Mark Foote

A friend turned me on to Jacob's Ladder, written by Bruce Joel Rubin, who also wrote Ghost. Jacob's Ladder is a bit surreal, but I liked it (I was going to post the trailer but I can't see anybody watching the movie based on that!) Watched the trailer for "Time Traveler", that looked pretty amazing too, but I haven't seen it.

say that in Klingon! unless your brain is full of spectral holograms spectral holograms fractal patterns in the sky a piece of the earth a piece of the earth, a fat cat ignored. Not so! have a persimmon

spectral holograms fractal patterns in the sky a piece of the earth

practice (your) smile now eyes rolling backward in head practice makes perfect practice makes perfect the moss in the trees pretends life is for living

We, we're quite a sight if it gets any better things could get real tight

Give me some points, guys! Hey! (When do I win the free game?) Maybe I should watch some Lone Wolf, and get back on track... pass the manga...

nuts a squirrel's friend winter, a squirrel's bed time me, I'm up all night (writing loopy haiku)

but don't wet your hair don't slip a disk, dunkin' dough nuts a squirrel's friend

Tito Puente rocked all the lovers everywhere rolling out to sea

You are right that "making self-surrender the object of thought, one lays hold of concentration, one lays hold of single-pointedness of mind"- that's a quote from the Pali Canon attributed to Gautama (who was later called the Buddha). I'm a big fan of Rumi! As to whether awareness of the small, human, and humble nature of one's circumstance in this life can cause a person to become supernatural, or almost supernatural- I don't know. I've had that awareness a number of times, I think, and for me it passes without resulting in any noticeable change to my monster/non-monster status. Ha ha, if you know what I mean! Currently I'm convinced that monsters like Chino sensei, Kobun's master, appear supernatural because of their ability to fall upright into trance at every opportunity. My definition of trance is like that attributed to Milton Erickson in the Wikipedia post about him, where his induction of hypnosis in a subject during the course of a handshake is described: "This induction works because shaking hands is one of the actions learned and operated as a single "chunk" of behavior; tying shoelaces is another classic example. If the behavior is diverted or frozen midway, the person literally has no mental space for this - he is stopped in the middle of unconsciously executing a behavior that hasn't got a "middle". The mind responds by suspending itself in trance until either something happens to give a new direction, or it "snaps out". A skilled hypnotist can often use that momentary confusion and suspension of normal processes to induce trance quickly and easily." Erickson used self-hypnosis to overcome the pain he had everyday as a result of polio and other illnesses he had experienced; he said this about his use of hypnosis: "I go into trances so that I will be more sensitive to the intonations and inflections of my patients' speech. And to enable me to hear better, see better." He saw trance as an everyday occurrence: "The same situation is in evidence in everyday life, however, whenever attention is fixated with a question or an experience of the amazing, the unusual, or anything that holds a person's interest. At such moments people experience the common everyday trance; they tend to gaze off to the right or left, depending upon which cerebral hemisphere is most dominant (Baleen, 1969) and get that faraway or blank look. Their eyes may actually close, their bodies tend to become immobile (a form of catalepsy), certain reflexes (e.g., swallowing, respiration, etc.) may be suppressed, and they seem momentarily oblivious to their surroundings until they have completed their inner search on the unconscious level for the new idea, response, or frames of reference that will restabilize their general reality orientation. We hypothesize that in everyday life consciousness is in a continual state of flux between the general reality orientation and the momentary microdynamics of trance..." So I think the reason some masters appear to be monsters is that they are in touch with the dream-aspect of life through the induction of trance in themselves at every opportunity, which results in the sharpening of the senses that Erickson spoke of. In fact, they practice letting go of action and allowing the necessity of their circumstance move their bodies, a necessity which includes all the senses and even what is perceived in the senses but not necessarily manifest in consciousness. They are faster than the normal person, in a slow sort of way- ha ha!

Thanks to Nungali for the tidbits about the history of karate, I'm sure you're right about who was in that film. Isimsiz Biri, actually I think Kobun meant that his teacher was so natural as to be super-natural. If that makes sense!

Thanks, Nungali, for your expertise on this matter. Over my head, but I appreciate your description. You wouldn't happen to know of a link to any film footage of Ueshiba just twirling the jo overhead? Saw one a long time ago, and just twirling a jo like a baton is a lot of fun for me sometimes; there's footage of Ueshiba doing the moves shown in the movie you posted (that's his son, right?), but I've never seen the film of him just spinning a jo overhead again. Isimsiz Biri, I used to go hear Kobun Chino Otogawa lecture, he once described his master as a monster, and said he was only in the U.S.A. to allow people to cross over his back and meet his master; I think that's how he put it.

You guys are deep, thanks.

Isimsiz Biri, are you a kendo practitioner?- I don't know anything about kendo, it was great to read about the Suio (Water) style on Wikipedia after you mentioned it above. Zato Ichi's swordplay I think is entirely fantasy, but I love it: looks to me like he pulls the sword from the hilt in a circular or figure-eight motion, and I'm thinking it's entirely original with Shintaro Katsu but I have to wonder. Ok, reading on Asia Shock, looks like Katsu didn't have any martial-arts training, but probably was very experienced in "Tate", or stage fighting, from his work in Kabuki. I remember having fun swinging a jo like that in the panhandle in San Francisco, long time ago; figure-eights with a stick resonate with me, somehow.

(hiccup)

You can blame me. still prefer Shintaro Katsu: "He was born Toshio Okumura (奥村 利夫 Okumura Toshio) on November 29, 1931. He was the son of kabuki performer Katsutoji Kineya (Kineya Katsutōji) who was renowned for his nagauta and shamisen skills, and younger brother of actor Tomisaburo Wakayama (Wakayama Tomisaburō). Shintaro Katsu began his career in entertainment as a shamisen player. He switched to acting because he noticed it was better paid. Katsu produced the manga-based Lone Wolf and Cub (Kozure Okami) series of jidaigeki films starring his brother Tomisaburo Wakayama which were later compiled into the movie Shogun Assassin, as well as co-writing, producing, and acting alongside his brother in the TV series "Oshi Samurai" ("The Mute Samurai"). " -Wikipedia

like the Zato Ichi films starring Tomisaburo's brother, and one with Tomisaburo as the villain. here's one I haven't seen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVbBGgj8L-g

a lone seagull flies past the pelicans roosting forty to a rock (at Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz)

Hope ya might enjoy this:

Calment, pretty amazing. I'm guessing the chocolate was the key? Guittard makes theirs in a process that produces a chocolate liqueur which in turn makes whatever chocolate product they are manufacturing, theirs is the best I've found around here. I throw a handful of their semi-sweet chocolate chips in a pan with butter and brandy sometimes, melt it down and throw it on vanilla ice cream for a treat. I have a pretty sensitive gut, for all that, and I don't know how Calment could eat 2.2 lbs of chocolate every week, even if it was milk. I think the coffee is best that tastes best, without anything in it; weirdly, the Cusinart with the special heater button draws out a great taste, at least with Paul Katzeff's Thanksgiving coffee. Taomeow, old pewter-ware? From "Pewter" on wikipedia: "Older pewters with higher lead content are heavier, tarnish faster, and oxidation gives them a darker silver-gray color. Pewters containing lead are no longer used in items (such as cups, plates, or jewelry) that will come in contact with the human body due to health concerns stemming from the lead content." I'm sure you're aware of it, but I know I need all the help I can get so thought I ought to mention! On cholesterol, the last nail in the coffin of that myth that resulted in obesity and diabetes for so many Americans should be the latest FDA recommendation for statins. What is known is that statins reduce cholesterol and reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack; what was assumed for so long was that it was the reduction in cholesterol which was responsible for the reduction in stroke and heart attack, but the evidence for that has never been produced. Now the FDA recommends statins not only for those with high cholesterol, but for those with diabetes or a family propensity as well. That means they have abandoned the claim that the prophylactic benefit of statins is through the reduction of cholesterol. Nice!- from the Guittard website: E. Guittard is the artisan line of chocolates made by Guittard Chocolate Company. It is named to honor company founder, Etienne Guittard. E. Guittard chocolates use only all natural ingredients, such as pure cane sugar, real vanilla beans and full cream milk in the case of milk chocolate. They are also free of any genetically modified ingredients (GMO Free). They are a top choice among nationally-acclaimed professional pastry chefs. Hear what some of these chefs have to say about E. Guittard. All E. Guittard chocolates are kosher certified by the Orthodox Union.

I have to come back and read pages 10-15 of this thread- fabulous! "I was surfing the waves of absolute extremes somewhere else, somewhere where nothing was relative, every truth was ultimate, every lie devastating to the core of every galaxy, every thought an act of self-sacrifice or of treason, every feeling magnified beyond human comprehension -- and then there was the big knowledge, the un-shareable, unspeakable knowledge of things I could discuss with no one, not because they wouldn't understand but because the bulk of my energy was being spent on desperate attempts to try to make myself not form that memory, erase it... " Damn, taomeow. You write so well I'm crying, but then, coffee tends to amp my emotions a bit. I think I should post that on the blogs I write on that concern themselves with Zen, so people could chew on what a gift it is to experience things as they are in an everyday frame of reference. I wanted to mention that I've been using a Cuisinart coffee maker for a couple of years now, one that brews drip coffee but has a button for 1-4 cups that preheats the water for use with smaller water flows over the grounds. With that button pressed, it makes a tastier cup of coffee than most anything I've tried, with the possible exception of my father's ancient percolator. What an amazement, that an ancient percolator can produce some great coffee! Mark's rule: good drugs wear off nicely (why bother with the rest). 'Course, the other thing I think I got from my father was his body; he told me once that when they tested his response to sugar (and I don't know why they did that), the curve came down smoothly to zero as the sugar wore off, while for most people there's a dip below the line. Ah, here's an example: So maybe for me maybe some things wear off more nicely (bad English, yes) than for most people. In a pinch, triple expresso from Starbucks, $2.45 and add half 'n half. Ha ha!

mellow to the eyes clouds over the cliffs in sun sparkles on the sea

Ikkyu this body isn't yours I say to myself wherever I am I'm there (from The Haiku and Poems of Ikkyu Sojun)

garden in the shade gone over, the gardener "everyone you meet"