3 Things: Another Facebook Phenomenon

I first found this on a blog that I frequently peruse, The Beezewax. So I decided to do it myself, 1. I have little better to do 2. I just wanted to, and 3. Does it really matter why? Feel free to add your own in my comments and or own blogs and tag some others while you're at it. So here we go.....


Three names I go by

1. Daddy
2. Sweetie
3. McSpazz

Three jobs I have had in my life

1. Shipping/Receiving Supervisor
2. Union Laborer
3. Medical Equipment Technician

Three Places I have lived

1. Hanover Park, IL
2. Crystal Lake, IL
3. Naperville, IL

Three TV shows that I watch

1. Intervention
2. Scrubs
3. The Office

Three places I have been

1. San Diego, CA
2. Vail, CO
3. Las Vegas, NV

Three of my favorite foods

1. Lasagna
2. Pizza
3. Burgers

Three things I would like to do

1. Have another kid
2. Walk on water
3. Talk to my Dad again

Three friends I think will respond

1. Marc
2. Jay B.
3. Jesus (the Mexican version)

Three things I am looking forward to

1. Finding a job
2. Vacation
3. Start of baseball season

Wii Fit: Day 4

Another day, no results as of yet. In fact I gained .7 pounds from the previous day. I guess like the Wii Fit program tells me, don't expect results right away, just keeping working.

I started the workout with some yoga, to get stretched out and it has been a good build up to the more strenuous activities. I completed four poses and did fairly well at each one, which is a big improvement from the day before. I then moved to the aerobic exercises, I completed the hula hoop (my performance went down), the basic step (good performance), advance step (a little better than first time) and a new program I earned rhythm boxing (which was fun and I worked up a good sweat). After those two I moved onto the strength training exercises and completed four programs and rocked each one. Balance games came last where I have gained good control of most of them. After awhile it seems they will become to easy to bother with, but I did gain a couple new balance programs; Fish catch, where your Mii is dressed in a penguin costume set on an iceberg you have to rock back and forth to catch as many fish as possible and Snowboarding where you compete in a downhill slalom, this exercise was tougher than the skiing slalom.

When all was said and done I completed 40 minutes of training and this time unlike the others I did work up a sweat. It was time for the body test, my COB was just about centered, but I gained in BMI from 26.54 to 26.61 and weight .7 pounds. At least my Wii Fit age dropped dramatically to match my real age of 34, previously 53. Hopefully, I can start to see results soon. Not only have I begun the Wii Fit program, but I have also cut out snacking after 8:00 PM plus not drinking and soda at all.

Bottom line is, I know I have 15.7 pounds to lose in 85 days to reach my goal. I'm sure I'll get there, but the first few days have been disappointing.

Wii Fit: Day 1, 2, 3

Well it has been four days since I bought the Wii Fit and set the goal of losing 15 pounds in three months. Here is a re-cap and review of my first three days of use.

• Day 1

The first day was awkward, first you have to pick a virtual personal trainer. I chose the male, because I knew my wife would give me grief if I would have picked the girl. She does have a great virtual body though.

Getting started was awkward, the exercises were knew and standing on the board throws you off a bit. I eventually grew more comfortable. I started with the aerobic exercises, the hula hoop (which is more challenging than you would think), then the step program (the music doesn't match the rhythm of the steps making it more difficult than it should be) and finally ending with the run (which was in place and works more by your arms, because you have to hold the Wii remote and step off the balance board).

I then worked into the strength training portion which was nice, but seemed to concentrate more on balance than building muscles. After completing all the strength exercises that I had available I moved onto the fun stuff, Balance games. They are fun and entertaining, I started with the soccer heading (which I sucked at), then the ski slalom (sucking again), ski jump (much better) and the a human labyrinth game (fun and average).

I did about a half an hour of work, I felt like accomplished something. Though I wasn't very sweaty and didn't feel like I burned much off. So I decided to take the body test. My balance and Wii Fit age improved, but I actually gained 1.5 pounds from the day before. This might have been that I did the workout shortly after lunch and the Wii Fit program mentioned that your body weight can fluctuate by 2 pounds either way due to changes in it.

• Day 2

Surprisingly, I was a little more sore from the previous days workout than I thought I would be. I started the workout with something I felt I would never try, Yoga.

The yoga workout was actually fun and challenging. I knew it would be tough, because I am as limber as a 2 x 4. I completed all of the available yoga poses and was sweating more from that than all of the previous days activities.

I then moved back to the aerobic exercises, the hula hoop (I rocked it), the step (rocked it again) and then the run (I fell off a bit from Day 1 results).

I did some of the balance games and also let the kids get in on the action, competition is always fun for everyone. The balance games are not always that physically challenging, but they do promote a little better balance than you might have had before.

I then proceeded to the body test and it came up with a raised Wii Fit age, horrible balance numbers, but I was back to my original starting weight. This still leaves me 15 pounds off my goal with 87 days left to go.

• Day 3

I wasn't feeling very well at all yesterday, but I did decide to fit in a little Wii Fit while I was cooking dinner.

I started with yoga which my legs and abs were very sore from the day before. I completed three poses and moved onto the strength training. I did three of the easier strength training exercises, I just didn't feel like pushing it. I then did a couple aerobic and balance games (which both my scores fell off).

I moved onto the body test where I found no changes to my BMI or weight, but my Wii Fit age went through the roof, 53. Keep in mind my real age is 34 and I was a very good athlete all the way into my mid 20's.

My goal is still reachable, but I haven't moved towards it as of yet. I have 86 more days to lose my 15 pounds. Keep on Wii Fitting!

Wii Fit: I Finanlly Got My Hands on One

Well, I have finally gotten my Wii Fit. I picked it up last night at the local Wal-Mart, it was a late Valentine's Day gift. I've been trying to pick one up since they came out last year, but rarely came across them and when I did we just didn't have the dough to dish out for another toy.

After getting it set up and turning it on we found the Wii Fit to fun and entertaining despite the fact it told me that I was a bit overweight and my center of balance was off. It is very user friendly and the weight is very accurate compared to another scale we have. I attribute my weight gain to my job loss and winter pounds.

I have set a goal of losing 15 pounds in three months while also reducing my BMI (body mass index) 3 points from 27.5 to 24.5. I was hoping to lose this by the end of March, we are taking the kids to Disney World and I really didn't want to show off my Santa belly. The program suggested that I spread my weight loss a little further out, because it is unhealthy for the body to lose too much to quick.

I am going to track my use of the Wii Fit and the results that I receive from using it. My plan is to use it 3-4 times a week, I'll keep you updated on the ease of use, the difficulty of workouts and fun that the Wii Fit provides over the next three months. Today, will be my first official Wii Fit workout. Wish me luck.

Blog Explosion

Over the past week I have come connected with a group of volunteers on a once nice networking site called Blog Explosion. The past couple of years have been less than stellar for it, the site has changed hands a couple times and the current owners have left it for dead. The site has become old and stale and has the forums filled with spam.

These spammers are relentless offering clothes, shoes, handbags and porn. The unfortunate thing about Blog Explosion is that it was once an innovator when it came to blog networking and promotion. With such ideas like Blog Rocket, Battle of the Blogs and the Shoutbox. Now it is left without an administrator and a direction to do what it was created for, helping bloggers!

The group of volunteers I have come in contact with have done their best to keep the forums from being spamatized and getting the legit new blogs entered, approved. We have started a grass roots effort to snail mail the current owners, because all our efforts through CPU methods have had no returns. We need more correspondence sent, WE NEED YOUR HELP! If you are familiar with Blog Explosion you know what a great resource it once was for us bloggers. If you have never heard of Blog Explosion, please take a look around and imagine the possibilities it has to help bloggers like us. To promote, connect and rant on what we love, blogging.

If you are willing to help a couple of members have put together a form letter you can copy and send off into the mail to help the cause, click here. Another way to help is to push down the many entries in the forums that are just plain spam, we have compiled a list of users who are our usual suspects of spammers.

Even if we don't get Blog Explosion back to the bloggers, I hope to have it shut down so that children can not access the disgusting porn in some of the forums.

Thank you,

McSpazz

The Key to Blog Promotion

When promoting your blog you go to great lengths to have people read your thoughts. Whether you are in it to make money, fun, hobby or you don't have anything better to do, but if nobody reads it what is the point. There are many, many link referral sites and blog promotion sites some are better than others and a very few shouldn't be touched with a ten foot pole. Then there are the few that start off like wildfire and fall off usually due to the owners lack of interest. These sites then sit idle and get filled with spam and the bloggers who once depended on these sites find them to be of no use to them any longer. The sad part is, is that owner keeps the site up and running to make money off the advertisements and then new bloggers come in not realizing that this site is under great duress and waste their time signing up for something that can't be provided, a network of viewers, peers, shoulders to cry on and help. This has happened to a great site blogexplosion.com, once a great innovator of fun ideas like Battle of the Blogs, this site has been abandoned and left for the spammers to fill and unsuspecting bloggers to sign up, never to receive anything at all that is promised. I'm calling on all bloggers to draw attention to this site to either have the owner recognize what it could be or take it off the shelf so other new bloggers are not trapped into believing this site can help them. Please post in the forums real ideas, questions and thoughts to drown out the spammers posts. Look around and imagine what the site could be, some of the ideas the site originally contained could be lot of fun.

Thanks,

McSpazz

DVD Review: Burn After Reading

The Cohen brothers bring you another off-beat comedy; Burn After Reading has an all-state cast which includes Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton. The movie is filled with goofy, neurotic and obsessed characters that blend together to make a hilarious plot with unexpected moments.

Two dim-witted gym employees happen upon a disk of insignificant CIA files that they try to use to blackmail it's author. The two and the disk lead us through a path a anger, deception, insecurity, hilarity and murder. This movie is cleverly funny with a hilarious performance by Brad Pitt. It's definitely worth another viewing.

McSpazz's One/Two Word Description- Cleverly/Funny

McSpazz's Rating 3F

DVD Review: Journey to the Center of the Earth

Here we go again another family-friendly action adventure film starring Brendan Fraser. Based on the classic book by Jules Verne, Fraser stars as Trevor Anderson a struggling professor that recently lost his brother. He is asked to watch his thirteen year old nephew for a bit and the two find notes in his father's favorite book that could lead to a discovery that life does exist at the center of the earth.

The movie is filled with fill-in the line quips and predictable acting, but provides fun action that is adequate for the whole family. Brendan Fraser has been playing the same character for sometime now, but it is working for him. The movie kept my intention and my kids loved the over the top non-stop action it provided.

McSpazz's One/Two Description- Family Friendly

McSpazz's Rating is 2 1/2F

McSpazz's Top 5 Most Anticipated Movies of the Summer

With the summer movie season quickly approaching, it's time for McSpazz to list his Top 5 movies that he is looking forward to. Keep in mind McSpazz is a man's man and more than likely be leaving out anything that doesn't include action, fighting, chasing, laughing and good lookers.

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 17th)- Here is the sixth installment of the ever so popular books and movies series. Pushed back from its original release date of November 2008, the anticipation for this feature has grown even more. The series has taken a darker more serious tone, but still provides plenty of wizardly action and adventure. McSpazz has to admit it, he is a huge Harry Potter fan and doesn't care who knows it.



2. Bruno (May 15th)- Sacha Baron Cohen breaks out another hilarious character developed on his TV show Da Ali G Show. With the success and popularity of Borat this movie is sure to rake in the audience early and often. From Bruno's appearances on the TV series this movie is sure to be hilarious. Really, how couldn't a gay Austrian reporter who gets people to flip flop and change their own opinions not be funny.



3. Year One (June 15th)- The movie stars Jack Black and Michael Cera in a comedy based in year One of mankind. The duo are banished from their village and decide to take a romp through the ancient world. Anything with Mr. Black will make McSpazz giggle and Cera has proven to be a very funny low-key newcomer.
   
   
4. Star Trek (May 8th)- Although McSpazz was never a fan of the original TV series and subsequent movies, he was a fan of the Star Trek: Next Generation both TV and movie. With new stars and an outlandish budget comes another version of an old favorite. If successful, we'll sure to see another long run of Star Trek features. McSpazz is interested in seeing the new actors portray their roles and how they compare to the former stars. Action, adventure and special effects look to be abundant.


5. Up (May 29th)- Pixar looks to strike gold again with the new animated feature Up. Like all Pixar films Up looks to be both fun for kids and adults alike. McSpazz has a lot of kids so good family-fun adventures are always key during the summer. McSpazz and crew look forward to more laughs and adventure in Up.

The Thing I Dislike Most About Email/Blogging

It has been my experience with emails and blogging that it is very easy for people to take things the wrong way or miss construe them. It is such an impersonal relationship between people, that the interpretation of such things gets lost of the real point or matter. You don't see facial expressions or body language associated with what the writer is trying to dictate. For most people saying and showing what they mean is a lot easier to display than merely writing them in an informal manner. This has happened to me many times within my own blogs or comments to posts and emails to colleagues, friends, family and co-workers. Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm not good at conveying exactly what I mean in my emails and posts or possibly it is us, society as a whole relying to much on this informal method of communication. I will continue to explain and apologize for my unclear thoughts of my emails, blog posts and comments to people who take them the wrong way, but hopefully I will get better at explaining the true meanings of my messages. Until then, bare with me and I take this time to apologize before hand for any misunderstandings we may have.

DVD Review: My Best Friend's Girl

Dane Cook stars as Tank Turner, the king of assholes and savior of relationships. Tank is hired by associates and referrals to be the ultimate jerk date to get his customers girlfriends to run back into their arms.

Now his roommate and best friend, played by Jason Biggs has run into trouble with his girl Alexis (Kate Hudson). After initially denying the help of Tank, Biggs desperate for help enlists Tank as the last resort to get his "dream girl" back. As romantic comedies go, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how this movie plays out.

Though the movie is predictable and the acting is slightly above average, the movie does supply you with laughs and one hysterical scene with Biggs, shaving and hair. He just can't seem to get away from clippers in movies.

In the beginning I felt like shutting it off quickly, but luckily I kept it on, and it provided good laughs and the great ass and legs of Kate Hudson. If your stuck having to watch a romantic comedy this isn't a bad choice.

McSpazz's Rating is 2 1/2F

DVD Review: Pineapple Express

When I picked it up I thought to myself "this is going to be funny." Another stoner movie with an actor (Seth Rogen) who I really enjoy his work. Unfortunately, it was the most boring, bland and laughless stoner movie I have ever seen.



Dale (Rogen) is a pot smoking, talk radio loving, high school dating, disguise wearing process server. In the last couple of months he has been purchasing his weed through his new dealer, Sol (James Franco). Sol, like most pot dealers/smokers is a laid back, dreamer who is oblivious to the real world.



Dale has to serve the wrong person on one faithful night, Ted (Gary Cole) who is the towns main mary jane supplier and where Sol gets his great weed from. Before being able to serve Ted (Cole), Dale (Rogen) witnesses a murder committed by Ted (Cole) and his corrupt police woman girlfriend (Rosie Perez). Now not only is Dale being chased down by Ted's over emotional thugs, but Sol is now involved through the marijuana he has sold him.



The unfunny and lame chase begins and ends with the message even potheads can dream and accomplish their dreams. The movie also contains a ton of man love under tones.



There were a couple of funny scenes, but not enough to like or ever want to see this movie again.



McSpazz's Review 1 1/2F. An extra half just, because I like Seth Rogen.