Lots ‘n lots o’ stuff

It’s been a little while since I did a big update and this seems as good a time as any. There’s been a ton of stuff I’ve wanted to blog about, but with everything happening it’s fallen to the wayside. So for the moment at least I’m going to ignore the goings on around me in the world to catch people up to date on what’s new with me…

dance Matt dance… aka Capoeira

For quite a while Jenny, Jo, Tina & Abby have taken Belly Dancing lessons. And they’ve gotten pretty good (heck they even taught Tony a thing or two about hip shaking). The cool thing is that not only did the girls get to learn all these funky moves, but its also great exercise! And that’s all cool. But there was nothing for us guys who wanted to dance our ways into shape without risking our masculinity. I mean I could have tried to get into belly dancing. But as stated in previous blogs, I’m already well in touch with my feminine side. No need for the help of veils & skirts.

Well I’ve finally found a solution: Capoeira. It’s an African/Brazilian Martial Art/Dance. The cool thing is we have a great teacher here in Rochester. The class is intense and laid back at the same time. Best of all it’s covered under my YMCA membership. Last night was the first class I attended. It was one hell of a work out. We were moving for over an hour without any breaks. And this wasn’t mamby pamby movement. We’re talking kicks, spins, and major knee bends all set to boomin’ Brazilian music. After about 45 minutes I even began to think that I had rhythm… at least a bit.

But there was something else that made it different. Not only were there a large number of women in the class, but that they all were hotties! This is a new thing for me when it comes to a martial art. This is not to say that women don’t practice martial arts (they do). And that’s also not to say that the women who practice martial arts aren’t easy on the eyes (a lot are). But I’m not used to having more women then men in the class. As I mentioned before Capoeira is considered a dance form as well as a martial art. That’s because the Brazilian Slaves who developed it needed to hide what they were practicing. So they disguised it as a dance (a pretty common thing with martial arts, actually). Stephan, the instructor, is pretty well known in the dance community. So a number of dance majors from schools like Brockport take the class. These girls (and guys too) were in incredible shape (far better than me). It’s a little intimidating, but I’ll suffer through it :-).

The class does have one downside right now: my legs are killing me. It was a killer workout and even after taking steps to prevent stiffness I’m really feeling yesterdays workout. But I’m going to keep with it. One day I might even be like the guys in the Capoeira video on

this page.

big willy style

Will Weaton of ST:TNG (that’s Star Trek: The Next Generation… he was the kid) has a blog. And I say more power to him. This guy, at one time, was one of the most hated people on the Net (people, it’s not his fault that his part on the show was written as the know-it-all kid). Now he’s online, pubishing his life.

Personally his site fascinates me. Not necessarily in a good way… more like a car crash way. I just can’t look away. Wil has of late perused sketch comedy as a outlet for his talents. He peppers a lot of his comic stylings into his blog. The results often come out… well… creepy. Take this passage, talking about his experience as a guest at a recent Star Trek Convention:

You know the cool thing? There are these fans who came over from Germany,

and some of them are girls, and they are HOT. And they tell me, in broken

English, how much they love me. Oh yeah, tell me some more baby. Tell daddy

how you love him.

Is it me or is hearing any celebrity (or kinda celebrity), or anyone, refer to themselves as “daddy” a little offsetting? In any case, I give Wil credit. He lays his soul pretty bare on the blog. More so than most, including myself, of us do. I wonder if that is a result of his brush with rabid fans. Trekkies have been known to be some of the most fanatical and invasive people on the planet (see the movie Trekkies for more on that). After living under that type of scrutiny I imagine that your views on privacy change. In any case, give his blog a look. You can find it here (I just wish he’d avoid referring to himself with terms like “Big Wil”…).