James Piper, Author

Friday, April 17, 2009 ... the weather was even better and fewer people came to the gym ... I t was a hot, summer-like day and even I thought about skipping my workout but I went. A weights day. Bench Press: 11kg x 25 reps x 3 sets Bicep Curls: 7kg x 25 reps x 6 sets Tricep Presses: 14kg x 25 reps x 3 sets. Stomach Crunches: 30 reps x 6 sets with 2KG medicine ball. No Leg Lunges. No Squats. Posted 2009/04/17 at 18h21ET in Exercise.

Friday, April 17, 2009 Jurassic Park III. Feature film. (2001, 92 mins) IMDB ... here's a sequel that didn't need to get made unless you were cashing cheques ... F igure out a way to get Dr. Grant back on the island with all those dinosaurs for a third time. How? Pretend to be exceedingly rich with a taste for adventure trips and tell him you only want to fly over the island. He wouldn't go near the place if he didn't need money to continue his field research. But once you're near the island land the plane so you can search for your missing son who is probably been processed through some dino's digestive track. Bring along a large cast so we can see them become dino snacks. Make sure the plane is cracked up beyond repair so they can't just fly out. Make sure the radio is kaput and the portable phones don't work. Now they are stuck on the island with dinos chasing after them. A few die. Some are scrapped up. Teo Leoni spends h...

Friday, April 17, 2009 Night at the Museum. Feature film. (2006, 109 mins) IMDB ... fun, fun, fun ... F un, fun, fun. The film has a trite plot, and follows the formula, but still it's fun. Laughs and adventure all confined to the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. Stiller plays a dreamer who can't find his place in the world. He hopes his big idea will make him into something he isn't. His ex-wife has married a nerdy bond trader (Paul Rudd). He shares custody with their ten-year old son who doesn't want much to do with his flaky father. Hold up your hands if you've seen this before. Yes, I know, it's trite, but this film isn't meant to be provocative or insightful, it's meant to create laughs and it does. Desperate to maintain a relationship with his son, he looks for any work that will give him some stability and ends up as the night watchman at the History of Natural Museum. That would normally spell the end of any s...

Friday, April 17, 2009 Adrift In Manhattan. Feature film. (2007, 91 mins) IMDB ... a flat, emotionless film ... A n old man visits an eye doctor and discovers he's going blind and there's nothing to change the outcome. It wouldn't be so bad except he likes to paint which is impossible to do without sight. As discussed in the film, Beethoven could still write music because he heard it in his head and could see to write it down. It didn't matter he couldn't listen to the final result because he had perfect pitch and well, he was Beethoven. The eye doctor, played by Graham, is adrift because her two-year old son died. She and her husband (Baldwin) separated as a result. We learn the son died because he fell out a window of their high-rise building. She was watching him but not closely enough. There is Simon. He's around twenty. He doesn't say much. He works in a photography shop destined to end because of the digital movement. He ...

Thursday, April 16, 2009 ... sunny weather means an empty gym ... C ardio and stretching--the 1,2 for a non-weights workout. Today was the warmest day of the year--sunny and warm. The result was predictable. When I arrived, the parking lot looked empty. I imagine some people went golfing and others didn't like the idea of being inside. Posted 2009/04/16 at 18h22ET in Exercise.

Thursday, April 16, 2009 Journey to the Center of the Earth. Feature film. (2008, 9. mins) IMDB ... a fun ride and you'll wish you were there ... A s expected and as it should, this film is a fun ride. Based on Jules Verne's novel of the same name, the story finds a professor, his nephew (13 years old) and an Icelandic guide (an attractive woman no less) travelling to the centre of the world where another world exists. A wondrous world with dinosaurs, florescent birds, tropical forests, oceans and rivers. Once in this world, they have to find a way out. If you haven't read Jules Verne then you have missed some wonderful adventures--adventures based on real life and immense fantasy and imagination. Don't forget he was French. In this film, there are a number of scenes where characters stand at an edge with a shear drop to who knows what below. It's a setup used many times in film and it always send tingles through my body. It's one ploy ...

Thursday, April 16, 2009 Happy-Go-Lucky. Feature film. (2008, 118 mins) IMDB ... what would it be like to be Poppy ... W ow. I'm not sure what to say. Is it really possible to create a narrative where you're hero is happy-go-lucky? That no matter what happens, she smiles and laughs and continues on as if nothing happened. It appears to be the case. In the opening sequence she rides a bicycle with abandonment as if she were riding to enjoy the breeze on her face, marvel at the sites and to take her wherever she ends up. When she arrives at a bookstore, she parks her bike and goes in. The shop clerk is indifferent. Her attempts to humanize him fail. After her browsing, she returns to find her bike is missing, probably stolen, to which she responds with a laugh, "I didn't have time to say good-bye." Who else would speaks those lines in that situation? I know I wouldn't. As I watched the film, I wondered what evil would befall such a...