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Dhani Tackles the Globe 2
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Next week Dhani goes to Jamaica to sample its music, food and culture. While he's there, he figures trying out cricket might be fun too. He gets expert instruction from world-class cricket player Jimmy Adams before attempting this odd sport. If I had to pick a sport where Dhani's physical gifts would be least likely to help him, it just might be cricket.
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As indicated elsewhere, I am behind in recapping the episodes for threads that I traditionally cover. I offer the Scotland episode from last night's program below. It will not take me long to complete Italy and Jamaica once higher priorities for Celebrity Apprentice 3 are taken care of. Croatia will be done later when time permits as I have to watch it first.
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DTTG ep. 5 Scotland
Dhani starts with a little history lesson. He stated that the warring clans were united in one thing, a common hatred of England’s attempts to dominate Scotland. Scotland developed its own legal, educational and religious traditions. He mentioned the warrior leader William Wallace from the 13th century. Dhani stated correctly that strength became a way to survive in this brutal environment where strength meant the potential to resist invasion and being conquered. The Highland Games were developed to celebrate and encourage that strength.
Dhani visited the Stone of Destiny which was stolen from Scotland and kept by England for over 700 years before being returned to a Scottish castle in 1996.
The first thing he typically does on entering a country is to meet with a prearranged coach and in Scotland that was Gregor Evans, who was 2008 World Highland Games champion and one of the world’s premier strength athletes. He also is a caber toss champion and has an outstanding physique, which has sculpted muscles in a body that is taller and appears stronger than Dhani (no mean feat).
Dhani sets out to learn the intricacies of the 5 events which make up the Highland Games, but first he views and briefly enjoys watching the bicycling, dancing and bagpiping that are part of the Highland Games along with these strength events:
Stone put –like a shot put but much heavier
Tossing a 28 pound and 56 pound weight
Tossing the same weights up over a bar to measure the height
Throwing a Hammer (spear with either a 18 pound or 28 pound ball attached)
The infamous Caber Toss of a circular block of wood (like a telephone pole) about 1 foot diameter x 1 foot diameter x 20 feet height so that it rotates forward and lands on the ground ahead of where it was placed.
He has recently experienced some serious strength exercise in Iceland, including carrying a 420 pound weight, so this will come in handy in preparing for the Highland Games, although maybe Dhani actually went to Scotland before Iceland, which is the way I would do it if traveling around the globe going westward.
The first thing that a proper Highland Games athlete does is don his kilt. This is mandatory in Scotland. Dhani was fitted for a nice one at Perth Kilt Company, then asked Gregor what to do about the space under the kilt. Gregor informed him that real Scottish athletes wear nothing, but given Dhani’s situation and the filming he recommended that Dhani wear something.
Dhani accompanied Gregor to manufacture a caber starting from a tree. It has to be wide enough and tall enough. A chain saw is used to bring a suitable one down. The limbs are trimmed off it and then a smoke-belching machine strips the bark off it for about 20 minutes. After some finishing on the end where the athlete grips it, this caber is ready for practice and competition.
Dhani got a lesson in hammer throwing near the grounds of Balmoral Castle. He also got a lesson in caber toss at Scone Castle. Dhani is shown a stone which resided in England for over 700 years but was recently returned to Scotland. He draws an attitude of perseverance from that experience.
Dhani goes through practice sessions with Gregor on a wet field. Since “scotch mist” is common in Scotland (as I can personally attest from my one visit there) that was not surprising. However, since good balance is critical to these strength throws I find it surprising that he did not allow more time in Scotland to allow for weather variations.
Dhani also visited Royal Lochnagar Scottish Single Malt Whisky distillery near Balmoral Castle. He was shown how the proper ingredients can create the famous Scotch whisky (note the lack of an “e” in Scotland’s name for that product). Following a liberal sampling of whiskey he went to J. Pirie & Sons to learn how to prepare and eat haggis, an innards/oatmeal concoction that most tourists in Scotland avoid like the plague due to its strange taste. Dhani commented that haggis, the Scottish national dish, tastes OK to him.
Next Dhani went to check out bagpipes. He learned and RT Shepherd & Son (and taught me) that there are 14 separate pipes in a real bagpipe. Bagpipes are constructed of four main parts, the blowstick, the bag, the chanter and usually one or more drones. Dhani observed one bass drone and two tenor drones on the bagpipe that he blew. The Chanter is a melody pipe that is affixed to the bag of the bagpipes and is the part of the pipes that creates the melody using a reed to blow into. Usually the chanter is a simple pipe with holes that resembles the recorder and by covering the holes it will create different notes. The piper blowing through the blowstick into the bag and filling it provides the air supply for the bag. The bag is first filled by the piper before playing starts and is continuously refilled as it continues. The bag itself is the air reservoir, which can be controlled in expelling the air and allowing the piper to create continuous sound easily. Dhani did OK in creating a sufficient force of air to work the pipes with the assistance of his teacher playing a tune on the chanter.
The most comic scenes in this episode involved Dhani and Gregor carrying a famous stone from a garden in front of a nondescript house by a roadside across the road to place it on the counter and earn a free pint of beer. The catch is that the stone weighed 265 pounds, a piece of cake for Dhani compared to the 400+ pound round stone he lifted in Iceland. He also had to carry this one back and place it where he found it under the watchful eye of its keeper, an old lady.
Dhani always tries to say a prayer for good luck on the eve of his competitions. He finds a chapel of great historical significance and visits there to get good luck. The next morning he shows up for the competitions at one of the many Highland Games that occur all over Scotland each summer.
Dhani gives his all, but sometimes he is a fish out of water despite his strength as there are others bigger and stronger that he is competing against. He places 7th in the stone put. He does 42 feet with the Light Stone and 28 feet with the Heavy Stone. His Hammer throw is 843 feet. He throws the 56 pound weight above the bar at 13 feet but cannot get higher. The caber toss is the ultimate test of strength and balance and ability to generate torque in Scotland. Dhani got nowhere on his first try, rotated it up to about 75 degrees on his second and to 60 degrees on his third. The caber has defeated Dhani just as it did most of the competitors. However, it is obvious that he enjoyed his visit to Scotland immensely.
Upcoming shows are with Dhani playing Beach Volleyball and attending Carnival (the equivalent of Mardi Gras in New Orleans; it’s odd that Dhani would choose to visit Brazil just then, don’t you think?) in Brazil (5/31); Soccer in South Africa (6/7); Lucha Libre (masked wrestling) in Mexico City (6/14); and Mount Everest Base Camp climb in Nepal (6/21).
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DTTG2. ep.1 Italy - Cycling
This first televised episode was not the first actually filmed, but it was the introduction of Travel Channel viewers to Dhani Tackles the Globe 2. The sport Dhani is attempting to master is cycling and his goal is to complete the 80 mile Fondo del Monte Grappa bicycle race. Just finishing is an achievement, as the middle section of the course has 17 mile stretch that is a steep uphill the whole way. On either end of that, it is slightly forgiving. The festivities start from Bassano Del Grappa, a small town 70 miles north of Venice which marked a fierce World War I battle between the invading Austrians and defending Italians. It is also the home of Ponte del Alpini, the Bridge of the Alpini, a scenic bridge over the Brenta River. The Piazza Liberta and the Piazza Garibaldi are the famous centers of the town.
Dhani arrived and was greeted by Cristiano Citton, a two time Opympic cyclist and two time winner of the Fondo del Monte Grappa. He will be Dhani’s trainer. The first thing they must do is get him a world-class cycle to ride. Cristiano knows just the place and a friend of his who is a world-class cyclist himself Giovanni Battaglin, who owns the company Battaglin Cycli that makes them. A bike is customized for Dhani and no doubt is extremely light but strong. Next is the need for a proper cycling jersey and Cristiano calls on another of his cycling buddies Marcel Tinazzi who owns MS Tina, a cycling clothing company. He made a special jersey for Dhani.
Training begins and Dhani goes out on the winding, narrow and sometimes steep rides surrounding Bassano del Grappa for practice. There is practice on overall riding techniques and special practice for the steep uphill segments which are the most difficult part of the race. Cristiano also takes Dhani to the local velodrome Club Bassano, where it takes Dhani a while to catch on to the principle of centripital force, which translates into the need to go fast enough to not be pulled down onto the inner track.
It is not all hard training for Dhani. He goes to the Osteria Ca’ Cornaro di Citton, the family restaurant run by Cristiano’s mother. She teaches Dhani how to make homemade pasta, which of course is an excellent fuel for cycling practices and competitions due to its quick-burning carbohydrates.
Dhani also gets to ride a Ducati motorcycle with Cristiano.
Dhani visits the Nardini Grapperia and received a lesson in Italy’s nation drink grappa from Antonio Nardini.
The Fondo begins and Dhani is struggling on the steep uphill sections. Cristiano abandoned the opportunity to go at his own natural pace to stick with Dhani and help him finish the race. Marcel was also in the race and the 3 of them did the second half of the race together. They finished hours behind the leaders, but just finishing at all is a major achievement for a first-time cyclist. I will add that it looked strange to see Dhani in a FiodoFrutta organic jam jersey, abandoning the one he had custom made in order to no doubt bring in promotional fees from that company to help offset the costs of filming.
This was a totally winning episode and Dhani is a natural travel host and comedian. He will have no trouble landing an important role after he leaves professional football.
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DTTG2 ep. 3 Iceland - Strongman
This episode is all about moving very heavy stones, which is the centerpoint of strongman, the national sport of Iceland. The men who attempt this are giants, much larger in build than Dhani mere 235 pounds and 6’1”. Basically, it involves using proper technique to lift very heavy stones and in some cases to carry them a distance. Dhani is requested to develop the proper Viking spirit to guide him through his training and competition. He rose to face this challenge head-on. His coaches are Boris, a Strongman champion, and Hjalti. They take Dhani to the Snæfellsjökull National Park to start his training on 300 pound stones.
There is a distinct training regimen for strongman, which starts with eating right. Dhani is forced to eat the traditional sheep’s head meal which is traditional for Viking warriors. He tolerated it. Maybe his next show can be replacing Andrew Zimmern as the host of Bizarre Foods.
Dhani has to train both inside and outside for weightlifting and carrying heavy objects. He practices with rails, with heavy stones and with 88 pound bags of cement, all of which are part of the ultimate competition in this sport.
Dhani paid his respects at the grave of Jón Páll Sigmarsson, a former strongman, and took on the challenge of lifting the Husafell stone weighing around 385-lbs. He succeeded. Wow! He also went to the fishing docks to inspect the ingoing catches.
Dhani took some time off for recreation, all related to the geothermal energy abundant all over Iceland. Like many visitors to Iceland, he went to swim in the warm mineral waters of the Blue Lagoon. He visited the Gullfoss waterfall. I remember seeing this on episode 1 of Season 6 of the Amazing Race. Hjalti took Dhani to Pingvellir, where ancient Icelanders held their important meetings. Dhani uses its latent geothermal energy to cook bread. Dhani and Boris visited “The Great Geysir,” which can spew boiling water 70 meters in the air.
When his training is completed, Dhani is entered into a local Icelandic Strongman competition. He has to pull a truck, do a relay race with iron rails and 88 pound bags of cement and then lift and carry heavy stones. Dhani takes the heaviest one 130 feet. He also had to lift a set of Atlas stones, which weigh 220 to 352 pounds and have to be deadlifted high enough up to place them into a holder. Dhani placed second in the competition, which is indicator that he learned Strongman extremely well
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