Back in Business

Have I used that title yet? Apologies all around for my wildly inconsistent work here. However, school is over for a little bit, and I can get back to throwing pasta at the wall. The good news is that I've had my camera with me lately, so the next few posts will be photo heavy.

It's been a decent summer thus far for seeing some unusual things. Tammy and I have been exploring once more, seeing new neighborhoods, going to new parks and plazas, and wandering around town aimlessly. It's been great. So there will be some items later, but first we have to talk about some Morris dancing.

Morris dancing is something I had only ever heard of before through Terry Pratchett novels. From those, my understanding was always that it was some type of probably not made up English or Scottish folk dancing that involved hitting things with sticks and was generally dangerous to all participants and spectators. For the most part, I was content with this image, though there must be more to it than that.

A few weeks ago, we walked by a pleasant little plaza where you can dip your feet in the water while you read, when we happened across a rather large collection of Morris dancers. Turns out, it was basically a Morris party for some group in Portland that had been around for a while, so groups from all over the west coast came in to celebrate.

So Morris dancing is not all that different from my first impression, though in this setting it is considerably safer, since everyone was sober. It is an actual English folk dance from the 1400s, which can include sticks, bells, swords, and whatever else you can find. The bells are attached to the shins and are used in counterpoint to the accordion or fiddle that is providing the music. When sticks are used, they are for hitting against each other or the ground in rhythm with the song. The dance is usually a mix of steps and wheels with groups anywhere from 2 to, I don't know, say 20 people. School's out, I'm not researching this. Anyway, some pictures:

Notice the bells on the shins.

And the number of different groups in the background.

For this last one, the three would hit sticks together in a way that sort of passed it along to the left, if that makes any sense, and then they would break apart into some skipping and steps.

Here is an example of the dance in action in England:

So there you go, some Morris dancing for you. Oh, and thanks to Terry Pratchett for giving me just enough cultural knowledge to hang myself with. Before this weekend if cornered and asked if I had heard of Morris dancing, I would have responded, "is that the one where you hit stuff with sticks and most people go home bruised?" Now I can confidently say that it's the one where you hit stuff with sticks and hardly anyone goes home bruised, providing they're sober and have practiced recently.

Chronotons and Graviolies

Sorry it's been so long. I keep sitting down, starting posts and then discarding them not even halfway through. I've had things I want to write about, what's happening around here, some urban planning projects in New Orleans, invisible systems, etc...and I do plan on getting back to most of these. But rather than stressing about not finishing things, or feeling like my first post back has to be an award winner, I've decided what matters most is just getting some points up on the board.

I'm in the midst of what I've been calling the Summer of Self-improvement. I'm not entirely comfortable with such an unabashed title, but that's the way it is. I've wanted to do something useful with the extra time on my hands, so I've come up with a few goals. First: I am slowly working my way through the Japanese alphabet and basic phrases. Second: I've been running in the morning. This is stalled as I've failed to get out for about a week now. Third: volunteer as often as possible for all things bike related to put on my grad application. There were other things that have come and gone, but those three are the ones I plan on sticking by all summer. Oh, also my summer class starts on Monday, but I don't think that counts. I do well enough when there is structure provided. The real goal here is to flourish in my current, structureless lifestyle. Let's make it happen.

4square And Brazilian BBQ

Thanks for a great Saturday are in order for Cassio and Ahren. Cass threw a fantastic bbq of Brazilian goodness. Plates were passed around pretty much non-stop of crazy good meats, the best of which was the picanha. There were also some amazing breads and fried rice balls. It was good to be out in a backyard grilling, sitting in the sun. Felt like summer was back.

After this it was up to the NE to Ahren and Megan's for a 4square party. It was rough going at first, but we soon regained our childhood form and laid down some sweet moves. It's really tough to make up rules nowadays. If you don't remember, whoever is in the King Square gets to make up a set of rules to play by until they're knocked out, and I seem to remember it being way easier to invent good rules when I was a kid. Maybe we just had no idea of what good rules were and said whatever came to mind. I don't know. Anyway, we played a bunch of 4square and it was great.

Happy that soccer has led to meeting a great group of people. After a couple false starts with some less fun groups, this has been much better. To finish off the night we came back here for dinner and then watched half of Coraline. Tammy didn't quite make it through before falling asleep, so we had to call intermission.

But way to go world. That was a great Saturday.

A Moral of Note

I had my first scare the other week while playing pop-a-shot at the arcade with Tammy. First off, it's important to note that this was a Sonic the Hedgehog pop-a-shot. Why that's important to note I don't know, but it is. This was all at a decent sized arcade attached to a bowling alley called Big Al's. I guess these side notes are to show how incredibly classy it would sound when I had to tell this tale. I suppose as well, these asides are simply to expand and enhance what is, in all honestly, a momentously foolish and ridiculously brief story. Without further hedging here is the actual story:

I threw my wedding ring while playing pop-a-shot.

See how easily I could have laid it out there. But that seems to be the way I tell stories. I start with roundabout lead ins that delay the story as long as possible. Anyway, my shot missed a bit to the right, but the ring went right through the hoop. Most fortuitously, my ring bounced back to me in much the same manner as the mini basketballs. So naturally I almost put it up for another shot. Ok maybe not, but still. Nearly lost it down the sides of the machine. That Sonic is a greedy one, always trying to collect those rings. What a jerk!

See, it all comes back around. Those asides end up as haphazard references to games from 15 years ago. Look Mom, I'm a writer!

I should probably start planning these posts out in advance.

The moral of the story is thus: The greedy who want more lose all...wait no..um..unless the seed of evil is destroyed it will grow up to destroy us. No that's not it either. Fine, we'll have to use one of my own morals if none of Aesop's will fit.

Don't trust hedgehogs, they're after your valuables. Plus they didn't even count the basket.

NBA Playoffs

It's been a long time since I felt this invested in the playoffs. Part of this is the champion feel to this Bulls team. We've had some playoff runs in the past few years, but never something like this where it would be a disappointment not to win it all. So that's a huge factor to be sure. And I'm also feeling it because I picked Dallas out of the West a few weeks before the playoffs began. Ask my Dad if you need proof. But I've never been this invested in the playoffs as a whole. The West has been incredibly entertaining from top to bottom every round. The top two seeds knocked off, the Lakers getting run out of town, vintage Chris Paul, Memphis forcing their way in, and a ridiculous Rose. We also saw the end of multiple dynasties. Phil Jackson is done. The Spurs, the Lakers, and the Celtics are all showing their years. Maybe they get back for one more year, but they're no longer the gatekeepers to the finals. We're going to be crashing up against the Heat for the next several years.

Anyway, I just saw the first Dallas v OKC game. Nowitzki put up 48 points on 15 shots. He didn't miss a single free throw and he took 24 of them, breaking the playoff record. And OKC was playing serious defense on him. It was one of the most epic performances I've ever seen, the rest of Dallas was playing well, and OKC still kept it close the entire game.

I hope not to miss any of the remaining games this year. This has been an almost World Cup sort of experience. We have a wide open field here. Let's see the Bulls make their mark.

It's getting easier to feel old

A while back I was talking to Jacob Hines and Sean Woitas, and we got around to some of the things that have drastically changed in our life times. I mean, I'm 24 and I already have some of those stories backlogged that the telling to any future kids would inevitably result in them staring at me in disbelief. And these events are from not that long ago. We talked about cell phones. The first cell phone I ever carried was my Mom's and it looked a lot like this:

It was the size of a brick and there was no way that thing was going in your pocket. You had to pull up the antenna to make a call. Do you see that "screen"? Look at it again. It doesn't even have room for an area code. Even to me that relic looks ridiculous. That was just 10 years ago. Nowadays my phone could probably make me pancakes.

You know what really got me down though? I am apparently out of touch with candy. Candy! We went to the corner store to pick up some movie candy and I was thrown off balance by the sheer volume of candy and flavors that I had never heard of before. Starburst sharesize, Sweet Fiesta, Skittles Blenders, Twix Coconut. I have never before in my life felt disoriented in a candy aisle.

This cannot stand! I will regain my candy fitness. Which will be difficult as I work on my actual fitness as well. Geez. Candy used to come naturally.

Excuse me, but I have some serious research to do.

Whaaaat?

Welcome to one of the best dinners of your life! Tammy cooked up Chicken in Cider and Bacon Sauce!? Are you joking, you may ask incredulously? No! Cider And bacon sauce. With parmesan potato wedges and green beans cooked in the chicken broth with more bacon. This was a seriously great weekend.