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.

Apocalypse by Troy Denning

This book wraps up the Fate of the Jedi series and wasn't too bad.  As I've mentioned before, I prefer the Expanded Universe books which are not about the characters portrayed in the movies, but I guess those are the popular ones.  This book suffers less add-a-kid syndrome and had some well-written action.  The main villain is a little hokey and seemed unnecessary.  Why not have the Sith and the Jedi battle it out?  Why bring in some nebulous bad guy?

I recommend this book if you've already gotten in to the series.  If you haven't, save it for an airplane trip.

Beefin' up my bodyweight exercise routine

The past couple of months I've mostly been doing bodyweight exercises for my strength training, but I feel the intensity is lacking.  Part of the problem is I'm driving an extra 25 miles each way to work and that cuts into my free time.  I think I'll get up 15-20 minutes earlier to start up the Fitness 666 program.  It seems interesting and I'd really like to be able to do a muscle up.  The program is also based on exercises I'm already doing and will provide a bit of structure which shouldn't burn me out.

I'm strong now, but I'd like to get stronger.  I also feel much better when I exercise more intensely.

Cholesterol and other CBC results

Before going on Christmas vacation, I went in for a physical and they drew some blood.  I just got the results back:

• 163 mg/dl total
• 63 mg/dl HDL
• 59 mg/dl triglycerides
• 88 mg/dl LDL

My HDL is above the recommended range and my LDL is just below which means I have a negative risk factor for coronary heart disease.  I exercise pretty frequently, but I also eat a ton of saturated fat because what I've read suggests saturated fat, from animals and coconuts, is what our body needs.

My white blood cell count was low at 3.4 K/UL, my mean platelet volume was high at 11.4 fL, my monocyte percentage was high at 18.1% and my lymphocyte number was low at 0.9 K/mm3.

I'm not that kind of doctor so I don't know if these flagged numbers are bad or not, but the physician's assistant didn't seem too concerned so I'll let it ride.