December 18, 2006 House Progress
We got some unsettling news last week about our floors. The plan was to have them sanded, patched and stained. After the floor guy sanded down the floor he found large areas of animal urine, which renders the wood unusable. They have to tear up the entire floor and start from scratch. We are pretty bummed out about this because it more than doubles the cost we were budgeting for. The only alternative is to cover it all with cheap carpet, but we don't want to do that. So we have to go ahead with the plan.
The drywall and painting are done in the front rooms, bathroom, hallway, bedroom and kitchen. We will have final trim work to do after the floors are done. Today or tomorrow we will have a sink in the bathroom as well as a working shower. The toilet was put in over the weekend.
December 14, 2006 Jogos Competition 2006 Video
I finished compiling and posting the video from the Jogos Competition. Check out the full list on my capoiera website, agua-viva.com
This first video is a clip of the Mestrandos and Instructors playing capoeira before the start of the games. Check out Mestranda Marcia Cigarra, Mestrando Morcego, Mestrando Piexe Cru, Instructor Mucuiu, Instructora Seriea, and Instructura Maestrinha.
And here are my games in the competition. The first one is Me and Corrente (Antontio) playing Sao Bento Grande. The second video is me and Pedal (Michael) playing Benguela. The last video is me and Gafanhoto (Thad) playing Iuna. Only graduados play Iuna, and since I received my blue cord that afternoon, I had never played Iuna before.
December 11, 2006 Cheerleading Camp 1988
This is hilarious. We had cheerleading camp in High School at Michigan State University in the summer. We went for workshops and to compete. The funny thing is, I did most sports in school and cheerleading was the most demanding. These weeklong camps were like boot camp. We got up at 7am and worked out all day. Then at the end of the week we competed and the top 3 squads got to cheer at a MSU scrimmage football game there in the stadium. I think we won 2nd place so we stayed on for the game.
So this particular trip was in 1988, the summer before I started high school. I was still 14 and had a lot of friends on the squad, but the captain was totally competitive with me and was always really mean to me. At the start of this video our squad is lining up. I'm the last one to get into the lineup and she is the one before me. I think she was pissed because my back flip was one up over her double back handspring. Tough times. Tough times.
Also note our little dance routines we learned at camp. Oh man, they are SO bad. I only wished my dad taped our pyramids and throws. I was always the one getting thrown around. It was a lot of fun.
Our team was the Cousino Patriots. 'Pats' for short. Apparently it was hip to 'Fire up' the crowd.
[edit]: I just went to Cousino's website and the school is totally remodled. It doesn't even look like the same tore up place I went to in the late 80s and early 90s. And the teachers all look so young! They were like 70 years old when I went there.
December 10, 2006 Typical Family Game Night
Again it is 1988. My sister Jill and her (then) husband Steve were visiting the family from Florida. I am 14, so I was probably out with my friends when this video was shot. This is so typical of my family. Lots of beer, some smoking, a bit of swearing and a lot of goofiness. Luckily there isn't any intense fiting or blood in this clip...ha!
So the video starts with my mom reminding everyone that they are on video. My brother must have been about 20 or 21 here, so he's still a big competitive baby. You can pretty much see him and his girlfriend (now wife) cheat. Oh, and of course there is the burping.
I finally figured out that they were playing Pictionary! I used to cheat at that too!
December 8, 2006 Me and My Niece Nicole
Here is a video of my niece Nicole and I doing back dives into a pool while my baby nephew Tommy looks on. This is my niece that is getting married in September. Of course in the video she is 8 and I am 14, and now that baby nephew is a sophomore at Michigan State.
Nov 29, 2006 Pain and Joy
Holidays were nice. Were able to spend time with some nice friends and have a nice meal which is great. We also were dog sitting our friend's dog, which is always a pleasure and reinforces our desire to get a dog when the house is stable (uh, and then I would be stable too?). Last Monday I got injured in Capoeira, and that night I was eating dinner and bit into some hard bread and felt some pain in my tooth, which is capped. Well, my foot is still swelled, although feeling better and my tooth ache actually was an infection. I had an emergency root canal this Monday. It hurt like hell. But now it is fine. So now back to life as normal, I hope.
I spoke to my family over the holidays which is always a task, but enjoyable. My niece and her boyfriend are now engaged (not a surprise really, she is more like my little sister than my niece as she is only 5 years younger than me). They are getting married in Michigan in September and they asked both Tom and I to stand up in the wedding. It is all very sweet and we are excited. It will be the first time Tom has met anyone outside my immediate family.
Nov 20, 2006 Stick it
My dad is awesome. He pretty much has video archive of my entire life. Crawling, walking, and every possible embarrassing teenage hairstyle and unfortunate fashion choice. Not to mention, loads of very boring track games, cheerleading, soccer, swimming. So basically, lots of video of me in very dorky outfits sweating and cussing. Joy.
Over the weekend I received a package with 4 DVDs, spanning 1974-1988. Some of these were 8mm converted to VHS, then to DVD (no sound of course). Others were VHS direct to DVD. All of the quality sucks, but at least you can see what is going on in the VHS converts.
So now for your pleasure, I give you 'another cookie cutter routine' (see the movie Stick It if you don't get it) my level III Compulsory Floor Routine. Just food for thought, I am actually 14 here, even though the music is for a 4 year old ( and I look 10).
Nov 20, 2006 SO-what?
I'm still a Lady Sov fan. I can't help it. But I am really pissed at her.
First off, they were supposed to open the doors at 9pm. We were off drinking at the pub and were planning on being late anyhow, but the door didn't end up opening until almost 11. So we had to go to another bar and wait and wait and wait. Mind you, it's a Tuesday night, so mammi here gets pretty tired around midnight. Especially after many cocktails while sporting a cold. So, we finally are allowed entry to the Mezzanine and we have to listen to some marginal DJ for about a half hour, then some super crappy wannabe band play for what went on and on and on and on. I was about to hit my threshold- especially while wriggling through the crowd to get yet another cocktail from a snotty barmaid. Yo, and they weren't cheap! I think my tiny vodka drink was $9?!? Almost as much as the ticket to get into the show? wtf? So then FINALLY around 12:45, SOV goes on. Or at least her music does. She gets on stage and sits on the floor and starts complaining that the sound is no good. SHE JUST SITS THERE. So I push forward through the crowd and get real close and she seriously looks like she had a pretty bad come down- off drink, weed, whatever. She was in a seriously diva-esque bitchy mood. So Tom ends up coming to get me and we left. Oh and the best part- we got a $40 street cleaning parking ticket.
tore
Nov 14, 2006 SOV Tonight
Awww yeah! Tonight we are going to see Lady Sovereign at the Mezzanine. I hope she covers more tracks than the last time I saw her. It looks like she is headlining this one so maybe she will do it up.
I think I broke my lung. Ouch. I am having some sort of pulled muscle/organ issue on top of feeling like I have been inhaling mold for the last week or so. It is pretty damp in the room we are currently sleeping in. Also, the house is full of drywall dust. Yucky.
Nov 10, 2006 Borat
This week I needed a break. A break from training capoeira, a break from going to the gym, a break from eating healthy, a break from our house in it's annoying state. So last Tuesday I left work a little early, treated myself to some pizza at the Westlake Center (uh, first time I had ever been), had a few glasses of wine and then went upstairs to the cinema to see Borat.
I know the movie had just come out the weekend before, but it was 6pm on a Tuesday- I didn't expect the movie to sell out. I did get tickets early so I was lucky but the house was PACKED. I went in just at 6 and had a hard time finding a seat, and I was by myself!
I knew a lot about the film, the character, the history (Tom and I saw videos of da Ali G show in England in 1999/2000), but I was still surprised by this film. It is the best film I have seen in a really long time. I am going to see it again this weekend with Tom. I mean, I can't talk to him about it until he sees it, and I really want to talk about it. I have never seen a film twice in a theatre before (unless it was re-released or was projected at a bar or something). I only saw this film four days ago and I am ready to see it again.
I don't want to talk too much here about the specifics in the film, but I have to say that I wouldn't be surprised if Sasha Baren Cohen will have some lawsuits and some folks pretty durned pee'd off at him...I wonder if he has received any death threats? It isn't unconceivable (please excuse the double negative, I just like that word).
Nov 8, 2006 House Update
The drywallers are almost finished with the upstairs walls. Next they are going to paint and lay the tile. We are hoping to have all of this done in the next few weeks.
And while I was busy with capoeira over the weekend, Tom started the frame for our bedroom closet:
Nov 8, 2006 Capoeira week
Mestrando Peixe Cru, Jen (Graduada Agua Viva), Mestrando Morcego
I don't have a picture of Instructora Maestrinha here, but it was really great to have all of the Brazilians in the house for our week of capoeira events. It started out with workshops, lead by Mestrando Morcego. Then on Sunday we had both our batizado (where the beginners get baptized by playing a Mestrando or Instructora and some peeps get their cords) and then the jogos competition. It was a long week to say the least. I was pretty worked by the end of it
So the big news for me was that I skipped a cord this year and got my blue cord. I am now a graduada! I was pretty surprised by this, but I am so ready to take it on. A graduada has a lot more responsibilities than a student. You are expected to be more of a leader, to take charge when things aren't going right in a class or in the studio. You are expected to teach, perform for the school and generally become more of a leader in class and in the roda. I totally feel like I have a lot of work to do to earn my right to this cord. I am pretty excited about it.
So the jogos competition was filmed and I hope to be able to post a few clips form it online. It will probably be a few weeks before I can finalize that.
Nov 2, 2006 Treats
So Tuesday night I went home from work a little early to set up for Halloween. I bought these cheesy little pumpkin lights that I put out front up the driveway, then set up the table full of candles and the big black pot full of candy. I had to sit outside so I didn't end up dressing up (it was too cold). I brought my laptop to keep my company. We had so many kids that I ran out of candy in an hour and a half! I guess I wasn't expecting much, so I gave the first few groups of kids a handful. When it got to the end, I was giving out one piece at a time.
I haven't passed out candy before. Well, unless you count the time when I lived in a flat in Detroit in the ghetto, but that was more to deter kids from burning my house down (I wish I was kidding). That was in 1994, when I had a 22 of Mickey's, candy, and a fire extinguisher on the front porch with my friends. Anyhow, I like to remember Halloween much like the scene from E.T. where the streets are full of kids, all decked out with pillowcases full of candy. It just isn't like that anymore. The first two kids who came to me didn't even have a costume on. They were tweeners, holding swords and collecting their treats in a plastic safeway bag. There were lots of dressed up kids in the end though, many were very cute and clever. Can't wait until next year when kids can come to the front door...speaking of which, here are some pics of the upstairs in progress. We should have the drywall and paint done in the front, hallway and bathroom in a few weeks.
Oct 31, 2006 Hell Week
The Brazilians are here and the capoeira workshops, batizado and jogos are this week. This means I will be crazy sore, tired and somewhat stressed. I am already tore and it is only Tuesday.
So tonight is the only night I am not training or competing or something. Tonight I am going to pass out candy in front of our house, wearing a Morticia Adams costume. Since we are still unable to use our top floor due to contractor's work, I will set up a little table in front of the garage, filled with cheesy Halloween props. My original intention was to sip on some wine during this process (a girl has to keep warm, it IS nearly November) but due to training, this would be a big mistake.
Yeah, so if you want to check out the capoeira events, see the poster here for info. It should be interesting.
Oct 29, 2006 New Site Launch
Today I finally launched the new jenfu site design, a work in progress for two years. The last time I launch jenfu was in February of 2002. I have spent a few years redesigning the site in many, many iterations, themes and interface concepts. I realized about six months ago what I really wanted jenfu.org to be, and what I could realistically make it into. I would love to feature more self-designed animations and video features that are my own thing. I really do not have the proper down time to this very often, but I hope to at least showcase one every few months. I also would like to write more, and show photos and videos inline. I have created a movie player in Flash for just this purpose as well as a photo browser.
I hope you enjoy the new jenfu.org. My intention is to make it sustainable for a long time to come, with the flexibility to change the design often. This is why I am now using html/ccs along with embedded Flash components.
Now for a treat I would like to show you a video I made, compiling all of the designs and iterations of this website I have created over the last few years.