Not Quite An Idiot Abroad

I caught all 3 seasons of An Idiot Abroad presented by (starring) Karl Pilkington and created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Even though I caught all of it on Netflix, I like it enough to own it on DVD. Just saying. So the whole show is about Ricky and Stephen sending their friend, whom they consider to be a moron or some sort of twonk, abroad on different adventures around the world. We get to go along with Karl and get his perspective on these diverse cultures and environments. 

In the beginning I thought he was just this really negative bloke (yeah, I said it... hard not to after saturating my brain with Karlisms all weekend long) who had nothing but shite to share about these amazing experiences! As the episodes go on I'm realizing more and more that Karl is actually more of a realist (not to say I agree with all of his thoughts, but he's not completely off on many things) who calls it like it is. He says out loud what many people are already thinking. He just doesn't have a brain-mouth filter. 

Watching the way he interacts with people (of all cultures), he treats them all the same. He doesn't speak louder or slower and, in fact, never changes his tone or expressions. He's very social. I often thought Ricky and Stephen told Karl to really play up his antics for sake of viewership. I wouldn't put it past them as savvy entertainers and producers, but Karl is so consistent that it can't NOT be who he really is (that was a double negative in case you missed it). He's a bit closed-minded, but ultimately I find him funny and when you watch his eyes while he's listening to someone, he means take it all in. He tends to over-analyze everything. And I mean everything! 

During this quite daft and very funny interview between Ricky, Karl, and Warwick Davis (Willow, among many of the characters in his film career), he mentions that Ricky makes things seem worse so whenever he says something Ricky makes it seem more harsh. One night while watching the show I thought the same thing. I was fully entertained by this video.

I should be clear that I'm a fan of Ricky Gervais and I'm sure he's intentional in his exploitation of Karl's thoughts. In the video below is a better example of Ricky taking something Karl says and making it seem idiotic. It's linked to exactly where this transpires in the clip so just click to watch. Granted, Karl's said some pretty idiotic things during his adventures but let's be fair... we all have in our lifetimes. And there's always some bloke who'll use it to their advantage for a laugh. People were accusing Ricky of bullying Karl but even Karl himself dismissed that as bollocks. 

Karl on how he gets opportunities

♠♥u

Not-So Sharp Image

I'm bummed I spent money on this product. The first part of its name is FOG-FREE. You can see from Day 1 images that it was not the case. This is only after heating up the shower water for just enough time to see if it actually worked. Nnnnope. It fogged up quite quickly. Here's the full list of reasons I didn't care for this...

1. The light is actually on in the first photo. The halo lighting around the mirror isn't bright enough to see very well. I even turned the lights out to see what it'd look like. Lots of blue hue and had to really be close to the mirror to even see decent enough.
2. The radio audio was okay (as shower mirrors go) but seemed to suck up battery juice.
3. One suction cup didn't seem to like to hold too long. Kept having to re-adhere.
4. Just too many features for a shower mirror. Although nice to have, didn't really use.
5. You can see in the bottom right how it ultimately ended up. It fell off for the last time leaving the suction piece on the wall completely unattached from the mirror arm.
6. The piece that pulls out for the razors sticks out even further than the mirror so I'd keep knocking into it with my arm or hand. Maybe would've been best for larger showers.

 The Sharper Image Fog-Free Shower Mirror with Radio

I tried to look it up on sharperimage.com but it's no longer available. Good thing. #landfillfodder

♠♥u

Resdad more here: http://www.findnsave.com/offer/The-Sharper-Image-Fog-Free-Shower-Mirror-with-Radio/26620766/#storylink=cpy

Exer-Cleaning!

If you have to skip the gym or exercise class to clean house, don't worry...

There's power and fitness benefits in house chores!

 

I have days (like today, which inspired me to blog about it) where I'd turn my music on, turn it UP (way up!), and work my way around the house wiping floors, doing dishes, cleaning bathrooms, doing laundry... blah, blah, blah. Not the most exciting (or sexy) things to do, sure, but using up all that energy means lots of calories burned! You burn calories whether or not you move (just breathing burns calories!) so more physical exertion means more cals burned! (IKR...Doy!) You don't need to go all Rocky in your cleaning activities, but definitely move with purpose. I even switch arms when scrubbing or vacuuming for equal effort. (Yes. Yes, I really do.) I've felt sore the next day after having spent 5 hours the day before doing house chores like a boss!

(Click the image to view source)

So you see? You're still getting a workout in when you have to miss the gym. When your moving around the house, move with purpose. Don't just drag yourself from one area to the other... move your derriere! Move at a quick pace (but safely) and you'll burn even more calories! If you're a FIT GEEK you can even run up the stairs (if you have 'em), throw in some squats while sweeping, flex those arms when dusting, or while you're on the floor grabbin' at dust bunnies do a few pushups! Even chase the kids around the house in between tasks! You can even assign them little things to do! Kids love being involved!

Make that TADA list and get it done one by one. Before you know it you'll be done! (Hey, that rhymed!) What's a TADA list, you ask? It's a celebration of what's done instead of the drudge of what's to come.
I'll let Candy explain!

It may sound oddball, but it really is like a workout so as you would before working out, I recommend stretching so you don't pull something. Also, here's one of several online calculators I found to give you an idea about how many cals are burned while cleaning (and other activities). http://calorielab.com/burned/

HAPPY EXER-CLEANING!

Different decade, same work!

Oh, and since I shared the Candy video, thought I'd show you the shirt!

My TADA shirt! Click the pic (or here) for more!

♠♥u

Celebrating a Personal Win

 This is me celebrating a personal win!

Went for a 5-mile run this morning and there's a pretty sloped hill on the route I could never make, especially since I was already running up to it! I'd be just about out of breath not even halfway up. I told that hill I was going to beat it one day. Today was that day. I wanted to stop halfway up, I was crazy hot, and struggling to keep my pace. Yes, I was out of breath at the top, but dammit I got there. I'd love to say I run the full 5 miles but I'm not there yet. I end up basically running intervals but I continue to challenge myself. When I'm not running I'm power walking. If I feel like stopping I pick up the pace. I know I would've done so much better still if I wore my Camelbak for hydration. I thought I could make the run easier without the distraction of my dogs, but that heat is no joke these days. So my energy was being sucked right out with every step. 

I reached Starbucks and decided to hydrate! I walked in a drippy, sweaty, hot mess. No makeup, red in the face, and a bit swollen from the heat and exertion. I always clean up and use body spray and deodorant before running so I can stink pretty, but I'm quite sure by the time I made it to Starbucks that just wasn't the case.

So I ordered an ice cold and a very clean Cool Lime Refresher. Oh it truly was refreshing!! Just look at it! Aaahhh! I walked while I finished it and actually felt my insides cooling off. After being in a cool building and finishing a cold drink I had new found pep in my step so after tossing the cup in a convenient trash bin along the trail I finished my run strong!

But wait! There's more win! Before stepping in the shower I stepped on that unforgiving scale and discovered I'm now down 5lbs. For the last 3 weeks, despite my clean eating and all the running and working out, my scale read the same numbers time and time again. I felt stronger, had more stamina, and even slept better. So I knew I was definitely making strides (pun intended) with my fitness, but I wasn't seeing it in the numbers. I hit one of those "out of the clear blue" moments. You know those moments... where you're kickin' your own butt, not seeing any results then BAM! Out of the clear blue your pants are loose or the scale's showing lower numbers! I do prefer to rely more on the tape measure than the scale, but it's hard not to step on that thing when it's glaring up at me on a daily basis!

I keep a fitness journal as well. It's on my nightstand and every night I write down what I did for exercise that day and how the meals went. I don't write anything if I've not exercised. Hm. Wish I could copy and paste this blog into my personal journal!

Taken in an air-conditioned car a

few hours after the 5-mile run!

This is my friend, Lisa Lavie singing The Climb by Miley Cyrus. Lisa's powerful vocals do this song justice and it's the perfect outro to my blog. I beat that hill... but there's always gonna be another mountain. I'm always gonna wanna make it move. There's always gonna be an uphill battle. Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose. It ain't about how fast I get there. It ain't about what's waiting on the other side. It's the climb...

♠♥u

Lacuna Coil

I'm a fan. They're an Italian Goth Metal band from Milan. The name apparently means empty spiral (thanks, Wikipedia). Cristina Scabbia's vocals mixed with Andrea Ferro's and that metal vibe could quite possibly be the definition of cool. Haha! Okay, we all have our perception of cool. This is one of them for me. I first heard Our Truth in the movie Underworld: Evolution. When I heard that song I searched for it and ultimately purchased the whole album. Instant fan.

 

I was very happy to discover Dark Adrenaline was released January of this year. I started listening to samples from this album on Amazon a few days ago and thought, "Really? You're gonna waste your time listening to samples knowing you're just gonna get them all anyway." Yep. Done. And yep. I talk to myself. Here's a little gem from their new album.

They were touring for "Gigantour" (2012) with Megadeth, Motörhead, and Volbeat. So if you're a full-on metal head, that was the tour for you! I've been verrrry selective which concerts, if any, I want to attend since having to sit in the nosebleed section catching only the reverb of New Edition bouncing off the arena's ceiling. Um, no thank you. Near the stage with real-time audio, please. And yes. I said New Edition. Not exactly (or even close to) Gothic Metal, but they were the definition of cool at the time.

While I'm really only familiar with Lacuna Coil's "Karmacode" and "Dark Adrenaline", I submit to the allure of both of these albums in their entirety.

 One of my dreams would be to perform with a band like Lacuna Coil. Or No Doubt. #Segue

♠

Davy Jones!

Davy Jones book signing at Flashback (click for larger image)


 Alright, let's just get it right out of the way. Yes. My hair was ridiculous. And even then I hated having to meet Davy after a haircut and perm gone wrong. While the 80's was an era of trial and error for style anyway, my hair was still that bad. I gave the hairdresser a photo of Alyssa Milano so she can use it to look at while she cut my hair. I'm thinking she may not have taken her eyes of the photo once to even look at the atrocity she was bestowing upon my head! So here's an image of the style I was hoping for at the time.

Alyssa Milano in the late 80's

Yeah. Moving on!

Davy was such an awesome guy. Very patient and really appreciated his fans. He stayed through the whole thing and didn't even seem to mind that some people *cough* like me *cough* got their book signed then got back in line to have him sign something else like, say, a Flashback business card (top left). He was even happy to take tons of photos with his fans! That's my sis on the other side of Davy. He made sure she was part of the photo. She was taking most of the pics and he said something like, "shouldn't she be in the picture, too?" Tsk, aww! The bottom right photo of him waving? Yeah, he was looking right into our video cam. He saw our cam set up as he was walking out at the end. He stopped briefly to smile, wave, say goodbye, then walk out the door. We were all excited about it then realized it wasn't even recording. Oh the humanity! It took me a while to get over that one! The bottom left photo was him kissing my right cheek.

"I'll never wash this cheek again!" ~ Marsha Brady in the Brady Bunch episode with Davy Jones

  

So here's a very cool association (y'know, that whole six degrees of separation phenomenon). George Barris, the man responsible for the Batmobile in the TV series and the casket-turned-dragster for the Munsters TV series, "Drag-U-La", (among several other custom cars) also built replicas of the Monkeemobile! At one time he also owned one of the original Monkeemobiles. Here's the cool association... my history teacher in high school was George Barris' son! Small... cool... mad world.

The uber groovy Monkeemobile

Oh, and btw, I have a die-cast model of the Monkeemobile.

More about George Barris & his custom cars here.



David Thomas "Davy" Jones

30 December 1945 – 29 February 2012

♠♥u



My Fitness & R.I.P.P.E.D.

I was spending time going over my R.I.P.P.E.D. training material and choreography notes. After learning more about it I felt compelled to share some background. But first...!

*ahem* Ok! Moving on...!

Throughout high school I would workout using my own routines. I'd specifically choose different exercises to target different areas. I didn't really know all the technical stuff, I just knew what I wanted to tone and strengthen. I'd incorporate cardio simply because I actually felt like I was burning fat by expending the energy. That was it. I had a desire to move and burn calories without realizing exactly what the benefits of cardio was other than it helped with weight loss. I felt stronger and effective after working out. I would be conscientious of my form, too. I'd eat cleaner most of the time. I tried the different fad diets and yes, even some diet pills. Once during a 5-week period I didn't eat meat and cut out the junk. I ended up hungrier because, of course, at that time I didn't educate myself enough to know that my muscles wouldn't be fueled by grazing.

One of my biggest motivators that got me through each workout and, in fact, made me workout even harder was the music. Music, music... MUSIC!! I'd select songs that fueled my energy and lots of times I'd feel like working out (or just moving) when certain songs came on. My personal sessions reflected that of a Rocky training montage (one of my fave movie series). I didn't run stairs to a victory hop or anything grandiose, but in my head I was at the top of my game and the music added a sort of driving force behind my enthusiasm.

My friend and Zumba instructor extraordinaire, Marissa Hodge of The Klubhouse in West Sacramento, introduced me to R.I.P.P.E.D. I first met Marissa at a Sacramento Kings Zumba halftime show in 2011. Her enthusiasm and personality are infectious and we got along right away. We became friends very shortly after and really the only thing that keeps us from seeing more of each other is geography. She called me one day and encouraged me to take the R.I.P.P.E.D. instructor training. Her timing (and vote of confidence) was impeccable. I was ready to take on a challenge. I was ready to jump out of my comfort zone and experience something that typically my insecurities would stifle. After our conversation, charged with a spark of motivation I looked up the website for R.I.P.P.E.D. There was no doubt from the moment I watched the video it was something I could get behind. I said yes.

Me and Marissa at the Kings Zumba Halftime Show 2012
(Photo by Jennifer of Catch A Flash Photography)

The R.I.P.P.E.D. fitness concept embodies the very things I conditioned myself to back in the day; the things that motivated me to a healthier, more fit lifestyle beginning at an early stage in my life... only R.I.P.P.E.D., of course, is based on solid, educated, careful planning. It makes sense and it's all deliberate right down to the music. In fact, the music is a huge part of R.I.P.P.E.D. Terry Shorter, one of the creators, composed all of the music specifically for each piece: Resistance. Intervals. Power. Plyometrics. Endurance. Diet/Nutrition.

Terry Shorter, my sister, Charlene (who's now also a certified

R.I.P.P.E.D. instructor), and the lovely Tina Shorter

When I first began the journey back into my fitness 2 years after my son was born. I discovered Body for LIFE by Bill Phillips. (Little shout out to BFL!) Though the routines are different and more weights are used, the philosophy is much like R.I.P.P.E.D. I was a walking testimony (note was but I did it once, I'll do it again) that this philosophy is effective so it was easy for me to be drawn to R.I.P.P.E.D.  It really is a One Stop Body Shock. You work everything in one session, including cardio, and burn 750-1000 calories by the time you're done! It's also recommended you only do R.I.P.P.E.D. 2-3x a week to give your body time to recover. So it really gives you time to take care of other tasks on your "TADA" list throughout the week and you still get a kickass workout!

Pre-BFL (155 lbs)

Post BFL maintenance, 2007/2008! (127 lbs)

Fast forward to today, I'm even more excited by the whole idea of R.I.P.P.E.D. Every one of the instructors I've communicated with have been nothing short of supportive, inspiring, and enthusiastic. Thanks to Jen O'Neal, who led the instructor training class the day I completed it. Lots of energy, lots of sweat, and lots of smiles! I was welcomed into the R.I.P.P.E.D. family and their love of fitness and desire to reach out to others to help with their fitness goals is infectious! At the time I'm typing this blog I've not yet started instructing. Once the "busy" settles down (soon) I will. Until then, I'll continue to read through the training material, listen to the music, and learn the choreography! Mad propers and thanks to the whole R.I.P.P.E.D. family "...for helping people believe in all the goals they achieve. You inspire, we appreciate all that you do!" ~ lyrics from Season 8 warm up

Jen O'Neal, Marissa Hodge, me, and Todd Nicholson (fellow R.I.P.P.E.D. instructor)
at a R.I.P.P.E.D. intro class a few weeks before the training class.

Terry chose this song for the cool down section in Season 8. I loved it right away and was determined to learn it. See? Positive, inspirational, and... all good!

I will get back to my goal physical condition!

♠