Day 4435: Short Story, Superman, Ken Shimizu, TBT.

"Struggle": junk collage.

  

Want music?

    

           Click : Corine Bailey Rae, Call Me When You Get This

  

 

 

2GN2S

Another memory,  a very short story ...

We were married in 1962, before our senior year in college.

We rented the upstairs apartment in Mom Hunt's house. She was my husband's fraternity house-mother. We thought she was ancient at the time, but now I realize she was probably younger than my age now.

In October, during the Bay of Pigs and Cuban missile crisis, 

I had a really difficult kinesiology final exam to go to, but...was immobilized by the very real threat of war in the news.

Mom Hunt came in to find me sitting in the stairway. I was deciding whether to go or not, and going was not was winning. She asked if I was okay? I said yes, but she knew better. I explained that I didn't see any reason to go to the test, as everything seemed so hopeless, so doomed.

She sat beside me, patted my knee and gave some words of advice, the one's I still remember ..."Oh Honey, life goes on. Go take that test." I did.

Superman had a birthday on the 15th, and GH#2 flew in 

Monday to be there for the celebration.

Jordan (GH#1), Jason (honorary GH),Bassel (Superman), Zack (GH#3), Jake (GH#2)

Jake, Jason, Jordan, Raquel (aka Jordan's fiance, "Rocky"), Zack.

       

This photo was taken in 1946.  The guy is Ken Shimizu.  He is 35 years old with two children.  Shimizu never runs, sleeps late, eats whatever he wants, even drink beer instead of water.  He eats dinner with many kinds of food every night. What does Shimizu do to get such a body?  Shimizu doesn't have any secrets. Shimizu is the person sitting in the bottom left corner of the photo.  As for the man standing in the middle, I'm not sure who that is.....

Throwback  Thursday ...

In 1984, the film Karate Kid was released. There are many stories behind this project, but one of them is a story of mutual humility. The original role of Miyagi was offered to the 9th Dan (at the time) of Shito-Ryu Karate, Sensei Fumio Demura, who turned down the role because he said he was unprepared as an actor and didn't want to ruin the film. They then offered it to Pat Morita, an actor but not a karateka, who would accept the project, but only if Demura Sensei performed the scenes where Karate was demonstrated. He wasn't willing to show less of a martial art that takes a lifetime to develop. Thus, a friendship and a duo were born that complemented each other to develop the classic we know today, and were life time friends.

Pat Morita, Fumio Demura Sensei.

 

  

 

A 2+  minute video, Skeletons, here

 

 

 

  

 

Just because ...

Sclater's Crowned-Pigeon

  

 

Thursday's Smiles ...  

 

  

  

   

   

   

 

 

 

 

Day 4434: Help for the blind, and the Kiku.

"Concerns": mixed papers collage.

       

 

  

Want music?

    

Click:  Hall and Oates, She's Gone.

  

 

 

2GN2S

 

David Deneher/Field of Vision

Handheld sensory device is helping the blind 

For visually impaired sports fans at stadiums around the world, following a match often means relying on commentators or those around them to describe the action. Now, an Irish startup is looking to create a more level playing field.

A blind fan tests out the Field of Vision devices.

Dublin-based Field of Vision has produced a handheld, haptic feedback device that it says can help blind and partially sighted fans not just hear, but “feel” the action, enhancing the live experience.

Tim Farrelly, Omar Salem and David Deneher developed the Field of Vision idea during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Custom-built cameras positioned in each corner of the stadium use artificial intelligence (AI) to track key details from a match. Within roughly half a second, this information is transmitted to a white, tablet-sized device embossed with the shape of a sports pitch, which weighs under a kilogram and rests on the user’s lap.

Declan Meenagh was a big fan of the device. 

David Deneher/Field of Vision

Declan Meenagh, a supporter of Dublin football club Bohemians, was born with a genetic eye condition that limits him to 5% vision. Meenagh cannot see beyond the crossbar even if sat in the front row behind the goal at the team’s Dalymount Park stadium.

Club volunteers who describe matches for visually impaired spectators allow him to follow along via an earphone, but he can miss key lines when the crowd gets loud.

He said that a test run with the Field Of Vision tablet added new levels of context to proceedings on the pitch.

“Actually feeling where the football is and what’s going on is just a real game changer,”

Read the whole story here. 

The Kiku

In Japan, the beauty of the chrysanthemum or kiku (菊) represents longevity, rejuvenation and nobility. The kiku is also admired because it begins to bloom just as other flowers are starting to succumb to the cold and frost of autumn and so its bloom is a pleasant reminder to be resilient. There is a saying from an old Chinese poem that I read which typified this idea of being hardy in the face of adversity: “The autumn chrysanthemum braves the frost.” 

This metaphor reminds us that one’s true beauty comes out when they stand bravely in the face of adversity. As the seasonchanges, the kiku knows that the autumn cold is also coming but it still stands tall and blooms despite the fact that it too will succumb at some point to the cold. 

This idea of carrying out one’s duty despite imminent death is very samurai like. Does a martial art make one resilient or does it reveal what is already one’s nature? I am not sure. What I do know is that studying a martial art can change a person’s life because it teaches them how to understand themselves better which in turn makes them better human beings. 

 

  

 

A 2  minute video, Shoebill Stork,  here

 

 The shoebill stork is a remarkable looking creature, but it’s under threat. Now, hand puppets designed by a Muppet puppeteer are being used to train hand-reared chicks for release into the wild in Zambia

 

  

 

Just because ...

  

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

 

Wednesday's Smiles ...