Millions Knives
Find out what anime villan you are.
Incidentally, I hate it when I have to correct people's HTML code on their freaking quizzes just so they'll load right. Idiots.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Judge Strikes Down Section of Patriot Act Allowing Secret Subpoenas of Internet DataI love it when The Man gets taken down a notch.
By JULIA PRESTON
New York Times
A federal judge struck down an important surveillance provision of the antiterrorism legislation known as the USA Patriot Act yesterday, ruling that it broadly violated the Constitution by giving the federal authorities unchecked powers to obtain private information.
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Ah, the pains of a day after training. It was one of the lightest training days I've had, but after months of being off, I'm actually a little sore.
Techniques to cross off my "to learn" list:
Incidentally, I came across the site for the Filipino Kali-Eskrima Academy of Chicago, that has a curriculum that seems strangely familiar...
Techniques to cross off my "to learn" list:
- Cimande limb destructions 1, 2 and 3 (though whose Cimande, I'm not exactly sure. One of those things I've never gotten around to asking.)
- Tug tug - FMA knee bar
- Sapu dalam and sapu nuwar - Silat leg sweeps
Incidentally, I came across the site for the Filipino Kali-Eskrima Academy of Chicago, that has a curriculum that seems strangely familiar...
Going along with my prediliction for downplaying the more important events of my life on my weblog, let me take a moment to mention that my parents, with whom I've been estranged for the better part of two years, paid E and me a visit today. It was 1,000 times more pleasant that I thought it would be. Time really does heal wounds.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Trouble in Bobo paradise?
I thought I could deconstruct a film...
I'll digress for a moment to repeat a joke I heard on TV:
David Brooks Also Eats Cereal.That is, David Brooks, the author of Bobos in Paradise, which could have been subtitled "Could've been Don's biography."
By John Warner
I thought I could deconstruct a film...
History's Notable Films, Reconsidered.I think it was on The Daily Show where someone made similar comments about Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace being a story where two grown men in pirate shirts and pony tails whisk a young boy away from his mother to go on an adventure. Doesn't that give you the same shudder when you picture Michael Jackson within three feet of a kid?
By Tim Carvell
I'll digress for a moment to repeat a joke I heard on TV:
How can you tell when it's midnight at Michael Jackson's house?Shudder.
When the big hand touches the little hand.
Monday, September 27, 2004
It's been awhile since I posted one of these wierd, quirky comments made by me or people in my circle, out of context and unexplained.
"Oh, I'll give you a magazine. Yeah, it's full o' hollow points. You're gonna love those when I put 'em in a gun, and put 'em in your brain."It started with me quoting from Aqua Teen Hunger Force and ended with a surprise.
[Got handed an item]
Oh, sh!+, it IS full of hollow points.
I probably joke about going too far in self-defence situations moreso than I should. I can see the look on E's face right now if she gets around to reading this, but I've been actually telling myself I should stop. If nothing else, I don't want to end up like one of these people who say things like this... (From a post on the defend.net forums)
A lot of other people buy into that, too -- but it seems like some of those people don't have a concept of all the hell that attitude can buy you. They seem unaware of certain realities that are articulated well in this article on lethal force from the Mark "Animal" MacYoung's website.
Knife Fighting: A Reality Break
That is why if you are going to start a fight it is best to start yelling something like, "hey why the hell did you hit me!" because eye witness testimony is terribly unreliable and many people will then claim that the person did in fact hit you and you were defending yourself when it actuality you were the attacker.That being said, I do accept in principle the idea that if I hurt you while you were trying to do me harm, that's what you get for screwing with me. I don't look for fights, I don't want to fight. I want to be left alone. I'm old and slow and KNOW I will get my @$$ kicked. Therefore, my goal will be to keep my @$$-beating to a minimum, preferably by escaping. But if I can't and if you end up with a limp for life, or worse, then, as a co-worker is famous for saying, "Sorry 'bout your luck."
A lot of other people buy into that, too -- but it seems like some of those people don't have a concept of all the hell that attitude can buy you. They seem unaware of certain realities that are articulated well in this article on lethal force from the Mark "Animal" MacYoung's website.
Moreover, if you choose to carry a knife you need to know that such a weapon is considered a "thug's weapon" in most cultures. And if you do use a knife on someone then you had damn well make sure that the wound pattern matches your claim of "self-defense." Unfortunately, most training in stick and knife arts don't take either issue into consideration. They are in fact, training you to end up in prison for murder.So, these clips from selected articles are for you, the person who just can't wait to get him or herself in a situation where you actually get to use all that fancy weapon-work you spent so much time perfecting. The quiet ones who don't brag or boast, but who'll stand there calmly like an anime hero, in the midst of chaos and violence "knowing" that you can get that tac folder out before any of these freaks come within five paces, and woe betide any who do...
Knife Fighting: A Reality Break
Most so-called "knife fighting" training that is currently taught has very little to do with how knives are commonly used in violent situations. This is because much of what is being taught is predicated on what can only be called "dueling." This is not to say that what is being taught is ineffective, far from it. In fact, much of what is being taught would work if you ever found yourself in a knife to knife duel. However, the mindset, physics, strategies and attacks that occur in such situations are radically different than the many other ways that violent people use knives. Dueling is only one aspect of knife work, to survive you need to know the others as well.Knife fighting lies
Lie # 9 Knowing kali makes you a knife fighter
Kali, Escrima, Arnis, FMA, all of them have the aura and mystery of being weapons based arts. Deadly, savage arts of the Filipino warriors. Lurid stories about guerrilla actions against Japanese invaders, duels and death matches that the founder of the style was involved in abound.
Quite honestly what these maestros survived is incredible and is more than worthy of kudos. These older gentlemen survived a totally different culture, socio-economic environment, time and, in some cases, a World War and foreign invasion of their homeland.
That having been said however, just because the founder of the system or lineage was a walking piece of bad-assed real-estate doesn't make you one.
They weren't knife fighters, those people were survivors. It's what comes from living a hellishly hard life. While they had physical skill that helped them, what kept them alive, what allowed them to strike fast enough, hard enough and brutally enough wasn't their art -- it was the commitment not to die. It was that grim savagery to do whatever is necessary and to do it faster and harder than the other person that kept them alive. In the lexicon, they had "heart."
Their art just allowed them to do that faster.
Knowing an art doesn't give you that kind of commitment, that kind of ruthlessness, that kind of grim endurance or that willingness to descend into savagery to stay alive. Just knowing the art doesn't make you a knife fighter. You have to have "heart" as well -- that willingness to wade through hell and come out the other side.
Lie #19 You can use a knife on another human being without legal repercussions
I have seen videos by so-called "knife fighting masters" who actually show the fool encouraging his students to slash someone with a knife for trying to slug the student. I have also seen videos where after disarming their attackers with several slashes to the arm, these knife killers proceed to slash their -- no longer armed -- attacker to ribbons. I have stood in my front room with attorneys and use of force experts and watched a tape on knife fighting where a supposed "expert," not only starts a bar fight, does a suicide move that would have gotten his throat slit and then kneels down and stabs a downed opponent -- in front of witnesses! Actions that everyone agreed would be prosecuted as murder.
As such, don't even get me started on the bozo's who insist their students cut a person multiple times because "one cut may not stop him." Unfortunately, this kind of training often goes awry when the attacker attempts to withdraw and the knife fighter keeps on slashing, even after the ex-attacker has turned his back on the knife fighter. Now, this once upon a time attacker has been slashed many times after he was disarmed and is slashed more on his back while attempting to retreat...guess who is going to go to prison for attempted murder?
A knife is considered a lethal force instrument...and the use of lethal force is *very* narrowly approved. If you use one another human being you had better damned well be firmly within those parameters...if not, then you are -- in the eyes of the law and society -- the bad guy.
Before you even think of picking up a knife for "self-defense" go out and take a course on Judicious Use of Lethal force. Do NOT take any knife fighting experts word on the subject, go to the source lawyers and expert witnesses on use of force.
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Because it's faster than checking my email. No gruesome martial arts links o' death this time. Just potential places E and I might enjoy our honeymoon (if we happen to remain in the country around that time).
The Inn at Honey Run
Places Ohio's list of bed & breakfasts
The Glenlaurel Inn - with a Scottish theme and an innkeeper licensed to perform weddings.
The Inn at Honey Run
Places Ohio's list of bed & breakfasts
The Glenlaurel Inn - with a Scottish theme and an innkeeper licensed to perform weddings.
Friday, September 24, 2004
My laptop started up with little effort last night, and managed to stay running all night. How is it that I've been trying for the past 6 hours to get the thing to run, and it still won't?
I had the day off, and my plan was to get the remaining data I needed off of my computer. One way or another, it will come off today and I will destroy the thing. I'm going to beat it in a field ("What is 'PC Load Letter'???") Office Space-style and am going to post pictures of the remains.
But for right now, I deserve food and coffee.
I had the day off, and my plan was to get the remaining data I needed off of my computer. One way or another, it will come off today and I will destroy the thing. I'm going to beat it in a field ("What is 'PC Load Letter'???") Office Space-style and am going to post pictures of the remains.
But for right now, I deserve food and coffee.
Sorry about the lateness...
I disabled the link on the image because the site does some wierd popup thing that I couldn't get rid of unless I rebooted the computer. But, if you're really a sucker for punishment and simply must know which Teletubbie you are, you can go here -- don't say I didn't warn you.
I disabled the link on the image because the site does some wierd popup thing that I couldn't get rid of unless I rebooted the computer. But, if you're really a sucker for punishment and simply must know which Teletubbie you are, you can go here -- don't say I didn't warn you.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Feel free to ignore. I just had to jam this someplace until I got
around to perusing it more thoroughly.
around to perusing it more thoroughly.
Objectify Your Opponent
by Demi Barbito
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
In a couple of hours, I get to have my first martial arts training session this quarter with DATU_B. It won't be as much cardio as a Club workout, but that's good for someone who's been out of it for quite a few months now.
Speaking of Club, how is it that I haven't even been, and I have yet another...
Billy_Jack Quote of the Week
He sent me this via email:
Speaking of Club, how is it that I haven't even been, and I have yet another...
Billy_Jack Quote of the Week
He sent me this via email:
This is [BILLY_JACK], we strated martial arts and I see you have not showed up yet. Listen Don I know your scared of me, I would be too, but atleast quit hiding so you can take your beating like a man and or women. If you need that pass I'll go yell at [one of the officers] to get you one. See you laterWritten just like the sort of person you take out a restraining order on, misspellings and all. But, he's not beyond hope. If he does succeed in getting me a coaches pass, he'll have been good for something and I'll be able to beat him silly later.
-[BILLY_JACK]
Monday, September 20, 2004
Earlier this month, I attempted to post this, but the link died.
But, thanks to DATU_B, who independently discovered it somewhere else, I can now bring you The World's Most Dangerous Man.
But, thanks to DATU_B, who independently discovered it somewhere else, I can now bring you The World's Most Dangerous Man.
E's got the filmmaking bug again. A couple of days ago she showed me the documentary American Movie, a film made by the friend of a friend of hers that did well on the documentary circuit. Well enough for us to be able to rent it from a local video store. It's funny how many friends of friends she has doing stuff like this. I mentioned before (I think) how she's friends with a former animator on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch.
Coincidentally, I read an interview with Kevin Smith (syndicated) in a local rag this morning that had to do with the release of the tenth aniversary edition of Clerks and how it inspired a generation of filmmakers who said, "Hey, if he can get famous doing a piece of crap like that, why can't I?" (Smith plans his next film to be a sequel - The Passion of the Clerks.)
But, the filmmaker being documented (i.e. not the one who made the actual film -- it took a minute for that to sink in) in American Movie, Mark Borchardt, was doing this well before Clerks, though few would argue that he's doing it as well or better. The man is, in short, a freak. A dedicated, hard-working, persevering freak, but a freak nonetheless. It's part of his charm. (Just how do you pronounce the word Coven anyway?) It's also why American Movie works.
Yes, Borchardt is a freak of the first order. Chances are, on your worst day, your life is still better than his (at least than the snippets of his life shown in the movie). You'll laugh and joke about what a pathetic mother he is. And yet, if you pay attention to how hard he tries to get his movies made, how often he falls off the horse only to get back on over the course of years, and how much crap he has to deal with in pursuit of his art, you're going to eventually, like it or not, compare his life with yours again, and wonder who the pathetic one is.
My question is this: How does a freak end up with so muchvideo** film and ADR equipment when the couple of people I know who aren't freaks are filming things on Super 8s?
**[I replaced "video" with "film," as per E's correction. What'd I tell you? Filmmaking bug ;).]
Coincidentally, I read an interview with Kevin Smith (syndicated) in a local rag this morning that had to do with the release of the tenth aniversary edition of Clerks and how it inspired a generation of filmmakers who said, "Hey, if he can get famous doing a piece of crap like that, why can't I?" (Smith plans his next film to be a sequel - The Passion of the Clerks.)
But, the filmmaker being documented (i.e. not the one who made the actual film -- it took a minute for that to sink in) in American Movie, Mark Borchardt, was doing this well before Clerks, though few would argue that he's doing it as well or better. The man is, in short, a freak. A dedicated, hard-working, persevering freak, but a freak nonetheless. It's part of his charm. (Just how do you pronounce the word Coven anyway?) It's also why American Movie works.
Yes, Borchardt is a freak of the first order. Chances are, on your worst day, your life is still better than his (at least than the snippets of his life shown in the movie). You'll laugh and joke about what a pathetic mother he is. And yet, if you pay attention to how hard he tries to get his movies made, how often he falls off the horse only to get back on over the course of years, and how much crap he has to deal with in pursuit of his art, you're going to eventually, like it or not, compare his life with yours again, and wonder who the pathetic one is.
My question is this: How does a freak end up with so much
**[I replaced "video" with "film," as per E's correction. What'd I tell you? Filmmaking bug ;).]
Friday, September 17, 2004
I came home last night to find E watching American Graffiti. She was driven to see it by some oldies music that had been "Song Fu'd" into her head. I hadn't seen the movie in years, but I was amazed at its (relative) depth compared to Lucas's other films. I even managed to hold back my usual hate-filled rants during the viewing...
Until we watched his commentary, and he told the story about how he was forced to edit out three scenes of a total length of five minutes, and after the success of Star Wars, he had enough clout to force the studio to put those scenes back into all the subsequent video releases. Now, that scenario of itself is innocent enough -- everyone who knows me knows how I love watching people stick it to The Man. But it reminded me of what I described to E as his freaking God-complex with his compulsion to re-create Creation over and over and over again.
Lucas went on to describe all the filming techniques he had to use, and sometimes invent, to get some scenes for Graffiti done. Some of those techniques were praised by his producer, Francis Coppola. E wondered if Lucas even remembers how to do any of those techniques.
"Film To Edit" is one thing. But jeez, he edits Star Wars the way I edit a blog post. You know all those little inconsistencies that drive you crazy about Star Wars? Like how in Jedi, Obi-Wan tells Luke that when he met Anakin, he was already a great pilot -- no one was expecting a little kid! Well, damn, no wonder Luke was "too old to begin the training" in Empire -- like, by a freakin' decade or so (!!!).
It just drives me nuts! And you know where you see the beginnings of that sort of crap? More American Graffiti, which Lucas didn't direct. But he green-lit it and plastered his name on the front. At the end of the original (yeah, I'm going to spoil it -- it's been damn near 30 years already), one of the characters is said to have been killed in Viet Nam. That same character appears in the sequel, only at the end of the movie, he's listed as being M.I.A. Yes, there was a film logic to it just like there was a film logic to Obi-Wan's story and Luke's age.
But, gee, wouldn't it be great if we could revise our lives like that? Most people want to erase their blatant errors. But not me. I'd like to go all Lucas and tweak. I'd like to turn back 20someodd years and flirt with the girl down the street who flirted with me for most of grade school. Not that I'd want her now at all, or the ultimate outcome of my life to change. But, that would've been closer to how I envisioned the scene. And I could do it now in ways that I just couldn't do it 20someodd years ago.
But life can't be revised like that. Maybe that's the issue Lucas struggles with as he takes advantage of the "magic of film." I joke about him being a greedy bastard, but I really don't get that sense from watching him. Still, he's laughing all the way to the bank, isn't he?
I sure as heck wouldn't shed one single solitary tear if ILM got hit with a massive computer virus, or if the Wrath of God came raining down fire and brimstone like Sodom and Gommorrah on the freakin' place. Maybe one of our surgical, strategic air strikes in Iraq can go wrong (as they are often wont to do) and bomb ILM back to the Stone Age, and then Lucas can go back to making a decent film. The hard way. And, have to live with it -- good, bad, or ugly -- like other directors.
But that is, as Miller says, my opinion... I could be wrong.
Until we watched his commentary, and he told the story about how he was forced to edit out three scenes of a total length of five minutes, and after the success of Star Wars, he had enough clout to force the studio to put those scenes back into all the subsequent video releases. Now, that scenario of itself is innocent enough -- everyone who knows me knows how I love watching people stick it to The Man. But it reminded me of what I described to E as his freaking God-complex with his compulsion to re-create Creation over and over and over again.
Lucas went on to describe all the filming techniques he had to use, and sometimes invent, to get some scenes for Graffiti done. Some of those techniques were praised by his producer, Francis Coppola. E wondered if Lucas even remembers how to do any of those techniques.
"Film To Edit" is one thing. But jeez, he edits Star Wars the way I edit a blog post. You know all those little inconsistencies that drive you crazy about Star Wars? Like how in Jedi, Obi-Wan tells Luke that when he met Anakin, he was already a great pilot -- no one was expecting a little kid! Well, damn, no wonder Luke was "too old to begin the training" in Empire -- like, by a freakin' decade or so (!!!).
It just drives me nuts! And you know where you see the beginnings of that sort of crap? More American Graffiti, which Lucas didn't direct. But he green-lit it and plastered his name on the front. At the end of the original (yeah, I'm going to spoil it -- it's been damn near 30 years already), one of the characters is said to have been killed in Viet Nam. That same character appears in the sequel, only at the end of the movie, he's listed as being M.I.A. Yes, there was a film logic to it just like there was a film logic to Obi-Wan's story and Luke's age.
But, gee, wouldn't it be great if we could revise our lives like that? Most people want to erase their blatant errors. But not me. I'd like to go all Lucas and tweak. I'd like to turn back 20someodd years and flirt with the girl down the street who flirted with me for most of grade school. Not that I'd want her now at all, or the ultimate outcome of my life to change. But, that would've been closer to how I envisioned the scene. And I could do it now in ways that I just couldn't do it 20someodd years ago.
But life can't be revised like that. Maybe that's the issue Lucas struggles with as he takes advantage of the "magic of film." I joke about him being a greedy bastard, but I really don't get that sense from watching him. Still, he's laughing all the way to the bank, isn't he?
I sure as heck wouldn't shed one single solitary tear if ILM got hit with a massive computer virus, or if the Wrath of God came raining down fire and brimstone like Sodom and Gommorrah on the freakin' place. Maybe one of our surgical, strategic air strikes in Iraq can go wrong (as they are often wont to do) and bomb ILM back to the Stone Age, and then Lucas can go back to making a decent film. The hard way. And, have to live with it -- good, bad, or ugly -- like other directors.
But that is, as Miller says, my opinion... I could be wrong.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Johnny Ramone dies at 55
Guitarist with influential 70s band loses cancer battle
Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
Friday September 17, 2004
The Guardian
Johnny Ramone, the guitarist with the eponymous punk group The Ramones, died at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday following a five-year battle with prostate cancer. He was 55.
I can now get to these now that the "deer in headlights" look has faded from my face.
ITEM ONE
ITEM TWO
ITEM THREE
On a side note, E and I joke constantly about how Dianne has problems with some callers and guests because of her voice disorder, spasmodic dysphonia. Now, don't get me wrong -- we don't joke directly at Dianne's expense (mostly). It's just interesting how sometimes, Dianne has to cut people off pretty hard or in the extreme, hit the mute-button on them because she can't be as quick as other radio talk show hosts.
It makes me wonder about how much of a hard-@$$ that would make someone who had to deal with all of that in order to reach the position Dianne Rehm has reached. So, I'd do impersonations of Dianne Rehm for E on how she must be when she's off air. Imagine her slow, spasmodic disphonic voice saying things like:
ITEM ONE
Campaign staged on Palace balconyNow, there's a level I aspire to reach in the next two years of my life. Scroll to the down the article and check out his partner's picture -- he's not only dressed like Robin, but my buddy Joel "Nips on the Batsuits" Schumacher's Robin.
A Fathers 4 Justice campaigner dressed as Batman is staging a protest on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
Jason Hatch, 33, entered the grounds and scaled a wall at 1420 BST.
ITEM TWO
Russia tells America to mind its own business after democracy lectureDoesn't it take some stones to get on another country for doing what we're basically trying to do, all in the name of fighting terrorism? What, are we just ticked off because the Russians aren't trying to mask their intentions? They have to keep up a facade of democratic reform while we rolling ours back? Yeah, sometimes looking at a mirror sucks, folks.
16.09.2004
1.00pm - By ANDREW OSBORN in Moscow
Russia rounded angrily on America yesterday making it clear it was in no mood to be lectured on democracy or fighting terrorism after the Beslan school massacre.
ITEM THREE
"One Electorate Under God"A surprisingly thoughtful discussion with less fanatics calling in than one would expect. That, in itself, surprised me as I listened to it.
Almost from the moment the Founding Fathers wrote "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," Americans have debated the role of religion in politics. A panel discusses religion, American politics and the upcoming election.
On a side note, E and I joke constantly about how Dianne has problems with some callers and guests because of her voice disorder, spasmodic dysphonia. Now, don't get me wrong -- we don't joke directly at Dianne's expense (mostly). It's just interesting how sometimes, Dianne has to cut people off pretty hard or in the extreme, hit the mute-button on them because she can't be as quick as other radio talk show hosts.
It makes me wonder about how much of a hard-@$$ that would make someone who had to deal with all of that in order to reach the position Dianne Rehm has reached. So, I'd do impersonations of Dianne Rehm for E on how she must be when she's off air. Imagine her slow, spasmodic disphonic voice saying things like:
The next time you interrupt me, I'm going to rip your balls off and jam them down your f**king throat.Gets E rolling every time.
You're going to show me some goddamn respect around here, you little college intern b!+ches. Now, get me my f**king coffee!
You wouldn't be giving me this sh!+ if I was Nina-f**king-Totenberg... that lez...
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