Seven Pounds: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson

As someone constantly trying to ammend for his sins, who does not care for himself, who is desperate to make a difference, this movie is powerful, even if I figured out the twist right after the box jellyfish scene. Will Smith plays a fantastically muted version of himself, on the borderline of being broken at any point. Woody Harrelson gives the best perfomance of his career, in my opinion. Rosario Dawson is downright powerful. There is never a doubt that she actually IS the character she is playing, sickness and all. A beautifully acted piece with a just a smattering of too much heavy handed emotion, but whose slap-in-the-face ending is, while transparent, still effective. You wonder how an individual can exist with so much hate for himself and love for others for so long. And in the end love both wins and loses. B+

David Mamet and Training Log: Bis and tris and "cardio"

Just finished Watching Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner from '97. Even though it is odd, I have always loved Mamet's dialogue and rythms of speech. Rebecca Pidgeon, his wife of nearly 20 years, shines in an adorable role that makes the ending even more shocking. Steve Martin absolutley nails his performance as Jimmy Dell, the con man. He takes to the Mamet style seemlessly. Some say the characterizations get lost in the style with Mamet's work, but it simply lends itself to an atmosphere I have grown to enjoy. Always great to see my boy Ricky Jay in action. Though the plot is the most elaborate con of all time, it makes for good, if not believable, movie watching.

Two points of contention: Campbell Scott characterization IS lost in the style. He never seems to merege with the dialogue and it just gets worse as the movie goes on. That's the first problem, the second is the ending. Incredible let down. That was the problem with Redbelt. Not the problem with Heist. The ending is outlandish and poorly done. A great example of what could have been. B-

Wednesday at AF in Blackshear
Pullups
4 sets of 5... just tough today

Kneeling Pulley Crunch
110 x 12
115 x 12
140 x 12
115 x 12

Standing BB Tricep Extens
45 x 12
65 x 12
95 x 12
105 x 12

Alternating Hammer Curls
30 x 8 x ea
35 x 8 x ea
40 x 6 x ea
35 x 8 x ea

Pushups: feet up, handles
12, 15, 15, 20

Russian Twists
+15 x 20
+20 x 20 x 2

Wide Grip Push downs
65 x 12
80 x 12
95 x 12

Two Hand Pulley Curl
65 x 12
80 x 12
110 x 12

Chris and I walked Around the block twice, hence "Cardio".

A Weekend of doing nothing, gastrointestinal debauchery, movies and more doing nothing

Outside of the gym on Saturday and making good use of the empty nest just before that, I did nothing constructive this weekend. No yard work, no writing, no nothin'. Oh, except eating WAY too much garbage. But, it has reinforced my desire to track down 225 and make it mine own.

Saw a few movies:

It's Complicated: Alec Baldwin, Meryl Streep
Nothing fancy, but enjoyable. If you have been married a long time, you can understand a fair amount of the idea of being divorced from the person you have been with for so long. B+

DayBreakers: Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke
Great premise: a vampire plage has turned the world into vampires and blood is running out. Can't figure out why cattle and pig blood could not be farmed, I mean we eat billions of pounds of meat every year. But anyway, seemed like it was going to be a smarter movie, making you wonder about the nature of haves vs. havenots, of big business and the need for control. Wound up devolving into a bloody (no pun intended) mess. Nice try, but just not done very well. C-

Edge of Darkness: Mel Gibson
I love a good revenge piece, but they never seem to work much anymore. Taken, Law Abiding Citizen... they started out great and unraveled. Edge of Darkness suffers from a murder whose motive is a bit far-fetched, a bad guy who is underdeveloped and Boston. Boston gets too much play, but works best when you feel you are actually in the area. Outside of the accents, this movie lacks the pulse of the region. EOD just gets too far-fetched and entwined too work well. Ray Winstone is strong, but his character lacks a definable function in the whole. But, a great ending. B-

Avatar: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weever, CGI
I had no desire to see this movie. After watchinng it there is nothing original about the story, the subplots, anything: we have seen it all before... except for the visuals. Truly stunning. The motion capture of the bodies is PERFECT, they even get facial expressions close to life. A fun movie with a gaping hole: Why the hell woulf the Na'vi decide to let a warrior avatar know EVERYTHING about them when they had trouble with the regualr ones. Stephen Land rules, by the way. Cobble together Braveheart, Dances with Wolves, Aliens and Return of the Jedi and I give you Avatar. Still, more fun than I anticipated. Oh, and I may be in love with Michelle Rodriguez... too bad she crazy. B

Requiem for a Dream: Ellen Burnstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connolly
Have not seen the movie in years, but it is still blunt force trauma to the soul. A devestatingly bleak movie. Truly solid performances by everyone, but that Ellen Burstyn did not win best acctress, that she lost to Julia Roberts, is a crime that will never be forgiven. Just a remarkable piece of acting in a movie whose only failure is in the overuse of gimmicky shots. Other than that, its just perfect. But, it is not for everyone. Actually, it is not for many, but it is unbelievable. A

Book Review

Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison: B-
A funny and interesting memoir of a man who struggled to find his place in the world while suffering from Asperger's Syndrome. Needless to say, with a son who has AS, the book hits home with me. I found myself questioning some of the stories of Robison's youth. The seem a little bit too far fetched and "out there", particularly knowing what I know of my son. It is comforting to see someone with this type of high functioning autism come through it all and find himself. Gives me hope for Nate.

I am a little concerned that all the attention given to Asperger's focuses on the savant-like qualities of people like Robison and Temple Grandin. Nate, while very intelligent anda gifted musically, does not show aspects of this specific-genius. Not to knock him at all, but call a spade a spade. Though I do wonder what he can accomplish in music when he gets a chance to really branch out.

the two most revealing things form the bokk, for me, where the discussion of Robison's and Aspergian's-in-General voice patterns, and the ability of Robison to do complex designs in engeneering without being able to do math. Nate catches a lot of flack about his very unique voice pattern, and I think it will be good for him to read that he is not alone in this situation. Nate recently won his school region in boy's solo, but missed out on All State Chorus. He struggles with the technical aspects of music while being able to assimilate them into his vocal performances much easier. The parralel with Robison was interesting.

Anyway, it is a fun read for those affected by Asperger's and those who are not. Robison is a decent writer and an odd dude, so it works to create some interesting insight into a person living along the Autistic spectrum.

Weekend Stuff

Pulled on Friday.

Went to work on Saturday morning. Then to get the van tires put on. Off to lowes for siding and various and sundry project stuff. To Walmart for more of the same. Tried to eat lunch with Nate and Chris, but called to work.

Put battery in old smoke detector, hung the new one. Replaced old shower head. The new one is the balls. Attached weather stripping to bottom of caviary door to help keep out flies. WAs getting late so I decided to change the oil in the Focus (FrankenFocus). What a nightmare. Took like two hours. Between fits of rage I put a coat of waterproofing on the new screen door.

Sunday. Got up early anticipating Logan's early arrival. Hung screen door. While waiting for the boy, ran the sweeper. Pain in the ass. Pine needles kept rat-nesting around the axle. Decided to cut up the pine needles. Hit a root with mower. Looks as if a blade is bent. The one blade is shot out, the other looks fine.

Logan arrives at 11:00. Byt twelve we have eaten and I am under the car. A rear brake job: big day in a man's life. Keep in mind I am off and on the phone with my Dad (Terry, not Dave) the whole time. Looks as if the brakes are not that bad, but the wheel cylinder is shot. Off to the AutoZone for two cylinders (just in case) a brake line wrench and a floor jack. I am very excited to have a 2.5 ton floor jack. Another big moment in a man's life. Takes roughly three hours to do the passenger side cylinder, shoes and prep the drum. On to the driver side.

We are rolling phat... until the e-clip flies from the emergency brake cord as I try to remove it. Off to Advanced Auto where I have to buy a $9 kit to get a .10 cent piece of metal. I steal to Mcd's for an ill advised soda and burger cheat. Back to the house where we opt to replace the other wheel cylinder for the shits and giggles. Really goes quickly once you know how it is done. Brake shoes fall to our will. Takes a while to adjust brakes, but there she is. My first complete rear drum/shoe brake job. Awesome.

Should have gone to the gym, but I was give out. Would have gone anyway if I had know about the emergency room debacle of the following evening, night and early morning. 7 hours, a false diagnosis, a bad reading, and finally absolutely nothing at all. Thanks Satilla Regional, your incompetence has no limits. Utter and complete bullshit.

Sore and a book review

I am exceptionally sore this morning, bu a good exceptionally sore. Lower back is talking to me. May take the better part of valor and not squat if this keeps up. Will replace with ABGM if necessary.

I am surprised at how well I have been able to stick to the change in diet. It has always been so hard to not just eat whatever the hell I want to teat. So far so good. Honestly will not know what to do if I get under 250. Last time I remember weighing under 250 was when I weighed 236 for a meet in 1995. I would imagine it hasbeen since 1997 or so. If I can get down to 250 in two more weeks that will be down from 270 for my meet in Augusta 06 and 268 from Miami in the same year.


Odd Hours
The fourth in Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas stories is, well, odd. It took forever to get the story going. Koontz spent five plus chapters on a chase scene. Once it gets going, the story is one you want to unravel, but once it is unraveled there are so many questions left and so many threads left hanging that it is a bit dissapointing. Seems we have the beginnings of a long series ahead of us.

All the characters are very strange which does not lend itself to believability. Heroes and villains alike are a bit over the top. The flighty and mysterious pregnent woman, the burn victim with the incredible sense of self, the dangerous and charismatic chief of police, the killer priest, the mysterious girl on the boat. Some odd stuff. Odd himself, while a great character, falls out of that character by somehow becoming a cold blooded killer... repeatedly. The deus ex machina of his seemingly ever increasing psychic repetoire is beginning to wear as thin as Koontz's propensity for reusing words that only need to be dropped once or twice in a book. Bougainvillea, for example.

Not a bad read, but left too much unresolved to be fully satisfying. C+/84

Back from the Abyss

Training Log
Saturday the 16th: Back and shoulders: BW: 262

Seated DB Press
10/ 15
20/10
35/ 8
55/6
75/6
85/6

Rear Delt Flye
35/12
45/12
55/12

Rope Cable Rows
140/12
160/10
180/8

Bike Handle Pulldowns
100/12
120/12
140/8

Shrugs
225/12
275/12
315/12
365/12

Reverse crunch into Ceiling Stompers
Ratio Reps
1:1 12 each
3:3 9 each
10:10 10 each

Bent Press
35 x 8 x each arm
40 x 8 x ditto
45 x 8 x ditto


Got my flyer in the mail for the USPF meet in Macon on March 27th. Very excited about the prospect.

Am changing my diet in order to try to get back into the 242 class. Doing a lil' bit o' cardio as well. If I don't get it, fine, but I need to drop a little weight.

Was off for about three months before starting back training in December. Used first four weeks back as a rehab cycle.

As of right now training looks like this:

Monday: Squats or Heavy Good Mornings (ABGM or GM Squat)
Seated GM/RBGm or Sumo/Conventional Partial deadlifts
Core Work: 2 exercises

Tuesday: push Press or Millitary Press
Bench
Boards (shirt if applicable)
Close Grip
Curls
Core Work: 2e

Thursday: Front Squats of Box Squats
Speed Bench
Deadlifts
GH Raises or Pull thru's

Saturday: Seated DB press
Reverse Flyes
Cable or one Arm or T-bar or BO rows
Pull Down Varient
Shrugs
Core Work: 2e


So far, up until this point, I am at:
Squat: 455 x 10: 4 weeks rehab: 315 week 1, 365 wk2, 405 wk3, 455 wk4
ABGM: 425 x 3: first week of cycle
Overhead press: 175 x 8: these are tough to get used to...
Bench: 275 x 8: bench is coming along slowly.
Front Squat: 295 x 5
Box Squat: 365 x 3 x 3
Deadlift: Conv and Sumo: 475 x 2 ( I limit reps on pulls becuse of the volume of fatigue work before) Sumo feel better than conventional right now. nothing feels great.
@262

Best lifts in competition:
Squat: 645 raw (no knee wraps)@ 270 July 2006
Bench: 405 raw @270 July 2006
475 Titan F6 @265 November 2006
Deadlift: 605 raw @265 conventional November 2006

Best Gym Lifts:
Squat: 650 Raw
700 x 3 wraps
740 straps down
Bench: 415 raw
500 Titan Fury
Deadlift: 615 conv
545 sumo
ABGM: 525 x 1
GM Squat: 515 x 2