300

I know I'm a few years late, but I never felt I was ready to try this until now. On Friday I did the workout the stuntmen in the movie 300 used. I can confidently say it was one of the hardest things I've ever done.

The workout is:
25 Pullups
50 Deadlifts at 135 pounds
50 Pushups
50 Box Jumps
50 Floor Wipers with a 135 pound barbell
50 Kettlebell Clean and Press with 35 pound dumbbell
25 Pullups
300 reps total

I was nearly wiped out by the time finished my deadlifts and during the box jumps I thought I was going to throw up. I pushed through and somehow fought through it with as little rest as possible. Andrew Pleavin, the actor who played Daxos in 300, finished in 18 minutes 11 seconds. I managed to finish it in about 43 minutes.

Needless to say, I was wiped out for the rest of the day. In the late afternoon I sat down on my bed and unintentionally wound up taking a 3 hour nap. On Sunday, after taking all of Saturday to recover, I still couldn't manage enough strength for a decent workout. It's now Monday and my back is still sore.

I think I'm definitely going to try this again after another few days to recover and I'll probably end up working it into my regular routine.

In case you're not clear on any of the exercises, this video is a great example of the workout:


For further information check out:
http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=35

Coe vs. State Schools

In a kind of spur of the moment I decided to make a drive out to Northern Illinois University with one of my friends on Wednesday afternoon. I'm sure everyone knows what to expect when comparing a state school like NIU to a tiny school like Coe but I still found the differences alittle overwhelming.

First of all, the city of Dekalb basically revolves around NIU while Cedar Rapids doesn't take a whole lot of notice of Coe. You can't walk a block in Dekalb without spotting at least a dozen NIU students. In Cedar Rapids I'm almost surprised to spot Coe students off campus.

Second and probably most obvious is the sheer size difference between the schools. NIU has around 24,000 students compared to our 1,500 and we each have campuses appropriately sized to accommodate our numbers. With size comes security Coe has never seen. Every visitor must be signed in and ID'd and every individual floor requires key access from both the elevator and the stairs.

Another big difference is the diversity of the students themselves. Although I'm not sure of our exact numbers, it's safe to say that most Coe students come from white, relatively privileged backgrounds. If I'm not mistaken NIU is approximately 55% black, the rest is mostly white with a mix of everything else.

While NIU may dwarf us with its massive size, there is no substitute for the comfort and familiarity of Coe. I picked Coe for a reason and I'm not planning on leaving any time soon.

Class Photo

After I took photography last semester all I really pay attention to in pictures is technical elements. I realize that it helps me better appreciate good pictures but it makes a lot of pictures I might have enjoyed in the past just look crappy to me.


This is a pretty good example of a bad picture. The lighting is terrible, there is no feeling of depth, and the only action is hand movements. Overall, it's pretty weak and really boring.





This picture is considerably better in my opinion. Despite no focal emphasis, there is a decent depth of field. I can't be picky with focus on a point and shoot camera so this works fine for now. What's more, the lighting is better and the angle is alittle more interesting as it's taken from a different perspective than just standing still and looking at the teacher.






I guess my overall message is that learning more about the art allows you to better appreciate a good picture while at the same time keeps you from enjoying bad ones. It also brings a sense of perfectionism as you can point out every flaw of every piece you do.