Quest for Muscle: The Return of the Pump

[GentleOx]

Thanks again @aku-chan, @JCU, @TopNotch, and @Fremen! You're the best!

Hey again Bees! Hit the gym after church for another Push day - Wk 2 of my linear progression.

Bench Press: 135 x 5(!), 137.5 x 3. No PRs today, just reaffirming my strength. The last rep of 135 was an absolute grind, but I got it!
Larsen Press: 115 x 5.
Incline Press: 107.5 x 4. Not feeling these today.
EZ Bar Preacher Curls: 40 x 6.
Machine Curls (had practically tapped out by this point): 40 x 5.

Super sleepy, but made it out in good order.

Had a family call last night. I usually enjoy these because I get to see my sister and her kids, but our dad showed up midway through and embarked on a 15-minute long tirade about his grievances and grudges. I really don't know what to do in situations like this; in fact, there might be nothing I can do, except avoid adding oil to the fire, so discretion would seem to be the better part of valor. After he left the call, we concluded that he needs help, and his advancing years aren't helping.

Be as kind as you can, Bees!

Playing: So... Vampire Hunters has taken over my gaming time. It's so easy to boot up and start playing, and slaying thousands of monsters has never been so easy. It's a fluffy, skin-deep experience that scratches my mindless gaming itch. Sooner or later, I'll return to STALKER: CoP, as I got into Pripyat itself, so I may be closing in on the ending (or not)!

Funny: This is from Babe, which is still a classic.

"If you're out here, who's that in there?"

Watching: More of SEAL Team at the gym. Didn't watch anything last night, but plan to resume Underwater.

Listening to: De Lorra - Dissonance. Absolute gem from De Lorra. Slowly but surely propulsive, with lush melodies.

 

[CODawn]

Congratulations!

 

[GentleOx]

Thanks a bunch, @CODawn!

Hey again, everyone. I'm back with another workout - today was Back day. How'd I do?

Deadlifts: 170 x 5, 175 x 5. Pretty well, as a matter of fact. I was surprised that the weight felt as manageable as it did. Tried 180 but could not manage a single rep. Next time...
Underhand Barbell Rows: 85 x 6. Bringing back an old classic.
Meadows Rows: 37.5 x 5.
Neutral Grip Rows: 50 x 6.
Behind the Neck Pulldowns: 60 x 6.

I was really angry at the gym today. Just... charged with energy and aggression. Too many worries about things lately. It took some mental management, but I walked it off, and am back home, feeling quite a bit calmer.

My neck's practically fully healed, but my forearm feels a bit strained. Likely from working out too much!

Is my birthday in two days! Yay! We're having a yummy buffet lunch at an upscale hotel in Admiralty! Om nom.

Till next time, Bees!

Playing: So... Vampire Hunters has taken over my gaming time. There's something oddly therapeutic about cutting through masses of mooks with ten guns all at once. I'm not very far, but given that this is a roguelite, there are upgrades you can make to your character. Right now, I'm saving my upgrade points for when I can really cut loose. Haven't played STALKER: CoP recently, but I'll get back to it eventually. Eventually.

Watching: So SEAL Team has started another plotline: one of the gang has been captured and the remaining members have to band together to save him. Not sure if this is going to last the entire season, but I kind of hope not.

Not sure if I should continue with Underwater or watch Cuckoo, which is a demented horror that was released recently. It looks like fun, but I really should finish Underwater first.

Listening to: Accept - Princess of the Dawn. By modern standards, this heavy metal gem is quite calm in sound, and doesn't really represent the sound that German metallers Accept were known for. But the sense of scale is tremendous, and the way the song builds is just amazing. Epic!

 

[GentleOx]

Salutations, Bees!

I'm capping off a streak of gym workouts by taking a break on my birthday, tomorrow. Today was another Push day, which didn't go too well.

Paused Bench Press: 132.5 x 4 (failed on the fifth rep), 140 x 2. Augh. Just did not go to plan. I was hoping for five reps on 132.5, but it wasn't to be today. At least when I failed, I managed to rack the bar safely, so I should be grateful that I didn't drop the bar on my chest, or do something worse.
Spoto Press: 115 x 5.
Paused Incline Bench: 107.5 x 3. Zzz...
Hammer Curls: 22 x 20. How did my bis get this strong? I guess all those EZ Bar Curls worked!

Not a disaster. I may not hit any new PRs this cycle, but the goal is to hold on to my strength from weeks ago, and I feel like that much I can do.

Tomorrow I continue my steady march to 40 years of age. Uh oh. Looking forward to some yummy noms!

Godspeed, and good luck Bees!

Playing: Vampire Hunters continues its killing spree on my spare time. The mission notes for the first level state that your goal is to last at least thirty minutes. I've lasted twelve. This game does not screw around. Easy to play, hard to master.I played some STALKER: CoP last night, but only completed a mission or two.

Watch: I watched Borderlands half-attentively and finished it: all so that you don't have to! Here's a review.

Seasoned, flame-haired bounty hunter Lilith finds herself reluctantly back on her home planet of Pandora after taking a job for the enigmatic owner of the Atlas corporation. Roped into retrieving Atlas' daughter, Lilith easily finds her quarry, and bands together with an assorted collection of characters such as Roland, a former soldier, and Krieg, a bloodthirsty but loyal psycho. Problem is, Pandora is a nightmarish hell-hole of a wasteland, and everyone else is after the girl, too. To make it out alive, they're going to have to work together.

I'm a big fan of the Borderlands franchise (to wit: I own all the games, and started with the original on Xbox 360). I tried to approach watching this film without letting my preconceptions and biases as a fan get in the way. Film didn't make it easy, I tells ya.

Was this one of the worst movies of all time, in line with its horrid Rottentomatoes score? No-ooo... but it's still a very mediocre film. The script is rubbish and the (unfortunately) many jokes very often fail to land (I confess, I laughed once or twice). The dialogue is on the nose and explains too much, when the film would've been served by subtlety (obviously not on display here).

While many of the props and costumes are faithfully adapted, the darkly comic feel and wit (play Borderlands 2 for the best writing in the series) of the games is not. It's obvious that the film was forced to be PG-13, when a hard, bloody R would've made the film so effective. I can't remember the last time I've seen a film that could've used an R rating so badly.

Perhaps the most damning criticism that I didn't even clock is how much the film apes the style and premise of Guardians of the Galaxy. Leaving aside the fact that the story of the film freely borrows from the premise and setting (and characters) of the first film, there are way too many cliches and overused tropes. With all these recycled jokes and plot points, what does the film have to offer apart from fanservice?

I will admit to liking Cate Blanchett's performance (when isn't she excellent), and to my surprise, Kevin Hart does a surprisingly good job. The rest of the acting ranges from glaringly adequate to flat-out obnoxious (Jack Black's Claptrap, though he's not working with much). I'm not going to comment on casting decisions, as they never took me out of the movie. The action scenes are serviceable, but not satisfying.

I didn't want to sound like the "Akchually..." fanboy who critiques and picks apart adaptations. But this film could've been great, and there was a time in which I was actually excited for it. My final thought boils down to two words: wasted potential.

For its crimes against cinema and its source material, Borderlands gets one and a half psycho masks out of five. I gave it half a point because Motorhead's The Ace of Spades is featured in a fight scene, and I always upvote Lemmy.

Listening to: Borderlands 2 Soundtrack - Sanctuary. This is the theme song for when you return to your home base. Having clocked 200 hours in Borderlands 2, I'm very fond of this one and its feel. There's more faithfulness in these three minutes to the franchise than the whole runtime of the movie.

 

[JCU]

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Happy belated birthday, @GentleOx ! May the PRs, the good food and the good horror movies be plentiful this year for you!

 

[GentleOx]

By the power of Greyskull, I am Gentle Ox!

Or something like that.

Hey again Bees! I didn't workout on my birthday (which breaks with tradition), as we had a buffet lunch and I felt like taking a day off. Today was my third Push day of the week.

Competition bench: 150. This was harder than it should've been. I chalk it partially up to the fact that I haven't peaked yet. In later weeks, I'm going to ease up on the bench pressing to help me peak.
Paused Shoulder Press: 70 x 5. Ugh.
Close Grip Press: 110 x 5. Fun, but not as strong in this.
Rope Pushdowns: 12 x 6.
Lying Dumbbell Extensions: 18 x 6, I think. Didn't use much weight this time, but I'll steadily ramp it up.

Here's a picture from yesterday!



Thank you so much @PetiteSheWolf and @JCU! I'll drink (a non-alcoholic beverage) to that!

Saw my psychiatrist today to get more meds. I'm on a mood stabilizer, an antidepressant, and an antipsychotic (I understand that these are often prescribed to those with Bipolar); the fact that they work belies my dislike of psychiatrists.

Playing: Vampire Hunters continues its domination of my free time. I made it to thirty minutes! However, I failed to get out alive. Maybe tonight...

Thinking about reinstalling Borderlands 3, as I kinda miss it. Kinda.

Watching: Did not watch Seal Team today at the gym! I watched past clips from the Lord of the Rings movies while on the treadmill (specifically the battle scene where the fellowship are menaced by the cave troll and orcs). Why? My curiosity was piqued when I listened to the What Went Wrong's (a podcast which details troubled film productions) episode on Lord of the Rings.

If you're a fan of the series, I highly recommend listening to WWR's LOTR episode(s). I'm not a huge fan of Tolkien myself, but I absolutely loved this story of plucky New Zealanders banding together to create a film from scratch, and then shepherd it through the studio system. I listened to it with a big grin on my face; such a gratifying listen. Highly recommended.

Beyond that, I've found some free found footage spooky movies online, all the better to pass the time until spooky season truly begins. Tonight (yeah right, like I'll stay awake to watch it all...) I'm watching the intriguing "Howard's Mill", a mockumentary (love that word) which details a missing persons case. It's suspiciously well-made, and it's available free on Youtube, if you're curious. Here's a link:

Listening to: Flowing Tears - Serpentine. Was in the mood for gothic metal, and this one never disappoints. The lyrics are a bit naff, but it's all about the feel of the vocals, and those chugging riffs.

 

[NancyTree]

Belated !

 

[GentleOx]

Thank you so much @NancyTree!

Greetings, earthlings, from Planet Ox, 93 Million Miles from the Sun! They call me the Gentle Ox.

Today was a Leg day workout that put me through my paces. I maxed out on the squats and will start a new cycle next week.

Squats: 140 x 3, 145 x 1. This is a minor PR, as I've never done either of these lifts before. I kind of wanted to go for five reps on the 140, but 3 was already a grind, so I called it a day.
Front Squats: 65 x 5. Zzz...
Split Squats: 40 x 6. Working my way up with these again.
Sissy Squats: Sets of 8. The name is a misnomer, as doing these is painful and taxing.
Back Extensions: Sets of 10 reps.

And now I'm suitably pooped.

Tomorrow is one of those big Chinese banquet dinners that I'm attending. I'm not sure how I'm going to square all that yummy food with my need to keep my weight down. I'm talking 7 or 8 course meals. Obviously, I'm going to hit a calorie surplus, but the goal is still to eat a bit sensibly. We'll see how it goes...



There were a series of anime-themed exhibits up at Times Square. Though I'm not much of an anime fan, I still thought the exhibits were interesting.





Hope your weekend is going well, Bees!

Playing: More Vampire Hunters, naturally. But I've made a ton of progress! I completed three of the stages by lasting half an hour. It's progress after my futile inital attempts to survive. Haven't played anything else.

Watching: Still making my way through Howard's Mill. My pace is measured because this is a patient mockumentary, and requires concentration. Resumed watching Seal Team.

Listening to: Eminem - 8 Mile Road. I can't believe it's taken me so long to post this one. Though Lose Yourself got all the attention after the release of 8 Mile, 8 Mile Road paints a dire picture of the protagonist's situation and their battered self-esteem with some amazing lyrical skill. A lot of the lyrics have an eerie resonance for me.

"I'm a man, I'ma make a new plan
Time for me to just stand up and travel new lands
Time to really just take matters into my own hands
Once I'm over these tracks, man, I'ma never look back"

 

[JCU]

Congrats on another PR!

 

[Fremen]

Congrats

 

[aku-chan]

Congrats on another PR!

It's weird that they'd do a SpyXFamily exhibit without the whole family in it, that's like the entire point of the show

 

[MadamMeow]

Congrats on another PR!

 

[CODawn]

Congratulations!

 

[GentleOx]

Thank you so much @CODawn, @MadamMeow, @aku-chan, @JCU, and @Fremen. You're all so kind.

@aku-chan A very curious omission. I thought that Yor Briar was one of the primary draws of the show.

Good evening, Bees! I'm back with another workout after a big banquet dinner last night. Mmm... smoked (?) chicken. So yummy.

Today is the second to last week of my Benching cycle, so I abandoned the 5rm stuff.

Bench Press: 137.5 x 4, 140 x 3, 142.5 x 3. 142.5 was a griiiind. I thought I was going to fail the final rep, but managed to slowly and deliberately grind it out. 137.5 and 142.5 are both PRs for this cycle!
Larsen Press: 115 x 5.
Incline Press: 112.5 x 5. Not bad! Better than my previous attempts.
EZ Bar Preacher Curls: 45 x 5, which is a PR as well!

And that was that. Still working off the yummyness from last night.

The banquet was to celebrate the 90th birthday of my grandmother in law. Or something like that. Chinese familial relationships are famously detailed, and I've never nailed down the titles/names.



The table setups were ornate.



This is the menu, which I couldn't read, save for a few characters.



I was gifted with two lai see packets!

Hope that your Monday is going well, Bees!

Playing: Take a guess; yep, I'm still whiling away the hours with Vampire Hunters. I think I've clocked up a good 25 hours so far (though some of that time was spent with the game in the background, so it's more like 20-ish hours). Some other games on my backburner that I'll try to play when I'm not busy mowing down mooks in VH.

Watching: Back to Seal Team at the gym. Just finished watching Howard's Mill, that mockumentary I mentioned awhile back. Here's a review.

A documentary crew has come to Springfield, Tennesse, to investigate the mystery behind Howard's Mill; this dilapidated property has been the site of several inexplicable disappearances. Teaming up with Dwight Nixon, who is bereaved by the disappearance of his wife Emily, they investigate the disappearances and find that there is plenty to this mystery.

So this one is presented as an actual documentary, with all the archival footage, interviews, and narration that you'd expect. But this question is, does this film succeed in captivating the viewer?

Mostly! The documentary elements are solid, with many convincing performances, editing, and footage. Some of the writing is a bit on-the-nose and lacking in subtlety, and some of the acting is a bit contrived, but I can overlook these things, as many mockumentaries are guilty of these sins too. It paints a compelling picture of the crew's investigation, and gradually removes the layers behind the conundrum of what is making people disappear. The later part of the film gives way to Blair Witch style found-footage elements, which is a welcome change. As I mentioned above, the pace of the film is deliberate, perhaps to a fault. There is a lack of emotional heft to the proceedings, but I liked how it ended.

Is it as good as Savageland, the reigning horror mockumentary champ? It's a solid contender, but not quite. Savageland was edge-of-your-seat watching, and unbelievably tightly focused and intense; I also liked the acting more. But this horror/true-crime (the film muddies these waters) flick has plenty to praise.

I give it three and a half music boxes out of five.

Listening to: De Palma - Blood. So this synth song was on my playlists years ago, and mysteriously vanished. I have no idea why I'd removed it, because it's an absolute winner. This is one of those compelling ones that you know is sublime, even from the start. The vocals, those singing synths, that melody. Amazing!

 

[Fremen]

Congrats again

 

[JCU]

Another congrats!

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Beautiful table!

 

[MadamMeow]

Glad you keep outdoing yourself!

 

[GentleOx]

Thank you @Fremen, @JCU, and @MadamMeow!
@PetiteSheWolf It certainly was!

Hey everyone! Today was a Back workout.

Deadlifts: 185 x 5. These were tough, but I hung in there and managed to hammer them out.
Underhand Barbell Rows: 90 x 5.
Meadows Rows: 40 x 5. Taking it slow and simple.
Incline Rows: 24 x 6. A blast from the past! These felt great.
Narrow Grip Rows: 60 x 6. Don't remember these being so hard.

The gym was stuffed full of punters today; must be everyone getting off work and school early.

We had a traditional Hong Kong meal of roast duck to celebrate tomorrow's holiday; it's the Mid-Autumn festival, which means lanterns and mooncakes abound, basically. I for one only prefer mooncakes with custard.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, Bees!

Playing: Vampire Hunters, fullstop. I did some shopping and picked up two indie FPS titles for a steal (6 USD) - Hands of Necromancy 1 and 2. Happy gaming, everyone!

Watching: Seal Team, natch. This episode caps off a major arc in which a character was abducted and held hostage. It was done as well as one would expect, though it wasn't as charged as the premiere of Season 4. I continue to be impressed at the show getting such good mileage out of their limited budget, even if the California filming shows its limitations.

Not sure what to watch for late night cinema. Maybe it's time to give Oddity a watch.

Listening to: Com Truise - Propagation. I had a hell of a time choosing a song for tonight. So I chose the ever reliable Com Truise! This one is suitably chilled and down-tempo.

edit: It's raining and thundering right outside my window. I love admiring Mother Nature - from a safe vantage point, of course.

 

[colin]

Veeery belated birthday wishes OX!

You seem to be having fun!

I need to find a mooncake! I made some vegan ones once and they were lovely.

Keep those personal bests going!

 

[GentleOx]

Thank you @colin!

What's up, Bees? After meeting a friend, I hit the gym for a Push workout - one of my last ones before the competition.

Paused Bench Press: 142.5 x 2. Didn't expect this one, and it's a pleasant surprise. The peaking must be kicking in.
Spoto Press: 115 x 5. Zzz... find these hard to progress in.
Paused Incline Press: 110 x 4. Maybe as heavy as I can go, until I get 5 reps.
Flat Dumbbell Curls: 16 x 20.
Curl Machine: 39 x 8.

Yummy Japanese buffet on Saturday.

The weather is absolutely sweltering, and it won't cool down until November. However, we might be seeing lots of rain this week.

Take care, Bees!

Playing: Vampire Hunting continues. I may write a review in the near future, providing I can finish the final stage, which handed my ass to me yesterday night (Edit: Completed it, but will wait until tomorrow to write a review). Also playing a charming, cutesy roguelite FPS (that's a mouthful!) which features surprisingly intense and faithful (to FPS convention) combat. Eagerly looking forward to its October release.

Watching: S'more Seal Team. Should start on another movie tonight... maybe Cuckoo?

Listening to: Lifeseeker - His Name's Frank. From Dead Rising 2! I knew that Lifeseeker wrote the infamous, gutsy, Beastie Boys-aping song that punctuates a boss fight with convicts driving a jeep (Gone Guru). This time around, they wrote a bespoke hero anthem for Dead Rising's protagonist (has it really been 18 years since Dead Rising was released??). I love the claustrophobic, frantic beats, and the wordplay is pretty clever; check out all the silly references to the game (the music video I attached is no slouch, either)!

"Hordes of zombies on the horizon
Who you gonna call when the dead are rising?
The posse's gettin' large, man, it's supersizin'!
But they a bunch of dumb sh*ts, they ain't too conniving!"

 

[GentleOx]

Hey Bees! It feels like forever since I've danced this dance, so let's see if I remember the steps.

Today was a Push day.

Bench Press: 147.5 x 2. I dared to go high enough for 150, but failed after one rep. Oh well, it was asking a lot to do that.
Incline Press: 115 x 5.
Larsen Press: 120 x 6. Had to increase sometime!
Incline Dumbbell Curls: 12 x 20. Starting light.
Machine Curls (alternate station): 25 x 8. Not sure how I feel about these.

Had lunch and dinner with some family members who live in California, and we went out to Five Guys for some wonderfully yummy burgers.



It was raining the whole day! I'm not sure, but I think the rain has died down a little, but for awhile, the city gave off more than its usual share of cyberpunk-y vibes.



My boss warned me that I had a lesson coming tomorrow afternoon. I pressed him for more details, only to be told that they were forthcoming - at 6 pm today, exactly! My lesson is to be 2 hours (!), and I still don't know how old my student is, or what English level they're at. I'm sure I'll find out more during my class.

I can never fully keep down the anxiety that comes with having a new student - at best I manage it. And learn from the experience.

Start your week strong, Bees!

Playing: Not as much as I'd hoped. Tried to play a bit of trashy shooter Crime City: Rockay, but it looks like sludge on my PC, so I promptly got a refund. Definitely looking forward to Dragon Age: Veilguard. So it's back to playing Sulfur, and a bit of Vampire Hunters. Oh, seeing that I finished Vampire Hunter, here's my postponed review.

You are one of several archetypal heroes tasked with staunching the flow of an eternity of monsters, whose sole purpose is to swarm and destroy you. You hold them back with a madcap-bonkers array of weapons including shotguns, lightning cannons, elemental pistols (and more): combining these in a suitable configuration (it helps to be able to wield 10 guns at once!) is key to surviving and shutting down the demonspawn.

Aaaaand, that's about it. It's a paper thin premise for a genre (Horde Survival) that isn't strong on these.

Understanding the horde survival style of game is crucial to understanding the appeal of these games (of which Vampire Hunters is a member). You start off in a stage with weak monsters spawning from different points. The longer you survive, the more monsters come, and the tougher they get. Your job is obviously to push them back, which you can do with weapons, and by levelling up. The appeal is in cutting through the hordes and thumbing your nose at inevitable death (which the best of players put off amazingly well). Attacking is automatic, and player agency is limited to choosing level-up bonuses and moving around.

The twist is that Vampire Hunters is an FPS version of a Survival game. This adds a much-welcomed dimension; your avatar is capable of outmaneuvering the dunce-like hordes of minions by ascending levels, and leaping into and out of the fray. The graphics are pretty good for this genre, though it's obvious that the game is sacrificing some visual fidelity in order to put hundreds of enemies into the fray. The weapons are reasonable, and the power-ups ranging from useless to game-changing. There's little more satisfying than mowing down enemies left and right with fully upgraded kit.

One other consideration is the difficulty, which I chalk up to the conventions of the genre. This game is already fairly tough when you're starting out, but surviving to thirty minutes in a given arena is a big ask, I feel. Still, I mysteriously smashed all four current stages with some practice and a whole lot of luck, and this is not an impossible task. I've seen on the leaderboards some players with scores nineteen times higher than mine so... /shrug

All in all, this is a mindless, addictive shooter in which you forego all the usual FPS subtleties in order to get the most bang for your buck. Because it's given me such satisfaction these weeks, I award Vampire Hunters four shotguns out of five.

Watching: Watched a bit more Seal Team at the gym. Still kind of dumbstruck by the inanely stubborn characters and reductive plotlines. C'est la vie.

Still haven't grabbed a movie for late night cinema, but we'll see.

Listening to: Eugene - Waiting For You (Feat. Danny De Matos). Here's another recent synth discovery. Has a great, low-key intensity to it that I really like.

 

[GentleOx]

Greetings, all and sundry! I'm back with one of my last few Push workouts before the competition next week.

Paused Bench Press: 145 x 2 (which is a small PR), 152.5 x 1. About what I expected, though it's a shame I haven't made major gains this cycle.
Paused Incline Bench: 110 x 7. This is also a small PR.
EZ Bar Preacher Curls: 40 x 5.
Machine Curls: 45 x 10.

I feel very comfortable hitting 145 and 150 on the Bench during the competition. I'm not so sure about any weight beyond that - possibly 152.5?

So the lesson I mentioned above was... in a word, disastrous. It turned out that the student wanted help with a graphic novel she was reading for her IB (the excellent Persepolis, which I haven't read yet, but am reading now). Also turns out that she speaks English at close to native level. So I went in with materials entirely unsuited for the lesson and had to improvise for two hours. Not fun. Everyone except for the student is to blame for this one - I hadn't read the material, but also, nobody told me what that I needed to read it, and the lesson was scheduled a mere day in advance. Not a good look for me, or my agent.

Oh well. Sest Lah Vee Ay.

But in better news, I saw the calico gym kitty again! Clearly it's been taken good care of, and was very chatty.



I tried the patented pspsps method of approaching kitty, but it was a little shy, so I let it be.



I love cats. Cats are so great. They bring sunshine and joy into my life

Hope your week is going great, Bees!

Playing: I still have Callisto Protocol installed! I'd completely forgotten about it. Really should play it tonight. Otherwise, it's a mix of Vampire Hunters, a dash of Sulfur, and Supplice, which is a boomer shooter I bought (it plays great!).

Watching: More Seal Team. SMH at the general immaturity presented in the plotlines. How is it that these highly-trained military operators can't even hold a basic conversation with each other and open up about their problems? I know that dramatic conflict has to come from somewhere, but it's asking a bit much plausibility-wise, when they confront each other on missions!

Still haven't chosen a late night movie.

Listening to: Trevor Something - Isolated. Does he exist? Or is he dead? Another selection from my big bag of synth; my playlist has reached more than 800 songs. I love the synth!

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Hugs for the lesson. Persepolis is definitly an interesting read! Originally written in French, and very relevant with all that happened in the last few years with the women's movement in Iran for context. I much prefer the first part (first half ?) until she leaves Teheran for Austria, then it is a "more mainstream" coming-out-of-age autobiography, but still very interesting.
ETA and cuuuuute kitty! Glad he is fed and protected.

 

[JCU]

Congrats on more PRs!

Sorry that lesson was so difficult

 

[GentleOx]

Thank you for your kindness @PetiteSheWolf and @JCU. I actually like Persepolis a lot! It's insightful, but very readable. Reminds me of when I read Maus, which was a much bleaker and harder to digest experience.

Hey again, everyone. I figured that I had to train my lower body today, as I wasn't sure I'd be given the chance again soon. So Leg day it was. How did I do?

Squats: 120 x 12. So, to get it out of the way, this is an all-time PR. Goes without saying that I've never done this weight so many times before. I sorta just rocked up to the gym thinking "I can break my previous PR of ten reps", only to get more nervous when I finished with my warm up sets. Around the 8th rep, I paused for a few seconds before hammering out the final four. I was thinking of hitting 13, but my body was giving way by that point, so I racked the weight. Victory!
Front Squats: 75 x 5. Not bad, not bad... grooving like before.
Split Squats: 42.5 x 6. Still don't really like these, and may shelve them.
Leg Extensions: 75 x 10.
Back Extensions: Sets of 12 reps.

Then cyberpunk'd around Causeway Bay for a little while, before heading home, to work on my lesson plans.

Yummy chicken noodle soup for dinner, while mom and I carried on watching Midlife Sing and Shine auditions (do people joining these competitions really not know how badly they sing)?

It's almost Friday, Bees! Are you ready?

Playing: Mmmhmm. A little bit of Sulfur, Supplice, and Vampire Hunters have satisfied my gaming fix so far.

Watching: More of Seal Team's meatheaded plotlines and characters at the gym. Will see if I'm okay, or too tired to watch another movie tonight, though Cuckoo is a strong contender.

Listening to: Angra - Silence and Distance. I was tempted to post another synth song, but I figured I'd give Angra a listen again. This song features a buoyant, adventurous melody and a gobsmacking guitar solo. Seriously, the tapping (is that the technique?) is on another level.

 

[Fremen]

Congrats

 

[JCU]

Congratulations!

 

[MadamMeow]

Way to go!

 

[GentleOx]

Thank you so much @MadamMeow, @JCU, and @Fremen!

Man, I am one pooped Ox. Today was my final Push workout (I may slip in a shoulder day later this week, but that's it for the bench press) before the competition. How'd it go?

Competition Bench Press: 150 x 1. Eh, so so. I think I've said before I feel comfortable hitting 150, perhaps even 152.5, but that's about it. I actually broke with Powerlifting wisdom by training this heavy the same week as my competition; their rationale is that you're taking away from your peak lift during the competition. Eh, if I made the lift before, I can do it again, so I'm not ruffled.
Larsen Press: 115 x 5.
Decline Press: 115 x 5.
EZ Bar Preacher Curls: 42.5 x 6. Nggh, the grind!
Barbell Curls: 30 x 8.
+21000 steps or so.

At this point, I kind of want the competition to just be over. Even though it's fun and all to participate in, my mind has been giving me so much pressure and fear of failure that I'll be happy when it's done. I can perform comfortably at the gym, but at the compo, having dropped weight and all? We'll have to see.

Yesterday was an abject disaster. I had a mess of anxieties and emotions running wild; I'm not sure what the cause was. It was a very difficult night that I'm glad to see behind me. I felt better today after hitting the gym, but may need a bit of a break.

Take care of yourselves, Bees, and have a good Monday.

Playing: It's been a triumvirate of gaming: Supplice, Sulfur (the demo, anyway), and Vampire Hunters. None of them helped me with my anxieties, until I booted up and played a bit of Mass Effect 2, weirdly. Nostalgia, maybe?

Watching: S'more of the silliness that is Seal Team. No other movies (I'll see how I feel tonight).

Listening to: Elton John - Street Kids. Changed the song (was originally a Trevor Something number), as I'm feeling suitably peppy after listening to this one (I kept meaning to, but couldn't get around to it). Probably the "hardest" song John ever wrote, apart from a small number of other cuts (a few off of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road come to mind).

 

[GentleOx]

Hey Bees! I'm supposed to be resting up for my competition, but as we all know, the Gym is calling! Today was a fun, no-frills Pull day. I deliberately eschewed deadlifts, which I'll come back to sometime in the future.

Deadlift and Row: 110 x 5.
Barbell Rows: 100 x 6.
Machine One Arm Rows: 60 x 6.
Incline Rows: 26 x 6.
Pull ups: Max of 6 reps.
Behind the Neck Pulldowns: 60 x 7.

May rest up tomorrow. Or not, we'll see. Today is a holiday, and there were lots of tourists about, despite the dogged weather. At least it's supposed to get cooler tomorrow!

In other news, IT'S SPOOKY SEASON! Time for copious watching of scary flicks (yeah, as if I need an excuse for that), cute black cats, spooky moods, and eventually, Halloween! Love it.

Have a great Tuesday, Bees!

Playing: I only played one game last night! Very rare for me. I played an roguelite classic Gunfire Reborn, which I believe is made by a local studio here. It's not as hard as it used to be (when I last played it a year and a half ago), and I even got to the second boss!

Watching: No Seal Team today. Instead, at the gym I watched a bit of One Percenter, which is a Japanese action flick. It's quite meta. Tonight I will continue watching some spooky short films, as apart from aforementioned film, I've kind of lost interest in the big budget ones.

Listening to: Type O Negative - Black No. 1. I'm bringing back from the dead my holiday tradition of posting spooky, creepy, gothy, or otherwise morbid songs everytime I post in October.

I could think of few better ways to start off with a bang than to give Black No. 1 (an affectionate teasing of goths) some love. This was the style of songwriting that would win Type O many fans during their heyday.

"Now it's All Hallows Eve
The moon is full
But will she trick or treat?
I bet she will"

 

[GentleOx]

Greetings, Bees! It's another Ox workout update.

Today was a suitably fluffy Shoulder day, as I'm giving my chest muscles a chance to rest until Saturday's compo.

Shoulder Press: 72.5 x 5
Behind the Neck Press: 60 x 5.
Rope Pushdown: 13 x 6.
Hammer Curls: 24 (!) x 22.

So this'll be the last workout update before the competition, as I'm taking tomorrow off.

Sleepy Ox! It's Golden Week, so the streets are packed with punters. Thankfully, it's cooled down a little, and marks the coldest weather we've had this year.

See you Saturday, Bees!

Playing: A dash of Sulfur and Gunfire Reborn. I'm also very intrigued by Witchfire, so I may give it a purchase (once I'm done futzing around with a refund for another game that I like, but don't like enough).

Watching: More of One Percenter at the gym. But the biggest update was that I watched Troll 2 from front to back - so you don't have to. Troll 2 is one of the most well-known and storied Worst Movies of All Time, and my bile fascination demanded that I watch it. So here's a review.

The Waits family has planned out a vacation in which they will engage in a home swap (?) with a family in the tiny town of Nilbog. Son Joshua has doubts planted in him by his passed away grandfather, but the family arrives at Nilbog nonetheless, and settles into their new home. Little do they realize that there's something off about the off-kilter locals, and that behind the scenes, a mad witch plots. It's up to Joshua to save the day, and his family, from the nefarious goblins (yes, not trolls, but goblins).

Firstly, a hilarious caveat - despite it being the title, there are no actual Trolls in the movie, and nor is the word actually uttered by any of the characters. In a fit of semantic hilarity, all the monsters in the film are referred to as goblins, and are more resembling of that brand of monsters than they are actual trolls. Not for nothing is this considered one of the worst movies of all time. Troll 2 was developed by an Italian crew, while the main cast were originally planning to apply as extras. The script was originally written in Italian, and then (poorly) translated into English.The results speak for themselves, but here's a taste.

The dialogue is... peculiarly bad (characters have a habit of stating the obvious a lot), but it's made worse by the at best unnatural, and at worst, gut-bustingly hilarious acting. The evil witch takes the cake as the actress was hamming it up, but clearly having a good time.

Surely you've seen this clip floating around:

"Oh my gooooooooooood!"

Edit: I gave the plot "short shrift", so I thought I'd add a little detail, for completion's sake. The basic idea behind the story is not actually bad - the whole "we're going on a vacation and get ambushed by monsters" thing can be used to great effect (the TCM is the greatest example of this). However, the plot is based around silly, unbelievable contrivances. Why no one believes the son is right until it's too late, or why grandpa has magic powers even though he's dead, are both just... assumed. This leads to a scene where Joshua (the only one who can see his dead grandpa, natch) has to prevent his family from consuming the magic meal laid out as a trap by the goblins. How does he do this? By having time frozen and then urinating on their dinner (I can't believe I wrote that). Which leads to another ludicrous and iconic exchange:

"And you can't piss on hospitality! I won't allow it!"
"What're you going to do to me daddy?"

This kind of dialogue could be pulled out of a porno! But that's emblematic of the entire flick. And the absolutely shoddy production design (check out the burlap sack costumes on the goblins) doesn't help. Look, this film is not worse than The Room - it's clear that some modicum of skill and budget was involved in its making. But it's just so silly and outrageous that it can't be taken seriously. Thus, Troll 2 has found its intended purpose - not to scare, as originally thought, but to entertain. It deserves to be valued as one of the gems of terrible movie-dom.

I therefore award Troll 2 half a carton of milk out of five.

The things I do when I'm bored.

Listening to: Ministry - Bloodlines. Spooky song #2. I don't know that this one is actually about anything scary, but I first heard it playing VtMB, and it has a suitably gothy sound, so here it is on my Halloween list!

 

[GentleOx]

Hello Bees!

So... how did the competition go?



I was the first in my weight class (there were four others). I did okay with my first two lifts, but it felt like my strength had been sapped. The third lift was an unbelievable grind, and by the end of it, literally forgot to obey the judge's commands to rack the weight. But otherwise, it was great to be competing again, even though I didn't hit my gym lifts. I'm kind of glad that I'm done, as I can go back to lifting and eating without having to worry about a deadline.



Also store catto tax. Surviving the urban jungle by making a bed on a handy box. I chose not to disturb kitty's well-deserved sleep, and simply snapped a few pics.

I love cattos, they are small and friend-shaped and cuddly

I'm going to take a break until my next workout on Monday. I'm going to restart my linear programming.

Have yourselves a great weekend, Bees!

Playing: Eh, Witchfire didn't quite work out. It felt like a Destiny clone in beta. So I played a bit more of Sulfur (which, frustratingly enough, doesn't come out until the end of the month). DA:VG comes out at the end of the month... So long...

Watching: Haven't watched any TV shows recently. Am thinking of watching a bit of Rebel Ridge tonight, which I already know is a really good movie.

Listening to: Entombed - Left Hand Path. For tonight's Halloweeny song, I present excellent death metal with a horror twist - the last few minutes of the track give way to an absolutely chilling and powerful reprise of the theme from Phantasm (you've probably heard those simple notes before).

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Sweet medal!
Congratulations @GentleOx !

 

[JCU]

Congratulations!!

That's an awesome achievement! Enjoy your break!

 

[Fremen]

Congrats

 

[HellYeah]

Well done!

 

[Obsinosterous]

Congratulations!

 

[VacTom]

Congrats!

 

[colin]

Great work Ox!

 

[MadamMeow]

Way to go, that is awesome!

 

[TopNotch]

Yay! Congrats, man!

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Congrats on the medal, well done!

 

[aku-chan]

Congrats on the competition win!

 

[Maegaranthelas]

That's super cool! Congrats on the win

 

[GentleOx]

Thanks a ton @aku-chan, @PetiteSheWolf, @TopNotch, @MadamMeow, @colin, @VacTom, @Obsinosterous, @HellYeah, @Fremen, @JCU, @Maegaranthelas and @Laura Rainbow Dragon! You're all so kind and supportive!

So today I restarted my regular benching, and the workout went pretty well. Didn't have to push for any PRs yet.

Bench Press: 125 x 5, 127.5 x 7. Okay, okay. Lifts felt good and moved well.
Shoulder Press: 60 x 5.
Straight Bar Pushdowns: 11 x 8.
EZ Bar Preacher Curls: 45(!) x 6.

Nice and simple.

I matched with someone online and am going out on a date this Thursday! So nervous.

Have a great workout today, Bees!

Playing: I finished the Sulfur demo, and am champing at the bit for the full (early access) version at *groan* the end of this month. Also played a touch of Vampire Hunters, which hasn't gotten old... yet.

Watching: Been watching a bit of VHS Beyond, and also have been watching One Percent Warrior in drips and drabs: finished it today.

Toshiro, a veteran Japanese action actor, has developed his own martial arts system and won exposure from his part in the cult action film "Birth". However, he has grown disillusioned by mainstream action flicks, deeming them unrealistic and overchoreographed. With one of his disciples, he sets out to a remote location on an island to film an indie action movie that showcases his "one percenter" (or truly authentic) action star philosophy. Unfortunately, well-armed mercenaries descend upon the island in search of a stash of cocaine, leading him to rely on his skills to survive.

I dunno. I admittedly came into this one for the action alone, because let's face it, films that are lean on plot but big on jaw-dropping action scenes are what Tak Sakaguchi (the lead actor) is known for. But this one has greater pretensions, and tries to serve as a commentary on Sakaguchi's status in action cinema. I felt that ultimately, there's very little cogent commentary on the film's meta elements, and I felt that the twist near the end wasn't as clever as it felt it was. A lot of the script is very on the nose about the difference between film and reality. The action scenes are beyond reproach (though ironically heavily choreographed in the style that Toshiro criticizes other films for), but the film doesn't soar like Re:Birth did. So in the end what you have is a serviceable, but unexceptional action flick.

I therefore punch it two and a half times out of five.

Listening to: Depths of Fear: Knossos - Knossos Intro. Tonight's Halloween song is from a very indie game that pretty much no one has heard of, let alone played. I purchased it years ago on a whim, and while it didn't do anything for me, I liked the Tangerine Dream-adjacent sounds of the music a great deal. This synth-soaked track is simply amazing, and has all the mood and feel that didn't go into the shoddy gameplay.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

I therefore punch it two and a half times out of five.

I've never even heard of most of the things you review.
But I always enjoy your themed rating metrics.

 

[JCU]

I hope your date goes well!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Best wishes for Thursday!