The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding

There's only one Encyclopedia. There's only one Bible. And they're both called "The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding" by Arnold Schwarzenegger. You do the math.

I've been reading a few books concurrently, this is one of them. I finally just finished reading it cover to cover. About 800 pages covering everything you need to know about bodybuilding. From exercises to diets, to overcoming injuries, to picking out posing trunks, to how to train for Mr. O. It's all in there. It's aimed at anyone who lifts, from n00bs to professionals.

Surprisingly it's not a dry read. I often found myself wanting to get stuck into it. Of course reading it and retaining the knowledge are two different things. It's not like I'm a walking encyclopedia now. Far from it. But it was nice to see what's covered so when I'm looking for a particular answer to a problem I can remember, "oh, that shit was in the encyclopedia, lemme look it up." And there were a few fundamental principles that I pulled out and started applying to my lifts.

I recommend that muscleheads of all sizes and walks of life read this book from cover to cover at least once.

#GAINZ

Man, just look at his traps and chest definition...

Birth of the Living Dead

Here's another one that just popped up on my Netflix queue. It's a 75 minute documentary about the making of Night of the Living Dead.

'The Living Dead is easily one of my all time favorite horror movies so I grilled up a double veggie burger and sat down to check it out.

This is a good doc that quickly goes through the humble inception of the flick, its release, and cultural impact. Most of it done simply through talking heads. Romero dominates the story-telling. He's an affable character who's really reminiscent of Stan Lee. Seriously. I'd love to see them hang out together. Like long lost brothers.

I didn't know that Romero had Spanish heritage; I always thought he was Italian. He's from the Bronx and he's called Romero...but I'm hardly an über fan, just ignorant, I guess. Anyway, that was just a tidbit I picked up.

But I digress. This is a good, quick doc on the making of the a classic. I imagine you love Night of the Living Dead, so nerd out for just over an hour on this shit. It's pretty good.

The Monster Squad

I saw that this was recently added to Netflix so I had to watch it. C'mon, it's the freakin Monster Squad, man. Classic shit. 1987.

For those of you with deprived childhoods, The Monster Squad was essentially a Goonies rip-off with classic monsters instead of the Fratellis. Now, it wasn't as good as the Goonies, but it was still legit. I loved it as a kid.

Marie had never seen it and she was up for watching it last night. Marie's taste in film has changed quite a bit over the years. She can't really stomach some of the violence and realism that we used to watch together. So this was right up her ally. We've found her niche. B-rated 80's kid movies. She was cracking up throughout the flick. Loved it.

I dug it, too. It holds up. So clearly whether you want a trip down Nostalgia Lane or you just want to watch a lighthearted entertaining 80's flick, you can't go wrong w/ The Monster Squad.

Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos: Volume 2

I tried reading Lovecraft years ago and I just wasn't in the right mindset for it. It felt hokey. I was just never really into reading horror, occult, fantasy, sword & sorcery, anything remotely like that for a long time. But after falling in love with Conan that lead to reading the original Robert E. Howard stories. I loved them. And from there I started reading more Howard, and before you know it it's a slippery slope to Lovecraft, Bloch, Moorecock, etc.

The Conqueror Worms by Brian Keene was a killer novel that had overt nods to the Cthulhu mythos without actually being an "official" tale of Lovecraftian lore. I liked that book a lot and I'm definitely open to these occult/horror/fantasy stories now that I've eased my way in.

I had to own this book as the cover is a painting called "Twilight" by Bruce Pennington. Forty-five years after this book came out, Temple of Void licensed the artwork for our debut album. So I had to own it. And since I bought it I might as well read the damn thing.

It's good. Real good.

I have a few Hitchcock books that are collections of short stories, much like this, and I dug reading them. I'm on board with the whole short story thing. The book becomes an "album", which each story being a "song." I can dig it.

There were no duds amongst the stories. Just all typical tales of the mythos involving forbidden books, scholarly protagonists, occult/esoteric wisdom...and monsters and death. There's always a lot of mystery and intrigue. And in most cases curiosity kills the proverbial cat.

Recommended.

Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore

I didn't mean to read this again. I just sort of did it. I was looking for something music related and I figured it'd been a while since I had read this so I cracked it open and it was consumed rather quickly thereafter.

I didn't realize that it was ten years old. Death Metal stops at 2003. Pretty odd to read in 2015 and not hear about what's been going on for the last dozen years. I really should have purchased the newly re-released version which has a bunch of updates. Oh well. I guess I'll just wait another decade and buy the next iteration. ;)

I hope you like Napalm Death, boyeee. Cuz this book is centers Death and Grind firmly around the boys from Birmingham. Somehow they're the center of the metal universe. Ah well.

The book is good, though. It's definitely got a narrow focus. Albert chooses to hone in on about ten very important, seminal death metal bands and follow their evolution over a decade or so. Repulsion, Death, Obituary, Morbid Angel, Entombed, Carcass, Napalm Death, Nile...they're the main players in this story for sure. Plus some others of course. Plenty of cameos from NY, Florida, Cali, and Sweden. There are a million bands you could say "why didn't they talk about so-and-so more", but for me the biggest omission was Bolt Thrower. They have a few mentions in there but to me they could have been another 'big' band to follow their trajectory. Whatever. I didn't write the damn book so I can't complain.

It's gotta be hard to try and write a book of this scope. Ultimately narrowing the focus and crafting a story from characters, rather than a laundry list of releases and dates, was the way to go. It reads well. It bounces back and forth across the pond easily. I remember reading a book on the history of Swedish Death Metal and it felt more like a text book of "this band did this, then this band released that, then this demo came out, then this guy picked his nose on this date." It didn't flow. It was too comprehensive. Of course, I'll read it again, but still, it didn't have the flow that Choosing Death does.

This is a solid read and my only regret is that I should have ponied up the cash to buy the updated and expanded edition and read about the last ten years of DM and Grind. Maybe one of my boys will buy it and then I can borrow it and read those new chapters. ;)

Ultraterranium

Erdody found this on Amazon for cheap. I popped on and snagged a copy for myself. This collection of Pennington paintings includes a print of the one Temple of Void used for our album. It's entitled "Twilight" and was originally used for a H.P. Lovecraft collection. I copped one of those from Amazon, too.

This is a GREAT freaking book. It's cool because it talks a little about Bruce's technique and biography. So you get some good additional info on top of just looking at the incredible paintings. But by and large it's just a book of his images. Each section is prefaced by a few pages of commentary.

If you like fantasy art...pick this up.

Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton

Truth: I'd never heard of Stones Throw Records. I knew of Peanut Butter Wolf (the owner), though. I first heard him on the original Return of the DJ comp many many moons ago. He's a dope, world renowned DJ. Evidently he has a label that's been going strong for twenty years. He put out the J Dilla "Donuts" record that really shook things up. But anyway...

This is a doc about his label and it features interviews with some famous cats like Kweli, Kanye, Common, and Madlib. And lots of appearances by dudes that are totally off my radar. (Not that Kanye and Common are no my radar; fuck Kanye.) 

It's pretty cool to see how this label and a lot of these releases came together. Detroit represents on more than one hefty occasion.

This doc is well done and anyone who's into underground hip hop will definitely dig it. But if that's not your thing at all...I wouldn't really watch this. I don't think it's quite as transcendent as say the last doc I watched, No No.

Mad respect to PBW. He runs the label the right way...

(Breakestra are a Stones Throw Records alum. This album isn't on Stones Throw, but it's dope.)

This is Spinal Tap

We've all seen Spinal Tap. But it's been a few years for me so I gave it another viewing today.

It still holds up. It's still classic. Stonehenge still makes you laugh. It's Spinal Tap. What else is there to say? Stream it on Netflix.

No No: A Dockumentary

God damn, I hate baseball. But I love a good doc. And the true definition for me of a good documentary is when the Director can make a viewer fascinated with a subject had zero interest or even total contempt for. This is one of those docs that transcends your biases or personal interests.

If you love baseball, you'll love this. No question. If you think baseball is a boring ass pastime for fat, lazy "athletes" like I do...you'll still love it.

I was intrigued because the synopsis sucks you in by stating that Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter while high as a kite on LSD. Say what? But what you get is far more than a crazy ass drug story about one infamous day in California. This is a Dock Ellis documentary about his career, his ups, downs, (including uppers and downers) and his inspirational legacy. The dude was the Mohammad Ali of baseball. No doubt about it. The guy was bad as fuck. And after watching this doc I highly respect the guy. I certainly don't agree with his use of cocaine and whatnot (and ultimately his drug use became a personal regret that he turned around to help inspire others NOT to follow in his amphetamine-fueled lifestyle). But I have mad respect for him as an individual, as a team-player, and as a humble, bad-ass selfless, motherfucker. Dude was a game-changer.

The soundtrack to this movie is off the hook. Hawkwind, Death (Detroit), and tons of rad instrumental funk composed by Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys. I hopped online to snag a copy of the soundtrack but it's not for sale. It just didn't get released. That's a real shame cuz it's dope as fuck.

You can stream this on Netflix. You should. It's awesome.

Managing in China: The Truth about Cultural Differences in the Chinese Workplace

I'm interested in learning about cultural differences between Chinese and US companies to help better our relationship with our Chinese partners. This should be patently obvious as the title is pretty self-explanatory. So I did a little research and I purchased an e-copy of this today and read it real quick. It's the kind of thing you can get through on your lunch hour. 

It's brief, so there's only so much you can get out of it. However, it was well-worth the $4.99 and hour of my time. I think it might actually pay back significant dividends. I've been noodling on some ideas to help improve employee retention overseas and this book has definitely sparked some ideas for me.  I'm increasingly aware of what to expect from China, but this book helped me understand WHY I should expect what I see. Just understanding the root cause is more than half the battle.

So while this won't turn you into a Chinese/US relationship expert overnight, it definitely helped me get one rung closer to being more empathetic, understanding, and ultimately effective in dealing with Chinese nationals in a business environment.

You can get it on Amazon.