Friday, June 24, 2011

Bloody Knuckles

Bloody Knuckles Addict! 8 yr old Ailey!
OK you know you're daughter is a meathead when she is enthralled with the game bloody knuckles.  Does everyone here know what that game is all about?  I used to play this game in elementary, junior high, and high school.  I always thought of it as a boys game until I played it with my middle daughter Ailey last night.  Here is a not so brief description so you know what I am talking about.  This info came from the official bloody knuckles website http://www.bloodyknuckles.org - which I never knew existed until right now.

Bloody Knuckles is the exciting game of wacking your opponents knuckles with your knuckles! The object of the game is to wack your opponents knuckles without getting wacked yourself.
The two basic moves include the STRIKE and the DODGE. The STRIKE is the act of wacking the knuckles, and the DODGE is the motion made in attempts to avoid the pain!

On the surface, Bloody Knuckles appears to be a painfully brutal game. After all, you are essentially just rapping each other's knuckles (or trying to avoid it). However, at closer examination, Bloody Knuckles is a true test of one's quickness and reflexes. Surprisingly, physical strength is not a factor in becoming a skilled Bloody Knuckles player. Players of all sizes and sexes have become proficient at playing. In fact, one of the largest draws to Bloody Knuckles is that it's one of the few sports where brawn is a non-issue.

TOURNAMENT RULES (Turn-Based)

Beginning The Match
The referee will begin the coin toss to determine which player will get to call their first move (Strike or Dodge). The player who wins the coin toss is allowed to decide whether they would like to Strike or Dodge first.

[The Starting Position]
Opponents must stand facing opposite each other with one outstretched arm, slightly bent (we recommend a 120 degree bend). Hand in fist position, players butt their fists up against their opponent's. The player's hands must remain in fist position at all times during play. Players knuckles must be touching, (but not pushing) their opponent's knuckles.




The player's inactive arm (or “dead hand”) must rest behind the back or at the player's side during play.

[Beginning Play]
Play may begin after the players agree to being "ready". The referee will count "1, 2, 3, Break". After the word "Break" is spoken, play may commence.

[Taking Turns]
In turn-based tournament play, players will alternate the roles of Striker and Dodger with each turn. Each player will have chance of landing 5 successful Strikes per round (there are 3 rounds per match). One player Strikes while the other player Dodges. In a turn, a player will have 30 seconds to perform a Strike.

Example (in a nutshell):
The player who was chosen to Strike first during the coin toss will be referred to as Player 1, the other player will be referred to as Player 2.
Player 1 has won the coin toss and has decided to Strike first. The referee has asked both players if they are ready, and the players have confirmed. The referee gives the countdown and the play begins.
Turn #1: Player 1 attempts to Strike while Player 2 attemps to Dodge the Strike.
Turn #2: The players switch roles; Player 2 will Strike and Player 1 will attempt to Dodge Player 2's Strike.
This alternating continues until each player has had 5 chances to Strike their opponent.

[Points]
If either player lands a Strike, the Striking player gets a point. There are no points awarded for Dodging or any other moves. The player with the highest number of successful Strikes wins the round. Three rounds are most commonly used in most professional level play. The player who wins the most 5 point rounds is the winner of the match.

[Moves]
After “Break” is called by the referee, the Striking player may move.

STRIKE
A Strike is characterized by swiftly drawing your fist upward above the other player's fist and rapidly bringing your lower knuckles (located along the middle of your fingers) upon the hit zone of Player 2's upper knuckles. 1 point is rewarded to Player 1 upon successful completion of this move. The key to the Strike is speed…completing it before your opponent can withdraw her fist from your fist's downward path.

1. 2. 3.

1. Starting Position: knuckles to knuckles


2. Draws Fist Up


3. Hits Downward



Diagram 1 above illustrates the ‘at rest' position of the fists - knuckles to knuckles. When a player attempts a Strike, she must bend her action arm at the elbow, raise her fist above the top of her opponent's knuckles, then bring her fist back down upon her opponent's. The player attempting a Strike cannot bring her fist above her chin level. As players better their skills and begin to develop their own styles, they will learn that a Strike is more successful when the distance between opponents knuckles are shorter. A shorter distance results in a faster execution of the Strike.

The diagram below illustrates the desired hit zone when performing a Strike. Should your Strike fall short of its target and land on the fingers of you opponent, this is referred to as a “Wif” and is not counted as a point. Similarly, an overshot Strike that lands behind the nuckles onto the hand is called a “Hand” is not counted as a successful Strike either. No points are awarded for Wifs or Hands. If an opponent misses the hand altogether and lands her Strike on her opponent's arm, that's probably a big indicator that he needs to practice more.




Ok that is enough.  They go on for about 30 pages about the game but this is it in a nutshell.  Basically you try to smack the crap out of your opponents knuckles.  Here is the thing though.  Ailey really stinks at it!  She almost never dodges, and invariably gets a good wrap on the knuckles.  She just laughs like hell and tries again, and I whack her again.  More laughter!  The damned kid loves it!  I had to make her stop last night because her knuckles were starting to swell.  Now I would expect this behavior from a boy, lets face it we're a bunch of dumb shits, but my daughter Ailey is as smart as a whip.  The kid literally came home with a perfect report card yesterday.  Absolutely perfect, yet the kid loves to get her ass kicked at bloody knuckles.  She is so much like her father that it is scary.  I always think I can win, even if I am getting my ass kicked.  My reasoning, and I think Ailey's too, is that eventually my opponent will get tired and I will whip them!  I am not sure if the world can handle a female Eric Costantino but it has definitely got it's hands full with my wacky little daughter Ailey!  I love you Ailey for being the meathead you are!  Keep up the good work and always have fun and keep that killer instinct!




Love,


Wacky Dad

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Five Wacky Father's Day Projects!

I always have a few wacky projects rolling around in my head.  On most days these projects are way to meaningless to attack, but on Fathers Day, we get a day of leisure to do whatever stupid thing it is that we would like to do.  Here are five moronic projects that I would love to tackle tomorrow.  I know that I won't get to all of them, or even one of them, but I sure would revel in the moment of completing one of these projects.


1.   Install a point driven well in my yard - The Costantino's are invariably cheap.  It has always been my dream to install a small point driven well that could take care of watering the grass, sprinkling the kids on hot days, provide snowmaking water, and maybe even providing water to the toilets.  I am sure that this endeavour would probably end up costing me more than water bills but it is just so damned cool!  Here is a diagram of a point driven well.  I want one.  I might actually be putting one of these bad boys in tomorrow.  Already have the pump!
I know this seems like great fun huh!
 2.  I have an obsession with utilizing the stream in my front yard for something.  This small stream probably has no real practical use, but in my twisted mind it is a treasure trove of electric power, and of air conditioning for my house.  My wife will not let me use the water fall to create power because she says the contraption I have devised to do so is ugly.  What the heck does she know!  An old bike chain, some gears, and an old squirrel cage are all beautiful in my mind!  I also have a plan to use the cold water (57 degrees) to cool my house by means of an old car radiator.  Definitely a nice addition to the living room.  
Great minds think alike.  Dad admiring my beautiful invention.
I really am an idiot!
3.  Create a windmill.  My latest idea is that the windmill and the stream power would work in tandem to drive a small air compressor head.  This compressed air would be stored in my large compressor until it gets to about 140 psi and the would automatically vent to an impact wrench that would spin a small permanent magnet motor that would be capable of producing enough electricity to store in a bank of 12 volt deep cycle batteries.  By means of an inverter I would probably be able to power a 2 watt light bulb for 5 seconds and of course this would elicit tears of joy and pride from me after spending 24 hours labor and $500 bucks to make the damned idea work.  Oh yeah and the windmill would be powered by an old ten speed bicycle wheel with large heat shrink tubing that covers the spokes at an angle.  You know the great thing about a blog is that I can write all of my stupid crap down and pretend that people actually care about what I'm writing.  There must be some other moron out there who has ideas like these right?  His name is Leo Costantino!




4.  I have had an idea for a long time about utilizing the swaying action of trees to collect power.  This idea really comes from the fact that I have a backyard full of trees that would require me to build a 100' windmill to get over the treetops to gather any real wind.  I do have a plan about how to build this, but it is so damned stupid I am not sharing it.  Also somebody from Exxon-Mobil might steal my idea and I don't want those shitheads getting rich off me!  I really don't want to add to their record profits!


5.   I would love to get the damn shit tank fully operational on my boat.  I have a very carefully devised jury rig all purchased and ready to install, but my busy schedule hasn't allowed me to put it together yet.  I am going to beat the marine industry at their own game and have a fully operational holding tank built out of parts from my existing tank and of course Lowes.  I will let you all know the first time I successfully pump the shitter on my boat!


Well there are five dumb projects.  In reality I will probably end up hanging out with my wife, my kids, my mother, father, and grandfather.  We'll probably drink some cheap box wine, tell stories that we've heard a hundred times, and have a good old fashioned barbecue.  You know I can't think of anything I'd rather do!  Not even repiping the shitter!


Happy Father's Day!


Wacky Dad   




Wednesday, June 15, 2011


Sign up for the Three-Week Challenge
 
Help me and PANCAN.org increase support for the PANCREATIC CANCER RESEARCH AND EDUCATION ACT!


"Welcome to the Third Annual Three Week Challenge!  By participating in this Three Week Challenge, you will help raise national awareness for pancreatic cancer, as well as increase critical support for the Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act, groundbreaking legislation that will ensure adequate funding for pancreatic cancer research and help pave the way to a cure.

The Challenge is easy and will take only a few minutes of your time each week.  To get started, sign the Three Week Challenge Pledge at Pancan.org and commit to completing one quick advocacy action a week for the next three weeks.  During each of the three weeks, we will send you a reminder e-mail with easy instructions for completing that week’s action.  The tasks we'll send you are simple and fun, such as placing a phone call, sending an e-mail or posting a message on Facebook or Twitter. In addition, each week that you complete an action, you will be automatically entered into a weekly drawing for a $100 gift certificate to our Shop Purple store. 

Through your efforts, you will join thousands of others who are participating in the Challenge, enabling us to speak with one loud, unified voice.  Go to Pancan.org and Please sign the pledge today and help us all to Know It. Fight It. End It!
-PANCAN.ORG"

Thanks wholeheartedly -

Wacky Dad


Monday, June 13, 2011

Harvesting Memories With Your Kids!

My oldest edible wild plant hunting daughter!  This photo
of Abby was taken at a school play she took part in.   
It is that time of year when I head out with my kids in search of natures best wild edible plants.  Yesterday Abigail and I got some time alone together so we headed out with a couple of old ricotta cheese containers in search of whatever the woods would yield.  One of our main goals was to scope out one of our favorite blackberry spots to see how they are coming along.  Another week or two and they should be ripening.  There are literally thousands of unripe blackberries that will be waiting for us!



My Little Bear!
My middle daughter has been nicknamed "Little Bear" since she was three, due to an incident with a wild blackberry patch and a completely purple face she took home that day!  Man does she love those things!  Good fruit and good memories, and all for free!  Since there were no blackberries available yesterday we decided to search for some other late spring favorites.  We call them prickers, but they are properly named Common Greenbrier.


Common Greenbrier, Bullbrier, or "prickers"
These little beauties are one of the tastiest greens in the woods, and it doesn't get much more organic than this!  The picture to the right is what they look like.  We found plenty of these right alongside our favorite blackberry bushes and easily stuffed a container full of them.  I used them to top off a delicious salad tonight.  In an age when produce prices are shooting off the charts, it is really a breath of fresh air to take an enjoyable walk in the woods and come home with something you can eat for free.  This time of year these abound in the woods.  Simply find a greenbrier like you see in the picture, and snap off the tender shoot like you see in the photo.  These can be eaten raw, or cooked like spinach or asparagus.  My favorite is raw though.  We eat them like candy as we walk through the woods.  They are truly delicious, and are awesome as a tasty and beautiful garnish on your salad.

Tonight's Salad
To me though the best part about searching for these plants is the chance to connect with my kids in the quiet of nature.  They all think that picking and finding wild plants is pretty cool.  Abby told me yesterday while we hunted edibles "Dad your awesome".  I didn't have to buy her any fancy video game, or take her to any flashy amusement park to gain this unprompted comment.  As always I answered back "yeah, I'm all right", but inside I am beaming from ear to ear that my 11 year old thinks I am awesome. 
   

I think I'll call him Bugs!
As a bonus we ran into this little baby rabbit while we were out exploring.  I was literally about 5 feet from this guy, and I believe if I had a carrot I might have had him eating from my hand.  If you haven't been out searching for wild berries or plants with your kids I highly recommend you give it a shot.  They will love it and so will you!


Happy Hunting,

Wacky Dad
















Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Musings Of A 10 Day Single Dad

Sorry for the week long absence.  I know you have all been going to pieces without your daily dose of Wacky Dad!  My wife has been in Germany for the past 9 days or so and is on her way home tomorrow.  I have been occupied filling the shoes of my wife and this has cut into my blog time.  This was the first time I have ever had my 3 daughters alone for more then 3-4 days.  I have to say that things went extremely smoothly, way more so than I thought they would.  I have a noticed a few phenomenon throughout the last 9 days that I thought I would run by my readers.



An oil and water moment!
1.  My 2 oldest daughters are notorious for fighting with each other.  I'm not talking about punching each other in the nose or anything bloody, but the typical sibling stuff.  They usually just get on each others nerves, like oil and water.  As soon as Mom left, these 2 kids haven't fought once.  In fact they have truly enjoyed each others company, the way that I would expect sisters to behave with each other.  I really wonder why that is?  Does missing mom make them appreciate each other more?  Do they think they can't get away with fighting with me (they can't)?  Or is it a coincidence?  I'm really not sure.  If anyone might be able to shed some light on this I would love to know what has caused this change is so I can make it lasting!  I am certainly not a psychologist but I am a good observer of facts.  I know I want to make this permanent!

2. I have noticed a change in myself over the past 9 days.  All of the stuff that usually drives me crazy but never gets done is all up to speed.  The laundry is 100% caught up on.  I have been doing one load a day which keeps the drawers full and the laundry bin empty.  Usually there is a massive damned pile of clothes that seems to get ignored by everyone in the house.

This ain't nothing!

As soon as laundry duty necessarily devolved upon me I
took the bull by the horns and it has gotten done in style.  The weird thing is that when my bride is around I totally hate doing the laundry, but this week is has been a source of true satisfaction for me to have it all squared away and in order.  The same thing happened with the kitchen.  When the kitchen is all cluttered up I get totally peeved.  As the week has gone on I have chipped away at the countertop clutter and can actually chop tomatoes and put a pot down next to the stove!  Oh the simple things!  I even have my kids neatly stowing away their clean laundry in its proper drawers and hiding places before school.  Little miracles.



I have a couple of hypotheses on why these strange housekeeping events have occured - here goes.

1.  The Tyrant Method - A smoothly running household needs one "tyrant" in charge of it, and the tyrant must have loyal and obedient underlings who know that they have to on a daily basis.  Cathy and I have always tended to try to share responsibility for the house.  I am not sure this is such a wise move.  It gives each of us an out when things become a mess.  It leaves room for comments like "why don't you ever do a load of laundry?" or "are you ever going to load the dishwasher?".  These past nine days I have been the dictator and things have gotten done without a lot of effort.  I haven't even had to pull the Marine Drill Instructor card to many times (I have used it a couple times though!).  Kids, unlike spouses know they basically have to do what dad says and they just fall in line automatically.

2.  The Non-Tyrant Method - If household duties are to be shared then I think a hard and fast plan is the only way to go.  Everyone needs to know what their jobs are and it needs to be strictly adhered to.  Everyone needs to be accountable for their duties, and when they fail at them, there needs to be an automatic punishment.  The punishment could be something like having to run twice around the house in your skivvy drawers at middday if you don't get your chores done, something on that order.  I'll bet if Cathy had to streak around the yard in her skivvies the damned laundry pile would stay small.  And I would certainly keep the kitchen sink cleaned if I had to do laps in my tighty whiteys.  This punishment would be mandatory and instantaneous.  Definitely food for thought.

Anyway I have missed my wife immensely over the past few days.  These observations aren't intended to poke fun at her or criticize.  I have the utmost respect for what she handles on a daily basis, you should have seen the schedule she left me before she left - pure beauty!  On the other hand when I notice positive change I would be a moron not to try to capitalize on it.  So Cathy welcome home, I have missed my best friend for the past 9 days!  But beware, you better trade in those holey underwear for something a little more slinky because I am going to have your ass lapping the house next time you forget to do the laundry!  My Flip camera is ready and the you tube account is ready and waiting!            


Laundry Pile Free And Smiling,

Wacky Dad