Rejoiceth as a Strong Man to Run a Race

"In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race." (Psalm 19:4,5)



Above is the starting pose of my evening posing routine. It reminds me of a sprinter about to begin a race, and that was (sadly) prophetic ... the adrenaline coursing through my veins caused me to rush through the beginning of the routine way too fast! (Laughing Out Loud.)

I really like this back pose, because it shows the complexity of the back musculature, and the good amount of detail I was able to bring out.



But here is the big news: I only missed winning this contest by a single point!

That's right: Two of the five judges, including Head Judge Remi Bruyninga, actually had me marked down in 1st place! Here is the Score Card:



That is huge for me, psychogically. Because, if the winner had received straight 1s across the board ... I would have no idea whether I was a mile behind the winner, or an inch. But, because of getting two 1st-place votes ... I know I was really close!

2008 NPC Natural Michigan Bodybuilding

Well, the 2008 NPC Natural Michigan Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure Championships have passed into the history books.

I finished 2nd (of 3) in the Grand Masters (age 50+) division. I met my goal of achieving the best condition of my life. And, on top of everything else, I had a blast.

Here I am, having a blast:



In addition to the health and fitness benefits of preparing for this competition, the day itself held significant opportunity for me to practice my role of Patron Saint of Inordinately Attractive Women ...

This was not my motivation for entering this contest, by any means, but because the Grand Masters followed the Figure competitors and Teen Men BBs, we got to stand backstage with 21 of the most gorgeous women I have ever seen in my life ... while they pumped and preened and oiled and ... I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Seriously, I had to be careful not to drool on my carefully-applied Jan Tana tan. Those few minutes made up for every hour of mind-numbing cardio I've done in the last 5 months!

Gym fees: $39/month

NPC card: $80

Being the one to lend your nice clean towel to Karen Zaremba¹ to pat down one of the Figure ladies ... Priceless!

¹Karen Zaremba was working backstage to help the Figure Ladies with last minute preparations.

Hot Rod Anglican ... Muscle Madness!

I'm not quite sure what to say about this one ... after the bodybuilding contest (I placed 2nd) ... after the fried shrimp and cheesecake ... after washing off the spray-on tan ... here is what remains.

In retrospect, I dearly wish I had chosen this for my posing music!



Oh, yes, I have Medium and Large Hot Rod Anglican tank tops for sale. $15.00 a pop, shipped to anywhere in the USA.

The Spirit of Counsel and Ghostly Strength ...

My son is Confirmed.

Eliot is midway through his 3rd St. Michael's Conference for Youth, at the Manresa (Jesuit) Retreat Center a few miles away.

Bishop Paul Hewett (Diocese of the Holy Cross), our bishop, Confirmed him ...

Fr. Peter Geromel, the dark-haired priest in both these pictures, is the son of my rector, Fr. Gene Geromel.

And another video from Lucio ... from Udine.

Thingie Proxy Results from Udine (Italy)

Well, thanks to the Herculean efforts of several gentlemen in Europe, including 'Thingie Kingie' Edo Bertoglio, the 2008 European Thingie Proxy Race continued on to its fourth stop at Udine, in northeastern Italy.

They raced our cars on this beautiful fast track, with the high banked 180-degree turn at one end:



Our Anglican Beach Party Shinoda Mongoose fared better than at Düsseldorf, where we broke, but we were still pretty far back in the pack. After the Udine round, our car sits 19th of 34 cars in the "Fast & Scratchbuilt 1/24" category.

Here is a great short video from Lucio Cocchi, showing just how dangerous this sport can be!




And here on this page may be found Edo Bertoglio's colorful and photo-filled "Proxy Diaries" of the event.

And, finally, a few line-ups with our Anglican Beach Party Shinoda included ...

Here are the 'Noda entries ... (our car is 2nd from left).



And an actual race line-up, showing a larger variety of Thingie bodies ... the ABP entry is at far right.

How I lost 40 pounds ...

How did I lose 40 pounds of unsightly flab? By leaving The Episcopal church! A bit of over-simplification¹, perhaps, but true nonetheless.

This photo, taken tonight, is of me wearing the pants from the suit I wore when I walked out of The Episcopal church for the last time, in the summer of 2007. They fit me back then.



You see, it is hard to be Episcopalian without unconsciously picking up the habits and patterns of living of your fellow Episcopalians.

And one of the main patterns of living of Episcopalians I knew was what might be referred to as the Life of Ease. It is a Country Club mentality. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands² ... but never late for cake and cookies at Social Hour! You will be hard-pressed to find anything like this lifestyle advocated by any New Testament writer ... but if you join The Episcopal church, and if you stay very long, it begins to rub off on you. Sodomy is not the only "S" sin of TEc; there is Sloth as well.

And, hand in hand with Sloth, Gluttony. I have actually heard Gluttony preached against in the Sunday morning sermon (at one of the better TEc parishes!), followed a few minutes later by an invitation to Social Hour ... where there was a large and pathetically unhealthy cake waiting. Judging by the portion sizes, many parishioners had not listened to the sermon!

And accompanying Sloth and Gluttony is a sort of Hopelessness ... the idea that we are really all victims of evil things ... that the world is winding down, that heresy, evil, and bodyfat advance relentlessly ... and that no effort on our part is able to stop them.

I would say (judging from my weight histogram) that it took me about 5 months from the day I left The Episcopal church until I began to have hope again ... hope for the larger Church Militant, and hope for reforming my own earthly body.

¹Well, I did also spend quite a bit of time on the treadmill.

²See Proverbs 6:9-11