Training Log - Week of 20 JAN 13

24 JAN 13

ABD - Reviewed all material in preparation for stripe testing next week.  Felt a little off on my kicks, but not terribly so.  Had good energy throughout.

BJJ - Worked on what to do if someone is trying to wreck your day from mount.  Five different set ups, all ending in one roll.

Weight Loss

Weight - 220.0 lbs (-4.4)
Body Fat % - 29.9%(-.5)

Iron Sky (2012)

Um, I can't even muster the strength to write a review on this.  Its bad.  Really bad.  And my standards are pretty low as it is.

Nazi's escaped to the moon in 1945, and in 2018 they are ready to take over the Earth.  Oh, and the president is Sarah Palin (or a really good send up of her).  And, she's bat shit crazy.

Space zeppelins towing asteroids for cryin out loud!

FACEPALM!

Partial redemption for a Wing Commander joke.

Its bad.  Just stay away.  Please.  I warn you.

A little after watching, I've decided that this movie is still bad.  But, if you can take a few jokes about America (this is a German-Finish-Australian film)  and some jokes about those countries, its not going to be a complete waste of time.

Um, ya.  Glad I rented this one...

Training Log - Week of 13 JAN 13

14 JAN 13

ABD - More technique this week; working the hook.  Did some really good kick work outs.  Been concentrating on rotating my hip to get more power, and I think its coming along.  Stick combo is crazy and awesome.  Really easy to lose track once you get going at some sort of speed, but I think I'll have it down in time for stripe test.

BJJ - Back to basics.  Need to work on maintaining a good base when in someone's guard.  Such as keeping a strong 'Marcio Uppercut' grip on your opponents gi.

17 JAN 13

ABD - Worked on some sparring technique; frame work and blocking.  Also, blocking a clinch.  Also worked on choke defenses for Krav.  Kicks still felt good, which I'm glad about.

BJJ - More of the base practice.  Also worked a sweep using the hips.  Feel like though everytime I try to be pro active while rolling, it backfires.  But, this will come with practice.


Weight Loss

Weight - 224.4 (-6)
Body Fat % - 30.4% (-.9%)

Training Log - Week of 6 JAN 13

7 JAN 13 - New material today.  Working on Muay Thai technique.  Basic choke defenses for Krav this time around because in lieu of a Muay Thai combo this cycle, we are doing a stick form!  That is a lot of fun, and also looks to be fairly technical.  Really looking forward to the rest of the cycle.

10 JAN 13 - More of the same.  Added in some sparring work.  Clinch and strike defenses.
Weight loss was 5.4 today.

The Skulls (2000)

To the Summary!
Peter Bishop, undergrad at Yale gets invited to join the uber elite club, The Skulls.  There he meets Lance Harbor, whose dad is Hayden Fox.  Oh, and a fellow member is Dr. Gil Grissom.

These may not be the actual character names. Can you figure out where the above characters are from?

To the Cast!
Joshua Jackson - Lucas McNamara
Paul Walker - Caleb Mandrake
Hill Harper - Will Beckford
Leslie Bibb - Chloe Whitfield
Christopher McDonald - Martin Lombard
William Petersen - Ames Levritt
Craig T. Nelson - Litten Mandrake

To the Deeper Thoughts!
So, you've got this Yale student, we will call him Lucas.  Lucas wants to go to law school but its very expensive, and he is not a rich boy.  So, as any normal college student, Lucas aspires to get selected to join an elite secret society.  Perfectly normal, right?

Lucas gets paired up with Caleb as soul mates.  You know, you Skulls buddy for life.  Then Caleb kills a reporter friend of Lucas'.  Lucas finds out, and is now torn between justice and his new awesome life as a Skull.

He chooses justice of course.  There's a good old fashioned duel at an elite private island, and the matter is closed.

Not a terrible movie.  Nothing to special, although the cast is fairly impressive.  If you have a couple hours to kill, good to have on as background noise.

I give it 19/23 secret societies.

-the reporter
-the artsy one

Training Log - Week of 30 DEC 12

I be you think I haven't been training for the last week or so.  Well, you're right.  Took a week off over the holidays, so I went and started a diet.

A diet you say?  Yep.  I've tried several different things on my own, and always fall off the wagon with them. So, I went and signed up for the diet Leanda is doing.  Its basically high protein, low everything else.  But, I have to pay for their food and check in every week, and I'm at a point where I need that kind of restrictions.

Must be working, I lost 6, almost 7 pounds the first week.

3 JAN 13 - First week back for ABD.  Its buddy week, so no new material.  But we focused on some technique for Muay Thai.  Good class, and I'm glad to be back.  Bring it on!

Les Miserables (2012)

To the Summary!
In 1800s France a man given leave from prison, only to be hunted across the years by a cop who is convinced that the man will continue to be a criminal.

To the Cast!
Hugh Jackman - Jean Valjean
Russell Crowe - Javert
Anne Hathaway - Fantine
Amanda Seyfried - Cosette
Sacha Baron Cohen - Thenardier
Helena Bonham Carter - Madame Thenardier
Eddie Redmayne - Marius
Aaron Tveit - Enjolras
Samantha Barks - Eponine
Daniel Huttlestone - Gavroche

To the Deeper Thoughts!
My first exposure to Les Miz was when I played in high school for the marching band.  If memory serves we played 'Work Song/At the End of the Day' 'One Day More' and 'I Dreamed a Dream.'  There was also a cool part where some of us took turns running a giant red flag about 30 yards in, I dunno, something like 20 bars.  That was fun.  Also that year, the band took a trip to NYC to see Le Miz on Broadway.  It was my first Broadway show, and I have seen it once more since.  I also have the soundtrack, so its safe to say I'm a fan.

Ah, memories.

So, I was very excited when I heard that there was going to be another film adaptation of the play.  And this time, a musical!

From the moment the first notes of 'Work Song'  and the opening scene, I was hooked into this movie.  Granted the stage show is awesome.  However, seeing 6 guys on stage swinging pickaxes is NOTHING compared to seeing hundreds of people pulling a French warship into a dry dock.

Visual win.

I thought the performances were spot on even if Adam Lambert was a little, lets say, harsh in his thoughts on the performances.  Newsflash Adam, Hugh Jackman has performed on Broadway... singing.  Moving On.

Back to the performances.  Anne Hathaway BLEW me away with her performance of 'I Dreamed a Dream'.  Another high point for me was the performance of 'One Day More.'  For whatever reason, I've always enjoyed that song, and to see it done the way it was here was breathtaking.

I can't really complain about any of the performances.  I'm no singing expert, but if there was one complaint it would be Russell Crowe.  Not that he was a bad singer, but it was... different.  Of special note are Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen as the Thenardier's.  Their roles are always a bit silly, and I think these two were a great choice to fill the roles.  Their performance of 'Master of the House' brought laughter throughout the theater.

At 2.75 hours, there is pretty much nothing left out from the musical.  Some bits were shortened, but others lengthened so it all worked out.

Go see this.  If you are a fan of the musical, a fan of historical fiction, or a fan of great movies, you should check this out.

I give this 13/15 musical numbers.