Fight Club

Well, I made it through last night's Fight Club without much pain. Vicodin is good.

Last night, I had the double whammy of dealing with both BILLY_JACK and KENPO_BOY. BILLY_JACK was laid back, I have to say. Of course, staying as far away from him as I could helped, too. And, in the brief time I worked with him on a drill, there wasn't time for him to make one of his stupid, adolescent, racist, homophobic, mysogynistic comments. Well, keep in mind that he really is an adolescent still, so I try not to be too hard on him.

KENPO_BOY was back to his old self, trying to hog me as a training partner all to his sorry-@$$ self. One time was all it took before I had to start going, "Sorry... we have to switch partners." I don't think he liked it when I ended up working with DATU_J twice, but hey... she's good and actually improves as she works on a technique. Unlike KENPO_BOY... words just fail me. I truly sympathize for all the Kenpo practicioners out there, because he claims all of you. We were working on an umbrella deflection followed by a disarm. All the time he spent verbally analyzing the technique, and he still couldn't pull it off properly. On top of that, imagine the most ineffective, illogical way to throw an umbrella deflection -- the direct antithesis to how that move is done -- and that's how KENPO_BOY threw it.

I think I've gotten selfish in one particular respect as I've gotten older -- I don't like having my time wasted when I'm trying to learn something. Sometimes, you can learn from others' mistakes, but only if they make the "right ones," so to speak. My vine disarms suck. I might have gleaned something from KENPO_BOY's mistakes if I didn't have to reteach him how to throw an umbrella (and fail).

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My New Favorite Website

I jumped on the bandwagon and created my account on del.icio.us, which is a nice, handy place to keep and catagorize all the nice links I come across.

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Hack, Part Deux

I almost forgot that I submitted another piece a few days ago. Ironically, it seems that it was rejected the same day the other one was published. According to the editor's email I just received...

I'm going to pass on this one, but thanks again for the York Peppermint Patties piece. It's proving very popular on the site.

Submit again soon.

John Warner

I guess it was rather lame, but hey. I'd put it on here, but I'm going to take a gander and see if there's anyone else who'll take it.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

Which Website are You?

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Today's Reflection

When there's no one left to leave you,
Even you don't quite believe you,
That's when nothing can deceive you

- Steve Winwood, While You See a Chance

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What a Hack

If this guy can get published on McSweeney's Internet Tendency, anyone can...

Rejected York Peppermint Pattie Commercial Blurbs

One line was edited, but I can deal.

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Fight Club

I'm still not sure if I'm going to go tonight, but since it'll be mostly FMA stick-work done by DATU_B. As long as there's no throwing involved, I should be good to go.

Last session was the first time I saw my good friend (not) KENPO_BOY, the arrogant hyperkinetic who thinks he's Ed Parker's gift to martial arts. To his credit, he's significantly calmer than I remembered. But, still just as arrogant. He showed this in two instances that I observed.

In the first, he asks me, "Hey, does your arm still hurt from that armbar?" You mean, the lucky standing armbar you got on me last year? Does it still hurt almost 365 days later? Sorry, "Royce," but you're not that good. It actually took me a full two seconds to remember what he was talking about.

In the second, he proves that not only is he knowledgeable to correct DATU_B on stick takedowns (like he did 365 or so days ago), but can correctly show the "foot sweep" that the ONE-ARMED BANDIT (now an officer - I gotta give him another nickname, even if I refuse to refer to him as "datu") was demonstrating that he learned in a seminar he recently attended with one of the de Thouars. Only, it wasn't a foot sweep that was being demonstrated. It was a method for destroying someone's base by using your knee to push one of the opponent's legs out off to a side.

I hope he's there tonight and we can do some stick work so that I could do to KENPO_BOY what I did to him 365 or so days ago, namely stick spar and humiliate him by hitting him multiple time at the same angle. Actually, he humilated himself first by his ridiculous fighting stance he takes (I swear I heard the ghost of Ed Parker groan in agony) that enabled me to land so many rib shots.

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If It's Good Enough for Rush

I spent most of yesterday couch-ridden and on Flexiril and Vicodin because I came home after Fight Club two nights ago to find that I could barely move my neck. I'm not exactly sure what I could have done to cause all of that. I can't think of anything offhand in the padwork I did. There were some grappling takedowns, too, that started out in a collar-and-elbow tie, but I was never tied up that hard. Actually, it started after the actual club time when I took out my sticks to work some sinawali. I was working some combinations when my neck started to seize up in the middle of it. I thought it was just some sort of stiffness. I even went to get some Icy Hot, but by the time I got home, I was in real pain. I probably wouldn't have slept if not for E's leftover Flexiril.

For perhaps the first time in my life, I actively sought medical attention the next day (with E's help). Maybe it's age, because I've been in more debilitating pain before and waited until it "just went away." But this time, I was like, "Screw this... I'm going to see a doctor." Thank God for health insurance (as crappy as mine is) and urgent care centers. The doc was a D.O. who did some nice neck manipulations and then wrote me a couple of scrips. He would've done something for my back, but my muscles there were too tense. As of now, I've had four doses of Flexiril (the last three actually prescribed - what a coinkidink) and believe it or not, some of my muscles are still tense.

Speaking of which, I was sort of nervous because my insurance does not cover medication. Luckily, the Flexiril that E has is the exact same dosage as prescribed, and the Vicodin was really cheap. Anyway, they're both good $hi+, and I'm still rather loopy. At least I can move about town in a limited fashion. The pain has significantly decreased, but I'm not sure if that's really the case or if the medicine is covering it up.

I've even got a bit more freedom of movement and am a bit less groggy, although I didn't leave the house until after 2 PM. I got my own Flexiril now - only $10 with no insurance. My intent was to call around for the best price which in all probability would have been Walley World, but the price was right at the CVS that's within walking distance from me, so I went there.

I know I have to be careful, because I could very easily go right back to sleep. I lost track of just how much sleep I've gotten in the past two days, but let's just say it was a lot!

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For the Love of God, No

God, please tell me this is fake... or some other couple... anything... Please, before my brain turns into Jello.

Via Monkey Disaster

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Mission Accomplished I Wish

Here's something from the private journal I keep (the one I don't post online):

I feel a distinct lack of stimulation.

It doesn't feel like depression, or even boredom, necessarily. Today's a day off from the Diamond Mines, and I've made rather insignificant progress on a multitude of tasks I wanted to accomplish today, accomplishing only two or three things of any real significance.

I feel like Peter Gibbons from Office Space after winning a million dollars. Only, I don't have a million dollars. I feel distractable. I've spent the last, I'd say two hours in this coffee shop (in no particular order)...

• Reading another story in the latest issue of Pindeldyboz.
  
• Going through the ringworld, since E and I recently saw Ringu.
  
• Having a nap.
  
• Mentally going over how I would like my wedding vows (E and I are going to construct ours).
  
• Reviewing notes I made from The Filipino Martial Arts that focus on basic movements relating to attack and deflection.

Of these things, I'd say I only accomplished one thing. But, that brings to mind several questions. Was I really planning to have all of Pindeldyboz 4 read? Was I really planning to have my wedding vows drafted by the end of today? Was I going to finish outlining the whole of the Inosanto book? Not really. So, just what is it am I in a tizzy about? Why do I feel so dissatisfied? What would satisfy me?

Perhaps it's more accurate to say that I feel a distinct lack of focus.

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Today's Reflection

If the inside is on the outside
There is no pain

- Sons of Champlin, 1982-A

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Oldies But Goodies

The other night, E and I sat down to an old favorite, Glengarry Glen Ross. Watch it once for the David Mamet script and laugh at the large helpings of profanity and verbal abuse the characters heap upon one another. Watch it again to see it for the fascinating study of human nature that it is. And to think it almost didn't get made, despite the cast list - Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, and Jonathan Harris. It took five years to get funding because the film contained no sex or (physical) violence.

I don't want to spoil it, but I just have to comment about the ultimate outcome of the sales contest that was part of the basis of the film (Highlight the area below for SPOILERS):

SPOILER (Don't say I didn't warn you!)
The four workers are given an ultimatum by their employers. There's a sales contest where whoever comes in fourth place will be fired. Ricky Roma (Pacino) is the top salesman on the board. He's on a streak and in no danger. Moss (Harris) is a distant second, and conspires to steal the company's premium leads and sell them to a competitor. He tries to enlist Aaronow (Arkin), a milquetoast at the bottom of the board, to help him. The last salesman, Shelley Levine (Lemmon) isn't even on the board. He struggles between his financial problems and denying the fact that he's a has-been.

At the end of the movie, you can clearly infer that both Moss and Levine are eliminated from the "dog eat dog" contest (i.e. life) because of their choices. This leaves the positions of the lucky/skilled/talented Roma and the weak milquetoast Aaronow - who, despite his utter lack of sales performance, is able to continue on - intact.
END SPOILER

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Trust No One

...because apparently, no one can seem to come up with a convincing reason to trust them over anyone else.

Is the truth about the 9/11 crash of Flight 77 to be found in the link I referenced here, or in this month's cover story in Popular Mechanics? I read bits of the article in the hard copy version. But, apart from the "We're PM, b!+ch!" vibe, I really didn't see any reason to trust that their interpretation of the facts was necessarily any more valid than the ones from various wackos anyone else's. Oh sure, PM's photos were cleaner. Being a long-running print magazine doesn't hurt, either. Neither does not having hard rock music playing behind your thankfully absent Flash presentation.

So, what happened? I don't know, but I've got more coffee to drink.

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Day Off

A wise man once said...

I don’t need another long coffee break
I’ve had as much coffee as a man can take
I need to change my disposition
Change my point of view
I need time to figure out what I want to do

- Huey Lewis & the News, Couple Days Off

Well, maybe after one more cup of coffee...

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Fight Club

Well, how can last night's session top the last one I wrote about? There was no blood to be had, whatsoever.

Last night, I noticed just how much my awareness has expanded doing padwork without the use of my specs. I simply can't make the mistake of focusing, say, on a fist and thus react too late when it starts coming. I've no other choice than to focus on what I see, namely, a mass with four limbs. I'm simply forced to look for the any telegraph I can find before the technique is thrown.

So, all that being said, I don't know why it was that basics like my left hook sucked last night, but my spear knees were going off well.

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Regeneration

Yes, much like the good Doctor, I've changed my appearance... at the bottom of the right menu bar, that is, with the help of Portrait Illustration Maker. I'm glad this Doctor didn't come and subject me to his mental domination for borrowing his image.


Here are some I made, in order of preference. 

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Torn

I've ranted a bit on this before - a commentary on NPR by author Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) on Misunderstanding the First Amendment. I largely agreed with his main point...

The First Amendent protects you from being jailed, tortured, or executed for speaking your mind. Period. It is part of the United States Constitution, which sets the rules for how our government behaves. It does not protect you from the consequences of making an ass out of yourself. It is a little bit touching that so many Americans equate losing your gig in Las Vegas, or the distributor for your film, or your cushy role as a corporate spokesman, with genuine government oppression.

For no real reason apart from a few spare minutes of time on my hands here and there, I've revisited that position. I haven't recanted. But, I'm wrestling with the notion that there are powerful people, some powerful enough to be de facto governments in and of themselves, who can shut down your ability to express yourself as effectively as any government soldier from a true dictatorial regime. Whether it's via lawsuits, spin-doctoring or threats to your economic well-being, the end result is the same as if some Federali held a knife to your throat.

But, here's the point where it takes me back around to my original point of view. If you have the intelligence and the wherewithal to put together a logical, yet controversial argument about, say, the price of tea in China, then you should have the intelligence to know that you could be ticking some people off. And, at that point, doesn't it become like any other life choice where you actually, God forbid, have to weigh out the potential consequences of your actions before deciding to run your mouth?

I haven't decided yet. But, the reason the whole thing has come back to the forefront of my mind was this story...

Academic Freedom in the Post-Sept. 11 Era

Talk of the Nation, February 9, 2005 · A controversial essay by a University of Colorado professor has state officials calling for his ouster.

I realize the situation is different because the concept of academic freedom comes into play here. But, when state officials start sticking their nose in there... well, it's messy, isn't it?

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

I get asked this question often enough. Now, I'll be able to answer...

You Are From Neptune

You are dreamy and mystical, with a natural psychic ability. You love music, poetry, dance, and (most of all) the open sea. Your soul is filled with possibilities, and your heart overflows with compassion. You can be in a room full of friendly people and feel all alone. If you don't get carried away with one idea, your spiritual nature will see you through anything.

What Planet Are You From?

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I'm Seriously Mourning

Robert Palmer, Johnny Cash, ODB (ok, just kidding about that one)... and now...

Jazz Organ Pioneer Jimmy Smith Dies
Wed Feb 9, 2005 5:00 PM ET

By Arthur Spiegelman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Organist Jimmy Smith, who helped change the sound of jazz by almost single-handedly introducing the electric riffs of the Hammond B-3 organ, has died at age 79 at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, his record label said on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Concord record label said Smith died of natural causes.

Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 8, 1925, Smith ruled the Hammond B-3 in the 1950s and 1960s and blended jazz, blues, R&B, bebop and even gospel into an exciting stew that came to known as "soul jazz" -- an idiom that produced imitators, followers and fans.

If you don't check out any of the classics listed in the article, one album you should definitely check out is Damn! Besides his version of Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, there's this arrangement of Herbie's Watermelon Man that's a must for anyone tired of the same old version redone over and over.

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Bandwidth Conservation Post

...because, as most of you know, I don't do spam. I could, but the majority of people in my address book would likely jam objects into my eye sockets if I did.

Meme sent by E...

1.What time did you get up this morning?
9:55 AM

2.Diamonds or pearls?
Diamonds (bling bling!)

3.What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
House of Flying Daggers

4.What is your favorite TV show?
Blake's 7

5.What did you have for breakfast?
A sausage and egg sandwich, coffee.

6.What is your middle name?
Francisco Garcia Chavez y Chavez (just kidding)

7.What is your favorite meal?
Meat

8.What foods do you dislike?
Tomatoes

9.What is your favorite chip flavor?
Kettle-cooked jalapeno

10.What is your favorite CD at the moment?
Robert Lamm's Subtlety & Passion

11.What kind of car do you drive?
E's

12.Favorite sandwich?
Any italian sub with no tomato and liberal helpings of Helmann's mayo.

13.What characteristics do you despise?
"Know-it-all" arrogance from a person who just can't shut up, and wouldn't give a serious listen to a dissenting opinion in any case.

14.Favorite item of clothing?
My dad's old 1972 leather jacket.

15.If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?
The Philippines - I need to try bahi sticks, since kamagongs are no good here.

16.Favorite brand of clothing?
Whatever I can afford.

17.Where would you (like to) retire?
Yellow Springs, OH or anywhere on the west coast.

18.What was your most memorable birthday?
Honestly -- I can't remember.

19.Favorite sport to watch?
Tennis

20.Who do you least expect to send this back to you?
N/A - that's why I do it this way.

21.Person you expect to send it back first?
N/A/ - that's why I do it this way.

22.What fabric detergent do you use?
E's (i.e. Purex (no scent, no color))

23.Coke or Pepsi?
Coke, but only if it's Vanilla Coke

24.Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Night owl.

25.What is your shoe size?
8 1/2EEE

26.Do you have any pets?
Nope.

27.Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with your family and friends?
Anyone who needs to know, knows what's up.

28.What did you want to be when you were little?
Batman

29.What are you meant to be doing today?
Sitting in a coffee shop, writing hilarious and/or creepy prose.

30.What is your favorite cocktail??
Manhattan

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Fight Club: Motherf*&@!

Ok, truth to tell, I'm not all that upset. DATU_B and I have shown that kamagong (or whatever it was we had), no matter the density or diameter, will shatter in North America. Mine took a mere 4 hits (read: 1 "test" and 3 full power shots) against combat-grade rattan before it broke cleanly in two. A picture will be forthcoming.

Another lesson we learned was that a bad time to practice espada y daga techniques is after your limbs feel like lead after BJJ free-rolling. Such a scenario lends itself to, say, one's own stick ricocheting back into one's own eyebrow, cutting it open.

Sorry, DATU_B.

I almost didn't participate in the free-rolling, being fully cognizant of just how long I'd been without any BJJ training. You can call it cowardly, but my first move out of the gate was a clean rear-naked. But, after being chided by DATU_B, I loosened up and grappled fair and square. The good news is, I've still got all that hubud-inspired defense; I never felt in any danger of getting tapped. The bad news is that it wasn't until I got gassed when I started remembering my guard escapes and other simple transitions. I give points to myself for jumping in, though. After all, how else do you remember the things you have to work on, right?

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An Open Letter to the Band Chicago

Ok, Chicago, you've got one more chance. The next album you release better be an album of NEW material, NOT another repackaging of your greatest hits with a couple of new songs thrown in of the sort you've been releasing for what's been damn near a decade now. I've been holding out since Chicago XXVI, now. So, having every numbered album from CTA on, how many versions of You're the Inspiration, 25 or 6 to 4, Beginnings, Hard Habit to Break, & Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away does that make, now? I shudder to count. I even bought your live DVDs.

As of today, I don't feel a damn bit sorry for "finding" a copy of Stone of Sisyphus (although, I'd still pay for it if you released it). I know this -- when I "find" copies of Philip Bailey singing If You Leave Me Now and Bill Champlin singing After the Love Is Gone (a version of which I've already "found"), I'm not going to feel the least bit bad about it.

Disgustingly,
Don

PS I'd take it all back if you released a live concert album consisting mainly of songs from Chicago VII.

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Slight Scare

So, DATU_B calls me up about 30 minutes ago to tell me that The Traceless Warrior commented about this blog -- kind comments, at that. Being the kind of guy he is, DATU_B just had to throw in a joke about, "Yeah, you've been challenged to a patayan by a Silat master." I could feel my life think about starting to flash before my eyes before he goes, "Nah, just kidding."

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Priorities

DATU_B sent me this presentation about the Flight 77 strike to the Pentagon on 9/11. Or, was it?

Could be real. Could be fake. The point is that all these years later, people are still looking for whatever it is they consider "the truth" behind it all. Me? I'm still wondering about who was mailing all that anthrax around. But, what does it say about me when, overshadowing these issues are: How to finish this story I'm writing, how to structure my personal training time, and whether I should settle for downloading the five minute edit of James Brown's Super Bad or hold out until I find the nine minute version?

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Damn, I Love This Blog

By the Traceless Warrior - more on knife training, the perceived ease of dealing with a grappler, and something for grapplers who read that article and got to feeling cocky.

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In No Particular Order...

ONE
A friend of mine at the Diamond Mines was (is?) a Bando practicioner (he goes fishing with the grandmaster occassionally). We were talking about my kamagong/ironwood problems. Well, not really "problems," as I still have two intact sticks -- but, for how long? Anyway, he related an analogy of a relative who travelled abroad who made himself drink the local water to acclimate to whatever nasty buggers might be in there. Anyway, this guy suggested to me that we could be having a parallel problem, transplanting tropical ironwood sticks for use here. So, he offered me some spare ironwood from his property. That was his name for it... "ironwood" (probably Ostrya virginiana, but I'm not sure). I asked him to cut me a pair at serrada length. I even gave him my cannibalized serrada stick I got from a broken training stick at Fight Club. Yesterday, he showed me a sample and returned my stick. This wood is pretty damn hard... one crack with it, and I destroyed my old stick. The only thing is, my friend doesn't have a lathe, but I don't care. The diameter is right, they're straight and with a pair of them - that sounded very homoerotic, didn't it? Anyway, the point is that they'll make good weapons.

TWO
I'm at the coffee shop right now, and again all the hipsters know a cool, genuine vintage leather 1972 coat when they see one and can deliver the appropriate compliments.

Speaking of the coffee shop, I'll be damned... someone's sitting at a table right in front of me with a cup from the freakin' Starbucks! Got'damn, that's just rude. I wish I had a camera right now.

THREE
Here's a bit of hilarity from American Conservative - could the Right end up scared of itself? Good.

February 14, 2005 Issue
Copyright © 2005 The American Conservative

Hunger for Dictatorship

War to export democracy may wreck our own.

by Scott McConnell

[snip]

But Rockwell (and Roberts and Raimondo) is correct in drawing attention to a mood among some conservatives that is at least latently fascist. Rockwell describes a populist Right website that originally rallied for the impeachment of Bill Clinton as “hate-filled ... advocating nuclear holocaust and mass bloodshed for more than a year now.” One of the biggest right-wing talk-radio hosts regularly calls for the mass destruction of Arab cities. Letters that come to this magazine from the pro-war Right leave no doubt that their writers would welcome the jailing of dissidents. And of course it’s not just us. When USA Today founder Al Neuharth wrote a column suggesting that American troops be brought home sooner rather than later, he was blown away by letters comparing him to Tokyo Rose and demanding that he be tried as a traitor. That mood, Rockwell notes, dwarfs anything that existed during the Cold War. “It celebrates the shedding of blood, and exhibits a maniacal love of the state. The new ideology of the red-state bourgeoisie seems to actually believe that the US is God marching on earth—not just godlike, but really serving as a proxy for God himself.”

Ah, the things that make you smile. If people in their own party are raising eyebrows, I wonder just what it'll take for the average Joe Blows to fall into mass hysteria. You'd have thought it would've happened by now.

FOUR
I don't know, but I hope the GOP's worst fear comes true and Bill Clinton somehow ends up the Secretary-General of the UN.

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True FMA Training

Well, I skipped Fight Club again last night, after finally getting the coach's pass and all. Oh, well. Mrs. DATU_B has been out of town, so the man invited me over. After a Tecate or three, we played with kamagong and watched The Punisher, which was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I wished The Russian was played by Dolph, but that's just a fanboy talking. The same fanboy who isn't too keen on watching The Matrix IV Constantine. Oh, I'll give it a chance, but I refuse to see it until a couple of weeks after it premieres. That way, I'll only have to worry about the hard core Hellblazer fans seeing it for the 20th time, because they'll usually keep their yaps quiet enough as they fixate on whether whatever demon is depicted is modeled after First of the Fallen, Second, or Third.

Speaking of kamagong, we put B's remaining, intact stick next to mine and saw that whatever we have (because this is the first time either of us have seen kamagong up close), we've got two different types of wood. The color, texture (although that could just be the finish on mine), weight, and density are different. Oddly enough, we couldn't seem to bust his remaining stick with mine - but that could've been the Tecate. We thought maybe that I could have a different wood like bahi or something. But, I distinctly remember the sales tag on my sticks saying "kamagong," although in the P.I. you can never be too sure. But, either that's the case, or DATU_B just got straight ripped off. That's ok, I promised him sticks from the Old Country the next chance I get. Sheesh, if I'd have known my folks could get their hands on sticks like I got for less than $4.00USD, I'd have asked for 10 pairs.

Somewhere in there, he showed me some training techniques he picked up from a seminar by Inosanto himself (aka "God"). Espada y daga after a couple of beers in the kitchen. That's what's called traditional FMA training. All that's missing are the patayan challenges, but I don't wanna screw with that (at least not 'til I find out how strong these "kamagongs," or whatever the heck I have, are).

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More Tricks

This is along the lines of this picture that I've made reference to not too long ago. It's a minute-long .avi video from Filipino Combat Systems. In it is a demonstration of various methods of closing the distance. But the real interesting stuff takes place after the 30-second mark when the man to the left does some very interesting-looking close range stuff.

Can't wait 'til Fight Club tonight, especially now that I've got my Coaches Pass!

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

Which Nigerian spammer are You?

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We're Not Worthy!

This is why The Traceless Warrior is my favorite blog. Not only can he make an angry, yet completely thorough argument against a quiet movement to allow non-US-born citizens to become President, but he can also dispense knife training tips.

I bow down to this blog. My blog wants to be like his when it grows up!

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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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