Archive for August, 2014

Movie Review – Aliens (1986)

“This Time It’s War”

Back in 1979, the sci-fi / horror movie Alien gave audiences a new perspective on how a terrifying film should look.  Alien was dark, it was terrifying, it had an impressive spaceship, it had a great cast, and it was just an all-around outstanding sci-fi movie.  On top of that it had one creepy monster that was also a killing machine.

At the end of Alien we knew that Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) survived after she set the self-destruct mechanism on the Nostromo and then escaped in the ship’s escape pod.  She then blew the Alien out the airlock and roasted it in one of the ship’s engines.  Last we saw, Ripley was settled into the escape pod’s hypersleep chamber and cruising towards an unknown destination.

But what happened after that?  What if there were more Alien creatures out there?  What would happen if advanced soldiers were to face off against the Alien monsters?

Aliens (1986) – movie poster

Those questions and more were answered in the 1986 film Aliens, the first sequel to Alien.  In Aliens, we learn that planet LV-426 has now been settled by colonists, and apparently things have been going well.  That is, until one day when the colonists stop transmitting messages back to Earth.  A squad of marines are sent to investigate what happened to the colonists, and Ellen Ripley volunteers to go with them as a consultant.  When the team arrives on LV-426, they discover an Alien nest and that there are now over a hundred of the creatures.  It’s a battle of the heavily armed marines against a horde of vicious Alien monsters, a battle that will push Ripley and the marines to their limits of survival.

Directed by James Cameron and with music composed by James Horner, Aliens stars Sigourney Weaver in the role of Ellen Ripley.  Co-starring in the film are Michael Biehn as Corporal Dwayne Hicks, Paul Reiser as Carter Burke, Bill Paxton as Private William Hudson, Lance Henriksen as Bishop, and Carrie Henn as Rebecca “Newt” Jorden.

Aliens (1986) – (c) 20th Century Fox

Aliens begins some time after the events in Alien.  Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver)  is in a hypersleep chamber as the escape pod from the Nostromo continues to drift through space.  The pod is recovered by a salvage crew.  When it’s discovered that Ripley is still alive, she’s returned back to Earth.

On an orbiting space station, Ellen Ripley awakens from her sleep and meets Carter J. Burke (Paul Reiser), a representative of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, a mega-corporation that controls many deep-space operations, including the operation of the Nostromo from the first film.  In that movie, Weyland-Yutani Corporation was simply referred to as “The Company.”  Burke reunites Ripley with Jones, the cat from the Nostromo.  Ripley is then informed that she was actually in hypersleep for 57 years.  Her escape pod drifted through the common space traffic routes, and it was simply luck that a salvage crew found her.

Suddenly Ripley has tremendous pains inside of her body.  As Burke and a nurse try to help her, Ripley looks down and sees an Alien about to pop out of her stomach.  Just as it’s about to happen, Ripley wakes from her nightmare.  The Alien inside of her was just a nightmare, but being out in space for 57 years was very much real. Read more…

Movie Review – Predator 2 (1990)

In 1987, the world was blown away by Predator, an action / sci-fi film that introduced us to the Predator, a space alien who came to Earth to hunt the deadliest of all species — human beings.  In this case, the Predator battled against a team of special forces soldiers led by Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger).

The end of the film had Dutch defeating the Predator and living to tell about it.  But we know that the Predator creature was not the only one of its species.  It’s part of a race of creatures that routinely visit the Earth for the purpose of hunting.  Since the first film was so successful, it was just a matter of time before we would see the Predator creature returning in a sequel.  The biggest question was where in the world would the creature strike?

Released in 1990, Predator 2 returned the deadly Predator creature to Earth.  Instead of fighting its prey in a dense jungle, this Predator chose to strike in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.  Set several years ahead in time, this version of Los Angeles is overpopulated, overrun with drug gangs, and it’s one of the hottest and most violent places on Earth.  It’s a hunting ground just ripe for the Predator.

Predator 2 (1990) – movie poster

Directed by Stephen Hopkins and with music composed by Alan Silvestri, Predator 2 stars Danny Glover in the lead role as L.A.P.D. Lieutenant Mike Harrigan.  Supporting him in the film are Gary Busey as Special Agent Peter Keyes, and Bill Paxton as Detective Jerry Lambert.  Kevin Peter Hall reprises his role as the Predator warrior.

Predator 2 begins in downtown Los Angeles.  The year is 1997 and crime is rampant.  Columbian and Jamaican drug cartels own the streets and have frequent gun battles with one another.

Predator 2 (1990) – (c) 20th Century Fox

The film opens with the Columbian and Jamaicans having yet another shooting war on the streets of Los Angeles.  The L.A.P.D. cops are merely bystanders at this point as they’re easily outgunned by the two drug gangs.  Police Detective Lieutenant Roger Murtaugh, errrr, Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) arrives on scene and helps coordinate a daring rescue of two heavily wounded officers.  His brave technique works and several gang members are killed.  The rest of the Columbians retreat into their hideout and rearm themselves, waiting for the police.

While this is happening, a Predator (Kevin Peter Hall) is in the area and watching the fighting below him.  The Predator finally makes his move and attacks the Columbians inside of their hideout, easily killing most of them.  By the time the LAPD infiltrates the building, most of the Columbians are dead.  Harrigan reaches the building’s roof and shoots the Columbian leader, causing him to fall off the building to his death.  After killing the gang leader, Harrigan sees the camouflaged form of the Predator, but he shakes it off as just heat waves.  It’s summertime and the city’s streets are baking with heat. Read more…

Book Review – James Rollins’s “Deep Fathom”

Today I finished reading Deep Fathom, a seafaring story by author James Rollins that takes readers to the bottom of the ocean and the brink of a global apocalypse.

James Rollins — Deep Fathom

First published in 2001, Deep Fathom begins on a day of a total solar eclipse.  A businesswoman in San Francisco witnesses the eclipse while in the city, a hiker escorting tourists up a glacier experiences the eclipse on an island just off the coast of Alaska, and the President of the United States of America witnesses the eclipse on the island of Guam while trying to negotiate a new trade deal with the Chinese.

And then disaster strikes.

During the moment of the total eclipse of the sun, a tremendous series of earthquakes and volcano eruptions occurs all along the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire.”  San Francisco is completely destroyed in an earthquake, the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska are sunk back into the Pacific Ocean, and Guam experiences a violent earthquake.  President Bishop is quickly ordered onto Air Force One for an immediate take-off and evacuation from the island.  However, a short while later into the flight, Air Force One crashes into the Pacific Ocean, killing everybody on board.

Meanwhile, ex-Navy SEAL Jack Kirkland is in the Nautilus 2000, a brand new one-man submersible capable of diving to incredible depths in the world’s oceans.  His objective on this diving mission is the Kochi Maru, a Japanese freighter that was lost during World War 2.  Specifically, it’s a Japanese freighter that’s rumored to be packed with gold bars.  Jack is a salvage expert and he’s hunting for a way to continue to finance his operation.

During his later years in the Navy, Jack Kirkland was temporarily transferred to NASA for a joint military-civilian crew for an upcoming Space Shuttle mission.  While training at NASA, Jack met Jennifer Spangler, and the two of them quickly fell in love.  They were both members of the crew for the flight with Space Shuttle Atlantis, and while in space he proposed to her.  The mission was botched when the crew tried to launch a satellite out of the shuttle’s cargo bay.  There was a malfunction with the satellite and it went off course, damaging part of the shuttle.  When Atlantis re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, the damaged ship caught on fire and crashed to the ground.  Jack was blown out of an opening and his parachute activated, but everybody else on board the shuttle was killed, including his fiancée, Jennifer. Read more…

Movie Review – Predator (1987)

“If it bleeds, we can kill it.”

Back in 1987 the world was introduced to Predator, an action-adventure / horror / sci-fi film depicting an alien warrior who visits Earth for the purpose of hunting the fiercest creatures on the planet . . . . human beings.  This alien warrior, the Predator, is armed with powerful weapons, incredible strength, and a camouflaged suit that makes it nearly invisible to the human eye.

Predator (1987) – movie poster

Directed by John McTiernan and with music composed by Alan Silvestri, Predator stars action superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger as Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer, the leader of an elite group of soldiers.  Co-starring in the film are Carl Weathers as George Dillon, Jesse Ventura as Blain Cooper, Bill Duke as Mac Eliot, and Kevin Peter Hall as the Predator.

Predator begins with an alien spaceship approaching planet Earth.  From that spaceship drops a pod that lands in the jungles of Central America.

Some time later, a helicopter carrying a team of special forces soldiers lands on a coastline in Central America.  Led by Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), the team of soldiers includes Mac Eliot (Bill Duke), Blain Cooper (Jesse Ventura), Billy Sole (Sonny Landham), Jorge “Poncho” Ramirez (Richard Chaves), and Rick Hawkins (Shane Black).

Predator (1987) – (c) 20th Century Fox

General Phillips (R.G. Armstrong) meets with Dutch and informs him of the situation.  It turns out that a presidential cabinet minister was recently in the area when he was suddenly attacked and captured by guerrilla forces.  It’s also believed that the prisoners are going to be executed by the guerrilla forces as well.  The person who recommended Dutch’s team for the mission was George Dillon (Carl Weathers), Dutch’s old friend who now works for the CIA.  Dillon explains that he’ll be going into the jungle with Dutch’s team to oversee the mission.

The special forces team uses a pair of helicopters to fly into the jungle.  The soldiers have different ways of preparing themselves for the mission, from chewing tobacco to telling jokes to readying their weapons.  When they arrive at the insertion point not too far from where the hostages were abducted, the helicopters hover in the air and the soldiers rappel down ropes to the ground.  The team is now on their own.  There is no back-up for this mission. Read more…

Movie Review – Futureworld (1976)

Back in 1973, the sci-fi movie Westworld gave audiences a vision of a fantastic and technologically advanced theme park for adults, a place where they can live out their fantasies in every way possible.

Although it had a few plot holes and other issues, Westworld was still a fantastic movie that really sparked the imagination.  So how could a film like that be topped?  Which direction would you take the story for a sequel?

Those questions and more were answered in Futureworld, a 1976 sci-fi movie that’s a direct sequel to Westworld. In Futureworld, Delos has been repaired and expanded.  All of the programming has been repaired and it’s guaranteed that the androids will not go berserk again.  To help promote the park to the general public, a team of journalists and foreign dignitaries are invited to tour Delos and prove that it’s safe to visit.  But as we see, not everything in this newer version of Delos is as innocent as it appears.

Futureworld (1976) – movie poster

Futureworld was directed by Richard T. Heffron, and the movie has a new cast of actors.  The movie stars Peter Fonda as Chuck Browning, and Blythe Danner as Tracy Ballard.  Except for a dream sequence featuring the Gunslinger, nobody from Westworld returns in Futureworld.

Futureworld (1976) – (c) American International Pictures / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Futureworld begins with newspaper reporter Chuck Browning (Peter Fonda) receives a strange phone call from a man named Frenchy (Ed Geldart).  Frenchy won’t say his important information over the phone, but he needs money and will meet with Chuck in person to exchange the information.  They agree to meet at a nearby location in a few minutes.  When Chuck finally meets with Frenchy, he and others see that Frenchy had been fatally shot in the back by an unknown gunman.  Before he dies, Frenchy says the word “Delos.” Read more…

Book Review – Tom Clancy’s “Red Rabbit”

Last night I finished reading Tom Clancy‘s Red Rabbit, the third book chronologically in the Jack Ryan series of books and a direct sequel to Patriot Games.

Although Red Rabbit takes place in 1982 and between the events in Patriot Games and The Hunt for Red October, the book itself was published much later in 2002.  This later knowledge of real world events in the early 1980s becomes quite evident in Red Rabbit.

Tom Clancy — Red Rabbit

Red Rabbit begins in 1982 with Jack Ryan moving to London, England along with his wife, Cathy, and their two children.  Jack had recently been assigned as a CIA officer to work in their London office and to continue gaining experience.  Meanwhile, CIA officers Ed and Mary Pat Foley are also relocated overseas, but they are stationed to an American compound in Moscow, Russia.  The Foleys are Americans and they live with Americans and other allies in a guarded compound within the city.  Of course, everything inside of their apartment is bugged and listened to by the KGB, and KGB agents are keeping a constant watch on the movements and actions of the Foleys and other outsiders.

The book’s story is set in motion when it’s quickly learned that the Pope (assumed to be Pope John Paul II though his name is never mentioned) is threatening to leave his position at the Vatican and to return to his home country of Poland.  Remember that Poland was a satellite state of the Soviet Union until 1989.  The citizens of Poland have becoming restless with the Soviets, and it’s believed that if the Pope returns to Poland then the people will listen to him and eventually overthrow their socialist government.

When the Russians learn of the Pope’s letter of intent, Yuriy Vladimirovich Andropov, a KGB agent and the Chairman of the Committee for State Security, hatches a secret plot to assassinate the Pope to prevent him from returning to Poland.  In addition to preventing the people of Poland from overthrowing their government and setting off a chain of events that would destabilize eastern Europe and weaken the Soviet Union, Andropov views the assassination as his ticket towards a higher position within the KGB.  The only catch is that it cannot look like the assassination was carried out by the Soviets.  If it was, then the political and social backlash against the Soviets would be disastrous. Read more…

Movie Review – Westworld (1973)

Theme parks are known for having a combination of highly themed lands as well as a mixture of family-friendly as well as thrilling attractions.

These places also draw a firm line where there’s limited interaction between the park guests and the theming.  While you may see a costumed actors, you’re not allowed to challenge them to a duel.  There may be a bank in a western town, but you’re not allowed to draw your gun and rob it.

What if there was such a park where you could carry out such fantasies?  What if you were allowed to live for several days in a highly themed, interactive area, living life as you would in that time period, complete with being able to actually fight and “kill” bad guys?  Don’t worry though, safety protocols are in place to prevent the park guests from receiving any harm.

Westworld (1973) – movie poster

That’s the premise in the 1973 science-fiction film, Westworld.  Written and directed by Michael Crichton, Westworld follows along as a small group of tourists arrives at one of if not the most technologically advanced theme park in the world.  Instead of having rides, this theme park allows guests to live out their fantasies in one of three themed areas.  This movie features Richard Benjamin as Peter Martin, James Brolin as John Blane, and Yul Brynner as the Gunslinger.

Westworld (1973) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Westworld begins with a television commercial for Delos – The Vacation of the Future, a sophisticated, futuristic theme park divided into three zones / “worlds”:  West World (the American Old West in the 1880s), Medieval World (medieval Europe), and Roman World (pre-Christian Rome).  A reporter asks guests about their recent experiences in Delos and how much they loved their experience.  Although visiting Delos costs $1,000 a day, the interviewees claim that it was an incredibly realistic experience well worth the money.  To get to Delos, all we have to do is speak with a travel agent and arrange a ride on the hovercraft that transports guests there. Read more…

Catch Caddy (Car Accessory Organizer) – A Marketing Review

While stuck in rush hour congestion on the flyover ramp from I-285 to I-85 north in metro Atlanta, you can’t help but cringe at the solid wall of cars in front of you in an endless train of glowing red brake lights.

It’s the middle of August.

The kids are back in school, it’s still hot and muggy outside, and the afternoon rush hour traffic has returned with a vengeance.  During the summer break traffic wasn’t too bad as many of the commuters were off the roads to take those family vacations you hear about.  Now that school has resumed, so has the higher amount of traffic on the roads, making both the morning and afternoon traffic jams that much worse.

Thankfully, your trusty, 1984 edition of the Pontiac Phoenix is still chugging along just fine.  In the back of your mind you know that those other drivers starring at your 30-year-old car are just jealous.  They wish that they had a prized symbol of General Motors’ engineering and assembly from the early 1980s.  Just last week you had to turn away three different collectors who were interested in purchasing your luxury wagon.  Nope.  This freshly waxed, metallic blue car is all yours.

The windows have been rolled down and a quick breeze effectively cools the interior of the car.  However, just as the breeze ends, the stifling heat returns.  To make matters worse, your stomach is growling and sitting next to you in the passenger seat is a to-go bag of food from Checkers.  You were hoping to make it home before eating dinner, but it looks like traffic isn’t going to allow it today.  As the mouth-watering scents from the food infiltrate your nose, you know that it’s a losing battle to keep resisting the urge to eat in your car.

Maybe I’ll eat just a few of the fries, you tell yourself.  It’s just a matter of self-control.

Your stomach growls in anticipation as you delicately reach into the bag of food and grab a handful of their famous hot fries.  The fries aren’t really spicy, but they have a solid crunch and a tasty flavor.  How the term “hot” was attached to them still isn’t clear.  Whatever the reason, they just taste great.

The moment the first couple of fries enters your mouth you go through a mental transformation.  Your eyes glaze over as your mouth is suddenly overwhelmed by the flavor, the warmth, and the crunchiness of the hot fries.  There’s some quick chewing and then swallowing of the food.  And then a single word enters your mind:   MORE.

There’s no resisting as your hand subconsciously reaches into the to-go bag from Checkers and grabs another handful of hot fries.  This time the fries are forcefully shoved into your waiting mouth.  Your jaws snap shut and graze your retreating fingers, accidentally nipping one of them and drawing a few drops of blood.  That doesn’t register in your mind as you reach into the bag for even more of the addictive fries.  There’s no pain from the bite wound.  There’s only an obsession for more of the Checkers hot fries.

While your foot is still standing on the brake pedal, you reach into the bag, remove the container of hot fries, and then unceremoniously dump them into your gaping mouth.  It’s as chewing frenzy as you simply cannot chew and swallow the food fast enough.  Several of the smaller fries bounce off your face as you continue pouring the rest of your hot fries and scarf them down like there’s no tomorrow.

Suddenly the container of fries is empty.

That’s it.  Game over.  No more hot fries until next time.

In a fit of rage you crumble the empty fry container and launch it out your open window.  As the garbage sails off the overpass and onto the traffic below you, your alternate personality slowly eases out of your body, giving your normal self full control once again.  It’s over.  You’re in control again . . . for now.

The interior of the 1984 Pontiac Phoenix tells a different story.  Crumbs cover the front of your shirt, there are drops of blood on the center console and the passenger seat, and a few of the smaller hot fries litter the floor.  Some of them even fell between the seat and the console, into the so-called “black hole.”

If only there was a way to save those last few hot fries, you tell yourself as your eyes begin to water from the wasted food.  Just a few more bites.  That’s all I want while sitting in this miserable traffic.

But wait!

Catch Caddy website — www.CatchCaddy.com

Just the other night you remember seeing a commercial for just such a product.  It was called the Catch Caddy.

an older TV commercial for the Catch Caddy

Could such a product actually work?  Can such an accessory like that help save those occasional French fries from falling into the dreaded “black hole” next to the seat?  Let’s review the advertisement and see if this is something worthwhile, or if it’s more of a scam.  NOTE – We’ll be reviewing the advertisement on the product’s website and NOT the slightly older YouTube video.

Catch Caddy TV commercial – Oh no! Not the black hole again! $&#@!

The advertisement for Catch Caddy begins with a problem that has affected most drivers at one point or another — losing an item to the “black hole.”  No, not that hole that you discovered in the restroom wall last month.  The BLACK hole, a region in the car between the seat and the center console.  Items that fall down there are normally hard to reach, and sometimes they end up underneath the seat. Read more…

Videos of How To Do The Fire Challenge

Or as I and pretty much every educated person in the world likes to call it, “How to be the dumbest f*cking person on Earth.”

Lately there’s been talk about one of the latest fads circulating on social media.  This is called the FIRE CHALLENGE and, as you can probably guess, it involves you literally setting yourself on FIRE.

I just heard about this on our local news channel today and had to go to YouTube to see the videos myself.  It’s like no, nobody could really be that stupid now, can they?  Is this a trick of some sort?

No, this is a very real challenge involving some truly frighteningly STUPID people.  This isn’t some dumbass fad where people pose in wacky positions like planking or owling, or taking selfies in ridiculous situations.  This is where incredibly dumb people set their skin on fire.

From what I can tell in the videos, the main way to do the FIRE CHALLENGE is to:

1. Pour rubbing alcohol (or anything with a high percentage of alcohol) on a patch of skin.
2. Ignite the area with a match or lighter.
3. Record the results and post it on YouTube and Facebook.

Of course, people have other variations on how to properly do the challenge, but that’s the most common way.  Many people complete the challenge either inside of or next to a shower with running water.  Others will be right next to a swimming pool so they can jump in and immediately extinguish all of the flames.

What’s scary are the people who do the challenge inside of a house, surrounded by flammable material, and without a quick way to extinguish the flames.  Now those are the insanely stupid people who deserve everything that can and most likely will go wrong with the challenge.

And now, ON TO THE VIDEOS OF THE FIRE CHALLENGE!!!

Note – Some of these videos have been flagged as inappropriate, so you’ll have to log in to YouTube to view them.  Not all of these videos are that way.

Our first video has a scholar who chooses to stand in a shower stall to attempt the fire challenge.

—————————————

This genius learns the hard way that the rubbing alcohol can be a more unpleasant effect than the fire itself.

————————————— Read more…

Movie Review – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Released this weekend is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a reboot of the classic TMNT movie released in 1990.

The plot for this movie involves Shredder and the Foot Clan taking over New York City.  Channel 6 news reporter April O’Neil discovers the four ninja turtles, and that discovery puts her in the middle of the action.  The movie gives a new origin for the mutated turtles and their sensei, Master Splinter, and that origin leads to the epic conclusion and Shredder’s plot to take over the city.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) – movie poster

Directed by Jonathan Liebesman and produced by Michael Bay, 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stars Megan Fox as April O’Neil, a news reporter for Channel 6 news.  Co-starring in the film are Will Arnett as Vernon Fenwick, a co-worker at the news station, and William Fichtner as Eric Sacks, a research scientist and the CEO of Sacks Industries.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles begins with and animated sequence with Master Splinter (voiced by Tony Shalhoub) explaining how a criminal organization known as the Foot Clan is taking over New York City.  The Foot Clan is led by a warrior mastermind called Shredder, and there’s little that the people of New York can do about it.

The film then shows Channel 6 news reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) as she’s trying to investigate the latest robbery by the Foot Clan.  The robbery victim doesn’t want to speak, so April is forced to give a news report about a meaningless subject.  Her cameraman and friend at the news station is Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett).

April isn’t willing to give up on her investigation into the Foot Clan, so she follows a lead one night and heads to a nearby dock.  The news reporter witnesses the Foot Clan carrying out a robbery.  She also witnesses an unknown vigilante easily fight and defeat the Foot Clan soldiers.  April is unable to get any pictures or video of the vigilante, but she does photograph some graffiti left behind by the unknown fighter.

The following morning April shares her story with her co-workers at Channel 6, but they don’t take her seriously.  Neither does April’s boss, Bernadette Thompson (Whoppi Goldberg).  Since April does not have any solid evidence, Bernadette refuses to air the story about the vigilante. Read more…

Movie Review – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

In honor of the reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film released to the theaters, today we’re taking a look at the original, 1990 version of the film.

Chances are likely that if you were a kid growing up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, you either watched or at least knew about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon show.  The show had a hit intro, it had fantastic characters, and it also featured plenty of karate action scenes.  The toys were also some of the hottest toys in the stores.  It was just a matter of time before somebody cashed in on the incredible popularity of the cartoon show and made it into a full-length movie.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) – movie poster

Released on March 30, 1990, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a live-action film that brought the series to the big screen.  The movie follows along as the ninja turtles fight against the Foot Clan and its leader, Shredder.  Directed by Steve Barron, the movie used costumed characters from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop to bring the ninja turtles to life.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) – (c) New Line Cinema

Set in New York City, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles begins with news reporter April O’ Neil (Judith Hoag) reporting about the rise in crime reports throughout the city.  Most of the crime, petty things like robberies, is thought to be controlled by a mysterious organization known as the Foot Clan.  The Foot is believed to be an international crime syndicate that goes back to Japan.

That evening when April leaves the news station, she runs into a group of thugs robbing her station’s news van.  Just as the punks are about to attack her, a sai goes flying through the air and breaks the lone light bulb.  The area goes pitch dark and we hear the sounds of the punks getting beat up in a fight.  When the police quickly arrive, April is stunned and the punks are all tied up and waiting to be arrested.  Nearby is a set of eyes watching from underneath a manhole.  The eyes watch in frustration as April picks up the sai and keeps it. Read more…

July 2014 Exercise Results

Now that we’re in August and everybody is heading back to school, let’s go back and take a look at my exercise results from July.

Throughout the month of July, I established a regular pattern of doing my exercises.  My exercising was not at its maximum potential though as each week I had ended up having three days off, two of those always on my wife’s days off of work.  For some reason it worked out where I didn’t exercise almost the same exact days each week.

Oh well.

Despite having three days off each week, I still beat my exercise numbers from last month.

July of 2014 exercise results:

Exercise bike totals (cardio):

– 9 sessions; 45 minutes each

– 405 minutes (6.75 hours)

– 90.8 miles

– 4,545 calories

– furthest distance during a 45-minute bike ride – 10.2 miles

Total Bodyworks 5000 totals (strength):

– 10 sessions; ~ 90 minutes each

Total number of sit-ups:

– 2,900

July of 2014 was a great month for exercising.  Let’s see if I can improve those numbers in August.