoy each others bodies.

(5) You want to spank me ?   Woman and men both have fantasies but few actually act on it because they feel embarrassed .  Let your partner know about your fantasies and explore each others fantasies.

(6) Make love outdoors:  The freedom of getting naked  outside is one that often excites people.

(6) Get more exercise:  People who exercise make better lovers and research shows they have more sex.

(7) Set a date night: Take a day of the week and come home early and date your partner.  Start with a nice dinner out and then hold hands and walk and talk.

(8) Slow down:  It’s not contest to see who finishes fast.  The longer you wait the more intense the orgasm.

(9) Maintain your shape: People tend to gain 10-20 pounds when they get married so this means you need to work extra hard to stay attractive for your partner.

(10) Finally..flowers or jewelry are no substitutes for saying “I love you” and regardless of what some advertisers would have believe they are not going to get you laid.

According to research woman watch a lot more porn than men on DVD but frankly the use of porn is up to you.  I don’t find them sexy or erotic but if it gets you and your partner hot than go for it.  Above all communicate about your needs and slow down.

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Well look no further than the clock.  Time is the new currency and with more working couples a lot of people don’t feel like it when their spouse does and vice versa.  Then there are the interruptions that can ruin a love making session.  I find it hard with two dogs I can imagine what it’s like if you have kids in the house.   Finally there is age.  What a lot of couples don’t know is that as we age we can’t just hop in the sack and perform like a stud.  Men need more sexual stimulation as they get older but a lot of men reach for Viagra because they believe they have a problem.   As women age they too need more time to get stimulated but again who wants to be away from their smartphone for that long ?

This is why a lot more couples still go on vacations to exotic locations; they want to spend more time naked together.  If you want intimacy than you have to make time for it.  This means no distractions, no interruptions, no thinking about your work email.  It means concentrating on your spouse.

Those men who get aroused when they turn on their computer are missing a lot but today it’s about quantity and not quality all too often.