What have I done, Ma?

She’s never really gone out of vogue, and her beats are brisk and true blue. I’m talkin’ about that spotlight-lovin’ pop goddess and and ramped-up vamp, Madonna. In this week’s Weekly Wog, power walk your way through eight of her hits for 37 minutes. You won’t find any of her boyfriends, no kisses from Britney Spears, and no Kabbala either—just pure vintage Madonna pop from the 80s. See it at Podwogging.com!

It’s All About the Shoes

To teenagers, this statement is self-evidently obvious. Though it refers here to functionality more than fashion statement, the same can be said for woggers. What you shove your feet into before you hit the path can have a huge effect on your workout. It can mean the difference between a sore toe and healthy one, between a fallen arch and a strong one. A good shoe can make your wog a pleasure; a poor one can turn your joints into a collection of groans.

I get my shoes from a place called The Next Step, out on San Pablo Ave. in Albany. They not only sell me shoes, they make sure I have the right kind of insert installed, adding even more cushioning for my feet. They even warm the inserts up before I put them on for the first time, which allows them to properly mold to my feet. Since inserts wear out before the shoes do, I can always duck in for a new pair.

The brand I get is Asics. They aren’t cheap, but at my age I’m willing to pay a bit extra to ensure my body doesn’t break down before it needs to.

This Weekly Wog on Podwogging.com: Legendary Pink Floyd was known more for romps through auditory space than for beat-solid rock. But there’s enough exquisite woggable material in their mind-freaking bag of musical tricks to make this set possible. So take a short, sharp, shock and Jog Like Hell.

The Somatic Self

We humans may know about Time and Fate and how to put computer chips into running shoes, but we’re still cut from the same cloth as our furry and scaly friends, and unless we disappear into the Matrix we will continue to spend much of our time hauling our bodies around. So let me go Zen master on you: Posture counts! Keep your head up and eyes forward, check for shoulder slump! And don’t forget, Grasshopper, to watch the cat and the dog and the even snake, how their bodies stretch naturally when they move. For us, being bipedal puts extra stress on our bodies as we take gravity head on, so RELAX, dammit!

OK, that felt good. This all leads to the Weekly Wog, of course, and this ÜberWog is dedicated to the rest of the Food Chain: Animüberals. Great songs by the Beatles, David Bowie, The Beastie Boys (of course), Cream, Joni Mitchell and others, all set to your inner Relaxed Beast. 47 minutes, Very Light. Something tells me it’s all happening at Podwogging.com.

Requiem for a Grove

Going off-topic here: as a bona fide tree-hugger, I want to give a salute to some brave souls who have spent the better part of a year protesting the University of California’s cutting down a grove of 50 old-growth oak trees in order to make room for a spanking new athletic facility. Derided by the media, cut off by the university, the tree-sitters have been reduced to four, and now occupy the sole tree in the grove that’s yet to be cut down, a majestic redwood. Scorn them if you will, but how many us would have the courage of our convictions to put ourselves on the line as they have? The media makes them out to be stubborn ignoramuses, but consider:

• The oak trees were for some reason resistant to Oak Root Fungus, which has been attacking and killing oak trees by the thousands throughout the state. This grove offered an excellent opportunity for study that is now wasted.

• The athletic facility is being built directly atop the Hayward Fault. Making it quake-safe costs more money, and who knows whether it will actually work in a big quake? Meanwhile Cal has to retrofit the entire stadium, at the cost of who knows how much money.

In this new era of Global Warming, every tree is a valuable carbon sink and oxygen giver. When I go wogging on land with trees, I feel immeasurably better than when I’m wogging on naked pavement surrounded by glass, asphalt, and choking fumes. But I’m not surprised by UC’s attitude toward trees, especially since Stanford’s mascot is one.

Weekly Wog: Finger-poppin’ Fifties: 19 minutes of vigorous Fifties Fun, perfect for a lunch break pick-me-up or wog to the store. Times, Starting with Hollywood Argyles’ Alley Oop and finishing with the Everly Brothers’ Cathy’s Clown, it also includes Bobby Darin, Guy Mitchell, and one of my all-time faves, Del Shannon’s Runaway. Get the list with BPMs and outrageous comments at Podwogging.com!

The Fixx Is In

Ever hear of a group from the 80s called The Fixx? If not, and you like righteous alternative British rock that’s less bombastic than U2 (sorry, Bono) and flows better than Coldplay (ditto, Chris Martin), you’re in for a treat. Intense, highly rhythmic, with personal as well as political overtones, they’re one of the best groups to ever hail from Scotland. This week’s Weekly Wog, One Jog Leads To Another, features 35 minutes of great, pulse-pounding exercise music. Check it out at Podwogging.com!

And speaking of podwogging, I can now Google podwogging and get an actual hit count! OK, only 14 hits, but hey. It’s a start.

BTW, my exhortation “pick up thy pod and wog” is a nod to what song? E-mail me the answer at jsibleywebsterATmindspring.com (replace AT with @).

Keep on woggin’...