Item of the week - Handmade Phoenix Ballpoint pen in Ancient Bog Oak with Gold hardware

Handmade Phoenix Ballpoint pen in Ancient Bog Oak with Gold hardware - this is a relatively new style of pen I'm trying. I'm moderately happy with them. I love the Bog Oak I used for this pen, it's a good substitue for Ebony and finishes nicely. But it does get a fine black dust everywhere. This pen looks like it is a click pen, but it is actually a single twist mechanism. It's about 5-1/2 inches long and weighs a bit less than 2 ounces and uses a Parker refill.

Until Sunday, the 5th, contact me and I'll set you up with 25% on the purchase of this pen.

At the movies: Brave

Brave: 4

Another good Pixar movie.

The short before the movie was "La Luna", a film about how the phase of the moon is maintained.

I enjoyed Brave quite a bit. There were a number of laugh out loud moments which are a rarity for me. The hair animation was outstanding. The story was a nice one about pride and its consequences.

The one thing that I did not like was the mom's reaction when Merida's bow was in the fire. That did not ring as a true reaction.

I'd be happy to see it again, I doubt if I will as I'm so far behind on seeing first run movies.

Sunrise Monday morning

I took this picture looking East from work Monday morning. Storms followed later in the day.

Weekend update

Friday:

Lunch at Coastal Crossing
Aikido

Saturday:

Blueberry muffins
Aikido
Dinner with the in-laws

Sunday:

Slept very late
British Open on TV
Brave at the theater
Raisin Cinnamon Swirl bread

Item of the week - Cigar style ballpoint pen in Bethlehem Olivewood w satin gold hardware

Cigar style ballpoint pen in Bethlehem Olivewood with satin gold hardware - This is a Cigar style Ballpoint pen turned out of Olive Wood from Bethlehem, the Holy Land, with Satin Gold hardware. It is 6 inches long and weighs about 2 ounces. It uses a Parker refill. This pen has a double-twist mechanism.

The Olive Wood tree is a subtropical, broad-leaved, evergreen tree, with edible fruit. They range in height from 3 to 8 meters with numerous branches. In October, the trees are pruned and the wood is made available to craftsmen, like me, to create gorgeous pens. The trees range in age from a few years old to a few thousand. The tree used to make this pen may have been alive at the time of Christ.

It is a very comfortable pen for those with larger hands or for those who have trouble grasping smaller objects. It's about 11 mm in diameter where I grasp it for writing.

Until Sunday, the 29th, contact me and I'll set you up with 25% on the purchase of this pen.

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 7/21/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, Marvin, Gayle, and Hussein

Ukemi:

Worked with Gayle

The Walk:

Twice, as usual.

Releases:

Worked with Hussein on his set. And watched Troy and Gaye work on theirs.

Techniques:

Commented on Troy and Trey working on O Waza Ju Pon and 11-13 of Ju Nana Hon Kata

Aftermath:

Nothing new on the knee front.

Aikido Friday Night - 7/20/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, and Jim

Ukemi:

None for me tonight

The Walk:

Twice, as usual. And then worked with Jim on an individual basis.

Releases:

Worked with Jim on his set.

Techniques:

None for me tonight

Aftermath:

Still the knees.

Aikido Thursday Night - 7/19/12

Aikido players: Troy, Sal, and Brad

Ukemi:

None tonight, my knees are wonky and I want to let them rest

The Walk:

Not on Thursdays

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

I wanted to have them work on Hiki-taoshi, Ude-gaeshi and Wami gatame. We made it through Hiki-taoshi and Ude-gaeshi.

Aftermath:

Going to the Doc in about 10 days.

Weekend update

Friday:

Lunch at Burger House
Aikido

Saturday:

Blueberry muffins
Bank stuff
Aikido
Late lunch with the Aikido crowd at Cajun Craven
ArmadilloCon stuff
Dinner K and K at Durango's

Sunday:

Slept very late
ArmadilloCon stuff
GHG Company event at Main Event
Raisin Cinnamon Swirl bread

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 7/14/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Jeff, Gail, Nathan, Brian (from Jeff's dojo) Troy, Marvin, Charlse, Liz, and Hussein

Ukemi:

None by anyone.

The Walk:

Not today.

Releases:

Not today

Techniques:

Jeff came down from Killeen with his crew and we worked on what he called bases of a throw and the triangle of your center and your feet.

The bases of a throw are: your feet, your waist, or your shoulders. Essentially, the axis about which the throw occurs. Most of the techniques in the Ju Nana Han Kata are 3rd base (or shoulder) throws. Some of them, though, are multiple base throws. They start with one base and end with another.

Mostly shoulder-based throws: Shomen-ate, Ushiro-ate, Oshitaoshi, Ude-gaeshi, Hiki-toshi, Ude-hineri, Kote-hineri, Kote-gaeshi, Tenkai kote-hineri, Shihonage, and Hiki otoshi

Mostly waist-based throws: Gedan-ate

There aren't any mostly foot based throws, but there are some that at least start with the inability to move the foot for recovery: Aigamae-ate, Gyaku gamae-ate, Sumi otoshi, Hiki otoshi

Aigamae-ate, Gyaku gamae-ate, in my opinion, are foot and waist based. The shoulders do get moving, but they have to over take the waist that leads the fall.

Mae-otoshi is a shoulder and waist based throw. It's similar to Gedan-ate with an additional shoulder element.

Gail and I sat around and worked throw most of these verbally. We were both a little hampered by aches and pains so we did not work through them physically.

The triangle is another way of presenting what we call the holes in a person's balance. If you take a person's balance there is a triangle formed between their feet and their center. The sides of the triangle, other than the one between the two feet, are spots that you can thrown the person. I think the smaller side, while being tougher to find, will be the better one to throw the person over.

So, as you're working with uke, figure out where their triangle is and that will lead you to where you need to drive your center to accomplish a throw.

Aftermath:

Lunch at Cajun Craven with most of the crew.

Item of the week - Phoenix Ballpoint pen in Ambrosia Maple with Gold hardware

Phoenix Ballpoint pen in Ambrosia Maple with Gold hardware - this is a relatively new style of pen I'm trying. I'm moderately happy with them. I'm amazed that this one turned out, I ususallu have a ton of trouble turning pens out of Ambrosia Maple. This pen looks like it is a click pen, but it is actually a single twist mechanism. It's about 5-1/2 inches long and weighs a bit less than 2 ounces and uses a Parker refill.

Until Sunday, the 22th, contact me and I'll set you up with 25% on the purchase of this pen.

Aikido Friday Night - 7/13/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, Marvin, Gayle, Charles, and Liz

Ukemi:

None for me tonight

The Walk:

Twice, as usual.

Releases:

Worked with Charles on his set.

Techniques:

Worked with Charles on Shomen-ate and Aigamae-ate, then went and watched Troy and Trey work on 1-6.

Aftermath:

Knees are still sore, but they don't feel as fragile as they did. Healing?

Aikido Thursday Night - 7/12/2012

Aikido players: Troy, Sal, and Brad

Ukemi:

None tonight, my knees are wonky and I want to let them rest

The Walk:

Not on Thursdays

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

Sal and Brad worked on 1-3. Troy worked on 6-8. Brad got locked up on the hip switch Aigamae-ate. Sal was preventing uke from falling on Gyakugamae-ate. Troy was chicken-winging on Oshotaoshi.

After 15 minute stretching and ukemi, I tried to get 3 reps on each side for each technique for each student. I managed to get a couple of extra reps in in some situations and ended the class right on time.

I don't know if it's better for me to stay out and have the other folks work together or to split up into two sets of two. I did jump in a couple of times to feel what was going on and offer suggestions.

Aftermath:

Darn knees.

Item of the week - Handmade Phoenix Ballpoint in Desert Ironwood with Gold hardware

Handmade Phoenix Ballpoint in Desert Ironwood with Gold hardware - this is a relatively new style of pen I'm trying. I'm moderately happy with them. It does look good with the gold tone hardware and the Desert Ironwood body. This pen looks like it is a click pen, but it is actually a single twist mechanism. It's about 5-1/2 inches long and weighs a bit less than 2 ounces and uses a Parker refill.

Until Sunday, the 15th, contact me and I'll set you up with 25% on the purchase of this pen.

Weekend update

Friday:

Lunch at 2 Brothers Pasta
Aikido

Saturday:

Blueberry muffins
Bank stuff
Aikido
Wimbledon
Dinner with the in-laws

Sunday:

Wimbledon
Naps

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 6/9/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, Marvin, Dan, Gayle and Hussein

Ukemi:

None. Still treating the knee

The Walk:

Twice, as usual.

Releases:

I worked with Hussein to see what his releases were like.

Techniques:

We spent some time at the end working on Troy's stuff. I watched as I'm trying to limit my ukeing at the moment

Aftermath:

Babying the knee.

Aikido Friday Night - 6/8/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Phillip, Troy, Sal, Dan, Charles, Liz, and Jim

Ukemi:

None for me tonight

The Walk:

Twice, as usual.

Releases:

Worked with Charles on his set and then worked with Jim on the first two.

Techniques:

None for me tonight. Tim took it easy on my knees.

Aftermath:

Knees.

Aikido Thursday Night - 7/5/12

Aikido players: Sal

Ukemi:

None tonight, my knees are wonky and I want to let them rest

The Walk:

Not on Thursdays

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

We worked on 1-5. Gedanate went unusually well, Ushiro-ate had issues.

Aftermath:

Going to have to figure out what's up with my knees.

Weekend update

Friday:

Lunch at Tookie's
Aikido

Saturday

Blueberry muffins
Aikido
Nap
Dinner at Durango's with K.
I could have gone to my 30th H. S. Reunion, but I was not in the mood for that much socialization

Sunday

Nap
Lunch with some friends from out of town
Nap
Made a batch of "Grandma A's Ranch Hand Bread"
Olympic Trials on TV


I think I might be rested from the previous two weekends of conventions. I've got a few more weeks before my next convention.

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 6/30/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Marvin, Dan, Gayle (and a potential new student was watching from the sidelines. A former student of L. F. Wilkinson)

Ukemi:

Full set

The Walk:

Twice, as usual.

Releases:

I worked with Gayle on her set.

Techniques:

I spent most of the afternoon working with Gayle on Shomen-ate and Aigamae-ate.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Aikido Friday Night - 6/29/2012

Aikido players: Tim, trey, Phillip, Sal, Dan, and Jim (a new student)

Ukemi:

Got a full set in.

The Walk:

Twice, as usual.

Releases:

Worked with Sal on his set.

Techniques:

I worked with Sal. We made it up to Gedan-ate before the evening came to an end.

Aftermath:

There was an issue with some of the folks working on Releases. One of them turned the release into a technique unexpectedly and caught uke unaware and unprepared. There was no apparent injury, but we'll see if any hidden injuries show up.