Struttin' Blues

Tonight was the first real "get out and play" night for Paul and I at a guitar shop. We have, of course, spent much time in guitar stores but not with the intent to play as much as tonight. The purpose was for Paul to meet up with another gent in hopes of securing a used Fender Robert Cray Standard Stratocaster. My goal for years has been a Telecaster, and my general distaste for Stratocasters has been well known.

Until now.

Cursed Paul has somehow awakened a previously non-present desire for Strats based around two unique offerings in the family. The XII I had already come to terms with liking - a 12-string Strat, what's not to like for a chord-junkie like me? But with the vast majority of the Telecasters being the sub-par American Deluxe series tonight I found myself grabbing hold of the Highway One series. Awesome. So, I hereby place the following on my wishlist:

Now all I need to do is actually make an effort to afford one. My beloved Washburn MG-34 is proving itself unable to support my shift from 80's hair metal to melodic Americana-esque classic rock.

Things Go Wrong

So today I have good news, good news, and bad news. All about me. Eventually I'll find the time to overhaul this site so it can be all about House, KP, Cliff, and whoever else gets posting access. For now, you're stuck with me.

To begin week six on the 12 week plan I'm down to 178. That puts me eight pounds for the six weeks, 16 since January, and 62 since I was at my highest a few years back. Which brings me to the good news / bad news.

I had highlighted the fact previously that I'd had an incident with a metal chair at Mucho Burrito that resulted in some rather pronounced pain on my right knee cap. It had taken place at the end of week one of this plan, but I was focused enough to work through it and keep on going. I did, however, submit to an x-ray and ultrasound. The x-ray came back clear, and the ultrasound showed fluid in both knees and calcification where the upper tendon joins the knee on the right leg. Not great news, but good for me in knowing that the long-standing patella-femoral syndrome seems to have almost disappeared, meaning my knees may actually have lining again rather than just grinding bone on bone.

That said, the pain remains and I'm now being scheduled for an MRI in about a month. The word is if they find something in the MRI I'm likely to go under the knife to fix it. If they don't find anything, I'm still likely to go under the knife. So it appears I'm destined for surgery at this point. In the meantime my gym trainers have kindly tweaked the program on short notice to lessen the impact on the knees so I can continue through the second half of the plan. I'll keep you posted!

Big Shaky

I've kept it a little quiet that, one month ago tomorrow, I accepted a 'Transformation Challenge' with my cousin, Paul. The goal would differ for both of us - I would attempt to remove the last 10 lbs I've carried since losing the 60 four years ago, and he would attempt to gain at least that much in muscle mass. Both of us, essentially, aiming to improve our lot in life as far as our body structure for three months.

I started at 186 on June 23rd and took this very seriously. My routine weekly routine in the gym can be found below the dropdown, coupled with very specific eating habits (excluding Cleveland). The results are in today and I'm down to just slightly below 180, with noticeable differences in inches around. In fact, the new belt I bought for my January cruise has lost three notches to the point where I can't use it now.

Should be a fun journey for the next two months as I try to get below 175, somewhere I've not been since May of 1997. One thing's for sure - after over four years at 185 from 240+ I know I won't go back to where I was. We'll see where the rest of 2008 carries me.

THE PLAN
Monday: Upper Body + Interval Training
Tuesday: Spinning + Abs
Wednesday: Yoga + Interval Training
Thursday: Cardio Circuit + Abs
Friday: Lower Body + Intervals
Weekends: Rest and/or go for a run

Monday – Upper Body + Interval Training
Circuit 1 – Chest
Chest press with barbell on ball, 15-25 reps
Chest Flyes on ball, 15-25
Traveling BOSU Pushups, 15-25
1 minute skipping
Circuit 2 – Back
Bent-over Rows on BOSU, 15-25
Ball Flyes, 15-25
Good mornings, 15-25
1 minute burpees
Circuit 3 – Shoulders
Front Raises, 15-25
Lateral Raises, 15-25
Upright Rows, 15-25
Arnold Press, 15-25
1 minute mountain climbers
Circuit 4 – Triceps & Biceps
Bench dips with feet on ball, 15-25
Tricep Pressdowns, To failure
Bicep Curls, 15-25
Hammer Curls, 15-25
1 minute squat thrusts

Repeat the whole circuit twice followed by Interval Training

High Intensity Intervals – Monday, Wednesday, Friday
High Intensity Interval Training
Warmup 3 minutes
30 seconds @ 10.0 – 12.0
1 Minute Rest Interval @ 5.0 – 6.0 mph
45 seconds @ 9.0 – 11.0
1 Minute Rest Interval @ 5.0 – 6.0 mph
60 seconds @ 8.0 – 10.0
1 Minute Rest Interval @ 5.0 – 6.0 mph
90 seconds @ 8.0 – 9.0
1 Minute Rest Interval @ 5.0 – 6.0 mph
60 seconds @ 9.0 – 11.0
1 Minute Rest Interval @ 5.0 – 6.0 mph
45 seconds @ 10.0 – 11.0
1 Minute Rest Interval @ 5.0 – 6.0 mph
30 seconds @ 10.0 – 12.0

Tuesday – Spinning + Abs
Ball Passovers, 15-25
BOSU Side Plank Twists, 15 per side
BOSU Plank, 30-60 second hold
BOSU Supermans, 15-25
Ball Pikes, 15-25
Double Crunches, 15-25
Bicycles, 60 seconds
1 MINUTE REST & REPEAT

Wednesday – Yoga & Interval Training

Thursday – Cardio Circuit & Ultimate Abs
(Cardio Circuit = 3 mins per machine, 5 machines, 2 circuits)

Friday – Lower Body
Circuit 1
Box Jumps, 15-25
BOSU Squats with DBs, 20-25
Walking Lunges with knee lift, 20-25
1 minute skipping
Circuit 2
Step Ups with DBs, 20-25 per side
Hamstring Curls, 20-25
Triple Lunge on BOSU, 10-15 per side
1 minute Jumping Jacks
Circuit 3
Dead Lifts, 20-25
Sumo Squats, 20-25
Wall Sit, 30-60 (Keep increasing time)
1 minute Straight Leg Squat Thrusts
Circuit 4
Off Centre BOSU Squats, 20-25 per side
Calf Raises, 15-25
Cable Leg Lifts – Outer, 15-25
Cable Leg Lifts - Inner, 15-25
1 minute Box Shuffle

Repeat the whole circuit twice followed by Interval Training

Ship of Fools

I saw this one and thought it was perfect for House and Agnostic. Maybe even KP! Enjoy, friends:

Rock Me On the Water

It's been face first back into the computer at the office this week, and thus a bit of a delay in getting this entry up. Paul and I hit up Cleveland starting last Thursday and lasting into Sunday, a trip born out of a two-pronged goal of an Indians game and a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. It was a trip three years in the making and we were both excited to finally get it on the books. Accompanying this entry is a full image gallery of the sights and stops.
 

Day One: Thursday
Things began Thursday afternoon with a couple Venti Doubleshots on Ice and a five-hour drive via Buffalo. Utilizing Better Bidding I had secured us the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center right near the water for $60USD a night, plus taxes and fees. We arrived shortly after 10:00PM and quickly checked in before setting out for dinner. House of Blues was closed, Lola was closed, and we eventually wandered into Fat Fish Blue en route to find a cab that would carry us to Lolita. We overstuffed ourselves on jambalaya and corn bread alongside an Abita Turbodog each. We ventured back to the hotel and caught some sleep as we knew it was an early morning to come.

Day Two: Friday
While buying our Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tickets in advance we'd noticed a Rock and Ride Package pairing your ticket to the Hall up with entry to the famous Cedar Point at significant savings. We'd decided to lose our Cleveland day in favour of an hour drive along the Coastal Highway and a shot at a day of coaster riding. For all who think the new Behemoth is large understand that Millennium Force is about another 75 feet or so taller, and speeds along at another 25mph faster. Sadly, while we managed two trips on that one we found Top Thrill Dragster was closed while we were there, making two unsuccessful attempts for me at this park now. We did add Magnum XL-200, Mean Streak, and Demon Drop on the day before calling it and heading back.

Dinner would be at The Brew Kettle in Strongsville, a place I'd been told combined great pub food with even better beer. It was exactly as billed as I enjoyed a side salad and small sausage and beer gumbo, but it was the beers that got us excited. Settling on 1-ounce samples we tried Atwater Voodoo Vator Doppelbock, Ringneck Barrel Aged Dark Helmet Imperial Schwarzbier, Ringneck Oatmeal Stout, Sierra Nevada IPA, Avery the Maharaja Imperial IPA, and Southern Tier Hop Sun. All were excellent and we couldn't stop talking about this top-notch restaurant for the trip.

Day Three: Saturday
Saturday started off with a trek to Progressive Field in hopes of buying our Indians tickets and taking the 10:30 tour of the stadium. We were able to find tickets, but found out the tours don't take place during Saturday home games. Bad luck, but it just meant a short walk to the hotel to drop the camera off and head down past Cleveland Browns Stadium to the Hall of Fame. A great collection of memories from the world of rock including clothing, instruments, records, lyrics, and just about anything else you can imagine. It's a tremendously designed facility and we blew through over two hours with ease before heading back up into a horrible rain storm.

After a brief rest it was off to the West Side Market, a bit of a disappointing food market, and then to the Great Lakes Brewpub for more food and drink. We both enjoyed a great burger and, again, 1-ounce samples. This time it was their Burning River Pale Ale, Dortmunder Gold, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Holy Moses White Ale, Commodore Perry IPA, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, and Moondog Ale. A tour of their actual brewing facility was pretty subpar, but thankfully free and over quickly. Finally, it was back to prepare and get to the Cleveland Indians vs. Tampa Bay Rays game at Progressive Field!

Only my third park on my quest for 30 and yet another great park. No seat appeared to be bad, and being a night game at an outdoor park made for a great atmosphere. The stadium itself is well done, home to little things like a Home Run Porch, Heritage Park, Party Deck, and oversized screen. We sat in right field and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and found out we'd happened to arrive for Rock'n'Blast, an annual post-game fireworks and rock show. Second only to an experience at Symphony of Fire this was the biggest fireworks display I've ever seen. Paul snapped a couple videos seen below; I only wish we'd caught the seat-shaking (seriously) finale. Having been at the game until almost 11:30 we eventually found Zócalo Mexican Grill & Tequilería, featuring food by one of my celebrity chef favourites, Aarón Sanchez. Oddly, he lost to the other famous chef whose food I'd been trying to eat - Michael Symon - in the Next Iron Chef America contest. No such luck.

A visit to the famous A Christmas Story house ended the trip on Sunday as we took our time getting home. All told a ton of fun, and I can honestly say Cleveland has a lot more to offer than I'd expected. Heck, if anyone's up for an Indians game Paul and I are up to go back!

Everybody Move It

Attention reality show hounds: The upcoming season of Big Brother, the 10th in the series, features a 75-year-old contestant. For the first time in years they promise nobody in the house will have a prior relationship of any kind, but do concede to “a slightly conservative vs. liberal angle.” One would assume this will go in line with the upcoming USA elections I suppose. Who knows, I may enjoy this show again if they actually have some contestants that aren't morally reprehensible.

I hereby admit that, while I long ago gave up on 'American Idol', I'm almost transfixed by the talent on 'Canadian Idol' this year. Again, the Canadian voting public seem far more willing to admire an artist that differs from the "norm" (read: R&B, fluff pop) and support artists with a non-traditional point-of-view, and it actually makes for good television. My favourites? Katelyn Dawn, Mookie Morris, Amberly Thiessen, Drew Wright, and the Pigott that doesn't hump his instruments. My least favourite? If I ever see Mark Day on my television after Wednesday's vote-off show it'll be far too soon, that kid is just wrong. Anyone else watching?

Late Addition: 7-11 is handing out free 7.11oz Slurpees on July 11th. Enjoy!

Cursed Diamond

Man I'm a lazy narbo when it comes to posting. At some point in my old age I've questioned my ability to have anything useful to say, but what the heck, it's worked in the past. Let's look at the weekend.

I just now finished catching The King of Kong, a documentary detailing the chase for the world record in Donkey Kong. They did a great job at making me detest the contemptible Billy Mitchell and cheering for Steve Wiebe as he fought against all odds for the title. I do have to say that this world of competitive video gamers is full of absolute weirdos, and I'm glad I gave up the Q-Bert at a young age. Add in a viewing of Hancock, Turistas and Martian Child and my avoidance of films may finally be over. Reviewing them all those years for myCaledon really ended my love of the movie, sadly.

In other news, allow me to preface by saying the foot is feeling much better, and I'm no longer limited in my workouts and such. Still, the doc thinks a fracture may have taken place. However, being more than six weeks out it can't be fixed and joins my two broken toes and broken rib in my cathedral of unrepairable pain. Beyond that I actually made the brilliant move of bolting knee first into a solid metal chair at lunch a week ago Friday and it's been insanely painful. Looks like I'm going in for an x-ray and ultrasound this week to find out exactly what I did to it.

Four more days to Cleveland - hoping my cell is back from the shop by then so I can do some live photoblogging and Twittering, but we shall see.