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One More Thing

If you didn’t think of the fabulous Jackie Chan Adventures cartoon when you read the title of this article, then you will do yourself a great favor by looking it up now. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

…….

Okay, so where did you find it? Were you able to at least get the idea of what it is? A fun show for kiddies? Yes. A fun cartoon for fans of Jackie Chan? You know it.

Well, the world is seriously wanting a talent like him back in the cinema-art machine. His cartoon wasn’t the only thing he did right. He had a prolific career making movies that put you on the edge of your seat. Watching Jackie Chan movies was especially intense knowing he did all of his own stunts. On some movies, as a treat at the end, he would even share the variety of do-overs he had while performing some of those stunts. He fell off a lot of things, got hit by objects he was swinging or kicking, and once or twice took a blow to the head unintentionally.

There were a few of his early movies in which he credited other people with doing some of his stunts. Not too many. He eventually created enough of a following that he could demand to be the one in the middle of all the action.

Some of his stunts, you just watch them in awe and say, “No way. How did he do that?”

Skills. The man has, and has had, skills. He showed how he could be lightning quick with a punch or a kick, acrobatic, and strong as a jungle cat.

We could say he followed in the footsteps of Bruce Lee, but Jackie would tell us he followed equally in the footsteps of Buster Keaton, an early film star who did comedy films with a physical element sometimes known as “slapstick comedy”.

The physical element may have been started by Keaton, but it was perfected by Chan.

A short list of some of my favorite Jackie Chan movies would definitely include:

1. The Forbidden Kingdom

2. The Legend of Drunken Master

3. Shanghai Noon

4. Who Am I?

And of course, you can’t ignore his voice work in the Kung Fu Panda movies or his own cartoon, Jackie Chan Adventures.

Looking for a comedy movie, an action movie, or both combined? You should do yourself a solid favor and check out some action-packed hilarity in a Jackie Chan movie or cartoon.

Last Year’s Resolutions

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Perfecting oneself is timeless. There are no start dates or end dates. There are only series and steps, moderations and milestones.

Whatever your goals were last year, if you feel you didn’t quite accomplish them, you can still aim for them in 2026. Recycle them, reuse them. The year 2026 isn’t even your limit. You can set almost any goal without a time limit. All long-term goals are accomplished through short-term goals.

Of course, The Anointed One, Jesus, knew this. He tells us to learn by the method of “line upon line, precept upon precept”, which means to take it all in small bites. Don’t try to be perfect in one day, or don’t try to learn the entire gospel in one session. Get there through daily repentance and attainable perfections.

We could insert a load of maxims here, such as: Don’t bite off more than you can chew–OR–Take it one day at a time. They may be cliches and overused, but they’re still valuable advice.

Consider the first one. If you bite off more than you can chew, you’ll end up spitting it all out. Metaphorically, it means you quit.

Dont quit.

There’s nothing in this life you can’t handle. That’s the double negative way of saying, “You have the ability to handle, to chew, to follow through, anything that comes your way.” Of course, depending on the size of the problem or the obstacle, you may have to use some sense. You may have to take smaller bites.

It’s also possible what you really need is to redefine what you want.

There are so many people this time of year who want to “lose weight”. A beneficial notion is to redefine that desire. Since fat is more voluminous per ounce than muscle, the better goal could be to lose volume.

“I want to shrink my waistline,” may be a better mantra for those wanting to lose volume.

It’s also possible that those who want to “lose weight” could be thinking they want to create a healthier lifestyle with regular exercise and good eating habits. In that case, you have the beautiful mingling of two short-term goals to achieve a long-term goal.

Those short-term goals could easily be broken up into small steps. “Regular exercise” can be shortened to monthly goals, separated into weekly chunks, and even measured daily. “Good eating habits” could even be measured per meal, and all the snacks in between, or the elimination of said snacks.

Whichever way you decide to change your perception, redefine your desire, or measure your progress, please remember to not quit. You’re worth every bit of this year’s and last year’s resolutions.

Great Dog Names

Having a pet dog can mean days of entertainment, exercise, responsibility, feeding, and yes, a bit of cleanup.

But what do you name your dog? That can be one of the hardest questions you’ll have to ask yourself.

You can always go with the standards: Spot, Rusty, or Rex.

Or you can name your pet the same as some famous people have named their dogs. One of the best examples of a famous dog name is Cheeseburger, the name Jimmy Buffett gave his pet dog.

John Wayne’s nickname, The Duke, came from his childhood pet being called Big Duke by local firefighters. John was actually called Little Duke by the same guys.

Less original, and quite frankly just as dull as the standard names, are the movie star dog names like Toto, Lassie, and Hooch.

Although Laika is a less-well-known name, it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. (This was the name of the dog which was sent to orbit the Earth.)

Some fun pet dog names to start trending:

Fight–you could totally have fun yelling “Fight!” to call for your dog.
Bigfoot–even more fun to yell.
Bossman–or you could just name your dog after your boss? Would the boss ever know?
Barfy–wait, isn’t that a famous dog name?
Taylor–so NOT after anyone famous, right?
Grits–could be good, except it rhymes with nits.
Nacho–another food related name. Or is it after the hilarious movie Nacho Libre?
Squeaker–for a small dog, right? Even funnier if it’s a big dog name.
Dynamite–Dyna, for short.
Scuba Dude–sounds like another dog name, but it isn’t.

If these suggestions don’t sound like the right name for your dog, you can always try the trick of naming your pet after your favorite food/color/aunt/uncle.

“What? Uncle Butch, it’s totally a coincidence that my dog is named Butch too.”

Mountain Biking Styles

It has occurred to me that one of the reasons why many of my friends who mountain bike don’t end up hanging out together, let alone riding together, is because there are so many styles of mountain biking. How many styles are there?

First, let me list one that’s not: Not quite grown out of the BMX, there are some riders who prefer huge gap jumps, double back flips, or doing “The Superman”. These are those who may be riding a bike with 29ers, but what they’re doing with that bike isn’t necessarily anything anyone would consider mountain biking. It’s only BMX stunts on a different bike. There are skateboards with fat wheels, which a kid can ride on dirt, and that action would be about as much like true mountain biking as all the BMX jump parks. When I do the jump parks, I think it’s a good workout, but it doesn’t give me much of a thrill. The parks are usually in the middle of a city with a parking lot and a convenience store right next to them. The mountains are generally far away. My point here, before I move on to true mountain biking styles, is that you might as well throw some pegs on that bike and call it what it really is: a fat-tire BMX.

One style is the style of “century” traveling, which doesn’t quite have to do with time. They call it a century because they travel 100 miles. This is indeed a hardcore type of mountain biking. These guys and gals plan a day and a route, then they just go and go and go. They don’t take a lot of breaks as they crank out the miles, however, they do bring plenty of food and water. They experience a lot of scenery along the way. They sometimes take trains and shuttles to get back home, or from home to where they start the ride. This kind of mountain biking is for people who love to travel long distance.

The style opposite to century riding is “downhill” biking. I don’t know why I put quotes on that. Maybe just to make the word stand alone. The quotes don’t mean it’s not like downhill—it literally is downhill. The reason it’s so different from century riding is that it doesn’t cover many miles and it doesn’t take long at all. Downhill mountain biking is the ADHD of sports. Depending on the trail and the skill of the rider, a downhill ride can last only a matter of minutes. For instance, one ride I like to do averages about three miles in ten minutes with the elevation change of around 2,000 feet. There are a few jumps on the trail, but you don’t jump super high unless you want to be in the trees. Trees are an essential part of the thrill. Trees make it so you can’t see too far down the trail, provide shade, and provide obstacles such as downed branches, janky roots, and piles of leaves with branches and roots and other things hiding underneath.

Adventure riding is a fun style of mountain biking, though generally unsanctioned because it involves traveling off every conceivable trail and making your own way through everything from cacti to bogs to log piles. It requires an excess of curiosity. Adventure riding can get a rider in trouble though, if the rider has no regard for the usual signs of occupied territory. Going over gates, around fences and other barriers, just to satisfy an unquenchable curiosity is a poor way to be an ambassador for the sport. Getting lost is another poor way to show people how we play. I would say, most of the people I know who go adventure riding obey the conventions of society and don’t travel on anyone’s private property. Now, if only all of them would.

Last, but not least, is the generic style of mountain biking. These are the people who want to go up the mountain, come back down, maybe catch a few pictures of wildlife, and have a good time enjoying the outdoors. These folks might go 5 miles, or they might choose to go 30 miles, whatever fits their mood for the day. They fit the mountain biking mold fairly well.

Whatever style you like, I hope you have a fantastic, safe time doing it.

The Day After

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Happy Thanksgiving indeed! What’s really important here is what you’re having for dinner the day after Thanksgiving. You want Mexican food. You know it’s true. You’re tired of turkey and potatoes and all the weird side dishes that your family loves, like the shrimp-flavored craisin bread uncle Henry brings every year but almost nobody eats.

Yes, Mexican food. It’s on everyone’s menu. Those delicious beans with cheese, rice, tomatoes, and fresh avocadoes. That’s what you were thinking all along. My only suggestions have to do with how you prioritize the ingredients.

To serve the best Mexican food, you want lots of tortillas just hanging out there, available for whoever wants one. A great way to serve those is warm, delivered with a set of tongs, as if you’re handing out steamed towels at the spa.

You’ll also need refried beans, of course, by the gallon. Whether they’re totally vegetarian or infused with delicious, nutritious bacon grease is completely up to you. It’s a matter of personal style. Do, however, make sure you provide a lot of them. Without beans, the meal may only qualify as Southwestern food. To be authentic Mexican, it has to have beans.

The last essential item is sauce. While the Italians have their marinara, the Mexicans have their salsa. Not talking about the music here. It’s all about the food, and the salsa that belongs with Mexican food is a tomatoey sauce, not unlike marinara, but different in that it is usually a bit spicier and less pasty. When serving up Mexican food you should have no less than seven different types of salsa at varying degrees of hotness.

So the above are the essentials. The following though, are only if you want ‘em.

Rice is fantastic. It definitely rounds out a meal. Cooked right, it can seem like an essential part of the meal. Once you know that you already have grains in the tortillas, you’ll likely agree you don’t need more grains on your plate, so rice can stay or go, it doesn’t matter all that much.

Cheese, like rice, makes a meal even better, but it just isn’t integral. You can have a bean burrito, or you can have a bean and cheese burrito, but you can’t have a cheese burrito—that’s just a quesadilla. Quesadillas are the only food in which cheese is absolutely necessary. Narf! But aren’t quesadillas 100% Mexican? I ask myself. Okay, maybe cheese is an essential ingredient. I’ll let you decide.

Lettuce is great too, but it’s not essential, even in its role as a vegetable because the role of vegetables is fulfilled by the salsa tenfold. The only thing less necessary than lettuce would be corn chips.

Let me tell you about the corn chip. The corn chip is a tool. That’s all he is. He’s a tool for scooping, shoveling, or pushing the other food around. Eating the corn chip is as optional as Beano or cilantro. Serve up any of those three last items at your preference and your prerogative.

And, you know, it doesn’t hurt to be thankful the day after Thanksgiving. Estoy agradecido por la comida Mexicana.