Downer

It looks like The Wife's income is going to get cut in half next semester at The Other School on the Hill. I'll tell you, she didn't waste to much time. She's on the hustle, even now, looking at leads.

We're not gonna starve or anything, not even close (at least not for a couple of months). We may have to do without new high-end consumer electronics after the new year, but still...

EDIT: What is it with all these people conducting their business off-hours? When E got the email informing her about her one section being closed, it was dated Saturday afternoon. What, the dude was chilling out on his couch when he realized, "Ooh, damn...I knew I forgot something?"

And just now, well after business hours, she gets an email about a potential lead? I mean, I do freelance stuff, so I understand emailing at all hours, but jeez.

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Put That Coffee Down

So, B's got some bad news on his blog. But, it's not gonna keep him down. One door shuts, and he automatically starts feeling around for another one. I gotta hand it to him for that, and for working in sales. I couldn't do it.

This has been up before, but this one goes out to him and all you salesfolks out there: Alec Baldwin's speech in Glengarry Glen Ross.

You may have to turn up the volume on the Quicktime module to hear it. Oh, and it's written by David Mamet, so that should clue you in on how SFW it is.

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Merry Christmas!

Yeah, I said it! If there really is a war on X-Mas, then consider this my Lapu Lapu bit to defend my island against the Conquistadores. C'mon, Magellan--I dare you to knock this battery off my shoulder. And, I got this picture, too. How d'you like them apples?

Hey, it could be worse. I could be Huey Freeman.

The Christmas preparations are mostly done. Everything is bought that needed to be bought. I myself signed and licked over 40 envelopes. Sure, The Wife wrote and addressed them, but I was the one who ended up with the dry heaves after I hit 35 licks.

Needless to say the "Don & Wife Travelling Family Revue" hits the road again for a few dates in Elmira and Cleveland, starting tomorrow.

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Congratulations to Datu_B dba Glengarry. New job, new digs, and a new life. Here's to you! And, remember: "Always Be Closing."

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Want to know what makes another good present besides Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire - Live at the Greek Theatre? Read Demo written by Brian Wood with art by Becky Cloonan. Or, if you're "too good" for that sort of thing, check out The Portable Dorothy Parker. That's just two of the dozens of things I'm reading lately that are so good, I can't read just one all the way through.

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Degrees of Separation: 3

Last night, The Wife and I entertained a government agent in our home.

I pondered letting that line stand by its lonesome in this entry, but I don't want to worry anyone :). Actually, this person is an old high school friend of The Wife's who was back in their old stomping grounds which are a stone's throw from Ithaca, so he visited.

He's a real nice guy. It was weird how much his mannerisms resembled those of our friend in Columbus who's in the CPD. They're even about the same height and build, now that I think of it. He and The Wife shared a lot of stories about the good ol' days, and he had a lot of cool stories about the vagaries of life as a G-Man. I learned lots of interesting things.

• According to him, it's rather difficult for his agency to actually arrest people. Now, there are circumstances where he could presumably just take you out. But, to arrest you, he has to get it cleared with his supervisor who in turn must have it cleared with the US Attorney.
  
• "The most powerful Federal Laws," as E's friend put it (jokingly, I think), are 18 USC §711 and 18 USC §711a which prohibit misuse of the characters and slogans relating to Smoky Bear and Woodsy Owl, respectively, either of which could get you six months.
  
• I'm a mere three degrees of separation from this incident

Hey, The Man is still The Man, but still...

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Road Trip 2005 - Day 4A

How about some more long overdue pictures of the ol' Road Trip?

Most of day four was spent in the City of Rochester, about two hours away from Elmira, where The Wife had "that interview that didn't turn out so well." It wasn't like she fell apart, or anything like that. Just that the face-to-face details about the gig were vastly different from what was discussed via emails and the phone interview.

Remember this little one?


Well, he had lunch with her and her mother before E's interview at a place where I had a pepperoni and egg sandwich for the first time. It was also the first time I ever saw one of these roving billboard thingys (sorry I only caught the tail end of it).


Afterward, E went off to her interview and I got taken on a quick tour of Rochester. I saw a million and one things, not the least of which was the corporate HQ for Kodak. My favorites were the School of the Arts and High Falls.




I'll post about the rest of the day later. Got stuff to do right now.

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Friday the 18th

ANGLE 1
T-Minus 5 days to wedded bliss!!

ANGLE 2
Last night, E and I trolled video stores to score a copy of the new Battlestar Galactica mini on DVD. We couldn't find one, but I happened on a pre-viewed copy of the film American Adobo on sale for $4.95. I remembered reading a blurb about this somewhere, sometime back. News about Filipino-American movies tends to grab my attention for a split second. I figured the worst case scenario was that, if it sucked, at least I'd be taking it off the local market.

I didn't know how right I was. You know, I think I'll make this a separate entry, because the movie sort of ticked me off.

On a good note, I'm glad I splurged on a near-mint, used copy of Hero!

ANGLE 3
We did manage to watch Ju-On, better known by its American remake The Grudge. It was pretty frightening. Director Takashi Shimizu has quite the bag of tricks. Unfortunately, that's all the movie was. Definitely a triumph of style over substance. But then, aren't all the better horror movies that way? ("Better," I said -- not "best.")

ANGLE 4
Ann Marie has played the interview game! Thanks!

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Two out of five people have Played the Interview Game! Who are the lucky three going to be?

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Quick Updates

UNO
Last Tuesday after Fight Club, DATU_B and I experimented with some of the techniques shared by Mushtaq Ali. I initially had it in my mind to retrain myself from the beginning when it came to certain techniques -- I'll probably do that on my own.

B thought it best that we train in the context of Muay Thai basics, particularly as it relates to the defense AND attack with the right side of my body. This includes the basic shin blocking, jamming with my right side using the “Superman” entrance, and everything in-between.

It’s probably a good idea to try and push all of my kung-fu blocking to the back burner for awhile. At 40% speed (note to self - I was told “Tai Chi” speed, really) and 1/10 of the power, my arms are sore as hell from trying to soak kicks. Of course, exposing my forearms for a pounding during a demo during Fight Club didn't help, either.

But, that begs the question, doesn’t it - What am I training for? If I learn to soak a kick with my arms, then isn’t that a good thing? Besides hardening them, isn’t it worth taking one or two to get within range for a finishing technique? Or, do I train to go toe to toe, in which case, two soaks with my forearms becomes an extremely bad idea.

TWO
T-Minus 13 days to wedded bliss!

Incidentally, I gave E five questions for the Interview Game -- see below.

THREE
Today, in 1927, my father was born.

FOUR

I feel like a kid again! 

The new series isn't due to premiere for another three weeks. But, because of... umm... a time slip... I saw the first episode, entitled Rose. Don't ask how, because if you do, my explanation will consist largely of Doctor Who temporal technobabble.

The episode was great! If only Paul McGann's 1996 TV movie could've been like this. It could've, really, if Fox hadn't tried to make it too American. I nominate him as the first recipient of the Timothy Dalton I-Should've-Been-a-Contender Award.

God, I spent excessive amounts of time taping all the Doctor Who I could from PBS when I was a kid. I was to Who what a Trekkie is to Trek, except for going to conventions. Anyway, this episode is classic Doctor Who without the cardboard cutout backdrops and rubber suited aliens. It was how the Jon Pertwee-era story Spearhead from Space should've been done. And, I like the new metrosexual look, too. I was worried that the whole thing would end up being too Matrix-y, but it wasn't.

The title sequence is very, how shall we say, very 2000. If I would've seen this in 1988, I would've been blown away. Now, it's still exciting, but please... that whole "freeze frame while the camera appears to circle you" effect has long since been out. That being said, I like the new logo.

I like the new Doctor, too. Christopher Eccleston's, who I didn't know was in Shallow Grave, for pete's sake, take on The Doctor is very reminiscent of Patrick Troughton's (who got, arguably, the biggest post-Who exposure with a cameo in The Omen). Actually, it's more reminiscent of Peter Davison's reminicence of Patrick Troughton. Of course, unless you're a Who geek, you'll have no idea what I'm blathering on about.

Incidentally, the BBC's Doctor Who Site has been redesigned. Check it out!

And, to think the Sci-Fi Channel passed on this. Lexx, Black Scorpion, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and let's not forget, Ghost (yes, Moore and Swaze) are fine. But, why take a chance on the longest-running sci-fi franchise in history.

FIVE
For awhile, you'll see the following line at the bottom of each post, at least until I get four more people to volunteer:

***
It's not too late - Play the Interview Game!

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Expanding Universe

That is, my blog universe. Since one good turn/linkback deserves another...

Meet Ann Marie - bon vivant, fellow lover of Fran Lebowitz (I mean that in the "afficianado" sense), and co-author of the book Cooking to Hook Up. I've made reference to her and the book a few posts back.

Hey, I just realized. Yet another CA person. Silat instructors and authors. Quite the varied mix you meet on the internet, isn't it? Hey, maybe I need to take a tour to that end of the country. I could visit people and make up for the missed opportunity I had to attend a seminar with Guro Dan Inosanto when he was nearby.

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Interview Game

I never, ever do these, but I make an exception today, a) because of the respectability of the source and b) because the questions are pretty interesting.

Mushtaq Ali asks:

1. What is the best thing about being American?

The best thing has to be the quality of life. Even though no one used these exact words, the one thing that's been subtly communicated to me all of my life by my parents and relatives is that for everything that might be wrong with this country, the standard of living is still unmatched, at least compared to the Philippines. Why else do upper middle class families with 2.5 servants per household put up with the shock of emigration and discovering that they have to do their own laundry? That's not a stereotype -- I have names and numbers if you don't believe me.

My father will be the first to tell you about everything that's wrong with this country. If he likes you, he may tell you all the problems he's experienced financially, culturally, and interpersonally. He'll also tell you that compared to being in the Bataan Death March and living under Japanese occupation, and everything else between then and Marcos' martial law, it hasn't been that bad over here.

2. Twenty years from now, what is one thing that is still delighting you about your soon-to-be- wife?

That's an easy one - we will no doubt still be relishing in obscure and arcane references from various cult sci-fi/fantasy, music, anime, etc. Twenty years from now, we will still gape at something weird and crack up, saying, "It is... Bizarrrrrooooo!"

3. You have just received round trip tickets for two to anywhere in the world, where do you go, who do you take with you?

In general, it's safe to say "somewhere in Asia." If E has any say, it will be Tibet or Korea. If I have any say, it will be the Philippines. We would also be going for the same general purpose, namely to connect with our deep interests at the places where these interests have their origins. In E's case, it will be her love of Korean culture or to deepen her experience of Tibetan Buddhism. For me, well... "*Clak* *Clak* Ow, my tender American hands!"

4. The time machine is finally working, you get to spend a day with any one person in history, who will it be?

Louis Armstrong. This is no joke, I want a trumpet lesson with Louis Armstrong. If it was a 24 hour session, so much the better. Heck, I wouldn't even have to play anything myself - just sit there with a tape recorder and ask him playing questions. His was the first "musical genius" that I ever connected with.

5. What section do you visit first in the bookstore?

Lately, I've noticed that I've been going to the magazine racks first to look at some literary journals, maybe the sci-fi magazines, and then the martial arts magazines where I spend the most time (big surprise). I used to head first to the "Sports" books, but I've noticed over the past couple of years that all the FMA books have all but disappeared (not a big deal, since I have about 5/6 of the ones available through your general retail outlets).

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If YOU, the instant gratification reader would like to participate, follow these simple rules...

THE INTERVIEW GAME RULES:
Here's how you can play the interview game:
1. Leave me a comment saying "interview me." The first five commenters will be the participants.
2. I will respond by asking you five questions.
3. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. (Write your own questions or borrow some.)

If possible, leave an email address, and I will email you the questions directly.

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