Real Deal 1/6 Scale Dioramas

My interest in 1/6th scale action figures has caused me some good-natured (and some not-so-good natured) ribbing and teasing in the past. But the fact is, the detail at this scale can be amazing.

One of the community members at 1/6 Warriors recently posted photos of the commissioned work he performed for a Special Forces training school depicting some of the skills used by the Army special operations community.

The small dioramas were installed in a conference room at the school facilities. It's all top-notch work and the detail is amazing. The HALO jumpers have drama on their side, but the work it must've taken to put together a uniform and accurate CQB stack really impresses me.

Even if the materials bring a sense of whimsy to these scenes, the subject matter is sobering. I'm sure the soldiers who get to see these up-close will appreciate the work.

Heddeby Pouch

Yes, I have been working on some other 10th Century arts and crafts while off the mats.

This is a simple pouch design I pulled off The Vikings reenactment society website. I've made several of them. All it takes is some leather scraps, heavy duty scissors, a strong hole punch, and some matching leather thong. There's speculation pouches could also be made from heavy cloth, but no remains have been found.

What did a Viking carry around in their pouch? I don't know. Their clothes didn't have pockets. Typically a large, often decorated, belt pouch was worn, and these probably went inside that to divide contents. I suspect small draw pouches were used to carry valuables for trade and commerce. On journeys, they probably carried tinder inside the pouches.


Cut a circle from the leather scrap, but be sure to leave two tabs or flaps on opposite sides of the circle. Then punch corresponding holes around the sides. You'll need a multiple of four to make the drawstring work. Why 4? I don't know, I'd love to hear a coherent explanation. Then string two thongs in opposite directions through the holes so they will cinch shut.

You can make the pouches any size and you're limited only by the size of leather you use. In the last picture, the black pouch is slightly larger than the tan one.

Morons, I'm surrounded by morons...

I hate to throw around highly technical terms, but... my desk computer went "kablooie" today. So I called IT support, who sent a technician right to my desk.

As he sat down to figure out what was wrong, he noticed my wall paper was a Japanese Olympic Judoka delivering a textbook uchimata to some also-ran from Italy. "So, how long have you been doing martial arts?"

"Oh, about 16 years straight. But I dabbled off and on for a few years before that," I said.

He launched into how a friend of his did "some kind of ninjutsu" and asked if I knew much about it.

"Yes, I have my black belt in that..." I said fearing the worst. Really, imagine the chances a computer nerd would know a ninja.

So for the next half hour or so, while he was sorting out my bits and bytes, he told me all about his kool-aid drinking friend. I mean how could I as a black belt not know that ninjas are the real deadly, because they punch, kick, throw, and master a zillion weapons! And -- whoa -- they tap into the energy of the universe through their fighting stances, which imitate the elements! (I think this was the part when the vein in my forehead started throbbing.)

What could I do? Tell him his friend is a gullible fool who needs to study his own art -- and its relationship with other arts far more deeply? I could've, but that wouldn't have been polite. No, not polite at all. And I needed my computer to work correctly...

There's really no moral to this story, no neat bowtie for the end. I just needed to share my moment of pain.

Little Lessons

My wife made fun of me brushing my teeth Monday night.

Actually, I'd just washed up, brushed my teeth, rinsed with mouthwash, and clipped my nails. "Hot date?" she asked. No, just cleaning up for jiu jitsu class.

I'm not too picky about my partners at class. I know many of them come straight from work, or have been working out in other classes before hand. So some of them arrive with a "less than fresh" scent. Still, I don't want to be "that guy," nor do I want to be the last kid picked for randori, so I try to clean up.

On another note, later that night, I was reminded of an old samurai proverb: "Under the upraised sword, hell gapes. Step in to find heaven." There are several ways to unpack that saying. There's a literal martial meaning. So long as you stand at range, the sword can cut you. Step outside the range and you are still vulnerable. But step inside the range and the cutting power is dramatically reduced, giving you a chance to react to the threat. It takes courage and skill.

There's also an interpretation that some solutions are counter-intuitive.

We were split into pairs and groups of pairs for positional drills. The purpose of the drill was for the bottom man to escape from side control. This was a beginner class, so the results were somewhat comical (it pays to be able to laugh at yourself). I watched many of the bottom grapplers lay flat out, struggling to push the top grappler off, arms flailing, everyone desperately trying to get away.

Of course, the answer is counter-intuitive, and it involves moving into the threat. The basic solution is to turn into the opponent's side control, and maneuver the knees and legs between you and the opponent.

It's a lesson well worth remembering. Winston Churchill had a similar proverb, "If you find yourself going through hell, keep going." And I think I saw an episode of 30 Rock with a similar theme...

Opening Stark Expo 2010

The opening ceremony from Stark Expo 2010...

Awesome!

I honestly don't know whether to be happy or sad that the announcement of a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic book, 1980's version, was just an April Fool's Day gag.

I think I'm more sad. :-(

Generation 2 Viking Saex

To continue the Viking theme... This is my 10th Century Saex made by Generation 2. A Saex (often Sax) is a large knife, or short sword, that was used by many Germanic tribes during the Migration Period of the Dark Ages, and predominantly in the British Isles and parts of Northern Europe into the 11the Century. Traditionally the Saex was a badge of the freeman in the English Kingdoms. It even makes a heroic appearance in the epic poem Beowulf when the hero uses his knife to hack apart the dragon as they both are near death. The design's hardiness and practicality endeared it to the Danish raiders who adopted it and spread it to their settlements and into the other Viking peoples.

The Saex hung more or less horizontally from the belt at the front and was kept handy. The blade rested edge upward in the scabbard. While this saex displays a more Bowie knife-like profile, many saexes had a clipped, triangular profile that makes them look half-finished to modern eyes.

It was a versatile design. There are many examples of saexes as long as swords, and also as short as a modern pocket knife. But this large knife size seems to be the most common.

There is speculation that saexes at this size were especially useful in the predominate fighting formation of the Viking era, the shield wall. In these close confines, the were quicker and more agile than a long sword, and able to deliver hacks and stabs much like the Roman Gladius of earlier generations.

Generation 2 also makes matching 10th Century sword based on a find excavated from the River Witham in England. I'm saving my lunch money to buy the sword later this year. I'm already on a waiting list with a specialist scabbard maker and I'm hoping he'll make period accurate matching scabbards for both pieces. The scabbard that comes with the Saex is pretty accurate, but the sword scabbard isn't accurate. It would be nice to have a quality, handmade set.

An exception

I generally steer clear of politics and policy issues, but in this day and age, can you avoid it completely?

I'm linking to an opinion column by Leonard Pitts. He and I don't agree on many things, but this was one thing we could agree upon.

When you're finished reading the column, please visit the Matthew Snyder website and consider donating. His dad's lawyers may be working pro bono, but there are still considerable legal expenses.

So I checked out Shugyosha Tiger...

I took a peek at our new friend Ben's blog today. And I was pretty impressed. So I've added it to the blog roll on the left.

Ben's obviously working really hard at his BJJ, and I think it can provide some inspiration on several levels. Those garage workouts look intense! I'm going to have to step it up a notch or two.

But I was really impressed with his attitude as I browsed through the posts and watched his fight video. Especially the fight video... Blogging can be hard work, but I look forward to learning more from your perspective, Ben, please keep it up.

I really wish this came in my size...

A biking shirt, but potentially the most awesome rashguard in the whole universe! But only available in small right now...

A Replica Viking Round Shield

In a burst of experimental archaeology energy, I built a replica Viking shield in February.

Okay, it isn't 100% accurate to the methods used in the 10th Century for shield construction, but it gave me a taste of how it was done, what the product was like, and I learned a few new skills.

The main body of the shield is plywood. Obviously, modern plywood was not available in the Viking Age, but the laminated construction method they used produced a similar result. The shape was easily cut with a jigsaw.

I faced the shield with heavy canvas. There is mixed evidence about real shield facing. Some surviving exemplars are bare. Others appear to have been faced with leather. Although I did find a leather supplier, I caved at the price. Many latter shields had a cloth facing, but I didn't see any reference for the Viking era. Obviously they would've had sail cloth, but I suspect any cloth would've been too valuable to be sacrificed for a shield, generally.

Anyway, the canvas was glued down with a wash of diluted white glue. When it was dry, I used artist's gesso to stiffen and prep the surface. The design was chosen from an Osprey book for some reasonable authenticity. Geometric shapes appear to have been common, but there is some debate about how elaborately they decorated their shields. I used ordinary artist's acrylics to paint.

I purchased a steel shield boss and six rivets online from the aptly named Viking Shield. They were incredibly helpful and not only sold me the parts, but answered all my questions. I asked some very basic ones too. I'm sure they were surprised I didn't hurt myself trying to make this.

The shield was sandwiched between the boss and the handle and clamped together. I then drilled guide holes for the rivets. Luckily, when I test fit the rivets, nothing had shifted and it all fit together. The two long rivets went through the handle first. These were still too long, and I cut about 3/4 of an inch off of them.

Following the advice I'd gleaned from several sources, I gently peened back all the rivet heads with a ball peen hammer. Riveting required some kind of anvil surface, something I hadn't countered on when I started construction. I procured a length of cut-down locomotive rail to use as an anvil. I have a knife-making friend of mine to thank for that. It was a little more awkward than a true anvil, but worked fine.

The final stage was nailing down the rawhide around the rim. The rawhide was reclaimed from dogchews soaked for about 30 minutes in lukewarm water. I used upholstery nails to tack it down on both sides.

I didn't time the project, but I'd guess there's 6 to 8 hours of work. You couldn't possibly do it all at once, because the glue and the paint has to dry, but it could probably all be done in a long weekend. The finished shield is about 10 pounds. Believe it or not, I think that's on the heavy side for a real shield.

Plans can be found by googling "How to make a Viking/round shield."

If you're interested, I found the websites for the re-enactment groups the Vikings and Regia Angolorum to be very informative about 10th Century crafts. There's something raw and honest about Viking Era arts and crafts, especially when you've been around computers all day.

CAS Hanwei Tactical Wakizashi

That's right, a "Tac Wak," and I'm inexplicably excited.

This is a weird, hybrid beast, and I can't discern any realistic role or requirement for the thing.

As a wakizashi, it breaks all traditional aesthetics and notions of form. It is, in a word, ugly. No self-respecting Japanese swordsman would train with such a monstrosity.

As a tactical tool, it seems equally useless. It seems too specialized for a soldiering role. I can't imagine any kind of law enforcement use. It has inherent drawbacks as a civilian self-defense tool. Consider, for example, the trouble one student found himself in when he killed a trespasser with a katana... This is trouble he might've avoided if he'd hastily armed himself with a stick, a kitchen knife, or even a handgun -- any item more reasonably acceptable.

I have heard of backcountry hikers arming themselves with large blades where either they or the park are squeamish about firearms.

And please, no zombiggeddon cracks. A wakizashi is way too short for that environment...

But despite these obstacles, it does look cool. I'm sure it will find its way onto my "list" -- just not prioritized very high. There has been a trend toward larger tactical knives, and also toward more traditional shapes. I found myself salivating over CRKT's giant Hisshou, but the price has kept me away. If I spend that much money on a blade, I'm buying a Viking sword.

But the Hanwei Tac Wak is modestly priced between $114 and $150. At that price, I'd probably send it out for a custom kydex sheath -- probably with a shoulder strap so i can make cool, over the top, ninja-style draws! Hmmm... maybe I should hold out for a tactical ko-katana, or Tac Ko Kat?

Two New Trailers...

Come on... You know The Losers looks much better than that A-Team baloney...

And then there's Scott Pilgrim versus The World...

FUDGE You!

Okay, you've all been warned that things can get a little weird around here.

So, I give you: Scarface The School Play!

"Take that you cockroaches!"

Better Living through Technology!

Technology like mini-ARC reactors and powered armor battlesuits, that is...

Visit the Stark Expo 2010 online, and you might catch a glimpse of the Ironettes!

Cap Cast?

Who the hell is Chris Evans, and what makes him qualified to be Captain America?

From my latest Entertainment Weekly:

"Former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Nicholas Brendan, 38, was arrested for felony vandalism March 17. The actor reportedly damaged property as he tried to flee LA police officers and was shot with a Taser gun. He was released on $20,000 bail."

Xander, WTF?

Or do you plan to blame this on your evil twin? And, BTW, this would never happen to Nick Fury.

Welcome new follower

I have a new follower: mynameisbenross. Greetings. I hope you know what you're getting into here. This place can get pretty weird.

Just make yourself comfortable. We'll be getting your white robe and sandals ready. Someone will show you to your bunk. Communal dinner is at six. Once a week or so, you may be asked to read from our book of scripture during the meal. Don't worry, the comet we're all waiting to hitch a ride on isn't due back for another 88 years. Of course, now that we all have federally mandated healthcare, your life expectancy is sure to go up...

In any event, we only tithe at 23%. You're still allowed to marry, although most of the guys find it hard to get dates wearing the robes. I thought they made a nice statement; but the ladies seem to be looking for something more "hip" or "with it."

Ok, seriously... I can see you have some interest in BJJ. I'm not sure how you found your way to my corner of the InterTubes, but I'm not the most orthodox martial arts guy in any sense. Also, I'm going through a real learning phase where I'm internalizing material. I don't know how often I'll be posting on martial arts for awhile. You're welcome to stick around, but don't expect grappling hints anytime soon. I'm not that good at it yet.

BTW, can I interest you in the Bullshido forum found in the left hand column?

Nature Points Out the Folly of Men

Aiieeeeeeeeeee!!

No, that's not the sound of fleeing citizens of Tokyo. That's the sound of monster movie buffs screaming in horror at the announcement that there will be another American made Godzilla movie.

No word on whether matthew Broderick will be in it. No word on whether or not the iguana-spawn Godzilla will be back. All that we need to know is that some Americans are going to try to make a Godzilla movie. The only thing worse would be Toho Studios making a Western in Japan with Japanese actors.

Yep. That how closely identified Godzilla is with the milieu. He can't be separated from it. You'd think "Giant Monster" would translate better. But it doesn't. He's as Japanese as samurai. I mean, you wouldn't make a samurai movie about a round-eye would you?

Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting Tom Cruise. But that just proves my point!

Some things don't travel well. Unlike Guinness, which travels fine, but definitely tastes better the closer you get to St. James Gate.

Look: attention American movie producers. You want to make a quintessentially American giant monster movie? Film The Call of Cthulhu. The fans are waiting for it.

Clash!!! Ah-aaaa! He's a miracle.

The anticipated CGI remake of Clash of the Titans opens (in 3D no less) this Friday. The original Clash of the Titans was one of those movies that tided me over between Star Wars movies, back when they were good. It retold the ancient Greek myth of Perseus, and how he saved the beautiful princess Andromeda from a monstrous whale... Not quite. The movie spiffied it up a little, and imported the idea of the Kraken from the realm of Thor, and mutated the beast into a four limbed giant merman. Four tentacle-like arms? Why only four? Because this was the last gasp of quality stop-motion animation. Ray Harryhausen, the master of this special effect, was old, and tired. Four arms was all he could handle. There you have it. I've put it on the Internet, so it must be true...

The original movie is almost 30 years old, and it looks quaint today. But it was a stunner back in it's day. They lavished the budget on this thing, grabbing A-List stars to be the Greek Gods: Laurence Olivier as Zeus, and Ursula Andress reprising her role from Doctor No as Aphrodite (If you have to ask, you really need to brush up on you Classics, and your classic cinema...). I even remember the clockwork owl Bubo fondly. He was steampunk before it was cool. And it also showed a sly understanding of real history that I'm certain will be absent from the update.

Harry Hamlin became something of a Gay icon from this movie. Sure, the ladies loved him on TV's LA Law, but every gay man I've ever known has made at least one passing reference to Hamlin's turn as the demigod Perseus. And this isn't surprising, because it is a virile performance, and he manages to hold his own in the minimalist Greek wardrobe. I suspect Gerard Butler watched this movie as preparation for 300. (Again, I'm putting this on the Internet, so it must be true...)

This version gives us Sam Worthington, the Aussie sensation who has already had a more successful big screen career than Harry Hamlin. Liam Neeson does a turn as Zeus, and Ralph Fiennes is Hades, a character I don't remember playing much of any role in the original. Was he there at all? Aphrodite is played by somebody named Agyness Deyn. Who? I had to google her, and the pictures I found were of some generically pretty goth waif. Come on; I'm sure Angelina was busy, but couldn't you find somebody with more "Sexual Napalm" credibility than this?

So, do I think they will "improve" on the original? Meh, maybe. I think it will be an eye-of-the-beholder situation. If it looks half as good as the trailers, it will please the key 18-to-30-year-old male demographic they crave. I'm sure the girls (maybe even some of the boys) will love to see Sam flex his muscles too. Whether or not it has the campy heart that sustained the original is yet to be seen. It makes me happy to see them trot out the "old stories" again for a new generation. The Greeks nailed storytelling while the rest of the West was just getting warmed up. These old tales are the fuel for the dreams that we make today. The next Star Wars, the next Pirates of the Caribbean, the next Harry Potter...

But not the next Lord of the Rings. For that, we need to cast our eyes northward to the land of ice and snow. See into the realm that gave birth to the kraken. Look past the arching rainbow to the Halls of Asgard. There in his hall sits Odin, attended by his chattering ravens, waiting Ragnarok with his army of dead heroes.

Now that would make a great movie.

My First Foray into 3D Movies

Okay, maybe not my first taste of 3d film. I did see a little gem called Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone back in 1983. And no, I did not break down and see Avatar. Instead, I took my daughter to see How to Train Your Dragon, based on the kid's book of the same title. It was my first experience with the modern 3D process in a mainstream theater.

I did not expect to like either the movie, or the technique very much. Boy, was I wrong. The plot ain't much, but it's clever enough, and sweeps the kids along. And, as is standard in animated kids films these days, there are a couple of jokes intended to sail right over the kids' heads.

But what really, really blew me away was the flying sequences. The hero and the dragon eventually make nice and learn to fly together. What can I say to do it justice? You will believe a dragon can fly. With the stunningly realized visuals enhanced by the 3D rendering, the only thing missing was the feel of wind in my hair to make it seem real. This was worth the price of admission for me.

The modern 3D technique really is an improvement over what they used back in the days of Jaws 3D. It fooled my daughter. Things have never popped off the screen for me at the 3D experiences. I don't know if that's my perception, or everyone's. Last Thanksgiving, I took in the 3D Muppets movie at Disney World, and there were some kids nearby reaching out to touch the imaginary objects onscreen. I did perceive the screen as a window into a 3D world. And thankfully, the colors aren't distorted the way they were with the red/green lens of yesteryear.

The only thing I could complain about, if 3D really is the future, is that the theater I visited tacked on a $3 surcharge for the 3d movie. I had to wonder: what am I really getting for those $3 extra? The glasses?

Just when you thought it was safe...

Space Nazis!

I hate these guys... I want my Space Nazi scalps!

Uchi Mata

I'm really hoping this .gif file works... It's very impressive. Let me know if anyone thinks they can do what's shown here.

That's got to be hard on the knees though...

Stacy Keibler needs YOUR help.

Esquire magazine is running a March Madness bracket of the Sexiest Women Alive to decide who will come out on top. (Errr... so to speak...) Stacy Keibler, Baltimore girl, former Towson University student, former Ravens Cheerleader, former Nitro Girl, WWE Diva, Dancing with the Stars Phenom, and aspiring actress, is one of the contenders for the crown.

She's up against some stiff competition in her own bracket, including the Face of Women's MMA, Gina Carano. Outside her bracket, there are some serious heavyweights and likely upsets that have a few tricks up their sleeve. 63-year-old Helen Mirren is pasting Megan Fox -- talk about age and experience over youth and vigor! Meanwhile Olivia Munn of Cable network G4's Attack of the Show has racked up over a million votes in the first round! Apparently her geeky fanbase is enlisting the aid of internet bots to countinuously vote in her favor.

The website is at this LINK so go there and vote.

Vote Stacy Keibler -- and vote often!

"Engage!"

Johns Hopkins University physicist William Edelstein has some bad news for us geeks:

Faster Than Light Travel will kill you.

Edelstein's new study looked at what would happen on a hypothetical starship traveling at 99% of c, the speed of light. At such velocity, the stray hydrogen atoms drifting in deep space would smash into the starship at such speed and in such numbers that protons would be stripped away from the atoms and pass through the metal and the bodies of the crewmen inside. This would create a radiation exposure for those crewmen fatal to human beings. (For the truly geeky, the fatal dose is "6 sieverts" but the crewmen would be exposed to about "10,000 sieverts per second." I have no idea what that means, but the math looks pretty bad.)

I know, I know. The USS Enterprise has "shields" to protect it. Edelstein doubts that an electromagnetic shield could be built to block the subatomic particles in the radiation.

He seems like such a kill-joy, given that an engine capable of producing 99% of c velocities is also considered impossible. Why is he assuming we can have the engine, but no "shield?" Me, I would assume that such technology would require some mysterious, near magical, understanding and control over Unified Force.

Edelstein posits that such extreme radiation doses also would be fatal to all forms of life, thus, no little green men from Alpha Centauri, or reptoids, are visiting us currently.

So, is this the end of our dream of FTL Travel?

We still have wormholes to consider. Star Wars ships utilized "hyperspace" for FTL travel, and while it was never clearly defined, it was supposedly another dimension. WH40K gives us the Warp or Empyrean sea -- also an alternate dimension, though considerably more dangerous. What about folding space?

Ultimately, the problem with all forms of Hard-Sci Fi or realistic FTL travel is the resource expenditure. Even the best theories require an almost inconceivable amount of energy to effect the travel.

Superman Rebooted

It's apparently more than idle rumor that Christopher "Batman Franchise Messiah" Nolan has taken on the job of rebooting Superman next. In a recent interview, he said the idea came while he and his writing partner were stuck with a particularly thorny problem in developing the third Batman movie. ("Gee Chris, you had such a great idea about the Joker busting out of Arkham for the third movie... what do we do now?")

The interview also quotes Nolan as saying the studios felt he "knew the milieu" for comic book superheroes.

Wait a minute, here. Just because Nolan had an uncanny understanding of how to update Batman doesn't mean he's going "to get" Supes. Superman is an entirely different creature. For one, he's an Optimist. Now, some may say Batman is an Optimist in a pessimistic world, I could see that, but the pessimism of that world view pervades everything. You want to understand Superman? All you need to do is watch the last few minutes of Superman II (let me specify the original cut). That image of Superman returning the flag to the White House and apologizing to the President has it down pat in terms of tone.

Batman apologizes to no one if he got the job done.

Nolan also said that he doesn't plan to connect the two series. While it's a safe choice, I think that's a big mistake in some ways. Superman and Batman are Yin and Yang for superheroes. They can be used to define each other. Frank Miller understood this perfectly. Go back and read The Dark Knight Returns to see what I mean. Connecting the films needn't be cutesy or forced, and doing it as a throwaway would be wrong too. But there are ways to make the connection work for the storyteller.

On the Batman III front, rumor abounds that the Riddler will be the next villain. I'm cautiously optimistic about this. While some see the Riddler as a downscale Joker, there is the potential to really open up the Batman's "world's greatest detective" angle working against the Riddler. I hope they don't overstuff the film with villains.

And now for something really super...

History Channel does Musashi Biography

No, that's not a modern, suave Miyamoto Musashi, but Mark "Twinkle Toes" Dacascos, the host of the History Channel's most recent deification of Miyamoto Musashi, a program simply titled, Samurai.

I sat down to watch the program this afternoon. As usual when cramming that much history into a single television program, there's good and bad. The bad can be summed up by saying that there are a handful of sweeping historical mistakes of facts, and -- of course -- they continue the deification of Musashi as the epitome of what it meant to be a samurai. Really, he wasn't. He was a great swordsman, but he was always equal parts unlucky and unwilling to take up the true essence of the samurai's life: service. While he remains a renowned and towering figure among the Japanese within the arena of martial arts, other contemporaries are more highly regarded for upholding Bushido. The West's love affair with his story has more to do with his parallels with the archetypes of the questing knight or cool gunslinger.

Let me focus on the good: They tell the entire story of Musashi's life. Generally, the American treatment of Musashi concludes with his duel on Ganryu Island, an event so overclouded by mythology that historical debate about what happened is usually cast aside in favor of the legend. I've given up trying to sort out fact from fiction about the event because the sources in English are all but useless. But one extreme view is that it was total propaganda, and Musashi's opponent, Sasaki Kojiro, never existed!

Anyway, this biography made a sincere effort to follow Musashi after he stepped off the island and onto his time among the Hosokawa clan, writing the Go Rin no Sho, and eventual death. Along the entire journey, we are treated to some spectacular scenery of Japan as we follow Dacascos following Musashi. It was a gorgeous production. We are also treated to some terrible anime dramatizing Musashi's duels. However, the anime sequences do allow the production to do something unusual for a work like this: showcase the brutality of single combat in Feudal Japan. The sequence showing Musashi's first duel at the age of 13 is particularly unflinching. Far from gratuitous, we can sense Musashi's initial callousness, and growing unease as he faces these violent encounters.

Given Mark Dacascos' experience in martial arts, I would've liked to see more on display. He visits a kenjutsu dojo in Miyamoto village and trains there briefly, a la Human Weapon or Fight Quest. In a wrap-up montage, we are tantalized by a snippet of him thanking a Westerner in a white gi and saying "I barely survived..." What was this dojo that he visited? How vigorous was the training? Even if Dacascos came off looking "bad" -- maybe especially if he found a session difficult -- I would've liked to see that. We are also treated to a brief (maybe 30 second) segment on the myriad of weapons used by samurai. Interestingly, it appears the found a ninjutsu school to demonstrate the shuriken, jutte, and other exotic tools.

If you're interested in Musashi, it's worth watching for the travelogue. If you're more interested in the martial arts aspect, it's a disappointment.

I didn't know they were updating this one...

There are no new ideas in Hollywood it seems... Now they are remaking/rebooting/updating the Charles Bronson/Jan Michael Vincent movie, The Mechanic. Now we get Jason Statham as the grizzled assassin formerly played by Chuck Bronson.

I always found the original pretty slow. I do remember the fight scene I linked above. The opening is pretty legendary too.

But, somewhat perversely, my favorite Bronson movie is Red Sun! I wish all fights were as easy as movie fights.

"If it bleeds, we can kill it."

One of my great high school memories was the night I saw Predator. I had a free ticket, and a movie poster. I also had zero expectations. I walked into the movie cold.

I had no idea I was going to see one of the greatest B-movie homages ever made, and a worthy update to Beowulf and The Most Dangerous Game.

I sorta liked the sequel with Danny Glover. It had its moments, especially at the end, when you see the Alien xenomorph skull in the trophy case. And believe it or not, I was okay with the first Aliens vs. Predator movie. It wasn't as good as the Dark Horse comic books, but it was about what I expected. I didn't see Requiem, however...

So how excited am I to see Robert Rodriguez's take on Predators??? Very.

Here's the trailer.

Just for you mlk...

Bears more than a little resemblance to you, doesn't it?

What a Drag

I confronted Jay about my "issue" at a college party in 1994. After all, that's what dumb young guys do, they have a few drinks, and then go looking for trouble with other dumb young guys -- even if they do outweigh you with muscle.

Anyway, I said my piece. Jay reached out and committed assault and battery. Ok, he laid his right hand on the left side of my chest. But it was still an invasion of my personal space involving a touching of my body in a threatening manner. I was nervous, but held my ground.

As you might guess, I have no memory of what was said between us. I have no memory of how the incident ended, except that it didn't end in violence. That was fortunate for us both. I didn't need a trip to the hospital. He didn't need the vengeance that a couple of my other friends would've wrought. They had their own issues with Jay and were looking for a good excuse to turn him into a red pastey substance; something I had no doubts they were capable of doing.

But I do remember that feeling of helplessness while his hand rested on me. I'd done a few years of karate in my adolescence; and I'd stuck with the college's karate class a month or two before deciding it was a bother to get up so early on a Saturday morning. But I had no idea how to get Jay's hand off me. Or what to do if he closed that gap. I did know that if he was close enough to touch me like that, he could hit me.

I graduated in May of '94. I looked around at some options in my area and I signed up at a Bujinkan school. Yeah, yeah, I should've gone old school and joined the Judo school that was much closer. But remember, I was young and dumb, and throwing stars seemed really cool at the time. Over the years, I learned any number of ways to deal with lapel grabs. The harshest critics might scoff at wrist locks and other standing grappling manuevers, but they have their place. And any one of them probably would've served me just fine in an ego fight with Jay.

This year, I resolved to improve my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu game. My personal training had been moving more and more in that direction anyway. So I find myself with a white belt wrapped around my waist. In one recent class, we were practicing the arm drag, a pretty standard wrestling technique I should've picked up in high school. From a loose clinch, your near hand sweeps away the opponent's wrist, while the far hand reaches behind the opponent's triceps on the same arm. You pull him toward you as you step past him so that you end up behind him with your arms around his waist. From there, you can trip or sweep the opponent to the ground.

The instructor ordered everyone in one line to rotate partners, on and on, until I found myself across from Mark. Mark's a sweetheart of a guy and very funny. But as he stood there and reached out to put his hand on my chest, he looked just like Jay did 16 or so years ago. And that's when I realized that this -- THIS! -- was what I really wanted to be able to do that night: sweep away Jay's hand, smash him to the ground, and then choke the life out of him!!!

Maybe not literally... but you get my point. It was a delayed catharsis, but it was a release just the same.

Phoenix Games blog

An old friend of mine has undertaken a interesting blog project. His website, Phoenix Games, seeks to post at least one reminiscence per day related to video games.

Victor Paul Alvarez is a traditionally trained journalist employed as the Editor for several small town newspapers in Rhode Island. His passion is pop culture and video games in particular. Victor believes video games are poised to become the next big shift in narrative -- much like prose overtook verse, and the novel became the dominant literary form. He's got an interesting viewpoint worth pondering...

Anyway, he has been cranking out video game reviews like crazy the past few years in order to make a name for himself in the field, and in an attempt to find the correct voice for literary critique of the form. Not so easy. How do you criticize a media that is still in the process of defining itself?

The Phoenix Games blog is an attempt to find the connections between the games and the real lives of people. Some of the posts are straight up reviews of old, classic games; but others are tied to fond memories. What makes a game great??? The same kinds of things that make a movie great, or a car great, in the minds of the consumer. It isn't necessarily the quality of the game itself, but the role it played in the person's life. While it looks like most of the posts are still by Victor himself, he's enlisted others to provide guest posts. It's tough to write one article a day about any topic, no matter how passionate you are about the subject.

I'm told the blog has some good buzz in the video game community. Possibly that's because the main critical style in vogue these days is the "ripper" in which every possible flaw is exposed and subject to dissection. Generally, these posts aren't snarky, but seek to emphasize the positive about the game.

I've linked the blog in my Blog Roll on the left hand of the page. Even if you're not an avid gamer, I hope you'll check out his blog and sample some of the posts.

New Item listed in my Blog Roll

I just added the blog for White Shadow Dojo. Even after a quick reading of their posts it was clear to me that they'd be worth following. I like how they respect both old and new approaches to martial arts training. Give them a read and see what you think.

What makes this clip so wrong is also what makes it SOOOOOOO right!

You may go to hell for enjoying this as much as I did. You've been warned.

Kick-Ass:coming to a theater near you in April -- and poisoning minds forever after.

The Mighty Thor fights crime for real in Scotland

This happened earlier this year, but it's way too good not to pass along now:

A burglar in Scotland was shocked to discover that the home he was ransacking actually belonged to the Norse God of Thunder, Thor!

Or, at least, it belonged to 39-year-old body builder Torvald Alexander, who was returning home from a "fancy-dress party" (that's Brit-speak for costume bash) in his divine attire of red cape, breastplate, and horned helmet!

Thor charged at the burglar (somewhat safer to do in the UK, where guns are harder to come by) and the scared thief jumped out the window. Presumably this was to avoid capture and internment on a slab of rock while a serpent drips stinging venom into his eyes... (Look it up, I'm not doing all your work for you...)


I know. You're thinking, "Holy Crap! That sure would scare me to death if I looked up and saw the Odinsson!" And well, you might if the Thunderer looked like one of the two incarnations above... But this is Torvald's actual costume... Note geek chic decor in the background.

However, I'm sure I can one up this next Halloween. I mean really, dude, where's your Hammer? (Or do you think that's why they only photographed him from the waist-up?)

SF operating in Afghanistan

Wired's Danger Room blog ran a snarky semi-editorial about a Fox News piece concerning Special Forces doing aerial patrols and seemingly random searches of vehicles in Afghanistan. Apparently the wunderkinds at Danger Room objected to the fact that no useful information regarding the military strategy or tactics was released. It was all cool video of the SF Operators with their super-M4's jumping out of Black Hawks and searching Afghan civilians.

Hello? Why would you expect the Operators to give up the real inside story on an ongoing operation?

Why can't you -- like me -- just go "Cool! They're wearing MultiCam!"

It easy to be cynical about the small "piece of the elephant" you see in this video. I admit that the piece is feel-good fluff, but what do you reasonably expect? But there's a snippet near the end of this companion piece that reminds you why these guys (in their MultiCam) are out there in the first place. And no, the Special Forces aren't all there harassing locals by doing elaborate traffic stops... That's some classic counter-insurgency work.

Signs, signs.

A group of "someones" has apparently stolen the infamous ironwork sign from the gate of the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp.

The sign lied: "Work will set you free."

This just boggles my mind. Why would anyone do this? Apparently, the screws were undone from one side of the sign and it was ripped from the moorings on the other. Due to the size and weight of the sign, it's obviously the work of a group of conspirators.

Who would want this? Neo-Nazis? What good does it do them? Holocaust survivors are probably unlikely. Art collectors? What does this fetch on the art black market? And isn't it a little big and obvious to hide even in a private art collection?

I actually felt a little sick reading about this. It is an afront to everyone of goodwill, not just Holocaust survivors or Jews in general. This is a piece of humanity's cultural heritage -- admittedly, it's a dark piece, but it reminds us all how low our species can sink. I don't go around thinking about Auschwitz or the Holocaust every moment of every day, but it's part of my back brain; and it informs my opinions about grave matters. I recognize the importance of keeping these reminders around for future generations to ponder -- so it will become part of their back brains and inform how they think and act. Hopefully for the better.

Coincidentally, the sign greeting visitors to my hometown was stolen a few months back right off of main street. I wouldn't necessarily equate the two in terms of gravitas, but as I drove by the temporary sign this evening (It reads "Our Town Wants Our Sign Back!"), I thought the two incidents had an eerie similarity in some respects: The thefts are both senseless. Neither sign could possibly mean as much to the individuals who took them as they do to the public at large. Both involved planning and logistics unlikely to have occurred quickly over beer and drawn up on cocktail napkins. Both make you scratch your head and ask, "Why?"

So, from my little corner of the interTubes, let me raise my voice and say this to the douchebags who took the Auschwitz sign, "Humanity wants Our Sign Back!"

As long as we're rebooting movies...

You know what would be cool? If someone took all the technical "know-how" from Lord of the Rings and the visual design and sensibility of 300 and remade Clash of the Titans! Wouldn't that be awesome?

Oh wait... They are doing that.

Okay, okay... So what if they take one of the most iconic and best-loved scenes from Fantasia and try to mix it with the modern angle of Harry Potter, with maybe a dash of the fantasy hipster favorite Harry Dresden novels... You'd get The Sorceror's Apprectice. Oh, boy...

Expedition Everest

I won't bore you with blow-by-blow details about my trip to visit the Mouse House in Orlando, Florida.

But I do want to say a few words about Expedition Everest, the roller coaster in Disney's Animal Kingdom.

I'm not a big roller coaster fan. Meaning that I don't like Big roller coasters. But I was really intrigued by some of the things I'd heard about this one -- including that the Yeti stalks the coaster. Did somebody say, "Yeti?" I am so there. I mean, it's not like I'm likely to go to the real Himalayas anytime soon to catch a glimpse of the real Yeti in the flesh? Given how I managed to miss Nessie in two trips to Loch Ness, I figure my chances of coming home with a scientific discovery are pretty slim anyhow.

This was an impressive bit of Disney Imagineering. The queue takes you through an extremely detailed mock-up of a mountain outfitter's office first. You almost expect Karen Allen to walk in and challenge you to a drinking contest. Then you wind your way through a faux Buddhist temple -- complete with distressed prayer flags, statues and devotionals to the guardian spirit of the mountain: Mr. Yeti himself. The fake Buddhist temple was -- sadly -- more impressive than the real Buddhist temple I frequent! The final building in the queue is the outfitter warehouse/Yeti museum.

Yes, a Yeti museum. And the most impressive thing about the Yeti museum is that it seemed to be a REAL museum to the Yeti phenomenon! They had pictures, books, and artifacts I recognized as real, or replicas of existing items. We could devolve into a semantic argument about "real" when it comes to the Yeti, but what I'm saying is: it was very hard to tell what they were making up out of whole cloth, and what they borrowed from the existing lore.

As for the ride itself... The coaster has no loops or inversions. At 200 feet, this fake Everest is the tallest mountain in Florida. The ride does move backwards. the tracks switch, which is a little disorienting. It plummets through some very dark passages. It also has a pretty spectacular ascent (through another meticulously re-created, faux monastery ruin), and an outside drop that left me with my stomach upside down. The ride did not disappoint.

Do you see the Yeti? Well, let me give you a first-person view of the ride, and then a broader overview from several perspectives. The second video may load a little slow, but provides some better views of the different areas with accompanying James Bond music. Neither film substitutes the g-forces.

Oh, and if anyone knows where I can procure one of those fake bronze statues of the Dancing Yeti Mandala -- let me know. They weren't in the gift shop and I want one.

Modern Warfare

Let me tell you something. I'm old enough to remember when the kid across the street got Pong in his house. That was some serious cool. I had Pac-Man fever. Atari games? No way; I was all over Activision.

The guy across the dorm hall from me was techno-geeky enough that he had both Nintendo and Playstation. The 1.0 versions -- or damn close to it. I spent many an hour in his room playing games. but that was also about the same time I got uninterested in video-gaming.

The controls got too complicated. They added buttons. Now the contollers have more buttons then players have fingers. Why? Added interactivity, of course. But all the "push left twice, while simultaneously mashing A, then C, and finally B three times" in order to pull off a super-special finishing move was just too much for my mind to transmit to my fingers. So I eventually quit playing.

But have you seen Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? It's a vertible thing of beauty. Get the prestige edition and you get working NVGs! (What's an NVG? watch the video...)

I'm serious thinking about going out and getting an xBox... Fortunately for my wallet, I don't have the money right now for the system and the game. I might be able to afford going to the mall to salivate over the box.

While we're on this topic, let me say I'm looking forward to the Matt Damon movie Green Zone. The trailers look pretty good, and it's been awhile since I got a decent techno-thriller movie. I need a Bourne fix, and this looks pretty close.