Color of my mind

NAGA tournament

2006-11-07T22:15:00.000-05:00

This weekend I participated in my first ever submission grappling tournament in Fairfield, CT. There were probably about 20 of us from Team Savage (www.savagefighter.com) that attended, although some just came to support and not to fight. All and all the day was fantastic, and the team really came together as a family.

For myself, the day was entirely hectic. I went to the tournament, then left to go take a police agility test, then went right back to the tournament and jumped in to compete after running a mile and a half. My stress and anxiety level was just through the roof, so much so that I was tired as even as I was stepping onto the mat for the first time. By 30 seconds into the first fight, I was completely exhausted, and my arms felt like someone pressure-pumped jello into my arms.

So here are my fights for your viewing pleasure. I added subtitles to explain when we were awarded points so hopefully someone that isn't familiar with the sport can understand whats going on. Basically in this game you win by points at the end of the round, or a submission. Submissions overrule points. If it is tied at the end of the round, there is an overtime round of one minute. Matches last four minutes.

At the end of the day I ended taking third place in my division.

This first fight is a little boring, because I spend a lot of time playing defensively, but there is a cool takedown in the first 30 seconds.

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My second fight is pretty self-explanatory. Enjoy.

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Alright, this one I lose. I didn't bother with keeping track of score because not only did he submit me, and basically dominated the entire fight. Enjoy my defeat...

This is my last fight and it's a good thing, cause I'm exhausted. Watch for the subtitles because there is a lot of back and forth scoring here; it's actually a really interesting fight.

Not bad for the first time out!

Savage

2006-10-13T11:15:00.000-05:00

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A nasty throw

The Age of the Earth

2006-08-27T09:25:00.000-05:00

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Test

Age of the Earth Seminar- By Dr. Kent Hovind

2006-08-26T19:50:00.000-05:00

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In my previous post, I talked about literal scientific evidence that indicates God exists and created this earth and all that is in it. If your curious, this video is a good place to start. It is a seminar from Dr. Kent Hovind where he discusses the evidence of the impossibility that the earth is billions of years old, and that the timeline in the Bible is scientifically supported. This seminar will absolutely blow your mind. The video isn't great, but it's the best I could do. If your going to watch it all the way through, get comfy...it's about 2 hours. But I promise you won't be disappointed, and it could forever change how you view the world, society, and yourself.

I know if vloggerland this video is way too long, but consider that this could be the most important topic that you ever contemplate. Think about it. If the Bible is literally accurate and true, what does that mean for us?

Giving scientific evidence to prove a literal six-day creation, Dr. Kent Hovind refutes evolution's proposition that the earth has evolved over billions of years. The first of seven in the seminar series, The Age of the Earth, uncovers the follies of the Big Bang theory as well as exposing the religious beliefs of evolution.
(Discription from http://www.drdino.com/)

This video was originally shared on blip.tv by bluckii with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

Is there a God?

2006-08-11T21:20:00.000-05:00

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This is my very first vlog where I am talking into the camera, and let me tell you it was quite an experience. I must have attempted my speech 10 times before I could actually get rolling on it. Hopefully it will get easier with time. This vlog is in response to Anthony's project, ConversationGod.com. The postings on the site thus far ask several questions about the big "why(s)" of life. Why is there suffering? Why are specific actions considered sin? Why do bad things happen to good people? In my own way, I attempt to address those issues - or at least direct them in certain directions. It's a little long, but it was difficult to condense 20+ years of thoughts, feelings, and experiences into a short monologue. Running time 12:57.

2006-07-26T23:34:00.000-05:00

"The Savage" gets caught

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This is one of those funny moments that just happened to get captured on permenant record that for one person is disconcerting, and for the other - it is his moment of glory.

Here, tough-as-nails MMA (mixed martial arts) instructor Randy "The Savage" Rowe gets caught sleeping by his student, Rich.

2006-07-11T06:59:00.000-05:00

Bored at home

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Once you have kids, ya gotta be creative sometimes to entertain yourself...

2006-06-22T16:48:00.000-05:00

Getting Old

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Well, it finally happened. We crossed the threshold from our youth...not only are we parents, but we bought *shudder* a mini-van. God help us. If anyone has any ideas as to how to make this thing a little cooler, please share.

2006-06-14T08:43:00.000-05:00

LE Firearms training

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An insight into police firearms training...

2006-06-12T08:03:00.000-05:00

Near U

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An adorable video of the twins...

Back from Academy!!!

2006-02-18T08:26:00.000-05:00

Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinally back! Man I swear I was gone a year. All in all it was a good experience; the training was OK, but the knowledge I gained from the people I met from around the country filled any gaps. My fondest memories will be from all the new places that I got a chance to visit...

One of the first place we went to was Memphis, and our first stop was Graceland. Here is a picture of Elvis' home. I was told that the 2nd floor window in the center is the bathroom where he died.

Unfortunately, they don't allow you to take flash photography inside, so a bunch of my pics just didn't come out. This one you can kind of see, and it was really cool. It was a racquetball court, but it was turned into a display of gold records and some of his costumes.

Elvis' Kenpo gi.

Elvis' grave, along with his parents, still-born twin brother, and grandmother...all buried behind the house in the "reflection garden" (I think that's what it was called.)

The famous gates...the whole sidewalk and brick wall behind me are covered in people's various writings in memory of Elvis.

Next we went to see the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

The balcony on the upper floor behind me is where it happened, and there is a monument to my right. We were there the day before MLK day, so there were quite a few people there, and some vendors setting up for what looked like a big event the following day. Attached to the hotel is now a civil rights museum, and part of that museum extends into the hotel, and takes you into the room he was staying in.

It's hard to see, but this is Beale St., which looks similar to Bourbon St. in New Orleans. A lot of neon lights and bars. The big light on the right is BB King's house of blues, where I hear he still frequents.

Another weekend another trip!! I had to take a picture of this sign because i've never been in Texas and I was very excited to be there. This is officially the farthest west I have ever traveled.

The Grassy Knoll in Dallas, TX!! Going to Dealey Plaza may just have been the highlight of the whole experience. To stand in that spot was amazing. It looks absolutely no different today than it did in 1963. However, the whole area in person is a lot smaller than it seems when watching the film. You get a real sense of how vulnerable the President was in this spot.

In the middle of those trees is the corner of the picket fence, where several people ran towards after hearing gunfire from that area. There's a famous picture taken of the people, including a cop, running towards that fence, and I tried to take the picture from that spot far as I could tell.

Behind the fence looking towards the road. It's hard to see, but there are two "X"s in the road marking the location of the two shots.

On this side of the fence were many writings of mourners and such. Very moving to see so much concern so long after it's occurence.

"Seek Truth" "Don't let them fool you twice America; when will they stop killing our prophets?" "May the truth be heard once and for all" "God Bless You JFK"

The book depository is the far left building. The window Oswald supposedly shot from is all the way to the right, one floor down.

View off of a cliff right behind the academy. I really enjoyed this spot because it was close to "home" and I tried to go running there daily. We didn't have any transportation during the week, but here I could still kind of "get away."

Same spot...

A training exercise. The guy on the far left is one of the instructors, next going right is an officer simulating a suicidal subject (he's cutting his wrist). By the police car is the officer, and to the right of him is another instructor.

My home away from home.

Academy continued...

2006-02-17T07:44:00.000-05:00

A view of the booth at the shooting range. This range is relatively new and comes with all the bells and whistles including barricades and emergency lights that simulate a nighttime scene.

"The Milk Bottle" a.k.a "The Q"

Killing time between relays by playing some poker. I spoke with a buddy of mine from home during this week and told him that all we were doing was shooting and playing poker. He said "Oh my God, your in paradise!"

My 3 kids.

More traveling! Pinnacle Mountain west of Little Rock. Very, very cool hike. It was very rocky at the top, but that made for great views 360.

It was a pretty steep climb...I brought a buddy of mine who had never really been on a good hike, and he was cursing me the whole way up.

Again, the views were amazing at the top.

Middle of January and it was at least 60 and just a gorgeous day.

You could actually look down on hawks circling from here. It was awesome.

The Clinton Library. Kind of overrated if you ask me. It had a lot of displays on issues the President addressed during his term. I thought for sure that they would have the blue dress on display, but all I found was a tiny write-up about the size of an index card..."Oh yeah, by the way, that whole impeachment thing."

Clinton Ave. in downtown Little Rock. It was actually really cool; a lot better than I expected. This strip had a lot of great clubs, bars, and restaurants. And it had these cool street cars.

The riverfront. I couldn't fit the whole sign in the picture, so all I got was "Rock"

Another Friday night...and that's all I'm gonna say about that.

Ahhhhh good times were had by all...

Judo

2005-12-04T17:08:00.000-05:00

Here is a sampling of some judo throws. I currently train in Jujitsu, however judo throws make for some really cool pics. Ok, here's my shameless plug...if anyone living in north/central CT is interested in the martial arts, go to Junanshin.com or Bushidojujitsuacademy.com

Many thanks to Terry for letting me throw him. I felt bad for him, so I let him throw me later, although he knows that he could never throw me unless I let him.

Just kidding, Terry.

Some Kata-guruma action here.

This one is Toemoe-nage, which translates to "foot in undesirable location". Don't quote me on that, though.

Terry's Revenge

FEEL HIS WRATH GRRRRRRRRR!!!

Fortunately, this isn't a throw, or else I would be in big trouble. This is actually a training exercise to help one learn to fall without hurting himself. As you can see, with some practice, you can get some pretty good height.

Thanks to Brooke for taking these pictures.

Welcome to Blogspot...Thanks!

2005-12-04T16:53:00.000-05:00

Howdy all...I'm not quite sure how to start this as I don't know who may end up reading this...more than likely it will be friends and family, but who knows? Maybe others drifting around out there may stop in...

Right now, you could call this a work in progress; I plan on posting some pictures soon (if not tonight), and in the nearby future i'd like to start adding video. As soon as I can figure out the process.

Sorry I can't come up with anything more; cleverness was never my strong point. Check back soon...