Capoeira in Toronto has been excellent.  Toronto has so much more variety and opportunities to learn, versus Ottawa... not that i'm belittling my Capoeira experiences in Ottawa, but rather, my Capoeira life has expanded and grown much more by moving to Toronto.  Training with Professora Estrelinha (Lang Liu) in the traditional Regional style that Mestre Bimba "created" has really benefitted my understanding of the Capoeira, and my greater appreciation of traditional Afro-Brazilian culture.

My teacher, has recently left to go to Brasil for a few months to work on her PhD.  She entrusted the class to some of her students to run with it and to ensure that our training goes interrupted.  While at first, i was a bit afraid that she left, i've recently grown to realise that this is a great opportunity for all of us to become better and to fortify our current knowledge and understanding of Capoeira, as an ART, not just a set of movements to keep you fit.  I've had an opportunity to go to U of T and assist teach a class there.  Last night we had a great music session, where each of us just practised songs and playing instruments.  I can see that while Lang is gone, we can still learn and grow and become better Capoeiristas.

All this training is to prepare me for my trip to Brasil, in March. I know I won't be perfectly in shape or know enough Portuguese to be well prepared, but I think everything will just feel natural and alright.

It's been a while since my last entry, but i felt i should add something more regularly.

Today was a sad day that was cloudy and dreary.  i was stuck working and at the Mississauga office at 7:30AM due to some scheduled maintenance work.  That was boring, but during the power outage, i decided to explore Mississauga. i had driven through it (Hurontario street) and other parts of it, but never really explored this "city"...

Well... i have to say, i was very unimpressed.  The "city" is designed for cars. the roads are very wide and are made for several cars.  everyone there was driving (i feel hypocritical because so i was i).  but there was just so much traffic everywhere in this "city", simply because almost everywhere i went was just an endless sea of houses.  the only break from that was the odd plaza, that monstrosity of a mall, called SQUARE ONE and the horrific looking condos littering the skyline... it just left a terrible impression on me and i felt like i needed to escape it.

I managed to find a small park by the waterfront which was very quiet. i sat on the edge of Lake Ontario. it's vastness reminded me of the ocean and it was very calming and soothing... it was nice to take a walk and get away from the rest of Mississauga... i guess the dreary day really set a mood in me, and i loaded up the soundtrack to "Me, You and Everyone We Know" by Michael Andrews, which is very introspective... a great soundtrack for life.

The stay at the park was too short as i had to go back to work to finish up... but first i had to see Square One, which i kinda regretted (i was told i had to see this place by several people... advice i should have ignored).  i did buy stuff though (i'm a consumer)... i went to bulk barn and bought Pistachios because they were on sale! haha... awesome.

After finishing work, i high tailed it back to my quiet neighbourhood. i live in a residential area, but it's not quite as gross as suburbia.

oh my. first off, it's been forever and ever since i wrote in my blah-g.  it must have been...um... 8 months or more!  wow...  in the past couple of months, i have had my heart torn apart, i have had a great deal of people tell me they love me, i have travelled to the mid-west, i have moved to Toronto, i have been stuck in Toronto, i have received my blue corda, i have had strokes of pure genius, i have been called "dumbass" several times, and many other things have happened to me, most of which you know of.

why have i started writing in this blog again?  it's my last day of my twenties and tomorrow, nay, at the stroke of midnight, i enter the THIRD DECADE... i don't feel particularly different, or feel terribly introspective at the moment.  much less so than i thought i would, anyway. i mean, it's a regular night for me, where i came home late from work, eating dinner and doing laundry (and writing a blog... so it's a bit unusual). but as i turn thirty, i really don't fear anything. maybe i'm just smarter and know full well that 30 is not a big deal. sure, it didn't really pan out the way i dreamt it would when i was younger (i seriously thought i'd have had a jetpack by 30...). no, i don't have a wife, a house, 2.5 kids, a car, a potbelly, etc etc etc... and i'm not really disappointed at all.  life can't really present itself in timelines and due dates, like school or something. it unfolds like a good story, as long as the story is told by the last page, i'll be satisfied. and that story will tell itself, naturally, organically and i'm sure wonderfully as well.

i think when i turned 29, i wanted to make one of those "before i turn 30..." lists. i even think i did, but kept it in my head, and i think that none of it panned out. but otherwise, what took its place was a wonderful year of experiences and growth and love. and i hope that now that i'm 30, i can continue this growth, this change and this appreciation for life.

harder harder hardest

i am the artist

that makes it easy for you

to paint me in a corner.

- Marcus Said, Sloan

can you identify this person?? yep... i went to this super awesome party last night and it required me to either dress like a rock'n'roll person or a funk'n'soul person... i dressed like a latino guitar weilding freak with a bad bad moustache... yep... gotta love the moustache.

• right shoulder (it hurts to push it).
• tail bone (landed badly, right on the tail bone).
• region to the right of the tail bone (tail bone related injury).
• right butt cheek (kicked too high while doing a mea lua).
• left ankle (rolled it while carrying something, unrelated to martial arts demo).
• neck (landed on my head).
• head (landed on my head).
• 63.725% of my ego.

so, despite all the injuries, i had fun and i'm laughing at it now (with a bunch of swearing involved)... i just think i'm getting too old for this stuff! hahaha... i'm a geezer.

Banjo and/or Ukelele playing dogs are awesome. Please... write about one.  you can even write about how Rover, the only Ukelele playing dog rose to fame after being a slave to his owner...only to realise, that man was his best friend... so he returns to his owner's place (after becoming, like... a super-frikkin'-star in the Ukelele/rock circuits) only to find that his owner passed away from head lice...  Tormented, Rover sinks into depression and drinks his worries away, finding solace in the bottle, and a drug Patches the cat gave him, called Cat Nip.

 

spending all his earnings and drinking from the worst toilet water any dog can drink of, he meets Doodle the Poodle, the queen of the Westminster Dog Show.  She helps Rover recover from all his afflictions. Rover then writes a beautiful ballad called "Rowf Rowf rrrowf", which was dedicated to his owner.  With the catchy chorus and Rover's mad Ukelele playing skills, the song hits number 42 on the charts, the highest a Ukelele soloist ever reaches on the Billboard charts.
 
He then collaborates with all the superstars of the music world. He covers a song by Justin Timberlake, makes a cameo in J.Lo's new video, sings the backups with Snoop Dogg and even remixes a Black Eyed Peas song.
 
After winning several Junos and other prestigious music awards, Rover marries Doodle and has four litters with her.  He then passes away at the age of 91 (in dog years), but lives on in the memory of all for being the best Ukelele playing dog in history...
 

When I go for a drive I like to pull off to the side
Of the road, turn out the lights, get out and look up at the sky
And I do this to remind me that I'm really, really tiny
In the grand scheme of things and sometimes this terrifies me

But it's only really scary cause it makes me feel serene
In a way I never thought I'd be because I've never been
So grounded, and so humbled, and so one with everything
I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything

Rock and roll is fun but if you ever hear someone
Say you are huge, look at the moon, look at the stars, look at the sun
Look at the ocean and the desert and the mountains and the sky
Say I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye
I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye

When I saw Geneviève I really liked it when she said
What she said about the giant and the lemmings on the cliff
She said 'I like giants
Especially girl giants
Cause all girls feel too big sometimes
Regardless of their size'

When I go for a drive I like to pull off to the side
Of the road and run and jump into the ocean in my clothes
And I'm smaller than a poppyseed inside a great big bowl
And the ocean is a giant that can swallow me whole

So I swim for all salvation and I swim to save my soul
But my soul is just a whisper trapped inside a tornado
So I flip to my back and I float and I sing
I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything
I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything

So I talked to Geneviève and almost cried when she said
That the giant on the cliff wished that she was dead
And the lemmings on the cliff wished that they were dead
So the giant told the lemmings why they ought to live instead

When she thought up all those reasons that they ought to live instead
It made her reconsider all the sad thoughts in her head
So thank you Geneviève, cause you take what is in your head
And you make things that are so beautiful and share them with your friends

We all become important when we realize our goal
Should be to figure out our role within the context of the whole
And yeah, rock and roll is fun, but if you ever hear someone
Say you are huge, look at the moon, look at the stars, look at the sun
Look at the ocean and the desert and the mountains and the sky

Say I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye
I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye
I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye
And I don't wanna make her cry
Cause I like giants

 

If you haven't listened to Kimya Dawson's music go now and find something by her and listen away... her music is freakin' brilliant!

1. i was at a party tonight ( a local b-girl cru's hallowe'en THRILLER party ) and i bumped into some capoeiristas.  talking with them really sparked that desire to go back... given that my Achille's Tendon is hurting, it just felt appropriate (i always had bad ankle and tendon problems...) for this desire to return... when i was playing a lot, the times i wanted to play capoeira the most was when i was injured.
2. i know that i tend to browse for weird things on the internet... but the following two "subjects" have been my recent Google Searches:

A) Koko B. Ware - a former WWF wrestler, famous for his Ghostbuster move and having his pet parrot in his corner of the ring...  

B) Bolo Yeung - This guy was a big muscleman in many kung fu movies, making appearances in Enter the Dragon, with Bruce Lee, and Bloodsport, with Jean Claude Van Damme.  If you were ever into Martial Arts movies, you would know who i'm writing about.

Now, i'm sure you're asking "Why?" That's a fantastic question, which i would love to answer, Why would i go through the trouble of Google-ing these two blokes, but honestly, i wish i had an answer.  I did learn something though... Koko B.Ware's pet parrot perished in a house fire in 2001 (which is sad, cuz the thing probably had some years left in him).  He has a new parrot now... which means Koko is still wrestling. he must be like, 50.  Bolo Yeung, on the other hand, must be around 70. he was 50 when he was in Bloodsport, which was a long time ago already... the guy is amazing too!  he swam to Hong Kong from Canton during the 50's to escape the Communist government!  That's TOUGH!  oh! oh!  i just remembered watching a Bolo Yeung movie when i was in Beijing! he was starring in a COMEDY!  it was an awkward role because he normally plays badguys!

hm... time for sleep.

1. Set up a fixed wake-up time.
2. Create a pre-sleep ritual.
3. wait until you are drowsy before you go to bed.
4. Continue this relaxing activity outside the bed and bedroom for at least ten minutes.
5. Repeat.
6. Get rid of your bedroom clock.
7. It is best to remove all caffeine from your diet.
8. Do not drink alcohol within 4 hours of your pre-sleep ritual.
9. Do not smoke in the middle of the night if you wake up and cannot sleep.
10. Exercise regularly.
11. Make sure your bedroom is sleep conducive.

There you go.  i've just given everyone advice that i myself have a hard time to follow.  With the Daylight Savings time in effect, i might be able to get drowsy by 10:30PM, which is a good thing. i might take advantage of this now to try to actually sleep a full night's rest.