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 350ยบ
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.
Aikido players: Sal
Ukemi:
A small set of right-sided rolls.
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
It went pretty well tonight. Just a couple of repeats.
Techniques:
We managed to get in all ten that he will be demonstrating. This week we did another strange order: 1, 4, 7, 10, 3, 6, 9, 2, 5, 8.
There were a couple of issues with Shomenate, Gedanate, Waki gatamae, and Ude hineri. We had a few extra minutes at the end and did some more reps of Ude hineri
Aftermath:
Toe is still making me think about things, but it's essentially healed.
Wednesday was the first night of my new sand volleyball league in League City. The team I'm on is playing in the top tier 4 person coed league. And we are outmatched, so far.
We were fairly easily manhandled by both of our opponents, but we do have plenty of opportunity for improvement. Two of my teammates have been playing in the league for a while and the other teammate and I are new to the scene. It's going to take me a while to get my timing, positioning and play tweaked for the sand.
It is certainly going to be a fun challenge.
At least JSC had power last night so we were able to play our match. We didn't play too well, but we did win the last game. I was able to server out the last 3 or 4 points to secure the win. My only attempt at serving in the first game went wide left, I'd put no spin on it at all.
Tonight: sand volleyball
Friday:
Up bright and early to head to College Station for AggieCon
Took the scenic route and took lots of bluebonnet pictures
Aikido players: Sal
Ukemi:
A small set of right-sided rolls.
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
It went pretty well tonight.
Techniques:
We managed to get in all ten that he will be demonstrating. I changed things up by having him do them in reverse order. We did the evens and then the odds. So, the order was: 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1.
We had some minor issues with Gedan-ate, Hiki taoshi, and Ude hineri. But, IMO, he's ready for a demo.
Aftermath:
Toe's getting better.
I'm about to start playing in a sand volleyball league on Wednesdays. We were supposed to play yesterday, but the rains we had on Tuesday made the courts too wet to play. We start the season next week.
We started playing the first game of this week's match, in fact we were almost finished, and the Houston Fire Department came in and shut us down. The Gilruth Center was operating on partial power and the HFD was worried about safety as it related to visibility (with low lighting) and apparently slipping.
So, we'll have to make the game up.
Friday:
Had worked my hours, so took the day off from work
Wildflower pictures in the yard
Lunch at Jake's Grill with K.
Worked in the shop turning pens
Mowed some of the yard
Aikido
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Work in the shop turning pens
Aikido
Durango's with K. and K.
NCAA basketball
Sunday:
Nap
Went to work and hung pictures in my office
Took pictures of my latest batch of pens
Made Blood Orange Olive Oil cake - next time need to grease and flour, not just grease the pan
NCAA basketball
Something the boys did not like was in the yard a lot of the evening. Jack and tank were barking all night. I did not sleep well at all.
Aikido players: Tim, Tom (a visitor), Brad, Marvin, Gale, Liz and Charles
Ukemi:
Tried a couple more left-sided ones today. Also worked with Charles and Liz
The Walk:
Twice, as usual. I also ran through it one more time with Liz and Charles before they left the mat.
Releases:
Gale and Marvin worked with Liz and Charles, teaching them the releases. I jumped in from time-to-time with explanations and clarifications.
Techniques:
I jumped in at random times with Brad and Tom as they explored some of Ju Nana Hon Kata. I also worked with Gale and Marvin on some of the first five. I then worked with Marvin on his first technique for his next belt: Oshi taoshi.
Aftermath:
Foot's getting better. I hope to be able to go non-stop with it in two weeks.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Steve, Liz and Charles
Ukemi:
Added in some left-sided falls this time. The right foot still complains a bit
The Walk:
Twice as usual and then I spent most of the evening with Steve on it.
Releases:
I did some work with Steve on the releases. I had to disabuse him of the notion that the releases were techniques. They are an exercise in timing and off-balances. You can extend the releases into techniques, but that is not their purpose in life.
Techniques:
Just random ones while explaining things to some of the other students.
Aftermath:
Toe is still there.
Friday:
Lunch at II Brothers Pasta
Aikido - rained out
Sleep to recover from cold/allergy
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Sleep to recover from cold/allergy
Aikido
Sleep to recover from cold/allergy
Sunday:
Daylight Saving Time - ugh!
Read more of Robin Hobb's "Dragon Keeper"
Made Blood Orange Bars
Did everything but bake a Blood Orange Tart, will bake Monday night
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Marvin, and Gale.
Ukemi:
Worked with Gale on back falls.
The Walk:
Twice, as usual.
Releases:
I worked with Gale on all of the releases.
Techniques:
Marvin had a spur-of-the-moment demonstration for green belt. He did quite well and was awarded his green belt.
After the demonstration, Trey and I showed him what he would be learning for the next kyu grade. We then also worked with Gale on all of her techniques for Yonkyu.
Aftermath:
Toe's getting better and today was a light workout.
Aikido players: Sal
Ukemi:
A small set of right-sided rolls. I hope to test out left-sided rolls tonight on or softer rolling mats.
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
It went pretty well tonight. Minor delays at the usual spots.
Techniques:
We managed to work on 5, 6, 7, and 8 from Ju Nana Hon Kata. Ushiro-ate was the troublesome one tonight. The others went pretty well.
Aftermath:
The injured toe did not complain much.
We lost another 3 games, but they were all pretty close. We had a chance at winning the last game until I messed up the last 5 points.
I did try to launch off of the foot for some spikes and it did not generate too much pain.
Lunch this past Friday was at Los Ramirez on El Camino. It wasn't my first choice, but the others had apparently gone out of business.
It's a dark, but lively, place that was doing a pretty brisk lunch business. The chips they brought out tasted a bit off. The salsa, although cooked and not fresh, had a nice roasted pepper flavor. The green sauce was ok.
I chose the Green Enchiladas for my meal from the lunch menu. The enchiladas were pretty god, the rice was decent, but I wasn't terribly happy with the refried beans. They serve them half pureed and half whole. Not my preferred style.
Friday:
Lunch at Los Ramirez
Aikido
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Trip to Maas Nursery for blueberry, allspice and tomatoes. No luck on the allspice
Aikido
Grilled steaks and salmon for dinner with in-laws, K., and K.
Sunday:
Planted blueberries, tomatoes, satsuma, blackberries, grapes and other plants.
Hit the sack early
We have a set of information that we have been asked to sort one of the columns of data. My preference would be to have the SQL sort the values for me, but due to a number of factors it can't be done that way. So, I've spent the past couple of days playing with extjs.
Our code generates an html table and my task was to have extjs convert that to a grid and sort it on the first column.
Problem 1: html table tags
The first problem I ran into was that our html table was not up to snuff. We needed thead and tbody tags and, within the thead tag we needed th tags in order for the transformgrid to properly function.
Problem 2: contents of the column to be sorted
The column we want to sort contains an html link. The link value contains a document id and the linkable content is the document name. We want the sort to be based on the document name but, since extjs sorts on the entire contents of the cell, it was sorting on the document id. That was completely worthless.
So, in the html for the cell, I placed an html comment that contained the document name. Since I put it first in the cell, the document name became the value that took precedence for the sort
Problem 3: getting the column to sort
Since this is based on an existing table, I'm not creating the data store and I don't know the fields. I had to figure out some way to get the fields defined by the store and then set the sort to be on the first column.
Below is the html involved.
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>From Markup Grid Example</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="extjs/resources/css/ext-all.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="extjs/shared/example.css" />
<style type="text/css">
#the-table {
border:1px solid #bbb;
border-collapse:collapse;
}
#the-table td,#the-table th {
border:1px solid #ccc;
border-collapse:collapse;
padding:5px;
}
</style>
<script type="text/javascript" src="extjs/bootstrap.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="extjs/ext-debug.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="transform-dom.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<h1>From Markup Grid Example</h1>
<p>This example shows how to create a grid with from an existing, unformatted HTML table.</p>
<p>Note that the js is not minified so it is readable. See <a href="transform-dom.js">transform-dom.js</a>.</p>
<button id="create-grid" type="button">Create grid</button>
<br />
<br />
<table border="5" width="500" id="xxxx">
<thead>
<th>col1
</th>
<th>col2
</th>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>a table
</td>
<td>This is the table
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>third table
</td>
<td>This is the table
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>4. another table
</td>
<td>This is the table
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</body>
</html>
----------------------------------
Below is the javascript involved.
-----------------------------------
Ext.Loader.setConfig({
enabled: true
});
Ext.Loader.setPath('Ext.ux', 'extjs/src/ux');
Ext.require([
'Ext.data.*',
'Ext.grid.*',
'Ext.ux.grid.TransformGrid'
]);
Ext.onReady(function(){
var btn = Ext.get("create-grid");
btn.on("click", function(){
btn.dom.disabled = true;
// create the grid
var grid = Ext.create('Ext.ux.grid.TransformGrid', "xxxx", {
stripeRows: true,
sortableColumns: false,
enableColumnHide: false,
enableColumnMove: false,
enableColumnResize: false,
sortOnLoad: true,
sorters: {direction: 'ASC'},
height: 130
});
//var store = grid.getStore();
grid.getStore().sort(grid.getStore().getProxy().getModel().prototype.fields.keys[0],'ASC');
grid.render();
});
});
Aikido players: Brad, Marvin, Gale, Steve, Liz and Charles (the last two are new students) This was a tough session for me to run with only one other non-white belt.
Ukemi:
Worked with Liz and Charles on introducing them to forward rolls.
The Walk:
Twice as usual and then I spent a fair amount of time with Liz, Charles, and Steve.
Releases:
I worked with Steve on 1, 2, and 3. Also introduced Liz and Charles to the footwork for the first three.
Techniques:
I had everyone run through the punch the dummy drill with me as the dummy. After formal bow out, I worked with Marvin and Gale on 1, 2, and 3.
Aftermath:
2-1/2 hours is a fair amount of work for the poor toe.
Aikido players: Trey, Kim, Sal, Reese, and Steve (Roderick was on the sidelines watching as he was not feeling up-to-snuff)
Ukemi:
Light right-sided
The Walk:
Twice as usual and then I spent a fair amount of time with Steve.
Releases:
No work for me tonight on releases.
Techniques:
Kim did a bunch of work with Sal. They made it through all 10 of Ju Nana Hon Kata. I jumped in at the very end and Sal and I made it through 1, 2, and 3 before the end of class.
Aftermath:
Toe is still there.
Aikido players: Sal
Ukemi:
None
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
It went pretty well tonight. Minor delays at the usual spots.
Techniques:
We managed to work on 1, 2, and 3 from Ju Nana Hon Kata. We struggled a bit on number 2, but we may have reached a lightbulb moment.
Aftermath:
The injured toe gets tired by the end of a session.
It was the first match of the new season and we were manhandled pretty well. Overall, our team's skill level has dropped off from last season so I don't expect us to win many, if any, games. I'll be pleasantly surprised if we do.
The foot caused a little bit of pain, but I didn't try for many spikes.
Friday:
Lunch at Tookie's. About 1 hr 20 min roundtrip with meal.
Aikido
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Artfire
Nap
Aikido
Dinner at Jake's Grill
Charity Poker night for Friendswood Animal Advocates. The cards were dead for me in the Texas Hold 'Em tournament.
Sunday:
Artfire
Worked on matting some artwork
Off to Texas Art Supply for matting supplies
Dinner at Durango's with K. , K., Sean, and Becca.
Oscar's - I did horribly on predicting winners, but considering that I'd only seen 3 of the nominated films it wasn't too bad.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Kim, Roderick, Marvin, and Steve
Ukemi:
Worked with Steve on his front roll-outs.
The Walk:
Twice as usual.
Releases:
Worked with Marvin on his releases. He did pretty well.
Techniques:
Did some work with Marvin on 1, 2, 3, and 5. He's getting pretty close on getting the basics down. We just need to clean up his inclination to use muscle.
Aftermath:
Right foot is still a bit of a hindrance.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Roderick, Reese, and Steve
Ukemi:
Worked with Steve on his front roll-outs.
The Walk:
Twice as usual.
Releases:
Worked with Steve on the first two releases. He did pretty well.
Techniques:
Did some work with Steve on Shomen-ate.
Aftermath:
Right foot is still a bit of a hindrance.
Aikido players: Sal
Ukemi:
None
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
It went pretty well tonight. Minor delays at the usual spots.
Techniques:
We managed to work on 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 from Ju Nana Hon Kata. We struggled a bit on number 2 and 5 slowed us down a little. Otherwise, it went pretty well.
Aftermath:
The injured toe is better, but still limits me.
Friday:
Lunch with K. and the in-laws at Joe's
Aikido
Started working on some French bread
Saturday:
Went in to work for a bit
Blueberry muffins
Artfire work
LSC3 website work
Aikido
Dinner at Durango's with K.
More work on the French bread
Sunday:
Grocery shopping
LSC3 website work
Artfire
French bread baking which was a disaster
Grilled out Salmon for dinner with the in-laws
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Dan, Marvin, Gale, Reese, and Steve
Ukemi:
Partial set. I helped Gale and Steve with their roll-outs.
The Walk:
Twice as usual.
Releases:
We spent a lot of the afternoon working on the principles behind the Kogure double-hand grabs. We had everyone work with one of the higher grades to try to develop the off-balances that are inherent in these exercises.
Techniques:
I did a little work with Reese on Shomen-ate.
Aftermath:
Foot is still causing issues.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Kim, Reese, and Steve
Ukemi:
Partial set.
The Walk:
Twice as usual.
Releases:
I helped Kim work with Steve on the Releases
Techniques:
I did some work with Reese on Shomen-ate.
Aftermath:
Right foot is still a bit of a hindrance. Maybe another week or two.
Aikido players: Sal
Ukemi:
Just a couple
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
It went pretty well tonight.
Techniques:
I wanted to try and get through all 10 of Sal's next demonstration, but we didn't make it. We spent a lot of time on left-sided Aigamae-ate, we skipped Gedan-ate, and ended on Ushiro-ate. I ended up stepping on Sal's foot with my tender toe and that ended the night for me. Too much pain.
Aftermath:
The injured toe from last Saturday is painful. I have to be careful with it and may end up going to see my GP or orthopedist about it.
Friday:
Lunch at Abe's after attempting to eat at Chris' Grill and Roll'n Pin Bakery (neither of which exist)
Aikido
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Artfire
Worked on matting some artwork
Aikido
Dinner at Durango's with K. and K.
Sunday:
Artfire
Worked on matting some artwork
Off to Texas Art Supply for matting supplies
Propped my foot up on the couch to try to reduce the swelling from an injury on Saturday
Aikido players: Tim, Brad, Dan, Marvin, Roderick, Reese, and Steve.
Ukemi:
Full set
The Walk:
Twice, as usual. I also spent some time working with Roderick, Reese, and Steve on it in addition.
Releases:
I worked with Marvin and he did pretty well.
Techniques:
I did some work with Brad and Marvin. We went over 1-4 of Ju Nana Hon Kata. Brad worked at 3-step distance and Marvin worked at 1-step. I took a couple of rough falls from Marvin on Gedan-ate on the left side.
Aftermath:
Sprained foot, I think. I spent Sunday on the couch with my foot propped up.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Dan, Marvin, Gale, Roderick, Reese, and Steve
Ukemi:
Full set.
The Walk:
Twice as usual. And then I spent the evening working with Steve on the Walk.
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
I did a little work with Steve and Gale on the footwork for Shomen-ate.
Aftermath:
None of note.
I received a summons for jury duty for the Galveston County Courts last week. So, I went down to the island on Monday, sat around a while, and then was dismissed for the day. We were all told to call in the usual number to see if we were needed the next day or not.
When I called in Monday night, my name was not listed.
When I called in on Tuesday night, it was. So, Wednesday morning I packed up and drove to the island, pulled into the Justice Center, and went up to County Court No. 3.
I was possible juror number 15. We sat through voir dire and found out that only 6 jurors would be used. I thought I was home free! There was no way there would be 9 folks excused in front of me.
I was wrong.
I was the second juror chosen.
That started 3 days of testimony that boiled down to "he said, she said" in a child custody case. The dad was trying to get primary conservatorship of his kids, while the mom was trying to keep primary conservatorship.
The witnesses were mom, dad, stepmom, stepdad, and a former teacher of the kids. The mom and stepmom were relatively decent witnesses. The dad was okay, but seemed to be following the letter of the visitation rules and not the spirit. So, I can't really blame him, but it didn't come off very well.
The stepdad. I despised him. He always had a smug grin on his face and his body posture indicated that he thought nothing could touch him.
Some of the things that came up in the trial, briefly, were: a CPS investigation that did not find any problems, an RV trip headed by stepdad and mom with spankings/punishments for the 7 kids (3 involved in the custody and 4 who were stepdad's kids), angry emails/texts, yelling and screaming at a door, attempting to get kids moved off of various soccer teams, and a kid being "pulled off stage" before a choir performance.
When we first started to deliberate, four folks were set in their opinion. Two others were wishy-washy. After a little more discussion, the two wishy-washy ones agreed with the rest and we were able to come up with a unanimous decision. We asked the judge if our decision had to be unanimous and he said no, but we thought it would be better if it could be unanimous.
We decided the mom should keep primary conservatorship.
I'm tempted to go to some of the spots mentioned in the trial to try and watch the family interaction and see what it's really like.
I was down in Galveston last week for jury duty. I spent most of four days on the island, so I had a number of opportunities to dine down there. On the last day, I went for Mexican at Mi Abuelita's.
It's a nice, simple place that does a brisk lunch business. I chose the Enchiladas Verde (I think, it may have been Suiza). The chips they brought out were good and the salsa, although cooked and not fresh, had a nice flavor. I must have been in a hurry because I don't remember much of the details about the meal. It was nice that I had the option to get charro instead of refried beans.
I was down in Galveston last week for jury duty. I spent most of four days on the island, so I had a number of opportunities to dine down there. On Thursday, I chose to go to DiBella's Italian restaurant during the hour-long lunch break we were allowed. K. and I ate there a long time ago when we spent a weekend on the island at a B&B and I wanted to see how it was doing.
One of their specials for the day was a new menu item: Chicken and Vegetable Lasagna in a cream sauce. It was nicely prepared, but the cream sauce was very heavy. I wonder if it would work better with a wine based sauce? I could not manage to eat all of what they gave me, so I had them box that up to go. While they were boxing that, I had them add a slice of Italian Cream Cake.
When I managed to get to the Cream Cake, it was fabulous. K. fell in love with it as well.
Overall, a thumbs up for the meal.
I was down in Galveston last week for jury duty. I spent most of four days on the island, so I had a number of opportunities to dine down there. On the first day, after I was released for the day, I went down near the Strand for lunch at the Black Pearl Oyster Bar.
They do specialize in oysters but, iirc, they did not have any that day. I, instead, chose their fish tacos. You can choose to have the fish grilled, fired, or blackened. I chose blackened. The tacos were nicely prepared with a good chipotle sauce to add to them, if you so chose. The sauce did make a nice addition to the meal.
I added a slice of cheesecake that was nicely done but, I suspect, not made at the restaurant.
Overall, a thumbs up for the meal.
Aikido players: Sal
Ukemi:
Most of a set of falls
The Walk:
We did a little work on some of the footwork. I like to get completely out of my previous body space on each step of the first 3 moves.
Releases:
It went pretty well tonight.
Techniques:
We then spent some time on 3-step versions of Wagi-gatame. He was pretty consistent by the end of the evening. I think we'll start running through all ten in a row in preparation for the demonstration from here on out.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Friday:
Lunch at Mi Abuelita's in Galveston
Rendered a decision as part of a jury in Galveston
Aikido
Saturday:
Started working on sourdough for Sunday
Up early to get to the Citrus and Fruit tree sale in LaMarque
Artfire
Blueberry muffins
Aikido
Grocery store and Spec's for flour and beer, respectively
Dinner and cards with the in-laws
Sunday:
More work on sourdough
Artfire
Brownies
Walked the dogs
Guacamole
Worked on a returned pen to correct a minor malfunction
Super Bowl
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Brad, Dan, Marvin, Roderick, Steve and Reese.
Ukemi:
Full set
The Walk:
Twice, as usual. I also spent some time working with Dan and Steve on the last 4 steps of the Walk. Dan did not need the work, but he wandered over and joined in anyway.
Releases:
Not today.
Techniques:
We did some work with punch the dummy with Steve, Roderick and Reese.
Trey and I worked on the 1 and 3 of the kneeling portion of San Kata. We did a lot of tweaking and cleaning up on both techniques. We had some discussions on the 2nd technique, but did no reps.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Tim, Sal, and Steve
Ukemi:
Full set.
The Walk:
Twice as usual.
Releases:
I ran through the releases with Sal as both uke and tori.
Techniques:
I worked with Sal on 3 step Ude-hineri. I essentially spent all night taking front roll-outs. He was doing pretty well. We did have an incident where he twisted my arm and some fingers went numb. We started working on Waki-gatame at that point.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Sal
Ukemi:
Half set of falls
The Walk:
Not on Thursdays
Releases:
It went pretty well tonight.
Techniques:
We then spent some time on 3-step versions of Hiki-taoshi. He got pretty good at the arm bar by he end of the evening.
Aftermath:
None of note.
