Lily Would Like To Wish Everyone A Happy New Year!

My Workout For Sunday January 19

I earned 1053 points for my workout on Fitocracy!

Barbell Incline Bench Press +200 pts

55 lb x 12 reps (+47 pts)

65 lb x 12 reps (+51 pts)

75 lb x 9 reps (+52 pts)

75 lb x 7 reps (+50 pts)

Standing Barbell Calf Raise +51 pts

65 lb x 12 reps (+12 pts)

75 lb x 12 reps (+13 pts)

85 lb x 10 reps (+13 pts)

85 lb x 10 reps (+13 pts)

Dips - Triceps Version +8 pts

12 reps || assisted || 130 lb (+2 pts)

6 reps || assisted || 115 lb (+2 pts)

5 reps || assisted || 115 lb (+2 pts)

4 reps || assisted || 115 lb (+2 pts)

Dumbbell Bench Press +208 pts

35 lb x 12 reps (+52 pts)

40 lb x 12 reps (+56 pts)

45 lb x 5 reps (+50 pts)

45 lb x 5 reps (+50 pts)

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press +174 pts

15 lb x 12 reps (+41 pts)

20 lb x 12 reps (+44 pts)

20 lb x 10 reps (+43 pts)

25 lb x 10 reps (+46 pts)

Barbell Squat +212 pts

65 lb x 12 reps (+49 pts)

75 lb x 12 reps (+53 pts)

85 lb x 10 reps (+55 pts)

85 lb x 10 reps (+55 pts)

Stretching +2 pts

0:10:00 (+2 pts)

Barbell Deadlift +198 pts

55 lb x 12 reps (+46 pts)

65 lb x 12 reps (+49 pts)

75 lb x 10 reps (+52 pts)

75 lb x 9 reps (+51 pts)

Think you can beat me, or want to comment?

Fitocracy is the social fitness community that has helped hundreds of thousands level up their fitness. Start your fitness transformation today!

Now available for free on both iPhone and Android!

This is how "Numb" was during the Achtung Baby sessions.  An industrial rock hymn.  While the song it would eventually become is a staggering success, "Down All The Days" shows how many directions U2 were willing to go with their core.  And a beautiful approach this song would have been.

My Workout For Thursday January 16

I earned 723 points for my workout on Fitocracy!

Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Row +86 pts

25 lb x 12 reps (+42 pts)

30 lb x 12 reps (+44 pts)

Side Plank +17 pts

25 sec (+17 pts)

Dumbbell Bicep Curl +104 pts

15 lb x 12 reps (+26 pts)

20 lb x 12 reps (+27 pts)

20 lb x 10 reps (+26 pts)

20 lb x 8 reps (+25 pts)

Plank +7 pts

20 sec (+7 pts)

Reverse Crunch +68 pts

15 reps (+19 pts)

15 reps (+19 pts)

12 reps (+15 pts)

12 reps (+15 pts)

Dumbbell Shrug +73 pts

15 lb x 12 reps (+17 pts)

20 lb x 12 reps (+18 pts)

25 lb x 12 reps (+19 pts)

30 lb x 10 reps (+19 pts)

Upright Barbell Row +93 pts

55 lb x 12 reps (+23 pts)

65 lb x 10 reps (+24 pts)

65 lb x 8 reps (+23 pts)

65 lb x 8 reps (+23 pts)

Cycling (stationary) +19 pts

0:05:00 || 1.1 mi (+19 pts)

Stiff-Legged Barbell Deadlift +190 pts

45 lb x 12 reps (+43 pts)

55 lb x 12 reps (+46 pts)

65 lb x 12 reps (+49 pts)

75 lb x 10 reps (+52 pts)

Bent Over Barbell Row +56 pts

65 lb x 12 reps (+28 pts)

75 lb x 8 reps (+28 pts)

Stretching +2 pts

0:10:00 (+2 pts)

Pull-Up +8 pts

12 reps || assisted || 145 lb (+2 pts)

6 reps || assisted || 130 lb (+2 pts)

4 reps || assisted || 130 lb (+2 pts)

6 reps || assisted || 130 lb (+2 pts)

Think you can beat me, or want to comment?

Fitocracy is the social fitness community that has helped hundreds of thousands level up their fitness. Start your fitness transformation today!

Now available for free on both iPhone and Android!

Wreck-It Ralph Review

    Henry David Thoreau said in his novel Walden: "The mass of men lead lives of quite desperation.  What is called resignation is confirmed desperation."  A person faces this moment of resignation when realizing the monotony of his or her life.  How a person handles that moment defines his or her character.     Rich Moore's Wreck-It Ralph, the latest film from Walt Disney Animation Studios, is a beautiful, fully-rendered take on this .     Wreck-It Ralph is the villain of the Donkey Kong-inspired fictional arcade game Fix-It Felix, Jr.  The game sits in Litwak's Arcade with several other games.  After the arcade closes for the day, the games' characters come together in their own universe, living like humans do after a day of work - hanging out together, getting drinks, going home, and having parties.     On the 30th anniversary of Fix-It Felix, Jr.'s release, the characters throw a party to celebrate without inviting Ralph.  Fed up with being seen as only a villain, he decides to "game-jump" - leave his proper game and enter another - in order to prove that he can be a hero.  However, his game-jumping yields the possibility of not only closing his game up for good but also wreaking havoc on other games' viability in the arcade.  His journey leads him to Vanellope von Schweetz, a misfit in the candy-coated fictional racing game Sugar Rush who glitches uncontrollably and is feared to scare away gamers if she is allowed to actively race.  Both see the desire to be more than who they are seen to be, and both work together to try to make their dreams come true.     The sheer detail put into the universe crafted is astounding.  Not only are classics like Pac-Man, Tapper, Street Fighter II, and Q-bert mentioned, their characters play small but significant parts to the film.  The 8-bit style movements of the ancillary Fix-It Felix, Jr. characters start as a gag that slowly becomes a quirk that would have been unnatural to leave out.  Even the send-up of first-person action games in the construct of Hero's Duty and of racing games in the construct of Sugar Rush evolve to define their respective gaming environments.  A film of this nature could have simply rested on its laurels by making as many arcade game and geek culture references like this as possible.     What Wreck-It Ralph does so successfully is run askew of expectations, providing an exciting, engaging, and thought-provoking experience.     The voice acting is top-notch.  John C. Reilly turns on his lovable oaf mode for the title character.  Reilly is a versatile character actor, spanning drama and comedy  with ease, and he has perfected the lovable oaf through several of his films, but his Ralph is imbibed with more heart and self-assurance than usual.  Part outcast, part father-figure, all soul, Ralph is fully realized by Reilly.     Sarah Silverman inverts her raunchy schtick into something annoyingly adorable as Vanellope von Schweetz.  Her approach to Vanellope is very much like Lily Tomlin's Edith Ann character but more fully fleshed out.  Her chemistry with Reilly is impeccable, and her moments of sadness are as significantly felt has her moments of euphoria, and Silverman makes Vanellope a truly memorable figure of innocence.     Alan Tudyk channels Ed Wynn, the voice of the Mad Hatter from the original Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland, with wonderful effect as King Candy, the hilarious and threatening antagonist of Sugar Rush.  Tudyk takes Wynn's vocal tics and amplifies them to 11.  His versatility is impressive, and he plays off Silverman and Reilly with ease.     Jane Lynch plays a variation of her Sue Sylvester from Glee as Sergeant Calhoun, the lead soldier in the light-gun game Hero's Duty.  Calhoun is someone that should have been in the film Aliens, a strong-willed and determined soldier whose deep fear of her game's antagonists hilariously borders on paranoia.  Her backstory is played for laughs as it should, but Lynch effectively takes that backstory and fills in the emotional gaps Calhoun would have had, making Calhoun an affecting creation.     Jack McBrayer is known for playing the sweet, innocent, "Mayberry-type" character.  What makes his approach to Felix notable in his repertoire is how rooted in Disney tradition Felix is.  Felix is the only character in the film who can do nothing but the right thing.  He's so rooted in in the moral high ground that he cannot help but be attracted to Calhoun, someone who is as determined to do good as he is.  He is Jiminy Cricket, Thumper, Flounder, and Zazu combined, and Felix never comes across as false or overdrawn under McBrayer's approach.     The writing, as done by Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee, is tight and perfectly structured, using Pixar's Toy Story as a template.  The initial plot point - Ralph wanting a medal to prove he is a hero - gives way to several plot points, such as Vanellope's desire to be a full-fledged racer, Felix falling for the equally heroic Calhoun, Calhoun's backstory of a lost love, and the story of a long lost arcade game in which the character game-jumped and caused both his game and the other game were taken out of the arcade permanently.  The writing is so taut that each of these plot points are resolved and have significance in the overall story, and Johnston and Lee allow the audience to trust them to guide the story effortlessly.  The result is a fast-paced story with heart and soul, the best paced animated film from Disney in a long time.     Rich Moore has a long history with animation, directing several of the finest episodes of The Simpsons and having a hand in the finest episodes of Futurama.  Moore knows how to balance story and themes, and he allows the film to be unpredictable, trusting every actor and crewmember to carry the foundation of the film.     Maybe the most impressive aspect of the film is that foundation.  So many plot points, so many characters, so many references, so many details, but none of it feels overwhelming.  It's all because of the foundation.  Ralph is thirty years old, and being treated as the villain all these years has him facing his own quiet desperation.  He wants to be a hero.  He wants the appreciation Felix gets from the building tenants.  He wants to do good deeds without anyone fearing him.  He wants to break out of that desperation.     From this point, the film begins to address the following - what does it mean to be a hero, and is resignation the point of no return?  Ralph starts out purely selfish in his desire to earn a medal that shows that he's a hero.  After meeting Vanellope and becoming a part of her selfish game of becoming a full-fledged racer, their mutual selfishness gives way to a strong friendship based on doing anything to make the other person's dreams come true.  The natural evolution of their friendship is fantastic, and moments of struggle and hardship are fully felt.  In the end, the point of resignation shows what all of the characters are truly worth, and the film's ending is earned without succumbing to melodrama.     Walt Disney Animation Studios has ironically been seen as a step-sibling to Pixar as of late.  Starting with Tangled, Walt Disney Animation Studios has slowly built itself back to relevance.  With Wreck-It Ralph, Walt Disney Animation Studios has made a film that is on par with Pixar's repertoire and stands as the finest animated Disney film since the Disney Renaissance of the late 80's and early 90's.  Here's hoping that this is the beginning of another Renaissance. Movie Rating: 9.5/10 The best paced animated film Disney has released in a long time. Film Rating: 9/10 The Hero's Journey gives way to how to face the point of resignation - with head held high and the resolve that this is not the end. Disney Film Rating: 9/10 It's not a straight kid's film due to some of the subject matter, but it's perfect fun for the whole family. Video Game Film Rating: 10/10 By not being about a real video game in particular, the film focuses on the characters and on the arcade universe in general, becoming the greatest video game film ever in the process.

La La Land Review

La La Land Review

Automobiles are jammed in traffic on an exit ramp in Los Angeles in a sunny winter. Everyone is restless and impatient. One person breaks out in song, then another, and one by one most of those stuck in traffic sing and dance, showing off vivid pigments of blue, red, green, and yellow. As the song goes it’s “Another Day of Sun.” Cue titles. This is the beginning of La La Land, an homage to 1940s…

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My Workout For Thursday January 30

I earned 794 points for my workout on Fitocracy!

Stretching +2 pts

0:10:00 (+2 pts)

Barbell Deadlift +210 pts

65 lb x 12 reps (+49 pts)

85 lb x 10 reps (+55 pts)

85 lb x 8 reps (+53 pts)

85 lb x 8 reps (+53 pts)

Dips - Triceps Version +10 pts

1 reps (+2 pts)

12 reps || assisted || 130 lb (+2 pts)

8 reps || assisted || 115 lb (+2 pts)

7 reps || assisted || 115 lb (+2 pts)

4 reps || assisted || 100 lb (+2 pts)

Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press +175 pts

15 lb x 12 reps (+44 pts)

20 lb x 12 reps (+47 pts)

25 lb x 7 reps (+46 pts)

25 lb x 4 reps (+38 pts)

Standing Calf Raises +18 pts

12 reps || weighted || 65 lb (+4 pts)

12 reps || weighted || 85 lb (+5 pts)

12 reps || weighted || 95 lb (+5 pts)

10 reps || weighted || 105 lb (+4 pts)

Dumbbell Bench Press +155 pts

30 lb x 12 reps (+49 pts)

40 lb x 12 reps (+56 pts)

45 lb x 5 reps (+50 pts)

Tried to do a fourth set, but my body couldn't push through. Next time...

Barbell Squat +224 pts

65 lb x 12 reps (+49 pts)

85 lb x 12 reps (+57 pts)

95 lb x 10 reps (+59 pts)

95 lb x 10 reps (+59 pts)

Think you can beat me, or want to comment?

Fitocracy is the social fitness community that has helped hundreds of thousands level up their fitness. Start your fitness transformation today!

Now available for free on both iPhone and Android!

My Workout For Friday February 07

I earned 783 points for my workout on Fitocracy!

Upright Barbell Row +92 pts

45 lb x 12 reps (+21 pts)

65 lb x 11 reps (+24 pts)

65 lb x 11 reps (+24 pts)

65 lb x 8 reps (+23 pts)

Dumbbell Shrug +80 pts

30 lb x 12 reps (+19 pts)

40 lb x 10 reps (+20 pts)

40 lb x 10 reps (+20 pts)

45 lb x 10 reps (+21 pts)

Reverse Crunch +90 pts

20 reps (+26 pts)

18 reps (+23 pts)

17 reps (+22 pts)

15 reps (+19 pts)

Plank +22 pts

35 sec (+12 pts)

30 sec (+10 pts)

Dumbbell Bicep Curl +102 pts

15 lb x 12 reps (+26 pts)

25 lb x 10 reps (+27 pts)

25 lb x 7 reps (+26 pts)

25 lb x 5 reps (+23 pts)

Side Plank +38 pts

30 sec (+21 pts)

25 sec (+17 pts)

Pull-Up +26 pts

1 reps (+13 pts)

1 reps (+13 pts)

Not one complete one, but 8 of them getting my chin just at the bottom of the bar. I am getting closer...

Stretching +2 pts

0:10:00 (+2 pts)

Bent Over Barbell Row +125 pts

65 lb x 12 reps (+28 pts)

85 lb x 12 reps (+32 pts)

95 lb x 10 reps (+33 pts)

95 lb x 8 reps (+32 pts)

Stiff-Legged Barbell Deadlift +206 pts

55 lb x 12 reps (+46 pts)

75 lb x 12 reps (+53 pts)

85 lb x 9 reps (+54 pts)

85 lb x 8 reps (+53 pts)

Think you can beat me, or want to comment?

Fitocracy is the social fitness community that has helped hundreds of thousands level up their fitness. Start your fitness transformation today!

Now available for free on both iPhone and Android!

My Week With Marilyn Review

Marilyn Monroe is and will always be an enigma.  A movie star by all accounts, Monroe had an ineffable quality that hypnotized men and women alike.  She was the definition of bombshell, but what set her apart from beauties of that ilk in the past, present, and future was that she had the ability as an actor to carry a movie on her shoulders and make it look effortless.

However, that talent was marred by personal issues that eventually led to her death in 1962.  She was plagued by a lack of self-confidence and the struggle to maintain her public image while never fully dealing with her private image.  These issues are well-documented in books, articles, and movies.  Simon Curtis' My Week With Marilyn presents a portion of these issues from another angle with varying results.

Based off of the non-fiction books The Prince, The Showgirl, and Me and My Week with Marilyn, the story is told from the point of view of Colin Clark, the third assistant director of The Prince and the Showgirl the adaptation of the play The Sleeping Prince.  Sir Laurence Olivier brings in Monroe to play the titular Showgirl, and while he gets the performance he wants, he struggles with her emotional and professional baggage, namely her new marriage to playwright Arthur Miller, her acting coach Paula Strasberg, and her knack for taking multiple takes to get the scenes right.  Clark, working through his infatuation with Monroe, strikes up a romance with her, witnessing her lows and her highs in front of and behind the camera.

This film is an acting haven, and the meat of the film lies with all of the actors bringing their A-game.

Michelle Williams becomes Marilyn Monroe.  The mannerisms, the emotional struggle, the effortless shifting between her private and public persona, all of it captured with skill.  All of the facial expressions are uncannily Monroe, and Williams makes sure never to come off as a cheap imitation.  That ineffable quality of Monroe is perfectly emulated, giving us Michelle Williams' best performance to date and maintains her standing as one of the finest actresses of her generation.

Kenneth Branagh fully commits to being Sir Laurence Olivier.  Branagh was the most obvious choice for Olivier - both are Shakespeare experts in theater and film, and both lay claim to the finest Shakespeare adaptations of Henry V and, arguably, Hamlet.  He presents the quiet desperation of an aging British stage actor coming to terms with the youthfulness of the American Method.  His lack of understanding counteracts with his fascination with one take that captures Monroe's perfection versus the many takes to get there.  With that resolve, Kenneth Branagh gives one of his best performances in a long time, and makes me eager to see him age with grace on screen and off.

As the audience's window to the story, Eddie Redmayne does a fine job as Colin Clark.  Clark is largely two-dimensional, and because he is a window for the audience, all that matters to us with him is that we see what he sees, but he allows us to feel his infatuation in all of its glory from conception to heartbreak, and Redmayne carries the film well.  It may not be the showiest acting, but Eddie Redmayne holds his own amongst acting giants.

The supporting rolls make impacts as well.  Dame Judi Dench is as wonderful as always as Dame Sybil Thorndike, a stalwart of British acting amazed by Monroe's magic.  Julia Ormond briefly shines as Vivian Leigh, showing the admiration and jealousy as an actress seeing her former glory passed onto Monroe.  Dougray Scott, unrecognizable as Arthur Miller, presents a husband who was captivated by his wife's public image while unable to deal with her personal strife.  Dominic Cooper, as one of Marilyn's entourage and a man who had been in a similar situation as Clark, personifies Clark's conscience and better judgment with ease.  Emma Watson, maturing gracefully from her stint in the Harry Potter series, is ever impressive in the small role of Clark's initial interest.

This kind of acting pedigree could have made any film great if there was a strong backbone to support it.  However, director Simon Curtis never balances his work with the actors with a firm grasp on the technical aspects of the film.

The nature of the story is basic - man falls for woman, woman eventually falls for man, man and woman have a jolly time together, man and woman eventually part ways.  There are a lot of more interesting details that pepper the story or could pepper it - British stagecraft versus American Method, Vivian Leigh and her eventual mental decline, Sir Laurence Olivier and his aging perspective - but those details are so briefly handled that they come off as missed opportunities.  In fact, those avenues are more interesting than the actual trajectory of the film.  The framework provided by screenwriter Adrian Hodges isn't enough to keep the audience's interest.

What's more frustrating is that the editing was sloppy, making what should have been a simple approach messy.  The flow of the film isn't consistent as it wants to move briskly with a story that has no choice but to take its time.  Scenes involving body doubles are obvious, bordering on unintentionally funny.  Equally heinous are the cuts within a scene between a close-up and a general shot that don't match.

The more subtle but still important error made by this film is that it tells a specific story with a general theme about Marilyn that everyone knows already - her public persona was in conflict with her private life.  No new insight is gained.  If the audience knows the general idea before seeing the film, what purpose does the film serve for the audience?

It's a fundamental question that Simon Curtis doesn't answer.  The purpose it serves for everyone else involved is to showcase talents either developed or developing.  The unfortunate thing about *My Week With Marilyn* is that it is unnecessary, not functioning fully as art or entertainment.  However, as a showcase for the actors and how the director works with the actors, it is a minor but unmistakable triumph. Movie Rating: 5/10 It's the basic story of a romantic fling between an ordinary man and a complicated woman.  Moments of humor and drama, but nothing special story-wise. Film Rating: 7/10 The acting across the board is the sole reason to see this film.  It's a master class in how to emulate well-known figures without becoming caricatures. Biopic Rating: 5/10 Michelle Williams is a wonderful Marilyn Monroe.  However, the story doesn't shed light on anything new about Monroe.

My Workout For Tuesday January 21

I earned 728 points for my workout on Fitocracy!

Stretching +2 pts

0:10:00 (+2 pts)

Pull-Up +8 pts

12 reps || assisted || 145 lb (+2 pts)

6 reps || assisted || 130 lb (+2 pts)

4 reps || assisted || 130 lb (+2 pts)

4 reps || assisted || 130 lb (+2 pts)

Bent Over Barbell Row +112 pts

55 lb x 12 reps (+26 pts)

65 lb x 12 reps (+28 pts)

75 lb x 10 reps (+29 pts)

75 lb x 10 reps (+29 pts)

Upright Barbell Row +93 pts

55 lb x 12 reps (+23 pts)

65 lb x 10 reps (+24 pts)

65 lb x 9 reps (+23 pts)

65 lb x 9 reps (+23 pts)

Plank +20 pts

30 sec (+10 pts)

30 sec (+10 pts)

Stiff-Legged Barbell Deadlift +199 pts

55 lb x 12 reps (+46 pts)

65 lb x 12 reps (+49 pts)

75 lb x 10 reps (+52 pts)

75 lb x 10 reps (+52 pts)

Side Plank +42 pts

30 sec (+21 pts)

30 sec (+21 pts)

Dumbbell Shrug +75 pts

20 lb x 12 reps (+18 pts)

25 lb x 12 reps (+19 pts)

30 lb x 10 reps (+19 pts)

30 lb x 10 reps (+19 pts)

Reverse Crunch +76 pts

15 reps (+19 pts)

15 reps (+19 pts)

15 reps (+19 pts)

15 reps (+19 pts)

Dumbbell Bicep Curl +101 pts

15 lb x 12 reps (+26 pts)

20 lb x 12 reps (+27 pts)

25 lb x 6 reps (+25 pts)

25 lb x 5 reps (+23 pts)

Think you can beat me, or want to comment?

Fitocracy is the social fitness community that has helped hundreds of thousands level up their fitness. Start your fitness transformation today!

Now available for free on both iPhone and Android!

It’s Mad Men Week on The A.V. Club

As you’re probably aware, Mad Men returns on Sunday, April 5, kicking off the final seven episodes of its heralded seven-season run. In honor of the show’s return and final wrapup, The A.V. Club is offering extra madmen-amc coverage all this week. We kick things off today with:

The tao of Don: 17 pop-cultural predecessors to Mad Men

Mad Men’s Jay R. Ferguson on Zach Galifianakis and kids-only planes

Don Draper is no antihero

More at avclub.com