New project, plus Ariel

I’ve been furiously working on something new for days...and it’s not GTA4. :) It’s a new site.  This time my absence is warranted.  Stay tuned.  In the mean time, I forgot to link this gallery of superhottie redhead Ariel (AKA Piper Fawn or Faith Lightspeed) which is totally not safe for work, but is made of awesome.

...he said, embedding a hint about the new site in the post. :)

Posted by JimK at 12:10 PM on May 14, 2008
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Categories: Beautiful Women,  Personal
Tags: beautiful women

Iron Man #1 Again

See what happens when you do a comic book movie right?

Movie	Rev.(mil)	Theaters	Weeks	Total(mil)
1. Iron Man	$50.5	4,111	2	$177.1
2.  Speed Racer	$20.2	3,606	1	$20.2
3.  What Happens	$20.0	3,215	1	$20.0
4.  Made of Honor	$7.6	2,734	2	$26.3
5.  Baby Mama	$5.77	2,627	3	$40.4
6.  Forgetting Sarah	$3.78	2,376	4	$50.7
7.  Harold & Kumar	$3.16	2,264	3	$30.7
8.  Forbidden Kingdom	$1.9	1,724	4	$48.3
9.  Nim’s Island	$1.33	1,601	6	$44.3
10. Redbelt	$1.14	1,379	2	$1.23

I thought that 177 mil would be 200 by now, but as long as it ends with RDJ making a boatload of cash and doing the next five to seven appearances of ol’ Shellhead in various Marvel films, the actual number means bupkis.

These are golden days we’re living in, my fellow ink geeks.  The comic movie has finally come of age.  From Schumacher’s stupid jokes to re-imaging Bats properly to Sin City to 300 to a fun, exciting Iron Man movie done properly to...The Dark Knight?  Will it be the absolute pinnacle of comic book films?

All signs point to yes.  Although don’t count The Watchmen out, I hear that’s looking pretty good too…

Posted by JimK at 11:57 AM on May 12, 2008
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Tags: Iron Man movies comics Marvel

Iron Man again

We went to see it again last night.  Just a’cause.  STILL AWESOME.  This time I spotted some minor continuity errors, and since I am a dork and a geek at heart, let the nits henceforth be picked!

1. First press conference: Tony takes a cheeseburger out of the conspicuously-placed Burger King bag when stepping out of the limo.  Hogan keeps the bag while Tony walks with Stane & chews, telling Obie there’s only one left as he gestures backward toward the guy with the sack of BK.  Tony never puts a burger in his suit pocket, yet when he reaches the podium, he retrieves one from there.

2. First arc reactor scene with Stane: Stane’s cigar has ash - fresh grey ash - but isn’t lit.  Not really a continuity error per se, but just weird.  Could it have been a ratings thing?  Can they show Tony drinking and killing people but not a business tycoon *actually* smoking?

3. The miniature arc reactor in Tony’s chest; Pepper turns it clockwise to set it in place.  Tony turns in clockwise to set in in place.  Stane turns it - you guess it, clockwise, but to remove it.  Righty tighty, lefty loosy, people.

4. Last press conference: Moments earlier, Pepper carefully arranges a handkerchief in Tony’s breast pocket.  It’s kind of the whole reason they are standing so close, which prompts him to ask about “that night” and so forth.  The handkerchief is missing when he takes the podium.

How stupid am I for pointing that crap out?  It didn’t take away from a single millisecond of enjoyment, but geeks will be geeks.  Also, during this second viewing, I waited for the surprise after the credits.  I just read a bunch of Invincible Iron Man and (TITLE REDACTED) written in the mid-to-late 60’s the night before. I was reading them thinking about how (ACTOR NAME REDACTED) would play the character.  I watched the scene at the end with an ear toward speech patterns, inflections, etc.  It will totally work.  (CHARACTER NAME REDACTED) already talks like that, only with a different rhythm.  Same words, slightly different way of saying them.  I think it’ll be just fine.

No trailer for Hulk before the movie, but we did see a long trailer for Dark Night.  Oh. My. God.  I had a Batgasm.  These are my two favorite superheroes from childhood; Iron Man and Batman.  Needless to say this is one hell of a summer lineup for a nerd: GTA 4, Iron Man and Miller-esque Batman?  It’s better than porn.

Rounding out my top 5 superheroes are Spidey as a close second, followed by Wolverine and the Punisher.  In case you were wondering.

TEASE: Favreau talking about potentially making the Avengers movie as the third Iron Man, as a way to avoid that “third movie always sucks” curse.  Could be awesome, as he seems to totally be a fanboy and wants to make us happy.

HIRE HIM: Thor needs a new director.  May I suggest a certain Mr. Jon Favreau?  Kevin Smith once told a story about how he suggests Ben Affleck for everything.  “Keving we need someone to play a seventy year old man in a wheelchair, who do you suggest?” “Ben Affleck.” “Kevin, we need someone to play a female superhero.  Her power is long ropes of menstrual blood she can control with her mind.  Got any ideas?” “Ben Affleck.”

Well, now we all have a Ben Affleck, only he’s talented and does a great job.  Every time someone says “Who should direct this superhero movie?” the answer shall henceforth always be “Jon Favreau.”

RUMOR MILL: Matthew McConaughey as Captain America.  I WILL NEVER WATCH THAT FILM.  Ever.  Don’t do it, Marvel.  Hire the guy that played Stanley on Jericho.  He’s my new pick for Cap.  We certainly know he can do the corn-fed aww-shucks patriotic bit, and he’s big, blonde and square-faced enough to pull off the mask.  Barring that, I will settle for Nathan Fillion or Ben Browder.  Just not McConaughey.  NEVER McConaughey.  All done with McConaughey.  He’ll stink the joint up faster than week-old pig guts.  This is a horrible idea from top to bottom.

Would it be crossing a line if I started a petition to God or the gods or just someone with a lightning machine to strike Matthew McConaughey dead before filming could start?

Posted by JimK at 02:01 PM on May 08, 2008
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Categories: Entertainment
Tags: Iron Man movies comics Marvel

Iron Man the movie

Iron Man is MADE OF WIN.  If you like the idea of a comic book movie, go see it.  If you like Robert Downey Junior, go see it.  If you like Iron Man, go see it.  If you like the idea of Marvel’s new film division and attempts to stay more faithful to their characters, support their effort and GO SEE IT.

If you like kick-ass action flicks, GO. SEE. IT.

Seriously.  It’s really quite good.  any changes that were made make perfect sense, like changing the origin from Vietnam to Afghanistan.  The spirit of the comic’s history is in every frame.  It gives me hope for future Marvel properties.  RDJ is fantastic as Stark.  Paltrow is...meh.  But then she always is.  Who cares about her anyway?  Shellhead is the best Marvel film ever made to date.  GO SEE IT!

Posted by JimK at 11:38 PM on May 01, 2008
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Categories: Entertainment
Tags: Iron Man movies comics Marvel

McPander at it again

Republican John McCain said Wednesday that the bridge collapse in Minnesota that killed 13 people last year would not have happened if Congress had not wasted so much money on pork-barrel spending.

Federal investigators cite undersize steel plates as the “critical factor” in the collapse of the bridge. Heavy loads of construction materials on the bridge also contributed to the disaster that injured 145 people on Aug. 1, according to preliminary findings by the National Transportation Safety Board.

“The bridge in Minneapolis didn’t collapse because there wasn’t enough money,” McCain told reporters while campaigning in Pennsylvania. “The bridge in Minneapolis collapsed because so much money was spent on wasteful, unnecessary pork-barrel projects.”

Sounds like a reasonable complaint regarding the government.  It certainly resonates as potentially true, and I am sure it got a rousing bit of applause, or at least a bunch of reporters thinking what a maverick he is for saying it.

Only problem is, we know that it simply isn’t true.  It was a design flaw and the money didn’t even enter the equation.

Sixteen fractured gusset plates in the center span on Interstate 35W were a main cause of the deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis last August, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Tuesday. The plates, which connected steel beams in the truss bridge, were roughly half the thickness they should have been because of a design error. How that flaw made it into the bridge is unclear; according to NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker, investigators couldn’t find the original design calculations. Extra weight from construction was also a factor in the tragedy

There can be no doubt that we spend too much on pork projects.  BUT...at the same time Senator McMaverick is claiming that the government let the bridge fall, he (and the Wicked Witch of Yale) wants to bankrupt the very fund designed to maintain and build infrastructure in this country.

How’s that for talking out of both sides of his mouth?  White man speak with forked tongue.  I know Goose died and everything, but there’s no need to take it out on the rest of us, Maverick.

My presidential vote here in Connecticut is utterly worthless.  CT will go blue and that’s the end of it.  That fact may save my sanity this fall, as I will not make one whit of difference to anyone if I refuse to pull the lever (we still have old school levers) for McCain, and I gotta tell you...I just might refuse.  I’m so sick and tired of him and his pandering.  The three of them are utterly nauseating and totally uninspiring as people and politicians.

I’ll never forgive you, Fred Thompson.  You raised my hopes and then you came to dash them.

Hat tip; Insty

Posted by JimK at 11:51 AM on May 01, 2008
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Categories: News,  Politics,  The Federal Government
Tags: Election 2008 Politics McCain

Pulse-taking

Quick question: Does Obama seem inevitable anymore?  Because I am starting to feel like he’s only begun to be tested, and he’s coming up short on all counts.  The more he gets questioned, the angrier and more political-suicide-y his responses get.  Will Hopeyful Changitude Man continue to be the opposite of the emperor’s new clothes and walk around an empty suit all day?

Are we heading for a Maverick vs. The Wicked Witch of Yale contest come November?  Will it really be two of the worst politician in America vying for the top job?  Not that Senator Change is a reasonable choice either.

I never thought I’d say this, but I actually miss Al Gore.  At least he has some kind of motivating drive, aside from eating his weight in cheeseburgers I mean.  He’s the King of the Environment, and at least you know what he’s doing even if you think he’s batshit crazy for it.  Changitude and The Wicked Witch of Yale are bending with the wind and setting policy by poll, and Senator Asshole is still all consumed with not letting Iceman beat him in the rankings.  No one beats the Maverick!

That was my ridiculously complicated way of saying John McCain is more concerned with maintaining his media-approved-and-created image as a maverick than he is with any kind of political reality or philosophy.  I explain this just in case my metaphor, as I suspect it did, fell apart.

I am less enthused about this election cycle than I am about the events that will happen in 16 months.  See, in 16 months I will turn 40, and they say you have to start getting prostate exams and whatnot.  So I’m going to have to find an ass doctor, which just seems utterly wrong to start with, that you’d trust your health to a guy that chose to specialize in buttholes, and then I get to pay him to jam him fingers up my ass and wriggle them about a bit.

For the record, I’m not a fan.  I had a bad experience back there once and now I see my browneye as that old saw of a joke: exit only.

That having been said, I think I would rather have weekly prostate exams - from a prison proctologist with a bad attitude and very large hands - than vote for any of these three front-running buffoons.  It’s looking more and more like I will have to be Maverick’s wingman, though.  The very idea makes me want to beat puppies with very large steel pipes.

They say you get the government you deserve.  I say bullshit.  I don’t deserve these idiots and neither do you.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if en masse, everyone just didn’t vote for anyone to be president?  What if we really did only vote for local, state and Congressional races, and left the row for president blank?  Would they get the message, or is this all really going to have to eventually end in a bloody battle for control ala Jericho?  How many generations are left in the Great Experiment?

And now you know one of the reasons why I haven’t been blogging much.  As far as I am concerned, just repeat this post every flipping day from now until election day.  That’s just one more reason why I need to start posting beautiful ladies with red hair and bare bosoms again.  Politics is transient.  Boobs are forever.

That really sounded deeper in my head.  ;)

Posted by JimK at 12:37 PM on April 28, 2008
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Categories: News,  Politics
Tags: Election 2008 Politics

I am still here

I know, I haven’t posted in a week.  Been alternating between busy and exhausted.  I let the last few BSG episodes slip by and the RoL reunion show without comment, plus all the political bullshit that has annoyed the pants off of me the last few weeks.  I’ve also got quite a collection of redhead photos to post, gentlemen.

I’m starting to avoid posting online again, and I don’t know why...bear with me.  I’ll get my shit together soon enough.  And then GTA4 will show up and you’ll never see me again.  ;)

Posted by JimK at 06:11 PM on April 26, 2008
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Categories: Personal

Heart rate and exercise

This article in the NYT talks about heart rate and exercise.  The article makes it seem like you shouldn’t bother monitoring it.  I just don’t agree.  Seeing heart rate as the goal is a mistake.  Obsessing over the number - any numbers unless you are a high-performance athlete - is ridiculous and counter-productive.  Watching your heart rate should be, like anything else, just another tool you use in your fitness arsenal.

It’s just one way to measure, in real time, the efficacy of what you are doing.  It isn’t meant to replace common sense, or to prevent you from actively monitoring your own condition at all times with the best gadget you own; your own brain.  It’s not a goal in and of itself.  It’s a tool.  It’s something to which you can refer to help you gauge how hard - or SLOWER - you need to go at any given moment.

That’s right, slower.  What the NYT article doesn’t mention is using a heart rate monitor to tell you when to rest.  By rest I mean slow down and catch your breath, return to your baseline, refresh your energy, drink some water, etc.  I know that at my current fitness level, my max is probably around 185.  “Ish.” None of these numbers are rock solid without testing by a professional, but they don’t have to be.  Your target heart rate is a guideline, not an absolute.  So let’s take 185, which after 30 seconds would leave me breathing heavy, and after a minute wishing I was dead, and after three minutes might actually kill me.

If you want to increase overall fitness, a good target is 80% of your max, which for me is 148.8.  So I shoot for 150, and if I see it climb over 155, I ease up whatever it is I am doing.  Generally I use inclines on a treadmill to push myself, as I cannot jog, or even walk faster than 4 miles an hour due to the punishment it gives my knees.  So I go uphill.  If I get up to 155-ish, I decrease the angle slightly.  I believe in the HIIT concept*, so after a certain amount of 80%-ish work, I back off to 60% and catch my breath, sip some water, etc.  In the last two weeks alone, what I have noticed by using these numbers is that A. it takes more effort to get into my target zone, which means that B. I am making progress and I feel fitter overall.  I lose my breath far less easily and am able to do more and more all the time.

One more time, for the cheap seats; none of these numbers really mean anything as objective, scientifically precise measurements.  They’re just part of the overall assessment you should be doing of how you feel while you are working out.  My tiny, one-person-study anecdotal opinion of the matter is, knowing a number helps me.  It might help you as well if you use a little common sense and don’t obsess on numbers and targets and competition.  It’s just a guide, and ultimately your numbers are SO subjective that comparing them to someone else’s are meaningless.  Hell, you can’t even compare your own numbers to your own numbers.  Every day is different, depending on everything from stress to how much sleep you got last night to how long it took you to walk to the treadmill/elliptical/running path/grass field/stripper pole.

And that brings me to the single most important aspect of trying to get fitter; STOP OBSESSING. Don’t obsess over the scale, or your BMI, or your heart rate, or trying to go for an hour on the treadmill, how many pounds you can lift on the MegaMaxSuperMuscleBuilder 6000.  As long as your overall trends are in whatever direction you want, and for us fatties that means downward in weight and upward in general fitness, then you are succeeding.  Be patient.

You didn’t get fat overnight.  You aren’t going to get skinny that way either, no matter what the man or woman on the TV promises you.

More

* I thought I’d take a second and detail what I do for HIIT training.  Treadmills only for now, as my knees still aren’t strong (in the right way) enough to do the ellipticals or stairs or even the bike.  I like the treadmill anyway.  Don’t ask me why.  :) Anyway, I do a timed 35 minutes twice a week and 15-20 minutes (depending on energy that day) on the days that I lift weights.  The 35 minute workout is much more intense...I try to go as fast as I can without hurting my knees and push the inclines pretty hard.  I actually have some workout mixes with a ding that goes off at the appropriate speed-up/slow down times, as well as two Nike+ training mixes with a coach who talks you along and tells you what to do.  Those are for runners, but I just pitch all the speeds down to what I’m comfortable doing.  When he says “Zone 2 steady run” I do an inclined moderate walk, and when he says “race pace” I push as fast as I can walk without hurting myself and usually put the incline at 25 to 50% of whatever number he gives.  His 4 degrees is my 6.

It’s working for me, takes less actual clock time in the gym, and I’m FAR less sore and half-injured than I used to be.  My feet hardly ever swell and throb like they were doing when I was going three miles an hour for 90 freaking minutes.  Plus, the weightlifting is working better, which I assume is due to a combo of the fact that I am not eating up fast-twitch muscle fiber as fast as I could build it, plus an added intake of protein on workout days.

No, I’m not going crazy with some miracle BS muscle-building powder or HGH.  Just a little whey powder in 8 oz of Glucose Control Boost.  I picked the Glucose COntrol version because it has significantly lower amounts of...you guessed it, sugar.

Less

Posted by JimK at 02:34 PM on April 20, 2008
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Categories: Personal
Tags: weight loss fitness heart rate exercise

Pretty accurate for an innertubewebnets blind assessment

My Personality

Neuroticism	39
Extraversion	71
Openness to Experience	60
Agreeableness	3
Conscientiousness	36

You do not feel nervous in social situations, and have a good impression of what others think of you, however you feel enraged when things do not go your way. You are sensitive about being treated fairly and feel resentful and bitter if you think you are being cheated. You are not prone to spells of energetic high spirits. You prefer the security and stability brought by conformity to tradition. You will help others if they are in need.  If people ask for too much of your time you feel that they are imposing on you, however you are not adverse to confrontation and will sometimes even intimidate others to get your own way. You have a strong sense of duty and obligation, and feel a moral obligation to do the right thing.

Take a Personality Test now or view the full Personality Report.

*UPDATE*

More

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. But on the inside, you’re a total pushover and completely soft. You’re a traditionalist, and you don’t change easily. You’re likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it’s sold out.

What Donut Are You?

Less

Posted by JimK at 02:12 PM on April 19, 2008
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Categories: Personal

Free wireless at the hospital

I’m sitting in a waiting room at Yale-New Haven Hospital, surfing a wireless G connection that, if I’m being honest, is faster than what I shell out the big money for at home.  So far no restrictions on content either.  Not that I’m sitting here surfing porn or anything.  Much.

Do all hospitals have free “guest” wifi now?

It’s an MRI for Donna’s shoulder, BTW.  Serious but nothing life-threatening or anything.  Just aggravatingly painful for the poor woman.  Hopefully this will be the answer we need to figure out what’s wrong with it.

Posted by JimK at 05:03 PM on April 18, 2008
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Categories: Personal