Just past the half-way point…

I mentioned in a previous post, I’m teaching a friends Yoga classes while he’s in India. Well, I’ve just past the half-way point now. I like teaching the classes, but it does make my days rather chaotic. Yesterday was totally mad. It went something like:

  • Wake up.
  • Do a light warmup followed by some leg swings (dynamic, not ballistic). I’m trying to improve my dynamic flexibility. 🙂
  • In work about 30 minutes early.
  • Swim a lunchtime.
  • Left work on time.
  • Out for a short run (about 3 miles) in an attempt to make up for missing Karate, followed by a quick stretch.
  • Off to the sports center to teach two Yoga classes (one Hatha and one Ashtanga).
  • Back home to bed.

It’s like I’m constantly chasing my tail at the moment. I’m going on a week long Karate course at the start of August. It’s going to seem like a holiday compared to recent weeks! 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

District 13

I went to watch District 13 on Saturday evening. It stars David Belle, who is regarded as the originator of “Le Parkour” (free running), and Cyril Raffaelli, who seems to know his stuff as far as fighting is concerned. It’s a french film, co-written by Luc Besson, so learn the lingo or take your reading glasses 🙂

Visually the film works really well, as you would expect from anything involving Luc Besson. The fight sequences are spectacular, with Cyril showing off some cool moves. He’s very inspiring and definitely knows his s**t! Of course, the most amazing part of the film is the free running. I love watching this stuff. It’s nice to watch wire-work in films like “Croutching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “The Matrix”, but when you see what the human body is capable without wires and crash-mats it’s totally awe inspiring. This film is like Ong Bak on steroids!

A must for any adrenalin junky!

Cheers

Tim…

Low Turnout…

It’s been really hot the last couple of days and last night I had to teach two Yoga classes for a friend who is on holiday. The first class had two people in it, and the second had four people. 🙂 I guess most people couldn’t stand the thought of doing anything in the heat. The classes went well, but I would rather have gone to Karate 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Pirates and Super Heros…

After last weeks abortive attempt to see Pirates of the Caribbean, I finally got in this week. Jonny Depp was his cool self. He rarely manages to put a foot wrong in his films. If you liked the first one you’ll like this one too, and vice versa. I did enjoy the film, but at 2.5 hours long it requires some stamina in the backside region 🙂 They could have easily chopped out 30-45 minutes from the film and not lost anything.

The following night I went to see Superman Returns, another 2.5 hour film. I suppose it’s worth mentioning, I’m not a big superman fan. Well, I just didn’t see the point of this film. I felt like I was watcing every other superman film. There was nothing wrong with it, but I felt it added nothing either. I’m sure it will be a major success and spark a new franchise, but I think I’m the wrong side of 15 years old. 🙂

Some of the stills from the new Spiderman film look really cool, especially the ones where he becomes Venom. I quite liked the first film, but I hated the second one. If I hear the line, “With great power comes great responsibility”, one more time I’m going to puke. Less talking, less nausiating nostalgia, less rubbish love interest and more action please!

Cheers

Tim…

Feeling Fragile…

I took a bit of a beating at Karate last night, so I’m feeling a little fragile this morning.

Monday night was tough. One of the instructors took me aside and worked with me one-on-one for the whole lesson. I just went up an down the hall constantly doing combinations and the six katas I need for my next grading. I thought I was going to puke, but I survived. Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… Or so I thought.

Last night we did quite alot of partner work, then switched to lineups. For those who don’t know, a lineup is where you stand at the front of the class while a bunch of people take it in turns to attack you with a single technique, which you must block and counter attack. After a few rounds the speed gradually builds up to a point where it’s a little frenzied. Finally, when the class was finished I did some sparring with one of the instructors. Once again, this started quite light and ended up with the pair of us lying on the floor, still trying to punch and kick each other 🙂

When I got home I took stock of my injuries, which included:

  • A sore right elbow, caused by one of my punches being blocked on the elbow joint. Ouch!
  • A very painful right shoulder, caused by a stray punch that was meant to hit my head, but fortunately hit my shoulder instead. It hurts to raise my arm above shoulder height.
  • Swollen right hand, where I managed to punch somebodies elbow. I best avoid punching with that hand for a coupe of weeks.
  • A miriad of bruises on my forearms and shins from blocking punches and kicks.
  • A big green bruise on my chest, presumably where I got hit, although I really can’t remember it…

For the rest of the night I lay on my bed moving an ice pack from one bit of my body to the next. The only real problem is the shoulder, which feels like it’s going to take a few days to fix. Unfortunately, I have to go swimming at lunchtime, teach Ashtanga Yoga tonight and of course, go to Karate tomorrow…

What’s more, one of my friends is going to India for a little over two weeks, so starting next week I’ve got to teach his Hatha and Astanga Yoga classes while he’s away. I can just see their faces now when I turn up all battered and bruised with the odd joint that won’t move. Not exactly what you expect a Yoga teacher to look like 🙂

It’s going to be a long couple of weeks… 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Loading LOB Data Using SQL*Loader…

In a recent post I discussed the use of BLOBs and External Tables. As a result of that I thought I better take a look at how SQL*Loader copes with LOBs, so I wrote Loading LOB Data Using SQL*Loader. SQL*Loader has a number of methods for loading LOBs, but I focussed on the one that most closely matches the method used by external tables.

Cheers

Tim…