The first two steps in any weight loss program need to be: eating less and exercising more. After that there is a very wide variety of different ways to burn away the fat. In order to get good results when you first start a diet, you may not want to be building muscle right away from your exercise, but you may want to see a bigger weight drop by burning fat. The secret is to find the fat burner that’s right for you.
Archive for October, 2008
Burning fat
Sunday, October 26th, 2008Betrayal at House on the Hill review
Sunday, October 26th, 2008With Halloween approaching the perfect board game to go along with the spooky but cliched movies on cable TV is “Betrayal at House on the Hill.” If you have a copy, break it out and give it a play. If you don’t, then hope that Avalon Hill re-releases the title sometime in the near future. It’s currently out of print.
The game centers on you and your fellow players slowly splitting up (of course) and exploring a very large and strange house. You may find weapons or people or supernatural strangeness, but eventually the ‘haunt’ will start. This is when one of the players is assigned to be the traitor and the rest of the players work to stop his evil plan.
The atmosphere of the game is pretty good and the stories recreate cheesy cable horror movies very well. There are fifty scenarios that randomly get played, each with its own story and goals. This ends up being the main problem with the game. There are so many scenarios with different rules and special circumstances that it seems that many of them were not play tested enough. We were constantly trying to figure out how to make the rules work for certain scenarios. Also, some scenarios are weighted to one side or the other. Some make the job of the heroes very difficult while others make the traitor’s goal almost impossible.
Still it’s a fun game for a medium size group that only takes 30-60 minutes to play each game.
New Fangled Toys
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008Nowadays, there are all sorts of new products coming out with HDMI compatibility. With every new piece of equipment you’re going to need an increasing amount of connections, splitters, wires, and even wall plates. All with HDMI connectors. Because, seriously, what’s the point in having an HD TV if you don’t have HD Blu-Ray players, video game consoles, and computer connections. Go HD, all the way.
“Quarantine” review
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008I’m a fan of zombie movies, even the pseudo-zombie movies that feature diseases that cause zombie-like symptoms such as “28 Days Later.” The commercials for Quarantine looked pretty good, but the clincher was seeing that it starred Dexter cast member, Jennifer Carpenter.
Not surprising then, that I liked this movie. The story was taut and tense with plenty of scares for the Halloween season. The first-person perspective and lack of soundtrack really worked here. The constant helicopter buzzing is a nice contrast to the normal horror movies quiet sneaking scenes. The noise was constant and jarring. This was much better than Romero’s recent handheld zombie movie. I recommend Quarantine. Go see it.
Now for the nitpicking.
We’ve been getting more and more films with the cameraman as character. I can understand the constant jerkycam that is a part of these movies, especially with handhold cameras and lots of action. However, this movie featured the cameraman as a professional news camera guy. You would think that in scenes with no action or running around that he could manage to hold the camera still and in focus.
Also, this advice is for all studios and filmmakers. Please don’t put the final scene of the movie in the ads, commercials, and posters. Can we have just a bit of suspense without knowing the ending? Please?
That’s all. Go see it.
Closer to Vegas
Sunday, October 19th, 2008Now that I’m a few hours closer to Las Vegas than I’ve been in a few years, I finally have to find a way to make the trip. I’m pretty sure that things have changed just a little bit since my last trip to las vegas 20 years ago. Yeah, pretty sure about that. Good thing that the internet is here to give me lots of tips and advice about making the trip that should come in handy whether I’m looking to lose a load at the tables or take in a show on the Strip.
The beginning of the Ender
Sunday, October 19th, 2008That’s right, constant reader.
Ender’s Game is looking closer and closer to becoming a reality.
The downside is that Wolfgang Petersen has dropped out as director of the project. The good news is that they are actively looking for a new director so they can start casting all of the kids so they can start shooting next year!
Exciting, huh?
Also on the plus side is the recent release of an “Ender’s Game” comic book. The few pages that I saw online looked very promising.
Can’t wait to see it on the big screen.
Green Bean Casserole recipe
Sunday, October 19th, 2008Now I’ve never been a big fan of the old green bean casserole, but this looks like the absolute best recipe for the stuff that I’ve ever come across. The best part about the website by far is the ability to post and save your recipes and also to access the saved recipes that others have left on the site. So find the best and most used three-by-five cards in your old recipe holder, post them on this site, and let me try out your tastiest treat.
“The Day the Earth Stood Still” preview
Sunday, October 19th, 2008On our recent trip to California I was somewhat surprised to see billboards around Southern California advertising the newest sci-fi remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Basically, an alien comes to Earth, gets hassled by the man, and sets loose a giant robot to wreak havoc until Earthlings learn not to be so gosh-darned violent.
However, there have been a few changes in the fifty years since the original. (Woulda been kinda hard to sell modern audiences on the giant robot deal.) No longer is there a robot, now we have a giant sphere-shaped cloud of destruction. And no longer is there a clean cut alien. Now we have Keanu Reeves.
Keanu. Verata. Nikto.
I may not be first in line to see this one. You had me ’til you said Keanu.
And on a related note
Saturday, October 18th, 2008And on a related note to the above blog about bad food from a Sizzler, I came across a product that offers an alternative to traditional laxatives with lots of extracts and supplements included to help out your plumbing. There is a special going on to get some bottles for free, so if this is your type of thing, by all means, check it out and see if this is the colon cleanse product that you’re going to be interested.
Sizzler in Barstow
Saturday, October 18th, 2008I’ve always been a fan of Sizzler. When I was a kid, I loved to get the All-You-Can-Eat Shrimp plate. For years I’ve not lived near a Sizzler (possible because of too many visits for the shrimp plate).
On a recent trip to California, my family and I stopped by the Sizzler in Barstow. I should have turned around as soon as I saw four tour buses in the parking lot, but we pushed in anyways.
At the intersection of I-40 and I-15, the Barstow Sizzler must specifically cater to tour buses headed from LA to Vegas and back. The restaurant started all of their customers in a line to order food and then brought the plates to the tables. I ordered shrimp (of course) but it turned out to be fishy, bland, and chewy. My kids got grilled cheese which was cold and disgusting.
Needless to say that on the way back through Barstow we didn’t even eat at a restaurant near that Sizzler.
Warning! Avoid at all costs.