Binky

The new generation

I'm an old nostaglic sentimentist, but whither new strands twine through time, birth begins with energetic nexus anew:

(Tango) Andres Amarilla--Tango Argentino ~ (Knitting) Magical Knitting ~ (Astrojax) MagicThomas Astrojax

All fresh and served with delicious creativity.

I humbly bow.

LifeHack Organic Jar Cleaner

I'm on a roll! Ever get sick of wasted sauce from not quite empty jar? Well Popeye has the answer! Spinach!

when you get your jar of sauce close to empty, stuff spinach leaves and shake it up to sop the gravy, baby.
A few fistfuls later, the jar will be clean ready for recycling and you'll have tasty saucy laden leaves to top some leftover rice for a quick meal.
File(s) Attached

TiddlyWiki on the Palm

That's right! I've finally done it. I've become a PalmTiddlyWikier
Stringing together some great tools and a few bits of script, I've been able to create tiddler microcontent in the Palm memopad complete with tags and datestamp then transfer the tiddler to my tiddlywiki on my Palm's external card. 
Using a Palm application on the Palm, I can run the tiddler pass through the hotsync cradle to render on FireFox.
It's not elegant but the possiblities are endless!
This post was composed from a Palm using a ThinkOutside keyboard and posted to my TypePad blog with images inserted later because I'm too lazy and Versamail plain sucks with attachments. Also here is PalmTiddlyWiki, Download PalmTW.html

The return of Binky

File(s) Attached

Sighting

Chicago Style

While I had fly to Chicago for the first time to work a tradeshow in the "Loop", it served as an opportunity learn about Argentine Tango in the "Windy City"

We found this great calendar for tango events in the Chicago area: Tangonoticias
Picking the dates when my feet wouldn't be too tired from circling exhibition floors guided which days we would visit the milongas.

Before we got to the hotel, three of Chicago's not so kind sons tried to pick my pocket using a well run scam: one guy pretended to get his foot "stuck" between the red line CTA train and platform while his two compatriots sandwiched me from behind. Luckily my girly man screams and wild karate chop gesturing deterred their efforts. It also helped that my bold but relatively tiny wife grabbed one guy and gave him a look of death honed from her childhood in the Soviet Union. I was a bit shaken and stirred but my Afro-American friends departed in a flash without bodily harm amongst us.

When the center has been disturbed, attention and awareness come to focus.

I longed to find comfort in the familiar and tango became our solace.
We regrouped at the hotel and plotted our way to:

Mariposa
346 N. Justine Street, #300
Chicago, IL60607 60607

Taking the green line from Roosevelt to Ashland was the best route and many dear Chicagoans helped these little lost ducklings along the way. We walked the few blocks along industrial brick warehouses to arrive at yet another brick house. The place was like an old speakeasy where you climbed 3 flights to be greeted by the host. Luckily their was a couple ahead of us at the front entrance because we couldn't get in without calling ahead first. The sounds of the milonga echoed in the background and the sense of 'home' filled my heart once again.

It was a lovely place dimly lit as all milongas should be. Circular tables lined the right side of the floor and the female DJ was at the far right with a huge projection of some old movie.
We were delighted to be in the good hands of this tango night. The floor was old smooth wood but that did not hinder any of the pleasures of the dancers. The crowd was mixed in age but slight skewed to the older set. I didn't see many folks in college age crowd. Many appeared to dance open with many fanciful figures. We refreshed ourselves with Tango liso and swirled a few vals. My wife became very popular as many leaders asked her to dance despite a good amount of local followers. I was still a bit weary from the travel and decided to partake of the ambience over the fine followers.
After many tandas, we made a dash to catch the next to last train of the night at 1am and capped an otherwise horrid beginning with a fantastic end. Oh, I forgot, it was $15/person.

The next few days I took a bit ill but we tried to visit Cousin's Restaurant and Mariposa but were rebuffed at cancellations or inabilities to gain access, leading to our first lesson of Tango in Chicago Tip #1122: CALL AHEAD!

Time flew and soon we had spent our time save for one final milonga. We ventured along bus #20 along Madison which carried us to Madison and Morgan, home to Al Gates'
Tango Chicago Dance Centre
1043 W. Madison
Chicago, IL

Luckily unlike Mariposa's, TangoChicago actually had someone upstairs to answer the door. They allowed us passage despite not calling ahead. We took the elevator 3 flights up and the doors opened directly into the dance studio. The studio's owner, a lady with a British accent friendly greeted us and gave us the house rules: free food, bottled water for $, restrooms in the back. Everything was laid out beautifully and the walls were festooned with tango paintings. They had a nice coat rack to hold jackets so as not to clutter the dance floor. I was still feeling under the weather but the medicine of the milonga helped the healing process. The floor was of fine flat smooth wood, a bit small (think smaller than el Beso in BsAs) but had mirrored walls. It was like a professional dance studio. The class had just ended and we came in the middle of a milonga tanda. While milonga is currently our favorite, 5 in row was a bit much for us. After dancing three, each of us was asked to dance before a minute of rest. The host, a tall friendly looking Afro-American gentleman continued the welcome committee by feeding me with followers while my wife was enjoying her tandas. I was graced with the tango joys of Valentine, Lina, Ellen and the lovely Sasha. We also met a sweet young man from my wife's old country, USSR. He was Korean but spoke Russian and told us how great Al's friendly atmosphere was. We agreed. Throughout the night, I noticed ice cream and popcorm served to the guests. They feed well. They played some Calo and my heart sang. Taking my wife into my arms, we rejoined our tender nostalgia that the portenos worldwide know as Argentine Tango....

Today is BKS Iyengar Day

Today is BKS Iyengar Day

Yel and I started Yoga a few months ago with a great teacher, Rebecca in North Beach, but I dropped out after a few classes because I'm a lazy undiscipline lout with hamstrings made of inelastic uncooked spaghetti. Nevertheless we took a half-day off to go see B.K.S. Iyengar on his historic visit to San Francisco with all the proceeds of the ceremony charitably going to an indian village.  It was as if Yoda came into town.

Tucked inside Davis Symphony Hall in San Francisco, California, USA was a little old man from India with a cute wonderful smile and stern brows a lion witnessing in a crowd of admirers, expressions of love and enduring appreciation of his dedicated art.
It was a testament to their shining yet humble messages of affection and gratitude that this non-student, uninformed bystander witness was moved to tears.
BKS Iyengar and his art and way of Yoga has touched thousands upon thousands of people throughout the world.
The main master of ceremonies said Mr. Iyengar or as they called him throughout the talk, "Guruji" last came to town 21 years ago. He looked about in his late 60's but we calculated his age to the late 80s from his book, "Light on Life"
From around 2pm to 4:30pm today on October 3rd, 2005-
We were treated to an excellent retrospective video of Iyengar's life as Performer, Teacher and Guru encompassing old black and white footage of Iyengar contortions through the various asanas or poses; humorous clips of his stern yet generous capacities as a teacher and his wisdom and philosophy on Yoga to expose the self-"truth" through the quieting of mind oscillations and physical endurances.

As its ardent ambassador, he has steadfastly remain true to his mission of bringing the wisdom of yoga art to many leading to worldwide consiciousness transformation and spiritual perspectives.

First up was a sincere man named Patel who was dubbed the grandfather of American yoga for bringing Iyengar's teachings and system to the west.
He called him, "Guriji", a term associated with the likes of GOD and expressed his experiences with Mr. Iyengar in this acronym G = Generative, O = Operative and D = Destroyer. Such supreme embrace of his teacher, Mr. Patel imbued his guru with these mythic characteristics in Hindu lore reserved for deities.

Then there were a succession of people giving testimony on the power of Iyengar Yoga to heal physical ailments ranging from low back pain, muscle and spinal deformities, and neurological impairments. The real life down to earth story of Lisa Miller (?) was touching in her recovery towards regaining her life as a Automotive repair teacher and active sporty Half-Dome conquerer.

Then there was this man (Softi ?) with a soft British accent who was introduced to Iyengar early on his life when the phases of self-identity come to the fore. First at a lost for words to describe what his teacher means to him, he quoted from Gandhi and so happened to have one of my favorite quotes:

He continued his moving tribute by chanting Sanskirt wisdom verses from parts of an Indian epic, something about the "sun in the heart" where a god was giving advice to a warrior king when the king was in great crisis of indecision. The concluding fulfillment was/is the word/sound "AUM". The gentleman then gave a full body bow salutation, which I think was a 'Sun' salutation in the direction of Guruji Iyengar.

Another moving presenter was a Zen nun who help direct the San Francisco Zen Center. She retold the story of the pre-Buddha prince's meeting with the yoga ascetics and how after the buddha's awakening, he was not able to return to his yoga teachers to thank them for their wisdom because they had passed the earthy plane. So in a sincere gesture of her tradition she repaid the karmic debt by gently and with full care and attention a full body prostration done with such sublime awareness, I could not help but effuse tears of emotion.
Her powerful yet humble "Thank You" of buddhism to the wisdom of Yoga was beyond words.

I couldn't see Mr. Iyengar at our overhead viewpoint but I know many around me were moved as well by all the speakers.
To conclude the presentation, Mr. Iyengar finally took the stage from the seats amongst the audience and another standing ovation ensued. Local politicos from the Mayor to the President of Board of Supervisors, to Senators and Assemblymen, all the way to the Governor declared today as BKS Iyengar day.

And what a day is was. (note the 'Light' of our collective sunny days)

It is clear that this special being's single point devoted meditation on this particular spiritual endeavor is beyond words. Here's a video clip of what Mr. Iyengar said when questioned on "How" he brought this all about (crap, it's taking too long to upload, but maybe I'll get it up later).

The words that resonate with me was how his yoga was a vehicle toward embracing friendliness and compassion within its practitioners and how that practice effects us all.

I think I need a stretch...
For more info into Iyengar Yoga, you can check out: Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco

Shake and rollover

We got a new house friend.

Part canine Tamagochi - part morning nightmare our Nintendog, dubbed 'Bear' is a 18 hour old German Shepherd intent on staying forever cute and placating our enduring pine for a living breathing mutt where due to unfortunate circumstances of San Franciscan apartment living we are force to collect a menagerie of other fauna.

Chomsky was correct in his analysis- consent thusly manufactured through sustained dulling of my resolve from superficial fanciful false desires.
This is better than global warming, horrific unfounded wars and the continued injust deprivations that consume our blue marble.

Tango, my tango

(San Francisco, CA 2005)

I was flipping through the old palm and noticed this datebook event. Holy jeepers, I've had a singular love affair that has lasted this long. Fencing, Krav Maga, Shintaido, Amma, Aikido, nor textiles has lasted this long.

We are indeed lucky in San Francisco to have such great teachers. There is a new tango studio opening up in San Francisco in the mold of the Konex practicas in BsAs. Roberto Riobo's Barrio Tango is putting forth a bold initiative to bring Tango to the community day and night. It will be a place to learn and enjoy this wonderful dance that has tranced the world all over.

Go and check it out!

I first met this great Maestro in 2002 as his student. An old post says it all...

The obvious under our feet, stays true...

I remember a comment from a travelling dancer at Portland's
Tangofest, "Man, you guys are so lucky!"
We are....
SO lucky to be grace with magnificent tango teachers here in the Bay
Area: Felipe, Kat, Rosa, Homer and Cristina, Miller and Claudia, Nora
and Ed, Glenn, Gary and Nirmala, Chelsea, Christy, Marcelo, Mayumi,
Dom, Chris and Carol, Steven and so on…
Not to forget all the other travelling tango glories that past our
floors: Oscar, Jean Sebastien, Luciana, and so on...
One could spend the rest of their lives devoted to tango with all
these vast riches?! (ooo don't tell my girlfriend)

Do you remember the teachers that you loved?
The ones who sparked something special in your heart by giving of
theirs?
With energy and passion, they moved and inspired you bestowing gifts
more invaluable than mere knowledge. Now imagine that you can return
to one of these beloved teachers and experience that joy once again.
Such a special teacher exists and his name is Roberto Riobo.

He is spreading his love tirelessly and generously here in the Bay
Area.
Where the bright melodies of Biagi or Calo echo from the far reaches
of Golden Gate Park on Sundays, you will find him there in the center
of the throng swirling like a conductor, the joy of tango discovery
freely to the curious and eager.

He's also teaching at highway dancing Demetrius' Jingletown on
Tuesdays and at The Beat also in the East Bay on Thursdays.
For more info check: http://www.barriotango.com/

Yelena and I had the pleasure of taking his 2 hour Saturday class in
the Castro this weekend and for me it as exciting and refreshing as
those past joys at the Italian club.

With a bit of history and old skool rote stepping, we fumbled our way
on the basics of Milonga for the suggested donation is $5/person(!).
The previous review class of ganchos and cadenas was a bit
overchallenging for me, but it was just an honor to be graced with
his enthusiastic instruction once again even if it was how to unleash
your inner tango child with 360 colgadas to Di Sarli.

Whether you're an adherent to traditional milonguero or salon, nuevo
tango or tango bango schwango, the door is open with endless rewards
to those with an open heart and beginner's mind.

Come take a step and rediscover 'beginning' again with this treasure
of tango.
Thank you so very much to all those for helping Roberto be here to
teach us.

The best Cantonese-Chinese food in Chinatown

(San Francisco, CA 2005) Tucked away in the restaurant minefield of Kearny Street, lies our favorite Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Good ol' 12 years running,  Cheung Hing, means "Good Business" to be exact. Located at  708 Kearny Street  near Clay and nestled at the mouth of Portsmouth Square just pass the giant Holiday Inn overpass, this venerable dive serves up delicious cheap hot Chinese fare of the old skool kind. Raised in Chinatown in the 70's and by a Grandpa who was a chef, Cheung Hing is indeed the real deal. The place actually is 2 restaurants in one. There's the dark side where few sit and the lit side where old regulars, haggard financial district types and large family chow. Since moving back to North Beach, we've been enjoying the old flavor for 2 years and in six sigma fashion the cooks have not missed a beat to provide consistent tasty luscious hot food. The wait staff is usually very smiley and low key. Round tables with the rotating lazy susan center seats large families, and the square glass topped tables can seat 4. Don't be fooled by the scenery, if you're into good food at a terrific value. Menus for the specials are still hand written in marker. They recently renovated so the menus have been reprinted.  Most rice plates are under $5. Family style entrees go to $6.50 to 8 range from all forms of meat and seafood.
The house wonton special is so good it harkens back to Tong kee days, a once famous won ton place where old timers plied two hand kung fu to won ton bowls. We also enjoy the rock cod fillet with black bean or eggplant rice plates. So if you're near Broadway and don't have a clue, come try the best food in Chinatown and forget the long lines at House of Nanking.