Weights revisited....

[fajrdrako]

Second session with the weights: it mostly went well. I started messing up on the instructions after I used a machine that wasn't on the list the trainer had given us to start with. The next machine was set to 45 pounds and it was tough. I struggled with it through four repetitions, thinking, "Why is this so difficult? It was easy two days ago." I put it down to 40 pounds and struggled through 8 more repetitions, thinking, "Is the second time generally harder than the first? Could I be weaker?"

Then I thought, "Wait a minute, I read the wrong line in my notes. I'm supposed to be at 20 pounds on this machine."

Oops.

Well.... I survived. There's such a difference in poundage from machine to machine I haven't got it straight yet.

I was reading "Leave it to Chance" by (James Robinson and Paul Smith, Homage Comics) on the elliptical trainer, but though I was at a great cliffhanger, I had to stop reading because it was too difficult to read and keep the comic propped up and do the exercise properly all at once. So I'll read comics on the cycling machines and maybe listen to Esperanto tapes on the trainers.

"Leave it to Chance" is clever and cute and fun to read. The author makes much of his debt to Frank Miller - and why not? Miller is a comic book genius who has inspired many, and is one of my favourite people. (Yeah, another hero. Should I make a list?). But I see other influences: for one thing, Chance's pet dragon has a more-than-coincidental resemblance to Kitty Pryde's Lockheed - and maybe the art style is Paul Smith's doing, fair enough, but the concept was Chris Claremont's. In the introduction Robinson says Chance was inspired by Nancy Drew, but she reminds me more of Frank Miller's Robin (Cassie) in "The Dark Knight".

Still - it's a delightful graphic novel. In wonder if it compiles all the issues of "Leave it to Chance" that there were. Must look it up.

Comments

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

Paul Smith? Didn't John Byrne originate the look of Lockheed...? I seem to remember him griping, in an interview in The Comics Journal, about how he came up with that cute little fairy tale issue (Kitty telling Illyana, pre-puberty, a bedtime story) and Chris Claremont got all the credit for it. Just wondering. I may have it all wrong.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You may well be right. In his page at the end of the comic, which I hadn't got to yet when I wrote these comments, Paul Smith takes credit for Lockheed. It's long enough ago that I don't remember details if I even knew them. (I could ask Lyn, who has a stuffed Lockheed reproduction.)

In any case, Chance's dragon looks like Lockheed's brother.