Out of Office

Posted on 2012-10-09 by Oliver

Well, to be honest more like out of the country. It’s been a while since I last wrote here, since I’ve been a bit busy with vacation preparations and right now I’m busy with the vacation itself. Just like two years ago, I’m on a trip to Asia – this time it’s South Korea and (of course) Japan. At the moment I’m already in Japan and about half the trip is over.

Good chance to post that I’m not completely slacking off on blog writing. Actually I’ve been quite active, just not in this blog, but in the travel blog. So here’s the link, in case you want to check it out.

Travel On Planet Muh – Just another travel blog

Hopefully I’ll write more in here, once I get back. But no promises.

Recap Week 2012-23

Posted on 2012-06-12 by Oliver

Lessons of this week:

If the schedule for the plumbers visit to the flats in the house tells you he’ll be there somewhen between 10:00 and 14:00, it’ll be 13:45. And that was just the vague schedule for our floor with five flats. (Of course, if I had predicted that and would’ve gone shopping or to the barber, he would’ve been knocking at my door at 10:01.)
Phone calls and cooking don’t always mix up well. And instead of experiementing on a new dish, I’ve been experimenting on how to get that braised plastic from my cutting board off my stovetop. The fricking thing was even burning.
If you’re unsure about that next rep and don’t have a spotter, don’t do it. At least with bench pressing. Even missed the right lower buck of the rack and kissed the barbell. Ouch.

Fitocracy points: 851 – Just one workout last week and the result is noted above. ’nuff said.

Movie Review: A Few Best Men

Posted on 2012-06-11 by Oliver

David (Xavier Samuel) and Mia (Laura Brent) meet on a tropical island during their vacations and fall in love with each other. It may seem like the usual holiday romance, but they know there’s more to it, so on their last evening, David proposes to Mia and gets a yes. But here’s a problem: He is from London and she is from Australia. So David packs up his best buddies (who are not fond of the idea of losing David) and best men to be, Tom (Kris Marshall), Graham (Kevin Bishop) and Luke (Tim Draxl), to fly to Australia and wed Mia on her parent’s mansion. Of course his friends want to make his stag night, as well as the wedding, a most memorable experience David. Mia’s father, Senator Jim Ramsey (Jonathan Biggins), on the other hand, wants a perfect wedding to impress his political friends.

Obviously, this wedding sets sails for chaos. Said chaos is mostly predictable, but then again, well picked and executed for the major part. And while there are a few typical gross moments, it’s not so bad that you get the urge to puke. What I’m missing a bit is that you feel indifferent towards the characters. You don’t really like or dislike them, they’re just there. I didn’t notice even a hint of feeling sorry for this crashed wedding. While this could also be accounted to the predictability of the movie, another reason would simply be that the characters are swallow. Not that I expect that in a comedy, but it would’ve helped. Then again, this also means, they’re sparing the audience some overused and cheesy romance, since it’s not about the wedding, but the best men on a wedding. The most important part of a comedy is of course the humour. This mix of British and Australian humour does work well together, making this film enjoyable despite its flaws. Then again, this is nothing you need to see on the big screen, so if you’re not totally desperate for a chaos comedy, you might consider another flick.

Deutscher Titel: Die Trauzeugen
Links: IMDB: A Few Best Men, IMDB: This Review

Movie Review: Safe

Posted on 2012-06-11 by Oliver

Mei (Catherine Chan) is a little genius when it comes to numbers. She can remember everything and calculate anything in her mind. That’s why she’s very valuable for the Chinese Triads, who use her as a computer that can’t be hacked or traced. One day, she’s asked to memorize a long number and drive to another place to learn a different one. But the Russian mob steps in and assaults her ride, killing almost everyone. Mei can escape and this is when she meets Luke Wright (Jason Statham). Former elite cop, former small time MMA fighter, on the run from the Russian mob who lost a bunch of money for betting against him in a match and killed his wife in revenge. The will to protect this little girl gives him a new will to live, a drive to go on. And so they run away; away from the Triads, the mob and the corrupt NYPD, trying to figure out why everyone wants either those numbers or her death.

It’s a bit of Mercury Puzzle and 16 Blocks. And despite my usual fears, the story did not turn cheesy due to the kid. But the girl didn’t turn into an unrealistic bad ass as well. Also they did not develop a forced deep relationship between Luke and Mei, which would be unrealistic, considering that the story doesn’t go that long. The film is featuring fast paced action, wrapped into a decent (though not great) story and is supported by good acting. Well, at least good acting from the leading characters, but the supporting ones weren’t that bad as well, so you don’t have to suffer from it. So overall, a quite enjoyable movie, which I would recommend to fans of story driven action movies and especially to all Statham fans.

Just for fun, let’s check the Statham clichés. Shirtless? Yep, first time you see him in the movie. Car-chase? Of course. And when Mei was a bit concerned about his driving style, I was just waiting for a comeback from him that was like “Don’t worry kid, I’ve been doing this for several movies now.”

Deutscher Titel: Todsicher
Links: IMDB: Safe, IMDB: This review

Recap Week 2012-22

Posted on 2012-06-05 by Oliver

Wednesday night, I noticed some flashing from my window. A thunderstorm, yes!!! I tried to collect my photography equipment as fast as possible (not fast) and went onto my balcony to camp for it. I’ve been waiting for it to come closer, experimented with the settings, waited for it to come closer, got my remote shutter to work again, waited for it to come closer… waited for it to… AH DAMMIT!!! The frickin’ storm wandered along the horizon (behind some hills to be even more precise) mocking me with some lonely flashes every once in a while.

I assembled the few lightnings I could capture into this picture. Sorry ’bout the crappy quality, but I moved the camera around a bit, zoomed in and out, so it was hard to get them into one clean image. Well, at least with the effort I was willing to put in.

Thunderstorm 2012-05-30 (© Oliver Kuka)

I got my foam roller. Well, I got it almost two weeks now, but this week was the first time I used it and it’s quite nice, could really get used to it, even though, I have to “train” a bit to use it effectively. I also had a gift coupon for a massage lying around for over two years. On Sunday I finally used it. I regret that I didn’t use it earlier. Damn, that was good, even though it was quite painful at some muscle tensions in my back. But I really should really get this more often.

Fitocracy points: 3931 – My new push-up max is now 50. Half the way to the real century push. For not training it, I’m happy with those results. Oh and speaking of calisthenics, I did 20 pull-ups. Also started my leg training again. Did lunges to start and OH MY ASS, I really do feel the break.

Favourite quote: Some people say… good things come to those who wait. Truth is, good things come to those who work. Who work later. Who work harder. You’re willing to go father than anyone else to get them. If you are waiting for good things to come to you, you’ll be waiting for pretty long time. – from a Crysler 300 commercial

Movie Review: Act of Valor

Posted on 2012-05-30 by Oliver

A team of Navy SEALs is being dispatched to rescue a kidnapped CIA agent from a jungle camp in Costa Rica. While being successful, this is only the start into a series of missions that will lead the elite team to targets all over the world to uncover a terrorist network.

A short synopsis, but there isn’t that much story to start with, so I could easily spoil the whole movie with a few sentences. I also can’t mention the actors, because the SEALs were played by actual SEALs, meaning that (beside staying anonymous) the acting is mostly poor, the characters are swallow (one of them having a pregnant wife is as deep as it gets) and hard to distinguish (wearing uniforms doesn’t make that easier). So does this movie suck? Well, if you expect story and acting, yes and you can stop reading here. But if you can overlook that, maybe you will enjoy this movie. The photography is really, really nice. Well placed views and angles, making it almost eye-candy, if it wasn’t about shooting people. And of course the action is great and if you love action, you will love this flick. From that point of view, it was a great idea to let SEALs play the SEALs, because it feels natural to them, making the action believable (something you often miss). That also makes it more realistic, since they don’t have to figure out how they would behave in a real life situation, since this is something they do for a living. But of course, there is the obvious downer of it being an very patriotic movie. Not that I hate patriotism, but if it turns into a 110 minute commercial for the armed forces, you can get annoyed a bit. And somehow I do believe this is one of the reasons, why the movie is so successful in the US, beside being a mindless action movie with great pictures. Oh and of course, Tom Clancy had his fingers in this.

Links: IMDB: Act of Valor, IMDB: This review

Recap Week 2012-21

Posted on 2012-05-29 by Oliver

I should really take notes over the week to remember the stuff I wanted to write here. Seems like my age is taking it’s tolls. Then again, since I’m not that old, I guess I just have bad memory to start with. It’s like my classic problem that I already forgot on Tuesday, which movie I’ve been watching on Monday’s sneak preview. Just that I got better at that. (But I still suck with names and faces.)

I have to correct myself a bit btw. I said one should destroy racism, but not be like a panda. Well, sometimes, you should be like a panda!

Panda Dance (origin and copyright unknown)

In another, semi-related note, I’m going to asia this fall again. More information about that another time.

I’m now two weeks of movie reviews behind, so better get back to writing! (These long weekends really do kill my flow.) So just as an info what you can look forward to (or not): Act of Valor and Safe

Favourite quote: ”Why do people keep insisting that I join the 21st Century? I *LIVE* in the 21st Century! I just don’t want to be bothered by the shitheads on the internet!” - Harlan Ellison [unsourced]

Fitocracy points: 3,258 – After altering my routine a bit to doing more sets of the more complex movements, my upper body workouts yield more points. Now am I doing this for being the better workout or just for getting more points? Tough question.

Recap Week 2012-20

Posted on 2012-05-21 by Oliver

According to my original plans, I would’ve had a long weekend, with four days off, only “interrupted” by a bar job at the Kelterplatzfest (Wine Press Square Festival) on Saturday. Buuuuut, of course that didn’t work out. Already on Wednesday evening I got an emergency call for a broken car, which resulted into half a Thursday of driving around and changing tires.

Killing over half of the weekend (instead of the planned few hours) were the computers of my parents. Upgrading their old workstation didn’t work out too well, since the current support of Gnome in Ubuntu is crap. After working around a bit, the best solution was to switch to a fresh install of Xubuntu, which came as an obvious choice, since I’m using Xfce on half of my boxes as well and the project got quite good in the last few years. And then there’s this really old notebook my old man brought back from a flea market several weeks ago. I’ve been avoiding to work on it, since the machine is crap (for some reason I can’t get him let me get him a decent notebook). But now, facing the scenario that the workstation might be off for a few more days, I also got the notebook running. I would’ve preferred to run Xubuntu there as well for consistency, but since the machine is too old, I even had to step even further down (prerequisite-wise) and use Lubuntu, which is running LXDE. Missing some features, but hey, it’s working. Now both machines are running and the workstation already has been “shipped”. Let’s see how that’ll work out. So far, my phone hasn’t been ringing.

And then, there was the Kelterplatzfest. A festival on a day with semi-bad weather forecast and the Champions League Final with a German team. Fat chance! I have to admit, though, I was expecting less people around. The weather wasn’t so bad and the square didn’t clear out at half past eight. But business wasn’t that good. Customers only coming once in a while, no rush demand. A tightrope walk between being an easy and being a boring assignment. My co-workers could spend a lot of time talking and smoking. Maybe I shold work on my bar mixing skills again and add cocktails to the menu next time.

So, in the end, I only had a few hours for myself on Sunday evening, which I spent playing Assassin’s Creed till 4am. Not a good choice for my timetable. Wait, that’s not entirely correct. I could also count cooking and eating as time for myself. Made some real nice pasta with chicken breast and a parsley-ginger sauce. I might do that again and post a recipe with pictures. The sauce also used some mascarpone and I got some good looking strawberries, so I even made dessert for a change, which was also great.

In other news, my knees are quite good so far. Will consider to start the stabilizing training soon.

Favourite quote: America fears the unshaven legs, the unshaven men’s cheeks, the aroma of perspiration, and the limp prick. Above all it fears the limp prick. – Walter Abish

Fitocracy points: 1,751 – Been busy at the end of the week and thus declared it a rest week.

Tackling the knee (problem)

Posted on 2012-05-20 by Oliver

As I already mentioned, I’ve been a bit worried about my knees lately, since they hurt slightly when using them and creak a bit. It’s not a big deal, but better try to fix this, before it becomes a problem and painful or permanent. Especially since I want to continue picking stuff heavy up and putting it down again. So, after some research (some links at the end), here’s my plan.

Short term

For two weeks I’ll suspend my leg training. – That’ll be really hard to do, because I love my squats and deadlifts.
So that my core doesn’t feel neglected without squats and deadlifts, I will do some hyperextensions and abs work. Gotta get toned for summer anyway.
Say goodbye to my gains (for now).
If the knees feel better after that, good!
If not, time to see a doctor and get his opinion on the rest of my plan. (If he says I shouldn’t squat, I’ll try to find a competent doc.)

Long term

After that I’ll start training the knee stabilizers with wall sits, lunges and maybe single leg squats, while also focussing on glutes and hamstrings (I’ve been wanting to try single leg romanian deadlifts for a while now, since I can do them at home with my limited weights).
A few weeks later, I’ll try squats again.

General

Work on flexibility and stretch more.
Pay more attention to not lock my knees. – Of course in exercises, but also in every day life.
Add glucosamine and chondroitin to my supplements.
Review my diet. – Wanted to do this anyway. More omega 3, selenium, anti-inflammatory, anti oxidants.
Finally get a foam roller.
Consider getting knee sleeves. But only if I can’t go without them and not without a doc.
Leg extensions: Never again!

Already doing

Of course, I am already doing other stuff for quite some time and will just state that here for the interested reader, that might have similar worries or problems.

Train the legs. – While I can also search the cause for my worries here, this is also the way to help the knees. Stronger leg muscles will support the knees. I hope I’ll just need to add a few exercises.
Maintain good form when training. – Again, while I can also search the cause for my “problems” here and there’s often room for improvement, I’m quite confident my form doesn’t suck. I also often get compliments on it from more experienced lifters and novices ask me to coach them.
Warm-up! – On Leg days, I’m running a few minutes as well as 2-3 warm-up sets. But I should pay attention to no cool out and if I do, warm-up again.
Stop if it hurts. – Duh!
Maintain a balanced diet and drink a lot. – Well, I mostly do that, but I have to admit, that I’ve been cheating a bit more lately.

Movie Review: The Sitter

Posted on 2012-05-15 by Oliver

Noah Griffith (Jonah Hill) is a college dropout, who doesn’t do sh*t and lives with his mother. She wants to go on a date, but a problem occurs; her double date partners don’t have a baby sitter. A problem that can be solved with the reluctant Noah. Arriving at the scene, he’s confronted with the timid, but handsome Slater (Max Records), the wannabe it-girl Blithe (Landry Bender) and Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez), an adoptee with a fell streak. The kids haven’t even started to ruin Noah’s evening, when he gets a call from his “girlfriend”, who’s at a party and needs some coke. Baited with the chance for intercourse, he loads the kids into the family minivan to meet up with Karl (Sam Rockwell), an artistic individual in the narcotics industry.

Mediocre at best. Not a complete waste of time, but still hardly worth it. Let’s have a look at some details, though. My first thought of the movie was: Jonah Hill is getting too old for these roles. Not that those deadbeat character comedies rely on credibility or have an age limit, but still, it’s getting hard to believe. The kids are okay, well they’re kids. And each of them has a small little problem, which gets solved during the course of the movie, to give them reason to be there, aside being part of the main story. But that’s it, every time a small conversation and it’s over. Most of the characters are semi-entertaining, with Sam Rockwell being the one that sticks out the most, even more than Jonah Hill, which is bad for a leading character. Which brings us to the main question of a comedy review: Is it entertaining? Yes, somewhat. You don’t find yourself laughing all the time, but it does mostly have a slightly funny feeling. Then again, it’s lacking originality and you might just smirk, because you knew what was coming.

Deutscher Titel: Bad Sitter
Links: IMDB: The Sitter, IMDB: This Review

just another hack

uncertain amount of randomness