Thursday, September 29, 2005

The High Five

Glenn Burke and Dusty Baker are often credited with having participated in the first baseball high five in the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in 1977, with Burke receiving credit for "inventing" the high five (in the context of sports) because he raised his hand first after Baker scored a run.- Wikipedia

The High Five had some good times in the late seventies and even through the eighties. but in the early 90's, it began to erode into parody, finally dropping off in North America when Bill Clinton high fived Al gore on his innaugeration night.

Did you know that the High Five is alive and well in the Philippines? I was amazed at all the high fiving going on here. I thought I had been teleported back in time to an advanced screening of Police Academy: The Movie.

It seems to be the exact context when you would have seen a High Five being executed in say, Simi Valley California Circa 1983. One participant usually says something to another, then a witty remark is exchanged to the other, resulting in a mutually agreed point that is glorified for all bypassers and onlookers to see with an ensuing coordinated hand clap.

As in America in the 80's the ultimate rejection of someone would be the non return execute of an offered high five. To avoid this obvious social faux pas, I have seen people High five others who they obviously disagreed with, but politely returned the jesture, lest they "leave you hangin'" which is the equivalent to the hand extended to shake, yet ignored. It takes exactly 3.8 seconds to go from soaring emotional bliss to rejected foolish shame when the highfive is not reciprocated. Anyways, you will see at least 10 High Fives in the Philippines a day, more if you are a student or employed. In contrast to America, High Fives can be seen being participated by generally more women than men. Though the cause of the High Five is almost assuredly about the mutual agreement of the foolishness of a man.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

What to do?

I am sitting in an internet cafe in near my school.... I have 55 minutes until my next class starts. I have eaten lunch already.. They don't have the latest games here, so I guess an hour long session of "BattleField2" is out of the question...
Looking forward to going home for a couple of weeks. The schedule is set tentatively for a time in Socal, Florida, Utah and then back home. I can't wait to rink some good beer. That has to be the one luxury that I have most missed these past months (coming up on 6!)
I am going to try to post pictures on here one of these days. It isn't as easy as it would seem. I have TKD tonight and am looking forward to sparring. My last match was a bit one sided as my opponent came to class late (fresh legs) and then was instructed to merely"counter" my attacks, and I was instructed to attack with 3-5 kick combinations. in about 45 seconds, I had kicked myself into exhaustion (ever try kicking 30-35 times? in a minute?), while my opponent would sit back, and counter my (by this point) slow and tired flaylings. Still, it is a good lesson in endurance and I am better for it, I suppose. I made inquiries into other Martial Arts available here. My instructor says that his brother is an accomplished "Arnis" combatant. I am interested in that particular art as a friend of mine with much experience in full contact sports has recommended it highly. I mostly enjoy the mental challenge that martial arts provide. You test your strength in many different ways, and usually surprise yourself when you are called upon to use it.
Today we are to hand in our take home test in Chemistry. It almost seems laughable to have a take home test given the likelyhood and prolific tendandancy for Filipino Students to "lend" and "borrow" eachother's class work. Karen and I generally do not participate, but every once in a while I slip, either sharing or looking to receive a "share".
I actually remembered to bring my umbrella today and Karen forgot hers, making me the temporary "nah,nah-nah-nah, nah" king today, as she usually holds that post unchallenged.

Friday, September 09, 2005

Inappropriate feelings stirred by Katrina

I am more shocked and more disgusted by what Katrina did to show of our society than the actual storm damage itself. A natural disaster is horrible by any account, yet they are unavoidable. Preparedness can only get you so far, but ultimately, whatever belief system you employ is going to be the factor in how well you make it or not when an earthquake, tsunami or hurricane hits you. Painfully so, Katrina pulled away the much praised patchwork of one of my favorite cities and showed it for what it was. A gross example of apathy, ignorance, pride, greed, vengeance....
aren't there a few more to make seven? Rather than letting us feel compassion and caring, we the people of the current era find ourselves bitterly angry at each other once again, as if someone needs to be blamed for a disaster. It's the President, it's the Governor, it's FEMA, it's the Mayor, it's the police, it's the looters, etc., etc.
Imagine for a moment if this would have happened to America 50 years ago, our grandfathers would have rolled up their sleeves, and started bailing New Orleans out, one pail at a time, not thinking for one second to stop and figure on whom to cast blame. How can you blame mother nature? You could of course, but where will that get you? After the cleanup, there would be questions, but there would be a greater resolve to work together. Now look at today, in the aftermath of this tragedy, there will be further divisiveness and further disdain. The people will be pulled further apart from a common goal and they will take further distant stances from each other. All the while, people who profit from this chaos (certain media, politicians and other power hungry predators) are greedily licking their lips at the headlines and the mindless drones that fill their ranks and pocketbooks.
It's sad what happened. Also, the hurricane really sucked, too.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Many lessons learned

As usual, I brashly walked into another painful lesson that I had to learn the hard way......Filipino meteorology.... It would seem that the weather that we had for the past month was in no way indicative of the weather we were to have on Saturday night. It slowly and steadily rained for the entire party. Not to be out done, the food and drink arrived two hours late. We were saved by the graciousness of our guests, who seemed to enjoy our company regardless of the bribery of enticing imbibments. Eventually, there were large tarpaulins made available and we rigged up some tents on the roof and ate and drank anyway. It turned out to be probably more memorable in the long run. I hope my guests will look back on the event fondly, I am still shake my head with the "timing" issue of the rain, something that I obviously had no control over...
This is the week of Pre-Final exams, so we are to be examined and then released early, we are in good spirits as any students is being allowed to play "hookey". I have my Algebra test tomorrow, it is on word problems and linear equations. So far this is my most difficult area of the class. Karen is usually eager to help me in my studies, but she has not yet offered to help in this particular occasion, I think she must share the universal disdain for word problems that everyone else has. If I can figure it out, I will post some pics of the party and general life here... Maybe one of me in uniform!

Friday, September 02, 2005

The Party

We are having a party tomorrow. Gonna get some good eats supplied mostly by Karen's family. (Her uncle is a caterer and her other Aunt is also going to make some stuff. In all, we should have 60+ guests at our rooftop shin-dig. An interesting mix of people, karaoke, booze and food. We spent the day basically working out the details and fine tuning our operation. Tomorrow should be a breeze. I will be charging up the camera to take lots of pictures. Check here for them!