| Geoffrey Keystone is the owner, head writer and operator of The Vape Brew Review, as well as running his own design firm, Hemlock&Keystone and The Treelife Studios. He been designing everything from letters, logo's, and signs to interior design and home staging, exterior landscape design, photography, illustration, and fine art for over 10 years and has been creating ever since he was kid. Along with all these habits, Geoffrey started smoking cigarettes at an ungodly early age and continued for 20 years at a pack and a half a day of full analog cigarettes. He has been Vaping for 7 years and has experienced the mega sized market. It is with this experience, that he and others hope to offer the best advice, tricks, tips, and reviews.  |
Friday, June 19, 2015
VAPOSTURE
*Note from The Vape Brew Review for further info, check out Body Learning by Michael J. Gelb. This book will change your life!
Back pain is a tricky beast. Most Americans will at some point have a problem with their backs. And for an unlucky third, treatments won't work, and the problem will become chronic.
Many ancient statues, such as this one from Greece, display a
J-shaped spine. The statue's back is nearly flat until the bottom,
where it curves so the buttocks are behind the spine.
Courtesy of Esther Gokhale/Gerard Mackworth-Young
Believe it or not, there are a few cultures in the world where
back pain hardly exists. One indigenous tribe in central India reported
essentially none. And the discs in their backs showed little signs of degeneration as people aged.
An acupuncturist in Palo Alto, Calif., thinks she has figured out why. She has traveled around the world studying cultures with low rates of back pain — how they stand, sit and walk. Now she's sharing their secrets with back pain sufferers across the U.S.
About two decades ago, Esther Gokhale started to struggle with her own back after she had her first child. "I had excruciating pain. I couldn't sleep at night," she says. "I was walking around the block every two hours. I was just crippled."
Gokhale had a herniated disc. Eventually she had surgery to fix it. But a year later, it happened again. "They wanted to do another back surgery. You don't want to make a habit out of back surgery," she says.
This time around, Gokhale wanted to find a permanent fix for her back. And she wasn't convinced Western medicine could do that. So Gokhale started to think outside the box. She had an idea: "Go to populations where they don't have these huge problems and see what they're doing."
[Added June 10] So Gokhale studied findings from anthropologists, such as Noelle Perez-Christiaens, who analyzed postures of indigenous populations. And she studied physiotherapy methods, such as the Alexander Technique and the Feldenkrais Method.
And the original post continues ...
Then over the next decade, Gokhale went to cultures around the world that live far away from modern life. She went to the mountains in Ecuador, tiny fishing towns in Portugal and remote villages of West Africa.
"I went to villages where every kid under age 4 was crying because they were frightened to see somebody with white skin — they'd never seen a white person before," she says.
Gokhale took photos and videos of people who walked with water buckets on their heads, collected firewood or sat on the ground weaving, for hours.
"I have a picture in my book of these two women who spend seven to nine hours everyday, bent over, gathering water chestnuts," Gokhale says. "They're quite old. But the truth is they don't have a back pain."
She tried to figure out what all these different people had in common. The first thing that popped out was the shape of their spines. "They have this regal posture, and it's very compelling."
And it's quite different than American spines.
If you look at an American's spine from the side, or profile, it's shaped like the letter S. It curves at the top and then back again at the bottom.
But Gokhale didn't see those two big curves in people who don't have back pain. "That S shape is actually not natural," she says. "It's a J-shaped spine that you want."
In fact, if you look at drawings from Leonardo da Vinci — or a Gray's Anatomy book from 1901 — the spine isn't shaped like a sharp, curvy S. It's much flatter, all the way down the back. Then at the bottom, it curves to stick the buttocks out. So the spine looks more like the letter J.
"The J-shaped spine is what you see in Greek statues. It's what you see in young children. It's good design," Gokhale says.
So Gokhale worked to get her spine into the J shape. And gradually her back pain went away.
Then Gokhale realized she could help others. She developed a set of exercises, wrote a book and set up a studio in downtown Palo Alto.
Now her list of clients is impressive. She's helped YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report. She has given classes at Google, Facebook and companies across the country. In Silicon Valley, she's known as the "posture guru."
Each year, doctors in the Bay Area refer hundreds of patients to Gokhale. One of them is Dr. Neeta Jain, an internist at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. She puts Gokhale's method in the same category as Pilates and yoga for back pain. And it doesn't bother her that the method hasn't been tested in a clinical trial.
"If people are finding things that are helpful, and it's not causing any harm, then why do we have to wait for a trial?" Jain asked.
But there's still a big question looming here: Is Gokhale right? Have people in Western cultures somehow forgotten the right way to stand?
Scientists don't know yet, says Dr. Praveen Mummaneni, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco's Spine Center. Nobody has done a study on traditional cultures to see why some have lower rates of back pain, he says. Nobody has even documented the shape of their spines.
"I'd like to go and take X-rays of indigenous populations and compare it to people in the Western world," Mummaneni says. "I think that would be helpful."
But there's a whole bunch of reasons why Americans' postures — and the shape of their spines — may be different than those of indigenous populations, he says. For starters, Americans tend to be much heavier.
"If you have a lot of fat built up in the belly, that could pull your weight forward," Mummaneni says. "That could curve the spine. And people who are thinner probably have less curvature" — and thus a spine shaped more like J than than an S.
Americans are also much less active than people in traditional cultures, Mummaneni says. "I think the sedentary lifestyle promotes a lack of muscle tone and a lack of postural stability because the muscles get weak."
Everyone knows that weak abdominal muscles can cause back pain. In fact, Mummaneni says, stronger muscles might be the secret to Gokhale's success.
In other words, it's not that the J-shaped spine is the ideal one — or the healthiest. It's what goes into making the J-shaped spine that matters: "You have to use muscle strength to get your spine to look like a J shape," he says.
So Gokhale has somehow figured out a way to teach people to build up their core muscles without them even knowing it. "Yes, I think that's correct," Mummaneni says. "You're not going to be able to go from the S- to the J-shaped spine without having good core muscle strength. And I think that's key here."
So indigenous people around the world don't have a magic bullet for stopping back pain. They've just got beefy abdominal muscles, and their lifestyle helps to keep them that way, even as they age.
Lost Posture: Why Some Indigenous Cultures May Not Have Back Pain
http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/06/08/412314701/lost-posture-why-indigenous-cultures-dont-have-back-pain?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150608Back pain is a tricky beast. Most Americans will at some point have a problem with their backs. And for an unlucky third, treatments won't work, and the problem will become chronic.
Many ancient statues, such as this one from Greece, display a
J-shaped spine. The statue's back is nearly flat until the bottom,
where it curves so the buttocks are behind the spine.
Courtesy of Esther Gokhale/Gerard Mackworth-Young
An acupuncturist in Palo Alto, Calif., thinks she has figured out why. She has traveled around the world studying cultures with low rates of back pain — how they stand, sit and walk. Now she's sharing their secrets with back pain sufferers across the U.S.
About two decades ago, Esther Gokhale started to struggle with her own back after she had her first child. "I had excruciating pain. I couldn't sleep at night," she says. "I was walking around the block every two hours. I was just crippled."
Gokhale had a herniated disc. Eventually she had surgery to fix it. But a year later, it happened again. "They wanted to do another back surgery. You don't want to make a habit out of back surgery," she says.
This time around, Gokhale wanted to find a permanent fix for her back. And she wasn't convinced Western medicine could do that. So Gokhale started to think outside the box. She had an idea: "Go to populations where they don't have these huge problems and see what they're doing."
Esther Gokhale's Five Tips For Better Posture And Less Back Pain
Try these exercises while you're working at your desk, sitting at the dinner table or walking around, Esther Gokhale recommends.
1. Do a shoulder roll: Americans tend to scrunch their shoulders forward, so our arms are in front of our bodies. That's not how people in indigenous cultures carry their arms, Gokhale says. To fix that, gently pull your shoulders up, push them back and then let them drop — like a shoulder roll. Now your arms should dangle by your side, with your thumbs pointing out. "This is the way all your ancestors parked their shoulders," she says. "This is the natural architecture for our species."
2. Lengthen your spine: Adding extra length to your spine is easy, Gokhale says. Being careful not to arch your back, take a deep breath in and grow tall. Then maintain that height as you exhale. Repeat: Breathe in, grow even taller and maintain that new height as you exhale. "It takes some effort, but it really strengthens your abdominal muscles," Gokhale says.
3. Squeeze, squeeze your glute muscles when you walk: In many indigenous cultures, people squeeze their gluteus medius muscles every time they take a step. That's one reason they have such shapely buttocks muscles that support their lower backs. Gokhale says you can start developing the same type of derrière by tightening the buttocks muscles when you take each step. "The gluteus medius is the one you're after here. It's the one high up on your bum," Gokhale says. "It's the muscle that keeps you perky, at any age."
4. Don't put your chin up: Instead, add length to your neck by taking a lightweight object, like a bean bag or folded washcloth, and balance it on the top of your crown. Try to push your head against the object. "This will lengthen the back of your neck and allow your chin to angle down — not in an exaggerated way, but in a relaxed manner," Gokhale says.
5. Don't sit up straight! "That's just arching your back and getting you into all sorts of trouble," Gokhale says. Instead do a shoulder roll to open up the chest and take a deep breath to stretch and lengthen the spine.
1. Do a shoulder roll: Americans tend to scrunch their shoulders forward, so our arms are in front of our bodies. That's not how people in indigenous cultures carry their arms, Gokhale says. To fix that, gently pull your shoulders up, push them back and then let them drop — like a shoulder roll. Now your arms should dangle by your side, with your thumbs pointing out. "This is the way all your ancestors parked their shoulders," she says. "This is the natural architecture for our species."
2. Lengthen your spine: Adding extra length to your spine is easy, Gokhale says. Being careful not to arch your back, take a deep breath in and grow tall. Then maintain that height as you exhale. Repeat: Breathe in, grow even taller and maintain that new height as you exhale. "It takes some effort, but it really strengthens your abdominal muscles," Gokhale says.
3. Squeeze, squeeze your glute muscles when you walk: In many indigenous cultures, people squeeze their gluteus medius muscles every time they take a step. That's one reason they have such shapely buttocks muscles that support their lower backs. Gokhale says you can start developing the same type of derrière by tightening the buttocks muscles when you take each step. "The gluteus medius is the one you're after here. It's the one high up on your bum," Gokhale says. "It's the muscle that keeps you perky, at any age."
4. Don't put your chin up: Instead, add length to your neck by taking a lightweight object, like a bean bag or folded washcloth, and balance it on the top of your crown. Try to push your head against the object. "This will lengthen the back of your neck and allow your chin to angle down — not in an exaggerated way, but in a relaxed manner," Gokhale says.
5. Don't sit up straight! "That's just arching your back and getting you into all sorts of trouble," Gokhale says. Instead do a shoulder roll to open up the chest and take a deep breath to stretch and lengthen the spine.
And the original post continues ...
Then over the next decade, Gokhale went to cultures around the world that live far away from modern life. She went to the mountains in Ecuador, tiny fishing towns in Portugal and remote villages of West Africa.
"I went to villages where every kid under age 4 was crying because they were frightened to see somebody with white skin — they'd never seen a white person before," she says.
Gokhale took photos and videos of people who walked with water buckets on their heads, collected firewood or sat on the ground weaving, for hours.
"I have a picture in my book of these two women who spend seven to nine hours everyday, bent over, gathering water chestnuts," Gokhale says. "They're quite old. But the truth is they don't have a back pain."
She tried to figure out what all these different people had in common. The first thing that popped out was the shape of their spines. "They have this regal posture, and it's very compelling."
And it's quite different than American spines.
If you look at an American's spine from the side, or profile, it's shaped like the letter S. It curves at the top and then back again at the bottom.
But Gokhale didn't see those two big curves in people who don't have back pain. "That S shape is actually not natural," she says. "It's a J-shaped spine that you want."
In fact, if you look at drawings from Leonardo da Vinci — or a Gray's Anatomy book from 1901 — the spine isn't shaped like a sharp, curvy S. It's much flatter, all the way down the back. Then at the bottom, it curves to stick the buttocks out. So the spine looks more like the letter J.
"The J-shaped spine is what you see in Greek statues. It's what you see in young children. It's good design," Gokhale says.
So Gokhale worked to get her spine into the J shape. And gradually her back pain went away.
Healthy spines in the Western world: The J-shaped spine is
often seen in photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Library of Congress
Now her list of clients is impressive. She's helped YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report. She has given classes at Google, Facebook and companies across the country. In Silicon Valley, she's known as the "posture guru."
Each year, doctors in the Bay Area refer hundreds of patients to Gokhale. One of them is Dr. Neeta Jain, an internist at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. She puts Gokhale's method in the same category as Pilates and yoga for back pain. And it doesn't bother her that the method hasn't been tested in a clinical trial.
"If people are finding things that are helpful, and it's not causing any harm, then why do we have to wait for a trial?" Jain asked.
But there's still a big question looming here: Is Gokhale right? Have people in Western cultures somehow forgotten the right way to stand?
Scientists don't know yet, says Dr. Praveen Mummaneni, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco's Spine Center. Nobody has done a study on traditional cultures to see why some have lower rates of back pain, he says. Nobody has even documented the shape of their spines.
"I'd like to go and take X-rays of indigenous populations and compare it to people in the Western world," Mummaneni says. "I think that would be helpful."
But there's a whole bunch of reasons why Americans' postures — and the shape of their spines — may be different than those of indigenous populations, he says. For starters, Americans tend to be much heavier.
"If you have a lot of fat built up in the belly, that could pull your weight forward," Mummaneni says. "That could curve the spine. And people who are thinner probably have less curvature" — and thus a spine shaped more like J than than an S.
Americans are also much less active than people in traditional cultures, Mummaneni says. "I think the sedentary lifestyle promotes a lack of muscle tone and a lack of postural stability because the muscles get weak."
Everyone knows that weak abdominal muscles can cause back pain. In fact, Mummaneni says, stronger muscles might be the secret to Gokhale's success.
In other words, it's not that the J-shaped spine is the ideal one — or the healthiest. It's what goes into making the J-shaped spine that matters: "You have to use muscle strength to get your spine to look like a J shape," he says.
So Gokhale has somehow figured out a way to teach people to build up their core muscles without them even knowing it. "Yes, I think that's correct," Mummaneni says. "You're not going to be able to go from the S- to the J-shaped spine without having good core muscle strength. And I think that's key here."
So indigenous people around the world don't have a magic bullet for stopping back pain. They've just got beefy abdominal muscles, and their lifestyle helps to keep them that way, even as they age.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
NEW REVIEWS!!!
We are REWORKING the entire site! So stay tuned!
There are a ton of VAPE BREW reviews being written, videoed, and talked about for your informative pleaseure. As well as a guide to all the new hardware, that never stops being released.
We will be reviewing
WORLDS FINEST VAPE SHOP, a true brick and mortar shop and Juice creator.
and a variety of their flavors.
Liberty Vapes
Zen Vapes
Headies Vapes
Conspiracy Liquids
Charlie's Noble
and a few others...
As well as reviews on numerous box MODS, RBA, SUB-OHM tanks, and Batteries.
So stay tuned.....
The VAPE BREW REVIEW is coming at you!
There are a ton of VAPE BREW reviews being written, videoed, and talked about for your informative pleaseure. As well as a guide to all the new hardware, that never stops being released.
We will be reviewing
WORLDS FINEST VAPE SHOP, a true brick and mortar shop and Juice creator.
and a variety of their flavors.
Liberty Vapes
Zen Vapes
Headies Vapes
Conspiracy Liquids
Charlie's Noble
and a few others...
As well as reviews on numerous box MODS, RBA, SUB-OHM tanks, and Batteries.
So stay tuned.....
The VAPE BREW REVIEW is coming at you!
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
2014 Inductee into the Dictionary: 'Vape'
In Honor of 'vape' being inducted into the dictionary, which is pretty cool...i guess. Right in there with 'selfie' 'twerk' and other such pop culturtards...
Monday, August 4, 2014
THE VAPE BREW REVIEW
The electronic cigarette market has grown exponentially in the past few years, like an atomic bomb exploding onto the world market. Watching this quiet phenomenon, is like watching the running of the bulls. Like a stampede it has made big tobacco sweat its cancerous tar sticks, eagerly trying to get in the game that is far beyond what they are willing to do.
Take Blu Ecigs. Big Tobacco's attempt at breaking into the market.
However, they are doing it without their own juice recipe, which is outsourced to a fantastic, albeit a bit expensive, ejuice company.
 | ||
| photo:G.Partridge x Hemlock&Keystone |
Johnson's Creek brews the juice for Blu, however thru genius negotiating and business tactics, they have managed to maintain their copyrights, remaining it's own company, outsourced by Big Tobacco. Sure enough listed on the box of a Blu ecig is the Johnsons Creek emblem.
So if you like any of the flavors that Blu offers, now you can step out of the $10 gas station and step into the plumes and Ill show you how much money I saved over the years in a later post. Johnson's Creek comes in 2 lines, the Red Oak line is all VG, and the Johnson's Creek is the original PG line.
First things first, $20 is too much to pay for ejuice, just like $10 is too much for a throw away ecig. unless its pure gold, top notch, next level. Considering a 30ml bottle at Local Breweres, Mt. Pocono Vapes is about $10 and will last a moderate Vapor a month or more, from 1 bottle!
Yes Johnson's Creek makes delicious juice available in PG or VG, but $60 for 3 bottles as per their discount is still far too much money. The ecig market is large, dangerous, and full of halfwits and bandwagoneers, however the good does outweigh the bad. Just don't get caught in the trap of being restricted to your local store that sells unrateable and unmentionable juice and hardware.
You have to find the best and not settle. I promise there is something out there for everyone, smoker or non-smoker, many companies offer 0 nicotine to 24 mg for pure vaping pleasure of the seasoned smoker and never-in-my-life-have-i non-smokers.
Weeding out all the non sense takes time and if you find a site that you like, youll find another, kicking yourself for paying $x more for juice or hardware. Here are my identifiers when purchasing ejuice and by no means is it full proof. It is directed more for purchasing ejuice in a non-ecig boutique, where you can hold the bottle and see the juice.
 |
| photo: G.Partridge x Hemlock&Keystone |
The label should also alert you to the fact that nicotine, if consumed it is poisonous. So dont drink it, dont put it on a cigarette or joint, dont put it in a pipe. dont burn it....Just enjoy and amaze your friends with the clouds of vapor that you exhale like a volcano emitting gasses before it erupts, while they hack up a lung smoking a cigarette. To each their own, I was trapped by the grips of big tobacco. THERE IS A WAY OUT!
The PG and VG are specifically used as a vehicle for the flavoring and nicotine solution, as they produce the vapor, and thus VAPORIZED.
Now that said, dont pass on a simple label. SIMPLE IS ELEGANT. And 9 times out of 10 that bottle was made with passion and love for the Art of the Vape Brew, not for a massive wholesale distributor like those found at most tobacco shops, Proudly Made in China with god only knows what and shipped to our sheepish country for the growing, but still mostly ignorant masses to consume. So pay close attention to the label, it speaks volumes.
Consistency
Color
Smell
When ordering online, its always a craps shoot when trying something new. Our goal is to help shave the odds on the craps shoot, so that you don't have to be stuck with extra bottles of garbage flavors.
Below is store bought Crown ejuice which has a consistency like water and the flavor(less) juice has a strong chemical taste, heats up very quickly, and produces very little vapor.
 | |
 | |
| A few other store bought brands. |
Much like the rise of the microbrewery, There are so many great juices out there and in every flavor you can think of, some you never thought of, and some that you never would want to think of.
But there are many ejuice companies doing it right. Making juice with the best possible resources, organics, and medical grade PG/VG and nicotine solutions.
Flavor creators are working in sterile, medical grade labs, making sure that the juice is top notch, the flavor is out of this world, and the throat hit rivals that of an analog cigarette(and this is without next level hardware that turns that juice into PLUMES of vape that fill the room....We will get to that)
First things first...PG and VG are terms thrown around that if you have no idea what is being referred to, then it is easily mistakable for some new sexual position or STD caught from said new sexual position.
So what does PG and VG stand for?What is their purpose?What the fuck is it?
PG stands for Propyl Glycerine, a very common additive used in food
VG stands for Vegetable Glycol, a very common additive used in food
Visual Characteristics:
-PG is considerably thinner liquid and to me has less of a flavorful smell and vape.
-VG is thicker, has a gloriously strong smell and flavor (but can also make it difficult to get good pulls in tanks, just dab the wicks, do a quick dry burn...back in business. More to come on this in the Easy Breezy Tips & Tricks section)
-PG/VG Ratios are a perfect mix of flavor and consistency, allowing custom juice without making your own. I recommend finding a Vape Brew Company that you trust and enjoy, otherwise whats the point!
The Basics:
PG-the original base for ejuices back in the day, all of 4 years ago.
Often times horror stories about ejuice associated with anti freeze go alongside this historically pivotal point of the industry.
Both are used in the same manner in food, however when applied to electronic cigarettes make vaporous plumes with tremendously satisfying flavor.
PG is known for providing more of a throat hit. People began to notice negative affects like tightness in the chest and anxiety, which is ultimately attributed to the tightness in the chest.
Well the Genius' in the lab mixing delicious potions began using VG for those that had such reactions to PG.
Thus flooding the market with a new product. A version of a product that produces massive amounts of vapor and flavor. Its consistency is much thicker, its flavor stronger. And has taken the art of Vape Brewing to vaporous plumes.
And then the Genius' got smarter and combined the 2 for the 1-2 Punch of the throat hit and plumes of vapor. Fuckin' Right!
 |
| photo: G.Partridge x Hemlock&Keystone |
The good reason for what seems like an annoyance, is that the juice in that bottle is fresh. You can see that all the ingredients haven't settled yet, but when the steeping time is over...the flavor, consistancy, smell is out of this world! http://shop.poconovapes.com.
Hands down the best Tobacco I have come across is in their Premium Tobacco. Its my All Day Vape (ADV)!...I cant get enough of it and every other juice fails miserably in comparison, so I'm hoping to be surprised in this next order, in finding a second ADV. Note, this is not a traditional tobacco, taste-like-a-cigarette flavor, it has sweet nods of brown sugar and vanilla, with a fine tobacco finish on the exhale.
And to top it off, It is always an honor to support local business'...and when their juice is next level, its even better!
Reviews coming soon, however don't sleep on Mt Pocono Vapes....when the dust settles, you'll be begging for a bottle.
MT POCONO VAPES
THE VAPE BREW REVIEW
...to be posted in the next 3-7 days.
8 BREWS from MT POCONO VAPES
Premium Tobacco
MYSTERY FLAVOR
Cowboy Blend
Tobacco
Bubblegum
Brown sugar
Candy Caramel
Visit their website
MT POCONO VAPES
http://shop.poconovapes.com.
As well as the Mid West E juice company
FLAVORZ BY JOE
RY4x4
Cracker Jacked
Brown Sugar Peaches and Pears
Coffee and Cream
Second Base
*Ratio of PG to VG is 50/50 on all these bottles with 18% Nicotine
To be Vaped on
"The StingRay" MOD Clone w EFest 18650 battery
Black Omega ReBuildable Atomizer (RBA).( Ohm unknown, came coiled and wicked.)
Set Up from 2Vaped.com. They have an AWESOME build your own MOD section, including batteries, charger, and everything you need to vape as soon as your order arrives! Not to mention, another PA LOCAL Company.
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