Tae Kwon Do has become fodder for a "serious" full length parody film.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Jeff Healey R.I.P
Jeff Healey, rock/blues/Jazz musician extraordinairre died at 41 on the eve of the release of his latest CD (it's out btw).
Jeff Healey died on March 2 I've just learned. Quite upset about that, I had one of his recent CD's playing last week and all of them are on my iPod.
He's always been one of my favorites and we even played one of his songs at our wedding.
Having gone blind as a baby from retino blastoma, Jeff battled cancer his entire life.
You may remember him as the bar band from the silly "Roadhouse" movie with Patrick Swayze (funny how people slam it yet they've all seen it).
I was a fan of Jeff's even before the movie came out and just heard rumor last week that Swayze has cancer as well.
Another rumor has it that some Roadhouse characters were based on another character some of us know.
What a great loss to the world.
And another great one, this one won't allow embedding, so click on the link
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TwbJDt-p2L8
From http://jeffhealey.com/home.htm
Guitarist and bandleader Jeff Healey dies in Toronto hospital
Following a lengthy struggle with cancer, Healey passes away on the eve of the release of a new blues rock album
Jeff Healey, arguably one of the most distinctive guitar players of our time, died today (Sunday March 2) in St. Joseph’s Hospital, Toronto. He was 41, and leaves his wife, Cristie, daughter Rachel (13) and son Derek (three), as well as his father and step-mother, Bud and Rose Healey, and sisters Laura and Linda.
Funeral and memorial arrangements are pending.
Robbed of his sight as a baby due to a rare form of cancer, retino blastoma, and he started to play guitar when he was three, holding the instrument unconventionally across his lap. He formed his first band at 17, but soon formed a trio which was named the Jeff Healey Band.
After his appearance in the movie Road House, he was signed to Arista records, and in 1988 released the Grammy-nominated album See the Light, which included a major hit single, Angel Eyes. He earned a Juno Award in 1990 as Entertainer of the Year.
Two more albums emerged on Arista, with lessening success as the ’90s passed. Various "best-of" and live packages were released, and he recorded two more rock albums, before turning to his real love, classic American jazz from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s.
By then, however, Healey was an internationally-known star who had played with dozens of musicians, including B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and recorded with George Harrison. Mark Knopfler and the late blues legend, Jimmy Rogers.
A family man with a three-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter he preferred to stay close to home. "I’ve traveled widely before — been there and done that," he told friends, determined to avoid the lengthy, exhausting tours that marked his life in his twenties and early thirties.
A long-running CBC Radio series saw him in the role of disc jockey — My Kinda Jazz was a staple for a while, but in recent years he had hosted a programme with a similar name on Jazz-FM in Toronto. A highlight of his broadcasts was always the use of rare — and rarely heard — music from his 30,000-plus collection of 78-rpm records.
As his rock career wound down as the millennium came, he recorded a series of three album of early jazz, playing trumpet as well as acoustic guitar in a band he called Jeff Healey’s Jazz Wizards. The most recent was It’s Tight Like That, recorded live at Hugh’s Room in Toronto in 2005, with British jazz legend Chris Barber as guest star.
At the time of his death he was about to see the release of his first rock/blues album in eight years, Mess of Blues, which is being released in Europe on March 20, and in Canada and the U.S. on April 22. The album was the result of a joint agreement between the German label, Ruf Records, and Stony Plain, the independent Edmonton-based label that has released his three jazz CDs.
Mess of Blues was recorded in studios in Toronto, with two cuts recorded at the Jeff Healey’s Roadhouse in Toronto and two at a concert in London England. The backup group on the upcoming CD — the Healey’s House Band — played with him regularly at the downtown Roadhouse, and at a previous club bearing his name in the Queen-Bathurst area.
Early last year, Healey underwent surgery to remove cancerous tissue from his legs, and later from both lungs; aggressive radiation treatments and chemotherapy, however, failed to halt the spread of the disease.
Despite his battle with cancer, he undertook frequent tours across Canada with both his blues-based band and his jazz group; he was set for a major tour in Germany and the U.K. and was to be a guest on the BBC’s famed Jools Holland Show in April.
Remembered by his musicians — and his audiences — for his wry sense of humour as well as his musical playfulness, Healey was a unique musician who bridged different genres with ease and assurance.
To send messages of condolence, share your memories of Jeff and leave your comments please sign the guestbook:
http://www.blogger.com/www.jeffhealey.com/wishes
Jeff Healey died on March 2 I've just learned. Quite upset about that, I had one of his recent CD's playing last week and all of them are on my iPod.
He's always been one of my favorites and we even played one of his songs at our wedding.
Having gone blind as a baby from retino blastoma, Jeff battled cancer his entire life.
You may remember him as the bar band from the silly "Roadhouse" movie with Patrick Swayze (funny how people slam it yet they've all seen it).
I was a fan of Jeff's even before the movie came out and just heard rumor last week that Swayze has cancer as well.
Another rumor has it that some Roadhouse characters were based on another character some of us know.
What a great loss to the world.
And another great one, this one won't allow embedding, so click on the link
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TwbJDt-p2L8
From http://jeffhealey.com/home.htm
Guitarist and bandleader Jeff Healey dies in Toronto hospital
Following a lengthy struggle with cancer, Healey passes away on the eve of the release of a new blues rock album
Jeff Healey, arguably one of the most distinctive guitar players of our time, died today (Sunday March 2) in St. Joseph’s Hospital, Toronto. He was 41, and leaves his wife, Cristie, daughter Rachel (13) and son Derek (three), as well as his father and step-mother, Bud and Rose Healey, and sisters Laura and Linda.
Funeral and memorial arrangements are pending.
Robbed of his sight as a baby due to a rare form of cancer, retino blastoma, and he started to play guitar when he was three, holding the instrument unconventionally across his lap. He formed his first band at 17, but soon formed a trio which was named the Jeff Healey Band.
After his appearance in the movie Road House, he was signed to Arista records, and in 1988 released the Grammy-nominated album See the Light, which included a major hit single, Angel Eyes. He earned a Juno Award in 1990 as Entertainer of the Year.
Two more albums emerged on Arista, with lessening success as the ’90s passed. Various "best-of" and live packages were released, and he recorded two more rock albums, before turning to his real love, classic American jazz from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s.
By then, however, Healey was an internationally-known star who had played with dozens of musicians, including B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and recorded with George Harrison. Mark Knopfler and the late blues legend, Jimmy Rogers.
A family man with a three-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter he preferred to stay close to home. "I’ve traveled widely before — been there and done that," he told friends, determined to avoid the lengthy, exhausting tours that marked his life in his twenties and early thirties.
A long-running CBC Radio series saw him in the role of disc jockey — My Kinda Jazz was a staple for a while, but in recent years he had hosted a programme with a similar name on Jazz-FM in Toronto. A highlight of his broadcasts was always the use of rare — and rarely heard — music from his 30,000-plus collection of 78-rpm records.
As his rock career wound down as the millennium came, he recorded a series of three album of early jazz, playing trumpet as well as acoustic guitar in a band he called Jeff Healey’s Jazz Wizards. The most recent was It’s Tight Like That, recorded live at Hugh’s Room in Toronto in 2005, with British jazz legend Chris Barber as guest star.
At the time of his death he was about to see the release of his first rock/blues album in eight years, Mess of Blues, which is being released in Europe on March 20, and in Canada and the U.S. on April 22. The album was the result of a joint agreement between the German label, Ruf Records, and Stony Plain, the independent Edmonton-based label that has released his three jazz CDs.
Mess of Blues was recorded in studios in Toronto, with two cuts recorded at the Jeff Healey’s Roadhouse in Toronto and two at a concert in London England. The backup group on the upcoming CD — the Healey’s House Band — played with him regularly at the downtown Roadhouse, and at a previous club bearing his name in the Queen-Bathurst area.
Early last year, Healey underwent surgery to remove cancerous tissue from his legs, and later from both lungs; aggressive radiation treatments and chemotherapy, however, failed to halt the spread of the disease.
Despite his battle with cancer, he undertook frequent tours across Canada with both his blues-based band and his jazz group; he was set for a major tour in Germany and the U.K. and was to be a guest on the BBC’s famed Jools Holland Show in April.
Remembered by his musicians — and his audiences — for his wry sense of humour as well as his musical playfulness, Healey was a unique musician who bridged different genres with ease and assurance.
To send messages of condolence, share your memories of Jeff and leave your comments please sign the guestbook:
http://www.blogger.com/www.jeffhealey.com/wishes
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Now this is an athelete
The Kai is still considered a fairly "primitive" breed.
They are not that far removed from pack hunters and not entirely domesticated.
They were kept in packs in the mountainous Kai prefecture of Japan. After WWII most Japanese breeds were dying off. The Japanese people were barely able to survive, let alone keep pets and breed them.
However in the mountains, the hunters used the dogs as sustanence. No good dogs, no food.
Subsequently, years later when the pure Japanese breeds were brought back by afficianados, other breeds had to be bred into the lines to get stable traits and conformation.
The Kai is now considered the most pure of the traditional Japanese breeds. They were still a strong, distinct, viable breed.
For centuries used to hunt wild boar, bear and stag and one of their most enduring qualities is their bond that they develop with one person, their soul mate. The Kai and Akita are revered by the Japanese for this quality and loyalty.
There are around only 3-400 currently in the US.
One of the conformation traits is a gait that shows effortless physical endurance and the ability to run for hours while hunting game.
Well, I can attest to that.
Got home Sunday from Mushtaq's and my Male Kai had broken the gate and was long gone. Tracks everywhere but it could have been hours that he was gone.
Rode/walked around for hours until dark and no sign of him.
Rode/walked around for hours until dark and no sign of him.
The prey drive in Kai is still very strong and for this reason they are a leash-only dog. You can train them to come and be off leash but it takes massive amounts of time and even then, if a rabbit bolts, all bets are off.
I resignedly went to bed Sunday night not wanting to believe he was long gone.
Take a look at this map
We live right at the edge of the forest. If you scroll down and to the east, you can see the forest goes for miles. If he was lost in there, there's no way to find him back.
Oh, and it was 20degrees overnight.
I went throught the motions at work Monday just to keep my mind active.
Mostly I was worried something bad had happened to him.
Rode around again yesterday afternoon to no luck and went home.
About 6PM we got word that he was on the trail about 6 acres to the direct south, it fronts the forest and many people walk it so he must have been working his way back home from the smells.
We walked that trail for over an hour and it was getting dark. You don't want to be in that forest after dark either.
No more than leaving the trail we got word he was in the neighborhood.
Just down the road two cars had him surrounded and he lit off again.
Cole got within 10 feet and I got within 40 feet. He saw me, slowed and kept right on going at full effortless run. Everyone remarked, "Man is he fast"
I'm sure he was pretty scared and confused though.
I rode around again until dark and once again resignedly went home with the solace that he made it through the previous cold night.
Left the garage door open with a coat smelling like me laying out overnight.
Decided not to go to work this morning as I was already feeling lousy and Roberta had the nasty flu. Figured I'd sleep in and then go looking again.
Kristen left for school at 7:05.
And at 7:15 we heard whining at the garage door! Had we left for work we would have missed him.
As for him? Well he sure looks none the worse for wear, bastard.
But he sure walks like he's been rode hard and put away wet! I'm sure he'll sleep all day.
Me? I went to work anyway.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Fight Quest - Krav Maga
Didja catch Friday's episode of Fight Quest - Krav Maga?
I friggin loved it. Dude you're dead, there's no ring timer in a war zone.
I haven't trained Krav but Cole has and my student Chris is one of the top ranked guys in Commando Krav Maga in the US.
I've seen them train and yeah, it looks earily close to that. Many of the same drills, all to simulate situational experiences. Hell, his training parnter was late to an early morning workout in the park. What did Chris do? He carjacked him when he showed up and someone called the cops.
Finally a great episode. Loved the looks on their faces.
I friggin loved it. Dude you're dead, there's no ring timer in a war zone.
I haven't trained Krav but Cole has and my student Chris is one of the top ranked guys in Commando Krav Maga in the US.
I've seen them train and yeah, it looks earily close to that. Many of the same drills, all to simulate situational experiences. Hell, his training parnter was late to an early morning workout in the park. What did Chris do? He carjacked him when he showed up and someone called the cops.
Finally a great episode. Loved the looks on their faces.
Monday, February 25, 2008
And the hits keep rolling
Trying to think back over the Nationals weekend and come up with a general theme. Not being much of a writer (not all Steve's are named Perry) the best I can come up with is it was one series of great moments after another. Just when I thought this will be one of the most memorable moments, another would come along.
Thursday
Leaving for the Airport bears discussion.
First I was quite concerned and extremely distressed to find that my teacher Mushtaq would not be making the journey with us. I kept telling myself Randy was pulling a fast one on me. But moreso, he was quite sick and we were all concerned that he was going to get worse and we were off selfishly having fun.
I asked my wife what time she thought I should leave for the airport as she does a fair bit more flying than I do. She said 7:30. In answer to my query why, she said "cause knowing you, you won't leave till 7:45". Right. Well, I'll show her.
I had all the bags packed in plenty of time so I wasn't rushed to leave and forgetting something. I told Cole to go warm up the truck. When he came back in I didn't hear it running. You guessed it. Keys were locked in it. After some frantic searching for the spare, Cole brilliantly suggested calling Onstar instead. Bright boy that one. They had it unlocked in 5 minutes and we were on our way by 7:43.
Now why is this so significant? I had just called Onstar a week prior to let them know I probably wouldn't be continuing on with them after my initial year as it was too expensive for the few benefits I got.
Boy, the possiblity of missing my plane sure changed that eh?
But I got to thinking, if they can remotely unlock my truck, can't they just as easily remotely LOCK my truck to make me realize I really do want them???????
When we left is was a bloody cold 20degrees.
LA however was a comparatively balmy 65. I stayed in shorts until midnight 5 days later.
After some sprited driving around LA (abought 2 hrs at 15mph) we arrived at the Best Western (hey, they had a hot tub!).
Afer a quick check in, we headed of for the first momentous point. Seeing my good friend Roger Agbulos.
Roger and I met several years ago by phone and hit it off quite well. We've stayed in frequent, fond contact and Roger has also aided me in some high quality distance learning as well as council as to who I am and where I'm going. Needless to say, we were both pretty geeked to finally meet in person.
Roger is one of Edger Sulite's Lameco Orihinal backyard students. In that tradition, he and his wife graciously hosted our group in their home and spread out the Filipino food. Roger has a beautiful house and great patio surrounded by fruit trees to train in. As an additional treat, my good friend Master Gabe Rafael and son Gerald of Upakan Bara Bara were in town for Nationals and dropped in as well, also being friends of Roger.
And yet even further as a show of our friendship Roger invited top US Tapado Instructor Joe (dammit, dammit dammit, I can't remember his last name!) along for the night as well.
I really enjoyed meeting this skilled, quiet gentleman and having him grace us with a demonstration of Tapado. It was something I was always curious of, videos not doing it justice. I now have a dramatically improved understanding of the power and concepts. It is the real deal.
Myself, Guro Gabe, Guro Roger, Guro Joe.
Interestingly, Joe took a fond liking to the Navadisha movements I showed, saying "that is the old way". That's why we're doin' it!
Roger also demonstrated his concepts from his system Astig assisted by his student Marco. I don't know if the kids grasped it all but I have video of both of them which I won't post here out of respect.
The only downside was that by the time we left it was 2AM at home and the kids were pretty worn out. Me, for once I could have stayed another 5hrs. It was certainly an experience the kids won't get every day in the midwest.
Thursday
Leaving for the Airport bears discussion.
First I was quite concerned and extremely distressed to find that my teacher Mushtaq would not be making the journey with us. I kept telling myself Randy was pulling a fast one on me. But moreso, he was quite sick and we were all concerned that he was going to get worse and we were off selfishly having fun.
I asked my wife what time she thought I should leave for the airport as she does a fair bit more flying than I do. She said 7:30. In answer to my query why, she said "cause knowing you, you won't leave till 7:45". Right. Well, I'll show her.
I had all the bags packed in plenty of time so I wasn't rushed to leave and forgetting something. I told Cole to go warm up the truck. When he came back in I didn't hear it running. You guessed it. Keys were locked in it. After some frantic searching for the spare, Cole brilliantly suggested calling Onstar instead. Bright boy that one. They had it unlocked in 5 minutes and we were on our way by 7:43.
Now why is this so significant? I had just called Onstar a week prior to let them know I probably wouldn't be continuing on with them after my initial year as it was too expensive for the few benefits I got.
Boy, the possiblity of missing my plane sure changed that eh?
But I got to thinking, if they can remotely unlock my truck, can't they just as easily remotely LOCK my truck to make me realize I really do want them???????
When we left is was a bloody cold 20degrees.
LA however was a comparatively balmy 65. I stayed in shorts until midnight 5 days later.
After some sprited driving around LA (abought 2 hrs at 15mph) we arrived at the Best Western (hey, they had a hot tub!).
Afer a quick check in, we headed of for the first momentous point. Seeing my good friend Roger Agbulos.
Roger and I met several years ago by phone and hit it off quite well. We've stayed in frequent, fond contact and Roger has also aided me in some high quality distance learning as well as council as to who I am and where I'm going. Needless to say, we were both pretty geeked to finally meet in person.
Roger is one of Edger Sulite's Lameco Orihinal backyard students. In that tradition, he and his wife graciously hosted our group in their home and spread out the Filipino food. Roger has a beautiful house and great patio surrounded by fruit trees to train in. As an additional treat, my good friend Master Gabe Rafael and son Gerald of Upakan Bara Bara were in town for Nationals and dropped in as well, also being friends of Roger.
And yet even further as a show of our friendship Roger invited top US Tapado Instructor Joe (dammit, dammit dammit, I can't remember his last name!) along for the night as well.
I really enjoyed meeting this skilled, quiet gentleman and having him grace us with a demonstration of Tapado. It was something I was always curious of, videos not doing it justice. I now have a dramatically improved understanding of the power and concepts. It is the real deal.
Myself, Guro Gabe, Guro Roger, Guro Joe.
Interestingly, Joe took a fond liking to the Navadisha movements I showed, saying "that is the old way". That's why we're doin' it!
Roger also demonstrated his concepts from his system Astig assisted by his student Marco. I don't know if the kids grasped it all but I have video of both of them which I won't post here out of respect.
The only downside was that by the time we left it was 2AM at home and the kids were pretty worn out. Me, for once I could have stayed another 5hrs. It was certainly an experience the kids won't get every day in the midwest.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Boat Top Scabbard
Didn't get time to put up a pic before we left because it wasn't finished until just two days before leaving.
But here it is, the finished scabbard. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, considering making one is not my bag of tricks.
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