Muscle Soreness and Exercise

I start this blog with an interesting anecdote. Aristotle was a famous Greek philosopher. His writings covered many subjects, including "physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology." i.e. he was well respected by fellow philosophers. He also said the world was flat. He said this based on his experiences and theories. Was it right? Most of us would agree he was not correct in his flat Earth theory. We still respect him, but acknowledge that his flat Earth statement was a guess and nothing more.

Recently I have started a new workout routine unlike anything I have ever done before. I learned most of what I know about weight lifting, body building, and exercise from guys back in my home town's gym. One of which had competed internationally in power lifting including the Olympics. Another had competed in the Mr. Utah body building competition. What they taught me was good, but I'm learning now, was a lot like Aristotle's Earth claim. Sometimes people make guesses, and when they aren't disproved they start spreading them as facts.

So the new routine is encouraging me to be as inefficient as possible. Efficiency is the bane of muscle growth and fat loss. Our bodies learn to adapt quickly, and adaptation leads to efficiency. So the routines I'm on right now, are quite inefficient, encouraging a total body workout that let's every body part push hard. I'm doing high reps, and lower weight. And I have never had a workout like these, that has me walking away short of breath and feeling like a Mac truck hit me.

This week though I started a new phase of this routine. This phase encourages me to workout more frequently, and I found myself sitting at my computer uncomfortably sore (but not painfully so), and hesitant to workout. For years, the common gym rat will tell you that you should not work a muscle that is sore. You let it repair itself. Doing so can cause "horrible" damage to the muscle. So why would this routine, written by several fitness and health experts (who gathered information from subject test groups and scientific studies conducted across the nation over decades) encourage me to "horribly" damage myself.

The answer I found, is that the intuitive logic of letting your muscle soreness stop before resuming exercise, is wrong. The reality is counter intuitive.

Before I go on, I need to be very clear that I'm not talking about excessive hardline workouts with very heavy weights and very low reps. Heaven forbid you tear a tendon or ligament because you try to power lift your max.

But you really are encouraged to work a muscle that is sore. Ironically, you'll heal even faster if you do so.

Don't take my word for it. I'm a nobody gym rat that was as misinformed as the rest of you. But here are some excellent references.

"But if your muscles are a bit stiff or sore, go ahead and train them. Your body will ramp up your recovery processes in response."

http://atozfitness.com/wordpress/tra...etter-results/

"Sometimes trying to work through an injury makes it worse, and sometimes it makes it better."

http://louschuler.com/blog/Pain+Drain

Best plan I can come up with, based on this new finding, is that unless I am so horribly sore (like the first time you did Deadlifts in your whole life), and I haven't experienced a "bad" pain from a workout, go ahead and go lift. If I can maintain proper form, then go for it.

What's the difference between a bad pain and a good pain. For me, DOMS is a good pain. The wiki on DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness) also indicates repeated exercise actually helps in the healing process. When you twist an ankle, pull a muscle, or anything that involves sharp pain, probably lay off until those symptoms dissipate.

I could be wrong. Maybe I'm making an "Aristotle" mistake. Perhaps the findings about exercising when sore are all incorrect, and the findings of doctor's with injured patients are wrong, as is all the studies about DOMS. Maybe in 10-20 years a new study comes out that shows new evidence that suggests you completely wait until you are not sore anymore. When that happens, I'll adapt and learn. I won't just stick my chin out and ignore the facts when thrown at me.

We should never stop learning or improving. What we knew yesterday is not enough for today.

Birthdays and Underwear Gifts

I have something to say. That’s right. I do. I want to talk about the dreaded gifts that people give to others for birthdays, Christmas, or whatever special gift giving event is relevant.

Underwear is not a gift. It’s a necessity. Just like water to drink. You wouldn’t give someone water for their birthday. “Hello my dearest…I got you a 20oz of water for your birthday”. Hell no! You get dumped for that kind of scandal. Seriously! What were you thinking? The same goes for socks.

Eventually you’ll ask yourself, why underwear and socks? What makes them such a mock gift as compared to a new watch or a t-shirt. I’ll tell you. They are a necessity. They are things we wear that no one sees. No one cares about them. All that matters is you have them on you. In fact, you don’t even need them, they are just nice. Disagree? There wouldn’t be phrases like “going commando” if you could disagree. Sandals and sockless shoe paraphernalia is sufficient reasoning.

Now there are times that it counts. Like the underwear you expose part of in the back (if you are sexy enough to warrant showing off part of your ass to begin with, which is an entirely different discussion in and of itself). This underwear may have bright colors, or is embroidered, or has a design that implicates a certain pre-disposed attitude that might result in events that are less likely without aforementioned underwear. Or socks that are meant to be shown, perhaps with bright colors warped out of the 1980s and somehow re-instituted as in-style (for the criminally insane of course).

Is it ok to give them? Yes, but not as the only gift. It shouldn’t even count as part of the gift budget per say. After all, the gift recipient is going to need to receive these “necessary” items with or without the gift giving event that is being observed (such as a birthday).

So why do I have a bone to pick on concerning this subject. Well when you get right down to it, knowing you are going to be getting “necessary” items for an upcoming gift giving event is just downright irritating and pisses me off. I’d rather just skip the blooming event all together than involve myself in such a hoax of an idea. Necessary items are given regardless of a gift giving event. Give them if you must, but not as part of any gift-giving budget.

What else counts as necessary items? Gasoline for your vehicle for commuting to work. What about sun glasses when you have to drive into the sun (to and from work). Water and sufficient food to live on. A seat belt in your car.

Let me ask you this. If your seat belt was broken. Would you get it fixed now, or wait for a birthday so someone could gift you an unbroken seat belt?

Ya, well…you’ve got my drift. Underwear is a truly sucky gift for any event, especially a birthday. And along with that goes all the other necessary gifts that must be given (or self-purchased) regardless.

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

Motorcycle Safety and Sales

Why is it, every motorcycle accessory salesman seems to think they are experts in motorcycle safety?

I'm not speaking about the motorcycle salesman in general, but specifically guys at the accessory counters.

First Experience

I really wished my motorcycle had cruise control. Now I’ve looked into adding cruise control, and there are these fancy vacuum kits that give you that option (but they are difficult to install and you have to do-it-yourself). The alternative is a throttle lock or palm rest. So while at the dealership I ask the guy about it. He says, “I wouldn’t dare put one of those on my bike. They are dangerous!” I ask why. He says “Well, they are just a friction lock on the throttle. You hit the brakes and the throttle is still on. It can ruin your engine, brakes, and possibly kill you because you don’t brake in time. Also if you set it on a flat and hit a hill, you’ll go -30 mph up the hill and +60 mph going down the hill.”

Ok ok ok! I get it. Bad idea right? Wait, there is the option of Brakeaway Cruise Control. This little bad boy disengages the throttle when you pull on the front brakes (and if you know anything about motorcycles you always use both brakes, never just one of them). I bring this up as a counter point and the salesman goes “Well…uh uh uh, uhm…I wouldn’t use that thing. How much is it?” I say $200. He says “Heheh, I wouldn’t buy it for that.” I say “What’s the alternative?” *dear in the headlight stare* -from the salesman

Honestly, what the hell? He is unable to offer me an option for a true cruise control install (remember do-it-yourself only and quite complicated). Or a $30 throttle lock that doesn’t disengage. Even if they would install the vacuum cruise control kit, it’d be $1000+. But a $200 alternative that solves the “danger” problem while giving my right-hand a break is beyond their realm of thinking. I saw the gears in his head just seize up.

Second experience

I will need to be able to take one of my daughters on the back of the motorcycle come school season. The alternative is I store my bike for the entire school year (which is not appealing to me…why buy one if you don’t ride it?). But my girls are little. So I did some research. What did I find?

Well for starters, the obvious points are very important. A child should have a DOT helmet (and no half-helm or open-face either…we’re talking full helmet protection). A jacket and gloves, some good shoes (no sandals). But is that enough?

One concern immediately apparent to me was a child’s ability to fall asleep easily pretty much anywhere. We go for a ride and they zonk out if the trip is more than 5 minutes. What happens if they zonk out on the back of a motorcycle and you hit a bump or heaven forbid have to deviate from a straight line and turn. *rolls eyes* The child would simply fall off. To make matters worse I know kids can’t focus on any thing for very long. They’ll get distracted and next thing you know they’ll slide off because they were too busy looking at the dog in the back of the truck next to them or the neat toy store that we are passing buy. How do we fix this problem in a car? Car seats and seat belts.

But strapping your child to the motorcycle is dangerous. In the event of an accident, it is not recommended that you remained firmly attached to your motorcycle. A motorcycle is heavy, hot, full of fuel, and can smash you. A rider who comes free from one in an accident slides along the pavement (which is where good leather comes in).

So I ran across this Child Riding Belt product. It gives the kid a place to hold onto, and straps them to the rider. It reminded me a lot of a mother kangaroo with a papoose (on your back). So after much searching we find a shop selling them in Grants, NM. We drive there (1 hour drive) and buy it. I return to Albuquerque and head to a local dealer to get my oldest girl a helmet. I’m telling the guy about it, and he looks at me with big guys and is like “No no no, I’d never use something like that. You can’t strap them to a motorcycle. Riders have to be free from them in the event of an accident.”

At this point, I probably had a look on my face that said “I so want to slap some sense into you, you silly idiot that you are.” I said, “They are strapped to me, not the bike.” He shakes his head vehemently, “I would never do that to a child on my motorcycle. They can just hold onto your belt loops.”

I don’t lose my temper with strangers often. When I do, a bit of my father comes into play. This guy wasn’t listening or thinking. He was regurgitating rancid half-thoughts that meant nothing to anyone but the zombie populace that define most consumers.

I said, “Sir, do you have children?”

He said, “No…” and looks at me with an infamous dear-in-the-headlight stare.

I said, “I thought not.” I continued, “Do you know what would happen to a child on a motorcycle passenger seat if they were there for a long ride?”

He said, “No” and now he looked like I was going to slap him.

I said, “They fall asleep. And if they don’t do that, they get distracted by the first brightly lit colored object in their view. They are more likely to fall off when I’m driving than any accident related injury.”

He just turned his head and stopped. I don’t know what is wrong with these people. They give advice on subjects they know nothing of. It’s like the couple that doesn’t have kids that decides to saddle up next to you at Church to give you parenting advice. Who the hell do they think they are? This guy doesn’t listen and doesn’t think.

Some people don’t think things through. They just spew forth things they were told that they never thought about. Really, if this guy was so insistent he’d refuse to sell me a child’s motorcycle helmet because he’d realize that them not getting on at all is the real safe answer.

Supporting Others' Rights

I remember having a talk with my Dad about flag burning. I was vehemently opposed to the idea and antagonistic to those who would burn it. I assumed my Dad (being a vietnam vet) would strongly agree with me. But he turned and looked at me and said "They can burn it if they want." He continued to say, "American soldiers have fought for freedom of religion and speech and died for it, and even though they burn the symbol of those freedoms, it is their right to do so."

That changed my entire lookout. It took years for me to realize the extent of this change. But when I see someone complaining and moaning about how another person (or group) is expressing their freedom of religion and freedom of speech (whether that be protesting or political), I am reminded of the way my Dad looked at me when we had this conversation. People have died for that right. If there is anyone we should be angry with over legal inequality, it is the government.

Corbin and Suzuki C109R

Well, I really should be writing more on the Küryakyn, but I'd rather take a small breather and talk about Corbin products. Why? Well, I hit on the most important feature Küryakyn has to offer. They have other stuff that is quite valuable. I'm hoping that they get some air filter units for the C109R that are as cool as what I've seen Küryakyn do for other bikes. But for now, I wanted to talk about an accessory brand known as Corbin.

http://www.corbin.com/shop.shtml

Corbin has been around for a while. They make some of the best seats, bags, and fairings available. So that's what I'll be showing. Now my bike has a blue/white color scheme with studded black seats. If at all possible I will show pictures that reflect that.

1. The Duel Tour Saddle seat. It's a nice seat. It costs about $500. It has a lower back rest for the passenger and driver. This is a good (and bad) thing. On the plus side your back is supported. On the negative side, it is a lot harder to mount your ride unless you practice yoga. I almost did not include this product here. I will tell you why. There is no studded seat option. They do have a million options for textures and colors. I can have a blue rattlesnake leather texture if I wanted. But no studs. My bike looks good with studs. :(


2. The front fairing. Normally I'm not a fan of a fairing. They give me this old man shiver. But considering the way this bike looks with the fairing and bags, etc, it looks pretty nice. It is pricey coming in between $1400 and $1600. There is one up side to a fairing over my current wind shield. My current wind shield blocks all wind to my face. This prevents my helmet vents from cooling my face. So I get hot and have to crack my face shield.




3. Fleetliner Saddlebags. 10 years ago I'd rather be caught dead then on a motorcycle with leather bags. Leather bags were a sign of old school hog riders. The fandangled new modern shiny hard bags were a by product of elderly retired cross-country guy/gals on their 1k lb gold wing. But becoming a parent changed things for me. I crave the ability to have some kind of baggage space on my bike. And not some tank bag (which scratches the paint) but real actual cargo space. Having embraced the classic cruiser style, my leather bags that I use fit the theme real well. The problem is they obscure where my helmet lock goes and have no locks. They look like old school leather bags, but they actually have a form fitted shape with some plastic clips hidden underneath the fake belt-buckle style clasps. So why upgrade? Well, they prevent me locking my helmet and can't lock. That means when I go to the movies, store, or anywhere that my bike will be out of sight for more than 5 minutes, I dare not leave anything in them. The fleetliner bags are the premier bags in the motorcycle bagging world. They are large enough to put a full face helmet. They contour with the body of your bike hugging it closely. They lock. They are water proof. The downside? $1600. The only feature they are missing is being able to snap off quickly in the event I want to cruise and show off my big fat rear tire.



4. Fleetliner Trunk. This is a great looking trunk. It works with the Suzuki backrest or the Corbin backrest. It matches the color of my bike. You can also fit two full-size face helmets in it. It locks. The downside? Well it is $1600. It also doesn't come with a better backrest for the rear passenger which is quite common with this size of a trunk for the passenger. As far as I know, it doesn't snap off either.






The full picture? Let me show you.

Before & After:



My opinion? Well, I just don't know. I like the way my bike looks now. If I could figure out how to lock my helmet and get some black-leather bags that lock and have studs, I'd be happier I think. But the corbin gear is pretty sweet looking.

Küryakyn and the Suzuki C109R (Part 1: Grips only)

I'm very excited to write about this vendor because they sell the best grips available for numb hands. My right hand goes numb after 20 minutes or so. I let it down to my side, make a fist, and it's normal again for another 5 minutes. I hope the problem subsides as I lose more weight, but for now it is a problem. A throttle rocker has helped out a bit, but not entirely. A throttle lock, or even a real-actual cruise control mechanism, would completely alleviate this problem. I just hope I don't need carpel tunnel surgery. *shrug* I suppose this is what I get for using a keyboard all day 7 days a week.

So, without any more delay. Let's talk about Küryakyn products. There are a lot of products available on their website. http://www.kuryakyn.com Select your bike type, and notice near the top you can see they have tabs for lighting, grips, footrests, controls, chrome, touring, maintenance/shop gear, and performance. This is an amazing list. Not every thing you see is available for every bike. And for my case, the C109RT is a relatively new comer so the list is shorter than you'd think. I will also be skipping stuff I don't care about so much.

1. Küryakyn Iso grips are the talk of the town so-to-speak. Every time you google numb hands and motorcycles, you see this grip. Installation is easy and they look great. They are relatively cheap as far as motorcycle accessories go. Do they work? Reviews point to yes. I haven't seen one negative review and I've looked. The cost is $74.99.



1a. Let's not move on too quickly though. This accessory has accessories. First, there is the throttle boss. This let's you control the throttle with your fingers or palm giving you variation in how you ride. The cost is roughly ~$20 depending on whether you want the small or wide version.

1b. Helmet locks! Considering every bike has one, why are these of interest at all? Because my saddle bags block my helmet lock completely. $40 each




Part 1 is over pretty much. I may add to it. But this sums it up.

Cobra and the Suzuki C109RT

So I've been browsing motorcycle accessories. But as I go, I realize that things blur together and I don't really have a record of anything I've learned or found. So what better place than to here on my very own blog.

Today I want to spend some serious time looking at Cobra accessories. They've been in the business for 25 years now. So let's go take a look.
www.cobrausa.com

1. The lightbar. Now this thing is cool. It gives the front of your bike a more aggressive look, and you get more light. More light is always a good thing when it comes to motorcycle safety. The downside is it is $285. But it sure does look snazzy. I don't really envy the idea of tying into the electrical system though.



2. Then there is the cobra floorboards for the passenger. I've been really wishing that when I go on a date with my wife that she would have a nice place to rest her feet. And when I get ready to take the kids on the back, they'd do better with a flat resting spot for their feet rather than a peg. The downside? $300

3. Fuel Management Mod, the Fi2000R. Why is this so important? Because when you change the exhaust or air intake, you mess with the fuel-to-air ratio for the engine. You get pings and strange sounds from the engine or with it burping and stuttering. The Fi2000R is only one mod of many that fulfills this role. Is it the best? I have no idea (that is for another blog). But it is worth mentioning. The cost is $234. Some of these fuel management mods have modes for fuel efficiency or more power. That is kind of cool.


4. New exhaust means more power and more aggressive sound. It is imperative you get a fuel manager mod too though given the fuel-to-air ratio changes by quite a bit. There are a huge variety of exhaust kits for the C109RT. How do they compare? I'm not sure. But there are lots of options, all ranging around $650. How does it compare to the competitors? I don't know that either. That's for another blog.


So what's next? Küryakyn!

Modifying my motorcycle

I rode my motorcycle to work again today. I love it. I never thought riding would be so much fun ever again. When I first came to Albuquerque, I was learning to drive in a much bigger city. It was intimidating. But with this bigger bike, I feel much more at ease.

But the more I ride, the more I find little nuisances that bother me ever so slightly. Nothing sticks out and demands to be changed or fixed. But I sit here wondering what I can do to this wonderful machine to make the experience even better.

1. First off, I can't hook my helmet to the bike. The helmet lock is hidden behind the bags. It was a poor design decision. There are alternatives. There are helmet lock extenders but that means keeping track of them. Some people use a rubber pad lock on the case guard (whatever that is) and hook their helmet to that. You can buy custom helmet lock tips for your handle bars too. Or I have even found where you can add a new helmet lock to any bolt on the bike (which gives me a few ideas).

2. The wind shield is a bit too tall. Or maybe I'm a bit too short. I'm not sure which. But the wind shield could be a bit shorter. I don't notice it much during the day, but at night my eye height clips the top of the wind shield (which completely obscures the road for me). I find myself sitting up as straight as possible to see over it or ducking down. There are other wind shields that you can customize their height and even clip on and clip off with ease. That is nice. To be honest, I wasn't sure I'd like a wind shield. They seem old and fuddy duddy. But once you have one, and hit the interstate, it is really hard to go back. It makes the ride amazingly better. Some custom wind shields have a tool bag and/or some air vents that you can open or close to let some air come through and cool you off.

3. The grips I have are nice. They came with the bike. But I find my hand going numb after I ride for a while. The time it takes, depends on the weather. The more I ride, the longer I seem to be able to go without it completely going numb. Part of this may be because my wrists are getting stronger, or it could be the weather. Or, it could be that I'm becoming more confident in this bike and so I don't have a death grip so much anymore. I did add a $5 palm rest to the right side, but it doesn't fix the problem only helps it out. I've read about these Kurykan Iso grips that are supposed to be better. Also, there I am considering an addon to the bike for a breakaway cruise control throttle lock (not true cruise control) that just slips over the right side and is disabled when you pull the hand brake or disable with a button on the device. True cruise control is potentially available within the year or so, but will cost 5x as much and is very invasive. It would be nice though, especially for long rides. I plan to ride up to Moab with the bike sooner or later.

4. Saddle bags are nice. My bike came with them and they have this old traditional look to them. They look like old style leather bags. But the truth is they have a fitted form and under neath their old style belt buckle clamp, is a plastic clip clamp that holds it on. Two snaps seal the deal. They are perfect in almost every way. The only problem is they don't lock. I've seen bags that have locks on them. But they are hard bags (often colored to match the bike). I'm sorry but I like the leather look. But it would be nice to "lock" the bags. I don't know how often I would ever use that feature. But when I go to the movies, it would be nice to put my jacket in there and (if you look at #1) lock my helmet to the bike. Then again, even with the helmet locked, do I trust people to not just cut the chin strap?

5. No luggage rack on the back. I'm not entirely sure this is a problem. But it'd be nice to be able to place luggage in the seat behind me when I don't have a passenger. (or hell even if I do, it'd be nice to put a bag on the back). I have seen them for the M109R but the motorcycle accessory manufacturers seem slow to support the relatively new C109R (and C109RT).

6. Garage door opener? I've heard tell of a way to make your garage door open and shut with the bright beam of your motorcycle. But heck, I can't even get my wife's van to open the garage door either and it has a built in garage door open button. The trouble is the garage door opener is a closed system / cheap. I may have to replace it. But right now I have to stop in the drive way and call my wife to open the garage door. It is a pain. Is it worth it to ride the motorcycle? Hell ya!

7. Tank cover. I've got a 5 gallon gas tank. It is really big. And I still find myself hugging the tank a lot. I'm worried that over time, my jeans will start to rub the paint off the tank. I've seen a nice leather tank cover that goes up the sides and then up the middle on the top. You can still see the tank sides but closer to the front. It is very nice.

8. Passenger floor boards. I am strongly considering getting floor boards for the passenger. Right now they are just pegs. But the boards would be nice. Especially if I start giving one of my girls a ride to school every morning.

At this point, I wonder why I got the "T" on the C109R. The "T" in C109RT is for tourer. It comes with the bags, wind shield, and back rest. So far, I have considered up grading all of the above and then some. But how much of it is just me having fun with my bike and how much of it is stuff I need. The truth is I don't need any of it. I've got the bike and it works. I may find myself desperate for the cruise control or better grips on a long trip, but that is a year off I think.

Mission Accomplished

My Mission: Celebrate my wife's 30th birthday in a manner that she will make her happy and not cause me panic or despair.

My Plan: A convoluted and haphazard/random strategy of present gathering with presents dispersed throughout the week and in hidden forms as well a string of events during the evening of her Birthday.

The Details:
A) Gifts gathered (complete): new shirts, jewelry, and belt.
B) Events on her birthday (complete) : dinner (Red Lobser) and a movie (Couple's Retreat)
C) The Cake (complete): home-made cake with home-made icing with home-made ice cream

All in all it was a success. I used a golden cake recipe ala Alton Brown which worked, but was not as moist as I liked. Post analysis has indicated that the online recipe may not have the right amount of milk listed as in the TV episode. The icing was a failure as it turned into more of a chocolate whipped cream (great for eclairs), which was used as a filler between cake layers. I resorted to a can of chocolate icing. The ice cream, made with the new 5200 vita-mix was more of a milk shake and didn't turn out. Although the recipes were mediocre at best it was a successful event. The wife enjoyed her live main lobster (which was brought to the table alive first to show her it was a fresh lobster "the kids freaked!"). The movie was decent. I recommend it to married couples (those married for a decent amount of time and no longer experiencing the honeymoon era are the ideal target audience).


The bottom line? I love my wife very much and hope she won't forget this birthday for a long time. I hope to have at least 30 more years to perfect my home-made cake recipe and home-made icing (and maybe one day I'll try the ice cream again).

Zombie Land Review

Just finished watching this last night. If I had to sum it up with a reviewer-style quip I'd say: Zombie Land is a cleverly disguised romantic comedy. There was plenty of great parts to remember and a cameo by Bill Murray which makes the movie a keeper. If you liked Shaun of the Dead you'll like Zombie Land.

And, after watching it, you'll at least have a game plan on how to survive a zombie-apocoalypse.

warrior protection power aura imports

Make sure you put these on page 1, and they must be the first power auras there (copy any existing ones to another page and delete the ones on page 1 first). Also make sure the spec is correct in these.

Set=Prot@
Aura[1]=Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu1; anim1:nu1; g:nu1; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:bofalse; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Warrior_RallyingCry; size:nu0.20999999344349; torsion:nu1; r:nu1; y:nu170; x:nu-292; customname:st; groupany:botrue; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:st; bufftype:nu1; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu1; alpha:nu0.75; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu0; owntex:botrue; isResting:nu0; duration:nu0; mine:botrue; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu0; stacksOperator:st>=; realaura:nu1; InactiveDueToState:botrue; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:botrue; id:nu1; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:bofalse; aurastextfont:nu1; buffname:stCommanding Shout; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:bofalse; stance:nu10; spec2:botrue; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:bofalse; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:bofalse; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu1; inverse:botrue; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu1@
Aura[2]=Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu0.84313725490196; anim1:nu4; g:nu1; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:bofalse; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Warrior_Revenge; size:nu0.20999999344349; torsion:nu1; r:nu0.96078431372549; y:nu59; x:nu-292; customname:st; groupany:bofalse; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu7; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu52; slot:nu90; alpha:nu1; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu0; owntex:botrue; isResting:nu0; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu0; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; spec2:botrue; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; InactiveDueToState:botrue; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; id:nu2; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:bofalse; aurastextfont:nu1; buffname:stRevenge; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:bofalse; stance:nu10; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:bofalse; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:bofalse; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu1; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu0@
Aura[3]=Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu1; anim1:nu5; g:nu1; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:botrue; icon:stInterface\Icons\Spell_Nature_ThunderClap; size:nu0.20999999344349; torsion:nu1; r:nu1; y:nu113; x:nu-292; customname:st; groupany:bofalse; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu2; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu1; alpha:nu0.5; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu0; owntex:botrue; isResting:nu0; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu0; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; InactiveDueToState:botrue; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:botrue; id:nu3; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:bofalse; aurastextfont:nu1; buffname:stThunder Clap; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:bofalse; stance:nu10; spec2:botrue; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:bofalse; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:bofalse; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu2; inverse:botrue; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu1@
Aura[4]=Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu0.85882352941176; anim1:nu4; g:nu0.91372549019608; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:bofalse; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Defend; size:nu0.20999999344349; torsion:nu1; r:nu0.85490196078431; y:nu2; x:nu-292; customname:st; groupany:bofalse; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu7; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu42; alpha:nu1; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu0; owntex:botrue; isResting:nu0; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu0; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; spec2:botrue; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; InactiveDueToState:botrue; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:botrue; id:nu4; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:bofalse; aurastextfont:nu1; buffname:stShield Block; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:bofalse; stance:nu10; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:bofalse; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:bofalse; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu1; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu0@
Aura[5]=Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu0.94509803921569; anim1:nu4; g:nu1; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:bofalse; icon:stInterface\Icons\INV_Shield_05; size:nu0.20999999344349; torsion:nu1; r:nu0.92941176470588; y:nu-56; x:nu-292; customname:st; groupany:bofalse; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu7; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu21; slot:nu92; alpha:nu1; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu0; owntex:botrue; isResting:nu0; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu0; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; spec2:botrue; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; InactiveDueToState:botrue; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:botrue; id:nu5; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:bofalse; aurastextfont:nu1; buffname:stShield Slam; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:bofalse; stance:nu10; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:bofalse; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:bofalse; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu1; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu0@

How not to Suck in World of Warcraft: Leveling

There are lots of different types of people who play MMOGs. I've seen 'em all. Some will play the game and get to see the stories unfold before them, and play some of the coolest video game content ever made. Others will screw off and never see past level 50. The best part of an MMOG is the teamwork and the friendships you make. It's fun and all playing with your neighbor or work buddy, but meeting new people is what it's all about. But when you are stuck down in the 30s bracket, you likely won't meet many people...because most people are at max level, i.e. 80 as of 1-21-10 ala WoW. What types are there? Let me tell you.

1) The weekend warrior/solo-ist/retro-gamer: This player logs in like once a week if he's lucky. He doesn't really care, and has no emotional investment whatsoever. He's as likely to play frogger from the 80s as log in to level his fishing in WoW. He's likely to hit 80 about a year after Blizzard shuts down WoW servers, i.e. never) He plays WoW because it's the "in" thing, but would rather be gunning down people in a game that is a decade past it's prime solo-style.

2) The fail-at-life gamer: This player lost his job due to the game. He probably runs a guild now, and raids 4-7 days a week. He's got several alts, all of which are in alt raids. He doesn't understand why his members don't put in more effort, and when drama hits he almost loses his mind considering his entire life is invested in the game and some pee-ant is tearing down the foundations of all his life's work. This guy hit 80 so fast he never even saw the content.

3) The perfectionist/achiever: This guy will hit 80 sooner or later. Unfortunately it'll be later. The problem is he has to do every quest, and I do mean every quest. He reads every quest, every sentence, every word. He stops in towns to listen to the random chatter of computer-controlled AI conversations. He may even talk to the computers. After he finishes one 10-20 zone, he leaves and does the other 10-20 zones even when he's level 30 and everything is grey. He has to get every tabard, and has to learn every skill. He has to visit ever tavern and kill every creature, tame every beast, gaze at every sky set. And should he take any measurable break from the game, he has to start all over again. I predict this player will reach 80 in 2020, by then the game will be dead. I have bad news for this gamer. In less than 12 months, all that content you have yet to do, will be gone forever. You TOOK TOO LONG DUMB ASS!

4) The raider/social gamer: This player plays the game to have fun with friends. They spend some time in-game, but recognize the value of a job, friends, exercise, etc. They probably game too much, but they don't let it ruin the other parts of their life. It will take this gamer anywhere between a month and 3 months to hit 80, assuming they don't fry their computer or account in the process.

What I want to tell you, is how to level and not suck. First off, knock off the achiever crap. Get to 80 and then you can go back and do all the old shit content. If you don't hurry up, some content will be gone forever. Not to mention, there is some content that you can only do with a group of people, and most people don't hang out at lower levels. Blizzard has gone out of their way time and time again to do away with twinking. If you don't know what twinking is, then you are probably a weekend warrior and there is no hope for you. I recommend you save some $, cancel your subscription, and start up some old school pong/frogger.

Leveling is a byproduct. It happens when you log in and don't sit on your hands. Maximizing your leveling efficiency, and therefore giving you more time to do the fun stuff, is the science. It's all about minimizing your downtime and the time you do spend is as efficient as possible.

First off, if you have an 80, never level another toon unless you have the heirloom shoulders and chest.

Secondly, don't level purely in dungeons. The dungeon finder makes it appealing, but you'll burn out. Plus pugs are often a fast way to ruin the game for you. There are more bad pugs than good ones. What's a pug you ask? Go level some more and you'll figure it out. ;P No seriously, quests done in an efficient manner.

First off, you'll want some addons to speed you on your way.

The magic combination is: Tourguide, Tomtom, and Lightheaded. Tourguide and lightheaded are 100% necessary. Tomtom is important if you don't use cartographer or carbonite. Tourguide basically helps you go through quests in an efficient manner. You skip the ones that have low drop rates, or take you really far out of your way, or simply are not worth the time sink. You pick up quests that often require turn ins later in other zones, and the ordering of the quests is done such that you will be in those zones at the right time, place, and with the right stuff. Be wary of too much dungeon delving though. You'll find tourguide is behind and all you'll have is green quests. Sometimes you can skip a few, but be wary of skipping too much, especially if you're new to the game. I recommend no skips except at level 58 (go straight to outlands) and 68 (go straight to northrend).

Choose a leveling spec. Don't screw around with your talents. You will just be wasting your own time. Go to the forums at worldofwarcraft.com and there are forums for every class. Each forum has stickies. Each sticky will recommend a leveling spec. Or you can google it like "druid leveling spec" but don't forget to include some information about the current build of the game, or you might get advice that is 3-4 years old. So "druid leveling spec 3.3". Some basic pointers are
A) always choose stuff that improves your dps
B) if at all possible choose a spec that is as mana independent as possible

For classes, I'd say
Rogue - Combat (check shadowpanther for leveling info)
Warrior - Arms (although prot is decent once you hit 40)
Druid - Feral (balance is good at 60+ too)
Hunter - Beastmastery
Mage - Frost
Warlock - demonology
Paladin - Retribution
Priest - Shadow
Shaman - Enhancement
Death Knight - Unholy

You get skills at every even level from 1 to 60 (i.e. 2, 4, 6, 8, ... 54, 56, 58, 60). Just because you ding at an even level, doesn't mean you should rush back to a trainer. Check wowhead.com and make sure the trip is worth ruining your momentum. Some levels give you skills that you won't use until you are max level.

One thing that seems to slow a lot of people down is bag space. They fill up with junk, and then have to make frequent trips to vendors. Often they'll be standing in the middle of a zone going through their bags trying to find the cheapest item to discard, so they can continue (for another 30 seconds before having to do the same thing). Take your gold and buy the biggest bags you can get. When you visit a town, keep a full stack of the best food and water (if you have mana) in your bags, but sell every other food/drink item. Only keep one type of health pot, and one type of mana pot. Sell everything else. Get an addon like gearscore to give you an idea of the value of the gear you are wearing. Only keep the best item of a given slot (i.e. no reason to have three different bracers in your bag while leveling, even if one is better for dps, tanking, healing...it doesn't matter when you are only leveling as the gear will be outdated in the next few days anyways). I have a macro that will sell all grey items to a vendor as long as you have the vendor window open.

/script for bag = 0, 4 do for slot = 1, GetContainerNumSlots(bag) do local name = GetContainerItemLink(bag,slot) if name and string.find(name,"ff9d9d9d") then DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage("Selling "..name) UseContainerItem(bag,slot) end end end

If you keep your bags free of junk, get the three addons I recommended above, and spec for damage you should level like a crazy person. It isn't voodoo, it is just doing things smarter not harder.

Do not turn in every quest after you complete it. Try to complete 7-10 quests, and then turn them all in at once. You'll find it is much faster that way. Don't forget to buy your mount and fast mount at 20 and 40 accordingly.

Good luck, and I'll see you all at 80!

Avatar in 3D

I just got back from watching Avatar in 3D. It was actually the XD version so best screen and sound I can get in Albuquerque. Saying it was amazing would be an understatement. It was possibly one of the coolest movies I have ever seen, and the very first movie that was primarily digital and that idea simply is forgotten in the first 30 minutes of the show. It blends seamlessly, and James Cameron shows his genius all over again.

I can't recommend seeing this movie strongly enough. It's Dances with Wolves meets Aliens.

My only suggestion is go small on the drink. If you buy a big drink, there is a strong chance you'll miss part of the movie because it is so long.

My Guide to not sucking in World of Warcraft

I guess there has to be a disclaimer. Because truthfully, if you find this guide helpful, then no single blog post is going to make you play well. So I guess I need to break this into sections. Some sections will be further discussed at future times.

1. Addons
2. macros
3. Leveling
4. Roles within a Party
5. End-game
6. Class-Specifics

For starters, let me cover Addons.

1. Addons
1a - Yes you need them. If you think you don't, then you are obviously so full of yourself that you shouldn't be reading this at all. The reason they are necessary is that Blizzard did not have an infinite budget when designing the user-interface and you do not have an infinite amount of time to decide on any action in-game. You need information presented to you in a more timely efficient manner. So let me go over the absolute essential addons that you should not go without.

- Carbonite : I can't stress this enough. I've seen people try to argue questhelper or tourguide over Carbonite, but there simply isn't an adequate replacement for it. There are so many features. It takes time to learn them though. Don't combine your mini-maps either. Get used to using two mini-maps, at least while you level. You'll find it there is so much information if you combine them, that it will frustrate you. Note, you can use tourguide in tandem with Carbonite (and I highly recommend you do that, and do it starting at level 1). What does Carbonite do for you? Well, it helps you search through inventory, combine friend's list, has a built in quest helper with tomtom arrow, has a punk list for people who aren't carebears and play on pvp servers, and best of all it will highlight the regions on your map (and mini-map) where a quest item drops or can be found. It is absolutely invaluable. Go ahead and remove it if you want, but don't blame me when I blaze past you in levels and end up doing 2x as much damage as you in a party simply because I wasted less time.
http://www.carboniteaddon.com/

- Arkinventory : replaces your bags into a single large bag, that you can organize by profession, or item type, or level, or whatever. You can even create custom code rules which can organize your stuff. It is a god send. It takes time to figure out. Don't wimp out in the first week of usage. Figure it out and don't give up.
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/ark-inventory.aspx

- Power Auras: An absolute must-have addon for anyone who intends to actually be good at the game. I can't tell you strongly enough how powerful this addon is, if you simply learn to use it. So many abilities will "proc" a buff for a few seconds, or will give you a very tiny window of opportunity to use an ability for zero-cost or double damage or whatever. Power Auras is the tool to use to help you visually identify these little nuances in-game. Can you play without it? Yes you can. But I bet I can train a monkey to out dps, out-tank, and/or out heal you if insist on playing the game caveman style (i.e. without power auras).
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info8579-PowerAurasClassic.html
http://powerauras.wikispaces.com/

- Recount: How do you know if you are doing something wrong if you don't have a metric to measure it against? In english, how do you know if you are traveling at the speed limit if you refuse to install a speed-o-meter in your car? Recount is the metric for personal performance. There is no alternative. Use it, love it, learn it, and become better than you thought possible.
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/recount.aspx

- Gearscore: I almost didn't include this addon. It's more of a supplementary tool to Recount. Say you are in a group, and you are in a damage dealer role. Let's say on a given boss fight you have done on average 3000 damage per second (shown by recount nonetheless). But some other guy in the group is laughing at you and did 5500 damage per sec. Gearscore will evaluate their gear and you can compare it to yours. It is a quick and easy way to see if the damage difference is because they are much better geared than you, or if you simply suck and need to "learn2play". I suspect eventually gearscore will go the way of the dodo, but for now it's a decent tool for self-evaluation.
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/nvgearscore.aspx

- Deadly Boss Mods: Do not play the game with other people without this. Simply do not. Don't join groups. Don't do battlegrounds. Don't invite anyone to a party unless they live with you. You will embarass yourself and likely wipe the group repeatedly without it. Download it and watch for the warnings and danger signs that it gives.
http://www.deadlybossmods.com/

- Omen: a threat meter, there are others, but make sure you have a good one (and no, the built-in one by blizzard sucks and in no way counts).
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/omen-threat-meter.aspx

Right now you are thinking "ZOMG so many addons" but you have no idea. There are so many more out there. I could recommend 50 more, but the above mentioned addons are what I consider to be essential. Without them you'll level slowly, perform poorly, and likely cause wipes and be put on plenty ignore lists of others. If you don't care about being good at what you do, then by all means ignore these recommendations. I may have forgot others, but will add them.

Also, don't be too worried about trying to keep up to date. I recommend you grab the curse client from curse.com and have it help you update your addons for you. I don't pay for it, so can only update 2 at a time, but it is easy to do and I update almost daily with a few clicks of the mouse before logging in. Wowinterface supposedly has an alternative, but when I used it, it nearly ruined my wow installation. Wowmatrix may still work, but some sights block it now.

There is no reason to suck. Using Carbonite with Tourguide should let you get levels fast. You should be able to get 5 levels per hour the first 10 levels. After that 2 levels per hour to 20. And then 1 level per hour to 40. Eventually going to 1 level per 2 hours, and so on and so forth. It should only take a couple days to hit level 30, playing just a few hours a night. There really is no excuse to be level 30 after playing for years.

New Game coming out soon: Mass Effect 2

I'm very excited about a new game coming out soon. Mass Effect 2 should be released January 26th 2010 or close to it. I played the first one and loved it. I am so very much excited to play the 2nd one. The story is really good and I can't wait to see what happens next.

failure to blog

Hopefully this blog will work. Earlier attempts using a facebook app failed completely.

Just wanted to say that I cooked another prime standing rib-roast last night, after dry-aging it for four days, and it was amazing. I simply do not understand how people can insist on eating carbon charred burned overdone meat, but the medium rare rib-roast is phenomenal and potentially the best piece of red meat I've ever had.