The Bourne Legacy

When this movie hit the theaters, I wonder why they bothered making a fourth Bourne movie without Damon.  Well, having seen it, I now wonder why I was stupid enough to watch it.  The Damon Bourne movies were fast paced with a significant amount of intrigue which kept you on the edge of your seat.  They were also well paced with character depth.  This movie?  Well, a few people got punched, but that was about it.  I didn't care about the characters and the plot felt cobbled together.  The first half of the movie was slow background setup.

This movie felt like a cash grab riding on the coattails of the real Bourne movies and I do not recommend it.  The requisite fruit cart seen also came way too late.

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

I enjoyed Butcher's Codex Alera series, but I'm starting to enjoy his Dresden Files just a bit more.  I like the irreverence and the witty dialogue.  The magic satisfies Sanderson's Law and the stories are engaging.  I'm normally not a big fan of vampires and werewolves, but the modern day setting is enough to turn the tables.

Butcher has a good feel for pace and his characters are believable and have depth.  I also like how he's teasing out Dresden's background book by book rather than by spilling it immediately.  It leaves you satisfied, but ready for a bit more.

I highly recommend this book, this series and this author.

Yoga

I finally got around to doing another workout from my Namaste: Season 1 DVD.  Episode 2 was a little easier for me to follow than episode 1, but I was still several beats too slow.  The show was advertised as being suitable for a beginner, but there are a lot of poses I don't know like monkey pose.  Also, it would be nice to show the full body of the people doing the routine so I can follow along.  Don't tell me to get into monkey pose if it involves the legs, but you're only showing the upper body.  Besides, the women doing the workout have awesome legs and asses, but not a lot going on up top.

I felt fairly relaxed after doing the workout and perhaps a bit more centered.  I'll definitely continue, but I need to find a way to do the routines while trying to follow along with my eyes.

Superman & Batman Apocalypse

I streamed this movie during dinner tonight and it was pretty decent.  I prefer Marvel over DC because the DC folk tend to be ovepowered, but this movie kept things under control.  The voices for Batman and Superman were the usual ones, but I didn't like the celebrity ones for Darkseid and Supergirl.

The animation was decent and the streaming quality great.

I recommend this movie if you're a fan of comic book superheroes.

Fitness update

The end of January was spent in Australia so this update is the first of 2013.  I wish I could say I'm on the right track, but I'm having trouble breaking through the 21% body fat barrier.

The February trend isn't good and is likely due to some bad habits restarted while I was on vacation.  I wasn't very strict this week with wheat and sugar and the numbers reflect it.

The good news is I've avoided the wild swings the past couple of years and I've been the leanest the past six months.

I'm confident I'll get the numbers to trend downward again.

Arrested Development: Season 2

I finished streaming the second season a couple of days ago.  I watch an episode while I eat dinner because the show doesn't require a lot of concentration.  The first season was good, but the second season is just weird and I can see why it soon was canceled.

I give this season a neutral recommendation.

Correlation or small sample size?

Whenever I see someone doing something stupid on the interstate like weaving in and out of traffic or tail gating, nine times out of ten they're driving a Nissan Altima.

Lent

I'm not Catholic nor am I religious, but I like to give something up for Lent.  This year I'm giving up alcohol and interacting with strangers online.  The first one is easy to explain, but the second one is a little more complicated.  I think I need to focus on people I actually know rather than pining away for chicks I only know online.

Goddamn I need to get laid.

This dry spell has lasted seven months already with no sign of letting up.

Sons of Anarchy: Season 4

This season was jam-packed with a convoluted plot.  I wasn't sure how it was going to tie together to lead to a fifth season, but the writers found a way that surprised me (which is hard to do) and one which wasn't a deus ex machina.

There were plenty of titties, lots of violence and solid acting.  I'm not a fan of the actress who plays Tara, but the rest of the cast does a great job.  It's weird seeing bit characters from the Shield, but they're both FX shows so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

I highly recommend this season and this series.  It will not disappoint.

Fitness and nutrition

I've neglected this blog a bit because I've been spending on a lot of time on Fitocracy which I found out about from a Fark thread.  It has some stupid social media aspects, but I've learned a lot about fitness there and there are a lot of really hot ladies.  I prefer women with meat on their bones and that's what you get when you do a lot of deadlifts and squats.

I was previously against weight training because I thought it's hard on the joints and unnatural, but now I see there are plenty of weight training exercises which mimic real life situations.  The farmer carry is an obvious example and you could imagine squatting down under something and lifting it up and out of the way.  I belong to a court club which has a weight room, but I prefer to workout early in the morning (~5AM) by myself so I don't have to wait for equipment to free up.  I've got a decent set up for body weight exercises, but just cleaned out a portion of the unfinished part of my basement.  I had all the moving boxes there, but moved them elsewhere (I'll eventually break them down for recycling) and put down exercise flooring last night.  Why?  Because I pre-spent my tax refund on a squat rack, 400lbs of weight plates, farmer carry bars and a bench.  I'll be able to do all sorts barbell exercises which should lead to some pretty quick strength gains since my frame can handle a fair amount of bulking.  Deadlifts should increase my core strength which will come in handy during basketball.

I have been doing the 666 program which is helping to build some strength, but not quickly enough for my tastes.  I am still going to do some of the progressions because I really want to be strong enough to do a muscle up and a handstand push up.  I'm able to attempt one armed push ups and my dips are solid, but I still need work on my pull ups since I put on Fat Gripz to improve hand, wrist and forearm strength.  My wrists are fairly narrow for my frame which will kill my dreams of being a professional boxer, but also limit quite a number of exercises.

As for the barbell work, I think I'll start out with the 5/3/1 program because it seems pretty straightforward and I don't know any better.  I have no idea what my four rep maxes are, but it'll be easy to find out.

I'm still trying to follow a Paleo diet, but I fell off the wagon in Australia and haven't been diligent since I got back.  I definitely can feel the ill effects of wheat, dairy and sugar, but they are still damn tasty.

I'm tracking my visual progress in this album.  I'm stronger than I look, but certainly not "cut" or "ripped."  I think having those as the only goal is a bit bromo so my main goal is overall health and strength gain without sacrificing flexibility.

I'm still hovering close to my short-term target of 20% body fat, but haven't been able to break the wall.  I think I can get there within a couple of months with increased strength training and a renewed focus on nutrition.

Ultimate Avengers

Being able to stream movies from Netflix means I'll probably watch more.  That's probably a bad thing, but we'll see.

Anyhow, tonight I streamed an animated movie about The Avengers.  It was a team-origin movie with a heavy focus on Captain America.  This movie came out in 2006 and seemed to be the basis for the 2012 live-action blockbuster since the plot was similar.

The animation was acceptable, but I didn't care for the portrayal of Thor and Bruce Banner.  I much prefer the Banner from the live-action movie since he seemed more real and more multi-dimensional.  The animated one just seemed like a little bitch.

All in all, I recommend this movie, but there's no need to rush out to see it.

Trip to Australia

Earlier this year I went with my parents to visit Australia.  As many of you know, my brother married a woman from Tasmania so we went there to visit some of her family and then went over to Port Macquarie, NSW on the mainland (mid north coast).  I was gone for about seventeen days and it was one of the better trips of my life.  Australia is awesome.  Sure, it takes a long ass time to get there, but it's definitely worth it.  The people there are awesome - kind and laid back with a great sense of humor.  I don't think I had a bad meal there and we ate a bit randomly.  Australia also has some unique wildlife and plants - 80% of which are found nowhere else.

I was there for a long ass time and saw less than one millionth of the places to go so I'll definitely have to go back.

January 16
My trip got off to an ignominious start since Albany got two inches of snow the morning I started my vacation.  Now, you'd think a northern city like Albany could handle a small amount of snow and you'd be mostly correct.  I boarded my flight on time, but sat on the plane for more than an hour while they de-iced it and then waited longer for a knucklehead to shovel the snow from around the plane's tires.  Of course, we landed in Dulles ten minutes after my flight to LAX was supposed to take off.  There were a few of us going to LAX on the Albany flight so they held it for fifteen minutes which means we missed it by five minutes.  Awesome.  I was booked on to the next flight which ate all about an hour of my margin in LAX before my flight to Sydney.

Fortunately, my flight to LAX landed ten minutes early and I was able to hustle over to the Virgin Australia counter where they allowed me to get on the flight.  I got through security and was on the plane a full ten minutes before it was scheduled to leave.  Phew.  Missing it would've meant a huge hassle.

The plane ride was long and boring.  I tried to sleep, but had trouble.  There was an old lady in the aisle seat who couldn't get up so I had to climb over her when I wanted to use the toilet.  Super sweet.  At least the food was pretty good.

January 18
Yeah, I lost a day traveling and due to the time change.  Weird eh?  We landed in Sydney at early o'clock and went through customs without any trouble.  We spent roughly two hours in the airport before our flight to Launceston, Tasmania.  I spent this time trying hard not to fall asleep because the secret to avoiding jet-lag is to get on local time as quickly as possible.

The flight to Launceston was mostly empty, but I was seated next to two hotties and I spent the short flight trying not to fall asleep and trying not to get caught looking at their impressive racks.  There was some good scenery out the window as well.

Some of my SiL's family met us at the airport and helped us drive into town.  It took a while to organize the caravan and to make sure my dad knew what to do driving on the left side of the road.  We checked in to our bed and breakfast.  My dad and I walked to the grocery store to get some food and then we relaxed until mid-afternoon when we went over to my SiL's maternal grandmother's house for "tea."  Now "tea" in Australia can mean many different things like just tea or tea with food or food, but I never got my decoder ring to work.  There we met up with the rest of my SiL's family.  I had met most at my brother's wedding, but it was good to see them again.

We ate and drank and then went back.  I think I hit the hay at 8PM and got a reasonable amount of sleep.

January 19
My dad, my SiL's step-dad and I walked over to Cataract Gorge and hiked one of the loops there.  It's right in the center of Launceston and offers some awesome views of the Tamar River and surroundings.  It was good to get out and get some work in since I had spent most of the previous two days cooped up in airplanes.

After we got back, I got cleaned up and then we walked a few blocks to Beer Fest.  There I had wallaby and a mess of local beer and cider.  I always thought of Australians as heavy beer drinkers, but the ones in Tasmania mainly drank cider and mixed drinks.  I was with my SiL's half-sister, her husband and their friends so it was good to be in some younger company.  We listened to music and drank.

January 20
My family plus my SiL's family possed up and visited a raspberry farm, a dairy and a chocolate factory.  What's strange is you weren't allowed to see much and it was Sunday so the chocolate factory was idle.  I did eat some tasty food.  I normally avoid dairy, but am less strict when I'm out and about.  It's a good thing because Tasmania cheese is really fookin' tasty.  I also experienced scallop pie for the first time.

I drove in Australia for the first time and it wasn't too bad.  They have a lot of signs reminding you which side to be on and traffic coming the other direction definitely reminds you.  The only difficulty is in locating controls in the car (all backwards) and in properly tracking in your lane.

That afternoon we had a barbecue at my SiL's mother's house.  It's up in the hills and is well laid out with a great garden.  It was summer in Australia so lots of stuff was growing.  We grilled up a lot of different kinds of meat and fish, but I was forced to over cook the fish because some people don't appreciate non-dry wish.  Heh.  The food was great and drank some more cider.  I really developed a taste for pear cider there.

January 21
On Monday, we possed up again to drive east to the coast near Wineglass Bay.  My dad, my SiL's half-sister, her husband and I hiked around and we got a couple of chances to get in the ocean.  The water was reasonably warm, but the sand was fairly coarse.  On that hike, I got within a foot of a wallaby eating someone's sandwich and also got a rare glimpse of the douchebag tourist.  This dude and his hoochie practically walked right into the wallaby and were dressed as if they were out clubbing.

In one of the towns where we stopped for a snack, they had bricks commemorating the first convicts.  The bricks gave names, the crime committed and the length of the sentence.  When you think of the convicts sent to Australia, you'd assume violent criminals, but most of the bricks were for people caught stealing two rabbits or a pocket watch or something equally minor.  It seems England was determined to thin out its growing under-class and thought Australia was a good place to send them.  Since these criminals earned jack diddly, they couldn't afford passage back when their sentence was up.

January 22
My parents requested a down day, but my SiL's half-sister cut my hair that morning and I walked with her around town while she priced out iPhone 4s for her mom's birthday present.  My SiL's half-sister is wicked cool (and wicked hot, but she's married) and is my kind of people.  She doesn't take any crap, but is really nice which I guess describes most Australians.

My dad and I walked around the river a bit, but there wasn't much to see and it wasn't as green as indicated.

January 23
My family and I drove over to visit my SiL's father who is a bit of a loner.  He's a little weird at first, but opens up pretty quickly and is cool.  I definitely see where my SiL got some of her sense of humor.

We had a late breakfast and then hit the road to go into the Cradle Mountain area.  We didn't have time to go up to the summit, but my dad, my SiL's father and I hiked up to Marion's Lookout.  It was fairly steep and had chains to hold on to.  I beat them up there by a good fifteen minutes, but we had enough time to do the loop.

We drove back to Launceston, got cleaned up and then went over to my SiL's paternal grandmother's place for dinner which was tasty.  We got a sense of Launceston's middle class as well.

January 24
My dad and I hiked the longer loop in Cataract Gorge and then we all went out for dinner to say our goodbyes.

January 25
My family and I flew from Launceston to Sydney.  We then drove about 200 miles to Port Macquarie which is still in NSW, but close to the border with Queensland.  The scenery was good, but it took a long ass time to get out of Sydney because it's about the size of LA and a lot of people were headed out of town for the holiday weekend.

January 26
Australia Day.  It felt more like Memorial Day than the Fourth of July even though it celebrates when the convicts first landed.  The aboriginals call it "Invasion Day" and I don't blame them.

We were close to the beach so my dad and I walked around for a bit.

January 27
It started pouring because a tropical storm or cyclone or something (Oswald?) was off-shore.  Since we were on vacation, we toughed it out and went to the koala hospital which was awesome.  I mean, it's not awesome the koalas were hurt enough to be there, but it was cool to get pretty close to them.  They're pretty weird looking, but well-adapted to Australia.

The next stop was a littoral rainforest.  We walked along the boardwalk and I learned all about eucalpyts and strangler figs and the weird things which grow in Australia.  The walk was fairly short, but was invigorating since it was warm and raining.

We then went to a lighthouse down the coast, but didn't stay long because of the weather.  It was really fookin' windy as well.

January 28
On Monday, it was pouring buckets again, but we were determined to get out and about.  We drove out to see some waterfalls, but were only able to get close to one because of trees downed across the roads. 

My dad and I hiked down to the waterfall through the forest.  We were warned at our lunch time spot about leeches, but thought nothing of them because they usually only get you when you're in a lake or something.  Because of the rain, the falls were overflowing so it was definitely worth getting soaked.

We de-leeched on the way back which was a new experience for me.  The suckers have a strong grip so you need to dessicate them with salt.  I'll now pack salt with me any time I go camping or hiking because those guys are jerks.

Even though I hiked in shorts and my dad in pants, he got attacked more.

January 29
It finally stopped raining.  I guess Port Macquarie got 400mm of rain in three days which is something like 14 inches which is a buttload.  My dad and I took advantage of the weather to do most of the coastal walk which is close to 11 miles.  We saw goannas, birds and brush turkeys.  We also saw a lot of the ocean, but we couldn't go in because the storm filled the coastal waters with silt and funk.

January 30
We drove up North Brother to check out the view and then hit a winery for a reason which escapes me.

January 31
On our last full day in Port Macquarie, we drove up to Southwest Rocks which is an awesome place.  There are cool rocks and nice beaches up there.  I was stupid and didn't bring my swim trunks so I didn't get in the ocean.

February 1
We drove back to Sydney and spent the night at a hotel near the airport.

February 2
We left Sydney and I got to have two Saturdays because of the time change.  Due to an unfavorable flight schedule, I had a fourteen hour layover in LAX.  I could've gotten an earlier flight, but I wasn't sure I could clear customs in time to catch it.  Of course, I got through customs in less than thirty minutes.  I tried to get on the flight, but it was full.  I know people in LA, but they were either busy or out of town.  Oh well, I survived and took the red-eye to Chicago.  I was smart and had upgraded to first class when I bought the ticket.  Well, we were on a 777 which has three classes so I initially had a business class line-flat seat, but was upgraded all the way to first class because two brothers wanted to sit next to each other.  A red-eye isn't the best opportunity to live up "international" first class, but I actually was able to sleep for a couple of hours.

I brought back a bunch of Tim Tams for colleagues so I indicated I brought back food from Australia on my customs form.  The customs guy asked what I brought and when I replied, "Cookies," he just said "Tim Tams."  It was funny because it wasn't a question; he knew exactly what kind of cookies people would bring back.

February 3
I got back to Albany mid-morning and was awake enough to catch the Super Bowl.

Out-of-order picture vomit can be found here.  My photography skills are still a work in progress, but I tried to capture the natural beauty found there.  I can't emphasize how much fun I had and how much I'd like to go back.  My SiL's family is awesome.

My memory isn't good enough to remember everything so I think I'll take notes next time.

Butter

Since the USPS is likely to cancel Saturday mail delivery, I'll miss out on one physical movie every couple of weeks so I signed up for streaming.  I had canceled it last year because the selection was poor and the quality just so-so.  Now I've got a much faster internet connection and they seemed to have beefed up their selection.

I'm not sure why, but the first movie I streamed was a supposed comedy which fell flat.  There were some funny parts, but they were few and far between.  Jennifer Garner is really weird looking and the Modern Family dude was mostly wasted.

I cannot recommend this movie.

I stayed after basketball tonight to shoot around, partially because it's good to work on your shot when you're tired, but mostly because I had nowhere else to go.

Living the dream.

Five goddamned years.

Hit and Run

This movie was leftover from some rentals for my layover so I watched it today.  It's quirky and funny in parts, but a bit uneven.  Shephard is alright, but you can't shake the feelin' he's still in Idiocracy.  Of course, Kristen Bell is eminently fuckable so there is that.

I did appreciate the car porn.

I give this movie a weakly positive recommendation.

Portland visit - December 2012

Well, it's pretty clear I'm a lazy sod because I'm just getting around to uploading my Christmas vacation photos.

I went back to Portland as usual and had a great time.  I was there for about ten days and got my fill.  We went up to Seattle to watch the Seahawks absolutely destroy the 49ers.  The crowd was a bit rowdier than usual and it turns out they had steep discounts on beer before the game.  I think Seattle folk are a little less cool than Portlanders anyhow and there was a lot more douchery.  The game was awesome and had a little bit of everything.

It was my nephew's first Christmas and he made it out along with the rest of us.  I don't think anyone went overboard with presents, but everyone got something cool.  I got a new winter coat which has proven a godsend the past month or so because it's been cold here.

The day after Christmas, we watched Portland beat the Kings.  It wasn't a particularly well-played game and Cousins was suspended for it, but it's also good to watch a Blazers' win.  The seats were really good - we were a couple of rows below the media section.  I normally like to sit as close as possible, but actually prefer these seats because we could see more of the court.

On Friday, I went snowshoeing with my cousin on Mt Hood.  The trail was pretty well-packed, but it was still a good workout and I got some great shots of Mt Hood.  I held up pretty well and seemed to be in better shape than him which is great because he's in law enforcement.  It was my first time snowshoeing and I definitely want to do it again.  I think I need to get a more rugged vehicle because the good trails around here are out in the sticks.

To finish off the sports theme, we saw the Winterhawks squeak one out against the Americans.  Junior hockey is exciting to watch because the players are fast, but not all that big.  The NHL has a lot more thuggery.  I'm in the minority that I'm not a fan of fighting in hockey since our sports are violent enough as it is.

It's always good to go back to Portland and this time was no exception.

Picture vomit can be found here.

Wired by Douglas E Richards

I found this book on Amazon and downloaded it to my Kindle because it was free and it was highly rated.  I finished it last night and I have to say that I wasn't impressed.  The science is really weak, the writing is pedestrian and the characters are flat.  There are some good parts, but too much monologuing by the main characters to advance the plot.

I do not recommend this book.

Rock of Ages

I watched this movie on my laptop in LAX.   I was exhausted so I'm not sure how much of the movie I remember.  I liked the music since I grew up in the 80s, but the plot was fairly stupid and the acting a bit wooden.

Tom Cruise actually did a pretty good job, but Russell Brand was as annoying as usual.

I only recommend this movie if you've got a fourteen hour layover.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I read the final Hunger Games book on my Kindle during my vacation.  It was more of the same, but mostly entertaining.  I was happy for the end since I'm ready to move back to hard core fantasy and science fiction.

I'm neutral on this book.

Media hype

Well, the great storm of 2013 has come and gone.  I worked from home yesterday because I didn't want to drive back during a snowstorm.  We got maybe an inch during the day and another six inches last night.  I had moved my car to the end of my driveway yesterday morning so it only took 20 minutes of shoveling to free it.  The sun is out and the roads are nearly bone dry.

I talk a lot of trash about the Capital District, but I've never lived anywhere with better road cleaning.

The media was talking this storm up like crazy, but it is February in Upstate NY so I'm not sure why people were surprised.

Hunger Games

I wasn't too jet-lagged to watch the Hunger Games on Sunday before the Super Bowl.  I've read all three books and found them to be fairly pedestrian tween dribble, but I actually really enjoyed the movie.  I just checked IMDB to see if the lead actress is legal because I'd bang the shit out of her.  I just learned she was Mystique in X-Men: First Class which explains why she looked familiar.  She has a smokin' hot bod and a sultry voice.

I didn't care for the chick who played Prim, but the rest of the casting was pretty good, especially Harrelson as Haymitch.

As a surprise to myself, I actually recommend this movie.

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

My dad brought a book on Australia with him and was kind of enough to let me read it in parallel.  I really wish I had read it before I went there since Bryson does a good job of explaining why Australia rocks.  You learn a lot of cool stuff and he has some funny stories to share.  He comes across as an ugly American a few times in the first half of the book and quite a bit in the end, but it's not too distracting.

I highly recommend this book.

Inferno by Troy Denning

Another Legacy of the Force book read on my Kindle during my vacation.  It was pretty good despite a bit too much Luke Skywalker.

I will say these authors really fuck up space battles - the descriptions are more apt for vehicles in an atmosphere under gravity's influence than ships in space.  You don't bank or dive in space.  Anyhow I'm sure that point is lost on 99% of the readers.

Fury by Aaron Allston

I borrowed some Star Wars books on my Kindle for my vacation and thought I'd try to finish up the Legacy of the Force series.  This book was a bit cheesy at times, but was fairly entertaining.