Today's Internets - "...sheer elegance in its simplicity."

"What you don’t understand you can make mean anything." - Chuck Palahniuk

People can be awesome.

"You may watch The Middleman and come to the conclusion that our characters live in a fantasy world: an unreal realm where friendships are sustaining and sustained, where heroism is rewarded not with tragedy and further burden, by with hope—and where evil is the result not of an unbeatable, unknowable, and all-encompassing conspiracy, but of a stone-headed unwillingness to face the challenges of life with common human decency.

You may even be tempted to think that the worldview of The Middleman is naive, that you have been watching a bunch of Pollyannas spinning away childish fantasies of positivity…

…and as you walk away into the inky moral darkness of our complicated world—the truth of cruel, cold, and meaningless existence—you may even be tempted to smile at a stranger you pass on the street…maybe because you are amused by our callow misunderstanding of life’s bitter reality…maybe because you look at us and our little show as one might a child who doesn’t know any better…

…or maybe just because it looks like that stranger on the street could use a smile.

And when you do…just remember…our plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity." - Middleman comic and TV show creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach

Musings of Melody | Today’s obsession is Pug gifs.:

Twitter / pattonoswalt: 

Training.

11/2 - hyperextensions, lunges, leg press, leg extensions, leg curls, hip thrusts, calf press -- light stretching

Fighting a sore throat, a pulled lower back, elbow tendonitis and some kind of minor flu bug.  Help me out, Morgan Freeman.

Thank you, sir.

Today's Internets - "Boop."

Taiwan's New Special Forces Uniforms Are Wearable Nightmare Fuel:

How would they know? - Police Charge a Salem Psychic with Offering Fraudulent Curse Removal Services - Hit & Run : Reason.com: 

"Fatima’s psychic studio, which has been offering a Romani form of fortune-telling to tourists for two decades, was caught violating a city ordinance which states that psychics may only forecast the future and read the past. Warding off evil spirits and protecting patrons from bad auras is strictly forbidden...

In response to the allegations, Christian Day, a local warlock who owns two fortune-telling shops and has appeared on Penn & Teller’s Bullshit, said: If they’re a fraud, then we’re all frauds, and all religion is a fraud. They’re not regulating the priest who absolves you of your sins and tells you to put some money in the collection basket, or the old lady who sends all her money to Pat Robertson."

Hey look!  Stupid, completely unnecessary rule finally ended.  Now let us all thank them for years of enforcing a policy which was arbitrary nonsense. The Use of Approved Electronic Devices Is Now Permitted - Hit & Run : Reason.com:

 "Was there any real basis for this concern about interference to begin with? In a 2012 survey of people who had flown in the previous year, 40 percent admitted that they had left their electronic devices on throughout the flight, while 7 percent said they had not even bothered to put their phones in airplane mode... even though many passengers have routinely disobeyed the restrictions on electronic devices for many years, as far as I can tell no one has ever cited an actual mishap related to such infractions. The ban on using phones for voice communication remains in place, but there does not seem to be a safety rationale for that rule either."

The level of fuckup is pretty staggering - Almost Nothing About Obamacare's Federal Exchange System Works - Hit & Run : Reason.com: 

"It’s almost impressive how comprehensive the federal system’s technical failures are. Just about every part of the system that has been reported on seems to have problems, many of which are quite serious."

"I like a little whiskey. It’s got the nice burn going down, and then the warm belly. Then I’m invincible, too, that’s also a great thing about it, is that nothing can hurt me and I know everything." — Paul F. Tompkins

Today's Internets - "He-Man is more powerful than Jesus Christ."

Richard Kadrey's Damn Tumblr: Photo:

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: 

16 to 20 year old me would be so happy - There’s a REAL Alyssa Milano Sex Tape Somewhere in the World - BroBible.com: 

"Alyssa Milano was on The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson and she confirmed that she made a sex tape. At first, she tells Ferguson she destroyed it ("burned it"), but then admits that it might be out there somewhere. She says it was in her early 20s. So if you had sex with Alyssa Milano between December 19th, 1992 and December 18th, 1997, please collect all your VHS tapes and begin throwing them in and pressing fast forward until you find it. If you do not have a VHS player, here is a link to every VHS player available on Ebay. They are inexpensive and this is your civic duty."

Religion in the 1980s and its particular variation of being totally fucking nuts.  Remember kids, Yoda has three fingers, which means Satan is Lord. -  Seven insane minutes of people explaining how '80s toys are satanic: 

"Dear fellow children of the '80s — remember how we all turned into Satanists? If only we had listened to author Phil Phillips and Pastor Gary Greenwald back then, two men who realized the demonic agenda in everything from He-Man to the Smurfs. Someone assembled this video of their greatest hits, and it is mesmerizing. My favorite bits: Darth Vader looks almost exactly like the Norse god Odin • Dungeons & Dragons "game pieces" scream when you set them on fire! • Smurfs are blue with black lips... just like corpses..."

Core Cosplay At Hallowe'en - Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors:

Sine Missione, Without Mercy • The Deadlift rises, brothers!:

Oh, hello. I didn't see you there. (If you loved me, you’d all kill yourselves today.): 

Robin seems different.  Donnah Pham - Timeline Photos: 

"Hello to Batman's new sidekick!! Happy Halloween everyone!!!"

Batman approves.

Training.

10/31 - hyperextensions, deadlifts*, pulldowns, seated rows, barbell curls -- chins

*Had to call it a day on deads after my first work set.  Tweaked my lower back doing squats last week, thought moving deads & squats til the end of this week, working lots of hypers and a good warmup would make it okay... but it was clear that after that first work set I was aggravating it and making it worse.  Also means squats are probably out for tomorrow.  Bah.  Hammer the assistance/accessory work and try to heal up.

Happy Halloween - Bodybuilding.com - We 'Mirin Special Edition: 26 Halloween Hardbodies & Bodybuilding.com - We 'Mirin Special Edition: 63 Halloween Hardbodies

Today's Internets - "Teenagers aren't Rated TEEN."

And never have been.  Via Kieron Gillen @Another Way To Breathe

NikNaks Blog:

"You realize how much better the world would be if we all just treated each other the way black dudes treated magicians?"

Oakland Cops Prioritizing Drug Arrests Over Homicides in Its Crime Labs - Hit & Run : Reason.com: 

"...for those who wonder what it might be like in a nightmare world without efficient and sensible state-provided justice protecting our lives and property...

...while the department has deemphasized homicide investigations, it has made drug cases — including minor drug arrests — its top priority. OPD's crime lab, in fact, has no backlog for narcotics evidence and processes 95 percent of all suspected drug cases within 24 hours, while allowing homicide case evidence to languish for years without being examined."

Yeah, this is like a face tattoo.  You've got to be all in.

I still miss The Secret Six.

Training.

10/30 - hyperextensions, db curl, drag curl, 21s, concentration curls, wrist curls, rv wrist curls, wrist roller, calf raise, kneeups, ab wheel, hip thrust, band pullaparts

10/29 - 45m foam rolling

This is impressive as hell for a guy who's primarily a bodybuilder.

Ross Enamait is a BEAST.

Today's Internets - "I don't want your future."

"Let everything happen to you. Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final." - Rainer Maria Rilke

San Diego Police About to Teach Local Teens How Awful Authorities Are in Sexting Case - Hit & Run : Reason.com: 
"Taking naked selfies on your smartphone and then sending them out through texts can lead to personal and professional problems. The police in San Diego want to make sure teenagers understand this. So, in order to ‘teach’ minors not to sext naked photos to each other, they’re going to reach out and destroy some lives. NBC’s San Diego affiliate reports:
 San Diego police say criminal charges will be filed in a sexting ring involving dozens of students from several high schools and one middle school...

These pictures are considered child pornography, so imagine what might happen to whomever the police arrests. Furthermore, according to the NBC report, there’s no hacking or coercion going on here. The girls sent out the naked pics themselves."