It's official.
Someone finally said it and took credit for it.
Sylvester Stallone says he used human growth hormone to bulk up for the new Rambo movie.
See this blog article talked about on ABC23:
Not only that, he also says HGH is nothing.
Well, it has to be something.
A 61-yr old man doesn't get a body like that without A LOT of help.
Rambo, aka Rocky, told Time magazine that he juiced.
Although, Stallone went on to say that HGH is not a steroid, just pure testosterone.
He says that all men over 40 should look into it to increase the quality of life.
Maybe I will, if I can look like him.
Problem is, not everyone who takes HGH or steroids or other substances deemed illegal will look like Stallone.
He also says in 10 years, HGH will be available over-the-counter.
That should be of great comfort to the hundreds of young people in Bakersfield that are already taking it or some kind of steroid.
Maybe thousands.
I've been hearing the rumors for years.
People tell me how they witnessed steroid use first hand and participated in the south of the border runs to buy the drugs.
A young man who walked through a local gym carrying a backpack filled with steroids to sell to various clients.
A local football team that had a high number of players using steroids when they won a valley title in the 90's.
It's out there, it's in use and has been for years.
Every time we try to get someone to go on the record and talk about it, the person gets laryngitis.
No one wants to be the most unpopular person in town when it comes to people who run in these circles.
The people who use these types of drugs to attain the physique of a Greek god don't care about the possible long-term effects.
Anyone willing to take the risk associated with HGH or steroids will gladly trade health concerns for a six-pack.
So I say let them.
Take as much as you want.
Unlike Sly's apparent concern for the well-being of men over 40, the people who inject, rub or swallow these magical pills and elixirs are doing so not for health reasons, but for the "look".
The herculean look use to be unique and relegated to a select few.
Now, the ripped look is everywhere.
It's not special.
Yet, young people will still try desperately to attain it.
I'm not asking for some kind of government regulations, I'm just tired of hearing people lie about it.
Let those who want to juice, use it.
But I don't want to hear about it down the line.
Don't come back five, 10 or 20 years down the line and start crying about some disease that turned your insides to mush or caused a massive tumor or turned a perfectly healthy 25-yr old into a 75-yr old.
You want it, use it and be done with it.
Keep injecting until you explode.
Now that might make a good movie.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
A Colorful Woman
She was beautiful.
A high maintenance gal with a whole lot of attitude.
You might call her a pain in the ass. I did. But when she was doing her thing, she was amazing to watch. At least to me.
She was unique and a real head turner.
It took a few years before judges were comfortable enough to acknowledge her in the Arabian Horse Show ring.
After all, purebreds simply didn't look like her.
She went on to win a half dozen U.S. National Top 10 Awards and numerous regional championships.
But she wanted to do it her way and she tested you at every turn.
I had a roper tell me one time that Arabians were too stupid to be a good horse.
He lectured me about quarter horses and how superior they were, after all, they did what he told them.
My wife Lori responded by saying, "You ask any horse to go right, it goes right. Left and it goes left. You ask an Arabian to go right, and it wants to know WHY."
I went to the Vet hospital last night after the late show with Lori to say our goodbyes.
Cleo was heavily sedated to help with the pain and would lean on you for a few moments.
Then, as if to declare she was still in charge, nudge you away.
She was one to remember, with a look you'll never forget.
A high maintenance gal with a whole lot of attitude.
You might call her a pain in the ass. I did. But when she was doing her thing, she was amazing to watch. At least to me.
We put down our Purebred Arabian mare "Cleo" this morning. She had been suffering from several serious ailments. She was the second horse I've lost and I'll tell you it's worse than any dog or cat I ever had to bury.
Her show name was "Outrageous", due to the large patches of white hair that covered her body.
Not to mention, blue eyes more seductive than Elizabeth Taylor.
I wanted to call her "Cleo-splatra" as a tribute to her unusual markings and her Arabian Egyptian blood lines. So, we compromised on Cleo as her barn name.
Her show name was "Outrageous", due to the large patches of white hair that covered her body.
Not to mention, blue eyes more seductive than Elizabeth Taylor.
I wanted to call her "Cleo-splatra" as a tribute to her unusual markings and her Arabian Egyptian blood lines. So, we compromised on Cleo as her barn name.
She was unique and a real head turner.
It took a few years before judges were comfortable enough to acknowledge her in the Arabian Horse Show ring.
After all, purebreds simply didn't look like her.
She went on to win a half dozen U.S. National Top 10 Awards and numerous regional championships.
But she wanted to do it her way and she tested you at every turn.
I had a roper tell me one time that Arabians were too stupid to be a good horse.
He lectured me about quarter horses and how superior they were, after all, they did what he told them.
My wife Lori responded by saying, "You ask any horse to go right, it goes right. Left and it goes left. You ask an Arabian to go right, and it wants to know WHY."
I went to the Vet hospital last night after the late show with Lori to say our goodbyes.
Cleo was heavily sedated to help with the pain and would lean on you for a few moments.
Then, as if to declare she was still in charge, nudge you away.
She was one to remember, with a look you'll never forget.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Ignore The Flag
It's not something you see in Bakersfield, and I'm glad we didn't show it.
In fact, I'm glad we didn't even talk about it on the news tonight.
No one was hurt.
No one was injured.
I'm talking about the idiot who raised a Nazi flag above the football field at West High on the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King's annual celebration.
Was there a connection?
We'll never know unless the clown is caught and charged by police with trespassing.
Maybe a hate crime.
I'd throw in a misdemeanor of stupidity if it was possible.
As I scanned the news feeds on Monday night, I noticed several stories about MLK day that had a negative slant.
From a shooting in Las Vegas to a disturbance in New York, every year there tends to be a story from somewhere in the U.S. associated with some kind of negative act on MLK day.
I'm sick of it.
The media is constantly bashed for not reporting *good* news.
Well, I think leaving this flag raising fool out of the limelight is *good* news.
In fact, I'm glad we didn't even talk about it on the news tonight.
No one was hurt.
No one was injured.
I'm talking about the idiot who raised a Nazi flag above the football field at West High on the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King's annual celebration.
Was there a connection?
We'll never know unless the clown is caught and charged by police with trespassing.
Maybe a hate crime.
I'd throw in a misdemeanor of stupidity if it was possible.
As I scanned the news feeds on Monday night, I noticed several stories about MLK day that had a negative slant.
From a shooting in Las Vegas to a disturbance in New York, every year there tends to be a story from somewhere in the U.S. associated with some kind of negative act on MLK day.
I'm sick of it.
The media is constantly bashed for not reporting *good* news.
Well, I think leaving this flag raising fool out of the limelight is *good* news.
Alcatraz 2008 Update
He told me I was the worst father ever.
My son Michael and I were floating in Bartlett Lake, northeast of Scottsdale, in 50 degree water in the first of several swims to prepare us for Alcatraz.
The water was cold.
The refreshing, yet ice headache feeling you get when you drink something *really* cold, really fast.
The stinging pain that fired through our bodies each time we put our faces in the water had started to affect him as we swam the first of three legs out to a buoy 400 yards from shore.
"I don't want to do this", he said as I realized this would not be as easy as I hoped it would.
The wet suits were fine.
Thick enough in the chest and shoulders to contain the warmth, but flexible enough to let us swim through the chop of open water.
Your hands and feet became numb in the first few moments, but it was the pain each and every time you put your face down in the water that was doing in my son.
I tried the Knute Rockne speech, I told him about facing obstacles in your life and having the character to push through and it was having absolutely no impact on him.
Not like the ice cold water.
I finally switched to the Drill Sergeant approach, when stuck with the "worst father" label and encouraged him to the buoy and back to shore.
He completed one lap. One of three that will equal the distance from Alcatraz to the shore.
I really just wanted to get him acclimated to the cold water.
I didn't care how far he swam or how long he was in it. I just wanted him to understand how cold it was going to be.
I left him on shore and headed back out to complete the swim. The stinging sensation had stopped by the time I began the first leg back from buoy.
When I returned he walked up to me and said, "Dad, I really didn't mean..."
I stopped him and said, "Me too, son."
Not a Kodak moment, but good enough for me.
He told me he was still committed to making the swim in May.
Funny thing was, the entire time I was finishing the swim, he had been splashing around in the water, never realizing that his face had gone numb, and it didn't hurt anymore.
I pointed that out, to which he began laughing.
Let's see if he's still laughing in two weeks, when we hit the water again.
My son Michael and I were floating in Bartlett Lake, northeast of Scottsdale, in 50 degree water in the first of several swims to prepare us for Alcatraz.
The water was cold.
The refreshing, yet ice headache feeling you get when you drink something *really* cold, really fast.
The stinging pain that fired through our bodies each time we put our faces in the water had started to affect him as we swam the first of three legs out to a buoy 400 yards from shore.
"I don't want to do this", he said as I realized this would not be as easy as I hoped it would.
The wet suits were fine.
Thick enough in the chest and shoulders to contain the warmth, but flexible enough to let us swim through the chop of open water.
Your hands and feet became numb in the first few moments, but it was the pain each and every time you put your face down in the water that was doing in my son.
I tried the Knute Rockne speech, I told him about facing obstacles in your life and having the character to push through and it was having absolutely no impact on him.
Not like the ice cold water.
I finally switched to the Drill Sergeant approach, when stuck with the "worst father" label and encouraged him to the buoy and back to shore.
He completed one lap. One of three that will equal the distance from Alcatraz to the shore.
I really just wanted to get him acclimated to the cold water.
I didn't care how far he swam or how long he was in it. I just wanted him to understand how cold it was going to be.
I left him on shore and headed back out to complete the swim. The stinging sensation had stopped by the time I began the first leg back from buoy.
When I returned he walked up to me and said, "Dad, I really didn't mean..."
I stopped him and said, "Me too, son."
Not a Kodak moment, but good enough for me.
He told me he was still committed to making the swim in May.
Funny thing was, the entire time I was finishing the swim, he had been splashing around in the water, never realizing that his face had gone numb, and it didn't hurt anymore.
I pointed that out, to which he began laughing.
Let's see if he's still laughing in two weeks, when we hit the water again.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
When It Rains...
It began with a clogged line in my furnace that leaked into the wall and created mold in my 10-yr old son Michael's closet.
It ended with a $30 dollar service fee from Best Buy.
The past two months have been a monumental pain in the pocket book, one that I pray never raises it's dreadful head again.
I discovered mold in my son's closet right after Christmas, while clearing out a mountain of stuff he doesn't play with anymore in his closet.
The leak started in a pool closet that sits adjacent to his bedroom closet around Thanksgiving.
A quick call to my State Farm agent began my first odyssey through home owner's insurance claims.
I can pick anyone I want to repair the work, as long as it's one of their preferred providers.
A few arguments later, the repairs are in the works.
Two days before Christmas my wife Lori and Michael are hit by a red-light runner in the fog.
They're both OK, but her car needs a new front passenger door, quarter panel, wheel, etc.
It's currently in the shop, both claims paid minus my deductible.
Then, my car doesn't start late one night after work and it's in the shop for a quick fix.
No insurance coverage, that's out of pocket.
The coup de gras, provided by Best Buy.
A new laptop for Christmas came complete with a 2-yr service warranty, plus a virus plan that they installed for an extra bill.
The HD Video player didn't work.
I took it back to discover that the HD player is not covered under the $150 warranty they sold me.
That's for hardware issues. The driver is software. Who's the geek now?
They want an extra $30 to fix it.
Maybe I shouldn't complain, it's the cheapest fix.
Only 357 days left in 2008.
After all, it's a leap year. One I'd like to skip over so far.
It ended with a $30 dollar service fee from Best Buy.
The past two months have been a monumental pain in the pocket book, one that I pray never raises it's dreadful head again.
I discovered mold in my son's closet right after Christmas, while clearing out a mountain of stuff he doesn't play with anymore in his closet.
The leak started in a pool closet that sits adjacent to his bedroom closet around Thanksgiving.
A quick call to my State Farm agent began my first odyssey through home owner's insurance claims.
I can pick anyone I want to repair the work, as long as it's one of their preferred providers.
A few arguments later, the repairs are in the works.
Two days before Christmas my wife Lori and Michael are hit by a red-light runner in the fog.
They're both OK, but her car needs a new front passenger door, quarter panel, wheel, etc.
It's currently in the shop, both claims paid minus my deductible.
Then, my car doesn't start late one night after work and it's in the shop for a quick fix.
No insurance coverage, that's out of pocket.
The coup de gras, provided by Best Buy.
A new laptop for Christmas came complete with a 2-yr service warranty, plus a virus plan that they installed for an extra bill.
The HD Video player didn't work.
I took it back to discover that the HD player is not covered under the $150 warranty they sold me.
That's for hardware issues. The driver is software. Who's the geek now?
They want an extra $30 to fix it.
Maybe I shouldn't complain, it's the cheapest fix.
Only 357 days left in 2008.
After all, it's a leap year. One I'd like to skip over so far.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Illegals Welcome In California
Will new immigration laws in Arizona cause a flood of illegal immigrants to cross into California looking for work?
I watched an interesting report from a TV station in Phoenix that examined the new law.
Arizona officials are calling the laws some of the toughest ever that target businesses and the estimated 500,000 illegal immigrants who work within the state's borders.
The same officials believe thousands of immigrants are already fleeing the state.
And it could be far more than a half million illegals, or undocumented, workers leaving Arizona.
Officials said the estimate doesn't include farm or service industry workers who officials say they can't track accurately.
So, are they going back to Mexico or their country of origin? Hardly.
California has shown itself as a state that resists any real legislation that clamps down on illegal workers, but we don't have enough jobs for all the illegals who already call the Golden State home.
Will Arizona be a blueprint that other states will follow to deal with illegal workers in this country?
Maybe, but not here.
Arizona employers stand in danger of losing their entire business if they have any illegal workers on the payroll.
An Arizona legislator who crafted the law put it simply, "It's like Disneyland learned a long time ago, if you want the crowds to go home, turn off the lights and shut down the rides, enough is enough, we're no longer going to tolerate it."
Employers must check worker's names and social security numbers through a federal database called "E-Verify".
A first time violation can suspend a company's business license for 10 days.
A second violation gets the license pulled for good.
If the illegals are coming to California, what will we do with them?
Same thing we do with all the others, try to find them a job and look the other way.
After all, it's a problem for lawmakers in Washington, not Sacramento.
Right?
I watched an interesting report from a TV station in Phoenix that examined the new law.
Arizona officials are calling the laws some of the toughest ever that target businesses and the estimated 500,000 illegal immigrants who work within the state's borders.
The same officials believe thousands of immigrants are already fleeing the state.
And it could be far more than a half million illegals, or undocumented, workers leaving Arizona.
Officials said the estimate doesn't include farm or service industry workers who officials say they can't track accurately.
So, are they going back to Mexico or their country of origin? Hardly.
California has shown itself as a state that resists any real legislation that clamps down on illegal workers, but we don't have enough jobs for all the illegals who already call the Golden State home.
Will Arizona be a blueprint that other states will follow to deal with illegal workers in this country?
Maybe, but not here.
Arizona employers stand in danger of losing their entire business if they have any illegal workers on the payroll.
An Arizona legislator who crafted the law put it simply, "It's like Disneyland learned a long time ago, if you want the crowds to go home, turn off the lights and shut down the rides, enough is enough, we're no longer going to tolerate it."
Employers must check worker's names and social security numbers through a federal database called "E-Verify".
A first time violation can suspend a company's business license for 10 days.
A second violation gets the license pulled for good.
If the illegals are coming to California, what will we do with them?
Same thing we do with all the others, try to find them a job and look the other way.
After all, it's a problem for lawmakers in Washington, not Sacramento.
Right?
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