Slowing Down...

So further evidence that I'm getting older is the fact that everything is just that much harder on my body. About a month ago or so I noticed I was starting to pack on the pounds and while I wasn't close to hitting my fat peak when I was 182 lbs, I was at a slightly unsettling 174. I decided I needed to lose some weight immediately and figured 10 pounds this month would be enough. When I was at 182 I was 22 years old and it took me 3 weeks of running a mile every other day to lose 15 lbs. This was only about 3 years ago so I thought it should take about as long to lose 10 lbs. It hasn't. I've only lost 8 lbs and to do that I've not only been running more than a mile just about everyday, but also I changed my diet. I have 2 days left before I leave for DC for new years and hopefully I can lose those pounds.

It's strange to start thinking about my health when it seems like just yesterday when I was in high school eating 3 bags of chips, cookies and a coke for lunch. But I'm getting older and if I don't start doing it now it will only get harder the older I get. Now I have to cut back on carbs, I try and not put salt into anything I cook, I have only been drunk once in the last 2 months and I cut out fast food which turned out to be the hardest thing. I have never really been one to eat a lot of fast food, it's not that great and it extremely bad for you. But as I had pretty much been living in my car and on the road and city to city from August to November I had grown accustomed to getting a regular fix of chicken nuggets and spicy chicken sandwiches. It's been a while since I've had any fast food and while I feel great I find myself craving the aforementioned golden nuggets of pure deliciousness more often that not.













Also as a reminder of my age, I was knocked over playing basketball 2 days ago and my back and ass were sore the entire day yesterday. I had to take 2 Tylenol to not wince every time I moved. It was ridiculous. I have never been so sore from one seemingly innocuous fall. I remember recently feeling the same after a trip to Florida when I got pounded by some waves and I vowed to regain my body of my youth by falling a lot and building up tolerance for it but that's a pretty lame idea. Falling sucks and I don't really want to do it anymore.

Anyways, I'm going to try and get out the few blogs I have been to lazy to write before I take off to DC on Sunday so look for many blogs over the next few days. Go big and stuff..

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - Last year one of my 'resolutions' was to cut out all meat but chicken and seafood. I have done that pretty well. I had a few slip ups when I ate things that I was unaware that had pork in them and also amended the resolution for include turkey. But other than maybe 5 meals I stuck to my convictions and it's pretty awesome. Chicken, even though it's the greatest thing on the planet, is also not that great for you. So for this year I plan on slowly phasing it out. Eating more seafood and less chicken. I am going to try and cut back from eating it pretty much 7 days a week (usually twice a day) to no more than 7 meals a week. It sounds like it's still a lot but if you think about it there's 21 meals a week and I'm only having chicken in 33 percent of those meals. Hopefully I will have about 10 that include various types of seafood and turkey and then at least 4 or 5 that are vegetarian.

Merry Christmas...

And a Happy New Year. If you're going somewhere, travel safe. People like to drive crazy on the roads so you gotta watch out for them.



Out like Santa

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - make sure you recycle your wrapping paper!!

Hectic Holidays...

Sorry for going AWOL for a bit. I'd like to say that my recent hiatus from blogging was due to me globe trotting but unfortunately my life has been pretty boring lately and I've just had nothing to talk about. Nothing has been upsetting me or making me want to speak out really but I figure I need to write something or people will turn elsewhere to cure their boredom.

I love christmas. It's not my favorite holiday (Thanksgiving is) but it's still pretty awesome. I love the snow and the idea of christmas (essentially turkey day with presents), I love the 'holiday spirit' and even christmas music. But I hate the other side of it also. The thing that keeps it from being the best day of the year is all the ridiculous buildup to it. All the shopping and worrying about what to get people and traffic and crowded malls. It's pretty crazy. Now I don't personally have a lot of people to shop for which is good and I'm also not one to get stressed out, especially with something as silly as shopping, but everyone else being stressed out and over caffinated people pushing their way through lines is not my idea of a good time.















It really takes all the fun out of the holiday when all people care about is their obligation to buy things for other people. It's kind of ridiculous. The whole point of the holiday is to hang out with people and have a good time, drink some hot chocolate and not worry about stuff. People don't really care what you buy them and if you feel obligated you probably shouldn't be buying them anything at all. You should give because you want to, not because you have to. And if you don't want to, good for you. The roads could do without you on them.

The only thing worse than waiting in line at a store to pay for something is waiting in line in your car for some asshole to park close to the store because apparently their legs are broken and they can't walk an extra 30 feet. One thing I love about NYC was that people walk everywhere. I had to carry my groceries 5 blocks to my apartment and you can't park 30 feet from the door when you are gonna bring your cart outside anyways? Seriously? Stop being such a fat lazy middle american and use your legs.

Anyways, that's all for now. More later. I've got a lot of lists and things to talk about before I take off for DC for new years with the boys from Ibodera. As always, go big...

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - Will Smith is probably one of the few actors who could carry a movie literally by themselves. I love him. And Tom Hanks of course. Lots of movies out now and coming soon, support the industry. Holiday

Paw-Paw!

Are you f-ing serious. This story is too much. This 5 year old kid shot and killed a bear. Now, I'm okay with hunting (not exactly hunting but hunters who generally have a good concept of wildlife conservation not to mention land preservation) but this is insane.

First of all five year olds shouldn't be wielding guns. This dude gave his 5 YEAR OLD a loaded shotgun. That's unacceptable. Even worse is that the kids dad started to teach him to shoot when he was 2 1/2 years old! Seriously? He killed 3 deer last year when he was 4. I understand that he's a descendant of Davy Crockett but WTF. This is yet another reason I think the 2nd Amendment needs to be modified. They should probably ask people if they intend to let their 5 year old use the gun they are buying.

This story rules on some levels though. Mostly the southern vernacular.

"It came from the thicket and it was beside the road and I shot it." It sucks how jealous I am that this kid gets to use the word 'thicket'.

"'Paw-paw I squeezed the trigger and I didn't close my eyes. I killed him." Paw-paw. Possibly the greatest word in print.

I'm out. Don't forget to give a loaded gun to a 5 year old. As always, get your feet off the ground and reach for the stars. Pain heals, chicks dig scars and glory lasts forever. Go big or go home. Carpe diem. Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it. Life's short, live large.

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - Some of you may have heard that they are only doing one more upgrade/repair to the Hubble Telescope / Space Station and then are never going back. It is going to keep taking awesome pictures for like 10 more years and then it's just gonna hang out in orbit for the rest of eternity. Isn't it bad enough that we can't keep our cities clean? Now we have to leave our trash in orbit as well?

Barak The Vote..

So like I said before, I decided on a candidate. I decided to put my money where my mouth is and not worry about electability. I am going with Obama for many reasons, but mainly I believe he has the power to change things in a way that no other candidate can. The other reasons vary from his stance on issues to the fact that I just like him as a person to a t-shirt I got off his website that says, "Barak The Vote."

You know what didn't compel me to pick him? Oprah. I could care less what she thinks. I used to think she had good opinions based on a couple of her book recommendations but quickly realized that her taste in books is pretty stale and one dimensional. Not that I don't think that her endorsement won't help him. She will actually probably bring some votes with her. I find that completely absurd. What kind of person actually votes on a person based on what some TV talk show host thinks.














It seems that lately celebrity endorsements have become increasingly prevalent. Chuck Norris' endorsement for Huckabee was pretty much my breaking point. Since when does Chuck Norris have an effect on US Government. He was pretty f-ing sweet in Delta Force but I don't think that gives him any sort of real grasp on influencing people's votes. I feel like I have about as much chance convincing people to vote for Obama as Norris does for Huckabee.

Whatevs. I'm out. Go big....

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - i forgot to mention last time that the second part of the last subaru diaries was much more entertaining than the first.

More Diaries...

So here are the 2 episodes of my return trip from LA. When my hard drive died in cali I lost Final Cut which is the program I used to edit and it breaks my heart to use the lame iMovie that came with my computer, so excuse the lack of titles and overlays. It is still funny (I think) you just have no idea where I am or how long I've been in the car.





-M

oh ps - i also made one for my last trip to ny which should have some hilarious moments and I'll get that up very soon.

The 2nd Amendment...

I was going to talk about Romney and his religion speech, but I wanted to mention something I've always been opposed to which is the right to bear arms. Well not the entire amendment but I think it needs to be updated. I understand people who want to have a hunting rifle in their home. I even understand people who want to have a handgun in their home for protection. I even understand people who take cross country road trips on their motorcycles who need to carry a pistol (or any concealed handgun) for protection. 

This is an SKS Assault Rifle. The one that kid used yesterday at the mall. 

What I don't understand is the right to own Assault Rifles. I mean the name alone is reason enough to outlaw them. Assault? Really? Who are these people who need assault rifles? Are they secret agents working for the government? Are they in the Michigan militia, which has done nothing to save anyone in my lifetime. Are they super cops gone rogue defending our country from bad guys? 

More often than not, it seems the only thing people are buying them for is killing other people, and not while protecting their homes. Instead they're killing people at school or in the Sudan or, like yesterday, in a mall in Omaha. I'm hoping that some future president will have the balls to give a big f-you to the NRA and crazy white folks in middle America who think it's their right to carry assault rifles. 

It is an old, outdated bill. It needs to be modified. It needs to eliminate the sale of anything more than a handgun. It's absurd that I can go out and buy a gun. I understand that people want to take their guns out and go to a shooting range and hit some targets or whatever it is they shoot, so why not have a system where you use the guns the shooting range owns. My solution would be to get rid of all the guns but that's not really feasible. My point is that this country needs to change a lot of it's practices because it seems to be going to hell in a hand basket.

 That's all for now. More in a bit. Finally editing subaru diaries volumes 2 and 3. Both are pretty funny. As always, go big...

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - grammy noms out today. I hate the grammys but it reminds me that the year is winding down and I need to do some best of lists. Many blogs on the horizon as I am still jobless and bored. 

Better Pic...

The last video of Heidi Collins didn't do her justice. Here's a better pic. She's much better looking when she's telling you the news.

Hannah Montana...

Not sure how the latest young starlet turned jail bait got so famous but there sure is a lot of hulabaloo about this chick. Miley Cyrus is, I believe (and I don't really care enough to check my facts), the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus - the legendary country star. She is playing (or singing or whatever it is she does as her alter ego Hannah Montana) at the Palace and apparently it's the first time ever that they are selling an artists merchandise a day ahead of time because they expect the crowds to be enormous. 

The reason I mention this is that I have never heard her utter a word let alone sing a song, and I don't know any adults who have either (not that I have surveyed anyone but I assume based on my own better than average pop knowledge that others know less than I). This is another example of the buying power kids hold in the world. It's crazy to think that a group of people that essentially have no money and no job (unless they're in Asia), have so much influence in the economy. Think about all the modern day spending crazes: Elmo, Beanie Babies (I still don't understand - are they just little stuffed animals?), Furby, Video Games (though that's equally an adult craze) and pretty much any "have to have" item. 

I guess there aren't a whole lot of things for adults to get excited about. I mean there's the iPhone, but beyond that the average adult already has everything they need. A wardrobe and food is about it. 

Anyways, I'm just rambling. Here are some other rambles I wanted to talk about but didn't have enough to say about them so I'm just going to post some cool pics.
























First is an image of Honest Abe who I found out had the most symmetrical face of any president. The second is the jaw bone of a whale at the center of an oil controversy in Northern Alaska. Don't wanna get into but again Bush is the reason for the controversy. F-ing oil. 

Lastly, does anyone know where my girl Heidi Collins disappeared to? She used to be on CNN in the morning and made my morning news viewing the highlight of my morning. Nothing better than watching a smoking hot classy chick tell me what is going on in the world. Anyways, if you know when she's on now, let me know.



I'm out

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - might be offline for a hot minute so don't fret if I don't blog for a few days.

This is Why I'm Hot...

Finally found the info about the show I worked on when I was in LA. I think it's on Discovery Health. Check it out. I don't get that channel so tell me if I look fat..

Fit to Live
Friday, January 11 at 8pm e/p

News events put harsh realities of life in front of us every day. At any time, we could face a crisis, and accident, a natural disaster. We may not think of fitness as a survival factor in these situations. But ask yourself: do you have the basic endurance, strength, and agility to escape a disaster zone? If you had to climb 12 flights of stairs to be rescued from the roof of a burning building … could you do it? Hoist yourself out of a broken elevator … could you do it? Carry an injured co-worker to safety … could you do it?

In a radical new television program, five people will take the test that could save their lives… and take on a whole new approach to fitness. Are you Fit to Live?



-M, p, z & shredder