Month: July 2004

The gym is your friend

gym, work out, diet, exercise, effective

The last 4 years I have been struggling to motivate my self and to find the time to go to the gym.
Last 6 months I have finally enjoyed regular visits and it was down to several key issues that needed to be solved. If you also have the gym urge but never seem to find time, try the advice the below.
The gym needs to be near your home or your office. Maximum a 10 minute walk/cycle/drive away.
Get a locker at the gym where you can keep some of the things necessary for your work out that don’t need washing. Running shoes, swimming trunks/goggles, boxing gloves and “cleaning products” are good candidates. Not having to lug these things back and forward will make the session more spontaneous.
Start with short and regular work-outs instead of monster passes every now and then. Once you are comfortable with the regular sessions, you can start increasing the length of the work out. A good start would be 30 minutes (not including shower and change).
Find an aerobic exercise that distracts you from the fact that you are working out. It may be boxing on a bag, reading while cycling or catching the latest movie while working the treadmill.
Force your self to put things aside when the time for work out arrives. Don’t fall into the trap of telling your self that you have too much to do and cannot go to the gym. Everything will be where you left it when you come back one hour later; you will however be refreshed. Often I find solutions or different approaches to problems while working out.
You will sleep better. You will get stronger and have more stamina. You will get a better posture. You will loose weight. You could lower your cholesterol. The gym is your friend.

Spiderman 2 – Abridged version

A short study of the changes in Peter Parker’s feelings towards his responsibilities as Spiderman
(very cool intro)
I am Spiderman; I am happy
I am Spiderman so I cannot get the girl
I am Spiderman; I am not happy
Am I Spiderman?
Am I Spiderman?
I am not Spiderman; I am very happy
I am not Spiderman; I am conflicted
I am not Spiderman but I am pissed
I am Spiderman
I am Spiderman and I can get the girl
I am Spiderman; I am happy
(credits)

Colour vs Black and White photography

One recent subject was photographed both in black and white (with an SLR camera) and in colour (with a digital camera).
I think that showing them next to each other highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the two different mediums.
Here are some more black and white photography images to feast your eyes uppon.
The black and white photo is moody and the focus is on the subject, shadows and composition.
(28-80mm, Canon EOS5, Ilford 125 FP4)
The colour photo more impresses with its range of colours and nuances.
(~35mm, Sony DSC-FX77)
Due to the low resolution, I don’t think the example highlights differences in digital format vs. 35mm film.

Wireless network available

I don’t understand.
I have the wireless card disabled on my laptop yet when I turn the laptop on, first thing it does is to notify me that a wireless network is in the vicinity and that I have to enable wireless to be able to connect to it.
Here I was thinking that switching off wireless guaranteed that no WiFi signals would enter nor exit my laptop; that I was WiFi invisible.

The Rock blessed the rock

My time was seriously running out. The engagement party was to be held in four days and I had not yet popped the question (you know, blah, blah, will you merry me?).
So I booked a table at Asia de Cuba, our favourite restaurant in London. I also invited two good friends for moral support, to share the moment and to try to masquerade my intentions.
The dinner was as grand as it always is at Asia de Cuba but I felt the dishes were coming to fast. Before I knew it, the deserts were served, gulfed down and the bill was on the table – it was crunch time.
To my horror the topic of the discussion had drifted away from the safe wedding plans via risky “who is going to be the next president of the USA” to the right out catastrophic “underage female victims in Israel”.
With no effort of being smooth, I just raised my voice and proclaimed that the real reason why we were gathered was to be able to ask a very important question. With that I proceeded to get down on one knee, having opened the little box with the ring. The dumbstruck expression on my wife to be was suddenly worth all the effort. The answer was another yes.
Unknowing to us, The Rock had been dining with a small party right behind us. They had witnessed my clumsy going-down-on-one-knee act and had a big grin on their faces as we were leaving. When saying hi to them, The Rock looked me in the eyes, nodded in acknowledgement and wished us good luck.

Visit 4 out of world’s top 100 wonders

If you are attending both our engagement party in Prague, Czech Republic and the wedding in Brazil you will have the chance to visit at least 4 out of the world’s top 100 wonders.
Hillman Wonders is a list compiled by a “world traveller” who spent 30 years researching and ranking. The list has been published by major publications.
The Old Town in Prague is on place 56. I have walked around the Old Town many times but never it struck me as one of world’s top wonders. I guess that sometimes you take things in your vicinity for granted and don’t appreciate their true beauty.
The Iguaçu falls are on place 7. They stretch across 3 km and dwarf the Niagara falls.
The Amazon Rain Forest is world’s 9th wonder. If you can stand the wall of mosquitoes I highly recommend it due to the amazing wildlife.
The panoramic views of Rio de Janeiro are number 48. A helicopter ride greatly enhances the experience.
The carnival in Rio is number 87 but you would have to stay 2 months in Brazil since the carnival usually occurs at the end of February.