A new day

A new look.. a new name.. hmm..
go tessa

Father's day

My father is one of the people who have influenced me the most. Maybe it is rather conceited of me to say this, but I am truly grateful for having such a great father (for lack of better words). I have a much better father than too many other people do, and that of course is a sad thing too (for the other people anyway). Had it not been for my father's influence, who knows what hell-hole I would be in today.

He and my mom of course- were my first teachers. He was my first and only sifu for the first 17 years of my life (minus my uncle - his brother, who is equally a father to me). It was he who instilled in me the love for martial arts and other sports like tennis, swimming, triathlons, and what not. And it's also always been him to be there to give me that kick in the butt when I needed it.

When I was 14 or 15 he got gravely ill and for about a period of 6 months after that I would wake up every morning wondering if he was still around. For four years after that his health was still quite bad and he just wasn't quite the same in a sense that he wasn't all over the place- running, teaching martial arts, managing our business, doing all these community projects, etc. But despite his not being able to reach the same physical capacity, he was and still is as sharp and witty as he ever was. Even in those times when we were all feeling in the lowest of low, he would crack jokes in the oddest times to bring a little ray of sunshine into our house.

Today he still isn't quite as physically active as he was, but being the warrior and commander that he is, he has mobilized armies of people- his old students, to help him continue teaching many people. There is so much more to say about him. His patience, perseverance, determination, wisdom, and kindness are constant inspirations for me. I can only hope to one day somehow become what he has wanted me to be all these years as a way of ever-thanks to him.

Left behind.. again

This dog of mine, Dama, just died this afternoon. He was not feeling well yesterday, he was restless and his back was very painful and was rather shaky suddenly so I brought him to the vet. The vets said that it was probably canine distemper. I never really saw a dog with it before or what- all I know is that my dog's vaccines were updated.. but I guess vaccines just don't work sometimes. So anyway they gave me all these medicines and told me to come back in a week's time. I brought him home and gave him some dog food and his favorite- fresh milk. He lapped the milk up but didn't touch the dog food, then slept. At around 10 pm I heard him crying so I came out and checked on him and gave him more blankets and the like, he wasn't looking too good. I talked to him for a while and told him it was ok to go if he needed to. He couldn't get up anymore this morning, so I kept coming out and seeing if he was still around and talking to him a bit and telling him not to worry so much. Then this afternoon around 4 pm I was studying in my room and wondering how he was and just kinda thinking about him in this way. I went to see him and he was gone. I had his body buried in our property already and have disinfected the whole place. Another friend, come and gone. He never was much of a dog in a sense that he was so gentle all the time, and even if he was a german shepherd, he was the calmest guy you'd ever meet. He hardly ever barked and welcomed everyone in. The only thing scary about him (to our neighbors/strangers) were his looks and size. Otherwise, this guy was a big puppy who loved milk and papayas- no joke.

You'll be missed Dama, but I know you're better off where you are now, and am happy you did not have to go through so much pain.

Karma Kula Chapter 4: Bogi Yogi

Karma Kula Mystic Warrior: Chapter 4: Bogi yogi
Hilarious chapter. I've got an inkling the next chapter will be great action. I just wish it weren't a month away!!

I've been good, busy, happy.

David Carradine

Rest in peace man.. I'm sorry you had to go this way.

Up!

I think the whole concept of this UP movie is pretty good. At least well.. the "hero" is not one of those half naked macho young guys or ..something else somehow. Hopefully this will remind some people that old people are just like any of us in bodies that just don't work the same way anymore.

Here's a funny little article on it.

5 more days to Karma Kula's 3rd chapter! :)

Facebook, Boyle, & Ohas

I had a pretty good day. My internet crashed for a few hours this afternoon, but it gave me about enough time to clean up. I have lots more cleaning to do tomorrow I'd say.

So I'm on Facebook now. If you happen to use Facebook and are interested, my name on there is Satchi Morioka. I'd be happy to add you as a friend.

So Susan Boyle didn't win. Good enough tho, right?

And finally, I just stumbled upon Sir Arthur's Den today, and this guy is just brilliant!

Have a look at this:

KarmaKula chapter 3: “Harvesting the Ohas” (Click to see pictures)
May 10, 2009 · Filed Under Multimedia, News

News - A succession of fresh, quality news, from inside and outside of the WebKarmaKula, the new episodic series from the Ninjai Gang expressly developed for the web goes on as scheduled. On the last Friday the Gang has released the third chapter, Harvesting the Ohas, with which the series has shown yet another trait after the splatter ninjitsu of The Ninjas and the spaghetti western The Frog in the Well. The new episode features horror elements and Eastern mysticism, acting more like an introduction for the events to come than like a self-finishing tale as the two previous chapters.

At the center of the story lie the worship of a demoniac being and her followers, which exploit occult knowledge to indefinitely extend their own life to the detriment of endless monk’s one. The ritual depicted in Harvesting the Ohas needs the forced extraction of monk’s semen and its infusion, through unknown “mystical means”, within the body of the aforementioned followers. KarmaKula’s target is to find the cultists and give to his “old friend” his “precious gift“, namely “her karma“.

KarmaKula ep.3 - screenshot 1KarmaKula ep.3 - screenshot 2KarmaKula ep.3 - screenshot 3

There is no room for action here, and even if the background told in HtO reveals KarmaKula’s indie origins (collecting the semen of sacred monks?!? A b-movie wouldn’t go that far!) I would say that however one can’t complain for the production, which among a photography with excessively saturated colors, good digital effects and a careful direction perfectly synchronized with the (always wonderful) soundtrack decently entertains for the almost 10 minutes the episode lasts and builds the right bases for the sword-slaughtering that will be definitely shown on the next month.

KarmaKula ep.3 - screenshot 4KarmaKula ep.3 - screenshot 5KarmaKula ep.3 - screenshot 6

HtO features a new female character after the pretty-but-deadly Satya Bellord of The Frog in the Well, and listening to her voice one can easily identify her as the actress that dubbed Ninjai, the little ninja protagonist of the series with the same name that will be featured in the movie theaters after the first 12 episodes released on the web. The fourth chapter of KarmaKula will be on-line the next 8th of June, while the current episode is also available in streaming on the Ninjai Gang’s YouTube channel.

KarmaKula ep.3 - screenshot 7KarmaKula ep.3 - screenshot 8KarmaKula ep.3 - screenshot 9

Waiting to see the KarmaKula at work, the series’official site has been updated with new contents including some downloads, a Spread The Word section and a press release. This last one is extremely interesting for those who want to know more about who hides behind the Ninjai Gang and the production of the series, the protagonists, the artists and their multiethnic background made of martial arts, a mix of Eastern tradition and Western pop culture and so on.

According to the information provided by the Gang, KarmaKula’s main actors are siblings, Subhadra, Siddha and the already mentioned Satya Bellord, children of a Chinese mother and an English father grown up between the Far East and California, rigorous students of martial arts for their entire life with a particular focus on taekwondo and both modern and traditional wushu. If this is coupled with the fact that the master of the three performers is Liang Chang Xing, former captain of the 10 times winning Chinese wushu team (to which actor Jet Li belonged too) and heavily involved with the production of KarmaKula one can understand why the series choreographies are so outstanding.