Monday, January 9, 2006
A rare gem
I try not to clutter FCA with too much silly stuff (oh?), but this blond joke is well worth the trouble.
Taxi Driver >> taxi = driver
I read an intriguing but at times hammy analysis of Martin Scorcese's Taxi Driver last night. The article has numerous spoilers, so be warned. However, since I suspect the only people interested in reading a fairly long article on the movie have already seen it, spoilers shain't[1] a problem. I have always enjoyed Taxi Driver. Seeing its ending in a new and more cinematically cohesive light was nice. Of course, not to toot my own horn, I always had an instinctual "Yes, but..." feeling about the film's ending.
Read the paper and see what you think. Besides rekindling my interest in that movie, the article (which I think was written in an American setting by a foreign student for, whether British or French, I don't know) also put a little fire under my heinie to see more of Scorcese's heady oeuvre.
Read the paper and see what you think. Besides rekindling my interest in that movie, the article (which I think was written in an American setting by a foreign student for, whether British or French, I don't know) also put a little fire under my heinie to see more of Scorcese's heady oeuvre.
[1] That's right: I just tried again to neologize. Shan't is standard albeit somewhat more anachronistic English and means "shall not." Ain't is "incorrect" but totally intelligible (i.e., correct!) English, one of my favorite turns of speech and means am/are and has/have not -- in the latter case "hain't" being even sweeter. "Shain't" is just a fusion of shan't and ain't, "shall ain't". To be fair, there is folk precedence for "shain't"; however, whether that's based on dialect or actually means what I mean by shain't, I ain't too sure.
Sunday, January 8, 2006
Saturday, January 7, 2006
Mmmmhhh... drooling...
Concept 2 Model D Ergometer
It's beautiful. Trust me: it's magnificent.
I did crew for six years in middle/high school. Working out today with a friend, I had to explain to him why I do certain exercises -- because they mimic rowing fitness demands -- which led me to explain the physics and kinesiology of rowing. This in turn sent me into a reverie of physical and emotional nostalgia, which in turn led me to show "an erg" to my buddy -- all of which now leaves me drooling, for the nth time in a decade, over the thought of having my very own erg. Sigh. (Post-Christmas and Chinese-New-Year donations warmly accepted!)
I have never forgotten and will never take for granted the inexpressible and life-changing privilege for me that rowing was. Don't laugh: the mere thought of the excellence and vitality that rowing consummates swells my heart and, at times, such as now, nearly brings me to tears. "Nine hearts beating as one," we would sometimes chant, as a reminder of the essential harmony rowing must attain. "The beauty and the beast," I would say to my friends, trying to capture rowing's perfect balance of raw power and exquisite technique. To my dying day I shall be proud to say that I personally know there are, within the sphere of fallen man, few things finer than a well coached, well maintained and well rowed shell; and for that matter, few things more thrilling than the finish of a bow-to-bow-to-bow race. The goose-bumped reverie I've been in for the past several hours -- not to mention my ongoing, though sometimes neglected, passion for crew -- are enough to make me pursue a doctorate in sports science and kinesiology, sidelighting as a crew coach in ____________.
It's beautiful. Trust me: it's magnificent.
I did crew for six years in middle/high school. Working out today with a friend, I had to explain to him why I do certain exercises -- because they mimic rowing fitness demands -- which led me to explain the physics and kinesiology of rowing. This in turn sent me into a reverie of physical and emotional nostalgia, which in turn led me to show "an erg" to my buddy -- all of which now leaves me drooling, for the nth time in a decade, over the thought of having my very own erg. Sigh. (Post-Christmas and Chinese-New-Year donations warmly accepted!)
I have never forgotten and will never take for granted the inexpressible and life-changing privilege for me that rowing was. Don't laugh: the mere thought of the excellence and vitality that rowing consummates swells my heart and, at times, such as now, nearly brings me to tears. "Nine hearts beating as one," we would sometimes chant, as a reminder of the essential harmony rowing must attain. "The beauty and the beast," I would say to my friends, trying to capture rowing's perfect balance of raw power and exquisite technique. To my dying day I shall be proud to say that I personally know there are, within the sphere of fallen man, few things finer than a well coached, well maintained and well rowed shell; and for that matter, few things more thrilling than the finish of a bow-to-bow-to-bow race. The goose-bumped reverie I've been in for the past several hours -- not to mention my ongoing, though sometimes neglected, passion for crew -- are enough to make me pursue a doctorate in sports science and kinesiology, sidelighting as a crew coach in ____________.
P.S. While the beauty of the above ergometer is indisputable, I should be fair and warn you that actually using it is unlikely to warm your heart to it. All I said about rowing's excellence and harmony are true -- but not one iota less true than the total aognizing muscular exhaustion that an erg, or any period of sustained rowing, is easily capable of producing. Sweet dreams!
Clank clank clank
I've been seemingly inert here at FCA but active elsewhere.
Be well and be warm (Taiwan just took a sudden "turn for the cold")!
+ This week we wrapped up our semesterly book revision, which kept me busy all week (and some days, working into the wee hours of dawn!). As arduous as it may be, doing a marathon of lesson planning before the semester starts sure beats tedious ongoing generation of weekly lessons.
+ I've also put some good polishing to my two upcoming series: "Confession and the Sacraments" and "Popping the Population Bomb". Stay tuned.
+ There's a new post up at ScIn. Have a laugh.
+ I tweaked FCA's HTML template so it is viewable by both Expeys and Firefoxes. I'm peeved doing so means FCA in Firefox has a large gap between the post section and the sidebar, but I'm happy to have found a solution. "FCA: Where the Two Shall Read as One!" (Hmmm, maybe not...)
+ I finally got my parish's web page up and running. It's still very primitive, patchy and not where it needs to be, but have a look anyway: Our Lady of Guadalupe in Taiwan. After two weeks of agonizing over what idiotic error I'd made to prevent the whole site from publishing, I'm happy to report the delays all turned out to be the provider's fault. (Incidentally, here's the parish lector schedule I also organize. If you're ever passing through, let me know and I'll sign you up!)
Be well and be warm (Taiwan just took a sudden "turn for the cold")!
Sunday, January 1, 2006
New blog day!
I started a new blog, Scandendum Inscitia. Some of you might find the premise interesting. Check out ScIn's first query.
Cheers and Happy New Year!
P.S. I deleted the FCA-Explorer "shadow" blog. Sorry, Expeys, just read me on Firefox.
P.P.S. I also decided to drop Haloscan (comments). Not only do comments vanish in Haloscan combixes after long enough time (well, Haloscan being free, you get what you pay for...), but also, being notified of new comments by email costs money. (The very idea! PAY MONEY for a service, in this day and age!) With Blogger's comment support, email notification is free and I don't know about Blogger "comment evaporation." Either way, I apologize to you many whose hard-won comments were annihilated (not to mention all those dead links to comments in my posts!) in this sudden HTML purge.
Cheers and Happy New Year!
P.S. I deleted the FCA-Explorer "shadow" blog. Sorry, Expeys, just read me on Firefox.
P.P.S. I also decided to drop Haloscan (comments). Not only do comments vanish in Haloscan combixes after long enough time (well, Haloscan being free, you get what you pay for...), but also, being notified of new comments by email costs money. (The very idea! PAY MONEY for a service, in this day and age!) With Blogger's comment support, email notification is free and I don't know about Blogger "comment evaporation." Either way, I apologize to you many whose hard-won comments were annihilated (not to mention all those dead links to comments in my posts!) in this sudden HTML purge.
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