Brandon Lloyd

For Ram-fans everywhere, now is the fall of our discontent... and it has not been made glorious spring by any sun of York.

The team that was supposed to win the NFC West this year is currently 0-4 and doomed to go 0-5 when we play the best team in football this Sunday:  The Green Bay Packers.  We currently trail the 49ers by four-whole games, and it may turn into five.  Since the Lions are favored by most to win their match with the 49ers, this lead will probably not increase, but that is hardly consolation.

It seemed a week ago that all the doom of 2009 has returned in 2011, and nothing could prevent us from reclaiming our lott at the top of the draft.  Oh well, take solace in the fact that our pick will be high enough to select Justin Blackmon.

Then something strange began to happen with my other favorite team:  the Denver Broncos.  Tim Tebow was declared the started in Denver after we all finally figured out that Kyle Orton is not a winner and Time Tebow is.  Then, abruptly, Pro-Bowler Brandon Lloyd--the #58 best player in the league as voted by the active players in the league--suddenly appears on the trading block...?

You would think the Broncos would want their best receiver at the ready as they prepare to break-in their young QB.  Why this move?  Why now?  Why do this at all?

The official story is that the Broncos cannot come to financial terms with Lloyd on an extension to his current contract.  Lloyd seems set on testing his market value in free agency.  His contract expires after this season, so he has only a few months to go.  The Broncos are simply trying to recover some value for him.  They don't want him to escape in the free agency market and be left with nothing but memories.

I think there is an unofficial story here.  Lloyd was known to be a staunch supporter of Kyle Orton.  He credited Orton with a large measure of his success, saying Orton threw the most catchable ball he has ever seen.

Is that so, Mr Lloyd?  If such is the case, why the hell are you always photoed making such spectacular catches on such preposterously overthrown and misdirected passes then?  Your resume photos cast doubt on that very statement.  If Kyle Orton's passes were chest-level and on the hands, you wouldn't have any of these photos, now would you?

Others say that Orton and Lloyd have a good personal rapport, and Lloyd greatly prefers the conventional spin of the right-armed quarterback.  We all know how much Steve Young's lefty reverse spin pestered Jerry Rice in the beginning. Almost every receiver in the league prefers a veteran QB over a youngin.

It should also be noted that Lloyd is a Cancer--a water sign.  Orton is a Scorpio, also a water sign.  Tebow is a Leo, and the most fiery guy you will ever run into.  Leo-Cancer isn't automatically terrible, but it ain't usually good.

Enter the Rams.  Almost unbelievably, our receiver corp is actually worse in 2011 than it was in 2010.  The loss of Danny Amendola has sealed that deal.  Sam Bradford has absolutely nothing to throw to on the outsides.  All a defense has to do to shutdown our passing game is cover one rookie tightend, and we are done.

If there is any team in the league that has to take a flier on Lloyd, it's the Rams.  I knew it right away, but I bit my tongue.  I did so for several reasons.  Nobody wants to give up precious picks in the 2012 draft.  Right now the crop looks good.  Lloyd was considered a bust through the first 6-7 years of his career.  Certainly, this had plenty to do with QB problems in SF and Washington.  If we trade a precious pick for Lloyd, how much money will he want to sign?  Can we sign him before the trade is made?

Also, we know Devaney is a contrarian.  If the fans want it, he doesn't do it.  He wants us to know he makes the personnel decisions.  He also enjoys making bad calls.  This is why Devaney should be fired, if anyone gets the ax for this bad season.

So we have a Pro-Bowl receiver on the market, who just happens to be a Cancer.  The Rams have a GM who just happens to be a Pisces (the third water sign), and we also just happen to have a QB who is a Scorpio.  That ain't a coinkydink either.  The Pisces picked the Scorpio.  Now we will have to wait and see if Devaney sees the light, and picks the Cancer receiver who fits very nicely with everybody.

Josh McDaniels also happens to be in St. Louis now.  He was the head-coach in Denver last season, and was a large part of Brandon Lloyd's explosion on the scene.  I sure hope McDaniels is politicing for his old receiver at HQ.

I think Lloyd will see the light, and want to resign with the Rams.  He would come to a franchise desperate for a WR.  He would rejoin his old coach, a guy who was partially responsible for his success.  He gets a new right-handed Scorpio who is a lot better than his old right-handed Scorpio.  He will unquestionably be the #1 man in every game plan.

Frankly, if we don't do this deal, it proves we have no balls, no desire to win, we have given up on this year, and we are content to watch our young QB die on the vine.

Bod Pod XII: epic fail

Bod Pod XII went down at around 9:00am this morning.  The results were terrible.  No varnish.  No spin.  This was an epic failure.

1. My total body weight decreased from 193.284 to 190.664.  This is a paltry 2.62 pounds in 15 days of effort, or 12, depending upon how you look at it.
2. My fat weight decreased from 45.663 pounds to 43.714 pounds.  This is a paltry 1.949 pounds.
3. My lean weight decreased from 147.62 pounds to 146.95 pounds.  This is a decrease of 0.67 pounds.
4. My body volume decreased from 83.886 liters to 82.627 liters.  This is a decrease of 1.259 liters
5. My Body Fat Percentage (BFP) descreased from 23.6% to 22.9%.  This is a paltry 0.7% decrease.  Not even a full percentage point! 

Now doesn't that represent positive progress?  No, not really; not when my lean weight is decreasing and we expected an increase.

Understand that this is paltry progress.  During the high-tide of summer I was knocking off 6.5 pounds or more every single time up.  The actual fat loss was higher.  I averaged 0.5 pounds of fat loss per day, 3.5 pounds per week and 7 pounds in a Bod Pod cycle.  I was increasing my lean weight also.  Less than 2 pounds of fat loss in 15 days is totally unacceptable.

So much for Pink Magic and Chocolate Milk.

So it is time to recognize that I am hardcore-stuck on a bad plateau.  It is now time to shake up the training regime.  Although I loath to give up my self-direction and sovereignty, it is finally time to buy into the personal trainer thing.  This is hard to do, as I doubt any of these youngins know more about fitness than I do.  I seriously doubt that any can formulate a plan better than I can.  

Nevertheless, the knowledge angle is the wrong angle to take in this case.  This is not about knowledge.  This is about accountability, pressure to improve, and changing the regime that isn't producing progress anymore.

I've ridden these aerobics machines for all they can give me.  The last ounce of fat has been squeezed out with the bike, treadmill, elliptical, ROM, and Olympic rower.  It is now time to try different forms of exercise that will be more challenging.

I've already made contact with a couple of different CrossFit out-fits around my local San Fernando Valley, and I am hoping to get my first training session today.  It will happen tomorrow at the latest.  I am joining the CrossFit movement.

194.4, reverse progress.

So the score on the Tanita scale was 194.4 English pounds a few moments ago.  This would put me just under 194 on the Bod Pod.  Precisely two weeks ago, my last Bod Pod test had me at 193.731.  Naturally, my weight is ever so slightly higher this time around.

This will be the first time in over 9 months--since January 16--that I have not lost weight during a 2 week stretch.  Prior to surgery, I had to execute a 2 week liquid diet.  I lost approximately 20 pounds during that phase of the game.

This two week stretch is the first time in recent history when my scale weight has actually increased.

I am perplexed.  I have consumed very few calories over the past 2 days.  Workout totals are up.  My per-minute calorie averages are higher.  This means the intensity of the workouts have been higher.  There should be some progress.  There could have been some progress.  The test tomorrow will inform us all whether something has happened under the hood.  The scale is a crude tool, but it shows reverse progress.

It is clear that my body has a mind of its own.  I think we are at the end of the Gastric Bypass trail.  I am predicting that the test tomorrow will show that I am at the end of the Gastric Bypass weight loss window.  Perhaps I can alter my body composition by taking up the CrossFit program, or something like it, but my actual body weight has stabilized.  It would appear that the days of endless and easy progress are over.

Now, I could easily be quite surprised by my progress tomorrow.  There is the Pink Magic factor.  My testosterone is way up.  I might see a lean weight figure over 150 pounds.  I might see a fat drop of 3 or so pounds.  This is the dream of the little blue turtles, but it is not a lot of progress.  Also, we know that results such as these have been very difficult to come by during this program.  If I had to bet, I would bet against it.  The probability is low.

I knew this day would come eventually.  I knew that someday in the future, there would have to be an end to the weight loss trail.  There would have to be a Bod Pod test which showed zero progress.  There would have to be a moment when my weight and body composition stabilized.

I just wish it wasn't now.  I just wish it wasn't happening yet.  It is with a sense of depression that I say this.  Some of my goals are unrealized as yet.  Since my body has unilaterally decided to begin a new phase of the game, this casts doubt upon the eventual realization of my final goals.

Due to scheduling problems, Bod Pod XII is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9:00am.  We shall see what's happening under the hood.  I am glum about the prospects.

2011 NFL Season Week 6 Predictions

This is very easy week folks.  There aren't many close match-ups.  Bet on all the home teams except the Giants and the Bucs.  The Bills will take the Giants and the Saints will take the Bucs.  Other than these two exceptions, the home-teams have very decisive edges in just about all of these games.

The closest match up and the most interesting game of the day will be found in Detroit.  The Lions vs. 49ers is the first really, truly interesting match up of the new season... at least since the Packers v Saints game that kicked things off.  I am going with the Lions, but this is going to be a very, very interesting game.

The second most interesting game is the Redskins v Eagles.  I believe the Redskins have a decisive edge in this game, but the Eagles will be desperate.  If the Redskins win this game, the Eagles' season is just about over.  They will be trailing the Reskins by 3.5 games with 10 to play.  I doubt they could ever make up the distance, even if they run the table.

The most disapointing match up of the day is the Texans @ Ravens.  This should have been a clash of elites, but the absence of Andre Johnson will cripple the Texans.  I don't see the Texans' offense having a good day, against the one and only elite-defense in the NFL, minus their very best player.

The biggest mis-match of the day is my own Rams visiting the Packers.  This is going to be catastrophe.  NBC Sports has already questioned whether this is a mis-match for the ages.  I believe it will be one of my worst days as a Ram-fan.  They could hang 60 points on us unless they show us mercy and play their scrubs in the second half.

AMD Bulldozer: AMD launches it's remake of the Pentium 4 story

Karl Marx is often paraphrased saying: "History repeates itself: the first time as a tragedy, the second time as a farce."  I reflected on this saying as I read the details of AMD's Bulldozer technology.

Once upon a time, Intel introduced a processor called the Pentium 4.  This chip played many of the same gambits AMD's Bulldozer architecture is predicated on.  Pentium 4 came out of the gates stumbling in the year 2000.  It cost more than its predecessor, consumed more energy, generated more heat, and it failed to out-perform its predecessor on a consistent basis.  A loud chorus of boos went up from the fan-base.  I was one of the guys booing.  On a few exotic media benchmarks, the P4 was better than P3, but these were not the applications that concerned most people at that time.

Eventually, the Pentium 4 had a brief day in the sun.  Let's mark that epoch as the years 2003-2004. By 2005, the Pentium 4 had failed.  In 2005, AMD shot-past Intel in all the real-world benchmarks, not to mention the esteem of all the hardware geeks on Earth.  It was a route from which no honor could be salvaged.  Even Dell, a once-proud Intel-only vendor, was forced to open up and use AMD processors.  Intel was forced to abandon the Pentium-4 Netburst architecture and pursue the 64 bit multi-core course AMD set for the entire industry.

Unfortunately, I think AMD apears doomed to repeat this history.  Bulldozer has come out of the gates stumbling.  If you expected AMD to decisively take back the performance throne from Intel in every phase of the game, you are going to be very sadly disappointed.  It's not clear that Bulldozer can take the performance throne in any phase of the game... at all.

It does not outperform its predecessor on a consistent basis.  It is faster at running a small number of exotic multi-threaded apps, but slower at most important tasks.  One of the non-exotics is 7-zip, and that is nice, but how much does that mean in the scheme of things?  Bulldozer consumes more energy--125 watts versus 95--and in consequently generates more heat.  It's not cheap either.  Intel and AMD both offer cheaper alternatives that perform a little bit better on average.

Shouldn't the Bulldozer trigger the same chorus of boos we heard at the Dawn of the Pentium-4?  I think so.  I am not happy about it either.

What does this mean for the future survival and success of AMD?  Nothing good.  The trouble is that AMD is absolutely not the performance leader of the industry in the year 2011.  They are marginally behind Intel in just about all performance categories.  AMD can ill-afford to fall further behind Intel on a failed strategic blunder.

There is one bright spot for AMD:  It looks like a pretty good server technology.  Bulldozer seems like a very good SQL/NoSQL processor.  It also looks like a good webserver chip.  This could be AMD's salvation.

As we all know, the industry is bifurcating into consumer and producer market segments.  This is the most important concept underlying what some people call the Post-PC era.  There are pure consumers, who produce no information or entertainment content.  These folks are moving more and more towards smart-phones and tablets.  There are also producers of good and services in the web world.  These people usually want big 'n bad desktops, especially if they do 3d or video work.  They also have needs for webservers and SQL Servers to deliver their content.

Eventually, Bulldozer could become a force on the production and delivery side of the fence.  Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that epoch will begin today or tomorrow.

Have a look at the following net video from TigerDirect.com, but be aware that they have an agenda to sell you hardware.

2011 NFL Season, Week 5 results

There were only 13 games on the schedule during this first bye week of the 2011 season.  6 times were idle.  My record was a paltry 9-4.  I got my ass handed to me in a few games.

Most shocking of them all was the 49ers 48-3 route over the Bucs.  I never, never, never saw that coming.  I truly believed the Bucs were the superior team.  The 49ers may just have the best young coach in the league, and Jim Harbaugh just might be the NFL Coach of the Year 2011.

The 49ers are the biggest surprise team in the NFL.  They are more surprising than even the Buffalo Bills, who are also a huge surprise.  The Lions are not really a surprise.  We all knew they were loaded.  It was strictly a question of whether the chemistry would come together and if they would gell well.  Only the Redskins can challenge the 49ers for the surprise-team title.  However, the Redskins showed signs of life in Pre-Season.  Not so with the 49ers.

I was also quite surprised by the Vikings' dismemberment of the Cardinals.  It's clear that the Cardinals are a lot worse than we suspected... and every dog has his day, even if it is snake-bit dog.

It's time for the Giants to hang their heads.  I've lost my faith in those guys.  I believed they were a big physical team, but they just aren't a good or consistent pro club.  They are the little girl with the curl.  They had no business losing to the Seahawks.  That was a disgraceful loss.  The Giants dropped a sure-fire gimme.

The moment I gave the Titans a vote of confidence, they let me down, allowing Ben Roethlisberger to throw 5 TDs during a game in which he was hobbled.  The Titans and suspect again.

The end of the gastric bypass trail

Without a doubt, the end of the gastric bypass trail is approaching.  It might have already arrived, and I might not have accepted it just yet.

Those who read this blog know that I went through damn near a year of preparation for Gastric Bypass surgery.  This included 6 months of "education" and "training" course.  The nurse/dietitian who ran this program drilled one point into our heads repeatedly.

We would have a relatively short window to loose all our weight.  That window would most likely be 9 to 12 months.  After that, we would "return to normal".  What does that mean?  It means we would feel hunger again.  It means we would be able to eat pretty much anything again.  It means we would be able to consume relatively normal portions of food.  It means that we would be able to face the idea of eating more than one solid meal per day without cold sweats and fear.

When the day came that we could feel hunger again, eat anything, consume relatively normal portions, not throw up, and eat more than one solid meal a day, this day would signify the end of the gastric bypass trail.  After this day, all weight loss would come at a costly premium again.  It would come slower and be more difficult to obtain.  We would have to fight through hunger to get it.

For some of the more severely challenged members of the class--the people over 400 pounds--that was a scary thought.  These folks needed to loose damn near 200 pounds in less than a year to get the job done.  I didn't feel particularly threatened at any point by this talk.  I felt a round figure of 100 lost pounds would be sufficient for me.  If I reached 231, Dr. Bachner said I would avoid the wheelchair.

I went considerably further than that.  I've lost 135 or 136 pounds in just about 8 months.  I am probably around 21-22% body fat right now, so I am within striking range of my final goals:  17-18% body fat.  I haven't got a lot to fear if I am reaching the end of the gastric bypass trail.

Still, it is with a feeling of impending doom that I tell you I haven't thrown up in the past 7 weeks.   I do feel hunger again.  I have felt it several times in the past 5 to 8 days.   I can eat anything.  I ate most of a Wendy's cheese burger at lunch, and most an In-N-Out Burger for dinner.  {I was particularly bad today because I went down to Hollywood to see an old friend play at the Viper Room.}

As you know, I have been drinking some chocolate milk lately.

At length, you know well that the weight loss has not only slowed down, it has gone in reverse.  I am around 194 now, after reaching a low point around 190.7.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing.  People were beginning to inquire about my health.  They were wondering if I had cancer.  Several have told me that I have gone too far.  Many have told to slow down or quit entirely.  They feel I hit the goal a month ago or more.  Of course, they don't know about (or understand) the results of the body composition tests.

I didn't really want to go under 190 pounds.  I was hoping that I could add lean and reduce fat at the same time to get all the numbers to settle up at... say... 15% body fat around or about 195 pounds.  To achieve this objective, I would have to raise by body lean to 165.75 pounds.  I still believe this goal is achievable.  I hope I am blazing the trail to this goal as I write.

We'll have to see.  Phase II of the program may be beginning very soon.  This will be the honing phase, where scale weight doesn't change much, but my physique hardens.