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.
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 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.
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 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 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.
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.
Friday:
Lunch at 2 Brothers Pasta
Aikido
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Bank stuff
Aikido
Wimbledon
Dinner with the in-laws
Sunday:
Wimbledon
Naps
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 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 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.
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 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 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.
Aikido players: Brad, and Sal
Ukemi:
None tonight.
The Walk:
Not on Thursdays
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
Sal and Brad worked on 1-4. We spent the most time on Gedan-ate. The primary issues are trying to complete the throw with the back muscles instead of the center and not forcing uke to avoid the eye flash and giving up the pressure on the arm.
Aftermath:
None of note.
I got to the courts a full hours before I needed to because of the change in schedule due to last week's rain out. One of the rec league teams needed an extra player, so I played with them for the first match.
Then it was on to the regular league. We played decently, but did not manage to win. We almost bet the top team in the league in the second match in the first game. I think we lost 14-12, or some similar score.
Next week is an off week due to the 4th of July.
Another night where we won more than we lost, but we should have won all three games instead of just the last two. I had a pretty bad headache, probably a consequence of the ApolloCon weekend, but managed to play half decent.
There's not going to be much to report for my time at ApolloCon. I spent 99% of my time helping my wife run the Con Suite. I did put my stuff in the Art Show, and I did buy a couple of pieces in the Art Show but, other than that, I was in the Con Suite.
Thursday
Picked up the U-Haul trailer and loaded it with stuff that been taking up room in our house for months along with food we'd been cooking and freezing for the past six weeks. Drove up to the con, unloaded, and started assembling the Con Suite.
Friday
Up early, start prepping meals. Up late waiting for late nighters to go to bed.
Saturday
Up early, start prepping meals. We got caught unprepared for Saturday lunch crowd and were out of bread around 3 p.m. Up late waiting for late nighters to go to bed.
Sunday
Up early, start prepping meals. Disassembled the Con Suite, managed to get 80% of cleaning done.
Monday
Up early, to finish cleaning and load the trailer. Breakfast at the hotel restaurant, unload the U-Haul at the storage locker, drive home, drop off the U-Haul at U-Haul. Nap. Wake up. Go back to bed.
The days of June 14-17, I was traveling for SoonerCon in Oklahoma City, Ok. I had some stuff in the Art Show and was also a panelist.
Thursday
Up at the crack of dawn to get to the airport, dropped off by my darling wife. The flight was relatively uneventful, but had far more clear air turbulence than usual.
Landed and caught the airport shuttle to the Sheraton hotel downtown. Where the NBA had made its headquarters for the Finals between Oklahoma City and Miami. This was going to alter the convention's ability to get their function space and some of the guests' ability to get their rooms. So, I stored my luggage at the front desk until my room was ready. I walked around downtown for a bit as I'd arrived with too much spare time.
I then caught a cab to go to Nick Lowery's aikido dojo. Google said it should take about 15 minutes by cab, so I caught the cab with 30 minutes to spare, just to be safe. I gave the driver the address and off we went. And we drove around, and around, and around the city. The driver knew not where she was going. I finally got out my iPhone and brought up a map for her. We arrived at my destination shortly thereafter, but it'd taken us 40 minutes to get there, so class had already been in session for 10 minutes or so.
I joined in on the class where we worked on releases for the entire class. It appears that they are something this dojo does not spend a lot of time on as the black belt I worked with was not terribly familiar with them. I hung around a bit after class to chat, and then caught a cab back into town. This trip went much better.
I got to the hotel and checked into the room.
I'd hoped to help the con set up the Art show that evening, but we weren't to get the space until Friday morning, so I just idled around until the pre-con dinner in the Con Suite where we ate bar-b-q and watched the NBA Finals.
Friday
Breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then off to help set up the Art Show. Sometime during set-up, I got my packet and checked my panel schedule: no panels on Friday, 4 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday. So, I was able to spend all day helping with the Art Show.
Dinner time came around and I went off to a restaurant I tried last year that had a wide variety of beers available. I tried the Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti and the Duchesse de Bourgogne while having the fish and chips and cheesecake.
Saturday
Breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then off to the Con Suite for my first panel: a Kaffeeklatsch. Back to the Art Show until time for my 3 panels. One was the annual "Monster in an Hour" which was a bunch of fun, even if I'm a horrible artist. Another was "Why We Love Joss" where I moderated on a panel about all things Joss Whedon. My third panel was "The State of the Art" with Peri Charlifu moderating. I felt most comfortable on the "The State of the Art" panel, the Monster panel was an opportunity to goof around, and the Whedon panel I just hope people enjoyed. I felt out of my depth on that one.
I helped set up and runner the Art Auction, but could not make it through the charity auction as I was too hungry. Dinner on Saturday was back to the same restaurant. This time I had Trappiste Rochefort 10, another good beer. I don't remember what my meal was.
Sunday
Breakfast in the hotel restaurant and back to the Art Show to help tear down. I had another panel, but did not want to leave Matthew Alfred alone, so I skipped it with one of the ConCom's permission.
I ended up selling two pieces in the Art Show, not much at all.
Off to the airport, a Schlotzky sandwich for dinner, and then home.
A fun, frantic weekend. Maybe my schedule will let me do it again next year.
We played a team with a record as poor as our own last night. We managed to win the first two games. The staged a comeback and took a fairly close third game. the other team had some former teammates of my from when I was on a team in the competitive league.
Another decent week in sand volleyball. I remembered my sunglasses this time so I could see. We split with a team we are very close in ability to and we lost to a powerhouse team. So, we got the results I expected we'd get.
We'd had a couple of weeks off for the indoor league and were back in play last night. We were up against an undefeated team, while we had not won any games. We won the last game, fairly handily. I suggested a slight rotation change so that I would end up serving first for our team. After my serve, we were up about 7-0.
We've still gto a ways to go as a team.
Friday:
Lunch at Frenchie's
Aikido
Young's Double Chocolate Stout. Mmmmmm. Tasty!
Saturday
Blueberry muffins
Artfire work
Off to Ace Mart restaurant supply for some shopping
Aikido
Roast for dinner with the in-laws
Sunday
Mow the yard
Off to see the Avenger's
Nap
Chicago WorldCon Skype meeting
Blueberry Buttermilk coffee cake
SoonerCon prep
Walk the dogs
Help K. with some pralines for ApolloCon ConSuite.
Aikido players: Tim, Brad, Dan, Charles, and Liz
Ukemi:
Partial set.
The Walk:
Twice, as usual.
Releases:
I worked with Liz and Charles on their sets.
Techniques:
I spent most of the afternoon working with Liz and Charles on Gyakugamae-ate. Toward the end of the afternoon my muscles were starting to burn and I changed places with Tim and worked on Shomen-ate with Brad and Dan. They were having troubles letting uke rock back to on-balance.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Tim, Charles, and Liz
Ukemi:
Partial set. Watched over Liz.
The Walk:
Twice, as usual.
Releases:
Worked with Charles on his set.
Techniques:
I worked with both Liz and Charles on Shomen-ate and Aigamae-ate. We briefly introduced them to Gyakugamae-ate.
Aftermath:
None of note.
We played the powerhouse team of the league in the first match and we summarily smashed.
In the second match, we got handled in the first game. In the second game, we were up 8-0 and they won the next 9 points. I'm not certain how the final points went, but we ended up losing.
I was gasping for air at points. I don't know if the heat or the couple of weeks off are to blame.
Aikido players: Brad, and Sal
Ukemi:
A couple of warm-up falls.
The Walk:
Not on Thursdays
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
Sal and I worked our way up through no. 8. Brad then arrived, delayed by a train, and he and Sal worked together trying to get Brad up through 8. We managed to make it through 7, skipping 4.
Brad and I brought up the slight footwork change we discovered in no. 8 to Sal. We'll see if he can incorporate it through the next few weeks.
Aftermath:
None of note.
The Manchurian Candidate: 4
The acting was iffy in spots, but Sinatra did better than I would have expected.
An interesting exploration of brainwashing by the Chinese to win an American election.
Puss in Boot: 3
A fun little story, with great animation of fur. It takes the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and adds a nice twist before and after.
Friday:
Lunch at Classic Cafe
Took me 45 minutes to get back to the office because of the traffic surrounding Shuttle-bration
Aikido
Saturday
Blueberry muffins
Artfire work
LSC3 work
Nap
Aikido
Drove in to Midtown to check out High Fashion Fabrics
Stopped at Adkins Architectural Antiques on the way back
Dinner at Durango's with K.
Walked the dogs
Sunday
Slept 'til 9!!
Artfire work
Mowed bits of the yard
French Open
"Puss in Boots"
"The Manchurian Candidate"
Peach Muffins and Coffee Cake
Aikido players: Tim, and Trey
Ukemi:
Full set.
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
Trey and I worked on the Tantoa section of Koryu Dai San. We (I) had all sorts of issues with Ushiro-ate. We finally came up with the conclusion that a good portion of it was uke not taking a step we were expecting.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Troy, and Brad
Ukemi:
Most of a set.
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
Troy uke'd for Brad on 8, 9, and 10
Brad uke'd for Troy on 14, 15, and a couple of reps of 16. I then stepped in for more of 16 and 17.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Friday
Lunch at Casarez
Aikido
Episode of BBC Sherlock
Saturday
Artfire work
Blueberry muffins. Still the same issue with this recipe. Using 2 eggs instead of 1 did not solve the problem
Nap
Aikido
Dinner with K. at Carraba's
Sunday
Up at 5:30 a.m. to go pick blueberries. We picked 34.2 lbs. in 2-1/2 hours. Cooper Farms for peaches and then Cracker Barrel for breakfast
Nap
Baked a loaf of banana bread, blueberry pie, and a peach pie.
Grilled out steaks for dinner with the in-laws
Episode of BBC Sherlock
Monday
Blueberry muffins. Solved the problem! It was putting baking soda in the recipe that caused the problem. No baking soda and they turned out perfect.
Nap
Baked two loaves of banana bread.
Dinner at V.'s for a belated Mother's Day
Aikido players: Tim, Troy, and Brad
Ukemi:
Full set.
The Walk:
Not today
Releases:
Not today.
Techniques:
While waiting for Brad to stretch out, Troy and I worked on Hiki-otoshi. He managed to get a number of good throws after a little bit of work.
We then worked with Brad on 1-3 of Ju Nana Hon Kata.
Then we worked with Troy on 14, 15, and 16 of Ju Nana Hon Kata.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Limitless: 3
A sci-fi movie starring Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro. A new pill has been developed that allows you to use 100% of your brain instead of the usual 20%.
Bradley is a write with a massive writer's block. He runs into an ex-brother-in-law who supplies him with the drug. More hijinks ensue related to finding more pills and keeping them out of other folks' hands.
Green Lantern: 2
Saw this movie on DVD. It was ok, but not outstanding.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Reese, Charles, and Liz
Ukemi:
Full set.
The Walk:
Twice
Releases:
I worked with Charles on his set
Techniques:
Worked with Charles on Shomen-ate and allowing uke to recover from the initial off-balance
Trey and I did a little play with Kote-gaeshi from Ju Nana Hon Kata and O Waza Ju Pon.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Phillip, and Brad
Ukemi:
A couple of warm-up falls.
The Walk:
Not on Thursdays
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
Brad and I worked our way up through no. 8. We were then going to work on the problems discovered, but we came across some footwork that he was uncertain on and work on drills for that.
The problem was the backward tsukiashi (sp?) necessary for no. 8. We did some walking backward and forward across the mat with tsukiashi until the end of the session.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Another season of sand volleyball start this week. I think there are 7 or 8 teams in the league this time instead of last season's 4. Good thing: more teams to play. Bad thing: more 9:00 p.m. games. Ugh.
We played decent and were competitive in all games, but we just didn't win.
Took the time to drive down to Hobby to try Casarez. Short and to the point: good, but not worth the 15 minute drive from work.
The place was decently filled with locals grabbing lunch. I ordered my usual Enchiladas Suizas and was pleased to note they don't come with sour cream. The chips were too dense for my tastes, the salsa a little heavy on the habanero and not my cup of tea.
The enchiladas, rice and beans were all passable versions. I thought the sauce on the enchiladas not really to my liking.
Friday
Lunch at Cajun Craven
Aikido
Saturday
Artfire work
Blueberry muffins. Still the same issue with this recipe. It's a little better with butter instead of oil, but I think the issue is using one egg instead of 2.
Aikido
The Book of Eli and Charlie Wilson's War at home
Started a batch of sourdough bread
Sunday
Artfire work
More work on the bread
Changed the oil on the two mowers
Nap
Baked the bread
The Book of Eli: 3
Denzel Washington portrays a drifter on a mission, carrying a book out West. It is alleged that he is carrying the only copy of the Bible left after the purge that took place after the event that wiped out most of humanity.
It was great seeing Gary Oldman disappear into yet another role. Denzel did a decent job, as well.
Charlie Wilson's War: 4
A fictionalization of how we got involved in the Russian-Afghan conflict. Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Written by Aaron Sorkin.
I really enjoyed the depiction of an unknown, under-the-radar Texas congressman with enough power to pull of massive funding for the Afghan rebels. We went from not funding them to funding them at $500 million pretty quickly.
I enjoyed the performances by the 3 major stars and thought the script was well done.
Aikido players: Tim, Phillip, Marvin, Gayle, and Reese
Ukemi:
Very few, was overseeing Gayle
The Walk:
Twice
Releases:
I worked with Gayle on her set.
Techniques:
Worked with Gayle on Shomen-ate and Aigamae-ate. Then did some work alternating between Gayle at 1-step and Marvin at multiple step.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Tim, Marvin, Gayle, and Reese
Ukemi:
Full set.
The Walk:
Twice
Releases:
I worked with Marvin on his set
Techniques:
Worked with Marvin on 1 and 2 at 3-step. The issue right now is getting Marvin to be perfectly in sync with uke as they approach one another.
Also worked with Reese on the same techniques at one-step distance.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Despicable Me: 3
A fun animated movie of an evil genius who develops a love for 3 adoptees he used in a scheme. It wasn't a Pixar film, but we still had a bunch of growth in the main characters. I'm not sure we had much change in the 3 adoptees, but Gru, Dr. Nefario, and Gru's mom all changed some during the film.
I liked Vector's shark, who I named Bruce (after the Jaws mechanical shark).
The voice of Agnes sounded a lot like the voice of Boo from Monsters, Inc. but, after checking, they were not voiced by the same person.
My wife missed the first part of the movie, but caught the second bit. She liked it enough to want to see the first part.
Fast Five: 3
Saw this on HBO the other day and got what I expected from it: car crashes, car chases, lots of explosions and impossible physics.
The fight between "The Rock" and Vin was fun. Most of the other stuff was just a thin layer of cardboard over which to spread the jelly of a heist.
If I'd seen this at matinee prices, I would not have been upset.
The Avengers: 3
A day off for my wife, so we met at the theatre right after I got off work for a cheaper, uncrowded showing.
A fun movie with, as usual, some fun lines for Tony Stark. One of my favorites was "Hold on, Legolas" or something of that sort. Stan Lee's cameo was neat, as was the post movie lead-in to the next movie and the final-final bit at the restaurant.
I think they did a good job with all of the characters, attempting to give them somewhat equal exposure.
I was not that happy with the tactics of the invading force. They went right after civilians instead of going after defense installations. Now, if the invading force was supposed to be portrayed as not that bright, then they did a good job with it.
I'd be happy to see it again, but only on DVD. I'm not willing to spend $$ to see it again in the theatre.
Aikido players: Phillip, and Brad
Ukemi:
None.
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
Phillip and I worked on 1, 2, and 4 of Koryu Dai San kneeling.
Phillip then worked with Brad on 8, 9, and 10 of Ju Nana Hon Kata
Aftermath:
None of note.
A gorgeous night for sand volleyball. The temperature was pleasant, the wind was essentially nonexistent.
It was playoff time. Since we were in last place, we started the evening playing the first place team. We played well, but still got handled fairly easily.
A short rest and on to the second match. I don't know if this was the third or second place team from the season. I'm betting it was the third place team. We got out to an 8-3 lead in the first game and one of their ladies was unable to continue because of a leg cramp, I think. We won that game 11-9, I think, and the next about 11-5.
For the tournament we ended up in third place!
I don't yet know if I'll be playing next season. They're checking with their regular player to see if he's going to be back on the court or not.
I've been trying to find a recipe similar to the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that Fuddrucker's used to have in the early 90's (I think). They were nice and tasty, very blonde, and not very greasy. I've not had any luck replicating them. All of my attempts end up with very thin, very dark cookies.
I found this recipe at Lady Bean and hoped it would result in the cookie I've been searching for. The pictures on the blog certainly look like what I want.
But, they weren't what I got.
Preheat the oven to 350º
1/2 Cup of softened butter
1/2 Cup of brown sugar
1/4 Cup of white sugar
Mix
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.
Mix
3/4 Cup AP flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix
1-1/2 Cups of oats (quick or old-fashioned oats)
1/2 Cup of raisins.
Mix
Stir until combined.
Drop a tablespoon of batter onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Planned alterations to attempt to get my desired result:
1. Add 1/4 C of flour.
2. Switch out half of the butter for shortening.
3. Freeze the scooped dough before cooking
4. Increase the granulated sugar to brown sugar ratio
Dark Shadows: 3
This was my first movie at the theatres this year. We had planned on seeing The Avengers, but the showtime we wanted was sold out. Dark Shadows was showing within a short timeframe, so we chose it as an alternative.
After seeing all of the trailers, I was not very gung-ho to see the movie. It looked too campy for my tastes. I'm pleased to report that it was not as campy as I'd feared.
I know that growing up I did watch some of Dark Shadows. How much, I don't really have any idea. So, I can't really claim to know the story behind the original soap opera. Looking at Wikipedia last night, though, shows the movie was pretty faithful to the original.
I was pretty pleased with the overall acting, it matched the subject matter. I was generally disappointed in atmospherics. The film was set in 1972 and "No More Mr. Nice Guy" came out in 1973. I actually thought there was a greater difference than that, so they generally got things right. I guess the movie just didn't thrill me.
I was interested to see that Tim Burton and Quentin Tarantino are both fans of the original show. I can only imagine what this movie would have looked like had Quentin ended up directing it. I'm not certain it would have happened since Johnny Depp was apparently the driving force behind getting the movie made, but it would definitely have been a different movie.
Friday
Lunch at Pelican Grill
Aikido
Massive thunderstorm that disrupted sleep for everyone
Saturday
Artfire work
Blueberry muffins. Still the same issue with this recipe. Argh! What am I doing differently?
Nap
Aikido
Attempted Blonde Oatmeal Raisin cookies
"Dark Shadows" in the theatre
Sunday
Artfire work
LoneStarCon3 work
Mother's Day lunch and Pappa's Seafood Kitchen
Nap
Once Upon a Time
Pelican Grill appeared on "Restaurant: Impossible" a couple of weeks ago. I've tried them once before, so I thought a couple of weeks after their episode of R:I aired would be a good time for another visit. Heavier traffic might have died down and they should still be in business.
The decor is a huge improvement. Previously it was strip mall salvage, now it's tied together and has a subtle seaside theme. The only issue I have with the new furniture is the banquettes have not been properly sanded. There's no risk of splinters, but it's still too rough for my tastes.
I think I ordered a burger last time, but I went with their chicken fried chicken this time. The waitress made a point of saying the green beans were fresh, leaving me to assume the corn and one other possible side were from cans. I ordered the green beans and the mashed potatoes as my sides.
Aikido players: Tim, Phillip, Brad, Marvin, Reese, Roderick, Charles, and Liz
Ukemi:
Partial set. Too many folks on the mat for me to take up the space I need.
The Walk:
Twice
Releases:
I worked with Charles on his set
Techniques:
Worked with Marvin on 1 and 2 at 3-step distance. The transition from maiai to 3-step is one that can mess with your mind.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Marvin, Gayle, Charles, and Liz
Ukemi:
Full set.
The Walk:
Twice
Releases:
I worked with Gayle on her set
Techniques:
Worked with Gayle on 1 and 2. Also worked with Charles on the same techniques.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Phillip, Troy, and Sal
Ukemi:
Very light, a couple of rolls on both sides
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
I worked with Sal on 1-10. We went through them all, 3 tries on each side on each technique. Then we worked our way back through the trouble spots: Gedan-ate, Ushiro-ate, Use-gaeshi, Hiki-taoshi.
Phillip and Troy worked on Hiki-otoshi and then 1-4
Aftermath:
None of note.
Another night on the sand. Next week is the final week of the season, I think, and we're in last place.
This has been good for my skills, I think. I need to improve my vision when going up for blocks and be able to react better. I was targeted a couple of times last night for my weak return, I think.
Overall, my mobility and reactions have improved, but I still have a long way to go.
I feel like my feet have been polished each week after I get off the court. The soles of my feet feel a little sensitized.
Burger 101 took the spot formerly occupied by Prince's Hamburgers. I'd wanted to make it by to try Prince's, but did not manage to do so. Burger 101 has a relatively wide menu of pre-planned burgers and a variety of add-ons, as well. The available sides took me a while to find on the menu on one of there walls. I knew they had to have some, so I kept looking.
I ordered the Blue cheese and bacon burger with fries and lemonade. I think that ran me to around $12. I was tempted to try a shake, but decided to skip the extra calories.
The fries were decent, the burger was just ok. This won't be on my list of regular burger joints. I'd go to 9er's grill first.
After having lost the paper copy of the blueberry muffin recipe I've been using the past few years, I went searching for it again. It took a couple of days and a wide variety of search terms, but I found it. It wasn't on the same site as I first found it, but it's almost a twin to what I remember of the recipe.
Here's the recipe I found:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 beaten large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tablespoon grated orange peel optional
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen(not thawed)
Here's the recipe as I remember it:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
*1 teaspoon baking soda*
1/2 teaspoon salt
*1 beaten large egg *
3/4 cup milk
* 1/2 cup oil *
1 tablespoon grated orange peel optional
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen(not thawed)
So, the difference between mine and the one I found:
Mine has a teaspoon of soda which the new one does not
Mine has 1 egg, the new one has two
Mine used oil, the new one calls for melted butter. I'm pretty sure my original called for either one, but I've been using oil as it's easier.
Cooking directions:
Bake muffins in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 35 minutes or until golden and centers test done (with toothpick). Cool for 5 minutes, then remove from tins and set on wire rack to cool completely.
So, this weekend, I'll try it with butter instead of my usual Canola oil and see if that gets the muffins to their normal color. The issue has been that the muffins *look* a little oilier over the past few weeks than they had previously.
Friday
Lunch at Burgers 101
Aikido
BBC Sherlock DVD
Saturday
Blueberry muffins. I've lost my recipe and my ability to remember the recipe has failed, so I have to start looking for a new recipe.
Mowed the lawn. Finally mowed down the wildflowers and the "Back 40"
Nap
Aikido
Dinner with K and K at Durango's
Started working on a Sourdough/Beer/Rosemary/Fennel bread
BBC Sherlock DVD
Sunday
Slept until 9 a.m.!!
More work on a Sourdough/Beer/Rosemary/Fennel bread
Nap
The SBRF bread failed
Work on another batch of Cafeteria lady rolls that failed
Once Upon a Time and Superhero movies on TV
Started working on another batch of Sourdough/Beer/Rosemary/Fennel bread
Aikido players: Tim, Marvin, Gayle, Reese, Liz, and Charles
Ukemi:
Took a couple of falls, but was watching Marvin most of the warm-up time.
The Walk:
Once.
Releases:
Worked with Marvin on his set.
Techniques:
Worked with Marvin on Oshi-taoshi and Ude-gaeshi.
Also worked with Gayle on Shomen-ate and Aigamae-ate.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Tim, Sal, and Reese
Ukemi:
Full set. I think the first since the Gedan-ate incident a while back
The Walk:
Once
Releases:
Sal did just a couple with Reese
Techniques:
Worked with Sal on 1-6. We spent a lot of time on Gedan-ate and Ushiro-ate.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Troy, Brad, and Sal
Ukemi:
Very light, a couple of rolls on both sides
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
I worked with Brad on 1-4. We had the usual issue on Gedan-ate
Sal and Troy worked through 1-6.
Aftermath:
None of note.
We ended the season at Gilruth with a final set of 3 losses. That put us in last place in the league and out of the playoffs.
The next season start in a couple of weeks. I hope we'll do better. We can't do much worse.
BLZZRD was our '93 Taurus SHO that we ordered custom made from Ford. After almost 20 years in our care, we sold it to a friend of a friend last summer. It had reached the point where it would not conveniently pass state inspections and parts were starting to get difficult to acquire. The '93 SHO was a fairly limited production run about 21K were made. That was, surprisingly, the highest production in any single year for the SHO.
Earlier this year, we starting receiving notices from the Pasadena Police Department that BLZZRD had been impounded and might be auctioned. About two weeks ago, we received a certified letter from PPD that BLZZRD was to be auctioned on April 28. So, this past Friday I went to the auction preview to look at BLZZRD and see if we should bid on it and attempt to sell it again. The short answer was: No. It was apparent as soon as I walked into the impound lot that BLZZRD was not going anywhere under its own power again. It had been in an accident and the total bill to repair it would likely 10 times its Blue Book value.
I took a look around the car and it was a sad sight to see. The owner that wrecked it (it doesn't look like it was BLZZRD's driver's fault, but it's tough to say for certain) had done some mods to the car that it pained me to see. He'd spray painted the white wheels black and he'd also filled in the SHO on the back bumper with black paint.
It was tough to say goodbye to that car. It deserved a better end.
El Rey ?? (not certain of the full name) : A Mexican joint that took over the building of El Rinconcito. I'd planned on going to El Rinconcito, but since El Rey was in their place I did not have the opportunity. El Rey looked a little sketchy, housed in an old, run-down former Dairy Queen. The sign on the front of the building said "Open Soon", but the electric light in the window said "Open".
I pulled into the parking lot, opened the door and walked in. The lack of air conditioning was immediately apparent. I was greeted by one of the workers and my drink order was taken. They were so new that they did not have any iced tea, so I made do with a Coke.
I saw a menu on the far wall and order from that when asked. Ordered the enchiladas for which I had a choice of chicken or fajita. I went with the fajita. A subsequent set of diners received an actual menu, so they do exist.
Friday
Dropped by the Pasadena impound lot to check on BLZZRD and see if we should come back for the auction on Saturday. Unfortunately, the answer was no. BLZZRD had been totaled in a wreck.
Lunch at El Rey, about a block north of the impound lot.
Aikido
Saturday
Aikido
Stop by Texas Art Supply for more matting supplies
Dinner with K and K at Durango's
Sunday
Grocery shopping
Work on a batch of Cafeteria lady rolls that failed
Work on more matting and framing
Nap
Work on stuff to grill for dinner
Made a peach pie
Work on another batch of Cafeteria lady rolls that failed
Superhero movies on TV
Aikido players: Tim, Troy, Liz, and Charles
Ukemi:
Took a couple of falls, still protecting the pulled back muscle
The Walk:
Twice as usual.
Releases:
Worked with Charles on his set.
Techniques:
Worked with Charles on Shomen-ate.
At the end of class, Tim had me work on the defensive and offensive jo techniques.
Offensive: throw to my left, throw to my right, wrist lock (we skipped this one), high throw to my right, shihonage, gedan-ate, shoulder blade throw, over the top ankle throw.
Defensive: Gyaku-gamae-ate, Shomen-ate, Low-otoshi, Row the boat, Hi-otoshi
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Phillip, Troy, and Reese
Ukemi:
Took a couple of warm-up falls, still protecting the pulled back muscle.
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
Watched over Troy and Reese.
Techniques:
Watched over Troy and Reese and Trey and Phillip.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Phillip, Troy, Brad, and Sal (Wow! Big crowd for a Thursday)
Ukemi:
Very light, trying to protect a back muscle that hurts from volleyball
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
Sal and Brad worked on Waki-gatame, ude-gaeshi, and hiki taoshi. The arm bars were a little frustrating tonight.
Phillip and Troy worked through 11-16 with very little input from me.
Aftermath:
Aching back from volleyball
Finally, a decent night. And, I tweaked a back muscle during the first match.
We won the first game 17-15, lost the second 11-15 or so. We were playing well and serving pretty well in a challenging wind.
The second match, we were up 8-2 and ended up losing the first game. The second game, we were manhandled from the start.
Still a nice night of vball.
Thor: 3
This is a movie my wife wants to re-watch just for Chris Hemsworth's abs. They're not just a 6-pack in her eyes, but maybe a 24-pack.
I was expecting more of an earth-based film, but it was mainly a Norse mythos film. Decent performances by Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins.
Captain America: 3
A great all-star cast and a good tie-in to the Iron Man movies, but not terribly impressive otherwise.
Another disastrous night of volleyball. Too many mistakes, not enough good play. We won the last game of the second match by the skin of our teeth, 17-16.
El Rey Pollo: A random Mexican joint chosen from Urbanspoon. Seems geared toward chicken since they claim they're the King of Chicken. I'd disagree, they're maybe the knave of chicken.
The chicken was actually half-decent. A pain to work with, but decently flavored. I ordered the 1/2 chicken. It came with 10 corn tortillas, rice and charro beans. The corn tortillas were a real pain: stuck together and when pried apart, got torn in half. The red and green salsas and the chips were disappointments, as well. The rice and charro beans were ok. The glass of ice tea was of a nice size and came with a lime wedge.
The servers were attentive, although they took a while to get me the check. Overall, a disappointment. I don't think I'll be going back.
Friday:
Lunch at El Rey Pollo
Crawfish Boil at GHG
Aikido
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins - mucked up the recipe again
Looked at the cars the Friendswood FIG Festival
Nap
Aikido
Pizza from Stefano's
Sunday:
Artfire work
Started work on Cafeteria Lady Rolls, Foccaccia, and German Chocolate Cake
Mowed the lawn
Nap
Dinner of Spaghetti and Foccaccia
Aikido players: Tim, Troy, Brad, Marvin, Gayle, Roderick, Liz, and Charles
Ukemi:
Light warm-up. Watched over Liz and Charles
The Walk:
Twice as usual.
Releases:
Worked with Charles on his set.
Techniques:
Worked with Charles on Shomen-ate.
At the end of class, Tim had me work on the defensive bokken techniques: down-the-arm takeaway, oshi-taoshi, shihonage, iriminage, Hiji Kujiki (crotch to sternum gutting)
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Tim, Troy, Sal, Marvin, Gayle, Reese, Liz, and Charles
Ukemi:
Light warm-up. Watched over Liz and Charles
The Walk:
Twice as usual.
Releases:
Worked with Reese on his set.
Techniques:
Worked with Reese on Shomen-ate.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Troy, Sal
Ukemi:
Two falls each left and right
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
Sal worked on Gedan-ate and Ushiro-ate. Struggled on both.
Troy worked on Kote-hineri and Tenkai Kote-hineri. He struggled with the footwork on Kote-hineri and struggled with the arm bar on Tenkai Kote-hineri. The armbar is a weird one.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Another night on the sand, another set of losses. We played a regular match first, and then we played a position match. The top two teams played each other and the bottom two teams played each other. We ended up playing the same team twice.
We played well and were competitive in all games, I think. I know one game was 15-11 or so. I'm getting a little better at timing, but I'm still taking off too close to the net. When I make my final step, I slide a little bit further to the net and that has me under the ball instead of behind it. I hope to work on correcting that next week.
My blocks are at least occupying some space at the net, so I'm ok with them at the moment.
Another night of struggling. I managed to win 7 straight points on my server int he second game, but will still managed to lose the game. We were up 9-2 in the third game and lost 13-15.
Ugh.
Friday:
Lunch at Abe's
Aikido
Saturday:
Hauled stuff to the Spring Sparkle
Went over to K's to help repair the fence
Aikido
Dinner at Durango's with K and K
Started work on another batch of Tartine bread
Sunday:
Artfire work
LoneStarCon3 work
More work on Tartine bread and started work on Norwich Sourdough
Relaxed to tried and ease my muscle ache from all of the exercise this past week
Finished work on the loaves of bread
Aikido players: Tim, Troy, Brad, Marvin, Gayle, Roderick, Reese, Liz and Charles
Ukemi:
Supervised Gayle with Troy's help
The Walk:
Twice, as usual.
Releases:
Worked with Gayle
Techniques:
Helped Troy work with Marvin on Oshi taoshi and ude gaeshi. Occasionally jumped in with Tim working with most folks on Shomen ate.
Worked on the kneeling portion of Koryu Dai San with Troy as uke.
Aftermath:
Still sore from a week of volleyball and aikido.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, and Sal
Ukemi:
Light warm-up.
The Walk:
Twice as usual.
Releases:
Worked with Sal on his set.
Techniques:
Worked with Sal on 1-10 and oversaw him working with Troy.
Worked on Garumas with Trey as uke and tori.
Ran through kneeling kote-gaeshi with Trey.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Sal
Ukemi:
Not tonight
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
Sal made it through his set fairly cleanly
Techniques:
We worked through 1-6 nicely, with the exception of Gedanate
Aftermath:
None of note.
Another night on the sand. We played much better than last time, even though we still lost convincingly. The first match, the games were 15-8 or so. The second match, the games were 15-5.
My positioning was much better, I was much more balanced on my feet and I managed a spike or two and at least one block. I still made a bunch of errors as I do in the indoor league. I was, for a while, the target of a bunch of serves, so I need to improve my returns.
And I am quite sore this morning. This is going to be good for my leg muscles.
The source for the recipe is this site: http://breadmakingblog.breadexperience.com/2011/02/tartine-country-bread.html
I've tried this recipe two times and it's come out the same both times. If I try it again I'm going to increase the flour or reduce the water. I'm going to post the recipe and methods and then add the paictures from along the way.
1. Grab 1 TBSP sourdough starter and add 200 grams warm water and 100 grams bread flour and 1oo grams whole wheat flour. Mix and let it percolate overnight.
2. Take half of the leaven and add it to 700 grams of water. Add 900 grams of bread flour and 100 grams of whole wheat flour. Mix.
3. Let the mixture rest for 30-45 minutes.
4. Add 20 grams salt. Add 50 grams water. Mix.
5. Put dough in a large bowl and let frement for 3 - 4 hours, turning every 15 minutes. The original recipe called for turning every 30 minutes. I doubled it this time to see if it would make the dough less wobbly. It was not sufficient to make the dough easy to handle. I'll go back to every 30 minutes the next time I try this.
5a. A turn consists of looking at the dough in the bowl, lifting the dough at the far end up, stretching it, and then folding over the bit of the dough nearest you. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and do it again, and again, and again.
6. Dump the dough out on to an unfloured surface, sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Divide the dough in half.
7. Flip each half over so the floured side is down.
8. Fold each half so that the floured side encompasses all of the outer surface of the dough.
9. Shape into a round shape. Cover with a kitchen towel. Let rest for 30 minutes.
10. Do letter folds on each of the halves to build tension in the loaves. Seal the loaves at a seam. Place in a bannetton to rise for 3 to 4 hours.
11. Heat the oven with a baking stone in it to 500.
12. Turn the dough out onto the baking stone. Turn the oven down to 450 and bake for approximately 40 minutes.
13. That concludes what I did for these loaves. Now come the pictures...
Friday:
Lunch at II Brothers Pasta
Aikido
Started working on Tartine Country bread
Saturday:
Artfire work
More work on the Tartine bread
Mowed a bit of the yard
Aikido
More work on the Tartine bread, once again it came out too thin
Sunday:
Artfire work
Trip into town for Astros baseball game to celebrate a bunch of April birthdays.
Watched the Cars DVD
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, Brad, Dan, and Reese
Ukemi:
Got a partial set of rolls in. Supervised Reese for a bit.
The Walk:
Twice, as usual.
Releases:
Supervised Dan and Brad.
Techniques:
I worked on Oshi-taoshi with Dan and Brad at separate times. Had to state firmly that th working hand gets removed from the elbow once tori has gone over-the-mountain. Shortly after stating that, Dan stumbled while doing the technique which, if he'd not removed his hand from my elbow would have destroyed my elbow.
Troy, Trey and I did some work at the end of class. I worked on the releases techniques of Yon Kata with both of them as ukes. It really is a fun set of techniques when it's working at speed. Trey did some work on Owaza Ju Pon. It took him a bit to get used to working with Troy again and get his timing down, but he really got flowing by the end of the afternoon.
Aftermath:
Very, very sore. Going to need some ibu.
Aikido players: Tim, Troy, Dan, Liz and Charles
Ukemi:
Light warm-up. Oversaw Liz and Charles.
The Walk:
Twice as usual.
Releases:
Supervised Dan and Troy.
Techniques:
Supervised Dan and Troy working on Oshi-taoshi and Kote-hineri, respectively.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Troy, Sal
Ukemi:
A partial set.
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
Troy and Sal worked together
Techniques:
Sal managed to work on Waki-gatamae and Hiki taoshi.
Troy worked on Kote-hineri and Tenkai kote-hineri.
We got some time for them to work together as I'd guess that Troy would be the preferred uke for Sal's next demo.
Aftermath:
None of note.
We had massive storms come through on volleyball day. The court was too wet and the weather too chancy to play outside.
Another week, another win. But just one. Maybe we'll have better luck next week. Oops, no games next week, so it's the week after.
I've passed by this place a couple of times while out and about for other Friday lunches. It has a sketchy appearance, but usually has a good crowd. And, since it's a former Dairy Queen turned into a local joint, a gem could be inside.
I ordered the double burger with mustard, no mayo, no cheese, onion rings, and a tea. I think the total was about $8, so on the low end of my usual Friday lunch spots.
It's a typical neighborhood burger joint. A wide variety of customers: grandmas, utility workers. The food is typical neighborhood burger joint, but it feels like a better choice than the usual fast food chains. The burger was decent and while the onion rings weren't Tookie's, they weren't a usual fast food joint's either.
Friday:
Lunch at C & D Burger Shoppe
Aikido
Saturday:
Artfire work
Made Outback Honey wheat bread
Blueberry muffins - and they turned out quite strange. Maybe too much oil?
Nap
Aikido
Finished working on our taxes
Started working on Tartine Country bread
Sunday:
Artfire work
Set up tweets for the month
Attempted to repair my backup disk - it failed, so I went off and bought a new disk
Started working on setting up a RAID 1 set for my Time Machine backup
Started working on mom's taxes
Came up with mats and frames needed for next batch of framing
Grilled dinner - chicken with bacon and cheddar cheese
Once Upon a Time
The Tartine country Bread failed - the dough was too wet to hold it's shape and just oozed while baking.
Aikido players: Tim, Troy, Brad, Gayle, Roderick, and Reese
Ukemi:
Did a full set of left and right sided falls. Right foot aches on the left-sided rolls, but that will improve.
The Walk:
Twice, as usual.
Releases:
I ran through all 8 with Roderick. It went pretty well.
Techniques:
I worked on Shomen-ate and Aigamae-ate with Roderick. That went pretty well, too.
Troy and I did some work at the end of class. He worked on 11-16 of Ju Nana Hon Kata and I worked on the releases techniques of Yon Kata. It was nice to get some time to work on that stuff again.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, Sal, Steve, Liz and Charles
Ukemi:
Light warm-up. Oversaw Liz and Charles.
The Walk:
Twice as usual.
Releases:
I did some work with Steve on the releases. We worked on 1-3.
Techniques:
Did some punch the dummy drill with Steve, Liz, and Charles.
Aftermath:
None of note.
