Keep on Moving – Don’t stop

There's a Funny Smell in the Room...

So Alien Boy’s birthday was a couple of days ago, and mine is in another two weeks. Since I’m dead broke, all I could offer Todd was a dram of Chimay Blue after class last night. Todd, not to be outdone, got me this little baby:

A Chimay FLAG! Oh hells yeah! Now THERE’S a standard I could rally behind! Around! Whatever!

Out, Damn Spot! Hell is Murky!

Gary, my good friend and constant household irritant, is finally moving out after three and a half years of leeching off my ass. And I mean leeching in the most literal sense: He hasn't had a job for three years now. I love the guy, and he helped Caren and I out over ten years ago when we needed a place to stay. But man, I have been PRAYING for him to leave for a while now. I can't wait to repaint the guest bedroom, and actually have GUESTS over.

Everybody Loves Kung Fu-

...Aww, Screw It.

I've been trying to think of something to call the martial art I actually teach, what it is that I do. I'm not a follower of ANY singular stricture, methodology, system or teacher, and I don't believe any martial art has a monopoly on the truth. But after 24 years of practice and 7 years of teaching, I am starting to see a pattern emerge. Writing it all down helps as well, and I was thinking I should have some kind of standard of curriculum. I'm still lost on quite a few points, though. The main styles I gravitate towards are Indo-Malay and Filipino. Having said that, I use elements of Wing Chun, Pa Kua, Muay Thai, Chin Na and Kalaripayattu. Fencing is in there, although it's not overtly obvious.

Thing is, I don't want some incomprehensible mess like what Bruce Lee left behind. Yeah, yeah, I know, he was a visionary, blah, blah, blah. It didn't make him very intuitive about what his method would become after he died, even his books don't give a very clear picture. And I HATE speaking in metaphysical, oogah-boogah terms, as if you need a degree in advanced philosophy to remotely understand my martial enlightenment. Real combat isn't THAT complicated, ask any boxer.

Barak Obama has pulled ahead of Hillary Clinton!!

I was really worried about this, because I have severe doubts about Hillary. Other blogs have mentioned that the politics between the two are near-identical enough not to make a difference, and that Hillary would be just fine. I disagree. I find Hillary's earlier tactics to be distasteful (no big surprise there, this IS politics after all) but I was especially impressed with Obama's constant choice of the high road. Hillary repetedly attacked OBAMA, not the issues, while Barak kept his eye on the ball and stayed true to his convictions. Do you know what that says to me?

He didn't crack, at a time when Hillary caved. He has backbone, and I would like to see this man run things in the White House.

Yes, Obama comes across as a cheerleader for change at times, but what attracts me to him is his self-confidence. It isn't just this election, it's his entire political career. Do a little research, and you will uncover some startling facts: Obama has been stabbed in the back by his own damn party more times than Julius Caesar after announcing he was throwing a little get-together for 23 of his closest friends, and could Brutus handle the guest list?

Obama is doing it the way I have always suspected a real LEADER would, putting his money where his mouth is. Of course, the real test comes when he's actually IN the White House, and half a dozen Generals are screaming at him to sign the damn paper and let's just re-invade Iraq again, goddammit!

But I'm still betting on Barak. I'll choose optimism over indecisiveness any day of the week.

No Country for Old Men

A perfect example of why writers are more important than directors.

This was ultimately a disappointing movie. It wasn't BAD in any sense of the word, but it certainly doesn't deserve the reviews it's getting. What it is, is AVERAGE.

BOILERPLATE.

RUN-OF-THE-MILL.

It starts off great, in fact I would say it starts off FANTASTIC: A sociopathic murder on a deserted highway, a multi-player drug deal gone horribly wrong and a fantastic windfall to a white-trash Badlands cowboy-wannabe. Lots of fast-paced action and realistic scenarios liberally integrated with a strong base plot. I was completely engrossed for the first hour and a half.

The movie seems to just die midway through, as if the writer's strike left it lying on the beach like a stranded whale and they had to get the copy boy to do the final drafts and rewrites. Towards the end I found myself waiting for the big payoff, thinking there had to be SOME POINT to all this go-nowhere dialog and repetitive backtracking.

The overall effect of the movie was a let-down; much like a snowball that starts out huge and gets smaller and smaller as it rolls downhill. Josh Brolin makes a remarkable screen presence, but Tommy Lee Jones is perfectly lost in this flick. In fact, he comes across as a mumbling macho idiot who can't find his ass with a map. Woody Harrelson bobs to the surface briefly like an Atlantic sonar buoy with no identifiable paint, but fails to give us any meat with the usual potatoes. He doesn't serve much purpose in the film, and the climax is a head-scratching "WTF??" as the credits roll up. I have heard that the book is way better, and ends different. I'll read it and let you know, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Fun With Pointy Things

Just a reminder, I'll be in Des Moines, IA March 14 - 16 at Jay Carstensen's school giving a Pencak Silat seminar. I'll be covering a broad spectrum of empty hand and weapon techniques, methods and advanced use. If you're in the area, swing by and I'll make it worth your while.


What in God's name is THAT thing??!?

After weeks of rain and gloom, it's finally sunshining again. You never realize how much you miss it until it hits you square in the face.

This could be a good omen.