It's Time for Some Testosterone

As my students and some of my friends know, I'm a big MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fan.

I did Tae Kwon Do in high school and competed in Judo in college, so I can appreciate a lot of the technical aspects. Thanks to the Judo, I particularly enjoy what happens on the ground in the submission game. In fact, in my first competition, I got chocked unconscious, which was pretty cool. It wasn't the last time, either - when we'd visit one dojo, there was a tradition that every new guy had to get choked out - kind of an initiation rite.

I gave up the judo fairly quickly, because I don;t have the body for it - have a tendency to get joint injuries. In the space of 2 years, I got a mildly separated shoulder, a torn rotator cuff, two dislocated elbows, and a severely bruised knee. To add insult to injury, since I was in the lightest weight class (131 lbs - those were the days, and are long gone), I ended up competing against kids who were 10-15 pounds lighter but had been doing judo since they were 6. In fact, one of the shoulder injuries was given to me in practice by a 14 year old, 116 pound girl who threw me around like a rag doll (in fairness, she was junior national champ the year before).

In any event, it looks like tonight's card will be a great one - the Silva/Belfort fight should provide some real fireworks, the Franklin/Griffin one should be a real crowd pleaser, and the Jones/Bader is another one I've been looking forward to.

Best of all, my local Applebee's shows the fights for free. So for the cost of getting it on cable pay-per-view, I get beer and munchies and still come out ahead.

That D@!* Musical Swing (Punisher Version)

Like many new parents, we use a battery-powered swing to help the Unknown Baby Boy fall asleep for his naps. Our model comes with a musical option that plays an assortment of tunes. They range from "Ode to Joy" to some pretty irritating, calliope-sounding music that could be easily be heard at the circus. But one song in particular makes me smile every time I hear it.

The Unknown Wife asked why, so I showed her this clip (I just linked it because embedding was disabled for this clip). Caution - turn the sound down, because it cuts to a pretty loud, discordant piece near the end.

The Unknown Wife said she'll never hear that tune again without seeing this clip in her mind's eye.

Mission accomplished - my work here is done.

Rediscovering Late Night TV

The Unknown Wife is a morning person, and I'm a night owl. So, I usually get the later feedings for the Unknown Baby Boy. He gets fed around 8 or 9, and then I hang out until his next feeding (sometime between 11 and 1). The little guy usually sleep for 4 hours, and the Unknown Wife takes the next feeding. Since she drops off around 9, she gets a good 6-7 hour uninterrupted sleep stretch.

Because of the schedule, I'm up until 12 or 1 most nights. I do a little work on the computer (o.k., a lot of web-surfing and a little work, but let's not quibble). But I've also gotten reacquainted with late-night television. Between Deadliest Warrior, the UFC (and WEC) and 1,000 Ways To Die, (thank you, Spike TV) I get my guy stuff out of the way while Unknown Wife is already asleep.

Who knows - maybe it'll have a subliminal effect on Unknown Baby Boy.