Live or Memorex?

I've always been fascinated by technology and how we both we communicate with each other through it but also how it shapes what we say. So when the Kindle 2 came out and it was a product that people were really engaging in, I immediately thought about how does this affect poetry. We know it's a medium for novels and prose text, but what about the poem? Since I still had the layout files for Kali's Blade, I decided to transform the book into Kindle form. Because if I really want to know how this medium changes the face of poetry, I might as well dive right into it.

And not only put it up on Amazon, but also sell it at the special price of $0.99. Unlike the web, which shaped language, the Kindle brings about another important avenue for authors, the price of poetry. How does interacting with poetry on your iPhone change the experience? How does not having physical media to print change how authors make their work accessible to the public? And is the public willing to pay for it? If so, how much?

We know a good poetry book from a small press might sell 100 copies. 1000 copies would be astounding! But even author's who get their texts on their friend's reading course lists will be lucky to hit 1000 copies sold. Let's be honest. Plus how much of the actual cost of the book does an author really get? Not much because of the labor of production. But how many copies could you sell on-line for the right price? And while less and less people have room for shelves, there is growing storage on their computers. But do we want to interact with poetry through technology?

Right now Amazon isn't charging people to put their books on Kindle, so any price is a good price for now, but I suspect like the cuts publishers and distributor's take on paper books, how much Amazon eventually charges will affect the profitability of all of it. And since we're talking business, what of the publisher's, small print distributor's, and book stores? And even the non-businesses like Libraries? Imagine that libraries truly simply become cafes with reading tablets, instead of vast halls of books.

I'm not judging right or wrong, good or bad, I'm simply exploring possibilities. I've already had some lively exchanges with Jean and I'm looking forward to having lively exchanges with any of you!

Kindle Edition (will be up in a few days)


or

Print Edition

What to do with the other hand?

In response to Eileen who asks, "what do you do with the other hand as you take down three baddies, Michelle? Sip tea? With pinkie delicately pointing to the sky?".

It's always that hand that you're not paying attention to, that makes everything happen. In this school we concern ourselves with the masculine and feminine sides. In this case my dominant hand the right one, is the masculine energy, where I hold the weapon, my power hand as it were. The left hand is the feminine hand, the ones that guides, directs, manipulates and counter balances the right hand.

But in this particular instance, the knife, what we consider a feminine weapon at least in the way we use it, is in my right hand. The Female Knife, what we call what I'm doing, isn't the Psycho-movie slashing or jabbing that you see in movies which is more masculine. The Female Knife is hidden. And in this case, it is hidden and protected by the left hand.

And here's the part that I think will be the most fascinating aspect...Tuhan described these hands once not has male and female, but as mother and son. The Son being the knife hand is being fed and protected by the Mother, the empty hand. If you watch closely, it's this open hand that makes contact and feeds the baddie to the knife hand. You see this when my hands are relatively close together when engaging the baddie. The Mother feeds her Son. While not engaged with the baddie, the Mother protects the Son by hiding him. So you see the knife disappear behind my left arm often. Then at times, the Mother allows the Son to venture off on his own but always nearby. You can see this when my knife hand shoots to the baddie's throat and my other hand is left behind clearing the baddie's punching hand. The Mother still tries to ensure the Son's safety even when she allows him to venture off. Afterall, can't have a cloistered Son, especially when baddies are around. The Knife must do what the Knife was meant to do and the open hand must encourage and allow that for it to be effective.

In any case, lately I've become quite taken by the fan as a weapon, which my sister had been practicing with for a while and had used them in her kali wedding demo. I didn't learn the fan explicitly. A couple of weeks ago Tuhan had me use it. (This is a typical expectation for black belts to be given a weapon then just use it and use it well, simply based on what you understand of weapons and what you've observed so far) I found myself quite into it and that especially when I got into really using it, I could feel the fan enter my body as I formed to the fan. I danced Singkil fan one year in PCN and have always loved the movement of the fans. There are still many things for me to learn about the fan, but it's so much fun to learn a weapon that feels rather natural.

Now, Fan, is a weapon where you can sip tea and hold out your pinky on, not only is it allowed, it is encouraged because it's what the fan wants you to do. You see, they often talked about how the Barong Tagalog was made so the Filipinos couldn't hide weapons, but how could they ban a Donya's fan? Pocket fans aren't as popular in the Philippines now that alot of people have electric fans and there is AC in malls, but I remember grandmothers would whack kids with those fans. Don't tell them a fan can't hurt you! There are weapon aspects to the structure of the fan, but I think what I like most about the fan is the weapon that it brings out of me: seduction.

Having said that, I'm still not sure what it means, but am intrigued to find out. Besides sticks are so unwieldy when traveling.

And wasn't bodyguard on that list of things Ninangs were entitled to along with computer tech support?

favorite place on the web right now

My favorite place on the web right now is not Facebook, though I spend quite a bit of time there. No, my favorite place on the web right now is a place called, Live Mocha. It's a social networking site focused on language learning. They provide basic lessons in English, French, German, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi.

So far I've signed up for the French and Spanish lessons. I've only glanced at the Chinese and Hindi. I don't think I could learn Mandarin on the internet. Those languages still intimidate me into terms of learning them. But it is nice to be able to keep up with the French and strengthen the Spanish.

The nice part is that it also provides written and speaking segments where you record statements that are then "graded" or commented on by a native speaker of that language. So, I've commented on written and oral statements submitted by those studying English. I haven't tried the other forums yet, but look forward to getting practice time with native speakers and such over the internet.