The Star Wars trilogy is finally coming to DVD… and I’m a little disappointed with the announcement. It looks as if they’re coming as a four-disc set with only the “Special Edition” version of the films. There’s a documentary and some missing footage, but it doesn’t sound like there are any commentaries or anything. The Snook and I predict that George is going the Peter Jackson route and he’ll later release collector’s editions with lots of extras. Money grubbing bastard!
Category: Random Links
Links that I’m reading/watching/listening to/thinking about
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Hackers on Atkins
Salon examines the “low-carb geek” trend in their article Hackers on Atkins. I agree that it does have a lot appeal for technically-minded folks. Rodd and I have both inspired co-workers to start on it. The ensuing Slashdot discussion has a lot of nerd testimonials. (Unfortunately it also contains all the usual stupid Atkins criticism: “My sister’s uncle’s brother knows this kid who was on it and he got gallstones and his liver fell out!”; “No diet that requires you to eat raw meat and eggs for every meal can be healthy!”; “All you fatties have to do is just exercise more, DUH!” Luckily there are some great responses in there with links to supporting research.) Now I just need to get back on it… I had an insane sugar blowout courtesy of all the Halloween leftovers.
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NRA Blacklist
Sorry, Dad. I’ve joined the NRA Blacklist. Nobody needs assault weapons to kill deer!
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Rent-a-Chook
Thanks to Rent-a-Chook, I’m now obsessed with the idea of raising chickens in our backyard. They could eat all the scraps that the worms don’t and weed our garden too! And they’d make lots of yummy free range eggs for us. The only problem is our apartment; I’m not sure the landlord would approve. Drat. There go my fantasies of living The Good Life.
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Not all of us…
“Not all Americans are evil.” A well-appreciated essay from Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation. (Link courtesy of Expats Against Bush.)
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Gym Stuff
You know what annoys me? People that offer unsolicited nutrition and exercise advice without knowing anything about me. Somebody recently suggested that I increase my carb level since I’m doing all that long distance running. Newsflash! I’m not doing the running anymore. I’ve been on a weightlifting program for over a month. I do cardio training but only for short periods (working at a target heart rate). Also – how do you know how many carbs I’m eating? I mean honestly. Some people doing Atkins (the ones in Lifetime Maintenance) eat up to 100 grams of carbs a day! “Eat more carbs” is vague advice based on nothing but assumptions. I eat plenty of carbs. I just choose to ingest them in the form of green vegetables instead of white flour. I’d certainly consider changing my diet if I expected to run a marathon anytime soon, but I don’t. And besides, it’s not like I’m an Olympian or anything…
…Which seques nicely into this long article on the effects of banned substances in athletes. It’s fascinating. The author actually subjects himself to many of the popular drugs and steroids to see what happens. Some of it sounds awful (especially the possible side effects), but I was surprised to see his positive experience with human growth hormone. Who wouldn’t like to see better and have scars disappear? Reminds me about all the supposed benefits of the DHEA my thyroid doctor put me on. (For the record, I haven’t really noticed any side effects beyond the fact that I’m not cold all the time anymore, which was the whole point of taking them.) Right now I’d love some sort of muscle steroid; I pulled the hell out of my shoulder in Pump class on Saturday and it’s not getting any better. Any ideas that don’t involve thousands of dollars worth of synthesized hormones? (For the clueless, yes, this is a solicitation for advice. So comment away!)
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Hooray!
The evening wasn’t a total loss… The USA Eagles finally won! The Eagles defeated Japan 39-26 to snap a sixteen-year losing streak. And we got a bonus point! How sweet is that?!
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Knee Defender
Got legroom? Add that to my Christmas list.
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80c?!
Look at the Aussie dollar! Go, you good thing, go!
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Atkins
Another positive article on the Atkins Diet from today’s Sydney Morning Herald. Those of us who’ve actually taken the time to read his books will notice a glaring error though – “Atkins dieters are instructed to begin by eliminating all carbohydrates from their diet.” Wrong! I actually sent a letter to the editor to clarify. Fingers crossed it gets published!