Yoda

Ninpo-me-this-ninjutsu-me-that, Oh... got it. Well, second hated is better than first hated so that's a start! It's my impression that the Chinese are cordial in person to individuals from America and England, yes? Also, it's no fair that America is second on the list... Queen Victoria's crew put a lot of effort into being crappy international neighbors, plus we beat the Japanese... that should count for something? I suppose the whole communism/capitalism philosophical strife and the Korean War put us in the lead. Tao Toe, Yoda

I found a really great book that gives an origin based approach to learning basic characters. Very cool... gives a bit of cultural history at the same time. The 4 characters for Bank of America means: store "a place where people walk to" silver "gold that resists the hammer" beautiful country "beautiful country that is guarded by weapons". It's a real honor that someone in China decided that America is a beautiful country! May we live up to that!!! Tao Toe, Yoda

have fun!

Leon, Here's more about the device said to still be active in the 20th century: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Sentinel_Maze Your pal, Yoda

Ahumbleimmortal, Thanks for sharing, very cool! Your pal, Yoda

So updates on the story, The Jade Emperor has been impressed with the lives of Lord Guan and Zhang Fei and has granted them godhood. The book doesn't mention whether Liu Bie has been granted godhood or not. Liu Bie dies essentially due to heartbreak and frustration caused in part by not listening to Zhuge Liang's advice and suffering a huge loss to Lu Xun. Sun Quan's health seems to be fine. Also, the trap for the Southland General Lu Xun made by Master Sleeping Dragon is described. In the process, the book discusses Lu Xun's ability to see ambushes due to the malevolent clouds above the hidden troops. In this case, the clouds were produced by Master Sleeping Dragon / Zhuge Liang's trap which Lu Xun is puzzled by and goes to check out... The trap is seemingly foiled by Master Sleeping Dragon's father in law's compassion for Lu Xun.

I have no idea if evil clouds described by the Chinese are the same as chemtrails, but these clouds are also mentioned in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms when general Lu Xun sees malevolent clouds over a hill as the miasma exuding from hidden troops waiting in ambush. It turns out that the malevolent clouds were the bait in a Taoist-made trap to capture Lu Xun but the trap seemed to be foiled by the builder's (Master Sleeping Dragon / Zhuge Liang) father in law having compassion for Lu Xun as he is drawn to investigate the energy source after his scouts reported that there were no enemy troops in the region.

Enishi, Nice avatar! Jade02, You can google this site for some reviews, but I tried them a few years ago and they gave me bad dreams. Possibly has some bad mojo or something. Your pal, Yoda

According to Mak Tin Si, to become a Celestial Deity it helps to become an immortal first as it takes lots of practice but sometimes the attainment is just granted outright to people of normal lifespans like the Jade Emperor does for Lord Guan and Zhang Fei in the Three Kingdoms.

Lifeforce, Thanks for the visit... I think it's the sunshine! Marblehead, A friend of mine traveled around Western Europe recently and was shocked that none of them have ever visited Germany. Even the French who live 15 minutes from the border... it never occurs to them to pop over for a beer. When asked why, they don't have an answer... just that the thought never came up. A friend of his, a native Belgian, says that there is an instinctive fear of the Germans in Western Europe that isn't discussed or joked about but in the air. My friend's favorite European country is Germany but he does say they can be touchy when discussing other Europeans... bring up Belgian beer in a complementary way in conversation and suggest that they try one and they get hot under the collar. To them, it's not even beer and doesn't belong in Germany. Indeed, you can't find Belgian beer for sale in Germany. I'm part German descendant as well... Pennsylvania Dutch. My grandmother had a thing about giving enemas to kids and I've wondered if there's anything German about that... what's your take? Your pal, Yoda

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/art...inds-study.html three cheers for citrus windex!!!

Amusing and excellent points Hagar and Taomeow! Your pal, Yoda

Welcome to taobums!

Awesome!!! Thanks Pietro! Your pal, Yoda

Taomeow, Score on the silver! It's interesting that a Windex product could up people's morality. Maybe they just associate the smell with Mom being in the house? Your pal, Yoda

Hagar, You really need to drop your antipathy towards Mormon Swedes!!! I'm sure Dr. Liljenquist has designed her study ok even if her past involved an unusual pig farm conversion experience. Your pal, Yoda

IchBinEin, At 21 you aren't supposed to worry about this sort of thing!!! Come back to us in 15 years!!! Are you getting enough sunshine, exercise, yummy food, vitamins, waking up early in the morning, etc? Eat more hot, slow cooked foods especially beans especially black beans. Crock pots are cheap and well worth it. Also, many sperm masters on TTBs have said that it's not the pc muscle but rather the anus and tailbone area. Check out Trunk's alchemicaltaoism.com and advancedyogapractices.com and also... I'm blanking on the practice name... the one where you do the heart sound haaaaa-aaaaaa-aahhhh where the middle part is higher that's another gear... key sound... google that on this site. Ron Jeremy suggested that men when getting close to the edge move to oral sex, etc to cool off for a bit. The problem with retention is that it amplifies this energy in the body and it's easy to blow a gasket... if you master it it might not do you any favors as is seen in the example of Ron Jeremy... it can move a normal depression into a worse place. Best to find more energetic healing and balance in the first place through rest, exercise, getting sunshine, etc. All of the above is hard won wisdom from the 30 something set, but at 21 you should be able to be heedless... you are giving up energy but so is she and it should be a nice, balancing experience... not a depressing one. My guess is that you have closed yourself off to her energy due to a heartbreak in the past or there is some sort of incompatibility in the relationship which might or might not be able to be addressed. Either way, I'd focus on cultivating feelings of love and connection and giving her lots of massages, love notes, etc and to completely avoid the practice of retention as an end itself but only as one way to increase the love vibe like in the key sound/heart sound. Good luck! Your pal, Yoda

enouch, If you google this site for sperm retention, you'll get lots of information and you'll meet the infamous Ron Jeremy! Also alchemicaltaoism.com is a good resource on all of this. advancedyogapractices.com has it's own take as well but keep in mind that many dudes have been messed up by the 3 finger technique. My guess is that it will come naturally when the practitioner is ready in the chikung/neikung schools. Keep in mind that some Taoist schools don't cultivate chi as it can be too problematic. Your pal, Yoda

the target ones are really light... like 10-15lbs, but still fun to swing around... maybe do double swings with 2 in each hand type thing to test.

After about 1,400 pages lots of characters I know and love are dying. Lord Guan... didn't see that coming. But even death doesn't stop him! It looks like he took Cao Cao out and possessed Sun Quan's minister to kill the minister and give Sun Quan a good lecturing to! Unrealistically, Lord Guan goes to a Buddhist monk for post-death advice but we can let that slide. The book's bad boy, Cao Cao, makes a quip towards Lord Guan's head and the head grimaces at him and Cao Cao freaks out, then gets haunted by past victims, gets sick, and dies... King Liu Bie's health isn't doing too well either. King Sun Quan is definitely spooked and his brother was killed by a Taoist related haunting so it's a possibility that he might not live too much longer either. Yoda

One point that Mak Tin Si says, is that if you try to drive something off but it is unable to leave you might end up just pissing it off and the situation just gets worse.

here's a rockin out site: http://sonicnovel.com/kanjihanzi.html and click on 'the learn to read and write Chinese characters' for a nice 5 minute introduction to the topic. A very nice approach to learning the characters appropriate to the western student desiring to understand how the Chinese have traditionally assembled their thoughts about the world. Also, this is a very nice site too: http://www.themaninchina.com/readingchinesecharacters.htm Dictionary instructions!!! I own a dictionary but don't know enough to even crack it open! Please excuse that fire extinguisher towards the bottom of the page... I'm not sure what that's all about. Yoda

Seven Stars, Welcome to the bums! Alchemicaltaoism.com is a great taoist resource... we make all the mistakes so you don't have to! Your pal, Yoda

Innerspace, Target sells really light ones and Play it again sports sells all weights at least in my area. In the cities you should be able to find used ones on craigslist or ebay. I am happy with my power-systems.com kettlebells. If they are too light, they can be used for mobility drills and if they are too heavy for strength only, so it's not the end of the world either way. My wild guess for an ok conditioned male is 35 pounds. they are very cool. Your pal, Yoda

the book has its very own forum! http://the-scholars.com/