Cancelled plans

I had to cancel my workout plans for Monday. Why? Because some folks decided to organize a small trip to a local amusement park. I felt that I needed to be more sociable, and besides, one of the organizers was a pretty lady. That certainly can't hurt.

And a very cute lady she is, too. Not classically pretty, but she has a different sort of appeal. We only went as friends, but I have to admit that she was cute.

Another new kickboxing combo

Jab, hook, slip
Back kick, stutter forward, palm fist
Elbow to back, elbow to front, elbow down, switch

New kickboxing combo

Jab, cross, jab, knee
Jack, jack
Back kick, front kick
Side kick, hop and side kick

Repeat above using opposite side

HBD

And here's wishing a warm happy birthday to my beautiful sister.

That was kinda nosy

Get this. I was taking some photos of a friend at a recent swing dance. Upon seeing this, one lady comes up to me and peppers me with questions. "Excuse me, but what are you going to do with those photos? Are they going on your computer?" "Are you taking pictures for a newspaper?" "Did these people ask you to take photos of them?" and so forth, and so on.

I assured her that it was common practice for people to snap photographs at events like this. I'm not sure why she was asking, but I think it was kinda nosy. If I see somebody taking a picture of someone else, I'm not about to give that person the third degree regarding what they're doing.

I'm not sure what that was about. I don't think this gal was a swing dancer. She pretty much sat in the same place the whole night long. Maybe that's why she decided to pepper me with questions. Whatever.

BioMed

I'm always interested in hearing about technological developments in less advanced countries. That's why it's nice when I stumble across websites such as this one. It's a biotechnology firm in Thailand, a decided less advanced nation.

Now, I'm not trying to say that such companies are remarkable to find. It's just good to know that they exist, and I hope that they get all the exposure that they need. The design of this company's website could use some improvement, though.

Forearms

Gotta work in some forearm exercises, too. I think I'll plan those for Monday morning. They tend to be very much neglected, even by experienced gym rats.

Workout plan

Okay, here are my exercise plans for the weekend:

Thursday: Shoulders with a bit of chest and triceps work
Friday: Noontime walk with weighted vest, plus back and biceps work in the evening
Saturday: Cardio work in the morning and early afternoon. Some core work as well.
Sunday: Leg resistance training, followed by massage, followed by chest work
Monday: Back and biceps in the morning. Core work and a little cardio in the evening.
Tuesday: Core work and cardio in the evening. Maybe some balance exercises, too.

Celebrity Apprentice

What a waste of time. Donald Trump has no integrity -- especially after the way he screwed Annie Duke over last year in favor of Joan Rivers. Ugh.

Thirty days hath April

It's the end of April. Huzzah!

Brian

There's this strange guy named Brian who attends our local swing dance events. He's been coming for two years, but he almost never does anything more than the basic jitterbug step over and over again. He does ask women to dance, but he seems to be pathetically shy, and he obviously has no confidence when it comes to trying out moves. As far as I can tell, he has no friends there either.

I've tried to chat with him, inviting him to a workshop, for example. Doesn't seem to do any good. I wonder what the deal is with him.

Human immune system cells

A bit of educational information here. Here is a brief and somewhat fragmented discussion of some of the cells of the immune system. By this, I mean the human immune system, of course. Strictly speaking, this should be stated; however, when people speak of the immune system, it's normally understood to mean that.

Yay, Elizabeth!

Congratulations, Liz!

She'll never read this comment, but I did want to express my joy and appreciation.

Batman: The Brave and The Bold

This is a darned good show. Too bad it's in reruns right now. Sigh.

'I' is a crazy woman

This lady, "I", is a complete whack job. She is shrill, annoying, irrational and just generally trouble. Her mouth operates much faster than her brain does, and it's really annoying.

MK is a dear friend, but...

More on MK...

She's a wonderful person and one of my dearest friends. She tends to be completely irrational at times, though. She reads way too much into things, which causes her to tear herself up with worry and paranoia. What's more, she calls me and seeks assurance when she finds herself in these states. I don't mind listening to her -- she is a valued friend, after all -- but she does cause herself way too much aggravation.

Here's an example of how she blows things way out of proportion. I recently tagged a whole lot of people in somebody's Facebook album. This person then posted a comment on my wall: "You've been busy. Tagging, that is."

MK says to me, "Is this guy saying that you're being a nuisance???" With barely restrained exasperation, I said, "No, no, no. I love you dearly, but you read way too much into things. This is a good example of that. He was just saying that I was busy with a lot of tagging. You don't need to read anything more into it that that." I wanted to add, "For pity's sake! You are so completely irrational!"

Don't get me wrong. She is a wonderful person. She just needs to be more emotionally secure and stable, though.

MK drives me nuts sometimes

My friend MK drives me nuts sometimes. She is so insecure, so lacking in confidence, so lacking in emotional strength.

Consider this. A friend of hers, Bridget, got married recently. Prior to going out with her groom, she had been pining over this other fella. A fella who had expressed interest in her at one point, but who didn't make enough of an effort to pursue her. Eventually, she moved on.

For weeks, MK kept asking me, "Do you think that Bridget will regret her decision." I'd say things like "I doubt it" or "Probably not" or "I don't know." Yet over and over again, MK kept asking that question, as though she was intensely worried that Bridget would still be pining over this guy.

Eventually, I told MK, "Why are you obsessing over this? Look, you're beating yourself up over a situation for no good reason. Bridget knows far more about this fella than you do, and she knows far more about her own state of mind than you do. We've got no reason to believe that she's still carrying a torch for this other guy, so why keep fretting over this? She's a grown woman, and it's her decision."

What I really felt like saying was "WHO CARES!?!?!?!? Who cares if she'll regret it or not? If you want to know if she'll regret it, then wait and see. You're not going to get an answer by asking this question over and over again."

Sheesh.

Lines of Code -- a useless metric

I am astonished that anyone would choose to measure programming experience or programming quality in terms of the number of lines of code produced. That's an absolutely stupid means by which to measure either quality or experience.

I love this quote from Bill Gates: "Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight."

Jackass

He's a jackass.

There. I said it, and I got it off my chest.

Abusive cousins

Okay, okay. I know that this blog must sound like a series of bitter rants, and I do want to post some more positive remarks sometime. For now though, I want to get some things off my chest, even if they're from the distant past. I find that expressing these views can be therapeutic.

During my early childhood, I had a bunch of cousins who teased me and my brother mercilessly because of some innocent friendships that I had with girls my age. They did it because they took pleasure in causing us pain and discomfort. This is unacceptable behavior, since it's wrong to deliberately hurt other people just for the fun of it.

So what did the adults (my parents, my uncles, my aunts) do to solve this problem? NOTHING! Or rather, essentially nothing. Oh, they might have conceivably told our cousins to stop now and then, but for the most part, they put the blame on us. They blamed us for getting upset. What's more, they themselves frequently joined in the teasing, knowing that it made us upset.

And that's just wrong. I'm decades older now, and I'm long past the stage where I can deal with the teasing. Their approach to the problem appalls me even to this day, though. It was just wrong.

Bummed

I am so bummed. Very disappointed.

She sure does talk a lot

My friend MK sure does like to talk... sometimes on and on. She's one of my favorite people, but she tends to ask a lot of questions that she already knows the answers to. She also hopes for yes/no answers to questions where the correct answer is obviously "It depends."

A new word: exiguous

Exiguous. It means "scanty; meager; small, slender."

The sun... incandescent gas?

So the sun... is it a mass of incandescent gas? Or is it a miasma of plasma?

Darn. Rats. Darn.

Darn. Frustrated again. Somehow, these things never seem to work out. It stinks to high heavens. So very unfortunate.

Doc Savage movie

Been watching the old Doc Savage movie from 1975. Now that was fun. Ron Ely had just the right look and bearing for the Man of Bronze, and the casting of his five aides -- the fabulous five -- was just right.

I like the way they bronzed up Ron Ely. In the short-lived Marvel Comics series, the coloration of Doc Savage's skin was positively garish. In this movie though, he looked bronze without looking grotesque.

Not enough time

There just isn't enough time in the day. Argh.

Dempster

Jennifer Dempster has got to be one of the most appealing television fitness celebrities of all time. She wasn't as hard core as Cory Everson or Kiana Tom, but she was likable and attractive, and her life was a fat loss success story.

I also like Sharon Mann. Now that gal knows how to make a workout enjoyable.

Tarantulas for novices

I have just discovered the Tarantula Pages website (), which offers some valuable information for aspiring tarantula keepers. Among other things, it provides an article on suitable tarantula species for beginners, as well as various caresheets. Definitely worth checking out.

Balboa

I am having a hard time learning balboa. For this reason, I am deeply indebted to the efforts of one F.A., who is incredibly sweet and more than considerate in her attempts to help me learn. I just wish that I could practice regularly and devote more time to this endeavor.

Bernard Haldane

I will never, ever forget the time when some agent from Bernard Haldane tried to get me to sign up for their job search services. That was pathetic. He was promising me the moon, even stating that he "guaranteed" I would find a job through them. When I asked if this meant I would get my money back if they didn't land me a job, he went strangely silent.

People like that are scum. They prey on the desperate, as well as on people who don't necessarily have a lot of cash to spare. They are completely despicable.

Ziks and tendonitis

Apparently, I have a bit of lingering tendonitis in the second toe of my right foot. I bruised the toe joint due to loads of exercise, and while the bone has recovered, it seems that the tendon is still a bit inflamed.

My podiatrist gave me a few samples of Ziks ointment for pain relief. He says that this stuff will also help with the healing process. I'm a bit skeptical, but what the hey...

Lousy podiatrist

When I injured my toe a couple of years ago, I decided to look for a podiatrist who was as close as possible to my office. I reasoned that the injury didn't look severe, so I wasn't about to hunt around for the most experienced person.

That was a mistake.

First, she misdiagnosed my condition. Based on my x-rays, she said that I had a predislocated toe, and she gave me instructions on how to wrap it for proper healing. However, after reading about this condition on the web, I realized that her diagnosis didn't seem right. Indeed, another podiatrist confirmed that she screwed her diagnosis up and failed to consider other symptoms. (He said, for example, that an x-ray alone is not sufficient for diagnosing this problem.)

And how did she give me instructions for wrapping the toe? By trying to describe the process over the phone. That's no good. What you should do is demonstrate it to the patient so that there is no risk of being misunderstood. At the very least, provide some sort of written instructions with pictures, for pity's sake.

She also told me to go get some horseshoe pads. What she didn't say is that these things are not available in drugstores. I'd expect a physician to be reasonably familiar with what's available in drugstores and what is not. Heck, as it turns out, these items are not in common use, so she should have at least said that I might have to search on the internet for them. Indeed, I'd expect that if she were any good, she would at least recommend a few places (at least one!) that did offer these items.

Publilius says,

"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm." - Publilius Syrus

Audrey

Audrey, you are a despicable human being. There is just no way around that fact.

Tammie

Tammie, you have no integrity. You are a dishonest piece of humanity. You are a liar.

I hate playing against my countrymen

I hate playing games against my countrymen. It doesn't matter if we're playing cards, board games, or basketball. Far too many of them insist on cheating as a matter of sport. This problem is just too palpable to ignore.

It's not just a problem in game playing. When I was a young elementary school student in the USA, I found that students would line up in an orderly fashion when in the cafeteria or when lining up to see the teacher. I received a bit of culture shock when my family moved back to our country, though. I found that line jumping and overtaking was commonplace -- tacitly accepted, even. I didn't like it, but I learned that this was the status quo.

That all stinks.

Stupidity

I was asked to help three of my co-workers move these two slabs of polished granite back onto our conference room table. (Together, they constituted the tabletop.) Mind you, these things are solid stone and they way a few hundred pounds each.

The slabs were resting on a dolly, in a near-vertical orientation, so we first had to gently tip them to a horizontal orientation. Unfortunately, as soon as I placed my hands on the end of one slab, one co-worker jumped the gun. He started tipping the slab over from his end, before the other two guys were in position -- and without asking me if I was ready. He also started moving it a bit too quickly, rather than slowly and gingerly.

When I felt it shift, I yelled, "Not yet! Not yet!" but it was too late. We lost control, and both slabs started to crash. One of them hit my hand and wristwatch, causing a sprain, massive swelling, and some bruises. The momentum also forced me to the floor, causing me to sprain my ankle. Somehow, one of my toes was also banged up and developed a nasty hematoma. By God's grace though, nothing was broken.

Accidents happen, I know, but this was a case of tremendous recklessness on so many levels.

Spring out! Oh, boy!

I just saw a nifty new variation on the lindy hop swing out. It's called the "spring out." Basically, you let your body act like a spring during counts 5 and 6, drawing the follow in and then pushing her back out.

I can't wait to try it!

Pocket Hercules

This is not an April Fool's Day joke. There is a 19-month old boy in Roosevelt Park, Michigan with a rare genetic condition called myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy. This means that his muscles are abnormally enlarged, and in this case, it means that he has 40% more muscle mass than normal. If the report I read is to be believed, the boy was able to stand up on his own when he was just two days old. (I'm a bit skeptical about that last part.)

Injured

A co-worker was hasty today, so I banged up my wrist and a toe. Thankfully, nothing appears to be broken. Still, this sucks a lot.

I am just so glad that nothing was broken.

Idiot Harley

I can't stand the way this Harley guy keeps chatting up the ladies in our cardio class and trying to impress them. As I've mentioned before, he tries to impress them by exercising his mouth, yelling out "Awoo! Awoo! Woof, woof, woof!" instead of putting any real energy into his moves.

I can respect this one guy who works out really, really hard. He and I are among the few that do. I can't respect a guy who acts like he's working out hard, but who's taking it very easy.

Sleepy

I'm sleepy and I have some signs to build. Darn.

Harley, you jackass

Harley is this guy at the gym who's pretty obnoxious. On Friday night, he was making off-color gestures around a bunch of women as he mimed a certain sexual act. He clearly thought this was hilarious. If you're a high schooler, maybe it would be. Grown men should know better than to do this in a public place.

About offshoring... I'd like to post the following excerpt from some net acquaintance of mine. I've cleaned up the spelling, grammar, and punctuation a little bit, though.

This anecdote is about Mary, who discovered outsourcing about 4-5 years ago. This was great! she said. She worked hard and tirelessly outsourcing most of her area. One day, after work, she was telling me how great it was. How the cost savings were tremendous. She had laid off about 20 people (most of here area).

I remember asking...why stop where you did?...why not outsource....you? I bet someone from India could do your job for 1/10th your salary...saving the company a couple hundred thousand a year! heck...they could probably even do it better because they are with the India team while you are back here.

(I said it much more diplomatically than that.)

I saw a glint of fear in her eyes...immediately squelched. "OF COURSE, they can't outsource ME! I'm important! I add value!"

Less than one year later she was laid off. Her position is now in India. She actually cried her last day. The bitch laid off about 20 people...caused much misery and she CRIED when she was led to the gallows she made? No sympathy here.

That's the thing about outsourcing. If we are going to pursue it, let's pursue it with more rigor. If outsourcing is so good for America...let's look at outsourcing some of the lower executives...see how it goes. After that...do we really need CFO's and the like in America? Couldn't a really smart Indian work better and cheaper?

Sounds stupid...but why? They are smart folks. They can do it. It only sounds stupid to the execs because you only outsource too-high paid prima donnas like programmers and such...not people who do real work like Execs!

Last night was a bust

So last night, I drove through a snowstorm to this bar where a friend of mine was celebrating his birthday. It's a respectable bar where people get together on Thursday nights for swing dancing.

Driving was a real challenge. The snowfall wasn't heavy, but visibility was bad, and the driver's side windshield wiper wasn't doing its job very well. It was hellacious, I tell you.

What's more, the DJ decided that he would mostly play Latin music rather than swing music. It was a bit much, and as one of my friends commented, most of the regulars weren't on the dance floor very much. It was mostly occupied by the visiting ballroom dancers.

I've got mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, it's nice to make the visitors feel welcome. However, if the event is meant to be a swing night, shouldn't at least 75% of the music be swing tunes? Instead, it was about 60% latin music (plus some rather marginal swing numbers).

The DJ was a friendly guy, but he tends to be kinda flamboyant. It shows in the way he moves and dresses. I don't want to begrudge him that, but... oh, I don't know. I get the feeling that this colors his musical choices and dance style, neither of which fit swing very well IMO.

Portuguese

I wish that I understood Portuguese more. Because I can understand some Spanish, I can make sense of it in written form. For example, I can kinda make sense of a lot of the stuff on this website.

I can only do so with difficulty, though. It'd really help if I knew more Spanish and if I could understand Portuguese grammar.

BTW, I was both amused and annoyed once when a friend of mine was counseling a woman from Brazil. This friend jotted down the woman's race as "Portuguese." I won't complain too loudly, since this friend is a wonderful caring woman who meant well. Still, it was a bit of a surprise.

Balboa follows

My balboa class was frustrating, since we had more than three times as many leads as we did follows. That made it really difficult to learn.

I should be thankful that most of the follows in our class were pretty good. A few had taken some balboa before, and most of the others had a decent sense of how to follow. (I envy them. I don't mean to imply that their job is easy, but the reality is that it's much harder for the leads. There is a lot more pressure on us to get everything just right, and it drives me nuts at times.)

One lady in the class was utterly problematic, though. I just couldn't get her to move. She was sluggish, even when given a proper lead. I get the sense that she simply didn't have any energy. It's not a question of fitness, mind you, since I know a lot of gals who aren't skinny and yet can move quite well. Ugh.

Balboa

I took some balboa lessons this week. That was tough. There are all these little nuances that I can't quite get, such as getting the right amount of pulse in my movements. Also, one of the instructors said that I'm pulsing too much in my upper body, which I don't sense at all. I don't doubt her word, but I just don't feel it.

I can get the footwork right, even though it's not really smooth yet. For some reason though, I keep losing it, especially when performing the out-and-in moves. I also have problems with the crossovers, for which I need a lot of fine-tuning.

I'd like to invest in some private lessons, except that they cost a lot of money. Also, I don't think I have enough potential balboa partners to justify this expense.

No Harley

That jackass Harley wasn't at the cardio bootcamp class tonight. Yippee! He's the buffoon that I've mentioned who keeps howling and barking like a dog, even though he's putting in very little effort. Every now and then, he'll pour some energy into his high knee raises, but for the most part, he works at a fairly low intensity level and yet barks and howls around to make himself look all bad*ss.

I love it when he's not around.

Tips for inexperienced writers

Here is an article that details various tips for unseasoned writers. It's written in Spanish though.

Actually, I suspect that it was run through an automated translator. I kinda doubt that any actual human was involved in generating this translation from English.

And boy, there are an awful lot of lackluster writers out there. I wonder if the schools have been doing an adequate job of preparing people with writing skills. I doubt it.

Lindy

I once attended a lindy hop workshop/exchange where it was clear that some of the participants didn't even know basic east coast swing. It seems to me that people should have a basic grasp of swing dancing before they attempt a lindy workshop -- not unless the workshop is geared toward absolute beginners, that is. It got to be kinda frustrating.

Mutt and Jeff

Whatever happened to the old Mutt and Jeff strips? This comic strip was a cultural icon, and yet no compilations appear to be available. Interesting.

Love Boat Angels

I've been watching "Love Boat Angels" on DVD, the two-part season four premiere of Charlie's Angels.

Not very entertaining, despite the presence of three lovelies. Also, while I'm not terribly critical of Shelley Hack, I do see why audiences didn't warm up to her the way they embraced Kate Jackson, Jacklyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett-Majors or my personal favorite, Cheryl Ladd.

Preston

He was a most difficult person, and that's putting it mildly.

Dancing friend

I was talking to a friend of mine on Saturday. She's really more of an acquaintance, but I'll call her a friend.

She has had some ballroom dance experience, and I saw that she knows how to follow when I tried to teach her some hustle. She picked it up quickly.

I was gratified to hear her comments on the typical dancing that goes on at the singles events we go to. She said that the shake-and-sway kind of dancing is really kinda dumb. I was so glad to hear her say that, as it's exactly how I feel.

The politically correct answer it to say that it's all okay, that it's all good. I'll defy PC conventions, though, and say that the mindless shaking around is really kinda dumb. It's almost always stupid and it lacks art. It can be fun for a while, but a whole night of it? Really dumb.

Why don't fast food joints usually sell fruit?

Somebody once asked why fast food places don't normally offer pieces of fruit as part of their menus. There are some, mind you; for example, Subway sells bags of apple wedges. By and large though, they don't.

I think there are several reasons for this. One is that fruit doesn't tend to keep very well. Apples and pears tend to get brown as they age, for example. Fruit also tends to be expensive in comparison to, say, a bag of potato chips.

Ultimately though, the main reason is demand. It's why KFC stopped selling rotisserie chicken back in 1992. It's why the McLean didn't take off, and why I sometimes find it hard to get a grilled chicken sandwich at McDonald's. Your typical fast food customer doesn't care much about nutrition, and so he'd probably prefer a cookie over a bag of fruit.

I'm not just speculating, mind you. I say this based on my observations of fast food customers. Also, the manager of a fast food restaurant once told me that they sell close to half a ton of french fries in a week, but only about ten cups of cut fruit. That's America for you.

Pi!

Happy Pi Day!

3/14

Tipping nazi

I once had a roommate who was a tipping Nazi. That is, whenever a group of us would go out to dinner, he's insist on computing a 15% tip for everyone does to the last center. He also insisted that we should never use pennies in our tips.

I remember two people objecting to his heavy-handed insistence. One person pointed out that it's a waste of time to compute everything down to the exact cent, and that people should feel free to tip more or less depending on their preference. On another occasion, one person pointed out that pennies are legal tender, and that there's nothing wrong with leaving them as part of one's tip.

And heck, consider this. These people work in a restaurant. If they don't like the loose change, they can always get it changed at the cashier's till. Indeed, that's what a lot of servers do.

Mark was a really interesting character, I tell you.

So annoyed

I am so annoyed.

I wanted to get some housework done, as well as some progress in preparing my income tax filing. Instead, I had to stay late at work and take care of some rather aggravating tasks. It didn't help that I kept getting interrupted.

Actually, I could have gotten home sooner, but I had already decided to go out and meet some friends. I did not want to give that up, though it would have made life simpler.

So annoyed.

More about the 60s and dance music

Here is a follow-up comment on the issue of dance music in the 60s. Again, it has been edited for content.

This article lists ten of the most popular dance songs from that era (http://oldies.about.com/od/buyersguides/tp/aatpdances.htm). Note that the 60s tunes are all from the EARLY 60s (1960 to 1962) and have an unmistakable 50s flavor. "Mashed Potato Time" was influenced by a similarly themed song from 1959, for example, and the corresponding dance reflects that.

Now, one can certainly shake it around to music from just about any era, but I was thinking more in terms of stylized dance. The list above mentioned "Madison Time," for example, and that's by no means a "shake it around" kind of dance. In fact, I suspect that most people nowadays have never even heard of the song.

The Sixties were NOT a great time for dance music

I was amused to see somebody declare that 60s music was great for dancing. She said that this is what her father steadfastly declared to be true.

Personally, I don't understand how ANYBODY with any knowledge of 60s music could make that claim. I like the following response that somebody posted. It has been edited slightly for content.

Oh, there's certainly some [good dance music from the 60s], but IMO a lot of the most popular music wasn't. You could still dance to it, but I wouldn't say that it was really MEANT for dancing.

The Beatles were the #1 band of the 60s, for example, and their music was mostly for listening pleasure. That's why Don McLean cryptically referred to them as the sergeants who played a marching tune. In fact, I'd say that their most danceable tune was "Twist and Shout," and it was a cover song. (At this recent dance, they played a lot of Beatles songs. You could shake it around to these songs, but IMO they weren't very good for "real" dancing.)

IMO, the most danceable music from that era came from the early 60s and still had a lot of 50s influence ("Runaround Sue" and "The Twist," for example).

How to exit from the tandem Charleston position to hand-to-hand Charleston

• Perform the same moves as with the tandem Charleston turn, except that on the second kick, you kick your right foot to the left instead of to the right. This places you in a hand-to-hand position
• The tricky part here is that the lady shouldn’t anticipate your move. This move is similar to the standard tandem turn, so she needs to be sensitive to your lead. This also means that you need to move decisively and on time.

How to do a tandem Charleston turn

• On count three, start to turn your right hand clockwise and over the follow’s head
• Use the remaining five counts to turn her completely around. Perform two right kicks during this process.
• Link back up again

As a variation, try turning yourself in this process. This means that on count three, your left foot will have to start turning clockwise. You should turn slightly ahead of the follow in order to lead this properly. You will also have to switch hands behind your back.

A few tandem Charleston tips

• Keep your hands facing upwards, cradling the follow’s hands without grasping them
• Use your arms to guide her motion like a choo-choo train
• Keep a bit of bounce – a pulse – in your steps

To get into tandem Charleston from a hand-to-hand position

• Start with the hand-to-hand turns, first with the right hands, then with the left
• On the next right-to-right connection, lift your right hands higher into the air instead of keeping them at waist level.
• Using your right hand, turn her clockwise. During this time, step on the right foot, then the left.
• Kick with the right foot in order to sychronize your steps
• Launch into tandem Charleston

Boogie woogie moves

• Try a kick-ball-change in place of the rock step
• Try a pas de bourrée in place of each triple step
• Try kicking lightly, alternating left and right, such that on every other kick, you kick between the partner’s legs
• Do a hands-free tuck turn in which you rotate the woman by 180 degrees
• Catch her free hand using your left hand, then push her into a free spin. Catch her back as soon as it becomes visible during the free spin, then cradle her back into a closed position.
• From a handshake position, turn her quickly through 540 degrees, placing your right hand on her right hip. Depending on how she reacts, her left arm may wind up in front of you or on your shoulder. At this point, do a rock step, then boogie forward lightly.

Other blues moves and tips

• Try a four-count turn, a la hustle
• Try a four-count turn in which you turn the woman quickly, build up energy in the connection, and then release it gradually
• While in the standard open position, turn her quickly through a 360 degree arc such that you catch her left hip with your right hand.
• Turn her back around, preferably through a tight circle. Of course, how good this turn looks will depend a lot on her own ability.

What do we do after that? I'll have to refresh my memory, though I can see that one can catch her back again or resume an open position.

Drag blues moves and tips

• To move forward, use your legs to move the follow’s legs
• When moving backwards, stride back confidently, pushing off a little bit with your legs
• When turning slowly, turn naturally. To turn faster, more or less pivot around your central feet
• Try this move when turning quickly. Let go of the woman’s back on the third beat, and then catch her with your left hand on the fourth. During the next four beats, use the built-up energy to turn her and catch her with your right arm.
• Relax the shoulders.
• Avoid leaning back too far. This will tend to throw her off balance.
• Try to blend the moves together. Blend the lateral moves with the turns.

I have a lot of trouble with these moves. In part, it was because I had some follows who couldn't do some of the faster spins. They moved like they were kinda old.

Recording some swing dance tips

Over the next few entries, I want to record some stuff that I learned recently at various swing dance lessons. These will focus on some blues, Charleston, and boogie woogie moves.

Why? Because jotting the breakdown of these moves is helpful to me. It would be even more helpful if I could watch some videos of these moves; however, the mere act of writing these notes helps me remember them more. Besides, a video wouldn't necessarily capture certain fine points that I need to remember.

Sore legs

My legs are really sore.

I got a really heavy workout last night. Had an hour of some of the most intense cardio bootcamp work that I’ve had in a while. Our instructor, L, is a nice person, but she sure doesn’t act like one during the class. She says, “R is the nice one. I’m not. I’m going to make you work hard!” Yeah, baby!

After that, I had 45 minutes of Muay Thai training, followed by half an hour of Cage Fitness work. Boo-yah! I was exhausted as a result, and I was thoroughly wiped out when I went to bed. Totally worth it.

Tanja

As a dance lesson partner, this Tanja gal is really kinda difficult. She's not a horrible person, but she's quick to criticize and never bothers to soften the blow. She never provides any encouragement either. I wish I had a different kind of partner.

She's also a very prickly person with a harsh personality. I don't like her much.

Lind hop outside turn variations

I need to tabulate all of the outside turn variations that I've learned in the course of my lindy hop lessons. They are as follows:

- Basic outside turn
- Outside turn with a free spin
- Quick stop
- Outside turn with a press on the back
- Outside turn with a catch
- Outside turn with a behind-the-back pass

I'll also add some rollaway variations

- Basic rollaway
- Rollaway with the lead's spin

Andrew Koenig revisited

Revisiting my previous post...

Upon viewing this tearful video from Andrew Koenig's parents, one person said (and I paraphrase), "Oh, man. That was so hard to watch. I'm tearing up right now." This same person had jokingly wished that Kirk Cameron had been the one to die instead.

Isn't it interesting how we can express profound sorrow at the death of one person, and yet take pleasure at imagining the death of somebody else? That's just wrong.

Andrew Koenig is dead

In some heartbreaking news, Growing Pains actor Andrew Koenig has been found dead. Subsequent reports state that he committed suicide.

That's sad news. I'm disappointed at some of the reactions that I've seen on the 'net, though. Some people have been saying "Why Koenig? Why couldn't it have been Kirk Cameron instead?" Now that's just in poor taste. Some of these people have expressed great disdain for Cameron's religious views, so I can understand why they don't like the guy. To wish that Cameron had been the one who died, though... that's just distasteful.

When this was pointed out on one forum, one person said, "Most people can tell the difference between a message board and reality," as though this excused such behavior. It doesn't. Whether it's on a message board or not, one shouldn't wish that Cameron had been the one to die, regardless of what one's opinion of him might be. This is especially true in the wake of a tragedy like this.

That DVD was positively incoherent

I'm interested in quantum mechanics, so I borrowed a copy of "What the #$*! Do We Know!?" from NetFlix. That was a mistake. Talk about a huge waste of time and brain cells. The whole thing was an incoherent jumble of pseudoscience and bizarre babble. (This review expresses much the same sentiment, as do the reviews on the NetFlix site.)

I'd love to see a decent DVD on quantum mechanics or other fields of modern physics. This was not one of them. Yuck.

A lackluster interviewee

Yesterday, I interviewed an applicant for an IT position. He did not do very well at all. For example, I posed a problem to him that (to cut a long story short) led to him having to divide 1000 by 8. I'd expect any computer science graduate to be able to figure that out in his head, but he couldn't. Very disappointing.

He did poorly in many other ways as well. I don't think he has a chance of being hired.

Body fat

I want to lose another 2% of body fat. It's getting hard, though. I keep working out and working out, and I've been watching my dietary intake, but it's getting to be quite difficult -- especially when one considers the amount of time it takes to plan ones meals and to exercise hard. I also have plenty of work to do, and my household chores are piling up.

Free will

I was reading a message board debate -- the kind wherein some people argue intelligently, and some argue as though they were philosophical dilletantes. In this discussion, somebody brought up the concept of free will. His opponent retorted, "You're only allowed to cite free will if you can resolve all the problems with it" and proceeded to cite some alleged problems.

First of all, I don't think that the problems he raised are truly problems at all. For example, he claimed that it's poorly defined; after all, what are we free of? I think that's a childish objection. We intuitively know what free will is -- it is the ability to make our own moral decisions. One might quibble about certain philosophical fine points, but ultimately, it means that we are not simply slaves to the universe and that our every action is not predetermined by the laws of physics.

Moreover, even if the issues he raised were truly problematic, what of it? Are we truly not allowed to mention free will in a debate unless we can resolve all of its philosophical problems? That would be like saying that a scientist can only cite quantum mechanics if he can resolve all of the problems with its implications. It's a foolish line of reasoning. One need not resolve every single problem with a premise or line of thought before it can be used.

Moreover, denying the existence of free will creates its own host of problems. Consider this: if there is no free will, then whatever "reasons" you have for rejecting it are ultimately not reasons of your own choosing. You may be right in rejecting it, but only as a matter of dumb luck, the same way that a stopped clock is right twice in one day. It also makes it nonsensical for someone to criticize a person who believes in free will, as that person ultimately has no choice but to believe it. If you insist in only using premises that are problem-free, then you can neither presume free will nor adopt a position of non-belief. It's a daft and self-defeating line of reasoning.

Diogenes

I've been reading the rantings of some fella named Diogenes. Boy, what a loon this fella is. He's the kind of guy who extols his own intelligence and yet routinely puts his foot in his own mouth.

Speaking of cortisone and anabolic steroids...

Revisiting an earlier topic...

I am baffled by the number of people who argue thusly: "Substance A and Substance B are both dangerous. Yet Substance A is allowed and Substance B is prohibited. They should be treated equally!"

That's like saying that gasoline and plastic explosives are both dangerous; ergo, if private citizens are allowed to keep gasoline at home, then they should also be allowed to have plastic explosives. That's a ridiculous line of thought.

Dance song recommendations

Here are some lists of song recommendations for particular dance styles. I got these from an instructional DVD.

WALTZ:

Moon River by Henry Mancini
Come Away With ME... by Norah Jones
Natural Woman by Carole King
Love Dance by George Benson
(I'd like to add "Annie's Song" by John Denver)


RUMBA

Here we are by Gloria Estefan
Te Extrano by Luis Miguel
Beautiful by Christina Aguilera
Emotion by Destiny's Child

CHA CHA CHA

Oye Como Va by Santana
Let's Get Loud by Jennifer Lopez
Crazy in Love by Beyonce
September by Earth, Wind, and Fire


QUICKSTEP

Mack the Knife by Frank Sinatra
Nit The Road Jack by Ray Charles
Black Magic by Sammy Davis Jr
String of Pearls by Glen Miller Orchestra

Cortisone usage does not justify performance-enhancing drugs

I was having a conversation with some guy who was foolishly arguing for the use of performance-enhancing drugs in competitive sports. He was saying that they should be allowed, as long as the athlete uses them willingly. He also seemed to be arguing for the creation of specialized leagues in which athletes can use performance-enhancing medications freely without competing with the unsullied athletes.

Personally, I'm against the use of such drugs or the creation of these leagues, but that's a subject for another day. Instead, today I'd like to focus on the foolishness of his one particular argument. He says that cortisone is a performance-enhancing medication, since athletes can use it to keep injury pains under control. He also says that they entail a certain risk, just as anabolic steroids do. So if cortisone usage is legal, he argues, then anabolic steroids should be freely allowed as well.

That's a mind-bogglingly foolish argument. Here's why. Cortisone has legitimate medical applications for the treatment of injuries. Does this make it a "performance-enhancing drug"? In a manner of speaking, but only in the sense that it allows someone to recover from an injury more quickly. Obviously, that not at all the same as ingesting anabolic steroids, in which the objective is to gain strength more quickly and using less effort.

If someone wants to argue that anabolic steroids should be allowed, then they can't legitimately point to cortisone as a precedent. Cortisone is restricted. It requires a medical prescription and should only be used as part of a therapeutic regime. Moreover, the reasons behind its usage are completely different from those of anabolic steroids.

Juanin

Oh, my gosh. Actress Juanin Clay was really beautiful back in the day! She would have been a worthy Wilma Deering.

Such a shame about her premature death.

Annoying clueless guy

I mentioned this one dance wherein nobody really knew how to dance. I'm not saying that none of them were seasoned, expert dancers. Rather, the problem was that none of them could dance at even a basic level.

Please don't get me wrong. I understand that not everybody knows how, and I understand that sometimes people just want to have fun. All I'm saying is that it was frustrating for me. I like to dance and I know a few different styles. I also try to be creative. All this shaking and wiggling around just doesn't do it for me. If you know how to dance, then this sort of thing isn't fun anymore except in small doses.

I came across an old acquaintance at this dance. He kept asking stupid and annoying questions. For example, he'd point at one couple and ask, "What style are they doing?" I'd say, "They're not doing any style. They're just swaying around." Then he'd point at another and say, "Look, they're swinging back and forth. That's swing dancing, right?" I'd say, "No, it isn't. Reember, I demonstrated swing dancing earlier. Those folks are just swaying around. They're not doing any style."

He then pointed at his friend Jon, a fella who has (and I'm not trying to be unkind by saying this) somewhat diminished mental capacities. He asked, "Look, Jon is dancing out there. What style is he doing?" I said, "He's not doing any style. He's just making stuff up. Not everyone who dances does so with a specific style, Dave."

It got to be really annoying after a while. You'd think that people could tell the difference between dancing with intentionality and doing something real.

Another disappointing dance

I attended a Valentine's Day "dance" that turned out to be extremely disappointing. Now please understand, I don't want to insult anyone, and I recognize that not everyone is an accomplished dancer. Nor do I begrudge people who don't dance much and can't do much more than shake it around a little bit. However, it is nice to be able to do more than just wiggling or swaying around, especially if one truly enjoys dancing.

There were more than a hundred people there, but not one of the ladies could dance, even in a basic way. I tried to lead a couple of the young ladies through some basic moves, but to no avail. One of them refused outright, and the second reluctantly agreed but was a complete disaster.

One older lady saw me trying to lead this young gal, and she asked me if I could show her what I was trying to do. So I was able to (somewhat roughly) lead her through a triple-step swing basic move. Later that night, I kinda managed to lead her (again, somewhat roughly) through a few waltz moves. She was stumbling around a lot, but considering that she had never done waltz before, that was still pretty good.

Anyway, it was frustrating that despite the large attendance, not one of the women knew how to dance, even at a beginner's level. Not a whole lot of dancers among the men, either. One guy told me that he knew country dancing, but as far as I could tell, he was the only one in the entire group.

It was SO frustrating. I'm not saying that everybody need to know how to dance well; however, when the entire room consists of people just shaking it around, I find it disappointing. The reality is -- and again, I know that this might offend some people -- there's no real art to this kind of "dance," and most people look pretty foolish when they're doing it. Some people call it "club dancing," but I think of it as "spazzing out."

Check out this map

Take a gander at this. Check out the map of Europe on this site. It's cool to see the way the individual countries are highlighted, and it's great how clicking on any of those countries directs one to the most appropriate language (English, German, or French). Only those languages are supported, which is a shame, since it'd be interesting to see the site in Spanish or Italian.

And heck, they even have Monaco! You have to look closely at the French coast to find it, though.

Dance studio shutting down

I just learned that one of the local dance studios will be closing its doors in August. Bummer.

One of the instructors there is a college student, so I'm not too concerned about her. One of the older instructors, however, could probably use some help. I know that she was very thankful for this job when she had to leave her previous employer a few years ago. Darn it.

So thankful

I am very, very thankful that Moni is a part of my life and that she's a good friend of mine.

So tired

I am so tired. I am very beat. I could really use a nap to refresh my mind and keep myself feeling more alert.

Farrah Forke, Aquagirl, and Batman Beyond

Whatever happened to Farrah Forke? I liked her in "Wings," and I think that she did a fine job in the short-lived and vastly underrated sitcom, "Dweebs."

I did find out that she did some voice acting. She "appeared" in two episodes of Batman Beyond ("The Call" Parts 1 and 2) as Barda, this character from New Genesis. She did have a nice speaking voice, after all.

Pathogens

I recently found myself casually using the word "pathogens" in conversation. I don't recall the context, but I did think that it was kind of amusing. Most people would just say "germs," but for whatever reason, I felt like being more scientifically precise.

Maybe I've been reading too many of the right kinds of books lately.

More on the sock hop

I just want to vent a little bit more about that stupid sock hop that I mentioned.

I think that a lot of people enjoyed themselves, but that was because they were doing lame-o dancing. You know, just shaking it around. Now I understand that not everybody knows how to dance, and that not everyone has a lot of skill. Still, it disappointed me that most people didn't even try to do anything interesting. Honestly, it doesn't take a lot of skill. At least try to be creative and so something that's different from just shaking and wiggling around.

I've seen someone refer to a move called the "cracker squirm." That's how most people I've seen tend to dance. It's not a pretty sight.

What a lame sock hop

Here is a little something that I wrote to a friend of mine. I kinda want to preserve it for posterity.

Hey there, Bri. I thought about you this weekend. Here's why.

Your friend David Palmer and I attended a 50s/60s-themed sock hop last Saturday. I think that we were both bored, though. There weren't a lot of good dance partners, and people were pretty much just shaking around. Too bad; I was kinda hoping for some authentic 50s-style dancing... or at least some attempt at it.

Even though it was a 50s and 60s event, the band mostly played 60s tunes (plus some 70s stuff). IMO, there wasn't a lot of good dance music that came out of the 60s, since it was mostly known for listening music. Most Beatles music wasn't really meant for dancing, for example, though one can certainly shake around to it.

I remember that they started with some more danceable songs, during which the dance floor was fairly bare. Once the band played some shake-it-around kinds of numbers though, the floor was suddenly flooded with people. At one point, David and I looked at each other from the sidelines and said, "We can't dance to this."

Anyway, that's why I thought of you. I remember you saying that you like to take pride in your dancing, which is why you don't like to shake it around unless you're under the influence of alcohol (heh). Apparently, David feels the same way we do. He said that he likes to have some sort of plan when he's dancing, and I agree with that sentiment. I love the artistry that comes from dancing well, and I just can't take any pride in wiggling or swaying around.

To each his own, though.

Positive feedback

Here's a message that I sent to a friend of mine recently.


====================================
Hi, Esther. How have you been? It's been way too long since I've had a chance to hear about your insights into life.

I remember your comments about how you don't appreciate brutal honesty. I'm with you on that point. I think that when people say that they're just "telling it like it is," it's pretty much just used as an excuse for not being tactful or empathetic.

This came to mind because of some struggles I've had with people in my dance class and martial arts classes. In my lindy hop dance class, for example, there's one gal who's kinda quick to provide negative feedback. That's not necessarily a problem, and she's not obnoxious about it, but I always feel that she could afford to cushion the blow with a smile or some words of encouragement. A bit of positive feedback now and then would be nice, too.

That's how I deal with other swing dancers, especially beginners. When I see that they struggle with something, I try to help them out with a smile on my face. I even say that I hope we can dance later, even when I know they're kinda bad.

I've got a similar situation in my Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) class. Most of the people there are quite nice, and some of them are great sparring partners. However, there is one guy who's quick to criticize when my punches or blocks aren't quite right, and he does so with a somewhat hard expression and/or tone of voice. I always try to be encouraging when provide feedback, and most of the other guys are the same way. We've found that few gentle words like, "It just takes practice" or "I struggle with that too" can go a long way, y'know?

So anyway, those experiences made me think of you. I'm glad that you're more of an empathetic person. That's a positive quality to have.

Philology

Okay, this is really kinda petty, and I don't want to sound overly negative. However, part of my motivation in maintaining this blog is that I need a venue for venting, even about little stuff. Here's one example.

I get really annoyed when I hear certain folks refer to music videos as "MTVs." I also get annoyed when these folks refer to cassette players as "cassettes." I keep trying to explain that cassettes are what you place INSIDE the cassette players, but this distinction is apparently lost on them. (They refer to cassettes as "tapes," which is accurate but does not justify referring to the players as "cassettes.")

I know this is kinda trivial, but it's annoying nonetheless.

Why so many visitors?

On Wednesday nights, I take a cardio bootcamp class that’s heavily based on kickboxing. Last week, our regular instructor “R” was out of town, so “L” filled in for her. L can be utterly brutal, and I appreciate that.

One thing amazed me, though. Attendance was unusually high on that night, as a lot of ladies apparently chose to attend because L was teaching. I don’t understand that. L is a tough instructor, and she provides an intense workout, but I don’t think that’s the reason why she has a fan following. I say that because almost none (if any!) of these folks were able to keep up with her. Heck, most people have a hard enough time keeping up with R, so it doesn’t make sense to me that so many of these folks would attend L’s class but not R’s.

I’m just glad that the loud barking guy (let’s call him “Harley”) wasn’t at that class. I remember that he joined in once when another lady (“F”) filled in for L. He was such a poser, whooping and barking enthusiastically even though he was barely working out. To be fair, he does work hard on some moves, such as flutter kicks and certain step aerobics moves. He punches and kicks like a teenaged girl though, his jumping jacks are pathetic, and his high knee raises aren’t high at all.

Another guy's comments

Here are some comments from another fella about community dances.

Going to a non-specific dance can still be a disappointment. e.g. I went to a 40s themed event where everyone knew how to dance to some extent but there were many clashing styles and few women who could follow a lead without knowing the specific moves. I wouldn't expect anyone to, for example, be able to tango without having had specific lessons, but I would expect anyone who can follow a lead to be able to cope with the dumbed-down simplicity of modern jive. The fact that so many dancers cannot follow a lead is down to poor teaching, I think - although, obviously, inexperience or lots of experience of poor leads could be the problem.

Comments from a dancer

I just wanted to reproduce the following comments that I saw on a public discussion board about dancers. This gal had some wisdom to share.

It can sometimes be impossible to avoid the bad dances, since there is no way to know if it is bad or not until you try it out. Unless of course it is a weekly event and you have already heard word, but those are not what you seemed to be talking about.
...
As for attending socials at dance studios. Those, to me, have a very different feel than just attending a regular social event. From my experience, at the studios people are very willing to dance, but are constantly trying to fix how you are dancing or how they are dancing. They paid money to learn and want to make sure they are doing it right! And often many have the exact same style as the others there (since they are all learning from the same person). When going out socially you never know what you are going to encounter and I love that! From new dancers to people who are incredibly experienced. Each person has their own style, and each feels different to dance with.

Harley, go away

That Harley guy pisses me off no end. He's a loudmouthed jerk, he's a poser, and he's all talk.

I usually don't mind the folks who struggle in the gym. Some of them work really hard and want to get back in shape. (Admittedly, a lot of them don't. A lot of the just coast through the workouts and have no determination, no fighting spirit. Some of them genuinely want to undo years of poor health though, and they work hard to do so.) What I don't like are the folks who just talk the talk and don't walk the walk. The ones who hoot and holler like idiots, trying to make themselves sound all bad*ss, even though they're working out as though they were nine-year-old girls.

These folks aren't quite girly men. They can actually be in halfway decent shape. It's just that their mouths get much more of a workout than their bodies do.

And Harley is the worst offender by far. Shut up or go away, jerk.