Many of you have asked about his blood count and what it means..so, I'll try to explain...and maybe Jarrett could create a bit of a graph so that you can track it. 

When we first went into Emergency on July 11, his blood counts were:                                             

Emergency tests:           White 63        Red 70              Platelets 68

Apparently "normal" is:   White 4-11   Red  125-185   Platelets 150-400

As you know, we need the chemo to blast all those immature white blood cells out of there...and in doing that, it will blast all the other blood cells, too (except the stem cells).  What we are hoping for is remission - which means pretty much 'zero' (Dan's favoritie number) for the WBC.

We have been tracking Dan's blood counts since he went into the Leukemia ward on July 12...so this is what they look like:

Date               WBC            RBC              Platelets           Chemo/Blood

July 12           63               70                 68                    No chemo/Yes blood transfusion

July 13           48               97                 64                    No chemo/Yes blood transfusion

July 14           33.2            94                 56                    No chemo

July 15           28.1            97                 57                    Day 1 chemo - started at 10 pm

July 16           20.1            105               69                    Day 2 Chemo

July 17            6.8             90                61                    Day 3 Chemo

July 18            0.7             80                48                    Day 4 Chemo

July 19            0.4             75                44                    Day 5 Chemo/ Blood transfusion

July 20            0.6             86                31                    Day 6 Chemo/Blood transfusion

July 21            0.6             81                22                    Day 7 Chemo

July 22            0.5             79                18                    Day 8 Chemo endsat 10 pm/Blood trans

July 23            0.4             101              10                   Day 9 Platelets transfusion

July 24            0.2             94                 27                  Day 10

So, what you see is that the WBC are doing exactly what they are supposed to....going down, down, down.  The RBC and the platelets are being helped by transfusions (without which Dan feels no energy or strength).

Day 14 is when Dan will get his next bone marrow biopsy to tell us whether he has remission.  Sometime within the next week, we should know if his sister, Erin, is a match for a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT)...or whether we need to find an 'unrelated' match for a BMT.

Hope this helps keep you up to speed.  Much love, Tanya

*       Wow, he sounds like an amazing, poetic person. Thanks for sharing.
*       Thanks for sharing Myke. I haven't been a blood donor in the past,
but your story has made this very real and I will do my best to donate in
the near future.
*       Jeez Myke.  Great note.  Good thing I have a door on my office now
so no-one can see me tearing up.        All the power to your nephew Dan.
*       You bugger Myke, how the hell am I supposed to work blubbering like
this??!!
*       My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family Myke.  I
definitely will be donating mine and my family's blood!
*       I am finally now able to donate blood again (wasn't able to for some
time because of all the time I had spent in the UK, but now they've changed
the screening criteria).  I will be setting up an appointment to donate
while I'm off on holidays.
*       I am very sorry about your nephews condition-my heart breaks when I
hear this sort of news. As I am on maternity leave I am very flexible and
will book an apt to give blood immediately. Thanks for the extra motivation
to donate.

Love Myke

Michael J. Chutter, RPBio
Provincial Bird Specialist
Wildlife Science Section
Ecosystems Branch, MoE

Lauren's fine just so you all know. We are sick, so we walk around with masks on when we are near her. She CAN'T get sick. Not now.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's post for Photography Friday, I got a few cool shots in the last week or so that I'm looking forward to sharing.

Nabi Muhammad SAW, diutus ke alam dunia untuk menjadi rahmat bagi seluruh alam, beliau sangat mencintai dan menyayangi anak anak yatim, fakir miskin dan orang-orang yang lemah. Beliau sangat mengetahui akan keadaan dan apa yang dirasakan oleh mereka yang hidup dalam keadaan yatim, kemudian disusul dengan ibu, kakek, dan pamannya yang merupakan orang-orang yang sangat dicintainya. Sejak 14 abad yang lalu, beliau menegaskan bahwa “kemiskinan itu sangat mendekati kepada kekufuran”. Telah menjadi suatu kenyataan bahwa betapa banyak orang yang hidup serba kekurangan, anak-anak yang berlatar belakang melakukan suatu perbuatan yang melanggar norma-norma agama dan etika, kezaliman dan kebiadaban dan kurangnya pendidikan bagi mereka. Meraka itu adalah saudara-saudara kita, saudara seiman dan seagama yang sangat membutuhkan bantuan dan pertolongan kita semua.

Selanjutnya sebagai realisasi dari rasa kepedulian kami terhadap mereka anak-anak yaitim piatu dan fakir miskin, dimana mereka akan kami pelihara, dibina, dibimbing dan dididiknya agar kelak menjadi generasi yang berguna bagi Agama, Nusa dan Bangsa.

II. TUJUAN

Pembangunan Gedung Pondok Pesantren dan Panti Asuhan Al-Maulidiyah bertujuan sebagai berikut :

1. Melindungi dan memelihara anak-anak yatim piatu dan fakir miskin agar kelak tidak hidup terlantar.

2. memberikan pendidikan, pengarahan, dan bimbingan agar mereka menjadi anak yang soleh dan salehah berguna bagi Agama, Nusa dan Bangsa.

3. Memberikan santunan kepada mereka anak-anak yatim piatu dan fakir miskin berupa pakaian, makanan, alat-alat/ perlengkapan belajar dan kebutuhan sehari-hari yang lainnya.

4.   Membina mereka agar dapat hidup mandiri di tengah-tengah masyarakat

III. KEGIATAN AKTIVITAS YAYASAN

1. Memberikan bantuan biaya pendidikan mulai tingkat dasar dan seterusnya.

2. Memberikan pengajaran baca tulis A;-Qur’an.

3. Memberikan bimbingan hafalan Al-Qur’an (Hifzul Qur’an).

4. Memberikan bimbingan praktek ibadah.

5. Memberikan pengajian kitab kuning.

6. Memberikan bimbingan latihan pidato.

7. Seni musik Islami.

8. Mangadakan dan mengikuto lomba-lomba kegiatan keagamaan.

9. Mangadakan peringatan hari-hari besar Islam.

10. Mengadakan study tour, ziarah dan tabadur Islam.

11. Majlis Ta’lim Remaja setiap malam.

12. majlis Ta’lim kaum Bapak setiap minggu malam.

13. Dan kegiatan lainnya yang berguna dan bermanfaat.

IV. DATA DAN NAMA ANAK-ANAK YATIM PIATU PONDOK PESANTREN DAN PANTI ASUHAN AL-MAULIDIYAH

Adapun data dari nama anak-anak yatim piatu terlampir.

V. ANGGARAN BIAYA

Adapun anggaran biaya pembangunan Asrama terlampir.

VI. SUMBER DANA

Adapun sumber dana diharapkan diperoleh dari :

1. Pengurus Yayasan Al-Maulidiyah

2. Para Donatur dan Dermawan

3. Usaha dan bantuan yang halal dan tidak mengikat

VII. SUSUNAN PANITIA

Adapun Susunan Panitia terlampir.

SUSUNAN PANITIA PEMBANGUNAN

PON PES – PANTI ASUHAN AL MAULIDIYAH

JATIASIH – KOTA BEKASI

Pelindung                          :

1.   Bapak Camat Jatiasih

2.   Bapak Lurah Jatiasih

Penasehat                          :

1.   Bapak KH Salim Na’i

2. Bapak KH Zaenal Abidin S. Ag

Ketua                                :

Ust. Muhyiddin Al Islamy

Sekrtaris                            :

Abdurohman Thobary

Bendahara                         :

H. Tijan Darori

Seksi dana dan Humas      :

1. Bapak Kanen RW 06

2. Ust. Iskand RW 10

3. Ust. Khaerul Hadist (Villa Mahkota Pesona)

4. Ust. Rudiyani (Villa Jatirasa)

5. Bapak Swadi Spd.

6. Bapak Mulyono

7. Bapak H. Tohir RW 07

8. Ust. Syaaman Asyhari

Seksi Bangunan                :

1. Bapak Marimin

2. Bapak Senan

]]> http://gmnews.wordpress.com/?p=351 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:10:48 +0000 Benjamin Poole http://gmnews.wordpress.com/?p=351 Dan Eggers, producer of GMTV, has just released episode 4 of the series.

The episode can be downloaded here, and a small review on the show can be found below:

This episode includes significant improvements in the graphics and animation department as well as just over 20 minutes worth of great content including: news, reviews, coding tips and more. In comparison to previous episodes, this current show was carried out in much more professional manner and does not include the swearing or unplanned/unrehearsed segments evident in earlier shows.

The only major criticism I can add is the fact that the 'script' Dan was referring to in the News section of the show was far off camera so that Dan's eyes were often looking at the corner of the screen rather than the camera itself. It also sometimes felt as if Dan was reading rather than delivering the news. Other than that, apart from a couple of word fumbles which could have been re-recorded, it was pretty decent quality and is worth a watch.

In addition to the episode, GMTV also revamped their website with a completely new design.

Dan Lok Reveals...

"How To Super-Charge Your

Profits And Grab More

Of The Dollars Fattening The

Wallets Of Your

Competitors - Money That Could

Go Directly Into

Your Bank Account!"

Interview With The World's #1 Website Conversion Expert - Dan Lok

Dan Lok, The World's #1 Website Conversion Expert, knows what good marketing is. That's why today he's providing us with an insider look at one of the most amazing marketing courses available today, Ruthless Marketing System™. Thanks for being here Dan, tell me, why would people find this course interesting?

Dan: Who wouldn't want to get into the mind of a man who created a $70 Million company from his basement… and on a shoestring budget no less! So what is Ruthless Marketing System™ all about?

I'll tell you. There is a man from Kansas named T.J. Rohleder who, in 1988, started his first direct response marketing business. At the time he was broke… so broke he had to sell his van to gather $200 to place his first ad. And that as they say, was the beginning of a beautiful story.

The rest is history. This fellow, this guy with his $200 from the sale of his beat up van, went on within 4 years to make more than $6,600,000.00. Not too shabby.

And since then, he's made over 70 million dollars.

Sounds Exciting Dan. Tell us more…

Dan: Oh, it is. Think about it. This is a fellow who took the plunge into direct response marketing back when it was still the "dark ages" as far as the Internet goes. This fellow takes $200 and turns it into 70 million and then some. But, it isn't easy. There are certain skills, secrets this fellow used.

He used a certain 17-digit combination that everyone has to know if they want to access the millions T.J. tapped into. If you tried to do what he did without this combination, why, you'd spend an entire lifetime and probably still not get it.

But, what if you had that 17-digit combination? Well, that is what The Ruthless Marketing System™ is. It is the secret combination. This system contains all of T.J. Rohleder's cutting-edge strategies that allow anyone to instantly get more money from their market… the tips, tricks and little-known methods he provides are used to generate tens of millions of dollars.

Sounds great Dan. Now, what does something like the Ruthless Marketing System™ include? What makes this course unique?

Dan: The Ruthless Marketing System™ contains almost too much information to include. But, I'll give you a preview.

First, you get 26 audio CDs and a huge batch of support materials that teach you exactly how to dominate and own your market. All anyone has to do is pop the CDs in their player, whether driving around town or on their way to work. What these little guys teach you is how to get more money while doing less work.

Some people get the idea that because of the title "Ruthless Marketing" this course involves lying, cheating or stealing money from people. But that isn't the case. What it does do is teach people how to get aggressive when seeking out money. It teaches people how to get the money they deserve, the money they should have… money that belongs to them, not their competitors.

Ok Dan, sounds good. Can you share with us some specifics about the type of secrets offered in this course?

Dan: Of course, everyone wants to know what the secrets are. That after all, is the key to success isn't it? Well ok. The secrets provided in Ruthless Marketing System™ give customers leverage in three critical areas that ultimately will result in the greatest income opportunities for their business.

What are the three critical areas? I'll tell you. The first area is getting new customers that ultimately will want to give you their money. The next area is getting the maximum number of these customers to come back and spend with you again instead of your competitors. The last area is getting more of your customers to willingly offer you the maximum amount of money they have to offer each and every time they buy from you.

It sounds simple, but really it isn't. Do you know how much time people waste trying to figure out how to get people to fork over money to them? How is this course different? I'll tell you.

It is a no-holds-barred look at more than a decade of the world's greatest secrets, the ones that produced tens of millions of dollars for the author. These secrets remember, created more than 70 million for T.J., and they can for anyone.

Thanks Dan. So what is the real story behind Ruthless Marketing System™?

Dan: Aha! Now I tell you, that is an interesting story. You see, T.J., this guy… now here is a fellow who literally became obsessed with marketing and began spending tens of thousands of dollars every year on books, tapes, seminars and personal consulting sessions with some of the best marketers in the world.

He met with people like Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham, Russ von Hoelscher… are these names ringing any bells? You know, people like Ted Ciuba, Don Bice… the list goes on.

So this guy T.J., he goes and spends 10 years meeting with the cream of the crop, the best of the best, to produce a program loaded with little-known ideas that have the power to transform average people into multi millionaires.

And, it started out as nothing more than a series of private journal entries T.J. wrote to help make a little extra money. Now, he never had a desire to make these journals public. In fact, even T.J. will tell you he never expected to share these ideas even with his closest friends.

Anyway, so he boiled it all down and came up with 1068 killer wealth-making secrets. He then decided to give these private journal entries as gifts to a few close friends… and one of them was yours truly, Dan Lok. Of course, being who I am, I immediately saw the value in the project. I mean after all, it was a condensation of all the best ideas from the best minds in the business.

Anyway, so one of T.J.'s other friends noticed how blunt some of these secrets were, how ruthless. That's actually how he came up with the title, Ruthless Marketing System™.

Sounds exciting Dan. Then what, what changed his mind about printing this material?

Dan: Well, next comes stage two. So T.J. gathers 13 of his closest friends and fellow marketing experts and records a program on just a few of these secrets. He records 19 hours of thoughtful, probing conversations of some of the best of the secrets. And, what everyone concluded were just a few of these little-known secrets have the potential to make anyone huge sums of money.

Now, mind you, these ideas were never intended for anyone but T.J.'s closest friends and family. These are PRIVATE journal entries, principles and formulas. There is no sugarcoating of fluff involved. What you get is brutal reality.

Ruthless Marketing System™

You get ruthless material.

Dan: (laughing). That's right! You get truly ruthless material. T.J. is someone who simply tells it like it is. Now, because of this mind you, Ruthless Marketing System™ isn't for just anyone. If you are a mild-mannered type, well this isn't for you.

So who IS this program designed for Dan?

Dan: Ruthless Marketing System™ is designed for anyone that wants to become a dominant player in his or her market. This program is loaded with "shoot-to-kill" or "take no prisoner" strategies. This program will attract a never-ending supply of eager new customers who will beat down your door and throw money at you.

Can you share with us just a few secrets?

Dan: Sure, why not? Here are just a few. Take secret #33. It will tell you how you can lose millions of dollars in a single month, yet still get super rich. Take another secret, #70. You'll learn a new way to use the "pile-on-technique" to make herds of hungry prospects beg you to take their money. Other secrets include spilling the beans on time-tested ways to create explosive profits in your business. You'll learn how to supercharge your web profits using a simple technique almost no one else is using.

Oh, really you know, there are just too many to list. There are after all, 1068 secrets. Did you know one of T.J.'s secrets is you have to be a little lazy to get super rich?

That sounds too good to be true.

Dan: Exactly. But hey, now here is a guy that makes 70 million. He knows what he is talking about.

Dan, what are some reasons our audience may want to take advantage of the strategies in Ruthless Marketing System™?

Dan: That's a no brainer really. For one, they'll discover how to work fewer hours while making more money than ever before. They'll discover a whole new way to operate their business. And, they'll get their own powerful marketing system designed to build their business in 3 proven ways.

The marketing system will instantly attract new customers; it will allow business owners to resell to the same people repeatedly and will teach business owners how to earn the maximum profits from their base of growing customers. It's that simple.

What else? Oh let's see. When you invest in Ruthless Marketing System™ you get everything you need to create and maintain an automatic marketing system. You also discover how marketing can be the most enjoyable and fulfilling activity in life. What you get you see, is a fill-in-the-blank system. There are no pieces of the puzzle to figure out. All you have to do is take advantage of this complete system, and start realizing maximum profits.

It's not hard either. In fact, it's so easy a child could understand and use it.

Dan, what would you say to someone hesitant to invest in Ruthless Marketing System™?

Dan: I'd say they are not serious about making money. Why? They'll earn back their money the first time they use even one of the secrets in the program. It's THAT good. Seriously.

The breakthroughs presented in this course have the power to set people financially free for life. You'll get all the power you need to realize maximum profits.

Now, these tactics are controversial, how do you think the system got its reputation and name. BUT, if you are serious about earning huge sums of money, then go for it! Seriously, what have you got to lose? The fact that the information contained in Ruthless Marketing System™ is controversial is a benefit… because 99% of most people will be too chicken to invest in it.

That means your competitors probably aren't using any of the secrets this system provides. That means customers have the ability to turn these revolutionary insider secrets into real cash opportunities.

It's a fast, simple and easy way to get the real inside scoop on proven marketing methods. It's not for the faint of heart.

Thanks Dan. Sounds amazing. So if you're brave, invest today. In your future.

That's right.

Thanks again Dan.

For more information about Ruthless Marketing System™ just go to:

Ruthless Marketing System™

Ruthless Marketing System - Product Review:

Ruthless Marketing System Review

If you're truthful with yourself, wouldn't you agree that in your market or niche...

There's a whole lot of money right now - that you're NOT getting!

Think of the difference it would make if not only you could make more sales, but build a larger base of customers who continue to spend money with you again and again, rather than stuff the pockets of the other competitors in your market. But is it really possible?

Yes. But you need to become a "ruthless marketer."

And that's what a new program called "Ruthless Marketing" can do for you.

"Ruthless Marketing" contains 1,068 cutting-edge secrets to instantly generate more money from your market or niche.

These tips, tricks, and little-known techniques are proven to generate tens of millions of dollars. In fact, this collection took over ten years to compile, and these ideas have earned the author over 70 million dollars. Even provided him with a few million dollar months!

So, it isn't at all surprising to know that these private files were meant for his eyes only! And now, once you listen to the 10 hours of brainstorming sessions and have access to these private files,.there's no reason you can't profit big-time by applying these secrets too. But understand this...

Don't let the title fool you... You see, "Ruthless Marketing" is not about lying, cheating, or ripping people off... No, No, No!

You know I would never recommend this to you if it was anything like that. But here's what this program is about. Being very aggressive at getting all the money that could and should be yours... and not your competitors!

The 1069 secrets in "RUTHLESS MARKETING" give you more leverage in all three of the critical areas that will make you the largest amount of money in your business:

Money- Leverage #1- Getting MORE NEW CUSTOMERS to seek you out and want to give you their money.

Money-Leverage #2- Then getting the maximum number of customers to KEEP COMING BACK to spend the largest amount of money with you! (NOT with your competitors!)

Money-Leverage #3- And get more of your customers to GLADLY GIVE YOU the maximum amount of money every time they buy from you.)

These are very aggressive ideas that will instantly transform you into a marketing attack dog!

Ruthless Marketing System™

Tuesday evening, I ended up going on a drive with Dan to get him tickets to see Buckethead. I was able to stop at the Dicks by North Campus and pick up the gear I needed to start swimming again. Little did I know that the pool on South is closed this weekend, and I would be busy during open swim on Wednesday and Thursday, so I won't be able to get swimming until Monday.

I started Wednesday with nutrition at 8AM, and subsequently, I studied for that test for a bit. I was sort of forced to move my bicycle due to construction, so I took it for another ride. The next happening was a general purpose trip to North Campus. I was barely able to get around, since there was so much construction going on there. I took care of a bunch of office things while I was there, stopping for engineering advisement, resume rewriting, degree application and law school admissions help. Now I won't have to go to North again for a while, which is nice.

On the technology front, I ordered the headphone adapter for my phone for $.01 plus $3 shipping from Amazon, which I'm pretty happy about. My camera is scheduled to arrive on Thursday and finally I added twitter to my sidebar over there. It's sort of an interesting mini blog type idea that I can use sort of like Facebook status messages.

I'm somewhat bored and depressed at the moment, I wish I was doing more than the unexciting things listed on this blog.  I'm looking forward to meeting up with Iris again next weekend though.  Off to bed for now though, I guess.

My sister is one of those 'Animal lovers'. She thinks sick animals at the shelter are cute, where as I see them as what they are: sick animals. We've gone through three dogs in my mom's household already. All three of them have been from animal shelters and all three of them have sucked. Go figure. The first one was a maniacal puppy that tore everything up and ran 300 laps around the backyard. We ended up taking that one back, since it almost killed one of our cats once. The second one was old and blind and had to take around five pills every morning. That one went back. Now our current one shits in the house all of the time! That's all it does! Shits in the house!

Okay I'm getting ahead of myself, he does other things. Timmy, the dogs name, "belongs" to my sister. She whined until my mom gave in and let her get another dog and thankfully I was in Tainan, Taiwan for the first months of the dog. About thirty minutes before writing this post I had to clean up the second batch of crap that Timmy brewed this afternoon. Most dogs will whine or scratch on the door when they want to go out, but Timmy just starts shitting. Sometimes you can get him mid-dump and yell at him to go out, but usually It's a sneak attack.

Have you ever been woken up in the morning by a barking dog? I'm sure you have! I like to wake up naturally, or if needed from an alarm that I set myself.

I don't like to be woken up by something like this >>>.

In my honest opinion, dogs are not cute! There are a couple of breeds who are sort of adorable, but aside from them I really don't find a physical attraction to the things.

I brought this all up to a buddy and he brought up the whole companion thing. I guess I'm just not old enough and sad enough, yet, to need a dog to make my day better. Honestly when i have a bad day and come home the dog in my house just pisses me off more. Another kid said It's unconditional love, and that dogs teach us the way we should be as humans. That's bull-shit. Dogs teach me not to give in to moochers who just want me for my house and kibble.

If you were to compare a child to a dog, however, a dog would be less of a fuss and much less expensive. I would understand if some older guy wants something to raise and train but doesn't want the hassle of raising a child... However this all brings me back to my original gripe. We got our dogs from a shelter, and my sister isn't old enough to need a friggin companion as she's not even home enough to take care of him. We can't "raise" my dog as he's already eight years old. What is there to do with him but watch him shit everywhere!?

Now, my other dog we got from a breeder when It was not even a month old. We raised that sucker from birth, so It craps outside... But It barks at everything/one that passes out the window and scratches on the door everytime it wants to go out! Do you know how many times I've been trying to record a song or something and It has interrupted by either scratching at the door or barking?

Cats rule dogs drool, that's all.

You’ve just to got to love Jayne in Dogging Diaries, shaving herself in the bathroom. However, it occurs to me that stubble round a girl’s lips is quite possibly the most unattractive thing ever. And that goes for both sets of lips, haha!

I do occasionally wonder, while I’m watching good ol’ Lolly get her bouche round a girl’s shaven slit, how none of them have shaving rash (obviously this is only a fleeting thought ;) but a thought nonetheless). I’ve always wondered what the preferred ‘method of removal’ for a girl like Carmel Moore is but let’s be fair, even in my lofty employment position that’s a bit tricky to find out!

Personally, I prefer ‘em waxed. You can see exactly what you/they’re doing and it pretty good to look at too!

So, on this folical theme, I’ve decided to try my first poll. Firstly check out my amazing examples and then vote for which pubic hairstyle you like best.

SHAVEN EXAMPLE

WAXED EXAMPLE

TRIMMED EXAMPLE

HAIRY EXAMPLE

Poll: How Hairy Do You Like 'Em?

Part 1: The Mother
Dan, having been home the week before last, was off to a forum on same-sex relationships at Mulgoa on Friday, the 11th. I was keen to go too, so it was agreed we would meet at some point and swap Dan between the cars (or, as I just mis-typed, and felt necessary to mention, the czars). However, this did mean I would need to meet one of his parents. Originally, it was to be his father, but when a dental appointment came, it had to be his mother.
I've met mothers in the past, but this time I knew it was going to be slightly different. For a start, it was prefaced with a discussion between Dan and his mother about condom use. Furthermore, we had had an almost conversation through Dan about, of all things, Buffy. But, first impressions can be tough, and I really really didn't want to come off as anything vaguely negative.
The time for meeting was set for 10.15. I expected the trip to take about 40 minutes, so I left an hour early, though was delayed for 10 minutes or so chatting to my mother. In the end, the trip took 35 minutes, so I arrived exactly at 10am.
At 10.11, I got a message from Dan saying they were running late and would be 15-20 minutes. Oh well, I went into McGlobalisation and bought a crappy coffee.
The meeting itself wasn't much. Dan refuted the idea he bounded out of the car and into my arms, but he did climb out quickly, and I did get a kiss sans tongue, which, as he puts, I was slightly taken aback by it, given we were in the middle of Panther's World Of Entertainment in the 'riff. His mother and I exchanged pleasantries, but time was short, so not much else was said. All in all, I wouldn't say it was a riotous success, but I wouldn't say it went poorly either. No doubt, our paths will cross again, and a conversation might be had!

Part 2: The Aunt and Cousins
Let me just preface this part by saying that I enjoy driving, I really do. Being out there, on a good long road, covering miles, seeing sights. Going to Avoca Beach earlier this year, I went via Woy Woy and around Brisbane Waters, just to experience the trip. Hence, I didn't see a trip up to the Coast as just a ferry for Dan to Lala's, I actually enjoyed the driving experience.
We had decided that when Dan went to Lala's, we'd go up for lunch. A series of events, including The Text Message, had occurred, but we seemed to have moved through them. No matter, I thought, it's just lunch.
We managed to arrive a mere 6 minutes late, which I think it pretty good considering the distance travelled, and I met the cohort as they came in. One thought struck me right away, which I guess I had sort of noticed in the past, and I don't mean to cause offense by this, but they're all so short. Then again, I am 6'1", so I guess they probably thought, "gosh, he's so tall".
It didn't dawn on me how nervous I was, though, until they walked through the door. I was introduced to them all, and we went to sit down for lunch, and I felt like clinging to Dan like a small child.
Lunch itself was nice enough, the company was good, but there was lots of catching up to be done with Dan, so I sort of just threw a line in every so often and kept to myself.
In the end, we found a topic or two of conversation that we could make a decent attempt at (I asked Alex if he was still at school, and when he said he installed AC units, I just didn't quite know where to go on with the conversation). Turns out Bee works for David Jones, so we compared notes on crazy customers. Tia seemed perfectly amiable towards me, but we'll see how that goes after Dan spends the night at her place.
When we got back to my car, I did comment my heart was still racing still, but at post-lunch coffee with Bee and Lala, I got to see how lovely his cousins are, and we chatted away the shop threw us out to close, and I realised what time I would be getting home.
I'm going to get to see Lala, at least, and possibly some of the others, at lunch on Friday when I get Dan back, and this time, I don't feel quite so unsure of myself.

I was in my third host house at the time, a three story villa built to resemble some sort of European style architecture. The house was stacked with unnecessary things such as a home theater, a fridge solely for soda, a bottomless basket of pastries, and a pond. Needless to say this was my favorite house, its competition being my first home which was on the outskirts of the outskirts of Tainan City, or my second house where I slept in an old storage room full up with mosquitoes and no air con. i was playing the piano at the time Jimmy called.

Jimmy: Hey Dan! Motherfuck!

Me: Jimmy? What's up?

Jimmy: Dan! You come with us to Tai Ke pub tonight!

The conversation went on but i had already made up my mind. I was going. I was on a cultural exchange and figured it would be a learning experience. Jimmy was a Tai Ke through and through, but seemed to be a Class 'A' Tai Ke, maybe even the Tai Ke leader. He had some brains, and would come to me sometimes to ask me enlightening questions such as "what does 'giving a shit' mean?". I would teach him and he would take to the phrases quickly. In case you don't know, a 'Tai Ke' is sort of like a Taiwanese version of our red-neck. However, they're really more like a red-neck infused with some Emo and nerd genes. They're just a whole big mix of what-the-fuck. Jimmy taught me later about how tight the Tai Ke like to have their pants, and taught me the word 'Yi Bai', meaning "overdoing it".

I had just gotten a haircut a couple of hours ago and looked like a cue ball. I know a lot of people can rock the crew cut, but I'm just not one of them. The shorter my hair the younger i look, so I think at that time my hair was in the 13-14 year old range. My host dad sent me under some bridge to the cheap barber because he said that's where true men got their hair cut. I was in no place to disagree with him since my other choice was the Japanese hair salon, so i could either look like a P.O.W or a member of Kat-Tun. When i arrived the 'barber' was in the back playing Mahjong with his friends. He looked over at me and grunted, straining to get up as if saying "great, another haircut". I was worried that he would give me a bad cut because I interrupted his game.

For me, getting a haircut is a total nerve-wracking crap-shoot even in America. Add a language barrier and a culture where the average American hairdo looks 'stupid' and I'm pissing in my pants scared. For a straight guy I'm unnaturally fixated on my hair and will fidget for days when i get a bad haircut. What happened with the drunk Mahjong player was that i told him to make my hair a little bit shorter and a little bit thinner, and then he cut it all off. Maybe you know how i feel if you can imagine seeing a very long sideburn, and then no sideburn at all and comparing one side of your head to the other. It makes my heart pound thinking about it. I whined to the guy and he looked as if he were going to slap me upside the head for being a bitch. After he was done and he had a new carpet i grabbed the remote control to the TV which was to the right of me and i switched it on.

"Wait! Wait, hold on!" I said, frantically searching the channels. I needed to find any American show in which a male character had a normal, short haircut. I ended up at Gladiator on HBO and started pointing to Russell Crowes' hair and saying "like that! I need my hair like that!". He was looking at me like i was crazy, and i admit i probably looked insane. He said "It is like that, you just have to wait a few days". I paid him the measley amount he asked for and left, embarrased, breathing heavily and quickly. When i got home my host mom spotted my new hair and laughed.

"I knew your hair would look like that! like schoolboy!" She laughed to herself while walking away, off to her housewife duties. I wore a hood for the next few days. Dealing with a bad haircut is one of the things I'm not so skilled at. The good thing is it got better a few days later.

I have a friend named Cecilia who lives up in Taipei, and she was coming down to Tainan to see the 'May Jam', which at the time was our holy grail. In actuality 'May Jam' was a crappy concert put on in the woods full up with foreigners and whatever Taiwanese bimbos they could recruit to stand and 'Jam' with them. Cecilia, Chance, Kyle and I were all going to go to this concert and rock out for the two nights they were putting it on. However, when we managed to get there it was raining and all in all just seemed like the picture we painted in our minds exceeded the final product. There was a half westerner, half Taiwanese band playing at the time with a horrid riff going and the front woman screaming "Ni Zai Nar!?" with the retort being "Wo zai zhi li deng ni lai!", meaning "Where are you?", "I'm over here!". We promptly left as quickly as someone could come get us, and left Cecilia in the hands of some white guy who claimed to be her friend. Cecilia said it was much better on Sunday night, but the rest of us couldn't seem to come up with anything that would have made it O.K besides the fact that it may not have been raining as hard. The May Jam was passed all redemption. Plus, they put it on in April.

I had to break the news to Jimmy that i wouldn't be staying at the pub for long since i had to pick up Cecilia from the bus station. Jimmy congratulated me on having a girl come to visited me, and then told me It's cool i could just hang out with them beforehand. The rest of the night turned out to be more culture than i thought, a fantastic eye opener to the life and times of a 'Tai Ke'.

To Be Continued in Part Two

Travelling alone can be... well...lonely.

But in my journey's there are a few fellow adventurers like Dan that I came to respect and adore.

You make the journey so much more interesting.

I send my support and love. And just to let you know you ain't travelling this unusual one alone...

Miss you and speak soon.

Al primo livello dell'apprendimento del Taijiquan, la concentrazione deve stare più sulla postura e i movimenti di base (i cosidetti "fondamentali"), al secondo livello l'attenzione deve essere prestata principalmente alla coordinazione del corpo sia interna (Nei Dan) che esterna (Wai Dan) per far fluire liberamente il Qi (energia interna).

Al terzo livello dell'apprendimento, la "Yi" (l'intenzione cosciente) sarà l'elemento a cui bisognerà prestare maggiore attenzione.

E' a questo punto che i movimenti dovranno trasformarsi e passare dai "cerchi grandi" ai "cerchi medi" e, infine ai "cerchi piccoli". Per capire meglio questi concetti bisognerà approfondire bene la differenza tra movimento "esterno" e "interno". Infatti, si definisce la grandezza del cerchio in base all'esternalità del movimento o meno e, di conseguenza, in base all'energia interna presente. Un cerchio grande sarà un movimento esterno con poca energia interna, un cerchio piccolo sarà un movimento molto interno con poca energia esterna.

Secondo uno dei classici del Taijiquan: 

"La mente genera l'intenzione,
l'intenzione guida il Qi
e il Qi muove l'intero corpo"

Le abilità che bisogna aver raggiunto una volta arrivati al terzo livello del Gong Fu sono le seguenti:

• Buona coordinazione tra movimenti esterni e interni
• Ritmicità dei movimenti fluida e senza interruzioni e/o forzature
• Sincronizzazione delle azioni con il respiro, forzandolo attraverso "l'intenzione" ma in maniera naturale.

Riguardo il respiro, la corretta coordinazione di quest'ultimo può portare ad una capacità di "percezione di se" molto profonda, aiutando a correggersi qualora ci fosse qualcosa di scorretto nella propria pratica.

E' questo un livello della conoscenza del Taijiquan in cui si può andare avanti da soli, senza avere obbligatoriamente un maestro al proprio fianco. Non si corre più il rischio di andare fuori strada, ma è necessario comunque prestare attenzione a se stessi. E' in questa fase che, forse per la prima volta, si raggiunge veramente l'integrazione tra corpo e mente.

La migliore delle scelte da fare è, sicuramente, quella di praticare un duro e continuo allenamento, cercando sempre di tenere a mente il fatto che ancora (e forse mai, .ndt) non si è arrivati alla completa conoscenza dell'arte del Taijiquan ma lunga ancora è la strada da seguire.

"Quando esegui il Taijiquan che esso sia perfetto;
non consentire alcuna imperfezione.
La forma deve essere omogenea, senza irregolarità,
e continua, senza che vi sia spazio per alcuna interruzione.

Nella forma lunga il corpo deve muoversi
come lo scorrere cadenzato dell'acqua di un fiume
o come l'avvicendarsi delle onde nell'oceano."

Finalmente sarà possibile comprendere le applicazioni marziali della forma e avanzare nello studio del Tui Shou. Nella pratica della spinta con le mani (Tui Shou appunto) lo studente sarà adesso in grado, e contrariamente a prima, di cambiare le proprie azioni in base a quelle dell'avversario.

A questo livello dell'apprendimento si potrà iniziare anche lo studio del "Fa Jing", ovvero le emissioni esplosive di forza, e lo studio delle armi fondamentali del Taijiquan quali spada (Jian), sciabola (dao), lancia (qiang) e alabarda (da dao).

Secondo la teoria di Yin e Yang, in questo momento, il praticante possiede un buon 30% di Yin contro il 70% di Yang.

Yesterday I took my long, long trip through stormy New York State. The train was packed until around Syracuse, and I had annoying kids acting like the seat in front of me was a jungle gym the entire time. I didn't really have enough things to keep me busy over the course of the trip. I did however get a chance to give a good listen to the Mindless Self Indulgence discography on my iPod. It turns out that MSI is actually a pretty good band. Why didn't I know this already? I particularly enjoy the songs of theirs that involve sex, violence or drugs.

Additionally, I was able to make further progress into my current book, The New Kings of Non Fiction, that I mentioned in a post here a while back. As is to be expected with a compilation book like this, my interest in the stories varies greatly from essay to essay. Most of the stories are interesting reads, but a few of them have been long, dull or both. Of particular enjoyment to me was a story by Susan Orlean entitled "American Man Age Ten" which was written in 1992. She spends a few weeks observing the psyche and interests of a random 10 year old boy. She presented her points in a funny, unique way and it was somewhat nostalgic to look at what a child a similar age to what I was at the time looked like to adults around me. There was also a piece by Lawrence Weschler about an Indian fellow who discovers a struggling artist in NYC and spends his time and travels promoting him to almost-stardom. I actually didn't finish it, because it meandered all over the place and was generally filled with uninteresting people doing uninteresting things. The book overall is very good however, and I enjoy that the authors' perspectives are not only there, but emphasized in the articles. It's an interesting way to look at what in most cases could be somewhat dry reporting.

Today I went to see The Dark Knight with Dan. He'd already seen it, but was willing to see it again in IMAX. Too bad for him, since by the time we got to the theatre, all IMAX showings for the night were sold out. There's not much to say about the move that I'm sure hasn't been said already. Heath Ledger really does steal the show, there's a couple of moments in the movie that are just delectable. He's got some amazing scenes, and the Joker's character is written perfectly. There's a couple of moments in the movie where moral dilemmas and character motives are presented that really sell the film as more than just a comic book movie. I'm going to tell everyone that I saw this in IMAX just because I want to sound special. How would they know? I've even got a picture of the theatre.

NEWSFLASH:  The men want to meet, too, on Wednesday evening from 7 to 9:30 pm...so, Rocky is hosting the men at our place at the same time.   At the end of our respective events, the men and women are getting together on the grassy knoll outside our place for one combined visualization and prayer.  Men (young and older!), if you'd like to attend, please email Dan's cousin, Paul Dowler, at pauldowler@gmail.com.  He will send you the infomation and directions if you have not been to our place before,.  Or email Rocky at rocky@tritonmarine.com

Love, Tanya

Dearest friends of mine & Dan’s,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your beautiful offers of support, blood, love & prayers.  How rich we are to have you in our lives…it’s just been unbelievable.

As most of you know by now, my son Dan is 28 years old and was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) one short week ago.  Things have moved incredibly quickly from there…so I’ll give you a brief synopsis of events since then.

It was determined that over 90% of his bone marrow was by then comprised of immature white blood cells that were not doing their job and were in fact killing all the other blood cells…it was a pretty extreme situation.  This type of Leukemia is not often found in people of Dan’s age.   At first, we thought Dan would need one round of chemo in the hospital (a stay of one month) followed by 3 or 4 rounds of chemo outside the hospital…over a period of some 6 months.  History has shown that one round of chemo may get people into remission, but it won’t keep them there.  It needs 3 or 4 more rounds.  When you are in remission, you have to be super careful not to get an infection as you have no immune system.  But we were ready for that…

However, recent chromosomal tests showed that Dan’s AML is more extreme and calls for more immediate measures.

Dan is in the Leukemia ward of the Vancouver General Hospital (a fantastic facility with wonderful doctors and nurses) undergoing his first round of chemotherapy (‘mothers milk of the universe’, as he likes to refer to it…and he means it).  He is now on Day 4 of chemo.  On Day 7 the chemo stops but, because it’s effect is accumulative, the side effects will continue for a couple more weeks.  . We are praying hard for two things to happen:

1. On Day 14, they take a bone marrow biopsy.  What we want to see is that the chemo has blasted all of those millions & billions of immature white blood cells out of there…and that Dan is in remission.  If this has not happened, he will have to take more chemo (called “Rescue” chemo) to get him to remission.  He should not have a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) if he is not in remission…as he just has one chance for the BMT.

1. The Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) will hopefully give him the healthy blood cells that he needs.  His direct sibling (sister, Erin) is his best chance for a BMT…a 25% possibility of a match.  If she is not a match, he will have to wait for a non-related match (apparently even half-siblings are no more likely a match than potential non-related donors)…which could come from anywhere in the world…from people who have signed up in the BMT registry and been tested…so their bone marrow can be matched to those in need.  Because he is a caucasian male, he has a high (70 to 80%) chance of eventually finding a match…but of course, it takes a while to find the match and make the arrangements for them to do the BMT….and in the meantime, he has to be kept in remission… which is all more problematic.

· By the way, many of you have asked about becoming a match for Dan…  The only thing you can do is go through the formality of registering and becoming a donor.  You have to be under the age of 60.  If you are a match, it could be for anyone, not just Dan…so please consider this carefully…but I know some of you are still going to do this…which is unbelievably emotional for Dan to hear

3.  There are other things that can be done (we are very interested in recent stem cell transplant developments for example)

Well that is enough of an update for now…but suffice it to say, this is a really critical time for Dan and we need your most powerful prayers for two things:

1. Remission by Day 14

2. His sister, Erin, being a BMT match

Women's Potluck & Prayers for Dan Wednesday

July 23rd, 2008 @ 6:30 pm

at Wheelhouse Square

Because this is such a critical time – leading up to Day 14, and because so many of you have asked what you can do, and because so many of us believe so deeply in the power of love, prayer, healing, visualization…. dear friends Mary, Charlotte, Claudette and Jane are helping to organize a “womens evening of potluck and prayers” for my son, Dan, on Wednesday, July 23^rd in an “events” room in our complex (outside there is a grassy knoll that we may move to if it is a beautiful evening).   Many of us have seen group prayers work powerfully in the past, and so we would love you to come to this small gathering to meet and eat together – and to then – in our own beautiful ways, to ask for God’s grace in healing Dan - and pray for Dan together….

4 days is not long to be able to pull this together, so we are really trying to keep it simple.  If you can make it, Mary and Charlotte will take your RSVPs, organize you as to what to bring, food-wise…which we hope to keep very simple, and send you directions as to where to come.   I repeat, we are trying to keep this very simple…so, please dress casually, and bring good, but simple food…that is easy to dish out!  Some of you live away from Vancouver and is is also summertime…so if you can’t be with us, could you pray at the very time the rest of us are gathering to pray for Dan…to give him the most powerful help possible?

The organizing group will also be making the arrangements around the “prayers”.  As you all come from a variety of spiritual back-grounds and beliefs, we really want to share in that beauty and diversity.  If you have a poem, a visualization, a prayer, a teaching, a belief, a song, a story…or something you particularly want to share, please do.  If not, just come to participate and add your voice & healing love to our combined power in praying for Dan.

Dan’s cousin, Melanie; his step-sister, Nan; and his friend since birth, Sarah have offered to help reach the many younger women friends of Dan…so that, young and older, we can be together to pray for Dan….

If you see a name missing here, who you know would want to participate, please forward the invitation to that person…so that we can be sure of reaching everyone who’s emails we have missed.

As I’m spending as much time as possible with Dan and various visiting relatives right now, I would ask that you communicate with one of the organizing group “cc’d” on this email with any questions you have.

Please make sure to RSVP to both Charlotte (censm@telus.net) and Mary (maryirenes@shaw.ca)

Bless you all for your phone calls, emails, support, prayers and love to date.  It has been overwhelming and means the world to us...I just can’t tell you how much.

Love, Tanya

Dan Chisu e realizatorul emisiunii "Mananc deci exist" la Deontologia  TV. El a scris  doua carti de bucate si una despre gagicile din viata lui.

Salutam noua promisiune a cinematografiei romanesti .

Pazea Tarantino ca vine !!!

Well, folks, as mentioned briefly in a previous posting, your delightful hosts will be heading out this week to partake in Geek Mecca, aka, the International Comic Con.

Yes, EG and OG, like hundreds of thousands of other geeks, will put down our D&D sourcebooks and Klingon dictionaries, make our way through the labyrinth of 7 foot stacks of comics and trades, venture forth out of our basements (The Light! The Light! It burns!!!), and travel forth unto San Diego, all for the chance to scowl at Dan Didio and Joe Quesada in person!

Now, depending on our hotel's wireless capabilities, we will be trying to post a bit each day about our adventures while at the largest gathering of stereotypes in the world. So, be sure to check in, and with any luck, you can revel in all the nerdy goodness vicariously through us!!!