I Think This Is Great! with Clay N. Ferno Clay Fernald

Happy Birthday, Sensei
How I learned to count and breathe with Uechi-Ryu
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It starts with the breath. I learned to count in Japanese when my Dad and I took on the ultimate 80s father/son bonding exercise by taking Karate together. I am sorry, but I somehow have yet to watch Cobra-Kai. The Karate Kid craze in the 80s and early 90s was a real thing, and we were all about it.
We studied under Sensei Michael and Sensei Linda. We had to drive to get there and were sure not to forget our gi when leaving the house because there was a ‘three strikes and you are out’ penalty for forgetting your gi at home.


Uechi-Ryū Karate-Do


My Dad used to smoke, and he had his cigarettes in his red t-shirt pocket by his heart. One of the training exercises we did was to face each other, our forearms pressed against each other. In a kind of “hot hands” or reverse arm wrestle, the point was to stare your opponent down, quickly move your arm away from the other person and land a strike. At home, my goal was simple. Our arms were pressed against each other. As soon as you felt the other person move to strike, your task was to block their strike. But I had a different goal when I was attacking. I knocked my Dad’s Marlboro Reds up and out of his shirt and onto the floor to make a sound that only a small cellophane-covered cardboard box filled with tobacco-filled paper tubes can make. The strike when landed on me was little more than a three-fingered ‘slap’ to the face. We played best of 10 (I think).


September 12th was Sensei George Mattson’s birthday. He studied Uechi-Ryu, brought it to America, and wrote the first English book about Karate, The Way of Karate from Tuttle Publishing in 1958. I used to work for Tuttle Publishing, by the way! My first ‘real’ job.


Americans have a different way of celebrating elders and don’t have the same cultural respect for older generations as other countries, so I would just like to wish Sensei Mattson a happy and healthy year ahead and thank him for bringing us Uechi-Ryu. Not only did it connect me with my father in a meaningful way at a time when it was important to do so developmentally, but I also used the fundamentals of Uechi-Ryu in self-defense and my daily life.


Sensei Mattson’s black belt is literally worn out.


Daily routine is a kata
I have not practiced karate in several years, as I am always searching for a Uechi-Ryu class near me. It is not as popular as mixed martial arts and Tae Kwon Do. There is no Uechi dojo around me. I re-upped as a white belt for a Japanese karate style ten or 15 years ago but didn’t stick with it.


One thing I do daily is that I count to ten in Japanese on my reps at the gym, on my bike for a good sprint, or out running between telephone poles (a HIIT technique I learned as the Cross Country Co-Captain in high school).


I can only imagine that the particular accents and pronunciation were taken from Sensei Mattson as it passed to me. I hope to meet Master Sensei Mattson one day!


BUY ME A COFFEE


From 1 to 10
First off, the numbers in Japanese from 1 to 10 are these. I have put my spin on it in parens.


ichi 一 (EECH!)


ni に (KNEE)


san 三 (SOAHN)


yon 四
shi 四 (CHEE)


go 五 (GO)


roku 六 (LUCK!)


nana 七
shichi 七 (SEECHE)


hachi 八 (HAHHTCH)


kyuu 九 (Q!)


jyuu 十 (JU)


REPEAT.


There is also a cadence in my counting that tells a story in three acts, and #10 “JUUUUUUU” is the rolling credits. If you can count to ten lying on. your back with your feet raised 6 inches in the air and holding it there, it does feel. like you have accomplished something.


I can’t pinpoint Sensei Mattson’s exact age, but it’s around 85, and he is still the father of Karate for me and lots of Americans.


It is valuable to celebrate these milestones and recognize elder leaders in our culture this week as the U.K. mourns the loss of its Queen.


I Think This Is Great! with Clay N. Ferno is an intervie

In the Shadow of John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse
Dateline: WeWork Seaport, June 30, 2022


Read along here and transcript below: https://claynferno.substack.com/p/in-the-shadow-of-john-joseph-moakley
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Theme Song by House of Harm: https://houseofharm.bandcamp.com/
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I Think This Is Great! with Clay N. Ferno is an interview podcast about people doing and being their best. We talk about compassionate work, working on teams, getting over hurdles and doing great things even when the chips are down. This is part productivity podcast and part interview show about fascinating people in my life. Welcome, and please let me know what you think is great!
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In the Shadow of John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse — Read along on SubstackLeave a Tip — http://paypal.me/claynfernoBuy Me A Coffee — https://ko-fi.com/claynferno

I Think This is Great! with Clay N. Ferno Saturday Shorts, March 12, 2022 - "How's your Panny?"
2 Years


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"How's your Panny?" - stolen from my friend’s Instagram account when they were just getting back into working on concerts again in 2021.


I spent a lot of time thinking about time.


I spend a lot of time thinking about death. Since the death of my Mother.


Tim Heidecker and Weyes Blood’s Fear of Death record had a profound effect on me.


Fear of Death Live! at Desert Daze 2021 Photo Gallery.


We near 1 million deaths in the US from COVID-19, an unfathomable number.


“SIRI: How do I know if I have this?” — Thanatophobia


Thanatophobia is commonly referred to as the fear of death. More specifically, it can be a fear of death or a fear of the dying process.


It’s natural for someone to worry about their own health as they age (I’m 46 this year). It’s also common for someone to worry about their friends and family after they’re gone. However, in some people, these concerns can develop into more problematic worries and fears.


The American Psychiatric Association doesn’t officially recognize thanatophobia as a disorder. Instead, the anxiety someone may face because of this fear is often attributed to general anxiety. (Great, LOL!)


Signs and symptoms of thanatophobia include:


anxiety


dread


distress (!!!?!)


Treatment focuses on:


learning to refocus the fears


talking about your feelings and concerns


How are you coping, on this 2 year pandemic anniversary? Are you missing someone? Are you finding more joy these days? Are you going out to shows?


When I was riding Uber Eats deliveries on my bike in 2020, I crashed into a pole because I was listening to Oliver Tree.


I saw Oliver Tree at House of Blues last night. I got to wear my cowboy hat and jacket. He has a cowboy thing going on too. Most of the people at the sold-out House of Blues show were not wearing masks.


My short but succinct review of The Batman. I loved it, it was too long. I haven’t done a deep dive into Easter Eggs yet, but I will.


I was looking for the snarky Joe Strummer quote about stage time. “these people have things to do”… but I didn’t find it. Link me to it below if you know what I’m talking about.


I found this one instead:


“I don't have any other message than don't forget you are alive” — Joe Strummer


Sidebar, went to see an up-and-coming band the other night and it was not for me. I need my bands to rock, my country to make me sad, and my hip hop to make me move. Get out of the fucking middle of the road. I bought tickets (I can usually get a guest list spot) and I f*****g left. Snoozefest.


Maybe the quote is just “We, The People, Have Things To Do”.


Playlist for this episode of my life: claynferno.substack.com


https://claynferno.substack.com/p/hows-your-panny?s=w


I Think This Is Great! with Clay N. Ferno is an interview podcast about people doing and being their best. We talk about compassionate work, working on teams, getting over hurdles and doing great things even when the chips are down. This is part productivity podcast and part interview show about fascinating people in my life. Welcome, and please let me know what you think is great!
Support I Think This Is Great! with Clay N. Ferno
Links:
Time Is a Circle But Is Not FlatFear of Death | Tim HeideckerSB on the Road: Desert Daze at Lake Perris, CA — Secret BostonClay Fernald on Instagram: “About to upload more of my Desert Daze pics soon! Loving this shot of Fear of Death @timheidecker @weyesblood LIVE on Friday, November 12th…”Thanatophobia: Understanding Death AnxietyGeneralized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Symptoms and More[Vinyl] Face your fears - YouTubeOliver Tree | Official Website - New Album '

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Never have I tuned the algorithm so quickly on YouTube so quickly to my immediate interests.


An hour after completing the Season 4 Finale of the top-streamed Taylor Sheridan show Yellowstone, I’m being fed top bull rider videos from Vice News, Stories from The Bunkhouse from the franchise itself, and Peter Travers and Kevin Costner’s making of Yellowstone interview, worthy of the embed below.


Costner was pitched Yellowstone as a 10-part movie, not a series


The actor only has 5-10 Western movies he thinks are up to snuff


Built 3 canoes before he was 18 after admiring James Stewart in How The West Was Won at a birthday party when he was 6 years old


Costner is set to start shooting period Western “Horizon” in August


The twenty-minute video gives some insight into the man who is and who plays John Dutton. I saved the Costner interview to watch after a battery of Entertainment Tonight interviews with the other stars of the show.


For the record, I’ve been watching this mostly on my own, this is not a show I watch with my long-suffering partner who I keep telling to “Cowboy Up”.


Tonight, one of her burlesque troupe members was here with her to prep for a show, while I somehow made my way through the Season Finale of Yellowstone. I have 1883 to watch now, but I am sad that I am so caught up.


I cried 5 times.


For the record, I cry when I see Costner in Man of Steel professing “You ARE my son” to young Kal-El. Every. Damn Time. At least 3 of the Yellowstone cries were for these father/son moments between the complex characters in the show.


I discovered recently that my current obsession makes a lot of sense. I’m really enjoying my new and gigantic TV with Yellowstone. Tyler Sheridan, real-life cowboy, actor, and creator of the show is responsible for one of my favorite movies in recent years, Sicario and the sequel (not as great in my mind, Sicario: Day of The Soldado. At my friend’s wedding in Puerto Rico, Benicio Del Toro was at the same resort hotel. Christ, you could have filmed part of this movie at this hotel. President Obama and the First Lady stayed there too. Badass place, with parrots.


Prior to my recent deep dive into this show, I had credited Sicario director Denis Villeneuve with the genius of that story. Visually, he’s my favorite working director in the business today. I love the overhead shots and sweeping vistas. The story presents an insider knowledge of drug cartels or at least believable fiction. For some reason, I never had a reason to look at who wrote the story I found so compelling. Sheridan’s career is vast, including Oscar nominations for 2016’s Hell or High Water. You can be your whole bunkhouse paycheck that I will be seeing that one soon.


This guy is amazing and I wish the expanded Yellowstone universe with 1883 and 6666 all the success in the world. Amazing cast, writing, action over all of these projects. Actors go to Cowboy Camp. The production films on location. Accuracy is matched with the beauty and sweeping landscapes of The West.


I’m not sure why you are not watching Yellowstone yet. I’m already planning a Montana vacation.


Last week, we lost one of the heroes of Grunge. So many are gone now. Rest in Peace, Mark Lanegan. Here's Mark with Layne playing “Long Gone Day” with Mad Season.


Here’s Mark with PJ Harvey “Hit The City”.


So much loss and it especially hurts when it’s someone struggling with sobriety (not that this was his cause of death, that has yet to be revealed and he was sick recently).


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Follow me on Wisdom App when I go live for Audio. Here is an episode I recorded in my room, and in my room from my Bose 700 headphones. Not the best mic but good enough.


Danielle Brooks is the Peacemaker actor’s name I couldn't think of.


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Wow, check out the numbers.


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Transcript:


Hey, everybody. Clay N. Ferno here wanted to talk about the epic finale for HBO Max's Peacemaker, written and directed by James Gunn. We watched it last night. We loved it. We love this show. There was a special appearance by our friends in spoiler warning, it's coming - The Justice League! We had shadowed out Superman or shattered out Wonder Woman, Jason Mamoa and Ezra Miller, The Flash and Aquaman showed up at the end after a really brutal, incredibly violent, incredibly funny show. And one thing that I really like about the show. It's the costumes and special effects movie level. And it's different. It's different. We've seen lots of Marvel stuff or the past 10 plus or 15 years.


How long has Marvel been around doing these Marvel Studios? And then we got the CW shows that's great… And CW shows have really done a number on costumes, but there's something about these HBO max shows, including Titans, Peacemaker, Doom Patrol, and however they shoot it. Very bright and 4k ready, 8k ready,


They just look so amazing. Our dreams from being a kid and seeing our heroes up on the TV screen are good. They're happening now. So there's almost too much of the superhero stuff. Like I would love to watch The Boys, but I just haven't gotten into it. Another show we really like is Legends of Tomorrow which is returning, I think tonight which is another DC show.


But of course, the Marvel Disney+ shows are great. And that includes the Star Wars shows Mandalorian and Boba Fett. Let me know what you think about Peacemaker. If you saw it last night, if you intend on seeing it, I want to try not to spoil it too much if you haven't seen it, but are interested in it, do you want me to convince you?


I think I could. I think I could convince you to watch at least an episode, definitely interested in hearing what anyone has to say. I'm just all about comic books. I have. Been doing a comic book podcast for a really long time with my friends. And then I've also got my own podcast. My girlfriend is in the other room doing her workout.


It's Friday afternoon here on the East Coast, Boston MA reporting live Clay N. Ferno. I haven't been outside yet today, but maybe I'll go to the gym. Take some inspiration from Stacey with her workout and the other I'm pretty much finished up work for the day, which is cool. We watch our superhero TV shows all our TV shows late at night over dinner because we're nightclub people, Burlesque dancer, in the house here, I'm a promoter.


I'm like a club promoter. I promote comedy shows a lot of podcasts, music. Most of my days doing music, business-type stuff. But at the end of the day and my hobbies, my hobbies include my podcast, my podcast leaguepodcast.com. And we've been shooting a lot of video podcasts recently. And do you know what?


I don't even know. We just broadcast. We put it out there. We're putting it out into the world. Hope people like it. I don't know. We have some listeners. I wish we could catch it on fire. Maybe the Wisdom app is the way to go for that. Engaging conversations. But as far as, Peacemaker finale, let's talk about lots of cool action.


Funny, funny jokes. And you've got, literally, I read the James Gunn film, some of this while he was filming, while he filmed the Flash cameo on the set of Guardians of the Galaxy. There was a little bit of one hand washes the other

Quick video upload and bonus podcast episode this week!



But first, Substack is going to roll out native video. While I’m not
excited about a fourth or fifth place to upload content, this will be good
for creators and subscribers. Read more at

Axois

.




Can Peacemaker beat out Boba Fett next Week? Why did I watch Eternals
Again? I Think This Is Great! with Clay N. Ferno is an interview podcast
about people doing and being their best. We talk about compassionate work,
working on teams, getting over hurdles and doing great things even when the
chips are down. This is part productivity podcast and part interview show
about fascinating people in my life. Welcome, and please let me know what
you think is great!




Top Ten from reelgood.com



I Think This Is Great! with Clay N. Ferno is an interview podcast about people doing and being their best. We talk about compassionate work, working on teams, getting over hurdles and doing great things even when the chips are down. This is part productivity podcast and part interview show about fascinating people in my life. Welcome, and please let me know what you think is great!
Support I Think This Is Great! with Clay N. Ferno
Links:
Boba Fett vs Peacemaker - Whatcha Streaming This Week? — Quick video upload and bonus podcast episode this week!
But first, Substack is going to roll out native video. While I’m not excited about a fourth or fifth place to upload content, this will be good for creators and subscribers. Read more at Axois.

Can Peacemaker beat out Boba Fett next Week? Why did I watch Eternals Again? I Think This Is Great! with Clay N. Ferno is an interview podcast about people doing and being their best. We talk about compassionate work, working on teams, getting over hurdles and doing great things even when the chips are down. This is part productivity podcast and part interview show about fascinating people in my life. Welcome, and please let me know what you think is great!

Top Ten from reelgood.comBoba Fett vs Peacemaker - Whatcha Streaming, January 25, 2022 - YouTubeclaynferno (@ClayNFerno) / Twitterclaynferno - TwitchBuy Claynferno a Coffee. ko-fi.com/claynferno - Ko-fi ❤️ Where creators get support from fans through donations, memberships, shop sales and more! The original 'Buy Me a Coffee' Page.