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My rookie era: peer pressure brought me to bouldering, then I found calm in ‘the way of the wall’

My rookie era: peer pressure brought me to bouldering, then I found calm in ‘the way of the wall’

My friends were already experienced climbers, while I was starting at zero. My first day brought many hard lessons Read more summer essentials At first, I didn’t notice it. When it became too big to not notice, I ignored it. In my ignorance, I even mocked it. It wasn’t until it had completely subsumed my inner circle that I was forced to accept reality: my friends can climb up walls like mountain goats. Bouldering is the art of ascending short “climbs” using time-tested techniques. As much a problem-solving exercise as it is a physical one, it pleases parts of the brain left dormant for millennia. What began as a way to train rock climbers has blossomed into its own culture replete with specialised gear, terminology, community and Italian brain rot memes. Continue reading...

Tension at the tennis: inside the high-stakes world of racket stringing

Tension at the tennis: inside the high-stakes world of racket stringing

There would be no Australian Open were it not for the work undertaken in an unassuming underground room at Melbourne Park Underneath Rod Laver Arena, a group of tennis specialists cut and twist and weave – intently focused on their preparation for the action on the blue court a few metres above their heads. In the lead-up to the Australian Open, these experts maintain a consistent workload, training their muscles and technique, ready to peak as if they were the athletes taking to the courts themselves. But they won’t step on the court – their unique domain is tennis rackets. Racket stringing, specifically, and as the Yonex string team leader, Jim Downes, has learned over his 30-year stringing career, “it’s a high demand job”. The world’s top tennis players are, unsurprisingly, “very particular” about how their rackets are strung, Downes says, referring to how tight or loose the strings that crisscross the frames are pulled. A highly strung racket generally offers its user more control but less power, while the opposite is true for a racket with lower tension. “A lot of people know how to string,” he says. “You have your shop stringers, but they might not be quick enough to do this job and maybe not consistent enough for the players’ needs at this level.” Continue reading...

Conservatives Say Renée Good Was Brainwashed By Bible Into Loving Thy Neighbor

Conservatives Say Renée Good Was Brainwashed By Bible Into Loving Thy Neighbor

WASHINGTON—Calling her actions “indefensible,” Vice President JD Vance stated Thursday that Renée Good was brainwashed by the Bible into loving thy neighbor. “The fact of the matter is that Renée Good was radicalized by these deranged, left-wing texts,” said Vance, whose response to the death of the 37-year-old Minneapolis mother was reiterated across social media […] The post Conservatives Say Renée Good Was Brainwashed By Bible Into Loving Thy Neighbor appeared first on The Onion .