What do you think?

Yeah!

So who’s up for a little tour in Downtown bars on Sunday? There is an acoustic open mic at Lucky Joe’s after 9pm . I always find interesting talents there.

I’ve been there last night and it was so much fun. Especially those Young Dubliners (the band), they made me dance like I’ve never before. They’re gonna play again tonight from 7-8:30, and then there will be The Elders (the band) from 9-11pm (I’m not kiddin’. For some brilliant reason, you get the Young Dubliners and then The Elders in the same evening! )

Slainte!

This will not be us. We push the car from behind.

Alrighty, so as some of  you know I’m planning to have some sort of get together tomorrow at my new place to celebrate and stuff.  As some of you also know I need to move my broken truck the half mile from my old place to my new place.  It probably won’t take more than 15 minutes along a slow side street to get it there so I figure it doesn’t really matter when we go, but I was thinking an 11 AM shove-off.  Afterwards at the new place there will be some kind of food, maybe some corn hole, homebrew, and, of course

Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme!

The carbonation on the homebrew is very much under control this time around.  So, the questions:

• Who’s coming to help me move my car?  (I think 3 will suffice but more are welcome)
• Who’s coming to eat and enjoy some Cool Runnings? (I think 9 will suffice but more are welcome)
• Who thinks Cool Runnings is an awesome movie?
• Doug, did you enthusiastically say “I do!” at the last question and, if so are you coming and, if so are you willing to port your grill?

If you can’t/aren’t interested in pushing my vehicle feel free to show up at my place after about noon, I wager.  Just so it isn’t super easy for everyone, the number on my address is three less than the next prime after 1109.  The street name can commonly be found on role playing game character sheets as a stat and also refers to state-founding documents.  The street type is avenue.  Those of you who haven’t met my new housemate can do so at that time too, she’s cool.  Chattah?

Hilarious!

Wanna laugh in a “liberal” way?

Openstage Theatre delivers as always. Its current show, The Maiden’s Prayer, is:

• A play that deals with some serious social issues like gay relationships and prostitution, and manages to make you laugh from your heart in the process.
• A story that takes you in a hilarious two-way trip to New York City without having to pay for the airline tickets.
• A deep discussion of the psychology of loving and needing.

I have already attended the show last Friday and I’m gonna attend again with my theatre friends next Saturday. The last shows are on the coming Friday and Saturday at 8pm, and on Sunday at 2pm, at the Center for Fine Art Photography, 400 N. College Ave. Here is the link to their website.

Private Practice

If you’re looking for deep analysis of the inter- and intra-personal and professional relationships in the medical practice world, Private Practice is a really good deal. There’s some suspense fix as well. I can’t wait to see what’s gonna happen to Violet as her psychopath patient is about to make a cut through Violet’s body to take her baby out, thinking that it’s hers and that Violet has stolen it from her.

Here’s Hulu’s link for the online episodes.

Dog Power!

Ok guys, let’s face it! There is so much to do on Saturday mornings from 10am-noon than just sleeping in, waiting for the hang over to erode!

Some of you already know this. We’ve been holding weekly Aikido practice sessions for almost six months now, and by we I mean Steve O’Hara (from the Computer Vision group), Kate, and myself. Now we feel it’s time to open it up for others to join us in practicing this peaceful and really superior Japanese martial art. Here are some facts about Aikido for you to see if it might be your type of thing:

1. It is different than any other martial art. You don’t need to be strong, tall, huge, or tough. With those requirements left out, it is really the right choice for everyone: kids, young, old, men, women, short, tall, heavy, light, slim, or obese.
2. In Aikido, you won’t learn to beat others or “win” a fight. Aikido’s philosophy is anything but. Aikido teaches you to defend yourself against any kind of attack, conducted by any number of attackers in the same time (and I’m not kidding), armed or unarmed. That’s why there are no Aikido competitions. Simply because Aikido is specifically designed to help people learn how to live peacefully without the idea of winning or losing. It’s all about coexistence and conflict resolution. In fact many conflict resolution courses around the world use Aikido techniques as the practical part of the course, to help demonstrate how it is possible to absorb an opponent’s attack, anger, or assault in a peaceful way that will not cause any harm to him or to the person under attack.
3. One might be curious to ask: If I’m short, thin, and weak, how on earth is it possible to defend myself against an attacker who is carrying a knife, taller, huge, and much stronger than me? Well, the answer is very simple and logical. Aikido is not based on strength at all. It is merely founded on using the laws of physics and gravity, in addition to knowing how to use the weak points in any human body. In fact, the stronger the attacker is, the better for you as an aikidoka to defend yourself. Seems like it doesn’t  make sense, right? Wrong. See, since you are not learning to attack anybody, but merely to defend yourself, so all you need is for the attacker to set forth her attack, and that is when the attack will be history, because what you practice in Aikido is how to use the attacker’s energy against her. Yes, it’s as simple as that. And the truth is there isn’t gonna be a fight at all. All Aikido techniques are one-shot methods. As soon as an act of violence begins against you, you finish the whole thing in one single technique and that’s it. The attacker will need to give up the fight ASAP.  
4. That’s not all. People around the world have been practicing Aikido for reasons other than just learning how to stop others from causing you harm. The philosophy of Aikido is transformational. With Aikido practice, you strengthen your self-esteem, learn how to handle difficult situations graciously, develop a different view of the world and people around you, and you also develop your 360 and 3D vision and become more aware of things around you. You become calmer, feel more in control, learn how to deal with whatever lies ahead, and become more capable of getting things done.
5. Aikido is not Yoga, but we do have few basic breathing exercises to help you find your Ki, or inner energy.
6. Aikido is not  “working out”. You don’t need that energy drink before or some time to rest afterwards. After 2 hours of Aikido, you won’t feel exhausted or even a little bit tired. On the contrary, you will feel relaxed and calm. You will be ready to get back to work.
7. Aikido is not violent at all. No injuries or blood or broken bones like what is the “norm” with other martial arts. No punching, kicking, hitting, or whatever. We simply “dance” with the energy of the universe, and we perform the techniques as friends, not opponents; so smiling while we practice is the norm. 

If you feel like you and/or your friend or partner might be into this kind of “Why fight? Let’s enjoy this world together!” attitude, please give this a shot. We are practicing at the Senior Center (on S. Shields) on Saturdays from 10am-noon. Please contact me or Steve O’Hara if you’re interested or have questions.

So let’s say that God, as a Software Engineer, needed to recreate Heaven but couldn’t find any of the code or documents used before for that particular project. What would he do? My guess is he’s gonna reuse most of the code and design patterns used to develop Fort Collins. I argue that this is possible because in the Fort we enjoy:

1. Good Beer
2. FREE live music at Lucky Joe’s
3. $2 movie theatre (Cinema Saver 6)
4. FREE and easy method to know the directions in the city (mountains to the west)
5. Bicycles everywhere!**
6. Good Beer (this deserves two)
7. Some sort of festival just about every other weekend in the summertime
8. 300 sunny days a year
9. (Please add your reason(s) here)

* The Weekender! consists of any  ”peculiar” posts one wouldn’t normally post during the weekdays.

** Points 5-8 posted by Adam.