Greetings, Friends.
Over the past year or so, you may have noticed that I'm just as likely to post info about my strange and possibly dangerous enthusiasm for strongman stuff as I am to talk about writing. It's not that I'm writing less, it's just that I'm finding a great amount of pleasure in the strongman stuff.
That said, this is my Writing Journal, and I don't necessarily want to inflict all this He-Man stuff on those of you who don't dig it. Thus, I've created a spot just for my strength pursuits. The big text below is click-able, and will take you there.
Behold The Caveman Gym!
Anyway, that's one of the things I've been up to. Cheers, and Happy New Year.
Showing posts with label man mountain dean and co.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label man mountain dean and co.. Show all posts
Friday, January 07, 2011
Monday, November 29, 2010
Pointless Subdivisions, Internet Cults, and Self Identification
In my years of prowling the badlands of the 'Net, I've found that people will identify with a particular thing, and then go about defending that thing with unparalleled vigor, even to the point of drawing the ire of everyone to which they come in contact. This behavior pattern seems to be the same regardless of the subject matter, or whether more than five people in all the world care about the argument. It could be a favored band, type of music, diet, exercise regime, anything.
Here is how you're likely to encounter this phenomenon:
"This is the thing that I (use/like/do/listen to/subscribe to): It is right, all other ways are wrong, and anyone who doesn't agree with me is a no-nothing !@#%!%."
In person, these individuals may be more circumspect in their assertion of their correctness, but on the 'Net, where one needn't be nice, or even engage in conduct generally becoming of a mammal, things can get ugly.
The sad thing is, the more obscure the issue, the more that these individuals distance themselves from those who might "dig" what they're talking about. It seems that the internecine violence and trash-talk grows more intense with the level of not-caring that is present in the average person. For instance, there are bloody religious wars about which plain text editor people like to use in Linux (.5% of the populace cares). There are terrible flame wars about which Black Metal bands are "true to the ethos" or "appropriately cold sounding" (most people are horrified within the first ten seconds). I don't even need to go deeply into actual religion, politics, or philosophy to illustrate this point, I shouldn't think.
Now, the most recent spate of this behavior that I've been seeing is in regards to the methods in which people choose to exercise. Specifically, the "style" of resistance training they choose to do. The power lifters give the Bronx Cheer to those who do arm curls. The Olympic Weightlifters lament the useless brawn of the power lifters. The bodybuilders shake their heads at the lack of aesthetic beauty and symmetry in a strength athlete. The guys slinging kettlebells are sure they've found "the way". The strongmen flipping tractor tires talk about "functional strength".
All of them are right, if what they're doing is meeting their goals and giving them peace of mind. All of them are wrong if they think that the answer that works for them will work for everyone. Everyone's body is different, everyone's goals lie in a trajectory only they understand. You don't like arm curls, and think they're a waste of gym time? Great. Don't do 'em. For others, maybe putting beef on their biceps is exactly what they want. Are they wrong? We don't get to make that choice. We should be happy that people are enjoying hoisting a weight, no matter why or how they choose to do it.
The same goes for music, or diet, or any of the thousand things that people champion on the 'Net. Hey, don't get me wrong. I think we should all be free to talk about what we like, what we do, what works for us. Someone looking for a new way of thinking or acting might read what we say and be swayed toward something that will be come "it" for them. We have the obligation, though, to put our ideas and beliefs forward in a positive way, with reasoned arguments in their favor. Regardless of what some people would have you believe, it IS our responsibility to act well on the 'Net. Flaming someone who thinks differently from you is NOT acceptable behavior.
I think this all comes down to wanting to belong, to self-identification. We are in a big world, with a great deal of information coming at us every day. We want to have a set of touchstones, our articles of faith, with which we can protect ourselves and cut the world down into edible segments. It's the remnants of the cave-folk from which we sprung. We decide what we believe, and that makes it easier. We fashion an "us" and a "them". It's a dangerous path, though. We shut too much out, we reduce things to the point of absurdity. We act as the agents of our own stultification.
If you find yourself on the verge of a cranky rant about some fine point of an obscure topic, think about it for a moment. If you were about to say, "Only wimps and poseurs would use the Smith Machine to squat," or, "real Black Metal sounds like Transylvanian Hunger," maybe you should step back, count to ten, and just be happy that someone else actually has an opinion about the topic you hold dear.
On that note, my own cranky rant is now concluded.
Here is how you're likely to encounter this phenomenon:
"This is the thing that I (use/like/do/listen to/subscribe to): It is right, all other ways are wrong, and anyone who doesn't agree with me is a no-nothing !@#%!%."
In person, these individuals may be more circumspect in their assertion of their correctness, but on the 'Net, where one needn't be nice, or even engage in conduct generally becoming of a mammal, things can get ugly.
The sad thing is, the more obscure the issue, the more that these individuals distance themselves from those who might "dig" what they're talking about. It seems that the internecine violence and trash-talk grows more intense with the level of not-caring that is present in the average person. For instance, there are bloody religious wars about which plain text editor people like to use in Linux (.5% of the populace cares). There are terrible flame wars about which Black Metal bands are "true to the ethos" or "appropriately cold sounding" (most people are horrified within the first ten seconds). I don't even need to go deeply into actual religion, politics, or philosophy to illustrate this point, I shouldn't think.
Now, the most recent spate of this behavior that I've been seeing is in regards to the methods in which people choose to exercise. Specifically, the "style" of resistance training they choose to do. The power lifters give the Bronx Cheer to those who do arm curls. The Olympic Weightlifters lament the useless brawn of the power lifters. The bodybuilders shake their heads at the lack of aesthetic beauty and symmetry in a strength athlete. The guys slinging kettlebells are sure they've found "the way". The strongmen flipping tractor tires talk about "functional strength".
All of them are right, if what they're doing is meeting their goals and giving them peace of mind. All of them are wrong if they think that the answer that works for them will work for everyone. Everyone's body is different, everyone's goals lie in a trajectory only they understand. You don't like arm curls, and think they're a waste of gym time? Great. Don't do 'em. For others, maybe putting beef on their biceps is exactly what they want. Are they wrong? We don't get to make that choice. We should be happy that people are enjoying hoisting a weight, no matter why or how they choose to do it.
The same goes for music, or diet, or any of the thousand things that people champion on the 'Net. Hey, don't get me wrong. I think we should all be free to talk about what we like, what we do, what works for us. Someone looking for a new way of thinking or acting might read what we say and be swayed toward something that will be come "it" for them. We have the obligation, though, to put our ideas and beliefs forward in a positive way, with reasoned arguments in their favor. Regardless of what some people would have you believe, it IS our responsibility to act well on the 'Net. Flaming someone who thinks differently from you is NOT acceptable behavior.
I think this all comes down to wanting to belong, to self-identification. We are in a big world, with a great deal of information coming at us every day. We want to have a set of touchstones, our articles of faith, with which we can protect ourselves and cut the world down into edible segments. It's the remnants of the cave-folk from which we sprung. We decide what we believe, and that makes it easier. We fashion an "us" and a "them". It's a dangerous path, though. We shut too much out, we reduce things to the point of absurdity. We act as the agents of our own stultification.
If you find yourself on the verge of a cranky rant about some fine point of an obscure topic, think about it for a moment. If you were about to say, "Only wimps and poseurs would use the Smith Machine to squat," or, "real Black Metal sounds like Transylvanian Hunger," maybe you should step back, count to ten, and just be happy that someone else actually has an opinion about the topic you hold dear.
On that note, my own cranky rant is now concluded.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Build Ludicrous Strength with Cinderblocks!
You say you don't have enough money to join a gym. You don't have the time to do the workouts you've heard of. You don't have any space in your house to store big exercise equipment. You get bored with the lifts you've been doing, and they don't appear to be doing all you hoped they would. Perhaps you've been working out, but noticed that, even with increases in your lifting totals, you're not feeling an increase in functional strength.
If you find any of the statements above cover issues you've been grappling with, I've got good news. There's a single, simple lifting implement you can buy for less than five dollars, and it'll give you a great, dynamic, scalable workout. What is it? A cinderblock.
Yep, that's right. You won't need to go to a sports store. Think more along the lines of a home improvement warehouse.
Why a cinderblock? Well, for one thing, they're fairly heavy, and this weight can be multiplied when they're held in a way that provides negative leverage. Second, they can be held in a variety of ways, since they're essentially an enclosed "H" pattern. Their inexpensive nature has already been mentioned. Finally, they don't need special care. They're all-weather. They can be treated roughly. They can be replaced if they get worn or broken.
What do you need? At least one cinderblock, sturdy gloves to protect your hands, protective shoes, and a flat place outside. That's right. Outside. Where we don't go nearly enough anymore. It might be hot, or cold, or somehow inclement. Go with it. It makes you feel more primal if you're hoisting something heavy in the snow.
What can you do with a cinderblock? Just about anything you can do with a dumbbell or kettlebell. In hand, they can be used for all manner of moves, both single and double handed. They can also be used as blocks to raise you off the ground, for instance to stand on while doing high pulls. Modified pushups using one or three cinderblocks can yield excellent results, as well. If you have some sort of bar, you can even rig a 'block on each side and have an ersatz barbell. If you want to get really junk yard dog, have your bar be a simple cut section of 1/2 inch rebar. Or the axle from an old Dodge Dart. That'll give you some street cred.
Finally, when simple weight lifting moves are getting easy, cinderblocks can be made even more challenging by throwing and catching them in a variety of ways. This forces your body to not only accelerate the implement suddenly (generally recruiting all the stabilizing and skeletal muscles of the body in a dynamic, positive contraction), but you must catch and thus decelerate the implement, which will require you to key all the opposing muscle groups in a negative repetition. In both cases, the body will encounter significantly higher loading than you might guess, considering the modest weight of the cinderblock itself. Oh, and it's pretty darned fun, too.
Tell me about the benefit, you say. Okay. Number one, cinderblocks will challenge your grip, wrist, and forearm strength much more than the equivalent lifts with dumbbells. This is because you're going to have to lift them with either a pinch, flat hand, or hook grip, none of which are as easy as holding a narrow-gauge iron bar. Because of a cinderblocks's shape, the leverage will also scale more aggressively as it swings from one orientation to another, thus giving the illusion of being heavier than it really is.
Because cinderblocks can be used for dynamic, full-body movements, the workout can be finished quite quickly. Aggressively lift a cinderblock for fifteen minutes, and you'll feel it. Not just in your muscles, but in your cardiovascular system. Challenge yourself to take short breaks and to move the 'block steadily, and you'll find that you're huffing and puffing before long.
So: with a cinderblock workout, you've got total body recruitment in most exercies, short, intense workouts, cardiovascular upside, and strong upside in functional strength. If you routinely sling cinderblocks, any weird item you'll have to hoist in daily life will probably seem pretty easy.
Some warnings and caveats: Cinderblocks are, by their nature, hard to hang on to. You'll drop them from time to time. Keep your safety gear on at all times, and keep your wits about you. 'Blocks are also, well, evil. They are essentially designed to break toes and create abrasions to skin. You may have to progress slowly, working up to the more challenging movements. You'll certainly have to bail on a lift now and then, so it doesn't end up clobbering you. For this reason, DON'T use them in a furnished part of your house. This is a great way to force yourself to learn how to spackle, or repair that nice coffee table you like so much. If you have to do 'block work indoors, do it in a garage or unfinished basement room (make sure you won't hit the ceiling with overhead lifts). Also, any time you're working on a hard surface, like concrete, remember that you will crack your 'block if you drop it very often. Find a patch of grass, or at least put down some of that gym matting for your floor. Can you hurt yourself with a cinderblock. Yes. The same is true of any heavy object. If you're somewhat circumspect, however, they are not dangerous. Just challenging.
Should you start throwing cinderblocks if you haven't arisen from the couch in several years? Not before you do a little background work, and see a doctor to make sure you're in good health. If you've been working out in other ways, though, doing a quick 'block workout a few times a week can yield great benefits. If you want to see what it's all about, check out the first in my video series about 'block workouts, below. If you want to know more about this and other strength stunts, please visit my listing at http://www.youtube.com (search for thorwulfx1).
Happy hoisting!
If you find any of the statements above cover issues you've been grappling with, I've got good news. There's a single, simple lifting implement you can buy for less than five dollars, and it'll give you a great, dynamic, scalable workout. What is it? A cinderblock.
Yep, that's right. You won't need to go to a sports store. Think more along the lines of a home improvement warehouse.
Why a cinderblock? Well, for one thing, they're fairly heavy, and this weight can be multiplied when they're held in a way that provides negative leverage. Second, they can be held in a variety of ways, since they're essentially an enclosed "H" pattern. Their inexpensive nature has already been mentioned. Finally, they don't need special care. They're all-weather. They can be treated roughly. They can be replaced if they get worn or broken.
What do you need? At least one cinderblock, sturdy gloves to protect your hands, protective shoes, and a flat place outside. That's right. Outside. Where we don't go nearly enough anymore. It might be hot, or cold, or somehow inclement. Go with it. It makes you feel more primal if you're hoisting something heavy in the snow.
What can you do with a cinderblock? Just about anything you can do with a dumbbell or kettlebell. In hand, they can be used for all manner of moves, both single and double handed. They can also be used as blocks to raise you off the ground, for instance to stand on while doing high pulls. Modified pushups using one or three cinderblocks can yield excellent results, as well. If you have some sort of bar, you can even rig a 'block on each side and have an ersatz barbell. If you want to get really junk yard dog, have your bar be a simple cut section of 1/2 inch rebar. Or the axle from an old Dodge Dart. That'll give you some street cred.
Finally, when simple weight lifting moves are getting easy, cinderblocks can be made even more challenging by throwing and catching them in a variety of ways. This forces your body to not only accelerate the implement suddenly (generally recruiting all the stabilizing and skeletal muscles of the body in a dynamic, positive contraction), but you must catch and thus decelerate the implement, which will require you to key all the opposing muscle groups in a negative repetition. In both cases, the body will encounter significantly higher loading than you might guess, considering the modest weight of the cinderblock itself. Oh, and it's pretty darned fun, too.
Tell me about the benefit, you say. Okay. Number one, cinderblocks will challenge your grip, wrist, and forearm strength much more than the equivalent lifts with dumbbells. This is because you're going to have to lift them with either a pinch, flat hand, or hook grip, none of which are as easy as holding a narrow-gauge iron bar. Because of a cinderblocks's shape, the leverage will also scale more aggressively as it swings from one orientation to another, thus giving the illusion of being heavier than it really is.
Because cinderblocks can be used for dynamic, full-body movements, the workout can be finished quite quickly. Aggressively lift a cinderblock for fifteen minutes, and you'll feel it. Not just in your muscles, but in your cardiovascular system. Challenge yourself to take short breaks and to move the 'block steadily, and you'll find that you're huffing and puffing before long.
So: with a cinderblock workout, you've got total body recruitment in most exercies, short, intense workouts, cardiovascular upside, and strong upside in functional strength. If you routinely sling cinderblocks, any weird item you'll have to hoist in daily life will probably seem pretty easy.
Some warnings and caveats: Cinderblocks are, by their nature, hard to hang on to. You'll drop them from time to time. Keep your safety gear on at all times, and keep your wits about you. 'Blocks are also, well, evil. They are essentially designed to break toes and create abrasions to skin. You may have to progress slowly, working up to the more challenging movements. You'll certainly have to bail on a lift now and then, so it doesn't end up clobbering you. For this reason, DON'T use them in a furnished part of your house. This is a great way to force yourself to learn how to spackle, or repair that nice coffee table you like so much. If you have to do 'block work indoors, do it in a garage or unfinished basement room (make sure you won't hit the ceiling with overhead lifts). Also, any time you're working on a hard surface, like concrete, remember that you will crack your 'block if you drop it very often. Find a patch of grass, or at least put down some of that gym matting for your floor. Can you hurt yourself with a cinderblock. Yes. The same is true of any heavy object. If you're somewhat circumspect, however, they are not dangerous. Just challenging.
Should you start throwing cinderblocks if you haven't arisen from the couch in several years? Not before you do a little background work, and see a doctor to make sure you're in good health. If you've been working out in other ways, though, doing a quick 'block workout a few times a week can yield great benefits. If you want to see what it's all about, check out the first in my video series about 'block workouts, below. If you want to know more about this and other strength stunts, please visit my listing at http://www.youtube.com (search for thorwulfx1).
Happy hoisting!
Monday, November 01, 2010
World Fantasy 2010
Had a great time at WF this year. Roomed with my friends Paul Genesse and Brad Beaulieu. Hung out with too many awesome people to easily recount, including my friends Ken and Kelly Swails. Brad B.'s book, Winds of Kahalakovo (sp?), is coming out on April 1st (no joke). He, Kelly, and Paul did a joint reading from the book, and I think it's going to be beautiful, action packed, and generally going to kick major ass. Pick it up, if you know what's good for you.
Went to many great panels and readings, including one on Icelandic lit, which was very informative. Dug the readings I went to, including a big battle-royale reading by a bunch of the Black Gate writers. That was fun, and kept me out of noisy parties all evening.
I'm pretty charged up about the whole thing. Only downside to the whole trip was the travel part, wherein it all turned pear shaped. I'll recount that episode on another day, probably, except for the part the Paul G. and I swore would never be spoken of again.
In any case, I'll end here with another video, this one of my "Serenity Bend", where I get all Zen-like as I squash a nail, or something.
Hope you're well, and you dig the video.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Destroying tools, part two
Okay, so I hated this wrench. It's the crappiest crescent wrench I've ever used. I took my revenge, snapping it in half. Check out the pic below. It gave way really easily. Not much of a feat, but it made me feel good. Take care, folks.
You, too, can bend a nail!
Hey, Folks. I've been busy posting more videos, and these include a series that gives you the basics of bending nails (or any short steel), in case you're inclined to take up the hobby. The video below is the first of four instructional posts, and there's also one of me just bending a whole passel of nails to the groovy sounds of Bolt Thrower's "K Machine". That one might scare your co-workers or the family pet, so watch the volume. If the video below doesn't suggest the others in the series, you can see all my videos by going to YouTube and typing in thorwulfx1 into the search.
Happy viewing!
Happy viewing!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Chromium Vanadium Steel vs. Oafish Might
Oafish Might for the win!
My boss had the hand wrench shown in the following pictures, and while working had somehow gotten a screw head hopelessly lodged in the tool. He said something like, "here, bend this." I went for it. In a braced bend (thigh), the tool didn't stand a chance. It made a twig-like snap.
Here are pictures, as well as an updated photo of my "cup 'o nails". Cheers!
It snapped inside the handle.
Chrome Vanadium isn't very flexible. The tool only
deflected a few degrees before snapping.
Beware the oafish hands!
Cup 'O Nails, with a whole slew of 60D nails,
a grade 5 bolt, and the broken tool:
Well, I hope that was fun. I enjoyed posting it.
Peace, love, and twisted metal!
Cup 'O Nails, with a whole slew of 60D nails,
a grade 5 bolt, and the broken tool:
Well, I hope that was fun. I enjoyed posting it.
Peace, love, and twisted metal!
Monday, August 16, 2010
What Are They Building In There?
Strange things are afoot in my backyard. The sounds of construction fill the air. Hammers and circular saws produce their characteristic songs, punctuated by whispered commentary about how hot it is, and occasional imprecations that, in essence, direct some unknown individual to engage in intimate congress with a wild man.
These were scenes that took place yesterday, as I was building "the target backstop the likes of which even the gods have not seen."
It occurred to me that, although my cobbled-together backstop had served adequately in the past, it was wise and prudent to create something more permanent. Not just permanent, but, ahem, monolithic.
And I did, with the help of my trusty comrade, Bob. The only difficulty was that, when fully built, said backstop was so heavy that it was nearly impossible to move into place. I had enticed my friend, Chris, to come over, and took the opportunity to prevail upon him to give me a hand with the heavy lifting.
The new backstop is 6'4" by 6', and is strong enough to stop, I'm confident enough to venture, any arrow shot from any bow in existence. I like it.
Now, I just have to get my bows back in order...but that's going to be the subject for another entry.
I finally "finished" work on my now-huge "All These Violent Heirlooms" story. I've put the last bit out for critique, though I suspect that I'll have to write something of a postscript. We shall see. At least I know what the critique will be, if it proves necessary.
Work continues on my other two most current stories, "Be it Dead or Alive" and "Hunting Season Again". Both are reaching impressive word counts, and both await their big climactic scenes, which I hope I'm capable of providing.
After feeling under the weather most of last week, I am more or less back to being myself again. I don't know exactly what it was, but there were issues with my belly and parts south. For the sake of decorum, I'll say no more.
In bending news, I finally was able to hunt down some new flexible PVC pipe on Saturday, which will allow me to get back into the regime with more facility. Just to test them out, I bent a few Iron Mind Blue Nails yesterday. After hours of actual physical work, I found them slightly more difficult than normal, but they fell prey to my onslaught.
Next time, I'll probably have more to tell you about the archery thing, as well as my further adventures with writing, bending, and whatever new hobby I'll have cottoned on to by then.
May your pen be quick, your grip mighty, and your bull's eye crowded with arrows.
These were scenes that took place yesterday, as I was building "the target backstop the likes of which even the gods have not seen."
It occurred to me that, although my cobbled-together backstop had served adequately in the past, it was wise and prudent to create something more permanent. Not just permanent, but, ahem, monolithic.
And I did, with the help of my trusty comrade, Bob. The only difficulty was that, when fully built, said backstop was so heavy that it was nearly impossible to move into place. I had enticed my friend, Chris, to come over, and took the opportunity to prevail upon him to give me a hand with the heavy lifting.
The new backstop is 6'4" by 6', and is strong enough to stop, I'm confident enough to venture, any arrow shot from any bow in existence. I like it.
Now, I just have to get my bows back in order...but that's going to be the subject for another entry.
I finally "finished" work on my now-huge "All These Violent Heirlooms" story. I've put the last bit out for critique, though I suspect that I'll have to write something of a postscript. We shall see. At least I know what the critique will be, if it proves necessary.
Work continues on my other two most current stories, "Be it Dead or Alive" and "Hunting Season Again". Both are reaching impressive word counts, and both await their big climactic scenes, which I hope I'm capable of providing.
After feeling under the weather most of last week, I am more or less back to being myself again. I don't know exactly what it was, but there were issues with my belly and parts south. For the sake of decorum, I'll say no more.
In bending news, I finally was able to hunt down some new flexible PVC pipe on Saturday, which will allow me to get back into the regime with more facility. Just to test them out, I bent a few Iron Mind Blue Nails yesterday. After hours of actual physical work, I found them slightly more difficult than normal, but they fell prey to my onslaught.
Next time, I'll probably have more to tell you about the archery thing, as well as my further adventures with writing, bending, and whatever new hobby I'll have cottoned on to by then.
May your pen be quick, your grip mighty, and your bull's eye crowded with arrows.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Raising Sand, Archery, and Bass Notes
Hey there, folks. Here I am to update you on all my meaningless pursuits.
1) Raising Sand:
I'm happy to announce that I'm back in the sandbagging business. That is to say, I've been doing my sandbag/bucket/cinderblock workout. Strange implements? Yes. Results? Oh, you betcha!
I use the cinderblock for one-handed clean and jerks with a pinch grip, for curls, and for axe-motion swings, as well as for a footstool, and occasional stands for elevated push-ups.
The bucket (once containing ice melter, now with 50 pounds of sand) is used for lateral swings, high pulls "barrel lifts" and as the handy chair for catching my breath.
I have 50 and 100 pound bags. The fifty I use for a variety of one handed exercises, as well as one shoulder squats and so on. The hundred is primarily used for squats, carrying, and the ever popular overhead lift from the ground.
While you can put together a "gym" like mine for perhaps 20 or 30 bucks, it'll give you a heck of a "caveman" workout. When the new-school exercise folks talk about working their "core", this exercise delivers. Perhaps this wouldn't give you all your "showy" muscles, but with these humble and cheap implements, you could get yourself a serious level of real, applicable, strength. Did I mention that these workouts are brutal, spraying-sweat, hold-on-because-I'm dizzy cardio mongers? I think I just did. Highly recommended, should you become tired of the too-clean gym and all its half-hearted members who've never yelled with effort in their lives. A room with a tall ceiling (garage, barn, etc. is okay, but I say that outside on the lawn is best for these workouts. Especially if its really hot, really cold, or otherwise inclement. That just makes you feel more in touch with your inner "aminal".
Archery:
I didn't even have a bow when I was a kid. Was I deprived? Possibly. Doubt it, though. I did have my own actual, sharp, real axe when I was about five. And I used it. I got my first .22 at ten. I did fine.
But no bows. I'd always been interested, though. As a fantasy geek, they're one of the staples. I'd just never taken any steps to get into the hobby.
Now, when I think of bows, I think of a bent stick, essentially. A long bow, or a recurve, like we always had on a mantle, but had never actually put a string on.
So...that's not the state of the art in bows any more. Not by a long, long, space age shot. The new bows are "compound" bows. They have pulleys or cams that attach to limbs made of carbon graphite or some other "unobtanium" material. The handle..."riser" in the parlance of the sport, is made of some hard metal, and doesn't bend at all. The bow has sights, one on the string (a "peep" sight...a ring of metal), and one on the riser deedelybopper. You sight it like a military rifle, centering the sight "pin" in the aperture and placing it over the target. You don't even have to draw it back with your fingers. For that, you've got a "release aid". These go around your wrist, and you attach them to a the string after you nock the arrow. When you have 'er pulled back and want to shoot, you just press a triggering mechanism of some sort and there goes the arrow.
Now, that's another thing. These new bows are quiet. Think of the sound a slingshot makes. That's about it. And the arrows...yeah, they're made of aluminum or carbon fiber/graphite/vapor spun turbonium as well.
Now, it's called "archery", but hey, these new ultra-bows propel an arrow at 300 or more feet per second (over 200 miles per hour!), and there's no arc involved unless you're more than 35 or 40 yards from your target.
How do I know all this stuff. Well, a kind benefactor (my cousin Bob) decided that I didn't have enough hobbies, and he brought me down a bow he'd built up a few years back, but wasn't really able to shoot anymore. The bow in question is a BowTech Black Knight II. Sounds wicked? Yes. It is. This is a hairy-chested monster of a bow. When I first tried to draw it, I was humbled, feeling like the suitors trying to marry Odysseus' wife, who were unable to string his mighty weapon.
The Black Knight bow is serious. I'm a fairly burly dude, okay, and I didn't expect that there'd be a bow that would give me any guff. I got guff. In my defense, I'd just had a crushing chest and back workout, and my muscles were fried. Still and all.
That was the try/fail cycle. Now, to the awesome. The Black Knight II OWNS! I had a dead-on x-ring hit on my eighth shot ever. In three sessions of shooting, I've only had one bad shot, and that was purely my fault. I wiggled, or something. The bow really takes exacting form, lots of force, and total concentration, but if you give it what it wants, it's more accurate than all but a few of my pistols.
It hits like a train, too. Shooting into a bag stuffed with cardboard, plastic, carpet, and other tough material, I've nearly gone all the way through more than once. I've actually busted up three arrows, two with their fletchings (feathers) ripped up, and one that actually lost its point in the bag. I'm really impressed. These new bows are accurate, quiet, comfortable to shoot (just watch the draw weight...I'd suggest 40 pounds for smaller folk, 50 to 60 for your average guy, and 70 only for experienced shooters or really strong dudes). The Black Knight was tuned up to 85 pounds draw weight, and has a really, really aggressive profile that holds that maximum weight through several inches of the draw. Hence, the sweating and straining. Bob tuned the bow down somewhat, probably in the 78-80 pound range, and that's comfy for me at this point. I think that, once I've acclimated to the motion, I could turn it back up to full starch, but I question whether it would be any benefit to me. The bow's shooting right on the money, and I think that it has enough pop to go through the skull of a zombie, should the need arise.
To sum up: Archery is sweet. I have a new hobby. Damn.
Bass Notes:
Now, on to old hobbies.
I got my first electric bass at 16, trading in an old alto sax I hadn't played for years. It was an Ibanez, and came home with a little Crate practice amp. That combo lasted me all the way through college, and played a lot of Iron Maiden and so on. Bass Guitars are great, because you can pick up a fun, recognizable riff your first day out (at least I could...Iron Man by Black Sabbath). That said, if you get ambitious and start trying stuff from Rush, Maiden, the Who, or any Jazz stuff, there's a lot of terrain to cover.
I picked up a big Peavey amp in the late 90's and it was great. The problem was, the pickups and electronics on my old Ibanez were starting to go south. I'd get a tremendous amount of hum if I didn't constantly blunt the strings with the heel of my hand, and if I moved at all, I'd get signal dropout from the old, punky patch plug.
Because, around that time, I had the opportunity (crazily!) to teach guitar classes at a high school, I began to really dig playing the acoustic six string. With the difficulties I was having with the bass, I sort of put it aside and focused on the classical style vinyl string acoustic.
Fast forward around twelve years, and I'm having the hard, evil jones to play bass again. Do I want to suffer the slings and arrows of trying to rehab my old bass? Maybe one day, but I want to frikkin' play, man. I don't want a months-long odyssey of installing new pickups and electronics, I want results. Lights, camera, revolution!
Thus, I went down to my local Guitar Center and started plunking and thunking on their selection of basses. I had been enamored of the acoustic body bass guitar for a while, but the selection had been sparse and pricey for a long time. I liked the Dean brand basses, and they were semi-reasonable, but they were never in stock. I respected the Breedloves, but man, 800 bucks? Ouch.
I started to feel dispair. I tried out some four strings (like my old bass), but felt like I wanted something that wouldn't be "supliferous" once I actually renovated my old machine. Six strings? Yeah, great, but their necks are huge, and they're heavy! Plus, you're tied to the amp, just like before.
I came back around to that old wish for the acoustic body. I like to be able to pick up the guitar and move around with it. To play it quietly so it doesn't terrify my parakeet or wake up the neighbors.
Finally, as I was starting to wonder if I'd ever find a match, there it was. A black-lacquer Ibanez AEB-10. She was beautiful. She was a tuneful. She could rock like a hurricane when plugged in. And she was a cheap date. Overwhelmed with concupiscence, I took her home.
Let me tell you folks, there's no buyer's remorse here. I haven't had this much fun playing the bass since I learned the bridge section of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". I lament only that I don't have enough hours in the day to explore all my hobbies like I'd wish to.
To sum up again: Old hobby came back, with a vengeance. I like vengeance. Damn.
That's the news. Hope you're all well.
1) Raising Sand:
I'm happy to announce that I'm back in the sandbagging business. That is to say, I've been doing my sandbag/bucket/cinderblock workout. Strange implements? Yes. Results? Oh, you betcha!
I use the cinderblock for one-handed clean and jerks with a pinch grip, for curls, and for axe-motion swings, as well as for a footstool, and occasional stands for elevated push-ups.
The bucket (once containing ice melter, now with 50 pounds of sand) is used for lateral swings, high pulls "barrel lifts" and as the handy chair for catching my breath.
I have 50 and 100 pound bags. The fifty I use for a variety of one handed exercises, as well as one shoulder squats and so on. The hundred is primarily used for squats, carrying, and the ever popular overhead lift from the ground.
While you can put together a "gym" like mine for perhaps 20 or 30 bucks, it'll give you a heck of a "caveman" workout. When the new-school exercise folks talk about working their "core", this exercise delivers. Perhaps this wouldn't give you all your "showy" muscles, but with these humble and cheap implements, you could get yourself a serious level of real, applicable, strength. Did I mention that these workouts are brutal, spraying-sweat, hold-on-because-I'm dizzy cardio mongers? I think I just did. Highly recommended, should you become tired of the too-clean gym and all its half-hearted members who've never yelled with effort in their lives. A room with a tall ceiling (garage, barn, etc. is okay, but I say that outside on the lawn is best for these workouts. Especially if its really hot, really cold, or otherwise inclement. That just makes you feel more in touch with your inner "aminal".
Archery:
I didn't even have a bow when I was a kid. Was I deprived? Possibly. Doubt it, though. I did have my own actual, sharp, real axe when I was about five. And I used it. I got my first .22 at ten. I did fine.
But no bows. I'd always been interested, though. As a fantasy geek, they're one of the staples. I'd just never taken any steps to get into the hobby.
Now, when I think of bows, I think of a bent stick, essentially. A long bow, or a recurve, like we always had on a mantle, but had never actually put a string on.
So...that's not the state of the art in bows any more. Not by a long, long, space age shot. The new bows are "compound" bows. They have pulleys or cams that attach to limbs made of carbon graphite or some other "unobtanium" material. The handle..."riser" in the parlance of the sport, is made of some hard metal, and doesn't bend at all. The bow has sights, one on the string (a "peep" sight...a ring of metal), and one on the riser deedelybopper. You sight it like a military rifle, centering the sight "pin" in the aperture and placing it over the target. You don't even have to draw it back with your fingers. For that, you've got a "release aid". These go around your wrist, and you attach them to a the string after you nock the arrow. When you have 'er pulled back and want to shoot, you just press a triggering mechanism of some sort and there goes the arrow.
Now, that's another thing. These new bows are quiet. Think of the sound a slingshot makes. That's about it. And the arrows...yeah, they're made of aluminum or carbon fiber/graphite/vapor spun turbonium as well.
Now, it's called "archery", but hey, these new ultra-bows propel an arrow at 300 or more feet per second (over 200 miles per hour!), and there's no arc involved unless you're more than 35 or 40 yards from your target.
How do I know all this stuff. Well, a kind benefactor (my cousin Bob) decided that I didn't have enough hobbies, and he brought me down a bow he'd built up a few years back, but wasn't really able to shoot anymore. The bow in question is a BowTech Black Knight II. Sounds wicked? Yes. It is. This is a hairy-chested monster of a bow. When I first tried to draw it, I was humbled, feeling like the suitors trying to marry Odysseus' wife, who were unable to string his mighty weapon.
The Black Knight bow is serious. I'm a fairly burly dude, okay, and I didn't expect that there'd be a bow that would give me any guff. I got guff. In my defense, I'd just had a crushing chest and back workout, and my muscles were fried. Still and all.
That was the try/fail cycle. Now, to the awesome. The Black Knight II OWNS! I had a dead-on x-ring hit on my eighth shot ever. In three sessions of shooting, I've only had one bad shot, and that was purely my fault. I wiggled, or something. The bow really takes exacting form, lots of force, and total concentration, but if you give it what it wants, it's more accurate than all but a few of my pistols.
It hits like a train, too. Shooting into a bag stuffed with cardboard, plastic, carpet, and other tough material, I've nearly gone all the way through more than once. I've actually busted up three arrows, two with their fletchings (feathers) ripped up, and one that actually lost its point in the bag. I'm really impressed. These new bows are accurate, quiet, comfortable to shoot (just watch the draw weight...I'd suggest 40 pounds for smaller folk, 50 to 60 for your average guy, and 70 only for experienced shooters or really strong dudes). The Black Knight was tuned up to 85 pounds draw weight, and has a really, really aggressive profile that holds that maximum weight through several inches of the draw. Hence, the sweating and straining. Bob tuned the bow down somewhat, probably in the 78-80 pound range, and that's comfy for me at this point. I think that, once I've acclimated to the motion, I could turn it back up to full starch, but I question whether it would be any benefit to me. The bow's shooting right on the money, and I think that it has enough pop to go through the skull of a zombie, should the need arise.
To sum up: Archery is sweet. I have a new hobby. Damn.
Bass Notes:
Now, on to old hobbies.
I got my first electric bass at 16, trading in an old alto sax I hadn't played for years. It was an Ibanez, and came home with a little Crate practice amp. That combo lasted me all the way through college, and played a lot of Iron Maiden and so on. Bass Guitars are great, because you can pick up a fun, recognizable riff your first day out (at least I could...Iron Man by Black Sabbath). That said, if you get ambitious and start trying stuff from Rush, Maiden, the Who, or any Jazz stuff, there's a lot of terrain to cover.
I picked up a big Peavey amp in the late 90's and it was great. The problem was, the pickups and electronics on my old Ibanez were starting to go south. I'd get a tremendous amount of hum if I didn't constantly blunt the strings with the heel of my hand, and if I moved at all, I'd get signal dropout from the old, punky patch plug.
Because, around that time, I had the opportunity (crazily!) to teach guitar classes at a high school, I began to really dig playing the acoustic six string. With the difficulties I was having with the bass, I sort of put it aside and focused on the classical style vinyl string acoustic.
Fast forward around twelve years, and I'm having the hard, evil jones to play bass again. Do I want to suffer the slings and arrows of trying to rehab my old bass? Maybe one day, but I want to frikkin' play, man. I don't want a months-long odyssey of installing new pickups and electronics, I want results. Lights, camera, revolution!
Thus, I went down to my local Guitar Center and started plunking and thunking on their selection of basses. I had been enamored of the acoustic body bass guitar for a while, but the selection had been sparse and pricey for a long time. I liked the Dean brand basses, and they were semi-reasonable, but they were never in stock. I respected the Breedloves, but man, 800 bucks? Ouch.
I started to feel dispair. I tried out some four strings (like my old bass), but felt like I wanted something that wouldn't be "supliferous" once I actually renovated my old machine. Six strings? Yeah, great, but their necks are huge, and they're heavy! Plus, you're tied to the amp, just like before.
I came back around to that old wish for the acoustic body. I like to be able to pick up the guitar and move around with it. To play it quietly so it doesn't terrify my parakeet or wake up the neighbors.
Finally, as I was starting to wonder if I'd ever find a match, there it was. A black-lacquer Ibanez AEB-10. She was beautiful. She was a tuneful. She could rock like a hurricane when plugged in. And she was a cheap date. Overwhelmed with concupiscence, I took her home.
Let me tell you folks, there's no buyer's remorse here. I haven't had this much fun playing the bass since I learned the bridge section of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". I lament only that I don't have enough hours in the day to explore all my hobbies like I'd wish to.
To sum up again: Old hobby came back, with a vengeance. I like vengeance. Damn.
That's the news. Hope you're all well.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Lifting and Music
Hey, Folks:
This is turning into a workout journal, huh?
Well, not completely, but I suppose that's been taking up a good number of my blogs of late.
So, then, here it comes...yep, the workout element.
My system's bearing up well to increasing levels of cardio tribulation. All the levels I'm hitting on my cardio workouts are going up. I burned, for instance, 363 calories in 15 minutes on the elliptical machine yesterday, over 100 in 15 minutes on the recumbent bike, and, well, an unknown amount during my arms and shoulders routine. It was an "aces" workout. My arms and shoulders were pumped to a level they haven't been in some time.
My basic lifting idea is to keep it quick, simple, and challenging. Here's my routine, as it stands:
Day One: Chest and Back (All exercises 3 x 10, unless otherwise noted)
Chest Press (incline)
Cable Pull Down (Wide Neutral Grip)
Chest Flyes
Cable Pull Down (Wide, Behind Neck)
Dumbell Pullovers
Dumbell Bent-over Rows
(Plus abs and cardio)
Day Two: Legs/Trunk
Leg Press (6-8 sets, ascending weight)
(with)
Calf Presses (sets as above, x20 reps)
***
Leg Curls
Leg Extensions
Weighted Back Extensions (6 x 10)
(Plus abs and cardio)
Day Three: Shoulders and Arms
Shoulder Press
Upright Rows
Front Raises (one set)
Lateral Raises (one set)
Rear Shoulder Raises (one set)
Dumbell French Press (or barbell skullcrushers)
Supinating Biceps Curls
Dips (or reverse grip cable push-downs)
Reverse Curls
(Plus cardio)
So, I devote three exercises to most muscle groups, with four going to legs and arms. I take the absolute minimum of time between sets and exercises, to keep my pulse high and my muscles on the ropes. In general, I like to have the weights and cardio done within 1.5 hours, at the very longest.
Currently, I sometimes throw in another cardio workout if I can, and there's a bending/crushing routine, generally on Thursday or Friday. I hope to add in a sandbag lifting workout at some point, but I'm trying to figure out where it could be done without negatively impacting the rest of my workout days. Sunday would be the natural day for it, but I'm concerned that it would overload that part of the week. Hmm. Pesky time.
On to other things: Music!
I've been going back to the early days of the "Gothenberg Sound", in regards to Melodic Death Metal. I've been a big fan of Dark Tranquility for years, but the oldest CD of theirs that I'd heard was "The Mind's I". I'd heard a lot about "The Gallery" being their definitive work, and I'd been interested in "Skydancer" and " Of Chaos and Eternal Night", as well.
I went ahead and picked those up, and have been listening to them this week. My early impressions are as such:
Skydancer is much different from later DT stuff. Totally different vocal sound (different singer) to begin with. I prefer Stanne's voice, to be honest, but it's interesting stuff. The musical formula had not been solidified at that point, and so they were trying a variety of motifs. Sometimes they work, other times, they're a little odd. There is some female singing, and some clean singing by Stanne on this release, but it's not as well integrated as in later stuff. Production, while pretty good, is not as elaborate and powerful as later releases.
Of Chaos and Eternal Night is a short EP that shows DT beginning to find their sound. It's a bridge between what they were and what they would become. I think that Century Media has a release that encompasses both Skydancer and Of Chaos... For the melo-death fan, it's a worthy purchase.
The Gallery really does show Dark Tranquility finding its groove. Much of the hallmark sound is there, though The Gallery, to my ear, sounds as if it uses more of the stop/start technique that can be heard in other sorts of death metal and metal in general than any of the other releases. Probably more dual guitar leads here, too. Really good album. I don't think it towers above the others, as some would assert, but because it's the seminal release that helped create a genre, it's worthy. A must-buy for fans of the style, and probably for metal-heads in general.
I also picked up the other melo-death lynch-pins that are often sited as having created the genre: "Slaughter of the Soul" by At the Gates and "The Jester Race" by In Flames.
These releases are very much "of a piece" with the DT stuff of that era. "Slaughter of the Soul" is much more straight-forward. Like a punch in the face from Kerry King of Slayer. This is intensified, death-vox thrash. Good stuff. If you like Slayer and want something similar, albeit with grim vocals, this is your record. The re-release has a neat cover of "Captor of Sin", too.
"The Jester Race" is much more varied musically. As death metal goes, it doesn't get much more catchy. The songs have musical ebb and flow, acoustic interludes, and inventive riffing. I'm not a huge fan of the vocalist, honestly. Some of his screams have that agonized quality that I'm not into, but it's far from a deal-breaker. This is an "important" album, and any metalhead who can deal with death vocals should pick it up.
Okay. That's a long blog. I'm stopping now. I'll have other news for you soon.
Peace.
This is turning into a workout journal, huh?
Well, not completely, but I suppose that's been taking up a good number of my blogs of late.
So, then, here it comes...yep, the workout element.
My system's bearing up well to increasing levels of cardio tribulation. All the levels I'm hitting on my cardio workouts are going up. I burned, for instance, 363 calories in 15 minutes on the elliptical machine yesterday, over 100 in 15 minutes on the recumbent bike, and, well, an unknown amount during my arms and shoulders routine. It was an "aces" workout. My arms and shoulders were pumped to a level they haven't been in some time.
My basic lifting idea is to keep it quick, simple, and challenging. Here's my routine, as it stands:
Day One: Chest and Back (All exercises 3 x 10, unless otherwise noted)
Chest Press (incline)
Cable Pull Down (Wide Neutral Grip)
Chest Flyes
Cable Pull Down (Wide, Behind Neck)
Dumbell Pullovers
Dumbell Bent-over Rows
(Plus abs and cardio)
Day Two: Legs/Trunk
Leg Press (6-8 sets, ascending weight)
(with)
Calf Presses (sets as above, x20 reps)
***
Leg Curls
Leg Extensions
Weighted Back Extensions (6 x 10)
(Plus abs and cardio)
Day Three: Shoulders and Arms
Shoulder Press
Upright Rows
Front Raises (one set)
Lateral Raises (one set)
Rear Shoulder Raises (one set)
Dumbell French Press (or barbell skullcrushers)
Supinating Biceps Curls
Dips (or reverse grip cable push-downs)
Reverse Curls
(Plus cardio)
So, I devote three exercises to most muscle groups, with four going to legs and arms. I take the absolute minimum of time between sets and exercises, to keep my pulse high and my muscles on the ropes. In general, I like to have the weights and cardio done within 1.5 hours, at the very longest.
Currently, I sometimes throw in another cardio workout if I can, and there's a bending/crushing routine, generally on Thursday or Friday. I hope to add in a sandbag lifting workout at some point, but I'm trying to figure out where it could be done without negatively impacting the rest of my workout days. Sunday would be the natural day for it, but I'm concerned that it would overload that part of the week. Hmm. Pesky time.
On to other things: Music!
I've been going back to the early days of the "Gothenberg Sound", in regards to Melodic Death Metal. I've been a big fan of Dark Tranquility for years, but the oldest CD of theirs that I'd heard was "The Mind's I". I'd heard a lot about "The Gallery" being their definitive work, and I'd been interested in "Skydancer" and " Of Chaos and Eternal Night", as well.
I went ahead and picked those up, and have been listening to them this week. My early impressions are as such:
Skydancer is much different from later DT stuff. Totally different vocal sound (different singer) to begin with. I prefer Stanne's voice, to be honest, but it's interesting stuff. The musical formula had not been solidified at that point, and so they were trying a variety of motifs. Sometimes they work, other times, they're a little odd. There is some female singing, and some clean singing by Stanne on this release, but it's not as well integrated as in later stuff. Production, while pretty good, is not as elaborate and powerful as later releases.
Of Chaos and Eternal Night is a short EP that shows DT beginning to find their sound. It's a bridge between what they were and what they would become. I think that Century Media has a release that encompasses both Skydancer and Of Chaos... For the melo-death fan, it's a worthy purchase.
The Gallery really does show Dark Tranquility finding its groove. Much of the hallmark sound is there, though The Gallery, to my ear, sounds as if it uses more of the stop/start technique that can be heard in other sorts of death metal and metal in general than any of the other releases. Probably more dual guitar leads here, too. Really good album. I don't think it towers above the others, as some would assert, but because it's the seminal release that helped create a genre, it's worthy. A must-buy for fans of the style, and probably for metal-heads in general.
I also picked up the other melo-death lynch-pins that are often sited as having created the genre: "Slaughter of the Soul" by At the Gates and "The Jester Race" by In Flames.
These releases are very much "of a piece" with the DT stuff of that era. "Slaughter of the Soul" is much more straight-forward. Like a punch in the face from Kerry King of Slayer. This is intensified, death-vox thrash. Good stuff. If you like Slayer and want something similar, albeit with grim vocals, this is your record. The re-release has a neat cover of "Captor of Sin", too.
"The Jester Race" is much more varied musically. As death metal goes, it doesn't get much more catchy. The songs have musical ebb and flow, acoustic interludes, and inventive riffing. I'm not a huge fan of the vocalist, honestly. Some of his screams have that agonized quality that I'm not into, but it's far from a deal-breaker. This is an "important" album, and any metalhead who can deal with death vocals should pick it up.
Okay. That's a long blog. I'm stopping now. I'll have other news for you soon.
Peace.
Monday, June 21, 2010
35 Nails and No Pain
This Friday Night, I was able to bend 35 60D nails (Grip Right brand, if you care) consecutively. This is a new record for me, surpassing the previous 32, which had been done in anger, and which caused me to lose a fairly large chunk of skin on my right index finger.
I use a pair of @ 4 inch flexible PVC lengths (think hard rubber) for hand protection, as this facilitates lots of bends in short order. I've experimented with the Iron Mind cordura nylon wraps, and they work fine, but I'm too impatient to unroll and re-roll after every bend. I want to bend in bulk. I don't feel that the PVC lengths give me a significant mechanical advantage over the softer wraps, but they do let me get my bend on without any fiddling.
For this 35 nail adventure, I wrapped my index fingers with athletic tape, since that had been the point of injury before. It worked like it was supposed to, and all was well.
I was surprised to find that, after 35 nails, I wasn't flagging too badly. If I kept my form strict, the overhand fold technique was still letting me squish the nails with good authority. I was starting to feel little twinges of strain going on in my wrists, but nothing untoward. I could have probably bent several more nails, had there been life, love, or honor at stake.
After bending, I did the rest of my hand workout which was:
25 closes per hand with the COC #1 grippers
15 closes per hand with the COC #1.5 grippers
3 closes per hand (failing on the left) with the COC #2 grippers.
To burn out, I did 10 more closes with each hand with the COC #1s.
It was surprising that I barely popped a sweat by the end of this hand work. Other than bottoming out on the #2 grippers, I was very pleased.
I feel that my idea of bending 50 consecutive 60Ds is alive and well. 100 is my ultimate goal, but that's a ways out there, as well as being an expensive proposition in regard to the nails it'll take to get to that goal.
Fallout from the workout was minimal. I had a small blister in the center of my right palm, where the point of pressure tends to come down, but there was no unusual soreness or difficulty the next day.
It looks like it'll soon be time for me to get another length of the flexible PVC, as I've just about worn through the ones I've been using. They've bent nearly a full 50 lbs of 60D nails at this point, and I can feel the points and heels of the nails pretty sharply sometimes. The PVC only has so much ability to come back from being stressed. Perhaps when I'm through with the rest of my box of 60Ds, I'll get the material to make a few more.
...and that's the news on the bending front.
As to the general workouts, I'm doing well and making fair progress in that area, though I'm not losing as much weight as I'd like to a this point. I figure that my muscle tissues are, growing in response to the stimulus, and that's preventing any weight loss action. Oh, well. It's about getting better, not always lighter. I'll keep at it.
In the writing arena, things are a little slow. It seems like the weeks end so darn quickly that I don't have the time to do what I'd like to do. It's that balance thing. It's a process.
Anyhoo, that's all I have to say for now. Hope you're all well.
I use a pair of @ 4 inch flexible PVC lengths (think hard rubber) for hand protection, as this facilitates lots of bends in short order. I've experimented with the Iron Mind cordura nylon wraps, and they work fine, but I'm too impatient to unroll and re-roll after every bend. I want to bend in bulk. I don't feel that the PVC lengths give me a significant mechanical advantage over the softer wraps, but they do let me get my bend on without any fiddling.
For this 35 nail adventure, I wrapped my index fingers with athletic tape, since that had been the point of injury before. It worked like it was supposed to, and all was well.
I was surprised to find that, after 35 nails, I wasn't flagging too badly. If I kept my form strict, the overhand fold technique was still letting me squish the nails with good authority. I was starting to feel little twinges of strain going on in my wrists, but nothing untoward. I could have probably bent several more nails, had there been life, love, or honor at stake.
After bending, I did the rest of my hand workout which was:
25 closes per hand with the COC #1 grippers
15 closes per hand with the COC #1.5 grippers
3 closes per hand (failing on the left) with the COC #2 grippers.
To burn out, I did 10 more closes with each hand with the COC #1s.
It was surprising that I barely popped a sweat by the end of this hand work. Other than bottoming out on the #2 grippers, I was very pleased.
I feel that my idea of bending 50 consecutive 60Ds is alive and well. 100 is my ultimate goal, but that's a ways out there, as well as being an expensive proposition in regard to the nails it'll take to get to that goal.
Fallout from the workout was minimal. I had a small blister in the center of my right palm, where the point of pressure tends to come down, but there was no unusual soreness or difficulty the next day.
It looks like it'll soon be time for me to get another length of the flexible PVC, as I've just about worn through the ones I've been using. They've bent nearly a full 50 lbs of 60D nails at this point, and I can feel the points and heels of the nails pretty sharply sometimes. The PVC only has so much ability to come back from being stressed. Perhaps when I'm through with the rest of my box of 60Ds, I'll get the material to make a few more.
...and that's the news on the bending front.
As to the general workouts, I'm doing well and making fair progress in that area, though I'm not losing as much weight as I'd like to a this point. I figure that my muscle tissues are, growing in response to the stimulus, and that's preventing any weight loss action. Oh, well. It's about getting better, not always lighter. I'll keep at it.
In the writing arena, things are a little slow. It seems like the weeks end so darn quickly that I don't have the time to do what I'd like to do. It's that balance thing. It's a process.
Anyhoo, that's all I have to say for now. Hope you're all well.
Friday, June 11, 2010
What's transpired since last time
Hey, Folks!
Here's another update of my progress through life, liberty, and the pursuit of crush-grip.
1) Paul Genesse and I did some final tweaking on the story we were collaborating on. I think it turned out great. Paul had some fine ideas for deepening the impact of some of the story events, and we had a great phone consultation as we were integrating those new ideas in. The story's off to the editor at long last, and I hope she digs it. No hard/fast news as to when the story might see the light of day, but you'll hear it soon after I do.
2) Joined a gym again. Yep. Taking the plunge, and really setting my sights on getting back to my high school weight (right now, 15-20 pounds away). I'm committed to ACTUALLY doing cardio and abs every time, as opposed to the, "maybe, if I feel like it," attitude I've taken in the past. The place I'm going is actually a Community Center that was just opened last weekend, which is nice. Dues aren't bad, and they have an Olympic pool, when I get skinny enough to go shirtless in front of strangers.
3) Have been enjoying my reading of late. I'm most of the way through "Baal" by Robert McCammon. Fun stuff. It's clear that it's his first novel, and has some rough edges, but the prologue absolutely kills, and it's a rollicking adventure through the growing apocalypse. Just finished "Passing Strange" by Daniel Waters, which is book 3 in the Generation Dead series. I was absolutely aching for this one to come out, and I'm not disappointed. I ate it up in less than three days, and want more. I'm also reading "Soulless" by Gail Carriger and "The American Girl" by Monika Fagerholm. I'm not far into "Soulless", but it's great fun. My writer buddy Julie Frost essentially said that I was duty-bound to read it, and so I am. "The American Girl" is a fascinating, challenging, dreamlike book translated from the original Swedish text. I'll have more to say about all of these books on my GoodReads account.
4) More bending and crush-gripping. My routine for last night is as follows:
Bending (overhand fold) 5 "green" Iron Mind nails (warmup)
Bending (underhand fold) 1 "yellow" nail
Bending (overhand) 2 more yellows
Bending (overhand) 3 blue nails
Crushing 15 reps/hand with COC #1 grippers
Crushing 8 reps/hand with COC #1.5 grippers
Crushing 3 reps/hand with COC #2 grippers (failure point for left hand
Crushing 6 x 10 reps/hand with COC "Sport" (normal grip)
Crushing 6 x 10 reps/hand with COC "Sport" (inverted grip)
Crushing to failure with old plastic "heavy duty" grippers
I went until the muscles became too pumped to let the carpals operate. No unusual soreness experienced the morning after, which I count as a win.
5) Watching Stargate: SG1 on DVD. Having fun with it. Just finished the first season. Not life-changing stuff, but superb entertainment value. I love their tactic for always revealing the inciting event/emergency within the first five minutes. Keeps the pace high and the interest strong. I think that we can learn from this tactic and use it to make the beginnings of our stories stronger.
Well, that's the news. Hope everyone's well.
Here's another update of my progress through life, liberty, and the pursuit of crush-grip.
1) Paul Genesse and I did some final tweaking on the story we were collaborating on. I think it turned out great. Paul had some fine ideas for deepening the impact of some of the story events, and we had a great phone consultation as we were integrating those new ideas in. The story's off to the editor at long last, and I hope she digs it. No hard/fast news as to when the story might see the light of day, but you'll hear it soon after I do.
2) Joined a gym again. Yep. Taking the plunge, and really setting my sights on getting back to my high school weight (right now, 15-20 pounds away). I'm committed to ACTUALLY doing cardio and abs every time, as opposed to the, "maybe, if I feel like it," attitude I've taken in the past. The place I'm going is actually a Community Center that was just opened last weekend, which is nice. Dues aren't bad, and they have an Olympic pool, when I get skinny enough to go shirtless in front of strangers.
3) Have been enjoying my reading of late. I'm most of the way through "Baal" by Robert McCammon. Fun stuff. It's clear that it's his first novel, and has some rough edges, but the prologue absolutely kills, and it's a rollicking adventure through the growing apocalypse. Just finished "Passing Strange" by Daniel Waters, which is book 3 in the Generation Dead series. I was absolutely aching for this one to come out, and I'm not disappointed. I ate it up in less than three days, and want more. I'm also reading "Soulless" by Gail Carriger and "The American Girl" by Monika Fagerholm. I'm not far into "Soulless", but it's great fun. My writer buddy Julie Frost essentially said that I was duty-bound to read it, and so I am. "The American Girl" is a fascinating, challenging, dreamlike book translated from the original Swedish text. I'll have more to say about all of these books on my GoodReads account.
4) More bending and crush-gripping. My routine for last night is as follows:
Bending (overhand fold) 5 "green" Iron Mind nails (warmup)
Bending (underhand fold) 1 "yellow" nail
Bending (overhand) 2 more yellows
Bending (overhand) 3 blue nails
Crushing 15 reps/hand with COC #1 grippers
Crushing 8 reps/hand with COC #1.5 grippers
Crushing 3 reps/hand with COC #2 grippers (failure point for left hand
Crushing 6 x 10 reps/hand with COC "Sport" (normal grip)
Crushing 6 x 10 reps/hand with COC "Sport" (inverted grip)
Crushing to failure with old plastic "heavy duty" grippers
I went until the muscles became too pumped to let the carpals operate. No unusual soreness experienced the morning after, which I count as a win.
5) Watching Stargate: SG1 on DVD. Having fun with it. Just finished the first season. Not life-changing stuff, but superb entertainment value. I love their tactic for always revealing the inciting event/emergency within the first five minutes. Keeps the pace high and the interest strong. I think that we can learn from this tactic and use it to make the beginnings of our stories stronger.
Well, that's the news. Hope everyone's well.
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Here's an update, folks:
1) I've been doing better, recovering from the stress toxicity of caring for my dad in his final days. I've been chipping away at finishing a lot of projects that have been hanging fire for months or even years. The atmosphere is getting better in the house.
2) I've lost weight. I'm as light as I've been since half way through college, and it's good. It's a start. I'm hoping to get down to my high school weight by the end of the summer. That would be, at this point about 17 to 20 more pounds. I think it's do-able, and also an important thing. I don't want to carry as much weight as I've been carrying over the line into my 40's.
3) I went to the CONduit convention this last weekend and had a great time. It was fun to hang out with my writer friends Paul, Larry, Julie, Eric, Eric, etc... I think that being around them, hearing their stories and trevails, has really gotten me back into the mindset of writing.
4) I'm (at long last) finally finishing the work on a story that Paul Genesse and I are collaborating on. The family chaos has kept me from working on it for a while, and we're woefully late. It's basically all my fault, and for that, I don't feel too hot. Still and all.
5) I've been revisiting some of the projects of (literally) yesteryear. I hope to finish a great big hulk of a zombie story this week or thereabouts, because my writer friend Julie is about ready to strangle me like a chicken for making her wait. So...if I don't post again, you'll know what happend to me, and who the prime suspect may be.
6) Sorry that I've been so remiss in posting. All the usual self-serving rhetoric and lame excuses apply.
7) Hope you're all well (if there is even a plurality of readers at this point, after my poor showing over the last...long time.
Peace.
Oh, P.S.:
My hand workout as it stands:
Bend nails to taste (Recently 21 consecutive 60D nails; yesterday 5 Iron Mind Yellows (both overhand and underhand fold)
12 reps with COC #1 (both hands, alternating)
6 reps with COC #1.5 (as above)
3 reps with COC #2 (3 successes w/right; 2 w/left)
6 sets of 10 reps with COC "Sport" normal grip (alternating hands)
6 sets of 10 reps with COC "Sport" (open side up; alternating hands)
Standard (tough) grippers; both hands to hydrostatic failure
"It hurts us, precious!"
Peace, part two.
1) I've been doing better, recovering from the stress toxicity of caring for my dad in his final days. I've been chipping away at finishing a lot of projects that have been hanging fire for months or even years. The atmosphere is getting better in the house.
2) I've lost weight. I'm as light as I've been since half way through college, and it's good. It's a start. I'm hoping to get down to my high school weight by the end of the summer. That would be, at this point about 17 to 20 more pounds. I think it's do-able, and also an important thing. I don't want to carry as much weight as I've been carrying over the line into my 40's.
3) I went to the CONduit convention this last weekend and had a great time. It was fun to hang out with my writer friends Paul, Larry, Julie, Eric, Eric, etc... I think that being around them, hearing their stories and trevails, has really gotten me back into the mindset of writing.
4) I'm (at long last) finally finishing the work on a story that Paul Genesse and I are collaborating on. The family chaos has kept me from working on it for a while, and we're woefully late. It's basically all my fault, and for that, I don't feel too hot. Still and all.
5) I've been revisiting some of the projects of (literally) yesteryear. I hope to finish a great big hulk of a zombie story this week or thereabouts, because my writer friend Julie is about ready to strangle me like a chicken for making her wait. So...if I don't post again, you'll know what happend to me, and who the prime suspect may be.
6) Sorry that I've been so remiss in posting. All the usual self-serving rhetoric and lame excuses apply.
7) Hope you're all well (if there is even a plurality of readers at this point, after my poor showing over the last...long time.
Peace.
Oh, P.S.:
My hand workout as it stands:
Bend nails to taste (Recently 21 consecutive 60D nails; yesterday 5 Iron Mind Yellows (both overhand and underhand fold)
12 reps with COC #1 (both hands, alternating)
6 reps with COC #1.5 (as above)
3 reps with COC #2 (3 successes w/right; 2 w/left)
6 sets of 10 reps with COC "Sport" normal grip (alternating hands)
6 sets of 10 reps with COC "Sport" (open side up; alternating hands)
Standard (tough) grippers; both hands to hydrostatic failure
"It hurts us, precious!"
Peace, part two.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
It was a 32 nail day
That was yesterday. Yep. Thirty-two 60D nails in one session. No breaks. No slowdowns. Just bending until all the skin tore off of my right index finger in a space as big as a dime.
Why? Well, let's just say that the medical establishment has a few things to learn in regards to helping families with ailing relatives through the process. I may have been, ahem, angry at the time. I had to do it. Catharsis was required.
So I learned that, yes, after a long, difficult day at work, I can, given the right stimulus, bend as many nails as I can grasp with one hand, all at once. I also learned that I need bigger, harder callouses to avoid bleeding at the end. Oh, well. If you ain't bleedin', you ain't tryin'.
The drama with my dad's illness continues on apace. This week, he's in the hospital with pneumonia. Fun times. I haven't done any writing this week, though I have a rewrite due at the end of the month. I'll have to withhold hope for the weekend.
That's my day, pretty much. Thanks for tuning in.
Why? Well, let's just say that the medical establishment has a few things to learn in regards to helping families with ailing relatives through the process. I may have been, ahem, angry at the time. I had to do it. Catharsis was required.
So I learned that, yes, after a long, difficult day at work, I can, given the right stimulus, bend as many nails as I can grasp with one hand, all at once. I also learned that I need bigger, harder callouses to avoid bleeding at the end. Oh, well. If you ain't bleedin', you ain't tryin'.
The drama with my dad's illness continues on apace. This week, he's in the hospital with pneumonia. Fun times. I haven't done any writing this week, though I have a rewrite due at the end of the month. I'll have to withhold hope for the weekend.
That's my day, pretty much. Thanks for tuning in.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
News of the Day
Here goes:
1) Can bend a 60 D nail together with a 20 D nail. So far, have failed at 60 + (20 x 2).
2)Have started my routine with sandbag lifting. Have only positive things to say about regimen. I think that bag lifting is probably as effective as any form of dynamic lifting I've tried. It's cheap, too. Bags of baked sand are around four bucks, and getting a few sturdy duffle bags won't run you more than twenty or thirty at the military surplus store. I've also been using sand-filled large buckets and a cinder block for warm-ups and pinch grip work.
3) Recently finished a draft of a story for The First Line called "Don't Explain" (working title). I have it out for constructive critique at this moment.
4) I've been super-busy. My dad's been having health problems, and I have had to re-work my schedule to allow me to help him get to doctor's appointments and so on.
5) Listening to "Pegasus Descending" by James Lee Burke on Audiobook. Another winner from an author with seemingly limitless firepower.
6) Reading "Lightbreaker" by Marc Teppo and "The American Girl" by Monika Fagerholm. Lightbreaker is interesting, if a little heavy on the theory. The American Girl is a challenging but somehow magical story thus far, with non-sequential scenes, surreal moments of stream of consciousness, and views of the events from a variety of characters. Check my Goodreads for more info when it becomes available, I guess.
...and that's the news.
1) Can bend a 60 D nail together with a 20 D nail. So far, have failed at 60 + (20 x 2).
2)Have started my routine with sandbag lifting. Have only positive things to say about regimen. I think that bag lifting is probably as effective as any form of dynamic lifting I've tried. It's cheap, too. Bags of baked sand are around four bucks, and getting a few sturdy duffle bags won't run you more than twenty or thirty at the military surplus store. I've also been using sand-filled large buckets and a cinder block for warm-ups and pinch grip work.
3) Recently finished a draft of a story for The First Line called "Don't Explain" (working title). I have it out for constructive critique at this moment.
4) I've been super-busy. My dad's been having health problems, and I have had to re-work my schedule to allow me to help him get to doctor's appointments and so on.
5) Listening to "Pegasus Descending" by James Lee Burke on Audiobook. Another winner from an author with seemingly limitless firepower.
6) Reading "Lightbreaker" by Marc Teppo and "The American Girl" by Monika Fagerholm. Lightbreaker is interesting, if a little heavy on the theory. The American Girl is a challenging but somehow magical story thus far, with non-sequential scenes, surreal moments of stream of consciousness, and views of the events from a variety of characters. Check my Goodreads for more info when it becomes available, I guess.
...and that's the news.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Update from the perpetually derelict blogger
So, the holidays happened. Thanksgiving sucked, but Christmas and New Years were pretty good.
My dad's health, though it's been rocky, is fairly stable at this moment. I'm doing all right, though my ability to do writing work hasn't been so great for the last little while.
A story that I collaborated on with my friend, Paul Genesse, is in the hands of the editor who requested it. I hope she digs it. Paul and I were jazzed about how it turned out. I have a few other stories that I need to get hammered out and finished, though the writing impulse has not exactly been a steam hammer lately.
Watching: The Complete FarScape
Reading: James Lee Burke, Robert B. Parker, MLN Hanover, H. Rider Haggard, John Ringo...
Bending/Crushing news:
I bent 10 60D nails in 1 minute, 42 seconds today. It's a personal best, since I've never done ten straight, let alone on the clock. Not bad for a guy who's only been bending for a few months.
I have successfully closed the Captains of Crush #2 grippers (195lbs/hand) with both hands. The other day, I got two authoritative closes with each hand. Today, after my bending antics, I got ten straight closes with each hand with the CoC #1.
What does all this goofy crap do? Well, I can tell you that, while at the pistol range the other day, the recoil impulse of a full-load .357 Magnum didn't even blip my wrist. If you need to do things where your wrists control chaotic movements or have to soak up big jolts, this grip/wrist strength stuff can really have an effect. Even if you're "gym strong", the deep, tendon and ligament strength that bending unlocks can make a big difference. I won't lie. It hurts at first, and whenever you really push to the next level, but I think that the reward makes it worth it.
Well, that's it. Sorry that I'm so bad about updating. No excuses. Hope you're all well.
Friday, December 04, 2009
Bending, crushing, etc.
Here's a little update on my grip/wrist strength tomfoolery:
1) One recent evening saw me bend 5 60D nails.
2) I've bent 2/3rds of my "Yellow" barstock from the Ironmind "Bag of Nails", as well as one of the evil "Blue" nails. The red nails are somewhere far out in the future, they have thus spurned me with nary a slight deformation. No surprise there.
3) My "palms up" bending has been far more effective of late than my overhand folding technique. I'm not quite sure what that's all about. Still, the nails, they are 'a bendin'.
4) I bent two "white" barstock nails at the same time a few days back.
5) I can "thumbs forward" bend a 20 penny nail, as well as bending white nails behind my back and at arm's length.
6) I *almost* ripped a deck of cards, getting 2/3rds of the way through before hitting a stick point. I have to work on my pinch grip! It really hurt.
7) I successfully closed a Captains of Crush #2 with my right hand, maintaining the closure for several seconds. I'm a few 16ths of an inch away with my left hand. As soon as I can reliably close the #2s with both hands, I'll order the 2.5s. I'll have to EARN it.
...all of this has come to pass over about a month and a half, so I'm pretty happy with the progress. It hasn't come without some pain, though. My right hand at the middle knuckle and the top of the wrist has proven to be my weak spot, as well as one tendon beneath my left biceps. I've been fairly rational, and tried to throttle back when things get too painful. Still, this stuff is addictive.
I need to do more supporting work, more generalized exercise, but I've been in a situation where I have very limited time to do so, because of some family commitments.
Anyway, that's my report about bending things. I will try to post a picture of the nails I've bent for you some time in the near future.
1) One recent evening saw me bend 5 60D nails.
2) I've bent 2/3rds of my "Yellow" barstock from the Ironmind "Bag of Nails", as well as one of the evil "Blue" nails. The red nails are somewhere far out in the future, they have thus spurned me with nary a slight deformation. No surprise there.
3) My "palms up" bending has been far more effective of late than my overhand folding technique. I'm not quite sure what that's all about. Still, the nails, they are 'a bendin'.
4) I bent two "white" barstock nails at the same time a few days back.
5) I can "thumbs forward" bend a 20 penny nail, as well as bending white nails behind my back and at arm's length.
6) I *almost* ripped a deck of cards, getting 2/3rds of the way through before hitting a stick point. I have to work on my pinch grip! It really hurt.
7) I successfully closed a Captains of Crush #2 with my right hand, maintaining the closure for several seconds. I'm a few 16ths of an inch away with my left hand. As soon as I can reliably close the #2s with both hands, I'll order the 2.5s. I'll have to EARN it.
...all of this has come to pass over about a month and a half, so I'm pretty happy with the progress. It hasn't come without some pain, though. My right hand at the middle knuckle and the top of the wrist has proven to be my weak spot, as well as one tendon beneath my left biceps. I've been fairly rational, and tried to throttle back when things get too painful. Still, this stuff is addictive.
I need to do more supporting work, more generalized exercise, but I've been in a situation where I have very limited time to do so, because of some family commitments.
Anyway, that's my report about bending things. I will try to post a picture of the nails I've bent for you some time in the near future.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Bending Nails!
Hey, Folks,
I recently became aware of the "grip strength" world, a place where being able to tear playing card decks, phone books, and so on is looked on with great importance, a place where bending big nails is the order of the day.
My friend and co-worker, Josh Hanagarne "The World's Strongest Librarian" got me into this stuff. It's his fault. No, I suppose it's mine, really, for being a sucker for weird exploits like this.
In any case, I just wanted to crow about bending my first 60D "Sixty Penny" nail. These things are six inches long and big enough that they'd send you looking for a larger hammer to drive them in. Not quite tent stakes, but not far off.
...and I bent one of them. With my hands. No bracing, no tools, just me, some padding to keep me from developing accidental stigmata, and a lot of grunting. If you know your way around the "short bending" world, you know what I'm talking about. If not, you probably think I'm a loony bird. It's possible that both contentions are equally right.
Signing off..
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Day of Days
Yesterday was a day of days.
That's right. I said it. Here's why. I was going through the final day of Internet Librarian 2009, and it started out with a fabulous keynote. It featured young kids that make you feel that there's still hope for human society, that there are still great young people coming up through the system. Later, I had a great dinner with my IL 2009 comrade, Josh H.. Fish and chips right at the edge of the ocean, looking out over the water. We saw a sea lion just swimming along in the water, trying to bite sea gulls, stuff like that. We talked about feats of strength, literature, and heavy metal. A well rounded conversation, as the whole day was well rounded. It was like the Greek ideal. Mental stimulation, and physical exertion as well.
When we got back from the final day of the conference, we went out into a nearby park and lifted kettlebells for about an hour. It was intense! I nearly barfed coming back, but (if you can understand) in a good way. We walked downtown in the evening to get our legs back under us, and it was so nice, with the sea air and a light breeze. I, of course, had to do my work-related blogging, and then I settled down with the book I'm reading, Monster Hunter International, by Larry Correia. The book is great fun. Fast moving, and packed to the gills with monster smashing, firearms toting goodness.
When I'd had an hour to relax, I had to tie one last bit onto the day by bending, straightening, and re-bending nails until they broke in half. I broke two and bent a third a few times before my hands were too tired to continue. When I get home, I'm going to get some nail stock and really get into it. This "short bending" thing is addictive. If you're interested in learning about grip strength and bending, you'll want to pop over to the Ironmind Website, or Gripfaq to learn more. It's certainly not for everyone, but, yeah, I fear that it is for me.
I'll be online, blogging about World Fantasy very soon. I'm driving up to San Jose later this afternoon, after checking out Monterey's (from what I understand) famous aquarium.
Take care, and try to have your own day of days!
That's right. I said it. Here's why. I was going through the final day of Internet Librarian 2009, and it started out with a fabulous keynote. It featured young kids that make you feel that there's still hope for human society, that there are still great young people coming up through the system. Later, I had a great dinner with my IL 2009 comrade, Josh H.. Fish and chips right at the edge of the ocean, looking out over the water. We saw a sea lion just swimming along in the water, trying to bite sea gulls, stuff like that. We talked about feats of strength, literature, and heavy metal. A well rounded conversation, as the whole day was well rounded. It was like the Greek ideal. Mental stimulation, and physical exertion as well.
When we got back from the final day of the conference, we went out into a nearby park and lifted kettlebells for about an hour. It was intense! I nearly barfed coming back, but (if you can understand) in a good way. We walked downtown in the evening to get our legs back under us, and it was so nice, with the sea air and a light breeze. I, of course, had to do my work-related blogging, and then I settled down with the book I'm reading, Monster Hunter International, by Larry Correia. The book is great fun. Fast moving, and packed to the gills with monster smashing, firearms toting goodness.
When I'd had an hour to relax, I had to tie one last bit onto the day by bending, straightening, and re-bending nails until they broke in half. I broke two and bent a third a few times before my hands were too tired to continue. When I get home, I'm going to get some nail stock and really get into it. This "short bending" thing is addictive. If you're interested in learning about grip strength and bending, you'll want to pop over to the Ironmind Website, or Gripfaq to learn more. It's certainly not for everyone, but, yeah, I fear that it is for me.
I'll be online, blogging about World Fantasy very soon. I'm driving up to San Jose later this afternoon, after checking out Monterey's (from what I understand) famous aquarium.
Take care, and try to have your own day of days!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Internet Librarian 2009 Update--Tuesday
I'm four days into a five day conference, and time has flown, honestly. It's amazing to imagine that I only have a day and a half left before it's all done. I've been to a huge number of panel discussions and workshops, and I've learned a lot. I'm going to be able to bring home a wealth of information to use at my "day job" at the SLC library. That said, I've also been PowerPointed nearly into oblivion. Though the slideshow, presentation is the industry standard in this day and age, I think that some of the presenters may, in fact, need a little help to make their programs a little more dynamic. There have only been a few really droners, but when you hit them in the midst of much more dramatic events, they can be a little off-putting.
Enough about that! Monterey is beautiful. I've had a chance to walk around the city quite a bit in the last few days, and I'm even starting to figure out how to navigate to a destination without being embarrassingly lost every time. Fisherman's Wharf is neat, though a little commercial. Still, it was neat to be at the seaside and see the boats, water, birds, etc. I went down there just now and had a nice fish lunch (and an ice cream cone with pomegranate ice cream). Yesterday evening, I went to a cool Mexican restaurant with my roommate, Josh H. Enchiladas with artichoke hearts. Yeah, baby!
Speaking of Josh H., he's been a great choice for a roommate. Since we're both writers, and we both also like all sorts of weird strength-related sports, we have a lot to talk about. He's been teaching me a bit about lifting kettlebells, as well as getting me (darn!) hopelessly intrigued with the world of grip strength. He likes to bend huge nails, tear playing card decks, and other fun stuff. Boy, it's hard and it hurts. Of course, I love that sort of thing. I should probably see some professional about it.
Now, I'm going to have to challenge myself to progress in the "grip world". My preliminary goal is to close a type of insanely-hard hand grippers called Captains of Crush. I can close the #1 and the #1.5s, but I'd like to get up to the #3, which is where the "respect" is in that field of endeavor. To give you an idea, the COC #1 requires 140 lbs of crushing power to close. The hardest, the #4, requires 360 lbs. As far as I can see, there are only five known individuals who can say that they have an official close of the latter. Could I be one of that elite club? Who knows. I'm a pretty formidable geek. Anything could happen. As for bending nails, I'm going to give that a go tonight and see what happens. I tried the other day, in a very informal sort of way, and could only produce a mild bend. Now, don't mistake me. These are not wussy nails. They're 60 penny monsters that it would take a dozen swings to drive in with anything less than a mini-sledge. Josh H. can turn them into tacos, which is very impressive. It'll take some practice, though.
This all sounds totally random and bizarre to most of you. It is. I'm like that. Still, I haven't been this inspired about doing a physical task in a long time. This could be a "big caveman likes to smash stuff" thing. That means that it won't go away. I'm "big caveman" to the bone!
Hope you're all doing well, and I'll be back at you with more blather in a few days.
For a look at what I've been doing in my other blogs, here are some links:
Hawk Circle
Superfulous Commentary
Enough about that! Monterey is beautiful. I've had a chance to walk around the city quite a bit in the last few days, and I'm even starting to figure out how to navigate to a destination without being embarrassingly lost every time. Fisherman's Wharf is neat, though a little commercial. Still, it was neat to be at the seaside and see the boats, water, birds, etc. I went down there just now and had a nice fish lunch (and an ice cream cone with pomegranate ice cream). Yesterday evening, I went to a cool Mexican restaurant with my roommate, Josh H. Enchiladas with artichoke hearts. Yeah, baby!
Speaking of Josh H., he's been a great choice for a roommate. Since we're both writers, and we both also like all sorts of weird strength-related sports, we have a lot to talk about. He's been teaching me a bit about lifting kettlebells, as well as getting me (darn!) hopelessly intrigued with the world of grip strength. He likes to bend huge nails, tear playing card decks, and other fun stuff. Boy, it's hard and it hurts. Of course, I love that sort of thing. I should probably see some professional about it.
Now, I'm going to have to challenge myself to progress in the "grip world". My preliminary goal is to close a type of insanely-hard hand grippers called Captains of Crush. I can close the #1 and the #1.5s, but I'd like to get up to the #3, which is where the "respect" is in that field of endeavor. To give you an idea, the COC #1 requires 140 lbs of crushing power to close. The hardest, the #4, requires 360 lbs. As far as I can see, there are only five known individuals who can say that they have an official close of the latter. Could I be one of that elite club? Who knows. I'm a pretty formidable geek. Anything could happen. As for bending nails, I'm going to give that a go tonight and see what happens. I tried the other day, in a very informal sort of way, and could only produce a mild bend. Now, don't mistake me. These are not wussy nails. They're 60 penny monsters that it would take a dozen swings to drive in with anything less than a mini-sledge. Josh H. can turn them into tacos, which is very impressive. It'll take some practice, though.
This all sounds totally random and bizarre to most of you. It is. I'm like that. Still, I haven't been this inspired about doing a physical task in a long time. This could be a "big caveman likes to smash stuff" thing. That means that it won't go away. I'm "big caveman" to the bone!
Hope you're all doing well, and I'll be back at you with more blather in a few days.
For a look at what I've been doing in my other blogs, here are some links:
Hawk Circle
Superfulous Commentary
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