Los Angeles is the tallest city in the United States, measuring in elevation from sea level along the coast at Pacific Palisades, Venice, and San Pedro to 5075 feet high at the top of Mt. Lukens. The peak is in the far northeast corner of the San Fernando Valley and just barely inside the LA City limits. You could almost kick a rock off the top into Angeles National Forest. Mt Lukens’ profile is far from iconic, only rarely snow covered, and whatever natural beauty it might have is marred by an array of communication towers that dominate the summit. It does not get much respect. Most Angeleno ..read more

Before you saw this image, did the headline make you think that human trafficking was involved? Absolutely not. Rather these entirely legal and most thoughtful gifts merely require a visit to your favorite bookstore or the publisher’s website. What’s more, when you contact me with your snail mail address and the names of those who are receiving Bones, Muscle, or both, I will send you personalized bookplates that you can insert into these coveted first editions. Happy Holidays! For further gift ideas, here are the blog posts from past Decembers: Holiday Gift Guide for Frugal Bone Lovers, Holi ..read more

At this time in years past, I have posted information about turkeys so you can sustain table talk on Thanksgiving once everyone has thoroughly hashed sports and politics. 2017 Twelve No-Fail Conversation Starters Regarding Wishbones. 2018 It Takes a Turkey to Call a Turkey. 2019 Wishbone-related Topics to Bring Up (Or Not) at Thanksgiving. 2021 A Bone-Lover’s Thanksgiving Nightmare. 2922 White meat or dark meat? If you need fresh material this year, consider the answer to the title question, which is, “Ask to see the wishbone.” Here’s why. This past summer, an outdoorsman friend of mine in Al ..read more

I saw this stunning exhibit of fish skeleton X-rays at the Frost Museum of Science in Miami. Inspired by the book Ichthyo:The Architecture of Fish, the Smithsonian Institution organized the exhibit. The Smithsonian Fish Library contains almost 5 million specimens and is the largest and most diverse collection of its kind. Over three-fourths of the world’s 32,000 fish species are included. **************** Spotted on a Barnes and Noble shelf. The perfect gift for Halloween. BONES: Hardcover, soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook The post Bones for Halloween appeared first on MuscleAndBone.Info ..read more

Muscle, The Gripping Story of Strength and Movement Launches July 25, Special Offer for Pre-Orders Introduction Did you just blink? Was it voluntary or involuntary? Either way, one set of tiny motors closed your eyelids, and another set opened them. As you read these words, the muscles in the iris of your eye are automatically moving to adjust the amount of light they let in, and those around your lens are focusing the words on your retina. These are examples of movement–one of life’s essential features. Sages as far back as Aristotle have tried—and failed—to come up with a universally accepta ..read more

Old Bones: In order to get a sense of the changing economy, investors watch market indexes, unemployment rates, and maybe the rise and fall of hemlines. Then acting on their favored information, they might speculate in Bitcoin or other ephemera, but more tangible indicators and opportunities await. If one really wants to predict where the economy is going, the fluctuating prices for Tyrannosaurus rex fossilized skeletons may be the best indicator to watch. Presently there are only 20 relatively intact sets of T rex fossils, and owners seem attached to them. but more fossils will be unearthed ..read more

Excerpted from Muscle, The Gripping Story of Strength and Movement, Chapter One, Discovery and Description a well-developed rectus abdominus Length determines the name for some muscles. Thumb in Latin is pollux, and it has two muscles that fold (flex) the thumb across the palm— the flexor pollicis longus and flexor pollicis brevis. Size matters too. I am guessing that you are presently sitting on your gluteus maximus muscles. (Gluteus comes from Greek gloutos, buttock.) Between the gluteus maximus and the pelvis are the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus muscles. And smack against the backof t ..read more

Excerpted from Muscle, The Gripping Story of Strength and Movement, Chapter One, Discovery and Description While interest in and knowledge of anatomy increased steadily during the Renaissance, differentiating and naming the newly observed muscles proceeded with fits and starts. Andreas Vesalius, in his landmark anatomy tome of 1543, tended to number them. In addition to naming two jaw muscles and the six-pack, he also named an arm muscle the anterior cubitum flectentium musculus[NG1] —though it seems, in this case, a nice succinct number would have been more user-friendly. Had all the mu ..read more

An entertaining illustrated deep dive into muscle, from the discovery of human anatomy to the latest science of strength training. Read more… Special offer for blog readers: Purchase MUSCLE prior to its launch date, July 25, 2023. Send your snail mail address and first name. Receive a personalized, signed bookplate, which you can insert in your first edition. Order now from the publisher, WW Norton, or from Amazon Barnes and Noble Books-a-Million Bookshop Hudson IndieBound Walmart Contact The post Bones Introduces Its New Companion, Arriving July 25 appeared first on MuscleAndBone.In ..read more

Pronghorn are the fastest North American land mammals. They first won this accolade more than 10,000 years ago when their ancestors successfully eluded cheetahs, long-legged hyenas, and huge bears, thought to be far swifter than modern varieties. All those ancient predators died off, perhaps because they could no longer have pronghorn for dinner. Today pronghorn remain a marvel of adaptations that equip them for speed across the Great Plains and western mountains from southern Canada to northern Mexico.   John J. Audubon described their locomotion this way: The walk is a slow and somewha ..read more