A treant from World of Warcraft (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
You see her image on nearly every site dealing with World of Warcraft. There are many videos on YouTube with her voice over. They are all to sell the same thing: Hayden Hawke’s gold guide for WOW.
Who is Hayden Hawke?
Sure, there is an image of a cute, young woman. Her blonde and silvery blue eyes. But is she a real person? After all, the name choice is interesting in that she hawks her guide. Hayden is also a name that could be either a man or a woman. Looking at slightly older images used in the adverts shows she has either bloomed well or is making some much real money with her guide she could afford an upgrade.
Is she real?
I’ve seen it speculated that she is a Photoshop creation. Her voice is someone’s girlfriend and that there real isn’t a Hayden Hawke. She has the correct amount of gamer nerd appeal, without being ridiculously hot that people ignore her. Yet, she is easy to ignore. Just like Zygor Guides, Hayden Hawke is now a synonym for site WOW spam. It’s all just noise anyway.
And what’s the secret guide have? Ways to use some addons to turn the AH into a commodities exchange. Buy low, sell high. That’s the ticket to more gold in WOW. Oh sorry, Hayden.
The other day a friend of mine asked me, “If you are so good at SEO, how come when I search for Nikki Dial, I don’t find your blog? I have to put the actual title into Google before I get anything. What kind of SEO expert are you? After, you made a big deal about searching for Edwina Marquand. Hell you even made a video. What’s up?”
I had to explain a few things to him. First off, Nikki Dial is far more popular and known that my former classmate Edwina Marquand. I could probably put Nikki Dial’s name in every sentence and still not score very well for search engine optimization for Google or Bing. Not only is there a great amount of content with Nikki Dial, many of those sites have much higher traffic than I do, so they will also score higher. Not to mention, the algorithms are in constant change. Therefore, a site that scores well one day, may not the next.
He continued, “So? You say you are some sort of damned marketing genius, sell shit and stuff. And what’s with the title ‘My Date With Nikki Dial‘? You hoping she reads it and wants frak or something? Like that’s gonna happen!”
I know the likelihood of Nikki Dial, or Edwina Marquand for that matter, ever reading my blog is small. After all, there are many fan sites with images and homages to Nikki. This site is about me and what goes on in my head. Sometimes I write about Simon Sinek. Other times I may write about Seth Godin or Andrew Cass. Yes, many posts are created to bring in readers, but it is mostly about me. Lately that has meant posting about fitness, my workouts and recipes. Other times it is about beer. Hell, I’ve even posted about anal sex. Whatevers.
Sure, I would be flattered if Nikki Dial did read my blog. I’d probably faint if she sent me an e-mail. Yes, I’d like to meet her some day. After all, she is a gorgeous little thing. Yes, one might even say I am a fan. But I’m not obsessive. I will not lose sleep if Nikki never sees it. This blog is about me and what I’m doing.
“Oh,” he said. “I get it. You want to do her. And maybe this Edwina chic.”
Using the diagonal sled-type leg press machine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Saturday morning. Time for the new leg workout. Will it be good? It is a bit more intense than the old one. Some exercises will see heavier amounts. Some exercises have been removed altogether.
Arrived at the gym a bit later than planned, but still got to it. Warm up. Stretch. Warm up some more. Time for leg extensions.
About 15 years ago, I started pre-exhausting my legs with extensions. I went nuts back then, lifting the whole rack and then some at the YMCA in Marion, Ohio. The soccer moms thought I was absolutely nuts. I’d cinch the seat belt in the Nautilus unit all the way to keep me from arching my back and cheating. Yes, it build great quads, but at the price of my knees.
Today, however, the pre-exhaust method is to use TORQ and move the weight at 3-4 seconds a rep. Coupled to that is 30 reps, so these days the weights are much smaller and less taxing on the knees. The burn is more intense too. Awesome.
Previous leg press routines at Stay Fit 24 had seen the use of the machine leg press that allows the user to push horizontally. It is time now to step back up to the Bigs with the inclined leg press. Hello old friend, it has been a long time. Three set later, it was enjoying the old feelings.
Just over half-way through this routine and I started to really keep my heart rate up. Heck the Smith Machine negatives, I kept sweating. By the end, I was out of breath and sweating. Awesome! I’ve not had this indoors in a long time.
Overall, I liked the results from my Leg workout. I spent less time at the gym, but taxed my legs more. I was able to hit just over 50% body weight on the fifth set of squats, though only hitting 4 reps out of 5. One more session should take care of that and see weights increasing. The pyraminding with the squats started with 10 pounds each side and adding 5 to each after the set. That fifth set saw 105 pounds being pushed from the floor all the way up. Being 6 feet, 5 inches, that quite a long way for a full squat. That may not seem like much, but at nearly 45 years of age, it felt like a huge accomplishment. Boom!
The next task at hand is to work on the deltoids and arms. The former will get Roger Lockridge’s “3-Week Shoulder Smash” from the June 2013 issue of Iron Man. This is a serious shoulder workout that runs for 3 cycles of 3 weeks. My shoulders are not responding as hoped, so it is time to put them on notice. Arms will probably contain the current spider curls, dumbbells and inclines. The new routine reduces the exercises for the deltoids to three, but raises the intensity several notches. Can’t wait.
It took two extra days to get to, but it finally happened. The new chest workout given in “Time To Move To Heavy” was finally done. It stretched my chest in new ways. It contracted with higher intensity. Some exercises resulted in same weight as before, some lower. Rest was extended a bit. Negatives were pushed.
Oh the pain in my chest when it was over. That great pain that says a muscle has been worked out, just to the limit, but not so far that it tears. That pain the means your muscles will pull in all the protein you eat afterward. That pain leads to growth afterward. That pain that tells you your body is alive. That glorious pain. Awesome sauce.
The next workout day brings an updated leg workout. So, it is time to review that one.
Leg extension (pre-exhaust, TORQ) 3×30,20,15
Squats 5×5 (rest to 1.5 minutes)
Leg Press 3×8
Leg Curls (TORQ) 3×30,20,15
Feet-forward Smith Machine squat (negative) 1×9
Hyperextensions 3×10
Dead lift (pyramid the weight) 3×5
One leg, standing calf raise 3×20
Free hand, two leg calf raise (speed, full stroke) 2×30+
There it is. The leg workout changes. On TORQ, the idea is to get full range of motion over a 4 second rep. Squats are meant to go heavier this time around, but the rep speed should still be 3 seconds. Be sure to warm up all the muscles very well and stretch. For squats only, rest at 1.5 minutes between sets, including the last. All over sets see 40 second rest between.
A few days ago while at the Kenwood Towne Centre, I was looking to get something to eat. Not sure what I wanted, I looked at Smoothie King’s offerings. After all, some smoothie places will put protein powder in their drinks. What about Smoothie King? I looked over their menu.
There it was The Activator, up to 1,100 calories with protein and other “good stuff”. Have to try that. Give me the chocolate one please. And it was good.
Once home, I went to the Smoothie King website to get more information about this smoothie and the protein powder it contains. I was quite surprised how good their protein powder is. Cannot tell if the powder is available for sale though.
But wait! I have Optimum Nutrition and Meijer brand protein powder at home. What about making one? Search the internet. Find some recipes. Time to try.
The bases for my smoothie recipe is some ice (4-5 cubes) and 2.5 cups of milk (2%). This will give some frothiness and help chilli it. Add in a scope of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey protein powder and now the protein gram count is over 40.
What next? How about some yogurt to aid digestion? Cool. Two tablespoons go in. So does a banana. Hmmm…more smoothie-ness. Some walnuts? Sure. The bitterness will help offset the sweetness. How much? A few…
Is that it? Anymore protein? Yes! Two tablespoons of peanut butter. That will be good. Mix. Blend. Pour. Drink. Oh yes.
There’s my first entry into the smoothie arena. What’s yours?
The plan was simple. Yesterday I updated my exercises for chest, back and abs. Want to know what it is? Sure, here’s the link. Then today, it was time to hit the gym after work and see how good this workout was. Yeah, that was the plan.
Today, reality happened. My daughter had a very emotional reaction to her summer school. I couldn’t blame her. The Northwest Passage School isn’t the nicest place and it is all computers. She had this same class on computer at regular school this year and couldn’t pay attention long enough to pass. She nearly broke down.
After talking to her and getting her to calm, she finally agreed to try it. After all, we’ve already paid and we cannot get that back. They were also having technical issues and didn’t have a computer for her for over an hour.
Ok, enough about my struggles. The results put me to work late, which put me home late, which meant no new workout time. Ugh! Time to hit the arms with dumbbells at home. Curls and extensions to failure, then some negatives. Then a call.
The call was good, but lasted longer than I planned. Nuts. Now I’m late with supper. While I have time for a smoothie? Yeah sure. Who cares about sleep for tomorrow.
101122-N-7948R-111 (Photo credit: U.S. Pacific Fleet)
The last few months have seen me using the exercises in Iron Man Magazine nearly exclusively. In particular, those found within the Training & Research Center’s articles, using the ideals of HIT and 4x. Steve Holman’s articles have lead to very good results and since the body needs to be confused from time to time, it is now that there will be some change.
For June and July, I am going to go with heavier workouts, though the reps will not be forced to drop much. Research is starting to show that decline chest exercises are more effective and stimulating the pectoral muscles. All the standing cable flyes will be replaced, as with the flat press. I’ve also knocked out some of the supersets and lowered the overall number of exercises. I want more bang for my time. The resulting chest, back and ab workout will now look like this:
Declined flyes 3×10
Declined dumbbell bench press 3×10
Super set:
Flat flyes 3×10
Wide-grip bench dips 3×10
Smith machine flat bench (negative) 1×9
Super set:
Pulldowns 3×10
Undergrip pulldowns 3×10
Upright barbell rows 3×12
Super set:
Dumbbell shrugs 3×12
Laterals 3×10
Knee Ups 4×12
The idea is to do this workout at least through June and then perhaps tweak it a bit for July. This is done once a week, usually on Monday, with a followup workout on Fridays that is more TORQ oriented. The latter workout will remain from the Iron Man articles and will be adjusted once the July issue of the magazine has arrived.
Changes for the leg work are still being finalized and will be posted as soon as they are ready.
American pornographic actress Nikki Dial at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo and Consumer Electronics Show 2002 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It was a dream like no other. Well, ok, like others, but different. I was in Las Vegas with my wife for an anniversary. We were walking in town, seeing the sites, the tourist thing. A woman about 5’1″ walked by. She was a few years younger than myself and quite beautiful. In the back of my mind, she was familiar.
I walked a few steps more. I turned to my wife and said, “I think I know her.” The name came from the backs of my mind. Nikki Dial.
I turned around. “Nikki?” I asked. She stopped. She turned around. “Yes. Do I know you?” Oh that smile.
No, she didn’t know me, though I told her I was a fan. Back in the day. I introduced myself and my wife. She was on her way back to her hotel from a convention. Yes, one of those kind of convention. She had been signing autographs, but as her day was years ago, few remember her. We spoke for a bit.
Hey, it’s a dream, so weird things happen. Tomorrow we are going to see Hover Dam. We invite her. She accepts. Awesome.
The dream continues with the next day at breakfast. We met up. Eat. Chat. And catch the tour bus. There’s more chatting. Laughter. My wife and her chat and giggle. They even model some for me, though somewhat mockingly. My wife explains how Plexus helped her lose 20 pounds. Then she finally listened to me and joined the gym, doing the exercises I tell her. Now she’s back down to a size 6 like she was 11 years ago.
There’s more laughing. I’m by myself, taking pictures as I am want to do. The Nikon D7000 is clicking away. That afternoon we are hiking together in the high desert. Well, it might be the next day. Who knows? Who cares? It’s Nikki Dial and my wife. They’re talking, getting along. Nikki poses more for me. No, not those kinds of photos. Real modeling. Sometimes more candid, slightly touristic photos. Others are more serious. Some are artistic. Oh what a day.
My body senses time is running out. There’s a request for a kiss. Not from me. It’s from Nikki. The bathroom scene from The Matrix flashes across. I can hear Monica Bellucci as Persephone telling Neo not like that. Like you kiss her. I kiss Nikki again, putting all the passion I have for my wife into it. She’s short. Her knees give out and I have to hold her up. She steps back. Wow.
She turns to my wife and says “I see why you held on to this one.” She turns back to me and smiles. Oh my, that gorgeous smile.
Perhaps I’m learning more about Search Engine Optimization or perhaps I’m lucky. My article about former classmate Edwina Marquand is now the first link when searching for her name. In a future article I’ll be sure to do the same for another former classmate by the name of Kevin Pelch. After all, he is the one who gave me the nickname Ropeman in the 10th grade. It is a name I used proudly for years until Anne Langley gave me the one of Brainmuffin. That, however, is writings for another time.
As many readers know, I also write as the Cincinnati Craft Beer Examiner. As the Cincinnati beer scene is going crazy these days, it is quite a bit keeping up. Several breweries have opened over the last few years, including Listermann’s (yes, the home brew supply place), Mad Tree and Double Barrel. Oh, what to do.
Well, it is time to do reviews. Not of one beer from each brewery. No, that wouldn’t feed my OCD very well. It is time to review everything available. Oh great…more text to read. Yes, but also video reviews. Pictures of beer (posted to Flickr too). After all, it is time to combine all my passions into a single, directed future. It is time time to combine beer, photography and writing. After all, Charlie Papazian was the one who pushed me to start on Examiner and it is high time his recommendation was rewarded.
In the summer of 1979, the Army moved us from Seymour, Tennessee to Fort Belvoir, Virginia. After all, my father had made the Majors list and was in a Captain’s position. He was also in the Army Corp of Engineers and Fort Belvoir was their headquarters location at the time. This was my father’s third tour at Belvoir.
Most of the summer was spent trying to sell our house on Eldorado Circle in Seymour. The school year was starting to approach quickly and my mom, my brother and I still lived in Tennessee, while dad was getting settled into his new assignment. After having listed the house with a real estate agent, my parent’s decided to sell my owner. My grandfather made a sign and we put it in the front yard. Yes, the summer was interesting. Eventually, the Simpsons bought the house (No, not Homer and Marge).
The move to Fort Belvoir was like moving into a place both familiar and foreign. I have lived there in the early 70’s, though my memory of such was no longer in my head. After two weeks in visiting officers housing, we finally had a house on 21st Street. Today a search for T-436 21st Street will not reveal a house. Seems the house built in 1913 has been replaced at taxpayer expense. Oh well.
I was going into the 6th grade in 1979. My brother and I would for one year attend the same school: Markham Elementary. This would be the first year I would play the viola and the first time I would meet Edwina Marquand.
Along with horses, Edwina Marquand had a bit of a thing for me. Though I liked girls, I became too enamored with Keleigh Linn to fully notice. Edwina and Aileen were one of two sets of twins in my 6th grade class. On a side note, I believe Keleigh Linn Sylvester on FaceBook is the “other woman”.
Anyway, in 7th grade, though both Edwina and I went to Hayfield Intermediate School in Alexandria, Virginia, we did have any classes together. From time to time, I’d see her in the hallway and say hi. Yes, I liked her too by then, but time was not on my side.
One day in the summer of 1981, my father came home to inform us we were moving to Fort Ritchie, Maryland. My parents had been looking at possibly buying a house outside the DC area, but now that was off. The Army had a pressing need for my dad’s expertise as the Facilities Engineer in the mountains of Maryland. One weekend we drove up for a visit and a few weeks later we had moved.
All contact with Edwina Marquand were now broken. When I get nestalgic for finding former classmates, I do Google searches for her. Via Intelius, I have found an Edwina Marquand with past addresses at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. She is the right age, could it be her? I’ve no idea.
So Edwina, I’m putting the search out to the Universe. After all, I finally connected back with Leo, I mean Alex Fleig on Facebook. I found Glenneth’s blog site and even came across Tracy Janner via MySpace and then Facebook. I know it is possible to reconnect, go through the “what have you been doing all these years stage” and the, most likely, go about our merry lives.
