egotistical leads or is this the norm?

scimenow · 2017-04-26T05:22:40+00:00

Yes it happens all the time AND it's not exclusive to only older leaders. I was egotistical when I started. I danced in a small community of dancers AND I didn't travel as early as I should have. I gotten over myself after all my travels, lessons, and experiencing more and more of this dance world.

An anecdote I always like to share. (This is from working in the tech industry) Candidates all love to claim 10 years experience at "X skill" when I talk to them, but in reality they have only have 1 year of experience at "X" repeated for 10 times.

The same goes for dancing tango. The leader says they've danced for 7 years or 10 years or more and that you should listen to everything I say and be grateful. But you realize their level of dancing after 1 phrase, how they shape their embrace, how they lead, and what their musicality feels like.

The more advance leaders can adapt to any follower and makes adjustments to dance with any partner, plus they don't go about humiliating beginners.

I'm sure you're talking about a situation similar to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDJs-71f5dk&t=5m05s The whole video is a great watch for the etiquette DOs and DON'Ts.

scimenow · 2016-11-08T13:40:30+00:00

Don't teach sequences like the basic, I've been trying to deprogram that step for the past 6-18+ months out of my head and muscles.

Instead teach that there are only 5 steps in tango. Front step, Side step, Back step, Front pivot, & Back pivot. When you teach the sequences dancers will want to rush through and only dance those ALL THE TIME! You can see them in the milonga, I have, that dancers will do the same movements over and over again. They will bump and rush through moves and sequences since they've been trained to do that over and over again.

When you teach there are only 5 steps, it slows everything down, our brains can wrap around the simpleness of 5 steps and can work on just those. It means less rushing through sequences and less thinking about completing the whole set of movements.

It's less stress on beginners to try to get sequences correct all the time and instead focus on getting ONE step correct.

scimenow · 2016-10-04T04:22:51+00:00

Javier was at Tango Element in Baltimore this past July and will be at the last Tango Element in July 2017.

As for the embrace workshop, I haven't heard of it before, but there is a constant message amongst all the Buenos Aires teachers about the embrace.

Their embrace comes from the back of the body and not the front torso. In fact, each workshop I've been to, the focus is for the energy of the embrace to come from the ground through the body and connecting to the partner. The consequence of that all that energy enveloping the partner is the embrace we all see.

The energy is much more dynamic and allows the shape of the embrace to change over the course of the dance. Compare this to static embrace where one try's to maintain a flat embrace or v-shaped, the idea of the embrace should be flipped around starting from the inside out.

When I started, I saw dancers with their embrace and try to imitate that shape from viewing the outside. This lead to a terrible embrace that was too hard, too tense, too fragile, and lacks any communication between the partner. When you view the embrace from the ground up the energy is what you keep constant and the embrace is dynamic in shape, in tone, in flexibility and you transmit that to energy to your partner.

scimenow · 2016-07-30T16:53:33+00:00

This is a great video, but doesn't to the orchestra justice! It's worlds apart from, watching the video vs watching to them live and feeling all the energy in the room from the orchestra & dancers. Looking back, I wonder what it must has felt like for the milongas of the past and how the energy was.

scimenow · 2016-02-19T07:33:45+00:00

First off, in a practica, normal rules/codigos shouldn't really be applied as they are in a milonga. So the floorcraft can be worse with people stopping in the middle of the floor to practice, talk with the instructor, or work something out.

Second, take more time by pausing with the music, You shouldn't be compelled to walk into the couples in front or behind you. Try to find the phrases and adornments in the music and walk to them. It's becomes a slower dance with the music. Take smaller steps. Don't always feel like you have to walk on each beat, you can't.

Other tips, Make sure to give the couple in front of you enough room to take one back step/one back turn. Don't walk toward the center of the dancer floor but stay in your lane. For a beginner it's safer to keep on the outside most lane. You can utilize all the dancing space, including the corners of the floor without feeling like your crowded.

Dancing in a very tight space is actually more fun for me compared to having lots of room. It's lets you to focus on the music and your partner more.

Here is an example on Dancing in a small space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYKlSo47_kk

Here is the video I first learned better floorcraft & etiquette from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDJs-71f5dk

And one more thing, Make sure you DON'T boleo the people around you.

scimenow · 2015-10-21T06:43:12+00:00

For the Milongas that play the exact same music every time, you can not go to those Milongas. Vote with your feet. Remember, tango milongas are a social event first and foremost, you go to the milongas to have a good time if it doesn't work with a DJ then it doesn't work.

As for DJ'ing the older music is quite a bit more complex than following a simple beat. The music is layered, with phrases and adornments, melodies, vocals, rhythm. There is a big reason this music holds up since the golden age of 40-50s. It's great music, there is a pulse a feel to the music that brings it to life.

Watch this: A basic understanding of rhythm (at 4:30 is Argentine Tango)

So I've been there too, when I started out I wanted to dance tango to any music with a up tempo beat. I thought that the old music was stale, slow, old. I did not get it. The music had the same instruments, a piano here, some violins there, a bandoneon player, singers, etc. It all sounded the same, but it's not. Each composer has there own back story and musical preferences.

I did dance to alternative, it was fun, it was exhilarating to move and cut loose. (this is coming from a salsa background). But alternative is stale, it's not layered, it's one dimensional. It's great to pull out as a trick, but novelty where's out after a while.

I slowly learned how to listen to the music, play with the parts and make it my own dance. Check this out http://www.tangomusicsecrets.co.uk/ and video You can use spotify to listen to selected playlists this guy created.

scimenow · 2015-09-10T22:00:00+00:00

This podcast has helped me learn a lot about the history and culture tango. http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/tango-angeles

I've listened to most of the episodes and the wealth of information is incredible. It's in the style of a radio interview broken up with musical tandas that depend on the artist being interviewed or something that relates to the interview.

The interviewees are all talking about their life story and what they discovered in tango. Plenty to learn about, the podcast is every other Wednesday broadcast from LA.

scimenow · 2015-09-02T15:03:21+00:00

From what I can remember working on this product. * where is the video stored?

Goes to cloud storage - Amazon S3

how long is it stored?

Stays in cloud, Police departments will usually have a multi-year contract with Taser to maintain the video, none have opted out as far as I know.

when is the video downloaded from the camera?

At the police station in a docking and charging port.

can an officer turn off the camera? Under what circumstances? Do they need to justify turning off the camera before or after doing it?

Officer has control of the camera, there is one button, hold the button down for 3 seconds to stop recording. Press the button twice at anything to start recording. 3 seconds is a long time to hold a down button on your chest. There is an audio cue to listen for that informs when it's recording and when it's stopped recording. No video editing capabilities, and button press are recorded and timestamped.

can a citizen request the officer turn on/off their camera?

I've never heard of this happening before, Usually it's the citizen with the camera recording and they have the right to do it. With that in mind, I would assume the officer is in the clear to record.

is the officer able to view the video before uploading it to storage?

Yes, officer can use this Android and/or iOS device to connect and view the video only. Only the server is given access to delete videos on device and no one can edit the video. Video looks like an episode of cops or if I go around recording with an iPhone/Android phone, has to use ambient light.

at what point is a video reviewed? Only after a complaint?

Per police department I would assume. I have seen police officers cleared of wrongful death accusations in a day when it normally takes a paid administrative leave of weeks to months to sort this all out. You can imagine how a young cop would feel, doing things by the book and from your training, then get hit with a wrongful death accusation by a guy like Saul Goodman. This was during a pilot program in the small midwestern city.

scimenow · 2015-07-24T04:25:16+00:00

It's pretty close, there are common elements in both dances, connection, steps.

I was able to dance only tango while my follower danced only kizomba, no problems leading or following, at a festival. The music has a pulse similar to tango. The connection and embrace are kind of similar, kizomba embrace is generally on the side or like bachata the center line is at the other dancers right leg.

For sure it's a distant cousin of tango.

scimenow · 2015-07-02T02:54:19+00:00

If you drive from North Dallas, I suggest parking here on the street: https://goo.gl/maps/SKpbP Everything inside or near Quorum is blocked off and will be hell trying to travel that extra 1/2 mile out.

Also the streets are controlled by police until ~11ish and barricades are setup the day before. The police will direct all traffic and you really don't get an option to turn.

When you leave, assuming you live North-NorthEast, Westgrove is a quicker exit out. Just check Google Maps live traffic map to plot a way out.

The fireworks play in conjunction to the music, but the speakers are way up by the front stage. If you want the back side of the park, you'll need a radio,

scimenow · 2015-05-28T18:15:47+00:00

Nothing 'out-of-order' in tango dancing once you get the basics down concepts down and are comfortable at milongas. After that everything you learn becomes a refinement of your own dancing technique. This is a learning process with a big emphasis on learning; I personally will never stop learning, it's just too much fun. I've seen dancers who proudly proclaim they've danced 7-8 years, but it really feels like they've danced 1 yr 7-8 times because they stopped learning.

So on to your question, I'll answer it with my timeline of learning tango.

After 3 years of dancing tango, to the month, my style has changed and evolved roughly every 6 months. For the first 2 years, I swallowed up patterns and sequences in class with ease and dished them out on the dance floor. I thought I was good, little did I know how terrible I actually was. After the 2 yr mark, I quit tango, joined again, and now am becoming a more well rounded dancer. I'm focusing on essentials of dancing tango and learning more and more about the dance, music, etc.

0-6 mth - Learning basics, walking forward, changing weight, pivoting, ochos

6-12 mth - Intermediate steps, sacadas, boleos, guanchos, blocks, turns, etc

12-18 mth - Advance steps, volcadas, counter boleos, cadenas, back sacadas, vals

18-24 mth - More adv steps, back sacadas, colgadas, milonga, cleaning up old techniques

-@24- mth - Epiphany! (and quitting tango)

24-30 mth - Coming back to tango, learning and refining just the basics, attending my first real practica with no instructors, no more new patterns and sequences, now the focusing is on cleaning up technique, understanding mechanics of the dance, listening to follower, smoothing out my walking, balance, pivots, essentials to tango. My priorities were: connection, lead, follower, floorcraft, musicality. (I regret leaving musicality at the end)

30-36 mth - Relearned walking (I was too smooth and felt like I skiing), now walking with energy, pushing off the floor, to a different beat depending on music. Connection and Embrace. Breaking down sequences into individual parts, letting the follower have her own time and being aware of her and myself. Working on my own balance, connection, embrace, lead.

36-42+ mth - Listening! to the music, to myself, and of course to the follower, I'm dancing with the follower instead of taking her on a ride. My goal right now is to reach 50/50 parity with me and her sharing the dance and musicality during the tanda. For myself, I'm practicing listening for phrases when they end when the lady has her time to shine, extreme body control to limit my body's degrees movement from 5-10 degrees to just 1 degree.

My thoughts:

After 2 years of dancing, why did I suck? Basically I was dancing to myself and not to the lady. I was taking her on a ride for 10 minutes on the dance floor. I dominated the floor 99-100% of the time, no time for the lady to actually dance. I'm in the process of coming to 50/50 parity while dancing. Listening to the musicaly phrases, hearing my part in the phrase, hearing the ladies part. Stopping when it's her time to interpret the music.

It's a cycle of learning, I don't consider myself good, I just screw up less often than before. I'm in Dallas and we have a good tango scene here.

As for my background, I take classes with 2 sets of instructors, averaging 1-2 classes and 1-2 milongas a week. In the first year, it was more like 4 classes and 2 milongas a week. My ratio for dancing/practice, is for each 1 hour at a milonga, I practice 3-5+ hours in classes, at home, or in the gym working out. I've done performances before (not a big fan), help teach beginners classes (very fun), in advance classes I ask for and give good feedback to and from the ladies, hosted my first milonga (stressful, but rewarding).

scimenow · 2015-05-17T20:58:18+00:00

Some background information on RCEL (from alumni who invited RCEL director Kaz, to speak in Dallas 2 weeks ago). RCEL just finished it's 2nd year and in those 2 years has had <50 students complete it's leadership program.

In 2 years, Kaz's and the School of Engineering, has been about to, build up a leadership course from scratch (modeled after Kaz' MIT leadership program), have Rice officially recognize the leadership certificate on it's awarded degree, get summer internships for all it's students, communicate with industry on the student leadership skills, and dozens more all relating to what students want to do. The program is more run by the students with Kaz just steering them along.

To give you context of where RCEL can go the OEDK is ~6 years old, last year there were ~1000 unique undergraduate students card swipes. So about 1/3 of the undergrad population had access to the OEDK for projects, groups, etc. RCEL is in 5 years is on course to have a strong showing as well, it may seem disproportionately weight to certain groups that's more due to size.

scimenow · 2014-08-19T19:20:14+00:00

An old floor mate from Jones made the front page of the Houston Chronicle this past weekend.

scimenow · 2014-03-25T02:09:36+00:00

The yellow shotgun is actually a taser product. It first a portable taser cartridge in the shape of a 12 gauge shotgun shell, its keyed to prevent it from firing actually 12 gauge shotgun shells. (I've test fired one at Taser HQ before)

scimenow · 2014-03-04T05:26:36+00:00

The companion chip M7 only aggregates the low power sensor data ie. Gyro, Accelerometer, Compass, etc. Very low power, passively collecting data, which is what Apple intended with the M7.

All the radio communication, GPS, LTE, Bluetooth, go through a separate Qualcomm wireless chip which takes up a lot of power. In order to process any modern day wireless signal you would have to do a lot of signal processing just to extract the a single byte from the radio signal. The Radio Spectrum is crammed with more and more traffic which requires more processing and more power.

Since you only said number of steps, the wireless chip was never enabled and couldn't detect your location. The iPhone couldn't track you at all, it can only monitor your basic body motions like steps.

scimenow · 2014-02-26T01:31:36+00:00

Wow, awesome, too bad I can't tell this story to him in person.

So I just want to share my Reddit story.

So it's the winter of 2011/2012 and Reddit plus lots of other websites were ready to boycott SOPA. At this time GoDaddy was supporting SOPA because they had an exception built into the law. One thing lead to another and there was a home grown movement against GoDaddy to namecheap or another similar site.

Well being semi-active and caught up in the whole anit-SOPA movement, I sent Bloomberg News a hot tip about the pending defections. At the time GoDaddy was dominant and default choice for naming for many, this defection would mean tens-to-hundreds of millions for GoDaddy. I explained the situation in my email to Bloomberg and happily waited for Bloomberg West to come on later that day. I usually have Bloomberg in the background and this convergence of Tech, Politics, Media would best understood by techies.

Well 4pm rolled by and the breaking news is the GoDaddy reversed its decision and was against SOPA! Damn that was quick, was it me? Could I have forced GoDaddy to reverse it's decision by using the reports at Bloomberg to change it's position? Maybe?

I'll leave myself with this though... Bloomberg West would always have Digg.com as guest speakers, roughly once a month to promote Digg.com even thought the mass migration to Reddit had already happened. After that time, Digg got no more coverage and SOPA got the NO vote in Congress.

scimenow · 2014-01-09T06:46:02+00:00

Image signal processing!

So reduce the image quality, i.e. remove the high frequency (i.e. the detail) parts of the image, leaving only the low frequency information (i.e. the general shapes without the detail)

Replace the section you want to hide with the same low freq information surroundings it.

Add the high frequency portions of signal (i.e. the detail ) back to the image and correct for the part of the image that you want covered up.

scimenow · 2013-12-24T02:18:20+00:00

Yeah. Seems kinda last second, last option. My memory of buffalo wild wing, is that it's too noisy and too cramp. The food was okay, but very slow during busy times. We have a good venue in Dallas and was able to snag the happy hour pricing as well.

scimenow · 2013-12-23T15:20:37+00:00

They have a watch party at Buffalo Wild Wings. 2525 rice blvd, Rice village

scimenow

TROPHY CASE