Well it snowed last night while we were all asleep. It came early compared to the last several years - it used to be that we'd wonder if there would be snow or not by Christmas time.
Someone at work mentioned that some global warming expert was saying how this is an indicator that global warming is happening. I was stunned for a bit, wondering what sort of reasoning could possibly have deducted a global warming trend from a colder winter. Apparently, someone somewhere is saying that just before it gets REALLY warm, it will suddenly get really cold... as if the mercury or alcohol in a thermometer was crouching down to get ready to jump for an all new height. I haven't tried looking up where this comes from but it really just makes me want to close my eyes and forget I ever heard it. Sure, modifying the atmosphere with pollution is not a good thing, but this sort of weird interpretation says scare-mongering to me.
I really hope it was just the "telephone effect", where too many retellings of the same story had warped it beyond recognition.
Allen.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Chen Style Tai Chi (太極拳)
About a month or so ago, the wife and I started taking some tai chi classes at a dojo in Richmond Hill. Ji Hong Tai Chi. They teach Chen, Yang, and Wu style tai chi at that location and it feels like the instructors there know what they are doing. The version I am taking right now is the Chen style tai chi, its the one that appeals to me the most, with it's energetic bursts of motion, as opposed the more stately Yang style.
The class is only for an hour a week, one morning class every Sunday. I think I can handle a bit faster a pace than we're going right now, maybe 2 classes a week would be nice. The school has divided the form into 3 parts and listed them as Chen 1, 2 and 3. I think it might be a good idea to take Chen 2 and 3 at the same time after I'm done with Chen 1. Plus the per-course cost is cheaper for 2 classes in one term, than 1 class per term. Right now we're probably about just under half way through Chen 1.
The instructor we have is a kind of a petite woman originally from Singapore. Master May or Sifu May, everyone calls her. In the class when she is doing the moves, you can see an aura of energy and concentration radiating from her, much bigger than her diminutive frame, and is quite impressive. She is teaching the course in a combination of English and Cantonese. English for the main part, and Cantonese to drive home some points if certain people are not getting things right. On the first day she asked us which language we'd prefer to have the course taught in, English, Mandarin, or Cantonese. We settled on English only, since some people didn't speak Mandarin and some people didn't speak Cantonese... but I guess some of the students need a bit more help in their own language.
Speaking of the students in the class, some of them seem fairly advanced. They nail down the motions beautifully without too much effort or correction from the instructor. I'll guess they've taken another tai chi form before. I feel like I'm learning a bit more by watching them interpret the instructor's moves. On the other hand, there are also students that are absolutely atrocious - stiff armed and stiff legged, doing half or less of each move as it is presented. You can call me elitist if you want, but if we spent any more time on them, we would be learning the form as 6 parts rather than 3 parts. I can appreciate their dedication to learning it though, if not their form.
I'd say I'm sort of in the middle of these two groups. A few problems here and there with width of stance and footing, but nothing glaringly wrong. My body is usually in the right posture and my hands are generally in the right positions. I have taken a Yang style course before a long time ago, and I've always had a passing interest in martial arts, so I think that helps somewhat.
Allen.
The class is only for an hour a week, one morning class every Sunday. I think I can handle a bit faster a pace than we're going right now, maybe 2 classes a week would be nice. The school has divided the form into 3 parts and listed them as Chen 1, 2 and 3. I think it might be a good idea to take Chen 2 and 3 at the same time after I'm done with Chen 1. Plus the per-course cost is cheaper for 2 classes in one term, than 1 class per term. Right now we're probably about just under half way through Chen 1.
The instructor we have is a kind of a petite woman originally from Singapore. Master May or Sifu May, everyone calls her. In the class when she is doing the moves, you can see an aura of energy and concentration radiating from her, much bigger than her diminutive frame, and is quite impressive. She is teaching the course in a combination of English and Cantonese. English for the main part, and Cantonese to drive home some points if certain people are not getting things right. On the first day she asked us which language we'd prefer to have the course taught in, English, Mandarin, or Cantonese. We settled on English only, since some people didn't speak Mandarin and some people didn't speak Cantonese... but I guess some of the students need a bit more help in their own language.
Speaking of the students in the class, some of them seem fairly advanced. They nail down the motions beautifully without too much effort or correction from the instructor. I'll guess they've taken another tai chi form before. I feel like I'm learning a bit more by watching them interpret the instructor's moves. On the other hand, there are also students that are absolutely atrocious - stiff armed and stiff legged, doing half or less of each move as it is presented. You can call me elitist if you want, but if we spent any more time on them, we would be learning the form as 6 parts rather than 3 parts. I can appreciate their dedication to learning it though, if not their form.
I'd say I'm sort of in the middle of these two groups. A few problems here and there with width of stance and footing, but nothing glaringly wrong. My body is usually in the right posture and my hands are generally in the right positions. I have taken a Yang style course before a long time ago, and I've always had a passing interest in martial arts, so I think that helps somewhat.
Allen.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Camera, hmm
I really should get a digital camera again. The last one that Kathy and I had broke while she was on her trip in China last year, and was left behind. I guess it's all right, it had lasted us quite a while. Heck, I'd gotten it for her before we'd even gotten married, and we've been together now for longer than I can remember. (since 2003 in regular terms)
It was a Cannon 8 megapixel auto of some type that I don't recall, back from when it was more common to have a 2 or 4 megapixel camera. What I do recall was that it did have a decent battery life and good quality output. I remember Kathy showing me pictures from the Cannon, and pictures that her sister had taken with a 2007 cheapo 8 megapixel camera. Compared side by side, the picture quality was very noticeable. Probably had to do with the nice lens or something that the Cannon had.
It was a Cannon 8 megapixel auto of some type that I don't recall, back from when it was more common to have a 2 or 4 megapixel camera. What I do recall was that it did have a decent battery life and good quality output. I remember Kathy showing me pictures from the Cannon, and pictures that her sister had taken with a 2007 cheapo 8 megapixel camera. Compared side by side, the picture quality was very noticeable. Probably had to do with the nice lens or something that the Cannon had.
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