I've been meaning to do a post on this for a while now. To be honest this is something that I'm very excited about. My favorite book series being made into a TV series by HBO, its a dream come true. And with the likes of Sean Bean playing the main Character Ned Stark, this will be epic. I'm so bad that I"m contemplating how I will get HBO just to watch this series.
Anyways below is a couple of clips from the show. Do get excited!
Here is a short trailer:
Here is a longer documentary style:
Friday, December 17, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Patent Office in Detroit
Patent Office in Detroit?
UPDATE:
It is confirmed here is the press release.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and PTO Director David Kappos will be holding
a press conference later today. I expect that they will announce plans to
open the first USPTO satellite office in Detroit, Michigan.
UPDATE:
It is confirmed here is the press release.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Karate Tournament
This past Sunday Nov. 21 I attended and worked the Karate Tournament. As can be seen below, at the end of the day I took home 4 first place trophies and two 4th place trophies.
While all those first looks suitably impressive... it is really easy to get "1st" in board breaking, as a whole group of us ended up tieing. For example breaking 4 boards on Standing and Stepping palm strike. I did though manage to break 6 boards with my side kick, and there was only one other person that I tied with there. So that one at least was pretty exciting! The 4th first place trophy I am quite proud of and was for my spear weapons form which I made sure to get a video of.
The fourth place trophies were for regular forms (which I really honestly felt I should have placed higher with.. but oh well) and sparring. Overall I was very happy with my performance and on the whole I was in a very competitive divisions and feel lucky I was able to place at all.
There was a professional photographer at the event Cascades Photography. They should be posting pictures pretty soon, so if anyone is interested you can look at all the photos for the day, and then you can order pictures as well if you so desire. Once they go live, I might add some of them to this blog if possible otherwise.
*UPDATE*
All the pictures of the tournament have now been posted. I hope you all enjoy them for those of you took the time to look through them.
While all those first looks suitably impressive... it is really easy to get "1st" in board breaking, as a whole group of us ended up tieing. For example breaking 4 boards on Standing and Stepping palm strike. I did though manage to break 6 boards with my side kick, and there was only one other person that I tied with there. So that one at least was pretty exciting! The 4th first place trophy I am quite proud of and was for my spear weapons form which I made sure to get a video of.The fourth place trophies were for regular forms (which I really honestly felt I should have placed higher with.. but oh well) and sparring. Overall I was very happy with my performance and on the whole I was in a very competitive divisions and feel lucky I was able to place at all.
There was a professional photographer at the event Cascades Photography. They should be posting pictures pretty soon, so if anyone is interested you can look at all the photos for the day, and then you can order pictures as well if you so desire. Once they go live, I might add some of them to this blog if possible otherwise.
*UPDATE*
All the pictures of the tournament have now been posted. I hope you all enjoy them for those of you took the time to look through them.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Skydiving
As promised, I was looking for new and exciting ways to make Mom and Grandma worry. I think Skydiving counts!
And here is a quick video of us landing.
And here is a quick video of us landing.Monday, November 8, 2010
Dancing and Signing
This past weekend Rachel and I went to a dinner dance sponsored through my work. There was a amazing dinner buffet as well as an open bar, followed by a couple hours of dancing. It was quite nice, and I managed to snap a picture.
This picture has the benefit of us not being sweaty in it like the one from old rag lol.
Then on Saturday we managed to head over to a local Border's Bookstore to catch Brandon Sanderson and Harriet McDougal at a book signing. In this case they were signing "Towers of Midnight" the 13 and penultimate book in the Wheel of Time Series. A series of books I have read since I was in Junior High. The original author Robert Jordan died about three years ago and his widow and editor Harriet McDougal chose Brandon Sanderson for his replacement for the last book (or as it turned out three books) of the series. At the signing both Brandon and Harriet signed my book. Harriet along with discovering and editing all of the Wheel of Time books is also known as the editor on another somewhat known book called "Ender's Game". Anyways it was great meeting them, and I got a signed book out of it!
This picture has the benefit of us not being sweaty in it like the one from old rag lol.Then on Saturday we managed to head over to a local Border's Bookstore to catch Brandon Sanderson and Harriet McDougal at a book signing. In this case they were signing "Towers of Midnight" the 13 and penultimate book in the Wheel of Time Series. A series of books I have read since I was in Junior High. The original author Robert Jordan died about three years ago and his widow and editor Harriet McDougal chose Brandon Sanderson for his replacement for the last book (or as it turned out three books) of the series. At the signing both Brandon and Harriet signed my book. Harriet along with discovering and editing all of the Wheel of Time books is also known as the editor on another somewhat known book called "Ender's Game". Anyways it was great meeting them, and I got a signed book out of it!
As an extra bonus can you find waldo?
Monday, October 25, 2010
Spears and Caves
Once again I am epic fail when it comes to pictures. If I get any I'll post them retroactively.
On Saturday I took part in a spear clinic. That is right, I am learning Shaolin Spear forms. My sensai, when he isn't failing at breaking sticks, told us that the Spear is often called the "king of shaolin weapons" which is pretty cool eh? I think so at least! The forms are very flourishy and pretty, and tons of fun to do, and to watch I think. There is a lot of twirling of the spear around your body and over your head, as well as some stabbing and a couple of impalements (of your opponent, and not yourself). As I said it was tons of fun and I managed to learn 1 of the forms (there are a total of 3). With any luck next week I'll learn the second form! Anyways this will bring my weapons skillz up to 3, as I now know forms for Bo staff, Broadsword and now Spear.
Then as I hinted at the end of my last post on Sunday I went caving with Rachel. Rachel and her mother are part of a local caving group in the greater DC area. As such from time to time they get together at nearby caves and... go caving! This last weekend was such an excursion. Rachel and I joined up with her mother and four others and explored a nearby cave in West Virginia.
As I told Rachel before we started, I wasn't sure what to expect from caving, as I have never gone caving before, or for that matter done too much climbing. What I found out caving is, is darkness, dirt/mud, close spaces, climbing, and exploration. It is also, lots of fun. After throwing on some old jeans and a long sleeve T-shirts, I got equipped with a helmet, a helmet light, and some gloves, and joined the others in going down into a hole in the ground. The cave itself is like a whole other world, it is pitch black in there, with uneven ground. Yet with the helmet light I never felt like the darkness was a problem, and it wasn't until we all turned off our lights that you really realize how dark it was.
I think the way to sum up what caving is though, for me was summed up with two words, climbing and exploration. The caves are light a maze of tunnels, crawl spaces, and ledges. The fun part and objective to caving then is to explore as much of the cave as you can. For example, there was one part when we saw a hole in the ground near our feet, kinda at a wall. We squeezed through the opening to find another tunnel area. In this next area there was four different routes possible. Down and to the right took us on a loop, that we climbed down, over and some light climbing to another area, which then turned around and connected us to where we began. Then to the left there was two options, to go down about a 20 foot incline and a drop, or a small ledge going over that crevice area, but being exposed to said drop and jumping across. What I did was I climbed/slid down the incline to the bottom. I should have climbed, but it ended up with me sliding more than anything... then I climbed up an incline to the top, where the other route connected. At the top of this part of the cave was a small opening. I was convinced this opening was too small for me, but with my hands outstretched I was able to inch and twist my way through the opening and to the other side. The other side then was another large opening room with some rock formations. We explored a bit in this area, but this one was more or less a dead end, but a neat one nonetheless. Then we went back through the whole to the previous area. This time I took the upper route back, which involved bracing my foot on the left side of the wall, and jumping across the crevice area I climbed up the last time, to a ledge back at the area where we started.
There was another part that we climbed, that I honestly did not think was climbable. There was one area that was basically an angled wall, that was too steep to climb normally. On the left and the right side there were areas that could possibly be climbed. The left was a steep climb, that would have seemed too slippery to climb up. On the right was a crack where the two walls connected, the crack extended about 15 feet high, and being as narrow as maybe 4 inches across, so far too narrow to sneak through. But past this crack it seemed climbable to the top. I went on the right side. The crack was too narrow to sneak through, so the only option then was to pull ourselves over top of it. So bracing my left foot on the left wall, and my right foot slightly behind me on the right wall, remember this was at the corner, and then putting my hand inside the crack for a handhold I managed to pull myself up into the crack and lodge myself in the crack with my back against the left wall. From here I had to inch my way up the side of the crack, for the most part using my arms to pull myself up to the top of the crack, and remember my back is against the wall, while lodged in the crack. After finally pulling myself up high enough using just my arms, I was able to sneak my legs through the rest of the crack to the other side. From there with my back still against the wall, I placed my feet against the opposite wall and "chimneyed" across the crevice, with about a 15-20 foot drop or so beneath me. What chimneying is, is going across with my back against the wall, and feet on the opposite wall, just slowly inching my way across. This is actually quite an easy maneuver and it wasn't long till I made it to the ledge on the other side and was able to finish the last gentle climb to the top.
For me then the most fun was in exploring new areas of the cave, and just climbing to reach new places. It was a lot of fun, and kinda cool to do things that I initially didn't think was possible. Like fitting through the tight crawlspace, or climbing up the crack to get to the top of the cliff area. There was also an area where Rachel and a couple of the others pulled out some rope and climbed down to explore another part of the cave. But I didn't have any rope climbing gear so I didn't get a chance to go down there. But Rachel basically belayed down the cliff, and then climbed back up, using a safety rigging on the rope to climb back up after they explored that part of the cave.
So yeah, overall I would definitely say my first experience caving was a blast. I had a lot of fun and it was nice going with an experienced group of people, that were both safety conscience but also very much into pushing what and where they could go. It was fun and challenging, and I can say today, a day later, managed to make me sore. It is definitely something I"ll end up doing again in the future, to other caves, and other explorations. And it is always fun to come up with new and interesting ways to get Mom and Grandma to worry about me.
On Saturday I took part in a spear clinic. That is right, I am learning Shaolin Spear forms. My sensai, when he isn't failing at breaking sticks, told us that the Spear is often called the "king of shaolin weapons" which is pretty cool eh? I think so at least! The forms are very flourishy and pretty, and tons of fun to do, and to watch I think. There is a lot of twirling of the spear around your body and over your head, as well as some stabbing and a couple of impalements (of your opponent, and not yourself). As I said it was tons of fun and I managed to learn 1 of the forms (there are a total of 3). With any luck next week I'll learn the second form! Anyways this will bring my weapons skillz up to 3, as I now know forms for Bo staff, Broadsword and now Spear.
Then as I hinted at the end of my last post on Sunday I went caving with Rachel. Rachel and her mother are part of a local caving group in the greater DC area. As such from time to time they get together at nearby caves and... go caving! This last weekend was such an excursion. Rachel and I joined up with her mother and four others and explored a nearby cave in West Virginia.
As I told Rachel before we started, I wasn't sure what to expect from caving, as I have never gone caving before, or for that matter done too much climbing. What I found out caving is, is darkness, dirt/mud, close spaces, climbing, and exploration. It is also, lots of fun. After throwing on some old jeans and a long sleeve T-shirts, I got equipped with a helmet, a helmet light, and some gloves, and joined the others in going down into a hole in the ground. The cave itself is like a whole other world, it is pitch black in there, with uneven ground. Yet with the helmet light I never felt like the darkness was a problem, and it wasn't until we all turned off our lights that you really realize how dark it was.
I think the way to sum up what caving is though, for me was summed up with two words, climbing and exploration. The caves are light a maze of tunnels, crawl spaces, and ledges. The fun part and objective to caving then is to explore as much of the cave as you can. For example, there was one part when we saw a hole in the ground near our feet, kinda at a wall. We squeezed through the opening to find another tunnel area. In this next area there was four different routes possible. Down and to the right took us on a loop, that we climbed down, over and some light climbing to another area, which then turned around and connected us to where we began. Then to the left there was two options, to go down about a 20 foot incline and a drop, or a small ledge going over that crevice area, but being exposed to said drop and jumping across. What I did was I climbed/slid down the incline to the bottom. I should have climbed, but it ended up with me sliding more than anything... then I climbed up an incline to the top, where the other route connected. At the top of this part of the cave was a small opening. I was convinced this opening was too small for me, but with my hands outstretched I was able to inch and twist my way through the opening and to the other side. The other side then was another large opening room with some rock formations. We explored a bit in this area, but this one was more or less a dead end, but a neat one nonetheless. Then we went back through the whole to the previous area. This time I took the upper route back, which involved bracing my foot on the left side of the wall, and jumping across the crevice area I climbed up the last time, to a ledge back at the area where we started.
There was another part that we climbed, that I honestly did not think was climbable. There was one area that was basically an angled wall, that was too steep to climb normally. On the left and the right side there were areas that could possibly be climbed. The left was a steep climb, that would have seemed too slippery to climb up. On the right was a crack where the two walls connected, the crack extended about 15 feet high, and being as narrow as maybe 4 inches across, so far too narrow to sneak through. But past this crack it seemed climbable to the top. I went on the right side. The crack was too narrow to sneak through, so the only option then was to pull ourselves over top of it. So bracing my left foot on the left wall, and my right foot slightly behind me on the right wall, remember this was at the corner, and then putting my hand inside the crack for a handhold I managed to pull myself up into the crack and lodge myself in the crack with my back against the left wall. From here I had to inch my way up the side of the crack, for the most part using my arms to pull myself up to the top of the crack, and remember my back is against the wall, while lodged in the crack. After finally pulling myself up high enough using just my arms, I was able to sneak my legs through the rest of the crack to the other side. From there with my back still against the wall, I placed my feet against the opposite wall and "chimneyed" across the crevice, with about a 15-20 foot drop or so beneath me. What chimneying is, is going across with my back against the wall, and feet on the opposite wall, just slowly inching my way across. This is actually quite an easy maneuver and it wasn't long till I made it to the ledge on the other side and was able to finish the last gentle climb to the top.
For me then the most fun was in exploring new areas of the cave, and just climbing to reach new places. It was a lot of fun, and kinda cool to do things that I initially didn't think was possible. Like fitting through the tight crawlspace, or climbing up the crack to get to the top of the cliff area. There was also an area where Rachel and a couple of the others pulled out some rope and climbed down to explore another part of the cave. But I didn't have any rope climbing gear so I didn't get a chance to go down there. But Rachel basically belayed down the cliff, and then climbed back up, using a safety rigging on the rope to climb back up after they explored that part of the cave.
So yeah, overall I would definitely say my first experience caving was a blast. I had a lot of fun and it was nice going with an experienced group of people, that were both safety conscience but also very much into pushing what and where they could go. It was fun and challenging, and I can say today, a day later, managed to make me sore. It is definitely something I"ll end up doing again in the future, to other caves, and other explorations. And it is always fun to come up with new and interesting ways to get Mom and Grandma to worry about me.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Testing and Rennfest
So last Friday I tested for my Green Belt. I've posted before on the rigors of such tests, and while this one did for sure meet such a description, it wasn't quite as bad as the previous test either. So I personally thought that was good lol. My favorite part at the end was when the main instructor says "okay in this last minute your guy's job is to convince me you aren't tired". This of course after the two hour test of constant activity and exercises. Then at the end after they handed out the belts he said "you guy's almost convinced me" then he points directly at me "but you're lips don't have any color." So yeah, I was slightly dehydrated by that point lol. Which is par for the course. The good news is I won't have to go through that again for a while, I'm anticipated spring maybe? Possibly winter. But I'm thinking 3-4 months minimum.
Then on last Sunday Rachel and I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Again, I have to apologize for not having pictures... I've seriously been dropping the ball here. But for the most part it was like the one last year. Sadly though this year Ken and Becky weren't able to make it. But we did meet up with Tom and his gf Bashear. So that was nice, as it was last years Rennfest that I saw him last. Another "its a small world moment" it turns out that the job that Tom had before moving to DC was located in Pittsburgh and the company he worked at was a contractor for the navy. Rachel also worked up in Pittsburg for a few months with the navy, so she was familiar with the company and project that Tom was working on during his time there. So they were having fun tossing out names and projects lol. Anyways I though it was funny!
In terms of the actual fair though, I must say I was once again disappointed in the jousting. They seem to just go through the motions, which isn't nearly as much fun as it could be. In comparison the renn fair I went to a few years ago in Mass. had a lot more energy, and comedy going on between the knights and the competitions. Which is a shame because this renn fair is much larger and nicer of the two otherwise. But besides that the fair was a lot of fun. My favorite shows were the Shakespeare Skum, which did a show called "Macbeth in 20 minutes or less". This is a group that I saw last year as well (they did Hamlet last year) but they are tons of fun and are based out of London. And there was a sword swallower who was a blast to watch. He did some sword swallowing as well as some relatively simple (as in I couldn't do them!) magic tricks. But the show was a blast. And of course I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the excellent food offerings. Hmmm... smoked Turkey leg! Overall it was a great time, and we couldn't have asked for better weather.
Anyways that pretty much brings me up to date. This weekend I'll be going to a Halloween party/housewarming party for a friend from Karate. So Rachel and I need to find some costumes for that. And then on Sunday I will hopefully go caving with Rachel, well she is the "secretary" for a caving group so I get to try that out this weekend. With any luck I'll have some pictures even! But no promises.
Then on last Sunday Rachel and I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Again, I have to apologize for not having pictures... I've seriously been dropping the ball here. But for the most part it was like the one last year. Sadly though this year Ken and Becky weren't able to make it. But we did meet up with Tom and his gf Bashear. So that was nice, as it was last years Rennfest that I saw him last. Another "its a small world moment" it turns out that the job that Tom had before moving to DC was located in Pittsburgh and the company he worked at was a contractor for the navy. Rachel also worked up in Pittsburg for a few months with the navy, so she was familiar with the company and project that Tom was working on during his time there. So they were having fun tossing out names and projects lol. Anyways I though it was funny!
In terms of the actual fair though, I must say I was once again disappointed in the jousting. They seem to just go through the motions, which isn't nearly as much fun as it could be. In comparison the renn fair I went to a few years ago in Mass. had a lot more energy, and comedy going on between the knights and the competitions. Which is a shame because this renn fair is much larger and nicer of the two otherwise. But besides that the fair was a lot of fun. My favorite shows were the Shakespeare Skum, which did a show called "Macbeth in 20 minutes or less". This is a group that I saw last year as well (they did Hamlet last year) but they are tons of fun and are based out of London. And there was a sword swallower who was a blast to watch. He did some sword swallowing as well as some relatively simple (as in I couldn't do them!) magic tricks. But the show was a blast. And of course I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the excellent food offerings. Hmmm... smoked Turkey leg! Overall it was a great time, and we couldn't have asked for better weather.
Anyways that pretty much brings me up to date. This weekend I'll be going to a Halloween party/housewarming party for a friend from Karate. So Rachel and I need to find some costumes for that. And then on Sunday I will hopefully go caving with Rachel, well she is the "secretary" for a caving group so I get to try that out this weekend. With any luck I'll have some pictures even! But no promises.
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