Ming the Mechanic
The NewsLog of Flemming Funch

Wednesday, March 15, 2006day link 

 Parkour
picture Wikipedia defining Parkour:
Le Parkour (also called Parkour, PK, l'art du déplacement, free-running) is a physical discipline of French origin. It is an art form of human movement, focusing on uninterrupted, efficient forward motion over, under, around and through obstacles (both man-made and natural) in one's environment. Such movement may come in the form of running, jumping, climbing and other more complex techniques. The goal of practicing le parkour is to be able to adapt one's movement to any given scenario so that any obstacle can be overcome with the human body's abilities.

According to founder David Belle, the "spirit" of parkour is guided in part by the notions of "escape" and "reach"; that is, the idea of using physical agility and quick thinking to get out of difficult situations, and to be able to go anywhere that one desires. However, fluidity and beauty are also important considerations; for example, cofounder Sébastien Foucan speaks of being "fluid like water," a frequently used metaphor for the smooth passage of barriers through the use of parkour. Similarly, experienced traceur (practicioner of parkour) Jerome Ben Aoues explains in the documentary Jump London that:

The most important element is the harmony between you and the obstacle; the movement has to be elegant ….If you manage to pass over the fence elegantly - that's beautiful, rather than saying ‘I jumped the lot.’ What's the point in that?

To some people (particularly non-practitioners), parkour is an extreme sport, to others a discipline more comparable to martial arts. Some consider it a combination of the two, recognising similarities between parkour and the stunts and techniques of Hong Kong martial arts star Jackie Chan, whose fight and chase scenes take place in industrial or urban environments. Still others see it as an art form akin to dance: a way to encapsulate human movement in its most beautiful form. Parkour is often connected with the idea of freedom, in the form of the ability to overcome aspects of one's surroundings that tend to confine - for example, railings, staircases, or walls. The practice of parkour requires considerable physical and mental dedication, and many adherents describe it as a "way of life."
Wow, cool. I want to gracefully scale walls, jump from roof to roof, and slide down railings. I want physical barriers to be passed without pause. I want to fluidly go wherever I choose.
[ | 2006-03-15 02:11 | 8 comments | PermaLink ]  More >

 Oblique Strategies
Oblique Strategies was a set of 100 cards, created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt in 1975, as a way of assisting creative problem solving. If you're a little stuck, you'd draw a card, and see if it somehow gives you an idea for how to move forward. It is an aid for lateral thinking, basically. Providing a somewhat off-the-wall suggestion which makes you maybe see things from a different angle. There are many possible ways of provoking lateral thinking, like the old trick of looking up one or two random words in the dictionary. I'd love to make a little program or site that assembles a bunch of these methods in one place. For now, below is the list from Oblique Strategies, assembled by Robin Pamar, from several different versions of the deck. Note that Brian Eno is an avantgarde composer, so some of these are a bit specific to sound, but not much, and it doesn't really matter when we're talking lateral thinking.
A line has two sides
A very small object. Its center
Abandon desire
Abandon normal instructions
Accept advice
Adding on
Always give yourself credit for having more than personality
Ask people to work against their better judgement
Ask your body
Balance the consistency principle with the inconsistency principle
Be dirty
Be extravagant
Breathe more deeply
Bridges -- build -- burn
Cascades
Change ambiguities to specifics
Change instrument roles
Change nothing and continue consistently
Children -- speaking -- singing
Cluster analysis
Consider different fading systems
Consult other sources -- promising -- unpromising
Convert a melodic element into a rhythmic element
Courage!
Cut a vital connection
Decorate, decorate
Destroy nothing; Destroy the most important thing
Discard an axiom
Disciplined self-indulgence
Discover your formulas and abandon them
Display your talent
Distort time
Do nothing for as long as possible
Do something boring
Do something sudden, destructive and unpredictable
Do the last thing first
Do the washing up
Do the words need changing?
Do we need holes?
Don't avoid what is easy
Emphasize differences
Emphasize repetitions
Emphasize the flaws

[ | 2006-03-15 23:43 | 4 comments | PermaLink ]  More >

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