Ninja Stuff

For starters, there is...

Ninja Warrior!

Ninja Warrior or Sasuke as it's called in Japan is a different kind of TV game show brought to the US by cable station G4. The G4 website for Ninja Warrior is found here.

You can look up the links I posted above, but it's basically a really really hard obstacle course with 4 stages. Only two competitors have ever completed all 4 stages and they make the course harder each time, especially when someone has conquered the course.

The crab fisherman was the first to finish. The course was relatively tame back then, but still quite an accomplishment. Unfortunately in later seasons, his eyesight was failing and he was unable to compete.

Then much later, Nagano, the captain of his own fishing vessel, finished the course when it was much harder. He trains like mad and seems like quite a nice, humble guy for having achieved... total victory.

There are several things that I really like about the show - the diversity of the competitors like the All Stars who train all year for the event and cheer each other on. Among them is a physical fitness guy from a small town, a gas station attendant, a firefighter, a fisherman, and others who appear to be great friends. Then there are different athletes who come from all over the world, many of whom have competed in the Olympics. There are entertainers and comedians and recently hosts from G4 TV who have entered the competition. There are also fun characters like the guy who dresses up like Superman - in the costume underneath a suit. When the buzzer sounds, he rips off the suit and competes - sometimes even coming out of a phone booth. There are the old friends the Octopus and the hang-glider guy who seem to have fun despite not usually getting past the first couple of obstacles in the first stage.

There have been sons of the guy who brought the Ninja craze to America and a Shaolin monk who did some crazy cool moves that they put into the intro of the show...

Anyway, cool show.

That leads into my idea for entertainment of the future...

Ninja Opera!

I think it would be quite a challenge for an Opera singer to mouth words in one language and sing them in another... they could have all of the drama of classic Ninja tales. Besides that, with cables they could do super anti-gravity kicks and other Ninja moves. As someone pointed out though, if anyone watched the show, they would technically have to be killed at the end. Ninjas kill all who see them...

Ninja Links!

Other nice Ninja links:
http://askaninja.com/ - Silly ask a Ninja guy
Mythbusters Episodes - They do a couple of episodes on Ninja myths
Descriptions of Ninjas for those who don't know...

My Amazing Nieces

My sister has two daughters. When I lived with their family, in their basement, I thought it would be fun to do something special with each of them. With her oldest daughter, I went to sing at a nearby rest home occasionally. We would meet up with a group that I would sing with at that rest home in college. She was so fun when we went. She liked to sing but she also liked scaring the ducks in the pond outside - this cute young lady, pretending to have bread, then when they were close enough, she would yell "Ahhh!" and chase them :-P We would wait far off and she would say, "Wait for it... wait for it... now!" I think we gave them bread maybe one time when a nice elderly lady shared some with us. We would also do things like have snowball fights before or after the singing. When we sang, she would stand on a chair and look over my shoulder at the song book. The elderly ladies would always fawn over her, especially when she did some Irish dance for them. They would tell her that she could be their granddaughter. She would be a little embarrassed and say that she already had grandparents. Other fun things they had in that rest home were a large bird cage and aquarium of tropical fish. While waiting for my friends from college to arrive, we would watch the birds or the fish. We named all of them and she would usually remember all their names from one time to another. Fun, fun times.

Well so I heard from my sister that they went to a rest home up in Oregon as part of a summer camp, she and both daughters. When they got there and were with a large group of residents there, my oldest niece said, "I think we should sing." :-) So they sang, "I Am a Child of God."

Then later, my sister and younger niece were visiting with a lady in her own room, someone who had with her a little doll that she held as though it was her own baby. My young niece said, "Mom, I think we should sing." So they sang "I Am a Child of God" to this sweet lady.

I was told there were no ducks at this rest home though :-(

Otter Pops

So Otter Pops - sure they're good to just eat on hot days, or when your air conditioning is not working properly. They are especially good when they're slightly melted - kind of a Slurpee in a tube.

Well, I have found a splendid use for Otter Pops! When you have a headache, you can put a string of Otter Pops on the back of your neck or forehead or just draped over the top of your head. It's not overpowering and awkward like some other ice packs. Plus when it's sufficiently melted, they're perfect to enjoy!

The only thing better would be to not have the headache in the first place, but hey, it helps - outside and in :-).

Dr. Seuss Eyes

Several years ago in college I had a song writing course just for fun and to help me complete a minor in music. One of the songs I wrote is called Dr. Seuss Eyes. To me, writing is something to get thoughts and feelings out onto the page or in sound. I wish I was better at it, both language-wise and musically. I had some fun quirky music for this song, but I never really finished it - maybe someday.

Dr. Seuss Eyes

We studied one Spring afternoon locked up inside a room
I studied some, but mostly laughed the day away with you
The future was so far away, a storybook it seemed
But now I think I'm lost in you, and lost inside your dreams

(chorus)
I see Dr. Seuss in your wild eyes, I hear Shakespeare in your thoughts
In your dreams and fascinations, I think I'm getting lost

The Summer came and went back then, we did a thousand things
We read a thousand books back then, all with a thousand themes
Your storytelling face I'd watch, with your enchanting eyes
Then we'd lay down as it got dark, beneath the starry skies

I see Dr. Seuss in your wild eyes, I hear Shakespeare in your thoughts
In your dreams and fascinations, I think I'm getting lost

(bridge)
And would you eat green eggs and ham? And would you stay with Sam I am?
If I fall down and break my crown, would you come tumbling after?
In a kingdom by the sea, I still love Annabel Lee
Like Romeo loves Juliet in the grand hereafter

I see Dr. Seuss in your wild eyes, I hear Shakespeare in your thoughts
In your dreams and fascinations, I think I'm getting lost

Fun music, Viva la Vida, and Anti-War?

Fun Music

Okay so I like music probably to a fault and some of the lyrics and songs out there are just too crazy fun/clever:

"The television was snowing softly as she hunted for her keys"
Death Cab for Cutie, "Long Division," Narrow Stairs
The fact that they made a mainstream love/break-up song with math components is a triumph in my mind. Ah, but then, there's Kraftwerk :-)

"I took a walk along the riverbank of my imagination"
Paul Simon, "Everything About It Is a Love Song," Surprise
The whole song and album has some pretty inventive lyrics. He's so gifted at metaphors and imagery.

Coldplay - Viva la Vida

I love so many elements of the new Coldplay album. There are quite a few elements that remind me of the Beatles - of course the fact that Violet Hill is a street near Abbey Road is a nod to the Beatles mentioned by Chris Martin. The tag at the beginning of the song Yes reminds me of the song I Am the Walrus. There is also a piano progression where it ascends in the song 42 that reminds me of Imagine by John Lennon. Strawberry Swing - the obvious title correlation to Strawberry Fields Forever I suppose.

Then there is the U2 vibe present in a lot of the songs - an Edge-ish guitar sound every once in a while. This might be also because of the presence of Brian Eno as producer of the album. I enjoy his work adding his unique brushstrokes on music in Paul Simon's Surpise album, various U2 albums, and now this Coldplay album. However as much as I like the song Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love, as I listened to the Reign of Love portion with some decent headphones, the background mechanical-type sounds were pretty annoyingly persistent.

All-in-all I love the album - Strawberry Swing and Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love probably being my most favorite. Coldplay is generally so inventive with song design and feel of the music that all of the songs are just a pleasure to listen to.

Anti-War Naiveté

One final note about the album: I thought their whole anti-war bit was done creatively on the music and lyrics side, but I wish that there were more constructive ways to get the message across. I think an anti-war type of message has to be more than "war == bad" and "leaders who take us into war == bad/idiots/not informed/so forth." I'm not questioning Coldplay's motives, but bands generally seem to just poetically call out a problem instead of helping with solutions.

Of course war is bad - war is horrifying. There are far better ways to resolve disputes. War takes its toll on the innocent and on whole generations of a people. Sometimes those who lead us into war are lacking in wisdom and understanding. But we should never go to war? What about the Revolutionary War? What about World War II? What about defending our lives, our families, our freedom? I'm not defending the recent conflicts or the people that started them, but I am saying that sometimes in this world of ours, there are things worth fighting for.

I wish that some musician out there would give a more realistic message. I'm not a brilliant person, but maybe something between the rare necessity of war and possibly the lamentation of its consequences with a message of warning - something like "Hey, we know war is pretty crappy but sometimes there are things worth fighting for."

One anti-war song I liked was U2's plea for peace in Love and Peace or Else with its message to warring factions - "Lay down, lay down your guns; are you daughters of Zion? Are you Abraham's sons?" Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all descended from Abraham and I thought they did a nice job of trying to at least have listeners consider that - we are all people, we are all really family. I think this particular song resonates with me because of U2's efforts to promote peace and help those in sickness and distress. They've seen first hand in Ireland, in Africa, and in other places what people are facing. They are not just blaming from an ivory tower - they're at least trying to find solutions.

Norse Mythology and Headaches

In the book So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, Douglas Adams writes in an odd character to give Arthur Dent a ride in the rain. In the ensuing conversation, Arthur finds out that the driver, Rob McKenna, has had a life of rainy days, literally. In kind of a silly side story, Adams writes:

And as he drove on, the rain clouds dragged down the sky after him for, though he did not know it, Rob McKenna was a Rain God. All he knew was that his working days were miserable and he had a succession of lousy holidays. All the clouds knew was that they loved him and wanted to be near him, to cherish him and to water him.

My Mother and I have a common ailment - we are prone to frequent headaches. We also found out through searching our family history that we are related to one Oden who lived in a village called Valhalla, in Scandinavia around 400 AD.

This has led me to wonder about our heritage and how it might be that we have such frequent headaches - we might just be headache gods! All the headaches knew is that they loved me and wanted to be near me.

It might be cool to be descended from Oden, but I wish I had more useful super powers. Maybe it's just a matter of unlocking the dormant potential and really the headaches are just hidden energy waiting to burst forth when my powers have sufficiently matured. Hmmm. At least I have the sunshine :-).

Context

It's fascinating to me to think of context. The movie The Sixth Sense is a good example of how the revelation of a context can make things fit together in a way not previously considered. It also explains things which before seemed like isolated occurrences.

It seems like these moments of discovery are best had after a long period of subtle clues that are sometimes not even recognizable.

Occasionally I see those kinds of moments in my own life, where things start to make sense in a new way. It reminds me of a passage in the book of Isaiah (55:8-11):

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

It seems to me that a perfect Father, our Heavenly Father, would have fun in helping His children learn lessons and grow and receive blessings in a variety of ways. If we can assume that He can see the end from the beginning and has all knowledge independent of what we know, along with the pure love of a perfect Father for His children, then it's kind of a fun lifelong exercise of discovery for each of us.

It just makes me wonder sometimes - I am humbly grateful to see the vista and see how the mundane everyday steps have taken me there. I wonder sometimes what is around the next corner and it makes me want to keep trekking along a little further to get there.

Some favorite song quotes

She moved so easily all I could think of was sunlight.
- Paul Simon, "I Know What I Know," Graceland

She looks so lovely when she smiles out loud
- Peter Breinholt, "Say Your Name, Dear Jane," Live September

The fire in your eyes, may it never go out.
The sweetness of your tears make it feel like night.
- Oingo Boingo (Danny Elfman), "Not My Slave," Boi-ngo

Along come a young girl, she was pretty as a prayer book
Sweet as an apple on Christmas Day
I said "Good gracious! Can this be my luck?
If that's my prayer book, Lord let us pray."
- Paul Simon, "That Was Your Mother," Graceland

Let Peace Then Still the Strife

Not too long ago, I purchased a recording of Mack Wilberg's Requiem and Other Choral Works. It contains a piece entitled, "Let Peace Then Still the Strife." Recently, my Grandfather passed away. Music has affected me very deeply in my life and the combination of the text and the music struck a chord, as it were.

However, I tend to think in terms of how music might affect others, and I think of his widow after 47 years of marriage, and how she might take heart from the piece. She sang in choirs until her vision was impaired by a degenerative eye disease. Now 91, she still encourages me to continue singing, ya, ya (she is from Germany). She is not my natural Grandmother, but as a family we've adopted her as one of our own.

David Warner wrote these words that were set to music by Mack Wilberg:

Let peace then still the strife,
The loneliness and grief,
Come heal the piercing silence of passing.
And sweet familiar strains,
The voices lost in death,
Arise in songs of hope everlasting.
Then let the voices roll
As waves upon the sea;
Come forth and break upon us, refreshing.

And barren coves be filled,
O'erflow with reverie!
Let mem'ry salve as Gilead's caressing.
And though the balm be spread,
Let tender rifts remain
That breaking hearts not yield to forgetting.
For hearts rent wide at death,
Unfolded to our dead,
Hear singing from beyond sunlight's setting.

Then sing, beloved ones,
Reach o'er the summer sea.
Pour forth thy boundless love for us living!
Sweep into ev'ry soul,
Make music of our tears,
Turn all our songs to joy and thanksgiving!
And when we silent pass,
From far across the sea
Let praises ring for life's wond'rous blessing.

Then sing ye living souls!
Sing generations past,
Swell high the tide of life, us refreshing!
Sing forth as with one voice,
Bear silent grief away,
Resound with peace and hope everlasting!
And all who wait and sing
Sing on from earth and heav'n
And make our crossing forth joyful passing!
Amen!

Don Giovanni versus Speed Racer

On Friday night I went with a friend to see the movie Speed Racer. On Saturday night, I went with a friend to see Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. What really struck me as odd is how similar they are . . . from a certain point of view.

As soon as I heard that the Wachowski brothers were going to do a movie adaptation of the cartoon Speed Racer, I was intrigued. The trailers showed a brilliantly colorful world with creative cinematography. I was excited to see what they had done with it. Then, the week leading up to the opening, I started reading reviews for it. The general tenor of the reviews was that the movie, while innovative, artistic, and colorful seemed light on the plot and almost too much of that prismatic racing world. They also said that the film was much too long at 2 hours 15 minutes.

Fast forward to Don Giovanni. I didn't know much about the story until I read the synopsis. The music was brilliant; the costumes were amazing; and the singing was extraordinary. The story was . . . simple. Don Giovanni was embroiled in the consequences of his relentless womanizing and it finally caught up with him. The drama played out in song was playful and amusing. However, the opera, even without the intermission, was 3 hours long. It didn't help that I was continually concentrating to understand the Italian being sung, but in my opinion 3 hours is quite long for the amount of story being told.

I think the parallels are obvious - a longer than expected running time, a light plot, but a beautiful presentation.

It was just fascinating to me to see how expectation can have an effect on the experience. It reminds me of the times that I've drunk 7-Up expecting water or vice versa - with misaligned expectations, the whole experience can be unpleasant. If, for example, reviewers expected Speed Racer to be a simply written wildly artistic rendition of the old television show, maybe the reviews would have read differently. If I had expected Don Giovanni to have a story line as complex as The Matrix or The Bourne Identity, then I may have been disappointed.

In any case, comparing Don Giovanni to Speed Racer was just too funny a thing to pass up :-).