Old Enough to Know Better

There is a discussion going on on Bobbe's blog about pentjak (pencak) silat, and more specifically, the variant from west Java, Sera. T...

Duck and Cover was a drill we practiced at school when I was a boy. The deal was, when we saw the nuclear flash that indicated the Russians...

Got into a discussion on anther blog about over-training. I allowed as how the guy who was talking about his routine was getting a bit long ...

There are two martial arts shows on the tube I've been watching of late. One is Human Weapon , on the History Channel; the other is newe...

For most of the last couple years, I've been working on my playing when I pick up the guitar -- mostly finger-picking kinda stuff. I...

Okay, the doorstop-fantasy isn't done yet, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I believe we are talking weeks now inst...

My favorite versions of Johann's little ditty: And: And if you act right now: But wait! Now how much would you pay? And one more ...

So, our dogs are named for rock songs. Long ago and far away, first time we heard those songs, but here's why: So young and earnest we a...

Power went out here a little after noon. No doubt connected to the snow and icky weather -- somebody probably plowed into a substation or po...

Corgis in the snow ...

So, it's raining. Plain old Oregon rain, cold, but not a big deal -- except the temperature at ground -level is currently 28 degrees F.,...

Those of you who are science fictions fans know what steampunk is. Basically, it's a retro-future/alternative Victorian timeline kind ...

The term "virtuoso" is applied to a musician considered a master of his or her instrument and the chosen form of musical expressio...

So, back from the dentist, left upper lip and nose insensate after some drilling to repair a cracked filling ... It's always something. ...

A few years back, I started getting some RSI symptoms in my hands. Tingling, numbness, cramps. Developed a case of "trigger finger,...

Somebody asked me what I thought the biggest advantages/disadvantages of a computer word processor were, vis a vis writing fiction. Interes...

Yesterday, we went to the Rose City Classic, a four-day cluster of dog show events -- confirmation, agility, rally, etc. at the Expo Center....

... it's Chinatown ... Flipping around the channels and happened across "Chinatown," last light. Been a while since I've s...

And, of course, seeing Walter Brennan brought up Bogart and Bacall, and fond memories of movie stars from back in the day when glamour was s...