On the road again

[pecunium]

Next week I'm off to San Diego.

A conference, for an exercise in Ukraine. With luck (here's hoping) This one will be at Naval Station Coronado again. I have no idea how the conference will be run, nor yet if anyone I know (from the Ukrainian/European side of things) will be there.

I will have a car, probably at least one evening to myself and the name of a dojo in the area; so I might be able to train while I'm in SD, which would be nice. Last night was probably very good for me, but I felt as though I was uncoordinated, never able to relax enough to enter the moment (ten minutes of work with Paul is great, for precise technique, but can make one feel as if breathing is the far limit of one's skills, and that a very basic breathing, not more than merely exchanging O₂ for CO₂. I am probably better at Tenchi Nage as well as all the building blocks in the technique [I know this to be true, because some of it carried over to the next thing we were working on] but it's hard work training with Paul, because, while one need not be perfect, he doesn't give anything away. On the other hand, it isn't as if he treats anyone differently. I saw him exploit Michelle Sensei's lack of extention to reverse things in a demonstration last night too). Since I don't think I'll get to train much in January, and latter part of Dec. is likely to have a lot of lost training days, grabbing a night visiting another dojo would be nice.

I also might be able to break away, if anyone wants to meet for dinner, though I can't make any promises.

So, from Friday to a week from Monday I may be a tad out of the loop here (unless I can get my computer's internet to work by reformatting the damned thing) since I'll have limited time, and limited access.

Now to work on todays sourdough loaf, and maybe some beer bread (the seasonal brew from TJ's [despite the horror of the label "Brewed once a year in limited quantity, please enjoy Trader Joe's inaugural Vintage Ale"] is very good, though potent. Sweet, lots of malt it's a dark ale on lees, 9 percent alcohol. Put up in 750ml bottles from UNIBROUE, a Belgian style brewery in Canada, which the staff at my favorite Belgian restaurant {Mon Grenier, in Encino} said good things about last week. It ought to improve well, and I think a few more bottles are in order] and bottle of Anchor's 2004 Christmas Ale are both sitting here with some unfinished bits) will fill the day, as I do the laundry, set up a new rack of ribbons for the inspection Sat. Morning, prep some dough to make small kaiser rolls for the C. Co. Holiday Party to follow the inspection and pack for the next week.

Comments

[joxn.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you'll have any reason to visit Tucson for work (I expect not -- it's an Air Force town), but if you do, post about it or drop me a line ahead of time. I'm sure you'd be welcome to come get mat time at our dojo.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I have occasion to visit (though less of late) Sierra Vista, and if I have a car I can probably arrange a day in which I can head out.

TK

[ckd]

Coincidentally, I'll be in SD next week for a sysadmin conference, though it's up at Hotel Circle (aka BFE). Coronado is probably more fun.

Big beer

[kate-schaefer.livejournal.com]

At 9 percent alcohol, that's for sure not small beer. I'll have to try it, cautiously.

Have you had Dick's Danger Ale? It's an okay beer in the bottle, but a fabulous beer on tap. For the first time, I'm able to taste what it is the Brits go on and on about when they talk about proper handling of real beers. I hope that my beer palate doesn't get overeducated so that I stop enjoying lesser beers (and I doubt that it will at my advanced age), but it's nice to comprehend what they mean, even if I comprehend it only dimly.

And then there's BJ's Whiskey Stout, not available at the BJ's near you according to Ulrika. Glenn, Ulrika, and I stopped at BJ's in Portland on our way back from OryCon specifically to get some Whiskey Stout, but tragically, first the waitress said they were down to just one pint (well, bring it to the table and let Ulrika drink it, then), and then she said that pint had gone, too, while she was telling us about it. We went back to Seattle with Ulrika and me as sober and crabby as the designated driver. We got over the crankiness and sang Warren Zevon songs part of the way to lighten the journey, but we'll have to go back to Portland some time to get more beer.

Re: Big beer

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

It's not likely to happen (that you stop liking the beers you like now).

Or, because I see the changes in my palate, it may be that some of the middle beers (e.g. Newcastle) for me, become too big, and too small (what I describe as flabby), and so you avoid them.

There are a number of "lesser" beers I still like, Dos Equis Amber, Grolsch, any number of the middling lagers, but not Heineken (it's sour, if you ask me). Some of the real swill can be pretty good too, in the right circumstance.

I've had the whiskey stout, Ulrika, Hal, and; damnit, now their names escape me, but two others of our acquaintance, knocked back a couple of pitcher of it at Orycon, 2003. Thick, sweet, malty; but not furry.

There are some beers which are horrid in the bottle (and Guinness is one of them, now that they have "the widget" I don't know how the regular bottles sell). We have a local brewery, and I can get their stuff on tap in town. I won't buy the bottles. Nice, but ruined by having it as it ought to be.

Get a bottle of the TJs (or maybe I can bring some up, I am hoping [I would say expecting but there are two irons in the fire which might put paid to the idea :(] to be in town the first week of July), and sit down with a couple of people and share it. It's what I did with this one.

TK

[feonixrift.livejournal.com]

Pardon my curiousity but, which style of martial arts do you train in?

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Aikido, is the art I train in at a dojo.

For other arts I practice, or have trained in, Judo and Tai Chi Chu'an (A long time ago, about all that remains of that is good falling technique... it's been, we'll round it off and say 25 years since I last trained in judo, and 20 for the tai chi).

Half a dozen blade styles, from classical western foil, rapier, blade and buckler, knife, pike, naginata, katana to bayonette. If it's got an edge, and one can hold it, I've probably given it a test run.

Pi-bu... an esoteric, and syncretic martial art; designed, and humorusly named by my knife fighting instructor. It's mostly about situational awareness and knowing the limits of what you know. One of the easier aspects to explain is, "always spend some time training under the influence of one's recreational drug of choice, as the odds of ending up in a fight are higher when one is under the influence."

Lots of firearms. Some of that is discipline (and I'll put the archery in here) and some of it is practical. Most of the practical is because I'm in the Army, and there is a decided focus on the applied use of firearms.

Out of context it sounds as if all I do is play with toys and the like, but that's almost 30 years of interest.

TK

[feonixrift.livejournal.com]

An active mind, given enough time, will find all sorts of toys. :)

I hope you'll take it as a compliment if I note that you don't look old for such concepts of "a long time ago". I mean, it's clear from your viewpoints and your writing style that you are (in that they show that much thought and experience), but you photo certainly doesn't look it.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Not in the least, though the mileage of the past few years has put some wear on the frame. I was still carded enough at 35 that it didn't seem odd.

These days, no so much.

TK