Monthly Archives: October 2009

Maintenance Program

Posted by Roc Wieler on

I don’t know if you’re like me, but being a Capsuleer, you probably are. We’re a lazy bunch, truth be told; spending far too much time immersed in our pods, keeping the fate of worlds in balance, yet at the same time, neglecting the temples that are our bodies.

I can remember being on recon missions for months at a time, stuck in the tight confines of my Rapier Blue Vein, going a bit stir crazy in all honesty, which made me all the more thankful for these workout routines.

DISCLAIMER: Always consult a physician before engaging in these exercises/nutritional recommendations. Not all capsuleers are created equal. Work to what you can, building up over time. Do not over-exert yourself to the point of feeling faint or dizzy.

Remember, you can cheat all you want; you’re only cheating yourself.

BASIC

NUTRITON

  • Drink at least 2 litres of water per day.
  • Eat a large, healthy breakfast. Eat a medium sized lunch. Eat a small dinner. Go to bed hungry.

EXERCISE – MORNING AND EVENING

  • Cardio Cleaning for 30 minutes. This is regular ship/quarter cleaning, but without any rest. (Once per day only).
  • 3 sets of 20 pushups, maximum 30 seconds rest between sets. Hands should be shoulder width apart and the middle of your hands should be equal to your nipples.
  • 3 sets of 10 body squats. A body squat consists of legs shoulder width apart, weight on your heels the entire time, back straight, arms at 90 degrees, and lower your body (again, weight on heels) as far as you can, as though sitting down. It’s important to keep your back as straight as possible. You will know if you’re not doing it right, as your lower back will start to hurt.
  • Abdominal plank. It’s the same position as a pushup, but on your elbows. Hold that position for as long as you possibly can, timing yourself. When you can no longer hold it and collapse, rest 30 seconds, then repeat, forcing yourself to meet the same amount of time as your first plank.

INTERMEDIATE

NUTRITON

  • Drink at least 2 litres of water per day.
  • Eat a large, healthy breakfast. Eat a medium sized lunch. Eat a small dinner. Go to bed hungry.
  • Start taking a good Whey Protein Isolate 30 minutes before your workout and immediately afterwards. Allmax Isoflex is a good brand. A little pricey, but hey, we’re talking about our temples here.

EXERCISE – MORNING AND EVENING

  • 45 minutes cardio cleaning. Same as Basic, but damn are things starting to look clean. (Once per day only).
  • 3 sets of 20 pushups. No more than 30 seconds rest inbetween sets. This time, alternate between regular pushups and clapping pushups, that is, clap your hands together when you push yourself up off the ground.
  • Side abdominal plank. Same as Basic, but alternate with resting all your weight on one elbow, turning your body perpendicular to the ground, extending your other hand towards the ceiling, maintaining a rigid body the entire time.
  • 3 sets of 10 body squats, same form as basic, but this time at half speed. Feel that burn.

ADVANCED

NUTRITION

  • Drink at least 2 litres of water per day.
  • Time to up things a notch. In addition to your protein supplement, start taking a non-phase loading creatine. Anything else is just pumping your muscles full of water to look big, but the day you stop taking them, you’re going to look small again. Purple K brand is excellent. Take one of these before your workout, and one after.
  • SIX meals per day. You heard me. Each meal should be 3 hours apart, and each portion shouldn’t be any bigger than what you can hold in one hand. It’s very important to start eating healthy.

EXERCISE – MORNING AND EVENING

  • 1 hour of cardio cleaning. Everything should be spotless on a daily basis at this point. (Only once per day).
  • 2 sets of EPIC FAIL. Do as many “push-off” pushups as you can. This is where you push your hands AND your feet off the ground when pushing up. Do as many of these as you can. Immediately after fail, do clapping pushups until you can’t do anymore. Immediately after fail, do regular pushups until you can’t do anymore. Immediately after fail, do girl pushups, that is, knees on the ground, until you can’t do anymore. Rest 5 minutes and repeat.
  • Abdominal Assault. Do alternating “Superman” planks, that is, in the plank position, extend one leg and the opposite arm, until fail, then switch sides. This is gonna hurt. Trust me. Hold as long as possible, matching or exceeding the second set with the first.
  • Suicide Squats. 3 sets of 20 squats, where you launch yourself as high you can into the air, extending your neck and spine, landing into a smooth squat as low as you can. Rest no more than 30 seconds inbetween sets.

And there you have it.

Keep at it; don’t be discouraged. These are just a few simple exercises I thought of off the top of my head from my many routines.

They may not all be right for you. The important things are to start eating better, get some cardio activity daily, and to push your muscles a little more each day.

If you have a desire for other exercise variations, or are limited in what you can do and need something more specialized, feel free to leave a comment in this thread, and I’ll try to help you out as best I can.

Iceland Press

Posted by Roc Wieler on

Was looking at my blog stats earlier today and noticed quite a few hits from an Icelandic website. After a little digging, and a little googling, it turns out to be a news review of Fanfest, and I’m mentioned in it. Very flattering.

I also managed to become very ill upon returning to Canada, one of my computer drive arrays failed (with no backup, d’oh!) and I lost my keys… but most of the drama has passed hopefully.

Look forward to me getting back in character soon.

ICELAND PRESSAN

Aftermath

Posted by Roc Wieler on

He uttered more obscenities under his breath, cursing the capsuleers anew. He spoke aloud to no one but himself, but that was fine with him; he had realized long ago that he was his own best company.

“It’s going to take me days to clean up this goddamned mess.” he grumbled to nobody.

He pushed his broom across the floor, sweeping up more of the garbage left behind. For four days they had come to his section of the assembly plant, and for four days they had drank their fool faces off.

Many of his colleagues had been bitter with envy that we has going to be so close to them, the eternal pod pilots of New Eden. The few “friends” he had demanded he get them autographs, or pictures, or anything from any of them.

He harumphed and moaned, regurgitating the same thing he had been saying for decades; there weren’t nothing special about capsuleers.

When he was young, he had served as a reserve in the Caldari infantry; that is, until he blew two of his own fingers off during a training exercise. They gave him a crap medal he had hocked years ago as thanks, and that was that.

Now had he been a capsuleer, they would’ve spent the money fixing him up. It’s not like the technology wasn’t there; he just wasn’t worth the money or the effort.

Nobody understood the capsuleers like he did. They weren’t some gods, worthy of adoration. No, they were spoiled sycophants, obsessed with nothing but themselves; not a one of them deserved immortality.

He piled up some more garbage near the trash receptacle.

For 38 years, he had whined to his wife about the injustice served to his life because of the capsuleers. Eventually, she had taken enough and left him, as had most of his other friends.

That suited him just fine; his life was better off without them anyway.

He lived alone, in small quarters on the station, taken to be an eccentric and bitter old man. He didn’t care what anyone thought of him. He didn’t care about anything.

He did his job, though even that was becoming tiresome lately, his body aching in ways it never used to. He knew he would never advance his life to where he had wanted it to be in his youth, but that wasn’t his fault. He had asked for raises over the years, only to be reminded that he could easily be replaced by a cleaning drone, and that he should be thankful they kept him at all.

He barely made enough to get by in all honesty.

He grumbled some more, cursing the capsuleers. There were legends surrounding their untold wealth, but like he had said to his “friends” so many times during poker night, not a one of them ever left a tip. In fact, he hadexperienced the distinct pleasure of empty booze bottles shoved in his face, half-eaten meals thrown at his feet, and worse, all the while enduring their insufferable attitude towards everyone not among their elite caste.

Quite simply, he hated everything about them.

Everyone dismissed him as a bitter old man, rife with jealousy of a life he would never have. Damn right he was bitter, and rightly so.

He continued sweeping with his push broom, his back starting to ache, cursing some more about how long it was going to take to clean up his section of the station.

One day they would know he was right. One day everyone would see the eggers for what they truly were; tyrants with the minds of children.

It made him scowl just thinking about them, and yet he could think of nothing else.

What was that? he thought to himself.

He stopped his sweeping for a moment, looking at the detrious he had collected. He squinted his eyes closely, trying to focus on what he had seen a moment before.

It was shiny.

He put the broom aside, squatting down by the pile of refuse, his joints cracking and popping loudly as he did so.

He began swiping away garbage, trying to dig through to reveal the shiny object he had seen.

His eyes opened wide as he finally cleared away enough trash to unveil his discovery; a single ISK chit.

He looked around quickly, even though he knew he was alone. He grabbed the ISK immediately, holding it up for closer inspection.

It was intact. Sunuvabitch!

He stood up quickly, despite the many protests of his body, leaving his broom discarded on the floor, and walked towards his quarters.

Let someone else deal with this shit, he thought to himself.

He would pack his meager belongings, and he would leave this hellhole. Maybe he would buy a condo on a nice vacation planet; maybe he would take that young stripper he visited regularly with him.

He would definitely get the latest prosthetic fingers, and that was a fact.

A whole new universe of possibilities had just opened up to him.

It didn’t matter what he would end up doing, or where, or whom with. What mattered was that he was now rich beyond his wildest dreams, the entire galaxy his plaything, and for the first time since the day he had married his ex-wife, he smiled.

Iceland 2009 – Final Entry

Posted by Roc Wieler on

Dust … beyond awesome! CCP … so much coolness. So … much … beer. Too … many … djs. Roxor!

2 cents per kilowatt for energy … need energy.

Miss … wife … love you. So … tired … hungover… iClone bought me drinks … incredible nice people … even Goons. Players … rock!

Black Lavender = Michael Williams … training to be UFC fighter. Kudos!

Ozzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!

Mmmm … Shae …

Autographs … mind-blowing … charity … fun. Tall … sexy … Caldari.

Soon … blue lagoon … hahaha … rhyming.

Fanfest 2009 … the best time I won’t remember!

Fly safe.

Iceland 2009 – Entry #8b

Posted by Roc Wieler on

Hmmm, only a few moments before I have to go eat breakfast then over for the movie matinee… ohhh, good place to start!

INCARNA

No fancy walking in stations video this year. Instead, they opted to show a really nice cinematic of a pilot exiting his pod in a station, and his inner thoughts about the entire process.

It really reinforced the elitism that capsuleers feel, and how much better than the rest of the society they are convinced they are. No matter how arrogant any of us think we are ingame, we’re nowhere near the mark set by this CCP video.

ROCK BAND

Well, Sam and the Rockettes (see what he did there?) made their debut at Fanfest. We had good fun (aside from really annoying group of Goons in the back, GOD they are asshats when they get together as a herd, except Black Lavender, everyone loves Black Lavender) and placed 4th in the competition.

Somehow my sweater came off for the second song, and I was left standing in a muscle shirt, the deafening roar of the ladies present very distracting. Hmmm, looking back, it may have been laughter, but either way, *shrug.

WHATS NEXT FROM CCP?

Planetary Interaction. Saw some nice screenshots of this. Think orbital bombardment with planetary grid control of the surface. After that comes Incarna, then Dust 514, which I am totally excited about seeing more on today.

Also, CCP is currently around the 400 employee mark, and is actively looking to fill another 88 roles. So if you have any interest at all, check their website for details.

Overall, EVE Online is going to have an incredibly strong year.

RANDOM ROC

  • I got interviewed by Iceland Channel 2 News
  • Met Wollami from DOTLan
  • Met Serenity Steele (who is not the hot chick I thought she was!)
  • Met the iClone developer, then proceeded to ask him if he knew we were going to crush his application. He took it all in good fun (ha ha?)
  • Met a guy that has actually been using the EVE API and Cache Data to form an educational hypothesis and simulation generator for the spread of disease and virus outbreaks within New Eden using jumpgate travel data, population densities, etc, etc. It is the single most fascinating use of the API I’ve ever heard of. Very cool stuff my friend.
  • Went to that giant burger restaurant again with Chris and Tennille.
  • Found out the Sisters of EVE tour rocks. I can’t wait to bring my wife next year for this.
  • Shoved my way past a fat Amarr.
  • Oh, and this one is interesting… in fact…

NEW NPC AI ENVIRONMENT PITCH

So I got talking to one of the CCPers I am getting to know fairly well about an actual gaming mechanic I’ve been working on for about eight years. I won’t go into details here simply because he was REALLY interested, and said it was actually inline with something they were trying to accomplish and sounded like a viable solution to that issue.

How cool would that be if one of my ideas made into the game itself? Anyway, just wanted to say that if you see the factions starting to behave in a new and self-aware, goal driven way in the future, you read it here first.

Iceland 2009 – Entry #8

Posted by Roc Wieler on

“Capsuleer fucking rocks.” – CCP Oveur, Opening Ceremonies

Those three words, used together and independently, pretty much sum up Day 2 of Fanfest. Seriously.

My recollection of it all when trying to organize this post is failing. It’s all hitting me at once. There was just too much cool stuff.

So let’s start down this random journey as best we can.

COSMOS = NEW EDEN

COSMOS was apparently the codename for the project, which is now officially known as “New Eden”, as New Eden is the place where all players converge, ingame and out; we are making them a part of our universe.

Personally, and even though I now know some CCPers read my blog, I found both many positives in their strategy, as well as a few negatives, and you all know me, I won’t hold back.

THE GOOD

The overall framework and initiative on CCP’s part is brilliant, cutting edge, and really will infuse a lot of positives into the EVE Online universe. From a mobile strategy, to hosting corporate and alliance blogs, forums, killboards and more on their own secured, controlled servers, there will be a plethora of sanctioned tools to help every player leverage the EVE Online experience to the max.

Well done.

THE BAD

As I said, it is an initiative and a framework. To me, and again this is just my opinion, it almost seemed as though while CCP knew the direction they want to head with the game and the business development, their not entirely sure how to get there.

This could be under the good, as their not just pre-emptively saying “This is what we’re going to do.” and then head down a path of inexperience and bad decision making.

The reason I put it under the bad is simply because with all the hype surrounding COSMOS, I honestly thought it would be a bit more fleshed out, ready for the world to see. It’s not.

PLANETS

My jaw hung open for a good five minutes after see night side city lights on planets, as well as moving storm systems, then seeing gas giants with bands that also contained storm systems and movements within them.

Add to that atmospheres, multiple layers of shaders, two mixed normal maps, colour tints, cloud control, impact hits from the big ships, craters, ocean depths, sunlight reacting shadows on all of it, procedurally generated algorithms to create unique textures for each of the 50,000 planets in EVE, as well as the 240,000 moons PLUS the unique textures for each of the prime faction planets… phew, that was one long sentence.

Utterly breath-taking.

CALDARI MODELS

Two male and two female Caldari were dressed in fully authentic Caldari uniform. They were very militant, and far better looking than any Caldari I’ve ever met, but were actually fun to see.

I want to comment here.

One of the Caldari women was easily 6’3″ (and reminded me of Mynxee oddly), BEFORE putting on heels or having high hair. She was simply an amazonian goddess in the most flattering sense of the phrase… they got Roc autographs of course.

EVE API

I found this to be a most interesting round table discussion, both from the CCP developer side as well as the third-party app developers side. Really it was a flurry of note-taking on CCP’s part, as every developer present had plenty to contribute, and CCP calmly and professionally took it all in, and renewed their commitment to giving the API more love, stability, and power to meet the needs of app developers. Good times.

Bah, my laptop battery says 10%. I gotta go.

One more item of interest before I go.

Oveur likes horses. Sexually.

That is all.

Iceland 2009 – Entry #7

Posted by Roc Wieler on

9:30 AM – FANFEST – DAY 1

It’s actually a beautiful day today in Iceland. The sun isn’t shining, but it isn’t particularly cold. The wind shifted, however, and the smell of sulfur is brutally strong. I almost want to gag.

Met a few fans of the Capsuleer app while standing in line with Chris (it ended up being a trend throughout the rest of the day, which is flattering), shared a derogatory laugh at the expense of some poor Player Volunteer (“So that would be a no then”), and got a few stares as I was decked out in full Tribal Liberation Force Combat Pilot gear, right down to real, burn polished combat boots.

Upon entering Jita IV – Moon 4 – Caldari Navy Assembly Plant, I quickly experienced what it’s like firsthand to be a Minmatar, that is to say, I was completely blind. The Fanfest locale was dimly lit for that dark, scifi, Eve type of feel, which was fantastic, but how the hell does a Brutor see in that light?

On the one hand, I didn’t want to break character, as Roc never takes his shades off. On the other hand, I nearly walked into three people within minutes of being there. Practicality versus immersion was a battle I fought all day long, particularly thanks to Shae, whom reminded me of my character at the most inopportune times, usually right when we were entering the darkest areas of the station.

I met Chris from Battleclinic, whom I recently did some 3D animation work for, and the end result turned out fantastically, and will be hitting their website next weekend.

It’s basically a tutorial video series on Amarr frigates. There is a small “picture in picture” display featuring an Amarr female narrating the various video pieces. I did the animation and voice synchronization for that.

Yeah, I know, I know, had I known it was for the Amarr originally, I would’ve told him where to stick it also… but, I did manage to get him to agree to a pretty nice deal.

The next series will be for Minmatar frigates, and the narrator will be none other than Matar Colonel Roc Wieler. I get to do the voiceover work and the animation. In return, my name will be printed under the caption, and be featured on Battleclinic, which receives about 2.5 million hits per month. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Shortly thereafter, one of the CCP devs I met the other day grabbed my attention, took an autographed picture, and introduced me to more of the CCP team. I just want to note how incredibly head trippy it was today as pretty much every CCPer I met today was happy to meet me, partly because of Capsuleer, partly because of my blog, a few even knew my music, but all were ecstatic about the autographed picture. The word “epic” was thrown around a few times.

Speaking of autographs, Shae got a very “special” message on her picture. I’m sure she’ll share it with you all when she’s ready.

I attended some fantastic fiction writing and content sessions today, as well as other informative sessions on Factional Warfare, ship design, and more.

The day finished off with a bit of a surprise.

OmberZombie had arranged a “Celebrity Deathmatch” between him and I in the PVP Tournament area… lovely.

Fortunately by that time in the day, the tournament had just finished, and the crowd had thinned.

We were given All Level 5 Skill characters, and T1 frigates with T1 equipment to fit them with.

The fight went on, and on, and on, and on, in my favour. Sadly, I just couldn’t kill him. How does anyone actually fly T1 fits? It was nearly ridiculous.

The judges had to call it, using the crowd opinion to declare a winner, and I’m happy to say that yours truly, Roc Wieler, am still the undefeated celebrity blogging, T1 fit flying champion?

Meh. It was all in good fun.

Chris and I did some walking around downtown, then headed over to Sweet Chili for dinner (that place with the giant burgers).

The meal was still good, but something smelled in the restaurant. I couldn’t figure out what the stench was until I finally noticed a large group of Goonswarm TShirts.

That explained everything.

Chris and I finished up our meals, then headed out, making sure to yell loudly before we went “Goons suck!” How could we resist?

I ran into some bank card trouble too… like I needed that. Knowing my bank, and their overzealous security program, my card was probably locked the first time I used in Iceland for possible fraud. I mean really, who would go to Iceland, right?

So now I’m going to finish my blog, open roaming charges on my phone, and spend about $30 – $40 on hold, waiting for my bank, simply to tell them they’re idiots, and to stop doing this to me every time I travel. It’s just embarassing after a while.

Did I mention the two Amarr in robes that tried to trash talk me today? It wasn’t their cheap robes that let me know they were Amarr; it was the fact they were both obese and carried themselves with a sense of entitlement. The only threat they presented was to the food supply, so better luck next time fellas.

Anyway, got to go deal with this. Tomorrow promises to be even more interesting.

Roc out.

One Night of Roc – Sold Out Concert

Posted by Roc Wieler on

rocwieler1We’ve been waiting a long time for this, but the wait is finally over.

For those of you unable to attend the soldout concert in Otro Gariushi Stadium on Jita IV to over 20,000 fans, I have good news.

The concert recording of One Night of Roc is now available in iTunes for $9.99 !

Over 60 minutes of Minmatar Rock performed by Roc Wieler, The TLF Marching Band, and a very special “surprise” guest!

It was a helluva time in Jita, and I’d like to think everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly; I know we did.

Special thanks to the overwhelming number who attended, making this such a hugely successful event!

BUY ONE NIGHT OF ROC NOW