Just a quick update on the Life of Grant today...
We went to see Jet Li's Fearless last night. For those of you who haven't seen it, don't worry, there won't be any spoilers here, but you should definitely go see it if you haven't seen a good action movie in a while. Basically, it's about the life of Huo Yuanjia, the founder of the Jing Wu Athletic Association, a kung fu association that was established in Shanghai around the turn of the century during the Japanese invasion of China. I actually wrote a post on his school, Jing Wu, and his legendary disciple, Chen Zhen, back in January, which can be found here.
The movie itself is just under two hours long, and the fight scenes are superb. We sat in the front section of the theater, so those scenes were especially "in your face" for us. The story itself I thought wasn't very well told - the characters weren't developed much at all (especially the female lead), and I thought it was just too abrupt in general. But the fight scenes are definitely can't miss!
If you've visited Grant's Pad earlier today, you might have noticed a new feature. I've added a photo badge in the sidebar of Grant's Pad that lets you scroll through a few recent photos I've taken. Granted, the photos are from August, but there hasn't been much to take photos of lately. It's still super awesome, so be sure to play with it a little bit!
Friday, September 29, 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Choy Lay Fut Jedi
I know it's too soon after my previous post to be posting again, but I couldn't resist this. This video is of my sisuk Joe (now the head instructor at the Lee Koon Hung school in Fort Lauderdale) and of my sisuk Lance (who I blogged about a little while ago) doing a two-man set, Jedi-style!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Fantasy Football Victory, Tim Tebow, and Feel the Magic XY/XX
So my title isn't particularly imaginative, but you should know exactly what I'll be writing about today, so let's get right into it!
As recent posts have indicated, I've joined a Fantasy Football League this season, and I will be the first to admit that my draft wasn't very good. My inexperience in fantasy drafting is particularly evident this week, as half of my team is on a BYE week this week. That made selecting my starters quite an easy task - I just had to pick the guys that were actually scheduled to play a game this weekend!
My poor draft caused my to score a league low 58 points in the first week, losing to a mediocre 72 points by my opponent. In the second week, my hero, Rex Grossman, had a monster day and pulled my total points into the seventies, only to be utterly crushed by my opponent's 155 points. Finally, this past week, after the questionable trade I made with Larry Johnson (who was on a BYE last week so he wouldn't have played for me anyway), I eked out a narrow 77-71 victory!
In celebration of my first Fantasy Football Victory, I present you with this video of Freshman Phenom Tim Tebow, the future starting quarterback for the Florida Gators. Grant's Pad has been giving Chris Leak a lot of love ever since I started blogging, but this play truly deserved a spot on Grant's Pad. In the clip, Tim Tebow (or "T-Mobile", as Cherry calls him) has three runs for over 60 yards. That's good and all, you're saying, but that's what we all expected him to do, right? Well, yeah, that's true, but on the third run (the last play in the clip), Tebow absolutely punishes a Kentucky defender, stiff-arming the DB forward for another seven or eight yards before they both crash out of bounds! I've never seen a running back, much less a quarterback, destroy a DB like that! Maybe Cherry was onto something with that T-Mobile nickname!
Just so you know, I'm still a huge fan of Chris Leak, who scripted the most exciting play of the game (sorry - no video this time): a reverse to Caldwell, who then pitches it to Baker in a double reverse, who then pitches it back to Leak right before he gets tackled, who launches it 33 yards to a wide open Cornelius in the end zone! Chris Leak for Heisman!
The last bit for today: a few weeks ago I went to Best Buy to do something (probably download a demo for my DS Lite), and I happened to spot "Feel the Magic XY/XX" on sale for only ten bucks! I had read some reviews about the game earlier, and I thought it sounded interesting - but I am trying to stick to a one game per month quota, and I kinda wanted to get New Super Mario Brothers. However, seeing the awesome price, I decided to postpone Mario and picked this game up.
The game is basically a series of amusing mini games ranging from ridiculously easy to ridiculously difficult, but all fun and humorous, strung into a bizarre love story. The blue-bearded protagonist is walking along, minding his own business, when a girl walks past him, and *bam* just like that, he's head over heels in love. A nearby fellow wearing rabbit ears notices his fascination, and suggests that the protagonist woo the girl by joining their rabbit-eared group and performing unusual and often dangerous stunts. Among these are bowling for bus-stop passengers across the street with your own body encapsulated in a ball, guiding goldfish out of a man's stomach, and rescuing your lady from bees, an obese kidnapper, and so on and so forth. All of the minigames take advantage of the DS's main features - the touchscreen and the microphone, and by playing the games multiple times, you unlock new outfits for the girl, who you can poke to get interesting responses in the menu screens! Very fun, in a mildly creepy sort of way.
That's all for now!
As recent posts have indicated, I've joined a Fantasy Football League this season, and I will be the first to admit that my draft wasn't very good. My inexperience in fantasy drafting is particularly evident this week, as half of my team is on a BYE week this week. That made selecting my starters quite an easy task - I just had to pick the guys that were actually scheduled to play a game this weekend!
My poor draft caused my to score a league low 58 points in the first week, losing to a mediocre 72 points by my opponent. In the second week, my hero, Rex Grossman, had a monster day and pulled my total points into the seventies, only to be utterly crushed by my opponent's 155 points. Finally, this past week, after the questionable trade I made with Larry Johnson (who was on a BYE last week so he wouldn't have played for me anyway), I eked out a narrow 77-71 victory!
In celebration of my first Fantasy Football Victory, I present you with this video of Freshman Phenom Tim Tebow, the future starting quarterback for the Florida Gators. Grant's Pad has been giving Chris Leak a lot of love ever since I started blogging, but this play truly deserved a spot on Grant's Pad. In the clip, Tim Tebow (or "T-Mobile", as Cherry calls him) has three runs for over 60 yards. That's good and all, you're saying, but that's what we all expected him to do, right? Well, yeah, that's true, but on the third run (the last play in the clip), Tebow absolutely punishes a Kentucky defender, stiff-arming the DB forward for another seven or eight yards before they both crash out of bounds! I've never seen a running back, much less a quarterback, destroy a DB like that! Maybe Cherry was onto something with that T-Mobile nickname!
Just so you know, I'm still a huge fan of Chris Leak, who scripted the most exciting play of the game (sorry - no video this time): a reverse to Caldwell, who then pitches it to Baker in a double reverse, who then pitches it back to Leak right before he gets tackled, who launches it 33 yards to a wide open Cornelius in the end zone! Chris Leak for Heisman!
The last bit for today: a few weeks ago I went to Best Buy to do something (probably download a demo for my DS Lite), and I happened to spot "Feel the Magic XY/XX" on sale for only ten bucks! I had read some reviews about the game earlier, and I thought it sounded interesting - but I am trying to stick to a one game per month quota, and I kinda wanted to get New Super Mario Brothers. However, seeing the awesome price, I decided to postpone Mario and picked this game up.The game is basically a series of amusing mini games ranging from ridiculously easy to ridiculously difficult, but all fun and humorous, strung into a bizarre love story. The blue-bearded protagonist is walking along, minding his own business, when a girl walks past him, and *bam* just like that, he's head over heels in love. A nearby fellow wearing rabbit ears notices his fascination, and suggests that the protagonist woo the girl by joining their rabbit-eared group and performing unusual and often dangerous stunts. Among these are bowling for bus-stop passengers across the street with your own body encapsulated in a ball, guiding goldfish out of a man's stomach, and rescuing your lady from bees, an obese kidnapper, and so on and so forth. All of the minigames take advantage of the DS's main features - the touchscreen and the microphone, and by playing the games multiple times, you unlock new outfits for the girl, who you can poke to get interesting responses in the menu screens! Very fun, in a mildly creepy sort of way.
That's all for now!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Sisuk Lance
Finally! A Kung Fu Post! I know not all of my regulars are as crazy about kung fu as I am, but Grant's Pad is all about keeping all the fans happy!
Today's Kung Fu related post is about the "family" system that exists in most kung fu schools and communities. The system is not meant to be a hierarchy, but rather as a way to show respect to seniority - a value that is very important in Chinese culture.
First and foremost, the Sifu. Sifu translates roughly to "Father-Teacher", and he is just that. In the olden days, prospective students would prostrate themselves in front of a master to beg him to take him as a student. If he was accepted, he would often live, eat, work, and train at the kung fu school. Some Sifus also taught their students to read and write, aside from being the head of the kung fu school. Today, the title of Sifu usually refers to the person who runs the school, although, technically, anyone who has taken a student can be referred to as a Sifu. In this sense, the title of Sifu is also no indication of the age of the master, as a younger master can take on a student older than himself.
Your senior and junior students also have titles. If they are male, you refer to them as Sihing, for "Senior Training Brother", and Sidi, for "Junior Training Brother". Similarly, the girls are called Sijeh, or "Older Training Sister", and Simei, for "Younger Training Sister". The Senior and Junior titles are by no means an indication of the student's age or his skill level - your sihing simply began learning under your sifu before you did, and no matter how much better you get than him, he will always be your sihing, just like your older brother will always be your older brother no matter how many times you kick his ass!
In traditional kung fu, "new styles" are not often created, which means that your Sifu probably learned his skills from another master, just like you learned from him. Your Sifu's Sifu is then your "Sigung", or "Teacher-Grandfather". This title is often misconstrued as the "Grandmaster" title that is used to boast about how bad-ass someone is. In fact, just as your Sihing's skill may not be as good as yours, being a Sigung does not necessarily reflect the person's ability. However, he did teach your Sifu, so if your Sifu is really skilled, it's not unreasonable to believe that your Sigung is a badass as well!
If your Sifu is married, regardless of whether or not his wife practices any type of Kung Fu, she is referred to as "Simu", or "Teacher-Mother". In the past, most Simus actually did not practice the same type of Kung Fu as their husbands, if they practiced any Kung Fu at all. If they did, however, they were often masters of their own family art, and in fact, many lineages of Kung Fu today are actually combinations of the arts of a past master and his wife. A primary example of this would be the Tiger-Crane forms from Hung Gar Kung Fu.
Lastly, just like you, your sifu has training siblings. They are your training uncles and aunts. Just like your sihings and sidis, their actual age may be older or younger than your Sifu's actual age, and their title is derived when they began training with your sifu. Your Sifu's Sihing is your Sibak, or "Senior Training Uncle", and your Sifu's Sidi is your "Sisuk", or "Junior Training Uncle". Your Sifu's Sijeh and Simei are both your "Sigu" - there is no distinction for seniority of aunts in the Chinese language. Again, like your own sihings and sidis, your sibaks, sisuks, and sigus may or may not be skilled, as even if they have not trained in a long time, they are still your sibaks, sisuks, and sigus. However, many of them often go on to open their own schools and are Sifu's in their own right, and are indeed very good!
My sisuk, Sisuk Lance, is one of those who are very good. He has not opened his own school, but he continues to train and teach under his sifu. Below is a video of him practicing a three-sectional staff form passed down to our lineage by Shek Kin, the Kung Fu master who played Mr. Han in "Enter the Dragon".
Sisuk Lance's knowledge and understanding of Choy Lay Fut is vast, and he has helped me with many of my questions about Kung Fu. At nearly age 40 (almost ten years older than my Sifu), he still moves amazing, as you can see in the video. Enjoy!
Today's Kung Fu related post is about the "family" system that exists in most kung fu schools and communities. The system is not meant to be a hierarchy, but rather as a way to show respect to seniority - a value that is very important in Chinese culture.
First and foremost, the Sifu. Sifu translates roughly to "Father-Teacher", and he is just that. In the olden days, prospective students would prostrate themselves in front of a master to beg him to take him as a student. If he was accepted, he would often live, eat, work, and train at the kung fu school. Some Sifus also taught their students to read and write, aside from being the head of the kung fu school. Today, the title of Sifu usually refers to the person who runs the school, although, technically, anyone who has taken a student can be referred to as a Sifu. In this sense, the title of Sifu is also no indication of the age of the master, as a younger master can take on a student older than himself.
Your senior and junior students also have titles. If they are male, you refer to them as Sihing, for "Senior Training Brother", and Sidi, for "Junior Training Brother". Similarly, the girls are called Sijeh, or "Older Training Sister", and Simei, for "Younger Training Sister". The Senior and Junior titles are by no means an indication of the student's age or his skill level - your sihing simply began learning under your sifu before you did, and no matter how much better you get than him, he will always be your sihing, just like your older brother will always be your older brother no matter how many times you kick his ass!
In traditional kung fu, "new styles" are not often created, which means that your Sifu probably learned his skills from another master, just like you learned from him. Your Sifu's Sifu is then your "Sigung", or "Teacher-Grandfather". This title is often misconstrued as the "Grandmaster" title that is used to boast about how bad-ass someone is. In fact, just as your Sihing's skill may not be as good as yours, being a Sigung does not necessarily reflect the person's ability. However, he did teach your Sifu, so if your Sifu is really skilled, it's not unreasonable to believe that your Sigung is a badass as well!
If your Sifu is married, regardless of whether or not his wife practices any type of Kung Fu, she is referred to as "Simu", or "Teacher-Mother". In the past, most Simus actually did not practice the same type of Kung Fu as their husbands, if they practiced any Kung Fu at all. If they did, however, they were often masters of their own family art, and in fact, many lineages of Kung Fu today are actually combinations of the arts of a past master and his wife. A primary example of this would be the Tiger-Crane forms from Hung Gar Kung Fu.
Lastly, just like you, your sifu has training siblings. They are your training uncles and aunts. Just like your sihings and sidis, their actual age may be older or younger than your Sifu's actual age, and their title is derived when they began training with your sifu. Your Sifu's Sihing is your Sibak, or "Senior Training Uncle", and your Sifu's Sidi is your "Sisuk", or "Junior Training Uncle". Your Sifu's Sijeh and Simei are both your "Sigu" - there is no distinction for seniority of aunts in the Chinese language. Again, like your own sihings and sidis, your sibaks, sisuks, and sigus may or may not be skilled, as even if they have not trained in a long time, they are still your sibaks, sisuks, and sigus. However, many of them often go on to open their own schools and are Sifu's in their own right, and are indeed very good!
My sisuk, Sisuk Lance, is one of those who are very good. He has not opened his own school, but he continues to train and teach under his sifu. Below is a video of him practicing a three-sectional staff form passed down to our lineage by Shek Kin, the Kung Fu master who played Mr. Han in "Enter the Dragon".
Sisuk Lance's knowledge and understanding of Choy Lay Fut is vast, and he has helped me with many of my questions about Kung Fu. At nearly age 40 (almost ten years older than my Sifu), he still moves amazing, as you can see in the video. Enjoy!
Monday, September 18, 2006
Fantasy Football League Combat
As mentioned in the previous post, I am in a Fantasy Football League. Recently, I made a questionable trade with the preseason No. 1 pick, Larry Johnson. This ignited a series of rips on my ability as a general manager. Below is the transcript of the criticisms (names omitted):
What the Original Poster Said (note the numerous spelling errors):
What the Original Poster Said (note the numerous spelling errors):
Well ladies and gentelman if any of you have looke at the recent trades you may have seen something that shocked you into speechlessness....yes folks i am speeking of a certain trade involving Larry Johnson. I want to hear what everyone thinks about this trade becasue it baffels me. Will this one win the Stupidest Trade Award??
What They Said:I concur. Trading LJ for basically nothing does not seem very intelligent. Can you say De De De?
oh and i just realized that the trade is in the same division! way to give your opponent the advantage
this maybe the stupidest trade i have ever seen in my entire life. who knows what shoalin warrior monks is thinking.
What I Said:
A) It's my first time and it's all fun and games so lay off...
B) Looking back on the week it would have gotten me about 15 more points than I did *with* LJ, and that's the risk I was taking.
C) It's "gentlemen".
D) It's "looked".
E) It's "speaking".
F) It's "because".
G) It's "baffles".
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on "looke" and "becasue" and say they were typos, but the others I attribute to, oh, what's the word... stupidity?
I may be a hateful bastard, but a burn's a burn!
Separation Saturday, two days later...
This past Saturday featured seven college football games played between fourteen ranked teams, and gave an indicator as to which teams we will most likely see playing in January. The games were (image courtesy of MichiganZone, the Michigan sports blog):
The biggest shocker was No. 11 Michigan over media darlings No. 2 Notre Dame, 47-21. Obviously the favorite result here at Grant's Pad is No. 7 Florida over No. 13 Tennesee, 21-20! The Gators held the Volunteers to -11 (that is a minus sign there) rushing yards all day, and came back from two scores behind at halftime to win it in the fourth quarter, AT Tennessee! A year ago, under the circumstances, I would have resigned us to lose that one for sure, especially after seeing UT dominate California in their season opener.
That win vaulted Chris Leak all the way to #2 in ESPN's Heisman watch, as he now leads the nation in passing efficiency and passing touchdowns with 10 (three more than any other). The previous top-ranked QB, Eric Ainge of Tennessee, dropped as he had 0 TDs and 2 INTS against us. Shout out also goes to freshman sensation Tim Tebow, whose power running may have saved the day, and DeShawn Wynn, who finally came out with a 100+ yard day and sealed the clock win for us at the end of the game. Makes for some happy Gators!
Rounding out Saturday were pleasingly dominating wins by No. 12 Louisville over No. 17 Miami and unranked Clemson over inexplicably No. 9 FSU, as Miami dropped out of the rankings for the first time in, oh, forever or so (FSU, with it's atrocious 30 yards/game rushing average, is curiously still ranked after non-convincing wins over Miami and Troy). As for the other games, I didn't really pay attention but they were probably also pretty good.
The same cannot be said for my poor Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who suffered from endless batted passes, missed field goals, and turnovers. Current Chicago starting QB and Former Gator (and my hero, although Chris Leak is quickly catching up because of my perception of his character) Rex Grossman did my fantasy football team some serious good with a career high 280-ish yards for 4 TDs and no INTs, former Gator Chad Jackson caught his first NFL TD from Tom Brady, and that made for a nice day for UF in the NFL as well!
The biggest shocker was No. 11 Michigan over media darlings No. 2 Notre Dame, 47-21. Obviously the favorite result here at Grant's Pad is No. 7 Florida over No. 13 Tennesee, 21-20! The Gators held the Volunteers to -11 (that is a minus sign there) rushing yards all day, and came back from two scores behind at halftime to win it in the fourth quarter, AT Tennessee! A year ago, under the circumstances, I would have resigned us to lose that one for sure, especially after seeing UT dominate California in their season opener.
That win vaulted Chris Leak all the way to #2 in ESPN's Heisman watch, as he now leads the nation in passing efficiency and passing touchdowns with 10 (three more than any other). The previous top-ranked QB, Eric Ainge of Tennessee, dropped as he had 0 TDs and 2 INTS against us. Shout out also goes to freshman sensation Tim Tebow, whose power running may have saved the day, and DeShawn Wynn, who finally came out with a 100+ yard day and sealed the clock win for us at the end of the game. Makes for some happy Gators!Rounding out Saturday were pleasingly dominating wins by No. 12 Louisville over No. 17 Miami and unranked Clemson over inexplicably No. 9 FSU, as Miami dropped out of the rankings for the first time in, oh, forever or so (FSU, with it's atrocious 30 yards/game rushing average, is curiously still ranked after non-convincing wins over Miami and Troy). As for the other games, I didn't really pay attention but they were probably also pretty good.
The same cannot be said for my poor Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who suffered from endless batted passes, missed field goals, and turnovers. Current Chicago starting QB and Former Gator (and my hero, although Chris Leak is quickly catching up because of my perception of his character) Rex Grossman did my fantasy football team some serious good with a career high 280-ish yards for 4 TDs and no INTs, former Gator Chad Jackson caught his first NFL TD from Tom Brady, and that made for a nice day for UF in the NFL as well!
Friday, September 15, 2006
Figure This One Out...
Grant says:The statement below is true.
The statement above is false.
Shawn says:
hurts my brain
In other news, I've been reading a new webcomic lately, Piled Higher and Deeper (or Ph. D). It's a comic about engineering Ph. D students at Stanford - very entertaining for any of you who currently work or have worked in a research student environment. I've added a link in the Comics section as well, for those of you who use Grant's Pad as bookmark holder...
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Olympic Heights Black Magic Marching Drumline!
In a previous post from earlier this month, I mentioned that I had tried out for a Drum and Bugle Corps when I was in high school, and I noted that it was another story which was to be told later. At the time, I didn't really think about when I might actually tell that story, but a few days ago, I got back in touch with Rob, one of my best friends in high school. I'm taking that as a sign to write about some of my high school days.
In my freshman year of high school, I decided to join an extracurricular activity. At only 4'11", most sports were out of the question, so I decided to join band. Mr. Jensen, the band director at the time, indicated a particular need for oboe players, which was apparently a particularly difficult instrument to pick up and play. However, I had nearly eight years of piano experience at the time, so we decided that I would learn the oboe. I picked it up to a passable extent, only to find out when school started that it was marching band season (which coincides with the football season). The oboe, being a double-reeded instrument, is not suitable to march with (the reed is not supported by a hard piece and would break rather easily), so I had to find another instrument to march with. I wound up marching with Black Magic, the award-winning marching percussion unit, playing field cymbals, and that kicked off my career as a marching percussionist.
I met Rob almost exactly ten years ago (wow it really makes me feel old to talk about things in decades!). That pic to the left is what he looked like around eight years ago (I haven't seen him in like oh six years or so, so I can't tell you what he looks like now). It was my second year in high school, and I had been promoted to section leader of the Pit, or auxiliary percussion unit (the guys who play keyboard instruments in the "pit" area - no marching), and Rob and Jason were the two freshman who joined me in the Pit. It was the first year that Black Magic would feature a Pit unit, and so our parts were fairly simple, but we made a good team.
A year later, Rob, Jason, and I were assigned to the Bass section, along with Jon, who was a freshman cymbal player the year before. For those unfamiliar with marching bass sections, this section plays melodic parts, with each member in charge of only a fraction of the melody, which meant that each part was often staggered. Impeccable timing was of the utmost importance, and, needless to say, a very tight team with lots of experience playing as a group was needed. Jason was on first bass, the smallest drum, followed by myself, then Jon, and finally Rob at the end with the biggest drum. This was also the first year that Black Magic participated in the WGI, or Winter Guard International, circuit. WGI was a series of indoor competitions for marching drumlines and colorguard units that took place in the winter and spring seasons, following the normal marching season. It features extremely fast drill, and non-stop playing, since it was essentially a long drum solo without the rest of the band. As fourth bass, Rob not only had to carry the biggest drum, but often had to cover the most ground since he was the tail end of the line and had to create the most "whiplash" effect in our drill. The show was a huge success as we brought home numerous trophies from all over the state as Black Magic's first Indoor Marching Drumline. The unit was tight, but as any members from that year's unit can tell you, we had our share of drama, as my temper and regard for social stature took over from time to time (especially on the road).
The next year, our tight bass unit was again promoted to the Front Line. Jason and I were now marching on snare drums, while Rob and Jon went to tenors (before Jon moved to Atlanta). This was my last year with the Black Magic drumline, as I was a senior that year. It was this year that I would try out for the Magic of Orlando, a youth drum and bugle corps that competed all over the country. Drum and bugle corps was basically where all of the elite band members would go, and I wanted to be part of that. As it was, I was very inexperienced with my new instrument (the snare drum), and I was cut in the second round. However, my playing ability did improve quite a bit from the experience
It was also the first year that we would compete in the WGI World Championships in Dayton. Due to serious organization issues, we almost ended up not going, but when I mustered up enough support to change the staff's mind, we finally did go. However, due to our inexperience at the national level and our lack of practice time due to the organizational issues, we placed only a few spots from last place. After I graduated, Black Magic continued to participate in the WGI World Championships, placing 8th for at least two consecutive years. Rob and Jason were at the helm of the first of those two finalist years.
The vast majority of my high school life was spent with members of Black Magic Marching Drumline, and especially with those guys in the bass line from my junior year. I haven't so much as touched sticks in the past five years or so, but my time with Black Magic was definitely one of the most memorable eras of my life - good times, bad times, road trips, fighting, winning, and long (albeit disconnected) friendships!
Check out the Black Magic Marching Drumline website I made back in 1998 here! Olympic Heights Black Magic Marching Drumline
In my freshman year of high school, I decided to join an extracurricular activity. At only 4'11", most sports were out of the question, so I decided to join band. Mr. Jensen, the band director at the time, indicated a particular need for oboe players, which was apparently a particularly difficult instrument to pick up and play. However, I had nearly eight years of piano experience at the time, so we decided that I would learn the oboe. I picked it up to a passable extent, only to find out when school started that it was marching band season (which coincides with the football season). The oboe, being a double-reeded instrument, is not suitable to march with (the reed is not supported by a hard piece and would break rather easily), so I had to find another instrument to march with. I wound up marching with Black Magic, the award-winning marching percussion unit, playing field cymbals, and that kicked off my career as a marching percussionist.I met Rob almost exactly ten years ago (wow it really makes me feel old to talk about things in decades!). That pic to the left is what he looked like around eight years ago (I haven't seen him in like oh six years or so, so I can't tell you what he looks like now). It was my second year in high school, and I had been promoted to section leader of the Pit, or auxiliary percussion unit (the guys who play keyboard instruments in the "pit" area - no marching), and Rob and Jason were the two freshman who joined me in the Pit. It was the first year that Black Magic would feature a Pit unit, and so our parts were fairly simple, but we made a good team.A year later, Rob, Jason, and I were assigned to the Bass section, along with Jon, who was a freshman cymbal player the year before. For those unfamiliar with marching bass sections, this section plays melodic parts, with each member in charge of only a fraction of the melody, which meant that each part was often staggered. Impeccable timing was of the utmost importance, and, needless to say, a very tight team with lots of experience playing as a group was needed. Jason was on first bass, the smallest drum, followed by myself, then Jon, and finally Rob at the end with the biggest drum. This was also the first year that Black Magic participated in the WGI, or Winter Guard International, circuit. WGI was a series of indoor competitions for marching drumlines and colorguard units that took place in the winter and spring seasons, following the normal marching season. It features extremely fast drill, and non-stop playing, since it was essentially a long drum solo without the rest of the band. As fourth bass, Rob not only had to carry the biggest drum, but often had to cover the most ground since he was the tail end of the line and had to create the most "whiplash" effect in our drill. The show was a huge success as we brought home numerous trophies from all over the state as Black Magic's first Indoor Marching Drumline. The unit was tight, but as any members from that year's unit can tell you, we had our share of drama, as my temper and regard for social stature took over from time to time (especially on the road).The next year, our tight bass unit was again promoted to the Front Line. Jason and I were now marching on snare drums, while Rob and Jon went to tenors (before Jon moved to Atlanta). This was my last year with the Black Magic drumline, as I was a senior that year. It was this year that I would try out for the Magic of Orlando, a youth drum and bugle corps that competed all over the country. Drum and bugle corps was basically where all of the elite band members would go, and I wanted to be part of that. As it was, I was very inexperienced with my new instrument (the snare drum), and I was cut in the second round. However, my playing ability did improve quite a bit from the experienceIt was also the first year that we would compete in the WGI World Championships in Dayton. Due to serious organization issues, we almost ended up not going, but when I mustered up enough support to change the staff's mind, we finally did go. However, due to our inexperience at the national level and our lack of practice time due to the organizational issues, we placed only a few spots from last place. After I graduated, Black Magic continued to participate in the WGI World Championships, placing 8th for at least two consecutive years. Rob and Jason were at the helm of the first of those two finalist years.
The vast majority of my high school life was spent with members of Black Magic Marching Drumline, and especially with those guys in the bass line from my junior year. I haven't so much as touched sticks in the past five years or so, but my time with Black Magic was definitely one of the most memorable eras of my life - good times, bad times, road trips, fighting, winning, and long (albeit disconnected) friendships!
Check out the Black Magic Marching Drumline website I made back in 1998 here! Olympic Heights Black Magic Marching Drumline
Monday, September 11, 2006
Where were you on 9/11?
It's hard to believe five years have passed since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon took place on September 11, 2001. I don't mean to cliche the event, but I liken 9/11 to the JFK assassination of previous generations. Many people older than myself can rattle off the date and time that they heard about that assassination, and also reflect on exactly what they were doing at that time. That's something I can't do, but then again, I wouldn't be born for another thirteen or so years. 9/11, on the other hand, I do remember clearly.I had just woken up. My obnoxious roommates Jorge, George, and Pablo, and our friend Jordan, must have pulled an all nighter because it was only around 9 in the morning and they were already up watching TV. I was preparing my books in my bag, when they started shouting repeatedly, "Holy [expletive]! The Twin Towers are going down!" They made me look at the TV, and I saw that indeed, the Twin Towers were smoking. I remember thinking at the time, "Yeah, so? I need to get to the library to study for Digital Logic!"
It wouldn't be until hours later, when I was actually at the library, that I would realize the severity of the situation. I think it might have just been too much of a shock for me to take seriously at the time. I mean, come on, this is The United States of America! These things don't happen here! Now, five years later, I still think about the attacks from time to time. Sometimes, I think about it because of the attention it's brought to the States. The attacks made the USA seem unsafe, and other countries even thought of it as sort of a deserved punishment of the USA for all of our peddling in international affairs. Then there are the conspiracy theories. It really is something that you just wouldn't expect to happen in the States.
I didn't take the attacks seriously September 11, 2001. I still remember that day clearly though. What about you?
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Remembering Crocodile Hunter
So, College Football has finally begun, and the Florida Gators played a decent game against a not-so-cupcake University of Southern Mississippi, winning 34-7 (a la the "Stomp in the Swamp" against FSU last year) after falling behind early in the first quarter by a touchdown. Chris Leak was 70%, completing 21 of 30 passes for 248 yards and 3 touchdowns. DeShawn Wynn and Tim Tebow also ran in two touchdowns. Dallas Baker, the Touchdown Maker caught 1 TD among his nine catches for over 120 yards, and freshman sensation Percy Harvin showed some of his incredible playmaking ability by leading the Gators in rushing on just four attempts!
So, that sets the Gator's season in motion, but the title of today's post is a tribute to Steve Irwin, AKA Crocodile Hunter, the wacky Australian guy on TV that wrestled crocodiles and snakes and other strange creatures while narrating in a funny accent. Crocodile Hunter passed away over the weekend, due to a freakish accident with a stingray while filming. As annoying as many people thought he was, I think everyone still appreciated what he did. I remember my grandmother watching Crocodile Hunter when I was in Taiwan! Now that's some market penetration! Anyway, I found this clip on YouTube a few days ago (it's quite coincidental actually, considering what happened to Steve Irwin just days later), which I thought sums up the spirit of this post pretty well! Enjoy!
So, that sets the Gator's season in motion, but the title of today's post is a tribute to Steve Irwin, AKA Crocodile Hunter, the wacky Australian guy on TV that wrestled crocodiles and snakes and other strange creatures while narrating in a funny accent. Crocodile Hunter passed away over the weekend, due to a freakish accident with a stingray while filming. As annoying as many people thought he was, I think everyone still appreciated what he did. I remember my grandmother watching Crocodile Hunter when I was in Taiwan! Now that's some market penetration! Anyway, I found this clip on YouTube a few days ago (it's quite coincidental actually, considering what happened to Steve Irwin just days later), which I thought sums up the spirit of this post pretty well! Enjoy!
Friday, September 01, 2006
Jordan's New Direction
No, not Jordan the country! Jordan, my friend and former roommate from College!
You might remember Jordan from my earlier posts reminiscing about my college days. Jordan was the gringo of the La Mancha group - basically he was the only white guy among us not born outside of the USA. In fact, he hailed from the St. Louis area of Missouri. As such, you could say that he was the most American of the La Manchans from Fall 2000, as everyone else was either an exchange student from another country, born in another country, or, like myself, a second generation immigrant.
Jordan is a really cool guy. I think part of what made him so cool was the fact that he could really relate to almost any of us really easily, despite his American-as-apple-pie background. For example, he thoroughly enjoyed talking about international politics, which, while I'm not entirely too fond of doing now, was definitely the cool thing to do among the International La Manchans at the time. He enjoyed working out and played soccer for most of his life, which was the sport of choice amongst the internationals whom we were friends with most years. On top of that, he played trumpet in his high school marching band, and tried out for the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps, giving him and I yet another common point to relate with (it's not commonly known, but I played percussion in my high school marching band, and also tried out for a Drum and Bugle Corps when I was 16 - you can read all about that here, since that's an unrelated story to today's entry. And of course, Jordan had a car, something not many La Manchans had, and he was quite magnanimous when it came to letting people borrow it.
Anyhow, Jordan's college career was at least as full of adventures as mine. He came to the University of Florida in Fall 2000, to study Engineering. Shortly after, he decided that Engineering was not for him (and, not to be mean, but Pablo and I, the engineering students of the group, agreed with this assessment), and so he changed his major to Political Science. Jordan loved to travel at least as much as I do, and he showed it by going everywhere with us, from St. Augustine to Orlando, to bungee jumping in Costa Rica in winter of 2001. Jordan also became very interested in perfecting his Spanish, so he studied that as well, to the point where he would go to Spain the year after we were roommates in 2001. One year later, he decided to finish his college education at Mizzou, so I didn't see him again after he left for Spain. However, we have kept in touch, and I understand that he did meet up with many of our other friends (Chris, Paul, George, Jorge, and others) when they went vacationing in Europe.
During school and after graduating, Jordan did a number of different jobs - he delivered newspapers with Pablo, worked at Arby's, worked for UPS, and finally worked as a flight attendant. However, in the conversation we had earlier this week, he told me that he did not like that job at all, and has since taken his life in a brand new direction. Jordan has decided to become an ordained priest for the Roman Catholic Church, and is now living and studying at a seminary in Missouri!
This news was quite a shock for me, but I guess I can't say that I totally couldn't see it coming. I think Jordan was always looking for that thing he really wanted to do, at least ever since he came to UF and decided to try Engineering. His life as I know it has been lived to the fullest, and I wish him the best with his new endeavor - I know he loves to help people and make a difference, and, looking past the initial shock, I think this new direction just might be the perfect fit! I hope nothing but the best for him!
You might remember Jordan from my earlier posts reminiscing about my college days. Jordan was the gringo of the La Mancha group - basically he was the only white guy among us not born outside of the USA. In fact, he hailed from the St. Louis area of Missouri. As such, you could say that he was the most American of the La Manchans from Fall 2000, as everyone else was either an exchange student from another country, born in another country, or, like myself, a second generation immigrant.Jordan is a really cool guy. I think part of what made him so cool was the fact that he could really relate to almost any of us really easily, despite his American-as-apple-pie background. For example, he thoroughly enjoyed talking about international politics, which, while I'm not entirely too fond of doing now, was definitely the cool thing to do among the International La Manchans at the time. He enjoyed working out and played soccer for most of his life, which was the sport of choice amongst the internationals whom we were friends with most years. On top of that, he played trumpet in his high school marching band, and tried out for the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps, giving him and I yet another common point to relate with (it's not commonly known, but I played percussion in my high school marching band, and also tried out for a Drum and Bugle Corps when I was 16 - you can read all about that here, since that's an unrelated story to today's entry. And of course, Jordan had a car, something not many La Manchans had, and he was quite magnanimous when it came to letting people borrow it.Anyhow, Jordan's college career was at least as full of adventures as mine. He came to the University of Florida in Fall 2000, to study Engineering. Shortly after, he decided that Engineering was not for him (and, not to be mean, but Pablo and I, the engineering students of the group, agreed with this assessment), and so he changed his major to Political Science. Jordan loved to travel at least as much as I do, and he showed it by going everywhere with us, from St. Augustine to Orlando, to bungee jumping in Costa Rica in winter of 2001. Jordan also became very interested in perfecting his Spanish, so he studied that as well, to the point where he would go to Spain the year after we were roommates in 2001. One year later, he decided to finish his college education at Mizzou, so I didn't see him again after he left for Spain. However, we have kept in touch, and I understand that he did meet up with many of our other friends (Chris, Paul, George, Jorge, and others) when they went vacationing in Europe.
During school and after graduating, Jordan did a number of different jobs - he delivered newspapers with Pablo, worked at Arby's, worked for UPS, and finally worked as a flight attendant. However, in the conversation we had earlier this week, he told me that he did not like that job at all, and has since taken his life in a brand new direction. Jordan has decided to become an ordained priest for the Roman Catholic Church, and is now living and studying at a seminary in Missouri!
This news was quite a shock for me, but I guess I can't say that I totally couldn't see it coming. I think Jordan was always looking for that thing he really wanted to do, at least ever since he came to UF and decided to try Engineering. His life as I know it has been lived to the fullest, and I wish him the best with his new endeavor - I know he loves to help people and make a difference, and, looking past the initial shock, I think this new direction just might be the perfect fit! I hope nothing but the best for him!
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