Ah yes, Giant Monkeyfish of the Blog, there is snow in Sunnyside today. (Not much snow, but enough flake action to shout out "it's kind of like winter again.")

In other news, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been body-snatched by forward-thinking space aliens. The plan? Universal Health Care for Californians and a 10% cut in auto emissions over the next decade. Who needs Jerry Brown after all?

Meanwhile, yes, there is some new soap. It's called Texas Cedarwood, a manly smoky soap made with aloe vera juice for extra skin toning. This soap will be ready for use on February 9th, but you can order it now. A good Valentines Day gift for the leather men in your life.

And now, a note on Kyokushin Training. We, the good yellow belts of Lisablog, have not yet decided if Kyokushin is a Navy Seal sport or a Jack Ass sport. Probably a little bit of both. After yesterday morning's workout of tire kicking, sparring, and several sets of 50 push ups, we can at least give you a top ten list of cool things about Kyokushin training:

1. It's a great way to put on muscle weight. I've put on 8 pounds over the last 4 months, and it's definitely not fat.

2. Kyokushin training makes everything else seem easy. I've been cross-training for a marathon, and at this point there's nothing breezier than a 6 mile run. (In the dojo we run forward, backward, sideways, do push ups, and hop over bags. A straight run is a super-relaxing alternative.)

3. Are you a hypochondriac? Try Kyokushin and you'll never worry about those little aches and pains again. Kyokushin training provides great proof of the resilience of the body.

4. Kyokushin is a forward-thinking sport. In a sparring round in the dojo, the last thing you want to do is step back and give your opponent the room to swing a kick at your head. Through kyokushin training you will learn to step forward into adversity and confront everything the world throws at you.

5. Are you a multi-tasker? Start into Kyokushin and you can work out and learn Japanese at the same time.

6. Are you totally lacking in grace? Kyokushin katas and kicks improve balance. Want to join the Merce Cunningham Dance Company? Start with kyokushin and you'll be ready to go.

7. The joy of team spirit. Maybe you live in a city like New York where your fellow poets are more likely to boo you than blurb you. Kyokushin is different. Mutual sweating in the dojo leads to very positive peer dynamics. Our dojo is a multi-cultural melting pot of respect and good will. Try grooving on that vibe after a Saturday afternoon at the Bowery Poetry Club.

8. Practical applications: Kyokushin trains you to focus your energies and to coordinate your muscles. You will never need someone else to open a jar of pickles for you again.

9. More practical applications: self-defense. You may not be able to take down an attacker as a yellow belt, but we can guarantee that your lunge into fighting stance accompanied by a loud kiai is going to make people think twice about messing with you.

10. The pleasure of achievement. For the achievement junkies out there, (and for the order-cravers) kyokushin is a great sport. You always know where you stand, and where everyone else stands, because of the rank order system. At the same time, every white belt knows that he or she is a black belt in the making, and every black belt knows that he or she was once a white belt. There are clear markers for promotion: each rank carries along with it the knowledge of certain katas and certain fighting combinations and certain terminology and certain stamina benchmarks. Tired of seeing half-wit putzes get all the interviews at the MLA? Quit the English Department and join the dojo: way more clarity in the promotion process.

Peace people, and happy Wednesday.