Personal File: Play

I love good food, I love dining out and love to cook. If I use a recipe without modifying it, it's to learn how somebody else makes. From that point on, I'm on my own, tinkering and modifying it until it suits me. (Sounds a lot like life in general, doesn't it?)

I may open a cafe some day. I used to be a restaurant consultant so, in fact, I never stop thinking about it. I could devote a whole web site food and the food-service business but, for now, I only have a modest page on coffee which is a holdover from my old web site.

For me, "leisure" is not the same as "idle". My mind is seldom ever idle. I am either working, studying, reading or writing, even if I am hanging out in a cafe (which I'm doing as I edit this). For me, this is play. My reading is varied (non-fiction weighs heavily but gets sprinkled with some thought-provoking fiction) and 90% of my writing is either business or teaching related.

When I'm not taking photographs for work, I take photos for pleasure. I love to photograph people so I take to the streets looking for photo opportunities ("shutter chance" as they say in Japanese). My contact print sheets are a visual diary of my life.

When I came to Japan, I practised Shourinji kenpou (Shorinji kempo). I reached shodan (1st degree, black belt) before finally calling it quits for lack of time. This was the martial art practised by Ray Park who stared as Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. He ranked a nidan (2nd degree) which helps explain certain techniques in his acrobatics. In fact, he did all his own stunts in the film. A searched of the web (May 1999) turned up no reference to this bit of trivia so you heard it here first! Alas, Ray Park has not done for Shourinji Kenpou what Steven Seagull did for Aikidou.

Back in Toronto I Practised a style of juu-jutsu (ju-jitsu) for about 5 years at Hatashita Dojo. (Frank Hatashita passed away in 1996 and the club was renamed Minoru Dojo and relocated to 1290 Queen St. W, Toronto M6K 1L4.

One of these years I'll get around to posting some of my martial arts writings on the Japan_Link pages.

I dabble in igo (the oriental game of go) but am not very good at it. I haven't really had much chance to play. Lately, however, I can be found at the Kiseido Go Server under the nickname of burachan.

Some consider igo to be a very intellectual game. For me it is a way to unwind and let my mind empty. Maybe that's the reason I'm not so good at it. :-)

As of this writing I am playing at a rank of about 19 kyuu. If you'd like to challenge me to a game or just watch me play just drop by the Kiseido server and see if I'm there.