I was listening to one of my favourite podcasts this morning, "This American Life", and it had a story about a radio producer who was paid to do a story about amnesia. He thought it would be easy to find someone with amnesia because it's so common on television and in the movies. Someone gets hit on the head with a coconut and they forget everything, and then later they get hit again and their memory comes back. But when he tried, he couldn't find anyone that had real amnesia, the sort where people couldn't remember who they were.
It reminded me of a student I had years ago, Takamasa. He was a great guy. He worked at the Volkswagon plant in Toyohashi, and worked and played hard. Overweight, red-faced, smoker, drinker, eater. His English was pretty basic, but he loved to talk and he improved quickly. He soon became one of my favourite students and I looked forward to seeing him every week. Then he stopped coming. After the third week of him not coming I asked my boss if he had heard anything about him. "He's in hospital. Sick. Maybe won't be back for a few more weeks," said my boss. I thought maybe he'd had a heart attack or a stroke or something.
So a couple of weeks later my boss comes up to me and says "Takamasa is coming back this week. But you should know that he does not remember you or anything from the last ten years."
Apparently, he'd collapsed at work, and when he woke up in hospital, he couldn't remember anything from the last ten years. The doctor asked him how old he was. "32," he said. "No, you are 42," said the doctor. The doctor brought his family in to see him. "This is your wife, and these are your children." Takamasa had no memory of them at all. He had been working at Volkswagon ten years ago, so he knew where he worked, but the last ten years were completely gone.
So when he came to class, I was a little nervous. I introduced myself, and we basically had the same conversation that we had had his very first lesson. He was wary, and much quieter than he was before. He was probably wondering why the hell he had been learning English. It was funny because he did remember words that he had learnt in my class two months before, but he didn't know how he knew them. He said he was getting to know his wife again and he liked her, and she told him that he was spending more time with his children that he used to, so they are happy too. He says he was working with most of the same people he worked with ten years ago, but they look older and fatter. So did he. There were no indications that he would ever get his memory back, and in the next few months that I taught him he never did. He just got on with his life and work, and he seemed to know the stuff that he was trained to know, but he just couldn't remember learning it. Weird, hey?
J and I did the P90X fitness test this afternoon. It's designed to see if you are ready for P90X, and to provide a contrast for when you are finished – you can go back and do the test again after 90 days and see how much you have improved. So here are the numbers.
Weight: 81.1 kg
Body fat (calipers): 12/13/14 12.37%
Chest: 100 cm
Waist: 86 cm
Left arm: 34
Right arm: 34
Resting heart rate (after sitting down for 2 minutes): 60
Blood pressure: 109/60
Max pull ups: 7
Max push ups: 42
Toe touch: +6
Max wall squat time: 2'03"
Bicep curls (10kg): 36
In and outs: 63
Heart rate after Jumping Jacks for 2 minutes (last 30 sec at full speed)
Immediately after stopping: 165
1 min: 127
2 min: 114
3 min: 111
4 min: 102
Here is the test if you're interested.
http://www.beachbody.com/text/products/programs/p90x/popup_parseb/vid_fittest.html
So. Tomorrow it begins. The first workout is "Chest and Back" followed by "Ab Ripper X". Basically it's push-ups and pull-ups for an hour, then more than 300 sit-ups. For the next 3 weeks the schedule is
Thursday - Chest & Back + Ab Ripper X
Friday - Plyometrics
Saturday - Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
Sunday - Yoga X
Monday - Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Tuesday - Kenpo X
Wednesday – Rest or X Stretch
Plyometrics is the one I am most afraid of. My knees are feeling good at the moment, but after an hour of squats and jumping they might not.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Week Off
Back at work. Ahhh. Now I have the time to sit down and just relax, maybe crank out a report or two, and write a post for my blog. Lunch is in 40 minutes, so I think I'll devote that time to this post. It's good to be back though. A man's place is at an office desk looking at a computer monitor all day, not at home with his wife and children. The last week of my break was a bit of a strain coming up with things to do everyday. I watched a lot of television, mainly footy and Battlestar Galactica, which I have finally got around to watching. Like it. I made an ant farm for Will, but of course he is forbidden to touch it because he will destroy it. I got at work yesterday morning to find that indeed my desk had been moved. It is next to the window, so I can dream of being outside, when in reality I think I would set off an alarm if I attempted to go outside. Wage slave.
So what's going on? I start P90X on Thursday. BRING THAT SHIT ON! Yea. I did do P90 Sweat 1-2 a couple of times on the weekend. This is like the beginning level, and I remembered it was really tough the first time I did it in September last year, but I breezed through it now, barely raising a sweat. I stopped doing it though because I was afraid that it would give me a false sense of security going into P90X, and I don't want to be going into that with any illusions that I can handle it. It's going to fuck me up. My mate who I work with, J (Englishman, the last King of Cumbria, not to be confused with D, who is a better class of Englishman, or P, Texan (but not what you'd imagine, more like a middle-aged Lewis from "Revenge of the Nerds")) is going to, or says he is going to do it with me. He's already done it one and a half times, and he even has the actual real P90X pack, and it is signed by the man himself, Tony Horton. It says "Bring it! Tony Horton" on the top of the box in silver marker. We are going to do the fitness test and measurements tomorrow after work. I'm really looking forward to getting back to doing some physical stuff. Sitting down all day is really tough. Seriously. I was exhausted last night after work.
Swans played terrible again and lost to the Dockers. We always lose to the Dockers. We always beat Carlton. Games against St Kilda can go either way, but they are always called the worst game of football of the year. The thing with the Swans is that they are so consistent that it is getting really predictable. Some (most) would say boring. At least other teams have their ups and downs. We have been flat lining for eight years (with a spike in 05 when we won the Premiership). The commentators gave me the shits while I was watching the game though. Three minutes into the game, one of them starts yelling "Swans have only had one kick! Five minutes of football, Swans have only had one kick!" Yea, and when the game started neither team had scored. It's like on the news when you hear something like "Figures released yesterday are the worst since February." Hang on, that was only like fifty days ago. I haven't even had a haircut in that time. I guarantee the Swans will have kicked the ball more than once when the first quarter is over. No, I'll go out on a limb and say they will have kicked the ball more than once at the ten minute mark of the first quarter. Here's a tip for the commentators - any stat or bullshit thing that can be wiped out in a second isn't really of interest to the viewer. For example. "Carlton have not scored since the twenty- two minute mark of the second quarter. That's almost thirty-four minutes of game time – oh, hang on. They just kicked a goal." Because then you have to say "That’s the first score they've kicked since the twenty- two minute mark blah blah blah…" and then everyone who's listening knows you're a fuckwit. Better off keeping your mouth shut and letting the fuckwit beside you say it.
So Biggest Loser is over. I've only got the finale to watch, but I know who wins it – Bob. You can't lose half your body weight and not be the biggest loser. What a great guy he is. Just shuffles along, never quitting. So I know he's going to win, and I'm kind of sad it's all over. It's been inspiring while I've been doing my workouts to see these people pushing themselves harder than I ever have. I downloaded season 2 of the American Biggest Loser to see what that was like, and it's completely different. Everyone is the star of the own movie in their head. No humility or ability to see what's really going on. One girl, a medical student, starts crying after one week because she can't get enough to eat on the diet she's on. "I like to be satisfied after I eat." Clearly that's the problem. They fight and bitch, it's really horrible. I think I'll watch a season of the UK Biggest Loser, but I have visions of that being a lot of really depressing fat bastards saying "I'll do me pushups yea, but why fookin' bother, like."
Joseph is an inspiration to me too. He's hanging in there, pushing the milk through. He's got milk spots which look like a mad case of acne, so he's a bit of a shambles. His eyesight is getting better, and you can see him focus on things now. He cries a lot, usually because his stomach is blown up like a balloon from swallowing too much air when he drinks his milk. His burps must feel so good. Anyway, the 3 am wake ups are routine now. Usually after a bit of a burp and maybe a nappy change he calms down and I can put him back to bed. He sleeps with Junko, and Will is sleeping in my bed now. Junko has the double and I have the single (placed next to each other) so it's a bit crowded, but I love sleeping with Will. I can't see the point of teaching babies that at night when it is dark and scary and they have dreams and nightmares that they are on their own, and if they really want a cuddle they have to scream for twenty minutes. Whenever I go home people say, "But what about, you know… when you want to do it?" Married five years, working, two young children. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
The other night Will was asleep and he said something. I said "what?" and he said "densha." Train. No surprise, really. I downloaded a few episodes of Play School and he's all over it. It's up there in the Pantheon with Gumby and Pinocchio now. We have had a Humpty Dumpty toy since mum sent it to him a couple of years ago, but it wasn't until he saw Humpty on Play School that it meant anything to him. Now he would choose Humpty over me if only one of us could be allowed to survive.
I don't know if you saw in the news back home, but a really famous guy here, Kusanagi, was arrested last week for being a public nuisance. If you could imagine Rove being in a boy band for twenty years since he was 16, that's his image. The old ladies love him, he does tons of TV and commercials and movies, and is perhaps the cleanest cut celebrity in Japan. The Government employed him as their "Image Character" for the conversion to digital television. He loves Korea, and has done more to improve relations between Japan and Korea than any politician. He speaks Korean and he's a regular on TV over there too. Then last week he fucked it all up and got drunk, and was arrested by police in a park near his home. He said he can't remember anything because he was drunk, but he was naked and screaming "shingo!" in Korean which apparently means "call the police". But interestingly it is also the name of one of the fellow members of his boy band SMAP, Shingo Katori. So no-one's really sure what he meant. The cops arrested him, and then the next day they searched his house! WTF? Apparently they were looking for drugs, but they didn't find anything. Kusanagi apologized a couple of days later, but it's all over. All of his commercials have been taken off the air, and all the companies have annulled their contracts with him. Career death. Not like America where you can show your snatch and knock out a photographer and get even more famous.
People have the wrong idea about Japanese TV. They see things like, what is it, moving wall(?) and stuff on the internet and think it is just crazy. What they don't see on the internet is the countless hours of absolute dross that is on every night. Want to see a show about the best way to stack your plates so they don't break if there's an earthquake? One hour special, complete with physicists. Apparently you stack the larger plates at the bottom. Something to do with lowering the center of gravity. What about the best way to stir your coffee so the sugar completely dissolves? You don't just go round and round, you do a figure eight pattern. "taabyulansu" is the key, said the scientist (say it slowly). And all of these shows have a panel of mindless entertainers whose job it is to jazz it up with jokes. And they are the same people over and over again. They are sometimes on different channels at the same time! They are special guests on shows that they were on the week before! Now, I have to say, I cannot really understand what these people are saying most of the time. It might be that these people are comedic geniuses, and anything is worth watching if they are on. In fact, there are a couple I know are among the funniest people in the world. It might be like seeing Steve Martin, John Candy, Graham Kennedy, and Rodney Dangerfield every night on TV. But on the other hand, for every genius there are a dozen dolts who flood the market and just bore everyone to death. But there are something like seven channels, which have to fill each and every day with Japanese language stuff, and they have no ideas. Let's visit a ramen restaurant. There's a show. Which is stronger, a squid or an octopus? There's a show. "My Wife is a Foreigner!" That's a show. Where are the best brooms in Japan made? That was a show. I can't watch it anymore. Thank god for Torrents and unlimited downloading.
So tomorrow I'll do the fitness test and measurements and post the results.
Oh well, better get some work done I spose.
So what's going on? I start P90X on Thursday. BRING THAT SHIT ON! Yea. I did do P90 Sweat 1-2 a couple of times on the weekend. This is like the beginning level, and I remembered it was really tough the first time I did it in September last year, but I breezed through it now, barely raising a sweat. I stopped doing it though because I was afraid that it would give me a false sense of security going into P90X, and I don't want to be going into that with any illusions that I can handle it. It's going to fuck me up. My mate who I work with, J (Englishman, the last King of Cumbria, not to be confused with D, who is a better class of Englishman, or P, Texan (but not what you'd imagine, more like a middle-aged Lewis from "Revenge of the Nerds")) is going to, or says he is going to do it with me. He's already done it one and a half times, and he even has the actual real P90X pack, and it is signed by the man himself, Tony Horton. It says "Bring it! Tony Horton" on the top of the box in silver marker. We are going to do the fitness test and measurements tomorrow after work. I'm really looking forward to getting back to doing some physical stuff. Sitting down all day is really tough. Seriously. I was exhausted last night after work.
Swans played terrible again and lost to the Dockers. We always lose to the Dockers. We always beat Carlton. Games against St Kilda can go either way, but they are always called the worst game of football of the year. The thing with the Swans is that they are so consistent that it is getting really predictable. Some (most) would say boring. At least other teams have their ups and downs. We have been flat lining for eight years (with a spike in 05 when we won the Premiership). The commentators gave me the shits while I was watching the game though. Three minutes into the game, one of them starts yelling "Swans have only had one kick! Five minutes of football, Swans have only had one kick!" Yea, and when the game started neither team had scored. It's like on the news when you hear something like "Figures released yesterday are the worst since February." Hang on, that was only like fifty days ago. I haven't even had a haircut in that time. I guarantee the Swans will have kicked the ball more than once when the first quarter is over. No, I'll go out on a limb and say they will have kicked the ball more than once at the ten minute mark of the first quarter. Here's a tip for the commentators - any stat or bullshit thing that can be wiped out in a second isn't really of interest to the viewer. For example. "Carlton have not scored since the twenty- two minute mark of the second quarter. That's almost thirty-four minutes of game time – oh, hang on. They just kicked a goal." Because then you have to say "That’s the first score they've kicked since the twenty- two minute mark blah blah blah…" and then everyone who's listening knows you're a fuckwit. Better off keeping your mouth shut and letting the fuckwit beside you say it.
So Biggest Loser is over. I've only got the finale to watch, but I know who wins it – Bob. You can't lose half your body weight and not be the biggest loser. What a great guy he is. Just shuffles along, never quitting. So I know he's going to win, and I'm kind of sad it's all over. It's been inspiring while I've been doing my workouts to see these people pushing themselves harder than I ever have. I downloaded season 2 of the American Biggest Loser to see what that was like, and it's completely different. Everyone is the star of the own movie in their head. No humility or ability to see what's really going on. One girl, a medical student, starts crying after one week because she can't get enough to eat on the diet she's on. "I like to be satisfied after I eat." Clearly that's the problem. They fight and bitch, it's really horrible. I think I'll watch a season of the UK Biggest Loser, but I have visions of that being a lot of really depressing fat bastards saying "I'll do me pushups yea, but why fookin' bother, like."
Joseph is an inspiration to me too. He's hanging in there, pushing the milk through. He's got milk spots which look like a mad case of acne, so he's a bit of a shambles. His eyesight is getting better, and you can see him focus on things now. He cries a lot, usually because his stomach is blown up like a balloon from swallowing too much air when he drinks his milk. His burps must feel so good. Anyway, the 3 am wake ups are routine now. Usually after a bit of a burp and maybe a nappy change he calms down and I can put him back to bed. He sleeps with Junko, and Will is sleeping in my bed now. Junko has the double and I have the single (placed next to each other) so it's a bit crowded, but I love sleeping with Will. I can't see the point of teaching babies that at night when it is dark and scary and they have dreams and nightmares that they are on their own, and if they really want a cuddle they have to scream for twenty minutes. Whenever I go home people say, "But what about, you know… when you want to do it?" Married five years, working, two young children. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
The other night Will was asleep and he said something. I said "what?" and he said "densha." Train. No surprise, really. I downloaded a few episodes of Play School and he's all over it. It's up there in the Pantheon with Gumby and Pinocchio now. We have had a Humpty Dumpty toy since mum sent it to him a couple of years ago, but it wasn't until he saw Humpty on Play School that it meant anything to him. Now he would choose Humpty over me if only one of us could be allowed to survive.
I don't know if you saw in the news back home, but a really famous guy here, Kusanagi, was arrested last week for being a public nuisance. If you could imagine Rove being in a boy band for twenty years since he was 16, that's his image. The old ladies love him, he does tons of TV and commercials and movies, and is perhaps the cleanest cut celebrity in Japan. The Government employed him as their "Image Character" for the conversion to digital television. He loves Korea, and has done more to improve relations between Japan and Korea than any politician. He speaks Korean and he's a regular on TV over there too. Then last week he fucked it all up and got drunk, and was arrested by police in a park near his home. He said he can't remember anything because he was drunk, but he was naked and screaming "shingo!" in Korean which apparently means "call the police". But interestingly it is also the name of one of the fellow members of his boy band SMAP, Shingo Katori. So no-one's really sure what he meant. The cops arrested him, and then the next day they searched his house! WTF? Apparently they were looking for drugs, but they didn't find anything. Kusanagi apologized a couple of days later, but it's all over. All of his commercials have been taken off the air, and all the companies have annulled their contracts with him. Career death. Not like America where you can show your snatch and knock out a photographer and get even more famous.
People have the wrong idea about Japanese TV. They see things like, what is it, moving wall(?) and stuff on the internet and think it is just crazy. What they don't see on the internet is the countless hours of absolute dross that is on every night. Want to see a show about the best way to stack your plates so they don't break if there's an earthquake? One hour special, complete with physicists. Apparently you stack the larger plates at the bottom. Something to do with lowering the center of gravity. What about the best way to stir your coffee so the sugar completely dissolves? You don't just go round and round, you do a figure eight pattern. "taabyulansu" is the key, said the scientist (say it slowly). And all of these shows have a panel of mindless entertainers whose job it is to jazz it up with jokes. And they are the same people over and over again. They are sometimes on different channels at the same time! They are special guests on shows that they were on the week before! Now, I have to say, I cannot really understand what these people are saying most of the time. It might be that these people are comedic geniuses, and anything is worth watching if they are on. In fact, there are a couple I know are among the funniest people in the world. It might be like seeing Steve Martin, John Candy, Graham Kennedy, and Rodney Dangerfield every night on TV. But on the other hand, for every genius there are a dozen dolts who flood the market and just bore everyone to death. But there are something like seven channels, which have to fill each and every day with Japanese language stuff, and they have no ideas. Let's visit a ramen restaurant. There's a show. Which is stronger, a squid or an octopus? There's a show. "My Wife is a Foreigner!" That's a show. Where are the best brooms in Japan made? That was a show. I can't watch it anymore. Thank god for Torrents and unlimited downloading.
So tomorrow I'll do the fitness test and measurements and post the results.
Oh well, better get some work done I spose.
Monday, April 20, 2009
P90 Master done!
Well, the three months are up, and I have finished P90 Master. Time for the before/after pics.
The first one is when I started P90 back in September last year. The second one is when I finished it in January and was about to start P90 Master. The third one is today after the last workout (with a bit of a pump going).
Apart from the general improvement in tone, the aches and pains that were really pissing me off in September last year, the aching left shoulder, the popping hip, and just the general feeling of shittyness, have all gone. I was wrestling with Will today, and I had a bit of a flashback to last year when I would be wrestling with him and just be completely overwhelmed by exhaustion and have to stop. I would say, that's enough mate, and I would make myself a coffee and go and sit outside and have smoke. But today, I totally kicked his ass. And now it's not like I think, wow, I feel great, look at all the energy I have, but I am just doing things without getting tired anymore. A flight of steps mean nothing to me anymore. They don't even enter my mind, and I'm up them and off and that's it. Before, I would plod up them and be out of breath at the top, and then think, damn, but hey, at least I didn't take the elevator like a lazy bastard. Funny how I could turn it around like I was doing something strenuous and deserved some credit. If I woke up tomorrow feeling like I did last September, I would think I have caught some awful disease and I probably go to the doctor's.
So I'm very glad that I have done this. If I hadn't have done it, I would have just got worse and worse until the doctor told me I had lung cancer, like I talked about in the first post. It was hard work, but once I had a routine going that worked, it quickly became a habit, and soon after that I looked forward to it every day. I would pick something up each day, an image or an idea that would motivate me, and keep it until I pressed play. And an hour later it was done. Every day, six days a week, seven months with a two week break over Christmas.
So I'll have another week off, and then I'll start P90X. Holy shit. To think that the photo I took today is going to be a before photo! Scary.
I liked P90 Master, but I had to add push ups, bicep curls, and the abs workout from P90 to make it worthwhile. The workouts are a little out of balance. Plyo and Cardio Intervals kicked my ass every time, but UML only goes for 40 minutes, and was pretty easy. It would be a nice routine to go back to after P90X, just to keep in touch.
So I'll take a week off, and then I'm back to work and starting P90X. I guess I'll just chill with Will and maybe go on a few bike rides, and try to eat a lot of healthy foods. I'll have to get together a group of recipes for healthy meals that I can easily find the ingredients for. Seaweed and octopus with a side dish of roots maybe.
Stevie, regarding your comment about time of conception, I have no idea when, but it must be a close call. Maybe Olivia's and Joseph's souls where next to each other on the conveyor belt.
BTW Tigers... I hoped Melbourne would beat them, but I never really believed that they could. A great result. The Tigers are funny.
The first one is when I started P90 back in September last year. The second one is when I finished it in January and was about to start P90 Master. The third one is today after the last workout (with a bit of a pump going).
Apart from the general improvement in tone, the aches and pains that were really pissing me off in September last year, the aching left shoulder, the popping hip, and just the general feeling of shittyness, have all gone. I was wrestling with Will today, and I had a bit of a flashback to last year when I would be wrestling with him and just be completely overwhelmed by exhaustion and have to stop. I would say, that's enough mate, and I would make myself a coffee and go and sit outside and have smoke. But today, I totally kicked his ass. And now it's not like I think, wow, I feel great, look at all the energy I have, but I am just doing things without getting tired anymore. A flight of steps mean nothing to me anymore. They don't even enter my mind, and I'm up them and off and that's it. Before, I would plod up them and be out of breath at the top, and then think, damn, but hey, at least I didn't take the elevator like a lazy bastard. Funny how I could turn it around like I was doing something strenuous and deserved some credit. If I woke up tomorrow feeling like I did last September, I would think I have caught some awful disease and I probably go to the doctor's.
So I'm very glad that I have done this. If I hadn't have done it, I would have just got worse and worse until the doctor told me I had lung cancer, like I talked about in the first post. It was hard work, but once I had a routine going that worked, it quickly became a habit, and soon after that I looked forward to it every day. I would pick something up each day, an image or an idea that would motivate me, and keep it until I pressed play. And an hour later it was done. Every day, six days a week, seven months with a two week break over Christmas.
So I'll have another week off, and then I'll start P90X. Holy shit. To think that the photo I took today is going to be a before photo! Scary.
I liked P90 Master, but I had to add push ups, bicep curls, and the abs workout from P90 to make it worthwhile. The workouts are a little out of balance. Plyo and Cardio Intervals kicked my ass every time, but UML only goes for 40 minutes, and was pretty easy. It would be a nice routine to go back to after P90X, just to keep in touch.
So I'll take a week off, and then I'm back to work and starting P90X. I guess I'll just chill with Will and maybe go on a few bike rides, and try to eat a lot of healthy foods. I'll have to get together a group of recipes for healthy meals that I can easily find the ingredients for. Seaweed and octopus with a side dish of roots maybe.
Stevie, regarding your comment about time of conception, I have no idea when, but it must be a close call. Maybe Olivia's and Joseph's souls where next to each other on the conveyor belt.
BTW Tigers... I hoped Melbourne would beat them, but I never really believed that they could. A great result. The Tigers are funny.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Last Week of P90 Master!
You know you're gone when you start asking a three-week old child what their problem is. The crying got to me a little today. I was up at 5 consoling him, and it feels like I spent all afternoon changing his nappy, giving him milk, burping him, holding him, and then when he fell asleep I would put him down and he would start crying again. I did squeeze in a workout and a short bike ride sometime in the morning.
I've got four workouts to go, and P90 Master is finished! I'm just busting through them now. Today I did Core Cardio, a huge 50 minute workout, plus 37 push ups with the push up bars, 33 bicep curls with 10 kg weights, and 200 sit ups. My knees are feeling good, and my back is strong. I have been having a little sinus trouble, maybe a reaction to all the pollen in the air, and this has been giving me headaches, but workouts seem to fix them up for a while, at least. Been getting some asthma, too. But all in all, I feel great.
I put up a pull up bar in the garage in preparation for P90X. Took me ages, and I probably should have thought about design before I got to the hardware store, but it's always fun to do a little woodwork. I showed Will, and as I was hanging off the bar he grabbed onto my legs and we were both hanging there together. I thought hmmm, hope 100 kilos isn't too much, but it seemed strong enough. It was a good, if unplanned, test. I can do three pull ups, from straight arms at the bottom to chin over the bar. It's bloody hard. Tony Horton gets bored doing pull ups he can do that many.
On Monday I have to go on a picnic with Will's kindergarten group. Me, a bunch of three year olds, and their mothers. I will definitely be the only foreigner, and almost certainly the only male. At first I just thought, fuck that. But then I thought about Cameron on Biggest Loser. That's what he would do. Perhaps my intense dislike of Cameron is really a subconscious reaction to some similarities we might have. No way am I as big a loser as he is, both literally and figuratively, but that's not to say he has nothing to teach me, to teach all of us. So I will smile, do the small talk, and perhaps drop the word that I may be looking to open my own English school if I get laid off, and in any case I'm looking for a few students to teach just for some extra cash.
Swans played a crap game on the weekend. As I wait for the torrents to become available, which might take between a day or three days, obviously I don't want to know the result. So I avoid Aussie newspapers, my hotmail, Facebook, even international SMSs. But of the three games already played this season, I've sat down to watch the game knowing the result of two of them. The first round, I thought Sydney played on Sunday, but it was Saturday, so Saturday night I checked The Age website to see what time the game was on the next day and saw the headline "Saints Shut Down Swans." Ah, I thought. There you go. Second round I was more careful. I made sure I knew exactly what time the game started, and steered clear of the papers that day. But when someone put the torrent up on Demonoid, they included the score in the comments! I nearly got whiplash turning my head trying not to see it, and I didn't see it, thank god. All I saw was there were no reports. So I was lucky. What kind of noob puts the scores in the comments? So the third round, I was even more careful. I found a great site devoted to Aussie Rules torrents, with clear instruction - NO SPOILERS! So when someone put the Swans - Brisbane game up, I wanted to thank them, which is the custom. I went to the thanks area, and saw this comment from another downloader. "ThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyou Was at the game last night & need to see the coverage. C'arn the Lions!!" First of all, why would you want to watch a game on TV that you went to see live if your team didn't win? Second, why would you say Car'n the Lions! if you didn't barrack for the Lions? And the clincher, you wouldn't say Car'n the Lions! if they had lost. If he had said "Can't wait to see the game. Car'n the Lions!" I could have dismissed it as barracking. But he had already seen the game. So I see the little shitty comment and as I wait for it to download I try to rationalize it. He didn't actually say who won. Maybe the Swans just beat them in a thriller and he's proud of his team? So I get the game and watch the first ten minutes, then I fast forward to the end. Nup, Lions win. Just like the guy said (or didn't say, but insinuated.) Fuck! It's hard work.
Anyway, shout out to my sis, Steve and Sarah and Olivia (hope she's doing well), Whits, Manna and Rob, Brad, and Mikka if you're reading. Hope you had a good Easter, and Leigh I got your parcel. Thank you! Watched the DVD, still funny. Here's a photo of Will and his favourite train, the red Myu Sky.
I've got four workouts to go, and P90 Master is finished! I'm just busting through them now. Today I did Core Cardio, a huge 50 minute workout, plus 37 push ups with the push up bars, 33 bicep curls with 10 kg weights, and 200 sit ups. My knees are feeling good, and my back is strong. I have been having a little sinus trouble, maybe a reaction to all the pollen in the air, and this has been giving me headaches, but workouts seem to fix them up for a while, at least. Been getting some asthma, too. But all in all, I feel great.
I put up a pull up bar in the garage in preparation for P90X. Took me ages, and I probably should have thought about design before I got to the hardware store, but it's always fun to do a little woodwork. I showed Will, and as I was hanging off the bar he grabbed onto my legs and we were both hanging there together. I thought hmmm, hope 100 kilos isn't too much, but it seemed strong enough. It was a good, if unplanned, test. I can do three pull ups, from straight arms at the bottom to chin over the bar. It's bloody hard. Tony Horton gets bored doing pull ups he can do that many.
On Monday I have to go on a picnic with Will's kindergarten group. Me, a bunch of three year olds, and their mothers. I will definitely be the only foreigner, and almost certainly the only male. At first I just thought, fuck that. But then I thought about Cameron on Biggest Loser. That's what he would do. Perhaps my intense dislike of Cameron is really a subconscious reaction to some similarities we might have. No way am I as big a loser as he is, both literally and figuratively, but that's not to say he has nothing to teach me, to teach all of us. So I will smile, do the small talk, and perhaps drop the word that I may be looking to open my own English school if I get laid off, and in any case I'm looking for a few students to teach just for some extra cash.
Swans played a crap game on the weekend. As I wait for the torrents to become available, which might take between a day or three days, obviously I don't want to know the result. So I avoid Aussie newspapers, my hotmail, Facebook, even international SMSs. But of the three games already played this season, I've sat down to watch the game knowing the result of two of them. The first round, I thought Sydney played on Sunday, but it was Saturday, so Saturday night I checked The Age website to see what time the game was on the next day and saw the headline "Saints Shut Down Swans." Ah, I thought. There you go. Second round I was more careful. I made sure I knew exactly what time the game started, and steered clear of the papers that day. But when someone put the torrent up on Demonoid, they included the score in the comments! I nearly got whiplash turning my head trying not to see it, and I didn't see it, thank god. All I saw was there were no reports. So I was lucky. What kind of noob puts the scores in the comments? So the third round, I was even more careful. I found a great site devoted to Aussie Rules torrents, with clear instruction - NO SPOILERS! So when someone put the Swans - Brisbane game up, I wanted to thank them, which is the custom. I went to the thanks area, and saw this comment from another downloader. "ThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyou Was at the game last night & need to see the coverage. C'arn the Lions!!" First of all, why would you want to watch a game on TV that you went to see live if your team didn't win? Second, why would you say Car'n the Lions! if you didn't barrack for the Lions? And the clincher, you wouldn't say Car'n the Lions! if they had lost. If he had said "Can't wait to see the game. Car'n the Lions!" I could have dismissed it as barracking. But he had already seen the game. So I see the little shitty comment and as I wait for it to download I try to rationalize it. He didn't actually say who won. Maybe the Swans just beat them in a thriller and he's proud of his team? So I get the game and watch the first ten minutes, then I fast forward to the end. Nup, Lions win. Just like the guy said (or didn't say, but insinuated.) Fuck! It's hard work.
Anyway, shout out to my sis, Steve and Sarah and Olivia (hope she's doing well), Whits, Manna and Rob, Brad, and Mikka if you're reading. Hope you had a good Easter, and Leigh I got your parcel. Thank you! Watched the DVD, still funny. Here's a photo of Will and his favourite train, the red Myu Sky.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Week 13 Underway
Saturday night, 9:30, in my jarmies. Wild man. I did Sculpt 5-6 today and just hammered it. I've been loving this last month. I have a little right knee soreness, but it's getting better. I've only got a week and a half to go, then I get a week off and then I start P90X. Time to BRING IT! Downloaded the whole thing a few days ago, and they're all ready to go.
Swans had a good win last week. I say last week because they played on Saturday, but I didn't see it until Wednesday night because it took ages to download. We beat the reigning premiers Hawthorn, but they are in massive trouble with injuries and just a general grand final hangover. The Swans played today, but I don't expect to see the game for a few days yet. Still, it's better than paying to watch the game streamed a day after it was played on the official website. I can't even see the ball. I gladly wait another day and get HD plus pre-game analysis. Oh yea, and it's free.
Will had his kindergarten entry ceremony. I had to wear a suit, but can you imagine the kerfuffle when it was discovered that I only had a black suit? Oh the horror! So we did a m
ix and match with an old suit jacket I had somewhere with the black pants, and I'm not sure, but I don't think THEY gave a shit. I keep asking Junko who THEY are, but she won't tell me. So welcome to the machine, my son. Stay strong, don't start fights but always finish them, and any time you want to bail, we're only a ten hour flight away. "Daddy, a boy in my class called me a poo-poo head." "Do you want to go to Australia? We can, you know. Anytime. No-one will call you poo-poo head in Australia. C'mon, I can call them now if you like and get tickets. Stop off at Cairns? It's nice this time of year." I will have to make a conscious effort not to do this, but I'm not sure it will be enough.
Speaking of weather, it has been beautiful recently. Spring is in the air, cherry blossoms falling like snow. I rode my bike into work last week to drop off some paperwork, and I was doing about seventy down a clear street, when a car stopped in a side street and waited to turn in to the road I was on. She saw me and didn't move, but if she didn't see me, then I wouldn't have been able to stop in time. It's different than when you're in a car. When your life is in someone else's hands for that instant, it gets the blood pumping. Probably not a good thing to let that happen too often. But on the other hand, you're in a car, music on, maybe eating or smoking or playing with the radio, do you even notice that you're life is in other people's hands?
So apparently we in Japan get a stimulus bonus too soon. Something like a couple of hundred dollars. I really think in the future they are going to look back and just think what the fuck was going on? People are talking like times are tough now! How are things tough now? In a couple of years we'll be trapping and eating our neighbour's dog because of what the politicians have done with our money the last year, just because they can't bear to tell us that the golden age is over. Absolute madness. Listen to the way they talk. "Now Jim, I think we both know you've been a little irresponsible lately. And to be fair, so have we. Now times are going to get a little tough for everyone. It's not just your fault, we're not saying that. It's everyone's fault. Wait, hey, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay. Just keep you're head down, work hard, and what ever you do, don't stop spending all of your money, just like you were doing before. Now, I know that sounds, now it's a big word, so get ready, 'counter-intuitive,' but if you stop spending all of your money, then things are going to get really tough for the people who take all of your money. People like banks and large corporations and governments. So, just to help you out, here's a little something to get you started. Go on, take it. Spend it. You deserve it. And remember, you're Australian, and Australians, well, Australians are amazing. Jim, you are amazing, and together, we can do anything." No good, I tells ya.
Joseph's doing really well. Sleeping and eating, really. He cried a little this evening, but then did a massive crap and then went to sleep.
Anyway, must be off to bed.
Swans had a good win last week. I say last week because they played on Saturday, but I didn't see it until Wednesday night because it took ages to download. We beat the reigning premiers Hawthorn, but they are in massive trouble with injuries and just a general grand final hangover. The Swans played today, but I don't expect to see the game for a few days yet. Still, it's better than paying to watch the game streamed a day after it was played on the official website. I can't even see the ball. I gladly wait another day and get HD plus pre-game analysis. Oh yea, and it's free.
Will had his kindergarten entry ceremony. I had to wear a suit, but can you imagine the kerfuffle when it was discovered that I only had a black suit? Oh the horror! So we did a m
ix and match with an old suit jacket I had somewhere with the black pants, and I'm not sure, but I don't think THEY gave a shit. I keep asking Junko who THEY are, but she won't tell me. So welcome to the machine, my son. Stay strong, don't start fights but always finish them, and any time you want to bail, we're only a ten hour flight away. "Daddy, a boy in my class called me a poo-poo head." "Do you want to go to Australia? We can, you know. Anytime. No-one will call you poo-poo head in Australia. C'mon, I can call them now if you like and get tickets. Stop off at Cairns? It's nice this time of year." I will have to make a conscious effort not to do this, but I'm not sure it will be enough.Speaking of weather, it has been beautiful recently. Spring is in the air, cherry blossoms falling like snow. I rode my bike into work last week to drop off some paperwork, and I was doing about seventy down a clear street, when a car stopped in a side street and waited to turn in to the road I was on. She saw me and didn't move, but if she didn't see me, then I wouldn't have been able to stop in time. It's different than when you're in a car. When your life is in someone else's hands for that instant, it gets the blood pumping. Probably not a good thing to let that happen too often. But on the other hand, you're in a car, music on, maybe eating or smoking or playing with the radio, do you even notice that you're life is in other people's hands?
So apparently we in Japan get a stimulus bonus too soon. Something like a couple of hundred dollars. I really think in the future they are going to look back and just think what the fuck was going on? People are talking like times are tough now! How are things tough now? In a couple of years we'll be trapping and eating our neighbour's dog because of what the politicians have done with our money the last year, just because they can't bear to tell us that the golden age is over. Absolute madness. Listen to the way they talk. "Now Jim, I think we both know you've been a little irresponsible lately. And to be fair, so have we. Now times are going to get a little tough for everyone. It's not just your fault, we're not saying that. It's everyone's fault. Wait, hey, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay. Just keep you're head down, work hard, and what ever you do, don't stop spending all of your money, just like you were doing before. Now, I know that sounds, now it's a big word, so get ready, 'counter-intuitive,' but if you stop spending all of your money, then things are going to get really tough for the people who take all of your money. People like banks and large corporations and governments. So, just to help you out, here's a little something to get you started. Go on, take it. Spend it. You deserve it. And remember, you're Australian, and Australians, well, Australians are amazing. Jim, you are amazing, and together, we can do anything." No good, I tells ya.
Joseph's doing really well. Sleeping and eating, really. He cried a little this evening, but then did a massive crap and then went to sleep.
Anyway, must be off to bed.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Week 12 Underway
3/4 I haven't written for ages, or anything of any length anyway. I've been really busy, and if I have a spare moment it's going to watching Lost or the footy or the one of many footy panel shows there are. I think I'll leave Footy Classified out and stick with The Winners and On The Couch. Not being at work doesn't give me much time to fart around, if you know what I mean. But I've enjoyed the week, especially being with Will. He's a great kid, always making me laugh with his funny dances or statements, like "Daddy, you can buy that ice-cream." Oh, gee, thanks. Can I have some? "No."
Joseph's doing well, though a couple of times I've drawn a blank at his name when I'm talking about him. We were going to call him Geoffrey, so I always say "Ge-" and then I think, that's not right, what's his name again? Hey, give me a break. I only see him ten minutes a day. They come home from hospital tomorrow. It'll be great because then Junko can tell me all the things I have been doing wrong with the housework. And all day, too. Not just the brief chances she's had when I've visited her in hospital. No, I kid my wife.
I teared up majorly watching Biggest Loser this morning, especially when Sharif's wife came. He's looking great Sharif. Massive improvement. He'll have to get that front ass of his surgically removed though, I think. I have a feeling that there's something up with Cameron's wife. I bet she's got a nice little setup going, something on the side that keeps her feeling happy and sexy, and fat old Cameron who pays for it. He seems terribly needy, but I bet she's worried that the next time she threatens to leave him because he's getting a little curious about where she goes when she goes out alone, he might just tell her to fuck off now that he's a new man. You can just see it in her face when they meet. "Oh god, now I'll have to start fucking him again." When he gets out of Biggest Loser, I reckon she'll be leaving the odd pack of TimTams lying around the house for him.
4/4 Last night it was our first night with Joseph home. Man, it brought back some memories. He woke up every two or three hours crying. It reminded me of how much it must suck being a baby. Everything is gastro related. What's going in , how it's sitting, and what's coming out. I was wondering what life would be like if babies laughed instead of cried. They come out of the womb laughing hysterically, and they wake up at night laughing, etc. It would be much nicer, I think. Anyway, he's sleeping now (Saturday afternoon). In fact, everyone but me is asleep.
I'm entering the best phase of any P90 round - when you can push each and every exercise and be able to recover before the next one begins. I did Sculpt 5-6 today and I felt so in control of every exercise. I did more reps with better form than ever. It might also have something to do with the quality of food I've been eating recently. When I was looking after Will I ate a lot of rubbish. I even ate at Bronco Billy's, a shite hamburger restaurant. The last few days everything I've eaten, except for a pack of chips, has been nice and healthy. It makes so much of a difference, and eating right is the one thing I want to do when I start P90X. A pack of chips here and there, but that's it. I'm sure you're sick of me saying it. I tell you, this food thing is harder than I anticipated. But P90X is there is the near future now (3 weeks) and it's the food that is vying for my attention as much as the exercises. The exercises will take care of themselves. The food is totally up to me.
5/4 I started this blog two days ago, and since then Sharif has been evicted from BL. Why do Australian reality contestants always vote off the most interesting people, until we are left with the dullest ones? Anyway, how can Cameron still be in it? There is something wrong with him. He can't jump! It's hilarious. If Sean and Nathan's brother (forget his name) leave, then the remaining contestants (except Tiffany) will be the ones who have lost the least weight. That's like the opposite of the title of the show! Anyone who loses weight and wins challenges is deemed 'a threat', and the others can scheme and have them removed too easily. The only thing you get for losing the most weight every week is a phone call home or something. How about two votes at elimination? They would have lost Nathan if it wasn't for that trick which was obviously an emergency measure. 'Break glass if best contestant and the best TV gets eliminated' deal. And it's still not ideal. What can he and Bob get up to on Fitzroy island for five weeks? Not much. 'And this week, Nathan and Bob do more training with the Commando again.' They somehow have to get rid of Julie or Cameron, but the others are too polite to vote them out. Must be tough being a producer on one of these shows. It's made for American contestants, isn't it. Doesn't quite work for Aussies. I know how it would go here. Everyone would just cry for weeks, then beg to be voted off because they don't like working out, then when we visit them afterward they are fatter than when they started. They tried Survivor here, but it didn't work. No-one wanted to survive.
Anyway, gotsta go. Going to Mr Donuts again.
Joseph's doing well, though a couple of times I've drawn a blank at his name when I'm talking about him. We were going to call him Geoffrey, so I always say "Ge-" and then I think, that's not right, what's his name again? Hey, give me a break. I only see him ten minutes a day. They come home from hospital tomorrow. It'll be great because then Junko can tell me all the things I have been doing wrong with the housework. And all day, too. Not just the brief chances she's had when I've visited her in hospital. No, I kid my wife.
I teared up majorly watching Biggest Loser this morning, especially when Sharif's wife came. He's looking great Sharif. Massive improvement. He'll have to get that front ass of his surgically removed though, I think. I have a feeling that there's something up with Cameron's wife. I bet she's got a nice little setup going, something on the side that keeps her feeling happy and sexy, and fat old Cameron who pays for it. He seems terribly needy, but I bet she's worried that the next time she threatens to leave him because he's getting a little curious about where she goes when she goes out alone, he might just tell her to fuck off now that he's a new man. You can just see it in her face when they meet. "Oh god, now I'll have to start fucking him again." When he gets out of Biggest Loser, I reckon she'll be leaving the odd pack of TimTams lying around the house for him.
4/4 Last night it was our first night with Joseph home. Man, it brought back some memories. He woke up every two or three hours crying. It reminded me of how much it must suck being a baby. Everything is gastro related. What's going in , how it's sitting, and what's coming out. I was wondering what life would be like if babies laughed instead of cried. They come out of the womb laughing hysterically, and they wake up at night laughing, etc. It would be much nicer, I think. Anyway, he's sleeping now (Saturday afternoon). In fact, everyone but me is asleep.
I'm entering the best phase of any P90 round - when you can push each and every exercise and be able to recover before the next one begins. I did Sculpt 5-6 today and I felt so in control of every exercise. I did more reps with better form than ever. It might also have something to do with the quality of food I've been eating recently. When I was looking after Will I ate a lot of rubbish. I even ate at Bronco Billy's, a shite hamburger restaurant. The last few days everything I've eaten, except for a pack of chips, has been nice and healthy. It makes so much of a difference, and eating right is the one thing I want to do when I start P90X. A pack of chips here and there, but that's it. I'm sure you're sick of me saying it. I tell you, this food thing is harder than I anticipated. But P90X is there is the near future now (3 weeks) and it's the food that is vying for my attention as much as the exercises. The exercises will take care of themselves. The food is totally up to me.
5/4 I started this blog two days ago, and since then Sharif has been evicted from BL. Why do Australian reality contestants always vote off the most interesting people, until we are left with the dullest ones? Anyway, how can Cameron still be in it? There is something wrong with him. He can't jump! It's hilarious. If Sean and Nathan's brother (forget his name) leave, then the remaining contestants (except Tiffany) will be the ones who have lost the least weight. That's like the opposite of the title of the show! Anyone who loses weight and wins challenges is deemed 'a threat', and the others can scheme and have them removed too easily. The only thing you get for losing the most weight every week is a phone call home or something. How about two votes at elimination? They would have lost Nathan if it wasn't for that trick which was obviously an emergency measure. 'Break glass if best contestant and the best TV gets eliminated' deal. And it's still not ideal. What can he and Bob get up to on Fitzroy island for five weeks? Not much. 'And this week, Nathan and Bob do more training with the Commando again.' They somehow have to get rid of Julie or Cameron, but the others are too polite to vote them out. Must be tough being a producer on one of these shows. It's made for American contestants, isn't it. Doesn't quite work for Aussies. I know how it would go here. Everyone would just cry for weeks, then beg to be voted off because they don't like working out, then when we visit them afterward they are fatter than when they started. They tried Survivor here, but it didn't work. No-one wanted to survive.
Anyway, gotsta go. Going to Mr Donuts again.
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