There's a new crew in place at physical therapy, with Catherine and Jordan moving over to the Athletico on Irving Park. Also, I have been trying some changes to my nutrition and when I take my multivitamins (at night instead of the morning). Finally, I've been able to do a solid hour of flexionator work every night for the last couple of nights.
...could any of these factors help in breaking past the 108 degree bend?
The PT Gals v2.0 (Amy, Denise and Kristen) all helped to either hold, bend and measure, and here's what we got:
117 sitting up (assisted bend)
120 on my stomach (very assisted bend)
Wow!
After a good stretch, I was able to scoot my leg past 105 as well.
There's still a lot of work to do, but certainly this is a very positive development that continues to improve.
We also did the Grafton (sp?) scraping for the first time last week. It's basically metal tools with flat rounded dull edges which are used to do deep tissue work and break up scar tissue and loosen tight muscles. Due to the nature of the pressure applied, most people experience bruising as a result. I've had to delay doing another round of Grafton, since I still one last bruise spot lingering on my calf muscle.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Super Dimensional Fortress Macross Launch!
(Disclamer: Quite possibly, the nerdiest thing I have ever mentioned)
Today, February 7, 2009 would have been the day that the Super Dimensional Fortress Macross would have launched.
Macross is an anime series that became famous and eventually was shown in many countries and spawned countless sequels. It also was adapted into an English language repackaging of many of the story elements and also a series of books called Robotech (which many people are familiar with on this side of the world.) In fact, I gobbled up all of those books, and knew all of the characters by their localized names:
Rick Hunter (instead of Hikaru Ichijyo)
Lisa Hayes (instead of Misa Hayase)
Max Sterling (instead of Maximilian Jenius)
Miriya Parnia (instead of Milia Fallyna)
...among others
And although I have strong feelings for Robotech, the source material still resonates with me. In a touch of nolstagia, and coming along the heels of watching Macross Frontier (the 25th anniversary tribute series since the release of the first Macross), I have been rewatching Macross from the beginning.
All of the Macross sequels never really captured me quite the way that the original did. That is until Macross Frontier came last year.
Here's a breakdown/comparison between the series:
(If you haven't finished watching either series, beware because there's spoilers galore!)
Male Lead Characters:
Both Hikaru and Alto are talented pilot civilians that are drawn into fighting with the military (military contracting in Alto's case) in order to protect their respective heroines (Lynn Minmay and Ranka Lee).
Female Lead Characters (Main Love Triangles):
Macross had Lynn Minmay, idol and celebrity singer and Misa Hayase, 1st Lieutenant and CTO of Macross. Frontier had Sheryl Nome, the Galactic Fairy, super-idol, singer and well established celebrity and Ranka Lee, young energetic girl, who breaks out as an idol and singer whose popularity eventually surpasses Sheryl's late in the series.
A couple of interesting notes and parallels here is that neither Mari Iijima (Minmay) and Megumi Nakajima (Ranka) were professional voice actresses (seiyuu). They were primarily singers that made their debuts on the shows, and later in concert afterwards. In fact, one of Mari's original compositions made it on Macross in a short scene.
Both love triangles were compelling with their ups and downs. The Macross triangle, was difficult to read at times due to the fact that Minmay repeatedly denied any feelings for Hikaru beyond friendship, but would occasionally lapse into situations that introduced some doubt over how honest she was really being. Was there really no meaning into your debut song "My Boyfriend is a Pilot?" Minmay? The Frontier triangle became interesting as all three became close friends with one another, alongside the fact that Alto never made any definitive move for either Sheryl or Ranka. The worst part of it all (assuming no sequel or follow-up OVA) is that the series ended without Alto choosing. So in some sense, we'll never have the answer to the question raised in the opening song "Triangler".
Mysterious Alien Conflict:
Macross had the Zentradi, a race of war hungry humanoid giants with advanced technology and a massive military armada. We later learn of the forced separation between genders in their fleet, and the avoidance of miclone civilizations because of the presence of protoculture (basically culture like music).
Frontier has the Vajra. A seemingly mindless race of giant insect like creatures that communicate in hive like fashion, able to fold and adapt future generations to previously seen tactics or attacks.
Mecha:
Macross introduced a ton of mecha. The Valkyrie fighter is legendary for having 3 transformation states: Fighter, Gerwalk (partial fighter with use of battloid arms and legs) and Battloid. As a young child, how could you top that for imagination? Plus, when they released the toy versions, and they were completely functional and solid, I think it took me a while before I fully calmed down. The Macross ship itself, turned out to be transformable as well, turning into a robot form at the sacrifice of speed. There were various other support mecha given some airtime as well such as the Destroid. The Zentradi had some interesting mecha designs as well with the Battlepods and the Armor Suits, but my favorite as to be the Officer Battlepods, which added much needed arms to the Battlepod design.
Frontier didn't do anything revolutionary with their mecha designs. (Is the Tomcat fighter jet design so enduring, that nothing has been able to surpass it?)
Music:
Music is a big core for all the Macross series, as it harkens back to the core of who we are (Macross) or is a vehicle for communication across species/races (Frontier). Both series used music as a weapon.
Macross has 3 classic ones here: "My Boyfriend's a Pilot", "Little White Dragon" and "Do You Remember Love?". (Robotech took these songs and localized the heck of out them taking away any additional meaning that they had.)
Frontier had a definite edge bringing in Yoko Kanno (music for Cowboy Bebop) and churned out songs that will be sitting on my playlist for years to come:
Triangler
Seikan HikÅ (kira!)
Lion
Iteza☆Gogo Kuji Don't be late
What about my Star? @ Formo *
Anata no Oto (dokon dokon dokon!)
...and of course: Nyan Nyan Service Medley**
* Duet with Sheryl and Ranka. In the anime, the duet unexpectedly breaks out as a type of rivalry song battle for Alto's attention. If Alto wasn't affected by that performance in any way shape or form, he's just as feminiate as the acting roles he ran away from.
** Lion, Infinity, Watashi no Kare wa Pilot, Diamond Crevasse, Seikan Hikou, What 'bout my star?, Lion, Ai Oboete Imasu ka, Lion, Triangler, Anata no Oto, Aimo. In the finale, you knew they were leading up to a large scale battle, with our heroine songstress(es) leading up the charge. What I didn't expect was a long medley, that turned into a duet, with updated lyrics while the action cut back and forth between battle and the singers. Each song reminding you how much you liked it, and bringing you to a very satisfying and enjoyable conclusion (pay no attention to any plot holes you may have tripped over!).
Story composition:
Macross had a much deeper story, but had the advantage of telling it across 36 episodes.
Frontier was quite enjoyable, but I'm not going to lie and tell you it was a terribly deep or complex piece of work over 25 episodes.
Minmay or Misa?
As attractive as Minmay is, at the end of the day, I'd choose Misa.
Sheryl or Ranka?
This is potentially unfair, as I was already sold on Ranka and uninterested in Sheryl. Over time, Sheryl became more likeable as a character, but had way too much ground to ever catch up to Ranka. Ranka!
Ranka or Misa?
Ranka! Misa doesn't sing, and I think Ranka/Megumi Nakajima has the most enjoyable singing voice of the 3 singers. No contest!
Learn more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macross
http://macross.anime.net/wiki/Main_Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech
Today, February 7, 2009 would have been the day that the Super Dimensional Fortress Macross would have launched.
Macross is an anime series that became famous and eventually was shown in many countries and spawned countless sequels. It also was adapted into an English language repackaging of many of the story elements and also a series of books called Robotech (which many people are familiar with on this side of the world.) In fact, I gobbled up all of those books, and knew all of the characters by their localized names:
Rick Hunter (instead of Hikaru Ichijyo)
Lisa Hayes (instead of Misa Hayase)
Max Sterling (instead of Maximilian Jenius)
Miriya Parnia (instead of Milia Fallyna)
...among others
And although I have strong feelings for Robotech, the source material still resonates with me. In a touch of nolstagia, and coming along the heels of watching Macross Frontier (the 25th anniversary tribute series since the release of the first Macross), I have been rewatching Macross from the beginning.
All of the Macross sequels never really captured me quite the way that the original did. That is until Macross Frontier came last year.
Here's a breakdown/comparison between the series:
(If you haven't finished watching either series, beware because there's spoilers galore!)
Male Lead Characters:
Both Hikaru and Alto are talented pilot civilians that are drawn into fighting with the military (military contracting in Alto's case) in order to protect their respective heroines (Lynn Minmay and Ranka Lee).
Female Lead Characters (Main Love Triangles):
Macross had Lynn Minmay, idol and celebrity singer and Misa Hayase, 1st Lieutenant and CTO of Macross. Frontier had Sheryl Nome, the Galactic Fairy, super-idol, singer and well established celebrity and Ranka Lee, young energetic girl, who breaks out as an idol and singer whose popularity eventually surpasses Sheryl's late in the series.
A couple of interesting notes and parallels here is that neither Mari Iijima (Minmay) and Megumi Nakajima (Ranka) were professional voice actresses (seiyuu). They were primarily singers that made their debuts on the shows, and later in concert afterwards. In fact, one of Mari's original compositions made it on Macross in a short scene.
Both love triangles were compelling with their ups and downs. The Macross triangle, was difficult to read at times due to the fact that Minmay repeatedly denied any feelings for Hikaru beyond friendship, but would occasionally lapse into situations that introduced some doubt over how honest she was really being. Was there really no meaning into your debut song "My Boyfriend is a Pilot?" Minmay? The Frontier triangle became interesting as all three became close friends with one another, alongside the fact that Alto never made any definitive move for either Sheryl or Ranka. The worst part of it all (assuming no sequel or follow-up OVA) is that the series ended without Alto choosing. So in some sense, we'll never have the answer to the question raised in the opening song "Triangler".
Mysterious Alien Conflict:
Macross had the Zentradi, a race of war hungry humanoid giants with advanced technology and a massive military armada. We later learn of the forced separation between genders in their fleet, and the avoidance of miclone civilizations because of the presence of protoculture (basically culture like music).
Frontier has the Vajra. A seemingly mindless race of giant insect like creatures that communicate in hive like fashion, able to fold and adapt future generations to previously seen tactics or attacks.
Mecha:
Macross introduced a ton of mecha. The Valkyrie fighter is legendary for having 3 transformation states: Fighter, Gerwalk (partial fighter with use of battloid arms and legs) and Battloid. As a young child, how could you top that for imagination? Plus, when they released the toy versions, and they were completely functional and solid, I think it took me a while before I fully calmed down. The Macross ship itself, turned out to be transformable as well, turning into a robot form at the sacrifice of speed. There were various other support mecha given some airtime as well such as the Destroid. The Zentradi had some interesting mecha designs as well with the Battlepods and the Armor Suits, but my favorite as to be the Officer Battlepods, which added much needed arms to the Battlepod design.
Frontier didn't do anything revolutionary with their mecha designs. (Is the Tomcat fighter jet design so enduring, that nothing has been able to surpass it?)
Music:
Music is a big core for all the Macross series, as it harkens back to the core of who we are (Macross) or is a vehicle for communication across species/races (Frontier). Both series used music as a weapon.
Macross has 3 classic ones here: "My Boyfriend's a Pilot", "Little White Dragon" and "Do You Remember Love?". (Robotech took these songs and localized the heck of out them taking away any additional meaning that they had.)
Frontier had a definite edge bringing in Yoko Kanno (music for Cowboy Bebop) and churned out songs that will be sitting on my playlist for years to come:
Triangler
Seikan HikÅ (kira!)
Lion
Iteza☆Gogo Kuji Don't be late
What about my Star? @ Formo *
Anata no Oto (dokon dokon dokon!)
...and of course: Nyan Nyan Service Medley**
* Duet with Sheryl and Ranka. In the anime, the duet unexpectedly breaks out as a type of rivalry song battle for Alto's attention. If Alto wasn't affected by that performance in any way shape or form, he's just as feminiate as the acting roles he ran away from.
** Lion, Infinity, Watashi no Kare wa Pilot, Diamond Crevasse, Seikan Hikou, What 'bout my star?, Lion, Ai Oboete Imasu ka, Lion, Triangler, Anata no Oto, Aimo. In the finale, you knew they were leading up to a large scale battle, with our heroine songstress(es) leading up the charge. What I didn't expect was a long medley, that turned into a duet, with updated lyrics while the action cut back and forth between battle and the singers. Each song reminding you how much you liked it, and bringing you to a very satisfying and enjoyable conclusion (pay no attention to any plot holes you may have tripped over!).
Story composition:
Macross had a much deeper story, but had the advantage of telling it across 36 episodes.
Frontier was quite enjoyable, but I'm not going to lie and tell you it was a terribly deep or complex piece of work over 25 episodes.
Minmay or Misa?
As attractive as Minmay is, at the end of the day, I'd choose Misa.
Sheryl or Ranka?
This is potentially unfair, as I was already sold on Ranka and uninterested in Sheryl. Over time, Sheryl became more likeable as a character, but had way too much ground to ever catch up to Ranka. Ranka!
Ranka or Misa?
Ranka! Misa doesn't sing, and I think Ranka/Megumi Nakajima has the most enjoyable singing voice of the 3 singers. No contest!
Learn more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macross
http://macross.anime.net/wiki/Main_Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech
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