Things to watch

Well that is odd, two posts in one day. If you liked Ferris Bueller's Day Off (and I did) you may find this fascinating (and I did). It is Ferris Bueller scenes set to Requiem for a Dream and, well, wow, how sound affects perception (via kottke.org) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vy2aJY6rq8

Also via kottke.org, this one is Sita Sings the Blues. I have not watched the whole thing yet and it is getting late but I find it hard to tear my eyes from it. These are the kinds of things that make you surf and want to create things at night. The way a trip to a museum or a great movie or concert might have once in a while inspired certain people for a moment this stuff is available all the time.

http://www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/indies/indie-sita-sings-the-blues/241/

Me retracto de todo lo dicho

I have to track down the author - did I see this through Kottke.org? I thought it was funny. A poet who ends his readings taking it all back. It seems like a reasonable option to give to people and yet in our ever recorded world we tend to allow no one to take back anything. So far, I don't think it has led to an increase in revenge homicide but you never know. So, I will have to find the original author and context and maybe, based on this sense of humor I will have to check out some of his poetry. In the mean time, I may change the tag line of my blog to read "Me retracto de todo lo dicho" - you know, just in case I ever want to run for office or something.

Electronicalitosis

How much of an online presence makes sense? How much is too much? Clearly these questions should depend on different factors. Maybe you need to keep in touch with people in widely spaced areas. Maybe it is a creative outlet for you. Maybe you see business opportunities. Maybe you are just reaching out. Maybe you are using the many web 2.0 tools that are popping up as a means of keeping your finger on the pulse, getting used to making your writing vulnerable, and, well, find it kind of interesting.

Unfortunately, with all the randomness we put out here I can't help but notice that a lot of it (mine too I am sure) just kind of stinks. Ah, no matter. With mindful practice I can tighten up the writing, determine what uses this might have for me and mine and the community at large, and just maybe learn to properly freshen up my words.

Wheels in Wheels

Coincidences are often interesting. They are statistically likely in most cases yet still appear to be evidence of deeper things. This one somewhat struck me in that manner. I came home from Aikido practice and then sent an email to my teacher regarding some dojo business. After sending the email I decide to surf on over to Kottke.org to see what was new today. One of the articles was titled "Mike Leigh's Collaborators." He is a filmmaker and the article was about how he works with actors. What caught my eye was the mention of the concepts of "relaxed concentration" and "deliberate practice." My first thought was that these links were going down a zen or buddhist path. However, the links on the relaxed concentration page covered so much more. It was mostly about sports but also about thinking in general.

With just the concept in mind I thought that this was a type of thing that I could incorporate into my Aikido. I then scroll down to the article called "A post by Jonah Lehrer about Thinking" which discusses how thinking about a putt helps a novice golfer but hurts an expert golfer. The idea is that experts had to think in a more holistic manner about what they were doing - rather than concentrating on the position of their wrist they needed to focus on "descriptive adjectives like smooth or balanced." Once again, I think, how could this help my Aikido. The next part of the post recommends the book "Mastery" by George Leonard. I click that link to see how it is described on Amazon and find that George Leonard is also the author of "Way of Aikido, The: Life Lessons from an American Sensei: Life Lessons from an American Sensei."

Not a giant coincidence but it completely fits in with what I was thinking about and takes me down a circular path. So, is it a message from the universe about taking my Aikido practice to a higher level and fighting to help keep my dojo in operation? Or is it damn clever marketing from Google and Amazon watching what I like, watching what I seem to be interested in, and then constructing a series of links that leads me to feel like I really must purchase a book that I have never heard of? There is some good paranoid potential in that line of thought. I wonder how the internet is affecting the sufferers of delusions....what the? Clicking over to "The Mask of Sanity" I don't know why...

I really have to turn off 1-click ordering.