Work in progress

Since this video back in November, I've tweaked a few things like shortening the backswing. This is really just for fun. Comments welcome.

Peaceful Gym... sort of

Believe it or not, the American Club gym (they call it The Edge...) has been quite peaceful these days.

Tall Mean Dude actually re-racked his own weights when I asked him whether he was done with them. We even small talked about the WTO riots (he seemed excited about the riots... don't ask).

Talkative Asian Duo became a trio last night, and although they were still mighty talkative, the "third wheel" actually re-racked their weights afterwards. What still bothered me was that the three of them hogged the bench. They consecutively did sets of the bench press while talking to one another non-stop. They also predictable did only BP, biceps and pullups. It was funny watching them trying to do pullups. They were really loud. When will people learn to STFU.

Orgasmic Situp Girl has not showed up for nearly a month. I'm crossing my fingers that she and her "coach" decided to move to Mongolia.

Ditto with Talkative Women and Hurt Himself Dude.

So life is good at the gym as I start my new workout. Check it out.

Sox management drops the ball

Free agent Johnny Damon is now a New York Yankee. The Evil Empire signed him to a $52 million dollar four year deal.

This is just unbelievable. Besides getting rid of junk players and strengthening the pitching staff, a priority of the Red Sox should have been to keep Manny, Ortiz, and Damon. I'm really wondering whether the Sox purposely let Damon go. Its almost as if this was never an issue. All the talk was about Manny wanting to be traded, yet we keep seeing Johnny Damon on the free agent list week after week.

JD has speed. The Red Sox don't have that right now. There's a huge gap in both the lineup and the outfield. Aside from a weak arm, Damon is a great center fielder. He is also one of the best lead off hitters there is. The Sox are going to have to fill both these positions. Its going to take a lot of work or be a big compromise if these positions are to be filled. Add to that the need for a shortstop, the Sox still have a lot of work ahead of them.

Lets hope they don't screw this up and nullify the great deals made just a few weeks earlier.

(I can't stand visiting ESPN today since they're showing that pic with him in pinstripes nonstop).

Z Gundam Movie Part 2 Trailer

The video quality is not so good because of YouTube. Go here for higher quality.

Anyways, the second episode of Z-Gundam: A New Translation looks as good as the first. The new re-done parts look great, and the dated original parts look dull. Oh well...

Corporate America screws up again

Support this film, not Walmart.

I think by now, it is no longer a secret how Walmart treats its employees (like crap). I haven't seen this film yet (being in Hong Kong), but I hear that its good. It doesn't blatently bash Walmart, but proves its point through a th0rough investigation.

Hero... or GOD?

That is the latest talk concerning the NFL right now. Its not about which team is the best, or who will win it all. The Indianapolis Colts and almost-credible-superstar Peyton Manning are now 13-0. Three more wins, and they tie the Dolphins record of winning all their regular season games. A couple more wins, and they've got themselves not just a Superbowl victory, but immortality.

Wouldn't you know that ultra serious Colts coach Tony Dungy is planning on playing it safe. He plans to rest his starters as much as possible for the remaining three games so they'll be in top shape for the playoffs. That ladies and gentlemen, is the dilema. Do you play it safe and go for the Superbowl which Indy has been waiting so long for, or do you take this rare opportunity and go for a place in the upper echelons of football immortality?

At first I couldn't understand why they wouldn't. They've always had the best offense in football, and now they even have a defense to match. To my dismay, they finally defeated their recent nemesis, the New England Patriots, in the Pats' own stadium. This is their year! Finally they are 13-0, they definitely look good enough to go all the way. What's three more wins against some teams that are nowhere near their caliber? Let's see...

San Diego Chargers - Okay, the Chargers aren't that bad, but they just lost to a sub-par Miami team. Plus, they haven't had any convicing wins over good teams except Kansas City, and they haven't dominated in any of their important wins. Compare that to how Indy basically stomped on every one of their opponents since the beginning of the season. Okay, they only beat the Jags and the Browns by 7 points, but since then (week 3), they have steam-rolled everything in their path. Chargers: no chance.

Seattle Seahawks (at Seattle) - The Hawks look convincing at 14-2, but just look at their schedule. They played the Niners TWICE! Their previous pummeling against Philly was of course a joke considering the Eagles' situation. This team has beaten no one good. Forget these guys, no chance.

Arizona Cardinals - Another sub-par team that the Colts will absolutely cruise through. At 4-9 (two wins from beating the Niners), this team isn't even worth talking about.

So even if the Colts go all out against Seattle and San Diego, they'll have an easy time against Arizona, and still be in top shape for the playoffs. But...

I slowly began to understand why Dungy is being so careful. Its not just his personality. The Colts have been trying so hard for so many years to go all the way. All these years they have failed. Dungy has had the best offense in the league for at least three years, yet he's been unable to capitalize. Dungy simply doesn't want to blow it.

I also understand how big winning the Superbowl is to the players, especially to those who have never done it. There are so many players (a lot of good ones) who have never tasted a Superbowl win. There are some teams that come so close, but are unable to take the final prize. Every year there are two teams that get to the Superbowl, and one that walks away empty handed. You're within arms reach of your ultimate goal, but at the last second it is snatched by someone else. Just look at Philly. They made it to the big game last year, they lost, and now they have no chance of getting back to the form they were in. They were so close, but couldn't close the deal.

So yeah, immortality doesn't come along very often, but neither does the Superbowl.

(Secretly, I'm asking Tony Dungy to grow a set of balls and go for it!)

Welcome new idiot gym character!

There has been a recent addition to the American Club gym's "List of Idiots".

Our newest character is: Orgasmic-Situp-Girl-!

She comes in around 9:30 in the evening with her trainer/workout dude. I've seen this guy before, and he's one of those people who never says hi (this gym is infested with people like this). Anyways, he basically breaks all the rules: uses mobile phone, doesn't re-rack weights, takes ten towels (literally) and leaves them all over the place.

The dynamic duo spend the first half hour on the treadmill. Orgasmic Situp Girl (OSG for short) appears to be a novice runner, as she runs with an "upward" motion and stomps down on the moving path which makes for 30 minutes of very loud pounding.

The worst part of OSG's workout, comes when she starts doing her situp/push-up/step-up routine. With every situp she does, she lets out a shriek like she's having the big-O. Its a good thing she can only do about 5 situps at a time because she is LOUD. During this routine, messy-gym-partner-dude acts as her trainer and gives her support. Then they spend time chatting and laughing hysterically after every set or so.

I really want to go over and tell her to shut the fuck up, but I don't want to be mean. This also doesn't seem like something to complain to management about. Arr... I'm so sick of people in general.

What is a Softbank?

Seattle Mariners add more eastern magic to their lineup with Fukuoka Softbank Hawks catcher Kenji Johjima. This guy was a great player in Japan, averaging .305 and 30 homeruns per season for the past 5 seasons. On the defensive side, he's also a gold glover.

Besides looking like an exciting player next season, he reminded me of my awesome trip with Betty to Fukuoka just recently. I almost bought a piece of Fukuoka Softbank Hawks memorabilia. Then I decided I didn't want anything to do with a team that called themselves "Softbank".

I understand the need for corporate sponsorship, but when companies embed their name to a team or its stadium, it just annoys the hell out of me. I already thought the idea was stupid
when Candlestick Park was renamed to friggin' 3Com Park in 1995. That was thanks to when 3Com leased the name rights to Candlestick. Then Monster Cable leased the rights and the park was officially called "Friggin' Monster Park" in 2004 (ok ok, its actually just "Monster Park"). Guess there are people who agree with me:

A measure passed in the November 2, 2004 election states that the stadium name will revert back to Candlestick permanently after the current contract with Monster Cable expires in 2008. This highlights San Francisco's extreme distaste for corporate naming, especially of this particular venue. The stadium is still almost universally referred to as Candlestick Park despite the name change by both locals and the media. The Monster Park moniker is confined to the 49ers front office and a few national broadcasters just as the 3Com name was years before.

HA! Sweet justice indeed.

I am so glad that Fenway Park is just good old "Fenway Paak". Unfortunately, there's still Gillette Stadium and Fleet Center that we have to deal with. Bleh...

Oh well, their jersey is ugly anyways.