Friday, January 23, 2004
Yesterday, I obtained my first, aside from the balisongs that my parents brought back from the PI, combat-grade martial arts weapons - hardened, rattan kali sticks. Not that stuff that you order from Inside Kung Fu magazine or get at the local martial arts shop that splinters and shatters. We're talking the stuff that fended off Toledo steel and Japanese katanas.
I need to get in some martial arts movie this weekend. I'd really like to find Shaolin Soccer or 36th Chamber of Shaolin somewhere in this wretched town, but have so far been unable. At least, I need to rent The Hunted again, and despite what E says, I CAN use it as a training video :).
I need to get in some martial arts movie this weekend. I'd really like to find Shaolin Soccer or 36th Chamber of Shaolin somewhere in this wretched town, but have so far been unable. At least, I need to rent The Hunted again, and despite what E says, I CAN use it as a training video :).
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Yes, five days with nary an entry. So, what have I been doing?
UNO
Well, E and I watched Bulletproof Monk a few days ago. She didn't go off about the grossly inaccurate portrayals of Tibetan monastics as much as I thought she might. Me, I just won't pass up any chance to see Chow Yun-Fat whip around in "two-fisted gun mode" even if for but a second.
OK, Yun-Fat, we know you can act in comedies and dramas. Anyone worth a damn knows you're far more than just some action star. Now, when am I gonna get to see you leap around and kill 20 people in one scene with glocks in both hands again?
DOS
I've seen evidence that my tolerance of idiocy and foolishness at work has greatly diminished. I've found myself showing righteous anger and contempt toward a couple of people who pissed me off last week.
The first is FLASH GORDON. A dim-witted sort. He's the kind of guy who likes to make little racially-slanted jokes -- the sort-of-innocent kind that might tempt you to laugh if the joke was funny. Unfortunately, his jokes never are and people (myself, a minority person, included) are in fact more put off and offended by his sheer stupidity than by any racial comment he makes.
Well, I tolerated all of that, and his slack-jawed troglodye nature that's so far inhibited him from doing his job effectively, until late last week when he proceeded to invade my personal space. I spoke to him in a private place where I fully intended to pummel his remaining IQ out of him, but instead reiterated rather forcefully that I didn't appreciate his antics.
According to the consensus, I should've just beat him with a crowbar.
The second "hall-of-famer" is THE RENNAISANCE MAN. (I don't know if I spelled that right -- I'll edit it later.) This person decides to interrupt my mental work groove by dinging me in the hand with one of those super-balls. Yes, harmless in and of itself. And, from anyone else (except for FLASH GORDON) I might've been able to laugh it off. But this guy wasn't even close to apologetic until I got loud, and finally told him to just "get the hell away from me."
RM here is one of those people who always has some kind of story about something he knows that you don't. Or, something he did that thinks will automatically garner him some respect. Sorry, RM -- get your positive ego strokes somewhere else like from PCP or something. Anyway, why the name? Apparently, he's generated so many stories that some have taken to generating an annotated list of them.
Oh, and the consensus as to how I should've reacted in this case? Same as the first -- a merciless beatdown.
TRES
Note to B -- the nickname's coming, I swear.
Speaking of Club, I can feel that my sorry-@$$ Filipino martial arts skills are already a light-year ahead of where I was. It's so totally worth every overpriced penny I'm paying for it! And, Thursday I get new kali sticks!
QUATRO
Yes, today I'm going to let a day's worth of posts on the mailing list I'm on just sliiiide by. No need for me to comment today. Well, at least until after work 10 hours from now.
UNO
Well, E and I watched Bulletproof Monk a few days ago. She didn't go off about the grossly inaccurate portrayals of Tibetan monastics as much as I thought she might. Me, I just won't pass up any chance to see Chow Yun-Fat whip around in "two-fisted gun mode" even if for but a second.
OK, Yun-Fat, we know you can act in comedies and dramas. Anyone worth a damn knows you're far more than just some action star. Now, when am I gonna get to see you leap around and kill 20 people in one scene with glocks in both hands again?
DOS
I've seen evidence that my tolerance of idiocy and foolishness at work has greatly diminished. I've found myself showing righteous anger and contempt toward a couple of people who pissed me off last week.
The first is FLASH GORDON. A dim-witted sort. He's the kind of guy who likes to make little racially-slanted jokes -- the sort-of-innocent kind that might tempt you to laugh if the joke was funny. Unfortunately, his jokes never are and people (myself, a minority person, included) are in fact more put off and offended by his sheer stupidity than by any racial comment he makes.
Well, I tolerated all of that, and his slack-jawed troglodye nature that's so far inhibited him from doing his job effectively, until late last week when he proceeded to invade my personal space. I spoke to him in a private place where I fully intended to pummel his remaining IQ out of him, but instead reiterated rather forcefully that I didn't appreciate his antics.
According to the consensus, I should've just beat him with a crowbar.
The second "hall-of-famer" is THE RENNAISANCE MAN. (I don't know if I spelled that right -- I'll edit it later.) This person decides to interrupt my mental work groove by dinging me in the hand with one of those super-balls. Yes, harmless in and of itself. And, from anyone else (except for FLASH GORDON) I might've been able to laugh it off. But this guy wasn't even close to apologetic until I got loud, and finally told him to just "get the hell away from me."
RM here is one of those people who always has some kind of story about something he knows that you don't. Or, something he did that thinks will automatically garner him some respect. Sorry, RM -- get your positive ego strokes somewhere else like from PCP or something. Anyway, why the name? Apparently, he's generated so many stories that some have taken to generating an annotated list of them.
Oh, and the consensus as to how I should've reacted in this case? Same as the first -- a merciless beatdown.
TRES
Note to B -- the nickname's coming, I swear.
Speaking of Club, I can feel that my sorry-@$$ Filipino martial arts skills are already a light-year ahead of where I was. It's so totally worth every overpriced penny I'm paying for it! And, Thursday I get new kali sticks!
QUATRO
Yes, today I'm going to let a day's worth of posts on the mailing list I'm on just sliiiide by. No need for me to comment today. Well, at least until after work 10 hours from now.
When I'm more awake and I feel like it, I'll change the book listing in the sidebar. Until then, know that I'm 4 chapters into Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser. I expected to be suprised, but not disturbed.
Unlike most of the people I know who've read this book, I'm not swearing off any Happy Meals just yet. Yes, I'm a tool of the psychologically-marketed, chemically-enhanced, economically-vampiric, uniformly-mass-produced system.
Unlike most of the people I know who've read this book, I'm not swearing off any Happy Meals just yet. Yes, I'm a tool of the psychologically-marketed, chemically-enhanced, economically-vampiric, uniformly-mass-produced system.
Friday, January 16, 2004
ITEM ONE
I've been rather involved lately with responding to posts from a LRP mailing list I'm on. I almost forgot how the thrill of intellectual battle can be as good as from physical combat.
ITEM TWO
Looks like I've garnered at least one more reader here. Blogger has tutorials on What to do if your Mom discovers your blog and How Not to Get Fired Because of Your Blog. They need to include a tutorial on "How to Avoid Serious Injury In Case Someone From Your Martial Arts Club Discovers Your Blog" -- you know, just in case.
Message to B: Don't worry -- you'll get your nickname soon enough.
ITEM THREE
I put a question on a ricebowljournals.com forum about handwraps - how essential were they when doing a lot of punching and hand work. Up until then (last Thursday), between my previous martial arts experience and the club sessions I've attended before, I never felt the need.
Wouldn't you know that the night I attended Club after posting my question, two of the knuckles on my left hand get shredded? Story of my life, huh?
More later. I gotta go. But, one last thing (see above).
I've been rather involved lately with responding to posts from a LRP mailing list I'm on. I almost forgot how the thrill of intellectual battle can be as good as from physical combat.
ITEM TWO
Looks like I've garnered at least one more reader here. Blogger has tutorials on What to do if your Mom discovers your blog and How Not to Get Fired Because of Your Blog. They need to include a tutorial on "How to Avoid Serious Injury In Case Someone From Your Martial Arts Club Discovers Your Blog" -- you know, just in case.
Message to B: Don't worry -- you'll get your nickname soon enough.
ITEM THREE
I put a question on a ricebowljournals.com forum about handwraps - how essential were they when doing a lot of punching and hand work. Up until then (last Thursday), between my previous martial arts experience and the club sessions I've attended before, I never felt the need.
Wouldn't you know that the night I attended Club after posting my question, two of the knuckles on my left hand get shredded? Story of my life, huh?
More later. I gotta go. But, one last thing (see above).
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Quick post about some MMAC cast member updates:
ONE-ARMED BANDIT isn't a complete b@$tard after all. It turns out he'd actually like to be shown a couple of my kung-fu long forms. He also indicated that he knew some "pine tree cell" forms (whether from Song Moo Kwan TKD or Shotokan, I don't know); I'm always curious to see people from other schools do these forms.
TRENCHCOAT MAFIOSO isn't a complete b@$tard either. Once I decided to step out and interact with him while disregarding his previous b@$tard-ness, I discovered a rather personable individual.
More tomorrow, maybe.
ONE-ARMED BANDIT isn't a complete b@$tard after all. It turns out he'd actually like to be shown a couple of my kung-fu long forms. He also indicated that he knew some "pine tree cell" forms (whether from Song Moo Kwan TKD or Shotokan, I don't know); I'm always curious to see people from other schools do these forms.
TRENCHCOAT MAFIOSO isn't a complete b@$tard either. Once I decided to step out and interact with him while disregarding his previous b@$tard-ness, I discovered a rather personable individual.
More tomorrow, maybe.
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
"Confidential to T-Mobile: NASA is downloading 36 MB TIFFs from Mars and I only get 2 bars of signal on my cell phone inside my house. Please look into upgrading."
from diepunyhumans.com
Regardless of provider, or whether it's cell service or TV reception, nowhere is this more true than in the fine town of Athens, OH.
Yes, there have been a lot of these posts lately, haven't there?
I finally got my hands on the Kama Sutra of metroeroticism, The Metrosexual Guide to Style: A Handbook for the Modern Man by Michael Flocker. It's sort of interesting seeing how much of this stuff I've known almost since birth, and how much I am totally clueless about.
I thought it would be fun to see how I stack up to some of the various lists of standards scattered about the book. For instance, on page 86, we have "Ten Wardrobe Must-Haves." The items in bold are the ones I lack.
I finally got my hands on the Kama Sutra of metroeroticism, The Metrosexual Guide to Style: A Handbook for the Modern Man by Michael Flocker. It's sort of interesting seeing how much of this stuff I've known almost since birth, and how much I am totally clueless about.
I thought it would be fun to see how I stack up to some of the various lists of standards scattered about the book. For instance, on page 86, we have "Ten Wardrobe Must-Haves." The items in bold are the ones I lack.
- Three black T-shirts, three new white T-shirts
I got more black tees than you can shake a stick at. I have a fair amount of white tees, fairly new, but if "pocket Ts" don't count, as the book states, I need a couple more white ones.
- Two different pairs of flattering jeans
Check.
- One dark suit
$400 charcoal gray from Brooks Brothers.
- One leather or suede short coat (not a bomber jacket)
I'm a child of the 80s/90s -- I got a bomber jacket, sue me.
- Two rollneck or crewneck cable-knit sweaters
Check.
- Two pairs of dark, straight-leg, nonpleated pants
All my pants are pleated -- damn, damn damn.
- Three well-cut, solid-color, button-down shirts (one white)
I technically have them -- they may need to be cut a little better though, because I got them 5 years and 25 pounds ago.
- Quality sunglasses
Both prescription, look good, and cost INXS of $200 USD each.
- One expensive watch, one sports watch
Check.
- Flattering underwear
Unfortuneately, most of my underwear was from that "one score and 5 pounds ago" era.
Sunday, January 11, 2004
E and I are visiting friends in Columbus. A fun evening was had by all, but for the first time in a long time, the gallons (not really) of coffee I consumed left me a total insomniac. And, also for the first time in a long time, I've had immediate access to the internet to enable me to b!+ch about it. I'm dead serious here, it's 5:30 AM and I'm completely awake. I got a two-hour drive and an eight-hour work day ahead of me tomorrow
What to do, what to do...
What to do, what to do...
Saturday, January 10, 2004
So, I go in for another round of punishment on Thursday night. For the first hour, I got off my cowardly @$$ and dove straight in to the group doing the muay Thai pad drills. My most gruesome day ever in tae kwon do class was nothing compared to this. The typical TKD class will also have you run drills gradually increasing the number of techniques in a single drill. I think I've only done, at most, three or four techniques in a single TKD drill. Thursday night, I was doing between three and seven techniques per drill. God, I felt like a yellow belt all over again. Once again, I felt that way you get when you push your body a single step too far, that nauseous feeling in your gut as your body cries out to stop.
I loved every second of it.
In the second hour, I got in some more kali. Unfortunately, being the sole minority in the room (and the only Filipino doing the Filipino martial arts work), I've got a pretty high visibility level over there. People, especially the instructors, noticed that I didn't take the advice fromt he first session, namely to try the Filipino kali during one of the sessions this week, and the next session to try a lesson in Western (Irish) stick fighting offered simultaneously at the other session.
Hey, screw that. I chose to celebrate my cultural heritage.
I'm meeting some very interesting people from the spectrum of university life at the MMA Club. In the tradition of some of the fiction I've been reading lately, as well as some blogs I frequent, I'm going to start assembling a rough cast list.* Here are a few to start with:
*Ed. note: If anyone from the MMAC stumbles across this blog, and may potentially be offended by anything written here, I apologize in advance. The names I generate are to protect our mutual anonymity, and the opinions expressed are my own, so if you don't like them (and if you're not one of the instructors), well we can settle our differences the old fashioned way after any club session you want ;)
I loved every second of it.
In the second hour, I got in some more kali. Unfortunately, being the sole minority in the room (and the only Filipino doing the Filipino martial arts work), I've got a pretty high visibility level over there. People, especially the instructors, noticed that I didn't take the advice fromt he first session, namely to try the Filipino kali during one of the sessions this week, and the next session to try a lesson in Western (Irish) stick fighting offered simultaneously at the other session.
Hey, screw that. I chose to celebrate my cultural heritage.
I'm meeting some very interesting people from the spectrum of university life at the MMA Club. In the tradition of some of the fiction I've been reading lately, as well as some blogs I frequent, I'm going to start assembling a rough cast list.* Here are a few to start with:
*Ed. note: If anyone from the MMAC stumbles across this blog, and may potentially be offended by anything written here, I apologize in advance. The names I generate are to protect our mutual anonymity, and the opinions expressed are my own, so if you don't like them (and if you're not one of the instructors), well we can settle our differences the old fashioned way after any club session you want ;)
TRENCHCOAT MAFIOSO - This is a guy I recognize from frequenting a certain coffee shop in town. He appears to be a student, and always wears a rather nice, long tan trenchcoat with a button or two on the lapels of a liberal nature. He seems to be a decent fighter - I watched him spar with someone after class.
But, he ticked me off Thursday night while we were doing kali hand-sensitivity drills (to increase one's reaction-time in close quarter hand-to-hand situations). We were rotating partners, and while some were pleased at my speed and upped their game accordingly, this person twice requested that I slow down. Slow down?? F**k that -- I'm there to freakin' train. Hey, I got smacked myself by people going faster than me a couple of times. I don't have time for no pansy ass weekend warrior. Come to train, or don't freakin' come at all.... damn, I gotta calm down. Sorry, TM -- you know I still love you.
GANGSTA OF NEW YORK - This is the main instructor of the Irish stick-fighting method, as seen in the movie Gangs of New York. He's a nice enough guy, very outgoing, very skilled. I get this wierd vibe off of him, though, as if he's disappointed or something that I haven't tried his system yet. Eh, don't worry, I'll get to it.
ISSHIN - Freshman lady, a 1st dan in Isshyin Ryu (sp?) karate. She was my partner for the majority of the Filipino drills. I saw her practicing a couple of her kata. I wouldn't wanna go hand to hand with her. But, her weapon work needs, well, work. So far, though, she's been the only partner that it's been a pleasure to work with so far. Aside from instructors, my other partners, male and female, fall into one of two catagories: total newbies who really don't yet know what they're doing and people who've been training for a relatively short period of time who think they know what they're doing whose techniques are so sloppy that it ticks me off.
ONE-ARMED BANDIT - Named because he recently broke his arm and has been attending club in a cast. Nice guy, seasoned martial artist, heart is 100% in the right place, but damned if he doesn't come off at times like some slack-jawed troglydyte. (Heh... gee, now why might anyone potentially be offended by what I write here, huh?) Why do I say that? Well, when I saw ISSHIN practice some of her kata, it inspired me to try and recall some of my kung fu forms. ONE-ARMED BANDIT saw this, and inquired:
OAB: Hey, cool, what is that?
ME: Kung fu... shippalgi. It's a Korean style
OAB: I've never heard of it... is it something you rent, or something?
ME: [feigned puzzled look on my face, because I knew where he was going with it] Huh?
OAB: Like, on a video or something
ME: [with a "wtf, you b@$tard" look on my face] Umm, no, I'm a brown sash...
OAB: [slightly embarassed and apologetic]: Ohh, ohh... hey, cool...
Now I know how most of those fights you see in 70s kung fu movies get started.
Thursday, January 08, 2004
I'm going to burn for posting this... I know I am. But what the heck?
A Message from Pat Robertson and the "Vote No on Jesus" Campaign
by Nathan McIntire
Well, the Mixed Martial Arts club has started up again, and last Tuesday I got my first lesson in muay Thai basics! I also got some more kali in, and learned the first five angles of the Inosanto system.
Dan Inosanto... the most famous martial artist you've probably never heard of. Everyone's heard of Bruce Lee, but most don't know about Mr. Inosanto, Bruce's #1 student/teacher.
Anyway, I might go in for another round tonight! I gotta get my fighting skills back up. I've been inspired by all the videos E and I have been watching lately, namely:
Dan Inosanto... the most famous martial artist you've probably never heard of. Everyone's heard of Bruce Lee, but most don't know about Mr. Inosanto, Bruce's #1 student/teacher.
Anyway, I might go in for another round tonight! I gotta get my fighting skills back up. I've been inspired by all the videos E and I have been watching lately, namely:
- Drunken Master - if my brain could handle another martial arts system, you're damned right I'd learn drunken boxing.
- The Legend of Drunken Master - Jackie's no Yuen Wo-Ping, but he gets the job done.
- The first 8 episodes of Dragonball GT
- 4 random episodes of Dragonball
- Once Upon a Time in China III
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
I've included a link into each post to enable you, the instant gratification reader, to vote for my site on ricebowljournals.com. So don't playa hate, congratulate!
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