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Most people in the US are familiar with the 8 Minute exercise series.
I actually bought the complete exercise set on DVD a few years ago, well before I went to Vietnam, so I’ve been using them for a while.
Currently, I really only use the abs DVD, and it’s been more off and on (laziness) thing, but there have definitely been months at a time where I’ve done them 3-4 times a week.
I think all of the routines are legit, just depends on you and your willingness to do it every day.
These routines are more for toning rather than becoming super strong, but you will get stronger in any muscle group you focus on as well.
It’s odd we think of 8 minutes as a short amount of time, but it’s not that short when you’re focused with these routines- the major difference you’ll notice between this and working out by yourself is you’re actually doing this for a continuous 8 minutes, and I’m sure this is where the effectiveness comes in. You’re bringing blood and muscle activity for a full 8 minutes, you’re just rotating the exact muscles you’re working on as the exercises change. Because of the rotation, you don’t get super tired- try doing straight crunches (hands behind the head, elbows in line with your shoulders) just for 2-3 minutes and see how hard that is.
From my experience with abs exercises, the main thing working out does is it pulls your stomach closer, it forms a shape for you. Of course, you should have a good diet and take care of yourself in general, but if you do the ab exercises and slim down in general, you’ll see a box (the washboard in washboard abs) start to form around your stomach. The more you do, and less fat you have there, the better you’ll look.
8 Minute Abs is better than pure straight-ahead crunches because it targets all your ab areas on the sides, upper and lower, so you have a more well-done muscle tone. Normal crunches tend to be more upper abs oriented.
If there’s a weakness to the exercise, I would see there isn’t so much focus on lower abs, or at least I don’t think they get as developed as much as the other muscles, but those are things you can work on yourself by just repeating some of the relevant exercises on the program.
There are two contrasting reviews of Classic Game Room, a documentary about a short-lived (1999/2000) yet supposedly (I’d never heard of it, as far as I know) popular Internet video show for video game review humor:
It starts out a bit slow, but Classic Game Room develops into a worthwhile, entertaining documentary as the story unfolds. Director Mark Bussler obviously has a knack for the genre, balancing vintage clips and retrospective comments with ease, style and humor—and though it’s disappointing that co-host David Crosson didn’t make the party, Bussler does a fine job of keeping things organized and entertaining. Overall, those who enjoy classic video games (but don’t take them too seriously, of course) should find Inecom’s DVD package enjoyable, which boasts a solid technical presentation and a handful of fitting bonus features. All things considered, this saga of beer and joysticks comes firmly Recommended. Insert coin(s)!
Even if The Game Room actually was innovative and ahead of its time, a filmmaker interviewing himself about his own project still seems a little like a person writing his own Wikipedia entry. Ultimately, the documentary spoils any good that could have come from a Game Room DVD collection. A ten minute introduction explaining the setting and the context in which the episodes were created would have done nicely, but Bussler went too far. Skip those segments and just watch the episodes.
The video quality of the collection is surprisingly clear and crisp for a low budget web TV show. The disc comes in a regular DVD case with attractive packaging. But at about $17 US (its current retail price) Classic Game Room is extraneously expensive and definitely not worth the buy for the average video game fan. As previously mentioned, the exclusive “documentary” footage adds nothing of value to the disc, and all that’s left is essentially a half-entertaining, amateur production that’s available for free online. My advice is this: unless you’re a die-hard fan of the original show (all three of you out there), you’d probably get more out of watching the episodes on YouTube instead. In the end, despite Bussler’s nostalgic machinations, history will likely remember The Game Room as a shining example of two genuinely talented people doing something genuinely mediocre.
Here’s the bad news: I read the DVD Talk review before buying this DVD. Read the Vintage Computing one after watching it.
Here’s the good news: I paid $10 USD, including shipping to Vietnam from Play-Asia, for it.
Here’s more bad news: Was not worth it.
While I respect the source material (and the original talents behind the show) for the DVD, I agree more with Vintage Computing- this documentary is a bit boring.
These guys definitely did something unique, and it’s interesting to see the beginnings of the show, but the in-depth self-interviews with Mark Bussler (one of the show’s hosts back then) go a little unnecessary, a little too long, a little too self-deprecating. It’s the type of sarcastic humor that Americans (me too!) seem to specialize in, but those moments tend to be funny when you’re half drunk with your buddies, not when you’re just watching something on TV sober.
I don’t think see the value in watching it again, and because there was so much unnecessary documentary footage, I wish they would have just cut that stuff out and included all the episodes they ever did, to at least add more value to the disc.
$17 or more really is asking a lot there…..
Definitely for the hardest of the hardcore gaming fans only, and I mean not if you are a game player, but just love anything related to the industry.
The guys at BallisLife.com are bad ass. I watch a lot of basketball mixes (check out MixMakers.net), and they do as good a job as anyone. True professionals.
Anyway, about a month ago, they came out with their first DVD, Ball is Life: The Project Volume 1, at a very attractive price. Only $10 for the DVD, another $5 for shipping within the US, or $10 for international orders (for me). Simply, it is worth your money.
The Official DVD Trailer:
Featuring: OJ Mayo, Derrick Rose, (OJ and Derrick Rose are the super freshman at USC and Memphis, respectively) Demar Derozan (plays AAU ball with Master P junior, Lil Romeo), Brandon Jennings and a bunch of other high school and streetball (Exile, King Handles, Ball 4 Real crew) superstars, about an hour total in length. Basically, if you read Slam magazine, these are the guys always getting covered. I love this kind of thing because it’s like seeing a good glimpse at the future of the NBA. Even just 5-10 years ago, a normal person wouldn’t have had this kind of access.
Like I said before, these guys are exceptional as mixers. The footage here, in terms of image quality (more like DVD rather than VHS), is excellent, no amateur handi-cam crowd-blocked shaky video. The action itself is also excellent and laid out with music (excellent track selection) that (they imply) they have the rights to. This is a very enjoyable DVD.
If you have ever watched things like ESPN’s 3D’s or Plays of the Day, this is the kind of mixing you’re getting. You are going to see effects, introductions, transitions, music syncing- if you watched this DVD on ESPN, you wouldn’t notice a difference between ESPN’s normal footage and Ball is Life.
I definitely recommend getting this if you’re interested in the subject material at all.
One thing to suggest for them for next time: Progressive Scan for people with Widescreen TV’s.
More details on the footage:
2006-2007 high school season teams:
Compton High School
Mater Dei High School
Campbell Hall High School
Oak Hill High School
Huntington High School
Artesia High School
2007 National AAU Tournies we attended:
Houston Kingwood Classic-Belmont Shore, Tmac All Stars, Pump n Run, Indian Elite, Inland Reebok, Southern California All-Stars (www.visionsports.com)
GBOA Challenge of Champions- Belmont Shore, Arkansas, Grassroots Canada, Texas Blue Chips, Southeast Elite, D1 Greyhounds, Lamar Odom, GBOA slam dunk contest (www.gboahoops.com)
Double Pump’s Adidas Best of Summer- Southeast Elite, Bay Area Hoosiers, Texas Blue Chips, Pump n Run Elite (http://www.doublepump.com)
Streetball- The once highly anticipated Exile Mixtape footage will be combined with footage of Ball4real, Dunkalicious, Kinghandles, and Hoop It Up Dunk Contest.
I could not be in any sense of the word, described as cool. As much I wish I could, I’m not someone who could ever use “Yay Area” the way it’s supposed to be meant, I’m more of a “Bay Area” in terms of coolness.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I do like stuff from the Yay, and well, I bought Yay Area’s Finest Volume 2 mainly because it was…from the Yay.
Buying this DVD was a lot harder than it should have been. Coming from an e-commerce background in the US, I’m just amazed at how difficult it was. I ended up getting the DVD over this past Christmas when I was in the US, but I had been trying to get it since summer 2006, before I had even left for Vietnam. Their official MySpace account said to go to Rasputin to get it. Not only did Rasputin (Los Gatos one) not have it, however, they didn’t even know what I was talking about. Impossible to find on EBay or through Google search.
I eventually had to log in my MySpace account (I rarely do this on my own) late last year and send them a personal message, to which I actually got a quick reply directing me to Rapbay.com, which seems to be dead at the moment, but worked for me in October. Sigh.
Anyway, on to the actual DVD.
Official Trailer:
There’s a lot of footage on this DVD. And I mean a ton. The DVD focuses on local Bay Area streetball (to their credit, they have a lot of footage from all over the Bay, not just 3-4 locations) and high school basketball. Here’s a quick description taken from the official site:
“But last but not least I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t ask for more shine. Some of the YAY AREA’S FINEST still need some love in the mag: My dude Devon Hardin from Cal is finna be a lottery pick in a year after he wrecks the PAC-10, the guy Terrence Jennings outta Sac destroyed the summer circuit and has climbed into the top 20 of the high school class of ‘08, another dude to watch for is my boy Wendell Mckines out of Richmond on his way to New Mexico State (if u never heard of him, watch the DVD, he’s the guy who clears dude’s head on the tip dunk at the end of a chapter and the reverse tip-dunk on the end of the “Bang It” chapter), couple other names of note: HS players: Frank Otis, DJ Seely, Reeves Nelson, Matt Simpkins, Ramon Eaton (some say he’s the 1 freshman in the country outta Sacramento), Chris Brew, Jared Cunningham, Collin Chiverton, Kelly Kaigler, Tyree McCrary, and the list goes on. College: Demarcus Nelson (Duke), Rogdrick Craig (Son of 49ers legend, coming back from a heart condition to play for Texas Tech), Kyle Spain (San Diego State), Dior Lowhorn (USF), Eli Holman (Indiana incoming freshman), too many more to name; Other dudes: Ballaholic, Moses “Ghost” Keys (killed in the and1 game), Exile, Sante aka 757, Drew Gooden, Drew Gordon (I see yall hatin on him online in the HS rankings, watch the DVD, he’s got about 75 clips on there, all freshman and sophomore year), can you tell I could go on and on all day? I just got so much pride in my region, and I’m trying to see my guys shine like they should. But anyways, yall ain’t gotta print this, or listen to any of my suggestions, just enjoy that DVD and know we doin it in the Bay. Thanks for the years of good work by the way. Gone.”
There are a bit too many segment introductions by famous and semi-famous (you probably need to be from the Bay Area to know at least a few of the names) rappers and basketball players. The footage itself is of decent quality, but this DVD just doesn’t resonate with quality in terms of production and editing.
My sister watched a little bit of the DVD with me, and while she’s not really a big basketball fan, she said, “this seems like something you might want to watch just because we’re from the Bay Area, but even then, there isn’t really a reason to watch this again.”
I agree perfectly.
A ton of footage (1.5 hrs), but a bit too much because it’s not edited and mixed well. Most of the footage isn’t that great and a lot of the DVD is just boring. I think that’s more of an issue of pacing than anything. Another issue is that I know a lot of hot players are in this, but the editors never highlight who you’re looking at, so you can’t get excited, “Oh, so that’s Drew Gordon” and so on. I remember reading a big list of who’s in this, but I don’t know when they actually get shown. I want to know who’s doing what! Since the chapters are named by song, I wasn’t sure if there were any themes in footage attached to a specific song. It’s extremely difficult to distinguish among them, which creates another problem for replayability- who is in and what happens in each section.
In the end, I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone unless you’re a die hard Bay Area basketball fan, maybe not even then. They do some good things here, but it’s hard to watch. I hope they have some major changes for the next round, Volume 3, which has been “coming soon” for a long time (6+ months).
I didn’t realize this show was out on DVD until I randomly saw a review of it on DVDTalk. When it was first released in 2005, I saw all the of episodes broadcast on TV(though those were downloaded- I suppose people like me contribute to the killing of a show?), and I really liked it. Unfortunately, it only lasted 4 episodes, but the DVD set has 12. A lot of people you recognize (Jaime King, Nicholas Brendan, John Cho, kid from Freaks and Geeks, guest appearance from Michael Vartan of Alias), with the main focus around Bradley Cooper’s (Will from Alias) character Jack Bourdain.
Jack’s an ace chef with a lot of baggage- a superstar from a young age, he got caught in the excesses, had a huge fall, and now is trying to not only get his way back up, but stay there. Along with the chef, the show focuses on the entire staff of the restaurant, from waiters to dish washers.
Not sure if it’s a show females would like a lot, it kind of reminds me of a Maxim + Cooking. Or maybe Entourage + Cooking. Not sure if that makes any sense, but I can definitely see that guys would really enjoy this show.
Or maybe it also reminds me of Waiting, which I also enjoyed, if perhaps only because it has Ryan Reynolds. It also featured the previously mentioned kid from Freaks and Geeks. Waiting is also another movie, that I get the feeling, appeals more to guys than girls.
I usually don’t like to get into (when it comes to both reading and writing them) reviews with too much detail. I really couldn’t talk about someone’s performance too much into detail or compare something’s genius or lack of genius versus something else- maybe I just don’t have the skill level and deeper thinking required.
So, to break it down, Kitchen Confidential is a lot of fun. The characters are funny, there’s that good mix of sex, silly jokes and balanced stupidity/intelligence between all of the characters that make the scenarios (kitchen staff at a high end restaurant) seem feasible.
