So once again we've failed to update for a while. We've certainly been busy! Josh has been traveling in Australia and New Zealand, where he got to cuddle a koala (the pictures are on our Flickr page) While he was gone, I met up with some Internet friends and enjoyed some of the activities surrounding the World Gourmet Fest in Bangkok (I need to put up a post about that).
Some of you may have seen in the news that the political situation in Thailand is heating up again: on Tuesday there were a number of clashes between anti-government protestors and the police, and a number of people were killed. Although we definitely want things to be settled, Josh and I are not in any danger-- the protests are confined to one small area of town near Government House, and that is unlikely to change.
More later!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Mad Science + Budo
Well, been traveling and I need to get some posts up (I know... I sound like a broken record) but I thought first I'd share a small project that took up much of the past three days.
First of all, I think many of you are aware that we have one room dedicated as our 'dojo' for budo, tai-chi, and general art projects.
Unfortunately it has been a little small for some practice, which I tend to take outdoors, including battodo. Besides needing space, however, battodo requires one more thing: cutting. While the focus should never be on cutting for cutting's sake, regular cutting practice is an essential part of the curriculum. But where to find material? Contrary to my initial thoughts, there aren't that many tatami in Bangkok. Nor do there appear to be many tatami repair shops. I could, perhaps, pay $120/tatami mat, but that's a little steep. Finally, I got a chance to head out to the local market.
This is what we found: 10 mats at about 120 Baht each--a little under $4/mat. Not too bad, but I suspect the overall cost will be more than using tatami omote. For one thing, these are more like beach mats, though thicker, but I still suspect it will take more than one to give a good target.
I also picked up one wide one.
It was made of the same material, including the colored weave. This is a problem in some mats, as the cheaper mats use a pretty hard plastic, but these mats appeared to just use colored straw.
Unfortunately, I had misgivings once I saw that it was about as wide as the others were long! And it really twisted, even when rolled as tightly as possible.
The shorter ones were more numerous. So I figured I would roll up a couple as doubles, a triple, and three singles. That way I could get a good feel for the mats. Unfortunately, they had the same problems. Though thicker than a typical 'beach mat', they have a loose weave and uneven fibres that makes it difficult to roll. I tried several different techniques, with little success. Hopefully the water they soak up will fill them out some and perhaps make them a little more substantial. I'm already missing my tatami omote.
I'd been saving rubber bands from the street vendors, but apparently our maid figured they were garbage, because I couldn't find any. Instead, I went with butcher's twine, which shouldn't significantly affect the cuts. Quite enthusiastic about the tests, I started them soaking as soon as possible.
It was about this time I realized I was in a dilemma. What was I going to cut them on? I could already see the potential problems of using a table corner, as most of the tables were under the roof on the lower level, meaning not enough room for a good swing.
I decided the best thing would be to go to the local version of Home Depot and see what I could find.
Turns out, HomePro is not really a Home Depot. No lumber at all. So much for a good 4x4 stand. But I did recall that in Japan they had used some kind of pipe. Hmmm... maybe if I grabbed some PVC pipe bits I could build what I needed, but how?
This pole might work. I just stand it up like this... might have to cut it down a bit later. But just stand it up. Carefully... then let go...
Okay, so we're going to need something to keep the pole from falling over. Let's see what we have here.
Several different T-joints, huh? Maybe I could throw something together.
Yes, I think I could do something with these. I just need to figure out what. These definitely have potential.
Not quite what I had in mind.
You're getting closer.
That's what I'm talking about!
First, saw off a few pieces of the pipe to connect them. Not too big, just enough to help hold them together.
Time to get dirty! I can't really read the warning labels on this glue, as it is all in Thai, so I figure I'll take some precautions.
Here's the finished base. By my calculations, I should be able to put four poles as 'legs' and one central pole as the stand. BTW, if you are wondering about why everything is blue? Because it was thicker and heavier than the white PVC pipe. I figured that a certain amount of mass would be helpful.
But what about the peg? I didn't find any dowels at HomePro, but we did have a thin piece of pipe lying around.
A little bit of sawing to add a good angle, as well as a 1" to 1/2" pipe connector and voila!
The great part is that, except for the base, everything can come apart. That means if I want an iai stand, all I need to do is replace the long, central pole with a shorter pole. Of course, blue isn't my favorite color, but what the heck.
Here are all the pieces laid out, ready to be assembled.
Put it all together and see what you get! It is a little taller than I'm used to, but the mats are also a bit shorter. Besides, it feels nice to not have to reach down to cut. Still, I'll eventually want to get precise dimensions to make a stand at the exact height that the Kakuseikai uses so that I can practice with what I'll be using in Japan.
Claude would like to take this opportunity to remind all the would-be sammyrai out there that nobody should attempt to cut without appropriate training and safety precautions. Do not try this at home!
Mats soaked, and with the rain stopped, it was time to go downstairs to try the stand. Spiking the mats was a bit difficult, but not because of the stand. The mats were just too floppy. Once on the peg, they generally stayed put.
Cutting the short mats was definitely easier than tatami omote. At least two mats were required to give the same feeling as one piece of goza or omote. Also, even though they were 'new', these mats came pre-dirtied. I tried to wash them off as well soak them, but it still felt as though there might be some grime in the weave. Furthermore, I think there is some plastic being using ind the overall structure. Still, the cuts seemed good. I may just want to forego using a Nihonto on these mats any time soon.
Oh, and as I rather thought, the tall mat really didn't work too well. Too soft, and not enough mass to really support itself. It wouldn't go on the peg until it was cut down to size.
After that it cut more easily than certain commercial wara I've tried. Even bad cuts went through effortlessly, while the shorter double did a fairly decent job of showing me where my angle was off on my blade, and wouldn't let me get away with a truly awful cut.
In the end, it looks like I've found something to cut, even if it isn't the best. Hopefully I'll be able to keep in practice for Japan. Still need to find other people to practice with, of course.
Hope this has been enjoyable. Next time I'll try to tell you about the Taj Mahal. See:
First of all, I think many of you are aware that we have one room dedicated as our 'dojo' for budo, tai-chi, and general art projects.
Unfortunately it has been a little small for some practice, which I tend to take outdoors, including battodo. Besides needing space, however, battodo requires one more thing: cutting. While the focus should never be on cutting for cutting's sake, regular cutting practice is an essential part of the curriculum. But where to find material? Contrary to my initial thoughts, there aren't that many tatami in Bangkok. Nor do there appear to be many tatami repair shops. I could, perhaps, pay $120/tatami mat, but that's a little steep. Finally, I got a chance to head out to the local market.
This is what we found: 10 mats at about 120 Baht each--a little under $4/mat. Not too bad, but I suspect the overall cost will be more than using tatami omote. For one thing, these are more like beach mats, though thicker, but I still suspect it will take more than one to give a good target.
I also picked up one wide one.
It was made of the same material, including the colored weave. This is a problem in some mats, as the cheaper mats use a pretty hard plastic, but these mats appeared to just use colored straw.
Unfortunately, I had misgivings once I saw that it was about as wide as the others were long! And it really twisted, even when rolled as tightly as possible.
The shorter ones were more numerous. So I figured I would roll up a couple as doubles, a triple, and three singles. That way I could get a good feel for the mats. Unfortunately, they had the same problems. Though thicker than a typical 'beach mat', they have a loose weave and uneven fibres that makes it difficult to roll. I tried several different techniques, with little success. Hopefully the water they soak up will fill them out some and perhaps make them a little more substantial. I'm already missing my tatami omote.
I'd been saving rubber bands from the street vendors, but apparently our maid figured they were garbage, because I couldn't find any. Instead, I went with butcher's twine, which shouldn't significantly affect the cuts. Quite enthusiastic about the tests, I started them soaking as soon as possible.
It was about this time I realized I was in a dilemma. What was I going to cut them on? I could already see the potential problems of using a table corner, as most of the tables were under the roof on the lower level, meaning not enough room for a good swing.
I decided the best thing would be to go to the local version of Home Depot and see what I could find.
Turns out, HomePro is not really a Home Depot. No lumber at all. So much for a good 4x4 stand. But I did recall that in Japan they had used some kind of pipe. Hmmm... maybe if I grabbed some PVC pipe bits I could build what I needed, but how?
This pole might work. I just stand it up like this... might have to cut it down a bit later. But just stand it up. Carefully... then let go...
Okay, so we're going to need something to keep the pole from falling over. Let's see what we have here.
Several different T-joints, huh? Maybe I could throw something together.
Yes, I think I could do something with these. I just need to figure out what. These definitely have potential.
Not quite what I had in mind.
You're getting closer.
That's what I'm talking about!
First, saw off a few pieces of the pipe to connect them. Not too big, just enough to help hold them together.
Time to get dirty! I can't really read the warning labels on this glue, as it is all in Thai, so I figure I'll take some precautions.
Here's the finished base. By my calculations, I should be able to put four poles as 'legs' and one central pole as the stand. BTW, if you are wondering about why everything is blue? Because it was thicker and heavier than the white PVC pipe. I figured that a certain amount of mass would be helpful.
But what about the peg? I didn't find any dowels at HomePro, but we did have a thin piece of pipe lying around.
A little bit of sawing to add a good angle, as well as a 1" to 1/2" pipe connector and voila!
The great part is that, except for the base, everything can come apart. That means if I want an iai stand, all I need to do is replace the long, central pole with a shorter pole. Of course, blue isn't my favorite color, but what the heck.
Here are all the pieces laid out, ready to be assembled.
Put it all together and see what you get! It is a little taller than I'm used to, but the mats are also a bit shorter. Besides, it feels nice to not have to reach down to cut. Still, I'll eventually want to get precise dimensions to make a stand at the exact height that the Kakuseikai uses so that I can practice with what I'll be using in Japan.
Claude would like to take this opportunity to remind all the would-be sammyrai out there that nobody should attempt to cut without appropriate training and safety precautions. Do not try this at home!
Mats soaked, and with the rain stopped, it was time to go downstairs to try the stand. Spiking the mats was a bit difficult, but not because of the stand. The mats were just too floppy. Once on the peg, they generally stayed put.
Cutting the short mats was definitely easier than tatami omote. At least two mats were required to give the same feeling as one piece of goza or omote. Also, even though they were 'new', these mats came pre-dirtied. I tried to wash them off as well soak them, but it still felt as though there might be some grime in the weave. Furthermore, I think there is some plastic being using ind the overall structure. Still, the cuts seemed good. I may just want to forego using a Nihonto on these mats any time soon.
Oh, and as I rather thought, the tall mat really didn't work too well. Too soft, and not enough mass to really support itself. It wouldn't go on the peg until it was cut down to size.
After that it cut more easily than certain commercial wara I've tried. Even bad cuts went through effortlessly, while the shorter double did a fairly decent job of showing me where my angle was off on my blade, and wouldn't let me get away with a truly awful cut.
In the end, it looks like I've found something to cut, even if it isn't the best. Hopefully I'll be able to keep in practice for Japan. Still need to find other people to practice with, of course.
Hope this has been enjoyable. Next time I'll try to tell you about the Taj Mahal. See:
Saturday, September 13, 2008
The Royal Anthem
Not much has been happening here recently...a lot of rain (it IS the rainy season, after all) and hanging out at home. We need to post some info about our recent trips to Singapore and to the beach here in Thailand (Cha-Am, about 80 miles southwest of Bangkok)-- the pictures are up on our Flickr page, if you want to look at them!
One thing I did do today was walk the block-and-a-half over to Bumrungrad Hospital, for the 2008 "Living in Thailand" Fair. This is an annual event geared to expatriates living here, at which exhibitors from clubs, schools, companies, restaurants, etc. all set up booths and stand ready to ply you with flyers and free gifts. It's like a trade fair, only where the trade is being a foreigner. Fun!
(Plus, it serves as advertising for the hospital. I believe I've posted about this before, but all of the major private hospitals actively market themselves much more like five-star hotels or even getaway destinations rather than a place solely for fixing what ails you! We got a brochure in the mail inviting us to join Bumrungrad's "Healthy Living Club", which gets us discounts on inpatient rooms, medical supplies and lab tests, and health screenings, not to mention items at the hospital gift shops and meals at the numerous restaurants. Yes, I said restaurants: we have actually gone over there to eat dinner on a couple of occasions! It's a bit out of the Twilight Zone...)
Anyway, one of the events as part of the fair today was a series of performances by various music groups, including the Bangkok Music Society choir and the Orpheus Choir (which, I believe, serves as the chorus for the Bangkok Opera). Directing these was Somtow Sucharitkul, who I have mentioned before on this blog: he's the artistic director of the Bangkok Opera and a prolific composer AND sci-fi/horror writer. (I got to meet him, which was fun!)
Which brings me (finally) to the title of this post: one of the pieces that all the choirs performed was a new arrangement of the Thai Royal Anthem by Somtow. You can see a recorded performance of it (from another event) here. This is the King's anthem, and it's played before all performances, including movie showings...so we have heard it a lot, probably more than the actual Thai National Anthem, which is played at 8 AM and 6 PM daily on public intercom systems, radio stations, and many TV channels (I guess we just aren't tuned in at the right times for it). That's fine by me, because I think the Royal Anthem is a very nice piece of music- Josh and I find ourselves humming it in unison on random occasions!
(If you're interested, here's the Thai text and English translation for the Royal Anthem.)
One thing I did do today was walk the block-and-a-half over to Bumrungrad Hospital, for the 2008 "Living in Thailand" Fair. This is an annual event geared to expatriates living here, at which exhibitors from clubs, schools, companies, restaurants, etc. all set up booths and stand ready to ply you with flyers and free gifts. It's like a trade fair, only where the trade is being a foreigner. Fun!
(Plus, it serves as advertising for the hospital. I believe I've posted about this before, but all of the major private hospitals actively market themselves much more like five-star hotels or even getaway destinations rather than a place solely for fixing what ails you! We got a brochure in the mail inviting us to join Bumrungrad's "Healthy Living Club", which gets us discounts on inpatient rooms, medical supplies and lab tests, and health screenings, not to mention items at the hospital gift shops and meals at the numerous restaurants. Yes, I said restaurants: we have actually gone over there to eat dinner on a couple of occasions! It's a bit out of the Twilight Zone...)
Anyway, one of the events as part of the fair today was a series of performances by various music groups, including the Bangkok Music Society choir and the Orpheus Choir (which, I believe, serves as the chorus for the Bangkok Opera). Directing these was Somtow Sucharitkul, who I have mentioned before on this blog: he's the artistic director of the Bangkok Opera and a prolific composer AND sci-fi/horror writer. (I got to meet him, which was fun!)
Which brings me (finally) to the title of this post: one of the pieces that all the choirs performed was a new arrangement of the Thai Royal Anthem by Somtow. You can see a recorded performance of it (from another event) here. This is the King's anthem, and it's played before all performances, including movie showings...so we have heard it a lot, probably more than the actual Thai National Anthem, which is played at 8 AM and 6 PM daily on public intercom systems, radio stations, and many TV channels (I guess we just aren't tuned in at the right times for it). That's fine by me, because I think the Royal Anthem is a very nice piece of music- Josh and I find ourselves humming it in unison on random occasions!
(If you're interested, here's the Thai text and English translation for the Royal Anthem.)
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Thai protests-- a note
Some of you may have seen news about the protests here in Thailand over the past several days. I wanted to assure everyone reading this blog that we are fine, and not in any kind of danger from this.
Thailand is going through an interesting time right now politically, centering on the figure of the former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra-- he was the one deposed by the military coup in 2006, and he has now fled back to asylum in Britain to escape arrest. The People's Alliance for Democracy, the organization currently occupying Government House, is calling for the resignation of the current PM, Thaksin's supporter Samak Sundaravej.
(ETA: An online acquaintance who has lived in Thailand for over 10 years now posted a link to this CNN blog, which from everything I've heard is an accurate summary of the current situation.)
It's a complex issue and I'm no expert on the situation, but we are all hoping that one way or the other, democracy will prevail-- and no one gets hurt.
Thailand is going through an interesting time right now politically, centering on the figure of the former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra-- he was the one deposed by the military coup in 2006, and he has now fled back to asylum in Britain to escape arrest. The People's Alliance for Democracy, the organization currently occupying Government House, is calling for the resignation of the current PM, Thaksin's supporter Samak Sundaravej.
(ETA: An online acquaintance who has lived in Thailand for over 10 years now posted a link to this CNN blog, which from everything I've heard is an accurate summary of the current situation.)
It's a complex issue and I'm no expert on the situation, but we are all hoping that one way or the other, democracy will prevail-- and no one gets hurt.
Back from Singapore!
Okay, so I'm back from a few days in Singapore. All in all, it was a fun trip-- I got to see the Orchid Gardens, some museums, and Chinatown, and Josh and I went to the zoo and the Night Safari together-- but I was more tired than I expected. I'll put up some photos here later on (they are already on our Flickr page).
For Labor Day weekend, we are off to the beach! Specifically, we are driving down to Cha-Am beach on Saturday, just about two hours outside of Bangkok:
View Larger Map
We are going to be staying at the Alila Resort there, which I am very jazzed about: it's brand-new and has gotten a lot of press because of its cutting-edge design.
For Labor Day weekend, we are off to the beach! Specifically, we are driving down to Cha-Am beach on Saturday, just about two hours outside of Bangkok:
View Larger Map
We are going to be staying at the Alila Resort there, which I am very jazzed about: it's brand-new and has gotten a lot of press because of its cutting-edge design.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Broadway in Bangkok
(I considered back-dating this post, but figured it might get lost in the shuffle...so here it is, a little late!)
On Saturday, July 25th, Josh and I went to see a traveling Broadway show here in Bangkok. Yes, Bangkok does get traveling Broadway shows, in a theater designed specifically for them (more on that later).
The show in question was We Will Rock You, the musical based on the music of Queen, which had been recommended to us by some friends. This so-called "jukebox musical" is in the same category as recent shows such as Mamma Mia! (ABBA), Movin' Out (Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp), Our House (Madness), Good Vibrations (the Beach Boys), and so on. (If they ever make a musical based on the music of U2, I'll be there with my PopMart T-shirt and my inflatable lemon beach ball.* But I digress.)
I'm no huge Queen fan, but We Will Rock You was a very enjoyable, and suitably campy, show. The setting is 300 years in the future, when rock music has been outlawed, and a giant corporation (GlobalSoft) led by the Killer Queen (and her henchman, Keshoggi) controls the world through the copious application of bubblegum pop and reality TV shows. It falls to the young rebel Galileo Figaro, his girlfriend Scaramouche, and the rest of the "Bohemians" (who take their names from past legends and are led by tough-guy "Vic", aka "Victoria Beckham") to follow the Ancient Signs to find the Sacred Instruments stored in the Place of Champions in the Heart of the Living Rock and save the day. Many Queen songs are repurposed as accompaniment, including "Under Pressure" and "Another One Bites the Dust", and the show culminates with a giant sing-along of "Bohemian Rhapsody". There were lots of other audience participation moments as well, which seemed to bewilder the polite Thai gentleman sitting next to us (his children were getting into it, though).
The cast of the traveling company was, interestingly enough, mostly South African and Australian (since I've only seen US traveling companies before, I'm used to mostly American actors and actresses). They did a great job!
The theater which plays host to traveling Broadway shows here is the Muangthai Ratchadalai Theatre, which is brand new (just built in 2007, actually) and is located on the top floor of the Esplanade shopping mall not too far from here (we took the MRT, or subway, to get there). The inclusion of theaters in shopping centers here seems to be much more common than standalone theaters, which makes sense for space-saving concerns. We did end up sitting in the very last row-- my fault for not looking closely enough at the ticket diagram!-- but were still able to see everything pretty well. The language issue was taken care of through four large (but unobtrusive) screens at about each corner of the stage, showing surtitles in Thai.
One definite difference about the shows here: the merchandising. We bought the glossy souvenir program for 100 baht-- approximately US$3. This is the same program that would cost about $15 in the States. T-shirts were similarly priced, at 300 baht! (Moral: if you want show stuff and the show is coming to Bangkok, let me know and I'll get you the goodies, cheap!) The tickets, on the other hand, were a bit more expensive than in the US, but still not bad.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening, and we're going to keep a close eye on what else comes to town...
*Actually, I no longer have the inflatable lemon, because I passed it on to a wide-eyed young U2 fan before coming to Thailand. Oh well.
On Saturday, July 25th, Josh and I went to see a traveling Broadway show here in Bangkok. Yes, Bangkok does get traveling Broadway shows, in a theater designed specifically for them (more on that later).
The show in question was We Will Rock You, the musical based on the music of Queen, which had been recommended to us by some friends. This so-called "jukebox musical" is in the same category as recent shows such as Mamma Mia! (ABBA), Movin' Out (Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp), Our House (Madness), Good Vibrations (the Beach Boys), and so on. (If they ever make a musical based on the music of U2, I'll be there with my PopMart T-shirt and my inflatable lemon beach ball.* But I digress.)
I'm no huge Queen fan, but We Will Rock You was a very enjoyable, and suitably campy, show. The setting is 300 years in the future, when rock music has been outlawed, and a giant corporation (GlobalSoft) led by the Killer Queen (and her henchman, Keshoggi) controls the world through the copious application of bubblegum pop and reality TV shows. It falls to the young rebel Galileo Figaro, his girlfriend Scaramouche, and the rest of the "Bohemians" (who take their names from past legends and are led by tough-guy "Vic", aka "Victoria Beckham") to follow the Ancient Signs to find the Sacred Instruments stored in the Place of Champions in the Heart of the Living Rock and save the day. Many Queen songs are repurposed as accompaniment, including "Under Pressure" and "Another One Bites the Dust", and the show culminates with a giant sing-along of "Bohemian Rhapsody". There were lots of other audience participation moments as well, which seemed to bewilder the polite Thai gentleman sitting next to us (his children were getting into it, though).
The cast of the traveling company was, interestingly enough, mostly South African and Australian (since I've only seen US traveling companies before, I'm used to mostly American actors and actresses). They did a great job!
The theater which plays host to traveling Broadway shows here is the Muangthai Ratchadalai Theatre, which is brand new (just built in 2007, actually) and is located on the top floor of the Esplanade shopping mall not too far from here (we took the MRT, or subway, to get there). The inclusion of theaters in shopping centers here seems to be much more common than standalone theaters, which makes sense for space-saving concerns. We did end up sitting in the very last row-- my fault for not looking closely enough at the ticket diagram!-- but were still able to see everything pretty well. The language issue was taken care of through four large (but unobtrusive) screens at about each corner of the stage, showing surtitles in Thai.
One definite difference about the shows here: the merchandising. We bought the glossy souvenir program for 100 baht-- approximately US$3. This is the same program that would cost about $15 in the States. T-shirts were similarly priced, at 300 baht! (Moral: if you want show stuff and the show is coming to Bangkok, let me know and I'll get you the goodies, cheap!) The tickets, on the other hand, were a bit more expensive than in the US, but still not bad.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening, and we're going to keep a close eye on what else comes to town...
*Actually, I no longer have the inflatable lemon, because I passed it on to a wide-eyed young U2 fan before coming to Thailand. Oh well.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
First Thai Olympic medal
Josh and I have been watching the Beijing Olympics today on the Thai national broadcast station, NBT. Although we can't understand the narration, we are really enjoying it: they are doing a great job with almost non-stop coverage, and VERY few commercials. Although they are focusing (understandably) on events where Thai athletes are competing, they are also showing a good mix of other sports.
(Plus, I watched the Opening Ceremonies the other night with NO commercial breaks! Take that, NBC!)
We just watched the 53-kg women's weightlifting competition, which was won by the Thai contender, Jaroenrattanatarakoon Prapawadee (they have been shortening her name to Prapawadee on the displays, for conciseness). She set a new Olympic record, too-- there is going to be a lot of celebrating here!
(Plus, I watched the Opening Ceremonies the other night with NO commercial breaks! Take that, NBC!)
We just watched the 53-kg women's weightlifting competition, which was won by the Thai contender, Jaroenrattanatarakoon Prapawadee (they have been shortening her name to Prapawadee on the displays, for conciseness). She set a new Olympic record, too-- there is going to be a lot of celebrating here!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)