soaring crane

FWIW, the US Dairy Council or whatever it's called these days is a very powerful lobby. If there's a motive in pushing calcium on the population, you can bet it's based on the ka-ching. And hey, if makes people stupid, well, more ka-ching to go around!

No, do you? Oops just saw that you addressed that to conspiracy nutters....

ok, doing it now, but typing one-handed is a PITA, regardless which hand I use! The trackpad is the worst thing about it.

i thank You God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes (i who have died am alive again today, and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay great happening illimitably earth) how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any–lifted from the no of all nothing–human merely being doubt unimaginable You? (now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened) --e.e. cummings

And our need to change, Strange as it sounds, seems to be Our most primal need.

ahhhh... well, muscles only get in the way, lol. I've met this guy, and a friend of mine gave him a 60-minute full body massage. She was flabbergasted at the suppleness of his body, said she'd never seen and adult like that. He has the limitless dynamic of a ten-year old boy, and very little muscle mass. He even has a little pot belly:

Or maybe Wai Dan? Regardless, his observation about muscles/tendons is spot on. Oneironaut: The tendon explosiveness you seek is developed most effectively in the static, standing practices. I suggest learning and practicing Zhan Zhuang.

Not sure what you're suggesting. Do you mean that a duck-footed deep squat is a good alternative to correct horse stance? Deep squatting with heels on the groud is a good practice for a number of reasons, and it's a natural position for humans to spend a lot of time in, but it's not horse stance. I would say the two aren't even related. The tendon conditioning that 9th mentions is a major component of the training, as it is all static, standing practices (Zhan Zhuang). Squatting won't lead to that.

Good question!

Hello dukuhitam, and welcome to the forums! Glad you found your way to us, I think you'll find a few people here who have been in a simlar situation and who are generous about discussing their experiences. Best of luck to you :-) Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, SC and the TDB team

Hello Henchman21, and welcome to the forums! Glad you found your way to us and thank you for that exemplary introduction, it was a good read! :-) Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, SC and the TDB team

An artist friend of mine works with texture a lot. She paints with oil and acrylics, and very often uses big thick globs of paint to highlight specific contours and other areas of her works. The effect is pretty dramatic and I'm thinking that it could go well with something like this. I can see a kind of half 2D/half 3D image. A 2D print that has just a few details coming out of the picture, done with acrylic paint, maybe metallic tones. You know what I'm saying?

My wife and I actually remember this from the early, early days of email. She was working at one of the first US companies to implement email for their employees, and one of her first contacts was an aeronautics engineer from Scotland. His name was Harve and even back then, he was sending out joke mails like this, which I re-discovered today when I searched the phrase "the boots of ascension": Cocktail lounge, Norway: Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar. Airline ticket office, Copenhagen: We take your bags and send them in all directions. Hotel, Vienna: In case of fire, do your utmost to alarm the hotel porter. At a Budapest zoo: Please do not feed the animals. if you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty. Hotel lobby, Bucharest: The lift is being fixed for the next day. during that time we regret that you will be unbearable. Doctor's office, Rome: Specialist in women and other diseases. A laundry in Rome: Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time. In an Italian cemetery: Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves. Hotel brochure, Italy: This hotel is renowned for its peace and solitude. in fact, crowds from all over the world flock here to enjoy its solitude. In a Swiss Mountain inn: Special today - No ice-cream. On the menu of a Swiss restaurant: Our wines leave you nothing to hope for. A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest: It is strictly forbidden on our Black Borest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for this purpose. A sign seen on an automatic restroom hand dryer in Germany: Do not activate with wet hands. On the grounds of a private school in Scotland: No trespassing without permission. Hotel elevator, Paris: Please leave your values at the front desk. Eastern Europe Hotel, Yugoslavia: The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid. In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery: You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursday. Hotel catering to skiers, Austria: Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension. Taken from a menu, Poland: Salad a firm's own make; limpid red beet soup with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef rashers beaten in the country people's fashion. From the Soviet Weekly: Here will be a Moscow exhibition of arts by 15,000 Soviet Republic painters and sculptors. These were executed over the past two years. On the door of a Moscow hotel room: If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it. Tourist agency, Czechoslovakia: Take one of our horse-driven city tours. We guarantee no miscarriages. Australia & New Zealand (Say, don't they speak English there?) On a poster in Sydney: Are you an adult that cannot read? If so, we can help. In a New Zealand restaurant: Open seven days a week, and weekends too. On a highway sign in Australia: Take notice: when this sign is under water, this road is impassable. Far East In 2002, a sign in front of a rock garden in the Forbidden City in Beijing warned tourists: Please do not climb the rocketry. Sign over the information booth in a Beijing railroad station: Question Authority Included with the package of complimentary wares in a Chinese hotel was a pair of workout shorts marked: Uncomplimentary pants. A paragliding site near Beijing has a sign that reads: Site of jumping umbrella. The translation of the Ethnic Minorities Park in Beijing for a long time was Racist Park. Supermarket, Hong Kong: For your convenience, we recommend courteous, efficient self-service. An advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist: Teeth extracted by the latest methodists. The box of a clockwork toy made in Hong Kong: Guaranteed to work throughout its useful life. Booklet about using a hotel air conditioner, Japan: Cooles and heates; if you want condition of warm air in your room, please control yourself. Translated from Japanese to English and included in the instructions for a soap bubble gun: While solution is not toxic, it will not make child edible. Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations: Guests are requested not to smoke or do other disgusting behaviors in bed. Hotel, Japan: You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid. Car rental brochure, Tokyo: When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage, then tootle him with vigour. Hotel room notice, Chiang-Mai, Thailand: Please do not bring solicitors into your room. Africa In an East African newspaper: A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers. In a Nairobi restaurant: Customers who find our waitresses rude ought to see the manager. On a South African building: Mental Health Prevention Centre. In a South African maternity ward: No Children Allowed. Mexico and South America Hotel, Acapulco: The manager has personally passed all the water served here Taken from this link: http://www.alphadictionary.com/fun/mistranslation.html

you're serious? Are you an artist? I think it would take a hell of a lot of real talent and experience to do that with the image you posted.

yes, seems so. For that, I sugest guided meditation with someone who has many, many years experience with these things, and who isn't a fruitbat.

Over Easter, my daughter dropped an egg. I told her to make soup. "Dropped egg soup", lol. That's not my original schtick, I've simply waited 22 years (it's from MAD magazine, 1993) for the opportunity to reveal itself:

Can you explain that more clearly? You want to paint over a printout of that image? Accurately or more freeform abstract?

That's what comes from being on staff. Ordinarily, I would have been gone months ago... ;-) Nice of you to notice btw :-*

Qigong is better described as an IBE (In the Body Experience).

you're older than I thought haha

Brilliant! hahahah :-)

Hello Kreshendo, and welcome to the forums! Glad you found your way to us :-) Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, SC and the TDB team

get the other boook that I posted in this thread first, really.

Always incorporate a closing routine. I suggest doing more than he describes. His quick closing routine is to rub the hands down along the front of the body to the abdomen a few times and then massage the neck. Then hold the hands on the LDT for a minute. I do a lot more than that...