I'll Always Have Family

 How many times have we heard that in the Fast & The Furious Franchise? Probably more times than we care to count. But nonetheless, it is a good notion to have in your mindset. You don't always have to be related to someone to consider family, it could a best friend or a great group of people in your life. If you happen to be related, it can be a toss up to being a bonus or not depending on how you grew up or and were around. 

Family is important after all, especially if you want to set an example for kids whether they're your own or grandkids, nieces/nephews, much younger cousins or whatever. Having good habits especially when it comes to fitness and health goes a long way. Training is not always about looking good, as a matter of fact, looking good in most cases is secondary in comparison to being in shape for the things that really matter. From being able to play with the kids, to having fun with your wife/husband in your later years along with making the most of what's possible to be in good condition for those tough days and using exercise as an outlet for getting shit out of your system.

One of the great things about the Dopamineo Bands is that they're not just for adults, but for young kids as well, especially when they have all that energy to burn and not getting them hopped up on soda and candy. If you got a kid that is into sports or needs a good program to use that energy as an outlet, the bands can be extremely beneficial. When you workout as a family, it can build strong bonds and encouraging each other with friendly competition or being together and doing something productive, hands on and build healthy relationships. 

Dad's struggle at times to be in shape because in a lot of cases, they work hard and do what they can to make a living supporting their family. The bands can be a great system for dads because when they can stay in shape, they have that energy to be with with the wife or husband and their kids and keep up with demands. For moms, whether they're a stay at home type or a career woman or whatever, the bands can have a profound impact on their health and well being along with being able to have that drive and strength to tackle many obstacles they face in their lives. 

Training using the bands can also be a tribute to building mental health and strength because having a family isn't easy and you always want the best for those little ones to become strong and resilient as they grow. Fitness is about coming together and making choices that affect everyone later on or even now. Grab the Family Bundle at Dopamineo to kickstart the habit of training together to grow together. At a 15% Discount, you get the Fly, Feather, Light & Stretch bands. Want to save even more? Add in my Discount Code POWERANDMIGHT to get an extra 10% OFF; that's a huge 25% Discount for your family to start training and getting into the habit. If dad is a little bigger than the light bands, you can grab a PAIR of the middle and heavy bands if needed. You have options for you and your loved ones to get in awesome shape together and being a team to develop healthy bodies and minds. You can always create a bundle here as well to grab what you need.

Invest in yourself and your family, be a part of the journey that builds strong individuals and groups of people together. We all deserve to be in peak physical condition and have great mental health. This is one way to help you get there. 

Iron Claw Review

On Tuesday night, me and my girl had a date night where we went to Red Lobster (had the Steak & Mashed Potatoes) and went to see the movie Iron Claw. I've been itching to see it since I saw the trailer back in November. It's the tragic story of the great Wrestling Family the Von Erichs. If any fan or student of the old school days of Pro Wrestling knows about this family, you get a sense of what this movie will be about. 

I've known or heard many stories about the Von Erichs for many years so I knew a bit of what I was getting into with this film. My wife is a fan of wrestling but knew very little about this family in particular. For the film itself, it was really well done and the actors (especially Zach Efron) did a fantastic job in their roles to the point I believe Zach should be a best nominated for a major film award like a Golden Globe or hell even an Oscar, out of all the roles throughout his career, this one really solidifies him as a powerful dramatic actor (even better than his role as Ted Bundy). 

The film depicts how close mainly the brothers of the family were (Kevin, Kerry, David & Mike) and the events that lead them all except for one to tragic endings. It also depicts how their father (wrestling name Fritz Von Erich) treated them and what was expected of his boys. Some of it was pretty accurate according to the stories I remember and interviews with the real Kevin. However, there are plenty of inaccuracies in the story and if anybody who grew up in Texas Wrestling or followed that family back in the 80's, you can pick up on them almost immediately off the bat especially timeline wise. 

Now when it comes to certain things when it came to inaccuracies, the biggest one was the physique of Zach's version of Kevin. In reality, Kevin was never that well built, he was lean yes but didn't look like a bodybuilder. Kerry however was the bodybuilder of the group and the biggest star of the family and they made Jeremy Allen White (who played Kerry) look more or less like Kevin back then. They did get a good idea on David who was considered the best performer and talker of the group but alas there was some things there that didn't add up. I understand the filmmakers needed to create certain aspects of the story to move the film along, I get that but if you're a wrestling fan and you knew some of the real stuff that went on, it does feel a bit off putting but that's just my opinion.

If someone wasn't a wrestling fan or didn't know a lick of that family, you might think this film has some boring scenes or moments of a tear jerker and shocking depictions of the family dynamic but some may also find it very moving and sad. The end game here is that this isn't your typical drama and it's not a fun go to movie. It is however, an amazing film that has some moments that are cool to watch and have a small chuckle. Whether you're a fan of 80's wrestling or just another movie goer it doesn't matter, it's still a great film to watch and put into perspective what pro wrestling can do to a family even when members were as close as those brothers were. It's a film of appreciation and outlook to what happened to that family and how one member in the end came out of it despite certain trauma physically, mentally, emotionally and psychologically to break the cycle that no one thought was possible. 

I don't need to go into anymore details of how inaccurate some things are in the movie, I'll let you do research on that on your own. For us wrestling fans, it wasn't that difficult to find the scrambles. Overall, it is a must watch movie and learning to understand the strong bonds it depicts along with the events of what happened to those brothers. The Von Erich family is tragic in almost every aspect of the word but they left a mark on pro wrestling that still holds dear today for those who grew up in Texas in the 80's watching them closely at the Sportatorium and seeing even a World Title go into the family even for a very short period of time. When you see the legacy of the family that still continues today, you'll get a sense of, despite tragedy, something came out of it that's bittersweet but wholesome in a way that is incredible and triumphant. 

I would give this movie a 8.8/10. 

Hope Everyone Had A Great Xmas

 I set a goal to turn off my phone back on Saturday to not only take a break from the social media stuff but to focus on more important things and not worry so much about what shit is going on in internetland. Last night at midnight I turned it back on and hey, still crap but got some cool messages from people. 

Got some great presents from amazing people but seeing the look on my girl's face when she saw what I got her was just priceless. As you know, we're Star Wars Nerds through thick and thin and have collected plenty of stuff over the 8 years we've been together including what we call the Chest Of Awesomeness where we store a few of our favorite collectibles. My gift this year for her was a (Repo) Autograph Framed Picture of a Empire Strikes Back Poster with the cast signed and since she's reliving her childhood recently with watching the original Charmed Series (1998-2006) I got her a Framed Picture of the original three women's Autograph. She was so lit up I should've taken a picture but it's just as beautiful in my memory.

For the most part over the weekend leading up to our day with each of her parents, mostly kept to myself and checking out documentaries, working out with my new toy and the dopamineo band. Just taking it "easy" mostly. Yesterday, we started Xmas with going to her mom's and spending a good portion of the day with her with my wife's brother and his daughter, watching the Raiders beat the Chiefs, having pancakes, watching them put together a Disney Puzzle that literally took the entire game for them to complete, kicked back, did an Isometric workout in the middle there and had a great time. 

Went home to chill for about a half hour and went up to her dad's up on the mountain behind us to finish off the festivities with tons of food including a kick ass pot roast his stepdaughter made and opened up presents. What I got was something I never thought I'd ever get or even thought about having in my lifetime. I won't say what it is but let's just say after learning a few things, you might see some really cool camera angles of my workout demos and workouts in the not too distant future. 

Overall, just having a great time with family and being with the love of my life is nothing short of awesome and fun. Hopefully you all had a great holiday weekend as well and was full of love, adventures, presents and plenty of food to scarf down. Now, it's time to get back on that horse and train with a vengeance to welcome the new year and set new goals so you can succeed in the endeavors you're in. Keep it up and don't forget to check out dopamineo.com and grab a bad ass band for yourself or for your gym, client, school, group class or whatever with the Customized Bundle Deals and get an extra 10% OFF  by using my Discount Code POWERANDMIGHT. Happy Holidays everyone and keep on being amazingly awesome. 

A Rollercoaster Of Craziness

 Damn, it has been 18 days since my last entry. It has been a whirlwind of emotions, laughter, tears, growth, loss and craziness. Other than the excessive heatwave we've had here in Idaho, around the time of my birthday, it became a time where I couldn't think about me and my celebration, it was a time of mourning and a time to be with people I truly cared about. My wife lost her stepdad to cancer and other things that went wrong with him that I'm going to keep to myself and our family. Very hard to see this man go that I knew for 8 years and those moments that we shared talking about music, comics and movies. 

I did the best I could to be there not just for my girl but her brother, their mom and our niece because all I wanted to do was to comfort them and be present. Life is way too damn short to bicker and be divided, when something like this happens, it's about family, togetherness and protecting one another. It wasn't as hard on me than it was for them because that's the man they knew for many, many years, close to 20 if I recall but it hit me a little differently because a little over 20 years earlier, my own stepdad passed that just tore me up and happened just before I finished high school. I never got to say my peace with him. Now, with theirs, I got a second chance in my own way. I got the opportunity and permission from their mom to use the music for his walk out before taking him to the funeral home, it was one of his favorite bands that did a cover of Lynyrd Skynard's Simple Man. 

We laughed, we cried and just did what was best to make the best of things, regardless of how hard it was. Now, the twisted thing about all this is the time he died. I don't know if this was the man's last joke or some kind of cosmic way of making us laugh a little but the man died at 4:20am and he was an advocate on weed LOL. Some things that'll never leave your mind and puts in perspective why this life is so precious when it comes down to it. From there, we went from tragedy to being prepared for seeing my dad's side of the family for the first in roughly 4 years, going to Lake Tahoe.

The last time my wife saw my family was our wedding and the last time I did was in Nov of that year for my dad's 70th birthday so this was a major thing for both of us. Traveling for 12 hours in planes and cars, it could've been John Candy's & Steve Martin's Planes, Trains & Automobiles but with without the train. When I saw my dad, I just broke down and held him for what seemed like forever even though it was maybe 30 seconds. Did the same to my sisters, my stepmom and other relatives. It was like a huge wave of emotions coming out that I needed because this is the longest time in my entire life not seeing all of them. 

Being back in Tahoe was the boost we both needed and spending time with each other was just incredible. Made some breakthroughs with my sisters and spending some time with my niece and nephews especially the youngest one. Going to the lake and jumping off the dock, exploring on the rocks, climbing the staircase that is a monstrosity, getting workouts in (mainly Isometrics & Swimming) including an Animal Workout near the stairs to the water and plenty of activities.

Went on a boat ride one day around the lake with my girl, dad, stepmom, aunt, uncle and my stepmom's friends from Boston (Accents and all). We went around an area called Emerald Bay where the water is not just crystal clear but as green as you would see in the Wizard Of Fucking Oz. Got to swim with my dad for a bit near a mountain with a small castle at the top called Valhalla (I so wish I had my Epic Sledgehammer with me, that would've been one of the coolest shots ever, hoisting it up and putting lightning in the background). Went around an area called Meeks Bay which is really cool because that's my wife's Maiden Name and she has distant relatives that owned or still operate it today. Overall, it was exciting and a lot of fun.

Another day was going to Virginia City in Nevada with my sister, her boys, her besties with her two daughters and the most awesome woman on the planet. I use to love going there when I was little, it was like time stood still as in you're in this old western town that seemed to never die out, you have shops where you can see paintings of men and women of the time, churches that just stand out in time and the cool saloons where cowboys and others drank, fought, cheated and died in. One of the most famous saloons in the town is the Bucket Of Blood where you can see this incredible view of the desert hills. Some of these places are said to be Haunted and I've been in some areas where Ghost Hunters came in and did investigations. Bought some souvenirs including decks of cards, a couple Street Signs for my nephews that says Beware Of Attack Brother just to make my sister laugh even though she at first gave me this cold stare and bought my sister a pink rose quartz crystal bracelet that she really loved. Holly brought her camera with her and put her Photography skills to the test and quite frankly, its unbelievable how these pics turned out. 

After Virginia City, we headed out to Reno to meet up with our other sister and her husband with their party. Took the boys to Circus Circus across the way to go play in the arcade. Had a lot of fun there shooting hoops with my niece, winning lots of tickets, tried my hand at the punching bag and see what my score was; the highest they had was 956 and my best was 899 so not too bad for a guy who doesn't do a ton of boxing training. Bought my nephews Panda Express and went back to the cabins on our merry way. Spent a little one on one time with my dad, wished we had a bit more but hey when there's nearly 30 people in 4 cabins all together, you're bound to be hanging around others. Had beautiful moments of growth with my sisters and spent some time with my stepsister and her hubs that are officially going to be parents (Stepsis Macky will be a great mom and her hubs mike is a great guy that lives life to the fullest). 

There was a bit of family drama but that's not only to be expected it might as well be mandatory (we do put the fun in Dysfunctional after all). I won't bore you with the details but peace was made in the end and that's what truly matter right? Overall, it was one of the most fun trips I've ever had since going there as a baby. In fact, now in 2023, it is now been 50 years since my dad started all this so it has grown to 4 generations of our family going there. Wish we didn't have to leave but got to face reality and move on to the next trip. We started our trek back around 7am and didn't walk back into the door at home until about 11:15pm, that was a day man but we got home safe, got in a short workout at the airport and finished off with 1 min of isometric push-ups at home. 

Yep, that's been the highlights of these last near three weeks and things will be calmer and back to normal but then again normal is just overrated LOL. Keep being amazingly awesome guys and I'll be back to writing a lot more often. 

A Tragedy That Brings Up Another Wake Up Call For All Of Us

 The recent events of the Conn. Shootings have become not just a tragedy for the families and loved ones of those who were hurt and killed but another stepping stone to how our country is devastated and what we can do as a nation to help prevent these types of evil from ever happening again. I grew up in a daycare and have seen many kids come through, some of them I’m still friends with to this very day. Finding out about that many kids losing their life because some kid with very disturbed issues decided to go and take those lives. It makes me feel sick to my stomach to see people like this do something horrific. It did get to me because I care about kids more than most would ever know.

   Shaping a country from this kind of horrific event changes a persons mindset to how and why guns are apart of society anyway. It is without question that children shape the very foundation for this country whether it’s good or bad and to have someone take it away from them is just another way of saying “screw the world.” Anybody who knows me knows that I love kids and would do anything to help out and be there for them. Is this a rant on the shootings, no I do have a point coming but I wanted to express my sympathies and wish for the families of this tragedy to stay strong and find a way to give themselves peace. I’m not a parent but after being around so many kids and taking care of a few in my lifetime, I don’t want to imagine the type of pain of those who lost a child.

 We as a nation have dealt with evil for over 200 years and each year things become greater both good and evil but we still stand and fight for the future for those who come after us. This is the greatest country but we are not without flaws and trial & errors. To shape a country of this magnitude needs constant change but more importantly more self improvement from each and every one of us. Improve on helping kids do better in life, improve our quality of health both mental and physical and make compromises that people can understand and live with. It’s terrible we have to deal with evil of this caliber but in essence we must be prepared for it. I always believe its best to defend and not attack. Nobody was prepared for the shootings I get that but that’s another lesson we all could learn so we can prevent stuff like this again.

 When I heard that our leader Obama has gone to be there for the families takes real guts and personally I hate politics but when a man of that caliber goes out of his way to do that, make him a good man in my book. You can change the face of a whole country with just a few words and within those few words it will never leave your heart as a person. We all need to wake up and realize that our kids are the most precious things we have in this world, people have possessions that are precious to them but when a child’s life is on the line, none of that stuff matters. Love your kids and help them grow, be there for them no matter how bad or good a situation is. Show them how much you care and help them become something than you ever were.

 Bonding with your kids is one of the coolest things you can do and working together as a unit becomes brighter for both you and them. One of the things I learned in my 15 years of exercising and training different things is that when you have others who train alongside you or want to help you reach your full potential, it helps make this world a lot better. You help each other learn certain guidelines, values of health, working together as a team, quality time with your loved ones because you never know when they won’t be around again. I've spent much my adult life training and learning certain things on my own and don’t always have someone to help me or let me help them but when I’m around those who share that passion and want to learn from one another, I get stronger, healthier and get to bond with those that want the best for one another, family whether blood or not can have the same way.

 Whatever happened to that kid that made him the way he is, it’s tragic and disturbing but let’s not forgets he was once a little boy too. Do I sympathize to what he’s done; of course not if he lived he should rot in jail and pay the price for his actions but that’s not the case. It’s important to help those with severe problems and help them get better but yet we can only go so far to help them and it’s sad. I wish for everyone who’s been affected to be able to cope and find it in your heart to keep on living and finding a way to make your lives better and for the lives around you. In the words of the Beatles for this time of need “All you need is love.” Love each other; be there for one another and for the love of god, be kind and loving to your kids. We all have someone we love and cherish, don’t take it for granted otherwise you’ll wake up one day and they’re not there anymore.

 This nation needs to make changes; start small and build up, every little thing we change for the better will have a greater impact later on. Make things happen for you and your families. You have the power to create something great, do it and help pass it on to a future generation. Thank you all for who have read this and to the families of this horrific tragedy, you have my deepest and utmost sympathy and I hope you and your family will be able to keep loving and living with the best life you can make. 

A Gift Of Health Is Far More Rewarding

 Today is Black Friday and that means the plague of shopping for Xmas and getting deals left and right that just boggle the mind. It sucks mostly because it’s really the only day where people get ran over or run over for things after a day of what they’re thankful for. Sad isn’t it? The one thing good about Black Friday is that you do the best you can to get your family something special later on next month but with the right leverage, you don’t need to get trampled all over the place.

 A real gift that you can use for a lifetime rather than a few times out of the year is really the gift of health. Help those who are in need to be fit and strong. I realize exercise may not be on your mind because you’re clawing your brains as to what to get for your loved ones especially your kids. Training however can relieve stress on the mind and body if you give it time to relax and breathe. Your body can take only so much from the stress of getting something at a fast clip.

 The biggest shopping day of the year can be used to your advantage and here’s why, in my opinion almost everyone has a computer these days and has an internet hookup so why not use that to get what you want instead of running off to some store where the crazies just go nuts and become something they’re not normally as. If you don’t have internet or a computer, shop a little before Black Friday by a small percentage, this way if you saved up enough and do your research, you can find better deals long before thanksgiving and store them so the kids don’t see it, it can be effective and you won’t have to get your ass kicked all over the place.

 For the most part if you want to give a great gift, I believe exercise is a better option because it’s not just for you but your loved ones as well. Exercising together as a family creates bonds and helps teach kids rules, boundaries and how to earn what you want. Don’t need to force them or anything like that, find a positive and productive way to get fit for the holidays. If you really want to be an animal than I suggest you start here. Kids love toys, I get that I was part of that generation too and wanted every toy from tv show I watched from Spiderman to the Power Rangers and these days kids love Justin Beiber and Spongbob Squarepants. Kids and families deserve a little something so why not earn it and put a little effort in it. One of the greatest gifts I ever got as a kid in the late 90’s was a ticket from my dad to go see WWF Royal Rumble ’98 at the San Jose Arena long before it became the HP Pavilion, I was massively into Pro Wrestling at that time and got to see guys like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, The Rock and Triple H when he was with Degeneration X. I never forgot that night and it’s stuck with me for life.

 Not saying you should spend a lot to do something but the key is that having something for a lifetime rather than a few times is far more awesome in my opinion. Exercise is a lot like that, you can do whenever you want at anytime when you want or need to do it and you can use it for the rest of your life. Be sure to have fun this holiday season and don’t stress so much about what to give someone and hurt yourself in the process of doing it because as much as you love someone, you don’t want to go through the trenches of World War 3 to do it. Be safe and happy holidays everyone.