I have decided to put this blog on hold for a while, I have done so in the past and come back to it after awhile. SO I wouldn’t think that this would be any different. I have too many other web-related projects going on at the moment and cant really devote any time to this blog at the moment.
Failed priming
The weather gods weren’t smiling at me the other day when I tried to prime some more of my models and the white primer I used didn’t cover the plastic but lumped together, so its a do over. Don’t know if it was that the paint was to cold or if the model wasn’t clean enough, or maybe its a slight difference between the different colours because when I have been using other colours it has worked just fine. Now to just find a better way of removing the paint, as the cheaper alternative that I choose to go with for stripping paint of my Necrons isn’t really working out that good. So I might just have to bite the bullet and buy another more expensive brand and see if that works better.
Dr.Who and the possible return of the Odd
So after watching the third episode of the latest season of Dr.Who I’m intrigued and am eagerly awaiting the next episode. The episode that’s coming up next week looks very interesting another time lord and a possible return of the odd, but I don’t remember them having green eyes.
Some other thoughts of the first two episodes of the season, my first impression of the girl in the space suit were Amy’s daughter. Something just occurred to me while I’m writing this post. Riversong might and possibly be Amy’s daughter and it was Riversong in the space suit. But maybe not as they might have said that it wasn’t the Doctor that Riversong murdered, but I don’t recall exactly how it was worded.
Another thing might be that the little girl who is obviously a time lord or at least partly a time lord, another thing about the girl is that this could be the master reborn, but that’s a long shot.
One thing about this week’s episode was that the plot was a little bit too predictable towards the end and the twist wasn’t really set up well. But otherwise it was a fine episode a few good comedy moments thrown in and lots more horror and creepiness that has been the Dr.Who trademark for so many years.
Descent painting progress
Started experimenting with painting some of the Descent models tonight and it was a fun time had by all. I primed three Kobolds and one Golem just to try out the primer I got as I haven’t used this particular brand before. The Kobolds where primed with black and the Golem was primed using a white colour, I’ll get back with the brand and that kind of details at a later point as I can’t remember this as I’m writing this post.
But yesterday I primed the rest of the Kobolds and this batch where more successful than my first as I now have the amount of paint and a better spraying surface. I would have gotten around to priming the models earlier but it’s been raining hard for the last week or so. I still haven’t received the Descent: Journey in the dark box yet as the last copy was sold in store before they managed to get a hold of the one I ordered but they should get more in about two weeks. So I’m stuck painting and doing box control for the two expansions that did arrive.
I do need to get some more colours as the colours I did buy was focused on painting Ultra Marines and now I need a bit more colour range to get all the models for the Descent game painted.
Time to get in shape again
So today I got a real surprise and got a weight set and an abs-board, so now just to find some room for them and set up a schedule. It seems like I have done this a few times before, I’m not a big fan of exercise without weights as I find it a lot easier to set up training regiments for weights and machines. So I’ll see if I can find the 4-split program I used to follow and maybe modify it for the available exercises I have available for me at the time.
While looking for my old training routines I happened to find my bodyweight records and just for fun I decided to check my weight and see how ridiculous out of shape I’m currently am. I have lost a significant amount of weight over the last 6-8 months and I’m guessing that’s just muscle mass unfortunately. I usually weigh myself in the mornings and this time I did it in the evening after having a full meal, so the actual weight loss is even more than the scales will show, but as it stands now I have lost about 5 kg how much of that is muscles I wouldn’t know just yet, I’m going to take my measurements and find out.
*Small break*
So after measuring myself and finding more accurate information I have only lost about 3-4 kilos and 2 cm everywhere so I’m probably going to be a lot weaker than I was when I stopped training the last time.
Going back to my old 4-split workout, with a few modification as I don’t have the facilities I used to have.
SPLIT I
Chest
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| PUSH-UP | 5 | 10,10,7,7,9 |
| EXERCISE-BALL PUSH-UP | 2 | 15 |
Triceps
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| CLOSE-GRIP PUSH-UP | 1 | TO FAILURE |
| SEATED OVERHEAD DUMBBELL EXTENSION | 3 | 10 |
SPLIT II
LEGS
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| BARBELL SQUAT | 3 | 12,10,8 |
| BARBELL LUNGE | 3 | 12 |
| STANDING CALF RAISE | 2 | 15 |
| FRONT BARBELL SQUAT | 3 | 12,10,8 |
SPLIT III
Back
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| BENT-OVER BARBELL ROW | 3 | 15,12,10 |
| TRADITIONAL DEADLIFT | 3 | 12,10,8 |
| DUMBBELL SHRUG | 4 | 12 |
Biceps
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| STANDING BARBELL CURL | 3 | 12,10,10 |
| 3-GRIP BARBELL CURL | 3 | 6 per grip |
| STANDING ALTERNATE DUMBBELL CURL | 4 | 12-15 |
SPLIT IV
Shoulders
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| WIDE-GRIP UPRIGHT ROW | 2 | 12 |
| DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISE | 2 | 10 |
| DUMBBELL FRONT RAISE | 2 | 10 |
Abs
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| CRUNCH | 4 | 10 |
| SCISSOR KICK | 2 | 15 |
UFC 129 Main Card Predictions
Having watched the 24/7 on YouTube I’m very impressed with the small promo video for the fight, set to the music of Fort Minor- “Remember the name” and that is really getting me pumped up for this card. I can’t wait to see the Countdown show and see the promo packages for the other fights.
So without further delay here are my picks for the groundbreaking UFC 129 Main Card.
Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields
This is a closer fight than most casual MMA fans think, Jake Shields has beaten a lot of thought fighters to get where he is right now. However his first UFC fight was lacklustre and too close for comfort if you are challenging for the title against one of the top fighters in the world Pound-for-pound. However I think that the lacklustre performance came from a hart weight cut as Shields has been fighting at higher weight classes for a long time, and he really didn’t want to drop that much weight when he came into the UFC.
GSP is ahead in all facets of the fight game except submissions, so GSP will take it slow and safe content to fight a similar fight to what he did at his last outing with Josh. If GSP feels he is losing the fight after the first two rounds he might start going for more and more takedowns just to score points ala Jackson’s camp strategy. And like I have mentioned before is the latest drama in Jackson’s camp going to affect GSP preparation for this fight only time will tell.
But GSP will score a comfortable decision win unless Shields pulls off a miracle submission.
Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick
This is going to be a stand up exhibition with Jose Aldo displaying his striking expertise and scoring yet another win. Mark Hominick has a punchers chance but that’s about it, he hasn’t the wrestling of ground game to do anything on the ground against Aldo. As we saw in the one sided fight against Faber and Hominick hasn’t the wrestling of Faber and Faber couldn’t do anything for the entire fight.
Jose Aldo wins by stoppage late in the second round or early in the third.
Lyoto Machida vs. Randy Couture
This is a fight I have been waiting for and it’s going to be Couture’s last fight or at least the last fight for a while in any case. Machida is probably going to win this fight by KO or TKO-ing the ageing Couture in the second round, but he still needs to implement his game plan of sticking and moving and not get caught up in Couture’s dangerous clinch game. On the ground Couture can inflict some damage but Machida has a stable ground game and should be able to handle Couture on the ground and get back up.
For Couture to win this fight he needs to clinch and dirtybox for all three rounds not letting Machida get away with his deadly counter striking game. If Couture can close the distance without suffering too much damage I give him a decent chance of winning but I fear that Machida will be too elusive and quick for Couture in this fight.
Ben Henderson vs. Mark Bocek
Ben is the superior fighter in all facets of the game and should be too fast and too skilled a striker for Mark in this fight. Benson should be getting stiffer competition in his next few fights and I might see him in title contention real soon.
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz
Vladimir is an old warhorse even though he is not that old, but Jason Brilz is a far superior fighter in my opinion. Jason Brilz should be able to out strike and win via convincing stoppage in the second round.
UFC 129 Prelims Predictions
Here are my thoughts on the prelims of the biggest UFC PPV in history with 55,000 tickets sold and this PPV will do in my estimation 1.1 million buys.
My main card prediction will be posted tomorrow if I have time.
Rory MacDonald vs. Nate Diaz
This should be a fun fight depending on wheatear Rory can take Nate down and control him on the ground and not be submitted. Nates’s unique standup style will cause problems for Rory forcing him to go for takedowns. Nate has shown weakness in the wrestling department and getting controlled and subsequent losing fights to the likes of Clay Guida, Joe Stevenson and lately Dong Hyun Kim.
I predict that Rory can outwrestle and pound out a decision win in this fight.
Jake Ellenberger vs. Sean Pierson
Jake is as sure thing as you get in MMA to win this fight, as he has more tools at his disposal than Sean Pierson. Jake is on his way up in the welterweight division and should be in line for a title shot in the not too distant future if he keeps winning.
Jake by late round stoppage when his high pace wrestling game breaks Sean’s conditioning.
Ivan Menjivar vs. Charlie Valencia
In this fight I actually have no educated opinion of who is the obvious pick to win. I will however go with the wrestler Ivan as the better wrestler can choose where the fight takes place and dictate the fight and score enough points to win a decision. However Charlie is a solid striker with power and can quite possible score a TKO win in this fight.
So my prediction is a slight edge to Ivan, but otherwise it’s a coin flip.
Claude Patrick vs. Daniel Roberts
This should be a good ground war with Daniel coming out victorious as his overall grappling and submission game is a level beyond Claude. Claude has scored his share of submission wins but lacks the high level wrestling game of Daniel in this fight.
Daniel via submission or GnP late in the third round.
Kyle Watson vs. John Makdessi
Kyle Watson from the latest season of the Ultimate Fighter is my pick to win this fight mainly because I don’t know that much about his opponent and Kyle is a skilled grappler and should be able to grind out a win.
Jason MacDonald vs. Ryan Jensen
Jason should be able to outscore Ryan and get the decision and live to fight another day in the UFC as both these fighters hasn’t looked impressive in quite a while and may get cut or moved over to Strikeforce in the near future.
Pablo Garza vs. Yves Jabouin
Yves Jabouin should win this fight via stoppage either with TKO or KO due to his striking prowess.
Descent: Journeys in the dark
So I took a major plunge and got the descent box and two expansions as well as they are rapidly going out of print and I really want to get my hands on the boxes now. I’m planning on painting the miniatures, and I haven’t decided yet if I’m going Army Painter Dipping or if I’m going to be spending a bit more time on each of the models.
Another question is what kind of sleeves to get for the cards, Ultra Pro or the FFG own brand. I have Dragon Shields Sleeves for my Race for the Galaxy cards but that brand looks to be impossible to get over here. So I will most probably get the FFG sleeves and quite possible in different colours to separate the different decks, but as I haven’t got the actual game yet only the two expansions I can’t really start planning my box control just yet. Speaking of box control I had to get the lost archives episodes from the D6 Generation because one of the episodes where about box control and I thought now would be a good time to support the show. This is actually the first time I have paid for podcast content but I have a sneaking suspicion that I won’t be the last time.
Descent and Warmachine
I recently made contact with the Friendly Local Game Store and they are in the process of pushing Warmachine in the area. I have heard many good things about the game and is eager to try it out. Before moving the local game store tried to get me interested in Warmachine but I had just started collecting some 40k stuff so I wasn’t really interested in starting up a new project so soon. I have put the 40k stuff on hold for a bit and is now trying to decide what models I’m going to start painting and get into.
As I’m more into Board games than war gaming I thought of Descent and how I always wanted to try it out. So it has quite a few miniatures and then I remembered hearing about building 3D or 2.5D tile system for Descent and that got my interest. So I might get the starter box for Descent and some moulds for making my own tiles and see what happens from there.
Due to the fact I had to work on the weekend I couldn’t make the demo for Warmachine and see the game in action, which was a pity. I might however get the Mark II rulebook and read through it to see if it’s something that I might get into and then go about buying an army. As I haven’t a clue of which army I want to play, but I’m sure that after reading the book and talking to the people starting up armies the choice will be quite clear.
Another thing I’m planning on getting is a Airbrush and continuing to learn how to paint, I started to do some painting and modelling before the move but had to leave most of the stuff behind. And apparently the Friendly Local Game Store has a sale this month on all Airbrushes and Airbrush related goods, so I might have to look into that as well in the near future.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 12 Episode 1: Go For It
I found my notes from when I watched the last season of the ultimate fighter Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck. And as there is a GSP title fight coming up at the end of the month and I just wrote a post concerning A GSP super fight with Silva so I might clean up my notes and post them here, and maybe I will be writing some posts about the current season of the ultimate fighter.
The official results are taken from Wikipedia as I didn’t feel like keeping those good notes from when I was watching the 12th season of the ultimate fighter.
Marc Stevens defeated T.J. O’Brien via KO (punches) at 0:13 of round 1.
Good first fight 13 second TKO even with Stevie as a ref. Wrestler from New York, probably going to end up on Koschecks team as he has prior history with the guy.
Spencer Paige defeated Steve Magdaleno via unanimous decision (20–18, 20–18, 20–18).
Second fight, awesome pace in the fight, really exiting. Dana doesn’t know the names of the fighters, which I find amusing. Stupid mistake pulling guard might have cost him the fight if it would have gone to a sudden death round. Spencer Page is the winner, got a good look at his tattoo now, it said perfection
Nam Phan defeated Mike Budnik via TKO (liver strike and punches) in round 1.
Skater guy goes for head in groin attack
Andy Main defeated Jason Brenton via submission (triangle choke/armbar) at 3:33 of round 1.
The guy that George has crossed out before the fight even started, ends up totally dominating the fight.
Alex Caceres defeated Paul Barrow via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:55 of round 1.
Bruce Leroy hopes he got the glow!
Michael Johnson defeated Pablo Garza via unanimous decision (20–18, 20–18, 20–18).
Michael Johnson looks like a beast with a bad attitude. He used GnP with a vengeance trying to finish the fight, but it went to a decision.
Hehe subtitles for the UK fighters
Kyle Watson defeated Joseph Duffy via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:33 of round 1.
Kyle Watson from the HIT squad, and he moves into the house.
Dane Sayers defeated Ariel Sexton via submission (standing rear naked choke) in round 2.
Savant by lay and pray, is he a new muscle blanket.
Cody McKenzie defeated Amir Khillah via technical submission (guillotine choke) at 2:15 of round 1.
Cody has a guillotine but not much else, but only time will tell.
Some of the other fights that I didn’t have anything to say
Jonathan Brookins defeated Ran Weathers via unanimous decision (20–18, 20–18, 20–18).
Sako Chivitchian defeated Toby Grear via unanimous decision (20–18, 20–18, 20–18).
Jeff Lentz defeated Daniel Head via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:45 of round 2.
Aaron Wilkinson defeated Mike Richman via unanimous decision (20–18, 20–18, 20–18).
Sevak Magakian defeated JJ Ambrose via unanimous decision (20–18, 20–18, 20–18).
The guy that looked most well rounded in my opinion lost the fight to the Native American guy by submission. The Gracie trained guy, don’t remember his name could in my opinion have won the entire show. Keep in mind that even thought the show is finished already I have read or seen any spoilers so this is my opinions and impressions from watching the show for the first time.
Ok in the closing montage they have a new sweet ass house for the fighters and there looks to be a few fights that break out, which will be very interesting and even Koscheck gets involved.
