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.