Next Model

This is going on the second terrain board I am building. It is a rock spire. Again step by step photos to show the process of how I am transforming simple objects into different model scenery.

Here is the basic foundation...

 

Once the glue dried I started to carve the basic shape. This is a picture from about half way through the process.

 

The goal here is to make the little pieces of foam insulation appear less like little pieces of foam insulation and more like rock.

This next picture is after a coat of base paint, a medium grey applied all over. This process took a while getting in all the nooks and crannies. If I had to do over again I would of prepped the foam to take paint better and went over it with a white paint instead and washed it over and over again with shades of paint but hindsight is 20/20.

 

 This next picture shows the model after some layers of dry brushing.

 

The next step is to add some foliage material. Here is a close up on some vine like material I added to the model. It is not glued down yet so it appears a bit "fluffier" then it will at the end.

 

I am still working on finishing the overall drybrushing. Real rocks and cliffs have a multitude of browns, greys, reds, and greens and I am working in various colors while keeping it dominantly grey. Hopefully by tonight I can post up completed pictures. I will also update the current training logs and post up some other odds and ends. 

 

 

Updated Model Pics

Well I have worked on the board section and gotten a lot done. I am going to post some step by step pictures so you can see how it was done. The base material is foam insulation (commonly blue or pink but in this case I got the lowes brand which was in green). I used the 3/4 inch size which seems to be ideal at deviations are at about model height but slightly less for a 28mm model. The first this I had to do was cut out a 2 foot by 2 foot square (the sheet comes in a 8 foot by 4 foot section). I did this using a 2 foot by 2 foot piece of pine plywood as a guide and cut the sheet with a retractable hobby knife. I did this by cutting along the board edge about half way down and then snapping it apart. This meant that I had to cut off a 2 foot by 4 foot section and then cut that in half. This produced a nice clean cut. I don't have any pictures of this stage so I will use a stock photo from the web.

Once I cut out the basic 2 foot by 2 foot section I had to think up what I wanted on this particular board. I would be combining it with 7 other sections to make a full game table of 8 foot by 4 foot. I had the general idea in my mind of what I wanted it to look like and I sketched it out on a piece of paper. I then made a computer drawing in photo shop.

In order to accomplish this I had to cut out the hill that would be in the corner. I cut this from the same insulation board that I cut the 2 foot by 2 foot section and then glued this to that section. Since there were no river section or other type of depression that pretty much took care of any designing I had to do on the board. Again I don't have a picture of this step so I am using one from the internet to give you a general idea.

The gives a basic idea. From here I had to provide some kind of texture to the board to make it appear less like a piece of Styrofoam and more like a landscape. Since I still wanted a relatively flat surface for models to sit upon I used paint mixed with sand. This provides some texture but still allows models to stand upright. If I was building a static scene like a model railroad layout I would use modeling clay or plaster to made a more realistic landscape but for this I wanted something that balanced between looking good and being functional. This is a picture of the board section while the paint was still wet.

The rest of the pictures are different progressions on how I painted and then dry brushed things. The hill was first painted over with a medium gray. Over top of this I threw on a black wash. I then went back and drybrushed medium gray and followed up with progressively lighter shades of gray all the way to a very light dusting of white. The dirt areas was done with raw sienna and then dry brushed with a mix of raw sienna and yellow ochre. I then dry brushed yellow ochre and finally hit it with a very light dusting of a bright yellow. I then applied various kinds of ground foliage from woodland scenics to give a grass and bushes affect.

The board is basically done. I am going to apply some trees and the one off shoot on the dirt trail that leads to an open spot is going to house a cottage.

New Model I am Working On

I have decided to start including some entries about different hobbies I am involved in. One of those hobbies is modeling miniature terrain scenes. Think sort of like model railroad scenery without the actual railroads. While there is nothing wrong with model trains I am just not really into them. I much prefer to model fantasy scenes. The current one I am working on is based around the Warhammer Fantasy game I have talked about before.

The basic plan is to work in 2 foot by 2 foot sections. What I do is cut out a section of insulation foam board and make my model based around that. In the end it will consist of 8 sections (meaning when combined it will be 8 foot by 4 foot).

Obviously the first order of business in building a section is to cut the foam board to shape. In order to do this I used a sharp hobby knife and cut about half way through the board using a hardwood board as a straight edge to follow. I then simply snapped the board and this produced a nice clean cut. I actually thought this would be one of the harder parts but it proved remarkably easy.

The next thing I had to do was decide what would be going on the section. For the first section I am working on I decided one corner would have a gently sloping hill. A dirt road would traverse the middle of the board and a small cottage would sit just off the main road. Other than that a few trees and perhaps a fence surrounding the cottage. Pretty simply to start off with.

With this plan in mind the next thing I had to do was cut the hill shapes that would go in the corner. I used a serrated steak knife for this which works quite well in producing a nice jagged cut like a hill side would have. I then had to attach these hills to the board itself. Most of the features on the board will be added later on but the hill had to be added now so that it would be textured like the rest of the board.

The next step was to texture the board. This was achieved by using an "earth color" (roughly raw sienna) and mixing in sand to make it textured. This is then applied liberally all over the board. After the first coat second and third coats may be applied to select spots to make subtle differences in the terrain. Once this is dry the board will be dry brushed in several different colors depending on what each area is supposed to represent. The hill will be drybrushed in several shades of gray to represent a rocky out cropping while the rest of the board will be highlighted in shades of browns, oranges, and yellows to represent dirt. After that grass, foliage, rocks, and other things can be added to add character.

At the moment I just finished applying the first layer of texture paint to the board. After this drys I will judge whether or not I want to do additional layers or go straight to highlighting.

 

That is a picture of the board still very wet from its initial coat of textured paint. I am pretty happy with it. 

King Airodak Part 1

Several times in the past I have mentioned King Airodak. He was the King of Pelador a couple hundred years before the story I am currently writing is set. While his reign was wrought with many problems, he has grown into almost a mythic figure of the Peladorian people. Renown as perhaps the greatest of all the Kings of Pelador and one of the finest swordsman who ever lived, a cult like attitude has developed around his legacy.

Airodak had the most humble of beginnings. He was a bastard son of Prince Kaldor, the youngest son of King Faldon VI. Being that he had three older brothers, Prince Kaldor's chances of ever ascending the throne were very low. He was married off to a Princess from the Principality of Bayersville. Kaldor grew to absolutely despise his chosen wife and took to having many affairs. Airodak in particular was the result of an affair between the Prince and King of Gandon's niece. This caused much strife between Pelador and Gandon and brought much shame to Kaldor. The Prince chose exile with his son to the northwest of Pelador, the barbarous region known as Norlandia.

Prince Kaldor raised his son in the court of a Norlander Petty King. Airodak was not the boys given name but rather a nickname derived from one of the Norlander dialects. Among these northmen Airodak learned many things of personal honor and courage. The Norlanders valued strength and good name above all else and instilled these lessons onto the boy.

Meanwhile in Pelador things were going awry. A plague outbreak had devastated the Midlands, going so far as to stricken the King and his eldest son. Though they lingered on for weeks eventually both of them succumbed to the disease. This created a power vacuum in the Kingdom as Prince Kaldor's two brothers vied for the throne. The eldest of the two by rights should of succeeded as King but many considered him a simpleton and buffoon. The younger of the two was considered very clever but also seen by many as incredible cutthroat and dangerous.

Soon the arguments of succession led to outright warfare between the two brothers. Each gathered nobles under their banners and several small skirmishes happened between retinues of knights. These small battles proved to be inconclusive and soon larger pitched battles occurred. For nearly five years battles raged across Pelador and all the while the Kingdom suffered. Eventually things came full circle at the Battle of Bendo's Farm. The two brothers each led their respective forces in a bloody meat grinder that left both princes dead and their armies devastated.

Amid the chaos following the Battle of Bendo's Farm Prince Kaldor returned to Pelador with his young son in tow. Kaldor claimed the throne and no one was left in a position to challenge his claim. His initial years of rule were tumultuous to say the least. He proved to be very unpopular among both the nobles and commoners and many attempts were made on his life. Only four years after claiming the throne King Kaldor was slain by a Gjinn assassin.

This brought about another round of succession wars. Airodak was now sixteen but many of the nobles viewed him as a bastard and unfit for ruling the kingdom. Many of the templar orders backed various rival claimants for the throne. Soon many powerful enemies took the fields in opposition to him. Airodak was in a tight spot but did count among his supporters a few key allies. Perhaps the most important of all these allies was the Petty King that had given his father shelter during his exile. He sent from their strongholds in the Skyforrest Mountains five thousand of his best warriors to aid Airodak. Several of his fellow petty kings sent smaller numbers of warriors as well.

On and off for 8 years battles were fought across Pelador. In the end Airodak crushed his rivals and secured his throne. While Airodak wanted revenge against those who had opposed him, he chose to put aside vengeance for the moment in order to repair the fractured kingdom. He first provided aid to those areas that had been worst afflicted by the plague outbreak. Next he restored trading routes and used royal soldiers to secure roads that had been commandeered by bandits.

The ensuing four years of his reign has since become known as the period of restoration. Airodak managed to pay off past debts to other kingdoms and codified many laws. Even some of his biggest opponents soon became hard pressed to stand against him. His policies were working quite effectively and in a short four years Pelador was restored to its former glory.

Having gained popular support from among the people and having pacified some of his strongest opponents, Airodak soon hatched his plans for revenge. He set his sights on the templar orders who had supported his rivals during the succession wars. The templar orders had sprung up during the Otani wars and now that those wars had been over for a century they now longer had a purpose. Now they had taken to using their military might to impose their will. Many of the templar orders were charging taxes to travel on roads by their fortresses and some had outright declared sovereignty. This incensed Airodak to no end and gave him the justification to make his move against them.

At the time the Kingdom of Pelador maintained two regiments of Royal soldiers. Each regiment was supposed to be five thousand strong and well equipped and trained. As well as these ten thousand soldiers, each noble and knight were obligated to provide a certain number of troops to the king when called upon. King Airodak sent out summons to all his lords and knights and to the regimental commanders. Much to his chagrin though, only five hundred nobles and knights answered his call. Their retinues supplied another three thousand soldiers. The Royal Army Regiments fared little better. Both were found to be severely undermanned and poorly equipped. All told Airodak marched out with roughly ten thousand men, much less than he had anticipated.

The campaign seemed doomed from the start. Within days of marching out a virus spread among the men and they lost hundreds in the weeks that followed. A few of Airodak's close advisers urged him to turn back but he would not be swayed. Inclement weather delayed their march as severe storms wrecked the country side turning many fields into quagmires. It took over two weeks before they were met with their first battle.

The Brothers of the Sword, one of the largest templar orders, had set up battle lines near the town of Nesbitt. Things looked very grim for the King. Airodak's men were stricken with sickness and fatigue and were faced with well trained knights and men at arms in well defended positions. For two days a bloody stalemate ensued in which each side lost hundreds of men. Morale plummeted among the Kings troops and even some of his advisers openly opposed continuing the battle. During the night a terrible storm swept through and lightning struck Airodak's pavilion catching it on fire. Some legends say that Airodak himself was struck by the lightning, but all that is known for sure is that the fire singed his hair so badly that by the next morning he had it shaven bald. His fellow knights in a sign of solidarity shaved their heads bald as well.

That morning many of his troops were refusing to charge again. They were hungry and tired beyond belief and battered and bruised and all those other things that wear a person down. King Airodak rode out before his men with his contingent of knights and nobles riding behind him. The sight of several hundred heavily armored knights all in unison was alone enough to raise spirits. The rousing speech that Airodak gave his men though was enough to get them worked up into a frenzy. With a furor they had not yet possessed they charged the templars. Airodak fought at the front of the battle and personally cut a swathe so large through the enemy that a hole developed in their lines. His troops poured in behind their king taking advantage of the breech and dividing the templars in two.

In the center of the battlefield King Airodak hacked and slashed his way right to the Grandmaster of the Brothers of the Sword. The templar commander had a fearsome reputation but Airodak gave no pause in engaging him. They clashed their swords in an epic duel so furiously that those fighting around them stopped to watch. The Grandmaster frenzied attacks gave him the initial upper hand, driving back the king. Unbeknownst to the Grandmaster, Airodak's years having been reared by the Norlanders had taught him quite well how to deal with aggressive assaults. Soon the templar commander tired from his relentless pace and Airodak capitalized. He disarmed his opponent and then struck him down.

The Brothers of the Sword lost heart having witnessed their leader slain. Many of those closest by the duel dropped their weapons and surrendered while those furthest away fled. Those who fled the battle were mercilessly hunted down and butchered. Those who surrendered were offered a chance to denounce their order and swear an oath to the King. Those who refused were offered a quick death but in the end the majority of them joined the King's service.

Stay tuned for Part 2

Random Thoughts and Things

Well February was a very successful month for my blog. It received the second most page views of all time, only behind October of 2010 when I made an insane amount of entries. One complaint I have is that feedback from my blog is next to nothing. I know that many people are viewing it but rarely if ever do I hear anyone's opinions on what they like or dislike about it. I hate beating a dead horse but if you enjoy a certain entry or like certain types of blog posts let me know. Otherwise I will just keep doing what I want to do and that may not be exactly what the majority of people like to read.

This blog originally started as a way to monitor my training for powerlifting. In many ways it still fulfills that role somewhat but now I really see it more as a way of getting my writing out there to the general public. I am working on a novel that I want to publish as well as several short stories that I feel will later be combined in an anthology. The more people I can get viewing the blog on a regular basis the better my chances of having the right people read it. That's where the people reading the blog (you) come in. Leave comments, let me know what you like or dislike, agree or disagree with, and share a link on your facebook wall and encourage people on your friend's list to read the blog and share the link. I am only one person, I need help in this.

Training wise things are going great. Missy and I are both sore and beat up but she broke her personal record on deadlifts and squats this week and I made a personal record on deadlifts so it has been great so far. There has been tooo many days off though in between training which is causing me some frustration. Bullshit that I don't want to talk about causing interference with training that I will not tolerate. Missing a training session every now and then is one thing but when it becomes an issue you have to decide what you want more, to be the best you can be or to wallow.

I am working on chapter 13 of my book and almost completed with it. I should be done by tonight and then onto chapter 14. I have an interesting short story brewing in my head that I can't wait to write about as well. I probably will before the end of the weekend and post it up on here.

Other than that nothing much to say.             

Drugans

Just what the hell are Drugans?

I have mentioned Drugans more than a few times in my book excerpts without fully explaining just what they are. That is not entirely on accident as they are a more recent addition to my book. Actually now that I think about it they did play a huge role in early rough drafts of my story (called by a different name) but were eventually written out. Then after some major modifications I put them back in the story but only in background material. I was going to utilize them in a much different role than originally intended in a follow up book to the one I am writing now.

Then on a whim as I wrote the excerpt for Alaric I decided to place Drugans back into the story. I could not use them though in the way that I had rewritten them it simply would not have worked. In order to use them in the story I had to rewrite them again and this time they would be far closer to their original version than the second version. Rather than bore anyone with any more details I will give a short background and description for what Drugan’s are.

---

Of all the creatures on Kurth none are more destructive and warlike than the Drugans. Found virtually across the breadth and width of Kurth from the deep forests of Pelador to isolated desert tribes in Otan, Drugans live lives of perpetual war and battle. Though they most often fight small skirmishes against other Drugan tribes, they will sometimes form larger war parties and raid human settlements.

Drugans are massively built compared to humans. Adults tend to average at least 7 feet tall and are broad shouldered and heavily muscled. Though they walk upright like humans they differ in many other ways. Their skin is green and they are covered in a fine fur from their neck down that ranges in color from light browns all the way to black. Their faces are bare of fur and have two large tusks protruding from their lower jaw.  

Their entire culture is dominated by warfare. Centuries ago a powerful Drugan warrior conquered and united many Drugan tribes in the Savagelands to form the first and only Drugan Kingdom. Since then his line of heirs have ruled with an iron fist and continue to conquer many smaller tribes. Though primitive compared to human kingdoms they still have some form of civilization including written laws and customs.

The vast majority of Drugans though still live in small isolated tribes. These tribes are primitive even compared to the Drugan Kingdom and our ruled by might. Though they are sometimes separated by vast distances almost all of them are ruled in a similar fashion. Two Drugans share power over the tribe.

One of them is a warchief who is the biggest and strongest of the tribe. The warchief obtains power by defeating the previous warchief in single combat and maintains his rule until he himself is slain by a rival. If a warchief is killed in battle a tournament will be held by any surviving Drugans who wish to assume leadership. When a Drugan is defeated in battle it is customary for the victor to snap off his foes tusks as a sign of disrespect. Since Drugan tusks never stop growing that means those with the largest tusks are the ones who are the biggest and toughest. Warchiefs will generally wear the tusks of those rivals he removed in crude necklaces or other totems as a sign of his power.

The other person who rules over the tribe jointly is the tribe’s shaman. Drugan shamans practice a primitive but extremely powerful form of magic. Perhaps because of the dark arts they dabble in shamans uniquely tend to grow horns atop their heads. They care little for imposing their will on the day to day affairs of the tribe, leaving those duties to the warchief. Shamans instead are invested in guiding the directions of the tribe. They decide when to move and when to stay put and when to make war. They consider everything else too menial for their attentions.

When Drugan tribes make war with others everyone has a part to play. The Drugan women are tasked with making sure the warriors are well fed and equipped with primitive weapons and armor that they either fashion themselves or loot from enemy corpses. Younger Drugans are employed as scouts, archers or operators of crude war machines. Warchiefs fight in the front ranks leading charges and taking the fight to the enemy. Shamans stay back from the main body of fighting, attacking the enemy with arcane magic.

Though Drugan attacks on human settlements are quite rare they are still highly feared. The telltale sounds of Drugans braying in the distance will fill humans with terror. Drugans are stronger and able to withstand more damage than humans making them very tough adversaries. Those few unfortunate towns that are raided by Drugans and cannot fight them off are left devastated with mutilated corpses and vast destruction. Thankfully those are rare cases indeed.

---

That is Drugans in a brief nutshell. They are primitive man-beasts, which are highly disorganized, but to be quite feared when they do gather under a strong leader.

Food Ordeal From Last Night

We set out yesterday with the goal of getting some take out sushi from a nice Japanese market in Columbus. After a short detour to Polaris mall we made our way to the market and ordered a party platter for 2. The platter came with a nice assortment of sushi pieces and rolls. Plenty of enough food to feed two people even when one of them has a giant sized appetite.

All was going according to plan that is until we went to pay for the food. The lady at the counter told me our card was denied. She then asked me if we had another card which we do not. Now I knew damn well that my card was not denied because I verify my accounts before I leave the house everyday to avoid ever having a situation like that arise. I tried calling the bank right then and there to prove to the cashier lady that all was well and good but of course my bank does not have customer service on the weekends. That's great and all right?

Well after suffering embarrassment in front of multiple people as if we have no money we finally say that we will seek out a local atm and return. As my good friend famously said, "Not that big a deal." There was an atm machine across the street from the market and even though it was from another bank and would charge me a 3 dollar fee we could get our money and ergo our sushi.

No dice. You see it turns out that the local banking network was down. So it wasn't that our card was being denied in so much as NO card would be able to be used. Apparently the lady at the market did not know this (and no she was not Asian or foreign so I am not targeting the person because of that) and also did not know of any way to process an order if the system is down. Oh well it was there ass out of 50 dollars.

Since we were already out and wanting some good eats we decided to hit up a nearby Italian market and bakery. Big fucking mistake there. This place should of called themselves a ghetto convenience store. Sorry but just because you have some homemade sausage and a couple types of salami does not make you an Italian market. The breads were horrible and the meat selection half ass. They had New York Strip steaks for 6.50 a piece and they looked okay (at best) so we asked for two. Actually Missy asked and not me and generally anytime she asks for something we get the biggest and best of the bunch every time. Missy thinks it is a coincidence that she always gets great service, She is in major denial that it would have anything to do with the fact that she is the most beautiful woman in the world (seriously). 

Well for the first time this fail and the fucker behind the counter picked out the two smallest and shittiest cuts of steak among the best. I am a big motherfucker and need to feed some big ass muscles so that was an insult of the highest order. I just handed them right back to the guy and said no thanks. He asked if we wanted another set of steaks and I told him hell no we were out of this ghetto ass store and would not be back.

Actually that didn't happen quite like that. Instead we just ditched the steaks in an aisle and left. Maybe not as personally satisfying but eventually they will find some rotting meat in their store. So now we had no sushi and no steaks and it was now getting late. Out of frustration we decided to just make a run for the border. Taco Bell may not be the most exciting thing in the world but it does the trick and is cheap. A fifty dollar meal down to a 6 dollar meal.

Now though I am in the mood for some sushi. There is a nice sushi place by the lane avenue half priced book store. Two things in this world that I love, used bookstores and sushi. What says you Missy????

Review- Life's Too Short

There is a show now being broadcast on HBO called Life's Too Short starring Warwick Davis. You may or may not know that name but he has starred in a lot of movies. Most of them were in costume though as he is a dwarf. Among his credits include Return of the Jedi, The Harry Potter films, Leprechaun series, and Willow. The latter is the only movie of note that his face was fully visible until this new show entitled Life's Too Short.

The show is made by Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant who have made a ton of funny shit lately. Seriously don't be lazy and just use wikipedia and IMDB and research them yourselves if you don't believe me. Hell Ricky has hosted every awards show in the past year.

Life's Too Short is done in a mockumentary style very similar to Curb Your Enthusiasm. Warwick Davis plays a caricature of himself and does it quite well. I love when a famous person has no problem taking the piss with them self. Nothing worse than when some arrogant prick takes themselves far too seriously.

The show has a lot of cameos by famous people and most of them are comedy gold. Liam Neeson in particular is in the first episode and his attempt at some improv comedy might just be the funniest thing I have ever seen. I would highly recommend people to check the series out.

By the way, while episode one is only just now being broadcast on HBO the series was actually broadcast last year on the BBC. That means if you are handy with with finding shows to download on the internet it can easily be found in its entirety and downloaded along with a very funny making of show.

Bench Press Training Last Night

Training went well last night. Utilizing our new power rack we worked up on a 2 board press. Missy nailed a three rep max and I hit a 2 rep max. Because of the bench we were using inside the power rack I had a problem unracking the weight which really affected my tight set up. All the same I did hit a fairly big 2 rep max so I was happy. We then followed that up with rack lockouts. I grinded out a tough one but Missy hit a really nice triple and I was very proud. Here is an outline of our training.

Max Effort Lift- 2 Board Press
3 Sets of 1-3 reps Rack Lockouts
The following four lifts were performed as 2 giant sets with very heavy weights used.
Incline Dumbbell Press
Dumbbell Rows
Overhead Dumbbell Tricep Extensions
Hammer Curls

The max effort lift and heavy rack lockouts had already taken us an hour so we decided to condense the accessory work into one big giant set performing each lift for about 10-12 reps. Used weights that we could only just barely finish each lift. You will notice that we started with a compound pushing lift (incline dumbbell press) and then followed that with a compound pulling lift (dumbbell rows) and then did an isolation pushing (tricep extensions) and then an isolation pulling (hammer curls). This was done on purpose to utilize opposing muscle groups and allow for a small amount of recovery.

All in all it was a great day. Broke another PR which seems to be happening on a regular basis for both of us. Couldn't be more proud of our progress.

Update on the Blog

I just wanted to announce that February has been the second best month ever for my blog in terms of traffic. The only month so far to beat out February was October of 2010 which was the month that I made 58 posts in a single month. So far this month I have made less than half that and have achieved about half as many page views.

During that time, much like now, I do most of my advertising for my blog on my facebook account. Back then though I had a far larger friend count. I believe at one time my friends list was at least four times the amount that I have now if not more. I slowly but surely deleted many people from my friends list since then and even deleted my own page for several months. Too many people use facebook as an outlet for drama or posturing and I will not have a part of that any longer.

So while I have significantly reduced the amount of people who know about updates to my blog I am still pulling in a lot of viewers. I am happy about this but I could always use help. Please feel free to pass the link to this page around. Far too few people make comments on this blog compared to the number who view it. Quite frankly I am almost to the point that I am going to start eliminating more people from my friends list unless I start getting some feedback. Obviously if you repeatedly look at my blog and enjoy what you read then help promote it by making comments and sharing links to the page. I put a lot of effort into this page so spending a few moments to share the link at the least is not asking too much.

McMissys!!!

One thing that has helped me drop weight and get back to my competitive weight class is what I dubbed McMissys. A McMissy is a breakfast sandwich that consists of a 100% whole wheat english muffin, a turkey sausage pattie (or slice of ham), slice of cheese, and one fried egg. I eat two of these every morning and they taste great. Lately I am even having them for lunch. I honestly cannot get enough of them and they do a great job of keeping the hunger at bay.

There are many foods that can be made quite a bit healthier just by adjusting the ingredients. We made MissyMacs the other day. We used lean ground turkey patties, whole grain buns, and a homemade big mac sauce with better ingredients.

Don't forget to enjoy the real deal at times too. Training hard and eating right doesn't mean denying yourself, it just means to keep things in moderation. This week alone I have lost 3 pounds but had taco bell twice, an italian sub, and papa john's pizza. The thing is I didn't have to gorge myself in the process but I did eat well. Hell I took down half a large pizza but still woke up a pound lighter than the day before. Besides the pizza all I ate was two sets of McMissys for breakfast and lunch and also a snickers bar. Not the best choices but still I dropped weight even while eating what others would tell you would be horrible for losing weight. I just don't do that every day. Plus I train my balls off and that makes a big difference.

Vulkare the Collector of Skulls

Vulkare the Collector of Skulls

Exactly when Vulkare lost his humanity and pledged his allegiance to the Dark Lord Azearth has been lost to time. Legends are a bound that he had once been known as Sir Greyth and had been a Knight of Pelador many hundreds of years ago. Stories were passed down that he had been the noblest of all knights and beheld the purest of all hearts. Legends state that the King of Pelador had established an order of knights to guard the eastern pass and keep the Dark Lords at bay.

For such a dangerous task that would test the purity of a man the King needed a knight he could trust above all others to not be corrupted. It came to no one’s surprise that the King would choose Sir Greyth above all others. According to the same legends Sir Greyth held his post honorably for many years and even to his credit personally slain many Dread Knights who attempted to raid Pelador.

Even the rumors and legends do not speak of what brought about Sir Greyth’s downfall. The Royal Archive of Pelador only acknowledges that an Order of Knights was created to guard the eastern pass but does not mention any members of the order or what became of them. All that is known for sure is that a knight of Pelador knelt before the Dark Lord Azearth and what rose back up was Vulkare the Collector of Skulls.

Imbued with strength beyond that of any mortal man, Vulkare became the very thing of nightmares. To prove his loyalty to his new master he led a raid on Pelador and personally claimed the heads of two Dukes, 1 Earl, and two dozen Barons. Azearth was so pleased with his new servant that he rewarded him with Astraer, a sword imbued with the spirit of a demon. With his new sword Vulkare would claim thousands of heads for his master. He was said to be unmatched in combat and no one was safe from his blade.

The great Drugan Warchief  Wargurk decimated the realms of six Dark Lords slaying each one before meeting Vulkare in single combat outside of Azearth’s castle. The Collector of Skulls collected one more easily slaying the Drugan Chief with his Demonblade. To humiliate his fallen opponent he cut his tusks off and had them attached to his helm.

One time a group of 8 pious and devout Great Knights swore before the King of Pelador that they would personally deliver Vulkare’s corpse to the King. Vulkare made sure that all eight of their skulls were returned to the King of Pelador to show the futility of such acts. In the end it took no less than King Airodak, said to be the greatest of all Peladorian Kings and the finest swordsman of all time, to finally end the terrible butchery of Vulkare the Collector of Skulls. At the Battle of Broken Tree the two warriors fought an epic fight that lasted for nearly an hour before Airodak used Vulkare’s own demonblade to behead him.

Some rumors state that Azearth captured a necromancer that brought Vulkare back from the dead. Such things are just rumors though and should not be taken seriously…

Dread Knights

In the book excerpts I posted I made mention of Dread Knights on a few occasions. This term was not originated by me and has actually been used several times in many different fantasy works. I have to admit though my knowledge is limited as to what role they serve in different works of literature or games. I just know that I liked the name and it kind of stuck with me.

Awhile back I was formulating ideas in my head for the Shadowlands. That is a region of the world of Kurth that lies along the Northeastern coast of the Western Continent. In the back history of the world a great evil was slain there in the distant past and ever since then anyone or thing that remained in that region for too long became corrupted. One of the ancient Kings Of Pelador launched a crusade in the region and many Peladorian Knights joined his banner and cleansed the region. While the King and most of the Knights returned to Pelador some of them remained to carve out their own fiefdoms.

Over time even these once proud and noble knights became corrupted and polluted. Evil crept into their minds and bodies and soon they would transform into fell creatures of abyss and chaos. Some know them as Shadowlords and others refer to them as the Dark Lords.  Over two dozen small princedoms exist in the Shadowlands each ruled over by a Dark Lord. They send their minions out into the Savagelands and take back barbarian slaves to serve them.

Most of these barbarian slaves simply become disease ridden parodies of their former selves. Not unlike the walking dead, pathetic wretches that are used like cattle by the Dark Lords. Those who are the strongest and fittest though get elevated by the Dark Lords to become Dread Knights.

The Dread Knights are rewarded by the Dark Lords with strength and power and longevity. They do not wither or die of natural causes. Instead for centuries they served the Dark Lords as knights of their realms. Their fighting prowess is matched only by their cruelty. They dress in blackened armor adorned with spikes and horns to drive even more fear into the hearts of men.

While at one time over a thousand of these foul knights polluted Kurth now they are but a memory of its past. During the last great crusade by King Novan III a grand battle was fought towards the end of the campaign and the Great Knights slain the last of their kind. It was an epic last stand though and they claimed many Peladorian Knights before the last of them was snuffed out.

Gym and Training Update

Training has been going great since Missy and I got the gym up and running. We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it but now we finally have a place to call our own that we can be proud of. The Deadlifter’s Fortress is hardly state of the art or cutting edge. It can probably only comfortably handle about 10-15 trainees at a time and lacks almost all of the bells and whistles that big chain gyms have. We make up for those short comings by maintaining an absolutely hardcore atmosphere of extreme powerlifting, bodybuilding, and strongman training.

We did not start out to build a gym to make money or to attract a lot of people. In fact our goals were quite the opposite of that. Whereas Missy might be a bit of a social butterfly I am quite shy around people I don’t know and quite frankly strongly dislike most people. Some would call that a defect of my personality but I feel it is one of my greatest strengths. I would be happy and content if only ever Missy and I train at our gym, I would rather that than have anyone who is not 100% committed to being the best they can be.

The name of the gym itself embodies this as it derives from both Missy and I. She used to use the username Fortress on web forums and such and I would use Deadlifter or Deadlifter14. We brainstormed a few different name ideas but at the end of the day we came back to the Deadlifter’s Fortress. Just as Superman had his Fortress of Solitude I have my Deadlifter’s Fortress and so does she.

Last night we did Max Effort Squat and Deadlift training. We worked up again to a 5 rep max and both Missy and I broke our previous records from the previous week. We followed that up with 2 sets of 5 reps of heavy squats to a high box and then 2 sets of 8 reps of Romanian Deadlifters. We then called it a day. I was beat up from work and those good mornings took a lot out of me. We went really heavy on all the lifts and they took a toll. We were going to do some lat work but decided to save that for today which would normally be an off day.

I have lost more weight, as of last week I have lost 30 pounds. Really cut back my calories this week and it is taking a toll but I feel really good, just not strong. I am breaking personal records still but getting really fatigued during training. Yesterday I trained around 5:30 PM and had not eaten anything since 11 am. While it was tough I managed to break my previous record by 45 pounds on a 5 rep max on good morning. It was rough but I made it.

Been having some computer problems so I haven’t been able to update the blog like I like but I will throw some more stuff up today.

Training and Progress

We were supposed to do dynamic squat and deadlift training Friday evening but we ended up pushing back training a day. Friday was a very busy evening for us as we got some more equipment for the gym and by time we end up driving all over the place and getting things set up it was just too late to train. The extra day of recovery actually serves me quite well as my lower back is pretty beat up as it is.

We got a nice power rack for next to nothing along with a nice heavy duty bar. A gym whether home or commercial can never have enough bars.This brings our gym total to two power racks, a squat rack, a lat pull down machine and low pulley row, a bench press bench and a FID (flat, incline, decline) utility bench. Two leg extension and leg curl stations and two preacher curl stations (that we never use but got them all the same). Two Olympic bars, two curl bars, multiple lat attachment bars, about a thousand pounds worth of weight, and two sets of dumbbells. We also have a box for box squatting at multiple heights, boards for board pressing, bands and chains, and a sled for dragging. And of course no gym would be complete without a chalk bowl.

Not a bad set up and always expanding. I hope to have a heavy duty flat bench soon, some more weights, a l;eg press/hack squat machine, and to get some specialty bars like a safety squat bar and a cambered bar. For right now though my main focus is getting the gym organized and laid out in the best fashion possible. We should have this done (at least mostly done) by this evening. If we do of course I will post on here an update.

Last night we did the dynamic squat and deadlift training.

10 sets of 2 reps dynamic squats. We did 5 sets straight weight and then the last five sets we used reverse mini-bands and ended up working up to heavy singles.
3 sets of rack lock outs with the squat. We set the safety catches to about a quarter squat position and did lock outs. We did about 5 reps or so each set, we really weren't counting, we just made sure to do them heavy.
4 sets of 12 reps pull throughs
4 sets of 12 reps heavy leg extensions.

Normally we would of performed lat work as well but it was late at that point and we were pretty beat up and I was having some stomach issues to say the least. We made a judgment call and decided to do some lat work along with our shoulder work today. As my best friend always says, not that big a deal, since we do not train our lats again until Wednesday.

I lost three pounds this week. That brings my total to 35 pounds. I still have a ways to go but soon I will be at a point where I no longer will try to lose weight or more than a pound a week or so but for the next few weeks I am reducing my caloric intake again to get to that point where I will want to slow down my weight loss. My strength levels are still up but they will not stay so indefinitely as I reduce my calories. I have been losing about an average of 12 pounds a month or so which is actually a fairly big number but inconsistent at times. More like I lose a pound one week and then 4 the next. Trying to level that out. So long as I am moving towards my goal and staying strong though, why change anything so I won't until one of those two things change. 

Creepy People At Kroger

For those unfamiliar with Ohio, Kroger's is a grocery store that is like Walmart's semi-retarded cousin. It used to be the king dog in the area up until the new millennium. That is when walmart came to town. Shortly after that many of the smaller grocery stores went bye bye. Big Bear which was Kroger's previous biggest competitor got blotted out like the sun when the Persian army unleashes its storm of arrows. Next to go was Hart's. Actually I think hart's went out a ways back but who the hell shopped there anyways.

Basically Kroger's kind of lingers on. They have their die-hard fans who swear you can get better deals there than if you shopped at Walmart or Meijers but I will tell you right now that is a load of crap. First off any name brand products you pay out the anus because they seem to think all that matters is their own store brand products. Back in the day these were absolutely appalling but I have to kind of admit that they have gotten better over time. Now it is to the point that I would choose the store brand over the name brand most of the time. But the thing is sometimes I don't want the store brand and if that is the case I have to pay out the ass at krogers.

I worked at Krogers in high school and let me tell you it had to be one of the worst jobs I ever had. Not because the work was hard, hell it was so easy I performed my daily job most of the time high or drunk and no one seemed to notice, it sucked because it was a joke of a job that paid minimum wage but the store managers acted like working at krogers was akin to being in the military (editor's note- that is one of the worst run on sentences I have ever seen but I will leave it there in all its glory). You have no idea how serious they took their jobs and how serious they expected you to take the job. Seriously you are going to expect a bunch of fuck up school kids to be serious and give a shit. Never going to happen. We want to party and get through high school and get to college where we can learn to party better.

I have no idea what has changed from then to now. It has been 14 years since I have worked there, which is almost half of my life which seems really really strange. I still see a couple familiar faces, sadly still being cashiers, but the real difference is in how much they do not give a shit anymore. When I worked there you had to help people out with their groceries no matter what unless they went through an express lane or they told you that they did not want help. I actually liked helping people take their groceries to their car because that was a way of earning tips.

Here is how strict they were, one time I misheard a customer and thought she said she did not want help out. So I loaded the bags of groceries in her cart and she was friendly and left. Well for some reason she must of just hated the way I looked and she called in and made a complaint that I didn't offer to take her groceries to her car. I explained to my manager that I thought that she said she didn't want help. That should of been the end of the story, an honest mix up and that is it. Nope! I got written up over that. I think they had it out for me though because my cousin who used to work there liked to call in and ask for me and when the managers got on the line he would threaten to kick their asses. Seriously I got called in the manager's office a half dozen times as they yelled at me. Told me how they did not appreciate being threatened and all that stuff. Of course I tried telling them that I didn't want my cousin to do that either. In fact my parents had to change their home number because he would call 20 times a day. He had some issues or some shit and probably still does to be honest.

So yeah they pretty much hated me something fierce and would write me up every chance they got. One time I carved my name into the break table because I was a dumbass, I mean seriously I carved my full name. Well my friend goes behind me and wrote "Is Gay" but I didn't know it was him. My natural response was to write a note and hang it up on the employee tack board that I can kick everyone in the stores ass and anyone wants to try it out come and see me. This of course got me called back into the manager's office. I got so mad I was going to quit but then I got high and finished my work day.

That also reminds me that I let this guy use my car one time on his break to smoke some weed. As I was at my register working I hear some people frantically saying that "Jason has went nuts he just tried to run over Kim". She was one of the floor managers. Apparently that guy decided to use my car to try and murder someone and I was getting blamed for it. Lucky for me there are cameras and I could prove I didn't do it. I should of kicked that guy's ass but he gave me a lot of free weed at the time so I didn't really mind. Plus I hated Kim so it didn't really bother me too much.

Whoa! I was supposed to write about the creepy people at Krogers but ended up just reliving high school. I want to be very specific I do not condone drug use in any way. While I may have gotten stoned quite a bit for about six months or so when I was 17, I have rarely ever done drugs outside of that time period. It just never took for me and for that I am glad.

Max Effort Bench Press Training Tonight

Tonight we are doing our max effort bench press training. Last week Missy went to a single rep max on a 4 board press and I went for a 10 rep max on a 3 board press. This was done out of necessity because I could simply lift too much weight to safely control without more spotters. I hit a big weight for the 10 reps all the same so I could not be disappointed. For her part Missy nailed a single with 120% of her one rep max on a standard bench press which was very good. She had for three weeks been struggling with a certain weight on the bench press so I came up with a three week cycle involving a max effort rotation of a 4, 3, and then 2 board press on max effort lifts and then heavy triples and doubles on her dynamic effort day. So far she has met and exceeded everything laid out for her and I could not be more proud. I have every confidence that when she attempts that weight in another two weeks she will nail it easily.

Since we did 4 board press last week, tonight will be a 3 board press. I will work to a 2 board press for safety reasons. I am hoping to have our power rack done by this weekend so it will fix this issue but for now I cannot go higher in weight and must simply make the lift harder. Not a big deal since I am in a circa max phase on my dynamic training day so I am already going quite heavy.

After our max effort lift we will perform 2 sets of 5 reps on close grip bench press. By taking a close grip it transfer more of the workload onto the triceps and builds a lot of power on the bench press lockout. We will then perform 3 sets of 15 reps on incline dumbbell presses. The key on these is to do as full as range of motion as possible. On a barbell bench press you can only go as low as your chest but with dumbbells you can go even lower so you should do so. It will build strength off your chest as well as really develop those pressing muscles.

We will round out our training with some kind of tricep extension and dumbbell curl. Doesn't really matter what lift these are, all that matters is that you hit about 40-50 reps on each. I usually do either 3 sets of 15 reps or 4 sets of 10 reps. Sometimes I might superset these two lifts if the training session has already lasted a long time.

Funny Thing From A Weight Training Forum

I posted this on my facebook account a year or so ago. I am re-posting here because it is funny and I am sure many of my current blog readers have not seen it yet.

Alright time for another funny story from a powerlifting forum. For some reason people ask the dumbest shit on internet forums so there is some comedy gold on them. Any ways some kid posts that he is 18 years old and wants to know whats the best steroids to take for powerlifting. Now since he is entirely too young to worry about juicing, I decided to have a little fun with him. Here is my reply..

As best I can remember ... "At your age your test levels are going to be the highest point of your life. Instead of worrying about steroids protein is going to be the key for your biggest growth potentiality. The problem is enzymes in your ...digestive system will generally breakdown most of the important nutrients in protein rendering much of what you take in useless waste. Many different protein blends have been made to counteract this but it was eventually realized among elite athletes and lifters that oral consumption of protein was simply not going to cut it.

To get around the so-called "oral protein" consumption problem some out of the box thinkers devised a new way of getting their protein intake. What you do is mix up your protein drink in the same fashion as you normally would but instead of drinking it, put it into a turkey baster. Lay flat on your stomach and have someone slowly inject it into your rectum. The protein will slowly absorb into your anal cavity in such a way as to maximize its effectiveness. Just be cautious to take it slow when injecting."

Now someone came behind me and instead of laughing he played with what I posted and said something along the lines of "Deadlifter (my name) is on the right track. Anal injections are far superior to normal protein consumption. However a lot... of pro-lifters and bodybuilders have found an even more efficient method so potent many of them are dropping their cycles and just sticking with this.

What you do is you take your protein powder mix it with water or milk and then slowly start adding flax seed until you get a think paste like substance. Once it is thick enough shape it like a banana (or penis if you want to be crude about it ) and then sit the mixture in the freezer for a couple hours until solid. Once it is solid lay face down flat on your stomach and SLOWLY insert it into your anus. Remain in this position as the mixture slowly dissolves into your anal cavity. It is BY FAR the best protein delivery method."



I am still awaiting his progress reports lol. 

Different Gym Types

This is a classic entry I wrote in 2010 I am re-posting for new readers of my blog to enjoy. 

Well as I have said in previous posts the gym/fitness culture can be quite bizarre. Even the best gyms can attract some strange people. The men's locker room would be a field day for a psychologist. Well I am going to save everyone some time and do a psychological profile on some of the more common types of freaks you'll see in a gyms locker room.

1. Towel around the neck guy. Most gyms that have showers and most that have a shower provide towels for those members who wish to shower but did not bring one. Now towel usage should be common sense, but if it was I wouldn't be making this post. So for anyone who might be mentally impaired let me give you a run down of proper towel usage.

When you finish working out and desire a shower the first thing you should do is go over to the towel rack and grab a towel. Once in hand walk back over to your locker and begin stripping down. Once you're wearing nothing more than a smile you take that towel and wrap it around your waist and firmly secure it. Then you walk over to the shower area, hang the towel up and take a shower. Once that shower is done you grab your towel, re-wrap it around your waist and walk back to your locker. Take said towel off and then put your street clothes on. Sounds simple enough right?

Somewhere along the way though some people don't get this procedure. For some reason they feel like the best place for a towel when they are naked and strutting around the locker room is strung across their neck. When I am done working out I am pretty well beat up and tired and the last thing I need to see is some douche walking past me letting out a grunt with outstretched arms as their dick bounces around with every step.

A slight variation I have heard about is towel on the head in the sauna guy. Luckily my gym didn't have a sauna so I never experienced this but others have told me. The purpose of a towel in a sauna is to sit under your bare ass so you don't get ass sweat and fecal matter all over the bench. Simply draping the towel over your head does nothing to prevent that.

2. Sir Talks A-lot. See there are certain unwritten man rules. They are pretty much a standard. One of those rules is that when you are in a public bathroom and taking a piss in a urinal you never talk to some guy pissing beside you. Oddly enough this rule doesn't apply to cross stall talk when dropping a deuce (don't ask me). Maybe because when at a urinal you are facing the wall and feel vulnerable because you can't see behind you. It is almost as if the guy next to you starts talking to you next thing you know he will walk up behind you and gently massage your shoulders and finish the conversation speaking into your ear.... *shudders*.

So you get the message, you never ever talk to someone while taking a piss in a urinal beside them. Sir Talks A-Lot tops that though. He bypasses that rule altogether and goes straight to the unholy of sins. Talking to another man in a locker room while naked but drying off. You see I prefer if I am changing in the gym and you are talking to me at least be in the process of changing yourself. BUT when you are stark naked aside from the towel you are using to dry off your balls please don't face towards me and have a nice chat. Somehow I don't feel comfortable talking to you when you are stroking your dick.

3. Retard Let Loose in Locker Room- This is an oldie but goodie. You see every so often your gym might attract a mentally retarded person. Its not that uncommon as the special olympics always hold powerlifting competitions. It's actually amazing seeing a girl that cannot even walk under her own accord but still do a competition legal squat (kind of sad hearing grown men say that can't squat because some bum knee compared to that!).

But that doesn't always mean it is smooth sailing. Sorry but it is disorienting to be naked and hear some tard spouting off some weird shit. It gets worse though. You see sometimes you are unlucky enough to be in a locker room when the full retard strips off his clothes and suddenly forgets that he is supposed to put his clothes back. Then as a sort of cherry on top, said retard's dick bounces around enough for him to get sexually aroused. Now you have a full on drooling retard running around the locker room naked as fuck not even with a chub but with a full on boner.

Any normal person would grow really unsettled by this turn of events, but what to do. Your first instinct is to rush through changing as fast as you can and make a bee line for the door. This sounds good in theory but in practice this is disastrous. You see I am convinced retards have this sixth sense to know when you are uncomfortable around them. They don't recognize this, because they are retarded, but in their subconscious underneath thoughts of fucking a hole in a tree, they just know. And when they know they go. if you are not feeling okay they will seek you out and become your best friend. This is obviously a no-no when they are having a fit running around with a boner. The best thing to do is slowly but steadily finish what you are doing and ask some normal beside you if they are okay, the tard's sixth sense will go off and he will go towards the normie thinking he is uncomfortable allowing you a chance to escape.

Book Review, Random Thoughts, and A Sore Back

A very rambling title for a very rambling post. I am starting to disdain writing entries about a single subject. It is hard enough to write entire chapters in a book where all you are doing is taking the characters from point A to Point B. You know where you are and where you want to go but how the hell do you get there and make it interesting.

One of the most boring aspects of playing Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games (MMORPG for short) like World of Warcraft is having to waste a bunch of time traveling from one part of the game world to another. It is wonderful having an entire world created to interact with but half the quests you are sent on send you from one end to another. Of course they had different modes of somewhat quicker travel, but at the end of the day you spend a lot of time running from one zone to another.

A book can be just the same. There are many authors and many methods of writing and I won't presume to talk about them all but I will describe the way that I write. First I usually start with a brief idea. It might be a dream, something I see on television, a painting, or even in the past a toy from my childhood. The current book I am writing all started from a brief encounter I wrote for a dungeon and dragons game. I never played that game much but I went through a brief bout where some of my friends and I played it and I wanted to give a go at writing my own adventure. So I came up with this brief idea about a squire and a druid at a small pub who end up embroiled in a fight that ends up taking them to a nearby cave.

The story I am writing starts remarkably similar to that. Sure there are minor differences here and there but you can look back to that basic outline and see that it has remained consistent. Over time before I put anything to paper I fleshed out more and more of the story in my head. Before long I had a general outline that I knew could make up an entire novel.

Right now I am a bit over a hundred pages in and very happy with how it is going. I am genuinely excited to see how things will play out although I do already know how they will end. That is the problem, I might know where certain characters have to be at a certain point in the story, but how the fuck do I get them there.

One problem I noticed with fantasy books is that so much time is spent just traveling about. Page after page you read of characters walking about, and quite frankly you are bored out of your mind. I am trying to avoid that clinch (editors note- I think he meant cliche as this is not an MMA bout but a blog entry). I write in six page blocks (which in a book format actually ends up being about 10 pages) and make sure that something happens within two blocks that keeps me excited. The last thing I want is for someone to read my book and fall asleep half way through a chapter. I want people to not want to put the book down because they want to see how the characters get out of their current situation.

Book Review
God King- Book Three of the Sigmar Triology. Warhammer Time of Legends Series.
For those unfamiliar with Warhammer Fantasy (pretty much everyone except the mega dorks like me) it started as a tabletop miniature battle game. It soon grew to encompass a role playing game, video games, comic books, and several novels. It has had several spin offs including a parody of American Football (Called Blood Bowl) and a Science Fiction Game (warhammer 40,000) that has its own novels and video games. The current Warhammer Fantasy tabletop game is in its 8th Edition (heaving debuted in 1983 I believe).

Warhammer is basically like a Chinese Buffet of Fantasy tropes. Almost every aspect of the game is a parody of real world things. For instance the Kingdom of Brettonia is based upon France and England during the hundred years wars along with Arthurian legend. There is a Green Knight (based up Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) and a lady of the lake, Grail Knights, Questing Knights, and etc. Another realm is called the Southlands and is very much based upon South American aborigines, only in warhammer they are lizard people who ride giant dinosaur looking things into battle.

None of this is really relevant to the book God Kind (Ed- King). The book takes place in the Warhammer setting about 2,500 years before the tabletop game is set in. The book follows Sigmar, who founded the Empire of man, the largest and strongest of all human realms. In the tabletop game the modern Empire is very closely modeled on the Holy Roman Empire of around the 16th century. In God King the setting is strongly influenced on Ancient Germanic tribes. In the story the tribes which Sigmar unite to form the Empire have names like Tuetogens, Ubergeons, Jutones, Asoborns, and the like. Those names bear many similarities to real ancient Germanic tribes (for instance the Jutones compare to the real world Jutes).

If you enjoy Ancient Germanic history and the culture of the early Germanic tribes you will probably enjoy the book. Of course if you are a fan of the warhammer game you will likewise probably enjoy the book as well. The book keeps a pretty fast pace and you never really get the sense that it drags on just for the sake of filler. Maybe in a few areas here or there but not nearly as much as other stories. I just finished reading an 800+ page book that while good could of easily been a 400 page book and nothing would of been lost.

If you are not a fan of the warhammer game or Ancient Germanic culture than you might be a little let down by the book. While I found it an enjoying read it did seem to be very simplistically written. Very similar to how my blog is written very simple and raw. I rarely if ever even re-read a post before I post it (Trust me I know- Editor). I just type whatever pops in my head and hit send. My novel on the other hand I read and read and read and read to make sure everything is up to my standard.

In God King I just felt like one too many times that I couldn't picture what was written actually playing out. Maybe in a book it was okay but if you tried to act it out it would be a mess. I am reminded of that famous quote that Harrison Ford said to George Lucas during the making of Star Wars "You might be able to write this stuff but you sure as hell can't say it." Actually I have read about four variations of that quote but that one is the one I thought was the best.

When I write (editors note- seriously Jason start reading over what you write you miss entire words) everything plays out in my head like a movie. Every time I finish a chapter I have Missy read it and she always says the same thing. "I can picture it all in my head just like a movie." If I read what I write and I can't see it actually looking real to me I know that I need to re-write it. I have to care about the people I am writing about and if I see them live and in the flesh in my head then I care.

I just don't get that sense when I read God King. To me it felt like the author was just out for a paycheck. That is not to say he was but that is just the impression I got. I stopped reading it so many times and just thought "this makes no damn sense, why is the greatest champion of mankind weeping and running through the woods again." Seriously I lost track of how many times Sigmar started weeping for no real good reason. It got to the point that I wondered if he founded the greatest human empire or the emo movement.


Well I have had some random thoughts and a book review but what about a sore back? Well that is from the training yesterday. My back, legs, and lats are all sore. As I sat here typing this entry I was reminded of that. This chair is uncomfortable and I just want to go lay down with Missy and enjoy the rest of Valentines Day. She is a God send and I have so much to be happy about this holiday so I will close this for now. From here on out I plan on splitting blog entries equally between training logs and articles, random thoughts, reviews of books and movies, updates about my book, and things pertaining to my many hobbies. While everyone knows I compete in powerlifting and love to train and write stories there are many other things I do. I like to make model scenery and even paint and do many of what I term "nerd" things. I want to talk more about that because quite frankly I get bored just writing comedy entries. I know a lot of people love reading the funny stuff but to me it gets old after while.

Training Thoughts

Missy and I made a mutual decision to hold off on training until after the weekend for  us. We have been training very hard since the last week of November and we were on a small vacation so we decided to take it easy. I did some sled dragging Friday but other than that we hadn't actually lifted since Tuesday. I am not a fan of taking time off and we never made a conscious decision to take the weekend off, we just kept putting it off and putting it off. Late Saturday we decided we would do it first thing in the morning on Sunday. Wake up, eat breakfast, and then train an hour later. That obviously didn't happen so we said we would do it in the afternoon. Then when it was the afternoon we pushed it back to evening. Finally around 7 pm we just said screw it lets just do it on Monday.

I think it was the right decision. I enjoyed the hell out of my weekend with Missy and sometimes those small breaks from training can make all the difference in the world. We came back and did excellent tonight. I am yet again in stunned disbelief just how quickly Missy has picked up everything and improved. I find myself asking her a lot of times about how we should train. In fact she is the one who picked the max effort lift we would use for the next 2 week cycle. She chose Good Mornings and I decided since she was new to the movement (as a max effort lift she has performed plenty in training as a supplemental lift) that we would go to a 5 rep max rather than a 3 rep max.

Overall I feel this worked out great. My previous best on the good morning for a 3 rep max is 405 lbs. but that was over a year ago. I wanted to make sure that while I was going very heavy I was making sure the movement was going to make my squat and deadlift stronger and not just make my good morning stronger. To that end I cut it off when my form started to break down. I left a bit in the tank so I have something to shoot for next weekend.

Missy did great with the lift. She had excellent form and nailed a good "opener" weight. Next week her goal will be to beat that weight by at least 10 pounds. If she is feeling particularly strong she can go even higher but I would rather she not go all out. Always good to leave a little something in the tank most of the time. It gives you room to go heavier next time.

That might sound weird but say I can absolutely go no higher than 300 pounds on the bench press and I am on a two week cycle for the bench press. On my first week I would hit a 285 or 290. It is very heavy weight but I could of had "just a bit" more. The next week if say I did 285 I would do 290. It beats my previous weight, is a max lift and sets me up for a new goal. So a few weeks roll by and I come back to bench presses again for max effort lift. This time on week 1 I hit 295. On week 2 I might finally hit that 300 but by this point I could probably nail 305 but I keep that in the tank for on down the road. Maybe I can't hit 305, in that case when I do go for that weight it lets me know I should back off again and go back to say 295 and work up again. It sounds a bit complicated and it really is. Most of the time you will do this instinctively. Most people will miss a lift that they should by every right make but their form might be slightly off or they psyche themselves out of it. On rare occasion will you actually hit that absolute max because quite frankly it damn near kills you to do it. Beginners never will and intermediates will only do it rarely.

When I hit that good morning that was my absolute max. I saw stars after I made the lift and almost passed out. I really feel that I left a year or two of my life in the gym that day. The human body isn't meant to be pushed to that kind of limit.

As a side note a lot of people wonder whether they are a beginner or advanced lifter and some people (most) quite frankly throw out those terms far too loosely. Honestly if you have any doubt then you are a beginner lifter. My best explanation would be that unless you have trained with weight training non stop for over 5 years under good coaches and people who know what they are doing then you are a beginner. You should easily be able to total over a 1000 pounds on the bench press, squat, and deadlift (if you are a man at least), and should preferably be at least a class II lifter or above. That is to simply not be a beginner. And off and on training does not count, all that means is generally you have spent more time off than on. I was out of lifting for close to a year with two hand surgeries but I would never say that I have trained off and on.

And no I do not consider myself an advanced lifter. I know what I need to know, I am more than capable of training anyone whether they want to be a powerlifter, bodybuilder, or just get fit, but I know that I still have a long ways to go. Maybe when I finally total in the top ten in my weight class then I will consider myself advanced.

As far as the rest of my training it went pretty much as I laid out in the entry on Friday but I will repeat here for clarity sake.

Worked up to 5 Rep Max on Good Morning
2 Sets of 5 reps Squats (we went for as many reps as we could on the 2nd set which meant I hit 8 and Missy hit 10).
2 Sets of 5 reps Romanian Deadlifts
2 Sets of 5-10 Reps Bent Over Good Mornings

We are going to do our abs in the morning. Be good to get moving first thing.

****** I have to take a brief time out and congratulate Missy in an outstanding training session. Tonight on Squats she took the weight that was her one rep max a month ago and nailed it for 10 reps and she made it look nice and easy. She could of easily busted out 3 or 4 more reps as a grinder. Talk about a huge improvement! I couldn't be more proud but as she knows this just means we will both expect more out of her next time. I am confident she will more than meet that challenge as well.

Road Trip Part 2- Sans Pictures

I have decided that I will not post the pictures of the trip in part 2 and 3 of the road trip stories. Rather I will post the pictures at the end in their own entry. So without further adieu here is part 2 of the story of Missy and I's road trip.

Okay when I left off we were on our way out the door. We were running about an hour late but as I explained in the previous post we were actually an hour early  if that makes sense. The first thing we needed to do was to get some snacks and other minor supplies for our trip. After what amounted to way too much debate for such a silly topic we decided to head to Meijers.

A little off subject but Missy and I have the hardest time deciding anything. Our previous relationships were with people who were extremely picky and very demanding. They always wanted to be in charge of every decision whether it was what was for dinner, a movie to watch, or what to do on a Friday night. It was honestly so bad for Missy that she could not even watch MTV. Now grant I think MTV is a cultural cesspool and has done more than most things to bring about a moral decline in this country. All the same I could never imagine dictating whether another grown adult was allowed to watch the channel or not. I might seriously make fun of you if you are glued to the television for the latest episode of Teen Mom, but that is your right to watch it (just as it is my right to make fun of you for it).

In the interest of full disclosure I do watch Jersey Shore. I know it is horrible show and I am an awful person. It pretty much represents everything that is wrong with this country and the last thing I would ever do is promote some drunk like Snookie. All the same I do watch the show each week. I am not even sure how I started watching the show since I hate reality shows and have never watched them before but somehow I caught an episode and like a really bad movie I kind of feel compelled to stick with it just to see it through to the end. Maybe I am like the Captain of a ship who goes down with it in a finally blaze of glory. On second thought since when has a ship captain even done that? Lately those guys are the first ones to bail on a sinking ship.

Wow, my off topic comment got off topic. If I keep going I might end up in an infinite time loop. Okay I will draw back to my original off topic topic which is how Missy and I can never make decisions. Because we were used to people always deciding for us we kind of go out of our ways to not be pushy towards one another. One result of our easy going nature is that we rarely ever even have a cross word for one another, let alone a fight. The very few that we have had usually involved outside influences and alcohol on top of that. The downside is that even just deciding where we want to go to get a meal can take hours. Half the time we give up in frustration of being unable to decide and just eat a bologna sandwich. Well generally I have some yummy left overs Missy cooked the night before but she will have the bologna sandwich because I think sometimes people don't always like to eat the food they cook. Either that or she is secretly poisoning me, but even if she is she is so cute and sweet I won't stop her.

So we end up going to Meijers. I nearly get in an accident in the parking lot because of a combination of my poor driving and some woman on a cell phone driving down the center of the parking lot isle. I had to cut my steering wheel hard and drove up on the curb. Nothing new for me but it brought a round of cuss words that I was later disappointed in myself for uttering. Missy has told me she does not like driving with me because I am always losing my temper at people so I am really working hard at being more pleasant to ride with.

At the supermarket we picked up some snacks and a couple of bottles of champagne. We haven't drank for almost half a year and we decided since we were on a mini-vacation we would have some drinks.Cooks champagne was on sale so we grabbed two bottles. Honestly I am not upper class snob but I have had champagnes ranging from five bucks all the way up to fifty dollar bottles. To be honest cooks extra dry has tasted the best to me. Korbel is not bad as well, but many of the ones I have tried in the 20-30 dollar range I found downright awful and don't get me started on Andre's or J. Roget (5 dollars generally). Cooks used to run about 6 or 7 dollars a bottle but a lot of times they want 12 or more for it now. On this day they had it for 8 dollars which I still think is a fair price.  I think we rounded things off with a candy, a 3 musketeer for Missy and a Snickers for myself.

Next we headed for the freeway. Where we were going was virtually all freeway travel. Less than 10 minutes on either end of the journey once of the freeway. That makes things very nice unless the weather is crappy. Before jumping on the freeway we swung through a McDonald's drive through and grabbed a couple of cheeseburgers. We have been on a McDonald's kick lately if we eat out (can't beat that as it is cheap). I used to not think much of them but lately their hamburgers seem to be not very greasy and I am in love with those tiny dehydrated onions.

I mentioned earlier that driving on the freeway is quite nice compared to trying to navigate down a bunch of city streets except for if the weather is bad. Well on that day the weather was pretty crappy. It had snowed the night before and while the road was too warm for it to stick it did mean that the trip was a slushy hazy mess. The freeway was also chock full of a bunch of big rigs flying about. Man nothing really upsets me more than people driving 40 ton death machines like they are in a nascar race. I think there was about a dozen instances of some truck driver trying to pass someone and creep into my lane and almost flatten me. I have no idea what the big hurry was but I told Missy that they were probably just trying to get a closer look at her. I know I would if I saw her in the passenger seat of a car passing by. She thought I was crazy for saying this but I think deep down she knew I was right!

Oh yeah when I was telling her about my theory behind all the truckers driving like maniacs I was looking at her. This had the side effect of meaning that I was not looking at the road. When I finally did look back to the road I noticed I had veered off the right side of the road by about 5 feet and was about to drive off the shoulder and into a 20 foot drop. Luckily for Missy and I I eased back onto the road and saved us from a really short trip. I don't think it would of killed us by any means but it certainly would of scared the piss out of me and probably tore our poor mustang in two.

Even through the slush and light snow flurries we did see some very beautiful sights. There were plenty of rock slides and I always love seeing those. It is almost like you are seeing a small mountain cut in half. I wished I had brought a bucket with me, I would of stopped and collected some of the falling scree. Not sure what I would of done with it but I am sure I could of made use of it with my modeling (like the hobby, not the run way kind).

The drive was only about two hours or so. I didn't really keep track of time but with stopping at Meijer, McDonalds, and one rest stop to use the bathroom I think all told we made the trip in three hours. We arrived at the island of our destination just at 3 o'clock which was the time of our hotel check-in. We did have a bit of a row by the off ramp because there was signs telling us which exits to take for our hotel but Missy had written down different directions. I decided to follow Missy's directions which took us in a bit of a circle. In her defense her directions were fine but I missed a turn because she was a bit slow telling me which way to turn. When I told her she is not good at reading off directions she looked at me and bared her teeth. Seriously almost like a tigeress ready to attack she bared her teeth. It was both the weirdest and cutest thing I had ever seen. If I wasn't so worried about losing some teeth I would of tried to snap a picture of it.

It is a shame I didn't take a picture too because despite me constantly asking her to, she complains she is unable to make that face again. I could try and piss her off again but I really don't want to take that chance. Once you have seen teeth bared you tend to avoid eliciting that reaction again.

Part 3 Will come tomorrow. It will detail our time there. Part 4 our trip back and pictures.