Rahny Taylor's Blog

#1.)  Before You Take a Nap, Drink a Cup of Coffee.  According to at least one study, it's better than doing one or the other when you need to wake yourself up.
 
It works because caffeine doesn't kick in for about 15 minutes, which means you have to drink it RIGHT before you lie down.  And you have to make it a SHORT nap.
 
#2.)  Don't Stretch Before a Workout.  Researchers at the University of Nevada tested it both ways, and the people who stretched their legs before they did a lower-body workout actually generated less force than they did WITHOUT stretching.
 
Other studies have found that stretching can decrease muscle strength by 30%, which means your workout won't be as intense.
 
Plus, stretching can actually do the OPPOSITE of what you expect and make your muscles TIGHTEN.  When you stretch, your limbs basically think they're about to be snapped off.  So the muscles tighten and make you MORE likely to pull something.
 
That's why you should warm up by doing something like jumping jacks instead.  And you SHOULD still stretch, because it makes you more flexible.  But you should do it AFTER you work out, or on a day you're not going to the gym.
 
#3.)  Eavesdrop with Your Right Ear.  This has to do with the right and left sides of your brain, and the science behind it is kind of complicated.  But basically, our left ear has evolved to be better at hearing TONES, like music.
 
And our right ear is better at hearing speech.  There's not a HUGE difference, but if you're trying to listen through a wall or something, you're better off using your right ear.
 
#4.)  Reset Your Sleep Cycle by Skipping a Few Meals.  The MAIN way your body regulates your biological clock is through light.  So, if it's midnight and you're staring at a bright TV screen, your brain thinks the sun's still out.
 
But another factor is FOOD.  A Harvard Medical School study found that if you fast for 12 to 16 hours, your brain automatically thinks it's morning the next time you eat.
 
For example, if you need to start waking up earlier . . . at say, six in the morning . . . you should stop eating between 2 P.M. and 6 P.M. the day before.  Then have a good breakfast as soon as you get up.

#1.)  It took officials two days to remove all the booby traps the shooter left in his apartment.  That included liquids, explosives, and chemicals that would've killed anyone who entered . . . if the shooter hadn't TOLD THEM about the traps.
  
#2.)  His semi-automatic rifle jammed during the shooting, because of a problem with the 100-shot magazine.  And the FBI believes it saved several lives.  He had to switch to a handgun, which couldn't fire as many rounds as quickly.
 
#3.)  It's clear the attack was being planned, quote, "with calculation and deliberation" for MONTHS.  The shooter purchased the guns legally from local gun shops starting back in May, and bought ammo and Kevlar online a few weeks ago.
 
#4.)  This is the worst shooting in the U.S. since the attack at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009, when an Army psychiatrist with Islamic fundamentalist sympathies killed 13 soldiers and civilians and wounded dozens more.
 
#5.)  The shooter is being held in solitary confinement on suspicion of 12 counts of first-degree murder.  He's in solitary because inmates at the Arapahoe Detention Center in Colorado apparently can't stop talking about KILLING HIM.
 
Remember, one of his victims was a six-year-old girl.  And child-killers do NOT do well in prison.
 
A jail employee says he hasn't shown any remorse, and was spitting at the door and the guards.  His initial hearing is today, and he's been assigned a public defender.  Colorado DOES have the death penalty.
 
#6.)  Regal Cinemas and AMC both instituted bans on wearing costumes to movies in the wake of the shooting.  AMC banned all masks and fake weapons . . . Regal just announced, quote, "stricter controls over character attire."
 
In this case, the shooter bought a ticket and sat in the front of the theater WITHOUT a costume.  After the movie started, he snuck out through an emergency exit, went to his car, and put on body armor and a gas mask before re-entering the theater.
 
Still, when he re-appeared with the gear and the weapons, and threw a canister of gas, the first people who saw him thought it was part of the midnight showing.

If you are a fan, than here's some things you need to know about the new Batman.

The movie runs 2 hours and 45 minutes long, so on your way in, you're going to want to grab the BIG popcorn and soda!

The PG-13 ending to Christopher Nolan's Bat trilogy is the only new movie hitting theaters this week.  The action picks up eight years after the events of the last movie, when Batman took down both the Joker and Two-Face.
 
At the end of "The Dark Knight", he took the blame for Harvey Dent's death and became a fugitive to preserve Dent's anti-crime legacy.  But now, there's a new villain named Bane who's terrorizing Gotham and trying to draw him out.
 
Tom Hardy from "Inception" plays Bane.  Christopher Nolan directed that movie too, and he actually brought THREE stars from"Inception" over for important roles in this one.  The other two are Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Anne Hathaway plays Catwoman, and the returning cast is Christian Bale as Batman, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred, and Morgan Freeman as Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox.
 
(Watch all four trailers here:  Trailer 1, Trailer 2, Trailer 3, Trailer 4.)