wow, this month has been full and gotten away from me.  The first weekend of the month, on Saturday, there was a Louisiana Classical Association meeting -- in which I was promoted to the new post of Blog Administrator.  Does this replace the Newsletter Editor, or just represent a shift in technologies?  Not sure, but I got the new blog set up today ( http://laclassical.wordpress.com if anyone is interested).  Sunday we went with another couple to the Renaissance Festival in Hammond.  When we first entered, we got serenaded by a wandering bard!  Spent too much money probably, but we got some worthwhile stuff, so it'll be okay in the long run.

The second weekend was our road trip to Charlotte, for the US-K Martial Arts tournament.  That was a great experience, and while there were a lot of things I could have done better, I know now how to prepare next time.  Even with some mistakes, I still took first in forms in my division (red belt women), and third in sparring (advanced).  That sparring trophy is pretty significant, because we few women asked to be mixed in with the men, so the sparring was co-ed.  It was really a mistake, and we should have instead been forced to spar each other, even though that would have meant the three women from the Chi Institute were sparring each other ... again.  My first opponent was a 17-yo Tae Kwon Do boy.  The match was 2 minutes, or first one to five points.  I took some good shots to the gut, and by like 1:55, I was ready to quit.  Time was called as I was telling the judge I needed to stop.  And it turns out I won the match, beat the kid on points.  HA.  I opted to sit out the next round though, which is why I only took third (the judges had to compress the brackets a little, because it was getting late, I guess).  Had a heck of a bruise on my arm later, but no long-term damage.

The third weekend we turned around and had testing at the Chi Institute.  Everything went smoothly, no one freaked out, but I was sick, and probably should have asked for an extension or something.  Some students came down from the Wisconsin branch for their dan test, so there were seven students promoted to black belt that day total, four from our own school.  Big crowd!  After the test, a bunch of us went to the Ren Fest again, mostly to see Ordo Procinctus in action -- lots of the Tang Soo Do crowd wants to get in on that now.  It was a soggy cool day, and probably made my cold worse, but it was fun to be with a group of like-minded people.

Tuesday my cough was so bad and my throat hurt so much that I actually stopped at the walk-in clinic to ask for some meds.  First time since college -- but I was afraid that I might be getting laryngitis, and I've done that dance before and did not like it.  Feeling much better today, although I'm still clearly not 100%.

We just stayed home for Thanksgiving, didn't invite anyone over, didn't crash any parties.  Pork chops and corn casserole was our big Thanksgiving dinner, and it tasted darn good to me.  I was thankful for my husband being there to care for me, and for cooking, and that we had decided to spend a weekend at home rather than traveling.

One more week of classes, then the dreaded final examinations, and at last, winter break.

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I was honored and privileged to be asked to assist last night during class.  Ko Dan Ja Nim Romero was instructor, but there were no other black belts to help out, so we red belts had to step up at various times.  It was weird, I hadn't thought of myself as ready to assist in class, but when I actually do the math, K and I are about 9 months away from our black belt test.  Ive come a long way from those stumbling, bumbling days as white belt.

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If you joined the circus, what act would you most want to perform?

Ever since I watched Circus of the Stars as a kid, I always thought it would be most supremely fun to be on the trapeze.  It looked like swinging, only with more altitude, and when they're done, they get to fall into a big bouncy net.  What's not to love?!

My second choice would be juggler, because you don't need a lot of equipment to perform, so you can do it anywhere.

My third choice would be to learn anything those Cirque du Soleil people do -- so dexterous and agile and strong!

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Saturday we got up early to participate in a Youth Festival at the YMCA, sponsored by the O'Brien House.  There were lots of groups performing for the audience of kids and their parents, mostly dance groups.  I'm surprised there wasn't a singing group.  This was the first demonstration that I'd been to, and so I wasn't sure what to expect.  There were seven of us total, Master C of course, young Mr. B, Mr. R, and Mr. B, one of the newest (and the oldest) black belt; K and I the red belts; and Mr O the orange belt.  Young Mr. B performed Bong Hyung Ee Bu, and then did a black belt form with Mr. R.  Then I broke a board on stepping side kick (needed a second try, because my aim was way off), Mr O did some sort of hand technique, and Young Mr B (the star of the show, since he's only fourteen and a shining example for the school and for this audience) finished with a flying side kick.  The big finale of course, Master C chopped the cucumber on Mr O's stomach with his katana. 

We didn't have much time for mingling and fielding questions afterwards, because it was also gameday on LSU's campus, and even at noon, the traffic was already getting crazy as people trolled for parking spots.  We have a parking sticker for the Chi Institute though, so we have guaranteed spots and will not get towed, if we ever decide to go down for tailgating.

For lunch we walked to Voodoo BBQ and enjoyed some good food and beers before heading home to take a nap.

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Dragonball: Evolution

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Blazing Saddles

I saw Blazing Saddles (1974) for the first time as a youngster -- no clue how old I was, but I'm pretty sure I saw it on HBO or maybe videotape at Shelby's house.

I was hesitant to see it again, because I didn't think it was all that good the first time.  But it came up in my Netflix queue, so I watched it again the other night.  I realize now that I was entirely too young to get it the first time around.  I was quite a naive and protected child, and I grew up in a mixed community, without much overt racism (or at least, I was not aware of any -- could come back to my basic nature).  I think I honestly didn't know what the n-word meant, and just didn't understand why everyone was making a big deal over a black guy coming to town to be the sheriff.  Also, fart jokes never amused me, and still don't, but I digress.

Having seen it now with more mature, less naive, eyes, I can honestly say that movie is funny!  And the ending, with the action spilling over onto other sets, made me think immediately of the end of Python's Holy Grail (which was released in '75 -- I hadn't realized it was a contemporary almost of Blazing Saddles).

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I hate the rule of the guest star (I really need a proper name for this) = Narrowed It Down to the Guy I Recognize.

Whenever there's a big-name guest star on a murder mystery (CSI, L&O), he is always the guilty one.  Always.  Unless it's an episode with multiple big names, but that happens only rarely.  And I hate this because it takes out all the mystery, of trying to figure out whodunnit and why.  We already know who, so then figuring out why is usually a short leap.

The TV tropes link above says pretty much the same thing, but with more words, and a metrick butt-load of examples.

I guess I can understand why tv people do this: the show gets a Big Name Star to come on; the Big Name Star gets a chance at a meaty role, to Be Bad and Act (Genius! Thank you! No Thank You!).  But sometimes it just sucks all the enjoyment out of an episode.  I'm on this rant today after watching The Closer last night, which was a really mediocre story once Tom Skerrit came in and revealed himself with his mere presence as the bad guy.

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I watch waaay too much tv, but I guess I'll learn to accept it.  I started watching Kings on NBC a while ago, and was truly disappointed when the network announced that the show would not continue beyond the first season.  Thankfully, all the episodes are being broadcast (have been?  I am behind in my PVR viewing), so I don't have to wait for the dvd to learn the end.  This show could really have been special.

I heard on NPR recently that Cheers had dismal ratings for almost two years before it clicked and found an audience -- there's no time for shows to mature anymore, and that's regrettable.

I started watching a new show called The Colony, which is a post-apocalyptic experiment reality-type show, but (I hope and pray) without the drama of a competition.  This group of colonists are living in an abandoned warehouse after a biological disaster, and have to use their skills and wits to survive -- so it's a staged experiment, and they are somewhere in LA, because they were gathering water from the LA River (that trickle of water running through the concrete culvert, which shocked me when I learned that was really a river, but I digress).  There are hostiles who come around making noise in the night and scaring the colonists, and I'm sure these attacks will escalate, although the psychologist running the experiment has instructed the "hostiles" not to injure the subjects -- but the subjects don't know that!  Tonight was ep 2, but I haven't watched it yet.  I think it's supposed to last 10 weeks, maybe on Discovery Channel, a little bit Survivor or Survivorman, a little bit Junkyard Wars, a little bit Jericho (fictional P-A show from a few years ago).

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I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Taxman :: April 15; H&R Block; Jack E; IRA; retirement plan; tax shelter
   
2. Material :: matter; solid; liquid; gas; plasma; stuff; text
   
3. Format :: hard drive; essay; term paper; 200 word paper
   
4. File cabinet :: organized; folders; locked info; SSNs; office
   
5. Ignore :: shun; avoid; does not exist to me
   
6. Super! :: awesome; great; wonderful; terrific
   
7. Fireproof :: safe; not flammable; not inflammable
   
8. Blockbuster :: video; movies; Titanic; Star Wars; Jaws
   
9. Snooper :: looper; pooper; spy; nosy nose
   
10. Good will :: peace, good will toward men, or peace to men of good will; donations; thrift store; used clothes; used books; kitsch
    

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Testing today was awesome, and everyone did really well.  No mishaps, no contact during non-contact sparring (not always the case, unfortunately), no major injuries.  Well, not today anyway.  In the previous month about six people (self included) suffered some sort of foot injury: twisted ankle, broken toes (I caught my big toe on the mat, which sort of stubbed/jammed it up pretty good).  Poor Mr. F, twisted one ankle 2 weeks ago, then last night at practice tore up his pinky toe on the other foot -- he doesn't know which way to limp now, but he still soldiered on and tested for Third Dan (third degree black belt) today.

First was forms (or kata for the Japanese practitioners).  The board called the third, fourth, and fifth gups all together, that's the lowest rank of red belt, and both ranks of green belt.  There's only one each of the green belts, so they might have been a little self-conscious performing alone.  So then we red belts find out we're going to get tested on our cumulative knowledge, and do the green belt forms with them, and suddenly what was supposed to be two forms turned into six.  Unexpected, but we all did well with the pop quiz.  I had suffered some insomnia earlier this week, and one of my techniques to combat it is to review all my forms, so I had that going for me.

Nothing unusual in the one-step sparring, self-defense, free sparring, or terminology sections.  Breaking is always exciting, and sometimes in the past I've choked and not been able to carry through.  This time though, they say the boards were good and light, and my foot went through first time on both the jump spin back kick and the round kick -- like buttah, as they say.  One 1-inch pine board has about the same hardness as a human rib bone.  At the next testing in November, one of our breaks will be wheel kick -- that's the one Chuck Norris uses so often in Walker when he spins around and clocks a guy on the chin.  I need a lot more practice -- but not tonight.

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