Friday humor with Air Drumming
Facebook has some interesting ads in the sidebar occasionally. Yesterday one said something like, "Fan of Neil Peart?" so I clicked through. What followed was this video which I found hilarious. Given the number of Guitarmageddons, Drum Offs and Spin Offs I was a part of at GC I find an air drumming competition to be just what the doctor ordered. ...
I'm not pussy footing...I'm double bass drumming!
More Rewatching of the Karate Kid
A little over a month ago I rewatched the Karate Kid in full. It is a great movie that stands the test of time. After watching the movie I posted an article that focused on Mr. Miyagi. In the interim, I've gotten to watch the movie again. This time with commentary. While we can still ask ourselves the question of how to be Mr. Miyagi, it is probably just as beneficial to ask ourselves the question of how to be Daniel Larusso. ...
My original post was based on the fact that many people who watch The Karate Kid say to themselves, "I wish I had a Mr. Miyagi." This time my post is going to focus on that same thought but with the perspective of how to get your own Mr. Miyagi.
To figure out how you to get something you want it can be helpful to find someone who has what you desire and figure out how they got it. The only person who got their very own Mr. Miyagi ( in the first parts anyway ) was Daniel Larusso. In rewatching the movie, with commentary, I saw that he had Mr. Miyagi in his life because of 2 things - he asked for help and he was coachable.
Asking For Help
In the movie, Daniel asks for help from Mr. Miyagi after he finds out that Miyagi knows enough karate to beat up 5 of the Cobrah Kai at once. I once heard someone sum up a book about getting what you want. He said it could have been written in one sentence that read, "Ask for it." Asking for help may not come easy to people with an independent nature but the act itself couldn't be any easier. By simply asking for help, by simply asking for a mentor you make your desires clear to people other than yourself. While you may not always get the results you desire, the benefits are usually positive.
Being Coachable
We make sacred pact. I promise teach karate to you, you promise learn. I say, you do, no questions.
It's very simple. If you want a mentor, if you want someone to coach you, you need to let yourself be coached. Normal human behavior has us put up walls when other people tell us to do something a different way. For many things in life this is okay. For some it may even be better. When you want someone to teach you something, it is time to be open and listen. In the karate kid Mr. Miyagi lays the ground rules at the beginning, as quoted above. In the commentary, Ralph Macchio talks about how he would never do all the work Daniel you did. Without doing the work, without taking the coaching he never would have learned wax on/wax off, sand the floor, paint the fence, side-side(paint the house) and those were just the first lessons.
So if you find yourself watching anything with Pat Morita and wishing you had a Mr. Miyagi know that you can have one. You might have to find a mentor first, but once you do just ask. Once you get a mentor it's time to surrender to their teachings - it is time to learn.
Who Killed The Electric Car?
Who Killed The Electric Car is the name of a documentary I've wanted to see for a while. I actually wrote a post about the movie's website back in April. In case you haven't heard about it, here is a taste – the movie's preview.
This is a movie a lot of people should see. As I stated in my April post about the movie's website, there is a bias in the way this movie is presented so you may be skeptical. Well if you believe in this technology, you'll already want to watch it. If you think it is hogwash, then you should watch it to better understand where the other side is coming from. ...
Because I believe everyone should see this movie, I have it right here for you to view(though I did not post it). Please purchase it if you enjoy it.
If you watch the whole thing, you will learn a lot about events that I did not even know occurred. The thing that made me watch this now is that I am in the market for a new car in the near future. A major selling point for me is gas mileage. The only vehicle on the road today that gets decent gas mileage at a reasonable price is the Toyota Prius. This movie makes me want to wait until they unveil their Plug In Prius for regular sale.
Some of the parties that are deemed “guilty” in this film made me think of something else I had been looking back into lately. I've noticed that while my writing on wrestling has picked up lately ( thanks to Jericho's return ), my political writing has been non-existent. I have done what many American's do around politics, tune out and hope it all works out. That doesn't sit well with me so I decided to re-energize myself. I need to be ready to watch the Republican CNN/YouTube debates this Wednesday. So I went to my favorite candidate, Bill Richardson's, website to see what he has been up to. He unfortunately doesn't get as much media attention as some others. One thing he said in a recent debate that relates to all this is best said by him:
Originally posted by Bill Richardson:
And It's gonna be also the American people – I'm gonna say this honestly – sacrificing a little bit...when it comes to being a part of an energy efficiency revolution
. More great videos from this debate can be found at http://action.richardsonforpresident.com/page/s/unlvdebate. From this documentary it seems the sacrifice won't be as big as consumers think. However, it remind us as consumers that we do need to think.
Much more could be said, but I would love to hear what others think. Please, watch the movie before you make any comments. If you like it, please purchase it to show your support.
Some other good bits of info can be found at:
Plug in America
Who Killed the Electric Car segment on PBS's NOW
Rewatching the Karate Kid
During a recent shopping trip I found a gem in the walmart video bargain bin - The Karate Kid. This is one of my young boy movies, that my wife doesn't quite understand. Some of my young movies don't stand up to the rewatching as an adult test though. The Goonies
I've heard it, and probably said it, many times, "I wish I had a Mr. Miyagi!" The movie is a great example of the importance of great mentors.
Originally posted by Mr. Miyagi:
No such thing a bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do.
What I've never heard, and I only found myself saying after rewatching the movie is, "How can I be Mr. Miyagi?" If more people ask this question of themselves then instead of saying, "I wish I had a Mr. Miyagi!" Then we will have more people saying, "My Miyagi is {insert mentor's name here}! And (s)he changed my life". We all have something to share and teach so we need to be open to the possibility of being Mr. Miyagi. And hopefully one day our own Daniel-san will make their way into our lives and allow us the joy of being the Mr. Miyagi.
Daniel: You're the best friend I've ever had. Miyagi: You pretty okay too.
Rent A BTTF Delorean!!!!!
I've written before about the movies from my youth that I still like. My wife calls these my young boy movies. One of the biggest, especially due to my love of Huey Lewis and the News, is Back to the Future. A friend at work is also a big fan and today sent me a link to a place where you can rent a Back to the Future Delorean! Most of his email was this
someone think of a reason why we need this:):)
Return of the Rednecks
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwlklVQwYs0]
A couple of the guys I work with worked on this Star Wars spoof. It's 10 minutes long and pretty humorous, especially for a star wars fan. Enjoy. ...
Who killed the electric car
A short post today, pointing you in the direction of a documentary I found today, Who Killed The Electric Car?. If you have read some of my previous posts, you probably know to take these claims with a grain of salt. After all, they are going to be biased towards one viewpoint. One thing I have always hoped for with higher gas prices is that people will move towards more environmentally friendly modes of transportation. The website for this movie alone provides quite a bit of information that I didn't know about. ...
Some good parts of the site were the timeline, the suspects and questions & answers but it's a good idea to check them all out. I didn't know that 100 years ago there were more electric cars than gasoline powered cars. Given some of the other stats on the timeline you can really see that the automotive industry chose one direction to go in and that was the main factor leading to electric cars seeming like such a new concept. Obviously, I have only checked out the website, but I found it chock full of interesting information to think about.