Samourai Soundtrack

Samourai Soundtrack

One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands from one of my favorite albums. This is the original, pre- House, M.D. version.

Today's Femme Fatale

Today's Femme Fatale

John Rain's Watch

For my money, Barry Eisler's books about half-American/half-Japanese assassin John Rain are the best thrillers since the glory days of Ian Fleming and Adam Hall. I can't help but be enthralled by the adventures of this jazz-loving, Scotch-drinking, neck-breaking killer.

Like Fleming before him, Eisler doesn't shy away from mentioning name-brands in his novels. Some critics deride this sort of thing as gimmicky. I disagree. I think it just roots the series in the real world, and gives me a better connection to the character. I'd prefer to know that Rain drinks Laphroaig and listens to Bill Evans than merely be told he drinks single-malts and listens to jazz.

In the third book of the series, Rain Storm, we learn what type of watch John Rain normally wears: a Traser P5900. As something of a watch enthusiast, this was a key revelation. It was also not an arbitrary decision on Barry Eisler's part. In the book's acknowledgements, he specifically thanks a bunch of real-life operators for inspiring him to issue Rain a Traser wristwatch.

The P5900 is an interesting choice of watch for an international assassin or would-be international man of intrigue. It's black, lightweight, and rather nondescript. The bright lume means it should be readable even in the darkest environments. And it isn't too expensive, so one wouldn't shed tears if it was lost or damaged during a mission. Really, it rather strikes me as the Glock of analog watches.

Would I ever buy one? That's a tough question. It's a nice watch for all the reasons I mentioned above, thought a bit smaller than I'm used to. Also, I am a bit of an automatic purist, and the P5900 is a quartz watch. For the money, I would be tempted to just get an Seiko 5 auto, which are probably the best budget watches on the planet. Still, I don't deny being tempted by the Traser. It would feed into my John Rain fantasies, and whenever I checked the time I would no doubt be tempted to sip some Laphroaig, listen to a bit of Bill Evans, and go practice Jiu-Jitsu.

Finding Real Life Inspiration from Fictional Heroes, Part One

I admit it: I have some geekly fanboy tendencies. I'm not really an SF, fantasy, or superhero kind of guy. No, my passion is for well-done crime and thriller stuff, especially if there is an espionage element involved.

I'm not alone. We spend countless dollars on action films and thriller novels. But here's the question: What do we get out of them besides entertainment?

Personally, I find fictional heroes to be good sources of inspiration. By serving as larger-than-life role models, they help me to focus on what aspects of the characters I like and want to in some way emulate.

Some people may dismiss looking to action heroes for personal inspiration hopelessly pathetic and dorky. These naysayers are all too willing to say "Who do you think you are? You'll never be like [fill-in the blank]." And I will partially concede their point: You never will be just like your favorite fictional character. (Nor should you want to be; you are you!) But how about if you were just a little bit like your favorite fictional character?

Let's say you're a James Bond fan. I certainly am. Face it, you never will be James Bond. But you can be a little bit more Bond-like. Maybe, like me and all the others who Googled "Daniel Craig workout," you watched Casino Royale and got inspired to get into better shape. Perhaps you are impressed with 007's foreign language skills and decide to learn a second language. Or maybe you go back and read Ian Fleming's original novels, learn that Bond trained in Judo, and find a dojo to train at. Getting into shape, learning a new language, and taking up Judo won't turn you into James Bond. But perhaps you'll be about 10 percent Bond, which is better than when you started. Isn't that better than zero percent?

I also think fictional heroes serve as powerful visualization tools. We all know how important it is to use visualization to fuel success. Of course, if you really think about it, visualization is a form of fantasy, just like action movies and thriller novels. I once knew a mixed martial arts coach who told his fighters to imagine themselves as huge samurai, and to visualize cutting their opponents in half with a giant sword. This sort of thing works for all sorts of training, and since there are plenty of fictional heroes just floating around in your brain, why not enlist them to help you? Next time your running sprints, instead of just thinking, "Oh man, sprints are hard!," imagine yourself as James Bond running down a terrorist, or Jason Bourne sprinting along Moroccan rooftops in The Bourne Ultimatum. Going back to martial arts, I wonder how many professional fighters imagine themselves as Bruce Lee before stepping in to the ring.

The only real drawback to finding personal inspiration in fictional heroes are the naysayers I mentioned earlier. Luckily, there's an easy way to deal with them: Keep it to yourself. If someone asks you why you started to train in Keysi, you don't have to answer, "Because that's what Christian Bale used as Batman and I'm a big Batman fan." No, you can just say it looked like it might be fun and leave it at that. And keep in mind that those who would mock you for your source of inspiration might very well have no source of inspiration themselves.

I don't recall who wrote this (I think it was Pavel Tsatsouline), but I once read something along the lines of "Some people watch The Bourne Identity and think 'Kali looks cool... I'm going to find a place that teaches Kali. Others watch The Bourne Identity and think 'Kali looks cool' and grab a cheeseburger and sit down in front of the TV." Which are you?

This post originally appeared on my fitness website, FitMonkeyHawaii.com

Today's Femme Fatale

"Martinis are like breasts, one isn’t enough, and three is too many."--Herb Caen.

Samourai Soundtrack

I had never heard of Lunascape until I stumbled onto some of their songs on the Hooverphonic channel on LastFM. Great band, and I love the paranoid vibe of this song.

Drinks of Summer: Dark and Stormy

Looking through my cupboards, I discovered I had a nearly-full bottle of Myer's Dark Rum. I'd forgotten it I had it, so it was like a mini-Christmas surprise.

I wanted to make something other than the standard, boring Rum & Cola, even though those are delicious. I decided to try something new. Since I love a good ginger beer, I opted for a Dark & Stormy.

I headed across the street to my local Whole Foods and picked-up a Reed's Ginger Beer, one of the true princes among soft drinks. I got home, turned on some bossa nova (Myer's is a Jamaican rum, so reggae or ska would have arguably been more appropriate, but hey... blame it on the bossa nova!), and proceeded to make my concoction. I filled a highball glass with a bunch of ice, added a generous 2 oz. shot of rum, poured in the ginger beer, and topped with a big squeeze of lime.

The verdict? Delicious! The sweetness of the Myer's offered a great contrast to the bite of the Reed's. While I still love a good Negroni, the Dark & Stormy will definitely be added to the roster of Le Samourai drinks of summer.

Le Samourai Returns!

I admit it... I've let this blog fall by the wayside. After all, it's been a few months since I've posted anything new. That awful thing known as "real life" was getting in the way. But no more! Le Samourai has returned! Look for more new posts to pop up regularly in the future.