Author Archives: Michael C. McGreevy

Captain Random Strikes Again

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I think I might need to take another look at The Artist’s Way. Sam got me a copy of it several years ago, but the touchy-feely aspects of the book really turned me off and I put it down.  I don’t even know where my copy is.  Krystalle picked up a copy of it for herself a few weeks ago, and while she was just as put off by those aspects as I was she has been working with the program and it seems to be making a big difference for her.

I need to do something, though. I feel like I’m out of touch with my writing.  I’ve gotten used to communicating via 140 character messages on Twitter and I seem to lose cohesion on my longer posts very quickly.  Yesterday, for example, I started writing a piece on super hero archetypes as leaders and why Bush, who could be compared to Batman, failed.  It started out strongly enough but I just kinda fizzled out and ended up saving it to a text file on my desktop.  I may or may not pick it back up again at some point.

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[Insert Fish Related Pun Here]

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The selection of an image with two blowfish next to each other is completely coincidental. Honest.

Image by fischerhuder

Sometimes you have to find witty ways to write about a subject and other times the stories just kinda write themselves.  Case in point?  The following headline from an article over at The Guardian.

Blowfish Testicles poison seven in Japanese restaurant

You know, I get that there is a certain amount of appeal in eating food that is kind of edgy, and blowfish certainly falls into that category.  You’re talking about a “delicacy” that, if not prepared properly, is about 100 times more deadly than cyanide.  There comes a point, however, when even those who like eating on the wild side have to stop and say “is this really a good idea?”

For me that line just happens to be poisonous testicles.

Quote Of The Day

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It is my belief that when man is given a choice to work, or not to work, he will choose not to.  That is why the invention of a machine that will do all of man’s work for him will be the destruction of our society.  The human condition is not prepared for the drastic change that will be inflicted by such a machine.  It will remove the sense of purpose that man has unknowingly needed throughout all of recorded time.

– Joe Popp, Maxwell :  A New Rock Musical by Joe Popp

Retro Dieting – The Bad Old Days

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icanhascheezurger.com

icanhascheezurger.com

It has been often said that being optimistic is incredibly helpful when you are struggling to lose weight.  Admittedly, it is hard to be optimistic when you are faced with choking down that eighth glass of water for the day or you are trying to learn to love vegetables, but the fact of the matter is that modern dieters have it easy.  Not only do we have a plethora of products that are packaged to help us with portion control, but many diets these days are loaded with foods that are, quite frankly, delicious.

It wasn’t always this way, my friends.

I grew up in a dieting household.  When I was growing up my Mother (and, by extension, her children) took part in just about every diet craze that was out there.  I can recall tuna fish diets, grape fruit diets, diets that involved granular shakes, and diets that with daily calorie intakes that would have the Olsen Twins duking it out in a cage match over a Snickers at the end of the day.

But what I remember the most is the liver.

A lot has been said over the years about the medical benefits of eating liver.  From a health perspective, it is one of the best sources of Vitamin A, a compound that promotes healthy vision, bone growth, and assists in fighting off infections.  It is also thought to help regulate blood sugar and aid weight loss efforts.

It is also…well…liver.

Please understand – I don’t want to take anything away from those of you who actually like eating liver, but you have to admit that for a large number of people even the thought of eating liver is enough to bring on a serious case of the DO NOT WANTS.  That being said, there was a time when it was a regular staple in our household.  You see, back in the early 70’s the folks over at Weight Watchers decided it was so important to eat liver that it was REQUIRED that you do so at least once a week.  My Mother cleverly disguised it of course.  She never told us we were eating liver, but that we were eating braunschweiger.  It worked for a while, too, but eventually one of us actually read the packaging when she brought it in from the store and the jig was up.

The other day my Mom gave me a Weight Watchers cookbook from the early 80’s.  By this point in the program history they had moved away from requiring liver, but it was still a pretty big focus of the recipe book – so much so that Liver has its very own section.  Now I’m all for trying new things, but some of these recipes sound downright revolting, but my “favorite” has to be the Fruit ‘N’ Rice-Filled Liver.

In fact, I’m so grossed out by this particular recipe I’m gonna share the love.

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Twitterpated

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I haven’t made a post here in almost a month, and all I have is the really lame excuse of “I was busy with the holidays and rehearsing for a show.”  I’m still really busy, actually.  I just started a new semester of classes at Saint Petersburg College (I’m taking the classes necessary to get into their B.S. Technology Management program).

That being said, my creativity is kind of at an all time low – which really sucks because I’m working on a super-secret new project with some friends that is going to require quite a bit of creativity from me in very short order.

The preceding two paragraphs were a lame setup for the cheesy premise of the post that follows.  I’m going to take some of my tweets from the last month and expand on them.

So lame.

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Fitness Related Video Games Installed In Schools

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Image courtesy of ajimixx

Image courtesy of ajimixx

Video game players do not have a reputation for being paragons of physical fitness (with the possible exception of freakishly strong thumbs). In recent years, though, there has been a growing trend of console based games that have gotten us up off the couch. From party games like Dance Dance Revolution, Rock Band, and Samba de Amigo to games specifically designed for physical fitness like Yourself Fitness and Wii Fit, the video game industry seems determined to help us shake off our couch potato reputation.

Hoping to capitalize on the popularity of these trends, many youth oriented activity centers are using video games to entice children into burning more calories. Not only are fitness centers like the YMCA installing consoles to appeal to kids, the school board of Stafford County, Virginia, has jumped on the bandwagon as well. Over a dozen schools in the district now have fitness centers with a “technology twist.”

It seems likely that this trend will only continue to grow. Despite its lack of “next gen” graphics and titles designed to appeal to traditional hard core gamers the Nintendo Wii was yet again the hottest selling console during the most recent holiday shopping season. It is only a matter of time before Sony and Microsoft jump on the bandwagon and expand their catalog of games that get us moving, and while they may not turn us into super models they might help to counter all those Doritos we suck down while playing.

More Blatherings on WoW

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Wrath of the Lich King has been out for just over a month now, and so far I have to say I’m enjoying much of the new content.

Well, let me put a disclaimer on that.  I’ve found ways to enjoy the time I’m spending in game much more than I was before the expansion was released.  For one, I’ve been holding off on doing any quests until such a time as Krystalle is available to run with me.  As she’s been crazy busy recently, that means my main character has only hit level 75.  I’m ok with that.  I figure I’m only going to get a chance to see the new stuff once with fresh eyes, and I’d like to actually do that with her so we can share the experience instead of going back and running it with her again when I’ve already blown through it.

From everything I have encountered so far, though, and from everything I’m reading online and seeing in our guild, I am severely dissapointed in how easy they have made everything as far as new content is concerned.  Yes, I realize I haven’t encountered much of it yet – but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that when one guild manages to beat the most difficult dungeon in the expansion within a week of release there really isn’t much in the way of challenge waiting for me.

I’m not the only one, either.  I’ve noticed that a lot of the formerly “hard core” raiders in our guild are in no rush to get to the current endgame and the sentiment is pretty much the same throughout – if there’s no challenge waiting for us, there’s no motivation to get back to the point where you are doing the same thing night after night.  Only two of the five officers in the guild have characters at the level cap.  Of the sub officers, of which there are four, only one is there.

Interestingly we have a good number of players in guild who HAVE hit 80.  Some of them on multiple characters.  I log into game and watch them, and other than the fact that they have gotten to experience some of the more interesting parts of the game that I haven’t gotten to yet I do not at all envy the fact that every night I see them running the same dungeons over and over again trying to get that “one drop” or grinding a faction.  Someone mentioned in guild today that we should be attempting to do a raid boss in Wintergrasp every week because it’s quick and will gear people up.

Ugh.

I just can’t find the motivation to get back into that mindset.  I want to be challenged.  I want my accomplishments in game to represent the fact that I worked hard and was dedicated to getting something done.  That’s why I’ve been spending a lot of time working on achievements.  As much as I bagged on them as being a way to get players to run content again that they have already done, I can at least take some solace that you have to either be really dedicated (or insane) to get many of them.

The hope out there among the hard core WoW players is that we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg as far as new content in the expansion and that later raids will be more challenging.  One can only hope.  Of course, when that happens I’ll be behind the curve as far as gear is concerned…but you know what?  Again, not so much with the caring.  I’ve made up my mind that if I’m not having fun doing something in game I’m simply not doing it anymore.  I spent far too long treating the game like a job, and more often than not for other people’s benefit.  I’m paying to play this game.  When someone decides they want to pay me to play I’ll re-evaluate my stance.

NY Governor Proposes 15% “Obesity Tax” On Soda

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Image by sallyvan

Image by sallyvan

One of the biggest obstacles that many of us in the geek subculture have to overcome when trying to be healthy is our love of caffeinated beverages.  While many a light night gaming session has been powered by a case of Jolt Cola, the “empty calories” in those jittery all-nighters are brutal on the waist line.  One can of Mountain Dew has 110 calories alone!

Well, residents of New York will soon have more motivation to cut a few extra cans out of their diet.  Governor David Patterson has added an item to the 2009 state budget that would add a 15% “obesity tax” on non-diet sodas.  According to the New York Daily News this plan will raise an estimated $404 million dollars a year for the State of New York.  Unlike similar tax increases on luxury items such as cigarettes and alcohol, the money raised by these taxes do not appear to be earmarked for heatlh care purposes.  In fact, Governor Davis is reportedly proposing a $3.5 billion cut in health care spending.

On the whole we could all probably stand to have a few less sodas in our lives, but whether or not a tax increase will have a noticeable impact on sugary cola consumption remains to be seen.  The $404 million dollar number seems like it is based on current soda purchases, so if Governor Davis is counting on those dollars it doesn’t seem very likely that he believes the new tax is going to be much of a deterrent either.  Sadly, it appears as though he is counting on the soda drinkers in New York to continue their sugary ways.

Is It Worth It?

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This isn’t some kind of deep, soul-searching blog post.  Please don’t let the title fool you.  I’m kicking around a financial decision and I could use some advice/input from my friends.

I have two $10,000 life insurance policies that my Mother took out when I was in elementary school and passed on to me.  If I’m reading the paperwork correctly, at the age of 36 these policies that are probably close to 30 years old have amassed a whopping cash value of $596 each.  I pay $18.20 quarterly for each of these policies, so I’m shelling out $145.60 a year to maintain them.

I have PMI on my mortgage that is paid monthly, so if the worst were to happen the house would be paid for.  On top of that I have a sizable life insurance policy through work that I pay extra to have increased.  It is set up to be split between Alex, Krystalle and Jareth if.  It wouldn’t be enough to set them up for life, but the house would be paid for and Krystalle could make sure all of my debts were paid off and they would all still have a decent cushion for a while.

I’ve always looked at the two $10k life insurance policies as my “funeral” policies.  That money would probably cover the funeral and subsequent mad party I have requested should I shake off this mortal coil.  In the grand scheme of things, that money is a pretty small drop in the bucket and won’t come near covering what my other policies do.

All of this leads to my question – If you were me, would you continue paying for the two policies or would you cash them in and use that money to pay down debts (or, more likely, pay off the new debt incurred by Christmas)?