Just watched that Devils/Rags starter... scrappy.  Looked like blood sort of exploded out of Carter's face when he hit the ice. Ouch.

MIL was in town and watching the kid, and this was literally the ONLY movie there was a remote chance of of enjoying, so we went this afternoon.

It was silly, but pretty funny.  We enjoyed it.

I've been going to an Irish music jam session on Tuesday evenings and playing mandolin/mandola... this week instead of doing that they are getting together at a local bar to play and get free guiness... I'll probably go do that.

Wow, that's pretty messed up.

Pretty cool!

I can't remember the collector base from ME2... no idea what I did.

So when I went to play MP tonight, I was still at the 63% I got last night... so who knows.

I finally got to play another map... which was the very first map I played.  Are there only two good maps or something?  Why is nobody playing the other ones? Just bad luck?

Ok, that makes much more sense.

Thanks for not mentioning anything about it, Bioware.

Sooo....

The blue part of the bar is Effective Military Strength, and Military Strength is the grey part as well?  Trying to remember what this screen looks like... does it actually give you a number there as well, i guess?

Ok, maybe I'm slow...

But those levels Destructor listed are WITH multiplayer, or without?  E.g. you need [the highest number he listed] in SP, or that needs to be your number once you apply the MP multiplier?

You get your final score multiplied by whatever percentage your MP is at?  So if you have 1000, and your MP is at 62%, you get 620?

BRING ON THE CHEESE!

(galaxy wide, which struck me as odd... it seemed zone specific...)

This baffled me too, until I played some more: it's galaxy-wide if you're playing on Random maps; if the person hosting picks a specific map, however, you get a large boost to that region and a much smaller one to the others (assuming you do well).

- Ash

I was wondering about that, got a 8% bonus to a specific region a couple of time and 2-3% overall to everything else.  that might make it a better deal to host specific maps.

Last night I played... 3 rounds? 4 rounds?  I can't remember... anyway, I got stuff up to 63%. I was always the lowest scoring person on my team, but also the lowest level, so maybe it's just that I haven't unlocked better stuff so far.  I just got an assault rifle I like better.

Weirdness:
I thought I was saying 'join a specific region map', but I always got the same boost to all regions (successfully completed each round), so I guess it was random... but... I got the same map (reactor) every single time... which got really old.  Am I missing something and I actually DID tell it to just play that map?  It's hazy after sleeping, but I think I might have even tried selecting a different location and still got the same map on the last round... but maybe not.

When you get readiness to 100%, does it continue to deteriorate at 1%/day, or does it hold there?  It seems like you have to coordinate playing a bunch of regular MP with also finishing the SP at the same time.  While both parts of the game are fun, I absolutely loathe the idea of MP affecting the plot of the SP game, and if it has to, that it deteriorates.  I don't mind stuff like 'play co-op to unlock this gun', but this is ridiculous - forcing people to MP.

I'm glad I checked this thread... I was wondering why the readiness levels weren't rising on the map...

Played one round of MP last night - it was fun!  Weird thing, the readiness went up to 52% (galaxy wide, which struck me as odd... it seemed zone specific...), but then this morning when I went in to futz w/ characters, it was back down to 51%... does it creep back down if you don't play, or what?

You can still monitor calories and avoid heavily processed foods, Gratch.  I think the reality is that you COULD get there... you just gotta want that shit.

Also, I got my 'You've been accepted' letter for the 2012 Laramie Enduro today.  Bring on the long rides!  I love having something like this coming up as it gives me a great excuse to get out and ride like 4 times a week.

So... Some questions:

Cheese is ok? Dairy is ok?

Are roasted/otherwise cooked nuts bad?  I have a mild but irritating allergic reaction to raw nuts...

Is eating a large breakfast (I'm clocking your breakfast in at 550 - 600 calories - guessing on how much meat you put in there - so it's not that huge) and a single ingredient lunch (like how many nuts are we talking here, measurement wise?) something that these plans advocate?

Seems really low on fruit/vegetables - is that typical?

I also avoid hfcs, because why bother either way, and we try to eat almost entire 'whole' foods, e.g. no processed or prepared stuff.  Do you differentiate between saturated and unsaturated fats, and sources of fat from oils, etc.?

I also do a protein supplement post workout (I use myoplex... that was just what I started with and I haven't tried anything else out of laziness/liking the ease of use.)


In unrelated news - I saw an article where they did a study where  spicy foods, such as curries (like we made last night) result in 'a decrease of triglycerides by about one-third' in the bloodstream.  So bring on the spice!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/03/12/148304942/to-cut-the-risk-of-a-high-fat-meal-add-spice

Meh.

I understand he doesn't play for any of the Prime Nine...

Prime 1.

VRWC.

Patrick Eaves for the Hart.
Jakub Kindl for the Calder.

VRWC.

Love it.

Oh, also... anyone watching the last few Red Wings games think that Brendan Smith is going to be fantastic in the near future? 

Canucks are continuing their latest hobby - it involves losing to the worst teams in the league. Henrik Sedin is now on his longest point drought since 2003 and Daniel isn't far behind. Man, but I'm tempted to bring back my "how do you spell underachievment in Swedish" signature.

Sedins = Swedish
6 Red Wings = Swedish
= Vast Red Wing Conspiracy


On a serious note, how long are their point droughts?

That's pretty great.

Yeah, you totally are missing what I'm after there, Pete.  All the stuff you are talking about is all the stuff I've already done - I'm curious about trying the Purge method for a couple weeks to see how it compares and if I lose more weight doing it.

About to head out for a 4 mile run... my legs are WORKED from yesterday's 2hr+ road ride... hopefully I don't collapse into a pool of jelly halfway in!

I don't want a cookbook... I just want someone to tell me what to eat for two weeks.

It was in the 50s and not much wind here today, so we busted out the road bikes and did a 34 mile out and back... so great.

4) Howard didn't play. Joey Mac.

Also: Dammit!

Yeah... really there's been a lot of good hockey going on this year.  Not, it would seem, in the first 7 minutes of this Wings/Kings game. Yawn.

Ok, you don't gain weight... whatever else you said, it's because you are expending and taking in the same amount of energy (measured in calories).

You yourself said that if you wanted to lose weight, you would reduce your intake... which is exactly what we've been saying.

You think that eating peanuts (ok, ok, almonds) is a better way to do it than someone eating pasta.  That's fine.  That also doesn't change the basic concept weight loss: you need to burn more than you take in.  You are talking about coming up with ways to either burn more efficiently, or feel less deprived while still taking in the appropriate amount of energy to maintain or lose weight, but that doesn't change the fundamentals of weight loss.

I admit that I am curious about what the effect of these different ways of eating would be for me, as I'm at a point where it becomes much harder to get weight off because I'm closer to my goal.  I'm willing to guinea pig.  Tell me what you eat on a daily basis (not like I'm going to have the same meal as you every single day, but give me some idea), and I'll eat that stuff, sticking to the calorie levels that I've been consuming (or less, if I don't feel the need to eat, I guess), and after a couple weeks I'll report back: weight change, how I feel, how well I'm able to do the types of exercise I do (endurance stuff), and how sustainable I feel it would be in terms of cost (which I think would be greater), and personal desire for bread.

That is some really interesting reading, Pete. Thanks for the link.

Purge, you are greatly misunderstanding me (and, I believe, the author of the article) if you think I'm saying that what you put in the tank doesn't matter.  I 100% think that quality, unprocessed food is absolutely key, and creating a sustainable way of eating appropriately is also key.

What I'm saying is that if you want to lose weight, you have to look at the basic mechanics of weight loss, which is creating a calorie deficit, which is most 'easily' accomplished by increasing calorie burn and reducing calorie intake.  Your take on the *best* diet for maintaining weight, etc. very well may be right, but until people understand and apply themselves to the basic principles of weight loss, they will not lose weight.  You can't replace 1000 calories of pasta with 1000 calories of peanuts and think you are magically going to be thin.

Of course douchy Wings players will never admit they lowered their head reaching for a puck immediately prior to being hit.

Except, of course, when they do exactly that: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=510379

Zetterberg said it was his fault after that game. "You should be able to take a hit like that."

And another week in the books. I'm scared of the 5lb increase in my bench on Monday. I think I'm close to the wall for good form reps.

I've started doing this on Tuesday/Thursday now -




It definitely works the core muscles and will hopefully help me with my joint pain and flexibility.

Push up T stands ftw.  I love this workout.

Also, are you weighing yourself at the same time each day?  That matters.  Look at what the numbers do over a long period of time - a week or two isn't enough to really know what's going on.

Yep, weigh-in at the same time every morning, after all excess fluids are removed. 

The overall downward trend is continuing though (lost 20 lbs since September), so I'm not going to lose a ton of sleep over it. 

Nice.

Weighing yourself is a tricky proposition, Gratch - there are a LOT of variables that go into any given weigh in... how much water weight are you packing for whatever reason, how long ago was your last enormous dump, etc.  If you get on the scale after putting in a lot of work and see a disappointing number, I always get back on the scale the next day, or two days later, and often see a much larger swing.

Also, are you weighing yourself at the same time each day?  That matters.  Look at what the numbers do over a long period of time - a week or two isn't enough to really know what's going on.

If that's what you are taking away from that article, you are missing the point.

Which is this:  not all calories are the same, and this research is interesting, but until people address the key issues of why they are fat, namely that they sit around stuffing their faces and not exercising, they aren't going to get anywhere.

It's the only way to make bank in a salary cap world.

Great article (thanks tik!)

http://gizmodo.com/5891619/stop-complicating-a-simple-obesity-solution-eat-less-exercise-more

"I don't doubt that the researchers quoted in The Atlantic article are finding something bad associated with organic contaminants, and that we don't want them in our diet. But all of this hand wringing about obesogens and fat versus sugar and glycemic indexes and cave man diets ignores the one thing that we know for sure about how Americans can become less obese: eat less, exercise more."

"But instead of distracting folks with complicated new terminology and possibly evil ingredients, maybe we should be focusing on how good it feels to be fit?"

...and Jakub Voracek!

“It was a clean hit from my side, it was my bad and I think those hits should stay in the game”. Flyers winger Jakub Voracek on the Kronwall hit.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1094652-nicklas-kronwall-nhl-smart-not-to-suspend-red-wings-star-for-jakub-voracek-hit

Voracek didn't have enough awareness in this moment, and that's why he was caught off guard by Kronwall's massive hit.

The NHL has been inconsistent when it comes to handing out suspensions and fines for big hits recently, but in this case, it got the call absolutely right.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/witness-niklas-kronwall-devastating-hit-jakub-voracek-red-020852563.html

Should this warrant a suspension? Of course not. It's a brutal, legal hockey hit that caught Voracek with his head down, attempting to finesse the puck with one hand along the boards. He glances up before he plays the puck. He knows there's a defender near the blue line. Made he didn't know it was Swedish one-man wrecking crew, but he knew someone was there, and ran the risk.

I was only surprised he hadn't mentioned it earlier...

Dude, if the Sharks miss the playoffs I won't have to worry about them knocking out the wings in the second round. This is a GREAT idea!

Equal parts awesome plus ridiculous.

And that's just the hat!

Does that guy have an eyepatch? Hmmmmm

 

Yeah, well it took him a few tries to figure out the whole knife/bullet thing.