Saturday, November 07, 2009
Training.
AM - Atlas 1, 4, 5 - hindu pushups, hindu squats, bridging
PM - Atlas III pushup, Atlas situp, hindu squats, Atlas situp, Atlas III pushup, MILO DSR/Dynamic Tension - 20m mma/intervals - Atlas 1, 4, 5
Completely awesome workout/training vid. Bonus points for the Philly setting, Rocky statue, Eye of the Tiger music. Good stuff.
Via Contest Video: Primaldelphia (plus Grok in the Wild! pics) | Mark's Daily Apple
PM - Atlas III pushup, Atlas situp, hindu squats, Atlas situp, Atlas III pushup, MILO DSR/Dynamic Tension - 20m mma/intervals - Atlas 1, 4, 5
Completely awesome workout/training vid. Bonus points for the Philly setting, Rocky statue, Eye of the Tiger music. Good stuff.
Via Contest Video: Primaldelphia (plus Grok in the Wild! pics) | Mark's Daily Apple
Friday, November 06, 2009
That's good stuff.
Overheard in the Office | Abort Conversation! Abort Conversation!:
"Male employee #1: I am going out on a date tonight with a 4'11' Filipina. She runs triathlons.
Male employee #2: That's short. You know, her head will be at about your stomach.
Male employee #1, after long pause: I kind of want her to break me.
Sacramento, California"
Training.
AM - Atlas 1, 4, 5 - hindu pushups, hindu squats, bridging
PM - 8x8 laterals, rows, flyes, kickbacks, curls, wrist curls, hyperextensions - isometrics - dislocates, scap pushups, facepulls, wall slides, asomov squats, hip thrusts - Atlas 1, 4, 5
PM - 8x8 laterals, rows, flyes, kickbacks, curls, wrist curls, hyperextensions - isometrics - dislocates, scap pushups, facepulls, wall slides, asomov squats, hip thrusts - Atlas 1, 4, 5
Mastery of mixed metaphors.
Overheard in the Office | We Just Put It in the Trunk; We'll Bury It Later:
"Coworker #1, walking down hallway: What's so wrong with beating dead whores?
Coworker #2: I don't really know what to say right now.
Coworker #1: See! In this morning's meeting nobody else said anything about it either. I was just saying that we need to stop talking about the budget because it's like beating dead whores. Like that saying goes. But the conversation just kind of stopped.
Orlando, Florida
Overheard by: Jen"
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Training.
AM - Atlas 1, 4, 5 - hindu pushups, hindu squats, bridging
PM - Atlas III pushup, Atlas situp, hindu squats, Atlas situp, Atlas III pushup, MILO DSR/Dynamic Tension - 20m mma/intervals - Atlas 1, 4, 5
PM - Atlas III pushup, Atlas situp, hindu squats, Atlas situp, Atlas III pushup, MILO DSR/Dynamic Tension - 20m mma/intervals - Atlas 1, 4, 5
Total Win comment on the abysmally awful ACTA treaty negotiations.
Obama signs off on this, as it stands in negotiation, he'll officially enter the "worse than not just as bad as Bush" paradigm.
More on secret copyright treaty: your kids could go to jail for noncommercial music sharing - Boing Boing:
More on secret copyright treaty: your kids could go to jail for noncommercial music sharing - Boing Boing:
"You know, I've been enjoying the War on Drugs and the War on Terror, but they just didn't turn enough of the population into criminals or justify the kind of intrusions into people's lives that I'd really like to see. If only there were something more we could do to criminalize still larger segments of the population, support a massive enforcement bureaucracy (and a lucrative private prison industry) and strip away still more of people's rights in the name of some vague principle or corporate special interest."
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Training.
AM - Atlas 1, 4, 5 - hindu pushups, hindu squats, bridging
PM - sissy squats, hamstring curls, calf raises, frog situps, hip rolls - dislocates, facepulls, scap pushups, wall slides, asomov squats - isometrics - Atlas 1, 4, 5
PM - sissy squats, hamstring curls, calf raises, frog situps, hip rolls - dislocates, facepulls, scap pushups, wall slides, asomov squats - isometrics - Atlas 1, 4, 5
Cop steals defense lawyers papers in the middle of the courtroom. On videotape.
The judge is either the least observant person in the world, incompetent, or in on it.
Unbelievable.
Also instructive in showing that authorities aren't required to conspire, because the knee jerk reaction of those on the same team, in this case the judge - "well, these men are charged with the security of the courtroom, so whatever they did must be okay" - is to back the play of others in authority, regardless of right, wrong or the facts.
Welcome to Marikafka County, Arizona - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine:
Unbelievable.
Also instructive in showing that authorities aren't required to conspire, because the knee jerk reaction of those on the same team, in this case the judge - "well, these men are charged with the security of the courtroom, so whatever they did must be okay" - is to back the play of others in authority, regardless of right, wrong or the facts.
Welcome to Marikafka County, Arizona - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine:
"As defense attorney Joanne Cuccia discusses her client's sentencing hearing with the judge, Maricopa County Sheriff's Department detention officer Adam Stoddard walks up behind her, and begins sifting through one of her files, which she has placed on the defense table. Remarkably, Stoddard then removes a document from the file and hands it off to another deputy, who then leaves the courtroom with it. They don't even bother to inform Cuccia, who has her back turned the entire time. The judge appears to have missed the incident as well.
...Could it possibly be legal for a law enforcement official to meander up to the defense table, begin reading the defense team's files, then take documents from said files without notifying the attorney? That sounds absurd on its face"
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Training.
AM - Atlas 1, 4, 5 - hindu pushups, hindu squats, bridging
PM - Atlas III pushup, Atlas situp, hindu squats, Atlas situp, Atlas III pushup, MILO DSR/Dynamic Tension - pullups, chinups, rows - 20m mma/intervals - Atlas 1, 4, 5
PM - Atlas III pushup, Atlas situp, hindu squats, Atlas situp, Atlas III pushup, MILO DSR/Dynamic Tension - pullups, chinups, rows - 20m mma/intervals - Atlas 1, 4, 5
Watched...
The last 2.5 weeks worth, I think...
Castle, Bored to Death, House, SNL, Lie to Me, NCIS, Modern Family, TUF, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, 30 Rock, Community, Parks and Recreation, Dollhouse, UFC 104, Dream 12, K1 MAX, Daily Show, Colbert Report, South Park, The Menatlist
Batman: The Brave and the Bold - a musical episode featuring Neil Patrick Harris? Dominant Win. Awesome.
The Venture Bros - may actually be my favorite show. Edging out 30 Rock and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. "Do you know what Mr Smartmouth called me when he stormed out of the house this morning? A *honky*." - Dr Thaddeus Venture
FlashForward - just barely good enough to keep me watching. Less soap opera, more mind bending physics and shootouts, please.
Friday Night Lights is BACK! Still the best straight drama on TV. This season's setup is pretty damn cool.
NCIS Season 1&2 - hooked on this when I visited home this summer. I blame my father in law. A nice procedural, quirky and interesting characters. Figures, from the same creator who brought you Magnum, P.I. and Quantum Leap. Quality TV. It avoids the military worship that occasionally plagues these kinds of shows by making something like half the bad guys military as well. Mark Harmon as Gibbs is a well drawn character, equal parts butt-kicking good guy and, well, kind of an asshole. The only place it gets on my nerves is the same reason a lot of cop shows do, these days. Gibbs, in particular, ignores laws, rights, procedures, etc, etc and it all works out because it's written that way. In real life, imho, cops like that are jackbooted thugs. But, you know, TV show, so I'll need to rein in my sense of propriety. The ending of Season 2 was a nice gut punch. Didn't see that one coming.
In order to keep up with the Mrs stateside, finally watched a couple DVDs I had picked up this summer - Wanted and Watchmen.
Wanted was better than I had imagined. Bearing only the slightest resemblance to the comic it was based on, I didn't have a lot of hope for it, but it was surprisingly well done. Excellent action-y bits, nice acting and it zigs a couple times when you think it's going to zag - which is always nice.
And then - Watchmen. The Director's Cut, so I don't know how it stacked up to what came out in the theaters. Expectations were high. I've read it at least 15 times in the last 20 years or so. I credit it, along with the 80s Question comic book series with some of my original interests in philosophy, existentialism and post-modernism. There are bits I can recite from the book by heart. So, overall, I'd give it a solid A-. Maybe an A. The visuals were stunning, most of the acting I thought was spot-on [though a couple performances were 'eh'.] The Comedian, Nite-Owl and Rorshach were the highlights for me. I even liked the odd period choices for music that a lot of folks didn't. Thought that was a clever creative touch.
But it gets the - of the A- because, and this will be a quibble to anyone not intimately familiar with the comic, was the way they tweaked and replaced some of the dialogue in the book, for no apparent reason. Specifically, some of the most powerful and moving bits of writing in the book. Made me just say "wha-huh?" a couple times.
So my gripes, and again, it won't even register to somebody who doesn't know the book, but when Ozymandias is monologuing towards the end of the film, the ultimate line in the book, powerful and shocking, is "I did it 20 minutes ago." Why change that to "I triggered it 35 minutes ago" is beyond me. [Though I liked the change from serial movie villain to comic book villain. Go figure.]
From Rorshach's interview in jail, in his speech explaining his actions, the striking bit of dialogue that always stuck with me was "...it's us, only us." It's changed to a far weaker and anticlimactic "We do" it the film. Poor, poor choice, imho.
The whole reveal of Laurie's parentage on Mars was far better, more deftly and dramatically handled in the book than the film. It's really a beautiful piece of writing and art in the book. It was just clunky in the film, the performances and scripting far weaker. Same with Manhattan's speech on his decision to return to Earth.
Finally, in the book, there's an exchange at the end between Manhattan and Ozymandias discussing the morality of what's been done with Ozy postulating that he did the right thing "in the end." Manhattan's response - "'In the end'? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends." And in the next panel you see how this rejoinder gives pause to Veidt, underscoring all his actions, undermining his whole plot. GREAT moment. The movie obliterates this moment, that in a lot of ways underscores some of the major themes of the book, and instead puts the words in Laurie's mouth in the end, as something Jon "would say" - avoiding confronting Veidt with the perspective and uncertainty that's crucial to some of the ideas in the book.
But still, overall, a good film. Hard to imagine it could have been adapted much better.
Castle, Bored to Death, House, SNL, Lie to Me, NCIS, Modern Family, TUF, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, 30 Rock, Community, Parks and Recreation, Dollhouse, UFC 104, Dream 12, K1 MAX, Daily Show, Colbert Report, South Park, The Menatlist
Batman: The Brave and the Bold - a musical episode featuring Neil Patrick Harris? Dominant Win. Awesome.
The Venture Bros - may actually be my favorite show. Edging out 30 Rock and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. "Do you know what Mr Smartmouth called me when he stormed out of the house this morning? A *honky*." - Dr Thaddeus Venture
FlashForward - just barely good enough to keep me watching. Less soap opera, more mind bending physics and shootouts, please.
Friday Night Lights is BACK! Still the best straight drama on TV. This season's setup is pretty damn cool.
NCIS Season 1&2 - hooked on this when I visited home this summer. I blame my father in law. A nice procedural, quirky and interesting characters. Figures, from the same creator who brought you Magnum, P.I. and Quantum Leap. Quality TV. It avoids the military worship that occasionally plagues these kinds of shows by making something like half the bad guys military as well. Mark Harmon as Gibbs is a well drawn character, equal parts butt-kicking good guy and, well, kind of an asshole. The only place it gets on my nerves is the same reason a lot of cop shows do, these days. Gibbs, in particular, ignores laws, rights, procedures, etc, etc and it all works out because it's written that way. In real life, imho, cops like that are jackbooted thugs. But, you know, TV show, so I'll need to rein in my sense of propriety. The ending of Season 2 was a nice gut punch. Didn't see that one coming.
In order to keep up with the Mrs stateside, finally watched a couple DVDs I had picked up this summer - Wanted and Watchmen.
Wanted was better than I had imagined. Bearing only the slightest resemblance to the comic it was based on, I didn't have a lot of hope for it, but it was surprisingly well done. Excellent action-y bits, nice acting and it zigs a couple times when you think it's going to zag - which is always nice.
And then - Watchmen. The Director's Cut, so I don't know how it stacked up to what came out in the theaters. Expectations were high. I've read it at least 15 times in the last 20 years or so. I credit it, along with the 80s Question comic book series with some of my original interests in philosophy, existentialism and post-modernism. There are bits I can recite from the book by heart. So, overall, I'd give it a solid A-. Maybe an A. The visuals were stunning, most of the acting I thought was spot-on [though a couple performances were 'eh'.] The Comedian, Nite-Owl and Rorshach were the highlights for me. I even liked the odd period choices for music that a lot of folks didn't. Thought that was a clever creative touch.
But it gets the - of the A- because, and this will be a quibble to anyone not intimately familiar with the comic, was the way they tweaked and replaced some of the dialogue in the book, for no apparent reason. Specifically, some of the most powerful and moving bits of writing in the book. Made me just say "wha-huh?" a couple times.
So my gripes, and again, it won't even register to somebody who doesn't know the book, but when Ozymandias is monologuing towards the end of the film, the ultimate line in the book, powerful and shocking, is "I did it 20 minutes ago." Why change that to "I triggered it 35 minutes ago" is beyond me. [Though I liked the change from serial movie villain to comic book villain. Go figure.]
From Rorshach's interview in jail, in his speech explaining his actions, the striking bit of dialogue that always stuck with me was "...it's us, only us." It's changed to a far weaker and anticlimactic "We do" it the film. Poor, poor choice, imho.
The whole reveal of Laurie's parentage on Mars was far better, more deftly and dramatically handled in the book than the film. It's really a beautiful piece of writing and art in the book. It was just clunky in the film, the performances and scripting far weaker. Same with Manhattan's speech on his decision to return to Earth.
Finally, in the book, there's an exchange at the end between Manhattan and Ozymandias discussing the morality of what's been done with Ozy postulating that he did the right thing "in the end." Manhattan's response - "'In the end'? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends." And in the next panel you see how this rejoinder gives pause to Veidt, underscoring all his actions, undermining his whole plot. GREAT moment. The movie obliterates this moment, that in a lot of ways underscores some of the major themes of the book, and instead puts the words in Laurie's mouth in the end, as something Jon "would say" - avoiding confronting Veidt with the perspective and uncertainty that's crucial to some of the ideas in the book.
But still, overall, a good film. Hard to imagine it could have been adapted much better.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Truth.
Drug Advisor tells the truth, gets fucking fired | The Good Atheist:
"The fear of illicit drugs is a potent tool of control in our modern society. How else can you explain the fact that we prosecute our own citizens for doing nothing more than putting a foreign substance into their OWN FUCKING BODIES. And don’t try to give me this “we need to protect people from themselves” bullshit that people love to toss around. You don’t protect anybody by throwing individuals with drug problems into the same institutions where you keep murderers and thieves.
**NOTE** I think we should call “alcohol poisoning” what it really is: a fucking drug overdose."
Huh.
Hive Mind - Hive Mind – The luck of the Sapiens: the weird fortuitousness of global warming - True/Slant:
"In all the hullaballoo around global warming, there’s one oft-overlooked tidbit that warrants, at the very least, some philosophical contemplation. And that is the following: Were it not for all the fossil fuels we’ve burned, right about now we’d be headed into another Ice Age."
"So the Sex Offender Registry has become the ultimate scare tactic. Now the police don’t even pretend it’s a list of dangerous offenders..."
"...It’s just the stigma." - from the comments.
Power corrupts, etc, etc. Jesus.
Boulder Cops Smash Naked Pumpkin Run | The Agitator:
Power corrupts, etc, etc. Jesus.
Boulder Cops Smash Naked Pumpkin Run | The Agitator:
"For ten years, Boulder residents have staged a spontaneous “naked pumpkin run” on Halloween, in which dozens of runners (150 last year) don only shoes and a pumpkin on their head, then jog a four-block route through the city.This year, however, Boulder police put an end to the revelry, stationing 40 cops and two SWAT teams along the route, which police chief Mark Beckner promising that anyone showing their, er, treats would land on the state’s sex offender list."
Training.
11/2 - AM - Atlas 1, 4, 5 - hindu pushups, hindu squats, bridging - 5 Tibetans
PM - 8x8 laterals, rows, pushups, dips, curls, wrist curls, hyperextensions - isometrics - dislocates, scap pushups, facepulls, wall slides, asomov squats - Atlas 1, 4, 5
11/1 - headache/under the weather/no PT
PM - 8x8 laterals, rows, pushups, dips, curls, wrist curls, hyperextensions - isometrics - dislocates, scap pushups, facepulls, wall slides, asomov squats - Atlas 1, 4, 5
11/1 - headache/under the weather/no PT
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Douchebaggery knows no nationality.
Anti-foreign protests in Tokyo on Halloween night | Japan Probe:
"The infamous Yamanote Halloween Train party was supposed to take place last night in Tokyo. This year’s party brought more than just cops, foreigners, and 2-channelers. Those who showed up at Shinjuku station at t9:00PM last night encountered a very angry and very loud group of nationalist activists carrying Japanese flags and signs with anti-foreign slogans.
...The protesters apparently came from right wing activist groups such as Shuken Kaifuku wo Mezasu Kai (The Society to Seek Restoration of Sovereignty)."
