Saturday 20 November 2021

the weight

 once upon a time i took a copy of vesalius' de humani corporis fabrica down to the gym where i used to go, a bold move i would say, in a country that doesn't love books, where even medical types are more often than not, ignorant even of the name vesalius. the gym lads were well up for it, so much so i left the book for them to look at while i did my sets, no banter, no jokes, just genuine interest in the illustrations and the poses.

around the same time i read sven lindqvist's (better known for a history of bombing and exterminate all the brutes bench press, a wee curate's egg of a book about his own experiences with body building, again a book i could discuss at the gym but, quite literally, nowhere else!

so when i saw that 99% invisible/nice try! were doing an episode on weights i was clearly going to listen. and entertaining it is. i did not know that weightlifting involved am american/canadian face off, that. as ever, lifting weights was part of the fight against communism, or that cross fit was in any way associated with white supremacy. but apparently so! (and there's more! lol)

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