So I finally got around to watching this year's big Marvel release, Iron Man a little while ago and damn it, I really should have made an effort to catch it on the big screen the first time around!Iron Man tells the story of genius playboy and weapons manufacturer Tony Stark, who inadvertently gets caught in the middle of some Middle East conflict. Now near death, Stark must race against time to build himself a suit that not only will save his life - but also help him stop those abusing the very weapons he himself has created!
But all is not as it seems within Stark Enterprises as Tony is about to find out…
Surprise choice director Jon Favreau manages to craft a thoroughly entertaining movie that manages to keep you intrigued, make you laugh and then force you to clutch onto the edge of you seat as he cranks the action all the way up. The musical score and soundtrack selection complement the film's visuals, tone and atmosphere perfectly, and the superb blend of CGI and special effects creates something that looks absolutely phenomenal (but surprisingly believable) on the big screen.
Admittedly the story isn't exactly jam-packed with juicy material and suffers from a rather stinted and clichéd final section, but to be honest, the film is more about the journey to reach that end point and on this front it certainly doesn't disappoint. Robert Downey Jr. captures the essence of alcoholic, free-spirited, genius playboy Tony Stark with a simple ease that is both joyous and astounding to watch. Long time fans of the Iron Man comic book series will immediately recognise their favourite character up in real life and this is a testament to just how well Robert plays his part.
Terrance Howard on the other hand didn't put in a realistic or at least comic book faithful Rhodey performance and as such, I'm secretly relieved to hear that he hasn't been offered the same spot for the upcoming sequence. Gwyneth Paltrow however delivered an excellent Pepper Potts and while Jeff Bridges shone in his role as Obadiah Stone, it's a pity that the fairly weak script telecast his role from a mile away. Faran Tahir also puts in a particularly menacing performance, but one can't help but wonder if as an actor he isn't falling into that old typecast trap?
Another point to mention is the fact that Iron Man's updated origin story is the first time I've actually not hissed and booed at the screen when confronted with changes to the comic book that I am already so familiar with. In fact, I must admit to being rather glad that the Mandarin was excluded from this first outing on the big screen! :)
So in summary, Iron Man is a popcorn-chewing, action-packed, laugh a minute and cliché ridden standard comic book adaptation that just happens to be better than most and will undoubtedly leave you feeling thoroughly entertained by the time the final credits roll.
Well worth the DVD rental then!
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I'm missing something here, I just know it. Maybe one of you guys can figure it out?I have a powered USB 2.0 hi-speed hub which I plug into the back of my new Linux/Windows PC. The hub works beautifully both in a powered or unpowered state - as long as the PC is already on. When I switch off the PC, unplug the hub and then plug it back in again, the PC's power LED lights up but the machine itself can then no longer be switched on or off - it is as if it is now in some sort of 'semi-powered' state. Obviously it would seem that it is drawing power from the powered USB hub, but why the heck would it be doing this in the first place?
I am now running the hub unpowered, but this isn't really the ideal situation. Or rather, I should say that this isn't the ideal situation because I don't know what the heck is causing this situation! :)
So, any ideas?
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I won't lie, but that felt DAMN good yesterday.I sent off this simple email just to inform all Commerce staff members that they need to start using the official webmaster email address for all their web-related communications...
Good afternoon.
Just a quick notice. As I am currently leaving Commerce I.T. at the end of this month, please ensure that all e-mail correspondence intended for the Commerce Webmaster gets sent to com-webmaster@uct.ac.za as this is the official webmaster e-mail address. This will ensure that the mail gets picked up by my replacement or whomever is filling in during the caretaker period (This address automatically forwards to the webmaster's UCT mail account). The direct office contact number remains 021 650 5233.
I will remain available until Friday 28/11/2008.
Thank you for your time.
Regards,
Craig
...and Bam!, almost immediately responses came pouring into my inbox from the staff members I've supported over the years, all thanking me for my services rendered and wishing me well for the future. I won't lie, each and every one of these e-mails make me smile, lifted my spirit just that little and reminded me that my work IS important, even if I myself sometimes don't think so.
So thank you to each and every one of you - I really do appreciate your support and I in return wish you well for the future! :)
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Ooh, time really is flying by! I've got less than two weeks to go before I say goodbye to good old Commerce I.T. and hello TouchWork. As it is, it looks like my position here at Commerce I.T. is going to remain unfulfilled still for quite some time, thanks to the HR and selection committee dragging their feet a fair bit. Needless to say, the boss is pretty nervous and angry about this situation all rolled into one.The bitterest pill that I've had to swallow though is most definitely the fact that my current position turns out to be under-graded by at least one pay scale (which amounts to a lot of money that could have been in my pocket already!!!). So the new guy (though in all likelihood it will be a girl) will be earning a lot more money doing exactly the same work that I was doing - *sigh*, so it goes I suppose! :)
In any event, I've already outlined my reasons for the job change on numerous occasions before, so like I said - this move REALLY isn't about the money, it's all about expanding my horizons, improving my skill set and letting me grow just that little bit more, both professionally and socially.
(In any event, I'm actually going to be earning minimally less than what I currently am, so you know this is true! Actually come to think of it, now I'm going to be earning a LOT less than what I would be earning if I stayed and my job got upgraded! Damn, tough decision! :D)
As it stands at the moment, I've agreed to stay on Commerce I.T.'s payroll to remotely help them out after hours for when they need me during this transitional phase for them, so at least that is a bit of cash in my back pocket if they ever need me. So now it is just two final more projects for me (the one being a resource centre-like portal for the new guy) and a couple of lunches/functions to attend and then I'm finally physically out the doors - but not out of the system just quite yet!
And talking about lunches/functions, boy is this period busy. Last Friday was Pinnacle taking us out to lunch at Fat Cactus, Monday was lunch with Kyle at Cubana, tomorrow will be our year-end function at Cubana and then next week I believe it is a departmental supper with Elsje sometime. Sjoe, talk about needing an iron-clad stomach for the next while! ;)
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I mentioned the fact that Ryan purchased the highly adorable, rather voluptuous and very risqué Win-chan last weekend, a figurine that you can only own if
a) Your girlfriend shares your passion for all things Asian,
b) You don't have a girlfriend, or
c) You have a sturdy lock on the door to your 'office'.
Needless to say, I don't qualify for any of the above three, meaning that Win-chan shall never coyly languish upon my desk. (In any event, Conan and the rest of his barbarian horde probably wouldn't appreciate her languishing in their spot either.)
Now, back to Win-chan herself.
Her full name is OS Idol Win-chan (Version 2.0) and she doesn't come from any particular series. Manufactured by Kaiyodo, this 1/7 PVC scale figurine is based on Mine Yoshizaki’s Win-chan character created for Japanese magazine Tech Win, a monthly publication that deals with Microsoft's Windows operating system.
The model itself is beautifully realized in hard-wearing PVC and is modelled extremely cleanly with almost no seam lines and a particularly cute facial expression. Of course the main outstanding feature is Win-chan's outrageous hairstyle and the modeller has certainly pulled this one off with quite some flair. Of course, one really has to be squint not to notice the fact that this is one of those bikini-models, so we'll just leave it at the pose is quite nicely done, well proportioned and manages to come across very playful all rolled into one.
The paint job looks pretty neat and colourful, with no seepages or any real discolorations to speak of. That said, she is just a tad over-shaded on her underside, but seeing as the model isn't really made to pose this way, this isn't a particularly glaring problem. Oh, and her stand is actually a pretty nice touch too - a fake 'Win-chan CD', thereby by nicely cementing the whole 'OS Idol' angle.
The box packaging is pretty good it must be said, complete with fake Windows and Compact Disc logos and also features some original artwork from Mine Yoshizaki. The inside packaging is secure and also provides a good giggle thanks to its female bits hugging moulding :)
All in all, Win-chan is an adorable, risqué little production that is well priced and should fit nicely on any otaku's desk - provided they fulfil requirements A to C previously mentioned.
For those of you who wish to see a little more:
{Photos swiped from: EmencyBlazer Works}
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I must admit to loving using Google's Chrome internet browser release, though admittedly I always keep Internet Explorer at hand because there is still a lot of websites that Chrome can't seem to render correctly.I'm enjoying the fact that you can follow a lot of the development decisions made on the Chronium blog and even more the fact that on release they even produced an 'all about' comic created by none other than Scott McCloud, one of those annoyingly famous know-it-alls of the comic book industry.
However, one thing I don't like about the release is that to get hold of Chrome, you need to download their bootstrap installer first, which then in turn connects to the web to download the latest version of the browser. This is annoying when you want to install it on a non-networked computer (which sounds counter-intuitive I know), but certainly not the end of the world.
To download the standalone installer (which is basically what the bootstrap installer downloads), simply find out which build of the browser it is that you want to install. So for example if I wanted to install version 2.149.27 I would shape my download URL like this:
[http://dl.google.com/chrome/install/149.27/chrome_installer.exe]
http://dl.google.com/chrome/install/149 ... taller.exe
As of this post, the latest version of Chrome is in fact 3.154.9, which means that the download URL for the latest standalone installer would be:
[http://dl.google.com/chrome/install/154.9/chrome_installer.exe]
http://dl.google.com/chrome/install/154 ... taller.exe
So now it is a simple matter of plugging your shaped URL into a browser or download manager and taking it from there.
Oh, and just in case you were interested as to where exactly this silent installer puts all its stuff, the installation location is as follows:
In Windows XP, Google Chrome installs under \Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\. In Windows Vista, Google Chrome installs in \Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\.
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Sjoe, this weekend ended up being quite a busy affair - not a single spare minute to try and further my Total Overdose drive so to speak! Man, I feel like I need another weekend just to recuperate from this one! :)Friday started out as normal with a drive into work, a couple of hours behind the keyboard and then at 12:00 it was off to the Fat Cactus in Mowbray for a Pinnacle-sponsored staff lunch which we all thoroughly enjoyed. The Mexican food was delicious as always, admittedly even I am now a fan of their chili poppers, and an enjoyable lunch was ended by Bobby convincing Kyle to try out their margaritas, meaning I got to polish off both a lime and strawberry margarita in quick succession, the perfect complement to those three Castle drafts I had already polished off!
From there it was straight home to Bellville where I hooked up with Ryan and we did some Figure Fanatix browsing. In the end Ryan picked up an extremely playful and voluptuous OS Idol Win-chan 2.0 figurine and then made me feel better about my tight budget by buying me two comics as well! :)
And then naturally it was straight home for some big screen FIFA time. A visit to Bellville is now simply incomplete without it.
Friday evening was family braai time that Claire and Riley had organized and so Mom, Dad, Ryan, Gran L, Gran B, Claire, Riley, Chantelle (late as usual!) and I all joined up around the braai for yet more delicious food and good conversation, topped with some delicious dessert courtesy of mom's chocolate cake and Claire's cookie-and-cream ice-cream.
For a change Chantelle and I decided to sleep over at mom's place, meaning that we managed to get a good night's rest and only arose much later on Saturday morning, though I did sneak out of the room a lot earlier than what Chantelle did - once again the lure of Discovery Channel (ninjas on Mythbusters) and yet more FIFA was simply too strong to resist!
Mom, pops and Ryan then abandoned us to see off the yachts at Cape Town harbor, while Chantelle returned to GB for work duty, leaving Claire and I to embark on one major shopping expedition, me signed on as the technology expert just to make sure that the electronics salesperson wasn't going to screw Claire over.
After much walking around and with our main mission a failure, we were then forced to console ourselves with some Subway freshness instead.
It was nice.
Back to Bellville and it was time for the SA versus Scotland rugby game which I simply HAD to catch on the big screen.
It was nice.
Having finally had enough of Bellville, it was then time to head off back home, but being the nice boyfriend that I am, I instead popped in at the guest house to check in on my Babes and catch up on all the latest news and day's happenings. After all, when you are booked out by a touring German yoga class there must surely be some stories to be told!
Eventually leaving her to her work, I was finally back home where I immediately started preparing for Sunday's big 'man room' shuffle. Needless to say, this didn't last for too long and pretty soon after Chantelle had returned from a hard shift's work, we hit the sack for some well deserved zees.
Sunday morning and after a mini emergency which involved Chantelle oversleeping and thus a tad panicky when she woke up realizing that she was serving breakfast for the afore-mentioned yoga tourists at 07:00 in twenty odd minute's time, I got stuck into the back-breaking work of removing all the Commerce I.T. equipment out of the man room and then re-setting up all my new equipment.
Of course, Sunday always turned out to be the perfect summer's day, meaning I was soon drenched in sweat and cursing every time I burnt my fingers with that damn glue gun! Thankfully I finished up just in time, because Chantelle eventually arrived home and then it was straight into shopping mode as we hit Somerset Mall for a spot of purchasing power. As it is, Chantelle and I haven't been spending a lot of time together as of late thanks to all her work, so Sunday really was a bit of a blessing in disguise. We shopped, we lunched, we shopped some more (she likes the idea of dressing me up for the new job) and then it was back home for a spot of tennis.
Or at least hitting the ball around a bit.
And fetching it all around the sides of the court a lot.
This continued until the light was gone and our hands were sore, meaning it was back into the flat, and after a delightful Eli Stone season 2, episode 1 showing it was straight into bed for some well deserved sleepy time.
Yup.
Whenever you have a three pages long blog post you KNOW you've had a busy weekend! :)
Oh, nearly forgot. Olympus also officially moved up on the 'Most Wanted Serial Killers' list yesterday. He took down his first pigeon yesterday - and naturally brought it inside to show off his kill (and play with it just that little bit more). Must have taken the young bird from a nest we suspect. Poor thing didn't stand a chance - damn indiscriminate killer! (That said, he did basically eat up the whole carcass - only a few feathers left!) :(
You can tell we weren't all that happy by this latest development - but at the same time I'm rather proud of my growing boy's ever increasing prowess!
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Fate/Stay Night's Saber makes an appearance for this instalment of Cosplay Sundae. The cosplayer in question is Arisa Mizuhara, a girl who is quickly moving up the ranks of well Internet star cosplayers.
For more information about the character and the series, click on the 'related link' link below this entry.
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Just in case you are wondering where all this Monkey Kung Fu stuff is coming from, it actually comes from my notes that I kept when I was still practicing Tai Hou Quan a couple of years back. (The good old days when I could still walk on my hands, roll, flip-up, etc. - basically when I was a couple of years younger, more flexible and way, way lighter.) The notes weren't entirely necessary but because I was so intrigued with this particularly beautiful martial art, I made them anyway, and as such have now decided to store them online because thanks to Google's infamous cache, just about everything put on the web now lives forever!I did Monkey Kung Fu for a couple of years and then switched to Kyokushin karate (chasing after a girlfriend who was particularly skilled in that sport) which I also did for a couple of years, meaning I've now at least got a small grounding in both Chinese and Japanese primary martial arts.
Unfortunately though, a nasty knee injury sustained during a heavyweight tournament late last year forced me out of the sport and this last year has passed leaving me particularly frustrated and depressed, simply because I had to give up a number of physical activities which I particularly enjoy. The result of course has been a tremendous weight increase, something in the region of between 25 to 30 kilograms - and that's not muscle I'm afraid :(
Anyway, the good news is that as of late I've noticed that my knee is no longer bothering me, even during my treadmill running and stair climbing sessions, indicating that it may at last be time to rejoin the martial arts world. I don't think picking a ground-based, joint-locking martial art would now be in my best interest (I want my knee to last a bit longer you know!) and as much as I would have loved to pick up Capoeira, I don't think my body can take that particular strain anymore.
So it will probably be back to karate for me then, but I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it. I'm just waiting to start my new job in Westlake Tokai so that I can get a feeling of what time I will get home in the evening - meaning I can then pick whether to train in the Strand/Somerset West or Muizenburg area. There seems to be enough dojo options to choose from in any event.
So what does this all mean then? Well, probably more material for this here blog I guess! :)
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The approach to Monkey Kung Fu has its own flavour and mechanics because of having such a reliance of groundwork and not allowing positioning to deter from its effectiveness.Upper Body Attacks
When using the hands in monkey, open palm slaps are best served quick and where it will hurt. The targets are common: groin, cheeks, diaphragm, throat, etc., but then you also have points that are uncommon. One is the inside the legs as there are nerve points and arteries that are very painful when hit and debilitate the legs. Attacks to the knees inside and on the outside offset the defenders body balance and then a quick follow-up allows them to fall. Of course, this uses a low crouching stance in the monkey practitioner but that is the beauty of monkey, you can attack from the floor as well as standing. Finger jabs and pokes also work the eyes and soft areas, like under the arms, to cause much pain. A good eye poke can stop most fights. Hammer fists break the nose and clavicles.
The elbows also come into play as they set up close quarter combat. When you are trapped into body-to-body distances and quick elbow strike stops most fights, plus adding the weight and then leg sweeps to this attack, the opponents goes down very quickly to then put them into the ground-fighting arena where monkey also has an advantage.
Leg Attacks
Monkeys are famous for their legs being used as a second set of hands and this also applies to the kung fu style. The legs must be trained to be as agile and quick as the hands, so that you have four weapons immediately available for attacking or defending. There is a humorous saying that is used to highlight this, "Smart man use 4 clubs instead of 2." From close quarters to distanced attacks, a monkey stylist should be able to kick any direction. This technique is called the four hands method. A poking kick (with the toe pointed forward) is usually used to hit soft vital areas, like the groin, throat, or inside the knee. But, a slapping instep or knee is also used. This allows any distance to be perfect for attacking and also surprising opponents as they think they've stolen your ability with closing the gap.
From the ground the kicking ability should be agile enough to hit the head of an attacker. They step in and then the monkey stylist quickly moves right under them delivering a kick upward to their throat, knee, groin or even head. This is called disappearing and becoming invisible as you suddenly drop from sight leaving an attack in your place. This type of confusing behavior gives an advantage since no one expects or even trains for such antics. Then from that position the legs should be used to trip and bring the opponent down to the floor for more attacks and wrapping them up in four hands.
Groundwork
Many times kung fu is thought to lack ground fighting or the ability to attack from that supposedly prone helpless position. When fighting, the monkey stylist uses their legs and hands constantly bombarding the opponent at any angle. You roll onto their body and then use elbows attacks and then grabbing their arms or legs to twist and break whatever comes close enough to. Choking the opponent with your legs while still hitting them with the hands simply overwhelms them into defeat.
Attacking from crouched a position is another aspect. From what looks like a crouched balled up position, as when a monkey's rear is pressed in a sitting position and knees brought to the chest, you learn to walk and attack from this awkward attack form. Most never train to have someone attack their groin while still moving at them from a waist high stance. Again, we gain the advantage and surprise. This also sets up for roll-throughs hitting the knees or bringing an axe kick overhead for their face. While lying on your back, one should be able to kick straight up 90 degrees form the floor. This adds flexibility and power to normal standing kicks but also the advantage of using any position for attack.
Angles of Attack
As already mentioned before, the monkey attacks from any position. Drills are used to have students lying on their backs, rolling, jumping, attacking off of a tree trunk in the yard or sitting in a chair. The student's agility and quick reflexes become more and more malleable, depending on the situation. The kicks or hand slaps should be from any body position. One could dodge to the left in a low stance and still kick upward to the face and then drop to a crouching stance to punch the knee. An attack formula called high/low represents attacking high and then dropping low to throw off their opponent's ability to predict where the next strike will even come from. The flow of the monkey stylists attacks enter from spaces thought protected. Attacks also move into jumping on the opponent, but this is very dangerous and only done by advanced students. Your body weight adds to your attacks and you move onto the opponent forcing them down or allowing us a mounted position, while still attacking. This also grants and psychological advantage to the opponent realizing that no matter what they do this monkey will be all over me and that is enough sometimes.
Philosophy of a Monkey
The five personalities of the monkey, namely Lost Monkey, Wooden Monkey, Stone Monkey, Standing Monkey and Stone Monkey, act as the five principles that are the essence of the monkey fighting.
In addition, there are five principles of mental attitude that must be cultivated in this art. They include deviousness, elusiveness, unpredictability, sneakiness and destructiveness. Each of these is employed in each of the five monkey forms.
A student of Monkey Kung Fu needs to incorporate these principles into his own personality while training or fighting. There is no place for a "clean" fight: The monkey plays to win at all cost.
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