Body movin'!

Boogie woogie! Its Friday, May 27, 2011, I'm feeling well rested and this is The Side. It seems that I've started snoring and really badly too. Its to the point where I've taken to the couch just so the Missus can get some shut eye. Fortunately its a very comfy couch. So I grabbed some of those nose strips yesterday. Not sure how much it effected my snoring, but slept like a stone.

DANCE!!

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE has kicked off its eighth season. Still maintaining a really great standard and still looking to keep the bar or barre very high. I know there's a lot of people, including many in my family who prefer DANCING WITH THE STARS, but really there's no comparison. I only caught half of the premier and the performances blew away anything DANCING WITH THE STARS had to offer.

Let's face it. The talent is better. The choreographers are amazing and have won Emmy Awards for their work. The genres of dance represented are broader. Over the seasons of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE the Hip Hop dance genre has been pushed to new heights, and depths with Lyrical Hip Hop emerging as an exciting new sub-genre. This week's auditions introduced us to the "Turfing" sub-genre that it specific to the San Francisco area.

DANCING WITH THE STARS wants you to look at the people they get on the show. SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE wants you to look at the people on their show creating magnificent displays of art.

FIGHT!!

When you teach you often don't do as much. You're having to keep an eye on the class and make sure everyone is doing what they're supposed to be doing. This is especially important when teaching martial arts because people can get hurt and it can happen pretty quickly. So over the years I haven't put on the gloves nearly as much as I used to. I retired from tournament fighting a while back. Really there wasn't much reason for me to put on the gloves aside from a few students who hadn't fought me that were curious about the experience.

Getting soft can creep up on you. You start to realize you don't have the gas tank that you used to. Firing off kicks at opponents' heads isn't as easy as it used to be. Timing and distancing start to get rusty. Here's a secret for you non-fighters: its all about timing and distancing. You just don't move like you used to. Its one thing if you're having to make adjustments because of Father Time. Its another if you have to make them because you haven't been training like you used to.

No instructor wants to me waddling around the dojo barking orders and hoping he tied his belt evenly because he can't see it to figure it out.

So with the Battle of the 7 Cities tournament looming close I had to put on the gloves to help get some of the guys ready. I'm not as quick as I used to be. I've passed most of my tricks on to them. I was breathing through my mouth. Still, I managed to push them. And that's what's important. You don't let them win (unless its a white belt and they're still learning the ropes), but you don't want to completely overwhelm them either. The guys there last night and very slick fighters. I wasn't holding back much, because if I did, they'd whup me something fierce.

Two good things came out of this week. First, I've got some fighters that are ready for a tournament. Second, I'm feeling a lot better without all the ring rust I was carrying around.

MUSIC!!

This tune kept popping up is commercials for a TV show. Not too shabby for a gal who started out doing hip hop.



That's it for today. Y'all enjoy the holiday weekend. Stay safe. Eat some good food. We'll see ya back here Sunday.

Justin Bieber dances inappropiately with horrible piercings!

Sweet Mother of Pearl, its Wednesday, July 7, 2010 and I'm not typing like a maniac trying to get this done in time!!

*Swoons.*

The holiday weekend and the activities thereof did make it a bit tricky to get the Sunday edition of the Side posted up. But at least it was educational stuff kept me busy. I learned that my neighbor doesn't care about local fireworks laws. I learned that one of my daughters is still horribly afraid of loud noises. And I also learned that filming things for 3D is very obvious even when watching a movie in a regular formatting. Freakin' 3D. I know the 80s are the popular retro era at the moment, but we really didn't need to bring back that crap.

BATTLEGROUND: BIEBER!!!

4Chan has been busy as of late. For those who don't know what 4Chan is, you're probably better off. They're a nasty stew of internetdom who have no qualms about pretty much anything. But now they seem to have have hit a new low with their creation of pop sensation and lesbian spokesmodel Justin Bieber. YouTube was recently hacked and there was the attempt to send Bieber to North Korea. Rumor has it the plan was originally to send him to Thailand, since in the country that originally spawned 'ladyboys' its no doubt that Bieber would make a fortune.

4Chan is obviously jumping the gun here. Although its not the first time they've turned on one of their own. Bieber is an obvious media troll who has been artificially created to annoy people with any taste in music. He is an artificial lifeform, computer generated, created as the ultimate prank. A pop sensation with no musical talent? Whoever heard of such a thing! 4Chan users creation of the Beiberbot has been very thorough to the point of fooling tween audiences into thinking he really exists. Its too the point that when they thought the joke had run its course and it started to annoy them as well they attempted to kill him off, but the rabid fandom would not allow it. The Bieber-meme had taken on a life of its own. It's too the point that Twitter had to actually change its trending algorithm just to do away with him.

You've annoyed people the world over with your creation. Kudos, 4Chan.

DANCING RIGHT AND WRONG

Some footage is stirring up quite a bit of controversy. In a dance routine little girls performed to the song "Single Ladies". Now before you go clicking on it, let me warn you, its pretty distasteful. I know the tune is getting a lot of airplay and was featured on GLEE and the ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS sequel. Its a popular song and there's nothing wrong with it.

The problem is that someone had the idea of putting little girls in outfits that are way too revealing and had them doing moves that put a sexual context to the routine. The girls range in ages from 7 to 9 years of age, and all of them were very talented from a technical standpoint, but these are still kids. You do not put pre-sexual human beings into sexual contexts. That's just wrong. This broke down on numerous levels. First, the person who decided on the costumes has a screw loose. Second, the choreographer of the routine needed to be reminded that they are dealing with kids, and if they don't see the problem with this routine, probably doesn't need to be working with kids anymore. Third, and most important, the parents of these girls are nuts for letting them do this.

Dance as an art form can take on many contexts, and yes some of them are seductive and sexual. I understand this, and don't have problem with it. HOWEVER that does not mean you put little girls or boys in routines with those contexts. You certainly don't put them in those outfits and have them gyrating their hips. Yes I've seen plenty of revealing and sexy outfits in dance competitions, but each person wearing them was of legal age.

Dance can be interesting and beautiful without excessive skin or sex. I recently sat down to enjoy Olga Kay's Circus which featured a few dance pieces that were fun and interesting to watch. And yes some of the costumes showed a little leg, but they still weren't nearly as revealing as the outfits the kids in the Single Ladies piece wore.



Art is art, but making pedo-bait and calling it dance ain't cool.

FASHION VICTIM!!

Check that guy out. You know why he has that look on his face? It's because he knows he's never going to get a job that involves having to deal with the public in any way shape or form. I did have a could discussion about facial tattoos with Kristie who lives in Hawaii and was quite informative about facial tattoos in Polynesian cultures. The guy in the pictures however ain't from the islands. I bring this up mainly because of the gauges. I've seen a lot of guys with them, albeit not to that degree, and its of course stupid.

As the Big Guy says, "You ain't shit until you can stick a Wild Turkey cork in there."

You know what I see when I look at someone with gauges like that? I see a target. Its not impressive at all. It certainly isn't intimidating. In fact I can say with quite a bit of certainty that if confronted by someone with gauges like that I know exactly where I'll be grabbing while beating on them with my free hand.

Recently a man realized that fashion doesn't mean squat when you need to eat and support your family, so take a look at what it took to fix his ears. Think about that if you're considering body alteration. There's nothing wrong with tattoos or piercings, however you need to consider the consequences. You're changing yourself. Don't expect society to change to accommodate you. Moderation, folks.

MUSIC!!

Has nothing to do with anything other than I really dug this song when it came out, but never really liked any of their other songs.

POP QUIZ!!

1: Got any piercings? Don't send pictures! Just tell me! I don't want some nutter sending a picture of his pierced scrotum!

2: Anyone else a bit upset about little girls dressed inappropiately and doing sexy dances or stage?

3: What would it take to destroy the Bieber-bot?

Alrighty, that's the wrap up for today. See you Friday for some time traveling.