I was standing in the Species front office futzing around with an electrical connector from the video studio next door and trying hard not to accept the fact that I can no longer see things up close. I know... I know... I need to wear glasses.

Dave walked in the door at the far end of the office. As he came up to me he realized my plight and made some crack about how far away I have to hold something in order to see it.  For some reason, my advancing age and the foibles that come along with it - such as blindness - are a constant source of amusement for the Whack Pack.  Dave shot me that 4 x6 grin of a car salesman and he said, "you need glasses."

Free weights aren't the only thing that's hardcore....

The reality TV show called "Jersey Shore" chronicles the lives of a stereotypical group of Italian-Americans.  While attention to such heritage is usually paid on the Discovery Channel and Nat-Geo with programming related to great inventors, scientist, artists, explorers and even the Mafia, MTV decided to chronicle the "Guido" Italian-American culture commonly found  along  the south shoreline of New Jersey.

In this subculture, the guys are known as guidos and the girls are referred to as guidettes. Additionally, there is a particular version of guidette known as the "guidette monster".  Big hair, big boobs, big butt, gum chewing sassy little thing that can always be found in the DJ booth at Surf Club.

Steve Weinberger just called to tell me there's an update to the IFBB Pro Card allotments at this year's Optimum Nutrition NPC Team Universe Bodybuilding, Figure and Bikini Championships and Met-RX National Fitness Championships.  This year's event will be held on September 18-19, 2009 at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, in the best damn city in the world (NYC).

Welcome to the first in a series where we take a closer look at steroids and peptides via an exclusive series of interviews with one of the head scientists at a major production laboratory.

First in line is Human Growth Hormone.....

So, first of all, why is Growth Hormone such an attractive drug to bodybuilders?

I know I bitched a lot about the heat and humidity and the mosquitoes.  Yes, the conditions could have a been a bit more comfortable, but I have to say that the landscape was about as beautiful as it gets.  I couldn't imagine a more serene a and picturesque place.  During the dry season, the falls are but a ribbon that flows rather uneventfully.  This time of year it was a thundering monstrosity. By the time the water hit the deck 2,700 feet below, it had crashed and bashed against the rock face enough to turn most of it to mist, which would blow sometimes for miles downwind.   Below the main falls, the water that hadn't been atomized into mist flowed over several smaller falls, and sometimes into a small lagoon.