Seeing as how it’s Memorial Day and 90+ here in Huntsville, I would say summer 2012 has officially started.  Before looking forward I’m inclined to look back.  I am initially wont to say that Summer 2011 sucked, because in one serious way it did.  But that was about it, all things considered life was good.  I went to math camp (yep…) in NJ, a conference in DC, and an excursion to France.  I made new friends and got closer with old ones.  There was a first-authorship, a face-off with Irene, a Mavs title, and a jog down the boardwalk on the French riviera.  Oh yeah, and I discovered something I never thought I would love, EDM.  Looking back, it was a strange summer, but a great one.  The past is past, however, and reflection is only as good as the messages you take from it, a reminder of the was and guide to what is and what will be.

    This summer promises to be full of new challenges, new goals, and new experiences.  Among professional goals related to my work in Alabama, I have some big fitness hopes for the summer months.  Here are a couple things I’m shooting for (I’m calling them my estival intents, clever?).  Having been primal for a few months, and never feeling better, I’m going to add a new twist, leangains.   Leangains is a program that incorporates strength training and intermittent fasting for lean muscle building and fat busting.  It’s an experiment, much like primal and the GOMAD diet were, and at 24 my body can deal with these occasional recalibrations.  GOMAD worked charms for weight gain, but it wreaked havoc on my body composition and comfort.  Primal, on the other hand, has become my norm, my lifestyle, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the old way of eating.  Along with that, I’m shifting from the 5x5/3x5 stronglifts program that has helped bust me out of my super scrawny youth and on to another slow progression lifting program, 5/3/1.  I’m hoping it’s simplicity and conciseness will help cut down on my gym time even more, while still increasing my strength.  

My last goal is probably most outlandish in light of my history with the task: RUN.  Not just that, but do it barefoot.  As a kid I loved running, but always with a ball or a goal, some race or some target.  Running for the sake of it was boring and tiresome and grew more so as I got into high school and college.  A few months ago I bought some Vibram Fivefingers (yes, those ridiculous looking toe shoes) for lifting and general foot strengthening.  Curious as to how they felt to run in, I gave them a couple trials and something shocked me, it was fun.  I felt light and nimble, like I could run for hours.  A bit overzealous, I bit off more than I could chew and ended up over doing it, straining foot and ankle muscles that have been weakened by years in shoes.  While recovering, I read the fantastic book, Born to Run.  It talks about running in the history of our species and those people today whose life is to run.  Intrigued by one of the people in the novel, Barefoot Ted, I read up a couple of books and scoured the internet for barefoot techniques, effects, and training strategies and decided to give it a shot.  There are no goals with this training and I love it.  Though the progress is slow and a little painful at times (stubbed toes and sharp rocks), the sensations are worth it.  It’s a little hard to explain, but it is as if I’m locked-in to nature when I’m barefoot (corny as that sounds).  I feel everything around me, the ground at my feet, the air on my face, and yet, at the same time, I feel nothing at all.  This is how we were meant to run, light and smooth, it has to be.  It’s just me and the path I choose.  I run until my body tells me to stop and then I slip on my Vibrams and head home.  The only goal is progression, run a little farther and a little longer than last week.  I want to do a 5K like this and then a 10K and a 10 miler, a half marathon and maybe more.  I want to run miles on end, but for now I’ll settle for progress and that 10 to 20 minute primal connection my feet create with the ground. 

Summer has arrived and I can’t wait to get started.

Been a couple weeks, but I’m back with another EDM song of the week.  You know of my awesome-female-vocals obsession and this one fits nicely in there.  ”Breathe” is a new single from Delilah, a singer-songwriter from the UK (check her out here).  I think her debut album comes out sometime this summer.  Anyway, the song’s only been out a month or so but already there are a ton of remixes, such as it goes when you have a voice like hers.  This week’s song is my favorite of the lot and comes from Emalkay, another one from the UK (here’s his soundcloud).  He takes Delilah’s silky vocals and puts that heavy dub bass behind it.  Technically, this would be called chill dubstep (I’m learning the differences!), but it still made my head bob.  Enjoy!

Rugged Maniac Greensboro 2012 from my GoPro Hero

It’s been a crazy few weeks since ULTRA 2012, but it’s never too late to share some of my favorite moments from the three glorious days in Miami.  We’ll start with Friday and a short recap of my first few hours, plus a couple other notes from Day 1.

Friday

Despite the 8+ hours from Savannah to Miami and the mess of traffic that is Friday ULTRA afternoon in South Beach, we arrived at the hotel energized and excited for our maiden experience.  A couple frustrating hours and some public transit later, we were FINALLY in line for one of the biggest EDM festivals in the world, a trip and experience four months in the making.  Gates opened Friday afternoon, but the big guns didn’t come on until later in the evening.  When we arrived, Afrojack was about to start his set on the Main Stage.  As we made our way towards the stage, weaving through the increasingly packed crowd, Afrojack brought out his special guest, Lil John, and really got the show going.  If you’ve never been to a concert like this I highly recommend it… unless of course you hate people, sweat, deafening bass, and/or jumping up and down like a crazy person.  With thousands of people packed as close to the stage as they can get and jumping/dancing/bouncing with the beat, the atmosphere is unbelievable, but the space is tight.  While Afrojack and Lil John got the blood flowing, the real party started when Skrillex came out in a crazy spaceship.

If you aren’t familiar with his music, Skrillex songs are known for their melodious build ups, crazy beat drops, and alien-sounding synths.  I’m not an expert on the different EDM genres, but he’s probably best described as dubstep or brostep, but he’s really his own entity.  That being said, the Skrillex live show experience is a beast all to itself.  He feeds off the crowd pushing and pulling the energy as he changes focus and tempo between songs and drops.  As he builds the energy slowly with the melodies and vocals, he gradually ramps up the intensity, stacking a palpable tension on top of drop anticipation.  And just when you feel you can’t take it anymore, like it’s just too much, like you have to let go or your head’s going to explode, the beat drops and everything goes ABSOLUTELY CRAZY!!!  If you don’t believe me watch the video below or find some others on the youtubes.  I’m not sure there’s anything quite like it.  There’s so much power in the release and force in the ensuing bass, it almost feels like you’re being lifted in the air (which you are, since you’re jumping).  It’s crazy, it’s amazing, it’s a Skrillex beat drop at ULTRA.  Easily one of the best shows of my life and it was only day 1!?

Other notes:

• First off, more on Skrillex.  1. Did I mention he was in a spaceship?!  2. The spaceship lifted up at one point (seen in the video) and erupted with smoke that blanketed the first 20+ rows of people!  3.  Only Day 1!?!  4. MUST see him for a full 2+ hour set, although I may not survive the experience.
• OMG LIGHTS! The light shows are amazing, especially on the main stage.  Giant screens, spotlights, lasers, and beat matched amazingness take the audio/physical experience and add a mesmerizing visual sensory overload (epileptics beware).
• And oh yeah… Tiësto was after Skrillex.  He’s only one of the most popular DJ’s in the WORLD!  Great set, crazy energy, amazing lights, perfect way to finish off Day 1.

In honor of the weekend that was St. Patrick’s Savannah 2012, I give you a special music post.  If you were in Savannah (or have heard it at all), it’s been stuck in your head for 5 straight days now.  Yup.  You know what’s coming.

Now that that we’ve all been reminded how awesome (and terrifyingly catchy) Call Me Maybe is, here are a couple (er… 4, couldn’t resist) remixes that are a little less tween-age-girly and little more my style.  I give you the Carly Rae Jepsen, download Me Maybe EDM Songs of the week.

This first one is from from a writer/producer from State College (home of Penn State) DJCP.  It’s a house remix that’s a lot less teen pop and comes complete with that bangin’ beat drop.

Next comes is a dance remix from Vision, a dance remix crew with some pretty good stuff.  Check out their youtube and soundcloud page (especially the sick Levels rap remix).

Our third remix is a dubstep take on Carly from Stereohype.  I’ve never heard of this guy, but according to his soundcloud page, he’s 20 year old from Canada (like Carly) “with the desire to bringing people to dance as hard as they can.”  Sounds good to me.

Last, we have a mashup (not exactly an electro remix, but whatever) of Call Me Maybe and a great stand-alone electro jam Green Bottle from Feed Me.  This mashup is courtesy of DJ Wattz (strangely also from Canada).  Check out his soundcloud page and Feed Me’s webpage for more tunes.

Next week (or whenever I post again) I’ll have a special post-ULTRA 2012 edition with tracks from the best shows at this year’s festival (starts Friday!!).

After a long break from blogging (mostly due to laziness and lack of motivation), I’ve decided to pick back up.  What better way to do that than with a new … of the Week section - Japanese emoticons!

Western emoticons are lame.  They’re generally boring and lack creativity and diversity due to their creation from a restricted character set.  The basics are there: happy, sad, suprised, angry, but the variations are limited.  Such is not the case in Japan.  They have long elaborate emoticons about love, life, friendship, and emotions, and a million variations of each.  While they are more cartoonish (most of them look like Kirby) and ridiculous, there is a character (see what I did there (^_−) ) behind them that I just can’t get enough of.  As a tribute to my newfound joy for these *byte* sized graphics, I’ll be having a Japanese emoticon of the week.

This week we have one of the many variations for friends or companions.  Enjoy.

＼（＾∀＾）メ（＾∀＾）ノ

friends  仲間 

Alright, I got back on track for week 5, gaining 3.8 lbs on the week for +16 over 35 days of the program.  The legs feel great so I should be set for week 6 gains similar to the first two weeks.  For my +30 goal before Oct. 28, I still need another +14 over only 18 days.  That’s +5.4 lbs/week.  Since it’s fall I should be able to add some healthy extra carbs in the form of sweet potatoes and assorted squash varieties.  See you next week.

Along with my not-a-frittata frittata, I cook at least twice a month.  I’m not the greatest cook in the world but this recipe is incredibly delicious and very difficult to mess up.  If you like tender, juicy pork loin, garlic, and Italian herbs, this is for you.

Recipe:

essential ingredients:
pork loin (usually about 2 lbs)
olive oil
dried Italian herbs (I use the mix) 
black pepper
minced garlic
oven
baking dish big enough to put the loin in
meat thermometer 

Directions
- preheat the oven to 400 degrees
- pat the pork loin with a paper towel
- cover entire loin with a thin layer of olive oil
- season the pork loin, first with the black pepper, then with the Italian seasonings, making sure to cover the entire surface 
- coat baking dish in a small layer of oil and spread about half of the minced garlic where you plan to place the pork loin
- place pork loin in the dish over the garlic
- add remaining garlic evenly over the top of the loin
- place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes
- turn heat down on the oven to 350 degrees and cook until the internal temperature has reached 150 (this could take anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes depending on the size and thickness of the pork loin)
- remove from the oven and immediately cover loosely with foil
- let sit for about 10 minutes, remove foil, and enjoy

I generally serve with either a salad or any green vegetable.  It keeps very well in the fridge, although I recommend slicing it first before storage.  This is a great high protein, delicious meal, although it does have a decent fat content.  This can be helped somewhat by removing some of the layer of fat from the loin prior to preparation.  This will probably cause the loin to be less juicy, but is a healthier option for those worried about their fat/calorie intake.

So week 4 of the GOMAD was also a bit of a wash, as I only gained 1 pound on the week, putting me at +12.2 for 28 days.  I was still taking in a lot less food at the beginning of the week, because of my injured leg, even though I was still drinking a gallon a day.  I delayed starting my leg workouts back up mostly because of tightness, but am back in the swing of things again.  To reach +30 before Oct. 28 I’m going to need another +17.8 lbs in 25 days, or about +5 lbs/week.  I still don’t think this should be a problem and am expecting gains for this week to be similar to those from the first 2 weeks.  Talk to you at the next weight in.

Hey I’m back with some more music! This week’s featured song is by Radio Killer from Romania (I think, although I can’t find them on wiki). I heard it while I was in France a couple months ago on a video countdown and had to download it as soon as I got back. It’s been in my standard rotation since, so I figured I’d share it. Good female voice, bumpin’ beat, crazy Romanians? Done! Next!

The title says Lonely Heart (plus!) so here are a couple more songs (one techno, others not) that I’m digging this week:

This one is an original from Paper Diamond that I think was # 1 on hypem for a minute a couple weeks ago. This guy does some really solid stuff (originals and remixes) and I’ve heard him testing it out on turntable.fm several times over the past few months. Follow him on twitter @PAPER_DIAMOND.

This next one comes from Wheezy.  I love Lil’ Wayne and ate up Tha Carter III, so naturally I grabbed IV as soon as it dropped after the VMAs.  This is my favorite song off the album (yes, I know it’s a bonus track from the deluxe edition).  I think Wayne’s at his best here, keeping it simple yet powerful, leaving out elaborate and often ridiculous metaphors, and staying on point with the message of the song.  The beat is simple, but the sample is beautiful and the Bruno Mars hook is a powerful complement to Wayne’s self-reflective verses.  Plus, there’s an MJ shout out to maybe the greatest song of all time.  Gotta love that, right?  Along with the original, there were actually a couple of cover/remixes that I really liked.  This cover by HelenaMaria (@helenamariaduo), a group made up of two identical (and hot) twin sisters, falls nicely into my female-voices-covering-rap-songs obsession.  Another one features a cover of the hook by Jason Chen (@Miniachilles) and all new upbeat verses from Mars (@MarsRaps).  Good stuff and all worth a listen.  Til next week, goodbye.