Category: Culture

  • Somebody That I Used To Know

    Somebody That I Used To Know lyrics

    Now and then I think of when we were together
    Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
    Told myself that you were right for me
    But felt so lonely in your company
    But that was love and it’s an ache I still remember

    You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
    Like resignation to the end
    Always the end
    So when we found that we could not make sense
    Well you said that we would still be friends
    But I’ll admit that I was glad that it was over

    But you didn’t have to cut me off
    Make out like it never happened
    And that we were nothing
    And I don’t even need your love
    But you treat me like a stranger
    And that feels so rough
    You didn’t have to stoop so low
    Have your friends collect your records
    And then change your number
    I guess that I don’t need that though
    Now you’re just somebody that I used to know

    Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
    But had me believing it was always something that I’d done
    And I don’t wanna live that way
    Reading into every word you say
    You said that you could let it go
    And I wouldn’t catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know…

    But you didn’t have to cut me off
    Make out like it never happened
    And that we were nothing
    And I don’t even need your love
    But you treat me like a stranger
    And that feels so rough
    You didn’t have to stoop so low
    Have your friends collect your records
    And then change your number
    I guess that I don’t need that though
    Now you’re just somebody that I used to know

    I used to know
    That I used to know

  • Mac OS X Chess Ressources

    It seems like all the cool chess programs and databases are developed for windows only. Is there really no Mac OS Chess Programs and Chess Databases available?

    I have compiled a basic list of free Mac OS Chess Ressources:

    Chess Database: Scid: A Free Chess Database App

    Chess Engines:
    Critter
    Stockfish
    Crafty ( port install crafty MacPorts )

    Chess engines wikipedia.org

    Chess Apps
    xboard – X graphical user interface for chess (port install xboard, see MacPorts – requires X11)

    Chess Games
    The Week in Chess TWIC

    Chess Server
    FICS – free internet chess server

  • A journey towards liberation

    Vipassana Documentary from India

    Personally I took a 10 day intensive Vipassana meditation course in Nepeal just after New Year 2012. 10-11 hours of meditation every day, keeping the buddhist precepts of a strictly vegetarian diet, refraining from sexual activity and keeping to silence and non communication. As many of the prisoners in the movie “Doing Time, Doing Vipassana” I had no real prior experience with meditation.

    The first 2-3 days was a refined form of physical and mental torture as my body and mind constantly rebelled against the rigorous training. After the first day and second day I felt like screaming and running away. Actually it was only by the kind and loving intervention of one the foreign volunteers at Dharmashringa that I managed to overcome my desperation. I remember thinking I would have preferred going to a Nepalese jail instead.

    As the days went on my struggling body and mind started to settle by themselves. I began a profound journey towards my self – a journey that trancends language! First everyday problems and worries started to wane, then old stuff started to emerge and go from the depths of my mind together with injuries and bad habits of my body. Then something happened. I adjusted to the situation.

    Not all was perfect or even good – but somehow even the most troublesome moments was okay! An immense presence slowly manifested it self.

    For me it was a life altering experience. To this day I am not sure that I would do it again. But I will recommend this journey towards liberation to all!

    I am still struggling in this very moment: Innica Innica – maintaining equanimity!

    Links:
    Vipassanā wikipedia.org
    Nepal Vipassana Center Dharmashringa www.np.dhamma.org
    Vipassana i Norden Dhamma Sobhana
    www.pariyatti.org Vipassana Shop

    The Vipasana Meditation Technique neigong.net

    Videos:
    Doing Time, Doing Vipassana 1/4
    Doing Time, Doing Vipassana 2/4
    Doing Time, Doing Vipassana 3/4
    Doing Time, Doing Vipassana 4/4

    Books:
    The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S.N. Goenka
    Discourse Summaries: Talks from a Ten-day Course in Vipassana Meditation

  • The Lost Axe

    Once upon a time there was a craftsman who lost his Axe. He thought hard, and finally suspected his neighbor of stealing it. When he saw his neighbor walking, he thought that he walked like an Axe thief. When he meet his neighbor, the others countenance was just like that of an Axe thief, and when he saw him in conversation with others, he even talked like an Axe thief.

    Not long afterward, the craftsman found his Axe where he had mislaid it. Strangely enough, from that time on, his neighbor ceased to walk, look and talk like an Axe Thief.

    Reference:A Taoist Miscellany p. 67

  • I am home

    I have arrived
    I am home
    in the here
    in the now
    I am Solid
    I am free
    in the Ultimate
    I dwell

    Thich Nhat Hanh

    Reference:
    The Long Road Turns to Joy: Guide to Walking Meditation

  • The Story of Stuff

    Reference: The Story of Stuff www.storyofstuff.com

  • Watsu – Water Shiatsu

    Origins of Watsu

    Watsu® (Water Shiatsu) began in 1980 in the warm pool at Harbin Hot Springs when Harold Dull started floating people while applying the stretches and principles of the Zen Shiatsu he had studied in Japan. In the Orient, stretching as a way to open channels through which our Chi energy flows is even older than acupuncture. Stretching strengthens muscle and increases flexibility. Warm water, which many associate with the body’s deepest states of waking relaxation, is the ideal medium. The support of water takes weight off the vertebrae and allows the spine to be moved in ways impossible on land. Gentle, gradual twists and pulls relieve the pressure a rigid spine places on nerves and helps undo any dysfunctioning this pressure can cause to the organs serviced by those nerves. The Watsu receiver experiences greater flexibility and freedom. During Watsu a range of emotions can come up and be released into the process of continuous flow. This reprograms receivers to face life out of the water with greater equanimity and flexibility.

    Another principle of Zen Shiatsu, that of connecting with the breath, takes on a new dimension in Watsu. On land, the breathing is coordinated with leaning into points. In water, our most basic move is the Water Breath Dance, in which we float someone in our arms and let them sink a little as they breathe out and let the water lift us as we both breathe in. Repeated over and over at the beginning of a Watsu, this creates a connection that can be carried into all the stretches and moves. This Water Breath Dance, and its stillness, is returned to throughout the session.

    Experiencing both giving and receiving this most nurturing form of bodywork can help heal whatever wounds of separation we carry and renew in us our sense of connection and oneness with others. For this reason Watsu is Rebonding Therapy. Watsu is used around the world by professional bodyworkers, physical therapists, psychologists, as well as the general public.

    Watsu, and the way it is taught, has evolved over the years. In the beginning the focus was primarily on stretching. With the Waterbreath Dance and the greater connection of moves to the breath, a more meditative stillness entered in. The use of flotation devices on legs that would otherwise sink has widened the possibilities and the ease of a Watsu.

    Once a practitioner has reached the level of presence and connection that the carefully evolved Watsu Forms instill, they are taught and encouraged to explore the creative potential in Watsu Free Flow.

    Reference: www.watsu.com

  • Der blinde Knabe

    An allen Türen blieb der blinde Knabe,
    auf den der Mutter bleiche Schönheit schien,
    und sang das Lied, das ihm sein Leid verliehn:
    “Oh hab mich lieb, weil ich den Himmel habe.”
    Und alle weinten über ihn.

    An allen Türen blieb der blinde Knabe.

    Die Mutter aber zog ihn leise mit;
    weil sie die andern alle weinen schaute.
    Er aber, der nicht wußte, wie sie litt,
    und nur noch tiefer seinem Dunkel traute,
    sang: “Alles Leben ist in meiner Laute.”

    Die Mutter aber zog ihn leise mit.

    So trug er seine Lieder durch das Land.
    Und als ein Greis ihn fragte, was sie deuten,
    da schwieg er, und auf seiner Stirne stand:
    Es sind die Funken, die die Stürme streuten,
    doch einmal werd ich breit sein wie ein Brand.

    So trug er seine Lieder durch das Land.

    Und allen Kindern kam ein Traurigsein.
    Sie mußten immer an den Blinden denken
    und wollten etwas seiner Armut weihn;
    er nahm sie lächelnd an den Handgelenken
    und sang: “Ich selbst bin kommen euch beschenken.”

    Und allen Kindern kam ein Traurigsein.

    Und alle Mädchen wurden blaß und bang.
    Und waren wie die Mutter dieses Knaben,
    der immer noch in ihren Nächten sang.
    Und fürchteten: wir werden Kinder haben, –
    und alle Mütter waren krank..

    Da wurden ihre Wünsche wie ein Wort
    und flatterten wie Schwalben um die Eine,
    die mit dem Blinden zog von Ort zu Ort:
    “Maria, du Reine,
    sieh, wie ich weine.
    Und es ist seine
    Schuld. In die Haine
    führ ihn fort!”

    Bei allen Bäumen blieb der blinde Knabe,
    auf den der Mutter müde Schönheit schien,
    und sang das Lied, das ihm sein Leid verliehn:
    “Oh hab mich lieb, weil ich den Himmel habe -”
    Und alle blühten über ihm.

    Links:
    Rainer Marie Rilke wikipedia.org

  • Play Ball

    Other play ball links:
    Kim Strother’s Swiss Ball Workout youtube.com

    Any suggestions?

  • I the consumer

    George Carlin talks about crazy fat people