Continuing Mission...

[Gar]

Hi fellow nerds and fitness enthusiasts!  Signed up on this board years ago and took a long hiatus to get career and family sorted, but now I'm back.  I'm stoked to see how the community has expanded!  Finances wouldn't allow Camp Nerd Fitness this year but hopefully in 2015.  It will be great to meet some fellow community members in person, but even before that I'd love to meetup with some NF rebels local to Pittsburgh (also the home of Anthony Mychal, coincidentally enough)

 

A little about me - husband, father of 1 and soon to be 2, business systems analyst guy, musician, LOTR and Tolkien devotee.  Love the Walking Dead, Hellblazer, Sandman, all things Grant Morrison and some Garth Ennis...currently teaching myself home studio recording with Reaper and Spanish with Duolingo.

 

Have been doing serious Strength training since April of this year. Started out doing Stronglifts 5 X 5 but got a little too cocky and tweaked my back.  Went to doc for that but while I was there did a full workup and found out my "numbers" weren't where they should be for my age (I'm 43).  So - Keeping up the weight training (Squats, presses, dips FTW) with an "antifragile" approach (increasing slowly and progressing in volume before I up the weight) and working in Interval training on my recovery days...it's working!  Lost 3 lbs in the past 2 weeks, and finally did an unassisted, non-kipping, neutral grip chinup.  2nd chinup, I'm comin' to get you!  This is also helped by adjustment of diet where I'm seriously cutting down carb and eating mostly paleo as often as possible.  Looking into fasting to nudge me forward even more.  Will be revisiting those "numbers" in 3 months and will update here.

 

Anyway I'm looking forward to continuing my fitness mission, to explore strange new deadlifts, to seek out new strength and new PR's, to boldly go where no nerdy-dad-slowly-approaching-middle-age-but-in-better-shape-than-he's-been-for-a-long-@$$-time has gone before.

[Guzzi]

Lolz! Let's Make it So then

Welcome back, how long have you been away for?

[Gar]

Thank you Guzzi!

I last posted in 2012.  That year was tough...moved into a new house, changed jobs (2x) and had a MAJOR family health concern to deal with for about six months...but things have become more stable on the family and employment front now so I don't have any excuses!  Thank goodness!  Now I'm loving the healthy habits so much, my only major obstacle is when the consultants bring in doughnuts and I have to walk by them on the way to the water cooler! 

[bigjochmclintoch]

Hi Gar,

 

Welcome Back! Good choices with Morrison and Ennis by the way. How do you feel about the possibility of a TV series of Preacher? Saying that what about the possibility of a Sandman film? I must admit I am looking forward to the Constantine TV show coming out in October. The trailers for it have been looking amazing. Going back to the comics I have only read a little Morrison (We3, Arkham Asylum & Batman R.I.P) but loved them all and with Ennis I have read all of Preacher and the first three TPB of The Boys which were also good. 

 

Anyway good luck with the power lifting and kicking that second chinup in to oblivion!

[Gar]

Thanks BJMC!  I am looking forward to Constantine myself.  The character def needs to be redeemed in the public eye thanks to Francis Lawrence and Keanu.  Although I gotta say that I really liked Peter Stormare as a gonzo demon.  He and Rachel Weisz were the best parts of that flick.  I'm excited for a Preacher adaptation myself...really hoping they do Cassidy and the Saint justice, as those were the most interesting characters IMO.   Ennis is just such a F***ing nutjob and he's never afraid to push the envelope!  Set the bar on Hellblazer for me, really.  That said, Mike Carey's matched it, and many times exceeded it as well!  I hear Joe Gordon-Levitt is moving the Sandman thing forward but am keeping my eyes peeled.  Good start on your Morrison selections.  I have to dig deeper but I loved All-Star Superman, the Batman story arcs, Happy (!), 18 Days, Joe the Barbarian, JLA...there's so much.  If you get the chance, find Kevin Smith's Fatman on Batman podcasts where GM's the special guest.  I'm a fan of the Scots so I could listen to his accent all day, but even beside that I love his deconstruction of The Killing Joke and his not-entirely-unconvincing vindication of Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Strikes Again"  (I didn't think anything could redeem that one for me, but GM surely did make me look at it differently).

 

Thanks for the good wishes and best of luck on your own fitness journey!

[bigjochmclintoch]

Thanks for the recommendations of GM. It turns out I had forgot I had read Happy(!) and I loved it too. If you like the Scotts have you ever read any Mark Millar? I still think his Red Son is one of the best superman stories I have ever read! I will definitely start listening to the Kevin Smith podcast as well. I must admit I am a sucker for KS. I even have a few of his TPBs (Guardian Devil,Quiver, Batman Cacophony & The Widening Gyre).

I must admit I don't know much about Hellblazer story and John Constantine as a character but in the Keanu, but I have to agree with you that Peter Stormare's performance was awesome. He stole the film for me to be honest. I have got high hopes for both Preacher and Sandman and crossing all extremities about them being made. I did just read yesterday that they are making a TV series of Lucifer from the Sandman world. Interesting concept with Lucifer leaving hell to come to earth to open a piano bar. Knowing Gaiman's style of story telling I imagine it will have interesting twists and turns. 

 

Always fun to chat about comics related news.