"A storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress." - Walter Benjamin, Theses on the Philosophy of History

      My new favorite conditioning drill conveniently uses Xuemei's big blue balance ball. Which means it has more uses than an extra seat at the dinner table, alliteration, and jokes about blue-balls, apparently. Basically, you kneel on the ball with both knees, and balance while running through striking techniques (forward and down). The idea is that it's like getting a ground-n-pound, but the opponent has the wherewithal to cover and try to reverse your mount. There's the body-sensitivity gained of course, but also a workout of the small muscles in your legs and back that are normally overtaken by the large muscle groups. Of course, if you fall off the ball it's nice because it helps you train to drop into a different pin, like a side-mount or cradle. Or smash your head on the coffee table. You know. Whatever.

-The Katurran Odyssey - seems like an interesting read; pretties in the gallery

-not that "Rapper's Delight" wasn't naturally somewhat incomprehensible

-literary theory is crazy. (via the prof)

-and congrats to Kevin on his brown belt!