Reality Crashes My Brain

I'm not voting for the Lesser Evil....

Hey.

Sorry I haven't been around much lately; I've been busy with mundane stuff.

Anyway, I though some of you might be interested in the good news I unexpectedly received in the mail yesterday:

It's listed on Amazon, too.  I don't know why the publication date is so late, but that was a heck of a date to pick:  On November 9, 1918, Philipp Scheidemann declared the founding of the Weimar Republic, Germany's first democratic government; on November 9, 1923, Adolf Hitler stood up on a table in a Munich beer hall and called for a "march on berlin" to overthrow the Weimar Republic and restore Germany's "honor"; on November 9, 1938 (15 years after the failure of the "beer hall putsch"), the Nazis violently attacked Jews in Germany in what came to be known as the "Night of Broken Glass" (Kristallnacht); and on November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall "fell" as Germans from East and West drank champagne and danced.

Neat, huh?
 

Well, with that as justification, I've been poking around a bit here and there when I have time and the inclination.  I recently found Douglas Wolk's new book, Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean (Da Capo Press, 2007).  I don't think it will replace Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, The Invisible Art as a basic examination of how comics work, but is a surprisingly good consideration of comics in general and several seminal artists and their work in particular.  His chapter on Dave Sim is very good and demonstrates not only his knowledge of comics but of literature and literary theory.  But, this isn't a stuffy academic tone.  Wolk is a prefessional critic; he writes well, but for a popular audience.  I highly recommend his work for those interested in comics and graphic novels.  And, he maintains a blog: Lacunae.

So, if I do teach a course using graphic novels, what do you think I should teach?

Disclaimer:  I'm slow.  I'm way behind the times, and I'm usually the last one to know things.  (It's a history thing, I think....)

I just finished watching Firefly.

Who's the 他媽的渾蛋 responsible for cancelling this show!?  I want more!  Dammit.

That was by far one of the best things I've watched in a very long time.
 

 http://www.sivacracy.net/2007/11/front_fell_off.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGyGlp8sEHo

September 23

Yoinked from verymelm:

 

Check out the history and sci-fi scores!  Oh, yeah!

Well, it's been a month since I started my Yoga Practice, and I'm happy to say that I've kept it up pretty well.  (One week, I was only able to practice once, but the other three weeks, I made all three practices I planned to do.)  I did have to make one change: because Reclining Hero (Supta Virasana)("Saddle" in Yin Yoga) was so sternuous on my knees and ankles, I've replaced it with Camel (Ustrasana), which stretches the same groups of muscles without quite as much strain.  I'm using Ujjayi breath to keep track of how long I hold a pose and to work various muscles further.  I started out at about 8 breaths for each asana; I'm up to 12 breaths for each asana.  Next week, I plan to increase the number of breaths to 14 for each asana with my ultimate goal being 20 breaths each.

I'm pretty happy with my progress.  I can sink a little bit deeper into each pose, I can stay in each pose a little bit longer, and I feel a little bit more comfortable in each pose than I did a month ago.  I also feel better in general.  While I'm doing my practice, I focus on the asanas and my breath and for 25-30 minutes, I forget about everything else.  It's very nice.

I've also decided to add a second practice starting next week.  Ideally, I'll continue the Yin Yoga Practice three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and the new, slightly more vigorous Vinyasa Practice twice a week (Tuesday, Thursday).


If I can maintain this practice (especially once the semester starts), I'm considering a third practice (for Saturday?) that will focus on building toward Crow (Bakasana), which I've always wanted to do but never achieved.  Well, but that's further down the line.

Wish me luck!

Well, I built a fencing dummy based on Ahlwin's design (Bob 1.0, Bob 2.0).

This dummy works very well.  I have already found it useful for practicing disengages, parries, ripostes, and counter-parries, and I have started practicing some period things in the high and low guard positions.

Thanks for the inspiring design, Ahlwin!

Now, all I need to do is name it.  Paula suggested painting it purple....  Any other suggestions?

www.simpsonizeme.com

So, I had an “ah-ha” moment the other day.  At practice on Sunday, I decided to fight from a low guard in order to learn its strengths and weaknesses.  I based my stance on Joachim Meyer’s Low Guard (Underhut).

Well, the practice was useful in that a number of points were reinforced for me, such as the importance of distance: line up too closely in low guard, and your opponent has a serious advantage.  Indeed, you are a fool.

 

But, it was this thought that suddenly reminded me a similar guard from Salvatore Fabris, a variation on his Third Guard.

 

Fabris describes a very deceptive guard, one that can be used to mislead your opponent into a mistake, of which you can take advantage.  It should be noted that one of the basic principles in Meyer’s rapier is deception.  (Verfuehrung, literally “mis-leading”, but modern German translates it as “seduction”!)

 

I found that I was at times doing something similar from Meyer’s Low Guard.  When my opponent moved into distance, I could raise my blade and lunge or slope pace to gain an advantageous angle against him.

 

The similarity between these two rather different guards reminded me of that old aphorism: “Who's the more foolish...the fool or the fool who follows him?”

So, I started re-reading Joachim Meyer's The Art of Combat the other day, and as per the suggestion of one of my teachers, I thought I might take a few notes.  I am interested currently in Meyer's description of the longsword and of the rapier.

I used to practice yoga regulalry about five years ago, but I stopped for time and money issues.  At that time I was practicing with Kathleen Kelly-Hoffmann at the Bay Area Yoga Center in Green Bay, and I promised myself I would go back eventually.  Unfortunately, I never did.  And it has become painfully obvious to me.  I feel I was in the best shape of my life and was much more calm emotionally than I am now.  A lot has happened since then, and there is no one cause for my physcial condition now, but the absence of yoga is noticeable.

So, I've decided to try to return to yoga.  I'm going to try to start and maintain a home practice rather than go back to Kathleen's center.  (The fact is, I'm a little embarassed to go back, now.)  To start I found a nice routine by Sarah Powers in the June 2007 issue of Yoga Journal.  The practice is based on Yin Yoga, a simple, slow set of asanas (postures) designed to deepen motion in the joints and strengthen muscles.

I did my first series today, and I can tell I'm way out of practice.  I used to be able to do Saddle pose; now I can barely get a quarter of the way there.  The series also suggests holding each pose for 3-5 minutes; I think I managed 30 seconds-1 minute each.  I have a lot of work ahead of me, but it already feels good.  I'm going to try to practice this three times a week.

Wish me luck.

I'm not very good at schtick.  I tend to be rather shy, not very outgoing.  Really, it's a miracle I'm in the SCA at all... but that's another story.  However, schtick is one of the reasons I am still in the SCA.  I joined the SCA almost six years ago.  At that time, there was a lot of schtick going on.  This was the time of the sheep trials and the balloon-dog defense, the first ARRG! with its battle between Jara and Windhaven for Ripon, the second ARRG! with the disappearance of Doctour Jock.  As a recent acquaintance put it, I joined the SCA for the fencing; I stayed for the schtick.

Over the past few years, unfortunately, schtick in Northshield has faded.  The Rapier-banter list is silent.  There have not been any sheep trials or their like.  Little time is spent developing personae and their relations with one another.  This is disappointing; I really miss those earlier years.  Oh, sure there are reasons for this decline.  Those good at schtick have other obligations now; people have moved; mundane life interferes.  Nevertheless, I miss it.

I saw a glimmer of hope, however, this past weekend, at Warriors & Warlords XIV.  Otes brought to site several nerf blowguns.  Almost immediately, Doc Jock organized an assault on the neighboring midrealm encampment.  It was beautiful watching Mateo and Roland scamper for cover before the assault.  It escalated after the assault.  Sybil swiped the nerf darts.  Jock kidnapped Miguel.  Cookies and cordial appeared!  A ransom note was delivered.  A squirrel was kidnapped.  Negotiations ensued.  A squirrel was nearly hung!  Booty was acquired....  That was fun.  And beyond the fun, we met several new people - Miguel, Sybil, Janusch.  (Marina we knew already.)  Why has it become so difficult to have fun in the SCA these days?

Here are some rules for schtick, as stated by Mateo:

1) Never swipe essentials.  (Food, fencing gear, sunblock (!) are out.)

2) Never, never go in someone's tent.

3) Stuffed animals make good hostages.

4) Play the game: an RBG is a "gun" even if it isn't loaded.

5) Have fun.