Breaking the Scale

So.... blogs are like journals (I've been told) except that everyone is allowed to read it. While this particular subject is not the kind that I like to discuss, I feel like it's necessary to help me take a step forward. So, here we go!


I'm fat... and I don't mean phat as in Pretty Hot And Tempting. I'm talking about the stage that you hit when you exceed "overweight" and add the letter X to your clothes size. The stage when tying your shoes requires you to hold your breath, dressing up causes you to break a sweat, pains mysteriously appear in your joints and you feel self-conscious even walking out to the mailbox. In my case, the increase in health problems has stacked on top of these things as well. I've had water on the knee for months, developed a severe case of sleep apnea, am borderline hypoglycemic and a have lovely case of seborrheic dermatitis.... google it.

What it all comes down to is change, and not the preachy fantasy that President Obama keeps talking about, but real change... in everything. Diet, activity, routine, etc... and it starts now - not tomorrow or on Monday of next week to give me a fresh start, NOW!

All of us have an awakening at some point, some of us never have it, and it's not always weight. Personal demons take all shapes and sizes... mine just happens to my large shape and size. I'm 5'8" (5'7½" if you want to get technical.. I'd rather just round up) and I weigh 233 pounds. According to my mother, the scale I used to record that is off... but it's roundabout which, even if it's a couple of pounds, is still ridiculously high. I was trying on clothes today and when the size 38's didn't button, I felt so horrible that I stood there for a moment, glanced at the gut and just thought.. Why?

At 5'8", 33 years of age my healthy weight range needs to be 124-163... this means that at the high end of that spectrum, I have 60 pounds to lose. Currently my average caloric intake is around 2369 which means that I have to start by dropping that by at least 500 calories per day; recommended is 1869. I've already picked up a knee brace to help with cardio that I plan on doing at the gym until I have the money to get it fixed. So I'm ready to do this, end the procrastination and restore myself to the old me come hell or high water!

Links -
Calorie Control
http://www.caloriecontrol.org/
MSN Health
http://health.msn.com/
Nutrition Data
http://www.nutritiondata.com/

Late Night Boredom

Decided to start playing with a free art program (Gimp 2.6) and now, 4 hours later, I've figured out the basics it seems. Here's a sample:

Creepy eh? *sigh* OK time to get some sleep......

Repairing Universal

I had the chance to head to Universal Studios Hollywood yesterday. Although I have a pass and can go whenever, I usually only make it there, at best, about 3 times a year (it's ok.. the pass pays for itself on one trip). Due to the number of years that I've been going to Universal, I'm familiar with what to expect on a normal weekend operating day: Huge lines for everything including the restrooms, water mist sprayers to keep people cool around every corner due to a severe lack of shading and mediocre attractions. Of course, the "draw" to Universal is the Backlot Tour. This 45 minute journey takes you through a maze of large beige and brown buildings, numbered in big white fonts so that the tour guide can let you know which productions were shot in each one. To say that this part of the tour is boring would be, at the very least, a major understatement. You then move from the front lot to the backlot.. which is where the movie "magic" is supposed to come alive.


Only recently has the tour actually started moving into the section that used to be the Metropolitan area again. This is due to the large fire that ripped through the backlot on June 1st, 2008. This fire consumed Brownstone Street, New York Street, New England Street, the King Kong attraction and destroyed close to 50,000 archived digital video and film copies chronicling Universal's movie and classic TV shows, dating all the way back to the 1920s. $50 million later, much of what used to be has been either rebuilt or updated, including an all-new King Kong attraction on its way(why King Kong? Let the monkey die I say).

Universal Studios Backlot June 2, 2008

I took this shot the day after the fire. Charred, steel frames of fecades and smoke was all that was left of the former Metropolitan area. Courtyard square was the only portion left standing including the Clock Tower from the Back to the Future films as well as some fecades that remained around the north side. The hollowed out building near the bottom right of the screen is where King Kong used to be located.





Universal Studios Backlot March 27, 2010

Almost 2 years later - All of Courtyard Square and a large portion of the Metropolitan area have been restored to how they previously looked. According to the tour guide, they've already begun filming smaller productions here including music videos and most recently episodes of CSI.








It's nice to see them working hard on restoring this area, especially because it provides not only material for their tour but location shooting for upcoming films. I really hope that NBC Universal's next step will be improving the overall quality of their shows and attractions in the theme park area. The park itself is literally becoming another Knott's Berry Farm sans rollercoasters. The low ticket price on annual passes and $19.99 all-you-can-eat special is obviously hurting the park financially because it draws larger crowds but is reducing profit and, as is evident, decreases the number of man hours that they can afford causing attractions, eateries, and janitorial to be under staffed and overall lacking in quality.

Then again.... they could always just pull money out of their ridiculous advertising budget. :P

Westfest!!

It's so close!!!!! I can't wait to see the DPN community again and have fun catching up with everyone that weekend. I feel slightly less "attached" this year as the Travelears has gone the way of the dodo recently, but that affords me more time to hang out and get to all the other meets this year.

Tron Legacy: Theme song revealed!

Daft Punk's new main theme song for the upcoming sequel to Tron has surfaced on YouTube. While there are several remixes of it already, this version is supposedly the original track. Sound quality is a bit fuzzy but it gives a nice sample of what Daft Punk has put together.

Weekend Mix Tape

As a tribute to one of my favorite blogs, Nothing for X (R.I.P.), here's a weekend mix tape of my own.. Enjoy!

Howdy Folks!

Welcome to RySpace! a.k.a. my personal blog. I'm way behind as apparently a lot of people that I know are now doing this, so I figured I'll just post random thoughts, videos, ideas, music, etc.. at least something interesting that friends will want to come check out on occasion. Make sure to follow so that I can follow you back as my "community" is one shy of a Ghost Town. :)