Fantasy football

I'm in the playoffs for the first time that I can remember!! Woohoo!! With a first round by no less.

Too bad the Niners' chances for the same aren't that good... Oh well...

Kendo practice: 2009-12-04

Got many comments at today's practice. Figured I should write them down so I remember.

Matsuda sensei: Timing of kiai (気合い) and strike. Need better ki-ken-tai-icchi (気剣体一致). A more complete cut. Start with a sharper kiai.

Yoshida sensei: Push-pull w/ the left hand. Relax the right hand onto the left hand. Raise the kensen by pushing forward w/ the left hand and then strike by pulling, while pushing forward w/ the right hand at the end.

I remember trying this before and wasn't happy w/ the results, but it may be time to revisit it.

Nishiura sensei: He was watching my practice after practice and then asked me to try a couple men strikes in front of him. He reminded me to push with the left foot, kicking the floor, and move forward with the hara (腹).

Waaahhhh!!!! So much to work on... T_T

(Thank you to all of the sensei-dachi (先生達) for their advice. ^_^)

Kendo

On my recent trip to Japan and Taiwan, I was able to practice kendo once in Japan at the Noma Dojo at its new location and once in Taiwan. Both times I was told the same thing by sensei, so I should probably, probably, write it down and work on it. :p

After I go for men, I am too rigid and tense and unable to strike again if my opponent steps back and I miss.

Sigh >_<

Camping at Pinnacles

Last weekend Erwin arranged for a car camping trip at Pinnacles National Park, which is about a 2 hour drive south of here, past Gilroy and Holister. Hsin-tien and I decided to join in. This would be Hsin-tien's first camping experience. The plan was to drive down Saturday, go on a hike, relax at the campsite, and go on another hike Sunday if people feel up for it. The main attraction at Pinnacles were the caves, which aren't always open due to the bats.

Originally there were 5-6 families/couples going, with 4 babies involved. O_o Scary... In the end though, due to various circumstances, it went down to 4 families/couples with 2 babies. That made it a lot more tolerable. I think we all concluded after the trip that more than 2 babies would be impossible. :) Eric and Ce joined us from Fresno, and Simon and Yoon came down from the Bay Area.

Hsin-tien and I met up w/ Erwin, Amanda, and Oskar around noon at Bear Gulch. After we ate lunch we got our gear together for the day hike. It was to be short, 2-3 miles. But there is a cave, and a baby involved. It was fun. The cave was interesting, and we got to go through the upper caves as well, which is often closed for the bats. Parts of it were a tight squeeze and I don't know how Erwin did it w/ Oskar on his back. O_o Oskar was a very cooperative and happy baby. :) After stopping at the "reservoir" we had a leisurely stroll back.

For dinner Erwin put together a terrific spread. My only real experience w/ camping so far has been backpacking, where we had to carry all of our equipment and food for multiple days, hiking many miles per day, and ending on freeze-dried food (which were delicious then :). So this car camping w/ cutting board, knives, cooking and eating utensils, was quiet different for me. Following are some pictures of the food and camp.

Unfortunately the shower facilities were... adequate, but a little spooky, since there were no lights. O_O

I think Hsin-tien came back fairly unscathed. We decided to take it easy on Sunday and just came back after cleaning up camp. We stopped at Gilroy for Hsin-tien to pick up some gifts for our trip to Taiwan. Both of us are a little under the weather right now because of stress and general tiredness, but nothing really from the trip. Perhaps this means more camping for the 2 of us in the future... ^_^

So disappointed...

I really should have known better...

I got a letter saying "2009 Obama Agenda Survey." Then I noticed that it's from the Republican National Committee. I figured I would still take a look. The letter says that there is a questionnaire included and they want to hear back from people. I'm thinking, "Ok, maybe they're interested in getting their message out and getting some feedback." Then on the other side of the letter it asks for money. >_< I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but still, I figured I would look at the questionnaire.

But going through that questionnaire I was really disappointed. They basically listed a bunch of topics in a divisive manner, and gave the options for Yes/No/No opinion. There is almost no way I could answer these questions w/ just Yes or No!! The first question was do I agree w/ Obama's budget plan. The 2nd question was do I believe the federal government went too far w/ the bailouts. And the 3rd was do I support amnesty for illegal immigrants. Is it just me or are these questions that cut and dry?

I especially liked the one that asks if I believe that Obama's nominees for federal courts should be immediately and unquestionably approved for their lifetime appointments by the U.S. Senate. I mean, a) I don't think he's going to be able to change how the system works, nor is he proposing to, b) if you just bow down yourself then you're not doing you job, and c) didn't you guys basically do similar things after 9/11 when you had the popular and media support?

And at the end of the questionnaire there was just the contribution reply. No space whatsoever for additional thoughts or comments. Granted, it may be next to impossible to go through random responses, but still.

To me, this questionnaire just seemed like a hoax. They list a bunch of divisive topics that appeal to what their current core constituency already believes in, build up their fervor, and then have them send in money. Makes me wonder if they would even take the results of the questionnaire seriously...