Off His Chest

Jake's newest look for Prince of Persia is not without discussion and debate, pro and can. But is it all that new? Looks a little similar to his Jarhead look. What is more interesting is to see how many thought this happen overnight. Some say he pumped up just now, some claim it came from the juice. It does seem that he can thin down and bulk up for roles more now than before ransforming from his thinned down look of Zodiac to a little more mature physique and from Rendition to now . Look back a couple of summers ago he was looking just as broad, just not as toned as now.

One thing, it does looks like Jake was pulling some creative camouflaging during the Nailed shoot. His bigger dress shirts and slightly ill tailored suits did make him look like the congressman, the extra few pound rounding out his face, also hid what was going on underneath. Did you notice that despite heat there where a lots of long sleeves to cover up off set too? Might have though it was because of the sun, but now we know it was not to show off the work in progress. But white tee's don't lie, and during Nailed you could start to see that he was working on. The muscle was there he just step it up into high gear dropping more than a few lbs, and really toning up.

Some like it, other don't. It may stay it may go. An actor has to be versatile and adapt to each an every role. When stories about Jake playing Joe Namath first came out last fall, most could not picture him in the role of a pro football quarterback. That was the biggest arguments in the sports side of things. What about now? You think he could hold his on in training camp and not get flattened, does he have the build now to play Namath?

Well one thing we do know he has the legs to pull off Namath's famous pantyhose ad now don't we? ; )



OMG Olympic Moment
Handball

The first played towards the end of the 19th century in Denmark, Germany and Sweden. Recognition of field handball based on the games of "Raffball" (snatch ball) and "Königsbergerball" (Konradhe modern game of handball was Koch, 1846-1911) occurred at the turn of the century. G. Wallström introduced Sweden to the sport of "handball" in 1910.

After the men's game debuted on turf football fields at the 1936 Games in Berlin, the European-based sport next appeared in its present indoor form in 1972 at Munich. A women's division opened in 1976 and it has become one of the most highly attended Olympic sports.

OMG's Take .

Tweedy Bird

Insomnia, X files message boards and a lot of Diet Coke lead to some interesting snippets that may tell more about Fencewalker.

Chatter began about about Fencewalker, pretty much then referred to as Chris Carter's secret project, the beginning of May, six weeks before the Hollywood Reporter mention. Debate was that it was for extras for the second X-Files film's DVD or that they were already filming the 3rd X-files film. A lot of that was prompted because rapper Xzibit is the newest X-files. But it was Xzibit himself that confirmed that the was filming Fencewalker in an interview in May. From the way X refers to it look like Fencewalker is a separate movie and later this was confirmed by the Reporter.

It does look like a semi ? autobiographical movie for Carter but no one is sure how much or how little it is. In fact not many people know what its about all. But it does look like another retro run for Austin, another late 70's - early 80's.

It has been discovered that Carter and Ten Thirteen Productions did in fact register the domain fencewalkernovie.com.

The boards said filming start the beginning of May and wrapped end of July beginning of August. A lighting crew member from the project had dates on his myspace confirmed that time line.

Now about Austin. Still not sure how he plays into this story line but a couple of thoughts. And maybe a little about why he caught Chris Carter eye. Surfing has been a part of Chris Carter's life more in his past than in the present, including a stint as a writer for a surfing magazine, but he still surfs some. Somehow you can see Chris Carter watching John from Cincinnati can't you? And actually understanding it.

Could Austin play a surfer in Carter's past ? Or there's this, could this be Tweedy's (Austin) place?


As with any Chris Carter project guess it's just a "have to wait and find out", isn't it?

OMG Olympic Moment
Fencing

Take the romantic, swashbuckling epics of Errol Flynn, add some rules, protective clothing and an electronic scoring system, and you have fencing at the Olympic Games. Two rivals stand opposite each other and feint, lunge, parry and riposte until one scores the required number of hits to win.

Evolved from the ancient form of combat, fencing is one of only four sports that has been featured at every modern Olympic Games. It was the first to include recognised professionals in a medals competition after modern Olympic Games founder Pierre de Coubertin arranged special events for professional fencing "masters" in the original 1896 and 1900 competitions.

The clothing has become so protective, though, that officials modified masks a few years ago to return a "human face" to the event. Fine, but for intense reality, the 1924 team foil competition still wins: After the Olympic Games, an Italian and a Hungarian settled a scoring controversy with a real duel.

OMG's Take. Jake should be a pro with the Saber after his summer of PoP. Wonder if he's passing on along some tips to Austin?

Secret Agent Men

Alright you two you need new identities.

Here. You are now Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole, got that?

Yes Double Q!

You two will fight crime and evil enemy agents, paparazzi and the rest of Hollywood using your cunning and all of your nifty spy gadgets, including a machine gun cane, a collection of guns kept inside Secret's coat, and a variety of devices concealed in your hat SS. Don't take the hat off too much SS, or you identity will be revealed by your distinctive ears.

Yes Double Q.

Morocco Mole keep your glasses on, keep those well know eyes covered or you identity will be blown.


Yes Double Q

Your objective is to battle your recurring arch-enemy, Yellow Pinkie but don't forget about that master criminal Hy-Spy, look out for his hookah a sure sign Hy-Spy is near.

Look Secret the hideaway off the coast, no one will find us there.

You're right Morocco. We need to time put our heads together and figure out a plan.

Double Q?

Yes.

My hat is kind of small.

Sorry MM those are standard size your head must run large.

Double Q are sure this will work? I mean SS and MM, aren't kind of like GG and TT? And this purple hat with my yellowish fur does that seem a little Awful Truth to you?

I don't see a problem with it. Are you saying I'm not Double Q?

Well.... now that you mention it you seem more TC to me.

Top Cat, Secret?

Ahem, we'll just go with that.


And if I press this button Secret what happens then?



OMG Olympic Moment Twofer Tuesday

Weightlifting

An ancient sport as old as mankind, embodying the most direct manifestation of human strength, weightlifting has not only flourished, but also developed into a modern sporting discipline for the 21st century. The apparent simplicity of lifting the barbell from the ground and over the head in one or two movements is deceiving. Weightlifting requires a combination of power, speed, technique, concentration and timing. Super heavyweight lifters normally claim the title of World’s Strongest Man or Woman. However, kilo per kilo, the lightest weightlifter is often the strongest. Men’s weightlifting was on the programme of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. Women participated for the first time at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000.

OMG's Olympic Take. From the looks of it, it looks like Jake has done some serious weightlifting in the few months to pump up the volume for Dastan. Anyone knows that you can weight lift alone, you always need a good spotter. ; )

Wrestling

If the Olympic Games are a history of mankind, wrestling is the prologue. When the ancient Games of the Olympiad were born, wrestling already was an ancient game. Widely recognised as the world's oldest competitive sport, wrestling appeared in a series of Egyptian wall paintings as many as 5000 years ago. When the Games began in 776 BC, more than two millenniums later, it included wrestling, and, in the years that followed, wrestling featured as the main event.

The sport would return in a similar role when the Olympic Games returned after a 1500-year absence in 1896. Organisers, seeking direct links to ancient times, found a natural in the sport that had enjoyed popularity across much of the ancient world, from Greece, Assyria and Babylon to India, China and Japan. They resurrected Greco-Roman wrestling, a style they believed to be an exact carryover from the Greek and Roman wrestlers of old.

In Greco-Roman wrestling, the wrestlers used only their arms and upper bodies to attack. They could hold only those same parts of their opponents. It worked nicely from a historical perspective, but another breezier style was sweeping across Great Britain and the United States by then. Known as "catch as catch can", it had become standard fare - and popular professional entertainment - at fairs and festivals in both countries.

In 1904, the Olympic Games added the second wrestling event and called it "freestyle". Now, wrestlers could use their legs for pushing, lifting and tripping, and they could hold opponents above or below the waist.

OMG's take. Leaving that all up to guys, leaving it all up to you. ; )

More PoP to Ponder

Is this the real Prince Dastan? Actually is it the first Prince. No this is not like the Russian history story of the False Dimitri and the Czars of Russian. This is world of games vs. movies. Yuri Lowenthal is the man most have heard in their games, and his biggest role was the Prince of Persia Sands of Time. He was not cast in the voice in the sequel Warrior Within but from fans was brought back as the Prince in the third game Warrior Within.

Now Jake is cast as the Prince for the movie but Yuri would like to be a part of something he voiced. For many he is the prince. Gamers are asking for help. "What you do not know is that Yuri has been trying to get a small role, or even a cameo in the film, but has had no luck as of yet. It may be too late to help, but that doesn't mean we (the gaming community) shouldn't at least try. I am asking that you post on forums, send a letter (or email) to the studio, or sign the petition that I started. Anything is better than nothing and this man deserves all the support in the world."
Check out more about this and the petition in the gamers community here.

Is there room for two princes in this picture?

And not to stop the PoPing today. Here is an interview with director Mike Newell about his vision of PoP. An adventure romance. Michael Bay was previously attached to PoP and would have made a very different movie. But you really can't explode a lot in 6th century Persia. But with Newell you can see the direction Bruckhemier was heading. Big adventure for the gamers, men, and kids, but a romantic storyline for women. Newell has done some great love stories as it were, and has handled big productions as well. You can see shades of Lawrence of Arabia, not trying to match the classic but the influences of it woven into the adventure. Everyone says this is going to be big, and from the sounds it is coming with the bigger expectations.




Seems like Jake has swept many of his fans off their feet in the past. Can he do it again as the dashing and daring prince?

Standing Up Standing Out

The worlds eyes are turned to Beijing looking toward the athletes and their achievements, but maybe the need is to look at the people who live there. There are only a handful of athletes from more open countries who are out at these Olympic games versus a larger LGTB community that is existing under Chinese rule.

Today's Out Spotlight focuses on the LGTB community in China. Despite being counter to the conformity that Chinese government demands of their citizens, these individuals are living their lives and building a LGTB community to support each other.

Common Language is a magazine written, published and distributed through their postal system when gay literature and movies are banned by their government. They have a camp each summer a gathering to come together, to be better activists. Who realized that there would be LGBT library and a LGBT center in a nation that to outsiders seems intolerant to homosexuality. It shows that there are people who are standing up to their government, and living the lives they want to have.

So today's spotlight is about those people, taking risks and living their lives.

OMG Olympic Moment
Swimming

"My will to live completely overcame my desire to win."

That was the reaction of 19-year-old Hungarian Alfred Hajos after he won the 1200 metres freestyle at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. He won by being the first swimmer to reach shore after a boat had left everyone in the icy waters of the Mediterranean.

Olympic swimming has come a long way, to temperature-controlled 50-metre pools, wave-killing gutters, lane markers designed to reduce turbulence, and status as one of the Games' glamour events. It is far removed from those early days.

There were the venues, from the Bay of Zea in 1896, to Paris's River Seine in 1900, to a 100-metre pool constructed inside the athletics track in 1908. Then there were the events, from a 100-metre race for Greek sailors in 1896, to underwater and obstacle races in 1900, to a "plunge for distance" in 1908. That event involved a standing dive, with contestants then remaining motionless for 60 seconds, or until their heads broke the surface - whichever came first.

Of course today the world is celebrating the incredible athletic accomplishment of Michael Phelps who won 8 gold medals in a single Olympics, breaking the 36 year achievement of 7 golds by swimmer Mark Spitz in the 1972 Munich games.

Congratulations Michael!

OMG's Olympic take. Austin seems to have been born in the water, mentioning in interviews that he was on waterskis before he could walk, and in the water when a few months old. Seriously someone should just check to see if he has webbed feet. And if they ever do a remake of The Man from Atlantis , casting agents should just look no futher. Now Jake and swimmming? Well that's more to do with the suits than that the water. Before the new high tech racers, swimmers were know for their speedos. And Jake is famously known on a dare to go into a store, strip down put one on and just walk out of the store when he was younger. Yeah someone did have a chat with the mall cops for that one.

Dance this mess around

Sometimes you just need to dance. Stop . Get out there and just put it all behind, forget all everything from the week, the month, the summer, the year. Just dance it out bitch.

And this dance flashback.

From August 2006

Jake in NYC

The actor recently hit New York City hot spot Butter, where he made his way to Jamie-Lynn Sigler's booth, and with a Corona beer in hand, he rocked out to Fergie's "London Bridge." Later, he started dancing with one of the Sopranos star's brunette friends. The two whispered and laughed with each other for the rest of the night and, at one point, she plopped herself on Gyllenhaal's lap. Before leaving with Sigler at around 3 a.m., the pal and Gyllenhaal whipped out their cell phones and started typing numbers. They also exchanged a long hug good-bye.

That didn't end the fun for Gyllenhaal, who danced to Madonna's "Like a Prayer" (even doing a bit where he crossed himself) and did the limbo with a few women. So, how low can he go?

Jake's new skills for PoP ... money's that boy can go low low low. And Austin.....?

OMG Olympic Moment
Gymnastics

A perfect fusion of athletics and aesthetics, gymnas sports of the Olympic Games. Mixing strength and agility tics ranks among the definingwith style and grace, the high-flying acrobats have provided many of the most breathtaking Olympic spectacles of the past quarter-century.

Gymnastics has a long, proud history. The sport can be traced back to ancient Greece, where such skills featured in the ancient Olympic Games. Ancient Rome, Persia, India and China practised similar disciplines, mostly aimed at preparing young men for battle. The word itself derives from the Greek word gymnos, meaning naked - dress requirements for athletes in those days were minimal, to say the least.


OMG's take. Strength Agility Style Grace. Says it all about these two.

Thought it was going to be the naked thing huh.

Overcoming Obstacles

While you're watching the Olympics and cheering on Olympians like Michael Phelps and Phil Dalhausser, you don't know true challenges out of the athletic venues they face. I want to talk to you about a serious challenge many face every single day and are suffering in silence. Long Arms Syndrome. My name is Austin Nichols, and I have Long Arms Syndrome (LAS).

It is a life long condition and there is no cure. Misunderstood by many they don't understand why we shed our shirts so much. But think about if everything you tried on was too short in the arms.

I was a normal kid, my arms might have been a little long but not too bad, but then overnight I grew and found myself with arms that were too long for anything. Self confidence is hard when you are 14 but try it when your arms stick 3 inches longer than your shirt sleeve.

Too short pants get called highwaters, but there is no name for our shame.

So what can you do? Besides a life time in short sleeve shirts?


Rolling the sleeves up

Rolling down French cuffed shirts



Accessories to draw attention away from too short sleeve




Sleeveless tee's








Interesting photo poses








Just trying to look casual on a date







In the end when your wingspan is more than approaching over 80 inches (that's almost 203.2 cm) you just give up and lose the shirt.



Of course special occasions you might be not be able to so have to go with something custom made.



So the next time you slip your arm in your sleeve when you get dressed, stop and take a moment and be thankful you do not suffer like LAS like others do.

Paid for by the Long Arm Syndrome Group.

OMG Olympic Moment
Tennis

When Irishman John Boland traveled to Athens for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, he had no idea he would return home with the gold medal in tennis. But then, he had no idea he would compete either - he went as a spectator.

Times have changed dramatically for Olympic tennis since then. Today's Olympic tennis players include some of the highest-profile athletes in the world. Accustomed to five-star hotels and high-stakes prize money, at the Olympic Games they will bunk in the Olympic Village and compete for nothing but a gold medal.

Tennis was dropped from the Olympic program after 1924 amid turmoil over such issues as where to draw the line between amateurism and professionalism, and it didn't return as a medal sport until 1988. Today, Olympic competition includes men's and women's singles and men's and women's doubles.

OMG's take. How could we ever forget tennis, crisp whites to show of the athleticism of the player, and how sounds of exertion are perfectly acceptable in public.