UFC: 114 Turn to Stone

Dana White, Commissioner, walked to the stage holding and oil soaked egret by its scrawny neck. "Black on black crime!" He declared, strangling the egret, its eyes bugging and, finally, relaxing.

Forbes vs. Jensen

No interest. Jensen by decision.

Riley vs. Brammer

Riley is entertaining but can be his own worst enemy. Riley by decision.

Guillard vs. Lowe

Guillard can be submitted like an application. But that doesn't happen here. Guillard by 2nd round KO.

Cane vs. Diabate

Most people are saying Cane, but he has disappointed before. Does that mean that Diabate hasn't? No, but I am taking him anyway. I like his striking. Diabate by 3rd round TKO.

Escudero vs. Lauzon

If you haven't been following the gossip, Dan Lauzon's brother and the rest of his camp gave him the boot last week because they don't think he takes fighting seriously. That is a rough break. I wouldn't have picked him anyway. Escudero wrestles him to smithereens and hurts him for a 2nd round TKO.

Abdullah vs. Kim

I am a big fan of both guys. Abdullah really emerged from nowhere to be a real, old-school striker. He also displayed a surprising nack to survive, and win, on the ground. I just can't see how Kim is a good match-up for him though. Kim is a strong, tough guy who will get take downs and will hold his position and not get arm-barred. I would be just as happy to see either guy win, but I have to go with Kim for a TKO in the 3rd.

Sanchez vs. Hathaway

Yes! That isn't my enthusiasm, just the excess remnants of Diego's. Yes! Sanchez moves back up a weight class and will win a decision because he will out scramble, out position and out pace Hathaway who is a decent fighter. Sanchez by decision.

Duffee vs. Russow

Apparently the UFC wants to hype Duffee. His win streak continues. Duffee by 1st round
TKO.

Nogueira vs. Brilz

The strange thing is, Brilz record ain't that bad. However, Nog really seems to be in the zone lately. I think he takes this win with only a small struggle, but remember, he is the fighter that launched Sokudjo by becoming his KO victim. Brilz is perfectly capable of hurting him. But I think Nogueira gets the KO in the 3rd after a good fight.

Bisping vs. Miller

I say it every time, I just don't believe in Bisping. It isn't that I don't find him likable or that I haven't been impressed by his ability to regain guard or his stamina. There is a lot to like about Bisping. But whatever it is that makes me never bet against a Diaz makes me never bet for Bisping. I just don't think he has it all together. Strangely I have a Diaz corollary rule; I also never bet against a Miller. True, they do lose, but that isn't the crux of the rule. Neither Jim nor Dan are guys that I count out of any match. Did Dan get out wrestled by Chael Sonnen and out struck by Damian Meia? Yes. Will that change my mind? No. I also usually go against fighters that can't put in a good camp. Miller's unfortunate situation with an ill child has to be trying for him. It must be difficult. I count all of this against him but then must make the pick for him do to the rare crushing sub power he has that Bisping will never taste as hard as he might work. Miller by sub in the 2nd.

Jackson vs. Evans

And we come down to it. Culturally I align with Jackson. We come from similar places and he talks like the kids from my school talk. Also, on a time line of my involvement with the sort I align with Jackson as he was ruling Japan when I got here. However, I agree to a certain degree with Rashad Evans critique of Rampage; he does play knowingly, to some degree, a stereotyped character of a Southern black man. I would make sure to include in that statement that Jackson is clearly very intelligent as the fool he makes out of this act often isn't him even when it sounds that way on first listen. I still remember his answer to the reporters question when he was fighting in Pride, "Where do you think you will be in 5 years?" "Well, I am 23 right now, so I reckon that will put me at about 28 in 5 years." But then he also had incidents where he molested reporters who didn't know they were allowed to say, "Stop!" He is also clearly nuts as the story of his religious conversion and his runaway monster truck episode make clear. There was a time when I loved Rampage completely but these parts of him have soured on me and I only like him in bits now. One bit I didn't like was the lazy and petulant coach that also riled Rashad Evans. I usually back a fighter that I feel trains better and it is no question here that that is Rashad Evans. Who has more actual skill? It would probably be Jackson, even though Evans is a bit quicker in hand speed. The only issue, and it has always been the issue, is that Rampage Jackson is one of the streakiest fighters out there. He has excellent boxing defense. He has excellent submission defense and defensive wrestling. He has a great chin and natural power. I have said here before that Evans, while a wrestler, wrestles poorly in MMA and wears himself down trying to push people around the cage. Jackson has notoriously absent leg-kick defense. All things being even, I would take Jackson to win and not trust Evans chin. I don't trust Evan's chin still, but the only we evidence we have that Jackson trained well was the UFC program that also convinced people that Dan Hardy could fight GSP. I can't stake anything on Jackson's consistency as there is none. If he comes out and fights to his potential, then he wins going away. I can't guarantee it so I go with someone who I know put in the time. Evans by split decision.

There it is, plug up an oil spill with it.

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The Shin Guardian

I don't know if anyone has noticed but The Shin Guardian has been 100% the best footy site in the lead up to the World Cup. This kind of article is exactly what is missing from...everywhere. There has been a dearth of writing like this since Paul Zimmerman had his stroke. Of course it stands out that there is no copy editor, but what can you do? I also enjoy this article because formation is something that is hard to evaluate on TV but really comes through live. It is also something, I feel, that the USMNT does very well. They usually are diligent at keeping their shape and then going forward out of it. Great piece.

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Randtastic

I am very late with this. Piling on after the whistle and whatnot. Rachel Maddow summed it up pretty well. That is, of course, one of the perks of being a media personality; you get first dibs at summing things up.

I have been an anti-proponent of Libertarianism (look, I won't even spell it right.) Since I attended a presidential debate in college. It wasn't really a presidential debate, I don't think the candidates bother with Alabama, it was a debate by proxy with the candidates representatives on campus standing in for their ideas. The Republicans were a hilarious farce with their man speaking in this crazy, over the top, Southern accent, being every bit Truman Capote and all that that infers. The Libertarians spoke loudly but made no sense, and this is largely the impression I have had of them since then. I remember when being questioned about their environmental policies, they contended that everything could be taken care of after the fact by lawsuits, like if someone threw garbage on your lawn. It was proposed to them that maybe a regulation saying that you can't throw garbage on other people's lawns might stop people in advance. No, they protested, it wouldn't. I have found their ideology to have about this depth since and have largely written them off as a party for teenage boys.

Nothing Rand Paul has said has convinced me otherwise. Libertarianism has become the portable umbrella for those who are too ignorant to read the radar map; they know they can just pop it out whenever they are in trouble. No thought ever seems to run too deep. I won't dwell on what Paul said as it has already been well covered. Here is the question I would have asked him. "Who enforces the rules when a disallowed group tries to do business where they are prohibited?" For example, in Rand Paul's world, private businesses can bar black people from patronizing them. If unwanted parties patronize that business, let's picture a restaurant, and the owner objects but they refuse to leave, do the owners call the police? Then, if the police respond, is it their obligation to kick the people out of the restaurant? Then it is the government endorsing the discrimination. Do Libertarians just not think that far down the road, or do they actually not care. Would it be acceptable to have our police enforcing private discrimination.

Another brief note. Japan has no laws guaranteeing human rights. It is completely legal to say that a group of people aren't allowed to live in a building or eat in a restaurant based on whatever. I have to get approval and have a sponsor to rent an apartment as a foreigner. When I call to inquire about a place to rent I am asked "Where are you from? That might be a problem." I have been refused credit cards and phones on the grounds that I am not Japanese. There are hotels that refuse to deal with non-Japanese. Does Rand Paul find this acceptable? I don't. I think it is just an easy argument for people who are more comfortable with racism and discrimination than they would be with stamping it out.

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Cech it Out

Get it? Haha. Do I care that the US lost 4-2? No. I would have preferred that they win as it would mean that individuals were playing better, but that is all this game really was, a final test of specific individuals to see whether they would make the flight to South Africa or not. I still haven't gotten to watch the game so it is hard for me to say. I will conject that Onyewu's missed header that allowed a goal was probably more an issue with in-game timing as opposed to ability. I am 99% sure that the USMNT training staff measure things like vertical jump when they hold camps at that they have Gooch's records from before and after his injury. If there was a large discrepancy, it would have been noted. The same for his running speed. So when Grant Wahl, who I like very much, remarks that his running looks different, or that his jump might not have recovered, I would consider it only in terms of what the actual numbers say about his physical well being.

All of that being said, the final roster is out.

I am a bit surprised that Ching didn't make it. I have never big a big supporter of his but I recently rewatched some Gold Cup games, and he does do the little things extremely well. He just isn't fast. I do believe in the need for fast players, especially the way the US plays. I would have liked to seen Bedoya in, but it wasn't like he had a right to the spot. Buddle and Gomez are great stories and I think they can both score on the big stage. I am very excited.

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We Are Here

I would like to fully endorse this collaboration between Brahman and Ego-Wrappin which is the best new Japanese music, all be it from old sources, that I have heard in a while. I was in a record store in Yokohama yesterday and had to stop and ask, "What is this?" Rad. It reminds me of Pee. The band, not the liquid.

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Daitokoji

A photo I took in college hung on my wall in Miyazaki the entire time I lived there, no matter the apartment. It became faded and curled and we when I left my window open during a typhoon. It was of a long stone path through a green thicket of bamboo with bamboo railing increasing the effect of distance, focusing it towards a mossy gate. I could remember going there in college. I could remember taking the picture. I remembered the bus stop I waited at changing to the train and I could remember the stone wall outside. I just couldn't remember where I had taken the picture. There was a time when I could but it went away. Then, the other day, it popped into my head.



Daitokuji is a complex of temples in Kita-ku near the more famous Ginkakuji. It was the haunt of the tea master Sen-no-Rikyu who funded its rebuilding. It is also where he comitted seppuku after being commanded to by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. A statue of Rikyu had been erected on the main gate of the temple and Hideyoshi was not happy about having to walk under it.





Daitokuji is a large complex filled with small subtemples. The one that haunted my memory was the Kotoin. The construction of the Kotoin is a prime example of what happens when Japan goes right. It is not that large a temple but it uses all of its space to great effect. The second gate, pictured below open onto a bamboo grove and takes a hard right turn, engulfing one in green.




This hard turn helps construct one of the best views in Kyoto. The picture which lived on my wall.

The distance is misleading. It isn't that long a walk, but everything works to stretch it out in the mind. Perfectly executed. Even the hand rail is exquisite.


The Kotoin was the territory of Rikyu's understudy Sansai who was also a powerful samurai. While in Kitaku, I would have to say that this room is a prime example of Higashiyama Bunka. Correct me if I'm wrong.



Does this hallway qualify as engawa? I think so. I am partial to it.



This is the garden. The stone lamp is said to be a present from Sen-no-Rikyu.


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The colors on this tree seemed striking, not only for being out of season.






This is Sansai, and his Catholic wife Gracia.


Izumo-no-Okuni, the founder of Kabuki who danced on the shoals of the Kamo river because they weren't taxed, is buried here. Her statue is the one by Shijo Ohashi, if you were wondering.

These tea ceremony basins are designed intentionally low so that the participants will have to supplicate themselves. I believe this is the stone that was supposed to have been taken from Korea.

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The Permeable Cone!

This is a pretty F'ing rad idea and just simple enough that it won't be tried. Of course it might not work and this could be attempted right now. But, of course, it is one of those ideas that might work but well, um, we really can't do it. Why? I don't know.

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