The will expressed

Sorry for the extra long hiatus. I was away for a week in Kure/Hiroshima. A good time and a picture set will follow soon enough. Basically I'm sitting on a whole mess of pictures from several cool excursions I've had recently. Once I get them prepped and ready, look for some updates here.

In the meantime, I have a few posts "in the works" but what ain't finished, ain't posted and makes for very poor (read: not at all) reading. So just a quick linky post for fun.

It's probably been around forever and I'm probably the last to really follow it, but I'm taking a shine to something called free running. It's a quasi-sport that is relatively extreme but it somehow transcends that level. It is more of a feat.

The concept is simple, run around and do cool stuff. Think of it as the best parts of gymnastics, Jackie Chan, and Sonic the Hedgehog. This leads to some pretty incredible stunts, but to me free running is not about the stunt, but it is what follows. At the time when a gymnast would raise their hands signaling accomplishment, the free runner takes off running to the next thing. In this is a certain purity of action that is not hindered by analysis or memory.

But enough. The best way to tell you is to show you. Here are (how does that work? I wanted to put here's, but wouldn't it be here're? That just looks wrong) some of my favorite clips:

1-A little too dramatic, but it is very cool
2-To me this captures the essence of free running better
3-It is a sport for the young. This guy seems quite young at that

And here's something else completely. Some of the very best flash animation this side of Homestarrunner I've ever seen. It's just so darn cute. I like the second one 100% more than the first in terms of story, animation, and music, but go in order just so you "get it".

1-There she is
2-Cake Dance

click "download this movie" and they should work fine. Alternatively, go directly to the site and click around a bit.

SamBakZa.net

Have fun.