Richard Stooker

Under The Dome is a partial return to his glory days. I can't say it has the intensity of his great books. That's pretty much be impossible to maintain for over 1,000 pages -- and I was never a big fan of his first really long novel, The Stand.

I could give this book a lot better review if it had a more appropriate title. The subtitle is a lot better: The Quest for Truth About Exercise and Health. That's a lot more accurate. This book contains a lot of interesting information, it debunks some exercise myths, raises questions about others, but is very far from the "ultimate" anything. It ignores a lot more questions than it answers. I wish it were about three times its length.

Storms can be very dangerous. Here in the Midwest, thunderstorms can be very violent, especially in the spring and summer. Rain can pour down too hard for you to see the car in front of you if you're driving. Slow down to a crawl. However, I don't advise stopping. Because you don't know what drivers behind you will do, I can't advise pulling off to the side of the road, assuming that's even possible.

This is a terrific thriller which unfortunately degenerates into making a political point I, for one, disagree with. However, I give the author credit for a lot of good research and cleverness. And for a distinctive style of presenting his characters. I'll read more of his books, and hope I don't have to have more political arguments with him. For various reasons, The Siege by Stephen White is a disturbing book.

As I write, huge amounts of the country of Pakistan are suffering from a flood the United Nations has declared worse than the 2004 tsunami. I don't know if there's a way to prepare for disaster on such a large scale, particularly in a poor country where most people live hand to mouth anyway. We can't comprehend the scope of a catastrophe where so many are dead and dying, and millions have lost their homes and livelihoods.

There are major areas around the world where earthquake activity is common. If you live in one of these places, such as California and Japan down through Indonesia, you should know it. Many of these areas are close to volcanoes. However, just about every place is at some risk of an earthquake. We never thought of Haiti as a big earthquake center until they recently got the one that devastated their capital city.

People in the United States have to evacuate their homes hundreds of times a year, thanks to hurricanes, floods, forest fires, tornados and other emergencies. It's best to be prepared.

Power outages are an increasingly common phenomenon in the United States. I've lived through more than I can count here in the St Louis area, and also experienced them in The Philippines. Fortunately, my electricity has always been restored within a few days, but some people went without it for a week or more.

He was an active athlete in college, but in 1980 injured his back in a rugby game. It was so severe it had to lie in a hospital bed for ten days, fed only on liquids. He had a diagnosis of a slipped disc. He believes he badly ruptured the muscles on the left side of his spine. For two years, any pressure on that side gave him extreme pain in his lower back. He went to many doctors and practitioners, without success.

One Pilates concept you don't hear too much about is called the B-Line. Everyone who knows anything about Pilates knows how important Pilates considers your abdomen and lower back -- the Core or Powerhouse.