Rapid Wogging Movements

Has there ever been a group that screams “ALTERNATIVE ROCK!” more than R.E.M.? Born of Southern intellect and passion and tossed into the MTV Revolution of the 80s, R.E.M. turned out an astonishing array of really interesting music that both embodied pop success and transcended it. To celebrate them, this week’s Weekly Wog is an ÜberWog, Übermatic for the People. If you dig Michael Stipe and his sounds, check out these 57 vigorous minutes of wogging bliss. It’s all on my website, podwogging.com.

Special Tribute Wog

The artist who dies too young is an all-too-familiar occurrence in the business of selling music. A surprising number have died in plane crashes; others fell to drugs, alcohol, and other demons. The Weekly Wog celebrates these artists in a 17-song Überwog mix, featuring songs from Jim Morrison, Aaliyah, Jeff Buckley, and others. Chances are you know some, and never heard of others—check it out at podwogging.com!

Four New Woglists Added

The air in the East Bay has cleared up and today I went up into the hills for the first time in several weeks. Excellent! I’ve also been busy putting new woglists up on my site, podwogging.com. All four are Single Artist lists, featuring Bob Dylan, Björk, Van Morrison, and the Beatles. Check ‘em out!

Don’t Feel Like Walking? Skip It!

Many songs in the slow walk range (85–100 BPM, approx.) can be transformed from a meander into a skip, which is not only loads of embarrassing fun, but burns more calories. I usually don’t skip for the entire song, but often I’ll burst into skip mode for a verse or a refrain or a tasty guitar solo. I call these SKIPLEKS. Songs in my woglists that can be skipped along to have the symbol SKBL in the comment field.

This week’s Weekly Wog consists entirely of skiplekkable songs: I, Skipper! I don’t recommend skipping to the entire list—I tried that and wound up with a sore groin muscle.

There’s even an entire website devoted to skipping—check out Skipper Kim at iskip.com.

Making Friends

Thanks to Dr. Bob at jogtunes.com, I now know how to make an iMix of my woglists and put it on iTunes. I wish I could make iMixes from all my woglists, but unfortunately iTunes doesn’t carry all the songs on my lists. Still, some are better than nothing. So far I have three woglists posted as iMixes: The Doors: The Über Side, U2: Achtung Baby, and Genesis: Abacab. You can listen to 30-second samples and purchase them if you wish. See my website, podwogging.com.

Another fun music exercise site is run by Dr. Bob’s friend, Peter Andersson, The 50 best songs for running ever made. These two are obviously as obsessed as I am!

See you on the trail...

JogTunes: JogTunes posts new music by Cheap Trick, The Hives, and many more artists, for BPM running and other paced workouts

JogTunes: JogTunes posts new music by Cheap Trick, The Hives, and many more artists, for BPM running and other paced workouts

Go uphill to pump up your wog

Last week I spent relaxing in Berkeley’s wonderful Tuolumne Family Camp, nestled against the South Fork of the Tuolumne River in the Sierra Foothills. One morning I wanted to get a wog in before doing tie-dye t-shirts (yeah!), and because of the elevation, heat, and my general mood, I wanted music that was melodic and mellow. Unlax Your Mind, this week’s Weekly Wog, fit the bill, music-wise. This woglist is a Flatliner, and a Very Light one at that—all the songs clock in between 90 and 95 BPM. How could I put a bit more life into this list?

The solution: I walked nearly all of it uphill. Going uphill will turn a light walk into a moderate or even brisk walk, and it carries with it other benefits: The angle of the slope naturally stretches out your calf and thigh muscles, as well as your Achilles tendon, plus it’s much easier on your knees. If you can find a way to walk uphill without having to walk back down, go for it!

Flatliners are designed for use on treadmills, and many modern treadmills can be set to an uphill angle. Especially for walks, I highly recommend it. If you haven’t yet been to Podwogging.com, check it out!