They put cool compression packs on your major muscle groups and core. A cooling helmet goes on your head and your feet (without shoes or socks) go on really cold copper pedals. Then you workout hard for 20 minutes. I’ll try to explain the technology, but obviously, you should go to their website for a thorough explanation. Here goes: Because the workout is cold, the blood that would normally go to the surface of your body to cool you down is now staying in your muscles. Lactic acid that would normally build up in muscles doesn’t with a Vasper workout. Your pituitary gland sends out HGH and other hormones to repair and rebuild, but your muscles aren’t sore so they don’t require all that human growth hormone. This creates a surge of HGH in your body. It’s supposed to make you feel great because cooler blood retains more oxygen. The extra HGH helps your brain to be more focused and productive. It actually makes you smarter… well, they didn’t tell me that part, I just made it up and I’m hoping that I’m smarter now. And you don’t sweat! That part is true. You can workout and go back to the office. Have you ever heard of anything like this? No, you haven’t.

After the 20 minute workout you lay down for 20 minutes on a special bed that keeps your spine cool. You also hold onto a Tesla coil during the cooling period. They turn off the lights and you can sleep or meditate. It’s the most peaceful place on earth.

NASA is using the workout because when astronauts are in a zero-gravity situation they lose muscle and bone strength quickly. The Sharks have tested the technology on their players and loved it. It has also been used by Olympic athletes, Rescue Squads and military Special Forces. The founder of Vasper Fitness and Performance Systems, Peter Wasowski, is at the office everyday and he can answer any questions you might have, but he also has a really nice staff of trainers. Kat helped me with one of my workouts and I loved her energy.

Every so often I get to learn about and experience something incredibly special because I write this website about our city. Vasper is one of those special places. I love Mountain View.

Apparently many people are under the misconception that rugby is a rough and dangerous sport. Paul tells me that it is actually very strict and civilized. “Although it is very physical, you have the utmost respect for your opponent” in the game of rugby. The kids learn good conduct and sportsmanship and the game builds their confidence and self-esteem. One of the major aspects of the game is not letting your team down by behaving disrespectfully to your teammates, your opponents or to the team captains or referees. Everyone needs to follow the rules.

The AYRU is open to all kids, boys and girls from ages 6 to 14. There are about 50 kids involved in the Mountain View Bobcats right now and there is room for another 50. Everyone gets to play, regardless of skill level. There are scholarships available to those that might have difficulty with the registration fee. You can contact Paul and play for a day to test it out and see if you would like to join the team. Some of the games are tough/tag rugby and others are contact. I asked how many broken bones they have had and Paul told me that there have been none in the 3 seasons in Mountain View. That’s a pretty good record.

Two of the coaches of the Mountain View Bobcats have played professional rugby and the “advisior” to the team, Brian McCellahan, is currently a professional player. Brian also happens to have been born in Mountain View. One of the coaches is the owner of St. Stephens Green on Castro Street. Many of the parents want to learn about the game after they watch it for a few minutes while their children are playing and they end up becoming coaches for the team.

After a game, both of the teams sit down together for a meal. They talk about the game and get to know each other. That’s very different from other sports. They are given the chance to critique each other’s technique, give feedback to the other team and talk about how they can improve their performance. It all sounds so civil and respectful. I really like that. To learn more about the Mountain View Bobcats, AYRU, and sponsoring or joining the team, please visit their website or their Facebook page.
I love Mountain View.

When I arrived there was a class taking place so I sat quietly and watched through the one-way viewing mirror. The class I watched was a “Mommy and Me.” Lesley has a wide variety of classes including: Kinderdance, Tiny Tots, Tap, Musical Theater, Classical, Hip-Hop, teen & adult Jazz, and teen & adult Ballet. She also offers Yoga and Zumba.

There are lots of new classes starting January 2, 2012. The dance classes will be performing on Second Stage at the Center for the Performing Arts in June. If your child enrolls in a class right now, they’ll be a pro by June. They will want to invite all of their friends and family to come see them on stage.

I was thinking how much fun it would be to reserve For the Love of Dance for a birthday party. I could just imagine how happy a group of little girls would be to get to go to a party in a dance studio! The walls are painted purple and lavender and the wood floor is beautiful. Little girls would love it!

Lesley is a mother of four and she and her family live here in Mountain View. She understands how demanding some dance studios can be, that’s why For the Love of Dance is different. She allows students to join a class at any time, not just during the beginning registration period, although, you’re going to want to get started learning your routines if you’re going to be on stage at the annual recital in the Center for the Performing Arts in June, right?

East West Bookshop for spiritual books, yoga and meditation items, lots of jewelry and a fascinating selection of scarves. They have exquisite crystals and geodes on display and I always like to look at their tea selection.

Big Frog of Mountain View can print anything on a t-shirt. No exaggeration, anything. Bring them a picture that your child created, a photo of your pet or your favorite quote—they can put it on a shirt or a tote-bag within 24 hours. I love this place.

Book Buyers on Castro is the place to go for calendars. They have about a million of them in stock at this time of year. And wouldn’t a vintage book by their favorite author be a wonderful holiday gift? Used books always feel like they have soul.

Daiso in Mountain View is a Japanese dollar store with lots of cute bento boxes, teacups, chopsticks and mysterious things in packages that you can’t read unless you know Japanese.

Mountain View Lock & Safe Co. has stocking stuffers, like the ‘hiding place’ can of Aqua Net hairspray, bug spray or other household products. I also like the Hide-a-Key rocks. And I’ve always been a fan of cool little brass padlocks.

Villa Rouge has hip cowboy rain boots and their aromatherapy candles have a cult following.

Boutique 4 has sexy party attire and some outrageously fun jewelry. Any girl would love a gift certificate from this cute store on Castro.

Gift cards are always a hit. How about one from Morocco’s Restaurant,  Don Giovanni’s,  Cascal or Scratch? Or dance, yoga or Zumba classes from For The Love of Dance? Or take that special someone to a wine tasting at Artisan Wine Depot or Savvy Cellar.

And did you know that the Humane Society of Silicon Valley is having an adoption special for the holiday season? Yes, most adoptions are only$10 and they’re hoping to find homes for 1000 animals before the year ends. Maybe your family needs a new four-footed-friend.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year celebration. Please  remember to shop, eat and exercise locally. Thank you for being a fan of the city of Mountain View and reading this blog for the last 2 years. I look forward to a wonderful 2012 in our community. And it’s true, I really do love Mountain View.

I went last week with a few friends. It’s a hands-on class, as opposed to the demonstration kind. She demonstrates a technique and then asks someone to take over and finish the dicing, stirring, or flipping. We made Karai Murgi Torkari (Bengali Chicken Curry) and Aloo Poshto (Potatoes in a poppy seed gravy) and rice. There were 4 students in Fharzana’s kitchen and everyone participated in the tasks as she directed us and watched what we were doing. She complimented me on my slick knife skills.

Two of us brought wine for everyone to enjoy while we were cooking and we all chatted and laughed quite a bit while we were supposed to be paying attention, but we didn’t get in trouble. I’ve been to the kind of class where you aren’t allowed to drink wine and giggle and it wasn’t nearly as much fun as this one.

Fharzana is charming and really good at explaining the history or significance of a dish. She is from Bangladesh and her husband is from South Indian, so she knows how to cook food from both regions. If you have something specific in mind that you want to learn, she would probably be able to show you. We just let her pick the menu for us and all of us were happy with her selection.

She spent a great deal of time talking about the spices involved in the dishes we made. She passed around little spice bottles for each of us to examine up close. There was no talk of measuring anything. I liked that part. Just dump in some of this and even more of that one and it’ll turn out fine. I noticed that since I went to her class, I’ve been more brave at home and willing to try new combinations of spices. And I haven’t measured anything either. My measuring spoons must be getting lonely. And I like that she gave us copies of the recipes that we made. The copies that she gave us do have measurements written down, so don’t worry about whether or not you’ll be able to recreate the dish once you go home.

Fharzana can be reached through her blog, http://foodvestigation.posterous.com/ Her cooking classes seem like a wonderful way to get together with friends and do something new and different. I love Mountain View.

The owner, Randi, has lived in Mountain View for over 20 years. She opened her store back in June. She took me on a tour of the store and told me about the different kinds of merchandise that she offers—every imaginable kind of t-shirt and sweatshirt in all different sizes and colors. And if you don’t see exactly what you have in mind, you can order something out of a catalog. And, yes, it’s even possible to bring in something that you already own. She has a super incredible “printer on steroids” that does the ‘direct to garment printing’ method. Everything single item is custom. Local schools purchase shirts for teams and get each student’s name on their shirt for no extra charge.

One detail that I thought was pretty cool is that they can resize the artwork for each size t-shirt. For example if you put a logo for your family reunion on an XL shirt and put the same logo on a small shirt for a toddler, it would look pretty funny. She showed me a big order that included toddler sizes as well as big adult sizes. The miniaturized logo was so cute on the tiny shirts. And it doesn’t matter if your artwork has only one color in it or 20 colors, it’s all the same price and they don’t charge extra for millions of different colors.

These new custom t-shirts are nothing like the kind they had in the old days. I remember the old ones cracking and peeling off if you stretched them too hard. The ink on these shirts doesn’t sit on top of the fabric; it sinks down into the shirt and is embedded, then it gets heat set. And it’s soft and flexible.

You’re certainly welcome to go to Big Frog and order a t-shirt or shopping bag with the ILoveMV logo on it, but you might also want to design your own artwork. I saw lots of examples of photographs on shirts, favorite family quotes, drawings, school names, dates-to-remember, and logos. Anything is possible. The staff at Big Frog is a really creative group, so even if you think you have a decent idea, let them work their magic if they offer. You won’t be disappointed, I promise. So, technically, I don’t have t-shirts with the ILoveMV logo on it, but I know where you can get one.

Some of the different activities that are organized by the club are tournaments, ladders, inter-club competitions, social events, and USTA (United States Tennis Association) league play. Membership is open to all Mountain View residents. Non-residents might be able to join, however a majority of the members need to live in our city. Here’s the page that explains the membership process and dues. They play at Cuesta Park and Rengstorff Park.

The big event every year is the Mountain View Open. It’s in May. Last year was the 43rd annual Mountain View Open. It’s always at Cuesta Park and admission is free and it attracts players from all over northern California.

I met Tony Serksnis, the president of the MVTC last week and he told me that it’s a really friendly group of people. I get the impression that the focus is on team-spirit, supporting each other and meeting someone to play tennis with. He said that the club is all about having fun, being active and doing your best. He joined in the 1980s. They have seven tournaments a year and the last one is in November. Now might be a good time to think about joining the club for 2012. You can go to the November tournament, meet Tony or some of the other members, and see what you think.

It’s actually a reasonably priced sport for the entire family, “all you need is a pair of tennies and a racket” Tony told me. Play It Again Sports has used rackets and Swetka’s is a fabulous tennis store that has been around for over 40 years. Tony told me about their “demo” racket program. I checked out their website and it says that they have over 500 rackets that are available for customers to test drive before they buy. You can buy a new one or an inexpensive demo racket. I always look in the window of Swetka’s and think that the clothes are so cute. I’m sure you can tell by this article that I’m not a tennis player—I’m not even going to try to pretend. Someone in the community, Heidi Sloss, told me about the Mountain View Tennis Club and I thought it sounded like a nice organization to write about. Then I tracked down Tony, the president of the club and asked him to meet me for coffee. I really think that it sounds like a fun way to meet people and lots of new people are constantly moving to Mountain View. I’m here to let them know how lucky they are to have just relocated to such an amazing place. I just love Mountain View.

It’s so much fun to see the talented people that are willing to stand up and perform in front of a coffee shop full of strangers. There’s always one main performance towards the end of the evening. Before that person is featured, lots of others muster up the courage to stand up and play the guitar, demonstrate their piano skills, or try their hand at solo acapella.  If you want to perform, you need to sign up by 6:30. Each performer is allowed about 10 minutes, or enough time to sing 2 or 3 songs, read a few poems or do a short comedy routine. A PA system is provided and Steve Cavin, the MC, always helps each performer position the microphone or plug in their equipment.

It doesn’t matter how talented you are. Everyone is welcome and no one judges. Some performers forget their lines or can’t play very well and no one cares. They still get a big applause at the end of their time. It’s all very friendly. I particularly like the fact that the audience always has a few painters and sketch artists with a tablet of paper and pens or watercolors. They use each performer on stage as a model. It’s amazing to see them crank out a work of art in the 10 minutes that someone is on stage.

One of the performers last night was Alex. He’s 9 years old. He did a great job and he told us that he just started playing the piano a year ago. Another performance was by a group of 3 girls. They were each 15 years old. One played a bongo and the other two had guitars. It was beautiful. There were all different styles of music and some of the artists requested audience participation. There are always a few random percussion instruments that are passed around the audience for people to join in. Last night someone handed me a tambourine in an attempt to encourage me to give it a try. I got rid of it as fast as I possibly could. I’m happy to buy a few cappuccinos, tip the baristas really well and clap super loud after each performer, but I’m not the type to sing or bang on a tambourine.

These Open Mic Nights are free to attend, but be sure to support Red Rock by purchasing something to eat and drink while you’re sitting there enjoying fabulous free entertainment. I just love downtown Mountain View.

The Siegel family has lived in Mountain View since 1967. Jac and his wife raised their 2 sons here and he’s seen our city change a great deal over the years. He remembers going to the Monte Vista Drive-In at the corner of Grant and El Camino. He has fond memories of Linda’s Parisian burgers. He mentioned the tater-tots that Linda’s had and I thought it was funny that no one else ever told me about the tater-tots. They always talk about the hamburgers, but apparently, Linda’s also had tater-tots that were amazing. And he told me about Shaw’s Ice Cream & Candy in the location that used to be Togo’s on El Camino. The Togo’s was recently torn down and now a Walgreens is being built.

Jac recently rented a sailboat and took his granddaughter sailing at Shoreline. He watched the entire Shoreline area change from a dump to a beautiful recreation area, he was involved in the committees that made the changes happen, and now he takes his grandchildren there.

It’s so nice to live in a city where our Mayor is our neighbor and not just a politician. Jac is at Peet’s Coffee on Thursdays for “Yack with Jac” from 10:30am -11:30am. If Thursday doesn’t work for you, he’s available by appointment. I just love Mountain View.

I’ve read about Shellac Nails in magazines (Oprah and Cosmo) and it always says that they’re amazing. It’s a nail color, not a thick long nail, just cool strong color that is super shiny, like patent leather. It uses a new UV3 Technology and the gel-polish hybrid goes on like polish, you stick your hand under a little light to cure it, and then it wears for 14 days at least, and can be removed in 10 minutes. And it’s dry and hard instantly! You can stick your hand in your bag to get your wallet out or in your jeans pocket. It’s like a miracle in nail technology! It’s everything I ever wanted in nail polish.

Allure has about 15 different colors to choose from. I picked black because it was the coolest. Next time I’ll try a more girly color, but the black ones are so hip. I’m a ceramics artist. I worked with clay for 4 hours yesterday and my nails still look perfect. I love them and I can’t wait to get them done again, but I won’t actually need to have them done for a few more weeks. If you try them, let me know what you think… but I already know you’re going to love them.