Monday, September 17, 2007

and the Wheel of Time Turns

"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning."


I am more than a little bummed out. The world of fantasy literature lost one of its best the last Sunday. Robert Jordan lost his battle with cardiac amyloidosis, a build up of protien in the heart muscle that causes the heart to harden and lose the ability to pump blood. While his books frustrated me to no end, it was the kind of frustration that came from the fact that there never seemed to be enough time to read them with the kind of attention I felt they deserved.

It is odd to me that the death of someone I've never met should move me so much. Perhaps it is that I felt some familiarity to him through his writing, and a bit of grief over the story that will never be finished. He was also quite a remarkable individual. So it is with a saddness in my heart and a small lump in my throat that I say good bye.

Tole



Robert Jordan
Oct 17,1947 - Sept 16,2007

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Human Weapon

Over the last few weeks my close little group of cronies and I have begun to gather on Friday nights to watch The History Channel. Yep, you read that right...The History Channel.

Some programming genius found an idea for a show that touches some primal part of my hind brain and I can't stop watching it. It's called Human Weapon and runs at 8 and 9 pm Central on Friday nights.

Basically you have a former UFC fighter and a former pro football player/wrestler who are travelling the world learning a little bit about the hand-to-hand fighting styles native to whatever region they are in. They spend some time training with various teachers and then face a local champion (usually getting their butts handed to them in the process.)

Last week's show featured Krav Maga. Krav Maga isn't as much a self-defense as it is a way to put someone down as fast and as painfully as possible. (Did I just hear Tim Allen grunting? No? hmm...) What made the evening complete was when someone asked Lawdog how some technique to disarm a knife wielding baddie could possibly work. Lawdog, being the helpful and eager to educate others individual that he is offered a quick live demonstration.

Quick...yeah...it happened so fast that our unsuspecting inquisitive mind never saw it coming. He also had a tough time holding his drink in that hand for quite awhile afterwards.

Anyway, if you have an hour to kill on Friday, this one is worth buring a small bit of your life for.

Tole

Make It Aluminum They Said - The Finale

Started it up this morning around 10 AM and let it come up to operating temperature. So far, so good. Decided I needed to road test it to ma...