Monthly Archives: June 2012

Recap Week 2012-23

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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

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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

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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

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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