Nick Davis's Blog, page 24

My Response To The Brussel Attacks

Today there has been three reported explosions linked to unconfirmed Daesh terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium. One in the Metro, and two in the International Airport Brussel-Zaventem, as I write this there still isn’t a confirmed death toll and the situation is still marked as ongoing. It is a sad day… Made more personal as I have family that live in Brussels, who, thank Gods are safe and sound.

Terrorism by its very act is pointed towards making us feel unsafe, to feel scared, to strike where we feel safe, to shake resolve and to spread the poison of fear, as a political act it has been shown to be pointless – it alienates and only serves to unite folk against your cause. After all how can you claim to be the victim, if you are killing those that have nothing to do with you cause. The only message you have is fear and hate, the only way you communicate it is through murder you soon find yourself standing outside any possible discourse to further your beliefs.

Now, I live in the USA and today I’ve watched folk totally lose their crap in comment sections of various online media outlets that are reporting this news, (with vim and vigor like it is a Kardashian sighting.) I have witnessed comments from kill them all, round-up Muslims, put them in camps, to we are next… And they make me sad, because we are doing the Terrorists job for them, spreading fear and hate, and as ever perspective is always lost in a news media that pokes at fear just to raise ratings.

While you cannot predict the actions of terrorist groups like Daesh. I am always reminded that here in the USA I am in more danger from an attention shooter (normally a single white guy with a gun) than I am being anywhere near a Daesh or another fanatic group inspired terrorist act. My kids are in even greater danger than me just by going to school, as mass-shootings are statistically more likely at these places… We have a very real and much more active version of home-grown terrorism with these shooters.

The threat of terrorism in its many forms will never go away, and I cannot give assurances of safety to my loved ones, this is just the world we live in right now, it ain’t right, but one day it will be. My thoughts are with the good folk of Paris, Ankara and Brussels today and the only advice I can ever off is… Keep Calm and Carry On…

We win by living our life, we lose by giving into fear.

Be careful with the world today… Ever Onwards!

The 120 Day #Daily10 Weightloss Report Time To Switch Gears

Hey Everybody If you’ve been following my #Daily10 tweets you will know that over the last 120 days I’ve lost a significant amount of weight, while raising my general fitness levels. It has been quite a quest, but now it is time to change gears.

What Is The #Daily10?

The whole deal of the #Daily10 was to take ten minutes of my day and make a life change and see if it would make a difference. That tiny slot of time, starting small, built into movement that made a huge impact on my life.

It wasn’t a revolution, it wasn’t a miracle diet, or one of those low-fat meal plans (which incidentally are laden with sodium), the #Daily10 was nothing more than exercise and sticking to a calorie limit. The simple equation burn more than you consume, weightloss will happen.

The exercise itself was low-impact as I had blown my knees and my back is still a mess from years of abuse, it involved dog walking, doing a building lap at lunch (the actually #Daily10 of this journey) and three times a week trip on the Recumbent Bike.

How Did I Do?

The results after 120 days have seen a significant change in my body.

I started this journey weighing 11/01/2015: 261lbs

I now weigh 03/08/2016: 231lbs

And believe I’ve hit a wall.

Let Me Explain

I’ve hit that point were I don’t think I can lose anymore weight without losing muscle mass, (yep, I have muscles hidden under this flabby frame). Which means after I drop one more pound I will changing my focus from weightloss, to maintaining my weight.

What Does This Mean?

Not much really, I will keep doing what I am doing, watching what I eat, keep to a calorie limit in the day, try not to snack and maintain my low-impact fitness regime. It may mean I might lose a little more weight, but I don’t see me dropping to far below 230lbs – the last thirty days I’ve hovered above and below this number so I have finally plateau’ed

It Worked

My #Daily10 change worked, it wasn’t a revolution, it was an evolution that moved me from overweight, unfit to comfort, fit and happy about the way I look. It played havoc with my waist size and I don’t think I own a pair of pants that actually fits me correctly without a belt. The goal was to see if I could affect change ten minutes a day and it happened.

Just persistence, sticking to a goal and seeing it through… Yeah… I don’t think that is going to fly on the weightloss market to many people looking for instant results and not wanting to do the work. What the #Daily10 showed is patience, incremental changes and just being sensible with what you eat will work… Ever onwards…

For Your Consideration On Kickstarter – The Hero Ted Comic Book: Origins

Are you a fan of Tristan and the Cuddly Defenders? Then I have some great news for you… Hero Ted: Origins Comic Book Kickstarter Has Launched today!!! Check it out at http://kck.st/24yOq03

Hero Ted, the Superhero Teddy Bear is out to save the world just before bedtime. Written and drawn by Nick Davis, the Creator of the Teddy Bear Tales and the Cuddly Defenders, Hero Ted is a Superhero for all-ages. I am asking for your help to back this project to print the first adventures of Hero Ted, in his debut all-ages early reader comic book – Hero Ted: Origins.

And… If you back the Kickstarter today you can get on-board with my Early Adopter Special!

FIRST ADOPTER SPECIAL – For the first 24 hours of the Kickstarter launch. All Print Hero Backers (and higher) will receive a hand drawn Sketch card of Hero Ted!!!

Thank you for your consideration, please help me make Hero Ted Fly!!!

The Deadpool Movie Review… Shocker Alert Ahead!!!

I feel I have to start this review by stating a truth… I am not a big Deadpool fan, never have been, never will be… Sure he is fun to draw, sort of like a Spider-man is swords, but I’ve never really understood the attraction of the character – who ultimately has no real redeeming qualities. Saying that last night I went out with the wife and kid (he is a big Deadpool fan and knew what to expect) to watch the Thursday preview release of the Deadpool movie.

The Bottom Line…

Let’s get right down to it… I enjoyed the movie, it was fun, passed the six laugh test with ease, we had the grand spectacle moments and some fun word play – but not as much fun as I thought it would be considering Ryan Reynolds does have some good comedy chops about him. The R-Rating allowed for some brutal fight scenes, that were treated in the same comic book feneticism that Kick-Ass approached the graphic violence. But… For me it fell short of its potential.

Why?

Do not get me wrong, this is not colored by my dislike of the character, I just felt the movie could have been more zany, which would have balanced out the pretty graphic sexual talk that peppered the movie. Also, the character is Deadpool and his motivation, while being the classic boy saves girl trope, was self-centered… There is no nobility about this hero and they play that to the end. I didn’t feel uplifted…

Good Things

The movie just about balances the in-jokes for the hardcore Deadpool fans and acts as a gateway for folk who have never heard of the character. It manages to stay pretty true to its comic books in terms of character and Ryan Reynolds played him very well. I loved the interaction with Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (scene stealing stuff), and you have to keep you eyes open throughout because it plants easter eggs all over the place. Morena Baccarin is insanely hot and her character almost as psychotic as Deadpool, she matches Ryan step for step, line for line, even though it felt her character was out-of-place in the Deadpool world. And the Stan Lee Cameo is the best ever…

Bad Things

Given the characters potential to wise crack, break the fourth wall, and humor that could be mined, it fell short of being a clever send up of superhero movies (although Colossus was hilarious) and leaned very heavily on its gross out R-rating level humor. Only so many times is Deadpool saying ‘Motherfucker’ funny or original coming out of a superheroes mouth. It felt like all the real funny stuff was shoehorned into the opening sequence… It left me feeling ambivalent about the movie as a whole. I don’t think there is enough steam in Deadpool to make a sequel, he is very much a one-joke wonder… But, we shall see.

R-Rated

Make no mistake this is an R-Rated Movie, it is not R-Rated because of the graphic violence (which actually was pretty tame), it has the rating because a lot of the content is very, very near the knuckle… It has a lot of unexpected sexual content, nudity and certain acts that will leave you feeling awkward if you have your kid there… I had mine, he knew what to expect and was okay with what he saw, but don’t think this is an amp’ed up PG-13 Marvel superhero movie… It is not… Especially the unicorns…

The Last Thought

This movie is fun, not a total a gross out affair and acts like a slightly mindless popcorn movie… It doesn’t pretend to be anything deep and you can tell it was a labor of love by cast and crew. Deadpool fans will love it, general audiences may be slightly confused by it. My last thought is this is not a Marvel Superhero movie, so don’t go in expecting it to be one. It isn’t really an adult Superhero movie either (Kick-Ass (1) does that much better), this is an adult action comedy…

Remembering My Time Working With Wayne England

This morning I learned of the death of long time fantasy artist Wayne England, he passed away last night on 02/09/2016, I don’t know the details of his death, nor will I ever seek them out. I will just share with you my thoughts about my time with Wayne England. Out of all the Artist deaths that have occurred so far in 2016, this one is different for me. Mr England wasn’t a contemporary, but rather a colleague… I had for far too brief a time was lucky enough to have worked alongside him.

As many of you know I was once an Employee of Games Workshop, and while I poke a lot of fun at the insanity of working in a place that seemed to have paranoia cooked into its corporate culture, I did get to work with a lot of talented driven people. One of them was Wayne England; we spent a far too brief period working together on the new layout designs (at the time) for White Dwarf magazine. I found his insight and passion for design invigorating and the challenge of working through several concepts a growing experience that made me a better graphic designer. He was a top bloke, full of fire and a little whimsy.

For those of you who don’t know who Wayne England is, he was a fantasy artist and if you played Magic, Dungeons & Dragons or any of the Games Workshop games you would have been exposed to his art. And although this was not the sum of his work it is what many will remember him for.

His style was almost marble-esque, his colors vibrant and strong with a carved in stone feel to his work, it felt solid, heavy and the texture, and detail he put into his work was simply… genius.

Thank Mr England for my memory of working with you… Thank you for your art, your joy and sharing your passion with the world. My condolences to his family. RIP.

NEW ARRIVAL!!! Artie The Teddy Bear – Limited Time Release

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The Star of the Helping Hand Comic Strip in Out Of The Attic, desperately keeping his child’s treasure safe from an unseen villain. Now you can own this little yellow Teddy Bear for your own. He is a keeper of secrets, loyal friend and Cuddly Defenders to keep you, and yours safe from the bumps in the night.

Now with the help of Dots Bears, the custom Teddy Bear builder, Artie has been brought to life as Cuddly Toy and 14 inches in height with warm yellow colored fur, with a blue sash.

This Teddy Bear is traditionally jointed with five points of articulation, and is soft and cuddly. Artie​ the Teddy Bear is handmade in the USA and is available for only $24.99 with shipping and handling.

Artie the Teddy Bear – $24.99

Customer Reviews

90 Day #Daily10 Report. How Am I Doing? You’re Going To Be Surprised! #Weightloss #Fit

Omigosh… Here I stand 90 full days after starting my #Daily10 Challenge and I cannot believe I’ve made it this far. It seems an age since I decided to make this change in my lifestyle and now I am starting to feel some of the benefits.

What Is The #Daily10?

For those of you who are new, the #Daily10 is a simple life improvement technique based on the rule of incremental improvement. The basic premises of the #Daily10 is to walk up to 30 minutes day, spread over the day and to keep your calorie intake at a sensible level (in my case 1800 to 2000 cals a day). The trick being burn more calories than you intake and weight loss will happen. The #Daily10 Challenge isn’t about instant results, not about beating yourself up if you miss a goal, but about incremental improvement 0.01% at a time and changing your mindset to exercise… Making it part of your life, not a chore.

Now 90 Days In… What Are The Scores?

The last 3o days have been interesting, I made the decision not to beat myself up if I go over my calorie count and to always burn more than I consume. The most important part of the #Daily10 is mindset and approaching exercise, diet and lifestyle change in a healthy way. Not, forced or making it a chore… In short, you get to live your life. Here are my scores.

Weight on 11/01/2015: 261lbs
Weight on 11/30/2015: 247lbs
Weight on 12/30/2015: 239lbs

Weight on 02/01/2016: 233lbs

Through January I experienced a slow down in my weightloss, I attribute that to a plateau affect, I’ve reached the point that my moderate exercise and calorie burn is going to result in a smaller progress than I’ve experienced to the first 60 days. I am lighter, thinner, fitter than I was 90 days ago and the attributed issues of knee and back pain have all but gone.

First World Problems

Right now I am not to concerned at the speed of my weightloss, it is happening and I am now 28lbs lighter than I was when I started the #Daily10. As long as I stay the course I will hit my target weight in the next two weeks. It has given me an interesting problem in the wardrobe department. None of my pants fit me without a belt, and the belt I have is on its tightest notch!!! Even pants I brought six weeks ago will slip off me if I don’t wear a belt! Helluva a problem to have, eh? My pant size has gone from a 40-42 to a 36 (possible 34 comfort fit). Makes me wish I kept my older pants now.

Not bad, eh?

Starting Phase Two

In a couple of weeks I start what I call Phase Two, like Phase One of the #Daily10 it is a low impact exercise to keep strengthening up my blown knees and strained back. It is an increase of exercise with the use of Recumbent Bike and free weights to begin the tightening up process. The ideal is thirty minutes of my day will be taken up with this increase of exercise to increase the calorie burn and cardio. Thanks to Phase One of the #Daily10 I have the right mindset to this exercise and I am looking forward to pushing into this area.

Are You With Me?

Just look at my results, right now my entire #Daily10 exercise regime doesn’t take up any more than an hour of my day and it just involves walking and watching what I am eating. I don’t have personal trainer shouting at me for being weak, or the pressure and embarrassment of working out in a gym. I simply walk three times a day (twice with my dogs) and it is working for me… Have a go and post your results with the #Daily10 hashtag, this is a revolution of you.

Onwards!

 

The Cuddly Defenders Take On Snow Storm Jonas

Well, if you lived in the Mid-Atlantic/Northern region this weekend you got hit by Snow Storm Jonas and it brought a lot, and I mean a lot of snow… About 3 foot to be exact, although I spent most of it digging out, digging out the old ladies up the street and digging out my Neighbor. Then repeating the process as the County Plow, plowed us out and back in again.

While I was out, I was joined by the Cuddly Defenders, Tristan the Teddy Bear, Wilma Bunny, Archer Bear, Fernando The Mouse Lion, and Forrest & Scout. They didn’t hang around for long (Cuddly Toys hate the snow, who knew?), but they did have some fun on our sled, took in the conditions and ran off back inside leaving me to push snow for the rest of the day… Thanks Guys!

If you want to learn more about the Cuddly Defender Toys check out Teddy Bears in our store here.

Looks Like Baltimore Is Going To Have A Big Snow Day – Safety Tips [UPDATED]

If the News Media can ever make up its mind it looks like we are staring at a snow fall/blizzard from two inches to a possible two foot (depending how desperate the news station is for ratings.) Now I am certain we are going to get snow, I don’t think it will be to the truly epic proportions that some TV weather forecasters are promising us, but it is going to be a weather event Remember snow is snow and as the drivers around DC demonstrated with the sprinkle that hit us Wednesday night, it is not to be taken lightly to move around in, and even one inch can significantly impact you.

[UPDATE 01/22/2016] The incoming winter storm has a name ‘Jonas.’ Weather.com has predicted snowfall will begin on or around 5pm, if you have any last-minute snow/life errands to run try to get them done as quick as you can. Because the snowfall times are falling back I suspect this storm is moving faster than they expect and we might see earlier snow fall around 2pm. Take you time driving home if your are caught in the snow during rush hour, that extra five minutes may just save your life, or someone elses. Blizzard conditions are not set to start until 10pm, be off the roads well before that time and buttoned up. Should be an interesting weekend, eh?

[UPDATE 01/21/2016] The forecast on Weather.com gives a clearer picture of what we will be expecting over Friday and Saturday. Right now significant snow fall isn’t going to happen until 7-8pm Friday and will continue through Saturday. Predicted inches are 8-12″ which I find more believable than the Local News Station Weather Forecasters predictions of 18-24″, although if this is powdery snow it will drift to those depths in exposed areas. Be aware the National Weather Service has issued a Blizzard Warning for Maryland and it will come into effect from 6pm Friday, running through to 6am Sunday. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has declared a State Of Emergency which will come into effect 7am Friday and will run until this weather event has finished its cycle. Make no mistake snow is coming, it will be a heavy fall, please be prepared.

For some reason when I write a weather related blog post it does really well. Why anyone would turn to a local writer for advice during these weather events I do not know, I guess it is because I concentrate on the facts, not the sensationalism of a weather event. I hope some of what I post as a guide to getting through these events helps. So, to keep in line with my semi-relevant public awareness posts if we experience a snow day consider the following.

Keep pets inside, especially your cat!
After walking your dog clean their paws of snow, it gets packed in there and causes them discomfort
Dress warmly and in layers
Download all my stories that are available to read on your eReader device; you can view my books here; my comics here
Do not travel unless you really, really have too
If you are driving and it is snowing leave plenty of space between you and the other car – you will slide even if you are in a 4×4 vehicle. I recommend gentle acceleration and plan your stopping distances when ever possible
If you have to shovel, shovel with the snow storm and clear your path every hour (if you have kids it will give them something to do when Xfinity/Comcast services inevitable conk out)
If you cannot get salt to put down, use kitty litter instead
Get a sled, locate a hill/slope within walking distance, wait until the snow stops and go sledding (let’s go exploring!)
Monitor your local weather channel throughout this weather event
Get a battery radio in case of power outage, you will lose cellphone reception before you lose an old-fashioned battery radio signal. Cellphone towers do have generators in case of outages, but run times will be limited.
NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards broadcasts on one of seven VHF frequencies from 162.400 MHz to 162.550 MHz.
Fill up containers with water in case you lose this utility to freezing pipes. Guidelines state you need one gallon per person per a day, store them in the bathtub
Pick up non-perishable food ie; canned goods or hydrated food (Rama noodles) enough to last 2-3 days
Keep at least a half tank of gas in your vehicle.
Pack an evacuation bag (one for each person in your house) make sure everyone in your household knows what to do
Unclog drains and gutters, it will help the thaw water drain faster and make your home less prone to flooding
If you see a Mammoth wandering down the street remember it is an awesome selfie opportunity
If you are in Maryland here is the link to Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) .
The Weather Channel Severe Weather Alerts broke down by county/city can be found here – Bookmark as it is constantly updated and provides a reliable forecast to plan accordingly from.

I recommend caution in the face of any possible major weather event, it pays to be prepared, informed and safe.

Looks Like Baltimore Is Going To Have A Big Snow Day – Safety Tips

If the News Media can ever make up its mind it looks like we are staring at a snow fall/blizzard from two inches to a possible two foot (depending how desperate the news station is for ratings.) Now I am pretty certain we are going to get snow, I don’t think it will be to the Epic proportions that some TV weather forecasters are promising us. But… Snow is snow and it is not to be taken lightly to move around in.

For some reason when I write a weather related blog post it does really well. Why anyone would turn to a local writer for advice during these weather events I do not know, I hope some of what I post as a guide to getting through these events helps. So, to keep in line with my public awareness posts if we experience a snow day consider the following.

Keep pets inside, especially your cat!
Dress warmly and in layers
Download all my writing that is available to read on your eReader device; you can view my books here; my comics here
Do not travel unless you really, really have too
If you are driving and it is snowing leave plenty of space between you and the other car – you will slide even if you are in a 4×4 vehicle. I recommend gentle acceleration and plan your stopping distances when ever possible
If you have to shovel, shovel with the snow storm and clear your path every hour (if you have kids it will give them something to do)
If you cannot get salt to put down, use kitty litter instead
Monitor your local weather channel this weekend, get a battery radio to do this you will lose cellphone reception before you lose on old-fashioned battery radio signal. Cellphone towers do have generators, but run times will be limited
Fill up containers with water in case you lose this utility. One gallon per person per a day, store them in the bathtub
Pick up non-perishable food ie; canned goods or hydrated food (Rama noodles) enough to last 2-3 days
Keep at least a half tank of gas in your vehicle.
Pack an evacuation bag (one for each person in your house) make sure everyone in your household knows what to do
Unclog drains and gutters, it will help the thaw water drain faster and make your home less prone to flooding
If you see a Mammoth wandering down the street remember it is an awesome selfie opportunity
If you are in Maryland here is the link to Maryland Emergency Management Agency website .
The Weather Channel Severe Weather Alerts broke down by county/city can be found here – Bookmark as it is constantly updated

While I think this upcoming snow storm isn’t as huge as the news stations are making it. I recommend caution in the face of any possible major weather event, it pays to be prepared, informed and safe.