BMI - Fact or Fiction?

I went to the doctor's the other morning. I thought I was coming down with strep, and after the bout I suffered from last year, I thought it best to nip it in the bud before it really took hold.

This was a new Doctor. Not the (lovely gay) one who prescribed all those steroid precursors when I first came here (and who goes to my gym). It wasn't even that old curmudgeon I saw when I had those stomach issues a few months back. This was a nice straight new young one, a referral from a co-worker in fact.

Unfortunately, younger, straighter and nicer does not necessarily equal better!

I like doctors who attempt to treat the cause, not the symptoms. I had barely taken a seat and he was thrusting scripts for migraine and heartburn pills at me, not that I'd even asked for them (he had read my history you see). This guy was one of those "over prescribers." There's no attempt to deal with the underlying issues and to treat you as a person. He's simply one of those doctors who throws drugs at you to make you feel better.

And then came the kicker... and I could tell this was coming... the height-weight issue!

"Although you're quite muscular, you're still considered overweight, and really need to lose more than a few pounds!" I could seem him consulting his chart and confirming his calculations as he spoke.

My Body Mass Index is over 30, which means that yes, I am obese! I am, in fact, a lard-ass! Forget the fact that I have rock-hard pecs and perfectly peaked bis (OK, so my abs could do with some work), technically I am a porker-bitch!

According to this Doc, I should shed 30 to 40 lbs and return to the waif-like state of how I looked when I was 21-years old. Is this guy crazy? Could you imagine his horror if I'd have come in at my 194 lb all time high (I've since wasted drastically away)? Does he not realize that I have to hit the almighty 200 before I can get a new tattoo?

But let's get serious for a second, this BMI malarkey is archaic and doesn't pertain to the more muscular builds of today. Weren't these numbers and calcuations conceived in the 50s when people were smaller, diets were simpler, and people didn't workout as much as they do today. Or is it true, am I just obese?

And by the way, I didn't have strep!

Simply Known as The Doctor

Who!

That infamous British TV icon, "The Enemy of the Daleks" and (now) the last of the Timelords, Doctor Who!

Nine regenerations. Ten Doctors. Twenty-eight seasons! Doctor Who is the longest running Sci-Fi series in the history of television since first airing the day after JFK’s assassination in 1963 (take that Battlestar Galactica).

The series was a Saturday-teatime favourite when I was a kid, the type of nightmare inducing programme you peered at the screen from behind the sofa, marveling at the creepiness of the Cybermen, Ice Warriors, Yeti, Silurians, Sontarans, and those flying pepper pots, the Daleks! Suddenly in 1990 the series was put on hiatus. FOX tried to revive (and Americanize) it in 1996 to no avail. But then, in 2003 Russell T. Davies, the creator of the original Queer As Folk, came on board!

The new Who, with Christopher Eccleston in the title role, just finished it's Friday night run on The Sci-Fi Channel. Back "home" the BBC is showing brand new episodes of season 28 (or two, if you want), with the tenth Doctor, played by David Tennant. My favourite Doctor has always been the sixth Doctor, played by Colin Baker, in his most tortured and tormented incarnation as he was put on trial by the Timelords for crimes against Time.

Like so many "companions" before her, Rose (played by Billie Piper) will soon part ways with the TARDIS (now, apparently, a sentient being), and while most fans love her, I prefer Aussie Tegan, fellow Timelord Romana, K-9, and my particular favourite, that perky Yank, Peri.

According to the Sci Fi Wire, Doctor Who has averaged a 1.3 household rating and 1.5 million total viewers in its 9pm US timeslot, up a whopping 54% over the same period last year. For a show that US schedulers initially balked at for being way too cutesy and British, that ain't bad! Roll on season two!!!

The 53 Week Anniversary...

... of "Misadventures in the (310)"

Yes, my blog has been around for a little over a year now, and some year it's been.

"Misadventures" actually started life as "New to LA" (hence the URL), my attempt at an online journal to keep in touch with the folks back home (namely fellow DC bloggers Durban Bud and Tos) and, hopefully, a way to connect with friendly LA types. A cool, catchy title, initially eluded me, so "New to LA" concisely summed up what my original intention for the blog - the trials and tribulations of my move to LA. Eventually I decided to "borrow" from the title of Dennis Hensley's 1999 novel, and thus "Misadventures in the (310)" was officially reinvented.

My first entry touched upon a theme that would soon become a staple of my writing: the celebrity sighting (preferably of C-List or lower stars), and for which I would ultimately coin the term "CelebFlash." I love my star sightings. It still amazes me that I've met Sue Ellen Ewing and Buffy, and that I get to come in contact with people most of you only get to see at the movies or on TV. But as I've come to realize, that's LA for you!

Another passion I'm exploring is my bodybuilding. My "big boy" pics seem to earn more Blogbacks than any of my other entries. When I started "Misadventures" I was a svelte 170 lbs, now I'm a solid 190 lbs (and still growing), and with my guest rambler DieselXXX I'm sure this aspect of the blog will certainly flourish.

Of course, littered amongst these themed entries are my musings on life in LA: from parking and Tivo issues; to my excursions to Venice and Wizard World; to my thoughts on the world of entertainment - the local news here may as well be Access Hollywood!

People said that LA would take a lot of getting used to. I acclimated quickly. Maybe DC was a easy city to transition from, or maybe I was lucky. My job at The Farm brought me into contact with the most interesting (for me) of LA inhabitants, the struggling actor/waiter. I met good people, I met future roomie Mikey, and recently I met Joe.

A lot has changed in 53 weeks. When I moved from DC Memorial Day of '05, I didn't quite picture things turning out the way they have. I've skirted around my personal issues, I haven't wanted to air my dirty laundry, but I think it's mostly all there (between the lines anyway). Ultimately I think everyone is happier the way things have turned out... I know I am!

The one constant over the past year: my dog, my pup, my son, my Bentley... There is nothing better than coming home to a little pup peering out the window waiting for you!

I couldn't have done it all without him!

CELEBFLASH: Back to the Cul-de-Sac

When I was at The Farm, my star sightings ran the gambit from Linda Gray and Sarah Michelle, to Breckin Meyer and Marcellous Reynolds. With my current 9-to-5 job these sightings have become fewer and much farther between (sad I know, but what can I do?).

Today however was a doozy of a CelebFlash. Four stars from that top-rated supersoap of the 90s, the spinoff that outlasted the original, and one of my mum's favourite shows, Knots Landing!

Gary, Valene, Karen and Abby! The stars of the show (well the first four listed on the Landing's IMDB entry anyway). All at one time, all in one place, and even some 13 years after the show had ended, all still friends! Very cool indeed!

I'd met Michele Lee, Karen, a couple of years ago at a Creative Coalition freebie Dish catered in DC. She is still looking awesome, and still wearing that designer cowboy hat.

Donna Mills' Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing Sumner is another one of those petite little things in person, so it's had to reconile her with that larger than life vixen-extraordinnaire she played on TV. That said, upon seeing her I stopped dead in my tracks, ready for a good slap on the face.

And then there's Ted Shackelford's Gary and Joan Van Ark's Val, still the hottest couple on the block, chit chatting together like old times (the times before Valene's multiple other marriages anyway).

When I met Cordelia at Wizard World she talked about recently seeing Angel at The Farm and how that had been the first time they'd seen each other since the show ended. That's sad!

Thirteen years on and the Knots' crew still hang! That's truly impressive!

Gym Etiquette 101: Part One

I go to the 24hour Fitness at Arclight (not the bath-house that is 24hour on Santa Monica), Matt has a Golds membership. I prefer Golds, but it's impossible to sneak big-little me past the door-nazis. I upgraded to a VIP membership so I can bring anyone I want, an unlimited number of times. That anyone is my Matt. We're a damn good team: healthily competitive, able to push the other past their limits, and totally dedicated to our bodybuilding.

For those gym-going bloggers among us, I'm sure you have certain gym-centric pet peeves like I do. I often feel the need to throw a dumbell in the face of many a dumbass. Dumbasses who:

Peeve #1: Don't wipe their dirty cootie drenched sweat from the bench or machine. Why do some idiots workout in a string cotton vest that barely covers their niples? Wear a shirt that covers you! If you feel the compulsion to show us your frickin' pecs, at least carry a towel!

Peeve #2: Frickin' camp out on the equipment, particularly when it's busy. Too many times I see these skinny pukes trying to squat 400lbs, taking 3 days to finish a set. If you can't lift it, go home and let someone who can do it!

Peeve #3: Don't put the dumbells back! You see those little numbers on the rack? And those on the dumbells? They're there so you can do the basic task of putting them back in the correct spot. It doesnt just denote how much it weighs, it's TO TELL YOU WHERE TO PUT IT!

Peeve #4: If you must wear spandex, for the love of all that is sacred, be in shape! Why do I need to see your tootsie rolls hanging and failing to the forces of gravity? While I'm on the topic, what's with these fucking queers who need to be color-coordinated with their immaculate immovable coifs?

Peeve #5: Every gym I've been to has lockers and a locker room. Hmmmm! Let's see, why don't I lug around my 50lb gym bag while I workout? Hmmmm! Why can't I afford a locker for 25 cents (let's assume I don't even own a lock)? Hmmmm! Maybe someone will trip over my bag, break their leg, and my response is "Oops, so sorry." Hmmmm! Maybe I need them to see that my gym bag is the same brand of Nike as my hat, shorts, shoes and socks?

By the way, these dumbasses are always guys, chicks never inappropriately or incorrectly use equiptment (well, almost never).

KC: The Last Stand

May 31, 2006, the top story of the morning: after 15 years of early mornings, forever changing hairstyles, and the type of perkiness that only a mother could really love, Katie Couric steps down from her co-anchor role on TV's #1 rated Today Show.

Matt, Al and Ann paid numerous tributes to their co-star through montages, anecdotes, quips and of course the obligatory Tony Bennett tribute. Was three hours of "all about Katie" a little much? Maybe. But by the time Katie said her final "goodbyes" tears were unabashedly shed.

I may have been at odds lately with Katie's growing conservatism. I tried to change the channel, but ultimately kept coming back. Through 9/11, Columbine, the Oklahoma bombing, Katrina, the deaths of husband Jay, Princess Diana and JFK, Jr., numerous Olympics, live colonoscopies, fluffy interviews with B-list celebs, outdoor cooking demonstrations and maternity-wear fashion segments, Katie has held the nation's hand.

"Don't be a stranger, because if you do, I'll come calling." - Ann Curry

"I will miss that smile, and I'll miss the face, and I'll miss the spirit that you bring to this." - Al Roker

"I thank you for the laughs." - Matt Laurer

Upon waking this morning and switching on a Katie-less Today, the team has moved to a "temporary summer location," Ann is in the driving seat, and promos with Meredith abound. Katie has well and truly gone to that great CBS in the sky. But yes, ultimately we will miss the laughs!

[ Oh, and by the way, did you know that Sally Field is on Boniva to fight her osteoporosis? ]