Back Talk Oak Cliff

Hot for yoga

I had a fascinating conversation last month with neighborhood resident and Bikram yoga instructor Joseph Encinia—you can read all about Joseph in the September issue of Cliff Dweller. He’s an amazing young man—my thanks to reader Nancy Crume for introducing us to him.

So that I could better understand my subject, Joseph invited me to take the 105-degree "hot yoga" class. I took him up on it and showed up at an ungodly hour one Friday morning (classes begin as early as 5:30 a.m.). It was an amazing experience— an hour and a half of challenging sweaty exercise that included twisting, bending, balancing and falling. I left feeling borderline euphoric, and unlike when I tried water skiing a couple months ago, I wasn’t sore for days afterward.

I seriously considered signing on for a few months worth of classes, but because I already belong to a gym and the Dallas Running Club and have two children who play volleyball and basketball for school … my sports budget is pretty much blown for the year. But once my gym membership expires in January, I’m setting some time and funds aside for the yoga. If you want to check out the cost, here you go. A little research revealed some high-performing athletes swear by this stuff.

Don't miss Joseph and some of his students in the upcoming Texas Yoga Asana Championship, which will be held at White Rock’s Winfrey Point Sunday, Oct. 19.

Don't tear down Reunion: blow it up instead

Why just tear down Reunion Arena when we could blow it up? That's a question the Dallas Film Commission is asking city leaders to consider. Spokeswoman Janis Burkland says (and this will be my official "quote of the day"), "blowing things up can be attractive" and she thinks we should peddle Reunion, as well as Texas Stadium when the time comes, to "filmmakers who are in search of a supersized structure to destroy". Not only would it immortalize said structures, she argues, but it would be a financial win for the Metroplex to boot.

As pointed out in this morning's NBC5 piece, a Chicago candy factory explosion was financed by the makers of Batman: The Dark Knight. Watch that video ... yeah, Burkland is right on: blowing things up is cool.