From Twitter 04-04-2010

09:56:53: Lemon pound cake out of the oven. Blood orange yeast rolls rising.
10:05:05: @Spielmadchen I hope the Astros improve. They looked like the Keystone Kops at times yesterday.
14:08:09: @kaysea14 Here's the recipe for the pound cake: http://bit.ly/cqR9tX. I'll have to work on getting the roll recipe in.
17:49:48: Dinner of steak, fresh from the garden spinach, rolls, fruit salad. Dessert later: pound cake, strawberries, whipped cream.
18:05:02: Folks taking pictures of their kids in my bluebonnet patch. Sweet! That's why I plant them each year.

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From Twitter 04-03-2010

09:45:27: Fabulous meal last night. More details later in my blog. Also, geocaching and a sale in my ArtFire shop. WooHoo!
19:43:54: Gorgeous day today. Geocaching downtown, Astros baseball game, walk in the park with the dogs. Serious sun burn. Ouch.
19:44:58: Got a sale in my artfire shop today. WooHoo!

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A fabulous night out

My company gives out gift cards every quarter to employees with perfect attendance.  I've chosen to receive gift cards to Pappa's restaurants over the past while.  We don't often go to Pappa's restaurants as they're often too noisy.  They do, however, have an upscale restaurant that is a little quieter.  So, we've saved up the gift cards for a while.

We finally arranged out schedule so that we were able to use them last night.  We had $295 worth of cards.  We expected to drink a bit and didn't want to be concerned about DWI, so we called a cab for the trip to and from.

We got to the restaurant and were promptly seated.  It was obvious we were ahead of the power curve as it was fairly empty.  After perusing the menu a bit, we placed our order.  Kim had the salmon filet, while I had the Kobe Beef Ribeye.  Kim ordered the asparagus as a side and I got the au gratin potatoes.  We both ordered the Shrimp Bisque for our soup/salad. 

We decided on a bottle of Pinot to go with the meal.  I don't remember the vintage, unfortunately, or the vineyard.  I know it began with a B and was Australian.

Shortly after placing our order, the manager came over and talked to us as we'd mentioned my allergy to crab while ordering.  He wanted to make certain there was no allergy to any other shellfish as the bisque had other shellfish stock in it.

Our entrees were fabulous.  The Kobe beef was very impressive and the salmon was quite nice.  Kim's asparagus was good, but I found the au gratin potatoes to be a little overwhelming with a strong flavor of nutmeg.  That might have been a side flavor of the cheese, I'm not certain.

We'd saved some room for dessert and order their pecan pie.  It was very, very good.  An interesting presentation.  The pie itself was mostly the usual custard consistency of a normal pecan pie.  It was then covered in a spirited caramel pecan sauce with a nice portion of ice cream.

To go along with the dessert, we ordered some single malt scotch.  Kim had an 18 year old Glenmorangie, while I had a 30 year old Gordon and MacPhail.  The 30 year old was definitely much softer on the nose, but the 18 year old had an interesting fruity finish.

The meal was fabulous, but we did spend all of our gift cards, plus a little more to cover the tip.  We also spend a good amount on the cab rides.  I don't expect we'll do anything like this in the foreseeable future.  But it was nice to do.

From Twitter 04-01-2010

17:23:40: Armadillocon32 art show information sent out today via: web page, email, snail mail. http://bit.ly/cFgf5X

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From Twitter 03-31-2010

18:49:51: A neat idea for parents for their kids: http://bit.ly/amroF1 available at this shop on artfire :http://bit.ly/dtBaQf
19:33:16: @Spielmadchen Going to the Astros on Saturday. Crawford Box seats.

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Artfire: Spotlight: Boutique Karma

A neat shop with items to ease your eyes, your kids scrapes amd to protect your hands from hot coffee:

Sandan techniques

I've got quite a while to handle these, but I might as well put them in here now.

Suwari Waza Kneeling Techniques (Koryu Dai San No Kata)
1) Oshi Taoshi	Tore attempts shomen ate. When uke blocks, tore circles into oshi taoshi.
2) Gyakugamae Ate	Uke strikes with right hand to tore's temple. Tore rises with shomen ate to uke's opposite eye.
3) Kote Gaeshi	Uke punches at tore's abdomen. Tore evades, threatens eye, throws kote gaeshi.
4) Ryote Mochi Sukui Nage	Uke grabs both tore's wrists and stands. Tore lifts arms, off-balancing uke, then turns uke into roll-out.
5) Tentai Kote Hineri	Uke chokes from behind. Tore frees himself, takes uke downin tentai kote hineri.
6) Shiho Nage	Uke approaches from tore's left, grabbing the wrist. Tore secures the grip, performs shiho nage.
7) Gedan Ate	Uke approaches from tore's right, grabbing the sleeve. Tore rises, placing hand on uke's shin.
8) Hiji Kime	Uke approaches from the front, grabbing at tore's collar. Tore takes uke's hand, turning into mae otoshi.
Tachi Waza Standing Techniques (Koryu Dai San No Kata)
9) Kote Mawashi	Uke grabs tore's left collar. Tore steps back, threatens eye, steps back again collapsing uke's wrist. Steps forward knocking uke down.
10) Uchi Tenkai Nage	Uke grabs tore's right hand. Tore does 4th release. Uke turns back, tore does 5th release into arm bar, sending uke into roll-out.
11) Gyakugamae Ate	Uke grabs tore's right sleeve. Tore steps back, collapsing uke's arm, then steps forward knocking uke back.
12) Hiji Kime	Uke grabs tore's left hand. Tore does 4th release, tore switches hands into "thread the needle."
13) Mae Otoshi	Uke grabs tore's right hand. Tore does 1st release, turns into mae otoshi.
14) Ushiro Waza Mae Otoshi	Uke chokes tore with both hands. Tore secures grip, steps under uke's arms, mae otoshi.
15) Ushiro Waza Tentai Kote Hineri	Uke grabs tore from behind. Tore steps to right, straightening arms, breaking uke's grip. Tore grabs uke's wrist into tentai kote hineri.
16) Mune Tori Kata Gatame	Uke attacks with shomen ate. Tore steps to right, drops uke's hand to his foot, falling uke. Tore twists ankle to turn uke over, pins legs, then takes uke's arm into arm-bar.
Tanto Dori Techniques Against a Knife (Koryu Dai San No Kata)
17) Ushiro Ate	Uke stabs downward (blade down). Tore steps to left, turning uke, pushing away.
18) Gyakugamae Ate	Uke stabs (blade down) at tore's left temple. Tore steps forward into shomen ate to opposite eye.
19) Tentai Oshi Taoshi	Uke slices (blade down) at tore's gut, then stabs at tore's right side. Tore steps forward, blocking swing, then step back and around and to the ground into arm bar.
20) Ushiro Ate	Uke stabs upward. Tore steps to left, turning uke, pushing away.
21) Ude Gatame	Uke stabs at tore's left kidney. Tore enters with right arm above uke's, left arm below, stepping around, collapsing uke's arm into arm-bar.
22) Kote Gaeshi	Uke slices across tore's body, then stabs at tore's right side. Tore interupts swing, steps around into kote gaeshi.
23) Tentai Kote Hineri	Uke attempts to draw knife. Tore grabs uke's free hand, stepping under the arm into tentai kote gaeshi.
24) Shomen Giri Gedan Ate	Uke stabs downward (blade down). Tore steps to right, drops uke's hand to his foot, falling uke. Tore twists ankle to turn uke over, pins legs, then takes uke's arm into arm-bar.
Tachi Dori Techniques Against a Sword (Koryu Dai San No Kata)
25) Mae Otoshi	Uke cuts downward. Tore steps to left, hand sliding down uke's lead arm to handle of sword, turning through, sending uke into roll-out.
26) Shiho Nage	Uke cuts downward. Tore steps to right, placing both hands on uke's. Steps through, switches hips into shiho nage.
27) Ai Gamae Ate	Uke thrusts toward tore's abdomen. Tore steps left, extending uke with left hand. As uke recovers, tore steps in with ai gamae ate.
28) Oshi Taoshi	Uke cuts diagonally at tore's right shoulder. Tore steps to left, hands on uke's elbow and sword handle, stepping around into oshi taoshi.
29) Hiji Kujiki	Uke cuts downward. Tore steps to left, placing both hands on uke's. Tore switches hips securing uke's grips to tore's hip. Steps through, bringing sword up uke's gut.
Jo no Bu Jo Dori Techniques Against a Jo (Koryu Dai San No Kata)
30) Gyakugamae Ate	Uke lunges with jo (left side leading). Tore steps to right, parries, gyaku gamae ate.
31) Shomen Ate	Uke lunges with jo (left side leading). Tore steps to left, parries, shomen ate.
32) Hishigi	Uke lunges with jo (left side leading). Tore steps to right, parries, grabs jo under uke's arm, sends into roll-out.
33) Renraku Waza Hiji Hishigi	Uke lunges with jo (left side leading). Tore steps back with right foot, grabbing tip of jo with left hand. Tore steps back with left foot, drawing uke forward, grabing jo with uke's arms crossed, sending uke into backfall.
34) Irimi Mae Otoshi	Uke lunges with jo overhead (left side leading). Tore steps to right, parries, grabs jo under uke's arm, sends into roll-out.
Shichihon No Kuzushi Nage No Kata (Omote Waza) Balance Breaking (Koryu Dai Yon No Kata)
1) Jodan aigamae	Opposite hand release, inside the wrist. Extend uke into breakfall.
2) Jodan gyakugamae	Mirror hand release, inside the wrist. Extend uke into breakfall.
3) Chudan aigamae	Hon soto hanasu (#1) shortened, pushing towards uke's ear.
4) Chudan gyakugamae	Gyaku soto hanasu (#3) shortened, pushing towards uke's ear.
5) Gedan aigamae	Hon soto te osu (#2), extending uke into back breakfall.
6) Gedan gyakugamae	Gyaku soto te osu (#4), extending uke into back breakfall.
7) Ushiro ryote mochi	Uke grabs tore from behind with both hands, pinning tore's wrists. Tore loads weight to left, then releases with Hon soto hanasu (#1) on the right.
Shichihon No Kuzushi Nage No Kata (Ura Waza) Balance Breaking Counters (Koryu Dai Yon No Kata)
8) Jodan aigamae	Yon kata #1 fails, tore turns into mae otoshi.
9) Jodan gyakugamae	Yon kata #2 fails, tore turns into mae otoshi (both hands on wrist).
10) Chudan aigamae	Yon kata #3 fails, tore circles back extending uke, aiki nage.
11) Chudan gyakugamae	Yon kata #4 fails, tore circles back extending uke, throws uke with arm across their chest.
12) Gedan aigamae	Yon kata #5 fails, uke turns, tore extends uke, aiki nage.
13) Gedan gyakugamae	Yon kata #6 fails, uke turns, tore extends uke, throws uke with arm across their chest.
14) Ushiro ryote mochi	Yon kata #7 fails, builds tensions, slips under uke's arm, mae otoshi.

Volleyball, 0-3

It's sad when I start typing the title for my volleyball posts and the only title that is suggested for auto-completion is the title for this post.

Anyway, another solid loss.  We played the other team that sat at the bottom of the rankings.  More close games, but there was never a time, late in the game, when we led.

I managed a couple of blocks, a spike or two.  My serves did not produce any outright winners.

On to next week's match!

From Twitter 03-30-2010

16:54:39: I like it when the check engine light, that came on for no reason, goes off for no reason.
18:21:31: Art show envelopes stuffed. Waiting on stamps and then into the mail. Armadillocon season about to start!
21:47:10: Got beat again in volleyball, 0-3, playing the other last place team in the league. Thank goodness I don't need to win to have fun.

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Lunching out: Jimmy's Egg

A nearby location of an Oklahoma-based chain.  I had their western omelet with hash browns and cinnamon raisin toast.

The service was pretty good and the food was tasty.  The raisin bread was probably and inch to an inch and a half thick and pretty good.  The omelet was good, too.  The hash browns were crisp, but a little thin to be that crisp.  There were no non-crisp bits of potato.  I like the outside crispy, but I do want some tender bits on the inside.

This restaurant is on my list to return to when I'm looking for breakfast for lunch.

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido seminar

Saturday:

Aikido seminar
Nidan demonstration
Dinner out with seminar friends

Sunday:

Recover from seminar
NCAA basketball
Dinner at Joe's barbecue
video editing

Spring ATAA Seminar

This past weekend was the Spring ATAA Seminar here in Houston.  The theme of the weekend was: "It's uke's show".

Friday evening we played with some of the releases from Koryu Dai Yon No Kata.  There are options and reactions in there that depend on what uke decides to do.

We also had a Nidan demonstration from one of the members who is shipping off to Afghanistan for the next twelve months and so will be away when his time in grade requirement is met.  He did a really nice demo.

We then went off to a local Chinese buffet place for dinner.

Saturday morning was an open mat opportunity for the first hour.  Trey and I worked with Brad on some of his techniques, trying to give him some suggestions.

The next hour was more demonstrations.  We normally do it in the order of increasing rank (e.g., sankyu, nikkyu, ikkyu, etc), but since I was going to be tori and uke for the demos, Tim Sensei wanted me to tori first for my Nidan demonstration.  I don't remember much of it.  There were parts I thought I left out but, apparently, I was in the zone.  There's one technique, shizumi otoshi, where uke goes flying over my back.  There was a discussion about this technique before the demonstration and bets were placed.  Trey, my uke, was offered $15 to slap my butt as he went over on that technique.  He managed to accomplish it, and we have video proof.  I'll be posting it soon, I hope.

Next was Trey's demonstration for Shodan.  I uke'd for him.  I made a mistake and gave him an out of place attack not to far into the demonstration.  He recovered extremely well.  I'm not sure it was noticed by many folks.  As payback, he gave me a little rougher throw a few seconds later, but I deserved it.  We made it through the rest of the demonstration without any trouble.

I was a little light headed after all of that for about an hour or so.  I'm not sure what was the cause.

We spent the afternoon working on chains of releases (aka Ki Harry, Ki Hara, and Name No Waza).  I got to work with a bunch of folks while exploring all of this.  My brain wasn't fully engaged in it, so I hope my body remembers at some point.  I've got a hand out for reference, and I shot some video, so maybe there is hope of retaining it.

It was a blast getting to work with everyone.

After the seminar, it was dinner time at a local restaurant.  I left after 2 1/2 hours as I had to get home and feed the dogs.  The drinking was still in full swing, so there's no telling how long the folks stayed at the restaurant.

I'm currently in the process of editing the video and hope to have some up shortly.

Now it's time to start learning for Sandan.  At least two years away.

From Twitter 03-29-2010

17:12:03: I'm the featured shop in the guild this week. Here's one of my favorites: http://bit.ly/9zoMYA My shop is here: http://bit.ly/9VpRmI

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From Twitter 03-28-2010

08:36:14: Still recovering from aikido seminar. Demonstration as tori and demonstration as uke back-to-back wiped me out
08:37:30: Worked with several folks over the afternoon, including the amazing Nick Lowry. Now to take what I've seen and absorb it.
09:41:31: 20% off my items at artfire for the next 2 weeks. Use coupon: GUILDFEATURED. Visit: http://bit.ly/9VpRmI
10:09:37: @kaysea14 Peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, spinach, lettuce are all active in our garden. Have to see if anything produces.
11:02:57: A gorgeous silver cuff: AND HERE'S THE matching CUFF: http://bit.ly/aruInc for looking and PLEASE RT! Trying to grow! (via @bellalinda11)
20:53:22: @ConneryBeagle Way to go, ConneryBeagle!
20:54:18: Dinner at Joe's Barbecue. Stuffed baked potato = stuffed human. Blackberry cobbler soon in the oven.

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From Twitter 03-27-2010

07:00:39: 1st seminar session was neat. Koryu Dai Yon releases and aikido groundwork. More today

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From Twitter 03-24-2010

06:30:06: Artfire: Featured Shop: Dancing Wind Designs: another gorgeous necklace... http://ow.ly/1pCB5
17:48:57: Volleyball last night, 1-2. At least we were competitive. One of our players had a seizure in the second game. She's ok now.
20:15:31: First pass at mom's taxes done. Not sure I believe the numbers.
20:15:57: 72 hours. No Vlad.
20:56:06: Artfire: my newest piece: Rebel Alliance logo in stained glass. http://bit.ly/c5kdMa http://yfrog.com/j6238usj

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Artfire: Spotlight Shop:: On Pens and Needles

A Classy Coupe: only $5.  On Pens and Needles

Vlad missing 72 hours

He went on his evening stroll Sunday night and has not been back since.  I hate letting him outside, but he is impossible to live with if we don't.

I hope he makes it back, but I don't expect he will.  I expect some wildlife got hold of him.  He's 16 lbs., but there are other things bigger.

Volleyball, 1-2

We played decently.  All 3 games were close, but we couldn't finish the deal.

One of our players had a siezure midway through the second game.  JSC EMT's were called and the Houston Fire Department EMS came out as well.  She managed to recover enough not to need transport to the hospital.

From Twitter 03-23-2010

16:50:04: Vlad still on walkabout: 48 hours. He may be gone for good....
20:17:41: 48 hours, Vlad's still not home. Odds are low he'll make it back.

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From Twitter 03-22-2010

19:48:33: @renegade500 It's not that bad. Jack wants to give me a bath whenever I get back from volleyball or aikido. I do wash my face afterwards!
19:50:21: My taxes done and mailed. Now time to work on my mom's taxes.

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Weekend update

Friday:

Picked up a load of dirt
Aikido

Saturday:

Mowed down some weeds before the rains came in
Read some more of "Oath of Fealty" by Elizabeth Moon
AikidoDinner at Durango's

Sunday:

Read some more of "Oath of Fealty" by Elizabeth Moon

Dinner of fried catfish and sauerkraut with my mom at our placeStarted assembling my Grizzly Tenoning Jig

Lunching out: Papa Fajita's

This could be a repeatable restaurant

I ordered something off of their lunch menu: 2 beef enchiladas, cheese enchilada, rice, beans. With tea, I got out for around $9. That's a pretty good deal.

Chips: Pretty good.
Green salsa:Pretty good.
Red salsa: Pretty good.
Beef enchilada:  Decently flavored beef, the sauce is nothing unusual.
Rice: nice texture and flavor
Beans: nice texture and flavor

From Twitter 03-21-2010

10:07:16: Wind gusts up to 32 mph overnight, 1.8 inches of rain, 38 degrees. The last gasp of winter.
12:32:34: Artfire: Featured shop: Dancing Wind Designs. Gorgeous small bead work. http://dancingwinddesigns.artfire.com
12:36:47: NCAA brackets: The team I had winning it all, Kansas, lost yesterday. My bracket is destroyed.
12:38:17: Aikido. Last training session before seminar and Nidan demonstration. Went okay. Sensei was pleased. I hope I do that well next weekend.

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ArtFire: Featured Shop : Dancing Wind Designs

Dancing Wind Designs does a wide variety of small bead work.  Here's my favorite one of hers today....

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 03/20/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Sal, Troy, and Don.

Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls. Worked with Don some more on falling.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: Worked with Sal on 1-4.

Techniques:

Trey and I ended the class with a complete run through of our demonstrations (minus the Walk and Releases).  I went through mine first.  Some tweaks along the way: kneeling Kote-gaeshi, standing cross-collar grab.

Trey's run through was nice.  Some minor tweaks from uke's point of view.  No real faults, just some improvements.


Aftermath: 7 days until demonstration.  We stayed a while after to clean the mats in preparation for the seminar next weekend.  The plan had been to do it on Sunday, so my schedule was not clear to stay until the task was done.

Quite sore this morning.

Aikido Friday Night - 03-19-10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Troy, and Don (a new student).

Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls. Introduced Don to our way of falling.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: Worked with Troy on 1-4.

Techniques:

Trey and I ended the class with a run through of the Owaza Ju Pon that we will be demonstrating next weekend.  It went better than last week

Aftermath: 8 days until demonstration.

From Twitter 03-20-2010

08:36:15: Awakened by a face bath from Jack. He’s too cute to kill.

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From Twitter 03-19-2010

21:36:33: Back from aikido. One more practice session until my belt demonstration. *panics*
22:21:47: My Sweet 16 is going to be, at best, a Sweet 12. Ouch.

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Top 100 SF movies: the ones I've seen.

found on lillian's blog:

http://totalscifionline.com/features/3809-the-100-greatest-sci-fi-movies

Bold the ones you have seen.

1) Blade Runner (1982)
2) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
3) Star Wars (1977)
4) Alien (1979)
5) Metropolis (1927)
6) The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
7) The Terminator (1984)
8) Planet of the Apes (1968)
9) E.T. (1982)
10) Solaris (1972)
11) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
12) Forbidden Planet (1956)
13) The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
14) A Trip to the Moon (1902)
15) Aliens (1986)
16) Silent Running (1972)
17) Brazil (1985)
18) Akira (1988)
19) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
20) Total Recall (1990)
21) The Matrix (1999)
22) Tron (1982)
23) The Thing (1982)
24) RoboCop (1987)
25) Jurassic Park (1993)
26) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
27) A Clockwork Orange (1971)
28) The Fifth Element (1997)
29) La Jetée (1962)
30) Sleeper (1973) 
 31) The Fly (1986)
32) Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
33) Westworld (1973)
34) Mad Max 2 (aka The Road Warrior) (1981)
35) Return of the Jedi (1983)
36) Back to the Future (1985)
37) WALL-E (2008)
38) The Fantastic Planet (1973)
39) The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) 
 40) Things to Come (1936)
41) 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
42) The Abyss (1989)
43) Quatermass 2 (1957) 
 44) This Island Earth (1955)
45) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
46) Delicatessen (1991)
47) Dark Star (1974)
48) The Andromeda Strain (1971)
49) The Omega Man (1971)
50) Stalker (1979)
51) Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
52) Escape from New York (1981)
53) The Invisible Man (1933)
54) It Came From Outer Space (1953)
55) Godzilla (1954)
56) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
57) Minority Report (2002)
58) Alphaville (1965)
59) Gattaca (1997)
60) The Fountain (2006)
61) Them! (1954)
62) Videodrome (1983)
63) Logan’s Run (1976)
64) Ghost in the Shell (1995)
65) Repo Man (1984)
66) Children of Men (2006)
67) Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
68) Outland (1981)
 69) A Boy and his Dog (1975)  
70) Mad Max (1979)
71) Donnie Darko (2001)
72) Soylent Green (1973)
73) Cube (1997)
74) Moon (2009)
75) Dark City (1998)
76) Starship Troopers (1997)
77) A Scanner Darkly (2006) 
 78) The Quiet Earth (1985)
79) Invaders From Mars (1953)
80) Fantastic Voyage (1966)
81) Barbarella (1968)
82) Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
83) Twelve Monkeys (1995)
 84) Event Horizon (1997)  
85) Independence Day (1996)  
86) Altered States (1980)
87) The Stepford Wives (1975)
88) Serenity (2005)
89) Dune (1984)
90) Primer (2004)
91) Explorers (1985)
92) THX 1138 (1971)  
93) Star Trek (2009)  
94) Flash Gordon (1980)
95) Galaxy Quest (1999)
96) Cocoon (1985)
97) Stargate (1994)
98) Predator (1987)
99) Trancers (1985)
100) Rollerball (1975) 


Only 52.  I need to remedy this situation.

Dining out: Ciudad del Taco

Ciudad del Taco is a taco truck that parks next to the aikido dojo.  I've considered stopping by to try it for quite a while, but my aikido schedule doesn't mesh well with an eating schedule.  Last night was a good opportunity as there was nothing pressing on my plate.  I drove up to the dojo and found the fuschia truck parked in it's proper spot.  Since I only go to the dojo on Fridays and Saturdays, I had no clue whether the truck would be there or not.

I wanted to get this sampled before next weekend when the dojo is having a seminar.  Saturday lunch plans are currently up in the air and my hope was that this truck would be a great possibility.

Here's what I ordered:

Chicken taco: corn tortilla, but not much flavor.  The cilantro and onions were fresh, but the chicken was flavorless and overcooked

Fajita taco:  Not the normal fajita beef seen at the local restaurants, but a shredded beef.  Not very flavorful

Pork (pastor) gordita: Once again, not much flavor.

They also supplied a green sauce and a halved lime.  The green sauce helped counteract the dryness of the meat, but that's about it.

Also, no major intestinal repercussions so far, so I thinks it's safe to eat.  Kind of bland, but safe.  I can now talk from knowledge about the truck when planning next Saturday's meal.

From Twitter 03-18-2010

Artfire: Spotlight shop is : http://onpensandneedles.artfire.com Needlework and woodworking
Artfire: Featured Shop: http://liquidambar.artfire.com Dichroic glass mixed with ceramics.
Ciudad del Taco, a taco truck near the dojo, is ok, but underwhelming. No flavor. And the food’s about the same.

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Artfire: Spotlight: On Pens and Needles

This week's spotlight shop is On Pens and Needles.  They're a husband and wife team that do knitting and woodworking.  This is a neat clock they've done...

Volleyball, 0-3

Another winless night, this time against Fandango.  They had a subsitute on their team this week.  It turns out she was the daughter of a guy I played against, on a regular basis, years ago.

I think it's safe to say you're getting old when your opponents are the children of your former opponents.  I look forward to the day when I can say you're getting old when your opponents are the grandchildren of your former opponents.

Assembling a Powermatic 719t

I purchased a new piece of machinery for the shop last week and managed to get some of the assembly done last night.  I actually started the assembly yesterday.  I started working on the base cabinet.  Actually, the mobile base for the entire thing.

The mobile base is a universal version.  (Powermatic has discontinued the mobile base designed for this mortiser.)  The mobile base was a little too big in its minimum configuration.  So, I modified the stretchers by reducing their length and by drilling new holes for the index pins.  That reduced the size by a couple of inches.  It's still not perfect, but it is better.


I'd been warned by the salesman who sold me the 719t that it was extremely top heavy.  He's right.  In order to offset that a little bit, I installed some 8x16x2 cinder blocks in the interior of the base cabinet.  It's probably about 35 lbs of weight in the base.  The main bulk of the machine is around 250lbs, so it doesn't help too much.

As stated, the main body of the machine weighs around 250lbs.  Somehow I had to get it from its packing crate up to the top of the base cabinet.  I might have been easier if I'd started with it higher than it needed to be and worked down to the correct height, but I worked from the ground up.

It would have been great if I'd been able to just lift the thing, but my wife and I were not able to do that.  So, we had to find some mechanical advantages to use.  After scouring the shop and various nearby spots, we found a supply of cinder blocks and 2"x6" and 2"x4" lumber.  So began the process of tilting the machine back and forth, sliding the lumber under one edge of the base and then the other.  When we got it to a sufficient height, we'd slide some cinder blocks under it, remove the lumber, readjust the machine so that it was supported by more cinder blocks and then repeat the process.

We got the machine up on two stacks of 3 cinder blocks each.  At that point, it was level with the top of the base cabinet.  We applied some wax to the top of the base cabinet and slid the machine from the cinder blocks to the base cabinet.

Then we secured the top to the base with the supplied bolts.  We had to put a flashlight inside the base cabinet so that we could tell when the holes in the base were lined up with the holes in the top.  A small sledge hammer was used to persuade the top to be in the correct spot.

After that we called it a day, closed up the shop, ordered pizza and chilled.  Final setup and adjustment will be done later this week probably Wednesday.

Total time setting up so far: about 4 hours

Artfire: Featured shop: Liquidambar

This week's featured shop on artfire is Liquidambar.  They're a husband and wife team that work in clay and glass.  Here's one of my favorite pieces:

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido

Saturday:

Changed the oil on the two lawn mowers
Helped K. replace a window at her house
Filled up evacuation gas container
Bought 4 bags of mulch
Aikido
Dinner at Durango's
D&D

Sunday:

Made a peach pieSpread the mulch
Moved load of dirt
Grilled out some burgers
Did Spring cleaning on the shop
Started assembling my Powermatic 719t
Dinner of peach pie and ice cream

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 03/13/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Brad, and Troy. 

Ukemi: No warm-up for me today. Watched over Troy and Brad.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.I then worked with Troy some more on the Walk.  We spent time on the last 5 moves.

Releases: Worked with Troy on 1-4.  I need to get him onto 5-8 next week..

Techniques:

Trey and I ran through more Owaza Ju Pon footwork.

Aftermath: None of note.  One more weekend of prep before our scheduled demonstration.  Will Tim Sensei give us the green light?

Aikido Friday Night - 03/12/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Sal, and Troy.

Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls. Watched over Sal and Troy.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.Then worked with Troy some more.

Releases: Worked with Troy on 1-4.

Techniques:

Trey and I ended the class with quite a bit of work on the footwork for the techniques of Owaza Ju Pon.  We were not doing well.
Aftermath: Two weeks until demonstration.  I hope things improve.

Lunching out: Don Julio's Mexican restaurant (Seabrook)

Not a bad restaurant.

I ordered something off of their lunch menu: taco, cheese enchilada, rice, beans. With tea, I got out for around $9. That's a pretty good deal.

Chips: Nothing remarkable.
Green salsa: None
Red salsa: ok.
Cheese enchilada:  Pretty good, the sauce is the standard.
Beef taco: ok, decently flavored beef.

Cheese enchilada:  There tend to be two varieties of these so far.  This one is the lesser of the two
Rice: nice texture and flavor
Beans: Not a great flavor

Looks like this restaurant is owned by the same folks who own El Dorado.  Not a big surprise.

Volleyball, 0-3

Another futile night on the court.  We played "Passing Out", a perennial powerhouse in our league.

I managed to get a couple of blocks and a kill or two, but my serves did not get many aces.

ArtFire: Spotlight Shop: Positively Charming Things

This week's spotlight shop in the guild on ArtFire is: Positively Charming Things.  Check out this gorgeous set:

Artfire: Featured shop: vabeachquilter

vabeachquilter does some fabulous fabric work.  Take a look at this quilt:

Lunching out: El Dorado Mexican Restaurant

Not a bad restaurant.

I ordered something off of their lunch menu: taco, beef enchilada, cheese enchilada, rice, beans. With tea, I got out for around $9. That's a pretty good deal.

Chips: meh.  Weird aftertaste.
Green salsa: ok, with a little bit of spice
Red salsa: ok.
Beef enchilada:  Pretty good

Cheese enchilada:  There tend to be two varieties of these so far.  This one is the lesser of the two
Rice: nice texture and flavor
Beans: Not a great flavor

It seems a bit like I remember Monterey House.  Not really worthwhile.

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido


Saturday:

Off to buy supplies for an addition to our existing deck and some mulch
Framed out the deck
Aikido
Dinner at Durango's with K. and K.

Sunday:

Spread out the mulch around the blueberry plants.  Need more mulch.
Build the deck.  5 hours.
Dinner (grilled out T-Bones) with the in-laws
Oscars

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 03/06/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Brad, and Michael. 

Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls. Watched over Michael and Brad.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.I then worked with Michael some more on the Walk.  We spent time on the last 5 moves and then ran through the entire thing a couple of times.

Releases: None today.

Techniques:

Trey and I ran through my Koryu Dai San techniques: kneeling and standing.  We did some major reconstruction on Kote-gaeshi.  I hope I've got it in my brain.  A minor tweak on Shihonage.  My knees were relatively raw by the end of the afternoon.

Aftermath: Abused skin on the knees.

Aikido Friday Night - 03/05/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Sal, Troy, Michael and Rebecca. 

Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls. Watched over Sal and Troy.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: Worked with Troy on 1-4.

Techniques:

Did some work with Sal on Shomen-ate and Aigamae-ate. He made some great strides in the initial off-balance.  He's still got some work to do on fuinishing the technique.

Trey and I ended the class with an almost complete run through of his demonstration techniques and of my demonstration techniques.  We ran through 1-17 of Ju Nana Hon Kata on the right side and 1-10 of Owaza Ju Pon for me.

Aftermath: None of note.

Some weeks....

you're a semi speeding down the highway.  Some weeks you're the armadillo in front of said semi.

Volleyball, 0-3

New season.  Thank goodness I enjoy *playing* the game and not just *winning* the game.  Admittedly, we've not played in 3 or 4 months, so we're rusty.  We played decently, but one of their servers ate us alive.

I hope we manage to win some games, but I'm glad to be out on the court again.

Artfire: Spotlight shop: Tali's Creations

This week's spotlight shop is Tali's creations.  She's got a wide variety of beaded and semi-precious jewelry.  This is one of the many very nice and elegant pieces she's selling:

Tali's Creations on Art Fire

Contest winners!

vabeachquilter won the random drawing for a gift certificate to my artfire shop.

One of my regulars, Christopher, won the 1000th post contest, but he already has a copy of the book.  If he doesn't want a second copy, I'll use it in another contest.

ArtFire: Featured Shop : Krystallized

Krystallized is a husband/wife combo that specialize in crystal creations.  Here is one of my favorites from their shop....

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido
Olympics

Saturday:

Harris County Master Gardener's Plant Sale with K.  Picked up two allspice trees and some veggie plants.
Olympics
Aikido
Dinner at Durango's
D&D

Sunday:

Olympics
Sleep
More Olympics

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 02/27/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Troy, Mike and Rebecca (two new students from Friday night) 


Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls. Watched over Troy and Mike.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: Worked with Troy on the first four releases.

Techniques:

Sal and Brad did some work on Shomen-ate and Aigamae-ate.  Off-balances, timing, etc.  We did a little more introductory work with Brad on Oshi taioshi.

Tim on showing the visitors what our style of aikido was all about.

Trey and I ended the class working on Waki gatame, Kote gaeshi and Hiki otoshi while Tim worked with T., M., and R. on the Walk.


Aftermath: None of note

Aikido Friday Night - 02/26/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Brad, and Sal. 
Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls. Watched over Sal.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: Watched over Brad and Sal.

Techniques:

Sal and Brad did some work on Shomen-ate and Aigamae-ate.  Off-balances, timing, etc.  We some more introductory work with Brad on Oshi taioshi.

Trey was working with Tim on showing the visitors what our style of aikido was all about.

Trey and I ended the class with an almost complete run through of his demonstration techniques and of my demonstration techniques.  We did my 8 kneeling techniques, 8 standing and the 10 Owaza Ju Pon.  We then ran through 1-17 of Ju Nana Hon Kata on both sides and 1-5 of Owaza Ju Pon for Trey.  He and I were beat after that.

Aftermath: We also had 7(!!!!!) visitors to the dojo.  Potentially 7 new students.  3 couples and one solo guy.  where did they all come from?  How did they all arrive on one night?  The world is weird.

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido
Olympics

Saturday:

Out to buy wood for my entertainment center project
Olympics
Aikido
Dinner with the in-laws
Olympics

Sunday:

Olympics
More Olympics

ArtFire: Featured Shop: Pens and Needles

This week's featured shop is On Pens and Needles.  They've got several nice pens on offer:

Lunching out: Don Pico's

Not a bad restaurant.

I ordered their #2 lunch special: taco, beef fajita, cheese enchilada, rice, beans. With tea, I got out for around $9. That's a pretty good deal.

Chips: fair
Green salsa: ok
Red salsa: ok. It just tasted cold.  No real flavor
Taco: Good.  The beef had a nice flavor
Fajita: Good. The beef had a nice flavor.  No green peppers, though.
Cheese enchilada:  It was tough to tell it was an enchilada.  It was hidden under sauce and there were extra tortillas wandering around
Rice: nice texture and flavor
Beans: Not a great flavor

My first time here, and it was pretty busy, it seems to be fairly popular. The food was a decent price, and the service was pretty good.  If I need a change in pace, this is a possible destination.

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 02/20/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Brad, Sal, and Troy.

Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls. Watched over Brad, Sal and Troy.

The Walk: Three times.  We did one more than usual because I went off into the weeds on the second iteration.  All of the lower belts were following me and I was not follow-worthy.  I think I probably did the fourth stone of the walk 3 or 4 times.  On the third time through I was ok, but Trey had a little hiccup.  Weird and embarrassing for us all.

Releases: Worked with Troy on right and left 1 & 2.

Techniques:

It was my turn under the spotlight.  The tentative plan was the 16 techniques of Koryu Dai San No Kata and then the 10 of Owaza Ju Pon.  We did not make it to Owaza, but we did make it through Koryu Dai San.  Not without prompting, though.  I still don't have the techniques locked in my memory in the proper order.

Kneeling

1. Oshi Taoshi - This was ok
2. Gyakugamae Ate - Ok
3. Kote Gaeshi - A couple of attempts.  I tend to keep my hands too high.
4. Ryote Mochi Sukui Nage - Still not great
5. Tentai Kote Hineri - Lots of work on the wrist tweak
6. Shiho Nage - Got it on the first try!
7. Gedan Ate - Got it on the first try!
8. Hiji Kime - Lots of work on hand positioning

Standing

1. Kote Mawashi - ok.
2. Uchi Tenkai Nage - ok
3. Gyakugamae Ate - ok
4. Kote Kajiki - ok
5. Mae Otoshi - still not rotating enough
6. Ushiro Waza Mae Otoshi  - still not rotating enough
7. Ushiro Waza Tentai Kote Hineri - This one frustrates me.  Getting grabbed from behind and intercepting uke's hand is tough for me.
8. Mune Tori Kata Gatame - ok 

Aftermath: We had one potential new student watching today.  He speaks mostly Spanish, so that could be a bit of a challenge for us.

Aikido Friday Night - 02/19/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, and Troy.

Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls. Watched over Troy.

The Walk: Twice, as usual. I also worked with Troy some more on his Walk, the stuff starting at the pivots.

Releases: Worked with Troy on the releases.  1-4 right side only.

Techniques:

Trey and I ended the class with an almost complete run through of his demonstration techniques.  We did not do the releases or the Walk, so it wasn't a complete demo.  He did really well up to Hiki otoshi.  He did pretty well on Owaza Ju Pon.  He had some troubles with Kata otoshi (no surprise as it's a very sensitive technique) and Aiki nage.

Aftermath: A husband and wife couple came and watched out session.  We seem to be getting more potential students, but not many more actual students.  Tim told us that for the next month, he's going to be working Trey and me pretty hard to get ready for our demonstrations.

Artfire: Spotlight: Hippie Chick

This week's spotlit shop in the guild is Hippie Chick Designs.  Here are a couple of the pieces I like from the shop.  Give her a look

1000th post and a contest

To celebrate making it to 1000 posts, I'm giving away a copy of "Manna from Heaven" (a collection of Roger Zelazny short stories) (the book I worked get published for many years) to a randomly chosen commenter to this blog post.  The copy will be signed by Steven Brust, who wrote the introduction, and me, if you like.

Only one entry per person.  This contest will run until the end of the month.  I'll contact the winner and get the mailing address.

ArtFire: Featured Shop: Positively Charming Things

This week's featured shop in the guild is Positively Charming Things.

Here are a couple of my favorite pieces from her shop.  Give her a visit!

 

 

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido
Olympics

Saturday:

Slept late
Olympics
Aikido
Olympics

Sunday:

Slept late
Olympics

Lunching out: Casa Anita's Mexican Restaurant

Not a bad restaurant.

I ordered their Chimichanga lunch special: chimichanga, rice, beans. With tea, I got out for around $9. That's a pretty good deal.

Chips: pretty good
Green salsa: good
Red salsa: ok. More tomato saucy than I like
Chimichanga: ok. I didn't really like the sauce on it.
Rice: nice terxture and flavor
Beans: weird flavor. Not bad, just weird.

My first time here, and it was moderately busy. The food was a decent price, but the flavor was not my style, so I probably won't be coming back. In the immediate area, I prefer Gabacho's.

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 02/13/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Brad, and Troy.

Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls. Watched over Troy.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: With Trey, and Brad.

Techniques:

Treay ran through 1-17 on the left side only. Considering that fact, he did pretty well. #2, #8, and #17 through him for a little bit, but he managed to work through.

He got a nice sumi otoshi and kote gaeshi.

Aftermath: For some reason the muscles on either side of my neck very very stiff afterwards. Weird.

1.5 months until the seminar. Will I be demonstrating? Who knows?

Aikido Friday Night - 02/12/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Sal, and Troy (a new student).

Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls. Watched over Sal and Troy.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: None.

Techniques:

I spent a good portion of the evening working with Troy on the Walk. We went through it a number of times.

After that, Trey and I worked on the entry for Garumas. Timing. Timing. Timing. I think I've finally got a grasp on the timing. Still working on getting Trey to that point.

Aftermath: None of note.

ArtFire : Featured Shop : 02/09

This week's featured shop is Tali's Creations.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces from her shop:

 

  

Blood Orange Pound Cake

Pre-heat oven to 350

Grease and flour 2 8.5x4 loaf pans

2 2/3 C flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
a pinch of salt  (I think it needed more salt since the recipe used unsalted butter)

Finger-mixed zest from two blood oranges into 2 1/3 c sugar. 
6 eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
2/3 c heavy cream.

Added the dry ingredients in a few additions
Added 15 T of melted, cooled butter
(the original recipe called for unsalted, I think I'll try salted next time)

Poured the batter into the loaf pans
Cooked for 60 minutes

While cooking, I made a simple glaze for the cake:

1 C powdered sugar
2Tbsp Blood orange juice

It went over quite well.  I was sparing in my use of the glaze and was criticized for that fact.

Aggiecon 2010

We made a trip up to College Station for AggieCon a week ago. This is very early in the year compared to the normal time for AggieCon. They were forced off-campus due to reconstruction of their usual spot on campus. I was concerned that the move would hurt attendance, but it did not seem to. The con seemed livelier than over the past couple of years and I have hopes that it will continue to survive over the next couple.

I went to a reading or two, a couple of panels and "Iron Artist" and had a good time. I briefly toured the Art Show but they're suffering from some problems in the past which have cuased fewer artists to send work.

Here are a couple of pictures form the con. More available at: AggieCon2010

Steven Gould

 

Rhonda Eudaly

Superbowl ads

Here is the run down on who had ads during the Superbowl

15 ads - CBS
5 ads - Bud Light
4 ads - Doritos. Bridgestone
3 ads - Hyundai, Budweiser, NFL, floTV, KHOU, Danny's, e*trade
2 ads - Coke, godaddy, Skechers, carmax, VW, HEB
1 ad - Snickers, FocusOnFamily, Boost, Robin Hood, Monster, Wolfman, Cars.com, Shutter Island, Careerbuilder, Dockers, Dove, Dodge, teleflora, Papa Johns, Alice in Wonderland, Dr. Pepper, trutv, Universal, intel, Miller High Life, Ford, tv.com, some other movie, Gallery Furniture, Acura, Samsung, Conn's, Prince of Persia, Motorola, Michelob, HomeAway, kgb , Census, Google, KIA, RoundUp, Jack in the Box, Vizio, Emerald, Dante's Inferno, Honda, Taco Bell, Chevy, Campbell's Soup, Pace, H&R Block

Most of the ads were blah.  A few I hated, A few I liked.  Here are the ones I liked:

Coke (serengeti)
Bridgestone (my life)
VW (Stevie Wonder)
kgb
google

Weekend update

Friday:

Stayed home and slept to get over a cold
Dinner with K. and K. at Durango's

Saturday:

Day trip to College Station for Aggiecon

Sunday:

Superbowl prep (bread and guacamole)
Superbowl

ArtFire : Spotlight Shop

 This week's spotlit shop in the artfire guild is vabeachquilter.  She does some fun and interesting stuff with fabrics.  My favorite, at the moment, is this quilt.......

ArtFire: My February Contest

I'm going to be shameless and see if there's any interest in my stuff on artfire.

For the month of February,  everyone who comments on my blog will be entered in a random drawing for a $10 off coupon for my merchandise.  Up to 3 comments per person for the month will be included in
the drawing.  I plan on doing something similar each month, but the coupons will not stack.

Madmoravian on ArtFire

ArtFire: Featured Shop

I'm in a guild on ArtFire and we try to drum up business for each other.  So, I'll be posting a couple of neat merchants from the guild each week.  Drop by and take a look.  This week's featured shop is Hippie Chick Designs:  she's got some neat stuff at affordable prices.

Lunching out: Leila's Mexican Restaurant

Not a bad restaurant.

I ordered their Challenger plate: chicken enchilada, beef enchilada, cheese enchilada, cheese puff, tostada(?), rice, beans.  $7.95 for that, so decent pricing. 

Chicken enchilada: ok
Beef enchilada: good
Cheese enchilada: not so good
Rice: sticky and not very flavorful
Beans: unremarkable
Tostada: pretty good


My first time here, and it was obviously a popular place.  A good portion of the tables were occupied.   The owner (I assume) kept a watchful eye and attempted to make everyone feel welcome.  The decor is blander than I like in my TexMex dives.

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido

Saturday:

Design work on the entertainment center in sketchup
Aikido
Dropped another copy of the Judo DVD off at Ray's
Dinner at Durango's
D&D

Sunday:

Taxes (still waiting on more information)
Design work on the entertainment center in sketchup
Baked banana bread
Watched Winter X Games
Froberg's for pecans and other stuff
ProBowl interspersed with "The Keeper" starring Steven Seagal (not a very good film)

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 01/30/10

Aikidokas: Tim, and Trey.

Ukemi: Regular warm-up.

The Walk: None.

Releases: None.

Techniques:

We spent the afternoon working on knife movements, attacks and responses thereto.

At the end of that, Trey went through 1-17 of Ju Nana Hon Kata and did really well.  He had some issues on Gyakugamae-ate, Kote gaeshi and Hiki otoshi, but nothing major.


Aftermath: Right ankle is a little sore.  I was beat after all of that work.  The seminar is at the end of March.  I don't know if I'll be ready to demonstrate by then.

Aikido Friday Night - 01/29/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, and Sal.

Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: With Trey.

Techniques:

We spent a mojority of the evening working on Shomen-ate with Sal.  I find it tough to be an uke for this at slow speeds.  Is tori getting the technique?  Am I keeping him from getting the technique by settling?

After that, Trey uke'd for me on the following San Kata techniques:

5. Mae Otoshi

Still having trouble finding uke's fourth toe at the end.

6. Ushiro Waza Mae Otoshi


Another one where I have trouble finding uke's line

7. Ushiro Waza Tentai Kote Hineri


Got to get the tweak of the hand correct.  Need to keep it in to my chest more.

8. Mune Tori Kata Gatame

Ok.  This one we're not doing as described in my Nidan requirements post.  The first part is correct, taking uke down to the ground.  Tori then hold on to the leg with which he took uke down and then threaten uke's face with our spare hand.  When uke reacts, blocking the stike with his off hand, tori grab the off hand and move backwards.  This causes uke to flop over on his stomach, allowing  an nice armbar to appear.


Aftermath: Right ankle's a little sore.

Ella pics!

 

 

It's interesting how difficult it is to automatically focus on a black cat.

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido

Saturday:

Aikido
Dinner at Durango's
D&D

Sunday:

Replumbed and cleaned the skimmer
Football
Grilled out steaks
Made another coffeecake
Worked on the design for the entertainment center

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 01/23/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, and Brad.

Ukemi: Regular warm-up.

The Walk: Twice.

Releases: None.

Techniques:

We spent the afternoon working with Brad on Oshi Taoshi. He made great progress and is now able to do the entry, recovery, and advance fairly well. We need more time with him keeping up with uke as uke falls and then the armbar.

Aftermath: Achilles tendon is being weird.

Aikido Friday Night - 01/22/10

Aikidokas: Tim, and Trey.

Ukemi: Light warm-up, spent most of the time watching over Doug and Heidi.

The Walk: None.

Releases: None.

Techniques:

Trey and I spent a long time working on the entry for the garumas in Owaza Ju Pon. It really does revolve around getting uke's arm down and across his body with good timing.

After that, Trey uke'd for me on:

1. Kote Mawashi

Getting decent

2. Uchi Tenkai Nage

Hit it on the first try, moved on.

3. Gyakugamae Ate

Played with the two timings

4. Kote Kajiki

Still playing with the entry. Getting right is still a hit or miss proposition.

5. Mae Otoshi

I need to think about pivoting just before kazushi

Aftermath: Achilles tendon is being weird.

Lunching out: Mom Alone's

A local Tex-Mex restaurant that seems to be quite popular with the local crowd. And it is pretty good.

Salsas: 3 delivered with the chips: red, green and queso. Queso and green were good, the red was just ok.

Chips: ok

Guac: good

The burrito I had was pretty good, the rice and beans the same. The prices seem to be a little higher than I would expect, but I got out of there for less than Frenchie's. $11 for burrito, rice, beans, guac and tea. Happy Hour margarita's are $3, $2 more than Durango's.

Waiter messed up my order and the plate had sour cream on it when it made it to my table.

Ambience: Too formal/fancy for my tastes for a Tex-Mex place. For an Italian joint it would be about right. Waiters were in white shirts and bow ties.

At the Movies: District 9

District 9: 3

I'm not certain what I was expecting for this movie, but I didn't get it. Other than a fun film, that is. It turned out to be the story of a man who is (slowly? quickly?) metamorphosing into an alien. Along the way we talk about segregation and internment camps. There are parts of the movie where the aliens are more human than the humans.

The one thing that puzzled me is the promise of the lead alien to return and, supposedly, reverse the lead human's transformation into an alien. I suppose if I believe that a squirt of some unknown liquid can turn a human into an alien, the reverse can happen just as easily.

I enjoyed the movie, but probably wouldn't seek out to see it again. I would watch it if it was on, though.

Welcome, Ella!

We adopted another kitten this past week. K. though Strider needed a playmate since Vlad is not interested in playing with him and is outside a good portion of the time. Our vet had a kitten in their "adoption" area that was about the same age as Strider and seemed pretty nice. So, when Strider went in for a booster shot, Kim put him in the adoption area to play with the potential adoptee. They got along.

So, when I got off work, I went over with K. to the vet and we sat in the adoption area with the kitten. I thought she was a good match, so we brought her home.

For the first 24 hours or so, Ella and Strider were constantly brawling or sleeping. No damage was done during the brawling, so we thought we'd wait it out. It has now reduced quite a bit and they are occasionally grooming each other.

Ella is still uncertain about the whole house, so we're trying to let her have some time on her own without any of the other animals around. I hope she'll adjust to the house quickly.

I hope to have pictures up soon, but my camera has trouble focusing on a solid black cat.

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido
Slept in the library with the new kitten: Ella

Saturday:

Errands, completely ineffective though as the stores were closed or out of business
Aikido
Dinner at Durango's
D&D
Slept in the library with the new kitten: Ella

Sunday:

Played with the kittens
Football
Started doing taxes

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 01/16/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Brad, and Will

Ukemi: Light warm-up, spent most of the time watching over Will and Brad.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: I worked with Will. He's now worked on the first 4 releases.

Techniques:

We worked on Ushiro-ate, the Ju Nana Hon Kata version, to give everyone a break from Shomen-ate. It went fairly well.

Next up was the kneeling portion of Koryu Dai San, for me. My ankles got a big workout (it doesn't seem to muck with my knees too much).

1. Oshi Taoshi - Knee walk with left leg first and extend uke's arm over the left leg.

2. Gyakugamae Ate - Nothing new today.

3. Kote Gaeshi - Down-the-line for the first off-balance so that uke can recover. Almost 90 degrees to that line for the final off-balance.

4. Ryote Mochi Sukui Nage - Push up

5. Tentai Kote Hineri - Must get the proper grip for this to work well.

6. Shiho Nage - Left leg is the working one on the initial movement

7. Gedan Ate - Use uke's knee as a prop to rise up onto your knees with

8. Hiji Kime - Inside butterfly was the key light bulb on this one. It causes a balance break for uke.

Trey then did 1-17 of Ju Nana Hon Kata on the left side. He did really well. A couple of missed techniques, but he flowed from those misses into other techniques.

Aftermath: Sore right ankle from so much time on my knees with the tops of my feet flat on the ground.

Aikido Friday Night - 01/15/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, and Sal. ( I think. Saturday was a tougher workout and washed Friday from my mind)

Ukemi: Light warm-up, spent most of the time watching over Doug and Heidi.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: We did a round-robin on the releases: Trey uke'd for me, Sal uke'd for Trey, and I uke'd for Sal.

Techniques:

I know Trey and I spent a lot of time working on the garuma entry, playing with the off-balances, etc. I'm sure we did something else with Sal, probably Shomen-ate.

Aftermath: My right wrist is much better, I wonder if it was the extreme cold that made it angry. It's still a little sore, but I can flex it the usual amount without an issue.

Lunching out: Frenchie's

This was going to be my usual week at Franca's, however, it looks like they are not open for lunch for a while. I hope it's just while they deal with papa's medical issues.

So I drove just a bit further for Frenchie's and had my usual Meatball sandwich and Blueberry cheesecake. (My wife's favorite, when she can get there, is the Broccoli Rigatoni. )It's a lot of food, but for a fairly high price: $16. Still it's a good restaurant with lots of business from the local NASA folks.

I don't think I'll make this the replacement for Franca's on my regular schedule. I'll have to give that issue some thought.

Lunching out: Colosseum Italian Restaurant

A long-standing restaurant just a hop, skip and a jump away from work. I think they only do a buffet for lunch. I chose to have their chicken parmigiana, fettucini with meat sauce and chicken and green beans in a cream sauce.

The parmigiana was not as good as Franca's, but not bad. The meat sauce had an interesting wine/vinegar taste to it and the cream sauce was pretty good.

One of the workers walked by the tables saying it was "Free Cake Friday", but I did not take them up on their offer of dessert.

Weekend update (a little late)

Friday:

Brrrrrrr! Cold!
Aikido

Saturday:

Brrrrrrr! Cold!
Aikido
Dinner at Durango's with K.

Sunday

Brrrrrrr! Cold!

Recipe: Sour Cream Streusel Coffee Cake

I found this recipe on epicurious and relly liked it. I did alter it a bit before making it the frist time (something I *never* do) because, again, I wanted to use up some blood orange juice. I also cooked it in a springform pan instead of muffin tins.

Original source:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Streusel-Sour-Cream-Coffeecakes-106184

Ingredients

* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup packed light brown sugar
* 2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1 1/2 cups (6 oz) pecans, toasted and chopped
* 1 cup sour cream
* 1 whole large egg
* 1 large egg yolk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh blood orange zest
* Juice of 1/2 blood orange

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir together granulated sugar, flour, salt, and 3/4 cup brown sugar in a large bowl, then blend in 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size butter lumps. Transfer 3/4 cup to a bowl and blend in cinnamon, remaining 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar with your fingertips or pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in pecans, then chill streusel topping 15 minutes.

Whisk together sour cream, whole egg, yolk, vanilla, baking soda, juice and zest, then stir into remaining flour mixture until just combined (batter will be stiff).

Pour 1/2 to 2/3 of the batter into an 8 inch springform pan. Spread 2/3 to 3/4 of the streusel mixture over the top of the batter. Pour the remaing batter on top of the streusel. Spread the rest of the streusel mixture on top of the batter, pressing it lightly into the batter. Bake coffeecake in middle of oven until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 70 to 90 minutes. Cool in pans on rack 30 minutes. Loosen cake with a thin metal spatula, then carefully remove cake from pan.

Recipe: Blood Orange Bundt Cake

I tried a recipe for this in order to make use of some of the blood oranges my tree produced this winter. It came out a little denser than I like, so I might try altering it on the next go around.

Here is where I got it:

http://myhusbandcooks.wordpress.com/2006/12/28/savor-a-slice-blood-orange-bundt-cake/

Here's the recipe:

Blood Orange Bundt Cake

Cake Ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 cup milk
4 large eggs
2 blood oranges (zest & juice)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

Glaze ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 cup confectioner’s sugar
juice from 2 blood oranges

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F.

2. In a stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter for about 3 min. or until smooth, pale and fluffy. (NOTE: Scrape down the sides regularly throughout this process.)

3. Add one egg at at time and continue until all eggs are intergrated.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. On low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and eggs in small increments, alternating with the milk, until both are intergrated. Don’t overmix. It does not need to be smooth, a few lumps are OK; they will cook out. If you overmix, the batter will form lots of gluten and make your cake more like a bread.

5. Using a spoon or spatula, hand fold in the juice and zest of the orange.

6. Grease/spray your bundt pan making sure to cover every ridge and crevice. Add the batter to the bundt pan; it should not be more than 3/4 full.

7. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 min. Check after 1 hour using a skewer or toothpick. Once it pulls out clean from the center of the cake, remove and let cool for 15 min. before turning out.

8. It’s glazing time! In a medium bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and blood orange juice and mix until smooth. Pour over warm bundt cake. Serve cake immediately or later. Enjoy!

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 01/09/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Brad, Tom, Sal and Doug. A big crowd!

Ukemi: I got to the dojo early enough that I was able to get in a full complement of falls before anyone else arrived. ARMA left early, so the mat was open.

The Walk: Twice, as usual. I also spent some time with Doug running through the stones while Tim was working on Shomen-ate with the other guys.

Releases: I watched Brad/Tom and Trey/Sal go through the paces.

Techniques:

None today

Aftermath: My right wrist was quite troublesome and reduced my abilities quite a bit. I have no idea what happened to it.

Aikido Friday Night - 01/08/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Doug and Heidi (two new students). The new students had around 9 months of classes with an Aikikai organization before they moved away.

Ukemi: Light warm-up, spent most of the time watching over Doug and Heidi.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: I served as uke for releases with which I attacked with my left hand.

Techniques:

Trey was tori for 1-15 of Ju Nana Han Kata (left-sided only) and did fairly well. He had bobbles on Ushiro-ate, Wakigatame, and Mae-otoshi.

Aftermath: My right wrist was quite troublesome and reduced my abilities quite a bit. I have no idea what happened to it.

Aikido Friday Afternoon - 01/01/10

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Sal, and Will.

This was our first session of the new year, so it was a short and light one, with a meal afterward.

Ukemi: Light warm-up, spent some of the time watching over Will.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: None.

Techniques:

Trey and I did some work together. We worked him on 1-16 on the right side.

I then worked on a couple of Owaza Ju Pon and some from the standing portion of Koryu Dai San.

Aftermath: Full stomach from the meal.

At the Movies: Avatar

Avatar: 4

The story may not have been much, but the visuals were stunning and I got absorbed into the world. I thought it neat that they brought Sigourney Weaver in for another alien movie.

At the Movies: Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes: 4

The first of what I expect will be numerous installments in the Sherlock Holmes franchise. Robert Downey, Jr. played a good version of the master detective and Jude Law was his companion Dr. John Watson. This was not a Holmes who was perfect, but a Holmes who had flaws, foibles and neuroses.

I'm looking forward to the continued adventures as Sherlock battles his nemesis, Prof. Moriarty.

At the Movies: Up in the Air

Up in the Air: 4

A fabulous effort by George Clooney and the rest of the cast. A story about a well-traveled "ax man" and his attempt at a personal transformation. It works very well and does not have a "happy" ending. The ending is appropriate, but not happy.

The only thing I didn't like was that Alex (played by Vera Farmiga) led Ryan (George Clooney) on in their relationship. The fact that she was willing to go with him on a weekend trip to his sister's wedding did not play well with a later revelation.