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.