Fourth of July Awesomeness!!!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Since it's the fourth, NerdStrong is closed today. But my buddy Derek and fellow NerdStronger decided to get a group together at a local park and play a few sportsball. He invited a bunch of NerdStrongers as well as his friends.

We started with some Frisbee and when more people showed up it turned into Ultimate Frisbee. I had never played Ultimate Frisbee but it's pretty much like football. The goal is to get the Frisbee into your end zone by passing it from person to person. All that running around is an amazing cardio workout. We played one game and even more people came so we picked new teams and played another.

About an hour and a half in we switched to kickball. I haven't played kickball since elementary school. It was like begin a kid all over again. Kickball was definitely alot less of a workout then Ultimate Frisbee.

Both were a lot of fun, I got to meet some new friends and hang with some of my amazing NerdStrong family. I hope this becomes a regular thing as it was a lot of fun. Thanks Derek for putting this all together.

I actually had to leave a little early from these festivities as I had plans to attend my buddy Will's annual Fourth of July celebration. It started at 1pm and I had planned to leave the park at 12 noon but was having such a fun time I didn't get out until a little after 12:30pm. I had to go home first and take a shower before picking up my buddy Dallas and then head out to Will's parent house in Rancho Palos Verdes. 

We got to Will's about 2:30 and a handful of people were there hanging out. This is the third or fourth time I've gone to Will's parents for 4th. They live on a hillside and have the best view of the valley below were you can watch literally hundreds of firework shows at the same time. But before night fall we enjoyed some tasty bbq and some fun pool antics. 

Overall it was a really nice Fourth of July spending it was friends, food and festivities.

No NerdStrong, Half Day & Jaws

Since my back wasn't feeling so hot I cancelled my open gym today at NerdStrong. I considered going in and working on my arms/biceps but opted to just take it easy as I really want to be better for the Sunday workout.

Most of my friends didn't have to work today since Fourth of July lands on a Saturday. But not me... since we have deadlines and such I had to go in for a halfday. It wound up being only three hours.. so yay!!!

I spent the majority of my dad cleaning my house. My work has been so crazy the past few weeks I haven't been able to do much around my house. Also there was a Star Trek The Next Generation marathon happening on BBC so I kept that on while I cleaned. 

Only geeky thing I have to share with you guys today is this picture that's circulating on social media about Jaws. The story is that these people were participating in an outdoor screening of Jaws. They watched while floating in inner tubes in the middle of a very dark and murky lake. Yeah you couldn't pay me to do that. Jaws terrified me as a kid. I had a fear of going into a pool for years. I still have a fear of the water/ocean because of this movie. Would you do this?

Great Video, Geekies, Superman & Captain America

I came across this gentleman Matt Baume's video titled The Worst Reactions to Marriage Equality on You tube and it just struck a cord with me. He articulates what I am feeling inside about all the hate towards gay people and marriage equality... A must watch for everyone (well at least decent human beings).

Today I finished judging the podcasts for The Geekie Awards. This is the third year of this award show and this is also my third year of judging podcasts. Last year I did cosplay as well but that category was removed from this years show. It's always fun listening to fellow podcasters. It's great to hear the different levels of professionalism. Some I hear and are just blown away by the production values, others are just simply interesting. Seems like everyone had a podcast now but only the top of the top make to the Geekies. Thanks Kristen for including me as a judge the past three years. I look forward to many more award shows.

Entertainment Weekly released a new issue of their magazine featuring Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice on the cover. The picture had Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. If you know me you know I loved the new Superman (Man of Steel) so I am super pumped to see this movie. I also like the look of Batman and Wonder Woman. I don't know know how much of a role Wonder Woman is going to play in this film. At first I heard just a cameo but now I'm hearing she's a significant part of the movie. They are also going to introduce Aquaman and The Flash, but again I don't know how much of the movie will be dedicated to these characters. All I know DC has some ambitious plans for the next few years.. can't wait to see what comes of it.

In an entirely different universe I came across this "must have" Captain America back pack. I use messengers bags and back packs all the time and I could definitely see myself wearing this. It's a bit pricey at the moment but I'm hoping for a sale or made a birthday present.. either way this will be mine one day. It's a ThinkGeek item so hopefully it will be around for a while. You can check it out HERE.

NerdStrong Gym - Back Squats & Back Pain

Today is Strength day at NerdStrong Gym. We started with a good warm up and then went into the workout. On the board today are Back Squats. The first fifteen minutes or so we reviewed the skill. We then had to do a 7 / 5 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 10+. I teamed up with my usual barbell buddy Derek. We started fairly light and I got to about the fourth set and 105 lbs before I felt that familiar pain in my lower back. A few weeks ago I compressed my spine while jumping rope and it seems I aggravated it again. It wasn't horrible but I did feel a twinge of pain so I stopped immediately and just helped my partner finish up his set.

I did move on to the "Accessory" workout which consisted of 3 rounds of 7 reps of Dumbbell Curls, Leg Lifts and Weighted Hip Extensions. The dumbbell curls weren't a problem, I actually enjoy doing this as I feel it really works my biceps. I was a bit timid with the leg lifts but I did my first few and my back was fine so I continued doing them. The weighted hip extensions was an interesting workout. Again I hesitated at first but after doing a few I realized that this workout didn't aggravate my back so I finished off the workout.

So the workout was good, but my back wasn't so good. I think I'm going to cancel my open gym tomorrow and there isn't any gym on Saturday so I'll get to rest up a few days before the big Sunday workout.

New MASH Podcast Released

Today Geekyfanboy Productions released a new episode of the MASH 4077 Podcast. This is episode 107, covering S5 Ep 10 "The Korean Surgeon". It's the last of the episodes with just Meds and I. Co-host Al returns for the next six episodes... woot!!

You can Download from itunes tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes , listen on Stitcher Radio ow.ly/iZJIz or listen and get direct download from our main website MASH4077Podcast.com  Don't forget new episodes are released on the 1st and 15th of every month.

NerdStrong Gym - (X-Men) Danger Room

Today's workout is X-Men themed in honor of Coach David's Birthday. He's a huge Cyclops fan so they created "Danger Room" workout.

But before we do the workout we did a fun Wallball warm up. We all teamed up, my partner was my Magic The Gathering arch-nemsis Liz. We had a blast trying to kill each other with the medicine ball as we tossed it back and forth.

This workout consisted of stations (always a favorite of mine). We did 2 minutes at each station then :30 seconds of rest in between. The first was "Colossus", which was a Barbell Complex (Deadlift, Hang Clean, Front Squat, Push Press, Back Squat and another Push Press. Next was "Kitty Pride" where we did a Half TABATA (but each hold was different and more difficult). We then moved on to "Nightcrawler" which was a Slamball Teleport, which meant we did a Slamball then ran a few yards and grabbed another slamball and slam it down before running back and doing it over and over again back and forth. Next was "Wolverine" those were Kettlebell Deadlift High Pulls and finally "Storm" which was a Dumbbell Lateral Raises. And then the finisher was of course "Cyclops" which were Battleropes for 42 seconds (the age of coach David).

This was an tough workout, two minutes doesn't sound like much but when you're in the middle of it it feels like forever. I was good with the Barbell Complex and that might have been because it was at the beginning of the workout. Kitty was pretty tough especially when the holds are more complex like lifting your right arm and left leg at the same time. Nightcrawlers were exhausting. I ran out of gas at the halfway point but the coaches were there to push me along. Wolverines weren't that tough, though I did get one of the heavier kettlebells. Storm was tough, my arm were like jelly after doing the Wolverines and then you had to hold two weight out in the shape of a T. I dropped down in weight as 15 lbs was a bit to much but even the 10 lbs were killing me.  My arms were dead but I went second on the heavier battlerope just to get it over. We split the 42 seconds in half and did 21 seconds of small waves and then 21 seconds of large waves.. I was so happy when I was done but soon found out that we were doing it twice. As I said... it was a good workout.      HAPPY BIRTHDAY COACH DAVID!!!

Fish & Chips, 1000 Friends & Agent Carter News

I got to hang out with fellow NerdStronger and new buddy Kevin for lunch today. A few weeks ago we were having a conversation and we started to talk about my trip to Ireland/UK last year and I mentioned eating some great fish and chips while there. He said he missed authentic fish and chips from Ireland since his family is from there. I told him that I knew of a local Fish and Chips place (BatterFish) out in Encino where the owner is actually from Ireland, accent and all, and it was some of the tastiest fish and chips that I have ever had.. so of course that's where we had to go for lunch.

I'm happy to say he was not disappointed. The owner was there as well and the two of them really hit off (both being actors). So I'd say this lunch was a success and very tasty!!

Today I hit 1000 friends on Facebook.. which is crazy. I probably know a few hundred of them personally and the others are Guild fans or podcast fans and such. On Twitter I've been stuck at 2640 to 2650 followers. I'd really love to hit 3000 but I don't think that will be happening anytime soon. But for a nobody I think I'm doing pretty good at this social media thing.

Today Marvel announced that James D’Arcy (Jarvis) and Enver Gjokaj (Sousa) will be returning for Agents Carter Season Two. I'm not sure how they are going to explain why these two are in Los Angeles but I'm sure the writers will come up with a logical reason. I'm super excited as I love Jarvis and Carter's chemistry.. they are such a great duo. And I really like that Sousa and Carter have this flirting thing going. I'd love to see those two become an item. I can't wait for more Agent Carter. If you haven't seen season one find a way to watch it.. it is one of my favorites from last season. 

NerdStrong Gym - Handstands & Box Jumps

It's DEX day at NerdStrong and that meant Handstands and Box Jumps. After a really good warm up that concluded with a new move called a Bear Crab. This involved doing a Bear crawl, which means walking on all four with a hunch backed and then when you got to the other side of the gym you turned around, got on your back, grabbed a medicine ball and placed it in your lap and then do a crab walk back. It was tough but alot of fun.. I can see doing that as part of an actual workout.

Once we were done with the warm up we spent about fifteen minutes practicing the hand stand. It can be frustrating at times when you already know the movement but have to wait while they explain it step by step for those who have never done it before. But honestly it's a good refresher and a good way to make sure you are doing it properly. I have found many movements that I have been doing wrong for years.

We then moved on to the actual workout which consisted of 5 rounds of 1 Max Handstand Hold and then 10x Strict Box Jumps. So I would do 1 or 2 handstands and hold them as long as I could and then go do the 10 box jumps. Since I can do a handstand against the wall I started working on moving away from the wall. As a kid I could hold an unassisted handstand for a while, now it's alot tougher but I'm getting better.

As for the box jumps, for my last jump I attempted to jump the highest of the boxes, it's more then half my body height. With everyone watching I manged to clear it with a few inches to spare... it felt pretty good.

Overall a great DEX day.. thanks coach Chrisy for the handstand guidance and to coach David and coach Andrew for the box jump help. NerdStrongers Rock!!!

NerdStrong and Comic Con

Today is my much needed rest day from NerdStrong. But I did book all my classes for the month of July. This will be my sixth month at NerdStrong, I can't believe it's been five months already, so many changes to my body, self esteem and energy. I can't wait to see what another five months will bring me.

Speaking of NerdStrong.. they are having a panel this year at SDCC.. it's going to be on Thursday at 4pm.. gotta be sure to make that one..  I spent some time today going through the San Diego Comic Con schedule trying to figure out what other panels I want to see while there. I know that I probably won't get into two-thirds of the ones I have selected but I'm gonna give it a try.  I also had to decide if I was going to take the train down or drive. I really didn't want to drive myself (as I have done that the past 11 years) but when I went to check on train tickets all the reserve seats were gone, I still could have purchased an unreserved seat but it didn't guarantee me a seat (which meant I would have to stand for 3 hours) and that's even if I got on the train, which would be doubtful since it's going to be a madhouse there.

While I was searching for a train seat my NerdStronger friend Meg tweeted me and said that I could car pool down with her.. which was awesome. So I'm carpooling down Wednesday early afternoon. Not sure how I'm getting back yet, Meg offered to bring my back on Sunday afternoon but it will depend on what time she leaves. I'm sure I can find a ride back if it doesn't workout and if not there is always the train home.... Getting super excited for comic con!!!

One Final Battle (Pathfinder)

Today was our finale battle for our 5th D&D / Pathfinders campaign. DM Dallas changed things up for our final battle and used Warpath, which is a mass combat gaming system that's compatible with Pathfinder. Each of the main players were in charge of a group of fighters. My little halfling Mage Dashel had 50 Mages under his command.

We had three "guest" players (Jarret, Tamar and Matt) who join in the fun and play the bad guys. Our leader was Zander (Robert) and we placed our armies down. My mages were in the very back of the party as once the opposition discovered we were magic users we would be targeted.. so we waited and waited and waited, 5 1/2 hours into our 6 hours of game play I was finally in a position to attack. It was a good hit (took out an entire army of 500) but not enough for the final blow to the main bad guy. We ran out of time but Dallas had a plan B just in case this happened and one of the minor bad guys turned on the main one and killed him, thus ending the battle.

Even though I only got to play the last fifteen minutes of the 6 hours it was still a fun game. I enjoyed watching everyone battle it out. I think the strategy of keeping the mages back was a good one but I didn't realized how long it would take to move everyone around to make room for my mages to move to the front. It's a slow moving game and I spent three rounds entangled with a fellow players because he kept rolling crap.

This fifth adventure was full of action and lots and lots of fighting.. there were many times when I thought my little mage was going to die but somehow he survived. As he levels up, he's getting more and more powerful spells, which makes for more enjoyable battles.

We've been playing Pathfinder now for 2 1/2 years and I've been thinking about taking a break. If I do my name goes to the bottom of a waiting list and it could be a while before I can re-join. We're currently on a two month hiatus so I have a bit a time to figure things out. For now Dashel will take a break from his adventures and settle down in his little cottage just outside the city with his husband Percy.

NerdStrong Gym - Taste the Painbow

Today at NerdStrong we got to do one of my favorite workouts, Taste the Painbow aka the Skittles workout.

On March 11th of this year Coach Blair introduced us to this awesome workout. And today it's making it's triumphant return.

It can be an extremely tough workout and I say can because it's a game of chance and that's one of the main reasons why I love it so much.

Here's how it works. Coach Marla has a cup of 44 skittles. Each color represented a workout, Orange we did Burpees, Purple we did Goblet Squats, Yellow was sit ups, Red meant Mountain Climbers and finally Green we ran.

And what makes this so random is that they use a 8 sided and 20 sided die to determine how many of each one we are doing. For the harder workouts (Burpees and Runs) he used an 8 sided die and for the rest he used a 20 sider.

This time around they kept track of what the 9am class had done so we could compare our pain. The other upside to them keeping track is that it gave 10am an advantage as to know how many of each colors were in the glass.. though if you count the numbers, 9am at 42 skittles and 10am had 44.  

Regardless both classes got a good workout.. some good and some very bad rolls. I wound up doing 71 Sit Ups, 38 Burpees, 106 Mountain Climbers, 80 Goblet Squats & Ran quite a bit. Not the worse workout but a good one. Towards the end of the workout you are exhausted but you feel great pride in actually doing all those things in a fairly short amount of time. I hope we get to do this workout again in a few months.