Budo and Pessimism

Back in the saddle

2012-05-05T16:13:00.000+01:00

Now that university is over, and I've got myself a job, I can finally get back to the old blog again. I might start up my 'random facts you probably don't know' thing again, but until I find a decent one, here is a picture of the best etch a sketch picture ever.

Today

2011-05-03T21:43:00.000+01:00

Today is the fateful day, my final project is to be handed in. I hope my tutors and external examiners alike are wowed and impressed by my efforts in the field of interactive film adventures!

Sucker Punch

2011-04-13T15:40:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post this time, letting you all know, i went to see Sucker Punch on the IMAX recently...

Dear god, there is one thing accurate in what it promises: I was unprepared. For just how bad it was :(

Im not bandwagon jumping, as I had deliberately not looked at any reviews for it so i would have a unbiased perspective on it. However, after seeing the trailer I wasnt expecting an incredible story or anything, just mind-numbing explosions and tits. However, my already lowered expectations were not met. The film offered little to no development for ANY of the characters, the plot was weak and just an excuse for the spectacle and the special effects, and even they couldnt save this movie...

In short, I didnt like it. I loved watchmen and I loved 300, but this was just awful and should be piled in my back garden and burned.

Delays

2011-03-22T02:21:00.001+00:00

Once again, lots of delays in my postings of facts, ill be doing more soon, I'm in my final year at university, so I'm having to concentrate on my final projects at the moment. I might update about them here later. Watch this space!

Bullying?

2011-03-14T19:12:00.002+00:00

This is perhaps the most pleasurable video I have seen in a very long time, seeing this kid stand up for himself against the bully is awesome!
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=157762297615657

Daily(?) Facts 7

2011-03-13T19:58:00.001+00:00

Long time no facts. Sorry, lots of problems in the old life atm...

New fact!

What animal has saved the most human lives?

Nope, sorry boy, not you.

It's this little guy. The horseshoe crab. Technically not a crab at all, but whatever. Their blood is used to create LAL which is used as an artificial kidney of sorts, that clots when harmful bacteria like diseases are introduced to it. This allows scientists to test drugs and immunisations on the blood. If the blood clots, its not working, if it doesnt;

GREAT SUCCESS!

This LAL sells for $15,000 a litre and, due to a haemoglobin count of 0 is BLUE. No not just 'blue' like unoxygenated blood 'blue' but full on NEON blue. Not only that but they are the oldest living form of life on earth, their species is 445 MILLION years old. They also have 10 eyes and can go a year without eating.

Crazy crabs :3

Daily fact 6

2011-03-07T17:44:00.000+00:00

A few animal facts today!

First, I answer an age-old question. Which one you ask?
This one:

Which came first, the chicken? Or the egg? People always site this as some unanswerable question, but the answer is quite simple when you think about it: Birds evolved from reptiles, so the first bird would have come from an egg, laid by a reptile. Simple right?

Here's another challenge. Name a fish!

Dont bother, it's impossible, simply because theres no such thing as "fish". The world is given out and mislabled across hundreds of species. It's simply a term that is given to aquatic vetebrate that is not a mammal, turtle etc. It'd be like calling bats and flying lizards birds because they fly.

Oh well, they're scientists, not writers or...namers.......Anywho, see you tomorrow.

Daily Facts 5

2011-03-06T15:25:00.003+00:00

What is the hardest substance in the world?

No, its not diamond. Not any more! Scientists in Germany, by compressing pure carbon under extreme heat have created hyperdiamond or aggregated diamond.

Not only is it the hardest but it is also the stiffest and densest thing known to man. Also, another sad thing about diamonds, is that they aren't forever as the song, and Mr Bond, would have us believe.

They are all slowly becoming carbon/graphite...but don't worry about your jewel collection just yet, it happens so slowly its imperceptible, and as such, your necklaces wont be made of pencils just yet.

Daily facts 4

2011-03-06T01:31:00.004+00:00

Here's a breif couple of facts for today.
1) The universe is beige. Scientists pointed a telescope at the sky for 1000000 seconds and analysed the colours received. What an anti-climax.

2) Water really is blue. its not the sky being reflected in it, it really is genuinely blue...or green...or brown.........well its not clear anyway. :D

Daily Facts 3

2011-03-03T20:36:00.001+00:00

What were cinderellas slippers made from?

Nope, not glass, it's a mistranslation, or rather a mishearing, as the person who wrote our version mistook "vair" for "verre" meaning glass. So what does "Vair" mean? Simple: Squirrel.

That's right. I haven't gone bonkers, it really does mean that.

Squirrel Fur anyway. The Cinderella story has over 300 versions from history, including Chinese ones where the slippers are gold and Scottish ones where they are rushes.

There are plenty of other changes too, like the ugly sisters cutting their toes and bunions off in the original to try and fit the slippers on, or the king making the evil stepmother and daughters dance themselves to death in red hot iron boots.

Gristly...

If I could buy this helmet...

2011-03-02T14:30:00.002+00:00

I would become an actual crime fighter, the urge would be too strong.

Daily Facts 2

2011-03-02T13:45:00.003+00:00

Heres one for you, whats the capital of thailand?

Wrong, not Bangkok. It's Grung Tape. Like Los Angeles in the USA this means 'city of angels'. It hasn't been called Bangkok for 200 years. Or at least its pronounced Grung Tape, but its spelt Krung Thep. And that's still an abbreviation. Thailand in fact, has the longest place name in the world. It's full name is:
Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit. And I typed that out by hand too :(

This translates to: Great city of angels, the supreme repository of divine jewels, the great land unconquerable, the grand and prominent realm, the royal and delightful capital city full of nine nobel gems, the highest royal dwelling and grand palace, the divine shelter and living place of the reincarnated spirits.
Very modest with their city names eh? Mind you, they'd have to be, "Bangkok" is thailands only city!

Daily facts!

2011-03-01T23:37:00.001+00:00

Here's a new thing I'm starting, every day, a new fact you probably don't know.
Today's one:

Chameleons don't change their colour to match their environment. Thats a complete fallacy, they change due to their emotions and sometimes temperature, but never to camoflage themselves. It might happen by coincidence, but thats all it is.
See you tomorrow!

Just a quick fact(s)

2011-02-28T14:58:00.001+00:00

Each UK prisoner costs £45,000 a year - one and a half times as much as it takes to send a boy to Eton. That brings my piss to the boil frankly, but it isnt all bad, I also bring you a chart which I found to be very interesting, hope it helps some of you out.

The Rite

2011-02-27T00:05:00.004+00:00

Well, I went to see the rite...its had a lot of bashing in the media, Christian sceptics, and people who said it was just plain bad.

I must confess, I was raised Catholic, and have always had an obsession with the occult, and no, not in that way, I just love reading about demons and angels and the supernatural. The mythos has always been an interesting thing to me, and I have a large library of books relating to the occult, all about the devil and his ways, however, this movie was a bit of a dissapointment, but not terrible!

I think everyone is being a bit too cruel as Anthony Hopkins' character said: "What were you expecting, heads turning around and pea soup?" This is based on a true story, how closely I dont know, but it seems like THIS is what exorcisms should be like, I wont spoil anything, but the story is good. I predicted many of the plot twists, but that didnt retract from the enjoyment I experienced.

If you're a fan of the supernatural or even "Supernatural" you may be dissapointed or entertained, it depends what you think, I'll just say it's worth a watch just for the conversations it'll kick off afterwards.

Many people like a quick summary at the end in the form of a number etc. So I guess for those people I'd give "The Rite": 6.5/10
It couldve been done better with more research, and its a shame they didnt use all the proper exorcism texts etc.

Legendary

2011-02-26T18:37:00.000+00:00

Perhaps the best thing ever? I think so.

Council Tax? Rubbish.

2011-02-25T20:27:00.000+00:00

Council tax is basically something everyone has to pay, right? WRONG.

These two videos are a must.
Make sure to watch both parts!
(Very interesting and worth wading through the fumbly audio & indistinct sub titles (probably taken an a videophone).

They show how to totally avoid paying tax due to old legal loopholes. Very clever, and well done to the people involved.

My big fat furious ninja

2011-02-25T15:26:00.000+00:00

I went on a marathon last night and watch every episode of "my big fat gypsy wedding" last night, and it really was purely due to the fact that it was like watching a car crash in slow motion. Sad, horrible, offensive, and yet i found myself unable to stop watching...

The fact that outdated and chauvinistic practises like "grabbing" still exist is absolutely astounding to me. I was never able to understand when beaten women say "but he loves me" because surely at the point when fist meets face the bond of love is broken? But here, the relationship starts with violence, and the girls just accept it saying things like "oh, its horrid, but what can you do?" Here's something, kick him in the jimmies!

Human instinct is one of self preservation, and when confronted by that situation I cant understand how they don't have even the slightest feeling that this isn't right.
Why is this? Simple, they had it bred out of them over centuries as part of the "rich" gypsy culture, their mum got abused, and her mum and her mum etc. So its only expected, similar to how Muslim extremists still have the same attitude to women that we had centuries ago.

I don't understand how someone could find any aspect of their wedding ceremonies positive. The people portrayed on the show were walking anomalies, for example they say they are devout Christians, yet they beat their wives and engage in bear knuckle fights and "are extremely house proud" that's at least 2 of the 7 deadly sins right there, Rage and Pride, that they find "acceptable".
I didn't find the show funny, not when they spend ridiculous amounts of money on dresses that make me want to turn the bride upside down and do some mopping, nor when they have 7 year olds getting a spray tan for their holy communion, nor when they have the same 7 year olds dancing like Shakira and Beyonce...I honestly just sat and frothed with rage.

No culture can claim that they are proud and noble when nearly all of them engage in violence against those weaker than themselves, and as a martial artist, I call them all cowards, I have no fear from them, especially the "bare knuckle fighters" who place so much faith in their ability to fight, when in reality, they are as children to a martial artist, punches that are thrown wildly and without precision or skill is a step closer to defeat. They, like chavs, rely on sucker punches, roundhouses and huge hook punches for that "one hit K.O." but someone trained in ninjutsu only needs one opening, for example, it only takes around 18 pounds of pressure to collapse the human trachea...and i'll be punching throats left right and centre if it means the world can be free of violent men. Some might call that hipocritical, but not really, to use violence to ensure authentic peace is something that has to be done with societies like this. And it makes me sad to say it.

Big fat gypsy wedding.

2011-02-25T05:31:00.000+00:00

Holy crap. I will make a larger post about this tomorrow, I know im late to the party, but for now i leave you all with this:

Phoney?

2011-02-22T22:34:00.000+00:00

Arent I glad I bought a HTC wildfire, although popularity means nothing, the iPhone is fantastic. However, I dont think it's fantastic enough to buy it on Pay as you go for the price apple wants right now. I may like iPod and iPhone, but im hardly one of those people who simply write a blank cheque out to Steve Jobs.

HTC Desire £15.32 (Orange)
HTC Desire HD £20 (T-mobile)
HTC Wildfire £10.21 (O2)
BlackBerry Curve 8520 £10.21 (O2)
Samsung Galaxy S £15.32 (Orange)
Apple iPhone 4 (16GB) £45.96 (Orange)
Motorola DEFY £15.32 (T-mobile)
BlackBerry Torch 9800 £25.53(O2)
Nokia C3 £10.21 (O2)
Nokia N8 £20.42 (T-Mobile)

Some things that are just awesome.

2011-02-21T16:43:00.000+00:00

Who wouldnt want these things? Ok...many people, but I know I want them!

Technology that wouldnt necessarily improve my life, but would make it seem a lot cooler.

Wisdom can be found in the strangest places...

2011-02-21T03:16:00.000+00:00

Reading the Manga of Street Fighter 3 recently (A guilty pleasure of mine) I know it's impossible to throw hadokens and the like, so why would a martial artist read that tripe?
Because its fun! Enjoyment is something many martial artists forget. What point is there in going down this path of the warrior protector if we wear the guise of a "tough-guy"?

Much better to smile and spread happiness where we go. Even if people dont realise it, and sometimes, that's something to aim for. If someone doesnt know we help them, to them we didnt, and it can greaten them as a person.

"The fist is like the wind. The wind has no colour, no shape, how can we confirm it's existance? Does it need to destroy houses? To blow apart everything in it's path? No. To appeal it's existence, the wind need only brush gently past the leaves of the trees! With earth as the soul, trees as the body, and the wind as the fist! The deepest form of killing strike, this is the fist of the wind!"

A grand new world

2011-02-21T02:24:00.003+00:00

Well, after 5 years of having this blog sitting in the Aether of the interwebs, I've decided to do something useful with it and post things i consider interesting.
My first Post will start as I mean to go on: criticising something popular.
Before you attempt to beat me to death I dont mean im being negative BECAUSE the item in popular, I'm merely being truthful, that the things i will comment on will usually be popular, or at least known to a set community.
Today I begin with this: BE WARNED THIS HAS ADULT LANGUAGE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNIqgZXng8M
The video was removed once, and due to the ignorance normally associated with yotube comments, I expect this link will not remain unbroken for long. So I will describe to you, the long and short of it:
A bouncer in a club has singled out a (no offence meant) feeble looking smaller man. The bouncer is already in a position of power in the club, andmany people fear bouncers due to their (usually) gun ho attitudes, so this man is understandably worried when the bouncer has escorted him to the toilets of the club.

This sends alarm bells ringing in anyone who has been involved in security like myself, a bouncer would NEVER do this unless there was an explicit reason to do so, a bouncers job is to prevent fights and other illegal activity inside (and in very special circumstances outside) a club or other establishment, and then to remove the troublemakers as swiftly as possible. This man does neither, he has taken the man, who he accuses of being a drug dealer, further inside the club into a less-populated location. Telling. Telling of a man up to no good.

From the body language of the two men we can see the bouncer is being overly intimidating and is making what seem to be false accusations, and then proceeds to "search" the man. Not only does he allow the man to empty his pockets out himself, an idiotic practise for anyone, especially when weapons may be involved, but we can see the man is not proffessional, so i digress.

Eventually after sifting through the mans personal and private belongings, such as taking cash from the mans wallet and nosing through his mobile phone, the bully of a bouncer becomes bored, and decided to throw a straight jab squarely into the face of the man, who has stated he wants no trouble and only wishes to leave. The man cowers away after being punched, satisfying the bouncers ego.

This power display has gone exactly as intended, and he has before him, essentialy, what we would call a victim. The bouncer unleashes another sloppy punch which causes even further distress to the victim. And then commands him, and i can barely believe it as I see it, to worship him, in the typical "we are not worthy" pose. Encouraging his victim to say "Oh great mother
f*cking brown dude".

First of all, lets play the "HOW MANY CRIMES DID HE COMMIT?" game.

Did you guess them all?
We've got:
Kidnapping
Assault
Battery
Perhaps GBH?
As well as larceny and invasion of privacy.

This man is exactly what is wrong with society. People in a position of power preying on those less fortunate. Men like this have always existed, and im sad to say, will probably always exist, BUT, martial artists, good ones, will always exist too. And one great one Stephen K Hayes said: "I vowed that wherever I had to go or whatever I had to study or whoever I had to find as a mentor – I would learn how to prevail over the cruel and unjust and brutal. I would never ever again have to stand helpless and watch the right be crushed into submission by the wrong...prevailing over the dangerous and degenerate is what I offer my community."

We can at least take hope that the popularity of this video will lead to the bouncer's arrest. Or, maybe he'll pick on an unassuming looking person, only to discover he is a champion cage fighter? I hope both of those things happen.