Chikuru

Devotion

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:24:24 GMT

For the next seven nights (and four nights of the following week), Lyn and I will be spending our evenings on Lady Bird Lake rehearsing and then performing with Blue Lapis Light. Check out an interview by KUT here: http://kut.org/2011/06/devotion/.

KXAN also did an article on the performance: http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/aerial-dance-company-flies-again.

Our contribution this time is canoeing (along with Frank and Brad who rappelled with us for the Impermanence show a couple years ago on the Federal building).

Check it out. Details here: http://bluelapislight.org/

Odin and the Runes - Reprise

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 03:18:58 GMT

Since I last posted about the Odin / Runes performance, we have presented various versions of the piece at the FronteraFest Short Fringe (Hyde Park Theatre) and FronteraFest Long Fringe (Salvage Vanguard Theater) and are now going to do a final, complete version at the original site. I say "complete" because the piece really isn't complete without the pecan tree.

For those that saw the original version, what we've added are five duets that, in my opinion, are the best part of the performance.

Here are the details:

Where: Komo Danceworks Studio at Ashby & Oxford Avenues.

When: Friday, Saturday, March 25, 26, 8pm

How much: Suggested Donation $15 (includes wine and cheese afterward)

My experience has been that those who enjoy watching dance performances enjoy the show. If watching dance performances isn't your cup of tea--did I mention the wine and cheese afterward?

Odin and the Runes

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:07:34 GMT

About a month ago, I ran into a friend from my distant past who, I knew, was a dancer. I asked if she had any performances coming up and she said she did. She then mentioned that they needed an Odin for this piece--theirs had recently disappeared or flaked out. Specifically, they needed someone who was both male and willing to be suspended upsidedown from a tree. I met both criteria so I volunteered (after asking myself, "What would Feynman do?").

The group has been working on this for months. As of tonight, I've been involved for less than two weeks. The performances are this Friday and Saturday nights. It's billed as a work in progress and will be performed at the choreographer's home studio. (If anyone's interested in attending, she's asking for a $15 donation to help with the cost of a longer version of the piece at FronteraFest. Ask me for details.)

Highlights of the experience so far:

Rigging up a large pecan tree so it's suitable for rappelling. Thanks for the loan of the rope, Travis!
Trying to rescuscitate the right side of my brain (needed in order to make sense of instructions from choreographers).
A visit from Sally Jacques Wednesday night. She was concerned about the safety of the rigging (how sweet) and came by to offer advice at Sumi Komo's request (Sumi being the choreographer). Her advice was very helpful--she worked with me on moving into and down from the tree like a dancer rather than a monkey.
A visit from Brenda Ladd Thursday night. Brenda (another friend of the evidently well-connected Sumi) is an excellent photographer that Lyn hired years ago. She took pictures of the whole affair and I'm hoping that some of them will be make me look more like dancer than monkey. (If anyone can do this, she can.)

Tuppence for two of your thoughts?

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:52:58 GMT

I wanted to refer a friend to a picture of Tuppence and realized I didn't have one anywhere online.

Now I do.

The Everyman

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:09:16 GMT

Project Update

Starting last Friday, my sleep schedule has been, typically: 0000-0400 (sometimes 0500), 0630-0700, 1230-1300, and 1830-1900. I am usually able to fall asleep by the end of each nap and feel refreshed afterward.

After a week, we're not yet enjoying the dream of 3.5 hours of alert, happy wakefulness added to our lives every morning. And the added hours from 2200 to midnight are filled with wistful thoughts of slumber. On the other hand, I have actually been happier and more productive than usual at work this week despite feeling a little foggy during those hours. And I have been productive, if grudgingly, during the 1.5 - 2.5 hours in the early morning. I've really been enjoying my 1230 and 1830 naps and I like having four hours of up time to look forward to after supper instead of two.

At this point, I have no intention of terminating the experiment any time soon, though I will do so if it's clear that my brain is suffering as a result of it.

One other thing: that cot from REI is really comfortable!

The heat is on

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:10:19 GMT

Today, I finally figured out what has been causing our hot tub to intermittently become a tepid tub. It wasn't the pressure sensor or the heat sensor as I'd suspected, it was the little doo-hickey pictured at the left, part of a removable terminal block that was making a poor connection. The solution was to replace said doo-hickey with an unused one next to it.

How to add four hours to your day without bending space-time

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:53:20 GMT

At a party last night, I met Lori who introduced me to the concept of polyphasic sleeping, which she has been successfully doing for a whole 10 days now. She says it's working for her so far--that she has more energy and time. Ideally, she has three 20-minute naps during the day and sleeps just three hours at night, from 3am to 6am. Her husband enjoys sleeping too much and isn't willing to give up any of it. Besides, unlike her, he has a regular 8-5 job. She works at home and takes her naps at 10am, 4pm, and 10pm.

I enjoyed talking to her about this at the party while coming up with a schedule that might work for me and give me more time to think. Below is a proposed schedule converted from scratch paper to an Excel chart:

Theoretically, with this schedule, after the initial, painful adaptation period, you really only need three hours of core sleep. We'll see how that works out. I put 30 minutes for naps on the schedule, figuring that it probably takes about ten minutes of overhead per nap.

The first problem to solve was to figure out how to get in the lunch-time nap. Since the hour from 12:00 to 13:00 is sacred at work as lunch hour, this shouldn't be a problem if I can find a place to sleep. I came up with a solution that I think will work by searching on "cot" at the REI store (to which Lyn's sister gave me a gift certificate for Christmas (Thanks, sis!)). Here's what I found:

According to the reviews, it's bulky, but very comfortable and good on backs. I went ahead and ordered one--it should arrive at our local store on the 26th. That gives me some time to work on weaning myself from caffeine (reported to have a half-life of over 5 hours and potentially problematic for someone trying to nap efficiently).

I'll have to let the folks at work know to hold all calls during nap time. I already often take the 18:30 - 19:00 nap.

They say that if you get bored easily, this probably wouldn't work for you--it would be too hard to stay up when you're supposed to. My response: I fantasize about being bored!

They also say that days 3 and 4 may be the hardest, so it's good to start on a Thursday.

I suppose another possibility would be to take a longer core sleep (say, 11:00 to 03:30) and skip the nooner.

References:

http://dustincurtis.com/sleep.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Everyman%20Sleep%20Schedule
http://ohgodthechicken.com/
http://ohgodthechicken.com/sleep-discipline-experiment/
http://www.poly-phasers.com/enter.php
http://polyphasicsleep.info/index.php?title=Main_Page
http://sleepsask.blogspot.com/2007/08/summary.html

He switched from a 04:00-07:00 core to an 23:00-02:00 core by mistake and discovered it worked a lot better for him.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-michael-j-breus/why-you-cant-hack-sleep_b_52047.html

Looks like his very short post is just a critique of the Uberman or Dymaxion, not the Everyman.

http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic.htm

An attack on polyphasic sleep (or maybe just the Uberman schedule), rebutted by this article:

http://www.puredoxyk.com/index.php/2006/11/01/an-attack-on-polyphasic-sleep/

I wonder if it works to alternate patterns, between Siesta, 2-nap Everyman, and 3-nap Everyman? On some days, the lunch-time nap won't be an option.

Life is pain

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:05:20 GMT

Halloween

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:05:29 GMT

A very quick summary of our Halloween Party:

Three-year-old Owen in a lion costume won most adorable. Who can resist someone who says, "Tickle me faster!"? And I was the clear winner for most creepy. I was going for goth and ended up looking like Ozzie Osborne.

The fake tattoos worked well. I hope the eyeliner comes off before work on Monday.

Bad Kitty

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:46:49 GMT

Agreeable Word Puzzles

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:40:23 GMT

I flew to Portland this morning, sleeping from Austin to SLC, breakfasting at the American Bandstand restaurant, and doing crossword puzzles from SLC to PDX. I had purchased a copy of Will Shortz's Greatest Hits: 150 Crossword Puzzles Personally Picked by the Puzzlemaster yesterday for the trip. I started with the first crossword in the book, a Monday puzzle, and am still stuck on part of it. I thought, "Wow, these are much harder than the ones in the Statesman." But then I did a few other Monday puzzles and they've all proved to be easy peasy. When I finish the Mondays, I go on to the Tuesdays. I've only started doing crosswords recently have have some catching up to do.

This evening I discovered that doing a crossword puzzle with family can be a lot of fun and a good way to remind people of stories. I did two puzzles this evening with Mom, Dad, Joy, and Bill A. I'd read out a clue and we'd work on the answer together.

Do try this at home.

This evening I heard a story I'd never heard before. Once, during the depression, 1934 I think it was, Uncle Bud killed a bear in the woods. From the experience my dad learned two things. 1) Bear meat tastes good. 2) Bear fat makes great doughnuts.

A final foodnote: Supper was tilapia ("samaki" in Swahili), potato salad, canteloupe, watermelon, banana bread with cream cheese, and tomatoes.

Highlights

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:37:42 GMT

Highlights from the Blue Lapis Light Impermanence performance:

Hanging out in the LBJ suite before the rehearsals and performances, doing a little yoga and watching Jason come up with new ways to balance people on his body (If you've seen the dance troupe Pilobolus, you know what I'm talking about.)

Rappelling off the 10-story, 140-foot J.J. "Jake" Pickle Federal building. That never gets old, though going over the edge has lost its scariness. I was able to capture a bit of the old fear by standing up on one of the columns that juts out from the windows. At the very top of the building, it's possible to stand on top of the column so that you are no longer suspended by the rope. If you fell, it would only be a few feet, but it's enough to kick the ol' reptile brain into gear, saying, "Hey, there's nothing between you and a concrete plaza besides 140 feet of air." Thanks to Lynn H. for getting me to try that.

The climb. Halfway through the performance, Frank and I get to climb four floors, which puts us halfway up the building. We use a technique called "stemming" to ascend between the columns that separate the windows and another technique called "mantling" to climb from one level to the next. Mantling is what you do to get out of a swimming pool that doesn't have steps or a ladder. After three floors, I was always pretty well winded (as was Frank, by his reports) and wondered whether it wouldn't have sufficed to just do three floors. But there was the satisfying sense of accomplishment that came with making it to the fourth floor, after which we turned upside down and let our belayers slowly lower us to the ground while we tried to avoid scrapes from the very sharp quartz aggregate of which the building was made.

The climb was the one part of the show that was able to give me a case of nerves. One reason for this was that it was possible to slip while climbing, which is disconcerting even though there is a rope to catch you (this happened to me once). By the end of the show, most of the fear went away, but even then, I really enjoyed being finished and then going over the side one last time to watch the dancers on the wall before joining them for the finale.

Talking to friends and others after the show. By the way, if you ever go to a show where a friend is performing, please take time to talk to them afterwards, even if you didn't enjoy the show. It will mean a lot to them that you came.

Pretending to be dancers during the last two pre-show practices. The last two days of performance, after rehearsing our first descent, we rappellers decided to try some of the moves the dancers were making--forward and backward flips, runs, and so forth. The feeling is (I assume) like being in close-to-zero gravity. We discovered that it isn't that hard to avoid crashing into the wall after jumping out. You have time to maneuver to get either a hand or foot into position to connect with the wall (rather than a head or a back). It was great fun and I hope to get the opportunity to try it again. While we were playing, I asked Amber, one of the dancers, if watching us made her think of monkeys trying to ride bicycles.She said no, but did suggest that we'd look more graceful if we pointed our toes.

Impermanence

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:50:49 GMT

A note on the latest Blue Lapis Light show, Impermanence: If you're thinking you've seen it all before because you've seen Requiem or Constellation, you'll be happy to know that this show features some completely new material, including

Five cloth performers at once
Four performers on two cloths (two per cloth) in a piece that impresses me every time I see it and gives some people the willies (for fear the performers will lose their grip and splat on the concrete 20 feet below)
A duet on the ropes that is incorporates a lot of new moves, some of which make me think of kittens playing in zero gravity
Actual climbing. Another climber and yours truly climb about half way up the building (using a technique called "stemming") before being lowered down.

The show continues through Sunday night. If you come, please say "Hi" after the show.

Impermanence

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:07:09 GMT

This is tech week for Blue Lapis Light's Impermanence, which means we'll be rehearsing or performing every night this week starting Monday. This show is in the same location as Constellation, but is a different show (and will have quite a few new elements). I recommend it.

Below are the details (Notice that this Thursday night's show (June 18) is a fundraiser and thus much more expensive than the other nights).

What: Impermanence, a new site-specific aerial dance work from Blue Lapis Light
When: June 19-21 and 24-28
Where: J.J. Pickle Federal Building
300 E. 8th St. (Enter on the west side of Trinity St., 800 block)
Time: 9:15pm
Tickets: $20 general admission, $15 seniors and students

ABOUT IMPERMANENCE
Presented June 18-21 and 24-28, 2009, Blue Lapis Light's latest site specific work transforms the J.J. Pickle Federal Building in downtown Austin into a brilliant yet meditational stage. Performers dance over the buildings' 150 foot side and bound through the air, floating, flying, bringing splendor and unconventional beauty to spaces no longer merely utilitarian. Featuring dancers, rappellers, lighting/sound designers and riggers, this awe-inspiring performance speaks to the fragility of our times: the need to be aware of the significance and beauty of each moment.

JUNE 18TH FUNDRAISER

The Premier Performance of Impermanence will preview on Thursday, June 18th as a Blue Lapis Light fundraiser. Before the performance at 7:30 PM patrons will have an opportunity to enjoy hors d'oeuvres, wine, live music and a silent auction. Guests purchasing tickets at the platinum level are invited to enjoy desert in the historic LBJ Suite after the performance. Tickets: $75 Gold and $100 Platinum for one and $175 for two.

Super Annuation

Sat, 30 May 2009 02:39:57 GMT

I share a birthday with Bob Hope, JFK, and (thanks fraeuleinchen for pointing this out) Danny Elfman (he did the theme to the Simpsons, has done movie scores, and used to be with the band Oingo Boingo). And chidorho. And John Hinckley, Jr.

I celebrated by taking the day off and doing a little 4.5-mile walkabout down Barton Creek after which I met raaga123 for hearty breakfast at La Madeleine. During the walk, I listened to John Aielli's program Eklektikos on KUT. This was a treat because I used to listen to it all the time and don't now because it distracts from concentrating on work. His love of music is infectious.

Because of a cold, I spent a fair bit of the day napping. I wouldn't have been much good at work today. We did fit in a viewing of The Brothers Bloom. Fun, but flawed in my opinion. I think it could have been a much stronger ending with a different ending.

We also fit in a little rappelling down the Federal building. Our show is coming up starting June 18th. It was a beautiful day for it. I never get tired of hanging from a rope 130 feet off the ground and enjoying the Austin skyline.

Soukous but no cigar

Fri, 22 May 2009 02:54:51 GMT

Every year we go to the Adult Spelling Bee (thanks fraeuleinchen for keeping us apprised of the schedule) and every year I learn a new word whose spelling will be forever etched in my brain. Words like feuilleton and syllepsis.

In the first-round written test I made 19 out of 20 (having been inoculated as many times as I have, you'd think I'd know how to spell "inoculate" by now). This was enough to advance to the second round. In the second-round written test, I also made 19 out of 20 (misspelling "scleroderma"). This was enough to make it onto the stage with 22 others, including Lyn.

In the on-stage competition, unless you know most of the words in the dictionary (as perennial winner Geoff seems to), there is a lot of luck involved. If I'd been given "aficionado", I'm sorry to admit that I would have overdone it with the effs. My first word was "spongiform" (as in "bovine spongiform encephalopathy") and I doubt there was anyone on the stage who would have missed it. My next word was "zori". Having grown up in a house where we called sandals zoris, this was another gimme.

On my next round, the word was the name of a type of music indigenous to Congo (sounds like "Sue coose"). Of all the people at Threadgill's that night, it seems like more than concidence that this word should have gone to probably the only person there born in the Congo. Another gimme, right? Alas, while I had heard the word many times, I hadn't seen it spelled out (at least not often enough). My answer was close, but wrong.

I was happy to take fifth place--that's the best I've done at these things. (raaga123 has placed 4th and 3rd in past competitions.)

Do you have them in blond?

Sat, 16 May 2009 21:26:08 GMT

We dropped by the the Town Lake Animal Center when they first opened (11:30 AM) and found a lovely pair of litter mates, tabbies, one silver and one gold. Their assigned names were Molly and Erica, but I don't think those are going to stick. Suggestions? What we are considering so far:

Cat One and Cat Two
Kitty and Kitty Kitty
Yin and Yang
Penny and Nickel (Nicky or Nicole for short)
Lisa and Maggie
Sasha and Malia
Laura and Nicole
Felicia and Dolores (Lecia and Dolly)
Ginger and Adele
Kathy and Katie

Okay, when I say "we" are considering these names, I may be exaggerating. Lyn has already nixed several of these.

They are proving to be as cute as kittens and to have fine personalities. I think we'll keep them.

Crêpes

Sat, 16 May 2009 16:19:55 GMT

We had an hour to kill before the animal shelter opened so I consulted YPMobile on my iPhone, asking it for nearby vendors of "breakfast". Flip Happy Crêpes showed up in the list, just 0.6 miles away. And so here we are. It's an Airstream trailer with picnic tables in front of it. Open for brunch/lunch Wednesday through Saturday. They have both sweet and savory crêpes. I don't know what they taste like but they look good. (The service isn't super fast.)

This just in--they taste good.

Star Trek

Mon, 11 May 2009 03:37:36 GMT

The latest Star Trek movie may well be one of the best action movies I've ever seen.

Or is that just the Imax talking?

Eeyore's Birthday Party

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:23:18 GMT

I spent a very pleasant day in at Eeyore's Birthday Party yesterday, hanging out (literally, in a hammock), reading a book, and watching people pretend to be hippies for a day. If you haven't been, I recommend the experience. Highlights:

Running into friends (fraeuleinchen and siodhe, sheenaqotj and Brian, Jack and Sandy, Gillian and family)
Many dogs, one cat, one burro, and one pig (others reported a snake or two)
Many drums
Exotic and unauthorized smells
Having half a dozen people tell me how comfortable I looked. (It is a very nice hammock, hand imported from Honduras, and one of my prized possessions and I hope that sheenaqotj returns it soon.)
Triplets in a triple-wide perambulator
A few Waldos. These were harder to find than I'd expected. I think they were hoping for a bigger turnout.

Next year's is scheduled for the last Saturday in April.

Eeyore's Birthday Party -- Be there!

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:21:53 GMT

Saturday is Eeyore's Birthday Party at Pease Park here in Austin. I'm planning to show up near the beginning and see if I can find a place to set up a hammock. Don't know if I'll dress up. There are supposed to be a bunch of Waldos there, so if you come and want to blend in, dress up like this guy.

More Corruptness

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:42:01 GMT

This week's puzzler from Will Shortz on NPR (Sunday morning at 7:40 on KUT in these parts) was, "Rearrange the letters in MORE CORRUPTNESS to produce the name of a popular magazine".

This puzzle has proven to be remarkably viral at work and I've been impressed at how much harder it can be to unscramble 15 letters than the 5 or 6 you get in the daily jumble. I did figure out the answer today (finally!) while staring at the fifteen Scrabble tiles I'd taken in to work. The answer jumped out at me while I was on a teleconference call. (raaga123, by the way, figured this one out in ten minutes.)

Anyway, the answer is...

(drum roll, please)

...not as interesting as the following non-answers:

Computer Snorers
Errs on Computers
Mo's Current Prose
Corner Post Muser
Me Proust Scorner
No R.E.M. Procrustes

and my personal favorite:

U R Corpse Monster

No. 1 Ladies

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 03:18:42 GMT

HBO has just started a new series, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. If you haven't read the books, you should. The HBO series seems, so far at least, to be faithful to the books (or at least to the spirit of the books), has beautiful images from Botswana, and has great African music to boot. Lots of thumb piano.

Check it out.

Hail

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 02:53:08 GMT

Here's a picture of Lyn holding three golf-ball-sized-hail-sized hailstones. We picked these off the ground about an hour after they landed so there may have been some shrinkage.

Our cars were both safely at work when the storm hit. I saw several on the ride home that weren't as lucky. At the library there were several cars with rear windows completely crashed in. The rear window of one of the cars of one of our neighbors had three holes punched in it.

Our plants and cat seemed to have survived nicely.

I'll take a look at our roof tomorrow.

Dedication

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 23:05:53 GMT

One cool thing about performing in an aerial dance troupe is getting to see the tops of buildings. I'm not saying it's the best part, but it is part of the experience. This is the first building I've seen that has eye hooks built in for anchoring window washers' platforms. These eye hooks are just the thing for suspending aerial dancers. Each of the three ropes we're using in this piece are connected to two hooks.

There performance is Wednesday evening (weather permitting) as part of the Hyatt's Grand Reopening Gala to celebrate its recent renovations. We'll be performing on the side facing the parking lot and the Palmer auditorium.