(Singing):
“No, I’m no one’s wife, but oh, I love my life!! And all… that… Jazz!!!!”
–Velma Kelly (character from the stage play and movie “Chicago”)
Category: Badass Quote Of The Week
BQOTW: Sharath Jois
“No coffee, no prana”
— Sharath Jois
Who’s Sharath Jois you ask?
He’s the grandson and heir apparent to the Pattabhi Jois’s Ashtanga yoga legacy. If you have a Netflix instant account I would strongly suggest checking out the documentary “Ashtanga NY” to get a better glimpse into the practice and the men who have been the modern day driving force behind it. Please disregard the celebrity interviews, except Willem Da Foe who of course is lovely in his own way.
Once you’re done with that and you want to see more, jump on over to YouTube and watch early 90’s videos of the ‘who’s who” of the Ashtanga world being led by P. Jois into what I lovingly call “an exercise of grace under pressure”. Because of it, I’m now inspired to take my own journey of discovery and practice Mysore at least three days a week. Sometimes waking up as early as 4:30am (as in half an hour ago before writing this).
One of Pattabhi Jois’s famous quotes went something like this, “No mula bhanda, no yoga!”
Right away it reminded me of Sharath cheeky statement about coffee which I’m sure he got from his grandad anyway.
I had to make it my BQOTW.
A long time ago I had a grandpa too, and he was my first best friend.
I wish he had lived long enough to guide me into becoming the best I could be at something.
The very same way Pattabhi Jois doted over his grandson.
I get their connection, and I appreciate their relationship as well as crave one of my own.
Some people say that Sharath has sold out to the dark side and brought a stain to his grandfather’s legacy by allowing the further commercialization of Ashtanga**. Does it feel shady? Sort of. Has it affected my dedication and love to the practice? Absolutely not!
I sometimes suspect that if his grandfather were still alive he might have chosen a similar path. Perhaps reining in his egotistic ambitions a bit more as not to lose focus of the myth built around the traditions of the practice. Regardless, people are up in arms, and sides have been drawn. How exciting!
As for myself, I’m still relatively new to the Ashtanga world, but I already know where I firmly stand. I don’t really care which side is which, and I am grateful that every day I can stand on my mat and chose to be either foolish or sublime. For me the practice is a prayer in motion and an opportunity not only to see where it can lead me, but where I’m willing to go when I take myself out of my comfort zone. And yes, I do drink coffee before my led class on Sundays, but never before Mysore!
**(Yoga For Trophy Wives: Who’s Yoga Is It Anyway?)
Badass Quote Of The Week
This week’s BQOFT is brought to you by a man I both love and loathe.
I personally don’t know Casey Neistat, so having any sincere emotion for a complete stranger is pretty unusual for me. I’m generally neither here nor there about someone until I’ve shared breathing space with them, and no, this planet doesn’t count.
Mr. Neistat is a self-taught filmmaker who’s HBO show, “The Neistat Brothers”, is a wake-the-fuck-up call to anyone who’s been asleep too long and forgot how to dream. Yes, for sure someone like me.
Maybe I hate him for living his life to the fullest, and maybe it’s his hipster aura which at times can grind.
But the truth is that he’s doing it, every day he’s getting past faith or fears, and living in knowing.
Every time I’ve watched his videos I get inspired to pick up my camera, and damn you HBO for not only canceling the series but removing it from my HBOGO. “Girls” just won’t cut it in this instance.
I suggest checking out his YouTube page, and here’s a coupla samplers to get you started.
Now let’s go do something!
Here’s a link to the video which has the BQOTW:
And here’s a link to a Tedx Talk where Neistat waxes poetic about himself and his background to a bunch of kids:
Badass Quote Of The Week
Exactly how bored desperate uncreative do I have to be to photograph my Polly Pocket Yoda just to have an entry so I don’t lose five dollars this week.
I’ve sunk low…
Fuck it, my 5 bucks, right?
“Let Food Be Thy Medicine” — Hippocrates (Badass Quote Of The Week)
This week’s BQOTW comes with a video. Technically, a documentary.
For some time now I’ve been toying with the notion that if I wanted my yoga practice to skyrocket and expand, it might behoove me to lose “the gut”. Some of this belly I’m referring to is composed of a fibroid cyst which initially was the size of a grapefruit. A few years later it became the shape of two plums, and two years ago it metamorphisized (hey, it’s a word now…) to the size of a melon. Any more snarky citrus references from my doctor and I was going to hit him over his bald pate with a fruit basket goddammit!
Along with my need to further my practice, my new 9to5 gig has been a helluva an eye opener on the comings and goings of modern unhealthy office life. Fill the place with counselors who eat/bake their feelings as well as the holidays looming above us like an ominous mushroom cloud, and you might as well be sitting on a barrel of unstable TNT while holding a lit match.
“Simply Raw” is a profound glimpse in what the future of our relationship with food should look like. Ironically, it’s a reclaiming of the way man/woman used to eat and a subsequent return to a natural healthy balance. Healing ourselves from within is not a best kept secret, and it’s nothing new. We’ve just conveniently forgotten, and illnesses such as diabetes are our greatest reminders. We should thank them for the “head’s up” and send them on their merry way by keeping it simple and keeping it raw.
Look, if you’ve got a better idea, take me to task and show me a the alternative. But in the meantime shut up and eat your veggies kid!
Badass Quote of The Week
This week’s quote is brought to you by my stickk.com referee and friend DawnyO.
Ever so the Canadian, she has stated in no uncertain terms that cock shots are stupid and pointless. She just put it in a politely ubiquitous manner that is.
“The exposure of one’s genitalia to near complete strangers is an interesting thing.”
— Orchid Sturm
Badass Quote Of The Week
This week’s quote is courtesy from my lovely mother who will always be quirky but lovable to me…
“Un uomo a letto non c’e lo voglio, perché sporcano più dei cani”
— Giovanna Agusta (8-20-12)
(“I don’t want a man in my bed anymore. They can be dirtier than dogs”)
Words To Live By: Badass Quote Of The Week (The Elusive Jackalope)
This week I am the proud bequeather of the badass quote.
What’s the point of having a blog if you can’t self-aggrandize once in a while?
I’m not sure if these are words to live by, but I’ve always gotten a big kick out of my “jackalopisms”.
Besides, there’s more ways than one to say no…
Badass Quote Of The Week (Abraham Lincoln)
Badass Quote Of The Week (John Waters)
Adventures In Strangeland 