:P

Get it? It's a tongue, and this is about language? Ahh, so maybe that's a bit of a stretch. Anyway. This is one of those topics that I could write an essay on, but just want to touch on here, and that's the idea of learning the language of something being the most important part of learning it. For example, there's the overt technical terms in everyday yoga and jujitsu class, like the Sanskrit (anjali mudra, savasana) or Japanese (tai sabaki, ki, kote gaeshi), but there's also more subtle jargon that goes almost unnoticed - the inside and outside of one's body, different meanings of the words open, close, forward, and back. In beginning to teach yoga, that's the area I've ironically noted the confusion appearing in - where a martial artist coming to a yoga class is already keyed into the alternative meanings of those words, a completely non-athletic person is suddenly thrown off by trying to apply a more common definition to something it never applies to, in general life.

The reason I thought of this at all was in learning the immense vocabulary of 'financial literacy' as the books I've been reading have advised me to, I've noticed a good few points where just knowing that different 'language' have almost made me shiver, because in driving past businesses I hardly took note of in the past, or looking at my own finances, everything suddenly looks different...not unfamiliar, but different with better understanding. The funny thing is, none of it's really concepts I was unaware of, I already understood most of it. It's the having it within a framework and system of language that's really starting to give me access to this new perspective and world, that's the real key.

From Wyatt, MAKE:blog, a collection of unique and interesting things that were...uh...made

I bet Phryne was totally hott (or, hawt, if you will)

Watch out, might be spoilerific, but would also be good for those trying to catch up...the Battlestar Galactica story so far

Things of Note - A Weekned

-contrary to popular belief, Garduno's is not actually a factory that produces margaritas, though they really do pull off the Southwest-art-times-steampunk-equals-whoa effect pretty well
-but...why was the mariachi band playing "It's a Small World" over and over?
-I'm sorry, pugs just look like someone was trying to play golf with a sledgehammer and mistook a small dog for a ball
-and what is up with vizslas' lips and/or psychotic personalities? Seriously, people!
-I went an entire day not realizing someone was stone-deaf, it was amazing...she got skillz
-Frank/Mathilda 'sploring-log, Great Gale of...uh...March: we braved billowing clouds of dust, exploding Mexican families, precariously tipped bins, and precariously tipping trees to find (dun dun dun) a secret stash of kumquats!
-I feel like I should somehow save all that desert wasabi I 'harvested' (aka weeded); and all that tombstone rose covering the house? It was all one plant! wtf.
-Mattie gets ten points for being the most well-behaved dog ever this weekend, bringing the ball back each time (and dropping it on the ground!) and guarding my back from the neighbor's dog (and not barking!)

Kind of morbid, but interesting, especially if you're hungry - last meals

story(commentary)time!

I just noticed in one of the yoga textbooks I've been reading that there've been a few stories that aren't the common traditional or apocryphal tales-of-yore, but involve more modern 'characters' and contexts. That's not to say it's referring to some specific person I could google or something, but I was surprised to note, for example a character who was referred to simply as 'an American,' with some attending connotations but thankfully no reliance on over the top stereotyping. Long story short, as it were, it was interesting to see that a useful story didn't have to be something out of antiquity, but could just as easily occur in contemporary times; it seems reassuring in some small sense.

Sidenotewise to that, I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I think stories and anecdotes are a wonderful way to learn. Hell, look at Jesus and his parables...and yes, I am aware of the 'balance' in that syntax, thank you. But anyway, not only do they make the information more interesting to hear, but perhaps also easier to retain as it's not just a cold, dead fact or sterile idea, but a story that can become alive with characters and meaning that actually matters to them. Once I was accused of turning conversations around to talk about my self and my friends and family and my work, etc, basically of being egotistical, and oof, did it hurt at first, and I clammed up about any of those things for while. But after a lot of self-checking, I think a lot of it was telling stories and anecdotes out of my experience (what else am I going to base my stories on - purely other people's stories, or just synopsizing movies?), because I love storytelling and hearing stories and learning from people in that regard. But I get so excited I think I would sometimes end up seemingly just talking about myself or my relations a lot, because I want to share in the goodness of...well, sharing. So from that point I resolved to better make sure I was getting stories out of the people I'm having palaver with. So, in the end, I think I just gained another long-term benefit out of the issue in that insurance that I get to learn. Woo!

And just because we've been tossing around JC lately (heh, not ass-backwards but Jesus-backwards, don't make an ass out of Jesus...), a shout-out to the wonderful Sinfest

Stormwatch PHD - certified

randoms

"There is a traditional story about a Zen student who complained to his master that following the breath was boring. The Zen master grabbed this student and held his head underwater for quite a long time while the student struggled to come up. When he finally let the student up, the Zen master asked him whether he had found breath boring in those moments underwater." - man, imagine if this was done to a modern, ready-to-sue American

Rumble!

One of Sensei Tony's standard lessons in an article

In honor of the upcoming additions to Tucson, the secret menu

Huh, an interesting difference in the yamas I've been talking over on the other blog, between the yogic kind and the Jainist kind, is anekantvada

triviaball of oddity

-Xenu - ok, seriously that's just trippy

-actually, this series of very closeup photos of a snowflake is also pretty trippy

-to whoever I was telling about this, I wasn't kidding! Chess boxing.

-who knew that Wingdings could generate controversy?

a striking image

"In spite of active fighting in the area [Vietnam], I was drawn to visit a temple built by a famous master known as the Coconut Monk on an island in the Mekong Delta. When our boat arrived, the monks greeted us and showed us around. They explained to us their teaching of peace and nonviolence. Then they took us to one end of the island where on top of a hill was an enormous sixty-foot tall statue of a standing Buddha. Just next to Buddha stood an equally tall statue of Jesus. They had their arms around each other, smiling."

mmm...Miami....

Reno 911!: Miami, with the Reno police. I wonder what the actual Reno police think of that show. And the Rock, in a very short cameo. And what looked like a vaguely familiar stand-up comedian, on roller skates. And that guy from Blade Trinity, as Abby and Chris noticed. And my personal favorite, the standard women-walking-around-in-bikinis that signify the city of Miami in any sort of cinematic-text. Has anyone else ever noticed that? Any movie with Miami in it, there are just women constantly walking around in bikinis. Not that I'm complaining in any way whatsoever, mind. So. Anyway. I thought it was kind of stupid, in general, but in that stupidity it pulled off some hilarious moments. I'm sure I would have appreciated it a lot more had I ever seen the television show, say, with all the different attractions between the main characters, but I got the jist of it I think, and that was funny enough.

Well, I'm excited....
“World War Hulk is the story of the Hulk returning to Earth, where those puny humans live, and much smashing will ensue.”
-
“The Hulk’s like Santa Claus,” said Gage. “Santa has his naughty and nice list, and the Hulk’s got his ‘smash’ and ‘smash really hard list.’”

Also: the new status quo

The...topography....geography, hm, whatever of the Judaic version is kind of interesting, makes me want to go back and read some Dante Alighieri again

Wow, I didn't know an entire nation could be tried in court

Things of Note - A Weekendy Weekend

-congrats to Ms Kim and Rooney - theeeey arrrre the chaaaampions, THEEEYY AAARRRRE THE...::cough:: anyway...
-thanks to Kevin, we now know we've inadvertantly been growing London rockets, aka, desert wasabi, all over both yards...it's deceptively burny
-Mission Impossible: Reverse Dumpster Diving (be sneakylike!)
-a bobcat tried to break into an apartment (at least, that's what it looked like); a chihuahua may or may not have been pleasuring itself in said apartment (gah! teeth!)
-even if you win Speed when the other person is blatantly cheating, don't yell "ha!" and fall over backwards - you'll fall into a puddle and crack your head on a rock bench
-New Balance stores are horribly expensive...but the service, magnifique!
-I finally got a picture frame! Woo! Now, to get several more...
-we're one step closer to a Zen garden! And we can see the porch at night again! Yay housework!

mindfulness, mindlessness

Vinyasa Flow Yoga, with Seane Corn. Yay Valentines gift! I enjoyed this dvd a good deal, especially as in regular class we concentrate on a kind of mellow, slow vinyasa style, and this is more of an amp'ed up, sun salution based sequence. Or rather, it's interesting because it's directed towards instructing one on finer points of those basic sun salutions. All that said, there was something that bothered me just a little about Corn herself, I'm not sure what, but I was wary of it, not insincerity, but...ah, who knows.

Wow, so, things I discovered while being completely mindless and exploring Second Life this evening. I've never had so much fun with clothes. I found a mall, which was eerily empty, but had no money (alas, I couldn't buy recordings some stranger had made of....naughty things). I also had no money to tip the random person who jumped up on a stripper pole in an impromptu fashion, so I left. I found a trailer park. That people lived in gleefully. With a working waterpark. And a little cabin, with a bed all set up for bondage and D/s stuff. In a different house I found, well, more of a mansion with an indoor pool and a spiral staircase and interesting art, I found showers and beds one could click on, and get menus for everything from foursomes to any position one could think of; the ironic thing is, I was just wandering around, it just took me a while to realize the region I'd randomly clicked on was called "Sleazywood."

Anyway, the conclusion I came to in that region is that it was eventually kind of boring to just wander around by myself in, but I think Second Life would be a wonderful tool for people in, say, a long distance relationship. Hell, they could go so far as to 'buy' a house and a private island and 'live' together if they were so inclined, or just hang out in a trailer park in Sleazywood and chill at the waterpark, whatevah.

more l'il bits

Conception, Girls Vol 1 - Wow, what an intriguing beginning. There's something viscerally disturbing going on in this, it's too subtle to name right off the bat, though. Something about small town creepiness, maybe, or there's got to be something going with how normal conceptions of sexuality are being turned on their head, then there's an element of Silent Hill-esque way-beyond-isolation. Basically, it's good.

Gen13
5 - I think I might actually have to go back and get a couple of the prior comics to this, I actually think I like this reboot; it's not as wacky or irreverent as in the past, but it's got some interesting points

Star Wars Legacy 4 - ah, here we are, no Skywalkers here, just a very interesting one-shot from the point of view of StormTroopers, and it's pretty much the last thing one would expect

The Boys 2, 3, 4 - Wow, it's apparently very hard to find a website or even a listing for buying these puppies. They're just that filled with gratuitous violence and sex, hilariously unique characters, and are completely subversive to nigh every mainstream comic book in the worst possible ways. I'll say it again, it's great!

Also, in a second viewing of Music and Lyrics, I noticed a few things. As much as all of Cora's songs were like to make my head explode, you really couldn't have that fun or irreverence with, say, Judaism, Islam or Christianity. There was a funny little thing going on with introductions - maybe I'm just not used to people introducing themselves with both first and last name around here, or being put off if they just get the first name, did anyone else notice that? And I think it made sense for Sophie to go for an older guy, she'd already established a pattern of sorts with the jerk author, which could kind of be an argument for consistent characterization.

-from Wyatt, keep an eye on the candidates for '08

-bwa! (apparently, we weren't the only ones who had that idea)

passage from book

“The first thing that happens after you make a mistake is that you become upset. Everyone I know gets upset. That is the first indication of a mistake. At this point of upset, you find out who you really are.”

-the Liar- the liar will say such things as: 'I didn’t do that.' Or, 'No, no, no. It wasn’t me.' Or, 'I don’t know how that happened.' Or, 'Prove it.'
-the Blamer – the blamer will say such things as: 'It’s your fault, not mine.' Or, 'If my wife didn’t spend so much money, I would be better off financially.' Or, 'I would be rich if I didn’t have you kids.' Or, 'It’s my boss’s fault.'
-the Justifier – the justifier will say things such as: 'Well, I don’t have a good education so that is why I don’t get ahead.' Or, 'Oh, I really didn’t want to get it anyway.' Or, 'Well, everyone else was doing it.'
-the Quitter – the quitter says things such as: 'I told you it would never work.' Or, 'This is too hard and it’s not worth it. I’m going to do something easier.' Or, 'Why am I doing this? I don’t need this hassle.'
-the Denier – the ‘cat in the litter box,’ which means this person likes to bury their mistakes: 'No, there's nothing wrong. Things are fine.' Or, 'Mistake? What mistake?' Or, 'Don’t worry. Things will work out.'

When people are upset due to a mistake or accident, one or more of these characters will take over their mind and body. If you want to learn and gain wisdom from this priceless mistake, you have to let The Responsible You eventually take control of your thinking. The Responsible You will eventually say, ‘What priceless lesson can I learn from this mistake?’
If I blame, I give power to the other person. If I take responsibility for what happened, I will learn a precious lesson that I obviously needed to learn. If I lie, blame, justify, or deny, I learn nothing.

Unsuccessful people blame the other person. They often want the other person to change, and that is why they stay upset for so long. They are upset because they fail to learn their personal lesson. Instead of being upset, such people should be grateful for the other person being there to teach them something they needed to learn.

To be upset or hold a grudge against another person is like being upset with your bicycle because you fell off once or twice while trying to learn something new.” - by Robert Kiyosaki

-and a complementing article, Polishing the Mirror

li"l bit reviews

New Avengers 27 - the underground side of the Avengers, post-Civil War, it has an unexpected, rough style of art, sassy dialogue, the biggest all-out-all-ninja brawl ever, and Elektra getting kicked in the...wow
Wisdom 2 - nonsensical in a Mulholland Drive dream-sense, times British English = an interesting, semi-coherent ending, at least
Stormwatch PHD 3,4 - the current incarnation of the everchanging Stormwatch, Post Human Division is chock-full of creepy-disturbing villains, clever action, and character development with unexpected layers; in these two issues we've got some expanding of the setting with a trip to Vegas, and a girls' night out gone violent
New X-Men 35 - ugh, can't stand the cover, but the comic itself is an engaging setup for what looks to be some mad action involving the young'ns, regular X-Men, and the O*N*E.
Cable & Deadpool 36 - I was chortling, and then just plain laughing out loud...imagine a comic chock full of 'Frank-jokes' and this is probably it (mmm so bad, and yet so good...)
X-23: Target X 3 - gorgeous art, and nothing that can't be guessed at, knowing the character, but still a good yarn nonetheless
Astonishing X-Men 20 - Whedon's writing can always be counted for what he's known and loved for, but beyond that I think I'm just personally not that interested in this comic (which isn't to say it isn't top-notch, however)
The Boys 1 - whoa....do not let anyone under the age of 17 near this comic (that said, it's great!)
Drain 1 - lovely style, but I think I'm realizing for the umpteenth time that that kind of manga-art just doesn't do it for me
X-Men Annual 1 - quality art, kinetic and exciting action, this one shot is a great development of setting and tying up of loose ends
Barracuda 1 - "an' the night is but muthafuckin' young".....ah, more violence and humor, lovingly mixed
Civil War 6 - another one that's just a big setup, but beautiful splash pages like whoa
X-Men 195 - again, I use the phrase kinetic action, and on top of that I think this is the most interesting of the X-comics
Star Wars Legacy 1 - the expanded setting is very interesting, but I was sorely disappointed to realize it was going to be another Skywalker-centered tale (I enjoy the Star Wars stories best that don't deal with that central story)
Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born 1 - an amazing comic, and the writing stays true to the novels, but I think I'm kind of suffering from a, "Well that's not how I imagined it," thought, but that seems unavoidable

-this is completely random, but I thought it odd/interesting - he's sneaky
-a whole collection of interesting articles on some old-school MA

storytime

"There is an old story about a famous Rabbi living in Europe who was visited one day by a man who had traveled by ship from New York to see him. The man came to the great rabbi's dwelling, a large house on a street in European city, and was directed to the rabbi's room, which was in the attic. He entered to find the master living in a room with a bed, a chair, and a few books. The man had expected much more. After greetings, he asked, 'Rabbi, where are your things?' The rabbi asked in return, 'Well, where are yours?' His visitor replied, 'But, Rabbi, I'm only passing through," and the master answered, 'So am I, so am I.'"

-and completely irreverently: for Kevin, I have to post the continuation of that comic, there's no bones about it

triviaball

I like how framework interpretation does a kind of close-reading on Genesis

I created another bloggie - Trinity

A tutorial on bookkeeping

Shawarma - the best sammich ever...oh little Arabic restaurant on University, I still tear up at the thought of you....

money, curves, and violent but somewhat cute things

I'm reading two related books at the same time, as I...well, often do, I guess - both are about financial planning and investing, but one is from a decidely yogic persepective, but the other is more of standard archetype, about making more money. They both have stasis points at various places, which I haven't finished cataloguing yet, but one interesting thing I did notice is how they unexpectedly (though I was secretly hoping they would) complement each other. The latter book emphasizes first off that the most important thing in investing is attitude, attitude, attitude (or perspective, if one wants to assign it a different word)...but just directs the reader to figure out whether they want to and whether they can change their attitude. Which means were I just reading that book I'd probably think about it for a few seconds ineffectually, and move on, not really gaining anything. But, luckily, the former book (so far, at least) is practically about nothing but changing one's attitude towards money and financial matters in a healthy manner, and various methods and exercises for doing so, which have turned out be very practical and helpful. So, I feel more like, as they say, I'm in business now.

A great interview on the Mighty Avengers, one of the two new Avengers comics, along with the new New Avengers, which for the first time I'm actually quite interested in, as opposed to prior-ly where I thought it was kind of dumb, at best. Now it's got all the conflict and character development and history of Civil War to infuse it with literary goodness, Bendis writing his standard controversy in, and crazy line-ups. [might want to skip to the second page what with the opinions/previews of various characters, if not horribly interested]

Hm...curves...I'll go with it

tankettes - so cute!

And to continue that theme (very sort of), I think in some sense this is kind of a tangent on Kevin and me (though I'm still an ass-man) [see the license plate in this one]

triviaball

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Aaaand this is why I live in the desert (from the recent storms)

Living on the Edge - nice story about equanimity on the first page, though the rest is also interesting

Sidemount Posture - (I like the second posture best, if I can get to it, but with my hands clasped behind their back)

Dreamtime - I'm surprised this hasn't been picked up by a New Age movement or something

Things of Note - A Spring Cleaning Weekend

-practicing finger-spelling when Grand Funk comes on the radio makes for interesting gestures
-cleaning out really old stuff seems like one of those things that's painful and/or interesting, and probably ultimately cathartic either way
-Speedway is not for speeding
-cute little Mexican kid in that Jeep: you are awesome
-Sunday was fun family storytime (I love storytime)
-yay Kristin for getting the washer fixed...I empathize, on the initial problem
-as horrifyingly tempting as it is, never eat Nico's right before going to bed
-I want to read the comics I bought so hard
-I just remembered another reference, something about the almost-casual violence in Pan's Labyrinth reminded me of George Martin's Fire and Ice novels (a difference being that there might have been a sexual element, as well, in the latter)

a movie trifecta? well, not really, but sort of

Music and Lyrics, with Drew Barrymore, Hugh Grant, and that woman from Third Rock from the Sun. Well, as we found out, it's Barrymore playing the same girl she always does, and Grant playing the same guy he always does. But who cares, they're doing it together, and it's cute! And there was something strangely alien about the popstar-analogue girly, it was a bit unnerving. Yep, it's fluff, and it's a rom-com, but that's exactly what it's going for, and it pulls it off well. Mmm, cheese. And songs I still can't get out of my head. And the most hilarious opening credits ever. Shanti shanti!

Hannibal Rising, with Gaspard Ulliel and Li Gong. Given as I haven't seen the the other stories of Hannibal, only read about them, I hesitate to say much about this one. So! Fragmented comments. I thought the Japan-trope was a bit contrived and/or gimmicky, but it had its positive points, like the bits with the mask and heads. And Li, even though she's Chinese, but hey. I think Lecter is a very interesting character in being an anti-hero of sorts, even though he's not really, but is he? Hence the interesting. I'll note how we seem to be watching movies with continuing themes of late (here, cannibalism). And the portrayal of the soldiers who are Hannibal's main adversaries was especially interesting in how they changed (or didn't) over time, in the sense of one might wonder at that having happened in a similar manner in real life, in that context.

El Laberinto Del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth), with Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, and Maribel Verdú. Not exactly what we expected (a lot more time in fantasy-land), we still thought it was a solidly good movie. Just...yeah, all-around good. For anyone who might get the reference, it was kind of a period-piece de Lint story plus gratuitous violence - I'd love to take kids to it, but wow, yeah that's some hardcore shit that goes down. But, in that sense, it stays true to a fairytale having that hyperviolent core, so I can't complain that it's not appropriate. I adore the idea of a child viewing an insect as fae, as soon as I saw that I'm sure my eyes lit up - it just makes so much sense to me, with an insect being such an alien little being (not like a mammal or a pretty songbird, or even a lizard with four legs, though I could easily see a tiny gecko filling a similar role). Oh, also, the faun (never trust 'em!) and the baby-eater were great. An overall sad movie, but done right.
(heard walking out of the theatre)
"Yeaah, that was a good movie and all, but....*whack!* You didn't tell me it was in Spanish!"

I kind of half want this alarm clock, and half dread the thought of it (not to mention the dogsplosion that would occur)

I'm glad somebody reviewed Paul Vunak's dumog instructional, I was actually thinking about getting it myself

triviaball

Snowtown Murders - a real life Hostel, in a sense, interesting to imagine the context and psychology of the people involved, though the details are disturbing

It's interesting how closely the original Day of the Triffids novel parallels the much later 28 Days Later in a few specific ways (or I guess that would be the converse, rather)....oh...ha, I just noticed somebody else already noticed that in the trivia. Hm. Well, screw you, anonymous person! The story itself is still very interesting.

The three main actors in this surprised me, intially, though then I thought of this movie (and no one noticed any connection there! ha!)

Mmm...pom-line outfits...

The whole time I was sitting at the UA basketball game last night, I was trying to think of something wonderfully profound to expound upon, in a round and resonating manner. Yay alliteration!

But yeah, I got nothing. It was a lot of fun, besides us kind of dippily losing. It was interesting sitting in an area where there seemed to be several people who knew each other through having season tickets, it kind of reminded me of the movie Fever Pitch, though to a much lesser degree. There was a quite vociferous gentleman, who the elderly Japanese man next to us referred to as "our cheerleader," though in my head I was mostly hoping we wouldn't have to give him a CPR due to apoplexy. I greatly enjoyed hearing Ms Kim's flashing back to her experience with the UA band, and her enthusiastic cheering, which was adorable. I could also see her leading a whole section of cheering people very well. Hardcore. The pom-line outfits in their various incarnations were also adorable, in my head, on Ms Kim. If anyone can provide me one of those in her size (or, hey, smaller, that would be cool in a sense, too), I will...uh...think you are very awesome. And provide you with some service. Yes.

from Phil: encourage your kidlings

Gog and Magog - one of those things where I desperately wish I could go back and time and see exactly what historical person or situation generated such a proliferation of stories across cultures (or, maybe it was just Bill and Ted)

Action packed, yet old school

jaw was dropped.

Last night I got to watch an Australian shepherd puppy and a pit bull-mix puppy take each other on. Ozzie and Duke, respectively, have apparently been puppy-friends for a good long while, and have a long-standing rough-housing relationship. And, they are badasses. I think I can confidentally say it's at least as, if not more fun, to watch two dogs play out martial arts principles in a solidly balanced, not-trying-to-hurt-each-other-way, than it is to watch two people sparring. I saw everything from side-mounts to over-and-under clinches, and, I shit you not, a body-side-drop. Ozzie got some sort of hold on Duke's collar, flipped over onto his back, and we all started to say something to the effect of, "aww, he slipped," only to see a very suprised look appear on Duke's horribly cute pit bull face as he was flipped over in turn by the sacrifice throw. Acrobatic Ozzie's got some skillz.

another interesting bird, possibly linked to the etymology of "jinx"

Completely Random Quote of the Day:
"I drank, I pursued the gentler sex, and so forth." - Naguib Mahfouz (I just like that, "and so forth")

Glory, I tell you.

So, the sourcing for this little thoughtball comes from a running conversation that's been bouncing around and being refined, between me, my roommates, my family, and even across the country. Finally it got to the outlet that is this forum, which is where ideas such as it is are generally revealed in all their awesome and terrible Glory.

Or, you know, just me spouting off. But I like to imagine the fanfare and dancers, so we're calling it Glory.

Back to the topic of interest. Just as I'm all about principles in yoga and martial arts, I'm also all about principles in general life (which one might argue yoga and martial arts are all about, but that's besides the point). And one of those principles is that one just does not deride, or knock down, or be negative about someone else's dream or passion. Zip. Zero. Nil. It's inviolate. Now, to clarify, we're not talking about, say, the naivetée of the person - if they're a communication major thinking it'll be easy as a DeltaDeltaDelta girl to be famous and make six figures right off the bat, that's just naive. But smacking them upside the head for that is just a different issue. It's one thing to tell a fat person that their dream of being a supermodel inside a month is a tad unrealistic, but it's another to laugh at them for wanting to feel good about their body-image.

And we're talking about that latter part - scoffing at or being condescending about the dream itself. That is just unconscionable, and not something I'll put up with, if I'm involved. If someone loves and cherishes something, say, they're passionate about quilting, or they've always had a dream to be the best tap-dancer in three counties, I don't care how silly it is for someone else, it is not to be touched. That is their hope, a truly positive thing in its nature, and to lay any shadow on it is a dark, dark thing in my mind.

Not to lighten the weight of the point, I'd still like to end with a (slightly paraphrased) point of wit from Mr Kevin:
"Oh, you're an English major, huh? Guess you won't be making any money, heh!"
"Oh, you're a jackass. Guess you won't be making any friends."

body language

I half-realized, half-remembered something while doing my portion of the yoga class last night. That is, when I first started jujitsu way back when, I think we began with a Brazilian armbar from the guard. And my mind was completely boggled. I didn't know what the hell they were trying to get me to do, much less where my own body parts where. I literally couldn't tell where my own thighs or hips were. But, over time, as I gained more control over and awareness of my body, I completely forgot about that. Till I started doing yoga anyway, and realized I was completely blind in reaching over a shoulder to find a foot, and I learned the interesting feeling of my sense of sight actually being de-prioritized for a moment. But then I forgot about that too, as it became unconscious. So yesterday two new gals were in the yoga class, both appearing quite physically fit...but I realized within the first couple movements that they were at exactly where I'd been when I'd started jujitsu. They hardly knew one side of her body from the other, much less how to rotate or connect two different body parts. While the teacher was almost one step ahead of my instruction, I had to quickly think of several ways to re-phrase things for the two girls in question.

I don't say all that to be arrogant and say "look how coordinated I am," of course. Rather, in one sense I think it's a point in favor of one reason yoga and martial arts are so beneficial, in how effectively they put can put one in touch with their body, which helps with all manner of mental and emotional issues, and dealing with illness and injury. And in another sense, it's a reason I want to teach yoga, to spread that learning, especially because I know from where I started that painful confusion of feeling disconnected from my own body.

Desolation Jones seems intriguing

Monaco has an interesting coat of arms

Woo! Go English Springers!

-for the holiday, from Yoga Journal
A More Perfect Union - on relationship issues
Intimacy and Ecstasy - on combining spirituality and sex

triviaball

Evensong - a thought-provoking allegory

Dogfights - I caught a portion of this show on the History Channel, and was riveted immediately - what I saw took veteran's accounts of their own experiences, and translated them to CGI dogfights that are intense, like Top Gun, say, but with that quality that makes you want to jump up and crow and duck and tense like Operation: Red Flag and Abnett's Double Eagle. I think I may actually get the dvd's of this at some point, it's exciting, and real. The last image I saw before I had to run out the door was of a Crusader gunning through a turn back from the A-4's it was escorting to pull a rear-guard against a sky-darkening wing of MiGs, with flak and missile contrails and falling fireballs and arcing tracers flaring past the screen. Hell, my lips are pulled back from gritted teeth just thinking about it, I love things that make me want to cheer the main 'character' on.

Biggest diamond ever.

Just because I'll probably be following this path to some degree in the future, the founder of Viniyoga

shpledoinkle!

Cannibal! The Musical, with Trey Parker and Matt Stone. I think this movie worked perfectly in the sense that, yeah, it was made while the in college (so one might expect it to be crappy or stupid), but instead it's surprisingly high quality and in that is the kind of movie one might wish they'd made while in college. Stupidly funny, but the key word is funny. I have to say, in any case, I liked the Japanese 'Indians' best, and Polly Pry was pretty hot for some unknown reason. Incidentally, the wiki on the real Alferd Packer (what's with his first name?) has a funny quote or two on it.

-yoga article which is kind of about kegel exercises on several levels, if one is seeking an upgrade on that, and at the same time could be made into an oblique reference to the idea of hyper-fine muscle control in Frank Herbert's novels

-the new New Avengers; interesting lineup, I like Echo best

-Eros Day seems like an interesting holiday (in honor of the Hallmark day tomorrow); I like how the modern originator would celebrate it, "though only with a girlfriend or two"

-Carcinoma Angels, a quick short...story (?) with a hallucinogenic but interesting ending

interesting passage:
"God arrives for the apocalypse, but humanity is a no-show. All that's left is the phrase 'We were here. Where were You?'"

Things of Note - an Anaheim Weekend

-props to Ms Kim for never losing her poise or classiness, even while dealing with a stomach flu (hell, almost no one could hardly tell how miserably sick she was)...50 points
-thanks to Abby for driving like a hellionette, though always in a calm and relaxed manner: we made some good time (and had a good time...wink, wink)
-after Kim and I had a two hour+ adventure wandering the back alleys of Corona, we had to wash grime off our faces, just from the atmosphere itself...like, ew
-we saw the most horribly despicable handler ever, I kind of want to make a website just detailing how disgusting a person she is
-some people just have no class.
-rain is kind of fun at a dog show, it adds that whole 'mud' element
-carpeted mall = just...odd
-an RV park with a ginormous guard-tower = awesome
-Rocky as a folk hero, I think it's a nice idea

-another article on using the principles of aikido in an interpersonal setting, because I'm very much a fan of it (as much as I'd love to use the principles of jujitsu instead, but that just doesn't turn out well at all)

like...ow.

I'm reading this book which is basically about financial planning, but is kind of a yoga-book in disguise at the same time. Each chapter has a set of evolving questions, modified by the subject of the current chapter. I've only gotten through two chapters so far; the first is about getting to know how you first came to conceptualize money, and to get a better understanding of how that has influenced how you think about it now. Fine, all well and good, I copied down the questions and answered them.

The next chapter is about 'suffering' (in the Buddhic sense, like one of the Noble Truths suffering), and getting to know how whatever suffering you might feel might stem from the experiences and thoughts explored in the last chapter. So I get to the questions of this chapter, type them the modifications to the previous chapter's (in blue this time), and go about answering them.

And then, by whatever intuitive manner the blob in my skull works, I realized something, and it hurt like heartbreak for a moment. It's hard to explain without, well, I'm not sure I could if I tried, but nonetheless I realized something that's been causing me fear and suffering for years. Going through experiences and memories of mine, I realized several of them were of people striking out to make their lives better, or happier somehow, and that only leading to miserable amounts of hard work, seemingly pointless sacrifice, and never quite achieving the goal they set out for, if they even got close. And so I'd unconsciously been laboring under this fucked up assumption that that's the only way things could be for me, as well. I mean, I can say I realized that, and might've even guessed at that before, but it's another to have the structure of an essay with evidence staring at me, just from those questions I was so blythely answering like a myspace survey.

This whole thing isn't a question of blame, or excuses, of course, but of releasing unconscious chains and weights that I've weighed myself down with - of actually removing blame and excuses, and taking responsibility for my self. The question is, how to move forward, once I get over the pain a realization like that brings.

integrating life, dreaming life

The Heart of Yoga, by T. K. V. Desikachar. I suppose it's another book that would only be of interest to someone interested in yoga, but hey, I'm basically reading textbooks for class, so there it is. Anyway, this text provides a pretty comprehensive, and yet very easy to read rundown of a general view of yoga by acting as an oblique commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. That is, it explains what most people would generally think of as hatha yoga, and not any of the more modern (Kripalu, Iyengar, etc) variants, and moreover emphasizes that the poses and physical component that most people think of as "yoga" is only a small portion of the whole. So, in the end, I'd recommend this to anyone who's taken an interest in yoga, and wants to further their interest beyond just the baseline physical aspect of it.

Last night, I was playing Second Life, or rather, basically wasting my little time at home. But I don't think it's entirely wasting; sure, I haven't even gotten off Help Island yet, not being done exploring it and snagging free stuff. But I was having fun 'people' watching, just seeing what people can create when they can create anything they'd like. Then environment seems designed to be pleasant, and relaxing, and that's really the word I'm looking for - I was relaxing. It's like an enormous, shared lucid dream, that has rules that keep it pleasant. Of course, I also realized that in attempting making my female avatar prettier (as one can change even the minutae of facial features, such as the cleft beneath the nose), I was unconsciously making it look more like my girlfriend, but I guess that's a compliment on her. Now, if only we could get an internet provider that actually was worth the money....

Seriously, how fun would pillow fight flash mobbing be?

triviaball

Interesting point about pranayama (breath training) - that in one sense it's not so much to have perfect control over one's breathing, but to be able to be aware of one's breathing without taking control of it. Which is actually quite the trick, if one tries it - being aware of your breathing, but without straining to control it in some way, subtle or overt. Of course, to get to that point, one has to become very good at controlling it, to transcend that.

This morning I saw hawk almost take a dove in a midair, right above the midline of Glenn. It's so interesting how wildlife adapts to suburban areas, like the other night when we heard a coyote pack near the house.

Huh, the wiki for Tucson is pretty nice, and the 'place names' section has some interesting trivia

Francis of Assisi is one of my favorite historical figures, for several reasons (for example, look at the part where he was involved with a Crusade), and I also wonder what it would be like to really figure out experiences and choices led him to take the course of life that he did

On that most blessed of condiments: guacamole

"So...if you're nice to them...they give you things?"

PCU, with Jeremy Piven (who we seem to have seen a lot of, lately) and some ubiquitous but anomynous actors. I didn't expect to be, honestly, but there were several points where I was really guffawing, watching this. Yeah, it's about as deep as a puddle, but I've a growing appreciation for Piven, and the "pre-frosh" character really is the pimp, as he was described last night. I suppose if one really wanted to, the movie could be read as a sort of social commentary in microcosm, or from a different angle, a commentary on the bubble-environment of academia and school-life.

Coming soon (anyone up for attending a midnight sale?), The Dark Tower in comic book form - interview and review

An interesting opinion on natural movement - its notes on the nature of some Chinese internal martial arts' forms could tangent off to yoga and parts of the novel Cell, I think

Nasrudin - ah, gotta love Sufi mystics (scroll down to "Examples") [and a whole lot more]

Things of Note - a Varied Weekend

-I'm going to go out on a limb, and guess that a sheltie specialty is probably one of the quietest dogs shows that could be
-goofiest looking bounty hunter ever.
-confused: wearing a gi...that says Shaolin on the back...swinging nunchuks...and wearng a cowboy hat (if that's nonsensical, ask me why that seems the definition of confused, to me)
-there was a turtle, I swear it!
-I'd never really noticed it, but yeah restaurants to do get all sorts of crowded during the gem show
-speaking of which, seems to have gotten annoyingly harder to get into, unless I'm missing something
-it did result in the finding of a more 'down-to-earth' show (literally, it was in the dust)
-and also hotel rooms - it's odd to buy some cavansite standing next to someone's hotel sink and bathroom
-purple rain (again, literally), a few cool plays, an early touchdown, a loss of money, and Monopoly marked this year's Superbowl
-Grosse Point Blank is still a great movie, with several scenes that could be talked about for their import and layers, and of course the John Cusack everyman character that is subtly way more than an everyman

The Divine Song

The Bhagavad Gita, tranlated by and with commentary for by Eknath Easwaran. One of the books I borrowed from my yoga teacher, this is a famous and very significant text, dating back a good few thousand years. Essentially, it's a dialogue between a soldier and his chariot-driver, who just so happens to be an avatar of sorts; the soldier is having a crisis of whether or not to fight, as he can see across the battlefield (which has incidentally been discovered as a battle that actually occurred in real life) his friends and relatives on the opposing side. So, the avatar lays out in a kind of Matrix-moment of suspended time his entire plan for living a happy life, and how to decide what the right thing to do is, in that or any situation. I wasn't actually so interested in the text itself (if for no other reason than I'm often frustrated with anything translated) as the commentaries that go to lengths to explain each chapter, and difficulties in translation. In any case, I certainly think it's an interesting and moreover refreshing text to read (I think I might get a copy to just to have to cool me down when I'm angry or upset), but unless one's really interested in yoga, it's probably not for them.

phone crazies! are scary

Cell, by Stephen King. I'm torn. It's King's writing...so it's pretty damn good writing, in pacing, style, characterization, etc, as per usual. Trivially, I had fun picking out some scattered references that seem to be there just to let the astute reader know that yes, this is within the same...uh, metaverse that The Dark Tower includes (who wants to listen to my theory about a Beam breaking being involved in Cell?). I loved the first half of the book, with all the mystery and carnage and horror and quickquick pacing, but ultimately didn't really like where it ended up, narrowing in focus and slowing with exposition, and straying just a bit too much into unbelievable in one minor way that bothered me. All the same, I can't really think of any other way King could have gone with it, including the ending, which I'm sure a lot of people won't like. Hell, I don't really like it, as much as I think it was a good ending, all the same. As good an ending as could have come out of that story, anyway. It's like I think the author of the long-running Walking Dead once said, he doesn't really have any plan to end it, he's just going to keep it going as long as he can, as there really isn't any way to satisfactorily end a story of this genre.

-an interesting historical connection between Rome and Norse culture

-an old favorite article of mine about arm stretches that involve lolling around

Lisa's screaming hurts my ears

Ruthless People, with Bill Pullman, Danny Devito, and Helen Slater. I enjoyed it, though not as much as the other older movies we've watched lately. I think part of it may be that this one just didn't seem as smart/clever in its humor, and was also dated in ways the others weren't (helloooo, eighties soundtrack). Though that makes me think of a Sonny Chiba movie set in China and Japan that's entire soundtrack was crazyfunky seventies acid jazz. But it wasn't as if the movie was bad, just not as good as the others. And Bill Pullman should have had more screentime, because he's awesome, though it took people giving me references to remember who he was.

Also, Kevin's comment from earlier got me thinking about how much our ingrained, habitual perception can affect us. I mean, for those people encountering the Spaniards for the first time, horses and people riding an animal were so far beyond their ken that they couldn't even see it as someone riding an animal that would somewhat similar to other four-legged animals in their native environment, just bigger. It makes me wonder what we might encounter that would seem so far beyond the pale that we wouldn't recognize it for what it actually is, but would have to give it some mythic value (UFOs, maybe?). Also, interestingly, one of the myriad aims of meditation is to release habits of perception, to not reflexively assign meaning to one's vision, but rather to see things as they are, for what they are, so I wonder how a well-trained person might fare in a similar situation.

because the brussel sprouts quote was just odd, to the general reader...
"The first dietary intervention was when God said, 'Don't eat that apple.' And that clearly didn't work."

oh, that's reassuring, as I mail off my check...
"The term mortgage (from Law French, lit. death vow)..."

triviaball

I think this would make an interesting movie:
"Perhaps more significantly, a change in climate in the North Atlantic led to an increase in sea-ice, making communication with Europe difficult, and favoring migrations of the Inuit from northern Greenland to the south and to regular contact with the Norse, leading to violence between the races."

And this would also make an interesting movie, but in an entirely different sense - spiders in space (and from a different angle, a campy horror movie)

The slungshot: historical combat yo yo. Oh hell yes.

bang! boom! sex!

Smokin' Aces, with a lot of fun actors, like Ray Liotta, Ryan Reynolds, Jeremy Piven, and Common (who was pretty cool, suprisingly). To me, this movie is good and bad, not neither, but both. It has a lot of great moments, though they're oddly paced and placed. Sometimes there is too much context, sometimes not enough, and somehow the plot is squeezed in between the action like little pudges between a too-tight shirt and low-rise jeans. As Ms Kim pointed out, the first portion of the movie is kind of like a long movie trailer...which isn't necessarily horrible, I'll note, movie trailers can be interesting to watch in and of itself. But....? Hm. The characters are interesting generally, though the story goes a little bit too far towards "too unpredictable" in regards to them, and it's thus hard to care for the characters because of it. I would have liked to see more of Ryan Reynolds being a badass, and less of Andy Garcia and that strange accent he was afflicted with. Smokin' Aces would have made a great comic book, it was decided, especially looking at the interesting manner of doing the end-credits, but is an odd sort of good-bad movie.

-the first several paragraphs of this are great, I think, though it then delves into somewhat technical stuff for yoga teachers - Strength of Mind

-fun with ESL!

-interesting ponderball quote: "One should lift oneself up by one's Self."

Random Word of the Day: sapidity

Things of Note: A Leisurely Busy weekend

-from Bryce: January's Phoenix comic con had more vendors and whatnot, but the signing of things was disappointing for various reasons...there was, however, some dude in a Wolverine costume with functional claws
-thank you DM F-16 pilots for gunning it low enough over the parking lot that all the ghetto fab cholo-mobiles had their alarms set off this morning; that was hilarious
-Tucson as a Big-Little Town, Instance #236: Corinne figuring out that our massage instructor had also been our capoeira instructor previously, despite going by an entirely different name
-Catalina State Park is great for short hikes, but has remarkably little to take pictures of, at least in the winter
-1, 2, 3: everyone roll their eyes at the trainers in Petsmart
-MillerLite and lime juice - not bad, not that bad at all
-not only did we catch a funny night at the comedy club, we even caught a comedian who's entire routine was based on puns
-bowling on the weekend is not so tenable, we found out, also inadvertantly possibly offending some people in line
-a horse is funny to imagine from a dog's point of view, it seeing a horse for the first time, especially with a human on top as well - "ohmigod a huge four-legged thing with a growth on its back!?" - makes me think of how a deer won't recognize a human if they're on horseback

triviaball!

Days Unfold (we know the drummer!) is awesome. To be completely honest, I don't even know that I was expecting anything in particular at all, but regardless I was pretty surpised by what I heard - I'm actually really glad we finally got to hear them. Yay local music!

I love living fossils, though this one is a bit...unpretty; hm, not that a coelacanth would win any beauty pagaents, I suppose...

from Mr Phil, an awesome idea

a random interesting battle I'd hardly heard even the context of, much less the players involved

a book!

llGuilty Pleasures, by Laurell Hamilton. Yay dark fantasy chick lit! Yes, some people might look at it and think "silly" (re: it being derided on the way home from Buckeye the other weekend), but it certainly doesn't take itself too seriously and is easy to read. Hamilton's Anita Blake is a fine character in the Stephanie Plum tradition, but with much more of an edge to her, and yet with that same quirkiness and uncertainty that makes for the charm. And I love what she's doing with her expanded setting, it's able to do stuff using the entirety of its setting that, say, my other favorite (White Wolf Publishing) is only able to do with an apocalypse - for example, stuff like making the monsters 'public,' and making the supernatural mainstream without resorting to extremes.

crash

I decided to go running with Mattie the ofanim (for the exactly two people who might get that reference) yesterday, and thinking it would be a short run, decided to try letting her set the pace for as long as I could. Hoo boy. I think I was sprinting, sliding, and sprinting for a lot longer than I meant to; another mistake I made included grabbing the wrong Underarmor (for extreme heat, not winter cold) and so I was oddly even more cold than I would have been shirtless. Then Mattie decided to make an agile little dodge around a telephone pole, and I let go of the leash, thinking I'd be able to pick it up again quickly, and then a lot of stuff seemed to happen. I slid on sand, heard a car, saw Mattie pick up speed, put my head below my center of mass reaching for the leash, and had a burst of panic thinking Mattie was going to bolt beyond my reach.

And my body...crashed? It was like it was operating independently of me, and all the while I was willing myself to just step on or grab the damn leash and please please don't face plant on the thorns and asphalt, and there was lots of pain. Which I later realized was the headache I felt a moment later. Now, it's kind of a chicken/egg as to whether headache preceded or followed my body-mind going wonky on me, but either way luckily Mattie turned to see what was up with the stupid human instead of sprinting off, and I managed to stumble us home. And sit in a chair on the porch and keep from throwing up from the headache. Oof, wierd, painful experience.

I can logic out the heliotropism of leaves, but why would flowers track the sun?

Wow, old school staff - but where are the thrusts? It's interesting how there's an entirely different priority from the Okinawan style I'm more familiar with

nouveau?

Some of my favorite kinds of moments are when everything in my perception is suddenly unfamiliar. The most general example of this I can think of is when I've been out of town and am driving back into Tucson, and my mind is somewhere else, and I don't recognize the roads and shops and views I commonly see. It's like it's new all over again to me; I guess I'm often that way with food, though I didn't consciously realize that till it was pointed out to me, but in a sense somehow yeah I guess food does seem kind of new to me each time I try it, even if it's something I eat practically every day. So I suppose in the end I'd take that observation as a really nice compliment, because I think it's good to do more than just go through the motions, and I'm happy to be more aware that I might have been acting that way even unconsciously. Or perhaps especially?

After I meditate, if I'm especially centered, I'm left with that unfamiliar feeling for a period of time. Unfamiliar isn't really the right word, though, I think that might have some negative connotation; more like everything's newer, and in being new again, and me consequently paying more attention, everything seems bright and fresh and interesting, even if it's just the subtle movements of the blinds across the window, or the red of the drapes in my room, or (and for some reason I love this in particular) the green of leaves swaying in a sunny breeze. Or this morning, I somehow woke up in a kind of new-state, and the first thing I saw was my girlfriend's lovely butt clad only in underwear, and that was something I was very happy to see all over again for the first time.

all sorts of crazy people

Benny and Joon, with Mary Stuart Masterson (aka Jennifer Garner) and Johnny Depp. Cute! Though from the few years of experience I had with similar characters at the hospital, I had a spot of trouble believing that such a pleasant conclusion could come out of this, but since I'm really an idealist at heart as I've realized in the past year, I didn't really care. I thought that the 'non-crazy' characters were kind of reacting too abruptly, not hardly giving each other any sort of chance, but I think that's more a limitation of the medium than anything else (ie, it would be much easier to develop that aspect in a novel, say). But, overall, a well put together, classic, gem of a movie.

I got this comic called Walk In, from the new Virgin line, and was kind of thinking it was 'eh' since I've read it. But, looking it up out of boredom if nothing else, I come across this interesting article, which pertains to both modern occurrences and myth - I knew that Virgin was basing their new comics on Indian mythology (hence my initial interest) but didn't realize that this particular comic was included in that. Points to them for subtlety. Now, I'm interested.

Wow, I don't think they could make a movie out of it, but Loop is an interesting story, and for some odd reason reminds me of Pulse

From Wyatt, a very odd shippy boaty

triviaball

akabeko = cute

I'm still waiting on the prime-time-news-magazine special on drunken bees

I heard this Madagascar...i? Madagascar-an? Anyway, instrument, on the Global Express this morning on the community radio station, and it has a very interesting sound to it, and even more interestingly, if made in the traditional fashion, if one string breaks, the whole instrument has to be tossed, because the strings are made out of the bamboo body of the instrument itself. And the song was almost as catchy as that lemur-techno from the movie Madagascar, to boot, which is saying something.

Wow, did anyone know that there could be chicken eunuchs, that even perform a similar function to historical human eunuchs? Well, except for the getting eaten part, I guess.

ponderball

I just had this memory of...fifth grade I think it was; we read a dystopian short story about massive overpopulation, and I remember the stark despair contained in the narrative. Then, remembering that, I thought - whoa, that was fifth grade?! Props to that teacher, that was great stuff that challenged us, and it fired me up. Hell, I think that might have also been a point in time where I had an impulse to create/write first developed, I remember writing a story about an visiting a science-fiction-y alien zoo for that same teacher - it might have been silly, but damn was my imagination and interest engaged.

-passage on various yoga views:
"A classicalist might quiet the mind and withdraw his senses to gain freedom from the material world and access the spiritual. A Vedantist regards the sunset as being part of the spiritual world but believes that seeing it as a sunset is an illusion. A Tantrika recognizes the sunset for what it is in the regular world but sees it as part of the divine whole. What's more, she fully delights in the experience while it lasts."

-and a funny little passage on panache that I'm kind of furrowing my brows at

-on being happy:
"We sometimes forget that we are allowed to feel this way all the time. " - an interesting thought, I thought

-ah, using one of my favorite movements (the armdrag), here's a good idea for when using a butterfly guard

Things of Note: A "Global warming my ass!" Weekend

-first of all, thank you to Mr Andrew for calling suggesting I 'make a break for it;' dude, that saved me a lot of driving on blowing-snow-tilted-hills-no-streetlamps-carswithbrightson trouble, I'm sure it would have gotten worse had I left later
-it's funny to do yardwork, then have it snow later...the piles of weeds/grass I'd meant to burn slowly are now piles of snow
-apparently, "copper" can at times mean "gray;" hence, my turning off the gas for a weekend...d'oh
-petite people are apparently agile like mountain goats, at least until they have a camouflage jacket carapace on
-I felt bad for the dude who's tree we were digging up for him, what with the ghastly wheezing and coughing...till I realized he was smoking the entire time
-ah, truckstops and lot-lizards
-Hot Buttered Rum: rocking bluegrass band, when they're playing fast; when you can't see the band, and there are obelisk-like girls elbowing and crowding you, it's not so rocking
-in other news, the snow still hasn't melted yet, and schools are closed in Tucson - I think armageddon may be upon us
--
-a bit hokey in parts, but I think quite an interesting article on cycles

old school

What's Up, Doc?, with Ryan O'Neal and Barbra Streisand. First of all, somehow, someway, Streisand is ungodly hot in this movie. Hott, or hawt, if you will. Like, dayamn, if one might forgive the colloquialism. As it were. Wowza. Ironically, it's apparently also a distant reference to another movie I enjoyed, but in that case was ultimately disappointed with, The Lady Eve. But anyway, this movie is hilarious. I'm not even sure why, exactly. But I was laughing really, really hard. A lot. I think, if I were to see it again, I'd even say with more confidence that it actually has a pretty tight narrative structure, for what it is...as it was, I almost had trouble following some aspects of it, but I didn't care, I was laughing too hard.

Vertigo, with Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. Well, aside from the fact that I was utterly exhausted and couldn't keep my eyes open, it was interesting. For true, it's a good story, though we thought that the explanation of what the female lead had been doing for half the movie would have better served the story if it was explained at the end instead of the middle. Of course, I had to have the ending explained to me after dozing through it, but ah well.

-I almost want to make a pilgrimage

dooby doo

In the space of Ms Kim singing "Tony Danza" at karaoke, I caught out of the corner of my eye Cung Le completely dominating some poor guy through one round of san-shou rules kickboxing. I was watching my girlfriend, natch, but I could see in my peripheral vision at least five different kinds of throws, which is significant in my mind because most sport-fighters can do maybe one or two wrestling takedowns at best, much less spectacular, body slamming throws like that. Seriously, look up Cung Le on youtube if you want some free entertainment, and don't mind feeling bad for his opponents.

In other news, I enjoy freckles on a girl. I think they're cute (luckily, my girlfriend is naturally freckled by her long days in the sun at dog shows). Also, as much as I reflexively blocked off my ears to country music in years past, I'll admit I've grown to appreciate it for several reasons. For example, the faster songs are often just impressive, and catchy, and I enjoy how they often tell a story (which most other contemporary music doesn't at all), and also damn but I never realized a girl twang'ing it up could be that attractive.

Civil War: Fallen Son looks to be interesting, both on account of Jeff Loeb being attached to it, and how he seems to have already skillfully planned out both structure (based on the 'stages of grief') and characterization. But who's going to die?! Damn, I don't even know who to guess!

Huh, never heard of European windstorms before

the sun, crotch shots, errant agua

I went up on the roof, as I am sometimes wont to do, to take a picture of the sun. Yes, sometimes I stare into the sun. And sometimes, when I'm not on the roof, though I wouldn't be surprised if she somehow followed me up the ladder, Mattie slams me in the crotch as I look up into the sun. But that's besides the point. The point! Is that a copper pipe cracked or something, and there was water dripping down my roof from the evap cooler. I guess I should have thought to check on that what with all the pipe-bursting news I've been hearing, but alas. Lesson learned, and I now know how to turn off the water up there. I think. I'll have to check on that when I get home. Watch for hilarity to ensue when I slip on icy water that's not supposed to be there and plummet to my death upon Tia's queen-of-the-hill futon.

-they're finally expanding the Robotech series in a meaningful way with The Shadow Chronicles; or...are they? I mean, I swear they went over this in the novels (which I read every one of and which are really my only real contact with the series), but I guess maybe this is a reboot? I suppose that concluding novel was pretty 2001: A Space Odyssey in its ending...

ponderball

“In sleep a person passes in and out of two stages, dreaming and dreamless sleep. In the first, consciousness is withdrawn from the body and senses but still engaged in the mind. In dreamless sleep, however, consciousness is withdrawn from the mind as well. Then the thinking process – even the sense of “I” – is temporarily suspended, and consciousness is said to reside in the Self. In this state a person ceases to be a separate creature, a separate personality. In dreamless sleep, the Upanishads say, a king is not a king nor a pauper poor; no one is old, or young, male or female, educated or ignorant. When consciousness returns to the mind, however, the thinking process starts up again, and personality returns to the body….According to this analysis, the ego dies every night.” - I'm up for talking this out with anyone, I thought it was really interesting

-ten points if someone kind find a text that can use sexual cannibalism in a close-reading of it (actually kind of tempted to suggest that to my old literary theory teacher, it would be a fun assignment)

-I think this would be a fun topic to do a period-piece movie about - the Wokuo

-in other news, I may seem like a woman with the new template, but...uh...well, for all anyone knows who's reading this, maybe I am! Ha! Take that!

-or something. I don't really know where I was going with that. I thought the template was purty, though, and pleasantly calm. So, take that!

unity vs separateness: variations

Heathers, with Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. A dark comedy curtesy of Ms Kim's impeccable taste - it's so very. My attention wanted to wander at a few points, but it was always sucked back in by the weight of meaning in the surreal and satirical threads running throughout. As much as one could look at it as one of those well-done classics and leave it at that, I think there are a number of interesting questions raised. Like, looking back to one's own high school experience, were there any parallels in the cliques, teachers, or even the suicides? Is high school really a microcosm of society, or is that idea flawed? Could this movie fly in present-day theatres without generating scandal and controversy? Isn't ironic how the person trying to bring unity to the separateness of the students (see below) is the most psychotic, dark character? Or is it not ironic? How badass is it to light a cigarette how Veronica does in the end? And how gross is it to do the same off of someone's burning flesh? And it's so very what?!
"Fuck me gently with a chainsaw."

"The mind, they said, observes the outside world and sees its own structure. It reports the world consists of a multiplicity of separate objects in a framework of time, space, and causality because these are the conditions of perception. In a word, the mind looks at unity and sees diversity; it looks at what is timeless and sees transience. And in fact the percepts of its experience are diverse and transient; on this level of experience, separateness is real. Our mistake is taking this for the ultimate reality, like the dreamer thinking that nothing is real except his dream....This does not mean, however, that the phenomenal world [what is sensed, perceived] is an illusion or unreal. The illusion is the sense of separateness." - from a foreward to the Bhagavad Gita
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Not as bad as giving a kid a bucket of mercury to play T-1000 or Silver Surfer, but still...

I wonder what was going on behind the scenes of James Price's alchemy demonstrations - if they were just magic tricks, why would he go to such lengths to make such a claim, or resort to just doing magic tricks, if he'd really had such a brilliant career already?

Things of Note - an It's Always Buckeye Weekend

-congrats to Ms Kim for scoring points with various dawgs!
-those basenji dogs still remind me of the tiny swarming dinosaurs from Jurassic Park
-volleyball players continue to have the hottest uniforms ever
-what do green peppercorns taste like, anyway?
-grandiose plans of drinking and card games involving killing bunnies: okay, not so grandiose, I just wanted to use that word
-I inadvertantly offended a gay person: sorry, dude
-mmm...somehow, I honestly did not realize one could buy a giant soft pretzel in the mall
-I still have yet to see Buckeye-proper...if there is a central portion of Buckeye...hm
-I'd not known there could be such a stark temperature difference between the shade and sunlit areas
-comic book stores are bad for my finances
-who'd've thought a racist, anti-semitic bigot could be so outwardly nice
-Jacks and Fives: wow, it doesn't need alcohol to be fun, who knew? (he said sarcastically)

triviaball

-I'm a sucker for nice game trailers (Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)

-interesting energy idea

-do these maneuvers actually involve Red Bull?

-happy fun ball

-from Phil: guaranteed to make smiles

tpb reviews!

Homeland (Legend of Drizzt, Vol 1) - This is an adapation of R. A. Salvatore's origin-novel of the famous character Drizzt, and also one of my favorite novels-from-when-I-was-younger. So in that I wsa kind of wary of anyone being able to pull off a good graphic adaptation (ignoring the point that the novel takes place entirely in pitch black darkness with characters that see by heat). But, like the bits of the adaptation of Laurell Hamilton's novels I've seen, the lush art and dedication of the writers to stick as close as humanly possible to the novels really does pull it off, I think. There's no way it could have the richness of prose and detail a novel could have, of course, just in that one can only cram so much into a graphic text, but to me it would be a great companion to the novel, like the illustrations in The Dark Tower, in a sense.

First Foursaken (Uncanny X-Men - The New Age, Vol 5) - I got this one because it was small, and featured my favorite artist, Chris Bachalo. The first story was interesting in a short story kind of sense, and began to hint at current incarnations of the characters involved, I suppose. But it completely gives a new villain - something that's supposed to be the opposite of the Phoenix - short shrift, I think they could have gone with the same villain, but described it as something else, and made the story immediately more palatable. The second half of the collection also has nice art, but completely focuses on Storm, who I was never particularly interested in; moreover, it plays upon a Black Hawk Down trope, which while ambitious I think is another case of short shrift. Still, I think this one's worth getting if one either likes Bachalo's art or Storm.

Down the Rabbit Hole (Exiles, Vol 1) - As much as this is billed as X-Men meets Quantum Leap, as I've never seen that show, I have to compare it to an old favorite, Sliders. In terms of comics, it provides for a continuous stream of what-if scenarios, returns of old characters that should be dead (like one of Wyatt and I's favorites of yore, Blink), and original characters that just wouldn't exist in the main setting. So, there's a lot of fun variability and interesting concepts and even humor from deadpan to witty, but at the same time, one already begins to realize that it won't do to become too attached to any of the characters - that same variability leads to a relatively high rate of loss of main characters. Good stuff, though.

-illuminating article on the nature of relaxed versus working muscles

-from Mr Phil, an awesome discourse on pirates

-from Ms Abby, Perry Bible Fellowship - hilarious, I tell you

commentary and curiosity

"Sport-fighting guys come across as bullies, self-defense guys sound like military absolutists and traditional martial artists seem like stubborn, irrational Orientophiles." - That's...well...surprisingly accurate, I think, if a bit exaggerated. Not by much, though. And it sums up really what martial artists turn into, I think, when confronted by the existence of a martial artist from a different, ah, 'faction.' I've drifted between sport and traditional over the years I think, more recently leaning towards sport, in the end, despite doing more traditional stuff lately - my mindset is definitely on 'sport,' regardless.

"Anybody can breathe; therefore, anybody can practice yoga. But no one can practice every kind of yoga. It has to be the right yoga for the person."

I like this description of something I'd been rather suspicious of before, or at least it helps in discerning whether to be suspicious -
"A guru is not one who has a following. A guru is one who can show me the way. Suppose I’m in the forest and somehow I’ve lost my way. Then I’ll ask a person, 'Is this the way home?' That person might say, 'Yes, you go this way.' I say, 'Thank you,' and I go my way. That is a guru….The guru is not one who says, 'I am the guru.'

One of the qualities of a person who is clear, who is wise, is not to need to say 'I am clear, I am wise.' There is no need to say this. The person knows the way and he or she shows the way. It is simple. Humility is one of the qualities of a clear person – there is nothing to prove to anybody."

How curious, I wonder if I could find seeds for shy plants

An oldie but goodie, a quick discourse on comprehensive martial arts

Perhaps more potentially uh-oh

need...fresh...air...

Something about the weather today - in its inexpressible, cool and breeze damn-it's-a-good-day way - made me nostalgic for when I was in school. That is, when I would be spending a solid portion, if not a majority of the day outside. In between classes, walking to and from school, walking to get ideas for poetry or literature classes or to work out issues, running...that was when I first learned to appreciate what I can out of the colder seasons, especially autumn with its scents and mellow temperature. The winter of the present, for the most part, however, is somewhat discontentful, as I spend most of my day outside, and when I am outside for a walk or what it's only late at night, when the cold is just...cold. Ah well, maybe I can shift my perspective enough that things look up in that regard by the season's end...

Ruh-roh

awlp! and community update, and bubbles.

Reading a book on pranayama (working with the breath), there was an interesting little snippet of a chapter on nutrition. A couple lines that popped out at me were, "It is the state of mind of the eater that is important," and "When a noble mind prevails, all but poisonous food is sattvic [healthy to body-mind]." The context for these two posits, horribly synopsized, goes something like: though food affects the constitution of the body-mind, that does not necessarily mean a jerk or a tyrant will become nicer just by eating a sattvic or vegetarian diet. Someone like a Jesus or a Buddha would probably not be affected all that much in a negative or dulling manner by eating non-sattvic food, or meat, or whatever, because they would already be in a self-sustain-ingly healthy state of body-mind, and so would have proper reverence for the life given for their nutrition. Long story short, most people are obviously more in the middle, so what I take out of it is that it helps to eat healthy and reverentially, but going out of my way to cause undue stress to myself to try to become, say, vegan, or guilting myself because I'm not, is just plain useless. And yes, I'm aware that sounds a lot like rationalizing, but I'm confident in saying I've put a good amount of thought into that, and could explain it better if needs be, and in that same vein could reference the text more.

Mr Andrew's back in Tucson, and back in action - The Second Time Around

Bubble Rings are pretty cool - though, I like bubble rings made by Ms Kim more (mainly because it involves her in a swimsuit)

Things of Note - a Dawg Eat Dawg Weekend

-a five month old black lab puppy is vaguely reminiscint of a hyperactive toddler on steroids; hella strong, wants to put everything it possibly can in its mouth (including the picnic table?!), and isn't shy about thinking the world is its bathroom
-that said, that puppy was remarkably quick to learn its new pack leader's usual play-fighting tricks and act to counter them, enough that he was even starting to piss off the other (frustrated) dog
-watching RC cars race around a BMX track in miniature is almost more fun than seeing actual cars race
-I finally put up some of the photos from Pinetop, and like Kevin, had some time obsessively geotagging them (ie, getting down to literally the exact place I took the photo in Tucson)
-not all superglue is created equal
-comic book stores have midnight sales?!
-make sure medication doesn't have "hydrochloric acid" as part of its ingredients - no, seriously, I'm not joking
-Ms Kim had an interesting time in Palm Springs - personally, I'm just glad she was able to get there safely with that wind blowing over semi's and RV's
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and, a quick discourse on ukemi skills

prayer

-instead of writing about The Dark Tower, I'll excerpt from it - Cuthbert's prayer for the dead, as given by Roland, for Jake (I'll assume that's not a spoiler, given that one might guess at all of the characters dying from the second book on):
Time flies, knells call, life passes, so hear my prayer.
Birth is nothing but death begun, so hear my prayer.
Death is speechless, so hear my speech.
This is Jake, who served his ka and his tet. Say true.
May the forgiving glance of S'mana heal his heart. Say please.
May the arms of Gan raise him from the darkness of this earth. Say please.
Surround him, Gan, with light.
Fill him, Chloe, with strength.
If he is thirsty, give him water in the clearing.
If he is hungry, give him food in the clearing.
May his life on this earth and the pain of his passing become as a dream to his waking soul, and let his eyes fall upon every lovely sight, let him find the friends that were lost to him, and let everyone whose name he calls call his in return.
This is Jake, who lived well, loved his own, and died as he would have it.
Each man owes a death. This is Jake. Give him peace.
-I think I might adapt it a bit, using Threnody/Karuna, just as another poem to have memorized

at a loss for words

The Dark Tower, by Stephen King. Wow. I think I kind of just rested on the couch after finishing this (and yes, I did pass the unique little coda, and finished the ending, after some internal justifying or rationalizing or whatever). I...yeah, once again, I think in the end I'm going to pass on writing more about this story, I just don't feel up to presuming any insights, yet (tangentially, I might be making a midnight trip to Charlie's Comics to get the first of the comic adaptation of Roland's 'lost years,' as it were).

Say thankya.

---
-eh, it wouldn't save them from being herded by Mattie

-yeah...winter....mmmmno

-GreenGlobe offers an eccentric gift idea

more triviaball (now with acrobatics!)

"Soon after I left the canyon I read, in an otherwise unsuccinct paper on ecology: 'Organisms themselves are relatively transient entities through which materials and energy flow and eventually return to the environment.' In my more skittish moments I am currently inclined to think that would rather like this sentence as my epitaph."

Kind of silly, but somehow endearing - an internetweb rainbow

Also silly, but it's got some clean, aesthetics-bent parkour in it (and ditto, but with Madonna)

Sosuishi-ryu Kumi Uchi techniques - old school [also - sword]

And interesting dancing

triviaball

"However, some horticulturists sell chimeras made by grafting a tomato plant onto a potato plant, which can produce both edible tomatoes and potatoes." - that's it, I want one.

Huh, I didn't know there was a Viking dog; or, that they might be an inspiration for humor (one would think there would have been a big, warlike mastiff or something, but maybe the Vikings appreciated the corgi ancestors for their cuteness?)

And, finally, an explanation of the odd racoon tail in Mario Bros 3, ultimately stemming from these puppies (incidentally, also a possible visualization of Oy from King's Dark Tower in my opinion)

So that's where Eris is

“Never question the motives of a man with no pants.”

symbols and imagination

When I first saw V for Vendetta, I remember being somewhat ambivalent towards both its message, the moral ambiguity of certain events in the story, and the movie as a whole. But was that just because they made me uncomfortable? If so, I'm glad I've seen it more times since then, as each time I've enjoyed it a little more, and come to appreciate its ambiguities and tightly woven semantic nets a little more as well (though I'm sure it'll take more watching to fully appreciate those aspects). For example, if anyone has occasion to watch the film, pay close attention to the overall dialogue concerning the nature of words, symbols, and ideas, a central theme in the movie - it's a wonderful introduction to semiotics in and of itself. Also, if anyone wants to talk out what V does to Evie to bring about change in her, I'm all ears, that's one of those things I'm hungry for any sort of opinion on.

Completely unrelatedly, having seen a good majority of Super Mario Bros 3 this past weekend, I remembered noting that for as simple as the game and its graphics and art are, it had a remarkable range of immersion. At least for me, anyway, and I guess I am known for getting a little too into things. Still, the idea of moving from pipe to pipe across a map requiring you to traverse a star filled, snowy cavern is an interesting image that implies a lot about the (surreal) nature of pipes and that 'world,' or how each level is integrated into what's shown on the map. Yeah, it's a 2D sidescroller, but between flame filled deserts with angry, animate suns and black sky'd wastelands and airship fleets and fields of carnivorous plants and haunted castles, I think if one uses their imagination a bit, Super Marios Bros 3 (or 2 or the first) can rival any Final Fantasy or whatnot.
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Bow shock is pretty (check out the imagelinks on the bottom)

ah, humorous, pointless violence

Jackass Number Two, with...well, the Jackass people, and lots of random cameos. As per usual with things Jackass, I greatly enjoyed the elaborate, cartoon-esque stunts - partly out of admiration, partly because it looks fun, and partly because they're obviously having fun. Similarly with the pranks, because they're healthy pranks for the most part, that don't horribly humiliate people, but are just simple and funny. The gross out humor? Yeah, there were a good few parts I just looked away, or half covered my eyes - luckily, I was talking on the phone for half of those, and so had an excuse to just walk out of the room. So, over all, I wouldn't go out of my way to see it, but it was hilarious, generally, having seen it.

wounds and salves

Going into the ER brought back some memories, but nothing notable, or that I haven't talked about before. I did note, on the other hand, how in the last two times I've been there, there's been some local drama going on. For example, we ended up sitting next to the family of someone involved in a bus-SUV collision, who we realized were such as they reacted to the news of the accident playing on the television above us. Or last night, as I walked in there was a Mexican family anxiously searching for someone who had been shot (that last was a bit disconcerting, especially because of a ghetto-bird's lingering presence above Adelaide two nights in a row, and where the family said the shooting took place). I guess things like that made me remember times I'd sat next to people who were in the news or victims of violent crime, and ponder Tucson being a big-little town, and while one often runs into people one knows, one can also run into 'news-worthy' people.

I got some neem oil...I'm not sure yet if it's the panacea it's touted to be, but I did realize why it isn't marketed more if it really does have all the good affects it's supposed to - it smells downright foul. As Sensei Tony would say, it's just plum raunch.
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"Can you give me hallelujah?
Thankee-sai.
Now somebody yell me a big old God-bomb amen."

Things of Note - A Snowy New Years Weekend

-Kim = the aweso for cooking for thirteen people, and making good food to boot
-it took me a while to remember how to chop wood and make fires, but damn, call me a lumber jack and a...firebug or something, by the end of it
-Kim also won forty dollars at the casino, though we couldn't make heads or tails of the slots' rules, they might as well have given us a button that says 'you win' or 'you lose'
-lots of people had bruised asses from the ski/snowboard slopes (at least, we hope it was the slopes)
-flip cup is a lot more fun than the other drinking games, half because no one really cares if you drink, and half because it actually takes a modicum of skill of a sort - and yes, twenty-three bottles of champagne were emptied, all except the odd peach flavor which mysteriously disappeared
-snow makes for fun slushy drinks; Early Times whisky does not make for good times drinks, including the bad-idea of snowy trampoline jumping and sticking the entire bottle down someone's pants
-in Pinetop, Darby's Cafe is ok, Johnny Angel's diner is bleh, and don't even go near the bowling alley
-that was the most Mario Bros 3 I'd ever seen played, though we noted that Luigi is really more of a green Mario in that one
-throwing a large rock onto a frozen-over lake doesn't necessarily mean it's safe to walk on, as we found out upon hearing crunchycrackly noises under our feet
-in other news, a snowman was violated