More images here. Hope Martynka is OK after that freezing Sunday ;-)
More can be found here.
Recent passing away of Murashige sensei made me question what this is all about.
I am in no way any good at this. But thanks to Piotr I was lucky enough to have been exposed to some truly amazing experiences, pinnacle of which was being one of the last uchi-deshi in San Diego dojo. And more and more I feel aikido is not about becoming kick-ass killa. Its about passing this fleeting, subtle feelings and impressions I collected over the years. Passing on to younger kids who were not lucky enough to have met TKC or Murashinge. Too bad I am so flawed and crappy at passing it on. Too bad I was too thick to gain more from exposure to really iconic and legendary teachers... I knew then that it was important for me, now it downs on me it was not for me at all, I was just the messenger. Now I begin to see the responsibility that came with it and I am afraid I am failing dramatically.
Oh well, after all - all I can do is try the best within my (admittedly) limited abilities...
Really everything you can expect from a book. See, I read a lot. Really a lot. And only a few make impression. This one did.
I still consider myself a buddhist.
But recently I revised Existentialism, and while this one does not contradict Buddhism, it somehow focuses on smaller picture. It's like Newtonian physics is a subset of General Relativity. Or something like that.
Anyway - what I wanted to say is that whatever you do - you are alone in this. And all responsibility falls on you for whatever you do.
No, this is not a bad thing. Just let these scales fall off your eyes and stop blaming others or the world for your fuck-ups.
Oh yeah, right. How does sex and love fall into this? Well, to make long story short - these are just smoke and mirrors. Illusions and chess games. But - please - do your own research. Study, experience and draw your own conclusions. I do not want to give you easy answers. All I am saying - it is not as easy as it seems. Or better even - it's easier than you think.
And yes, Karmapa-chenno, motherfucker ;-)
Going postal - if you have not read Terry Pratchett's book - skip this one as you will miss half of the inside jokes. Very nicely done movie, but as mentioned - only for the genre fans.
Then there was World's End. Well, this one reminds me of From Dusk Till Dawn, where halfway through the move you actually realize you got the genre all wrong. My recommendation - do not read any recommendations, reviews or anything, just watch it. Hilarous!
And then there was After Earth, which, while still not bad, still was just mediocre. Oh, no, do not get me wrong. A good movie. Just... not in the same league as the first one here ;-)
Ugh... perhaps I am somehow biased towards Pratchett ;-)
It's about watches.
I wear pretty decent Omega (this one, to be exact). But once I found a watch i really like it has to cost arm and leg. Funny thing is I can see myself spending 10K US$ for this piece of jewellery. There is something liberating in spending outrageous amount of money for something you totally do not need. I am talking here about this:
I guess I will buy a fake copy next time I am in Bangkok, wear it for some time to see how it feels and then... Well, if I like it - you never know...
What was funny is how often the author is wrong about the history of WW2. I mean... the same facts look so differently from the other side of the Atlantic. And we do have more facts here than they see from over there. This is interesting how the point from which you are viewing the situation affects your perception.
Reminds me a bit of how Bartek was raving about his Kenyan history teacher in Nairobi. All facts wrong. Wrong? Well, perhaps not, but skewed and distorted. This is fun for me to listen, but if this is what is being taught at the best school in Kenya...
Yeah, dont get me started...