I’ve realised just now that I have two things I want to do at the same time on Sunday; my friend James’s band Tempercalm are playing at the Emergenza talent contest National Final at the Carling Academy in Glasgow. However, my Ninjutsu class is also on Sunday. Argh! Ninjutsu or RAWK?
I hate these dilemmas.
This entry was written by , posted on June 22, 2004 at 10:14 pm, filed under Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Okay, so I finally attended and participated in a Ninjutsu class tonight. Turns out that the beginner class started at 7PM rather than the 8PM that was advertised on the posters, so I ended up getting involved in the ‘advanced’ class. Advanced as in the ‘not entirely for complete clueless n00bs like Neil’ class; most of the class was 7th Kyu and lower, with the longest-standing students only having been there for about 10 months (James, the Shidoshi, only opened the classes about a year ago, apparently), so we’re not talking about super advanced stuff, but I had to be shown the absolute basics by one of the aformentioned green-belts, whose name escapes me at the moment. We started off with basic Kamae, or stances, for the uninitiated, and moved on through throwing a punch and using that punching motion to transition from kamae to kamae (ichimonji no kamae to ihen no kamae in this case), then I got taught a basic front kick, then eventually worked on doing some of the tori/uke attack/counterattack drills that the rest of the class were working on. I think I learned more tonight than I did during however many months I did doing Karate as a kid.
I gather I did okay; the green-belt that was teaching me said ‘you’re doing better than I did on my first day’, and James asked me if I had trained before (I’m assuming that’s a good thing if a teacher asks you that, in a ‘hey, you’re not bad – have you done this before?’ kinda way).
So, yeah, I’m definitely going back next weekend, hopefully get Steven to come along, and I’ll attend both classes next time.
Oh, and I’ve discovered I have great difficulty sitting in seiza no kamae (kneeling posture, with feet tucked under the bum) – my knees scream in protest if I try. Guess I should see the doctor, eh?
This entry was written by , posted on June 20, 2004 at 11:21 pm, filed under Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Yes, I got a letter from the Dole today saying I’m going to get Jobseeker’s Allowance after all, so I went up to Glasgow today to spend some of the cash I had saved in case I didn’t get JSA.
So, in roughly chronological order, I bought…
* Transformers Binaltech Silverstreak (more on this later)
* Band of Brothers commemorative edition DVD set
* Cheap-ass Ninja sword
* Cheap-ass foam-covered Nunchaku
* Four PS2 games (Transformers Armada, Tiger Woods 2004, NFL Street and Soul Calibur II)
For the non-Transfans out there, the Binaltech (or Alternators as they’re known outside of Japan) Transformer range is basically a range of TFs designed to look as realistic as possible in their vehicle modes; they contain interior detailing, working steering, rubber tyres, metal body parts (the Alternator versions are all-plastic however)
The fig I got today is the Japanese Binaltech version of Silverstreak (or Bluestreak as he was originally known in the classic Transformers lineup from the 80s). Vehicle-wise, he’s based on a Japanese Subaru Impreza WRX.
Vehicle Mode
Robot Mode
Nifty, eh?
Well, I should be starting Ninjutsu classes on Sunday. I’ll be blogging the outcome of that for sure.
This entry was written by , posted on June 18, 2004 at 10:56 pm, filed under Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
http://www.public.asu.edu/~mharp/viking_kittens/VikingKitten.htm
Gold, Jerry, Gold.
This entry was written by , posted on June 9, 2004 at 9:46 am, filed under Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
So now seems like a good time. 🙂
What’s new? Well, I’ve left my job, but could be getting sanctioned big-time by the DSS for doing so. As far as future employment goes, I’ve git an appication in for what I believe is a part-time position at the Crosshouse Hospital library. I’ll see how that goes. I missed out on the possibility of part-time work at Gamestation, though. I went in last Monday and saw a sign in the window advertising for part-time staff. They said I should hand in a CV. Good thing I had an appointment with the DSS in Killie two days later. So, Wednesday comes, I go to Gamestation, but it turned out that they’d found someone to fill the vacancy. “Arsenuggets,” thinks I. Thye say I can give them my CV and they’ll keep it on file in case anything else opens up. I can’t say I’ll be hanging on the phone for that. Maybe I could send a CV to the Duallist drum pedal company in Killie. Hmm….
BTW, that same Monday, I geek-ed out and bought two half-price Transformers from Woolworths. Armada Superbase Optimus Prime and Armada Unicron, all for £35. Could be worth a few bob when I’m old and grey, so I’m making sure all the boxes and parephenalia are being kept. In the meantime, Unicron is standing in front of my amp, flipping the bird with one hand and throwing up the \m/ horns with the other. Gotta love those poseable fingers!
Still no word on my application for university. I’m not getting my hopes up for 2004 entry, and if I don’t get in this year I can always apply for next year.
Music wise, I tried doing some recording yesterday but Sonar went tits-up on me when I was trying to fuck around with a VST instrument. However, today a new idea struck me; doing something that doesn’t require me dragging out cables, fiddling around with connections at the back of my PC, etc. Something consisting entirely of VST instruments and soundfonts. Hell, with me having , ahem, acquired Yamha Vocaloid Lola, it doesn’t even need to be instrumental. I could have vocal songs. Sung by something that sounds like a female version of Steven Hawking’s talk-box. But I digress.
Nothing happening band-wise. I guess that’s on the back burner for the time being. I’m trying to get the 13th Note booked for a gig but Brendan, the booker dude hasn’t emailed be back. Bah and double bah. The last gig made a shitload of cash for the place. Grr.
Erm, that should do for now.
This entry was written by , posted on June 1, 2004 at 2:29 pm, filed under Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
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