Xmas, Day 6: Steroid Bust

It looks like Hidetada Yamagishi won't be entering the 2008 Ironman Pro and Arnold Classic after all.

On December 8th, upon arriving at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) from Tokyo's Narita Airport, Hide (34, 5'6", 200 or so lbs) was arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance. He is currently being held at the North County Correctional Facility in Saugus, CA on a $180,000 bond, with anupcoming court date of January 8, 2008 at the Los Angeles Municipal Court. Though it hasn't been disclosed exactly what he was in possession of, the boys on the boards are supposing it was steroids (huh? you think?).


Hide, the first pro Japanese bodybuilder to compete at the hallowed Mr. Olympia contest, was steadily rising in the pro ranks (including 3rd in Sacramento, 9th at the Atlantic City Pro and 7th at the Ironman) and had been gaining a lot of positive attention in 2007. How exactly his detention will effect (or is it affect) his bodybuilding career is yet to be seen, but much more importantly, what will become of his pending immigration status and will he ever even get a "get out of jail free" card?

Xmas, Day 5: 5 Naked Men!!!

Update: Gotta say I was pretty impressed with Janice's bawdy little update of the classic European Christmas carol. Taken from the 2006 holiday episode of Oxygen's The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, one of my guilty pleasures, I somehow only caught the episode this time around when my Tivo recorded it no less than five times (all on Christmass Eve I think).

Xmas, Day 3: Mikey makes the Tribune

United Airlines cancelled four of Mikey's flights over the Christmas break. All he was trying to do was get home for the holidays, to Cleveland, Ohio, to see his momma but was told that due to "scheduling problems with the crew" he wouldn't be able to make it home for two days. Luckily Mikey's mom has some connections and was able to help him find alternative flights, flights that the United ticketing people said did not exist!

Upon finally getting back to WeHo Christmas night Mikey immediately wrote a nasty letter to the airline, cc-ing a Chicago Tribune columnist, who subsequently contacted him for a follow-up story she was writing about the airlines scheduling miseries (Chicago being United's homebase). To see "Los Angeles-based architect" Mike in print click on through here.

Cloverfield 01-18-08

Northern Lights aka The Golden Compass

The world created by author Philip Pullman in His Dark Materials trilogy is, arguably, the thinking man's Narnia. An inversion of John Milton's Paradise Lost the books have come under much fire by Christian (and inparticularly Catholic) groups as being "written to promote atheism and denigrate Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism." In amongst his blatant criticism of organised religion, the zealots who run it and the lie that is the Chrisitan Heaven, Pullman's story centers on Lyra Belacqua (and later Will Parry) as they run amok cutting rifts between parallel worlds, flying with witches and befriending armoured bears, all so they can ultimately stop the flow of Dust.

The movie version of The Golden Compass, formerly known in the UK as Northern Lights (the title of the novel changed much like that of JK Rowling's first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone), debuted this past weekend to modest (if a tad disappointing) numbers. Minus the final three chapters of the novel (which having been already filmed will hopefully find light of day at the beginning of the proposed sequel), the film sadly limps to an unsatisfying conclusion. This is unfortunate since Nicole Kidman is delicious as Mrs. Coulter, Daniel Craig ever the stud as Lord Asriel, the polar bear fight is fantastic and little Dakota Blue isn't half as bad as I heard she was.

It's a great story with great effects so let's just hope there's some momentum of word of mouth (as we left the theater an inordinate number of people were of the "that didn't deserve the criticism it got" opinion), and better weather back east, that'll encourage New Line to at least give us part deux!

Now since I alread have my own daemon (my Bentley) the following was simply a fun little exercise to while away the minutes. Try it for yourself.

Giving Thanks!

Though my immigration paperwork is still pending over at good ol' Homeland Security HQ, I have no qualms about giving "thanks" over this, arguably the most American of holidays (complete with Thanksgiving and Black Friday). And though the accompanying pictures make me realise it's time for some brand spanking new bake ware, Thanksgiving 2007 was a complete success.

This year however I thought it particularly appropriate to thank those who have made this day ever so special:

To the good folks over at Spago (and I suppose Wolfgang himself) for the turkey, a perk given to all the restaurant's staff. And then to my mum (and British TV cooking goddess Delia Smith) for the whys and hows of cooking said bird (it's all about the butter and bacon).

To Brian for probably the tastiest potatoes in the world. All the way from Lititz, PA in Pennsylvania Dutch county, lifted from a recipe book compiled by the folks at his mum's school. Shredded hash brown potatoes, sour cream, cream of chicken soup and corn flakes, there's nothing better.

To Carmen, Joe's ex-sister-in-law for her candied yams. Not too sweet and nice and crunchy. Deliciousity.

And finally to Essie, for giving Joe her mom's sausage and cornbread stuffing recipe, which, although it includes celery (not a favourite of mine), also has pecans, cranberries and walnuts. Though, according to my Joe, it's the fresh herbs that really give it it's kick.

Since it now seems questionable as to whether or not tryptophan really makes one sleepy, we decided to conduct a very unscientific experiment, with Bentley as our test subject, feeding the pup his own plate of turkey and gravy.

And the result...

One zonked out puptophan...

Stuck on the 10!

Talking of Doctor Who, remember that season 3 episode Gridlock where the Doctor and Martha find them selves stuck with the cat people in a decades long traffic jam on "The Motorway" in New New York. That's how I felt earlier today when I very sillily decided to take the 10 back from Santa Monica.

Less than an hour earlier I'd taken the 10 west to pick up a couple of things at West Elm, and the traffic going back east seemed pretty light. As soon as I drove off the ramp however I knew I'd made a major mistake, immediately hitting five packed lanes of slow-moving traffic, at only 20 to 4 in the afternoon. It took almost an hour to drive the less than 8 miles of freeway to the La Cienega exit (where the on and off ramps collide - great road planning people).

And people do this everyday!

Are they crazy?

Back with Who: Time Crash!

Presented by BBC TV presenter Terry Wogan (the man who made US 80's super-soap Dallas a huge hit in the UK) and bi-sexual hottie Captain Jack, was the following exclusive filmed for the Beeb's annual Children In Need charity appeal:


"You know what Doctor, you were my Doctor!"

Yes, that's the 5th Doctor played by Peter Davison, fresh from All Creatures Great and Small, complete with celery, cricket whites and trainers. And yes, he was my Doctor too! The one I too grew up with!

KPCC at 89.3

When 98.7's Jamie, Jack & Stench was unceremoniously taken off the air back in January, I searched the dial for a new morning radio show, and came across KPCC at 89.3, the local NPR station in Pasadena. I know a lot of the cool kids in SoCal seem to prefer KCRW with it's Morning Becomes Eclectic ditties, but I've always prefered talk radio (a la Radio 4 back in the UK), so I stuck with Morning Edition, Day to Day and AirTalk on KPCC.

Today is (supposedly) the last day of the fundraising effort with the intention of capping out at 9,000 members. I not sure I really believe Larry Mantle, Steve Julien et al. when they tell listeners they're not there to make us feel guilty during KPCC's Fall Member Drive. Hence, for the first time this morning I threw my hat into the ring, became a KPCC member and pledged my support.

Yes, they made me feel real guilty!

UKBFF: "James L" Wins!

Sunday night's light-heavy (90 kilo) class at the UKBFF British Championships in Nottingham was apparently a very close competition with James "Flex" Lewis just narrowly beating out James Llewellin. Fan consensus seemed to be that while Llewellin did have more upper body thickness, Flex took it with tighter rear shots (particular his lower back and glutes), better conditioning, and generally a more aesthetic shape.

Flex also took on heavyweight monster Darren Ball to win the overall and in so doing earned himself a pro card (yeah). He can now go play with the real big boys!

And finally Flex really took the bull by the horns by proposing to girlfriend Shina (who Joe and I met along with Flex at the 2007 Fit Expo in Pasadena last February). She of course said yes! Congrats to both of them!

Writing on his thread earlier today Llewellin was the most gracious runner up:

"I had an absolute ball. I loved every single minute of it and when my name was read out in second place I knew the right decision had been made. For all the talk and hype, I knew it was Flex's time and he deserved it thoroughly."

Words of a true champion, a man with real class, and one who I'm sure will come back bigger 'n' badder than ever. Good on yer James!

The Other "James L"

There's another "James L" competing in the light heavy's at tomorrow's UKBFF championships.

On Wednesday I posted some video of James "Flex" Lewis taken last weekend. Pictured here is another Brit also competing in the under 90 kilos (198.4 lbs) class. This "James L" is James Llewellin, overall winner at the UKBFF Birmingham qualifier back in August, and quite a force to be reckoned with back in the UK.

I've been sporadically follwoing this James' progress by reading his contest prep thread over at the UK-Muscle forums. This thread is probably one of the most informative and frank discussions on bodybuilding (from diet, to training, to supplementation) and consequently certainly something no US competitor would ever write. The guy seems to have great heart, knows his stuff ,and a good and loyal fan base.

It looks like there might just be a real fight on between these two "James L's" for overall domination!

Captain America, Not Dead After All!

Can't say I'm exactly surprised. I mean you knew those good folks at Marvel weren't gonna keep one of the all time superhero comic book icons dead forever.

Cap's new duds, designed by legendary comicbook artist Alex Ross, will debut in the January issue of Captain America, #34. This new (and improved) Cap (whoever he may be) will sport not only the classic shield, but also a knife and (for the first time in the comics) a gun!

Since writer Ed Brubaker and the folks at Marvel insist that good ol' Steve Rogers is well and truly dead (assasinated by his lover in Captain America #25), just who is this new Cap? My money's on former sidekick and current Winter Soldier, Bucky, but I suppose we'll just have to keep on reading and wait until January to find out!

Sienna Buff aka "Flex" Lewis, Future Pro?

Almost certainly!!!

Flex, good luck on the 14th at the UKBFF British Championships in Nottingham!!!

Just Another Day in LA!

After a long 6-day stretch last week at Spago, today was my additional day off. Time to run a bunch of errands and get back to the gym after a few self-imposed days off.

First stop Golden Apple to pick up Buffy #7 and some other comics. And there is some hot blonde filming some bit, probably for those G4 kids at Attack of the Show, highlighting some upcoming Thunderbolts graphic novels.

Then at Target, you've got a another camera crew following some chick pushing a cart filled with Hanes products, which now seem to dominate the whole men's underwear section. Over in housewears there's Andy Richter, not saving the universe, but rather just shopping with his kids. Andy by the way he is one big tall dude.

At the gym are those cute baseball-capped twins from MTV's True Life "I'm an Identical Twin episode, Maurice, one of the "most gorgeous male models" from Bravo's 2004 reality show Manhunt, and the usual number of completely ripped, completelty shaved down model types that frequent the gym from 11 to 2.

Finally at Rock 'n' Roll Ralphs I waiting in line for the cashiers behind two sportily dressed Latinas. Or so I think. When one has to go back to fetch some iced-oatmeal cookies, I get a better look. Both chicks have big tits, tiny wastes, broad shoulders, strong chins AND Adam's Apples! I'm stuck behind two done-up-to-the-sporty-nines transexuals who barely seem to speak English (and the cashier happens to be Asian who then asks if I'm into bodybuilding and if I know who won last week's Olympia).

Just another day in LA!

CELEBFLASH: Faith & Jimmy!

A fun though ultimately somewhat lackluster Sunday night Emmy party capped off an odd couple of weeks last weekend. The highlight of the night was getting to see two of the truly most attractive people in TV: First off was Eliza Dushku, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's ultimate bad girl Faith, who though a tad thin is simply stunning in person and radiates both elegance and confidence, though I suppose the latter shouldn't be surprising since she recently inked her own development deal at Fox. Isn't it really just time for the ultimate Buffy spin-off?

Then there was the original Jimmy Olsen, and former Special Unit 2 detective, Michael Landes, who's pictures just don't do him justice. The guy is truly beautiful in the flesh. Landes another recent Fox signer-on deserves to break through and make it big. Booted from The New Adventures of Lois & Clark for looking too much like Dean Cain, Landes was seen earlier this year in the soon cancelled Wedding Bells. I have a feeling Sunday night he thought that I was stalking him and his missus since every time I turned around there he was (or is it the other way around). Well, maybe the first two or three times, but after that it was all purely accidental.

Now a Faith-centric supernatural-fantasy show with Landes as some sort of deity/demon/sidekick, now that I would certainly watch!

Eat Sh*t!

Earlier today I got all excited by the prospect of a new Dogipot just down from the CPK/Crunch building there on Crescent Heights.

Later this evening, there I am sitting with Bentley on the couch (while I waiting for some water to boil) and I hear a rumbling right outside the door. I open the door to peak out and find that several bits of dog poo have been thrown (or kicked) at my door. Now I know the culprit was the sad lonely guy in #15 (since I also just heard his door shutting). I go and knock on his door to ask why did he just do that. The fat guy in #15 doesn't even open the door, but starts shouting at me through his peephole. Claiming that since I'm the only one with a dog on this side (all four units), the pathetic guy in #15 starts calling me an asshole because I've let Bentley take a dump in front of his door and not picked it up. Well, I start getting all wound up and let the disgustingly ugly guy in #15 have it right back, and then some.

98% of the time I take Bentley out the back way. I get excited every time I see another Dogipot on our walks. I always pick up his mess. I frown upon and bitch about those who don't (especially every time I park on the west side of Hayworth and have to dodge dog mess in the grassy verge there). I have bunches of plastic bags in my pockets. And most importantly, not only is Bentley very particular where he poos, he would never poo inside! Oh, did I mention this all took place on the inside stairwell, which opens out onto the courtyard where the other small dog owners in the complex let there little dogs roam free?

After doing the responsible thing and picking up the crap that the I-hope-he-dies-alone guy in #15 threw, I call the management company to complain (and state my case) while I'm all wound up, sound utterly distressed and am almost trembling.

The lesson of this altercation: You can mess with me, just don't mess with or verbally attack my dog!

Atlantic City Pro, Prejudging Pix

A selection of prejudging pictures from this weekend's Atlanctic City Pro, courtesy of the good camerafolk at Muscular Development.

Fouad Abiad: 5th Place's a Charm

Over the years, as I've perused the numerous bodybuilding forums (I'm thinking of Muscle Mayhem in particular here), Hoss aka Fouad Abiad seems to have been one of the constants on the boards with his training insights, supportive comments and progress pix.

In 2006 after rising up through the amateur ranks, Fouad won both his super-heavyweight class and the overall at the 2006 Canadian National championship in Saskatoon, SK, finally earning him his IFBB pro card. He quickly followed this up with a "test run" against the big boys at that years Atlantic City Pro just over a week later, but placed an unfortunate 15th.

Being one of those off season mass monsters who can really put on the pounds, Fouad regularly gets close to the 300 mark (which is a pretty fair amount for a 5'10" guy), before then dieting down to his contest weight of around 230 or so pounds, a feat requiring much determination to achieve such conditioning.

The results of his hard work could be seen this past weekend at Montmorency College's André Mathieu Auditorium where Fouad blew away some of his more experienced competion with a 5th place finish at the 2007 Montreal Pro Classic. Though narrowly placing out of a slot that would have qualified him for the Olympia (only the top three qualify), Fouad earned the respect of many, including MD's Dave Palumbo, for his "thick, dense, muscle and superb conditioning [which, Palumbo acknowledged] was enough for the judges to overlook his less than perfect symmetry." Huh? Looks pretty damn symmetrical to me!

Responding to his Mayhem fans Sunday Fouad posted the following:

"Thanks everyone for your support I could not have asked for a better outcome. Posing next to guys that I have looked up to for years was one of the most thrilling things I have done in my life and I will never forget it," while also acknowledging that "I know I still have a long way to go and I also imagine myself with more quad sweep, thicker hams and calves, fuller arms and shoulders and more thickness in the chest and back. Did I miss anything... lol." At 29 Fouad has a bright, bright future in the sport!

Up next the Atlantic City Pro at the Trump Taj Mahal.

Tony Stark is...

This year it was Spider-Man, Ghost Rider and the Fantastic Four.

Next year it's Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk. and a third, Travolta-less attempt to reimagine the Punisher.

And you thought 2007 was the summer of comic book movies?

Erik Fankhouser, North American Pro!

There's a new IFBB Pro in the house, specifically Erik "The House" Fankhouser, the 5'9" 215 or so pounder who passed on July's USA championships to concentrate on this past weekend's 2007 IFBB North American Bodybuilding contest held at the Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland, OH.

Erik brought his A-game, a fantastic taper, and those freaking fraking legs of his. Though a pre-contest favourite to win the whole shebang, he had a fight on his hand in a packed heavyweight class, though ultimately bested both Darrell Terrell and Michael Liberatore, the 2007 MD Cyber Classic champ and Dave Palumbo's actual pick for the top spot, a man who "brought a symmetrical, freaky-ripped, package to the stage and was rewarded with a deserving 3rd place."

Erik then rocked the house in his quest for overall domination taking down super-heavy Grigori Atoyan, middleweight Mexican Angel Rangel, and light-heavy Mark Perry (who's been competing at the national level since 1996).

With Erik's win I'm seriously tempted to support the guy and get one of his House Wear (as opposed to Thug Wear™ by Yanchulis) designed shirts (especially since Joe has one of Flex's tees).

Hold on a sec though... You may have noticed Erik's inability to crack a decent smile in the pix I've posted (or from clicking on through the links above), well that's another reason to go out and support this West Virginian native.












Yes, as you can see bad, bad teeth for this otherwise handsome man! Maybe he's got some British ancestry?

Suit Yourself. No More Off the Peg.

I've been needing to buy a new suit for a while now (especially since I had that little incident at work when I was showing someone how to squat), so I'd determined that this Labor Day Weekend, along with all the concurrent Labor Day Sales, would be the perfect time to search one out.

I figured Macy's would be my first stop with it's decent selection and well publicized sales, choosing to venture down Pico to the Westside Pavilion, and the store where I'd picked out my first Spago suit (formerly a Hecht's/Robinson-May branded store). After trying on a couple I figured a 42 short might work (so my movement was a tad restricted), but since I'm a comparison shopper and need much friendly affirmation I chose to continue the quest anyway. At Nordstrom the sales chap tried to put me in a couple of Hugo Boss jackets (which, given the $795.00 price tag, were thankfully too tight anyway). I left despondent and bought a Hagrid action figure and latte instead.

Joe came with me Saturday to search the Beverly Center Macy's, where he decided a 42 was too small anyway, and I really needed a 44. Now 42s come with 36 inch pants, and 44s with 38, and since I'm like a 33, that really isn't gone work is it (since the most a pair of pants can be altered in maybe 3 inches). Loehmann's followed (Ed, what were you thinking?), then Banana Republic (they don't carry jackets 42 and above in short lengths).

Today, Sunday, Joe was determined we try Men's Warehouse, so off we popped to Burbank. Greeted almost instantly by a salesman armed with his trusty tape measure, he took my measurements, lead us over to a rack and started handing me jackets. Quickly realising I'm actually a 46 short, separates were determined to be the only way to go.

The jacket still needs some major alterations to taper it, but with an instore tailor Men's Warehouse has made this simple one-stop shopping, and without being over bearing or at all pushy, the salesman told me what I'd pretty much discovered over the last couple of days, that manufactures just don't design suits for people with my "atheltic" (5'5" and 202 lbs) build.

But now it's done, I look as wide as hell, and to celebrate rather than pick up some Krispy Kremes, I got some canned snow instead (roll on Christmas)!

Kitchen Nightmares

Dotty ex-antiques shop owner Sandy, sulky Laura and horse-faced Helen run Morgans, an intimate restaurant in Woolton, an upscale suburb of Liverpool, with British super-soap Hollyoaks taped just around the corner.

I'd been suffering from some Gordon Ramsay withdrawal since Hell's Kitchen finished up it's tepid third season just a few weeks ago, but flipping through the what's on list on Tivo there I found him on BBC America in Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. And that's where I met the gals of Morgans as Ramsay bleeps his way through another hour of reality television, this time hoping to turn around struggling and underperforming British restaurants with all the finesse of a bull in a china shop.

No matter what your opinion of Ramsay he certainly knows what he's doing, demanding responsibility and profitability from his new found charges, which, at least in this episode, results in a terrific upswing in business and success for sous-turned-head chef Emma. All the while however Ramsay simply delights in stirring up the emotions and egos involved in running a restaurant. This of course makes for good TV, has earned the show a couple of BAFTAs (the British Emmy), and come September 19th we'll see Kitchen Nightmares, the US copycat version on FOX.

I wonder if "bollocks" will be among the words bleeped out!

Buffy Cancelled for a Third Time!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the (best) TV show (ever) ended in May 2003 after Sarah Michelle Geller decided not to renew her contract. Just months later then license holder Moore Action Collectibles cancelled their line of action figures, claiming lack of retailer support. Fan support however was rabid, ultimately resulting in Diamond Select Toys' decision to take over the line and produce a 100 or so figures (as well as some superb plush and prop replicas) over the next four years.

Last week, on August 22nd 2007 to be precise, Chuck Terceira, Director of Diamond Select Toys, announced the cancellation of all upcoming Buffy figure releases, most notably the "build-a-figure" Judge wave which was due in stores at the end of the month, a wave which was first announced as far back as last November.

The fans have again rallied to take action. In hopes of securing a release for said figures, Philip M, administrator of SlayAlive and BtVSFigs, has organized the Save BUFFY Figures campaign. On August 29th, 2007 supporters will purchase at least one figure directly from DST. Polls on both sites will determine which currently available figure should be purchased, the goal being to buy up all of Diamond's stock in that item and show consumer interest in the line. I'm sure everyone reading this will do their part!

As much as I wanted a 6" vampire Dru, I suppose this sad news allows me to focus my collecting attentions on the Harry Potter and Doctor Who lines. Hmmmm!

Big Brother: The Stuff We Don't See!

"I saw a vision. I won the POV, and I feel like that was God's way... of prepping me for this week... If everything pans out as God's told me its going to, you know, I'm going to win POV tomorrow and Jameka and me will be in the final two. That's what I really believe."

Oh, poor, dear, vocabulary challenged Amber, your vision didn't come to pass, but God may actually be on your side after all. It looks like we'll be saying "Bye Bye" to dear busty Jen this week. Backdoored by Danielle, Jen threw a wobbly once the prime-time cameras shut down for the night on Tuesday, ranting and raving, destroying Dick's fags and breaking from her season-long slop sentence, finally tucking in to some real food.

This earned her the first ever Big Brother penalty nomination:


Which was later changed to a single penalty vote. Seeing as she's sure to be gone this week, I suppose this will seem more dramatic on tonight's live Thursday show.

By the way a big “thank you” to Reality Blurred for keeping me updated on these real cumings and goings in the house (and by that I'm also referring to Eric's on-screen masturbation, a video of which has since been removed from YouTube), since I don’t subscribe to the live feed nor do I have Showtime Too. Oh well, much as I love BB8, three primetime hours and some online gossip is more than enough.

But back to Jen, who, truth be told, has been one of my favourite houseguests this season. Though truly self absorbed, her don’t care attitude and competitive edge have gotten her pretty far (although she’s been on the block numerous times). She's proved she’s there to play the game (and not just in it for the cash, having relinquished half her possible winnings during a veto competition), making her untelevised outbursts true to character. Let's face it, who really wants to play to lose? And this is effectively what she’s now doing. She may as well go out with a bang and have some fun (and some real food) while she finishes up her time in the BB house. Good on her, I'm sure I'd play it a similar way.

And yes Matt, I think (and am hoping) that Danielle will take it all, with Jess, Eric and sadly at this point I'm thinking Amber (maybe God's poisoning my mind) may actuallly round out the final four.