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.

Batman is nicer than Hugo Chavez!

So much stuff! So little time! It's Friday, July 16, 2010 and I'm in charge of feeding virtual fish on Facebook for my wife and kids. It feels like I'm in a George Romero movie and Mark Zuckerberg has bitten my family and I'm waiting for them to turn.

COMIX!!

While it seems like everybody but me were able to get BIRDS OF PREY #3 and I'll have to wait until next week like a shmoe, I'll just have to make due.

BATMAN #701 and SUPERMAN #701 both hit this week, and I found myself pondering something I had not considered before: Is Batman a nicer guy than Superman now? The Batman issue is the story of what happened to Bruce Wayne between R.I.P. and FINAL CRISIS. The Superman issue is the official start of Straczynski's run. The Batman issue clicked big time with me because I'm reading all these thoughts that I had reading the arcs themselves coming from Bruce Wayne. There's an intense weight to the story despite the lack of big action. We know what's going to happen and I'm still pouring over the issue for clues as to possible connections between The Black Glove and Darkseid. The Superman issue is the start of a brand new story arc and unfortunately its horribly dull. It feels like a filler issue, a good one, but still filler. Frankly, if this is what's going to be going on for a year, then I'm out.

But back to my thoughts on who is a nicer guy. Superman gets back to Earth, and is now going to walk around and i guess talk with people or whatever. He just got back from being in space for months. He's got to be a crappiest husband ever. That or Lois Lane is just the most patient and forgiving woman ever to be put on the planet. He's pretty sanctimonious to his detractors. The little things he does like letting a fella know about a heart problem is nice, but over all can't save the story.

Batman on the other hand just survived a serious attempt to take him out, and crawls out on a helicopter crash, and swims to a dock, and after all that he still makes time to have a kind word of the ex-prostitute that he arranged a legitimate job for. He makes sure to thank Alfred, Dick, and Tim before getting a well earned and hard fought for rest. And even though he's still working to unravel and set right the events of R.I.P. he sets that aside when Superman needs his help. Bruce Wayne: stand up dude.

Moving over to BATGIRL we got a really disturbing look at the origin of the Calculator. I thought this was supposed to be the 'fun' Bat-title. I guess fun came with an extra helping of creepy. What's really a kicker is that the calculator turns right around to give the Atom some grief in this week's back-up in ADVENTURE COMICS. Busy guy.

I also enjoyed some R.E.B.E.L.S. this week. Sure didn't take long for Starfire to get nekkid in this title. The unreal amount of hair she suddenly had to hide her orange naughty bits was downright laughable. But I'm still loving this book because for some reason I'm totally into space drama at the moment, and this book delivers it.

BATTLEGROUND: TWITTER!!

Its a hell of a thing when online battleground starts taking real life prisoners, but that's what happened in Venezuela. Seem that big ball of fun and kittens that is Hugo Chavez had a couple of people tossed in jail for making tweets criticizing Venezuelan banking practices. They have a law against being critical about such things. So, surprise Hugo Chavez is actually a scumbag. I hope you all can handle the shock.

So, there's a bit of a tweet counter insurgency going on. Philip DeFranco struck back on his YouTube show and encouraged his viewers to #HugoChavezSucks on Twitter. Makes me wonder if you'd get thrown in jail in Venezuela for doing that.

What we have to remember is that Venezuela does not have a lot of the freedoms other countries like the United States enjoy. DeFranco also noted in his show that some countries have banned Twitter altogether. This brings us to the idiocy that was the massive fail Everybody Draw Muhammad Day. Now, the anti Hugo Chavez e-campaign is in every way superior to EDMD. Its specifically targeted. The biggest flaw with EDMD was the collateral damage. It offended people who had done nothing wrong. It also forced some governments to remove tools of free speech which was pretty much the opposite of what EDMD claimed to be trying to accomplish. The Chavez thing is simple. If you think he sucks, hashtag it on Twitter.

But what if Chavez blocks twitter in Venezuela? Well, then it won't be there for him to use to throw people in jail. Also, there's so way for him to justify that action without looking like a butthurt little e-girl.

DANCE HARD!!

For the second week in a row a contestant on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE has had to pull out of the competition due to injury. For those who have not seen the program the performances are incredibly athletic displays of dance. Its very demanding and it seems like every season the competitors and choreographers push themselves to try to top the previous seasons. Its insane what these people do with their bodies, and frankly everyone who gives a damn about performing arts should be watching this show. I got asked today "What the difference between it and Dancing with the Stars?" and the answer is simple: it is far and away superior in terms of the level of technique and performance that is displayed.

Here's hoping the rest of the competitors stay healthy and I wish Alex and Ashley speedy recoveries.

TEAM BUFFY STRIKES!!

MUSIC!!

Was listening to the album on the way home from Karate. Love the album, love the song.

POP QUIZ!!

1: How much does Hugo Chavez suck?

2: Who would you rather have dinner with: Superman or Batman?

That's it for today. I know there's some big announcements coming up in comics so I'm going to keep my ear to the ground and see if I can find out some things. Might have some cool stuff for Sunday. See y'all then.

Wonder Woman dances in HELL!

Alrighty, its Friday, July 2, 2010, and today I'm getting my nerd on.

COMIX!!

OK, let's start with the big one: WONDER WOMAN #600. This of course rounds out the trifecta of centennial issues of the trinity of super-heroes, and unfortunately this one did not make it through without big funny book controversy. I'll get to that in a second, but first I want to focus on everything great about this issue.

First off, it featured some really great pin-ups by some of the hottest talent in comics. This includes work by Adam Hughes, Nicola Scott, Phil Jimenez and many others. The double page pin-up by Jimenez gets a special nod because in it we get to see almost everything related to Wonder Woman in one picture. He really outdid himself. It also has a nice little forward by Lynda Carter, which was pretty cool. The first story by Gail Simone and George Perez featured a ton of guest stars and was a who's who of the ladies of the DCU. And it wrapped around into a very fitting and quite touching little story after all the butt kicking was done. Next up was a little team-up with Power Girl thanks to Amanda Connor which was a lot of fun and a real treat. Then there was a team-up with Superman served up by Louise Simonson.

And then things get ugly.

The next story was seeming really off and weird. It was like it trying to talk about the character of Wonder Woman from the perspective of two people who didn't quite understand her but though that they did. Its supposed to be the prelude for the next Wonder Woman story. And then I see the credits. Geoff Johns: writer.

Oh crap.

And then the J. Michael Stracynski story kicks in and and I'm ready to throw up my hands in frustration. I had heard that Stracynski's THOR run had been good, so I had some consolation when I found out Gail Simone was leaving the book. And we have our new Wonder Woman. And its wrong in just about every way. I don't want to be this guy. I don't want to be the douchebag who gets pissed off when a writer decides to take a character in a different direction and gives them a new costume. But, this whole thing is just a bad idea from top to bottom.

The entire Wonder Woman story has been reimagined. Everything in that beautiful piece of work by Phil Jimenez never happened. The stories preceding this one in that very same issue high lighting everything that is just so great and awesome about the character are washed away. People used to wonder how she fought in the old costume. That's easy, the old costume was not cumbersome. She had complete freedom of movement. I'm wondering how she even gets into the new outfit.

In an interview Stracynski said that the character needed to be toughened up. The top hand-to-hand fighter in DC comics needed to be toughened up. The woman who kicks Batman's ass needed to be toughened up. She also needed to be modernized. So the character that is a link to mythology and the past in the genre needs to be modernized. Oh, and she gets a new and "improved" tragic origin now.

This the way it is set up, it seems like Wonder Woman has been dropped into some weird pocket dimension, so one she finds her way out things will return to normal. Also, hopefully this won't have an effect on Donna Troy or Wonder Girl, because if history has change in this fashion for Wonder Woman then the entire DCU is effected and not in a good way. So here's hoping the foresight has been there to keep this little experiment centered in one book.

So Stracynski is responsible for stories that will make Superman more human and Wonder Woman more modern and tough. He can go back to Marvel, the sooner the better, because he seems to not understand what works for these characters.

This while our heroes are in store for some pretty shabby treatment coming up, ACTION COMICS #890 hit the stands this week featuring none other than Lex Luthor. Its freaking awesome. While i don't care one lick about the Hal Jordan and his techni-color dance party-a-go-go which was "Blackest Night" there has been one very interesting thing come out of it: Lex Luthor has a new hobby. Penned by Paul Cornell, this Luthor is still a completely evil prick, but my God is he an enjoyable one. He's egotistical and just a complete bastard. Its like if Greg House decided, 'You know what? This whole helping people and dealing with my pain has gotten old. Its time to take over the world." Love it. Love it. LOVE IT!!

BREAK IT DOWN!!

This is what happens when reality TV goes above and beyond the call of duty. On SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE ballet dancer Alex Wong was made to do hip hop and partnered with Twitch Boss, the first guy/guy partnering the season. Alex was absolutely beside himself be cause everything he has been trained to do as a dancer had to be cast right out the window and he was partnered with one of the top hip hop dancers you're going to find. A recipe for disaster, but how did it turn out?

MUSIC!!

And now a little dedication. This one goes out to the YouTube used whole randomly sent me nine videos to let me know that Hell exists that I need to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior. I did not watch the videos as I'm pretty sure that they contain BATMAN AND ROBIN with Schwarzenegger as Mister Freeze is its entirety. However it didn't contain this video, so I'm just helping out the misguided do-gooder.

POP QUIZ!!

1: What do you think of the new Wonder Woman costume?

2: Who is your favorite bald dude?

3: What is your favorite style of dance?

That wraps things up for today. Remember to check out UFC 116 this Saturday because the main event should be awesome. Enjoy the weekend. See you Sunday.

Marty versus Reality TV

It's everywhere and yes I do watch it. MTV got my attention with THE REAL WORLD, which despite the name had very little in common with things that really happen, and later ROAD RULES, which I found more to my taste. And yes, I did indeed send in an application to the shows way back in the day. Since then reality TV has blossomed and is present on nearly every channel you can find. Some of it I like, but much of it leaves me could.

What I don't like is exploitative reality TV. This is the stuff you see with d-list celebrities or normal people for the sole purpose of giving the viewers a chance to see what a mess other people's lives are. These are things like WIFESWAP or the romance based shows like THE BACHELOR. Its all about the drama with no decent content.

The competitive reality TVs have their charm. I do like them a lot better. There's five of them that really stand out in my mind as good ones.

HELL'S KITCHEN. Looking past Gordon Ramsey's yelling at people and the drama of the competition, the viewer gets a good look at what goes on in a restaurant kitchen. Ultimately, this show is about cooking and the art of cooking. I like shows that promote art.

THE APPRENTICE. They show episodes of that program in business classes. Its very educational. I did enjoy the first of the celebrity seasons which showed off not only good business insights, but raised a lot of money for numerous charities.

TREASURE HUNTERS. This only went for one season on NBC but was really great television. Teams quested through numerous historical based puzzles and many locations across the country and even moving to Europe for a leg of the journey. This show was really educational along with being a lot of fun.

THE BIGGEST LOSER. Taking a drama out of the equation this show is all about one thing: making people healthier. Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper are really phenomenal at what they do. Even as a guy in relatively decent shape I have no doubt that they could reduce me to a sweaty wad of Play-Dough in about an hour. They give great health and fitness tips in every episode. Unlike the exploitative reality TV shows, this show highlights achievement instead of just gawking at failure.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. No surprise here for my regular readers (all five of you). This so is all about dance. It's educated me a lot in the art. I can't dance, but I love to watch it done well. These young people grow and learn every week and the viewer reaps the benefits of seeing truly wonderful performances. It has brought the art of dance to the mainstream and even elevated the art as the dancers and choreographers push themselves to be innovative.

You can probably spot the theme here. Reality TV is good when it makes lives better. Entertaining us is fine, but inspiring us is something to strive for.

So You Think You Can Dance predictions

OK last year I was able to predict the winner all the back to before the top 20 were picked. This year I picked Evan and sure enough he's in the finals. I'm going to the repeat. Now, the competition is stiff as all four finalists are incredibly talented. hell, the entire top 20 were all amazing. There were a few surprises along the way. I'm very surprised Ashley was let go so early. She was really great. Asuka and Vitolio were other favorites of mine that I thought would make the top 10.

The show has been very strong this season. I would still like to see less musical acts and more dance demonstrations on the results show, but I'll deal with it.

Looking forward to tomorrow night.

My dance pick

So You Think You Can Dance is down to their top 20 and we're in the stage where the viewers vote. All the performances last night were incredible. This competition is completely up for grabs. No one stands out because every competitor is absolutely amazing.

Phil will do well because he already has a following.

My pick is Evan, the Broadway dancer.

Last year I was able to pick the winner, Joshua, during the tryout phase. Let's see how I do this time.

My summer obsession is back

I have an insane obsession for So You Think You Can Dance. For those who don't know what it is it's the American Idol of Dance Shows. Now then, my dislike for American Idol is well known, so why would I like So You Think You Can Dance?

First off it's nice to see young women in great physical condition and not the anorexic waifs that I'm told is supposed to be attractive.

Second, and this is the big one, I'm a huge fan of body movement. Whether it's dance, martial arts, stunt work and even a well choreographed professional wrestling match I enjoy it immensely. I can't dance, at least not very well. I seem to lack rhythm. It also seems like the only time I'm anything approaching graceful is in the middle of fighting, and even then, not so much.

I did tease one of my male students for doing ballet. This was because the little weasel liked to talk smack and tossing around a few verbal barbs is par for course in the dojo. Point of fact, ballet is insane. It's absolutely brutal. Most dancing styles are. I watch this show year after year (and damned if it doesn't get better every year), and I watch these young people put out such physical and emotional performances and see them dripping with sweat afterwards while being critiqued and interviewed. It's just amazing.

So yes, expect a nearly weekly raving from me about this show.