What would it take to get to normal?
The other day I was listening to NPR talk about BMI or body mass index with regards to healthiness. I have always poo-pooed BMI because as a former personal trainer I know that it doesn't take into account actual body fat percentage. For instance, a well conditioned athlete might have enough muscle to be considered obese using BMI while somebody in the 'normal' range might actually be skinny-fat and thus too weak to really function on a day to day basis. And, as I looked for a link to the story I was listening to at NPR.org it looks like there were many follow-ups or alternate stories that feel the same way.
BMI is a bogus measurement
However, despite the reality that BMI is a bogus measurement I decided to get real on my personal situation. While I used to be a professional wrestler and a personal trainer, I have been 5 years retired from both and my fitness level is that of a social media game developer( my current profession ) but my eating habits have not changed enough to compensate. So right now I am sitting at 240 pounds which is considered obese by the BMI measurement for a 6 foot tall person.
On the flip side, 220 pounds is the top end of the overweight label for my height and 180 is the top end for the normal range. Its interesting to note that 180 pounds was my weight in High School, probably when I was most active without trying to add muscle. I know that 220 is realistic as I was about 225 when I wrestled. However, is 180 realistic? [ad#Google Adsense]
Getting real about the numbers
Let's go through the numbers, keeping in mind I don't actually know my bodyfat percentage right now. If I'm at 30% body fat ( which is high for a man but definitely believable ) than I have 168 pounds of lean body mass and if I could somehow lose the weight without losing muscle mass ( a very difficult task - though attainable ) then I would be at 7% body fat. 7% body fat is pretty low, especially for a social media game developer. Am I willing to lose muscle mass, is it still that important to me?
The truth be told, I could have a higher or lower body fat than 30%. If it is higher, 180 could be attainable without losing muscle. If it is lower then I can just kiss some of that muscle goodbye if I want to hit 180.
Do I even want to try?
Do I want to try for 180? That's a big goal. If I get to 180, will I have done it in a healthy way that I can continue for the rest of my life?
The answer is yes, I do want to make the journey toward 180 pounds and I'm going to use this blog to take you all along the journey with me. I say journey because I know that is more important than the destination. I might find a fork in the path along the way that is better for me and I will share that if I get there. For now, I have a destination and I just have to look through my old maps ( old personal training books ) and possibly get some new ones ( apps for my phone have helped in the past ). I guess one of those forks will come when I have to decide if losing muscle mass is worth it to me. [ad#Google Adsense] If you liked this post please subscribe to myRSS Feed and/or follow me on Twitter. If you only want to read my Wednesday Warrior posts subscribe to the Wednesday Warrior feed. Until next time, thanks for reading.
EMC 2010 Report - Just Another Magic Monday (Day 1)
The 15th through the 17th of July held a very special magical event. This event was the Essential Magic Conference. The first ever international online magic conference ( at least that's what I got from the marketing ). At a price of just 55 euros, it was worth every penny before the end of the first day. One participant even mentioned in chat that it was worth the price after the first session.
Speaking of the first day, so far that's all I have gotten through. Sure, I listened and watch parts of the sessions from days 2 and 3 as they were happening live but its taken until now for me to have the time to actually study the first 3 sessions from day 1. As of last Friday, all 9 sessions are available online as video on demand for people who signed up for the conference. So, if you missed this conference in real time you can still get more than your registration fee out of these videos.
As someone who still considers himself a novice magician, I gained loads from the first day( and even the first session) with speeches, performances and presentations form the likes of Lennart Greene, Barry & Stuart, Ponta the smith, Apollo Robbins, Gaetan Bloom, Max Maven and many more.
While I gained a lot from everybody, I gained the most from a magical duo I hadn't heard of before - Barry & Stuart. They had a first day speech entitled, "Everything We've Learned So Far" [Registration Required]. What drew me in the most was an idea that their presentation kept dancing around and they summed up in one of their final bullet points as:
If you want to subvert your art, you need to first learn your craft.
While I have never come across as much of a rebel who would want to subvert much of anything, I do have this constant need to make things my own and I latched on to many of their ideas. Barry and Stuart are 2 young guys who have worked hard and created a niche and name for themselves in magic. And while there are many performances from day 1 I'd like to show my readership ( Ponta the smith's performance in session 1 comes to mind ) - I don't have access and permission to do that. So, I've looked up an entertaining video of Barry and Stuart for my magical and muggle readership alike. Enjoy. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFSkpwLEi-A&w=500&h=405]
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Not Just Another Magic Monday
The weekend before last was a very magical weekend for me. The local magic ring in my new home, Ring #199, had a weekend of 2 lectures, a magic show and a master class. All of which I had the pleasure of attending. The first lecture was an awesome lecture from Dan Harlan that was more about presentation than it was on any tricks. His background in drama came through clear and at times he had me in stitches.
The second lecture followed a show by none other than Jeff McBride, my favorite magician. His show was more amazing in person than any recording I had seen, even if it was in a more intimate setting than a Masters of Illusion taping. In fact, the intimate setting and the fact that I'd seen some of these before made the show better. I had the chance to see, well...nothing. The routines and effects which I was unaware of how he accomplished them left me still unaware - though very entertained. Much of the audience were magicians and I can say that we were all entertained. He actually did sorcerer's apprentice on stage with a teenage magician and it came out quite funny without deviating much from any time I've seen it performed on video.
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As if that show and the following lecture weren't enough I was lucky enough to be part of a 4 hour ( turned into 4.5 hour ) master class taught by Jeff Mcbride the following Sunday. In this class I was able to get a little taste of what it must be like at Mcbride's Magic and Mystery School out in Vegas. I learned a lot from this master class and I feel very lucky that I was able to attend.
However, this post is not about me gloating that I got to see my magical hero in person and learn from him. Instead I want to teach a lesson I learned from the weekend. If you want to learn to be a master you need to seek masters to learn from. For some that means making it out to Vegas to attend a Master Class at the Magic and Mystery School. For others it means heading to South America to learn from Juan Tamariz ( mentioned several times by Jeff ).
It may not be ( or at least it may not seem ) possible for you to do any of this right now. However, thanks to the power of the internet, the Magic and Mystery school can come to you. Now there is a Virtual Magic and Mystery school available for you to learn from the masters. I'm not sure how long they'll be doing this but you can sign up for a free trial and get a free lesson in magic from Jeff to see how the system works.
[flv:http://virtual.magicalwisdom.com/video/vms_promo.flv 480 360] [ad#Google Adsense]
Liu Qian - Just Another Magic Monday
Magic is international. In some of my previous JAMM posts I have shown some stage performances from magicians of different locales. Stage performances, especially card manipulation performances, don't usually require a lot of words. More intimate performances, especially table performances, require quite a bit more banter to connect with the audience.
However, the following video proves ( if you don't speak chinese at least ) that magic, and the language of "holy crap that's insanely awesome", doesn't require much more than body language to convey its message. Watch and be amazed...watch more and be amazed more..keep watching its worth seeing all of it :)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwVy_2eOfsE&w=500&h=300]
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The Humor of Male Inequality
For my first post back from break, I thought I would start with a little humor. The humor I chose isn't any humor, but it is humor related to the more serious topics written about in this blog - the men's movement. Watching this clip was almost surreal for me because there was a part of me that thought I should be offended but I wasn't and Samantha Bee if hilarious. So watch this fake news piece on the men's movement and enjoy.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Male Inequality | ||||
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You may have noticed I kept this post very short. This is on purpose. The other post this week is my Wednesday Warrior post and this clip will be a great source for a topic. [ad#Google Adsense] If you liked this post please subscribe to my RSS Feed and/or follow me on Twitter. If you only want to read my Sunday Funnies posts subscribe to the Sunday Funnies feed. Until next time, thanks for reading and Happy Valentine's day.
A respite from blog posts
Recently, I got offered a position at Merscom Games to be a flash developer for social media games. Everything is happening quite quickly and it made me realize a couple things.
- I have a lot to get done to move to another city so I'm going to have to take a break from blogging.
- I have been blogging too frequently to put the quality in I would like.
So, for the next couple weeks I'm going to take a break from my scheduled blogging times. When I come back I'm reducing the amount of scheduled posts to 2 a week. I will do this by staggering the posts. So one week I will do a Just Another Magic Monday post along with a Flash Friday post. The following week will consist of a Sunday Funnies post and a Wednesday Warrior post.
Hopefully this change will allow for me to put more time into my blog posts. At the same time, it should help me to continue to post even when certain major events occur.
So, until I am settled - adieu.
Grandfather Sky: The Grandfatherly Heart - awakening my sacred masculine
Finally, we have reached the 10th metaphor in Matthew Fox's book The Hidden Spiruality of Men - Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine. As a man who is a father but not a grandfather I wondered what I would be able to get out of this metaphor. As I am writing these blog posts with the hopes that I can help others, what can someone who is neither a grandfather or even a father get from this metaphor. For my second reading of this metaphor though, I did get something out of for myself and hopefully for others. We have already had a few father metaphors, what is Grandfather Sky and how is it different?
The Grandfatherly Heart
Grandfather Sky, the grandfatherly heart, isn't that different in relationship to the father metaphors than the relationship between grandfathers and fathers ( and sons for that matter ). Grandfather Sky is the father metaphors at new stage of life. Where the father metaphors are still about providing for family and community through (great) work, Grandfather sky is about providing for family and community through wisdom.
Beyond just sharing its own wisdom, the Grandfatherly Heart is also about taking in the wisdom of youth - be that the sons or be that the fathers. The Grandfatherly Heart knows enough to know that there is much he doesn't know. Thus, Grandfather Sky, learns from youth as much as they teach the youth.
My Own Experiences
In reading this chapter again I remember a conversation I had with my step-father in law regarding his relationship with my sons. I couldn't ask for a better grandfather figure in my sons' lives than him and I was telling him how much I appreciate him. He D'Artagnan and Draegan so much time and I know when I come home I often don't have the focus or energy to give the same amount of myself to them as he does. He just smiled and told me it was the same for him with his kids. He reminded me, I have to drum up the energy every day and he only has to do it when we come to visit. His energy, his heart is not only a gift to my sons but it is a gift to me as well.
Then there are the projects. Both my step father in law and father in law spend time doing projects with my kids. Often woodworking projects, something they are both good at and I have no experience in. I so appreciate their passing down of wisdom to the boys. That is the Grandfatherly Heart giving freely, not so much wisdom, but love of a craft.
My Inner Grandfather
Rather than wait the many years until I, possibly, become a literal grandfather I decided to take a look at what this metaphor means for me right now. Often the modern versions of the father looks at their actual work as the way they define themselves. The grandfather, on the other hand, now looks at their family, their communities and their contributions as the way they define themselves. There is also the difference in relationship to death. The grandfatherly heart is much more aware of death, and accepting of it. It is, after all, a natural part of life and they know enough to see it for what it is. In this way Grandfather Sky is connected to the Hunter-Gatherer who just sees death as and extremely natural part of life. In a recent national geographic article on the Hazda, they have only begun to bury their dead in recent decades after pressure from governments. Instead they just let nature take its course. It takes a bit for my modern mind to even deal with that - even though it makes perfect sense. [ad#Google Adsense] If you liked this post please subscribe to myRSS Feed and/or follow me on Twitter. If you only want to read my Wednesday Warrior posts subscribe to the Wednesday Warrior feed. Until next time, thanks for reading.
Bill Malone and Sam the Bellhop
Before I got into magic there were a lot of magicians I had never heard of but should have. I still have many more to learn about. Of course, with magic there are so many types of magic that this fact is not that surprising.
Many of my past Just Another Magic Monday posts have shown off card manipulators as I learned about some of them. However, recently I posted about Go Magic Go and the Royal Road to Card Magic. I did this because I've decided to make 2010 a magical year for me and those are the tools I am using myself to gain some magical confidence. The Royal Road to Card Magic isn't a book about card manipulation even if it does have some utility flourishes. Instead, it is a book about good old fashioned card magic.
For many people, card magic is the reason they think they don't like magic. Since card magic is so easy for people to get started at, many people learn the tricks but don't learn how to really perform them. Without the performance a trick is just a trick and rarely, if ever, entertains. Thank goodness for my pro wrestling background, I already understand this fact.
Card magic can be extremely entertaining though. In the hands of the right performer, a simple deck of cards can be all someone needs to entertain any group of people. In the magical world many would say that Bill Malone is one of the best card magic entertainers there is. I only learned about him while talking with an old friend about my new journey into magic. In the following video Bill Malone does a lot of magic, but you may not even notice it because the routine is so entertaining.
Enjoy Bill Malone's - Sam the Bellhop
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GErpOl3KG_w&w=480&h=385] [ad#Ellusionist] If you liked this post please follow me on twitter and/or subscribe to my RSS feed. If you only want to see my JAMM posts you can subscribe to the Just Another Magic Monday Feed.
French + Flight of the Conchords = Sweet
I love flight of the conchords. I also love Scrubs. I am also a fan of comedy and the french language. These 4 things came together in the first season of Flight of the Conchords. Watching season 9 of Scrubs, where Eliza Coupe plays Dr. Denise Mahoney I am constantly thinking about "A Kiss Is Not A Contract."
Definitely No Sugar
Of course, the number one song and video for me from the series is Foux De Fa Fa. If you ever took French in high school and have forgotten everything since this should be pretty funny for you. If you are a francophile with a sense of humor( like myself ), enjoy. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZG2Cb1I7oo&w=480&h=385] [ad#Google Adsense] If you liked this post please subscribe to my RSS Feed and/or follow me on Twitter. If you only want to read my Sunday Funnies posts subscribe to the Sunday Funnies feed. Until next time, thanks for reading.
Transitions and the Transition Manager
With Flash CS4 ( and CS3 for that matter ) comes a great utility for simple visual effects, the Transition Manager and accompanying transitions. With this tool you can use some common transitions without much complex coding on your side. The following is a list of the available transitions.
import fl.transitions.*; var transitionMgr:TransitionManager = new TransitionManager( myClip ); var params:Object = new Object(); params.type = Fade; params.direction = Transition.IN; var transition:Transition = transitionMgr.startTransition( params );
import fl.transitions.*; var params:Object = new Object(); params.type = Fade; params.direction = Transition.IN; var transition:Transition = TransitionManager.start( myClip, params );
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Using Parameters
The two transition methods both take a parameters object, but you might be wondering what goes in the object. That depends on a few things and here are some options.
- The type is required - enter one of the 10 above.
- Other common properties for all transitions include
- direction - choices are Transition.IN and Transition.OUT ( default is Transition.IN )
- duration - this is measured in seconds
- easing - This is a function. I believe the default is None.none;
- You can add parameters specific to the fade type you are using( i.e. numStrips for a Blinds transition )
When does it end?
When looking at the documentation for the Transition and Transition Manager classes, there appears to be a problem. If you want to do something when the transition(s) are done there doesn't appear to be any events that tell you when this occurs. The truth is there are events that get fired, the documentation is just lacking. The events that get fired are of type flash.event.Event and there are no constants to give you any auto completion help.
For the transitions the following events may be fired:
- "transitionInDone"
- "transitionOutDone"
- "transitionProgress"
The TransitionManager fires the following 2 events
- "allTransitionsInDone"
- "allTransitionsOutDone"
Example
With all the above in mind I thought I would show each of the different transitions and the events that fire. Each transition uses all of its defaults, but you do get to choose the direction so you can see the different complete events :)
One Last Thing
The Transition classes unfortunately are only coded to work with MovieClip instances. For many people who don't code in MovieClips you may have to find a different solution but for most users of Flash CS4+ this shouldn't be a problem. [ad#Adobe Banner] If you liked this post please subscribe to my RSS feed and/or follow me on Twitter. If you only want to see my Flash Friday posts you can follow the subscribe to the Flash Friday feed. How's that for alliteration :) Until next time keep on coding.