Tough Guy Tuesday - Week One

I've began to notice that my arms are getting smaller and smaller while my pants keep getting tighter and tighter. I've decided to use public embarrassment and shame as my motivation for getting into better shape. Every Tuesday I will post a picture of my shirtless self to track my progress. It's also kind of an experiment to see if an average guy, with a hectic schedule, and no gym membership can still find enough time to make a difference in his appearance.

This Weeks Stats:

Push-Ups: 0

Pull-Ups: 0

Sit-Ups: 0

Lunges: 0

Minutes Ran: 0

Current Weight: 196.8lbs

Other: I think it's important to have a plan. As of now my only plan is to focus on the previous five categories and improving in them everyday. ie do 75 push-ups one day do 80 the next and so on. I also eventually want to gain wieght... bulk up if you will. But first I want to lose my little cushion around my belly... So my first goal is to lose ten pounds.

As you can see I've got some work to do. So, here's to hoping for a better week next week! Wish me luck!

-Travis Cox_

Out of Towners

Inspired by the desire to blog more frequently I give you the following:

Many of you know that I work at Texas Roadhouse and last night I was seated with to people from Nottingham, England. And for some reason I love getting sat with foreigners. Most servers hate it because they are notorious for ordering small plates (they did) and tipping badly (they did) but I love talking to people who think that my world is strange. I asked the lady if she wanted marshmallows and caramel sauce on her sweet potato... she almost fell out of her chair.

They were incredibly friendly and talkative and open. And when their food finally came they used adjectives like proper: "This is the first proper food we've had in America." and inspired: "Do you like the marshmallows?" said I. "Yes. This is really inspired."

Anyway. They were cool people. That is all.

Double Vision

Well, in keeping with the 'random' part of this blog I thought I'd share this way cool optical illusion I stumbled across. When you look at it up close you should see Albert Einstein. But if you go across the room and look at it you should see Marilyn Monroe. How cool is that! And apparently it's more than cool. Check out this article to see how scientists use images like this to study how our brains process light. It's pretty interesting.

Star Trek Review

I know this is old news for the majority of you… but I just saw the new Star Trek movie and I thought I would share my thoughts. Before I start getting all analytical and stuff let me just say: Awesome! I’m sorry, I don’t like to shamelessly praise movies but every so often there comes a movie where one just can’t help it. I loved it. Here’s why:

This movie literally had everything the movie-goer could ask for.  High energy action, just the right amount of comedy, some genuinely touching moments, and pretty people! Speaking of pretty people… the casting was absolutely brilliant. They managed to find the perfect person to play every role! Some particular favorites were Simon Pegg as Scotty (Love him!) Zachary Quinto as Spock (He was great in Heroes he was great in this.) And Eric Bana as Nero. (Didn’t even realize it was him until the end.) Oh, and of course Leonard Nemoy was also cast spot on. ;) While we’re on the subject of pretty people I need to give a head nod to the make-up crew of this film. Everything from prosthetics, to cuts, shaving eyebrows, to painting bodies green. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an Oscar nominee for those folks. They helped us believe that these were the younger versions of all the characters we know and love in the original Star Trek.

Now, while I am by no means a qualified ‘Treky’ I do know a little about the original and from what I could tell die hard Star Trek fans should thrilled about the care taken to protect the integrity of the franchise. Everything from the costumes, the sets, the design of the starships, the history, even the dialogue just ‘fits’ into the original. My only qualm on this issue is that Scotty never said “We need more power!”  But he did say “That’s all she’s got!” though, so I’m fairly satisfied…

Well, I guess I never got to the “all analytical” part of this review. But I think that’s because while you’re watching Star Trek you just don’t care about that kind of stuff. The movie is just so much fun.  If you’re one of the few people left who haven’t seen it yet… you should. And see it in the theatres. It’s just not gonna be as good if you RedBox it.

 

I give it an A