sifupeter.com

Aren’t these socks friggin awesome? My girlfriend made them for me.

Porter and Gordy sunning themselves

When I was released from the surgery center, a card was included to allow me to send an anonymous note to the donor’s family. I felt that I needed to acknowledge their gift, and I wasn’t going to feel like the process was complete without thanking them.

Dear donor family,

I recently received a tissue donation to repair a torn acl ligament in my left knee. I thought you might like to know what this gift means to me. I am 41 years old and have been physically active all my life. I’ve always shared my enthusiasm for health with others. I currently teach self defense and fitness at a school in San Francisco with over 600 students of all ages and walks of life. This donation will allow me to recover completely and get back to helping men, women, and children stay healthy and happy in their lives. Thank you.

I think the ants have had the first taste… but there’s more on the way.

Snap peas are booming!

Spider in the bathroom window.

The proud potato tower builder.

Sifupeter on Flickr

The tomatoes, snap peas and zucchini are doing well:

And a happy snap pea blossom, covered in last night’s rain:

I’ve enjoyed a renewed interest in The Ultimate Fighter reality show this year. The Brits are far more interesting than the Americans, and the level of douche-baggery is way down. We probably owe more thanks to the Brits for that too. They were all impressive in their fights to get on the show, and I’d say 3 really good British fighters got sent home that day. Right off the bat, a couple Americans had trouble making weight and another had an infection that sent him home immediately. Not an auspicious start for the Americans. The overall quality of the American fighters was a little lower and less experienced than the British team, but they all eventually got their matchups and with a couple slight delays, all 8 spots were filled. The Brits called a family meeting and banned all pranks involving body fluids, but the Americans immediately began defacing clothing left behind by absent minded Brits. They responded with typical reserve, remarking on the Americans immaturity and coach Bisping admonished them all to stay out of it.

The coaches are a study in contrast as well. Dan Henderson is a slow talking, laid back, wrestler who lets things slide in conversation but works his guys hard. He seems to have a good handle on preparing his guys to fight, but we haven’t seen enough of him working strategically to judge that yet. Both coaches brought a thai boxing coach, a jiu-jitsu coach, and a boxing coach, with Henderson also bringing a wrestling coach. Bisping on the other hand, is a motor mouth who comes off as sharp, tactically intelligent and very observant of strengths and weaknesses. He also pays attention to the psychological aspects of getting guys ready to fight, and he and his coaches do a superb job of scouting the first matchup between Nick Osipczak and Mark Miller. They find a hole in the more experienced fighter’s game that the young Brit exploits early in the fight, gaining confidence and eventually winning by knockout. With Osipczak being one of the least experienced Brits taking out a tough American in Miller, it looks to be a rough road for the home team.

Maybe this will start a trend of country vs. country Ultimate Fighter shows. Brazil vs. Japan anyone? Russia vs. Holland? The cross cultural differences are interesting, even if the differences are somewhat mitigated by having the same language.

Bisping’s post on UFC.com

Today it came to my attention the Obama administration is trying to dismiss a case brought by EFF vs. the government related to warrantless wiretapping. From EFF article: “they argue that simply allowing the case to continue “would cause exceptionally grave harm to national security.” As in the past, this is a blatant ploy to dismiss the litigation without allowing the courts to consider the evidence.”

Worse still, they go on to claim that the U.S. Government is completely immune from litigation for illegal spying, just like the telecoms were given last year. WTF? Is it just me, or is this a crucial issue where he could lose a lot of support from progressive and liberal constituents? I decided to piss into the wind and send a note at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Start letter:
Please consider reversing your recent troubling arguments to dismiss the EFF’s recent Jewel v. NSA case. You campaigned against this very sort of unchecked power without constraint. This is a crucial point on which many voters cast their vote for you. You’ve made many positive steps and I appreciate everything your administration has done that contrasts with the previous administration. However, many constituents may weigh this issue more heavily than others you have taken on and judge your actions on it more harshly as a result. I know I will. Trying to dismiss this case outright and giving your own administration the same immunity that was given to the participating telecoms is absolutely not change we can believe in. It’s behavior that many of your constituents will be very concerned about.

I know I will very likely never get an answer from you or your staff, but whoever reads these, thank you for your attention and I hope that this is not the only message from someone concerned about this issue.

Porter looking distinguished:

Porter and some guy:

and Gordy the athlete: