The Teacup Cafe III

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Bombadillo

My Sensei told me a story..... , so his Sensei just laughed at him and for the next year he remained in Japan studying Iaido under that same man.

What a great story, thanks for sharing that. Indeed it was and still is so but has been 'lost' to many westerners by their "modern" teachers.

[me9996]

By the way, Ninjas were the most deadly asasins known to man.

[The last sane person]

Really, we would never have thought! Second to them, there were The Assasins, a guild of middle eastern ner'do'wells.

[Pytt]

Originally Posted by Bombadillo

BTW, we have a pool? What else do we have, and how many floors is this place now?

Last time I counted, I got to 16,45*10^32. But, I didn't bring enough food, so I didn't get all the way to the top. We had a zoo, actually I had a zoo. But Tessar, that dolt, stole my rhino. Think the whole thing is just nature now.
I think actually the whole cafe is ever-expanding, and you can make your own things. Kind like the universe.

[Spock]

Originally Posted by me9996

By the way, Ninjas were the most deadly asasins known to man.

That is debatable. While they were quite good at what they did, it was more than just assassinations. Intelligence gathering played a huge part in their overall "marketable" skills.
Remember they were a product of Japanese society at the time.

[Spock]

Originally Posted by The last sane person

Really, we would never have thought! Second to them, there were The Assasins, a guild of middle eastern ner'do'wells.

Again, they were a product of Egyptian religious society schisms.


The Hashshashin (also Hashishin), or Assassins were a religious sect (often refered to as a cult) of Ismaili Muslims from the Nizari sub-sect with a militant basis, thought to be active in the 8th to 14th centuries as a mystic secret society specializing in terrorising the Abbasid elite with fearlessly executed, politically motivated assassinations. Their own name for the sect was al-da'wa al-jadīda (الدعوة الجديدة) which means the new doctrine and they called themselves fedayeen from the Arabic fidā'ī which means one who is ready to sacrifice their life for a cause — that term has the modern connotation of "freedom fighter". The name Hashshashin was given to them by their Muslim enemies.



"One of the most successful secret societies which the Shi'as founded was centered around the Abode of Learning in Cairo, which was the training-ground for fanatics who were conditioned by the most cunning methods to believe in a special divine mission. In order to do this, the original democratic Islamic ideas had to be overcome by skilled teachers, acting under the orders of the Caliph of the Fatimites, who ruled Egypt at that time."

- Arkon Daraul, Secret Societies
"Many scholars have argued, and demonstrated convincingly, that the attribution of the epithet 'hashish eaters' or 'hashish takers' is a misnomer derived from enemies the Isma'ilis and was never used by Moslem chroniclers or sources. It was therefore used in a pejorative sense of 'enemies' or 'disreputable people'. This sense of the term survived into modern times with the common Egyptian usage of the term Hashasheen in the 1930s to mean simply 'noisy or riotous'. It is unlikely that the austere Hasan-i Sabbah indulged personally in drug taking."

The word assassin "definitely entered the literary vocabulary when it was used by Dante." In The Divine Comedy: Hell, Book XIX, "Dante describes himself as 'like a friar who is confessing the wicked assassin':

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Pytt

I think actually the whole cafe is ever-expanding, and you can make your own things. Kind like the universe.

I think it is comparable to The Tardis, of Dr. Who, in that respect.

[EarthBound]

What a day....the wind and snow-showers darkened my office window all day. I managed to register for my spring term grad class (someday I'll finish my Masters/Eng) and get ready for my trip to Pennsylvania next week.

I would like a spicy cup of tea and a slice of pumpkin pie, please...

Note: I can't believe I spelled Pennsylvania right (at least I think I did)

[Snowdog]

Where is Lotesse????????

[Telcontar_Dunedain]

Still moving house I think.

[The last sane person]

Very true, I miss that spicey lass! Meh, no one has been able to make a decent latte in her absence.

[Bombadillo]

Originally Posted by Spock

What a great story, thanks for sharing that. Indeed it was and still is so but has been 'lost' to many westerners by their "modern" teachers.

Hey, I'd hoped you'd like it. My Sensei always tells a bunch of stories, usually at the end of class or when he loses his train of thought... Now he confesses that he still "can't stand Iaido," and the uchi deshi outranks him, but together they make an effort to teach it. (I love the Aiki-ken classes too.)

Good news! I visited Marist College today, after just discovering it about a week ago and learning they're great for psychology and offer a master's degree after just 5 years. And I loved it! (Plus, they have free Aikido classes, coincedentally, and they encourage all the criminal justice majors to try that out, as well as the 'student security team' which I might as well join.) So this very night I'm applying through early decision, only my application will be due in just five days. So tomorrow I have to ask my guidance office to speed a bunch of my paperwork off to Marist and I'll be yelled at for telling them last minute. Oh well.

[trolls' bane]

*walks in with a wierd bluish appearence*
Woah, okay that's so cool! *looks in mirror to reveal all blue eyes*
Spice overdoce. I got high on a buch of stuff given off by sandplankton. I feel like doing something to pass the time. How about a walk in the desert!

[Spock]

oh, wait, isn't that her on the left

[trolls' bane]

Well, he should know that his thread is too popular among us to require advertising .

[Spock]

Indeed........now where the heck is the cappuccio machine...I can't find anything since Lotesse has gone moving.

[trolls' bane]

You mean this? *espresso machine appears on small table*
Our old replicator has a virus, and now makes appliances instead of food and drink.
*sprinkles something that smells strongly like cinnamon (yet more strongly THAN cinnamon) onto espresso*

[Spock]

hmmm, that smells good......but do I dare try it on top of the Saurian Brandy I just had in the hall?

[trolls' bane]

Um...good question...
*Looks at mirror as whites of eyes turn blue*

[Spock]

ahhhh, the Spice of Arakis.