Diana the Valkyrie's Newsletter - July 2000
A hard man is good to beat
Flaming June. What that means, if you go outside and show some skin, you could wind up with cloudburn. Actually, it got quite warm for a few days in June.
Also, Jemima's eggs all hatched (see the Back Page).
I removed a whole bunch of galleries. This is because I'm aiming to reduce the number of pictures whose source I'm not certain of. Almost all the stuff I removed was a few years old.
Galleries added this month.
Alpesco's stories about Brionn have their own Bookshelf now.
And I've started the Ninth bookshelf of miscellaneous stories. If you're an author, and you've done a bunch of stories that are in the miscellaneous bookshelves, then please get in touch, maybe you should have your own bookshelf.
Stories added this month.
Movies added this month.
At the start of June, there was a power outage at the Washington site where Vanessa (NewsThumbs) is. The outage was four hours, so the batteries to keep things going weren't enough. Not a major problem, but it took a few hours to pick up the pieces. Since then, Vanessa has been hiccuping occasionally, and I've been having to baby her along. This shows up as intermittent inability to access some newsgroups, and (while I do a full reboot) no access to newsthumbs for around an hour.
I was planning to upgrade Joan with Anita. Joan is working fine, and doesn't really need upgrading, so I changed my mind, and now I'm planning to ask Anita to do Vanessa's workload. If that is successful, then Vanessa can be phased out, and used as a backup to Anita.
Mary (poor old Mary, the news server before Vanessa) doesn't stay alive for long enough even to be usable as a backup now. Mary is going to be retired. But I learned a lot about running a large news server while Mary was active. With Vanessa, I learned stuff about how to make several computers work toogether in a team.
The underlying problem, is that as far as I can see, you can't buy a reliable computer.
4.8 million pictures!
To be precise, it's 
If the figure above isn't 4.8 million, that's because that's the latest figure, the 4.8 million was when I wrote the newsletter.
We've also got Elena Sieple's first posing and flexing video, with some armwrestling at the end. This lovely girl; sexy, feminine and with muscles bigger than a man, you've got to see her to believe. Go find her in the Diana the Valkyrie Video shop, in the Shopping Mall.
There's also Elena's second video "Elena in the gym". And, see tough-girl Tracy Hoffman, talking about her life, and in action.
And Angel Riptide's video is available now.
Also, I've added several of the high-quality Utopia Entertainment mixed wrestling videos, there's a Gallery of them, and you can visit the shop.
Why is the internet so slow? As you've probably already guessed, the answer isn't simp[le.
First of all, is it slow? Yes, I think so. When I go to a page, I want it to come up immediately. Half a second is a long wait, an entire second is barely acceptable. Five seconds - no thanks. But it doesn't run at that speed, and you might have wondered why?
Let's start off by looking at your end. You have (probably) a modem, attached to (probably) a telephone line. That line was designed to carry voice, and no more. With much research and development, modems have been concocted that will carry maybe 40 kbps (that's 40 kilobits per second, which is 5 kilobytes per second) down that line. But so many web sites are full of graphics, and until the graphics have all loaded, you can't really view the page. If each graphic is 20 kb (four seconds) you can see where the time goes. That's why most of my pages are text, with only a few graphics for decoration. Also, you might have noticed that my graphics load *after* the text. That's because I design pages so that your browser knows how much space to leave on the page for the things it hasn't loaded yet. If you don't do that, then the browser can't show anything until everything has arrived.
There are a couple of things you can do to help here. If you're using a 28.8 or 33.6 modem, you could trade up to a 56k modem, which works at about 40 or 44 (not usually 56, it's called Marketing). Or you might look into ISDN (especially in Europe) which will give you 64kbps or 128kbps if you combine the two lines that ISDN gives you.
A good alternative is cable or ADSL. If either of these are available in your area, you should seriously consider getting hooked up. With these, you're looking at 256kbps or better.
Another problem I see a lot, is slow servers. This mostly happens with the free servers. Speed would cost them money, and since customers are getting the web space for free, they can't really complain. Here, the only answer is for the site web-weaver to find a faster server. The problem isn't the speed of the computer, it's the fact that there's too many people sharing the bandwidth, and it's just like a traffic jam; everyone gets slowed down.
Sometimes, I see a site being slowed down by a single banner, or hit counter, or something like that. I think that's a pity, because it's sad that the page is slowed down so much by one element. If you make web pages, you might check for this on yours.
Occasionally, the problem might be with your ISP. I think there's a bit of a problem in Australia right now; maybe the internet connection across the Pacific isn't big enough. But it means that for the moment, I'm seeing some Australians being slowed down a bit. If the problem is with your ISP, then the answer might be to get another ISP. This, of course, means that ISPs will rarely admit that the problem is with them. But you can use Traceroute to nail down exactly where the bottleneck is. I've got an explanation of that.
We currently have six running; Nicole Bass, Andrulla Blanchette, Sheila Burgess, Christine Envall, Sarah Dunlap and Marilyn Perret. Nicole and Seila have said that they'll be at the Femsport Valkyarie Festival on October 1st.
Among the World's Strongest and Most Muscular Women
By Wessex Man
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, July 1st - Jill Mills, aged 28, has yet to become an international celebrity but this buoyant, good natured athlete is emerging as one of the most powerful and elegant weightlifters in the United States and the wider world.
It's enough to mention that her squat-bench-deadlift total at a single Meet has reached 1340 lbs. These lifts were powered by a physique weighing around 173 lbs, height 5' 4" and extraordinary muscular definition. Her chest expands to 48", calves 18 " and biceps 17". Jill's presence dazzles with a huge smile. She's very much a woman.
This Texas strength champion would be a sensational bodybuilder but her heart is much more into powerlifting, as our interview explains. She came to San Antonio after earlier life in Indiana and Georgia and lives with her husband Milo and a seven year old daughter.
WHY JILL PREFERS POWERLIFTING
It was Milo, also a weight lifter, who revealed to her the raw excitement of powerlifting meets in contrast to the very different atmosphere in bodybuilding lineups.
Jill: "I did a few (bodybuilding) shows between '93 and '95 before I became totally disgusted with the judges and let Milo talk me into trying a PL meet with him....I did my first PL meet after only about six months of powerlifting style training..."
"When I was competing in bodybuilding I didn't even know what powerlifting was. I lived in Georgia at the time and all I knew were bodybuilders. It was all about eating and cardio and only about 20% of actual working out.
"I always loved the feeling of lifting heavy weight and was much more driven by that than to get shredded.....I discovered immediately how much more personally rewarding it was to do that type of contest. Also I love the atmosphere of a PL versus and BB show".
She says bodybuilding contests are "generally a bunch of narcissists walking around done up like they are on stage and looking down their noses at everyone else." Just now, actually, Jill is taking a break from powerlifting to pursue other interests such as grappling and getting her stamina back.
JILL FIRST NOTICES MUSCLE AS A YOUNG STUDENT
I asked Jill about her early athletic career. I also discovered her first impressions of female muscular definition.
Jill: "I grew up playing soccer on a boys team. At the time soccer wasn't big enough to have a girls team in my town. I ran track also. My Dad started me weight training when I was in 6th grade.
"I never went through a period when I thought muscle was gross like a lot of women do. I can remember the first time I saw a woman with muscle. I was mesmerized and thought it was the most fantastic and beautiful thing I'd ever seen....like watching a thoroughbred racehorse move."
Jill joined the U.S. Army at 17 when she was already becoming conspicuously strong and muscular. "....I always tried to set the standard for my Company and always did more than what was even considered the 'max'.
"I started to get negative reaction when I got up to a massive 'chuckle' 145 lbs. People immediately started assuming I was on steroids just because I put on muscle so fast and ANY muscle on women to them meant a woman was taking something."
JILL'S BODYWEIGHT STABILIZES AT 178 LBS
She was aiming to bulk up to 200 lbs when I discussed the matter with her in 1999, but it seems that nature has taken control.
Jill: "My body has found a weight it is happiest at. I'm stuck at 178. I can run, diet, whatever and my bodyweight stays here. I'm dieting right now and doing more cardio and feeling much healthier and cleaner than I have in years. My strength is still good too.
"I just try to stay lean enough to see some abs and veins and that is good enough.....don't need to be ripped."
NO-ONE FORGETS HER MUSCULAR PROFILE
We discussed how ordinary people reacted to her physique in public places such as beaches, supermarkets and crowded streets.
Jill: "People rarely forget me. I can go out to a club and have people that saw me out somewhere a year ago approach me and tell me exactly where I was and what I was wearing when they saw me.
"People that like the way I look compliment me and those that don't just wait until I walk by and give me an ugly look. I just chalk it up to ignorance. It's something a lot of people have never been exposed to and don't understand."
ARE MORE WOMEN TAKING UP SERIOUS WEIGHT TRAINING ?
I asked if more women are being drawn into serious weight training, perhaps by Internet publicity ? Or is this a myth promoted by bodybuilding magazines ?
Jill: "I think women like Chyna on WWF have been great ambassadors for female bodybuilding. People that would otherwise never be exposed to a muscular woman are now having it delivered to their homes.
"More magazines and yes, Internet too. But we still have a LONG WAY TO GO !! This new bs where they are trying to make bb into another type of fitness contest is crappe. Judging hair, makeup and facial beauty is a mockery....".
JILL SUGGESTS WHY BOLD FEMALE MUSCULARITY IS SO NEW
Finally we looked at the origins of the ultra-muscular female and discussed why this expression of human of achievement has only emerged so recently in history. The first flexed biceps images appeared in photos of circus and fair ground strong women in the later 19th century. Fleeting impressions from the long past -- Cretan female athletes, Michelangelo fresco fantasies -- never suggested bodybuilding or powerlifting cults.
Jill: "It's because this world is dominated by old world beliefs of male and female roles....A man is supposed to be strong, the provider and protector, and the woman is supposed to be frail and helpless and subservient.
"Women are just now proving that it doesn't have to be that way and that we can be a lot more than just moms and housekeepers." And this point of view is catching on more widely across the world, she believes.
The big news here, is we're organising a party! This is a combined Femsport/DtV effort, with Tre doing the actual organising (thanks, Tre). It's called the Femsport Valkyrie Festival. October 1st, Holiday Inn, College Park, MD from 12 noon till 5pm, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if folks then get together after that for a meal, and then maybe a drink or two, and, well, who knows...
Admission $20, $10 for students. Call 240-350-8146 for more info. Here's the poster
The idea is to have a get-together, and at the same time a women's strength contest, so there will be some flexing and posing and strength-related competition. Check out BA's Events message board for more information (and you can also say what sort of things you'd like to see at the Festival).
Sheila Burgess will be there (as one of the judges of the competition).
Member | Posts |
| jabb6328 | 5159 |
| gaily304 | 4909 |
| rdhdpwr150 | 4765 |
| tre1313 | 4531 |
| 000wlt | 3378 |
| Diana the Valkyrie | 3080 |
| franz5334 | 2709 |
| stone001 | 2519 |
| k1a2t3 | 2488 |
| boomer444 | 2335 |
| pem777 | 2113 |
| mit19237 | 2070 |
| tex666 | 1929 |
| Blast222 | 1922 |
| TomNine | 1863 |
| hiram2000 | 1581 |
| stu666 | 1555 |
| mookster | 1496 |
| Grog | 1495 |
| gold0951 | 1233 |
Nearly a triple dead heat between Jabber, Gaily and Julia, but the eponymous Jabber wins by a short head. Tre's a bit behind those three, but still with a high chat-count.
Welcome to Crystal's Exotic Esoterica board; Crystal is ont of the mainstays of the Chatroom. Unfortunately, shortly after she persuaded me to set it up, she vanished, and hasn't been heard from since. Hopefully, this is just a temporary computer problem or something like that.
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| The chess board has fallen into fifth place now, Patrick is the only person posting there. And Scooby's board has regained his rightful position in first place! | Patrick, the only poster on the Chess Board, has now reached the letter S in working his way through the dictionary. Jabber, however, takes a well deserved second place, with a variety of more interesting postings. The low numbers are caused by the Grinch eating the file at some point. |
A recap on the duck situation - half way through May, she made her nest about a yard from where I live, and proceeded to lay no fewer than ten eggs in it. It was very well camouflaged, plus no sane fox would go so near to human habitation. I called her Jemima, after Puddleduck, and she got a bread sponsorship, because when you have to sit on ten eggs most of the day, it's tough to forage for food. MizL, our resident duck expert, warned me that they might not all hatch, but I was confident that Jemima was a pretty bright duck.
Jemima carried on sitting until June 19th, helped by the bread sponsorship. Then, on a sunny summer morning, she led her ten ducklings to the pond, and they were introduced to water, which they took to, well, like a duck takes to water. She sailed around proudly and majestically like a battleship attended by rowing boats. Duckuplets, Heck called them. I call them duck01, duck02 ... duck10.
And then, the next day - nothing! Jemima's scarpered. Departed. Ducked out. She stayed just one day, and then waddled off, followed by the fleet of ducklings. Fortunately, while she was around, I took some video, which I've put up on the web site.
You'll need RealVideo on your browser (WebTVer's can't see these).
I checked the site statistics. that Sandra counts up each night.
At the end of June 2000, there were about 263,000 pictures (13 gigabytes), 21.3 gigabytes of video, 3900 text files (mostly stories) and a total of about 35 gigabytes.
On Vanessa, the new Newsthumbs server, there's the NewsThumbs, which is another 4.8 million pictures in 336 gigabytes and 6.3 million text files, a total of 352 gigabytes. Yowser! And Vanessa isn't even half filled yet!
