eye of the Tiger?

There’s nothing the tabloids love more than a squeaky-clean celebrity beginning his fall from grace. And Tiger is beginning to fall. The pedastal is rocking, the ex-girlfriends and (alleged) mistresses are finding their way to a pay-check on US TV, TAG Heur have already removed his image from their website. Apparently a naughty golfer is bad for business in the world of expensive watches. Maybe Gillette will even shave him off the worst razor adverts ever.

Of course there’s an argument for saying he put himself up there, he chooses to market himself on his image, so when it turns out to be a bit of a sham, or at least a little exaggerated, we have a right to point and laugh. Is there? Should we rather laugh at ourselves for (yet again) being taken in by an image, a brand – especially if any of us thought we’d buy a TAG Heur “because Tiger Woods advertises them, and he seems like a nice guy”.  He’s just a guy, a guy thrown into the world of the super-rich, where money and girls (and drugs…) are thrown at you, where your every move is watched for signs of cracks (or crack?). The pressure is unimaginable. Though of course, he can expect little sympathy from us, mere mortals, because he is very rich. And presumably, a bit dull, because he plays golf all day.

It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s the cream of the fight
Risin’ up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watchin’ us all in the eye of the tiger

eye of the tiger

In a strange kind of lyrical reversal, this classic 1980’s song by Survivor sort of sums it up, except the tabloids are the stalkers, the tigers seeking their prey to devour, watching Tiger with the eye of the tiger.

We don’t need to get involved. We don’t need to feed the tiger that hunts the Tiger. Every time we buy the magazine, join in the conversation, jump on the pedastal-tipping bandwagon, we reinforce the values that say that it is ok. It’s dog-eat-dog, he’s had it good, let’s bash ‘em whilst we can. No. There is another way. And it involves more puns.

Jesus said something like “before you point out the speck of dust in your brother’s eye, take out the plank of wood from your own”. I have no particular affection for Tiger Woods. I cannot stand golf. Golf courses take up valuable land that could be run on. But I do believe that Jesus was onto something radical here. He was obviously part of a judgemental culture too.  A culture that liked to judge and point and make themselves feel better by pointing out the shortcoming of others. And in our culture, it is not just the religious who are the Pharisees. Everyone is at it. If we join in, we become them. If we ignore it, we allow it to grow. Do we want to be the Pharisee loudly praying on the street corner, mocking others who are ‘worse’? I would hope not. But so easily we are.

May we, when living our ordinary everyday lives and looking at those living extraordinary everyday lives, may we be the ones who remove the plank of wood from our own eye first, before pointing out the speck in the eye of the Tiger.

(This does not apply to cheesy 1980’s rock songs from Rocky films. There is no plank here.  Sit back and enjoy!)

“Pheeeonix. Come out and play.”

I saw this on The Score tonight and couldn’t believe it. Great tribute to The Warriors, a great film, and you can’t miss with Eye of the Tiger. Varejao and Ilgauskas also rated high on the comedy scale. Combine that with some slick retro jerseys and a win over the Suns, and it was a good day to be a Cavs fan.

Shaq really loves his Cyrus. Don’t forget, this isn’t The Big Replicators first crack at “Can you diggg it!!”

_________________Eye of the Tiger_________________

I had a panther,

by the name of sir frances

I lost him for good.

hybelen er uten internett og livet mitt sirkulerer rundt lekser for tiden, noe som igjen fører til at oppdateringer blir få. jeg har nå slutta i ett fag for å ta det som privatist til våren, og att på til tatt opp to fag til som privatist, så skolearbeidet blir mer og mer intenst. det beste er at det ikke kager meg i det hele tatt. jeg har fem timer ekstra ledige i uka fordi jeg tar internasjonal engelsk som privatist nå, noe som fører at jeg har rundt åtte fritimer i uka hvor jeg kan sitte på skole og arbeide med lekser og privatist fagene mine. jeg jobber aller best når jeg sitter alene på biblioteket og arbeider individuelt med fagstoffet. helst med en kopp sterk kaffe.

fagene jeg har valgt er relativt vanskelige fag, som kommer til å ta mye tid og energi, men kjenner jeg meg selv rett så kommer det til å inspirere meg mer til å jobbe med alle fag. jeg skal ikke legge skjul på at jeg har vært ganske slækk dette halvåret, jeg har jobba dårlig med fagene og vært mildt sagt lite inspirert med tanke på det akademiske. jeg anntar at jeg kan karakterisere meg selv som en person som arbeider best under press, og å ta internasjonal engelsk, biologi I og matte R1 som privatist syns jeg at jeg kan beskrive som press. nå har jeg bare én time igjen av skoledagen også skal jeg sitte på biblioteket og bli kjent med matematikken og øve litt på spansk (det dårligste faget mitt i år). og i økonomiens ånd har jeg til og med tatt med meg min egen pulver kaffe, sånn at jeg bare kan hente meg varmt vann i kantina, og det er gratis. åja, en liten gledespreder i dag er et solid dekke av snø over hele lille Eid!!

en liten gledespreder til, bare fordi jeg er i ett unormalt godt humør idag, forvirrende nok.

The first rule of  fight club is you do not talk about fight club… the legendary dialogue from the movie Fight Club. Hollywood has made some  really cool and awesome movies on Mixed Martial Arts… Fight Club, Never Back Down, Red Belt, each of these leave one awe struck!

All the awesome workout sessions, your head automatically has the Rocky Balboa, “Eye of the Tiger,” playing…  Shootfighters have all of these amazing training sessions, that would transport you to any one of these flicks… strengthening exercises, conditioning, free- running… all of that you can ask for!

But there is a catch! When it comes to Shootfighters, there is more than what meets the eye… there is always something new and exciting to be offered by Shootfighters… While speaking of MMA, we have, taken this term very seriously and to the point!

Ashwin has been practising martial arts for over 2 decades now… and these arts range from Karate, Kickboxing, Brazilian Jujutsu, a bit of Sambo, Taekwondo, Aikido, Jujutsu, Kalaripayattu, Tamil Kalaripayattu, Wing-Tsun, Kenjutsu, Garadi, Vajramushti, Judo, Tai Chi, Baghuazhang, Various types of Kung Fu- Eagle Claw, Tiger, Snake and a bit of Manthis… and each of these forms have been blended in Shootfighters…

This unique blend makes the classes, complete fun and totally exciting. Martial Arts has a huge history, and there are wide array of arts… each place has adapted and taken an art form to suit their own needs and requirements. Thus, the existence of this melting pot of so to say, martial arts under one roof… makes it a complete martial treat!

“One needs to enjoy what they teach… and I would personally find only striking pretty boring… after sometime plain old kickboxing without grappling, take-downs… gets very boring. It is not even practical in a real fight, where you are grabbed, pushed, clawed, slapped. Also, in most cases, you are up against more than one opponent… where one person does the hitting, while the others do the holding.” Says Ashwin.

Hmmm, only strikes and kicks seem like so much of a constriction here… one needs to know different techniques and ways to get out of any attack situation. Shootfighters Inc, takes in all the useful martial arts and makes it a part of their course curriculum.

Sounds fun right! Different martial arts, being blended and taught with some really cool moves… but behind all of this is a serious effort made, with tremendous hard work, and passion for Martial arts.

Ashwin has been in constant touch with different people in the world of Martial art, making friends, getting to know their art forms. Many masters do not teach you some art forms that easily… they need to know whether one can handle it. Ashwin had to go through years of patient waiting before he was introduced into numerous arts.

“It is a complete course you need to go through, most teachers do not teach you what part you want and leave the rest… you need to wait it out patiently and get the useful information out. Every martial art has some very useful and amazing techniques, and some may not work.”

With real-time experience of numerous fights, Ashwin knows that one needs to have a multitude of techniques that work.

“My instructors like Siddarth are very good fighters, because they have only learnt techniques that work and nothing else.” Adds Ashwin.

The most tough to capture have been the Indian Martial Arts… these seem to be very well hidden and shrouded, many have been lost and left only to a chosen few., as they need to make sure whether one can wield the power given by the arts.

The organization is doing a lot to preserve and document lesser known Indian martial arts such as Garadi, Vajramushti, Varmakalai, Silammbam so that they don’t die out entirely.

“I had this curiosity to understand and know, why an agriculture based civilization would need Martial Arts. Hunters and gatherers, it is understandable, but Indus Valley Civilization, the first civilization to develop a deep cultural setup of Martial arts was something I wanted to learn about.” Says Ashwin.

The great sages of India like Agastyar, Thirumular, Boghanathar… all of them have made huge contributions to Martial Arts, also incidentally the word ‘Chi‘ is derived from Chivaya (a tamil way of saying Shiva). The insights provided by them in Martial arts is very profound and deep. It set a base for the growth of martial arts all over the world.

“Martial arts, is about being strong, self-defence and all of that… but then there is more to Martial arts… it has a deeper ethereal meaning. When many students had signed up for self-defence or fitness, they continued classes even after achieving fitness and self-defence. Out of sheer curiosity I enquired, and found out that they felt a sense of achievement and strong confidence while be a part of our classes.” Says Ashwin.

Thus, martial arts works directly on the mind of the person, which in turn reflects in the body. “Martial arts is like Kundalini Yoga, where the aim is to achieve enlightenment, thus sages like Agastyar practised the arts. In order to see a mental change, physical vigour need to be done, once there is a mental change it is seen in the spirit… all of them are interconnected. “ Adds Ashwin.

The best part about these arts are, they are very nicely blended and gelled in to make a perfect school for martial arts- Independent Shootfighters Inc.

På fredag øvde jeg til gudstjenesten jeg skulle spille på på søndag. Her er et lite utdrag fra øvelsen. Takk til gjestestjerna! Haha.

Rocky was released on this date in 1976. The Rocky movies have not only been a source for inspiration for athletes, but have had great music, including “Eye of the Tiger,” to accompany the victories and defeats of the “Italian Stallion.”

In honor of all the Rocky flicks, let’s watch videos of some of those inspiring tunes and movie moments.

The Rocky IV soundtrack is one of my favorite soundtrack, and it includes “Living in America,” “No Easy Way Out,” “Burning Heart,” and “Hearts on Fire”

And here’s the theme and the inspiring scene that started it all. Even after 33 years, Rocky’s triumph is still cool!

“Gonna Fly Now”

He hits notes, too.

Over the weekend Manny Pacuiao defeated Miguel Cotto to capture his seventh world championship in as many weight divisions (which is almost as impressive as the simply AMAZING trailer for his new movie). After a gruelling bout that was just a few minutes shy of going the distance, what did Pacquiao do next? Why he donned a sexy fedora on top of his bandaged head and performed an eight-song set with his band, of course. 

To honour the champ and his musical skillz, let’s take a look at the respective entrance song choices of Pacquiao and Cotto and see who won THE BATTLE OF THE BEATS.

MANNY PACQUIAO

Backstage walk: “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC

This energetic crowd-rouser was a good choice by Pacquiao’s team. Like a lot of fight entrance themes, the magic is in its literalism — Pacman’s hands are lightning fast with thunderous power. To add to its meaning, take into account that guitarist Angus Young built a mythology around how he played the riff, by appearing to do it single-handedly in the “Thunderstruck” music video — in reality, Young played it with both hands. Pacquiao also built a reputation as a one-hand wonder, but later in his career demonstrated that he is indeed a double-handed power puncher, as he would go on to cement in his fight with Cotto.

Official entrance: “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor

Pacquiao’s people took a risk with this song. Not only is using any theme from a Rocky movie a potentially painfully cheesy choice, it also smacks of ego and gasp maybe even douchebaggery. It tempts relentless clowning if you lose, and many bad punchlines if your face ends up looking like Rocky’s at the end of his first movie. Luckily, Manny came out smiling and waving and sincerity won the day. Like Paqcuiao’s story at this point in his career, Rocky III is about a guy who is on top of the world (Rocky was champion for 10 years at this point in his cinematic saga just as Manny was holding six titles and the honorific “Pound-for-pound” best) but who nonetheless feels like he has a lot to prove. Could Manny hang in there with a fighter who was not only bigger and stronger and maybe just as fast? Well, if he had tiger eyes, sure.

MIGUEL COTTO

Backstage walk: “Stronger” by Kanye West

One could see where Cotto’s people were going with this: Cotto was known to be bigger and stronger than the dimunitive Pacquiao, who had to move up in weight for this bout. His trainers also certainly hoped he was faster and would fight harder as well. But the song was apt for other reasons too, what with Cotto still repairing his spirit and standing after a devastating and controversial defeat at the possibly lead-laden hands of Antonio Margarito and a parting of ways with his uncle/teammate. The video for West’s “Stronger” shows the rapper undergoing surgical repairs and receiving cybernetic upgrades, recalling the car accident that almost ended his life at the outset of his career but instead propelled him into mainstream success via “Through the Wire,” the song he wrote about the life-changing event. What Cotto’s team thought was a playfully boastful song was actually about second chances and hubris — a hubris that hasn’t worked out well for West’s career as of late.

Official entrance: “Todos quieren a Raymond” by Daddy Yankee

Yankee’s reggaeton track sounds sufficiently aggresive and my rough translation of the lyrics gleans some general braggadocio, which certainly set the tone for the kind of fight Cotto wanted to fight. The choice of Puerto Rican artist Yankee and the song’s language is a good nod to the wave of national pride that soaked this fight particularly — notable in a sport already known for its often nationalistic overtones — but you can also add another point because Yankee has said before that boxing is his favourite sport and he has been training for years. Despite these pluses, however, the song made Cotto seem overly serious when contrasted with Pacquiao’s playful, celebratory entrance, and the vibe of the music leaned more towards a feeling of nervousness and trepidation than it did aggression and domination.  

The winner? Same as the fight: Despite Miguel Cotto’s strong efforts, Manny Pacuiao hits on several, surprising levels and comes out on top. But writing about music is like dancing around a ring about architecture, right? So forget all this — take it away, Pacman!

UPDATE: Fixed the Daddy Yankee link (previously led to incorrect song).

(image via)

**UPDATE 11/11/09: Macy’s Stars of Dance performance video with Sabrina Bryan and Mark Ballas has been added.**

This week Mya and Dmitry earned the first perfect score of the season from the judges for their 70’s inspired Samba. However Joanna and Derek were chosen to perform an encore of their futuristic Paso Doble as the judge’s choice dance.

Michael Bublé performed Haven’t Met You Yet from his new album Crazy Love as well as Feeling Good from his album It’s Time. Tonight’s Macy’s Stars of Dance performance was the result of the Design a Dance poll which reunited Sabrina Bryan with her Season 5 partner Mark Ballas and they performed a Paso Doble to Eye of the Tiger by Survivor (Watch the video below). Susan Boyle from “Britain’s Got Talent” also performed the song that first garnered her fame which is I Dreamed a Dream from the musical “Les Miserables”.

Back to the results…

The bottom two couples were:
Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff
Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel

The couple leaving tonight is:

Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff -- Image via ABC.com

Watch all the performances from this week on ABC.com. Next week is the Semi-Finals.

For more news, clips, and results from the show, visit the “Dancing with the Stars” category on this blog or just click here.

Since Thursday morning, I’ve been sufferring from some viral ailment. Started off with the harbinger of doom: The Sore Throat. . . Here, in this global climate of flu pandemic paranoia, I give you the stages of the “Viral Ailment”!

Stage 1 – Denial!

Like any good American, at the onset of the grippy sore throat, I denied any trace of illness.

“What’s that? A sore throat you say?”

“Neigh! Neigh! ‘Tis a hairball!”

" 'Altering the Deal' for 1200, please?"

Stage 2 – Paranoia!

(Written in Second Person, but you fuckers know it’s me.)

You start to question if you got it from that kid who ran into class a couple of days ago to proclaim his forthcoming leave of absence in light of being successfully diagnosed with pneumonia.

You start avoiding the bird seed patch that you usually step on; in case there are any remnants of the Avian Influenza strain that started its process of infecting you a couple of weeks ago – Wait! It’s the fucking pork steak I had a couple of days ago!

I start Googling that shit. . . No, it’s not transferrable through cooked pork – but, ah! ‘Tis good to be on the watch for mutating viral ailments.

Maybe it’s that fucker who rubbed the remnants of his oatmeal breakfast on the bus “Stop” button that you had to press.

Gah! So many possibilites! So few diseases!

I actually start to narrow down the diseases via the Dr. House method. It’s either H1N1 from the pork (always chances!), the regular Influenza, the Avian Influenza, Pneumonia, or the Common Cold!

Google -> Wikipedia Treatment -> Viral Diseases

All the symptoms are fucking identical!

Stage 3: “Eye of the Tiger” Phase

Play on Survivah!!!

You start coughing, feel cold enough to think you’re having a fever, but nothing shows up on your thermometer. You’re tough as nails. You got a 90 in Ms. Mathias’s class. You’re going to pull this shit off!
The shortest of stages: I present to you the “Eye of the Tiger” Phase!
Clad with a 200mg big pack of Flu Tylenol, Advil, Shitty Cough Syrup and Vicodin for kicks -

Unrelated Painkiller Pile

You start going “YEAH! Imma Salt Water that shit!”

Imma let you finish! Imma let you finish! But the Spanish Flu was the best flu of all time mothafuckaz! *Pops ‘em painkillers good.*

Stage 4: Defeat.

You’re fucking defeated you miserable shit. Bus yourself to the doctor with a runny nose, and everyone giving you awkward looks. You pat your cell-phone holder threateningly – Scary old lady who sits opposite you on the Public Bus mistakes this for a sexual advance. On any other day, you’d tear her pussy up. But you want Tamiflu, and prescription painkillers strong enough to put an elephant to sleep. Your bones ache. You feel this impending doom at laying off your homework till the last minute – Ah! You get off the bus. Phat doctor gives you a face-mask that doesn’t fit you, you start drawing threatening looks from parents with vulnerable, sweet vulnerable little babies. It might be the flu, but there’s no fever. Wait till Monday, and then get Tamiflu – The Flu’s New wonder drug that unfortunately doesn’t do much than dent H1N1.

It’s Saturday night, you’re supposed to be out chilling at a friend’s place, he calls, you tell him that you’re at funeral. Then you cough the alveoli out your lungs. Nobody must know! I need my four hour shifts and I can’t afford to cut school!

Homework piles up, nothing tastes or feels good anymore – not even Johnny Cash. You sleep like a passed out drunkard, you wake up and you’re not the shit anymore. You iz a sad, undiagnosed kitty with no zeal for life.

You’re pretty sure atheism is the way to go by now, and you search for random funny videos all day long on youtube until you feel good enough to do homework.

Dear Mr. Toilet, I withdraw my post as “The Shit” until further notice.

- Regards,

Viral Victim

I only have a few minutes to write this post.

I have to get my geriatric self to bed by midnight, because DAMN it, I’m getting up by eight tomorrow (I’ve been trying for a couple of weeks with only marginal success). Apparently, my body has developed an ego and can only get up before noon if it’s had a full eight hours.

Spent the majority of tonight in a Rocky-esque push to apply for jobs. Kind of disheartening (one place wanted 7-10 years of experience to be a secretary. Seriously?! Give the newbie college grads a break), but I managed to send out a few.

Crap. It’s 12:08. Gotta go.

OMG its the eye of the tiger!

Eye of the Tiger:

~~~

Have you ever seen the movie Rocky? I tell ya, the movie inspires enough as it is, but the music makes it just that much more. I chose this song for Musical Monday because my sweet hubby, Charlie, completed a half iron man on Sunday.

Five hours and eleven minutes.

That’s a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, then a 13.1-mile run.

YIKES.

He inspires me just as he is, but his dedication to good health and healthy competition inspires me that much more. So, I thought this song fitting for Musical Monday.

***What’s inspired you lately?***

The first single off Chromeo’s third LP just released. I’m not a huge fan of their sophomore album but this one seems promising. Night by Night owes its catchy vibe to an “eye of the tiger” rif reminiscent of Rocky III. Check it out after the jump.

Rating: 4.5/5

ym.

MP3:

• Chromeo – Night By Night (Siriusmo Remix)
• Chromeo – Night By Night (Original Mix)

“The Pirate Solution”

October 12th, 2009

Usually, my reviews of The Big Bang Theory end up devolving into my frustration with the show’s treatment of Sheldon (a subject that many disagree with) and the ill-advised nature of Leonard and Penny’s relationship (which pretty much everyone agrees with, outside of a vocal minority), but “The Pirate Solution” is a rare occasion where I get to focus my analysis elsewhere.

I often feel that the show is held back by is adherence to the sitcom tradition of a fundamental lack of character development, focusing instead on character interaction. There are episodes where I totally buy into the value of this, accepting that although it holds the show back it nonetheless can result in some really fun comedy. However, there are episodes like “The Pirate Solution” which focus their attention on a character and in the process remind us that while some have turned into full-featured individuals others have, well, not.

Raj Koothrappali is a character who, like Penny, is a good foil for nearly every other character, but when you isolate him on his own things become starkly simple. Kunal Nayyar is an engaging actor, but the problem with Raj is that his lack of development is proving detrimental. When the show designates a Raj episode, it means the show recycles cliched India jokes and once again has Raj’s inability to speak to women prove detrimental. I won’t argue that this isn’t entertaining, as I think the Raj parts of this episode were charming; however, I think that there’s a point here where I wonder why Raj needs to be reduced to these stereotypes, and at what point his evolution would only improve the show’s dynamics.

Through the joys of Twitter, I was able to interact with the episode myself: I raised the question of why Raj still needs alcohol to speak to woman in terms of the show’s dynamics, and then the episode delivers a scene where that is the lone reason that he fails the interview for another job at the university. I still, ultimately, find this really problematic. It implies that the only way Raj can be a functioning human being is if there are no women in the room or he’s drunk, which is fun once (or perhaps thrice) but is wearing off its welcome.

Really, Raj is at his best when he’s interacting with Sheldon in the episode’s best sequence, as an intense Physics session set to “Eye of the Tiger” brings out a side of Raj that is smart but emotional. I really like Raj when he’s interacting with the whole group, but with Penny around more often the show is forced to have him sit quietly whispering. I like those sequences in terms of he and Wolowitz getting to make private jokes, but there comes a point where I’d like to see Raj and Penny have a storyline where he isn’t drunk, and for Raj to be able to be less hindered by this particular story device.

I think it’s an issue, for me, of the show looking far more repetitive than it really should. While the show is about character interactions, when both Wolowitz and Raj are so blindly simply defined episodes like this can feel interchangeable with others. When HIMYM did a similar deportation episode with Robin, they included a few stereotypical Canadian jokes but mixed them with great comic setpieces like Robin’s audition for the Lotto gig, as well as Barney’s video resume scheme. Here, however, Raj’s lines are nothing but a bunch of cliched Indian jokes (There’s a lot of people! He’ll miss beef! Etc.!), and the comic setpiece related to the storyline is just a retread of previous “Raj needs alcohol around women.” There’s a point where continuity gives way to a lack of ideas, and I think Raj’s character is reaching that point (and that Wolowitz passed it a while ago, but that’s neither here nor there).

The episode got some good comedy out of Raj’s condition, at the end of the day, but the only moment that really connected was the confusion over whether Raj could talk if Penny is out of the room but clearly listening at the door. The other moments are the same kind of comedy, the same sorts of moments that we’ve seen before and will probably see again. I want the show to do more than that with Raj, and I just feel his stock character trait is more limiting than Sheldon’s, and equally as limiting as Wolowitz (Leonard and Penny are effectively straight men/women by comparison, although that’s only when Penny’s in a relationship with Leonard – otherwise, she’s her own beast). I’m fine with Raj being awkward around Penny, or generally awkward, but I think the show would be better off overall if they gave up on the solid but repetitive gags and allowed the character to grow into something fundamentally the same but capable of more diversity.

As for the rest of the episode, Sheldon was the highlight and everything else kind of fell flat. That’s because, with Sheldon and Raj having quite a fun little storyline that even got a coda that humanized the former, this left Leonard and Penny with Wolowitz, which is just not a good combination for the show. Outside of the connectivity with Raj (Wolowitz waiting outside the door like Penny), it was a total dud for me.

Cultural Observations

• As Dan Fienberg noted on Twitter, the show got a rare cultural reference wrong: it’s Mogwai that you can’t get wet, once they’re Gremlins you’re S.O.L.
• Also, as Erika notes, Raj’s phobia of women implies that he’s never had to work with a woman in an academic setting before, a fact which seems enormously male-centric and thus perfect for a Chuck Lorre show.
• Sheldon was on fire in that extended cold open, including the quite fantastic “Pirate Solution” runner as well as his quick-witted answer of “The Parade” to Penny’s Thanksgiving question.
• I don’t particularly like when they write Sheldon to be culturally insensitive, but for “I swear to cow” it was totally worth it.
• I think that Sheldon’s horribly played “practical jokes” is a fun running gag, but I think they’re trying too hard to give him “catchphrases” or anything similar: I think the joy of Sheldon is how he can turn any situation into a chance for him to act Sheldon-y, and doing it in the same fashion every time is kind of unnecessary (see also: the three knock thing).

So I’m still in London, waiting for the next basketball gig, and in the meantime hunting for alternative or short-term real jobs. Some people wrote me back about the emails I sent out for the freelance writing jobs, saying it helped them to not take the process so seriously. I then sent out a bunch more along the same lines, although without much success. (I’ll post those later)

However all this work talk got me thinking about some of my past jobs, and I be honest I havent worked that much since I’ve been ‘working’ at basketball. But the ones I have had were mostly god awful jobs, two in particular made me hate life so much I would wake up wishing I could contract a rare Amazonian virus just so I would have an excuse to stay home.

where are your TPS reports?

One was in my third year of college. Now usually athletes at Universities get the pick of the best jobs, oftentimes ‘court monitor,’ or ‘front desk supervisor’ or some other misnamed title. However, we don’t monitor or supervise anything, we basically sit in a chair, check our email, do some work for a few hours and go home, if that. Well, after doing these jobs for a couple years I wanted to branch out and find something more challenging in a different area of campus. After some interviews I found a slighty better paying job  on the other side of campus in the reserved section of the library labelling and categorizing books into the foreign literature section. (The salary was up $1 an hour to $7.50, which in college was like working on wall street and taking home 6 figures, afterall what did I really need money for? a date consisted of the $2 i needed to rent a VHS to watch a movie in my room and all parties were free booze courtesy of the magnanimous Dartmouth frats). The job sounded easy enough, I thought.

It was torturous. The office was in the basement (or dungeon as I liked to call it) with no windows, neon green lights, strict sanitary rules (I had to scrub in before work. It’s a library for christsake not a hospital) and a slave master as my boss. Once when I asked her if I could go to the bathroom (I had to ask by saying ‘Madame…’ she wouldn’t respond otherwise) she said, ‘is it number one or two?’

‘Umm,’ totally perplexed I said, ‘I guess its number one.’

‘Well, just hold it, it’s almost 3, then your finished and you can do whatever you please.’ I looked at the clock…it was 12:45.

I had a quota of some obscene number of books that had to be labeled everyday. I had no idea were all these books came from and why we had so many foreign language books in the first place, were there really students reading Hemingway translated to Swahili (not joking), or the Kama Sutra with captions in Romanian (also not joking).

After three weeks, I had had enough, the extra $15 a week just wasn’t cutting it. During a post-practice meal, I told my friends  I was quitting. ‘Quitting is for quitters,’ they said. ‘Get fired, thats the noble thing to do.’ I’m not sure it made sense, in fact it didn’t make any sense, but we laughed all night at the endless possibilities. There were at least 1 million ways to get myself fired.

The next day, I only labelled half of my quota, ate on the job and took frequent bathroom breaks to the dismay of ‘madam,’ yet I still had a job. So the following morning I came in, put my feet on the desk, read the ‘articles’ in Maxim magazine and proceeded to fall asleep. Still, I remained employed, I had to have a better plan.

I was beginning to lose confidence in myself, ‘I couldn’t even get fired properly, whats wrong me with,’ I thought. I needed a creative idea, so I searched my closet and found an old Halloween costume. An 80’s basketball outfit, complete with headband and high socks. I smiled, Tomorrow would be my last day at work.

Halloween '99

I arrived at the library, went to the bathroom and changed into my outfit, took a small stereo from my bag and laid it on my desk and blasted ‘eye of the tiger’ on repeat at full volume. Then I did a warm-up 20 minute jog around the foreign literature section before calmly laying down a towel and beginning my stretching routine on the floor in front of my desk. I followed that with 50 push-ups and 50 sit-ups. Eventually Madam came over and demanded to know what I thought I was doing. ‘Hold on,’ my breathing quickened, ‘one sec, I only got 5 more reps.’

I stopped, looked up and I could see the steam coming out of her head. ‘Flinder,’ she paused, then said the sweetest two words I could imagine, ‘you’re fired!’ I went home, with a huge smile on my face.

I’m still not sure why I didn’t just quit with dignity. I think a part of me just wanted to see how far I could push her, and part of me wanted to see how far I could push myself. I guess in the end I found my challenge after all.

Even though Tom De Lay suffered stress fractures in both feet, he still danced this week despite the doctors’ and producers’ wishes. Tom De Lay was declared safe tonight but he had to withdraw from the competition. So tonight, October 6, 2009, was an impromptu double elimination. First was the encore performance and the surprise judge’s choice was Chuck Liddell and Anna Trebrunskaya’s Samba routine which earned them a judge’s score of 17 from this week’s performance night.

The four couples that were in jeopardy were:

Michael Irvin and Anna Demidova
Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff
Joanna Krupa and Derek Hough
Debi Mazar and Maksim Chmerkovskiy

Queen Latifah performed 2 songs from her upcoming album and the Macy’s Stars of Dance performance featured the JabbaWockeeZ (America’s Best Dance Crew – Season 1 Champs) dancing to Gene Kelly’s “Singin’ in the Rain”.  **VIDEO ADDED: Watch their performance here.**

Sabrina Bryan (DWTS Season 5) was announced as the viewers choice poll winner as the celebrity returning for the Design a Dance segment. Thus far the Design a Dance results are:
Dance Style: Paso Doble
Song: “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor

This week’s poll is to vote for the male professional you would like to see dance with Sabrina Bryan. Vote online now at ABC.com. The results will be revealed during next week’s results show. Bryan’s partner was Mark Ballas back in Season 5, I wouldn’t be surprised if the poll results revealed that Ballas would be teaming up with Bryan again.

Back to the results…

Two couples were sent to safety and they were:
Aaron & Karina and Joanna & Derek

So the bottom two couples were:
Michael Irvin and Anna Demidova
Debi Mazar and Maksim Chmerkovskiy

The couple going home this week is:

Debi Mazar and Maksim Chmerkovskiy -- Image via ABC.com

Watch all the performances from this week on ABC.com. Next week the dancers will perform one of the four two new dances to this season which are the Lambada, Charleston, Bolero, and the Country Two-Step.

Die Bundestagswahl ist vorbei – und die Vorlage dieser Woche wartet bereits: Auge 72 von Bienlein43. Gekonnt inszeniert sie ein blaues, geschminktes Frauenauge als Spiegel. Der Fokus dieser Makroaufnahme konzentriert sich auf die die Umgebung spiegelnde Pupille und einige getuschte Wimpern, der Rest des Vorder- und Hintergrundes ist verschwommen und unscharf. Auch die Auswahl der Farben, eine blau-grüne Pupille, ein Hauch dunkelgrünen Lidschattens und ein grau-grünlicher Hintergrund neben dem Gesicht ist gekonnt und stilsicher. Eine tolle Komposition.

„In welcher Art von Videos kann man eine solche Vorlage einsetzen?“ – Eine berechtigte Frage, doch einfach zu beantworten: Für jede Art von Videos, die in die Zukunft oder Vergangenheit blicken. „Ich sehe Dich“ Videos in Robert De Niro Manier, Wahlvideos, Videos mit persönlichen Vorsätzen, Hochzeitsvideos, Geburtstagsvideos, Jubiläumsvideos, Überwachungsvideos …

Ein Blick sagt mehr als tausend Worte, mit Videos mit diesem Auge lässt sich noch mehr sagen. Zum Beispiel: Schau hin, auch wenn keine Überwachungskameras da sind.
Oder: Politiker, wir werden auch nach der Wahl genau beobachten, was ihr tut.
Oder: Schau mir ins Auge, Kleines. (Na gut, ich gebe zu, dieser Spruch war billig.)
Oder: Verehrte Zuschauer, jetzt folgt das beste Video aller Zeiten: mein Video – Augen auf!

Mehr über Augen im Himmel, die Augen des Tigers und geschlossene Augen in den folgenden Videos.

Alan Parsons Project, „Eye in the Sky”

Survivor, „Eye of the Tiger“

Clueso, „Augen zu“

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In dieser Kategorie möchte ich meine persönlichen Lieblingsvorlagen vorstellen – was nicht immer die in der jeweiligen Woche am meisten heruntergeladene Vorlage der DirectorZone sein muss.
Habt ihr persönliche Favoriten? Schickt mir eine E-Mail, vielleicht wird eure (Lieblings-)vorlage dann meine „Lieblingsvorlage der Woche“.