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Is it a requirement that all bodybuilding-themed commercials be either kitschy and dated-looking, or unbelievably weird?

In the second category, I offer up this vid. For those of us that are real connoisseurs of the handsome, crystal blue-eyed Dennis Newman, it's actually quite startling to see him here, because he actually does look like a superhero ought. That hadn't occurred to me before but it makes sense.

Though it is disappointing in one sense: that voice of his makes the Christian Bale Batman voice sound downright underplayed and subtle.



This gym commercial actually played in Staten Island theaters along with Star Wars. What I find interesting is that its' target audience is mainly male: its implicit message is that bodybuilding will help you get laid!

This is downright amazing, considering how these days both men and women go to the gym - though for different exercises and different purposes.



This next one isn't a commercial, but while we're on the subject of youtube vids, I put it up because it illustrates what I've always liked about Asian bodybuilding culture: the slowness, the quiet classical music and so on. I always hated the use of discordant speed metal in posing routines.

Flex, Pecs and Sex: Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel

"Muscles have really made a comeback in the movies." - Gene Siskel

Ah, if only it lasted!

Absolutely fascinating 1986 documentary that examined muscles at the movies.

Misleading Advertising in Cover Art

Oh my God!

Do I ever need to say that Gladiator, a novel by Phillip Wylie, a social critic, cynic and misanthrope best known for When Worlds Collide, had absolutely zilch in the way of sex in it? It was, incidentally, a mournful story about how a person with great strength couldn't fit into ordinary society, a story about the way our culture crushes superior people under its heel and mediocrity is the accepted norm. I could hear the tinkly and melancholic piano music from the "Incredible Hulk" in the background. There also was absolutely no sex either.

For those of us that are fans of that controversial pastime, man-on-man love, the cover to "Gay Love" was a...little strange.

For those that love muscles and science together...

Check it out, an anatomy chart.

For those that like this kind of thing, check out my science blog, Daughter of Hypatia. (Shameless plug!)

Incidentally, "triceps" and "biceps" refer to the entire muscle group, not to just one arm. The correct usage is "biceps muscle."

King of the Stone Age, Part 1

I haven't written any real muscle growth fiction since a few false starts in the summer of '08, busy as I am with grad school. But I wanted to try my hand at it again.

King of the Stone Age, Part 1 (The Muscle Growth History of the World)

(Note: you have to be registered with musclegrowth.org to see. Don't worry, it's free.)

Essentially, the story is about a girl that flees from her tribe to be rescued by a superhandsome giant cave stud. The basic theory is that in the ancient past, bisexuality was more the norm for men and women. The story has a degree of sexual omnivorousness for that reason: guy on guy, girl on girl, and guy-girl. There isn't any outright sex in the first part, but just wait.

One of the characters is what today we would call "gay," who wears women's clothing. This is a social role found in many societies, notably Native American (Hopi) who have the role of the berdache.

The Twilight Phenomenon

Every time some guy (and here the term isn’t gender-neutral, it always does, in fact mean men) slams the Twilight phenomenon, I always felt like wincing just a little bit.

Not because I like the books, or it expresses an inmost fantasy of mine or something…in all honesty I read the first book on a plane to Toronto and I was amazed at how fast I forgot it afterward, like most mystery paperbacks. It was harmless, and expressed a common fantasy: the desire to be won over by someone with a possessive and slightly sinister affection. If you get your self-worth from other people adoring you, that’s very powerful.

As readers of this blog will probably know, Edward is too femmie for my tastes anyway, humorless, cynical and vain, he reminds me of a particularly (in retrospect) assholish boyfriend from Williamsburg. While some may see my dating a psedointellectual hipster from Brooklyn as the height of crappy judgment, all I have to say in my defense is that it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Rather, the reason I wince when men slam Twilight is because of the “unfortunate implications” in slamming a mostly female fantasy. I save any and all accusations of sexism for very rare occasions, for when I’m absolutely sure. Here, I’m absolutely sure: there’s a double-standard at work. A goofy female fantasy is seen as fluffy and embarrassing, but goofy male fantasies of virility and macho fighting do not receive criticism for precisely this reason.

Twilight is intimately associated with the female gender. I remember reading a few articles on computer science that bemoaned how few women were going into the field. The article sarcastically asked, “hey, why not put up a few Twilight posters in comp labs?”

(Incidentally, I always thought the problem with comp sci departments is their inability to creatively rebrand. Most biochemistry and genetics departments have been reborn with sexier-sounding names like “systems biology” and “molecular genetics and microbiology.” I can understand trying to get away from reminding people of the nightmarish Organic Chemistry, but still. And don’t ever call an MLS a degree in Library Science – they prefer Information Science, which considering the emphasis on database management over a physical building, that’s not a bad idea.)

You hate Twilight? Okay, fine, I hate James Bond. (Well, except maybe Pierce Brosnan. What a good looking piece of man.) The James Bond movies are the male version of Twilight: an embarrassingly immature fantasy.

Incidentally, it’s worth noting I was actually quite surprised to see a picture of Stephanie Meyer, who was considerably less fat than I was expecting. I guess her soul is fat.


There was one incredible element of the Twilight phenom: the gift of Taylor Lautner, who is one of the most beautiful men at the movies in a very, very long time, and who the directors have the good sense to keep shirtless all the time. Bella says, on first seeing him, “wow, you got buff!”

I can’t seriously believe she’d choose anybody over him. Just sayin’ is all.

Sex in real life is not like sex in pornos

I love TED talks, the video lecture series by intellectuals and scientists and others.

One of the best argues that, since hardcore porn is widely available and responsible and mature sex education isn't, a whole generation of men have grown up only knowing about sex from porn - specifically, internet porn. This is also dangerous to women as well, who grow up with the expectation that certain sex acts that aren't pleasurable (she uses the example of facials, for instance) are something men demand that must be provided, that she should pretend to enjoy.



She's right; somebody has to set the record straight.