The bar hadn’t been busy; only the occasional patron having come through. The bartender had tried to talk me up at first, but I wasn’t in any mood for company. My body language was hostile, even for me, and I would see his eyes dart nervously towards the lone bouncer at the doorway every now and then as he wiped the counter. I snarled to myself. That bouncer wouldn’t even be a good warmup.

I startled myself at my own tendency towards violence and turned that anger further inwards. I threw some republic credits down to cover my drinks, not wanting to make myself known as a capsuleer today by using our universal currency of ISK, and at the strong urging of my bladder, headed to the restroom.

I stumbled a bit through the door, feeling mildly lightheaded and disoriented, which sent a shot of adrenaline through my system as my body hated being out of control. I walked with an acute paranoia most days, always checking over my shoulder, always listening to my surroundings, always trying to be aware of my environment at all times. It was something the Republic military had drilled into me as a cadet and it had proven to be an invaluable skill time and again throughout my lives.

Once unzipped and flowing, I rested my hands against the wall in front of the urinal, watching the small ad screen come to life, selling products specifically geared towards to me. I hated how marketing technology knew exactly who was in proximity. It made staying anonymous a challenge at times. I scanned around the rest of the wall, glancing over the graffiti there, until my eyes rested on a small menu that caught my attention:

Cheeseburgers 3 RC
Handjobs 20 RC

After finishing up and washing my hands, I checked my wallet to make sure I had enough, then headed back out into the bar in a hurry, sitting at an out of the way table for two. The only waitress working at that time was incredibly attractive and made her way over to me.

In a lowered voice I asked, “Are you the one that gives the handjobs?” fully expecting to be slapped, or some other negative response. Instead, she looked around, then smiled coyly at me. “Yes, I am.” she said, her sultry voice sending tingles down my spine.

I sat up abruptly and spoke. “Good. Wash your filthy hands. I want a cheeseburger.”

—

Welcome to a new segment I’m trying out, “Tales from the Hole”, a series of random short stories all occurring within the lowsec Minmatar station pub The Black Hole. It’s my hope to not only author some of these stories myself but to have you submit yours to me at roc@rocwieler.com. Feel free to write about anything in this pub – gambling, dancing, music, conspiracy, crime, family dinner, anything you want. You can write about me or other players if you want, but please do so in a manner that is appropriate and doesn’t use them by name. It’s far more challenging to describe someone without using their name. It’s also good practice for improving your writing.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this short introductory story, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

SCIENTIFIC 7 MINUTE WORKOUT

I’m not going to explain each exercise. The image should be sufficient. I will explain that each one of these hits multiple muscle groups at once, which is the most efficient way to exercise. You can also do this regardless of your level self-confidence.

If you’re a positive reinforcee, then work against yourself to do more reps within the allocated time. Encourage yourself. Reward yourself for getting a little stronger each and every time.

If you’re a negative reinforcee, then suck it up, push harder. I’m pointing and laughing at your pathetic attempt. It’s bodyweight. It’s seven minutes. Is that really all you got? What are you going to do when I show you the hard exercises?

In fact, I dare you to do this routine each and every day this week. Post your reps in the comments below or send me a shout @rocwieler on Twitter. No more excuses. You deserve better.

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE

“It doesn’t always have to be about good health. Some people enjoy cheat meals.” I replied.

“Not you. You’re too disciplined for that.” she rebutted without hesitation. She was right. Discipline was definitely the facade I maintained to others. The truth was fear. I knew that if I indulged even once that my willpower would cave and I would eat everything in sight. I had convinced my brain ages ago it was simply easier to not indulge at all.

“It’s a nice looking cobbler. They’ll thank you for it.” I smirked, knowing she hated any type of spotlight whatsoever.

“We’ll see.” she smirked back, a slight smolder in her eyes.

QUICKIE BERRY COBBLER

INGREDIENTS

• Two 12-oz bags frozen mixed berries (or frozen peaches)
• 1 box white cake mix (no pudding)
• 1 can of diet 7-up or sierra mist (clear soda)

METHOD

1. Place frozen fruit in a 9×13 baking dish.
2. Add dry cake mix over the top.
3. Pour soda slowly over cake mix. DO NOT stir the cake mix and the pop – this will give you a ‘crust’. If you stir the two, you will have a cake like topping.
4. Bake 350 for 45-50 min.

Serves 16. 4 PointsPlus on the Weight Watchers program.

“We’re broadcasting live from the inside of Ishukone headquarters in Malkalen where the scene is utter chaos. This summit was suppose to bring hope to Gallente-Caldari relations-”

I think I stopped paying attention to the broadcast from The Scope network right then through my mobile comms. device plugged onto my right ear. Everyone inside the station knew what was happening: a Nyx-class mothership was heading straight for the station.

I was separated from my family, who I left behind in the level below me in the station. I was looking for something to eat, but there were no good place to grab a quick snack back there. When the first call for evacuation went out, my mom called me over the mobile device, saying that they were safe. My mom, my father, and my brat of a sister. They were safe. They got onboard a Caldari freighter and were undocking soon. When mom asked me where I was, I told her I was on-board a cruiser that was just about to undock.

But in reality I was still inside the station after being turned away from another evacuating shuttle. I saw people pounding on the airlock as it closed, desperately pleading to the Empyrean pilot to take their children at least. But she said no. She had to go or let the ones inside the shuttle die with the rest.

I could only hear the screams of children looking for their parents, and parents looking for their kids. Other people looking for their friends, their boyfriends and girlfriends, in all the languages that was spoken in the galaxy. Some were on their knees and praying to their God, and I only assumed they were Amarrians. Godless or not, at the time I thought we all shared the same fate – we are all going to die and there is nothing we can do.

I remember sprinting away from the shuttle bay after hearing someone say that there was a cruiser taking in evacuees right until the last moment. But on the opposite side of the station. I didn’t know whether I was going to make it or not. I didn’t know if the cruiser was still taking evacuees or if was still there. I ran as fast as I could toward the connecting elevator to get to the other side of the station.

Upon reaching the elevator and mashing the recall button repeatedly, I fell a shudder and then the floor below me seems to collapse downward. Was it the mothership? Did it collide into the station already? Screams of the people seem to amplify then. They didn’t know either on why the station started to shake so violently. A sudden gust of wind blew me right against the elevator door along with two other people, a man and a woman. I think they were Achuras. The woman was screaming something in a language I couldn’t understand to the man. I looked toward the airlock where people were still standing and saw a large fireball came down from the level above us and consumed them whole. Some of them were still screaming as the fireball pass them by and a large piece of dark green coloured debris crushed them. The fireball came toward where I was and I could see was a bright orange wall then I was pushed away from the elevator by another concussive force.

A strange thing here.

When I woke up this morning, I was told by my parents that I should dress formally because father wanted us to look more fancy. His words, not mine. We were meeting an important businessman who represented Ishukone. So when I was dressed in my formalwear along with newly shined brown shoes, probably shined by a Gallente-made drone, I remember how I hated wearing black pants. And the damned shoes too.

As my head was turned toward the elevator shaft and saw the Achura couple crushed by another piece of dark green coloured debris, all I was wondering of how that bloodied severed leg, covered in a black-coloured fabric with a shiny brown shoe, looked a lot like my leg. I didn’t even feel a shrapnel from the explosion sever my leg clean off. I didn’t know that at the time. All I could wonder whether that severed limb was mine or not as I was flying across the floor.

And when I landed hard on the floor, I think I blacked out. I could have thought about how my family had made it out of the station in time, or how long were those people alive for when the fireball consumed them, or whether those Achura couple felt anything when they were crushed by the debris.

No. I remember all I could think of at the last moment was how I was going to afford new pairs of pants and shoes.

—

This is a prologue for an Eve fiction I’ve been thinking about for a while. The title, Fifteenth of May, refers to the Malkalen Incident that occurred almost five years ago, a catalytic event that lead to the start of the Empyrean Wars (aka, the Faction Warfare). The story will be told through four major characters. Some are capsuleers, some are not. But they all share a similarity: they were there when the FNS Wandering Saint crashed into the Malkalen station and witnessed how one man’s action reignited wars and hatred amongst humanity and capsuleers alike. And how old wounds just don’t close so easily…

ORIGINAL POST

—

Why am I posting this on my blog? Well, you see, Whistler Bean needed some motivation. His mistake, if you can call it that, was mentioning his procrastination to me, and we all know I’m not one for excuses of any kind. I told him straight up that he had to publish a written piece by a certain date or I would publicly embarrass him – something that would be quite uncomfortable for sweet, shy Bean. Obviously the tactic worked, and I look forward to reading more of this tale.

As an unexpected surprise, this particular incident is something that had great importance to me. In fact, it was such a strong influence that it’s a featured track on my first EVE inspired album, Bio.

Well done.

We all know it’s important to stretch and warm up when it comes to exercise. But when do we do it? Before? After? During? How much stretching do we do? How long do we warm up? For such an essential part of any exercise program, there sure are a lot of questions surrounding this topic.

I’m going to tell you what works for me. Like I always do. I’ve remained injury free through some very heavy olympic weight training so I like to think my opinion is worth something. The older we get, the more important this topic becomes. Remember we talked about one of the primary reasons we work out? Increased range of motion. Sound familiar? It’s very important to have a full range of motion for your muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints.

WARM UP

As soon as I hit the gym floor I begin with a three minute warm up. There are several good ways to warm up but you should always be mindful of the following:

• Get your heart rate up to get the blood flowing through your body
• Make sure to spend adequate time warming up the muscle groups you will be working by simulating the movements you will be doing, with either no weight or really REALLY light weight
• Do a few slow opening movements to open the joint

For example, on leg day:

• I start by jogging on the spot
• I do some bodyweight squats, side to side squats, sumo squats, lunges, jumping jacks, in and outs, etc, to get the muscles working
• I do large hip rotations, lifting my leg, to open up the hips as they will be involved in every movement I make that day
• I finish by doing high intensity jogging, keeping my knees above my hips

STRETCHING

Never stretch cold. We’ve all heard that. I honestly don’t know how true it is. Again, sharing what I know works from personal experience. After my three minute warm up, I do light ten second stretches. Nothing intense here as I don’t want to risk injury before I’ve even started and I know for fact my muscles will loosen up as I workout.

• stretch each main muscle group for ten seconds
• stretch each minor muscle group for ten seconds
• always stretch the core as it’s involved in everything

For example, on leg day:

• I start by holding a low squat
• I then will do a straight leg toe pull
• I then do a runner’s hip flexor stretch
• And/or a standing thigh stretch
• I stretch my calves
• I do some ab twists, maybe some russian twists
• I hold a plank
• I do lower back stretches

DURING THE WORKOUT

It’s imperative during weight training to have a warm up set. This is the first set you do of every exercise using roughly 60% of your max weight. This allows you to focus on your form and breathing, getting your technique perfect, as well as training the muscles for what is about to come. Blood will flow to the area, muscles will start to work while at the same time stretch, and it allows you to really focus on your work sets and fail sets.

My first set on every exercise is a warm up set.

POST WORKOUT STRETCHING

For me, this is the key. I’ve just exhausted myself. My muscles are swollen. I look jacked. It’s the perfect time to stretch. I do the exact same thing as my pre-workout stretch except I hold each stretch for 30 seconds and repeat it once for a total of two reps per stretch. It still amazes me each and every time how good it feels to do a good stretch.

Let me know what works for you. I always enjoy your comments.

Virginity Lost

I’ll never forget my first time. I was still fresh from the medbay, not even a week old immortal, full of arrogance and dreams, completely indestructible. I was such a naive idiot.

I had given up a lot to volunteer for the capsuleer procedure, but believed there was no cost too high for the payout of immortality. My personal rage at what the Amarr had done to not only my people, but to me personally, was enough to block out any required sacrifice.

I had been one of the fortunate ones who survived the process and became a pod pilot. It left me changed, scarred, sterile. I would never be the same. I never wanted to.

My prior life as a “norm” was over. I was still docked in the Minmatar low security system of Hrober over in Molden Heath region, but now instead of being nervous and afraid to undock and mine the local asteroid belt to make my paltry contribution to the small corporation that had taken me on, it was time to make the universe my own.

I floated in the viscous fluid of my pod, a new and unnerving sensation, feeling disconnected from my own body yet at the same time experiencing myself as the Rifter class frigate I inhabited. Through the Aura network interface I was able to experience more, do more, react to more. The machine was me and I was the machine.

I pulled up the starmap, my first time understanding how vast New Eden truly was. I craved action and excitement. I wanted to make my mark on the universe. I filtered quickly to view pod kills within the last hour. A large swell of yellow appeared in a nullsec system not too far from my lowsec home. With only a thought a direct course was plotted.

As I entered the B-VIP9 system from the Egbinger jump gate, a psychological chill ran up my spine. The sun was blocked out, a massive ship between it and me. The hundreds of vessels engaged in the most massive battle I had ever seen were dwarfed in its shadow. Intermittent explosions became a constant against the backdrop of chaos – missiles, lasers, projectiles a muffled soundtrack to war.

I pushed forward at full speed, scanning as I went, locking onto the nearest ship wreckage in the system. The Rifter cargo hold wasn’t large enough by any means to hold the metric tonnes of salvage to be had here, but between the tractor beams and loader drones I managed to squeeze as much as possible into my ship before heading back to Hrober unscathed.

“Look, I need to unload this quickly. Just give me a price.” I said, cutting through the excuses the merchant on the other end was going through. Capsuleer or not, it seemed the art of the haggle was still universal and meant to screw the seller.

“I’m understaffed. I’ll need to get some loaders up here. That will be expensive on such short notice. And where to keep it? I’m maxxed out on inventory right now. There’s simply no demand. No, no. This simply will not do.” He went on like this to himself for what seemed an eternity though I’m sure in reality it was only a few seconds.

“3 million isk.” He said abruptly.

I knew I had heard him wrong. I could buy another frigate for that much. Hauling ore back from the mining belts didn’t even pay 1/10th of that.

“Take it or leave it. I have other matters to attend to.”

“Sold.” I said, not entirely sure what I had just done, but not willing to let this fortune slip through my fingers.

I dumped a cannister into the hold and watched my account increase by 3 million isk. My heart pumped furiously at my good fortune, a small smirk creeping across my face.

“Organize your holds. I can bring ten times this much to you!” I said over comms, already undocking. I had calculated that if I could make only a few trips back and forth from the war zone, I would never have to work again.

In retrospect, I was still thinking like a norm. A single isk would’ve been a lifetime’s fortune in that old life. Even if I had brought back 50 million isk that day, it was nothing compared against the wealth in the galaxy.

I raced through the Egbinger gate again, looted some more wrecks, and warped back to Hrober post haste.

“4 million.”

Back through Egbinger. Back to Hrober.

“2.5 million.”

This went on three more times, my greed overcoming my caution more and more. As I jumped through the Egbinger gate, I had to push deeper each time, closer to the massive battle in the system in order to find wrecks worth salvaging. The sheer scale of the incursion overwhelmed me as I sat and waited for my loader drones to finish up in the cargo hold.

Aura notified me of an impending target lock. I scanned quickly and saw a single interceptor speeding my way. Adrenaline coursed through my system. My first fight as a capsuleer. Now my legend would grow. This was the beginning. Others would tremble at my name. I willed the ship to turn and thrust straight towards my enemy, bringing my own weapons systems to bear.

The enemy target lock finished before my thoughts did. I felt a searing pain, screamed out in anguish and awoke, gasping for breath, choking on fluid, in a medical bay aboard a station in Hrober.

I was shaking, petrified, my senses clouded and confused.

“Be calm, immortal. You live again. Breathe deeply. Focus. Fly safe.”

I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, just as I had during the capsuleer process; the focal point that had helped me endure. I was alive again. And humbled.

It’s been seven years since that day but it is one I will never forget. Since then I have gone on to fight for the Minmatar Republic against the tyranny of the Amarr. My name has become known both to my enemies and to my people. To some I am an inspiration. To others, I am an object of hatred and ridicule.

I am Matar Colonel Roc Wieler, and this is my story.

VOTE FOR THIS TRUE STORY HERE

“Oh c’mon!” someone in the audience screamed. “Healthy donuts? Seriously? Gimme a break, Roc!”

I awoke abruptly, concerned by the dream. Why was I on a cooking show? Why was someone badmouthing me? Why wasn’t I throwing donuts at him?

PALEO DONUTS

INGREDIENTS

• 3 large carrots, shredded
• ½ cup sunflower seed butter
• 4 eggs
• 3 tablespoons coconut flour
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ¼ teaspoon cloves
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• ⅛ cup chopped walnuts (optional-do not use for nut free version)
• ⅛ cup raisins (optional)

Frosting

• ¼ cup Coconut Cream Concentrate or homemade coconut butter, melted to be just a bit soft
• sprinkle of slivered almonds (optional- do not use for nut free version)
• carrots zested on top

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Shred carrots using your shredding attachment with your food processor or cheese grater.
3. Add your carrots to a large bowl and add sunflower seed butter, vanilla extract, and honey, mix well.
4. Then add your eggs and mix into a soupy mess.
5. Lastly add your coconut flour, baking soda and powder, and the rest of your spices. If you’d like to use raisins and walnuts, add those as well.
6. Place mixture in your greased donut pan. Mine mixture made 6 donuts.
7. Bake for 23-25 minutes.
8. Let cool.
9. Top donuts off with coconut butter, almonds, and a bit of zested carrot.
10. Eat em. OMG.

While I would love to take credit for this awesome recipe, it comes from Paleo OMG and is one of many amazing recipes. While I don’t necessarily agree with the Paleo approach, I highly recommend her blog.

THE BRUTOR GUIDE

The Brutor Guide to Empyrean Health is almost complete. Once finished, I was going to sell it for a small sum – something to help me out. I’d like to be able to devote all of my time between playing EVE Online and bringing a healthy lifestyle to others. At the same time, I’ve never charged any client for personal training, or advice, or nutritional plans, or workout programs, and I hate the business aspect of the fitness industry, so I’m torn.

Beyond being torn, Fanfest happened. Developers came up to me, thanking me for my inspiration, sharing their weight loss and healthy lifestyle stories. Players opened their hearts and shared how much they’ve overcome this last year due to my “lead by example” attitude. This isn’t about my vanity. If anything it’s the opposite. I was overwhelmed many times with the sheer responsibility of the position I’ve put myself in. I cannot falter now. I cannot go back.

I’ve never been happier.

Now my dilemma is that I want to do more than a single program. A single program will not help everyone. We all have different goals. Some want to gain muscle mass. Some want to lose weight. Some just want to be healthy. Some want to recover from injury. Some want to have a smooth pregnancy and lose the baby weight after. Some want to run marathons. I can’t help those poor souls, lol.

Now I’m looking at building a website. A portal where we can all work with each other. Something more than Roc’s Ramblings, as this is Roc’s blog and has been mentioned before, should remain Roc’s blog. And as much as Roc has motivated me to improve my own life, it’s time for two things for me this year:

1. Focus on Roc’s story, ingame and through the metagame, with more relevant fiction, art and music about Roc Wieler
2. Branch out as Marcus/Roc and have a separate initiative towards healthy living

My ideas are to start simple. Maybe a site with a member’s area. Maybe put together a few programs for members only. Maybe have a modest membership fee? Or do I sell the supplements from the company I partnered with to generate a small income? Or do I make it mandatory to buy the supplements once and have no membership fee? So much to consider.

So the idea is simple. Share programs. Workouts and nutrition. Have a blog. Maybe let each member have their own blog as well where everyone can track their progress? Maybe progress photos? The ability to mark blog/photos as private would be important too, or do I force people to toughen up and go public? Will that deter some from joining? Would it deter you?

Or do I do the Gym Pact approach? Force people to set a goal, how many times per week they will go to the gym, get their credit card information, then if they don’t go, money goes to me (Gym Pact sends it to charity. It’s a great idea)

My dilemma right now is I have so many ideas. Big ideas. Far bigger than I could ever manage alone. I need help. I need some web developers. Or depending on what we come up with I may need mobile developers. Do I start an Indiegogo campaign, raise funds, then hire these people? Or do I rely on the EVE Online community to come through as I always have?

Again, as I started out with, I need your input.

CSM election lost. CSM 7 members shocked and offering to personally help me with my campaign should I run again. CSM 8 members not as shocked but were still hopeful as I was to secure a seat and assure me my voice will still be heard over the coming year. Finally drank scotch with Hilmar. Told him I’m applying for Jon Lander’s job as I am actually very qualified for it. Told John Lander the same to which he replied that he was going to contact me about mobile stuff anyway and hopes I get involved in some capacity with the future of the game. Heard resounding from every dev I spoke with about the CSM and about joining CCP. Fans were very supportive with alcohol at my CSM loss. Thanks for that.

Overall I’m content with those on CSM 8 but as always it’s about actions and I will be watching closely.

Was so difficult to leave Iceland this year, not just because I was out until 5 AM the final night, waking up at 8 AM to get ready to head back to Canada, but because I do not know if I will be returning to Fanfest. My wife and I had agreed that the 10th anniversary would be our last. There is still so much of this tiny planet we wish to see.

We’ll see what happens.

I will miss seeing all of you face to face, but in the meantime, we always have this blog. We always have Roc.

This is the tenth anniversary of EVE Online. It’s been an incredibly sentimental Fanfest for me, something I’m not always comfortable with but am embracing fully, putting myself out there. I’ve been rewarded greatly for the risk.

I’ve seen many old friends here. I’ve made new friends. I’ve had the privilege of engaging in countless discussions with devs, groups and individual players.

The trip to the Mjolnir gym was an awesome success and much fun was had. Probably not so much from the two attendees that puked and the one that passed out. It was such a grueling workout that Brynja, our instructor, had to reduce the active rounds from 30 seconds to 20 seconds so people wouldn’t collapse. I have to admit I was impressed with the conditioning of the devs – they put us to shame as players. Petur and I paired up and I am pleased to say I managed to outdo him in one or two things only to be completely humiliated by him at most of the other exercises. Sveinn is also a scary powerful little man. Still, it was a success, so thanks to everyone that came out.

Sindel Pellion’s “Not for Charity” dinner was also a huge success and I give my personal thanks to her for such a wonderful evening.

At Fanfest I’ve noticed that nearly everywhere I go someone stops me to say “Hey Roc, I voted for you.”, “I wanted to let you know my corporation/alliance voted for you.”, “Good luck with the CSM election.”, etc, etc.

I’ve had several interviews: one for a small independent documentary, another for IGN magazine, Johnson & Johnson shadowed me all day, and I did a voiceover spot for Eve Net Radio out of Australia. EVE TV. It’s been overwhelming.

Even more meaningful has been the people that have engaged me in conversation, some hesitantly, and told me how I have inspired them to change their lives. As I walked into Fanfest on day one to pick up my pass, the dev that handed it to me thanked me for helping him lose quite a bit of weight. That is how things started for me here. The first night out, a very drunk player opened up and shared his entire story, bringing me to the verge of tears. This has continued throughout this entire trip.

Tonight, as the pub crawl with a dev made its way through Reykjavik, I had the pleasure of receiving more of these comments, making more new friends and fans along the way. The crowning moment for me was as my wife and I left and ran into Hilmar Petursson, CEO of CCP Games and the man ultimately responsible for EVE Online. The conversation started with “The Roc, my Roc. I am so proud of you.” and turned into such a humbling conversation that nearly drove me to tears. “You’ve been inspirational to me, to so many of us.” Hilmar continued. “You’ve taken our game and personified it as something real.” It was as emotional for him as it was for me to see how such a simple thing as a video game could be the inspiration behind real life change.

I don’t know if I can handle much more emotion.

Yesterday and today have been full of countless roundtables, presentations and reveals. I’ve been very vocal in every session I’ve attended, asking the hard questions and demanding direct answers. I’ve been rewarded with honesty though the answers have often not been the ones I’ve wanted to hear as a player.

There are a lot of interesting things coming to EVE Online and to DUST 514. I may even get a PS3 and try it out finally. We’ll see. And while I may not agree with all of the things on the dev track list for the immediate future, I am excited about EVE Online more than I have been in a little while. I am swept up in the dreaming, the future vision. I am cynical and staying grounded in the reality. I am nervous and filled with trepidation about the CSM announcement tomorrow.

I am having the absolute time of my life and wish you were as it would only add to this experience.

And my wife’s point of view. She is such an amazing woman.