Substance

Random thoughts and happenings, but of some more substance than what blaxploitation movie I saw lately.

ONE
I spent a little bit of time before and after the Diamond Mines at the coffee shop. In the morning, I only had 20 minutes, just enough to check my email. I bore witness to two ladies and a young man in the midst of a crisis. One of these people was someone I had written about before - a young lady who had a rather loud, obnoxious, and dare I say redneck conversation with the father of her baby. I believe the most memorable quote was (I posted it sometime back, but am too lazy to dig it up now), "Well, you're the one who stuck your d!ck in me and got me pregnant!"

Well, she was back and had two friends with her, one of which was due to get married 5:30 PM yesterday. Turns out her plans were in jeopardy. Well, not really, because as she screamed repeatedly, "This ceremony is taking place regardless!" Turns out the best man is nowhere to be found and they have a strong suspicion that it means he's in jail. They sent a cronie (who seems like one of SUM_YUNG_GAI's disciples) to the city police station to see; he could find no trace. So, the three of them plot the next move which is to send the cronie to the County Sheriff's station next door to the coffee shop. The cronie was excited to see a person carrying three guns past the coffee shop window toward the Sheriff station. The ladies said to him, "Will you just go over there [the station] and see [if the best man is being held at the station]?" To where he replied, "Yeah... I wanna see if that dude wants to sell one of them." as he makes that automatic pistol chamber-loading motion that you see some rappers do nowadays.

So, I leave and return to the coffee shop after work. I was tired and it was the open mike poetry night, which my three new friends attended. The Bride (turns out, she must've pulled off the wedding after all - although her husband seemed conspicuously absent) is apparently a regular reader and read something that someone requested, a piece that contained (big surprise) a long string of "beatmelickmeblankmeblankyblankyblankyme" or some such drivel. The kind you'd expect from a Sylvia Plath wannabe who probably reads and writes at a seventh-grade level.

After the session was done, her party have this conversation where she proceeds, and very loudly, too, to share the details of her life's story, which include in no particular order...

• The fact that her mother is an alcoholic currently married to a drug addict.
  
• Her father is henpecked by his current wife who would not allow him to attend the wedding.
  
• That the bride has spent the last 11 years bouncing back and forth between the two.
  
• That if it could be drunk, smoked, shot, snorted, she's done it.
  
• That some other gentleman other than the groom proposed to her to get in the way of their marriage.
  
• That said bride and groom had only been together about a month at the time of the proposal (although I could've misunderstood - it could've been a month before the wedding day yesterday)
  
• My favorite quote: "I have been off my psych meds for two weeks, and I am not responsible for a God damn thing I do."

Were I a mental health case manager in this town, wanna bet she'd be on my caseload?

TWO
I feel - rather, I have decided - that any bad karma I may have generated with my bad behavior at the Diamond Mines is now offset by the random acts of kindness I did yesterday. Screw you, bad karma.

THREE
I decided that I needed a playlist of chillout music. It's a nice mix of old school jazz, "new school" jazz, smooth jazz, trip hop, unreleased Chicago instrumentals from the 70s and some pop. If the first six tracks don't relax me, there's something wrong...

• Embryonic Journey by Jefferson Airplane
  
• Aire by Chicago about 10 years before You're the Inspiration off an album that you could play right next to any jazz fusion album of the time.
  
• Drophere by dZhan & Kamien
  
• Deep Love (Nitin Sawhney Remix) by Mandalay
  
• Higher Grounds by Ingrid Jensen - I gotta break down and buy some of her albums. If Wynton and his people could revitalize jazz by reviewing mid-1950s/early-1960s jazz, Ingrid and her people are doing the same with the late-60s/early-1970s era.
  
• Pablo & Andrea by Yo La Tengo off of the Kids In The Hall: Brain Candy soundtrack.

Ah, the things I would do if I had the space for an mp3 blog or podcasting...

FOUR
Tomorrow I get to carry out bits of the marriage plan!!

FIVE
After tomorrow night's Fight Club, I may not have kamagong sticks. One of DATU_B's shattered last week. Now, granted, mine are thicker and come from the Old Country. B posted a query on the Eskrima digest and the replies he got were along the same lines as what I found with my own independent online research: Most of the respondents said that kamagong shatters easily outside the Philippines (because of the humidity or lack thereof) and thus they carry them for show or solo training. But, there's a minority out there (not generally from/in the PI) that swear by their kamagongs and claim they've worked for years.

Well, I'm going to find out tomorrow. I've got it all planned out - one stick I'll test against rattan and the other against hardwood. If they're going to shatter, I'd rather they shatter in training than in situations that are, let's say, more serious...

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Can One Pull This Off?

In lieu of attending Fight Club tonight (I'm just too tired tonight), I spent some time going over the Inosanto book while listening to mediocre poetry at the coffee shop. Incidentally, this coffee shop began offering a light roast, and I got to be the second person to sample it. I have to say, I noticed the caffeine difference. But, I digress.

I saw of photograph of a technique that seems a bit dirty (i.e. one that I want to learn and immediately apply), which is a hand check followed by a "defanging-the-snake" type of strike. Instead of posting the photo straight up, I'm just adding a link out of respect for the author. Even though it's well within the Fair Use laws, I fear for my physical safety (not from the author, but anyone who might be offended).

Here's the pic.

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The Bully Pulpit

The truth, it's been said, depends on one's point of view.

From one point of view, I could tell the story of how I was screwed with at the Diamond Mines, and then immediately made it clear to one of the two people involved (the other one left before I had a chance at him), by way of a bruise or two (that he probably won't even feel tomorrow) that I don't tolerate such behavior.

From another point of view, one could say I overreacted to two immature people who were just trying to be a bit funny through physical and psychological posturing - people who, even with my sad martial arts skills, really aren't any match for me whatsoever.

Either way, it seemed to amuse the heck out of the other people at the Diamond Mines. I did tell them, "Man, I think I overreacted. You know, I really shouldn't have done all that." The response I got 100% of the time, "Hey, that's freakin' hilarious!"

So, after all is said and done, I still really have no idea how I feel about the whole situation. Part of me wants to be repulsed. Oddly enough, though, the people who would support that seem outnumbered by the people who want to see blood.

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D's Big Score

Well, I've been feeling better, but E hasn't. She was cooped up in the house for the past two days and decided that she needed out. So instead of going to Fight Club, E picked me up from the coffee shop and we hung out at Wally World, just for the heck of it. She wanted picture frames, but the crap they had there looked rather chinsy (big surprise). And, so I decided to go through the bargain DVD bin, and lo and behold I saw two things that I never thought I'd see available again, and snapped them right up...


Shaft's Big Score.   

Shaft in Africa 

We saw Big Score last night. I swear, the lines in that one are just as good as the original.

Don't talk to black honkeys with big, flat feet.

That damn eye-talian's serious!

Used to be Cowboys and Indians, now it's Us and Them.

Classics. Total classics.

My favorite line from tomorrow's movie:

No ride camel. Ride ass.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

Which member of the JLA are you? Batman Losing his parents to a tragic mugging, Bruce Wayne took a vow to wage a one man war on crime. Using the image of the bat to strike fear into criminals, he dons the guise of the Dark Knight after the sun sets. A genius detective and scientist he is a valuable member to the League even without powers

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

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Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

ONE
SpongeBob gay? Well, duh!

TWO
This is for anyone who actually thinks their martial arts are good enough to challenge mine! Bring it on, b!+ches!

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Circle Is Never Broken

(That's just a line from Cassandra Wilson's vocal version of Wayne Shorter's E.S.P. - nothing at all really to do with the following post.)

I don’t know, these have been a messed-up past few days. I mean, nothing’s gone catastrophically wrong or anything – just full of negative outcomes and general badness. Between life at the Diamond Mines, a “mix-up” regarding a coaches pass for the Fight Club, and the beginnings of an illness, is Mercury in retrograde again?

It's a day off, and I've spent the most of it reading: about Carson, this, and bits from this. Oh, and the Inosanto book, too. I think my eyes are about to go numb, so I think I'm headed home now.

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BMW Post

I realize a coffee shop is a public place, but for Christ's sake, how is that license to allow five-year-olds (wtf are they doing at a coffee shop at quarter to noon, anyway?) to run around the place making noise?

Every couple of days I'm in here, a couple of dads show up and bring their kids. The dads chat while their kids (always within eyesight of them) proceed to climb about the couches, making forts of the cushions, crying, screaming, laughing, and doing all the things kids at a day care would do.

Except that this isn't a f**king day care! I don't blame the kids - what the heck else is there for five-year-olds to do at a coffee shop? I blame the f**king dads. Buy a coffee maker, for God's sake. I don't blame the kids at all, but I hope one of them falls on their heads just so that these ignorant motherf**king dads gets a hard lesson about childcare.

Hey, I'm not anti-parent or anti-child. In fact, it's my Libertarian attitude showing through. Anyone can do anything they want with themselves or their children - so long as it doesn't f*ck with my hussle.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

I felt like such a loser after last week's, I just had to try to cheer myself up somehow.

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Needless to Say...

I certainly did enjoy The House of Flying Daggers! This, despite Ching Siu Tung taking much more than a few pages from Yuen Woo-Ping's playbook. This is just my opinion, but all I could think about while watching Daggers is that this is what Bruce must've had in mind when he envisioned quality movies by Asians that still make good on the bottom line.

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Insecurity

Today's the second day in a string of "two days off from the Diamond Mines." This late in the day, I've managed to accomplish even less than I did yesterday.

When I could've been blogging about how much E and I enjoyed The House of Flying Daggers, I spent an unreasonable amount of time doing web research to support the hypothesis that getting published on McSweeney's is too easy. I've heard some people who read the stuff on their website, especially the lists, say, "Geez, I could write that stuff." Many try. I tried, and first time out, I actually freakin' succeeded! I'll provide the link later (maybe - the piece does come with my last name attached to it).

I didn't want to believe the two pieces of information that would intuit the contrary, namely:

• There are many complaints you can find online, sometimes bitter ones, about being rejected multiple times.
  
• These "sucky writers" who got published "too easily" can say they now share the same forum as Eggers, Chabon, Hornby, Ellison, and King.

If anything, I stand a greater chance of being accused of having been transmogrified into a pseudo-intellectual, po-mo, smug, self-satisfied, hipster pouseur of a hack. But, I'm ok with that.

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Fight Club

It's official - I'm waaay too f**king out of shape. Couldn't even do half of a ten-lap cardio run. Now, I did manage to make it through the TKD-style kicks the club drilled. Man, it's been over a year since the last time I helped anyone with the mechanics of a dwi chuggi.

Probably the most useful drill last night was on using vectoring footwork to maneuver past someone firing jab/cross combos. I threw in some more JKD/bare-knuckle boxing concepts and managed to fire some back. It was pretty awkward at first until I managed to work on pulling STRETCH_ARMSTRONG's guard down and just going for the straight blast right to the chops.

I'll tell you, STRETCH must be going through BJJ material the way I've been going through the Inosanto book. Every session, he's got a brand new pain-inducing lock he wants to try. It's become my job to point out if/how those moves can be countered. I'm no expert, but I figure that it's better that he learns his vulnerabilities from a schmuck rather than from someone who really knows what he's doing.

Speaking of schmucks, BILLY_JACK has returned! There isn't much to report, though. He was pretty toned-down, so I don't even have any of his stupid saying to post. Oh, well, I guess it was only a matter of time, though. He was a bit disappointed upon hearing that weapons weren't going to be a big focus this quarter. Which is ok by me, because last night should be the last night I'll have to pay to get in this quarter, as DATU_B and I should have our Coaches Pass by next Tuesday, depending on whether the Club Sports Office is open for the holiday.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

Say it isn't so. Oh, well, I do these things to reveal the truth about myself, no matter how ugly it might be.

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Productive Day Off

This week, I've had one of those rare occassions of enjoying two consecutive days off. I've spent a lot of that time poring deeply over the Inosanto book, making notes just as I would any other textbook.

I spent an hour reading and re-reading the section on body angling while I had coffee and breakfast at the local "hippie hangout" by my house. I've lived in this town over a year now, and this was the third time I've ever gone there. I like it - it's nice and quiet, and if you sit in the right place, you can almost get the vestiges of someone's wireless internet signal.

Before doing the laundry E and I were way behind on, I stopped at the other "hippie dippy" hangout, a grocery store near the laundromat, to buy E's preferred herbal tea-tree-hugging moisturizer. I shouldn't say that - I, in my metrosexual ways, use it all the time myself, which is why I thought it was fair that I spring for this round.

Laundry took way longer than usual (and E will be the first to tell you that I take my slow-@$$ time, too). Aside from the mounds of stuff we had, I decided I was going to do the whole shebang at once. And, not only that mound, but some other stuff that's been in the trunk of the car since time immemorial and had gotten moldy over the past... must've been two days, because a 5 liter jug of leftover water, also in the car since time immemorial, must have sprung a leak. I sure didn't smell anything a couple of days ago, but there it was. I got to spray it down with Lysol after washing the affected articles three times. The true test will be when E gets home to see whether or not her sensitive nose detects it.

Well, now I'm killing time on the net before Fight Club. I just received a small bit of good news which I won't mention just now, but expect to see it in the next couple of days. I'm rather proud of myself over it...

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Random Filler

Fight Club
Went to Fight Club last night, which started off with an extensive cardio warm-up. Now, I know I said my saving grace thus far was a refusal to keep up with the 20 year-olds, but now I'm wondering whether or not that's what whipped my @$$ into shape relatively quickly this time last year. It sure wasn't the flying spear-knees that we got to do last night, that's for sure. They started BJJ last night, and I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with not hearing the full "Don't be an @$$ and go too hard; don't be a tough guy and not tap" speech. They did give the hygeine speech twice -- too bad BILLY_JACK wasn't there to hear it. Anyway, we did some positioning drills, which was about as well thought out as they were last year. Granted, I'm a no-belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but when/how/why would you ever need to transition between a mount and the north-south -- unless your intentions have nothing at all to do with Jiu-Jitsu?

Metroeroticism
When was the last time I said anything in this area?

I forgot to relate a story from E's and my trip to Columbus which brought us to the Lennox Town Centre at one point. Since it occurred to me that we might end up in such a place, I purposely wore my dad's now-vintage 70's red-orange leather car-jacket. Anyway, I was briskly walking from the B&N to the Target where E was and ended up walking behind a rather flirtatious gay couple. Now, as I walked around them, I heard the ultimate metrosexual compliment... a listful "Oooh, I like his jacket!"

In the Gnus
I would laugh, heartily, if the implications weren't so completely depressing.

U.S. Ends Fruitless Iraq Weapons Hunt

White House Says Iraq Weapons Search Over; Evidence That Bush Used in Argument for War Not Found

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Jan 12, 2005 — The search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has quietly concluded without any evidence of the banned weapons that President Bush cited as justification for going to war, the White House said Wednesday.

More Interesting News
From the Cebuano paper, The Freeman

Tom intervenes, bans controversial arnis duel

by Gabby Malagar
January 12, 2005

Go on with the duel or face arrest.

This was the stern warning by Cebu City Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña to eskrima Grandmaster Ciriaco “Noy Cacoy” Cañete and his challenger Bonifacio “Loloy” Uy not to pursue their eskrima duel because it is “illegal” having no permit issued for that purpose.

Therefore, the highly-anticipated eskrima “Duel of the year” between Noy Cacoy against his former student-turned detractor Bonifacio “Loloy” Uy set yesterday morning at the Cebu City Sports Center did not materialize.

Nevermind that Cacoy is just about old enough to be my great-grandfather. It's just that this duel probably wasn't going to be for points with body armor. Someone was going to end up seriously hurt, crippled, or even killed. Yeah, these things still happen in this day and age -- yesterday, in fact.

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Kick 'Em When They're Up, Kick 'Em When They're Down

Who says you shouldn't kick a man while he's down? Not Bruce... 

I snagged this while I was playing with the university's scanners. Between that and the mp3 player/USB flash drive I bought, the process is a whole lot more smooth. I even scanned all the Tao of JKD pages related to Bruce's Five Ways of Attack -- for my own personal use, so please don't sue me, Bruce Lee ®!

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Impromptu Trip

E and I took an impromptu trip to Columbus yesterday, since I had a rare Sunday off. She got to spend the morning at her old Buddhist center and we got to meet with the head Lama who will marry us. Besides all the other little things, we've now got some more concrete plans, which makes the whole prospect blissfully more real.

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My New Favorite Website

The Traceless Warrior - The thoughts of a teacher of the martial ways. Thank DATU_B for turning me on to this.

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Fight Club 2005

As Dr. Smith from Lost in Space would say, "Oh, the pain... the pain." Sure, I needed E to get me in, but it was worth it. Two hours of cardio/pad work. I have to say that as bad as it hurts now, it didn't hurt like I thought it was going to. Maybe that's because this year, I didn't try to keep up with the 20 year olds like I did this time last year. Oh, and I guess the "Coaches Pass" really is in the mail, so last night should be the last time I pay $7.50 to work out.

Sadly, the Club isn't doing weapons this quarter, opting to switch it up by sticking with muay Thai and doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instead. Guess that means I won't have a chance to "play" with the new kamagongs. Oh well, once I have access to the training space whenever I want, I can at least get used to swinging them around the right angles.

One thing I did last night was something I could kick myself for not having thought of last quarter (actually, two quarters ago), and that was to do all the pad work without my glasses. That way, I hopefully won't feel so disoriented when I spar without them like I did last time. After all, I never used my glasses when I did the BJJ drills, and I had more success sparring that than I ever did kickboxing.

The other thing I did was adopt some JKD tips about foot placement and balance. Also, thanks to DATU_B who I didn't know was going to be there, I had help correcting my rather rusty techniques. The only thing I missed (NOT) were my friends BILLY_JACK and KENPO_BOY. Ok, I did miss BILLY_JACK, but only because I had the kamagongs and was waiting for him to do something stupid like jokingly challenge me to a patayan as he often does.

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2004 in Review

1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?

Get engaged.

2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Some of them, and yes there are some for '05.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No.

5. What countries did you visit?

I wish. I visited the state of Inebriation several times, if that counts.

6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?

A wife, my kung fu black sash, a final, concrete career direction.

7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory?

I forget the exact date, but it was the day my parents and I made up.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not having taken care of it sooner.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I got cold-cocked while cheating on a krav maga-style self-defense drill.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My two Chicago concert DVDs.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

E's - every day, for putting up with me.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Everyone who voted for Dubya.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Coffee, coffee and more coffee.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

The most extensive Filipino Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training I've ever had.

16. What song/album will always remind you of 2004?

Robert Lamm's Subtlety & Passion album, which I've played to death, much to E's consternation.

17. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Saved more money.

18. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Drank coffee.

19. How did you spend Christmas?

With E's mom.

20. Did you fall in love in 2004?

Every day.

21. How many one night stands in this last year?

None. Or several, depending on your point of view.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Joss Whedon's Firefly - I think that should count since I saw it on DVD soon after it was released this year.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate last year?

Nope.

24. What was the best book you read?

Toss-up between Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee, The Metrosexual Guide to Style by Michael Flocker, and Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Jazz trumpet player Ingrid Jensen.

26. What did you want and get?

Engaged, a new laptop, a (cheap) mp3 player, and more (training) weapons.

27. What did you want and not get?

More money.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Hero. Supersize Me was a close second.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Worked, and thirty-I

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

My first degree TKD black belt.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?

Being a freshly out-of-the-closet metrosexual.

32. What kept you sane?

Training.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you like the most?

Julian Marshall from BBC's Newshour

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The election and the fact that Dubya actually got f**king RE-elected.

35. Who did you miss?

The people in my old TKD/kung fu club.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Boomer - my sister's dog.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:

When I fight, I perpetually dodge in and out of range instead of soaking hits. It's great for not being hit, but you don't win battles that way. And, when I do get hit, I get too frustrated with myself and rather than paying attention to the fight at hand, I kick myself because I feel I should've been better than that. That needs to change. Yeah, not too hard to extrapolate that lesson, really.

38. Quote a song/lyric that sums up your year:

It's another toss-up...

Here in this fragmented world, I still believe
In learning how to give love, and how to receive it
And I would not be among those who abuse this privilege
Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge

And I don't mind saying that I still love it all
I wallowed in the springtime
Now I'm welcoming the fall
For every moment of joy
Every hour of fear
For every winding road that brought me here
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving by Don Henley

Yesterday's news is tomorrow's blues
But today I am alive
Today I did much more than survive
I learned to live by the love I give
It's the only thing I'll own
Shadowed valleys that I've known
Helped me build my home

So tell me why
Why should I be afraid? (Why should you be afraid?)
We've seen brighter, we've seen darker days
Tell me why, why should I be afraid
(Why should you be so afraid?)
Sitting here watching,
It's just another parade
Just another parade

Just Another Parade by Cassandra Wilson

Stolen from here.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

Maybe this is why I like leaving the house to go to coffee shops so much...?

You Are a Traveler Soul

You're a thrill seeker who loves to be active and on the move You love to wander: between places, ideas, and people. A good communicator, you're a nonconformist and interested in the world. You are an explorer, a good storyteller, and a true dreamer. Because you're always on the move, you can be a bit fickle. It's difficult for you to make personal commitments. Don't be so quick to ignore emotional issues and problems. You're much more intuitive and psychic than you think. Souls you are most compatible with: Retrospective Soul and Dreaming Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

This is really more like E, though. She's the one who's been Asia more times than me!

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Fun with Scanners

I've now scanned, edited and compiled 19 of my favorite Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu techniques in .pdf format with the intention of putting my "ninja scrolls" on CD-ROM. That way, instead of handing down outdated pieces of crinkling yellow paper to future generations of my progeny, I can hand down an outmoded piece of technology.

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Deep Thought

Something I read from Tao of Jeet Kune Do stayed with me.

Awareness is without choice, without demand, without anxiety; in that state of mind, there is perception. Perception alone will resolve all our problems.

I can only hope.

While E and I were visiting Mamazoo in NY over Christmas, we hung out at a B&N, where I purchased Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living. I know, I know, I bought another mashed-together product from the machine that is now officially "Bruce Lee®." That's right - check out any recent Black Belt Magazine or Inside Kung-Fu if you don't believe me. But, darnit, there's some good stuff in there.

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Personal Convenience Post

Stuff for more footwork drills?

Question for self: Does this mean switching your footwork style when you have a weapon vs. when you're unarmed?

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Yes, Another FMA Epiphany

I was reading the chapter on Triangulations of Footwork and Striking in the Inosanto book, particularly the section on defensive footwork. I need to read it about three more times, but it's helped me get a better sense of the application, especially when supplemented by the clip on dogbrothers.com on footwork.

How can I describe having this 24 year old book? Training with DATU_B (who gave me the book in the first place), the random bits and pieces I've picked up elsewhere, and the other FMA books is sort of like having a very big and comprehensive dictionary. The Filipino Martial Arts is like having my first grammar book!

In any case, I mapped out a little footwork training progression for myself, from simple footwork, including offensive/defensive strikes based on ideal and not-so-ideal stepping positions. I've got to get on the working-out ball, and I really can't put the blame on anyone else but myself. There are a hundred-and-one solo things I could be training, at least 25% of which can be done in my living room.

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FMA Epiphany of the Day

"It has been proven in boxing," [escrima master Ben Largusa] says, "that the hands are faster than the eye. If you shoot six darts at me at once, I can't defend against each one, so I treat them as one dart. If you throw three or four punches at me very fast, I treat them as one punch. They are only one point of your rhythm triangle. Once you understand the theory of the rhythm triangle, you can understand these movements."

from The Filipino Martial Arts by Dan Inosanto

I've spent the past 3 hours digesting this text. Like Tao of Jeet Kune Do, I'll probably be doing this over the course of several months to a year. Some parts are things I know and some are epiphanies that jump out at me. Other parts I read through and just say, "Huh?" I remember the first time I read this book about, oh, three or four years ago. It was a waste of my time then, because I had no comprehension of what it was I held in my hands. It truly is a revolutionary text.

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New Year's Resolution #1

Aside from these two books, I've got one more to pore through...


That's right, b**tches...  

Between these, kamagong sticks, training with DATU_B, and perhaps the ol' Fight Club... oooh, yeah...

I figure I've got about 6 months to cram in all the martial arts training I possibly can. I've got workout partners; now all I need is the motivation. I'm going to at least the first week of Fight Club tomorrow. I'm bringing someone from the Diamond Mine with me, who's been bugging me for weeks to start training again. He wants to learn as much stickwork as possible before embarking on his planned career as a police officer. So, I figure if I can commit to at least that much, it'll get me out of the house to work out. Not to mention everything I still have to learn from DATU_B... although that might not be so urgent of E can talk him and his wife to move out to upstate NY with us.

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The Year in Review

Well, I'll be darned if it hasn't been the best one in awhile - certainly the best in the past 3 or 4. It's been wierd watching the various things that have been stripped from me in life slowly returning, one by one. And, getting even more, to boot.

Lots of stuff planned for '05 -- look for a marriage, a new move, a new career direction, and of course, as much martial arts training as I can cram in between these things.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

Main Type	Overall Self

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

Enneagram Test Results Type 1 Perfectionism |||||| 30% Type 2 Helpfulness |||||||||||||||||||| 82% Type 3 Image Focus |||||||||||||||| 62% Type 4 Hypersensitivity |||||||||||| 46% Type 5 Detachment |||||||||||||||||| 74% Type 6 Anxiety |||||||||||||| 58% Type 7 Adventurousness |||||||||||||| 54% Type 8 Aggressiveness |||||||||||| 46% Type 9 Calmness |||||||||||||||| 66% Your main type is 2 Your variant is self pres

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

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NOOOOO!

'Law & Order' star Jerry Orbach dies

Thursday, December 30, 2004
Tony Brown
Plain Dealer Theater Critic

Try to remember the kind of September when Lennie Briscoe was a romantic fellow. And if you remember, then sorrow. Sorrow, sorrow, sorrow.

Actor Jerry Orbach, a romantic leading man in Broadway musicals for more than two decades before becoming a TV icon as sardonic investigator Briscoe on "Law & Order," is dead of prostate cancer, a representative of the NBC series said Wednesday.

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Fact or Fiction?

The author of this message board post made this statement regarding the age-old debate on Empty Hand Defenses vs. Weapons:

Also, most people create an image of having to fight a super hero on acid or Dan Inosanto. Most people you will come across don’t train, are drugged or drunk with dulled senses and are basically average people. Please train for overkill, but realise what you are most likely to face.
· Many weapon attacks are static presentations to get what they want from you. These are easier than you think to counter.

Agree or disagree?

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Things You See When You Haven't Got Your Gun

Here are some things I would have taken pictures of, had I a camera, and would have uploaded by now had that camera been digital:

• Every sign in Elmira, NY that E and I drove past that had any reference to Mark Twain.
  
• The two front lawns we drove past that had deflated Christmas balloon-figures. It was a pretty ghastly looking scene.
  
• That demonic "scary tire guy" that's on a sign a little ways south of the Harvard Rd. exit of I-271 -- E, if you read this, leave a comment and remind me exactly what this is.
  
• My brand new pair of kamagong escrima sticks - now considered among my "Most Valued Material Possessions."

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Boxing Day Rebellion

Christmas was nice at Ma's house (Henceforth, my mom is “Mom” and E's mom is “Ma.”), even though I've been denied watching "24 Hours of A Christmas Story" and managed to leave my copy of Chicago XXV (Full of Christmas music -- XXV, get it?) in Cleveland. There was no shortage of Christmas music here, though (i.e. 20 versions of the same 10 songs).

It might have been as much as I wanted, but I got more rest on Boxing Day than I have in over a week. E and I got out of the apartment today, and I got to sit in Barnes & Noble after quickly perusing a mall. I got E all of the gifts she wants, but she’s still got one more left to get. "Why hang at a B&N when you can do that anytime?" you might ask. Well, because the nearest one to A-Town is 50 minutes away in another state, that's why.

After a nap, we had some more game time and Italian eats with Ma. Ma's CD player broke down (we plan to buy her another one tomorrow), so the music for the evening (from the 2 CD set Italian Love Songs with the staples That's Amore done by Deano, Santa Lucia by Pavarotti, and Eh! Cumpari by Julius LaRosa) was provided by my computer.

We've got our plans for today. We've got some stuff before 2 pm or thereabouts. Then we head to C-Town to spend another night with my folks before going back to A-Town at the butt-crack of dawn on Tuesday.

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The X-Mas Atmos

About noon yesterday, E and I rolled into "Mark Twain Country" to spend Christmas with her mother. The first thing we did was sleep out of sheer exhaustion. We were up at the butt-crack o' dawn and made it here about 12:30 pm.


After all the naps, we had some food, lots of coffee and a game of Scrabble which I won because I had the rare fortune of using all of my tiles in one play. Now, I'll get to chill out while E and her mom make their family's traditional Christmas eats and continue listening to more oldies Christmas music before heading out to midnight Mass.

By the by -- thanks to E's brother, my mother and DATU_B for checking up on us while we were driving through the Arctic wasteland that was Mid-Ohio yesterday.

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Early Presents

Among other things received from my parents that they obtained in their trip to the Philippines were the following:


Modern Arnis, Philippine Martial Art, "Stick Fighting" 


The Practical Art of Eskrima, 2nd Edition 

Sure, we've all seen the yellow Modern Arnis book released in the 80s. We all had a good laugh at its expense, too. Twelve strikes, twelve blocks, sinawali drills and some disarms. But, these two books (published with Filipino newsprint paper, retails for about $20USD, but was purchased for the equivalent of about $3USD each) contained very detailed elements.

The first book has chapters on disarms of various weapons, anyos, sinawali, throwing, ground fighting, and different types of strikes. The second book has a few espada y daga techniques. Definitely stuff to mine for all their worth, eh?

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The Eagles Have Landed

Well, it took six hours, but E successfully navigated us through what was some of the worst weather going on in the nation right about now. I won't go into details -- I'm sure E will do that on her blog soon enough.

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Hittin' the Road

Tomorrow is going to be a fun drive. I called the folks earlier and gave them a false departure time, 90 minutes after we'll actually leave so that they won't get all jumpy. I think I inadvertently gave them an arrival time that was later than it should have, but it's all good.

Not sure how blogging's going to be, but I'm sure I'll make it on at some point.

Next post will be from somewhere other than A-Town.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

Tomorrow, I'll be on the road, so I'll have to do this now. I have to say that this test adequately reflects my state of mind.

You scored as Pissed at the World Cat. And here we have the next serial killer. Try having some cotton candy, it'll make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Psycho. Pissed at the World Cat 92% Drunk Cat 75% Couch Potato Cat 58% Love Machine Cat 58% Ninja Cat 50% Derranged Cat 42% Nerd Cat 0% Which Absurd Cat are you? created with QuizFarm.com

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Baby, What a Big Surprise (not)

Why do I relish the thought of moving to Ithaca, NY? Because as long as polls like this are being conducted there, I know that chances are, the place is liberal enough to have people that won't try to lynch me once the first stupid Filipino - whoever that might be - does something stupid and blows something up.

Fear factor: 44 percent of Americans queried in Cornell national poll favor curtailing some liberties for Muslim Americans

ITHACA, N.Y. -- In a study to determine how much the public fears terrorism, almost half of respondents polled nationally said they believe the U.S. government should -- in some way -- curtail civil liberties for Muslim Americans, according to a new survey released today (Dec. 17) by Cornell University.

About 27 percent of respondents said that all Muslim Americans should be required to register their location with the federal government, and 26 percent said they think that mosques should be closely monitored by U.S. law enforcement agencies. Twenty-nine percent agreed that undercover law enforcement agents should infiltrate Muslim civic and volunteer organizations, in order to keep tabs on their activities and fund raising. About 22 percent said the federal government should profile citizens as potential threats based on the fact that they are Muslim or have Middle Eastern heritage. In all, about 44 percent said they believe that some curtailment of civil liberties is necessary for Muslim Americans.

E would say that's just my cynical view of human nature. But, just you wait. One day, some fool is going to do something stupid, and on that day, I'm going to sit in my home waiting for the men in black to forcibly take me to some internment camp and surround myself with hidden video cameras.

God damn, people are stupid.

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Time For Prezzies

I had to stop at the nearest wireless hotspot... well, not quite the nearest, but the one that serves my favorite coffee, so that I could transfer some money into my checking account. Yeah, I know, I shouldn't be doing things like that over a wireless connection, but it's not like there's a lot in there for anyone to take, anyway.

Anyway, once I finish my coffee, off I'll go -- I just hope the things I want to get will still be there. I feel bad, because my presents are already wrapped and sitting under the tree. But, I'm comforted by the fact that more of my friends and loved ones in fact will be getting presents than in previous years.

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Reprieve From the Mines

At least for the next hour or so. The downside to getting the time off that I need for E and I to spend X-mas with family is the fact that the Diamond Mine crammed my shifts together between this week and the next schedule-week, so that today will be day 3 of 7 in a row, all 8 hours/day at varying start times, which preclude any chance of biorhythmic balance. Add to that the fact that once that ordeal is over, I'm immediately faced with an eight hour drive.

Nowhere in that time can I realistically look forward to any real rest. Not that there won't be times to sit or chill or sleep. But, really rest so that at the end of it, I actually feel rejuvinated. Oh, well... there'll be time enough for all that afterward, I suppose.

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Tonight's Agenda

A variation on last Wednesday's theme - Marguaritas and good company, but most likely sans the 1:00 a.m. greasy spoon dinner/breakfast. I'm glad I posted today, because it doesn't look like I will before going to the Diamond Mines, at least not if I can help it.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

Since I'm not sure what kind of time I'll have tomorrow...


Congratulations! You're Merry!


Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

The makers of this quiz know me -- they really do.

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Reader's Digest Version of the Week

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

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Biggest Laugh I've Had in Years

BWAH-hahahahahaha.... snicker... snicker... BWAHHHH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Van Damme is a ‘superhero’

Jean Claude van Damme has described himself as a “superhero in bed” who performs for his wife every night.

The star, who is in the Romanian capital Bucharest looking at locations for his next film, said that although he kept to a punishing three hour fitness regime every day, he was never tired when it came to sex.

And, that's not even the funniest part...

The 44-year-old also said he was planning to make a return to fight competitions and wanted to win the K-1 world title - a mixture between kickboxing and martial arts, the Realitatea Romanesca newspaper reported.

He said: “I am planning to go back to fighting next year when I am 45. I gave up fighting a long time ago because it offers no perspectives and there are people who do not respect their art.

I got six words: "Tong Po! Tong Po! Tong Po!"... BWAHHAHAHAHAHAHA

I remember about six months ago reading about his plans for his new film. He actually seemed sincere about making a quality martial arts movie with all sorts of legitamate martial artists helping him out. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt... until he uttered the word "K-1"... BWAH-hahahahahahaha!

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

From the creators of South Park... no, really...

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Recovery

Not that rough, although it does show my age when getting up after staying out until 2:30 a.m. after an evening of marguaritas, beer, and greasy food is a bit difficult. No hangover, though, and I had more greasy food for breakfast.

It reminds me of a discussion I had with someone at the Diamond Mines lately as we reminisced about life north of Columbus. She remembered breakfasts of bacon and eggs when her eggs would get fried in the bacon grease. Now, when I cook that stuff, that technique is a given! Great minds, eh? Hey, if she's studying to be a nurse and can still eat that stuff, then dammit, so can I -- at least, for as long as I can withstand E's stares...

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I Miss Columbus

...but I'm glad I missed out on the sniper and stuff like this:

Seminal Guitarist, 4 Others Die in Ohio Shooting
Thu Dec 9, 2004 02:04 PM ET

By Jim Leckrone

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - A man charged on stage and opened fire at a heavy metal band and fans at a crowded bar, killing four people and wounding two others before being killed by police, officials said on Thursday.

Among the dead was "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, guitarist for the band Damageplan, who witnesses said appeared to have been singled out by the gunman and shot several times at close range.

Some witnesses told police the 25-year-old gunman, Nathan Gale of nearby Marysville, Ohio, shouted, "You broke up Pantera" before gunning down Abbott and firing at other band members and the crowd in the Wednesday night shooting.

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My New Favorite Website

A review of Willam Shatner's new album Has Been, Star Wars: Clone Wars stuff, and Orlando Bloom's conversion to Buddhism all on...

scifidaily

The latest news, reviews, diatribes and banter on science-fiction/fantasy films, TV shows and related topics...

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Up For Air

No blogging, or anything else, for the past five days because I've been almost completely immersed in the Diamond Mines. But, I've got two days to look at this thing called daylight, and in the few hours I've been awake and online, have I got some stuff..

ITEM ONE
The teaser for the new Doctor Who series -- F**k yeah!

ITEM TWO
More controversial self-defense issues...

The Debate over Tasers and Police

Talk of the Nation, December 7, 2004 · Debates are raging over the safety and effectiveness of Taser guns as used by U.S. police forces. The Justice Department is one party looking at the products. Rick Smith, the head of Taser International, says without his product, police wouldn't have anything but a club to defend themselves. But a new report from Amnesty International says tasers are too dangerous for widespread use.

ITEM THREE
I've got a cell. No camera, no internet access, and no fancy ringtones. Now, if one happened to fall from the sky along with a free account, I'd take it. But, I see no need for any sort of phenomenon to evolve to this level of depravity.

Billboard's 'Ringtone of the Year'
» from Day to Day, Wednesday, December 08, 2004

The 15th Annual Billboard Music Awards will be presented Wednesday night in Las Vegas, Nev. NPR's Alex Chadwick brings you the nominees in the "Ringtone of the Year" category.

If I had a TARDIS, I'd go back and shoot the great-grandmother of the person who made these sorts of ringtones possible... more things to annoy the concert/movie-going public.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

A dollar short and a day late, I know. But, still cool.


Who is Your Saiyan Battle Partner?
Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.

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Personal Convenience Post

This is related to a rant on self-defense that I posted recently, linked here for my convenience. It's a thread from the message boards on the Defend.net forums about the "legitimacy" of Sayoc Kali. It doesn't get good until about the fourth post where the thread-starter makes the assertion:

1. As far as the Sayoc training being like firearms training, I disagree for two fundamental reasons. First, firearms training just about anywhere reputable advocates never using a firearm except in cases where it really is "kill or be killed." FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN, several of the people wearing the Sayoc name like their badge of honor advocate carrying ten or more blades, and they teach things like the "Revenge Template." Doesn't sound like self-defense... I know that's just one tiny example, but the fact that the system is so reliant on blades (I recall a recent ad stating "All Blade, All the Time) strikes me as the kind of system better suited to soldiers than civilians.

I'll let you read and get your own mental juices going.

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Big Fat Filipino Wedding

My cousin (sort of) and her new husband. 

This is a shot of the wedding that E and I attended a couple of weeks ago. This whole scene was part of what made E so nervous because not only was it a "church wedding," it was a Filipino wedding, and on top of that, it was done old-school Filipino style. For instance, it means the people in the wedding party (bridesmaids and groomsmen) are relegated to a status about half a step up from the guests (and even sit with the guests at the reception) and the bride and groom are surrounded by "sponsors." Sponsors - of which my father was one - have different names depending on what "Old Country" you happen to be from, but in short, these are older folks (usually your parents' compares) that are to the marriage what godparents are to a child.

I mentioned that the bride was sort of my cousin. There is in fact, to my knowledge, no blood relation between us. It's another Filipino thing. My father, her father, and another man (my dad is his children's godfather) were best friends ("were" since the third man passed away some years ago). Also, the bride's family and my mother lived near each other in the Philippines and there's a possibility that distant cousins of theirs might be connected somehow to distant cousins of mine. So what does all this mean? What did it mean in Spaceballs when Dark Helmet revealed himself to be Lone Starr's father's best friend's roommate? To a non-Filipino, absolutely nothing. To a Filipino, she's as much a relative as any blood relation. Truth is, I got to know her sisters a little better than I ever knew her. The whole lot of them would travel back and forth from the Philippines to live for various periods of time with their parents who emigrated here, and I think the bride was the one I saw the least. No, I take that back - the youngest child was the one I saw the least.

So, throw in the social, cultural, and religious expectations of two cultures, and you can see why it would make one nervous. The way E saw it, whenever we were asked "So, what do you guys have planned for your wedding?" we were really being asked "So, when do we, and the other 20 people in my family, show up to the to-do you're going to have that had better bear a close resemblance to this?" Now, that was probably true for a few of them. But the people who really felt that way were probably people who wouldn't lose a minute's sleep over what E and I have or don't have in our wedding. The people that might really truly care are probably people that would respect whatever E and I chose, no matter how they'd feel about it.

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Fast Relief

What do you do when your fiance is on a 7 day cleansing fast and she's jonesing for a pizza on the second day?

You rent the movie Supersize Me to remind her why she's doing this in the first place -- it worked better than I could have possibly imagined! Check it out. The movie got play at Sundance for a reason.

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More Bang For My Buck

Thanks to my old friend FATHER_FRO, I guestimate that I've increased the value of my new computer at least 1.5 times, thanks to some more nifty new programs that he managed to find from... somewhere... and burn onto a DVD-R for me. There's easily a grand worth of programs on that thing, but I only needed two of them. Hey, E's going to need a video editor one day, and who knows, I may get tired of coding HTML using trusty Notepad.

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Counting Down

Coming early next year... to the UK, anyway. Who knows if it'll ever show up here. 

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National Lampoon's Thanksgiving Vacation

Here are a couple of pics - the rest will go up on my self-restraint site when I get around to it. pics of the dinner are on the self-restraint site. The rest will follow.


E and I at the table. 


A passing shot of Cleveland's clone of Columbus's Easton Town Centre, Legacy Village (of the Damned). 

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PC Behavior in the '60s

The following is a clip from the original Ocean's 11, starring the Rat Pack themselves - when they could be bothered to show up, sober, between shows, that is. I present this exchange between the characters played by Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, and (I think) Peter Lawford partly as social commentary, but mostly because it amuses me.

PLEASE DOWNLOAD, RATHER THAN STREAM - My free server only allows so many downloads per day! The clip will be taken down after a week or two.

Dean's Political Aspirations (32kbps mp3 clip, 80.3kb)

You need to keep a couple of things in mind as you listen to this clip. First, the film was made in 1960 and for another, it starred the freakin' Rat Pack who were allowed at certain points (like you could stop them, anyway) to improvise in spots.

For all their honest, genuine social progressiveness - courageous progressiveness, like standing up to all the Gumbas who didn't want Sammy staying at any of their hotels - they were still men of the '50s. Sure, the conversation was probably written to be satirical, as you can tell from Sammy's and Lawford's side-comments. But, still - you didn't think they giggled, winked and nodded to each other while they were rehearsing?

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Lost Treasures

Among the items I dug up from my parents' house that I'm currently enjoying:

• The following episodes of Doctor Who that I taped from PBS over a decade ago: Destiny of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks, and Rememberance of the Daleks. I missed a Dalek episode in there somewhere. There were actually about 2-3 other episodes per tape, but I'll get to those in due course. Watching Daleks totter about gives E something to laugh at, so it's all good.
  
• Two Chicago concert videos from the early 90s. I managed to MacGuyver together a setup where I can plug the sound from the VCR directly into my computer and record. But, I'll be damned if it didn't take a few tries and a lot of mucking about with the audio configuration on the laptop. I got 4 choice tunes that I've always wanted on mp3.
  
• My dad's old leather jacket, which is, I believe, one of the first items he purchased when he entered this country 32 years ago this December. It's what my cousins used to affectionately call "Uncle [my dad's] 'Shaft' coat." I call it my new "fly-@$$" coat.

Damn right!

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Jive Turkeys

I (think I) mentioned that E and I had our turkey earlier in the week with my parents in Clevesburg. E, not wanting to just sit and do nothing for the holiday, set up two tentative sets of plans with two sets of people, probably hoping one of them would pan out. Me -- I would've been happy to leave the Diamond Mine at 5:00, go home, eat some leftover turkey and chill for the rest of the evening.

I saw DATU_B and the misses earlier yesterday who invited us over if we weren't doing anything else. I figured, "Why not?" but apparently, one of E's leads panned out. Two friends of ours, who moved to Washington D.C. last quarter, were in Columbus for Thanksgiving and the three of them "conspired ;)" to meet at a BW-3 in Lancaster.

I was not thrilled at first. But 12 wings and 2 Killian's later, I was grateful for the time spent with people I hadn't seen in months, and probably won't see for who knows how long.

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Real Homeland Security

Twelve years in the US, and the Osbornes had it good and were relatively safe. Two months back in the UK, and they got jacked...

Reward for lost rocks as Osbournes face reality
The Times
November 25, 2004

OZZY Osbourne declared Los Angeles safer than rural Buckinghamshire in southern England yesterday as he announced a pound stg. 100,000 ($237,700) reward for his wife's stolen jewellery.

Some interesting excerpts...

The former Black Sabbath star added: "We could have been mugged, shot or murdered in America. We have been over here a couple of months and all this has happened. It does not give me a great reflection about the state of crime in this country. I am very disappointed."

In the end, it was his wife who slipped up: "I'm sure a lot of people will look at us and say, 'Well, they have got more, they can buy it again, there's more serious things happening in the world, who really gives a damn?'.

"But the thing is, we worked for everything. I came from Brixton (in London), Ozzy came from not a very nice part of Birmingham and everything we have got we have worked our arses off for.

And, most interesting was this comment. I'm not familiar with Australian press, so I'm not sure if this was meant to be snarky or not... (emphasis mine)

Earlier, a police press officer reminded journalists to be sensitive to the fact the Osbournes had suffered a terrifying ordeal. She might have spared a thought for the burglar who threw himself 9m out of a window to escape the stark-naked wild man of rock: Ozzy once bit the head off a bat live on stage and snorted a line of ants after mistaking them for cocaine.

The reason I'm not sure is because the BBC ran this story online and that's where I read about comparisons between Ozzy's case and that of one Tony Martin, a man convicted of murder after shooting a teenager attempting to burgle his farmhouse. It seems that the restrictions on self-defense/defense of property more stringent than here in the US.

And, I've never really understood why. Ok, I understand no one wants a pitched gun battle in the streets because of an attempted mugging. I understand no one wants some poor sod who thinks he's Charles Bronson looking up the person who took his wallet, and in a fit of repressed rage, shoot the mugger, his family and his dog.

What I truly don't understand is the expectation that it's MY responsibility to consider things like "reasonable force" when I'm in the midst of a struggle to defend my person, others in my home or, let's be honest, my property. If I attempt to stop a burglar doing everything in his or her power to thwart me, why should I have to be the one checking my reactions and thinking to myself, "Nope, can't kick here. Can't stab there."? If you're in my face in my home, and I don't want you there, and I've got a knife, there are six spots that my training has taught me to target. And, I'm supposed to check that for your dumb, criminal @$$?

The only, and I mean the ONLY valid argument I've found (and it's a stretch, at that) against easing up on property-defense restrictions is that criminals who would otherwise prioritize getting your stuff and getting out with as little confrontation as possible might resort to "search and destroy" tactics upon entering your home. I suppose it's better that than take the risk of confronting a Dirty Harry wannabe. Because thieves are going to steal, regardless. Up the ante, and you'll invariably find some criminals who are more than willing to call.

Hey, if you want my wallet on the street, I'll probably let you have it. But, stay out of my house.

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Back in tha Hood

Well, E and I survived a long weekend with my family. Since my parents are leaving for the PI tomorrow, we had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. Lots of food, including E's grandmother's recipe for Cranberry Relish! For perhaps the first time since I moved out, I feel sad to leave after a visit.

E really seemed to like the areas of Cleveland that I showed her. It genuinely made her sad to return to this Appalachian backwater. Still, for everything A-Town lacks, there are some good things you find here that are just hard to find in Cleveland -- free wireless internet access being one of them.

On the other hand, I took E to a deli yesterday of a type I don't even remember seeing in Columbus. Well, it's not just a deli, really - more like a specialty grocery store that caters to the local Italian and eastern European populations. I knew E would love it -- all sorts of smells and foodstuffs that reminded us both of our childhoods. It's the sort of neighborhood place that even plays to its own stereotypes, like selling novelty parking signs that say "Parking for Italians Only" and "You Take-a My Space, I Breaka Your Face." The sad thing was watching to decay around the store. I remember a strip full of cars and pedestrians, that's all but dead, now. Sad, really. It brings to mind just how long ago some things are.

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Cleveland: You Gotta Be Tough

Talk about a phrase I haven't heard in ages.

So far this weekend, I've been taking E to see some of my old Cleveland haunts - streets I used to run, coffee shops I used to go to, stores, schools, etc. It's funny how much has changed.

Right now, we're sitting in a coffee shop near the campus of the University where I started graduate school. There's a big building on the parking lot that's blocking the view of (what presumably was) the main building.

I took her to the Deep Space Nine of Cleveland surburban white flight, that last outpost - the Lyndhurst/Beachwood area. Well, just when it looked like that bastion was about to crumble, it looks like The Man decided to build himself a sanctuary called "Legacy Village" (to which I added, "...of the Damned."). It's basically a crammed replica of the Easton Town Centre in Columbus down to almost the very last "shoppe," all sitting behind a fence, as if to mock "Ok, we can't keep 'You People' out, but we can make you as self-conscious about being in this 'Village' as possible by filling it with facades and 'shoppes' of things you probably won't be able to afford and would feel too ashamed to ask about."

I took her to Coventry where I found that the Arabica, a place with a vibe full of teen memories, was gone. With it were all the hippies and punks and "Sodomize the Pope" jackets, and in their place stood a Chipotle. Not that it's a bad thing -- I can subsist on that stuff.

On Coventry, we happened upon a store selling all sorts of Chinese knick knacks run by a local Tai Chi teacher, who proceeded to badger E about what her Tai Chi lineage was. Hey, she's in graduate school - she didn't have time to memorize the entire list of her teachers' teachers' teachers. Me, I would've just said "I think his name was Caine... Kwai Chang Caine" and have been done with it.

The wedding we attended was a replay of every horrid memory I've ever had as a child being stuck full in a ballroom full of Filipinos a really nice affair. E met a great deal of people and seemed to be a big hit - no surprise there. She did stress her self out a lil' bit, worried about what people might expect out of our wedding plans which we've only dropped minor hints about to anyone who asked. I, myself, resolved ahead of time that the information was none of their business, and that I'd just play the game one plays when people at "To Do's" do in conversation.

There's more to tell, and pictures to come. I'll get to that sometime.

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On the Road Again

*Sigh* Yet another road trip to C-Town this weekend, this time to attend some wedding of a cousin of mine. I mean "cousin" in Filipino terms, i.e. a family member, two or more degrees removed, of a friend of a family member.

I'm sure I'll scrounge up internet access from somewhere up there. If not, I'll return to the world next Wednesday.

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Maybe I'll Just Shut Up Now

I'm not saying I'll ever stop my little hobby of deconstructing the so-called "traditional martial arts" I know to see what useful nuggets I can glean. But, looking at guys like Kimbo Slice in action, someone who reportedly learned to fight in jail and on "th3 str33t" (I saw it posted like that on the martial arts forum I linked to below - I'm a lemming, sue me.) it sort of makes you wonder why one engages in any "martial art" as a structured pursuit and doesn't just try to get in as many "real fights" as possible.

Kimbo's the darker brother in this video. Check out his opponent's eye.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

Ok, these things can be a little off sometimes.

You Are a Snarky Blogger!

You've got a razor sharp wit that bloggers are secretly scared of. And that's why they read your posts as often as they can!

What kind of blogger are you?

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Nausea

At the State of the Union? The War on Terror?

No, I got really nauseous last night playing the game Half Life. I was given a disk forever and a day ago, and mostly ignored it because trying to play it on my old and busted laptop never worked right at the best of times. So, in typical fashion, I forgot I even owned it until I heard that Half Life 2 was just released.

I suppose it could have been something I ate, but I think it had something to do with the fast pace of the game. Moving with the mouse and keyboard makes the whole thing flash by pretty fast. Maybe I should just stick to Ultimate DOOM?

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My New Favorite Website

Soul Sides

An mp3 blog I stumbled upon while following a trail of some NPR links on the subject. It's my favorite because the writer did a favorable review of the song Street Player by Chicago. See, I knew I wasn't crazy and/or tasteless ;).

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Another One Bites the Dust Loss in the Rap World

Rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard dies suddenly aged 35

One of the most original and dynamic voices in rap has suddenly gone quiet.

Rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, real name Russell Jones, collapsed and died suddenly in a Manhattan recording studio yesterday (13th November), aged just 35.

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Old Mad Skillz

I spent 4 years and some change in the community mental health field providing one level of support or another, from a lowly grunt in direct care to a supervisor in direct care to community support case management. Not by choice or design, but all of my work happened to be exclusively with teenagers, and the majority of my caseloads were females. This didn't have anything to do with demographics as much as the agencies that were hiring at the time.

If I do say so myself, I enjoyed some pretty modest success if you don't include the burnout factor. Hey, making it four years without so much as a hint of an accusation of inappropriate Catholic-clergy-like conduct is quite the accomplishment in the social work world. I remember being told that statistically, I lasted longer than most males in their mid-to-late twenties in the field.

I reminisce about all this because the other night, E and I watched the movie Mean Girls, written by Tina Fey based on the book Queen Bees & Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. Wiseman, as I discovered by viewing the Mean Girls DVD extras, co-founded the Empower Program, a non-profit organization that empowers youth to stop the culture of violence. It reminded me of the sorts of things I used to do as I was working with youth, usually after one form of violence or another. It reminded me of flirting with ideas of doing or joining something geared toward prevention.

They might be rusty, but I like to think I still have most of the old skill sets that helped me be successful - communication, empathy, etc. To say nothing of all the new skills I've developed since then, like how to break my foot off in someone's @$$.

But, how to get there... back in touch with old ideas and dreams that inspire you almost as much as some new ideas that you have in your head. Knowing the journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step isn't much help until you have a clearer idea of your destination. It's one thing to say, "Yeah, I'm headed toward Bora Bora." Sure, you can determine your direction easily enough. But, the devil's in the details, isn't it?

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Comparison

I post these to give one an idea of just how badly I needed a new laptop.


New hotness... 


Old and busted 

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BMW Post

I've got nothing constructive to write about, and I'm feeling a nice dose of ennui. So, in an effort to stir myself in some direction - any direction - I'll just B!tch, Moan and Whine about stuff.

ELECTION WOES
Hey, I didn't vote for him. I'd have sooner voted for Cobra Commander. Dubya won (arguably) fair and square, and there's really no one to blame but us. I was reading an op-ed by a poli-sci student in one of the local rags here who made a valid point. People decided this election based on the issues that mattered to most to them. One would be hard-pressed to find anyone more than two degrees of separation from the war in the Middle East. And, I don't care how liberal you think you are, from what I've seen, most of that stuff gets shut down when one or more of the following happens: (a) You need to start worrying about mortgage payments, (b) You actually find you can't speak your mind without a great deal of static and hassle - and I'm not talking about the Secret Service monitoring your blog. I'm talking about the stares you get from bosses at the watercooler at the job you need to keep food on the table. Or, perhaps (c) You face a situation like this with your child, described by the writer of the aforementioned op-ed:

No one cares what goes on in the privacy of people's homes or bedrooms. People do care when their 5-year-old child is watching a homecoming parade and has to ask his mother why that man is dressed like a woman or when they walk up [the street] and see "Don't apologize, sodomize" written with chalk.

Basically, for me it's easier to believe that people are shortsighted than to believe in the right-wing conspiracy. "Defense of marriage" and all the other things on the Conservative social agenda aren't going to count for squat when the economy's finally spun out of control and down the toilet and former allies around the world finally deem us out of control and need to rein us in.

On the other hand, I look back on a lot of friendships I've had with people you could label evangelical, Conservative Christians. They weren't stupid people, blind to the realities of life. Some of them were/are hit by today's economic woes. They worried about whether the war was justified, and support the troops while remaining skeptical about our agenda. And I know more than one of them can't stand FOX News. I don't know who they voted for, but it wouldn't surprise me if the whole lot of them voted for GWB. And if they did, I'd put money on the fact that their vote was cast out of faith in the proposition that by prioritizing what they valued over other considerations, the rest would take care of itself. To me, there's something to be said for following your conscience regardless of cost.

Well, that took up more space and time than I intended. This is what happens when you get on a roll. I had a couple more things to BMW about. But, I'll stop here and find something else to do.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

This is why I always liked the film more than I ever liked the TV show.

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Maybe God Is On Our Side, After All

Ashcroft, Evans Resign, White House Says

Tue Nov 9, 6:05 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Donald Evans resigned on Tuesday in a post-election shake-up of President Bush's Cabinet.

Ashcroft, a lightning rod of criticism by Democrats and civil liberties groups over the anti-terror policies implemented after Sept. 11, 2001, said in a handwritten resignation letter that "the demands of justice are both rewarding and depleting" and that the Justice Department would be well served "by new leadership and fresh inspiration."

I told E that I can almost bear 4 more years if this jagoff was gone. Of course, it begs the question of how much worse any potential replacement could be. I dunno, though... in my view, you'd have to raid Goebel's grave site, snag some DNA and infuse it into the body of a white supremicist, a la COBRA's Serpentor from G.I. Joe to get worse than Ashy.

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I AM Part of the Problem

Author Warren Ellis once wrote in his Old Bastard's Manifesto,

...if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

Which he then followed up with:

I am part of the problem. F**k you.

From DATU_B:
Confessions of a Cultural Elitist

By UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE/TED RALL

Win or Lose, Kerry Voters Are Smarter Than Bush Voters

NEW YORK--Democratic hand wringing is surrealy out of hand. No one is criticizing the morally incongruous Kerry for running against a war he voted for while insisting that he would have voted for it again. Party leaders have yet to consider that NAFTA, signed into law under Clinton, may have cost them high-unemployment Ohio. No, Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, darling of the "centrist" Democratic Leadership Council, blames something else: the perception "in the heartland" that Democrats are a "bicoastal cultural elite that is condescending at best and contemptuous at worst to the values that Americans hold in their daily lives."

Firstly, living in the sticks doesn't make you more American. Rural, urban or suburban--they're irrelevant. San Francisco's predominantly gay Castro district is every bit as red, white and blue as the Texas panhandle. But if militant Christianist Republicans from inland backwaters believe that secular liberal Democrats from the big coastal cities look upon them with disdain, there's a reason. We do, and all the more so after this election.

I couldn't have put it better myself.

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Turning Coat

Even with good ol' Windows XP, you're still as vulnerable to stuff as you are mindless when you cruise file sharing services. All I wanted was a copy of an old .38 Special song and got no less than three adware trojans for my trouble. It only took me two hours to clean it all out (on my old comp with Windows 98, it took me about five), and I didn't even have to reinstall anything.

I considered myself very lucky. I'm even luckier that, coincidentally, Mozilla officially launched Firefox 1.0 yesterday. I always liked using it when I was tied to the Uni's library computers. Well, I downloaded and installed it, and if I decide it's worth the effort, make it the default browser. Of course, now I'll also have to make all those pages on the Geocities site Mozilla-friendly.

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Screw Kevin Bacon

I just found out I'm a mere two degrees of separation away from two of the coolest cats on the planet. From an IM conversation with E:

E: Dude
E: you're not gonna believe this
d: what what??
E: I'm chatting with one of my students from China - she's been in HK studying film
d: uh huh...?
E: guess who she's taking a class with..(as a teacher)
d: who?
E: JOHN WOO
d: what???

[snip]

E: Ang Lee is another of her professors, apparently.
E: Only his Chinese name is Zhou Runfa
d: bullsh!t! omg
E: No wait
E: It's Chow Yun Fat she's talking about
E: Damn!!

I should've spotted the error immediately. "Zhou Runfa", no matter your Romanization, sounds drastically different from "Ang Lee".

**Additional

This was taken by E's student who snagged this shot because she (the student) also takes classes in photojournalism.

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Meandering Through Life

I didn't have too much blogging inspiration over the past few days. And, it wasn't for lack of time or material. Just had other things to focus on. What'd you miss?

ITEM ONE
If I read one more thing with the word "SUNY" in it (i.e. State University of New York), I'm going to scream.

ITEM TWO
I don't know when it happened, but two of the tiny screws that held the clip to my Sog tac folder have fallen off. Bugger. I hated the idea of walking around unarmed, especially since I haven't trained in forever and a day. It's almost made me desperate enough to eat the $7.50 that it would cost me to work out with the old Fight Club.

ITEM THREE
My new favorite application is a tiny program called mp3trim. The name says it all.

ITEM FOUR
I found a cheap copy (No jokes from the Peanut Gallery, please.) of Chicago - Live By Request online. Thanks to my handy-dandy DVD audioripper, all of the important parts of my lost mp3 collection are now restored.

ITEM FIVE
I can't get over the Craig Charles Funk Show (see the sidebar on the right). I'm now frantically searching for Little Richard's version of Function at the Junction and Shirley Scott's It's Your Thing.

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Netropolitan Life

Some NPR-idge
Jon Stewart's interview on Fresh Air - I wonder if Jon felt short-changed since Terry wasn't in that day.

Musicians in Their Own Words: Cassandra Wilson

Weekend Edition - Saturday, March 6, 2004 · Jazz singer Cassandra Wilson likes to experiment with her band, testing the limits of the music and finding new places for her voice in the mix. The group is somewhat unusual for a vocalist. With no piano to support her voice with chords, Wilson prefers to sing against the sound of a harmonica -- or maybe a banjo. And to lay down the groove, she has both a percussionist AND a drummer.

Pornographers Have Brains, Too - Not work-safe!
Diary of a Porn Publisher - monitoring: The War on Terror, Events in the middle East, the war on personal liberty, and (of course,) links to new adult sites. I got this off the sidebar of Wil Wheaton's blog.

Maybe He'll Think About 2008?
If you loved Journal of a New COBRA Recruit, you'll probably like:

Cobra Commander in 2004

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My New Favorite Website

Craig Charles' Funk Show

Yes -- Lister, himself, has his own radio show twice a week on BBC 6 with some kick-@$$ music!

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Public Service Announcement

Because, some things you only get one shot at. 

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

Perhaps I did support the wrong candidate...


Which Presidential Candidate Are You?
Rung from Rum and Monkey's very own liberty bell.

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Away From the Laptop

I've been doing other things besides cruise the web and toil in the diamond mines.

UNO
I've been taking E on another journey through the second-best sci-fi TV show that ever was, Red Dwarf. She's seen most of seasons I and II (the original versions, not the re-edited Lucas-style ones) and all of season VII. I just grabbed what I could from the 'rents' house. We've got all of season VIII to keep us amused for awhile until we get back up there to get some more. We've now officially integrated the words smeg, git, and gimboid into our lexicon.

DOS
Yeah, I got most of my mp3 collection rebuilt, beeyatch! And, not just all Chicago tunes, either. Forty gigs gets you a lot of storage for some real jazz, what with those long-@$$ solos on some of the tunes.

TRES
I'm getting all these photos from Halloween, and I'm not sure what to do with them all. It's fun sorting through, and trying to figure out which get posted and which stay on the hard drive. Hey, with 40 gigs and a CD-RW drive, who needs to delete?

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Surf's Up

Here are some interesting tidbits I found surfing the web.

ISA
The Onion's Interview with Christopher Walken

DALAWA
Someone who got in trouble for blogging their mind [Obtained via Zoe Trope and RBJ.]

TATLO
Some NPR pieces I listened to over the past few days:

Picturing the Homeless, on Their Terms

All Things Considered, October 24, 2004 · Gary Clark doesn't call himself a photographer. But over the past few years, he's felt compelled to take pictures of homeless people -- those "on the edge," he says. His work has brought a rare brand of celebrity to people used to living anonymously in harsh conditions.

Half a million members visit Clark's Web page, "Mashuga" -- Yiddish for crazy -- to see the images that result. Viewers from around the world post dozens of comments for each photo, creating a running subtext.

And, a bit about one of my personal heroes:

Comedian and Actor George Carlin

Fresh Air, November 1, 2004 · Carlin's seven dirty words routine was the center of a famous obscenity case in the 1970s. He has a new book When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? His other books include Napalm & Silly Putty, and Brain Droppings.

APAT
Jolt Cola has a website, and yes, it jitters!

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No Comment

No "I can't believe this!" post. Just that for sure we're now going to get what we deserve i.e. nuked.

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Civic Duty Performed

My vote has been cast. Here's hoping this bad acid-trip flashback from the late 80s (which I've ranted about before - economic woes, enemies abroad, a Bush in the White House) is over!

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The Omen

No, not as in "Dominus! Rectus!"

I'm not a tremendous believer in astrology. I debunked that when I was about 8 years old when I did a simple experiment. I noted the horoscope for one sign, say Leo, said something like "You'll meet an interesting Libra, today." I simply looked over at Libra, and it didn't say jack about meeting any Leos. I was feeling pretty self-satisfied for 8 when I realized the obvious design flaw in that experiment, so I tried another. I went a month or so reading the daily horoscopes in the paper from the previous day to see if any of them hit. They didn't.

I still have that habit, although I do find what my Free Will Astrology horoscope said about my upcoming week - FWA being important, because that's the one most often printed in those hip, local, alternative press thingys.

CANCER (June 21 - July 22)

Real estate developer and TV star Donald Trump filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He was seeking to get a legal death grip on his signature phrase, "You're fired!" That inspired me to try to get a trademark for one of my favorite declarations, "You're a genius!" I haven't had a good excuse to direct that praise your way any time recently, Cancerian, but in the coming weeks you'll be the sign most deserving of it. You are now at the height of your originality; you're as close as you've ever been to discovering your special mission here on earth. For Halloween, consider dressing up as a famous prodigy, including any of the following: Mozart, Leonardo da Vinci, Stephen Hawking, Nobel Prize-winning chemist Marie Curie, Jane Goodall, Georgia O'Keeffe, or hip-hop artist Missy Elliott.

I wish I got that advice before dressing up like this. But, I've been known to do decent impersonations of Stephen Hawking. Anyway, I like the thought of being at the height of my originality. So, let's see if I can figure out just why I'm here.

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The Doctor Will Be With You Shortly

The Doctor is this much closer to being in. 

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Halloween Ennui

I had to spend most of Saturday night at the Diamond Mines, but even if I didn't, I was completely indifferent to the idea of spending time at A-Town's annual Halloween orgy of debauchery and violence that would make Caligula blush party. Today is the first I've been uptown since then, and I can't see any readily apparent evidence of negative effects. Then again, I haven't read any of the local rags yet.

E and I paid DATU_B a visit and were treated to beer, pizza, and a screening of the original Night of the Living Dead. I confess, I didn't realize until that night that the movie might have revealed a bit more about George Romero's socio-political views than he might have intended. (This, I say before I've done the appropriate Googling on the subject.) I'd go into a rant about it, and maybe I will later, but I don't feel like it right now.

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