Saab

I've never really been a fan of Saab cars, but while looking at some of the nominees for this years Webby Awards for Best Visual Design: Aesthetic - I discovered the "Turbo Gene Test".

Takes a while to load but so far I think it's pretty dang cool.

**UPDATE**
Finished it finally - as a warning while the overall test isn't THAT long, a few spots take a LONG time to load.

My Result:

Here was my Car result:

Grotesquely Accurate!

This guy is talented. I love his stuff.
Check it out - ESPECIALLY his sculptures.

Just WOW!

David O'Keefe


(Found on Drawn.ca)

How to be successful

So you want to be a successful bad guy? Or maybe you want to be the good guy?
Here are a few lists for you!

How to be successful at being an evil Overlord

How to be successful at being the Hero

The Next Thirty Years...

So I've finally gotten over the fact that I'm old now. Okay so I'm not really old.

Just halfway to sixty.

So anyways, what now?

Is that really a big deal? I have a wonderful wife, kids, family, friends (although I'm weird with friends and may just do a wondering/rambling post on 'em soon)...

Basically while I'm definitely lacking in financial security (but working on that), life is good.
I'm not going to worry about the next 30 years, I'm just going to let them happen, and ENJOY them.

There you have it.

Yesterday I did an abs workout class thing offered in our corporate gym. After doing Ab Ripper X for so long I figured my abs were up for the challenge. Yikes was I wrong. I could barely do the jack knife exercise at the end yesterday, and I'm SORE today!

I guess that means I have to go back tomorrow! Yeehaw!

Now to get ready for a corporate indoor soccer game...

The Last Day of the First Thirty Years...

Today is the very last day of my first three decades.

Honestly I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about that.

On the one hand I feel like I'm getting very old. (Ha!)

On the other I don't feel any different from 10 years ago (although I was living in Russia 10 years ago and am probably now in better shape)... Often when asked how old I am the first thought that comes into my head is "23"...

So it is very strange and surreal to me that I will be THIRTY years old tomorrow.

In some ways I feel I should reflect on what I have an haven't accomplished, and move forward with a plan for the future.

In others I feel like that is a waste of time and possibly counterproductive. (Interesting Article from about a month ago can be found at the Boston Globe: Why Setting Goals Can Backfire)

Not that you shouldn't set goals, as they can definitely have a powerful motivating force in your life - BUT, don't focus on them to the exclusion of what's really good for you! Makes sense to me.

Kind of reminds me how I like goals... but I detest New Years Resolutions that don't really mean anything, but we feel like we should do them just because.

Okay this is starting to be more random than I want it to be, so I'm done.

To the next thirty years!

P90X - Before & After as promised

As promised, here are WAAAAAY too many pictures of me in my swimsuit.

The only bad thing about that swimsuit is that you can't really see my legs which is one of the areas that I feel improved significantly. I think you can see the biggest difference in my side pictures.

Like I've said before, I think I would have had better results had I followed the Classic program the whole way through.

So here they are! (and I am really, really sorry)

Front:


Back:


Side:


Yippee I'm done with that.

I very well may redo the full Classic P90X program in a few months after working on and exploring more exercise options.

If anybody has any suggestions for good programs to try out, I'd love to hear it.

We currently have the following workout programs on DVD:
P90X
Rodney Yee Power Yoga: Total Body
Gaiam AM/PM Yoga
Forza
Winsor Pilates
Core Secrets (which I guess isn't sold in the US anymore, interesting)

We'll probably buy more of Rodney Yee's yoga series since I really like them. I know there are more out there so let me hear your thoughts!

Mad Bicycling Skillz!

Street Bike skills - VERY cool stuff.



I prefer Parkour/Free Running but this is still an amazing display of flippin' sweet skillz, yo. (found on Kottke.org)

P90X Before/After pictures (i.e. WAY too many pictures of me in a swimsuit!) coming up later tonight...
You have been warned. YIKES!

P90X - The END

Okay so it isn't REALLY the end since my pursuit of physical perfection (ha!) will continue, but as of yesterday evening I am officially DONE with the 90 days of P90X. We are taking our final pictures tomorrow evening - so hopefully I'll get at least the starting and finishing pics up here soon. I WILL do it I promise. I won't promise exactly when however because that way I won't be quite as bound...

The last exercise was Yoga - and just to finish P90X with a P90X workout - I didn't substitute the other Yoga workouts I prefer.

Earlier in the day (quite early for me on a Saturday anyway!) I went down and learned some Takedowns and Passing the Guard in Jujitsu - got banged up pretty good actually! Even used some good old Dit Da Jow on a bruise on my bicep. Woohoo! I definitely need more experience before I feel anywhere near confident in my skills... I would also like to try some other disciplines sometime.

So. What's next? My biggest disappointments in results from the P90X are in my abs and arms - and honestly I don't blame the P90X program, but the particular way I followed the program. I did about 2/3's of the Lean program, and then the last Classic. I should have done classic the whole way but was leary because of my stupid right shoulder that has been causing me problems. I probably should have done it anyway, but from now on I am going to work on my abs and my arms (including my shoulders, biceps, triceps and forearms) to get what I want. This also includes some hard cardio - hopefully outdoor running to get me outside more - in order to lose that little layer that I've been unable to get rid of right down near my belt.

I can do it - P90X has given me a good attitude and knowledge that I can - and I WILL.

Drawer Geeks

I love Art/Cartooning blogs (well sometimes anyway, sometimes they aren't worth following...) but through one of these I found a really cool collection of drawings.

Drawer Geeks

Every other Friday artist who work in the industry create something along a certain theme (kind of like the meme's that go around)

A few random choices from there:
King Kong, Darth Vader, Pirates, Elvis, Strawberry Shortcake - Fun!

I haven't decided on a favorite yet...

Reminds me I need to do more drawerings though.

Mythbusters: Holy Crap!!

This just made me grin in gleeful geekish fascination.



Rockets are cool.

P90X - Yoga

I have a problem with the P90X Yoga program.

Every time I start doing it I get more frustrated and angry. That is NOT something you want to happen when practicing yoga.

I'm no master Yogi or anything, but I'm pretty sure yoga is supposed to get you away from anger and stress...

I must admit that there have been a few times I've done the P90X yoga that haven't been too bad, but those times were always when my kids were asleep or away, and that doesn't happen often with 3 kids!

SO after getting about 15 minutes into P90X Yoga, I turned it off and put in Gaiam's Power Yoga - Total Body with Rodney Yee.

I've had this DVD for quite a while now and as soon as I got a few minutes into it I was feeling MUCH better. A very cute screaming one year old was still a bit frustrating while trying to do Yoga, but nowhere near as bad as it was when I was doing the P90X Yoga.

Power Yoga is only 60 minutes, compared to the 90 of P90X, but the setting, music, directions, everything fits me SO much better. It honestly didn't feel like 60 minutes, yet with Tony's even after 15 minutes it felt like an hour.

Thankfully not everybody has the same experiences! So for those who like P90X Yoga more power to ya. I think that I am going to stick with other yoga from here on out. (Nice to decide this on the last 2 Yoga workouts of the program!)

P90X - The Final Week

This week starts the last week of the 90 day program...
I can't believe I've been doing P90X for almost 90 days!

Last week was a very interesting one...

Tuesday I had an indoor soccer game for a work competition, we won 6-2. On the way home from work I stopped by a sports store and bought some soccer socks and shin guards so I wouldn't have to borrow for our next game. Okay amount of exercise but not enough to replace the P90X plyometrics. I knew I wouldn't have time for Plyo due to a Easter Egg Hunt my sister was having for our kids that evening. I arrived home with just enough time to change into a T-shirt and drive with my family over to her house. The kids had fun, they were SO cute!

By the time we got home it was past the kids bedtime and I knew I wouldn't be able to get Plyo in. Thankfully, every Tuesday night a bunch of guys get together up at our church to play Basketball, so I figured running and jumping and shooting would be a good replacement - I have a really hard time with late night home workouts following a video. Basketball was going fairly well until I had a run in with a room divider, which sliced a small but deep chunk out of my hand that just wouldn't stop bleeding. I took care of that while the game continued - had it all bandaged up and started playing again when BAM!! Elbow to the chin!

On top of a major hit to my jaw, I seriously bit into my tongue. Yikes! That was enough for me for the night, so I returned home to find my 4 year old had developed a Fever. Wednesday's workout and Thursday's were started late, and due to pain and screaming sick kids, were not finished. Partially just because of frustration - I could have pushed through (and probably should have) but my mental state was not condusive to a good workout.

Thankfully Friday and Saturday were both good workout days - and now we are in the final week.

It is strange to me that the final week on the P90X program is a "rest" week, since I feel like I'd rather finish strong. Especially with last week being so weak. I may just have to switch the workouts around so it's not so 'restful'. :)

P90X - Final 3 Weeks

We are halfway through week 11 of the 13 week P90X program.

Last week I switched to Classic and am enjoying that a lot. My wife has semi-switched as well, and wishes she had been doing the Plyometrics program longer, as it is the leg workout she's been looking for. :) It's definitely a good one.

It's also interesting in these last few weeks of the program to think about intensity in the workouts. Before I was intense, but I think realizing I'm almost done and not being quite satisfied with the results so far has made me push a bit harder (not to mention switching to Classic last week) in these last few weeks. We'll see how it turns out.

I need to increase cardio on top of the regular P90X workouts if I want to really get the results I'm looking for. While my wife is quite happy with how I'm looking, I'm just not quite there, so somehow I need to fit that in.

Friday lunch-time Outdoor Soccer has started up again at work - that will help a little (along with getting some sun on my skin!) - and maybe I can be a late addition to the indoor soccer competition that has started...

Finally - along with learning things like in this book, I want to take modern survival courses and learn skills that could really be useful. For some reason I have this weird desire to be able to DO STUFF, that I wouldn't normally need much, but if I DID need it, I would be fine. Know what I mean?

Here is the program description from the scout training program:

Scout Urban Escape and Evasion
While on an international business trip, you are kidnapped and held for ransom. A terrorist attack closes the business district and you find yourself in a fix. How do you stay alive? How do you get to safety on your own? This class provides leading-edge skills to civilians who live and work in challenging urban environments or in urban centers that may destabilize during a crisis. Topics covered include covert movement (day vs. night), the judicious use of caches, understanding urban baseline movement and urban awareness training, the use of urban disguises and false papers/identification, lock picking, escaping from unlawful custody, obtaining and driving local transportation, the use of "specialized" urban gear, and instruction on how to develop urban escape and evasion go-bags, etc. A one day urban escape scenario is held the final day of class

Awesome. I want to do it. Anybody want to sponsor me (i.e. pay for it!?) HA. Thanks!