I like philosophical questioning. I sincerely think Socrates is a genius by relentlessly questioning the Greeks to get them to answer their own questions. All along he knew the answers, but made it a point that the others find those answers too. It must be extremely irritating for the Greek populace, but hey, because of guys like Socrates, the Classic Grecians are still considered one of the enlightened ancient races that sprouted in this planet.
Anyhow, what I'm getting at is that I like questioning the existence of man and his world. The problem is if I start asking the same questions that those classical philosophers asked, I come off as a dumb ass most of the time (lol).
I mean imagine Aristotle or Plato asking "who are you," or "where did you come from," and it would be a legitimate question. I ask the same questions, I'll probably get "mind your darn business" or "what sort of drug are you into these days, huh?"
Well, aside from philosophy I happen to love astronomy. Star gazing is one of my favorite past times. I don't know most of the stars I look at but I like just lying down on the ground, counting shooting stars, and feeling the evening breeze.
The other day while I was educating myself over some astronomy articles, I came across a sort of philosophical/scientific question "WHY IS NIGHT SKY DARK?" Now, it sounds stupid if you think of it in a smart-alecky way but then after careful mental rumination (wow! lol!) I decided that it is indeed an interesting question.
If there is an infinite number of stars scattered evenly in the sky there should be a point without a star. However distant some may be, the sky should be bright with light. The question "Why is the night sky dark?" is known as Olbers' Paradox.
The question apparently baffled scientists and philosophers for centuries.
Heinrich Olbers, a German astronomer, proposed in theory that every line of sight from Earth ought to have ended up at a star, not on a dark, empty space. According to what I read:
" He imagined the Earth to be the center of an infinite series of concentric circles, each studded with stars. From the stars in the first shell, the Earth would receive a certain amount of light. Light from the second shell, at twice the distance, would be proportionally fainter. But since the second shell would have to be larger than the first shell in order to contain it, the second shell would have more stars."
The Olbers' calculations total the starlight from the two shells would be the same, and would apply to all the subsequent shells. Like the scientists of his time, he believed the universe to be infinite as well. Thus in conclusion, if the shells continued out from the Earth toward infinity, we would receive an infinite amountof light - the sky then should never be dark.
His math could not be faulted but of course, our own eyes could not be either. The night sky is indeed dark no matter how those calculations speak.
Several explanations were proposed, which included the fact that stars are not evenly distributed throughout the universe but were clustered into galaxies. This does not affect Olbers' argument though as scientists report. Eventually there were only two possible ways out of this paradox: either the universe was finite and came to an end somewhere, or else it was expanding.
The article further explains:
"The universe is finite, at least in time, and has been expanding for about 13 billion years since the Big Bang. Since nothing can travel faster than light, nothing can be farther away than 13 billion light years. So quite simply, the sky is dark because the universe has not yet had time to light up."
Interestingly, the drunken writer, Edgar Allan Poe was one of the first few to point out that a finite, expanding universe was the only logical explanation for the darkness of the night sky, and even discussed the possibility that the universe began with a Big Bang. That's more than a century in advance from Stephen Hawking's. All this was told in his poem "Eureka."
A simple question with several complicated answers.
The dark night sky is still lovely eventhough all the starlight in space haven't lit it all up.
Cheers Poe! *raises a glass of wine*
Monday, October 23, 2006
Sunday, October 22, 2006
FREUD'S COUCH
Psychology was one of my favorite subjects in college. I wanted to take it as pre-law and not because I like to figure out what the other people are thinking. Ha! Quite frankly, I'd rather let them leave their thoughts to themselves --> except of course when I'm interested with someone's thoughts (wink wink). Anyhow, I always knew I'm crazy and I like to figure out the severity of my lunacy.
The problem with self-study and self-diagnosis is the tendency to relate so much with every little thing you read due to personal bias. I think I used to diagnose myself as Schizophreniform with Bipolar I disorder and OC personality disorder. And I feared for everyone's sake --> lol.
Due to the wonders of the internet, there are sites that offer psych tests for almost anything that your mind could think of. So my goal for a personal objective study of myself had more progress. I don't like to get "professional" opinion. I don't trust what guidance counselors tell me. It's easy to fake exams. It's easy for me to convince things on paper in order to get my way. Plus a little acting in the office, it's done. The only way I see for this self psychoanalysis project of mine to get off is do a blind study. The internet offer a minimal level of this, but it suits me fine for the moment.
Anyway, one day, bored as usual, I decided to take several psych tests for the heck of it.
The first test was a color test. It showed series of colors of varying shades and makes you pick which you like better. AT the end of the test, the site froze, and knowing that my attention span is that of a baby, I moved to another test. Too bad, it could've been interesting.
The next test I had a lot of fun. It was a MENSA IQ fun test. Initially, it showed series of numbers and letters and you figure it out (i.e. 101 D --> 101 Dalmatians; 365 D of the Y --> 365 days of the year). I wanted to back out because I hate numbers, but then I'd like to find out if I am a cretin and would like to get proper documentation for it if they do provide that. I was planning to frame it and hang it on my wall to silence people alluding untrue adjectives of my mental faculties. Unfortunately, the test showed that I'm not a cretin. What a party pooper.
The next test is a belief test. This interested me a lot. It provided a series of questions about faith and I answered either YES or NO. There was also a checklist of other issues for you to consider. The test revealed that my beliefs are more of Liberal Protestant, Tao Buddhism, and Scientology. I find myself chuckling because I know I haven't had the urge to destroy couches and scream "I'm in love. I love ___!!" <jump, jump, jump>. Moreover, I cannot quite imagine myself bald, sipping tea, and into the noble 8-fold path. I am more of the Bushido code-type and the NO-MIND technique I do naturally. Hahaha. Then of course there's the Sun-Tzu Art of War.
The next test is of them personality test. Like most personality tests this was lengthy and I got easily got bored with it, but I stuck with it because I wanted to know if I do have personality. What it revealed in the end is that I am an INTJ (Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging). When I read through the explanation, I got a good kick out of it. Finally, I had some sense of enlightenment on why my lovelife is nonexistent. Says there lovelife is actually an INTJ's Achilles' heel. It was a wonderful insight. The cool thing is I read through was when I found out some personalities that share my line of thinking:
REAL: John F. Kennedy, Thomas Jefferson, Rudy Giulliani, US General Secretary of State Colin Powell, Augustus Caesar, Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis, Lance Armstrong, and Katie Couric.
FICTIONAL: Cassius (Julius Caesar), Gandalf the Grey (LOTR), Professor Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes), and Clarice Starling (Silence of the Lambs).
Though I still insist on my insanity, for now I guess I can sleep well with the thought that Gandalf the Grey is as cracked as I am! I mean how cool is that!!
Time's up!
The problem with self-study and self-diagnosis is the tendency to relate so much with every little thing you read due to personal bias. I think I used to diagnose myself as Schizophreniform with Bipolar I disorder and OC personality disorder. And I feared for everyone's sake --> lol.
Due to the wonders of the internet, there are sites that offer psych tests for almost anything that your mind could think of. So my goal for a personal objective study of myself had more progress. I don't like to get "professional" opinion. I don't trust what guidance counselors tell me. It's easy to fake exams. It's easy for me to convince things on paper in order to get my way. Plus a little acting in the office, it's done. The only way I see for this self psychoanalysis project of mine to get off is do a blind study. The internet offer a minimal level of this, but it suits me fine for the moment.
Anyway, one day, bored as usual, I decided to take several psych tests for the heck of it.
The first test was a color test. It showed series of colors of varying shades and makes you pick which you like better. AT the end of the test, the site froze, and knowing that my attention span is that of a baby, I moved to another test. Too bad, it could've been interesting.
The next test I had a lot of fun. It was a MENSA IQ fun test. Initially, it showed series of numbers and letters and you figure it out (i.e. 101 D --> 101 Dalmatians; 365 D of the Y --> 365 days of the year). I wanted to back out because I hate numbers, but then I'd like to find out if I am a cretin and would like to get proper documentation for it if they do provide that. I was planning to frame it and hang it on my wall to silence people alluding untrue adjectives of my mental faculties. Unfortunately, the test showed that I'm not a cretin. What a party pooper.
The next test is a belief test. This interested me a lot. It provided a series of questions about faith and I answered either YES or NO. There was also a checklist of other issues for you to consider. The test revealed that my beliefs are more of Liberal Protestant, Tao Buddhism, and Scientology. I find myself chuckling because I know I haven't had the urge to destroy couches and scream "I'm in love. I love ___!!" <jump, jump, jump>. Moreover, I cannot quite imagine myself bald, sipping tea, and into the noble 8-fold path. I am more of the Bushido code-type and the NO-MIND technique I do naturally. Hahaha. Then of course there's the Sun-Tzu Art of War.
The next test is of them personality test. Like most personality tests this was lengthy and I got easily got bored with it, but I stuck with it because I wanted to know if I do have personality. What it revealed in the end is that I am an INTJ (Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging). When I read through the explanation, I got a good kick out of it. Finally, I had some sense of enlightenment on why my lovelife is nonexistent. Says there lovelife is actually an INTJ's Achilles' heel. It was a wonderful insight. The cool thing is I read through was when I found out some personalities that share my line of thinking:
REAL: John F. Kennedy, Thomas Jefferson, Rudy Giulliani, US General Secretary of State Colin Powell, Augustus Caesar, Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis, Lance Armstrong, and Katie Couric.
FICTIONAL: Cassius (Julius Caesar), Gandalf the Grey (LOTR), Professor Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes), and Clarice Starling (Silence of the Lambs).
Though I still insist on my insanity, for now I guess I can sleep well with the thought that Gandalf the Grey is as cracked as I am! I mean how cool is that!!
Time's up!
TECH PEEPS
There are two things that my brain is too lazy to bother with: NUMBERS and TECH STUFF.
Throw a series of numerals at me and my cerebrum shuts down and reboots itself. If Mathematics was a relationship, it would be like dating a high-maintenance metrosexual. It’s just too darn tedious to deal with. My parents and teachers used to think that I just don’t have the aptitude for math because my grades were not too fabulous in that department. Truth be told, I was plainly not interested. It’s like Brad Pitt without the X-factor to me. I could make it work, but then it doesn’t turn me on. I get it, but I don’t see the application of higher mathematics in my life. Further proof is when I decided to like Trigonometry and Calculus to prove to the cynics that I can if I wanted to. And sure enough I got impressive grades but then after that, “alright, so what now?” I have amnesia attacks worse than those in soap opera plots when I try to recall those subjects. The numbers I choose to understand these days are the numbers in the calendar, clock, phone numbers, license plates, addresses, and anything that has a currency sign before it. I process faster than the speed of light when I analyze my paycheck, pay bills, receive change, or more importantly check the deductions and TAXES (grrrr!). After all, those things go in and out of my wallet, and THAT is serious business to me.
Now when it comes to technical stuff particularly COMPUTER stuff, it’s a different story.
My brain is like Garfield. The world revolves around it and Jon is my slave. It expects to be fed and it likes to make fun of the hand who feds it. And it applies mostly with the computer guys.
I derive eternal satisfaction on bugging the IT people and I don’t mean that in a bad way. Just like the orange tabby cat, it loves its geeky owner in a sadistic sort of way. I like asking them questions that they end up answering for themselves. Hehehe.
It could be because I have a brother who’s a Mathematics/Computer Science Major, who I love pestering to death. He calls me TECHNO-MORON as a term of endearment. His trouble shooting skills with my computer is limited to REFORMATTING ‘cuz he knows how much I collect viruses. I recall him asking/telling me “You could cross a street, right? Your password is in CAPSLOCK, that’s why you could not get in!” He shoots me an evil eye and chuckles. I laugh along as I mentally dig for my IQ at that moment. Love that guy. Unfortunately, he’s migrated to Ice Age Maple Leaf Country, so too bad for the IT population that has to deal with me everyday.
Most of the techies I meet are mild-mannered quiet types. I assume that this is mainly due to the fact that most of them spent more quality time with their beloved “electric dreams” girl/boyfriends indoors than pick fights outside in high school. They tend to be very patient because they have to memorize instructions worse than “How to Make Sushi – in original Japanese texts and format,” and computer codes probably sent by crank-calling aliens from outer space. But most of all, their sense of humor is so wacky maybe because of being confined in a cubicle the size of a shoe box for 8-10 hours a day. Fleeting pictures of padded rooms flash before me when someone tells me he/she is a computer programmer or in some IT-related profession. I mean you must be a little crazy to learn a language based on numbers, weird symbols, acronyms, and lingo like “fatal error, must restart.” It’s like learning to read and write hieroglyphics.
Another thing I like about them is when they converge in one corner and crowd over the latest issue of PC Magazine or other tech mags. They look like a bunch of high schoolers reading porn. (Hahaha!)
For an old school thinker like me (my laptop is a portable typewriter – and that’s not a joke!), tech people are my tour guides in this millennium of AI. I point at the site, they lead me there like good travel agents. Hehehe! The computer is just a vacation spot for my brain. I like interacting with these people because it’s like a close encounter of the third kind. FOR THEM! When I’m too lazy to think and pretend to be a complete dumbass around the computer, they approach you with a We-come-in-peace-Take-me-to-your-leader face. Sometimes when I know I’m so close to their boiling points, I imagine mental images of the Rush Hour scene “Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?!!” going through their minds. I like eavesdropping between IT to IT personnel’s KGB-CIA gibberish and figure out what they are up to. When I mess up my computer, they start scratching their heads like they have severe fungal infection. They call for back-up and operate on the thing like it’s triple coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
My fondest moment is when my boss, an IT guy, set-up my computer in the office. I have no idea what he installed in my CPU and I honestly don’t care. As long as I can type, play my MP3s and games, send info to our FTP, and surf, I’m happy. Before I took the CPU home, he tried to explain to me several maintenance stuff I should remember doing. I tried to note the essentials, but half of my brain was in a beach somewhere sipping Margaritas.
When I got home, I just opened every single thing in the program bar and figured out what these things are for. There was one maintenance program I came across, which I recall my boss lectured that after a week of surfing I should use to remove unnecessary data that accumulated so as to free up disk space. I surfed ‘til 3 AM and after that, decided to use the program. Trying to work it, I just clicked the buttons which I think made sense and watched it do its thing. To be sure though, when I got the message “You are about to delete all, are you sure?” I text-messaged my boss, told him what I did, and asked him if I should say “YES” to this message. He knew how decisive I am and how I am about NOT WAITING for a reply. I guess that was the fastest Yahoo Messenger log in I have ever seen because when I was about to click “YES,” a chat screen POPPED screaming “NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” I was in stitches laughing alone in my room.
The next day when I got to the office, he was chuckling, shaking his head and telling my other IT bosses what I did. They told me, “It took us three days to install those things, and it nearly took a second for your itchy fingers to delete all of it!!” Then he proceeds to teach me again how to save me from myself.
PS: I would like to propose of a new version of Charades using computer terms. I’d like to see how the heck these guys will do “PAUSE/BREAK,” “SCROLL LOCK,” “DNS ERROR #,” “F5,”and “JAVA SCRIPT.” I think that would be an interesting Christmas party game.
Throw a series of numerals at me and my cerebrum shuts down and reboots itself. If Mathematics was a relationship, it would be like dating a high-maintenance metrosexual. It’s just too darn tedious to deal with. My parents and teachers used to think that I just don’t have the aptitude for math because my grades were not too fabulous in that department. Truth be told, I was plainly not interested. It’s like Brad Pitt without the X-factor to me. I could make it work, but then it doesn’t turn me on. I get it, but I don’t see the application of higher mathematics in my life. Further proof is when I decided to like Trigonometry and Calculus to prove to the cynics that I can if I wanted to. And sure enough I got impressive grades but then after that, “alright, so what now?” I have amnesia attacks worse than those in soap opera plots when I try to recall those subjects. The numbers I choose to understand these days are the numbers in the calendar, clock, phone numbers, license plates, addresses, and anything that has a currency sign before it. I process faster than the speed of light when I analyze my paycheck, pay bills, receive change, or more importantly check the deductions and TAXES (grrrr!). After all, those things go in and out of my wallet, and THAT is serious business to me.
Now when it comes to technical stuff particularly COMPUTER stuff, it’s a different story.
My brain is like Garfield. The world revolves around it and Jon is my slave. It expects to be fed and it likes to make fun of the hand who feds it. And it applies mostly with the computer guys.
I derive eternal satisfaction on bugging the IT people and I don’t mean that in a bad way. Just like the orange tabby cat, it loves its geeky owner in a sadistic sort of way. I like asking them questions that they end up answering for themselves. Hehehe.
It could be because I have a brother who’s a Mathematics/Computer Science Major, who I love pestering to death. He calls me TECHNO-MORON as a term of endearment. His trouble shooting skills with my computer is limited to REFORMATTING ‘cuz he knows how much I collect viruses. I recall him asking/telling me “You could cross a street, right? Your password is in CAPSLOCK, that’s why you could not get in!” He shoots me an evil eye and chuckles. I laugh along as I mentally dig for my IQ at that moment. Love that guy. Unfortunately, he’s migrated to Ice Age Maple Leaf Country, so too bad for the IT population that has to deal with me everyday.
Most of the techies I meet are mild-mannered quiet types. I assume that this is mainly due to the fact that most of them spent more quality time with their beloved “electric dreams” girl/boyfriends indoors than pick fights outside in high school. They tend to be very patient because they have to memorize instructions worse than “How to Make Sushi – in original Japanese texts and format,” and computer codes probably sent by crank-calling aliens from outer space. But most of all, their sense of humor is so wacky maybe because of being confined in a cubicle the size of a shoe box for 8-10 hours a day. Fleeting pictures of padded rooms flash before me when someone tells me he/she is a computer programmer or in some IT-related profession. I mean you must be a little crazy to learn a language based on numbers, weird symbols, acronyms, and lingo like “fatal error, must restart.” It’s like learning to read and write hieroglyphics.
Another thing I like about them is when they converge in one corner and crowd over the latest issue of PC Magazine or other tech mags. They look like a bunch of high schoolers reading porn. (Hahaha!)
For an old school thinker like me (my laptop is a portable typewriter – and that’s not a joke!), tech people are my tour guides in this millennium of AI. I point at the site, they lead me there like good travel agents. Hehehe! The computer is just a vacation spot for my brain. I like interacting with these people because it’s like a close encounter of the third kind. FOR THEM! When I’m too lazy to think and pretend to be a complete dumbass around the computer, they approach you with a We-come-in-peace-Take-me-to-your-leader face. Sometimes when I know I’m so close to their boiling points, I imagine mental images of the Rush Hour scene “Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?!!” going through their minds. I like eavesdropping between IT to IT personnel’s KGB-CIA gibberish and figure out what they are up to. When I mess up my computer, they start scratching their heads like they have severe fungal infection. They call for back-up and operate on the thing like it’s triple coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
My fondest moment is when my boss, an IT guy, set-up my computer in the office. I have no idea what he installed in my CPU and I honestly don’t care. As long as I can type, play my MP3s and games, send info to our FTP, and surf, I’m happy. Before I took the CPU home, he tried to explain to me several maintenance stuff I should remember doing. I tried to note the essentials, but half of my brain was in a beach somewhere sipping Margaritas.
When I got home, I just opened every single thing in the program bar and figured out what these things are for. There was one maintenance program I came across, which I recall my boss lectured that after a week of surfing I should use to remove unnecessary data that accumulated so as to free up disk space. I surfed ‘til 3 AM and after that, decided to use the program. Trying to work it, I just clicked the buttons which I think made sense and watched it do its thing. To be sure though, when I got the message “You are about to delete all, are you sure?” I text-messaged my boss, told him what I did, and asked him if I should say “YES” to this message. He knew how decisive I am and how I am about NOT WAITING for a reply. I guess that was the fastest Yahoo Messenger log in I have ever seen because when I was about to click “YES,” a chat screen POPPED screaming “NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” I was in stitches laughing alone in my room.
The next day when I got to the office, he was chuckling, shaking his head and telling my other IT bosses what I did. They told me, “It took us three days to install those things, and it nearly took a second for your itchy fingers to delete all of it!!” Then he proceeds to teach me again how to save me from myself.
PS: I would like to propose of a new version of Charades using computer terms. I’d like to see how the heck these guys will do “PAUSE/BREAK,” “SCROLL LOCK,” “DNS ERROR #,” “F5,”and “JAVA SCRIPT.” I think that would be an interesting Christmas party game.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
OVERWORKED?
I love to work.
I like doing something most of the time.
And I just don't take a job for the sake of having a job. I'm pretty picky actually because if I don't like what I'm doing, I'll stop working and find something else to do.
I don't know if I am just extremely passionate-dispassionate or simply just nuts. What I do know is that I'm always on the go.
Recently, I have been juggling so many extremely different things as usual. Two jobs and several rackets in between. I go home just to sleep and shower. The rest of my life is either in the office or in my car, which by the way, doubles as my roving condominium (complete with extra clothes, pillows and blankets, books and, heck, if I could fit in a refrigerator, it probably would have one).
Anyhow, being a workaholic deprives me recently of a "life." My social life is in the internet, pantry-jokes with my co-workers, and over-coffee-conversations with a client/boss/broker. My dates turn up (if they do show up) in my dreams, and it's usually over in 4 hours unless I push the snooze button for an extra 5 minutes. I see my parents when we accidentally bump each other in the kitchen. I see my dog everytime I leave, come home, or the caretaker tells me to hand me her dog food. Our daily interaction these days is limited to "good morning", "good night", and "good doggy."
So what do I get from all this working?
Well, primarily MONEY (which actually doesn't matter much to me but I use it as a score to rate myself). Money I enjoy having, not because it makes me "feel rich" sort of thing, but I have lots of hobbies that's just too high maintenance (e.g. reading - buy books, music - buy CDs, movies - watch movies/buy DVDs) and a vice to maintain (i.e. coffee - buy coffee or you die --> Damn Starbucks! I'm too addicted to quit). But more importantly, I like the challenge. I don't know. I must be crazy, but I like having something to work over in my brain. It's like chasing a guy, they say you can't have (I don't chase by the way, I lure. --> lol!)
Well, challenge I have a lot these days and I'm getting sick physically. Some blinker inside of me indicated the need to to slow down and get serviced. So I took the weekend off from doing extra work and relax. Unfortunately, my mind is racing and my hands are jittery (I know it's not from the coffee, it's not!) that I have to do something.
So as therapy, I decided to continue to work on my unfinished stories, then I realized I'm working again. So I abandoned it. I started texting my pals, which funnily, ended up in business talks. After talking to three of them, I decided to sleep instead. Fortunately, after taking my usual sleep "pill" (a.k.a. antihistamine - Benadryl), I zonked out in 15 minutes.
After a 2 hour nap, here I am up again, looking for something to do.
And I remembered, I have to "work" on my blog which I forgot to do these days. ;-)
I like doing something most of the time.
And I just don't take a job for the sake of having a job. I'm pretty picky actually because if I don't like what I'm doing, I'll stop working and find something else to do.
I don't know if I am just extremely passionate-dispassionate or simply just nuts. What I do know is that I'm always on the go.
Recently, I have been juggling so many extremely different things as usual. Two jobs and several rackets in between. I go home just to sleep and shower. The rest of my life is either in the office or in my car, which by the way, doubles as my roving condominium (complete with extra clothes, pillows and blankets, books and, heck, if I could fit in a refrigerator, it probably would have one).
Anyhow, being a workaholic deprives me recently of a "life." My social life is in the internet, pantry-jokes with my co-workers, and over-coffee-conversations with a client/boss/broker. My dates turn up (if they do show up) in my dreams, and it's usually over in 4 hours unless I push the snooze button for an extra 5 minutes. I see my parents when we accidentally bump each other in the kitchen. I see my dog everytime I leave, come home, or the caretaker tells me to hand me her dog food. Our daily interaction these days is limited to "good morning", "good night", and "good doggy."
So what do I get from all this working?
Well, primarily MONEY (which actually doesn't matter much to me but I use it as a score to rate myself). Money I enjoy having, not because it makes me "feel rich" sort of thing, but I have lots of hobbies that's just too high maintenance (e.g. reading - buy books, music - buy CDs, movies - watch movies/buy DVDs) and a vice to maintain (i.e. coffee - buy coffee or you die --> Damn Starbucks! I'm too addicted to quit). But more importantly, I like the challenge. I don't know. I must be crazy, but I like having something to work over in my brain. It's like chasing a guy, they say you can't have (I don't chase by the way, I lure. --> lol!)
Well, challenge I have a lot these days and I'm getting sick physically. Some blinker inside of me indicated the need to to slow down and get serviced. So I took the weekend off from doing extra work and relax. Unfortunately, my mind is racing and my hands are jittery (I know it's not from the coffee, it's not!) that I have to do something.
So as therapy, I decided to continue to work on my unfinished stories, then I realized I'm working again. So I abandoned it. I started texting my pals, which funnily, ended up in business talks. After talking to three of them, I decided to sleep instead. Fortunately, after taking my usual sleep "pill" (a.k.a. antihistamine - Benadryl), I zonked out in 15 minutes.
After a 2 hour nap, here I am up again, looking for something to do.
And I remembered, I have to "work" on my blog which I forgot to do these days. ;-)
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
OF FLYING GUILLOTINES AND DEATH PUNCHES
I was channel surfing one night, eager to reach the CNN channel, when I accidentally "surfed by" The National Geographic Channel.
The channel has this Martial Arts Week, and was featuring this show, "Fight Science." For the uninitiated in the martial arts scene, I highly recommend this show.
"Fight Science" examines the different kinds of martial arts, its warriors and their weapons, and the truth about certain myths as "proved" by science. Armed with high tech gadgets that can measure force, acceleration, etc. and motion capture cameras, it effectively demonstrated how much damage a punch of a boxer, a kick from Muay Thai champion, or a death punch from a ninja can actually do.
The scientists who were studying it paralleled their data with their "crash test dummy studies." I was amazed when one hard-body athlete was able to break 13 3-inch hollow blocks producing a thousand G's of force. It's like wow, I don't want to mess with this guy (well, I think he's a nice guy and doesn't hit girls in the first place). Then there's this Muay Thai boxer Melchor Menor, who can seriously kick someone's butt with his 56.3-kilometer-an hour knee kick. Now, I understand why on earth the sport is illegal in some places. Talk about one car crash waiting to happen. Then there's 3-time gold medalist, Alex Huynh's kung fu (wu-shu) punch beating a serpent strike (which was measurred by this device called an accelorometer). So Bruce Lee's and even Jackie Chan's moves can be that fast (I always thought, those moves are just like camera tricks in speed, it's nice to know it can be that real?). Interestingly, he also showed some fancy drunken boxing moves, which I find cool. There were boxers, grapplers, tae kwondo martial artists, but I was particularly impressed with this ninjitsu expert, Glenn Levy. He came to the dojo (or Fight Lab as the scientists called it) to prove if there is any truth about the ninja's cat-like balance. This was done by ascending a series of poles (plum poles) and it measures "sway." It looks deceptively easy, but it's not. The more one ascends to the higher pole, the more likely it will throw you off. The ninjitsu expert has zero sway and ascended quite quickly (and casually ... like he was walking in the park). Then there's what they call the "killer" death punch (as I have learned throughout the show, ninjas study the best moves of all martial arts plus pressure points, and uses these knowledge to, well, kill the enemy). Against the dummy, Mr. Levy's punch on the sternum looked mighty innocent, but as data and CG animation demonstrated, it is destructively heart-stopping.
Aside from that, they also suggested what could be the "ultimate" weapon for martial artists. Kali sticks, staffs, nunchuks, spears, bows, shurikens, swords ... it was interesting how they presented on how to handle these weapons and what are the pros and cons of these with regards to impact, control and range. Of course, in the end they said that it is the Japanese KATANA that is the ultimate weapon as it also "harmonizes" with the warrior's spirit. (Well, I totally agree ... just look at Uma Thurman's The Bride in Kill Bill and every single Japanese samurai anime. Hehehe. It harmonizes so much, it's so destructive. Maybe, that's the reason for the hara-kiri, to die by one's own sword in order to be one with it in the end? But then I could be wrong. Anyway, I find the weapon really cool. ;-). There is some sort of dignity that a samurai sword carries.)
Now, after watching this. The next few days I flipped my remote on the NG Channel again.
This time I watched the top 10 destructive Chinese weapons ever invented.
I guess after all the crap I've been having for the last few years, the violent side of me resurfaces, thanks to these kind of shows. Hehehe. My neighbors should thank God though that I'm a klutz, and my balance is certainly just limited to walking (I do trip often though.) And the weapon I can handle is just the pen. ;-)
Going back, they featured several chinese killer inventions from an innocent looking fan, or a regular chopstick to this fabled flying guillotine.
The flying guillotine was ranked as number one, yet no one has seen it. The story about this weapon is that it can be thrown from a distance, and by a pull of a link chain by the assasin, it decapitates the victim. One chinese antiques collector made a blue print and had his own version of the flying guillotine done. In the hands of a martial artist, the thing actually worked. FASCINATING. (Well, if I were THAT evil, I CAN imagine the uses! I'm just quasi evil as pops Dr. Evil once said. )
Who says that you can't learn anything from TV these days? (Unfortunately, this stuff should be handled by slightly mature audiences, as impressionable adolescents tend to go overboard when they do get ideas).
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