Sorry, gang. I was in NY doing a little work and catching up with some family. Fell a bit behind on everything, so I'm going to list a few updates here.
The Chin Up Bar: Just before leaving, I did manage my first unassisted Chin-up. No bands, but also no camera. Honestly, I didn't think I could do it. I was walking by the room where the bar is set up, grabbed hold of it, pulled and boom, I was looking over the top of it. Over the next few days, I tried a few more times and was able to get two or three out before I couldn't manage another without help. What really surprised me was that I had gained weight before this, so it was just strength and form helping me out. I'm actually fatter than when I started and I still can't do a "pull up" with my palms facing in without assistance. Working on that. So my "end of January" goal was a bit too ambitious.
Also, I was gone for four days. I managed to do some exercises with bands, but my Dad was afraid the strap would mark up the tops of his doors, so I didn't get to do pull downs and lost the ability to do that chin up. In just four or five days. Flip side: the foam on the bar (I hope to make a video of this soon), ripped. I patched it, but not before it did in fact mark up the frame of my door. Not a tough fix, but something the makers of the bar claim to protect against. Maybe I shouldn't leave it up there all time? Contact with the door being constant may have caused a problem, but I don't know.
YouTube! As of yesterday, it's official. After many, many years of keeping my account in good standing, I am no longer a YouTube partner. Dropped because my views and subscribers were not enough. Will I keep working the channel? Yes. Like this blog, it has run off benefits that make it worthwhile, but as soon as the next viable platform presents itself, I'll be more than willing to move. Also, as I've said before, it has dropped way down on the priorities list and I appreciate anyone who does watch the videos doing so here or on my website (when available), where I will still be paid for your "impressions".
Jack vs Lanterns: Like the chin ups, this was something I was "in a groove" on before the weekend away, but completely lost my flow while I was gone. I got back to working on the movie last night. Technically, I guess I did work on it a bit while I was away. A couple of months ago I shot my "bearded scenes" over a course of two nights. These were scenes with just my character that I had left until I got all of the other talent out of the way. Well, I missed one. I had already shaved for the post-beard scenes. Since I was going to be away, I decided to let the beard grow back. This way I could pick up that last page of bearded dialogue after we were home.
Well, a few things happened. The beard grew in, but it is nearly all grey now. Also, as I mention above, I gained weight. I am noticeably fatter in the scene. For the beard, rather than dye it (it came off today), I grabbed an old mascara that my wife tried to throw out awhile ago and brushed it into my facial hair. Worked pretty well, I think. For the fat, I wore a weight training belt. It was tight. I could barely breath. But I managed to get the essential lines out and today I am back to stubble. I didn't want to dye my beard again because that stuff takes a quite a few steps to put in, makes a mess if you're not careful and costs way more than discarded, clumpy old mascara.
Movies: Dealing with some post travel insomnia, I did manage to watch a bunch of independent movies, so more reviews will be coming soon. Let me list some titles here so that I don't forget them:
Parasite
Revolt of the Empire of the Apes
Beyond Fear
Devil's Express
Robowar
See you soon, gang.
The Chin Up Bar: Just before leaving, I did manage my first unassisted Chin-up. No bands, but also no camera. Honestly, I didn't think I could do it. I was walking by the room where the bar is set up, grabbed hold of it, pulled and boom, I was looking over the top of it. Over the next few days, I tried a few more times and was able to get two or three out before I couldn't manage another without help. What really surprised me was that I had gained weight before this, so it was just strength and form helping me out. I'm actually fatter than when I started and I still can't do a "pull up" with my palms facing in without assistance. Working on that. So my "end of January" goal was a bit too ambitious.
Also, I was gone for four days. I managed to do some exercises with bands, but my Dad was afraid the strap would mark up the tops of his doors, so I didn't get to do pull downs and lost the ability to do that chin up. In just four or five days. Flip side: the foam on the bar (I hope to make a video of this soon), ripped. I patched it, but not before it did in fact mark up the frame of my door. Not a tough fix, but something the makers of the bar claim to protect against. Maybe I shouldn't leave it up there all time? Contact with the door being constant may have caused a problem, but I don't know.
YouTube! As of yesterday, it's official. After many, many years of keeping my account in good standing, I am no longer a YouTube partner. Dropped because my views and subscribers were not enough. Will I keep working the channel? Yes. Like this blog, it has run off benefits that make it worthwhile, but as soon as the next viable platform presents itself, I'll be more than willing to move. Also, as I've said before, it has dropped way down on the priorities list and I appreciate anyone who does watch the videos doing so here or on my website (when available), where I will still be paid for your "impressions".
Jack vs Lanterns: Like the chin ups, this was something I was "in a groove" on before the weekend away, but completely lost my flow while I was gone. I got back to working on the movie last night. Technically, I guess I did work on it a bit while I was away. A couple of months ago I shot my "bearded scenes" over a course of two nights. These were scenes with just my character that I had left until I got all of the other talent out of the way. Well, I missed one. I had already shaved for the post-beard scenes. Since I was going to be away, I decided to let the beard grow back. This way I could pick up that last page of bearded dialogue after we were home.
Well, a few things happened. The beard grew in, but it is nearly all grey now. Also, as I mention above, I gained weight. I am noticeably fatter in the scene. For the beard, rather than dye it (it came off today), I grabbed an old mascara that my wife tried to throw out awhile ago and brushed it into my facial hair. Worked pretty well, I think. For the fat, I wore a weight training belt. It was tight. I could barely breath. But I managed to get the essential lines out and today I am back to stubble. I didn't want to dye my beard again because that stuff takes a quite a few steps to put in, makes a mess if you're not careful and costs way more than discarded, clumpy old mascara.
Movies: Dealing with some post travel insomnia, I did manage to watch a bunch of independent movies, so more reviews will be coming soon. Let me list some titles here so that I don't forget them:
Parasite
Revolt of the Empire of the Apes
Beyond Fear
Devil's Express
Robowar
See you soon, gang.
No comments:
Post a Comment