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Aug. 20th, 2012 08:06 pmThursday practice went ok. No Staffan, but Brogan had us do some work with both rigid parrying objects (read "sticks") and then taught us about dagger. Between him, Staffan and Sylvain, the brain now has a lot of dagger related information that needs to be programmed into the hands. That said, when I sparred with B at the end of the night, I felt like I wasn't doing too badly.
The other plus: my kit is complete except for actual weapons. The new mask gets an A for being easier to see out of, particularly when we have to fight under the BART station's orange sodium lights after sundown. Sylvia wears glasses and still had depth perception issues in hers, but I noticed a marked improvement in what I could see. The padding gets an A for fit - I took a couple of stout shots to the head and throat and it didn't budge and a D for being made of thick foam and slick synthetic fabric which doesn't wick perspiration and forms a heat trap. I'm glad I made the hood from linen.
I put my gusoku shita on James out of curiosity and proved that one-size-fits-many when it comes to Japanese garment construction. I need to make the sleeves a couple inches longer for him, but other than that, I can knock his out by patterning off mine.
Saturday was James' birthday. To celebrate, we went to the Exploratorium to check out their replica of the Mars Rover, Curiosity. The Exploratorium is eventually moving to Piers 15-17 on the Embarcadero, but right now it's still out at the old Palace of Fine Arts. Getting there via mass transit involved one BART train, one Muni bus and then a hike of about a mile to the museum.
There was a lot of Americas Cup activity on Marina Green with a regatta starting this week. And it being a halfway nice Saturday, the cavernous Exploratorium was hopping with people, but that's what it's for. The light conditions were kind of interesting, so I shot some photos in black and white of the interior, Curiosity, kids playing with interactive displays, James geeking out with one of the enthusiastic young "Explainers" and playing a vintage Atari Lunar Lander game. We also got to meet and listen to a planetary geologist who was manning the Curiosity presentation area.
James' birthday dinner was at Hana Japan out on the Berkeley Marina, a Benihana knockoff. It was fun and the Birthday Boy certainly enjoyed it.
No rapier practice Sunday as Brogan had picked up bronchitis from his lady, so the trip out to GG Park was kind of a waste. Got some reading done, socialized a little with the Cloondara gang and got home in time for my weekly dose of WTF on "True Blood" which has gotten more ludicrous with each season. This is balanced beautifully with the well acted, intelligently written "The Newsroom."
The other plus: my kit is complete except for actual weapons. The new mask gets an A for being easier to see out of, particularly when we have to fight under the BART station's orange sodium lights after sundown. Sylvia wears glasses and still had depth perception issues in hers, but I noticed a marked improvement in what I could see. The padding gets an A for fit - I took a couple of stout shots to the head and throat and it didn't budge and a D for being made of thick foam and slick synthetic fabric which doesn't wick perspiration and forms a heat trap. I'm glad I made the hood from linen.
I put my gusoku shita on James out of curiosity and proved that one-size-fits-many when it comes to Japanese garment construction. I need to make the sleeves a couple inches longer for him, but other than that, I can knock his out by patterning off mine.
Saturday was James' birthday. To celebrate, we went to the Exploratorium to check out their replica of the Mars Rover, Curiosity. The Exploratorium is eventually moving to Piers 15-17 on the Embarcadero, but right now it's still out at the old Palace of Fine Arts. Getting there via mass transit involved one BART train, one Muni bus and then a hike of about a mile to the museum.
There was a lot of Americas Cup activity on Marina Green with a regatta starting this week. And it being a halfway nice Saturday, the cavernous Exploratorium was hopping with people, but that's what it's for. The light conditions were kind of interesting, so I shot some photos in black and white of the interior, Curiosity, kids playing with interactive displays, James geeking out with one of the enthusiastic young "Explainers" and playing a vintage Atari Lunar Lander game. We also got to meet and listen to a planetary geologist who was manning the Curiosity presentation area.
James' birthday dinner was at Hana Japan out on the Berkeley Marina, a Benihana knockoff. It was fun and the Birthday Boy certainly enjoyed it.
No rapier practice Sunday as Brogan had picked up bronchitis from his lady, so the trip out to GG Park was kind of a waste. Got some reading done, socialized a little with the Cloondara gang and got home in time for my weekly dose of WTF on "True Blood" which has gotten more ludicrous with each season. This is balanced beautifully with the well acted, intelligently written "The Newsroom."
