I saw this over at Rich's place before and meant to mention it. Tom is building a model rocket and documenting the process with words and pictures. This is a good chance to see some alternate construction techniques than what we used when we built the Fat Boy (scroll down at the link for the entire series).

And speaking of fat boys, Rich also posted a picture showing yours truly at our last rocket launch. I'm the big guy on the right, the tall guy in the middle is Frank, editor of our newsletter (that I mentioned here), and the guy on the left is Rob Edmonds, the creative force behind Edmonds Aerospace (that I talked about here). So yeah, Rich calls it "VIPs", and there are two of 'em in the photo, and me.

While you're over there, check out the other photos that Rich takes at our monthly rocket launches. Pretty cool.

Posted by: Ted at 08:44 PM | category: Rocketry
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Not sure what happened, but I've been unable to get logged on (or anywhere near logging on) all morning.

I did find a new trackback spam. But you won't. *evil grin*

Later.

Posted by: Ted at 10:43 AM | category: Square Pegs
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1 Ditto--I suspect either the trackback assault took us down, or Pixy did to stem it.

Death penalty for spammers!!!!!

Posted by: Susie at February 28, 2005 11:59 AM (eJ86P)

2 I have some news. Check the picture gallery on vforcerocketry.com, page 2, caption: VIPs.

Posted by: Maelstrom at February 28, 2005 04:36 PM (9zeuj)

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Here's the final part of our series to build your own box hockey game. If you have any questions, feel free to leave 'em in the comments and I'll answer them as soon as I can.

Previous Box Hockey posts are linked to from here.

(in the extended entry) more...

Posted by: Ted at 01:59 PM | category: Build It
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Nic has been posting hockey memorabilia - cards and autographs and such - and telling the stories that go along with them. These aren't mundane "I stood around for an hour until he came out of the locker room" stories either. These are cool stories.

There's more than I linked to. Go here, scroll down and read 'em all.

Posted by: Ted at 09:33 AM | category: Links
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I lifted this recipe from the Blog d'Elisson a while back, and tried it yesterday.

Wow.

I'm going to reprint the original here (since I sometimes use this category as my virtual cookbook), and then add my notes at the end about what I did differently. I don't know if this was entered in a previous Carnival, but it doesn't matter. All credit to Elisson for this wonderfulness.

Braised Brisket

5-7 lb beef brisket, trimmed of some of its fat
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp dried oregano (or 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano, even better)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 medium yellow onions, sliced
2 bay leaves
3½ cups chicken stock or broth
1 28 oz can diced or chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine the salt, pepper, paprika, and oregano in a small bowl and sprinkle generously over the meat, rubbing it in well.

In a large, heavy pan with a close-fitting lid, heat the oil over medium-high heat and brown the meat, about 10 minutes on each side. [I used our big turkey roasting pan - RJ] Remove the meat and place on a platter to hold. Pour the excess grease out of the pan and add the chicken broth, tomatoes, and bay leaves, stirring and scraping to deglaze the pan. Put the meat back in the pan and smother with the chopped garlic and sliced onions. (If you're using fresh oregano, which I recommend, it doesnÂ’t hurt to throw another small handful in at this point.) Cover the pan and put it in the oven to braise for 1 hour.

After an hour, remove the cover from the pan and continue to braise another hour.

Push the onions and garlic into the braising liquid and cover the pan. Braise for 1 or 2 more hours - however long it takes to make the meat nice and tender. After one hour, check the meat for doneness by sticking it with a fork - when itÂ’s done, take it out.

You can serve the meat right away, but for best flavor, let cool, refrigerate, and let it sit 1-2 days. This also makes it easy to scrape off any excess grease. Reheat thoroughly in a 350° oven. Remove the meat from the braising liquid, slice against the grain, and arrange on a platter. The braising liquid should, at this point, have cooked down to a nice sauce-like consistency. If it’s too thin, put the pan on the stove on medium-high heat and reduce the liquid to the desired thickness. Remove the bay leaves and spoon the sauce liberally over the meat.

Notes: When I went into the pantry, I discovered that my big can of diced tomatoes was a big can of pureed tomatoes instead. I did have a smaller can of diced on hand, so to compensate I added two small cans of V8 vegetable juice to the liquid. Also, the family aren't onion fanatics like me, so I only used one onion, sliced fairly thin. Finally, since they hate bay leaf (geez, I live with some picky damn eaters), I went for a sweet and spice undertone by adding about 3/4" of peeled and sliced fresh ginger root to the sauce, and balancing the acid of the tomatoes by adding 4 diced prunes.

Oh man, was that good eating. At that link above, Elisson provides a nice idea for leftover brisket too. Not that there was much of it left.

On the side we made roasted parsley potatoes and some corn. I think next time I'll pull out the bread machine and have a fresh loaf of warm sourdough ready instead of the spuds, and maybe a crunch salad.

Oh yeah, I'll be making this again soon.

Posted by: Ted at 01:12 AM | category: Recipes
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1 ...And I have dessert for ya! :-)

How about a nice batch of Cranberry Orange Sherbert, eh...? ;-)

--TwoDragons

Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at February 27, 2005 12:46 PM (RNyQD)

2 Aack, linky no worky. Here ya go: Cranberry Orange Sherbert

--TwoDragons

Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at February 27, 2005 12:47 PM (RNyQD)

3 Mmmmmmm, that sounds de-e-e-licious!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at February 27, 2005 02:24 PM (ZoqEF)

4 Can I come over for dinner?

Posted by: Susie at February 28, 2005 12:01 PM (eJ86P)

5 Dinner and a movie, Susie, that's how it works.

Posted by: Ted at February 28, 2005 01:24 PM (ZjSa7)

6 Sounds very yummy. And I bet it made the whole house smell great.

Posted by: RP at March 01, 2005 05:08 PM (LlPKh)

7 Sounds like I oughta enter that bad boy in the Carnival of the Recipes, no?

Great combination: Rockets 'n' meat. Gotta love rockets 'n' meat.

Thanx fer th' tip of the hat!

Posted by: Elisson at March 02, 2005 11:44 AM (2zW8B)

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Our rocketry club, NOVAAR (Northern Virginia Association of Rocketry) has the latest newsletter up, and there's a wicked picture of our flying field on the front page. Here's the caption:

At January's launch, Ben Title's camera equipped R/C airplane snapped this shot of the Great Meadow flying field as a rocket took flight from one of the High Power pads.

It's a .pdf file (5MB), click 'newsletter', then select 'current issue'.

Posted by: Ted at 01:12 PM | category: Rocketry
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I found something interesting while hunting for vintage erotica online.

Someone was kind enough to scan and post a whole heap of Players Cigarette cards. I've since discovered (Google is your friend) that Players has apparently always included some sort of trading card with every pack of cigarettes. The topics have run the range from "wildflowers of Britain" to classic cars to "wonders of the deep" and many many many more. You can see samples of many of these sets on eBay. They're popular collectables and big movers.

This particular set of 85 cards is of Actresses, and were released during the late 1930's (from clues like "her latest film was...").

I'll post one of these every once in a while, with a couple of simple links to IMDB.com or a bio if I can find one. You might be surpirsed at some of the familiar names you'll see. The category is "Star Cards" (over on the right column), and you can click there at any time to see all that I've posted. Hope you enjoy.

To kick it off, here's the first one of the series that I have:

Click on the card for larger size.

Gwili Andre: her IMDB page and a brief bio (tragic). In the picture, notice in the lower left corner the word "Radio". That was the studio she was signed to - RKO - back in the days when each studio kept it's stable of stars under exclusive contract.

Posted by: Ted at 09:59 AM | category: Star Cards
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Via McCovey Chronicles:

"... you've got to have some serious talent to have 53,000 people saying you suck."

Go Barry Bonds. Heh.

Posted by: Ted at 09:28 AM | category: Links
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It must be oldies week here at Rocket Jones, only I didn't get the memo. I've suddenly gotten a flurry of comments and email about that series of posts where we built a Box Hockey game. I've also discovered that somehow, somewhere, the last part of the series has gone missing. I can't find it in the archives, so I'll recreate it and post it here in the next day or so.

Build your own box hockey game part 1

Build your own box hockey game part 2

Build your own box hockey game part 3

Final part coming soon!

Also, this is a variation of box hockey that a lot of folks remember playing as kids. It's not what my plans are for, but it looks fun too.

Posted by: Ted at 08:07 AM | category: Square Pegs
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Your kid doesn't have school because of yesterday's snowstorm? Wake the ankle-biter little angel up and have him (or her in my case) clean the snow off your car while you get ready for your day.

You'll feel better about having to go to work. I did.

Posted by: Ted at 06:02 AM | category: Square Pegs
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Thanks to everyone who's stopped by, and special thanks to all who contributed recipes for this Carnival. I went from zero to overwhelmed in seconds. If you've never visited Rocket Jones before, feel free to look around and I hope you come back to visit on a regular basis. Now, strap yourselves in and hang on...

(in the extended entry) more...

Posted by: Ted at 05:33 AM | category: Links
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1 Nice layout! Thanks for hosting it.

Posted by: vw bug at February 25, 2005 08:27 AM (xRFyn)

2 I've got a bad link (I submitted the email link) to see Canton Beef and Vegtable Soup visit http://azpnj.blogspot.com/2005/02/creating-recipe-blogger-style-canton.html

BTW, the Carnival looks great!

Posted by: Dave at February 25, 2005 09:08 AM (/zEUo)

3 Dave, I updated your entry. The recipe is there, you just have to scroll down the page a little bit. Dunno why it's doing that... let's blame Blogspot!

Posted by: Ted at February 25, 2005 09:21 AM (blNMI)

4 Sorry! Changed the link on you:

http://bebere.blogspot.com/2005/02/my-new-department-head-recently-asked.html

Could I order about a dozen copies of "Self-fulfilling prophecies for Dummies," too? Thanks!

:-)

Posted by: bev at February 25, 2005 09:39 AM (fikC7)

5 A stellar display--sorry to have missed you on the 1st orbit. If you pardon my vacuity, I'll shuttle something tasty over for the next.

Posted by: HelenW at February 25, 2005 10:06 AM (piQVD)

6 Oh, so nicely done!

Thank you!

Posted by: Christina at February 25, 2005 10:07 AM (zJsUT)

7 Bev, link changed.

Posted by: Ted at February 25, 2005 10:27 AM (blNMI)

8 This edition is out of this world. Great job.

Posted by: Punctilious at February 25, 2005 10:43 AM (s2hti)

9 Great job, Ted.

And I didn't even know this was the meatloaf eddition!

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at February 25, 2005 10:44 AM (UquFN)

10 Are the entire Carnivals (1-27) available archived anywhere?

Posted by: Andy at February 25, 2005 11:00 AM (zKaAj)

11 Nicely done, Ted. And for your answer to the Heinlein trivia question...wasn't it Mr. Stone in The Rolling Stones?

Posted by: Victor and his seventeen pet rats at February 25, 2005 12:31 PM (L3qPK)

12 Great job putting this all together! I found all the space pics at NASA's site; they have a new one posted every day. Would love to 'meander' through the stars someday!

Posted by: Michele at February 25, 2005 02:30 PM (4s+3F)

13 Ted, did they make those space food sticks in chocolate? I remember eating these things as a kid...they were about the size of a Slim-Jim, a chocolate flavor, a bit softer than a Tootsie Roll...but I can't for the life of me remember what they were called.

Excellent job on the Carnival, too!

Posted by: nic at February 25, 2005 04:37 PM (etHvD)

14 Fantastique! I am very impressed with all the work you put into this smorgasboard. Bravo!

Posted by: Dawn at February 25, 2005 08:09 PM (Dh1V0)

15 My sincerest apologies for the downed server. Murphy's law wins out yet again. Thank you to all the visitors. I will be up and running with photos and videos by Tues. March 1st.

Posted by: michuli at February 26, 2005 09:01 AM (fuiZO)

16 Andy, check here:

http://www.thedonovan.com/beth/archives/cat_recipe_carnival.html

Nic, there sure were chocolate Space Food Sticks. They're still available, but they're packaged differently and for some stupid reason there's a BMX biker pictured on the box. Ignore the bike and pretend the leathers and helmet are a spacesuit I guess.

Victor, I was thinking about "Job: A Comedy of Justice". Alexander is working as a dishwasher in a New Mexico diner and talks about rating cooks by how good their meatloaf is.

Posted by: Ted at February 26, 2005 09:43 AM (ZjSa7)

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I just saw a commercial on TV for a cordless soldering iron that supposedly cools in seconds. They showed this guy attaching a wire to a doorbell on his porch, then slipping the iron into his shirt pocket, while the voiceover says:

Now that's smart!

No, it's not.

Posted by: Ted at 09:46 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Last night in the Borders bookstore, I noticed that the erotica section is in the same aisle as the self-help books.

Posted by: Ted at 11:41 AM | category: Square Pegs
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1 LOL!

Posted by: michele at February 24, 2005 01:23 PM (ht2RK)

2 Hmm. I've never gotten out of the Sci-Fi section...

Posted by: GEBIV at February 24, 2005 04:22 PM (XJsR+)

3 And just what were you doing in the self help section?

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at February 24, 2005 04:56 PM (UquFN)

4 Yep, I was in the self help section...

Posted by: Ted at February 24, 2005 06:27 PM (ZjSa7)

5 LOL

Posted by: vw bug at February 25, 2005 06:34 AM (aCuoh)

6 My 15 yr old son has noticed that at both Barnes & Noble, and Books a Million...

I confess I don't know how to grok that in fullness.

;-)

Posted by: De Doc at February 26, 2005 02:12 PM (uVm5h)

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Like Robert the Llama Butcher, I'm less than impressed with "storms" around here, especially after having spent five winters in North Dakota (that's how you tell time up there, not by years but by winters).

That doesn't mean I hop into my truck and hit the roads when it gets weathery out, because there are enough nitwits out there already, thank you. But it does mean that I'm at work, because things need doing, and just because it's gonna be a mess later doesn't mean it's a mess now.

Just in case though, there's a blanket and pillow stashed in the truck, and I brought a good book to read if I'm stuck here for awhile. I learned a thing or two over five winters in North Dakota.

Posted by: Ted at 05:53 AM | category: Square Pegs
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1 Yeah, I came in at 6 to beat the crowd, and I'm expecting that most of the day will see the staff clustered around a window saying "How do the roads look? Do you think they will let us leave early?"

Posted by: nic at February 24, 2005 07:08 AM (JijW0)

2 Haha. We only have rain here. Dad, the snow is supposed to stop tonight, right? I'll prolly call you tomorrow just to be sure the roads in the neighborhood are okay before I hit the road home

Posted by: Robyn at February 24, 2005 10:17 AM (AO/zQ)

3 I spent 5 winters in New Hampshire and I choose to stay off of the roads here in DC because of the people who don't know how to drive in it. Makes me look like a wimp, but I'll be the live wimp with no dents in my car.

Posted by: jen at February 24, 2005 12:23 PM (uvxDG)

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That's the address to email your favorite recipes for this week's Carnival of the Recipes, and it's staying at the top of the page today, so scroll down for new posts.

Helen, something vegetarian please?

Paul, after reading about your molten-lava nuggets, I know you've got something to share.

Oorgo? Shank? You must have something involving blow torches and charred flesh of some sort.

Dortch, I know you've got to have a kick-ass brownie recipe.

I expect something cloyingly sweet from my pal Bitterman, because it's the yin to his yang, if you know what I mean.

Dawn, stick it with a freaking toothpick and send it over. I'm counting on you.

C'mon dammit. It's late, I've got to get up early in the morning, and y'all are just waiting until the last moment. All of you. I know you are.

Posted by: Ted at 11:17 PM | category: Links
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1 Ted, I can't boil water.

I've tried and tried, but cooking is just not in my genes.

Posted by: Paul at February 23, 2005 11:01 AM (vbP6L)

2 Y'all are coming through for me. Way to go!

Paul, I understand completely. Mookie can cook well enough to survive, but I tell her she's got a bright future in the Army Food Services.

Posted by: Ted at February 23, 2005 12:45 PM (blNMI)

3 Do'h! How much time is left? I can tell ya how to make a pizza without a stone if that helps!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at February 24, 2005 01:06 AM (CmmFP)

4 "Stick it with a freaking toothpick"

I have about 14 different responses to that one.

Posted by: dawn at February 25, 2005 08:13 PM (Dh1V0)

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Over at annika's.

Posted by: Ted at 01:02 PM | category: Links
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Back in April I put up a little quickie post about stripper music and the comments keep trickling in. Never one to leave off beating a dead horse, here's what we've got so far:

Feel Like Making Love - Bad Company
South City Midnight Lady - Doobie Brothers
Dreadlock Holiday - 10cc
Sharp Dressed Man -ZZTop
Come Together -The Beatles
Feel Like a Woman -Shania Twain
Welcome to Jungle - Guns N' Roses
Cut the Cake - Average White Band
Love to Love You Baby -Donna Summer
Crazy On You - Heart
Closer - Nine Inch Nails (this one was mentioned several times)
Indus - Dead Can Dance
Frankenstein - Edgar Winter Group
Rocket Queen - Guns N' Roses
Oh Bondage, Up Yours! - X-Ray Spex
The Roars Of The Masses Could Be Farts - the Minutemen.

These next few are jokes. I hope. I don't know if my universe is big enough to contain a place where these might be used:
Polka Your Brains Out - Weird Al
The William Tell Overture
Amazing Grace (with real pipes)
Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby Ferrin

Back to seriousness:
Sex Shooter - Apollonia 6
Nasty Girl - Vanity 6
Peach - the Neptunes
Smoking in the Boys Room - Motley Crue (I didn't know they did a cover of this, I remember the original by Brownsville Station)
Hot for Teacher - Van Halen
Cream - Prince
I Touch Myself - the Divinyls
What Kind of Love Are You On - Aerosmith
Cherry Pie - Warrant
Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard
Lick- from the movie XXX soundtrack
Sex On Wheels (remix) - Thrill Kill Cult
Erotic City - Prince
Toxic - Britney Spears
I'm Gonna Crawl - Led Zepplin (except for the intro)
Porcelain - Moby
Y'all Wanna A Single - Korn
"i like dancing to mairlyn manson songs the best"
Possum Kingdom - The Toadies
Engel - Rammstein
Stripped - Rammstein
Fire - Ohio Players (this suggestion gets a hearty "Hell Yeah" from me!)
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
Emotions in Motion - Billy Squier
Dr Feelgood - Motley Crue
Slow Ride - Foghat
The Battle of Evermore - Led Zeppelin
Britney Spears - Breathe On Me
Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode
Come Together - Aerosmith (cover)
Darling Nikki - Prince
Lap Dance - Nerd

I've stripped out most of the commentary (no pun intended), which alone is worth a quick read. We've heard from guys and ladies, both spectators and dancers, and this is nice mix of music, suitable for all occasions. Assuming of course, that having a pole dancing lovely as the entertainment is suitable for the occasion. As far as I'm concerned, they always are.

So I'll ask again, what music have you seen that really worked? What music would you like to see used?

Even better, script a five song "set" and post it in the comments.

Posted by: Ted at 12:19 PM | category: Square Pegs
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1 Hmmm. Might be nice to see some gal bring the Beach Boys' Surf's Up to life.

Yes. That would be nice!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at February 24, 2005 01:14 AM (CmmFP)

2 I cannot believe any stripper song list would not include Joe Cocker's "you can leave your hat on".

Posted by: hrod at February 25, 2005 09:53 AM (UDsyU)

3 Good choice hrod!

Posted by: Ted at February 25, 2005 10:31 AM (blNMI)

4 I have many self-made (self-help?) CDs that I like to call the "F-me" series -- f-me now, hard, slow, etc.

But I can talk stripper music, having been in quite a number of titty bars (girls appreciate hot girls too!). To this day, when I hear the following songs on the radio, I am transported back to Club Edison in Pittsburgh:

1. Cinnamon Girl -- Type O Negative
2. Alive -- Godsmack
3. From Your Mouth -- God Lives Underwater
4. Control -- Puddle of Mudd
5. Sex Type Thing -- Stone Temple Pilots

Damn. I need to go change my undies.

Posted by: dawn at February 25, 2005 08:21 PM (Dh1V0)

5 I agree with hrod. I can't believe anyone could listen to You Can Leave Your Hat On and not want to take their clothes off!

Posted by: Shawn Lea at February 25, 2005 11:08 PM (NsDTX)

6 And now a list from someone who was in the business
Here were the ones that worked best for me:
Cherry Pie- Warrant
Addicted to Love- Robert Palmer (good for pole work)
Born to Raise Hell- Motorhead
Are You Ready For the Sex Girls- Gleaming Spires
and of course
You Can Leave Your Hat On- Tom Jones

Posted by: LeeAnn at February 26, 2005 07:55 PM (vqSdN)

7 Start with tradition
David Rose - The Stripper

TonLoc - Wild Thing
Aerosmith - Sweet Emotion
Kiss - Take it off

And to finish it off with style
Alannah Myles - Black Velvet

Posted by: WV at June 22, 2005 12:45 AM (eyw/W)

8 Cherry Pie-warrant
Pour some sugar on me- def leppard
Breathe on me- Britney Spears
Smack my bitch up- prodigy
NAsty girl- nitty
Avenue d - do I look like a slut

I have an auditon for a club in about 5 days now these are my favorites so far i prolli will dance to pour some sugar on me. I love the 80's rock thing!

Posted by: pynkslip05 at June 26, 2005 09:22 PM (pO1tP)

9 From a girl these songs make me feel like dancing sexy;

Cherry Pie - Warrant
Milkshake - Kelis
Breathe On Me - Britney Spears
Stronger - Britney Spears
I Wanna Be Bad - Willa Ford
Ashlee Simpson - LaLa
Closer - NIN (agreed)
Ruberneckin' - Elvis the Paul Oakenfold remix

There's so many more but those are my favorites I guess. Thanks for the list, though. Some of these were duggested already anyways, though.

Posted by: Meg at June 27, 2005 12:11 PM (cOZap)

10 Oh and I forgot "Sexual" by Amber and "Behind Every Good Woman" by Tracy Bonham

Posted by: Meg at June 27, 2005 12:26 PM (cOZap)

11 I can't believe no one has even mentioned ZZ Top. Sure they're old farts now, but this whole scene was their image as a band. "La Grange" is probably their best stripper song.

Posted by: GT at September 13, 2005 11:14 PM (AjcNH)

12 Great. After I've already posted I see ZZ Top at the beginning of the thread...I'm an idiot

Posted by: GT at September 13, 2005 11:17 PM (AjcNH)

13 This one wasn't mentioned but deserves to be: For me this song is best for a hot lap dance. "She Rides" - Danzig

Posted by: lali at October 31, 2005 11:29 AM (M7kiy)

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How's that phrase go? What happens in ... stays in....

(in the extended entry - safe for work) more...

Posted by: Ted at 04:26 AM | category: Square Pegs
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If you've ever watched the Hercules movies on late night television, then you're familiar with Steve Reeves. It's obvious from his on-screen physique that he was a bodybuilder, but his pre-Hollywood career was phenominally successful and in fact he had to slim down and lose muscle mass to broaden his appeal to movie audiences.

Born in Montana in 1925, Reeves was strikingly handsome, personally charismatic and also blessed with the ability to quickly attain the bodybuilder's physique. To this day, his symmetry and overall looks are legendary.

Reeves began bodybuilding at 15 years of age and was always the first to admit he had a good foundation and was an "easy gainer". Within a couple of years, he was training under professional supervision in California and winning local competitions.

In 1944 he was drafted into the Army and he served for 19 months in the Asian theater, seeing action in the Philippines and being part of the initial U.S. occupation forces in Japan. During this time, he used improvised weight equipment and did rope climbing and calestetics when circumstances prevented regular workouts.

"I don't think there is one chance in 50 trillion that the particular mix of hereditary genes that formed the product we see in Steve Reeves will ever occur in combination again." -- Russ Warner, Muscle Magazine photographer

A little more than a year after his discharge from the military (and resumption of serious training), Reeves won the 1947 Mr. America contest. He was 21 years old. He went on to be a force in the bodybuilding world for several years, winning both the Mr. World and Mr. Universe titles.

And then Hollywood came calling.

At first, he was only used as impressive looking walk-on scenery in films and on television (he played a detective in Ed Wood's Jail Bait), and it wasn't until he was invited to Italy in 1959 to star as Hercules that his on-screen popularity soared. He went on to make a series of sequels and similar movies of the genre. In fact, he became so popular (quite possibly the first "action" star), that he was reportedly offered the role of James Bond in Dr. No and as the Man With No Name in A Fistful Of Dollars.

After injuring his shoulder in a chariot accident (he did his own stunts), Reeves was unable to continue serious training. He retired and bought a horse ranch. He remained a vocal critic of the use of steroids in bodybuilding, feeling that they went against the health benefits and inherent physical challenges of the sport.

The movie Gladiator was sometimes called the first "Steve Reeves type" movie to be done in decades. Some thought that Reeves should have been at least given a cameo in the film as a tribute to his groundbreaking efforts.

In May of 2000, Steve Reeves passed away on the same day that the movie Gladiator premiered. He was 74 years old, and had been diagnosed with lymphoma just six weeks previously.

Rocket Jones bondage moment Trivia: In the book Lash! The Hundred Greatest Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies, ranking 7th is Reeves' flogging in Duel of the Titans and ranking 24th is his flogging in White Warrior.

White Warrior is available in the dollar bin at WalMart. It's not great, but it's not bad, and it's got Steve Reeves in it.

Posted by: Ted at 06:19 PM | category: Cult Flicks
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Foggy Mountain Breakdown by Earl Scruggs (and friends), from the self-titled album.

Toe tapping perfection.

Posted by: Ted at 06:09 AM | category: Square Pegs
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