Plumbing 101

A small disaster happened yesterday. After a long day of work I needed a warm bath. I didn't feel too well and I think a cold is coming up. The hot water faucet was leaking a bit so I tried to fix it before taking a bath. I unscrewed the top part and instead of fixing the problem it got worse. Alright, just tighten the bolt... Uhm.. counter clockwise or clockwise? I gave it a shot.

Before I knew I had my own version of Old Faithful in my bathroom. I started to panic. Hot water all over me. Gallons of water on the bathroom floor by now and this happens in seconds. Yes! the main valve! Only problem is that the main valve is outside my house, some 50 yards between some trees. I ran outside thinking of the gallons spouting to the ceiling and back on the floor. It's raining, it's col and it is dark. I can't find the main valve! I ran back inside to grab my flashlight. Outside again... Damn, I need a screwdriver to lift the plate of the valve. Ran back inside again. Finally I was able to shut down the water. But once inside the water is still running!

OH NO! I shut down the wrong valve and by now my neighbors have no water... I had plenty. Outside again... Turn on valve, look for my valve. The battery of my flashlight is dying now. Yes! Found my valve and shut it down. The nightmare ends...

At the end I didn't get my bath. There was no hot water left for a regular shower. I was soaking wet and cold of the rain and the 'geyser'. Today I'm home. Taking a sick day. The cold I felt coming up is here and I feel miserable. My lesson: Owning a $69.99 power tool kit from Walmart doesn't make you a certified plumber...

Creed

I missed a whole decade of music... In the 90's I mostly listened to techno music. Since I worked as a bartender my weekend started after 03:00 AM. Place to be? Illegal wharehouse parties. Here, tekno with a 'K' was played. Or we would go to dance festivals. Most famous one was the 'I love Techno' festival in Belgium. Normally a four and a half hour drive from Maastricht but this time done in three because we didn't wanne miss a thing. Line-up for that night: Billy Nasty, Underworld, Sven Vath, Eric de Man, Jeff Mills, Umek, Plastikman (aka Richie Hawtin), Gayle San and many more...

So I didn't listen to the radio or watch MTV to hear what was 'big' in the 90's. Creed was one of them. Never heard of Creed. Ha, didn't even know that they don't excisit anymore... go figure. Anyways... One of their songs is heavy in my iPod playlists: My Own Prison I guess you all know the song... and now I it know as well.

I'm a Navy SEAL

The reason for not posting is because two weeks ago I became a navy SEAL. I've been on missions to Asia, Poland and northern Africa. My favourite gun is the M16 with high scope. I produced 47 headshots so far.

Maybe you've guessed it but Im hooked playing Socom 3 online...

(If you are recruiting for your clan please consider me. lemon8 is my login name...)

Tai Chi vs Pumping Iron (Part II)

4 oz. Overcoming 1000 lb.?: If only 4 oz. is required to defeat 1000 lb., why do so many literatures on Tai Chi Chuan talk about deadly internal power?

Solution: This is the most commonly misunderstood principle of Tai Chi Chuan. The concept of 4 oz. is, of course, not literal; therefore, a thousand pounds, as well, is not literal.

The common interpretation of it is that a very little energy is used to get out of the way of oncoming, greater force, & by appling this technique, an opponent is caused to stumble off balance; follow by, then, a push technique, etc.

This interpretation is valid as far as the neutralizing technique is concerned, but it is not the principle of 4 oz. defeating 1000 lb.

In traditional Tai Chi Chuan, the most important aspect is the internal power. Without it, he/she does not have the true martial art of Tai Chi Chuan. Therefore, the practitioners spend his/her lifetime accumulating this power. To feel what this power is like, it is worth while to seek out someone who has it. For someone who has trained correctly for years, he/she can make the arms feel like a steel bar or make them feel very heavy. It is this hardness disguised in softness that gives the concept of "steel wrapped in cotton" a fearsome & effective power. It is, then, so powerful that he/she only needs to release a tiny bit of this power to destroy the opponents. Anyone who is bold enough to take on this power would feel as if they were hit by a thousand pounds even though only four ounces were released.

Anyone can learn how to evade, turn, side step, etc, & these techniques do not need profound principles, only some common senses. But, understanding the internal power principles is another matter; he/she needs a knowledgeble teacher. Therefore, on a low level of understanding, 4 oz. deflecting 1000 lb., can be interpreted as an evading skill; but, at a much higher level, it is about effective application of internal power.

(Read Part I here...)

Support the und3rground

Time for some party plugging. For those living in the Maasticht area check out the next 'reactor' party. Line-up: Laserbrain, Luc Skywalker and aKa Michi. When? Thursday Nov. 17th. Where? Cafe de witte ballons, Maastricht.

What to expect? I have no clue ;-) but with this line-up I think like soundz played on OrbitalGrooves.com. Check out the live stream in iTunes Radio; section electronica. BooYaa!!

Tea

My favourite cup of tea these days is decaf tazo chai. And yes, I'm aware I sound like an old lady now...

Tai Chi vs Pumping Iron (Part I)

Since a few months I'm practicing Tai Chi again. Before I came to the States I had several 'masters' teaching me the martial art of Tai Chi. There is a lot of misunderstanding about Tai Chi as a martial art. I will try to explain a little bit of the principles of Tai Chi and why you actually develop more power then when you are at the gym pumping iron...

Q: How can the slow movements of Tai Chi Chuan be a martial art?

A: When asked what Tai Chi Chuan is, most people identify it with slow motion exercise that old Chinese people or over-aged hippies do in parks in the mornings. Other martial artists see it as a health exercise at best & find it hard to believe that it can be a martial art.

These responses are quite understandable since a martial art supposed to move fast with power whereas Tai Chi Chuan seems to do the opposite. Fortunately, if it weren't for the traditional Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan, I might have agreed with those sceptics. As one sceptic puts it so eloquently, many tai chi practitioners are merely directing traffic in a park.

Like all the versions of Tai Chi Chuan, the traditional Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan, beginners start off with the long form as well. To those who think that Tai Chi Chuan only consists of the slow, long form, has misperceived the very essence. Any martial artist with attained martial intelligence & skill ought to believe that there is more to it than mere external visualization; but, most don't seem to know any better because many do not go beyond this immediate perception. Anyone who thinks that a fight can be fought with slow motion needs to have his/her head examine. Which means, in the traditional Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan, there is also fast movement. But, before anyone can execute the internal principles & the internal power with speed, he/she has to learn how to move slowly & understand the internal principles first. This is one of the essence of Yin/Yang philosophy: slow/fast. In phrasing one of the classics: if my opponent moves fast, I move faster; if my opponent does not move, I do not need to move.

More later...

Yours to choose

Pick the banner of your choice. Maybe you noticed something but as of today eightdegree has 7 banners 15 banners. They will be presented as a slidshow. After viewing all of them, you can pick your favourite or play them all over again. Whatever you like.

The banners are made with SlideShow Pro. Another app that rocks. Easy set-up. If you're a fan of Flash MX this is the ultimate component for it. Everything can be customized and easy to use. Create a flash and an .xml file. Dump your pictures in a folder with images and thumbnails and you're done!

Some other notable websites using SSP:

Andrew Hernandez
Scott McDaniel (more here and here)
YUVa.tv
Burton Snowboards
Murat Koc (select 'portfolio')
Spot On Creative

I'm a keyboard shortcut freak...

And it's getting worse... I installed Quicksilver yesterday and I'm playing around with it for a good two hours. IT ROCKS! My dock holds only three items: finder, trash and quicksilver. It's all I need now. I launch apps with quicksilver, send emails, search and play songs from my iTunes library, calculate and and and... actually almost everything is possible with quicksilver.

If you love keyboard shortcuts and you have a mac running Tiger, get it now!