Drystan's New Writeups

Supreme Ultimate (idea)

2004-07-19T00:35:46Z

Damn the technicians for being so technical.

Probably the second worst translation of the Chinese phrase "tai chi" I have ever heard, although it is actually the most common translation. While in China I am sure the phrase is easily understood for what it means, it's translation to English has always been marred by an attempt to convey the same meaning and yet retain the brevity the phrase has in its native language. Intellectually, the first worst translation I have ever heard, Supreme Pole (Boxing), almost does a better job of giving a brief translation, but sounds horrible.

Tai Chi (or Taiji) is a component of traditional Chinese philosophy. Tai Chi Chuan is a martial art based on that philosophy. The idea goes like this:

First, there was wu chi. Wu chi means "without ultimate" or lacking extremes. Lukewarm as opposed to hot and cold.

From wu chi comes tai chi. Tai chi meaning... you guessed it: supreme ultimate, or having greatest…

positive role model (person)

2004-07-18T23:57:59Z

I think one of my most memorable role models ever was Mr. Miyagi. Here was a guy who went about his life, doing what he did day in and day out, regardless of anything that happened. Daniel-san gets in some trouble; a few choice words here, some magic healing water there, and life goes on for Miyagi. It was neither disinterest nor anal-retention on the part of my hero. It was more like a simple wisdom; one which has to be respected before it can be appreciated. The dude had dignity, and more important than that, he acted on humility.

And so it is only natural that years later, after developing a real interest in actually practicing martial arts (rather than just watching them in the movies), that I look for similar characteristics in those who would teach. The first I heard of Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi was from an odd read called Path Notes of an American Ninja Master. The author, Dr. Morris (a strange writer and apparently legit martial artist) makes numerous references to Hatsumi throughout his…

next to of course god america i (idea)

2002-05-21T19:24:16Z

Most of "next to of course god america i" is in quotation marks. Only the last line of the poem is not. The quotation seems to be that of a patriot, someone who feels strongly about America. Possibly a politician or, more likely, a military leader. The entire quote appears to be paraphrased; probably from a speech given in public, at some important event or another. The speaker of the poem rewords the speech into a general summary of his impressions, colored by his own opinions of speech. He is fairly cynical and mocking of the patriot's attitude towards America and, later, the necessity of warfare.

The poem begins with the patriot's statement that he loves America more than anything, with the only exception being God. The poet also deliberately ends the first line with the three words "god america i", giving a visual idea that this is the order of importance in which the speaker places things: first God, then America, and lastly himself. He is a good, traditional leader with religion…

Bruce Li (person)

2002-04-17T01:35:16Z

With nothing better to watch tonight, I dug out an unopened DVD I had recently bought titled "Return of the Tiger" staring (it says on the cover) "the incomparable martial arts expert Bruce Li". Feeding this morsel to my DVD drive, I was entirely confident that I was about to watch a Bruce Lee movie... The story begins to unfold, and imagine my surprise as I read the biography on the inside cover to find that the guy on my TV kicking the crap out of a group of ninja bikers is not the famous martial arts legend, but another man named Ho Chung-Tao, famously known as Bruce Li, a Bruce Lee impersonator. Silly me made the Gaijin mistake of confusing Lee and Li. (There is a noticable difference between the two on-screen personalities, though.)

Ho Chung-Tao, apparently, has costarred in several of Bruce Lee's films. He was given the name Bruce Li by producer Jimmy Shaw after our hero's passing. The impersonator said in an interview once that he…

Mona Lisa (person)

2002-02-08T02:41:44Z

First of all, the following, like most endeavors into history, is entirely speculation since we cannot eat Leonardo da Vinci's brain to gain his knowledge.

The true identity of the subject of the Mona Lisa painting is not known for certain. No one knows for sure who it was because the work was never signed or titled by Leonardo da Vinci. Neither have there ever been records found indicating the work had been contracted. The title "Mona Lisa" was given to the painting by an early biographer (whose name escapes me, it may have been Giorgio Vasari) of da Vinci, who based the name on the memories of some old French man who had been only a child in da Vinci's time, and foggily remembered hearing da Vinci had named Lisa Gherardini de Giocondo as his painting subject.

The other popular theory is that this is a painting by memory of Leonardo's mother, of whom he was fond, despite…

Friedrich Nietzsche on love (idea)

2002-02-05T05:58:32Z

"Everyone carries in himself an image of woman derived from the mother; by this he is determined to revere women generally, or to hold them in low esteem, or to be generally indifferent to them."

"Women can form a friendship with a man very well; but to preserve it--to that end a slight physical antipathy must probably help."

"When marrying, one should ask oneself this question: Do you believe that you will be able to converse well with this woman into your old age? Everything else in marriage is transitory, but the most time during the association belongs to conversation."

"Those noble free-spirited women who have made the education and elevation of the female sex their task should not over look one consideration: marriage, according to its highest conception as a friendship between the souls of two human beings of different sex...concluded for the purpose of begetting and educating a new generation--such a marriage, which uses the sensual, as it were, only as a rare means…