A Slow Week

There hasn’t been very much to report, spiritually speaking, this week. I had intended to visit the local Episcopal church on Sunday to observe their services… but my parents visited, and I changed my schedule. At the risk of sounding ambivalent (well, I am) I suppose that I may simply have to resign myself to belonging to liberal church. There are many other things about Unity that I do appreciate, after all.
As it turns out, my job will have me in Kansas City for most of the month of September. The “headquarters” of Unity Christian Church–Unity Village–is just outside of Kansas City; perhaps I’ll have the opportunity to blog about a visit there.

Thursday Night Thunder

The local chapter of the USPSA (United States Practical Shooting Association) holds a weekly practice shoot in Jefferson City, MO, called “Thursday Night Thunder.” Last night I attended my first one in almost a year, and my third ever. I did not do well–I placed 10th out of 12 shooters–but given my inexperience with this sort of shooting, I wasn’t entirely disappointed.
What hurt me was that I was actually trying to shoot to fast; the stage I thought I did best on was actually my worst, and the stage I thought I did worst (because I slowed down to aim) on was my best. There are shooters there who can get more and better hits than I can and finish the courses in less than half the time it takes me–but I have to face the fact that that’s because they have been doing this every week, for years. I’m not only rusty, my skill is in a very different type of shooting. Just as when starting in a new dojo, I’m going to have to “empty my cup” and start all over again.
I’m experiencing some technical difficulties with my ISP, but when the video becomes available to me, I will post it on Personal Chrysalis. I’ll be the guy in the red polo shirt who misses the plates so often on one stage that people in the background take the opportunity to start yelling “Barack Obama sucks” for the benefit of YouTube. 🙂

Oh, and “Welcome!” to any of the TNT shooters returning to my blog after seeing the re-enlistment ceremony video. Feel free to make yourself at home; comments are welcome, too.

UPDATE:
Video added.

Babylon 5, Season 1

I’ve recently talked my friend Bluebird into watching Babylon 5 through her Netflix membership. She’s seen the first three episodes, and enjoyed them–which bodes well, since anyone who’s seen Babylon 5 knows how much better it gets!
I used to watch B5 over and over when I was deployed to Louisiana–it reminded me what the military is really supposed to be like! Also, it had great commentaries on religion and philosophy, wonderful characters who grow as the show progresses, and references to lots of the best fantasy literature ever(from Lovecraft to Moorcock to Tolkien to the legends of King Arthur).

Anyway, this is a post specifically for her–to make comments about what she sees, what she likes, etc. If you’ve seen B5, feel free to chime in–but no spoilers! The best part of watching B5 through the first time is watching the five-year plot unfold!

UPDATE:
This comment thread will get horrendous to track if I keep one post for the entire series, so this is now the post for “Season One” episodes.

Somebody Finally Paid Attention!

Too bad I’m not in that branch of service anymore.

The United States Marine Corps has added a new Combat Fitness Test component to their PFT. It will consist of three events: a half-mile boot and utes run (that is, a run performed while wearing fatigues and combat boots), a repetitive lift of a 30 pound ammo can, and a sort of combat-oriented obstacle course.

I’ve been saying for years that “physical fitness” is not some ambiguous measurement generated by moving around for the sake of moving. “Fitness” literally means “being fit for” something. The military physical fitness tests should all be associated with skills and movements related to the most demanding military activities. My recommendation has been 20-yard dashes (to simulate the 3-5 second squad rush).

Friday, 22 August 2008

Morning Meditation:
15 minutes of Relaxation Response followed by the QC. I can feel my proficiency with the RR increasing as I use it. Of course, I’m still very “noisy,” but I’m relaxing into it. Right now, all of my meditations are performed lying down, so that I’m not distracted by muscle tension. After I feel that I’ve returned to a decent level of proficiency, I’ll start working in half-lotus, and then hopefully I’ll get back into full lotus eventually.
I’ve cut back my Rosicrucian exercise from the LBRP to just the QC. I’m re-learning several skills at once, and I’d rather have a good visualization with the QC before moving on, than rush into longer practices with poor projection.