James Piper, Author

Movies Watched in June 2009 1. 2009/06/01 Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Action. (2003, 102 mins.) NR 2. 2009/06/01 Edison. Crime. (2005, 97 mins.) NR 3. 2009/06/02 Disturbia. Thriller. (2007, 105 mins.) NR 4. 2009/06/02 Johnny Dangerously. Comedy. (1984, 90 mins.) NR 5. 2009/06/03 A Love Song for Bobby Long. Drama. (2004, 119 mins.) NR 6. 2009/06/03 The Natural. Drama. (1984, 134 mins.) NR 7. 2009/06/04 Zulu. War. (1964, 138 mins.) NR 8. 2009/06/04 Death of a President. Drama. (2006, 97 mins.) NR 9. 2009/06/05 Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Romantic Comedy. (2008, 111 mins.) NR 10. 2009/06/05 The Secret Life of Words. Drama. (2005, 115 mins.) NR 11. 2009/06/05 Deja Vu. Thriller. (2006, 126 mins.) NR 12. 2009/06/06 Paranoid Park. Drama. (2007, 85 mins.) NR 13. 2009/06/06 Don't Say a Word. Thriller. (2001, 113 mins.) NR 14. 2009/06/06 National Treasure. Action. (2004, 131 mins.) NR 15. 2009/06/06 Duct Tape Forever. Comedy. (2002, 90 mins.) NR 16. 2009/06/07 Th...

Monday, June 29, 2009 ... reached a new level ... I n the last three plus years, I've been disciplined and organized about my exercise, about trips to the gym. I've seen results in weight loss, toner muscles, endurance etc. Today I discovered another result: a lower at rest heart rate--in the low sixties. I was surprised and proud. In the past it was in the seventies to low eighties. To me that's a sign of fitness, but I should also test my recovery time. I would like to know what it is these days. I suspect it's a low number as well. Because I've seen such results and can't improve on them, I realized today I don't need to push as hard as I've been doing. There's going to be days of rest each week and instead of 9 rotations, I only did 6 today. Six is plenty. As usual I'll have to rework my routine to fit in a five day a week routine instead of six or seven days. Posted 2009/06/29 at 19h37ET in Exercise.

Thursday, June 18, 2009 ... cardio only for a change ... A month ago today's workout would have been typical. Come to the gym and do 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. I changed it by adding in stretching and stomach crunches then bicep curls then chest presses. After 25 straight days of exercising my body said take it easier (my mind as well). As a result, it was cardio only. Tomorrow I expect to take the day off. Probably. Either that or Sunday. We shall see. Posted 2009/06/18 at 20h51ET in Exercise.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 ... rushed for time ... I had a board meeting in the late afternoon and it seemed as if I wouldn't get to the gym at all; however, I realized I could squeeze in some weights or cardio and I decided on weights. I thought I could do 9 sets, but I had to stop after 6 even with the rushing. It was still a workout. Today was 24 days in a row. Not bad, but I think I'm going to take Friday off. I'm at 89.5KG on consecutive days and it would be good to rest my body. I've averaged 6.3 days a week in 2009. My long-term average is 6.02. I can afford to take a few days off and still be above six. Stomach Crunches on Swiss Ball: 40 reps x 6 sets with 3KG medicine ball (Right/Left/Centre). Bicep Curls on Swiss Ball: 9kg x 20 reps x 6 sets. Chest Press on Swiss Ball: 9kg x 30 reps x 6 sets. No Leg Lunges. No Squats Lots of stretching. Posted 2009/06/17 at 18h45ET in Exercise.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 ... a cardio day with weights ... I 've said it before but my exercise routine changes and evolves as I learn new things, discover news things or simply get too used to a particular weight amount. Today it was about consciously doing stomach crunches in three different motions instead of simply back and forth through the middle. The first set is to the right to work the obliques. The second set is to the middle to work the abdominals. The third set is to the left to work the obliques. When I say "work" I mean a more concentration of effort on those muscles. All those muscles are working during a stomach, just some more than others. We'll see how that goes. I'm finding it too easy to do stomach crunches and I'm wondering what is next. I keep doing more reps but there comes a point where you can't do anymore reps. We shall see. In talking with someone at the gym today I was told I was to eat protein with every mea...

Monday, June 15, 2009 ... Never stop learning and adjusting my workout ... I 've been doing so many stomach crunches with a 3KG medicine ball (9 sets with 40 reps) day after day that it has become too easy. I think I have to do 50 reps or as many as needed to "feel the burn." I also realized I was concentrating on my abdominals and ignored my obliques. The former run down the middle, the later on each side. You have to do a different motion to get a full workout of the obliques. I've adjusted. Today was a full weights day (i.e., heavier weights). For time reasons, to save time, I didn't do any leg lunges or leg squats. I'm not sure how many times I should do these exercises each week. Once or twice, max three times a week. Bench Press: 14kg x 25 reps x 3 sets Inclined Bench Press: 14kg x 20 reps x 3 sets. Tricep Presses on Swiss Ball: 18kg x 20 reps x 3 sets. Stomach Crunches on Swiss Ball: 40 reps x 9 sets with 3KG medicine ball. 3...

Thursday, June 11, 2009 ... eighteen days in a row ... M y exercise routine continues to change based on new information. For example on Monday, after seven days in a row of leg lunges and leg squats, I woke up to an aching pain in the top of my knees. Nothing painful, just enough to let me know they were there. A few bends of my leg and the ache was gone. I think I know what is happening and it's nothing too serious. Age is creeping up and knees tend to take a punishment over the years. There is nothing wrong with my form, it's simply too much use. As a result I decided to stop doing leg lunges and squats. That was Monday and Tuesday. I should have got back to it yesterday since it was a none cardio day but only realized it afterwards. Today was a cardio day, 30 minutes on the elliptical machine so it didn't make any sense to me to do any today. Tomorrow I will. In the future I won't do 630 reps of leg squats during one week, especially not every s...

Thursday, June 4, 2009 ... solid workout and the results are coming ... I n the last couple of weeks I have increased the intensity and length of my workouts. I'm pushing myself to get trimming, leaner and toned. I'm seeing results. I hit a new low with my weight 90.5 KG. That was no fluke. The fat is disappearing. The tire around my waist is less noticeable. I have visions of it disappearing. It's possible given what I've been doing and the results I've seen. Today was a long, solid workout. 30 minutes of cardio followed by weights. I thought about only doing 6 sets instead of 9 but did 9. I want to keep my promise on doing it everyday this week. It's part of my plan to see results. Stomach Crunches on Swiss Ball: 40 reps x 9 sets with 3KG medicine ball. Bicep Curls on Swiss Ball: 9kg x 20 reps x 9 sets. Leg Lunges: 10 reps x 9 sets - Left/Right Squats: 10 reps x 9 sets. Posted 2009/06/04 at 21h01ET in Exercise.

Thursday, June 4, 2009 The Natural. Feature film. (1984, 134 mins) IMDB ... a little too Hollywood and sweet for my liking ... A young boy growing up on a farm shows he has a strong throwing arm and can hit the ball. He's a natural baseball talent. As a young man he gets a tryout with Chicago Cubs and begins the journey to the big leagues. Before he leaves, he makes love to his sweetheart. On the train trip he meets a newspaper sports reporter and Babe Ruth. During a pit stop, a challenge is set. Strike out Ruth with three pitches. He does. The legend has begun except there's a major bump in the road. He meets a sexy woman on the train. At a hotel later, he goes to her room where she shots him with a handgun. What the!?! Flashforward sixteen years. Our hero gets a tryout with a struggling NY major league team. He's 36 years old and has virtually no baseball experience. That's an odd story. It just doesn't happen. The manager and te...

Thursday, June 4, 2009 The Love Song of Bobby Long. Feature film. (2004, 120 mins) IMDB ... interesting characters in an unusual setting ... P ursy lives in a trailer park with a deadbeat guy in Panama City, Florida. She sits on a couch watching TV, and, with a spoon covered in peanut butter, dips it into a bag of M&Ms. The place is a mess. He tells her she received a phone call a few days ago from Bobby Long. Bad news. Her mother died. Furious, she packs up and makes a trip to New Orleans where her mother lived in a beat-up old home she owned. The front lawn is dirt. The paint long pealed away to expose boards. Not much in the way of furniture. Old appliances. It's a mess as well. When Pursy arrives she finds out her mother was buried the day before. Dead a the age of forty. We never meet or see her mother. We don't know what she died from. We learn she sang, but obviously not that well given her living conditions. She never married, but ...

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 ... weights day--tweaking it ... I keep tweaking my weights routine. I was on a 6 rotation workout with two types of bench presses every other rotation. Now it's 9 rotations with the two bench presses and a tricep press. The other tweak has been to increase the resistance, increase the weight load. I was too used to the weights I had been doing. Bench Press: 14kg x 25 reps x 3 sets Inclined Bench Press: 14kg x 20 reps x 3 sets. Tricep Presses on Swiss Ball: 18kg x 20 reps x 3 sets. (Changed weight/reps). Stomach Crunches on Swiss Ball: 40 reps x 9 sets with 3KG medicine ball. Bicep Curls on Swiss Ball: 9kg x 20 reps x 9 sets. Leg Lunges: 10 reps x 9 sets - Left/Right Squats: 10 reps x 9 sets. That is one solid workout. Posted 2009/06/03 at 20h05ET in Exercise.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 Disturbia. Feature film. (2007, 105 mins) IMDB ... it could have been far worse ... I t's not officially a remake but it is. This is modern take on REAR WINDOW. Instead of a photographer (Jimmy Steward) locked up in his apartment in NYC because of a broken leg, this film has a teenaged boy under house arrest with an ankle alarm. If he leaves the property, an alarm goes off and the police come right away and they do. In the opening sequence he drives the family car on a highway. His father is in the passenger seat. Out of nowhere, the car collides with another and another. The father is dead. The son is quilt ridden. The three months of house arrest (punishment for something that happened a year later) coincides with the summer months away from school. But his mother cuts the cable, internet, video games. With nothing to do, he becomes a voyeur and there's plenty of things to watch from his bedroom. Note: the family lives in ...

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 ... cardio and weights--longer workout than I expected ... I was only going to do cardio followed by stomach crunches and bicep curls and even then only 6 sets. That turned into 9 sets and I did leg lunges and leg squats. I'm going to try it all week and see if I notice any difference. 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. A solid workout on it. Stomach Crunches on Swiss Ball: 40 reps x 9 sets with 3KG medicine ball. Bicep Curls on Swiss Ball: 9kg x 20 reps x 9 sets. Leg Lunges: 10 reps x 9 sets - Left/Right Squats: 10 reps x 9 sets. Posted 2009/06/02 at 20h50ET in Exercise.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Feature film. (2003, 102 mins) IMDB ... do you like lots of gunfire? ... T he guitar player is back at it. This time there's no mistaken identity. He's wanted by the CIA to help with a coup or to stop a coup. It's never very clear to me, but it doesn't matter. The plot is oh so involved with many players. There's the president and his back-stabbing advisor. There's the CIA. The FBI. The drug cartel and fractions within it. There's also the Mexican army and a certain General. And of course there's El Mariachi and his men. The plot doesn't matter. It's an excuse to put action sequences on screen. In this case it's scenes where our hero is attacked and out numbered and he has to shot his way out of every situation. Bullets fly like rice on a wedding day. It's guns and guns and more guns. The most interesting aspect of this film? The making of it. Many of ...

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 Edison Force. Feature film. (2005, 97 mins) IMDB ... banal, trite, nothing new here, move along ... I t's not surprising this film was released straight to DVD. While there are top notch performers involved in making this film, the story is weak. It's weak because it's been done before and before. It's been in films and novels; it's been on TV dramas and TV news documentaries and of courses it's filed the news. What am I talking about? Police corruption. There's a wet-behind-the-ears "journalist" (Timberlake) who stumbles on possible police corruption when he covers a court case. He's eager to win prizes and fame and goes after it, but he has no idea what he is doing. His boss (Freeman), a veteran journalist, tells him so. We know what has happened because we saw what happened and saw the faked court evidence. The task for the journalist is get evidence to support his hypothesis. The cops beat...

Monday, June 1, 2009 ... weights day and longer than I expected ... I planned to do weights today and I did. I also wanted to increase the weights on some exercises that were getting too easy. Increase the weight and reduce the reps. I'm hoping this will result in a better workout--better results. We shall see. Bench Press: 14kg x 25 reps x 3 sets Inclined Bench Press: 14kg x 20 reps x 3 sets (Changed weights/reps). Stomach Crunches on Swiss Ball: 40 reps x 9 sets with 3KG medicine ball. Bicep Curls on Swiss Ball: 9kg x 20 reps x 9 sets (Changed weights/reps). Tricep Presses on Swiss Ball: 14kg x 25 reps x 3 sets. Leg Lunges: 10 reps x 9 sets - Left/Right Squats: 10 reps x 9 sets. Posted 2009/06/01 at 21h11ET in Exercise.

Monday, June 1, 2009 Nothing Sacred. Feature film. (1937, 77 mins) IMDB ... Carole Lombard was tops in my books ... C arole Lombard would be near the top of my list of favourite actresses. Charming. Enchanting. Endearing. Funny. What is probably not known about her is the fact she could act. She wasn't limited to comedy. She had range, but wasn't able to use it. Sadly she died too young. What did we miss out on? A great deal I would say. NOTHING SACRED is a romantic comedy with an emphasis on comedy. Physical comedy. Pratfalls and fist fights and slapstick. It was fun to watch because we don't see a film loaded with it as in this film. Any of today's film that try to do it fail because they take it too far or maybe the actors can't pull it off. It looks easy, but like dancing on ice skates, it's far from easy. Lombard is a young woman living in a small Vermont town. Word reaches NYC she is dying from barium or radium poisoning...

Monday, June 1, 2009 In The Bedroom. Feature film. (2001, 130 mins) IMDB ... two stories written independently but similar--spooky ... T here are many similarities between this story and my novel MY DEARBORN. It's scary. I wrote my novel without any knowledge of this film or story and likewise with the people involved in this film. Parallel development. It's spooky, yet, given the nature of storytelling, there are only so many characters and ideas and it's difficult to be truly original. The story takes place in a sleepy village on the east coast of Maine. People aren't in a hurry. There's time to take a boat out on the water, pull up lobster cages and harvest the catch. You'd expect that from fisherman, but a local family doctor does it with his son. It's a different sort of place. The doctor's son is looking at what universities to go to or even if he should go to school. He saw his father get educated and feels it didn...