If you have not heard of the Fushigi Ball, go watch that video, and then come read the rest of this.
Now that you've seen the "brand new, dynamically designed ball," allow me to yell about it for a few minutes.
#1 Fushigi is a noun, I can deal with this. Fushigi= acrylic/steel hybrid ball. Turns out fushigi is also a verb. It is synonymous with "contact juggling." I am gonna say it right now - the first person that comes up to me at market and sees me doin my thing and says "ooh! FUSHIGI!" I am gonna kick their ass with my torrent of corrections to their clearly flawed knowledge of the art.
#2 Fushigi lies. "Using FUSHIGI is an incredible, therapeutic form of relaxation"
Anyone here contact juggle? For those of you who do not, you know I make it look pretty easy. For those of you who do, you understand the HOURS of frustration I spent trying to learn this art. The months I spent learning a simple trick like a chest roll, or a 3 ball palm spin. Or a decent isolation. The years I have been doing this for and still screw up a waterfall if I am not devoting my whole self to it. After several YEARS on training, yes - a simply palm isolation or butterfly can be relaxing. Let me restate that: years. how many average american teens (who are the demographic of this, given the commercial) do you know who are willing to stick with something as stupidly hard and frustrating as contact juggling to get something "therapeutic." I answer myself - none. Not even me. I do it as a performance art, always have. Never have I thought about devoting time to learn something like this to relax myself.
#3 The existence of Fushigi is a serious double edged sword.
Pro: people might start to know what contact juggling actually is, and so there might be more of us around to spread ideas. If fushigi becomes part of mainstream culture, I will have to explain to less people what I am doing with that crazy ball that looks like it floats.
Con: does anyone remember what happened to poi? It was an obscure art with a very purist following - then mainstream culture got ahold of it and bastardized it. I am not overstating that. You see poi at raves with girls wearing almost no clothes, and doing 3 beat weave and butterfly thinking they are hot shit. Now, if you say "yeah, I do poi" this is what comes to mind - it has become a normal thing to do as a workout (every time I say "poi," feel free to substitute "hoop" and it still holds true). Anyone seen the poi videos (or hoopgirl)? After poi became part of mainstream culture, it became less impressive. It became largely about sex (not everyone, mind you - I have many poi heros who are circus purists) and this is just not ok with me. Sensuality has its place, but not flat out sex. I have seen so many videos where a girl is doing poi or hoop and is just doing... well... pelvic thrusts. The crowd cheers. This SUCKS! I have a fear that this will happen to contact juggling if Fushigi succeeds. I am not saying it will become about sex, but mark my words, the American public will find some other way to dirty up a beautiful and elegant art.
I think the cons outweight the pros... FUSHIGI GO AWAY!
I think that is all I have to yell about for now.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Quotes 1 (I expect there will be more)
I'll give you the link up front
http://www.askmen.com/top_10/entertainment/top-10-quotes-about-men-that-every-man-should-live-by.html
And then I shall list the quotes in reverse order, as they do, with my own annotations, and why I hate this website.
10. "A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers, and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality" ~JFK
outstanding quote, but I will say it now, and know that it is to apply to (almost) all of the quotes to follow: I think that this should apply to the old form of the word "men," meaning people (i.e. mankind) and if they didn't write it that way, then they are assholes.
9. "Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth" ~Chuck Norris
possibly the best thing Mr. Norris has ever said. I am a huge supporter of keeping your temper, and I believe that when you lose it, you start making stupid decisions that get you nowhere.
8. "After a certain age every man is responsible for his face" ~Albert Camus
This was explained to mean "we are all products of our past, and at a certain point, who you are is a reflection of what you have done, and when you reach that age, you'd better be proud of the choices you've made." I like that, physical decay as a metaphor for moral decay. If only having a good moral life would assure your health and attractiveness into your senior years.
7. "Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones" ~Teddy Roosevelt
I really like this one, and the more general meaning, which is (to me) to work hard at everything you do, because only then can you get to the "doing" of better things.
6. "Few men have the virtue to withstand the highest bidder" ~ G. Washington
Whether you are talking monetary price or a less tangible price, I do think that every man (person) has his (or her) price and that you should be able to resist the opportunity to compromise your morals at all costs - ideally...
5. "Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship" ~Oscar Wilde
Before I comment on this one, I'm gonna give you the website's annotations:
"It’s an old quote that’s revisited by Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally -- there’s no such thing as a platonic relationship between a man and a woman. The man is usually consumed with the idea of sleeping with her. It’s a belief widely acknowledged by men, but rarely accepted by women. Remember that. Movie and dinner nights might mean one thing to you, but she certainly doesn’t view it as a precursor to intercourse."
To which a commenter on this page responded:
"Just to give you what you deserve...
Quotations are the tools of the witless - Oscar Wilde
And platonic relationships ARE possible, so don't blame the whole gender for your sexual desperation. "
I agree with the second thing this guy said. This quote is terrible, but worse than that is the comment that was said about it... "it is a belief widely acknowledged by men." I love generalizations, I do, but this one is terrible. I have nothing more to say.
4. "it is not titles that make men illustrious, but men who make titles illustrious" ~Machiavelli
I think this one goes along with the Roosevelt quote - if you work hard and take pride in what you do, things will be better than if you don't work hard and don't care.
3. "When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them" ~Plato
I think this one goes on my favorite quotes of all time list. I do my best to live this way, not to say I do, but I try. I am not yet perfect, but that doesn't mean I cannot strive to be.
2. "There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is more precious to men: time" ~Napoleon
Life is short, and if you want to get done what you need to, you had better use all the time you have - go Napoleon, you marauding dick-head!
1. "A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do" ~Bob Dylan
I think that you should do what you love and love what you do, and if you can pull that off, you are truly successful - but doing what you love and doing what you want are not the same thing i my book. I love circus and dance, but I don't want to do them all day every day - even though I hope that is what my job will be.
And now, miscellaneous quotes put in comments that people thought should have been in the list.
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power"
"The masculine imagination lives in a state of perpetual revolt against the limitations of human life" I would like it better if masculine was changed to human.
"Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind."
-Bruce Lee
Goodnight, until my next update - most likely on friday or saturday!
http://www.askmen.com/top_10/entertainment/top-10-quotes-about-men-that-every-man-should-live-by.html
And then I shall list the quotes in reverse order, as they do, with my own annotations, and why I hate this website.
10. "A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers, and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality" ~JFK
outstanding quote, but I will say it now, and know that it is to apply to (almost) all of the quotes to follow: I think that this should apply to the old form of the word "men," meaning people (i.e. mankind) and if they didn't write it that way, then they are assholes.
9. "Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth" ~Chuck Norris
possibly the best thing Mr. Norris has ever said. I am a huge supporter of keeping your temper, and I believe that when you lose it, you start making stupid decisions that get you nowhere.
8. "After a certain age every man is responsible for his face" ~Albert Camus
This was explained to mean "we are all products of our past, and at a certain point, who you are is a reflection of what you have done, and when you reach that age, you'd better be proud of the choices you've made." I like that, physical decay as a metaphor for moral decay. If only having a good moral life would assure your health and attractiveness into your senior years.
7. "Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones" ~Teddy Roosevelt
I really like this one, and the more general meaning, which is (to me) to work hard at everything you do, because only then can you get to the "doing" of better things.
6. "Few men have the virtue to withstand the highest bidder" ~ G. Washington
Whether you are talking monetary price or a less tangible price, I do think that every man (person) has his (or her) price and that you should be able to resist the opportunity to compromise your morals at all costs - ideally...
5. "Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship" ~Oscar Wilde
Before I comment on this one, I'm gonna give you the website's annotations:
"It’s an old quote that’s revisited by Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally -- there’s no such thing as a platonic relationship between a man and a woman. The man is usually consumed with the idea of sleeping with her. It’s a belief widely acknowledged by men, but rarely accepted by women. Remember that. Movie and dinner nights might mean one thing to you, but she certainly doesn’t view it as a precursor to intercourse."
To which a commenter on this page responded:
"Just to give you what you deserve...
Quotations are the tools of the witless - Oscar Wilde
And platonic relationships ARE possible, so don't blame the whole gender for your sexual desperation. "
I agree with the second thing this guy said. This quote is terrible, but worse than that is the comment that was said about it... "it is a belief widely acknowledged by men." I love generalizations, I do, but this one is terrible. I have nothing more to say.
4. "it is not titles that make men illustrious, but men who make titles illustrious" ~Machiavelli
I think this one goes along with the Roosevelt quote - if you work hard and take pride in what you do, things will be better than if you don't work hard and don't care.
3. "When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them" ~Plato
I think this one goes on my favorite quotes of all time list. I do my best to live this way, not to say I do, but I try. I am not yet perfect, but that doesn't mean I cannot strive to be.
2. "There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is more precious to men: time" ~Napoleon
Life is short, and if you want to get done what you need to, you had better use all the time you have - go Napoleon, you marauding dick-head!
1. "A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do" ~Bob Dylan
I think that you should do what you love and love what you do, and if you can pull that off, you are truly successful - but doing what you love and doing what you want are not the same thing i my book. I love circus and dance, but I don't want to do them all day every day - even though I hope that is what my job will be.
And now, miscellaneous quotes put in comments that people thought should have been in the list.
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power"
"The masculine imagination lives in a state of perpetual revolt against the limitations of human life" I would like it better if masculine was changed to human.
"Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind."
-Bruce Lee
Goodnight, until my next update - most likely on friday or saturday!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Philadelphia, half way done
So, the training continues. Yes indeed, I continue to learn. I currently have three pages in my notebook filled with tricks and sequences on rope (corde lisse, spanish web, free rope, whathaveyou) and a routine that got choreographed at six in the morning the other day, and I am proud to say, got rehearsed for the first time this morning! It is going to be a lot of work, but of the four anticipated hurdles, we have glided through one effortlessly, and found a work around to the other. We got halfway through it in one day, and plan to knock out the other half tomorrow. This will allow us to start doing run-throughs on Thursday at the latest!
In other news, Philly sucks. Oh wait, I think I said that already. However, Philly sucks less this week! Three reasons why:
1. I am projecting badass-ness, as per my father's and Jeremy's advice, and people leave me alone for the most part (except to ask for change).
2. I have a very good system for getting downtown, where I am not a minority to pick on, and where there are things to do besides sit at home - these things, I will go into later.
3. It is cooler this week! We had a high of 81 today (the coolest it's been since I arrived) and the cause of this, you ask? RAIN! It rained all day yesterday and most of today. Made me miss Eugene rain a little bit, but I appreciated it nonetheless. Additionally, I got to laugh at Emilie, as she brought no waterproof clothes and got soaked on our walk to the school this morning.
Alright, so - my downtown adventures. Emilie offered to take me out to dinner last night (I'm still not entirely clear on what I was being thanked for), so we went to this amazing sushi joint called Fuji Mountain. Apart from dropping $45 on five rolls of sushi, we got quite a treat. When we first sat down, the little cute Japanese waitress said to us (in a very thick accent, so it was honestly difficult to pick out what she was saying) "In honor of our restaurant's 15th (or 50th, we are not sure what she said) anniversary, we are offering free sake to our customers, would you like yours served hot or cold?"
I, being only 19, was quite confused that she didn't ask for either one of our IDs, and was stunned into silence. Emilie (who is 21, and used to ordering alcohol) did not drop the ball, and answered "hot, please." I am proud to say that I got to try sake, and it was delicious! And the ceramic bottle it came in was so cute too! And they didn't ask for IDs at any point (I assume they would have done it before, because asking for IDs after giving someone alcohol would be stupid) either because we looked over 21, or because they didn't care. I expect it was the second option.
After that, we didn't want to go home, as it was only 9:30, so we wandered around, and ended up at this awesome little smoke shop (we were enticed by the owner who was smoking hookah on the stoop) so we chilled out there, and looked at his wares, which were very pretty, and THE COOLEST HOOKAH HOSE EVER! It was a dragon handle, with a 90 degree bend in it, and he had a hooked chin, such that you could hang the hose on the ash catch! Plus it was made of stone and it was just plain pretty. It was also $25, which is just a stupid amount to pay for one hose. SO! It goes on the already expansive list of "things I would buy if I had more money than I know what to do with." I really should start keeping a physical list, just to remind myself how much money I don't have - it would be depressingly wonderful!
Then we walked around a bit more, and listened to a guy play an amplified harmonica, and a couple singers (yeah, at 10:30 at night) and then promptly got lost finding the right entrance to the subway - which was too bad, because up till that point I had a 100% navigation efficiency for the day.
And today, when I got home (after my afternoon nap) I turned on my internet television and watched the Germany v Uruguay game, and what a game it was! For those of you who care, you should already know, and those of you who don't, do not want to know, and so naturally, I will tell you anyway. Germany won 3-2, which is good for several reasons.
I like Germany
I like Ghana
Uruguay kicked Ghana out of the tournament
I like it when Uruguay loses
Similarly, I am rooting for Netherlands tomorrow (for which I will be attending Fadó Irish Pub downtown) for these reasons
I like Germany
Spain beat Germany, putting them in the third place game, therefore I do not like Spain
I like Ghana, and Uruguay beat Ghana, putting them out
Netherlands beat Uruguay, sending them to the third place game, therefore I like Netherlands
This will be the biggest "who cares" final for me ever - the only way I can find to root for someone is by which team has done my teams more harm or good.
GO ORANGE!
Oh, and I had a brilliant idea about how to stay cool at night, and I implemented it last night. I moved my bed to the floor and into a little enclave in my room next to the window/fan. This is good for cool, but kinda fun - because the enclave is not wide enough for the bed, so it curls up on one side - it's like having a comfy wall to lean up against now!
I'm pretty sure that is all I've got for you guys this week, because I don't really want to go into the actual tricks I am learning, because it would make sense to exactly none of you.
So, goodbye everybody, until next time!
In other news, Philly sucks. Oh wait, I think I said that already. However, Philly sucks less this week! Three reasons why:
1. I am projecting badass-ness, as per my father's and Jeremy's advice, and people leave me alone for the most part (except to ask for change).
2. I have a very good system for getting downtown, where I am not a minority to pick on, and where there are things to do besides sit at home - these things, I will go into later.
3. It is cooler this week! We had a high of 81 today (the coolest it's been since I arrived) and the cause of this, you ask? RAIN! It rained all day yesterday and most of today. Made me miss Eugene rain a little bit, but I appreciated it nonetheless. Additionally, I got to laugh at Emilie, as she brought no waterproof clothes and got soaked on our walk to the school this morning.
Alright, so - my downtown adventures. Emilie offered to take me out to dinner last night (I'm still not entirely clear on what I was being thanked for), so we went to this amazing sushi joint called Fuji Mountain. Apart from dropping $45 on five rolls of sushi, we got quite a treat. When we first sat down, the little cute Japanese waitress said to us (in a very thick accent, so it was honestly difficult to pick out what she was saying) "In honor of our restaurant's 15th (or 50th, we are not sure what she said) anniversary, we are offering free sake to our customers, would you like yours served hot or cold?"
I, being only 19, was quite confused that she didn't ask for either one of our IDs, and was stunned into silence. Emilie (who is 21, and used to ordering alcohol) did not drop the ball, and answered "hot, please." I am proud to say that I got to try sake, and it was delicious! And the ceramic bottle it came in was so cute too! And they didn't ask for IDs at any point (I assume they would have done it before, because asking for IDs after giving someone alcohol would be stupid) either because we looked over 21, or because they didn't care. I expect it was the second option.
After that, we didn't want to go home, as it was only 9:30, so we wandered around, and ended up at this awesome little smoke shop (we were enticed by the owner who was smoking hookah on the stoop) so we chilled out there, and looked at his wares, which were very pretty, and THE COOLEST HOOKAH HOSE EVER! It was a dragon handle, with a 90 degree bend in it, and he had a hooked chin, such that you could hang the hose on the ash catch! Plus it was made of stone and it was just plain pretty. It was also $25, which is just a stupid amount to pay for one hose. SO! It goes on the already expansive list of "things I would buy if I had more money than I know what to do with." I really should start keeping a physical list, just to remind myself how much money I don't have - it would be depressingly wonderful!
Then we walked around a bit more, and listened to a guy play an amplified harmonica, and a couple singers (yeah, at 10:30 at night) and then promptly got lost finding the right entrance to the subway - which was too bad, because up till that point I had a 100% navigation efficiency for the day.
And today, when I got home (after my afternoon nap) I turned on my internet television and watched the Germany v Uruguay game, and what a game it was! For those of you who care, you should already know, and those of you who don't, do not want to know, and so naturally, I will tell you anyway. Germany won 3-2, which is good for several reasons.
I like Germany
I like Ghana
Uruguay kicked Ghana out of the tournament
I like it when Uruguay loses
Similarly, I am rooting for Netherlands tomorrow (for which I will be attending Fadó Irish Pub downtown) for these reasons
I like Germany
Spain beat Germany, putting them in the third place game, therefore I do not like Spain
I like Ghana, and Uruguay beat Ghana, putting them out
Netherlands beat Uruguay, sending them to the third place game, therefore I like Netherlands
This will be the biggest "who cares" final for me ever - the only way I can find to root for someone is by which team has done my teams more harm or good.
GO ORANGE!
Oh, and I had a brilliant idea about how to stay cool at night, and I implemented it last night. I moved my bed to the floor and into a little enclave in my room next to the window/fan. This is good for cool, but kinda fun - because the enclave is not wide enough for the bed, so it curls up on one side - it's like having a comfy wall to lean up against now!
I'm pretty sure that is all I've got for you guys this week, because I don't really want to go into the actual tricks I am learning, because it would make sense to exactly none of you.
So, goodbye everybody, until next time!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Philadelphia: Training and Futbol
So it is saturday night (technically sunday morning) here. Happy 4th of July everybody! I wished my country happy birthday, and it felt kinda cool. I expect sleeping tomorrow will be stupidly impossible cuz of fireworks (which started on wednesday). I'll give you guys the lowdown on this week. Monday: got here, got lost on the bus system trying to get here. On the way I discovered 3 things: 1. I am a minority up here 2. Philadelphia is very large, and easy to get lost in 3. You know you are in a bad spot when you get helped out by a homeless dude trying to sell you a package of boxers Once I got myself to the house, I pretty much just slept all day, which is all I ever do up here - the heat just sucks the life out of you. Tuesday: emilie had her first lesson, but since this blog isn't about her, you will have to ask her yourself if you want to find out about her adventures. Only interesting thing: I vowed to not let her walk around Phily alone whenever possible, and we would NEVER walk around at night unless absolutely necessary. Reasoning: if you havn't been following my status updates, I live in the hood. Not like south Tucson hood, this is the east coast, gangs all around you, scary as FUCK hood. Wednesday: first of eleven rope lessons with one of my two teachers, Brenden (also the person we are staying with). We asked for hardcore training, to not ease up, and work us until we can't work anymore. Well, we got it. We stumbled home after the most intense hour of our lives. I learned, in that day alone, 4 new transitions, 3 new climbs, 2 new tricks, and a conditioning exercise (someone make a 12 days of rope training song about that, please). Thursday: More emilie training, I juggled in the corner, and decided that I wanted to learn walking globe, seeing as they have 5 of them. So while emilie is in her acrobatics and conditioning classes, I will do that. I like to watch her trapeze classes, because I am leaning just by watching. Friday: rope lesson 2/11. same as wednesday: really intense, lots of learning. Thank goodness I have a notebook to write all this stuff down in, otherwise I'd never be able to remember it. I am gonna have a lot of stuff to teach my kids when I get back home - not just tricks, but technique that needs sharpening. THEN LATER THAT DAY! Actually, imidiately, I kinda ran out of the studio to catch a bus. I took this bus to the subway station, and that to downtown phily. I have been to new york, when I was younger. I don't remember it very well. This blew me away. Everything was huge, and I couldn't tell which way was north, but the best thing was, IT WASN'T THE HOOD! Everyone had friendly eyes, there were street performers, and I wasn't a minority. There were people of every color running around these busy streets. I found myself in the Irish Pub I was looking for, and since it was game day, they wern't checking IDs. I stood in the back and watched the best futbol match of the tournament to date: ghana v uruguay. Alas, our team lost, but we had an amazing time. All of the Ghana fans bonded together, and whenever something went right we went crazy hugging and high fiving and yelling. I had a very sore voice. This yelling and screaming contributed to me getting sick the next morning, and not being able to go to the German Bar on south st. to watch the Germany v Argentina game. Which I now regret, because it was a killer game for Deutschland. Ah well, I am gonna get to watch them play spain on wednesday before my rope lesson (google maps, you are my best friend). Today: I slept all day, and then read some stuff, and slept some more. It's a recovery weekend. The heat is killer, and the training is exhausting, and I spend a lot of time doing nothing... More to come next week in Connor's Crazy Adventure!
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