Suspension of Disbelief

Graveyard Guess 2010

2010-10-30T23:40:00.002-06:00

Trimming

2010-07-20T23:29:00.002-06:00

Last week, three of my nieces cut their own hair. When one thinks of this, it usually conjures up the classic diagonal cuts, hair that once fell into place now all choppy. Then, their mothers had to try and fix it. And, so it then becomes a sort of repair job which still does not look right, but no longer looks horrifying. Something to look forward to I am sure.

Then, without warning, that same week, our neighborhood was attacked by my nieces. They came in the form of city workers whose job it was to maul and chop our trees. The city claims that this is done to make way for the street sweeper, who we have not seen on our street in the 4 years we have lived here.

But my nieces had a different approach. They just haphazardly sawed the trees this way and that. They would leave stumps of branches, so we could hang our hats on them if we needed to. They would take the chainsaw to anything that was in the way. And sometimes not even close to in the way. It was as senseless as little girls cutting their hair. So, like their mothers did, I went out there that night to repair what I could.

Now, my approach is more how I would handle a nephew who cut his hair. Just buzz it. Those trees now look like they won't be seeing a pair of scissors for at least another 4 years. But at least they do not look all flat anymore.

On a side note, my dog decided to clip our tomato plant as if he was a gardener. Instead of using shears he used his teeth. He seems to be somewhat systematic though. He is clipping off our plants one by one. Just when we have hope that he may leave them alone, he takes another one out. I think he is operating independently of my nieces...

The Real Sea World

2010-02-26T00:08:00.005-07:00

I think the Killer Whale was given that name back in the seventies when things were considered "killer" as a substitute for the word "cool". They couldn't just call him the Cool Whale or the Bitchen Whale. He was the Killer Whale. In the sixties, he may have been known as the Groovy Whale. In the fifties, the Hip Whale and in the Forties, the Swingin' Whale. And the thirties they would have just been known as Clark Gable.

Right now, they are not thinking that the Killer Whale is very cool. I suppose many are thinking that we should not be going to see them performing tricks and stuff. When one looks at it, the whales are being treated pretty well. It's the trainers who are getting the raw deal. But they ask for it. Not to be drowned and all, but it's a risk.

The trainers do wear those wet suits which make them look like little whales. If I suddenly saw a fish dressed up like me, how would I react? I would probably insist on him sitting at the table and have tea with me. Or a soda. I would be having so much fun with my new human friend, it would not even occur to me that he would not be able to breathe.

They say this particular whale had problems before. He has a record. A couple convictions, a DUI... He was a mess. So why keep him? Couldn't they just let him loose? See how he does with other whales. Maybe he would not think it was so funny when he slips and falls into a great white feeding frenzy. Or does it not work that way? Would it actually have to be a killer whale feeding frenzy? Now that would be Whale Wars. And not bad reality tv.

Maybe this killer whale should get his own reality tv series. He could constantly be interviewed and explain to everyone that he was the victim all along. None of these other incidents were his fault at all. "The guy suddenly showed up in my tank with no clothes on. I was just trying to help him get dressed."

Scenes from Next Week

2010-02-24T00:13:00.002-07:00

I was doing a puzzle last week with some kids. It was a 1,000 piece one with an old Mickey Mouse poster. I am a firm believer in not looking at the box as I do a puzzle. Obviously, when I first buy the puzzle or get it as a present, I see the picture on the front. Now, I suppose I could try and focus my energy on it at that point and remember where everything goes and that would not constitute looking at the box while doing the puzzle.

I am also the type of person who does not want to see the scenes from next week's episode of LOST or 24 or whatever exciting adventure show there is. I don't want to know. I want to experience it all for the first time next week when it happens. It just seems more fun that way. I don't understand why someone wants to know.

Now, I do make an exception when it comes to TV shows which don't really have a story to them. Like, most reality shows, I could care less if I see scenes from next week. That is probably because if I miss it, it will not be the end of the world. In fact, it will probably be a major blessing in my life if I do miss it. Like, I will actually have thought and learning emanating from me instead of drool and stupor.

I know there are some people who have to know everything they are going to get for Christmas in advance. I know some people cannot wait to watch the upcoming Twilight trailer. But doesn't seeing those scenes out of context ruin it somewhat?

I think it is funny that oftentimes DVDs will include the Theatrical Trailer. Does anyone ever watch those? I know we saw them in the theatre, but why would one ever go back and watch the theatrical trailer for Willow or Howard the Duck? Okay. I admit I watched the trailer for Willow. I don't remember ever seeing the trailer for Willow. In fact, I did not see Willow until it came on HBO. And then, I saw it every time it was on.

But, I guess my point on trailers is that they are designed to get people's interest, but they have no intrinsic value to them whatsoever. Somebody please name a good trailer. I don't think anyone can. They are all so worthless and provide nothing good that people are just left with an empty feeling.

Look at the new trailer for Clash of the Titans. What a piece of junk that is going to be. Or is it? The trailer is so bad. It has no perspective. Just a bunch of amazing CG shots. Whoopedee doo! Like, we have not seen that in every other movie that has come out in the last 10 years...

The Dish and the Spoon

2010-01-04T22:54:00.003-07:00

As I was reading Hey Diddle Diddle the other night, I decided to interpret it.

Hey Diddle Diddle
The cat and the fiddle.

Diddle represents people. The commonfolk.
The fiddle is an instrument of the devil, so the cat represents Satan calling to the common people with "Hey you! Listen to me!"

The cow jumped over the moon.

A cow is an animal which provides meat and milk and is not known for being able to jump much at all. Jumping over the moon is more like orbiting the moon. So, I think this is a metaphor of Galileo. And, taking the sustenance of the people and allowing it to leave earth to possibly never come back is a major risk.

The little dog laughed
To see such sport

The little dog is the church who rejected Galileo's theories. Because little dogs or puppies are so appealling to people, this had a tremendous effect on the masses.

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

The dish and the spoon represent high society, who never really care about the significance of major events. They are too busy involved with affairs and dining out.

Reality Bit

2010-01-04T22:25:00.004-07:00

We watched Reality Bites last night. I guess that was my generation, but hardly my crowd. That does not stop me from identifying with Michael's character (Ben Stiller) though. He has Doctor Zaius on his desk. Why would that not be cool?

As I rooted for Troy (Ethan Hawke) and Lelaina (Winona Ryder) to get together, I found myself asking: Why? Why do I want these two horrible people to be happy? Then again, if they can be happy together, maybe that keeps others from being miserable.

The most redeeming part was seeing Leleina's video chopped up to be funny and commercialized. It was so pretentious and lame to begin with. Why was Michael apologizing to her? He should have just smiled as she walked away. He should have known that no amount of sucking up to her was going to get him anywhere.

Swayze, Quite the Bad-A

2009-09-14T23:44:00.005-06:00

Patrick Swayze died today. We have seen him die before. So, it shouldn't be so hard for us to bear. In Point Break he headed out to meet the gigantic surf. In Ghost, he tries to fight off some thief and gets shot? Been awhile on that one. In Red Dawn, he gets aced, but he led the revolt very well.

He was a pretty fun actor. In the Outsiders he made a convincing big brother greaser bad-A. In Roadhouse, he made a convincing bouncer martial arts bad-A. And, of course, Dirty Dancing, he was an immoral dance instructor bad-A.

I suppose he is more like the everyman bad-A in his movies. He had the great mullet. Can't argue with a mullet.

I think I like him best in Roadhouse. It is such a cheesy movie. Totally formulaic, but he has this general appeal when he comes to town. He is friends with the blind guy musician dude. He scores the hot nurse. He meditates while doing his martial arts thing. And, to top it all off, his mentor is Sam Elliot, the biggest bad-A of them all. But most of all, we trust him to take care of things.

He walks into a corrupt town to fix it. That is some serious opposition. Well, really, he was just going for the job. But he gets pulled in to sticking up for the little guy. I liked it when he was training the other bartenders how to keep their cool and battle the drunkards. As one who hardly ever goes to bars, I think this is a very realistic portrayal of a classic Texas roadhouse.

I am sure many people do not like the movie Roadhouse for precisely the same reasons that I like it. Oh well. Opinions vary.

I'll Take Care of This

2009-08-04T08:08:00.004-06:00

I just got pulled over by Ryan Phillipe. Fortunately, Peter Stormare was not riding in the passenger seat and I did not have any extra $100 bills hanging out of my wallet. And, although it crossed my mind, I did not lead him on a car chase that would lead us through the closest mall.

I hate that helpless feeling of knowing they are right to pull me over. Why can't I get defensive and tell the cop boy that he should be out there catching the real criminals? Oh, I guess I was breaking the law so I am the real criminal. I hate that expression anyway. Real criminals. They have to start somewhere. And this was a very young kid. It almost looked like I was his first ticket. He was excited!

We live in an area where there are still a lot of farms, so it is really lame to have these 25 mph roads where horses should be galloping instead of cars driving. So, it angers me that a cop set up in someone's pasture and waited for unsuspecting soccer players to go zooming by. Too fast? 42 in the rural west?

One day I will have to fight a ticket. Go into the judge and come up with all these strange and elaborate excuses. I don't think I could ever win though. I don't have the face for it.

a. I am not female.
b. I have that naturally pissed off look that people cannot wait to get angry at.
c. I don't think quick on my feet.

If I could bring in my laptop and type out my responses and have that go straight to the judge in some IVR kind of way, then maybe I could win. Somehow my own non-written voice does not work as well. I wonder if Biden is a good writer.

Man Code

2009-07-20T23:13:00.002-06:00

I just watched the Bachelorette The Men Tell All. I am sorry. I promised myself I would not do this, but...

I don't have a good excuse.

I would like to touch on the concept of Man Code as brought up by David. Man Code covers a lot.

1. Do not be a fruit fly.
A fruit fly as defined by a friend many years ago is the not very attractive guy who somehow makes friends with the hot chick and hangs out with her all the time. He has no chance for her, but his pride keeps him from just letting her go. And, he somehow ruins the chances for any other guy by being around ALL THE TIME!!! Good example of this would be Tucker in There's Something About Mary.

2. Act like a guy.
This could cover a lot as well. But, do not cross your legs one knee over the other when sitting. Use your low voice. And, go to the gym once a week.

3. Do not be phony, cheesy, two-faced, and be a friend with your fellow guys. That should be your number one goal. The dating and girlfriends will fall into place if you can be friends first and foremost with your fellow countrymen.

Hopefully, 2 and 3 do not conflict.

So, the Bachelorette has a certain sort of realism to it. I remember being with a group of three other guys going to visit an apartment of cute chicks, where one or two of them was the target. And, it was really funny to see the previous group of four guys leaving. Like a tag team sort of thing.

And, I was kind of just along for the ride. There was so much wrong with the whole situation to begin with. This girl could not be that interesting. I think I remember being in there occupied with a puzzle on the table after we went in. I was notorious for being a social misfit. That was more fun than being a fruit fly.

So, I really identify with the Bachelorette. The tons of guys all vying for the one girl. It is too bad we did not have a camera there so everyone could give their perspective. Okay, that's the part I hate.

The Men Tell All episode hit the nail on the head when they said that the whole idea of the show is contrary to Man Code. It is! Guys that are friends do not compete for the same chick. Well, they do. It happens, but it shouldn't. And so, Man Code is continually violated and it becomes a frenzy of interviews and stupidity.

An interesting show would be a group of friends like 5 guys and 3 chicks. And, you just film them and their interactions. No interviews. No talking to the camera. Just the situation. And, you could call the show Man Code. And review after each episode. The audience could grade the guys on who violated the most policies of Man Code. But there would be no elimination. You just have scores and silly rules, which is really what Man Code is all about.

So That's What Happened to Sitcoms...

2009-05-30T08:44:00.002-06:00

As we babysit some of my wife's cousins' kids, we get a good sampling of the tv shows they watch. The three that I have seen so far are: iCarly, Spongebob Squarepants, and Wizards of Waverly Place. Spongebob is, of course, the best. I had seen that before and having done a 5 foot tall pinata of him and one of Patrick as well, I was much more familiar with them.

iCarly is not so bad although it has elements to it that are borderline. She and her friend run a website called iCarly.com. And they get strange requests from people. Like, one viewer wanted her to show her tongue. And, another bit had them doing dancing while eating bananas. I certainly appreciate the creativity and the fun aspect that goes into it, but when dealing with the internet and little girls, it just seems like we see way too many bad examples of this sort of showing off to the world.

iCarly is pretty bad. The acting is mostly lame, but there is some appeal to it. There are a couple of elements which pull you in. She has an older brother who is a sort of guardian for her while her father is in the Navy. Parents are not in the picture, so I can see how that would draw the children viewers in. But, it is totally a cheesy sitcom. They just took the format straight from the eighties and went with it.

The Wizards show was absolutely deplorable. First of all, the characters are all a-holes to each other. I hate that. No one is likable at all. I can see why they left the parents out of the other show. The plot is that this family are all wizards and/or witches and the kids go to school while the parents are home trying to come up with witty rejoinders to continue the madcap zaniness of this totally original plot.

Back when Tina Yothers would make a smart-alec comment on Family Ties, we would let it go, because we knew that Michael J. Fox was there to comfort us. But there is nothing like that with these shows. We have plenty of Tina Yotherses. Sorely lacking in the Michael J. Fox category.

Oh well! At least the kids of today get to experience tv of yesteryear...

Fashion Update

2009-05-27T08:11:00.003-06:00

I take a look at the new shorts, the plaid bermudas, and I shrug. I can do this. It is a look I was born for.

But I also have to laugh, because many of the guys with these shorts do not fit the bill. It's a nerdy look. I don't understand how they do not see it. Maybe they think they are going golfing or playing tennis. I suppose if they get a sweater, place it on their back and tie the arms in front of them, they could be mistaken as preppy. But, I am not seeing that.

I am excited to get a pair though...

Can You Go Over This Area Again?

2009-05-24T23:16:00.005-06:00

I used to clean carpet. When a customer did not like the way the job was done, we had some pretty good built-in excuses.

"Well yeah, that is the traffic area... I can go over it again if you like." (Notice the excuse followed up by the true sincerity of a non put-out technician)

Or "That line you are getting under your door is called carbon-filtration. The air floats through there and the door acts as a sort of filter along with the carpet and the moisture." (This is a sort of weird phenomenon that we would see in some places, but not all.)

And "It looks like your carpet is polyester, not nylon." (I don't know if it was actually polyester or what. Some carpet just did not have any fluff to it. They would just get these wear-areas that were like nothing on earth. It was tough telling people that their carpet sucked. But it was even tougher to do the whole job again...)

My favourite was this one: "This spot keeps reappearing, because there is soap in your carpet. And, it looks like it has gotten into the padding underneath." (How could I know if it was in the padding unless I yanked up the carpet? We did do repairs, so I could have. That would have been calling my bluff...)

All these excuses equated to one thing. I have just spent an hour here and I do not want to be here anymore...

We would eventually get down there with our spot cleaner and a towel and work like crazy. And, I think that is all they wanted to see, because up to that point all they saw was us doing nothing but going over the carpet with a floor buffer and raking it.

The key to the whole thing was the carpet rake. It looked better than vacuuming. I knew a guy who moved some furniture, spit on the carpet, pronounced it sprayed, raked it and put the furniture right back. The rake fools all.

People always wanted their sofas and stuff moved so we could clean under it. It was never dirty. Sometimes a little dust, which, I guess if you want to pay us to vacuum your carpet, fine!

I remember having a lady sign a waiver once so we could move her tv. I had just taken business law, so I knew that it would not hold up in court, but the boss hung it up on the office wall anyway. Such a proud moment in small business negligence-avoidance.

I am really embarrassed by my behaviour back then. Like the fact that my voice would change depending on who answered the door. The woman got a nice high pitched hello, how are you. The men would get a professional sounding deep voice. I probably would have never noticed this except for the time someone came to the screen and I could not tell if it was a man or woman on the other side. I think I was confused on which voice to use, so I had to come up with a middle ground voice.

I loved seeing how people all across the county lived. Sometimes, it was so disgusting that we had to spend half our time picking up dog, cat, rabbit poop off the carpet before we could start vacuuming. Other times, the people were so rich that we were afraid to touch anything for fear they would sue our company for items more expensive than the whole franchise. Most of the time, people were nice looking upper middle class folk who had the same basic floor plan, same furniture, same off-white berber carpet.

I think next time the guys come out to clean our carpets I will insist they move the sofas...

Come on!

2009-05-21T23:42:00.001-06:00

Why would David tell Michael anything in advance? And, why let him do a skit at the picnic? And who won the volleyball game?

Doggie Don't Don't

2009-05-17T22:46:00.003-06:00

While I was bringing in piles of dirt on Saturday, my dog, F, got out. I have been really cautious about letting him out, because as far as I can tell, I have no authority over him whatsoever. He will not come when I call his name. He barely even acknowledges me outside the realm of the yard, so I have been dreading this day. He got out and he was gone. He could care less.

At first, I chased after him, pointlessly calling his name. He would go into people's backyards and since I was trying to value their privacy, I would wait. He would not even look at me. So, I thought: Screw it! I have work to do. So what if he roams the streets all day...

I went back to work on the dirt. After about 10 minutes, I looked up to a child crying and being comforted by her father. There was F across the street. Now, I do not think he did anything to hurt the child. (I asked just in case.) But, I did realize that he is quite a large dog. And, despite his good intentions to explore the countryside and lick people, he could be responsible for some inadvertent accidents. And since animals cannot be sued, I took it upon me to start the pursuit again.

It's a good thing I did, because he decided to go across the busier street. And, then into someone else's yard. And then near the horses. Into the gully. Into the field, through the barb wire fence and down the street.

I was angry, impatient and not looking forward to this sort of adventure. At a couple points I ran up hoping to get hold of him, but at the last minute, he would bolt. We kept going like this and he crossed the street again and went onto someone's property. As I looked around, it appeared that no one was home then, so I shut their gate behind me and went after F again.

As he went around the yard, it dawned on him that he was trapped. I could see a couple of possibilities for him, but I was not about to tell him. After a lap around, he looked beaten. He was also tired. He was not used to running that much.

At this point, I had him. And any amount of punishment would suffice. I could tell him what a bad dog he was as I exercise my authority over him. With a dog that big, a simple swat does not do the job.

But I also thought about my predicament. As a father, is this how I would react as my kid misbehaves? Am I going to get angry and tell them how bad they are? Do they have to know that my word is the law and that when they are disobedient, then I am there to crack the whip? I don't know. But I was not going to do that with my dog.

I decided to lay down, call him and make sure I was approachable. When he got close enough I patted his head and then slipped his harness on. I let him know that I was not mad, because at that point, I wasn't anymore. It was actually kind of fun. It helped me take a break from a rigorous day of yard work. We walked back to the house and I was happy about what I had learned. I think F and I were closer too, which seems kind of silly, but maybe we are better friends.

Now, we just need to figure out how to use that friendship to keep him out of the garden boxes...

My Socially Awkward Burden

2009-03-04T23:21:00.003-07:00

My reunion is coming up and I have come to discover that two of my very good friends have no desire to go. So, I figured it was my duty to write about it and attempt to convince them (and others) that the reunion is important and should be attended. Okay, maybe not important. It is an event on the circle.

Now, let's go back to what school is. It is a place where one is forced to go as a kid in order to become assimilated into society. As part of that, one gets friends over the course of 3 to 4 years. When one is in grade school, friends are made, but the maturity is not there, so everyone is a friend. But then high school friends are different. The mentality is different. People are a little more accepting. Girls are getting hotter. It is more fun.

Except for the bullies. And the bullies one remembers the rest of their life. And hopefully, they do not show up to the reunion. I think the bullies represent what is horrible about reunions.

So, now fast forward 10, 20, 30, 50, 100 years ahead. The first thing that runs through my mind as the reunion approacheth is the idea that I suck and I have to suddenly make something of my life (or at least appear like I am). But then that makes me angry because I am going back to high school mentality. So I think: I have to conquer this. I need to go to my reunion because ...

And then I have to think of a good reason.

It comes back to the idea of: What would I want my ideal reunion to be like?

I would like to go back to the actual school and have a day (actually, it would have to be 4 days. Wait! With semesters, it would have to be 8 days. Sounds like Navin.) It would be nice to go in each of my classes and take a look around at all of the people who were in my classes. We could all sit in the seats we used to sit in. And, we could spend the day looking around and remembering. That might be a good simulation to set up somewhere online.

That would be so much fun, because I take my experience since high school and relate to the people around me differently. People are very interesting and everyone has something interesting to offer. Did we have that kind of patience in high school? Hell no. I was too busy dressing weird and coming up with strange projects to demonstrate creativity.

What else could we do?

I would like to go somewhere that would not be awkward. I think dressing up and going to a place that is all formal and stuffy reminds me too much of going to church dances as a kid. I understand that the purpose was to dance, have fun and make friends. But, I spent a lot of time not dancing, not having fun and I made only a couple friends. That was a ton of effort with very little profit. What can I say? I survived. I learned how to sit on the stage and stare at hot girls.

I want to do something that would actually be fun. Some sort of activity where we all get together and throw paint all over each other. Actually, that would be a little awkward. Maybe have a bunch of chess boards set up or some RockBand. Let's do something where we can see the talents people have. How about one gigantic talent show? A week long event. If you have no talents, you could figure something out in a week.

I don't want to not remember people. I don't want to be trolling around trying to look at who people are and feeling like I didn't get to everybody I wanted to. But then again I do that all the time. Every party I go to I come away thinking: Why didn't I talk more to those people? That would have been interesting.

This is not very convincing to my friends who I hoped would show up to this event to ease my burden. My socially awkward burden...

Doodie!!!

2009-02-23T23:06:00.002-07:00

I did not really grow up going to a public pool. We went to my Grandparents' house. They had a pool and a trampoline and a big yard with old beat up cars in it. They had olive trees and 7-Eleven was across the street. The baseball park was next door. We only had to share the pool with a couple other kids. And many times we had friends come over. So, we were really spoiled.

So, the idea of a public pool is a little foreign to me. The most public I got was going to the beach. If we had to go to the bathroom, we were told to go out in the water. You can't really do that in a public pool. Of course, lots of kids were doing it last year. So much so that they had to close many of them down to clean it all out and keep everyone from getting sick.

I can still see that a public pool is fun and I will make the best of it for my little family, but boy! There is nothing like that memory of having a pool to go to all summer long. I can still picture it. Its size. Its shape. I had to clean it in later years. But it was a great swimming pool. That was a great house. I could go on and on about that place. Maybe I will dream about it tonight.

Experts and Excuses

2009-02-08T14:49:00.002-07:00

Have you ever been really good at something and someone else comes along who purports to be really good as well? And then, when you see them do the action of what it is, they make excuses for why they are not better at it. They seem to feel that if the sun was not in their eyes, or if the grass was not so wet, or the controller was not so stiff then they could easily match your skills. But they do not or they cannot and it is obvious to both of you. What do you say?

I suppose I have been on both ends of this situation. I think the best people in the world make excuses for their shortcomings. But why? Why do we feel it is so necessary? It only makes us look bad.

A few years ago, we had a work party and towards the end of it, the host brought out the Scene-It DVD game. The assumption was that I would smoke everyone because I am the movie trivia guru/dork. I was excited to play. I did not tell everyone I was going to lose or that everyone had just as good a chance. I had never played before. Excuse number one. The trivia portion is just one aspect of the game too. Excuse number two. And, I am not a quick thinker. Number 3.

Our team did not win. I suppose it was my fault. I guess I let a lot of people down. Well, not a lot. But, it was still my opportunity to shine. I feel like I have since redeemed myself at another scene-it dvd gathering. This time I went head to head with my rival, P, who is a well-spring of useless movie trivia as well. His excuse was that he had not seen Backdraft in a long time. I can't fault him for making that excuse. I had just seen it and did a blog entry on it a month previous, so it was fresh in my mind.

I guess we make excuses because we want people to esteem us higher than the situation is giving us. We see ourselves failing when we know we have succeeded before. This goes back to people not knowing us and only getting a brief glimpse at the real us. But why do we care? Shouldn't we know ourselves well enough that we do not have to prove anything to anyone?

Then again, the situation does not care. The situation dictates to us what it will and we have to deal with that. I came up short and this is as good as I am at this particular moment. If only we could be that humble...

Disneyland Delivers

2009-01-25T22:12:00.002-07:00

After going through an anti-Disneyland phase, since I went so much as a kid, I discovered that I like it once again. Maybe it was because we went in January and the crowds were so minimal. Maybe it was because my wife loves it there and I was happy to make her happy. Maybe it was because Tigger was so friendly and insisted I get my picture with him. Or maybe it was just because Space Mountain kicks A and is still the coolest ride on the planet...

We had a great time and my wife kicked my butt on both the Toy Story themed interactive rides. I can't understand why I suck so bad. I know that my aim is off because of being the shakiest gun in the west. I will just blame it on that. Excuses...

Haunted Mansion was closed and Pirates of the Caribbean was still good despite there being too many Jack Sparrow references. I say keep Jack Sparrow out of it. The movies were based on the ride. That is the order of things.

California Adventure was fun too. I got my butt kicked on California Screamin' but it was well worth it. Their rapids ride was closed. And, Soarin' Over California broke down when it was over. The cage on our left did not come all the way down so they were stuck there indefinitely. Well, as far as we knew. I am not sure what to think of California Adventure. It has some really cool stuff, but it is almost like they ran out of ideas, so they just threw in more Disney stuff.

We did miss out on Matterhorn and Tower of Terror. Also, Star Tours. I now realize that it has become a multiple day adventure and we need to spend a lot more money to get the full experience out of it. I hate that part of it. When it comes to the expense, I would rather spend a tenth of the amount and go hike Mount Whitney. That is a true California adventure...

Snow Is a Winner

2009-01-08T00:39:00.003-07:00

Snow has a way of beating me. It snows. I shovel. It snows again. I shovel again. Then, it snows a third time and somehow, I am busy, so I do not get to it. Then, we drive over it. And it is all over. Snow has won.

My intention at the beginning is to keep up. I watch for the snow and brave it at all hours. I found myself shovelling while it was still snowing one day. We even had neighbors help out, but the snow just keeps coming. It has to win.

And, of course, we used up all of our rock salt right away. So there the snow is piling up on our porch. Then, it melts and later freezes back up. Snow is such a baby. if it does not win, it cries more snow.

It's White

2008-12-25T09:23:00.002-07:00

I am no longer dreaming of a white Christmas. It is here in all its fluffy glory. Snow. Everywhere. It was here already, so we did not have to worry too much. The roads were getting that brownish snow look, which is kind of gross, but other than that, it has been pretty cool.

I grew up where the snow did not ever come. Something about climate. It hardly ever rains there, so why would it snow? So, it is neat to see it and be a part of it.

I am somewhat fascinated by the idea of being able to handle harsh climates. Not that this is a harsh climate, but where I am from, everything is harsh. If one cannot wear shorts every day of the year, it is harsh. The concept of having to go out and shovel a driveway. Or learning to drive in snow. These are the things that a wild imagination thrives on.

Retro Movie Critic - Backdraft Hairdo

2008-12-07T18:05:00.005-07:00

Last night, I stayed up until 3:30am watching a movie I really needed to see. Actually, I probably did not need to see it. I have seen it before and it was not that good the first time. But, there was a certain fascination with it since it is a firefighter movie which has a lot of good actors in it. It also has that quality to it where even though I have watched it from beginning to end it still feels like I have missed part of it, or at least some significant scenes.

The movie is Backdraft. I think its problem is its main character. Brian, played by William Baldwin, basically sucks. It is his hair. There are scenes where his hair is assuming Kevin Bacon quality, but he does not have Kevin Bacon coolness. I assume that it is why we have not seen Billy Baldwin in too much lately. Other people were not impressed by his hair either.

Kurt Russell plays Brian's older brother, Steven. I am okay with the name Steve, but having the name "Steven" drummed into my head over and over again is a little maddening.

The movie is really about Steven, nicknamed Bull. He is the only one we care about. There is this sibling rivalry thing going on and we see the heroic nature of Steven going on. It is not hard to take his side as he is trying to impress upon Brian what it takes to be a firefighter.

But Brian is the everyman. He represents all of us, the guys who try hard but just do not get it. And that is sad, because there are probably very few actual Stevens out there, but we have a whole host of Brians. We see him give up and go work for Deniro and that is the weakness that Steven expected out of him. I do not know for sure, but I would guess that being a firefighter is more about picking one's self up and working at it continually, because it is such a difficult job.

Donald Sutherland is sort of a surprise character in this. He is a great actor and his scenes are among the best in the movie. Robert Deniro is close behind him. JT Walsh was good too, but he is such a love to hate type character. Jennifer Jason Leigh was forgettable. She has had good roles, but she is so obviously not a blonde in this and the chemistry between her and Baldwin is like watching two kids squirt each other with squirt guns from 5 feet away from each other.

The only other painful part of it was Rebecca DeMornay who played Steven's separated wife. She represents the everywoman, the wife of the firefighter, who cannot deal with the fact that her husband is putting his life on the line all the time, so she kicks him out of the house. And, they have a little boy as well who has to deal with his Mother's weakness all the time. I realize that there are women out there who are really like this, but do we have to see it in one of the only firefighter movies that is out there? I want to see heroes and heroines.

Sometimes, I wonder about Ron Howard. It is almost like he has no personal style to his movies, other than making sure his brother is in all his movies. One day, we will say that something is very Howardian, which will be a slam because as far as I can tell, Ron Howard goes straight from the script. There is no deviation from anything. It is just a predictable movie with standard, normal characters. I guess it works for our society.

I really do feel bad ripping on Ron Howard. I liked Splash and Willow and a couple other ones, but even those ones have that Howardian feel to it, like we are getting exactly what we paid for, no more, no less...

Lunch

2008-11-17T21:53:00.004-07:00

I left my jacket in the car and walked in with my friends. It was a pleasant restaurant. It had that cheesy fake wood paneling along the walls, with various pieces of flair adorning the open spots. There was an extension cord sticking out of the side of the bar indicating that there was no intention by the owner to actually make any aspect of the place look professional. Good! I thought. That is how I want my steak sandwich. I want the focus put on that. Who cares if there is fake brick paneling not meeting up at the breaks? Who cares if the open sign has not lit up in half a century or that there was a plant hanging from a hook which was looking less and less hook like?

It was cold in there. I wished I had my jacket. I couldn't get up to get it since I did not drive and we were packed into our seats like the clothes in the dryers at the laundromat next door. We waited forever watching M gulp down his butterscotch milkshake, wishing we had gotten one too. But then the conflict of cold and the stomach problems.

The conversation ebbed and flowed. B had only smart-ass answers. L was not his usual start up the controversy self. Something must have been on his mind. Even M had less to say than usual. J was not impressed with his sandwich, longing for the replica from the Italian Place. Mc responded to the Real Salt Lake game conversation, or was that earlier in the day? And D. What did D say? Was he in character? I tried to draw out S with the stupidly sarcastic: "That's weird! S has been unusually quiet today."

By and by we left but not before seeing the Chargers/Steelers highlight over and over. A blown ref call did not hurt the Steelers, nor help the Chargers, but it did make Vegas a little happier.

The food was good. Well, not good. Just good. Mostly good. Call it good.

So hipp

2008-11-17T21:25:00.003-07:00

So I found a new way to waste my time... Facebook! Actually, I got pressured into it by my peers. B and S (in that order) made fun of me for not being with it and having a facebook account. Then, they mocked me for writing in a blog.

This is what I have to say to all you out there who have to have the latest and greatest everything. You don't.

You don't have the latest and greatest. You bought something that went out of style five minutes after you bought it. You downloaded something that was out of date before it finished downloading. You are constantly swimming upstream not enjoying the nice, old canoe you are towing with a rope.

I know my tv is outdated. So is my computer. Our truck and car. Our dvd player. And our dvd's. My wallet is outdated. My iphone is outdated. I read from books and I keep my receipts. I have not bought a new cd in over a year.

So, here I lament writing in my blog, feeling so out of touch and behind the times. Ha! I feel vindicated writing in here, because when it comes right down to it, this is where I express myself. Oh, that I had an old fashioned typewriter and could pound on the keys in my loud house.

Reflections On a Beautiful Fall Day

2008-11-08T19:14:00.003-07:00

While I was waiting for the traffic to clear after the game, I saw this old man walking. He startled me because he walked right past the truck. It looked as if he was doing a lap around the church. I thought a little bit about what he was doing. It was a nice day today, but I would imagine this man goes for a walk every day. He struck me as a possible widower who was trying to occupy his day.

It is very interesting to think about the various cycles we are going through in our lives. We are hit with periods where we seemingly have lots of extra time. Unfortunately, those are usually lonely times. I suppose once we start sharing our lives, time shared becomes extremely busy time. I love having that sort of purpose, but in reflecting on this old man, I wonder if he misses out on the days of lots of activity.

Like the old man, I would do walks in very social areas. I would just want to be out, taking in the world, being a part of what was going on. At the end of A River Runs Through It, the narrator is fishing by himself, knowing that most of his family is gone. I think despite the sadness of that, the idea of him fishing is a very positive image.

The elderly are still such a valuable part of our society. They may be retired, but do they want to be? I know their bones creak and they cannot do all that they once did, but they still like eating pizza, don't they?

Graveyard Guess 2008

2008-10-27T00:10:00.009-06:00

The rules are simple:
a. Submit your guesses without looking them up. You can do that after.
b. The people have to have died within the last year. Halloween 2007 to Halloween 2008

No Windows... And No Doors...

2008-10-12T23:48:00.004-06:00

Halloween approacheth.
For me, Halloween has so many applications. It is such a creative holiday.

Let's create a haunted house, path, trail, etc. Let's figure out the best way to make people feel uncomfortable. Scare them. What is scary?

+ Well, death is scary.
- Okay, so let's put it in a graveyard.
+ But those people have already died. What about making it in a dark place?
- Are there going to be chicks there?
+ I hope so. We have to have screams.
- How about having severed heads on the ground talking to people as they walk by?
+ Or, we could have arms holding candles in the hallway.
- What about having them walk through a certain section bare foot and there could be eyeballs on the ground?
+ Well, chainsaws usually scare people.
- Yeah, chainsaws are scary, but so is any loud sound. A loud air conditioner can be scary.

Then again, aren't haunted houses just representing the kind of places that young girls should not be going to? Yeah, my 16 year old daughter went with her "boyfriend" to this house where a few friends were supposed to be. The house has no electricity and supposedly someone died there. Also, an escaped mental patient is in the area. She should be fine though because she is with her "boyfriend" who has been a perfect gentleman and has no thoughts of sex or anything like that.

All we are doing with a haunted house is playing on our basic fears. We hate darkness. We hate death. We hate psychos. We hate clowns. We hate strobe lights. There! We covered it. We have our haunted house.

The Money Changers

2008-10-12T23:25:00.003-06:00

My friend referred this video to me on youtube. It is called the Money Masters. It was in three sections of seven parts each and it was pretty cool, but they took it off youtube for some reason. It was obviously very conspiratorial and some of the history was a little bit of a stretch, but in one of the scenes, they mentioned the Rothchilds. And, I kept thinking: Where have I heard that name in relation to the wealthiest people in the world?

So I Married an Axe Murderer of course.

Anyway, the argument of the Money Masters is that the money changers have been using their influence over the years to make sure to have national banks, which are really private banks. There is no real control over them either. They are able to determine wealth and they keep everyone owing to them. And society has no chance whatsoever against them. Countries go to war and these people remain in power. Wars are fought for their own gain.

And, so I sit here and think: What good is this to me? Does this cause me to shun everything? I refuse to use their money. I refuse to go to war. I refuse to take any type of political stance. I refuse to work for them. I refuse to use their cars, their roads, their tvs, their microwaves. When does it end?

Maybe it is true. Maybe they control everything. I do not think it is very practical to be very concerned about it. It is interesting though. I like the idea of having information regarding these groups of people. History is a terribly important subject. And, it is so vital that as we study history we look at many angles, trying to seek out truth. From a historical perspective, this is very interesting stuff. These are the kinds of conspiracies that make history fun, but not necessarily very accurate.

Some Thoughts on the Election

2008-10-12T22:44:00.002-06:00

I feel weird talking politics on my blog. Partly because I do not know anything. And partly because most people who do know something still look like they know nothing. People throw out stuff that seems like a good point, but then they have no actual information to back it up. It just sounds like a good point.

One such point was the idea that large companies should pay higher taxes because of shared resources. The example my friend gave was roads. Since a company would have more vehicles using those roads and would be making more money from the use of those roads than the common man, they should have to pay more taxes. Some of the things left out of this argument were actual numbers. Are there taxes being applied to businesses who use these roads excessively? I know that my Grandfather, who had a trucking business, paid a ton of taxes in California. And, I know that he did not make very much money. Are the two related? I don't have the actual numbers though.

So, I do not understand how people can argue for points when they do not have facts. Speculation seems like the best they can do. And, of course, this brings us to the debates. I really do not understand the debate process. Why are we watching these things? I know what the candidate stands for. Is it all about the show? They do not seem to have their facts straight either. The Palin-Biden debate was interesting. She never answered any questions and Biden repeated a bunch of stuff. And then, some debate expert has to come along and say: It was a draw!

Isn't every debate a draw really?

When a person is being a huge jerk and gets angry and throws a tantrum, the winner is the other person, right? Person B expressed himself better. Person A had no composure. Person A had more facts, but apparently could not handle being referred to as someone who just doesn't get it. So, even though Person B resorted to name-calling, Person A is the one who deserves to lose.

Another funny thing happened recently. A McCain supporter railed against Obama and McCain came out in defense of Obama, saying that Obama would make a fine president. McCain is running for president, right? He does believe that he would make the best president, does he not? If McCain and Obama are really not much different, why is McCain in there? People have sunk millions of dollars into this candidate and he gets out there and tells his supporters that his competition will be a fine president? I understand that McCain wants to be fair and to give credit to Obama, but there would seem to be a lot at stake here. That does not sound like someone who thinks his ideas are all that great. That does not sound like someone who feels he has to be in there for the country to be where it needs to be. It does not sound like McCain is a leader.

I know that the candidates are doing their best to distance themselves from Bush. I hate that the country hates Bush so much. We elected him. We knew who he was after four years. It is not like we had no idea where he was coming from. We put him in office. Are we going to elect McCain and gripe about him for the next four years?

Almost Half a Year

2008-09-29T00:32:00.005-06:00

Our roommate has been with us almost six months now. It is pretty fun to come home and talk with him. He smiles and laughs a ton. It is nice to have that in a roommate. I have had some who I would just dread coming home to. What do they have to complain about now? D is not like that. He makes us feel like we are the best. And what more could one ask from a roommate?

We took him up the canyon last weekend to see the fall colours. He slept through it though. He had a really tough week. I think his boss has been a little hard on him. There is this expectation for him to perform at top efficiency according to very rigid schedules. He can't keep his food down and he is starting to lose his hair. I know that he works in a high stress environment, but he gets paid well. We support him in his efforts. It is inspiring to see someone keep up the fight.

On Saturday, he participated in the Walk for Diabetes with us. I appreciated him coming along, because I know that he has plenty of other options. He has friends everywhere we go. He has that ability to make friends too. It is weird how people are so taken in by just a smile and a handshake. He does not have diabetes himself, but he really cares about those who do. I have heard him say the nicest things about those with the dreaded disease, going to the extent of thanking them for things they have done for him. Sometimes, I marvel at his ability to see into the hearts of people and not worry about the other extraneous things.

D's grandfather came to visit and the two of them were great to see together. D just laughed and laughed as if his grandfather was the funniest guy. He was funny, but D was in stitches. I love my grandparents, but it is rare to really have a good laugh when they are telling me stories. I look at this as yet another example of how D lives in the moment...

D is a great guy. We are really lucky to have such a fantastic roommate.

Some Pretty Groovy Tunes

2008-09-20T00:06:00.004-06:00

A co-worker had never heard of The Stone Roses. I had to introduce him to them this week. I brought in a few of my Brit Pop cd's. Suede, The Verve, Ride, Blur.

My friend, J, used to bring me cd's all the time. "Here! Listen to this!" Fortunately, it was all great music including those listed above. J was the one who clued me into the coolness of Brian Eno. Eno produced my favourite U2 cd's. Also, a couple James. Something about Eno's style just rang true to me.

I feel bad, because my music listening has totally come to a screeching halt. I listen to tons of talk radio these days. I switch it over on the commercials, but I rarely listen to anything new.

And that is a problem, because there is always new, good stuff coming out. Unfortunately, J does not come over all the time anymore and drop off cd's to listen to. I bet he would if he only lived a little closer. Maybe he can mail me some.

J! If you can hear me, mail me some new Brit Pop! (No Keane or Coldplay though. I hear plenty of them...)

Fame! I Want to Live Forever!

2008-09-10T22:20:00.004-06:00

I don't have any, so I feel like I can talk about fame objectively. People who are famous have a tremendous burden. Or burdens. The main one is the fact that people everywhere love them for nothing that they have done for anyone but themselves.

One guy wrote a song about a girl and it got picked up on the radio. One girl wrote some songs about a guy and it made her millions. An actor got a break and starred in a movie with a theme that grossed people out. A politician said some things that a lot of people agreed with. A girl wrote a book about her experiences living with the polar bears in Alaska. The list goes on and on, but the one thing that most of them never counted on was how screwed up they would become because of the fame.

Imagine that you were so well known that when you went to Disneyland, you felt like you were as famous as Mickey Mouse. Everyone came up to you and wanted to take your picture, sign an autograph, buy you lunch, shake your hand, get your views on world domination, etc. It would be such a burden. Even if you were good with people, it would be such a hassle for the people around you, the ones that love you.

Most of these famous people do not have the proper training in being famous. Rock musicians seem to be the worst. Theirs becomes a world of partying and drug use and unlimited groupies. They really should have classes that they take in college. Fame 101. Family and Fame 201. Ego 309. With all that these people deal with, there should be a training course.

As one who is not famous, I feel for the common people who go nuts when they see a famous person. Like the time I saw Steve Young at the grocery store. I was a blithering idiot. So what! It's Steve Young. He beat the Chargers in the Super Bowl. I hate him for that. Well, not really. But I should.

What it comes down to is that the term celebrity has to go away. We need a movement in our world which is a twofold process. Celebrities need to chill out. And, the common people need to chill out. I guarantee you that Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Jon Voight are really not that interesting. Madonna is probably very silly when it comes down to it.

Here is what should happen: I am hanging out at Disneyland and suddenly I see Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker and their family on the Jungle Cruise. I am not going to stare. I will recognize them in my mind. I will not point them out to my wife. She will not point them out to me. I am not going to say anything to them, because I would not say anything to a guy and his wife and their kids going on the Jungle Cruise. I suppose I could comment on the weather. I know it would be hard to not say something like: "Do you want to play a game?" in my WOPR voice or start humming "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", but I would have to refrain.

Why not just treat them like everyone else? Isn't this a major problem that we have in our society? The paparazzi is in people's faces constantly. Why? Oh, that's right! Because we can't get enough of what is going on in these stars' lives. Did I really need to know that Screech was in porno movies? Or that the dad in ALF is now a homosexual meth user?

If I end up making a big deal out of the situation, then I perpetuate the ego problem. These people are just dealing with incredibly inflated egos, all of which are based on the awe that people have of someone famous. So, if we take the awe out, then the ego gets lessened more and maybe we will not see as many articles on scantily clad female teenage singers.

You may ask: Well, why can't I get their autograph? Why can't I shake their hand? Why can't I tell them how much they mean to me?

My opinion on these questions is that they cannot reciprocate to you the same type of respect or adoration, because they have no idea what you have done. You may have invented time travel, but if they do not know you, then the love is only expressed in one direction. I think we are doing more damage to them by showering them with more praise. They probably get so much praise already from so many people, it stops meaning anything to them. I don't know about anyone else, but I want my praise to mean something to them.

I think the best form of praise we can give those who are famous entertainers is to buy tickets to their movies. Buy tickets to concerts. Buy CDs. Buy books. Support what they do. But, quit giving them something that frankly they do not deserve, nor do they really want (in the long run)

Stop making them out to be more than they are.

Outwit Outlast Take It Out

2008-09-02T22:01:00.005-06:00

My wife and I play this game. It is kind of like Survivor, only instead of trying to be the longest one to last on the island, we are battling it out to be the longest one to last without emptying the bathroom trash. It is pretty competitive. It can stack up pretty high and because it is situated in the corner sort of wedged in between the sink cabinet and the toilet, more stuff can pile up.

I seem to remember this as being a very similar war with roommates. Little did I ever think it would continue. I remember seeing guys in one apartment who bought a gigantic outside-style garbage can. That seemed like a pretty good idea. I guess the only issue was that they did not have a lid.

My wife and I are not trying to be disgusting. If I am out in the kitchen and I see a full trash can in the pantry, no problem.

I think it comes down to this. The only time I see that trash can in the bathroom is when I am naked. And that is not the best time to go prancing around the house. That is definitely not good naked. When I am just getting out of the shower, my hands are clean. I don't want to get floss and tissues and cotton balls all over my hands (and who knows what else?) as I tie it up and take it out.

Really, it just comes down to what is in my line of vision and when. I think this probably goes for my wife too. I want to take out the trash in all the trash cans. I also want to clean all the bathrooms and pull weeds in the yard. It would be nice to dust more often and take the dog for more walks. But, let's be reasonable. We can't do everything we want...

Pedro Gabriel

2008-08-28T20:26:00.003-06:00

I found this clip on YouTube and it makes me uncomfortable to watch it. I do, however, like the song. Do others feel uncomfortable watching this? I have always felt uncomfortable listening to Peter Gabriel's voice. It bothers me. It shouldn't. It's not a bad voice. It is quite distinct. (Well, mostly distinct. Phil Collins sounds a lot like him.)

Perhaps it is his white utility belt. My friend says he is dressed kind of like Han Solo. I doubt that was his intention. Then again, what do I know about Peter Gabriel? Thankfully, not very much. I think there should be a rule about how much space Peter Gabriel gets on a stage to run around. I suppose Bono has quite a big loop to use. At least he doesn't skip. Or did he? He would probably have to in order to get back in time...

I decided to listen to some Peter Gabriel songs that I have been listening to for years. Let me clarify. I have been hearing for years. The radio was on. I couldn't get to the tuner fast enough to change the channel. I don't know what it is. The association with Genesis? Is it the lyrics?

Your eyes. The light. The heat.
Your eyes. the lambs all bleat.
Your eyes. In your eyes!

Games without frontiers
War without tears
James without lump ears
Sore without beers

Big time. I have got to watch it grow.
Big time. So much larger than life.
Big time. I've got to hatch it blow.
Big time. So much smaller than knife.

I mean, what does this stuff mean?

With a lot of music, I try to give it its first shot with me. Like, even though I have heard it played on the radio constantly, I still want to go and listen to it without the repetition and try to soak it in. I don't think Peter Gabriel is getting past the initial shame phase though. Whether it is fair or not, I just don't think I can do it. I am not sure I see the value in it.

The Horror... The Horror

2008-08-20T23:38:00.003-06:00

I realize that, statistically, flying is very safe. And, aside from the uncomfortability factor of it all, it is a pretty fast way to get places.

One thing that a lot of people do not talk about though is the horror of crashing. Sure they mention the aftermath, but what about the whole notion of right before the crash? A plane full of people who know they are going to die. I think that could be a good play or movie. The many perspectives on the horror of the pre-crash.

What would that be like? Hopefully, I never find out, but to me that seems like the worst part. The actual crash would be quite instantaneous. But the seconds leading up to that...

I wonder if this is one of those things people are not supposed to talk about. Like loneliness. People never talk about being lonely, because the person who hears the lonely lament has to respond by being the person who is going to save the lonely person. This is totally ridiculous. I think people should be able to talk about loneliness. It is a rather fascinating subject.

In fact, I think it is more fascinating than the horror before a plane crash.

Decisions

2008-08-18T23:35:00.003-06:00

An adult has to make decisions, or so I hear. Part of being an adult is making decisions and dealing with the consequences. It is kind of a hassle, because sometimes one makes the right decisions. Sometimes...

The problem is that others have to deal with one's decisions. If it was just the one person dealing with them, then he could just slap on the LOSER shirt and be done with it. But, when others have to suffer along with that person's misguidance, there just aren't enough shirts to go around.

The one I get slapped with the most is staying up late at night. I love to stay up late. There is something about being up past the point at which one "should" go to bed. I suppose it is a childish thing, but it feels like freedom. But the next morning as I sleep in, because I am definitely not losing sleep, there goes most of the day...

It is tough to argue that one, because I am wasting the day. But who wants to get up early in the morning and mow the lawn? I know my neighbors don't want me to...

But the really incredible part of decisions is that one makes so many in one day. And there are little consequences the whole day. Like, I turned on the radio this morning on the way to work, but I wanted to think, so I turned it off. But then, as I was driving, I went about 3 miles before realizing that I was spacing out. So, I needed to pay attention. So, I turned the radio back on. Or did I?

Stupid TV

2008-07-29T19:30:00.003-06:00

We just went through the cycle again. Not the washing machine, nor the Lion King symbiotic thing, but the stupid cycle of tv service. We went from Dish to Comcast. And, it is all Dish's fault. Well, sort of.

I have had a few different services over the years. I have had Comcast a few times. And, I hate the fact that they do not want me as a customer. They only want me as a new customer. They want me to switch from something else to them. But, as far as retention goes, they could care less about that. How does that work?

I would think a company would want good, satisfied customers. But no. I vowed that I would never go back to them. That would have stayed had it not been for Dish. They come in with their ten month deal, but then after that, they jump all their prices up. So, Dish is no better than Comcast. I have not had DirecTV yet, but I am sure they are just as bad.

I just want a consistent price. I don't want to have to adjust my budget constantly to meet whatever happens to be the offer currently.

I cannot believe how much we pay for TV anyway. For something that just wastes our time, why do we pay so much for it? It is this filler that we feel like we cannot do without. But wait! If I didn't spend time watching tv shows, I could:
1. Write more blog entries
2. Exercise
3. Spend more time with my family
4. Play a game.
5. Learn a new sport.
6. Read a book
7. Take a nap
8. Make a complex meal
9. Start a business
10. Do some yoga.
11. Draw
12. Clean my house
13. Pace
14. Brush my teeth.
15. Brush my hair
16. Make a pinata
17. Write a story.
18. Make up jokes
19. Drink some water
20. Dig a well.
21. Mow the lawn.
22. Do a crossword puzzle.
23. Wash the cars.

And oh, so much more.

The Password is...."password"

2008-07-19T11:39:00.003-06:00

Technology is upon us. I think I just entered my 100th unique password. What am I doing? What are we doing? All of these sites which require a username and password... It does not really seem all that secure. Apparently, somebody knows. And how do we determine which ones we can really trust?

The news talks about bank accounts getting compromised, identities being stolen, people's personal information being found in the trash, etc. We rely upon this concept of a business being honest and forthright because otherwise they would go out of business. But what if they do not care? What if they just go bankrupt and disappear as an entity? Meanwhile, they have credit card information for thousands of customers.

Sure this is the talk of the paranoid individual who watches too many episodes of CSI and Numbers. However, the concept of big brother as identified in the book 1984 is not too far off here. We have a government which continually seeks more control. (Sorry! That is just what governments do...) But, what better way to have everyone's information than on the Internet? And, it becomes so easily searchable too. Just googling my own name is surprising.

My friend was talking about facial recognition software, which is such an awesome thing, but what is that going to be used for? Well, in CSI, they are able to track down criminals. What if I look exactly like a guy wanted for murder and all they have is a video of the guy leaving a house? No fingerprints or nothing. And my alibi is that I was sitting home alone watching tv that night...

I am not sure that any of this has any credence at all, but we have to ask questions. The problem we have is that change is so abrupt now that we can hardly keep track of what is going on.

We can order all these things on the Internet and all it requires is a credit card number. That freaks me out. My credit card is in fifty different places. Is that smart? The one thing I look for when ordering something on the internet is for the url to change from "http" to "https". That is a sign of security. Somebody is paying extra money to make people feel more secure with their cards.

I am sure that once people have their identity compromised, they are really careful. But others need to be careful too. There is way too much at stake.

So here is my list of questions that I need to do. How many different websites do I have usernames/passwords with? How much information do they each have about me? Is there a more secure account that I could create, so that they do not have to access my credit card(s)? Who has my social security number? Why do they have it? Do any of my usernames use my social security number? Do any of my usernames/passwords have any vital information about me out there? Do I give personal information about myself in chat rooms, on websites or on blogs?

To Kzzzzzzzzzzk From Wdddddddddw

2008-07-16T23:34:00.004-06:00

I have infiltrated the man person's computer and I am sending a message back to my people on the planet of Kzzzzk, colony bzzzb. If you are listening, then please do a comment using W's account.

So far, all is well. They do not suspect a thing. As far as they know, I am a sweet little 90 kip old baby. It is really tough to get away. They keep a watch on me all the time. And getting out of their crib contraption is really tricky. I figured out there has to be a pin in there to keep it still. I got a good enough angle tonight to shoot some invisible sleep darts at them, so they should be out for hours. I started sleeping through the night anyway, so they most likely won't wake up.

As far as what to report, they really seem to care about me a lot. The man one tells me all about his dreams for me to be a great volleyball star one day. Doesn't he know that there is no money in that? I will placate him if that is how long my assignment lasts for. I really do not want to draw any attention to myself anyway. It already feels like I have too much.

The woman one, the one that calls herself monny or nommy or malmy is constantly feeding me. Sometimes she wakes me up when I am in the middle of a good sleep just to shove the pointy thing in my mouth. It tastes pretty good, so I rarely complain. They had to clip my tongue though early on because I couldn't pull the pointy thing far enough back. I guess they insist on gagging me with it.

They spend a lot of time looking at me and standing me up, letting me sit, putting me on my stomach. I play along with them, because it works better for the undercover work. If they could see me right now typing 90 words per minute, I think they would revisit their whole approach.

I have not given them much of a personality yet. I just mostly try to look cute. I smile at them sometimes, because they really do make me laugh. The man one sings the stupidest songs. I keep hoping that he will come up with new words instead of the same dumb ones over and over again. He does change the tune at least, but he is so offkey. When will it stop?

The only time I give a real straight face is when they change my diaper. I know I need to get better at my poker face, but I get so nervous that they will see under all the makeup. All he has to do is flick the switch down there and it is all over. They will suddenly be looking at something that is not too familiar at all.

Well, that is all for now. This couple is pretty normal. I should be able to lay low here for years. The planet is pretty silly. It's an election year and the two candidates are just like Grick and Popkin back in Silbia. You know what a disaster that was...

Clearing Out the DVR

2008-06-26T00:27:00.002-06:00

Well, all the silly shows on my DVR are finally getting watched and deleted. It started with The Office and LOST. Once A watched those with me, I was able to start systematically knocking the others off.

CSI
CSI Miami
Law and Order SVU
Numb3rs
Scrubs

I still have Earl episodes, but those may take awhile. I have old Get Smart episodes which take precedence I think. They are much funnier.

The sad thing is that it all starts again in the fall. And, they left me with all these stupid cliffhangers. Do I really care if Warrick is done with the show? Or Adam Beach? Do I really think that Charlie will never work on another FBI case? Or will Horatio survive the gunshot wounds deployed by a gun which is so lethal, it detects the body's temperature and decides to be shrapnel or not when it enters?

Scrubs did not really leave with a cliffhanger. It was more like: This is not the season finale. This was a lame filler episode that was not going to be used, but since ABC is taking over, they decided to scrub away.

The Office had a good cliffhanger. A major downer cliffhanger. But it was in true Office fashion.

And, with LOST, I don't know what to think. As usual.

In Memoriam: George Carlin

2008-06-23T22:47:00.004-06:00

One of the greats died yesterday. George Carlin. I say great, because he has been an icon for me for most of my life. And, there have been George Carlin quotes lingering for years. How could I go on a trip to Hawaii without thinking about bringing some of "my stuff"?

The news articles talk about how he was famous for the seven dirty words, but that was not what I remember him for. He was crude and crass and offensive, but I liked how he could challenge things. He did not seem to stand for anything, but comedy. He took potshots at most everything. And, even if I did not agree with him, it was a lesson in thought. I think about his delivery and how he could just list things off. It was as if he memorized stuff, but it was really how his mind worked.

He ripped on Baby on Board signs, euphemisms, and white guys wearing their baseball caps backwards. Golf courses, golf, cemeteries, stupid sayings, the three questions at the airport, the smug greedy people of the world, people who are namby-pamby. People suddenly carrying their water around with them all the time. "Can't they take a drink of water before leaving the house?"

As someone who grew up observing the strange behaviour of people all over the place and writing it down in my notebook, I liked seeing someone who could verbalize it so well. Sometimes, the arguments aren't even rational, but I enjoy it. I agreed. While I did have to filter through the obscenities to get the great insights, I came away with "I'm not handicapped. I'm handicapable!" or "Toilet paper became running shoes. Partly cloudy became partly sunny. The dump became the landfill."

And, he is so right about this euphemistic crap out there. People constantly come up with terms to soften things up. It's the politically correct stuff that gets so old.

He definitely spiced things up with his obscenity, so I can't really recommend anyone to watch or listen to his stuff, but he did have a very fun, challenging, unique perspective that made one think.

Drama

2008-06-12T22:56:00.002-06:00

When being dramatic there are certain rules one has to follow:

1. Make sure that no one else in the vicinity will upstage you in dramatic effort.
2. Emphasize every little action.
3. Sit uncomfortably and make lots of sighs.
4. Make the nausea face when something smells bad or you think it might smell bad.
5. Roll your eyes and make sure everyone else sees it.
6. Be offended at the slightest provocation.
7. If you find yourself to be embarrassed after a dramatic outburst, apologize. But don't ever change anything. Be more embarrassing next time.
8. When being dramatic, don't laugh at yourself. Take yourself very seriously.
9. Pretentiousness is the foundation of drama city.
10. If someone else has entered the room and is being more dramatic than you are, say "I know!" after everything she says. She will figure it out.
11. Drama is all about acting the part. Make sure that everyone knows you truly believe what you are being dramatic about even though you don't.
12. Call someone. Hang up on him. Then, call right back. That is a good dramatic intro.
13. Make a scene. Always make a scene. Everyone needs to know you were there and the least mature person in the room, on the block, at the mall...
14. No matter how lame your news is or how insignificant the gossip, pull your friend aside and tell her that she won't believe what you just heard.
15. When someone else is being dramatic about a lame story or insignificant gossip, go along with them and build up their dramability. They will thank you for it later.

Better Than I Deserve...

2008-06-08T00:12:00.003-06:00

For a long time, I have been searching for someone or something to help me with financial matters. This is a topic which people generally do not come in and start telling others to do. Finances are personal. But, what are the standards to live by? What are the rules? How does one save money? How does one buy things without going into debt?

I grew up doing all the standard dumb things. My first two cars barely cost me anything, but then when I bought my Toyota Tercel, I paid 18.75% interest. No air conditioning. No radio. I knew nothing. I basically ended up paying double what the car was worth in car payments. Then, when I bought my truck, I did a 6 year loan. I bought my tv, sofa, camera all on credit. I sensed that I was doing something wrong, but I had no real direction. By the time I bought my condo, I had a truck payment, school loans and credit cards.

I knew I wanted to pay off my debt and I knew that I wanted to save money, but all I could do was incur debt and then pay it off. I think that is how most of America works. There seems to be no other solution than to just slap all that money down on a credit card and then spend the next few years enjoying what you have while paying a huge price for it.

This all changed when I came across the teachings of Dave Ramsey. I know some people have read his book, The Total Money Makeover, but the book does not teach people like his radio show does. He talks to people about how much they make, how much debt they have, and what their spending habits are. He actually has 7 Baby Steps for people to follow to feel financially secure. And, most of the calls he takes revolve around those baby steps.

Who is Dave Ramsey? Why should I trust some guy on the radio? He is a Christian, which sort of threw me off at first. I suppose I wondered if he cared about people or converts. But listening to his show changed all that. His story started off with him flipping houses and he was a millionaire, but then some deals went bad and he went bankrupt. After going through that hellish experience, he came across a business idea of being able to help people avoid what he went through and eliminate debt from their lives.

Dave is really conservative when it comes to money. He says to have a written budget before each month starts. Give every dollar a name. It works. It is not hard to realize that one's money gets spent so quickly. Then, the sacrifice steps in. Things we wanted to buy had to wait.

I could go on for hours on how great his program is. I would recommend listening to his show. He has the archives from two weeks back on his website.

But back to my initial statement. I was searching for someone to help me out with this financial stuff. We had a guy come over once who told us to roll our debt over to a 401k loan. Not knowing any better, I signed on. This was a bad idea. If I had lost my job, that money would have become due all at once. Very risky.

The show teaches people to minimize risk. What if I lose my job tomorrow? Do I have anything in place to allow me to look for a new job for a couple months? Why is debt a bad idea? Why get a fixed rate loan on a house? Why avoid debt at all costs?

Dave talks a lot about Murphy's Law. And it is so true. Life is all about the unexpected. And, we live in such a Must Have Now society. So, people buy all these things anticipating that everything will be fine in the future, but it won't. We need to have safeguards in place.

The policy on credit cards is to never use them. A lot of people say that they need to build up a great credit score, but Dave's argument is that one does not need a great credit score if one does not take out any loans. The only exception would be a home loan, and for this he says that one can go to a lender who does manual underwriting, which is what they did in the olden days.

Many would say that no credit card use is too extreme, but the argument here is more about behaviour. The statistic goes that people spend 12% more using credit cards than they do with cash. It does not take a stat to know that this is true. Are some people able to handle this anyway? Sure. But, there are certainly way too many people out there who are in over their heads when it comes to credit card debt. And it comes back to behaviour. If people were disciplined with a written budget, they would be okay. People want to have fun, go out to eat, go on vacation, buy brand new cars, buy large homes. We are not patient.

Dave offers a standard from which to work from. I believe he is right most of the time. He speaks to me in a language I can understand. It is conservative, but that is okay, because it works. And, I am no financial expert. I could not tell people where to invest or how best to use their money. I just know that risky behaviour with money often requires quite a bit of work to overcome. I don't want to do that. I want my family to feel secure.

Write This Down!

2008-06-07T23:45:00.003-06:00

I was listening to talk radio today and happened to catch this guy named Steve Godfrey. He appears to be some sort of medium. When he speaks with people on the phone, he tells them of the people he is communicating with on the other side. And, usually it is family.

I was trying to have an open mind on it. Certain things he said did sound amazing, but the one thing that bothered me was "Write this down!" If I was talking to him, I would say: "Screw you! You write it down!"

What is he telling them to write down? He starts things off by telling the people he sees someone who has died.

Steve: "Someone has had lymphoma. Anyone had cancer in your family?"
Caller: "Uh yes. That was my brother."
Steve: "I am sensing that he had a real hard battle. What kind of cancer was it?"
Caller: "Bone cancer."
Steve: "Yes, it was a difficult battle. But he wants to let you know that things are much better now. I am also seeing Santa Claus. Someone who has a big white beard. He either dressed up as Santa a lot or just had a beard like Santa.
Caller: "That was my father-in-law."
Steve: "I am also sensing October 3rd or 4th. Does that ring a bell?"
Caller: "No."
Steve: "Well, write that down! That could be important later on."
Caller: "It is my half birthday. I was born April 2nd."
Steve: "I don't know about that."

This may have been a compilation of a couple calls, but it cracks me up. The dates are never significant to the people. Of course people have family who have died of cancer though. And, what about the Santa Claus? He totally covered his butt when he said that the person could dress up as Santa. Doesn't every family have a designated Santa? I guess mine doesn't...

I realize that the guy brings a positive message to people and people like to be comforted after someone close has died. I think it is all about the confidence the guy portrays. And, the fact that he has the gall to tell them to write down a date or other such information.

"Oh yeah! That was the date I got my oil changed last year... Wow."

Chapter 9

2008-06-03T23:01:00.002-06:00

Hanken was tired and lethargic after his long journey to the coast. He had rescued maidens, maids and madmen. He figured sleeping would be his reward for his recent good behaviour. So, he napped and napped. When he was done napping he napped some more.

After all this napping, he was rejuvenated. It was time to start working on diffusing the bomb he had in his suitcase. He pulled out his tweezers and his rubber gloves. Hanken started working away and after a few vials of sweat beads trickled off his head, he was once again in the clear.

Now, to fill out the report. He always felt it was good business to document his endeavours. Lest anyone think he was a fool and a teller of tall tales, he would at least know that he had written it down in his ledger. He wrote and he wrote making sure to remember the angle he left the gangster in the trashcan at the airport.

He found that leaving details out was always a mistake. The kinds of villains he was working with had curious tattoos and spoke in funny dialects. These things would be important later on when deciphering who this was. After putting the finishing touches on the woman with the full lips and boisterous laugh, he put down his ledger and began to contemplate his next move.

Where would the next attack come from? Where are the armies amassing? And, where can he get a clean shirt in this pile of clothes scattered all over the floor?

Good Things About Goonies

2008-05-27T22:25:00.002-06:00

My brother-in-law, E, brought up a point yesterday on why the Fratellis were necessary in The Goonies. The confession scene with Chunk. That is a great movie scene. They have him tied up and they want him to tell them everything, so then he starts to tell them... everything. He tells them all about himself and essentially why he is Chunk. And what makes it good too is that they let him.

Sloth is another good character. I love the things I saw John Matuszak in. He was a football player for the Oakland Raiders. As Sloth, he was memorable.

The water slides leading to the ship were kind of cool, but then again why? That was like the skate ramp in Hook. I feel like they are pandering to the current audience of kids.

I did like that the goonies were under the fountain at one point. That is actually a pretty decent scene. They first think they are rich, but then realize it is the fountain and all the coins are people's wishes.

And the red-headed chick was pretty cute too, so I can't fault them that either.

I really need to see it again. Perhaps I can watch it with all the people who love it and they will influence me to love it also... That's optimism.

Senorito Budlito

2008-05-24T23:25:00.003-06:00

Senorito Budlito
My Little Bud Leeeee Toe!

I have been singing this all day to my son. I like the idea of it being Spanish, but then not quite. Budly, with the short u sound, is the English equivalent and that is where all this started. I also like the redundancy of saying "Little Budlito" since the Spanish is essentially already Little Budly. So now, it is like Littler Budly.

What Did I Miss?

2008-05-18T18:00:00.004-06:00

One of my least favourite movies is The Goonies. However, I don't want to dislike it. I really, really want to like it. I think, in theory, it is one of the best ideas for a movie. It is just executed so poorly. Everytime it is on, I watch it, hoping that it changed a little since I saw it last. It must have had some great marketing in its early days. Or perhaps it is the sets and the ideas behind the scenes, but the actual scenes are torture.

I often try to come up with replacement ideas to make something better, like take out the last half hour of Close Encounters of the Third Kind or the last hour and a half of Return of the King. Or, make Back to the Future 2's future more creative and less retro-eighties.

With Goonies, they need to eliminate the Fratellis. I like Joe Pantoliano, but not even he makes those scenes work. And the Mom is just lame. Of course, Sloth (John Matuszak) is great and that is a role which they could have kept. He could have come from anywhere. I suppose people think that they need to have villains to run from, but I like the idea of the kids doing the adventure and just battling the elements themselves. The Fratellis are a distraction from the imagination of what was going on. We don't feel threatened by them. They are not going to kill the kids.

Let us go with the battle the elements concept. They find the treasure map and they start their journey. As they are going, they get deeper and deeper into it. Suddenly, there is that fear all kids feel of doing something adventurous, but really dangerous. Because they were being chased by the Fratellis, we had no time for that self-aware feeling. They come to the organ that they have to play the right keys. Then, they know they are on the right track. By the time they get to the pirate ship, they are amazed, but even then, there would still be pitfalls. To me, that would be more real and play more with our imaginations.

There is also the idea that Mikey (Sean Astin) shows us when he is talking to One Eyed Willie in the pirate ship. There was finally a quiet moment after so much yelling and screaming. But it didn't fit. Suddenly, there was this sentimentality scene that we got no wind of before. These rude, disrespectful kids are solemn and caring? Where does that come from? However, if they had worked that into the script, instead of giving the Fratellis so much screen time, we would have a movie with characters we care about.

Does anyone not come away from this movie thinking: It is a bunch of kids yelling all the time? I want to like those kids, but they all bother me. I know they are goony...

I look at the cast and I think: Wow! Corey Feldman is in this. It has to be good. Unfortunately, they didn't center the movie on him and that was their first mistake. Short Round is in it. I think if Keanu Reeves had been in it, there may have been some hope... Sean Astin is okay, but he bothers me in this. He does not carry the movie and he needs to. We need to like him more and we don't.

I look at the beginning and they didn't draw me in to the Goonie world. They had the overly complicated contraption which was creative. Mouth (Corey Feldman) was doing his bit with the housekeeper. Short Round was doing his gadgetry and Chunk was fat and awkward. The stereotypes were all present and not helping it.

It is one of those movies where I feel like I missed something. I watch it from beginning to end and it has that feeling of chopped-up movie with all the wrong scenes left in. I know it is a sentimental favourite of many, many people in my generation...

Mama Loved the Roses

2008-05-11T00:28:00.003-06:00

As I reflect on Mother's Day, I am happy that my wife is now a Mother. She has wanted this for a long time. She has watched her family and friends all go through motherhood and she has had to patiently sit and watch waiting for her opportunity. And it is here. And we are so happy.

Last weekend, my Mom came to visit along with my Dad, sister and her family. I am really perplexed by the amount of hard work my Mother puts in to everything. I suppose it was a vacation, because she got to be with her first grandson. But, she was always working. Even with the kids, she works. Saturday night, she was just chopping fruit and vegetables. Long into the night...
I look at it and I want to be like my Mom, but I am not right now. I am not even close. I am way too lazy. I do get joy out of work, but I have a long way to go.

My Mother-In-Law is really enjoying her status as a Grandmother. So much so that I think she is the one we all call to babysit. Designated. I appreciate this, but I want her to know that we will not take it for granted. We will pay her as best we know how, by letting her spend more time with our son.

Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to the great Mothers out there who allow their great ethical qualities to be brought forth.

Roommate Update: Sleeping Location

2008-05-05T22:36:00.003-06:00

I am confused. We have a good sized house. We went out of our way to prepare the bedroom. We repainted it, put beadboard in and moulding. We bought a new bed and a couple of shelf things. So why is our roommate, D, not sleeping in his own room?

For some reason, he spends most of his time sleeping in our room.

I remember at Belmont having roommates which were really fun to talk to. I used to sit on the floor in C and J's room and talk with them in their room for much of the night. As late as it went, I never spent the night in there.

But D has made up a little spot in our room along the wall. And, it does not look like he is budging. We are very concerned about his comfort. Roommates deserve every amenity that we can afford. But, this is a little strange.

I should probably say something to him, but in the words of George McFly, "I am not very good at... confrontations."

He may just need to get more comfortable in our surroundings. I used to sleep on the couch all the time. I know my roommates could not understand that one...

Ready. Aim. Fire!

2008-04-30T21:35:00.008-06:00

I went to the doctor today and while there, I was given the responsibility of peeing in the cup. She said to just leave it on the back of the toilet after I am done.

For some guys, I am sure this is pretty easy. But I have a tremor...

Now, the ideal is to have just enough pee so that I don't have to shift the cup and risk getting pee all over my hand. But, that is pretty tough. I think the bladder has some sort of gauge inside which will not allow a build up less than the cup size. And that is just one thing to worry about...

I don't like that they say to leave it on the back of the toilet. What if some other guy has to do the test at the same time? I would rather that they make me walk out there with cup in hand full of apple juice and give it directly to the nurse. That is not awkward at all. I think she should have to get the black marker out and handle the cup without a protective glove on. I did not get a glove when I went in there.

And why can't that cup be bigger? Why not make it the size of the toilet? Wouldn't it be better if they gave the patient a 5 gallon bucket? Then, it would be easier for women too. The nurses could take it out, sloshing it around. It has a handle and when they are done, they can flip it over and use it as a seat.

Although, I am sure my wife is saying: "Nope! 5 Gallon buckets are still not wide enough for you. Let's use the whole restroom as the cup."

From New to Veteran

2008-04-30T21:16:00.002-06:00

Our new roommate is now considered the roommate. He has graduated to that status. Besides, people will stop asking: Oh, when did he move in?

Tonight, we had a good time. He likes to workout. That is one thing I liked about some of my old roommates. They would inspire me to go to the gym. It was all about getting huge so you could get chicks. And, it worked so well... He is a pretty strong guy. He does this real high intensity stomach exercises where he shifts his head back and forth with as little support from his arms as possible. I can't do stuff like that. I am lucky if I get in a good set of push-ups.

D is helping me to stop watching tv. If I am watching dumb shows like CSI and CSI:Miami by myself, I only have me to answer to, but I do not want him knowing that I am into that stuff. Embarrassing. We watch sports together though. He seems okay with that. I am glad he does not insist on watching every second of SportsCenter. My old roommates had to watch that over and over in the same day. And, it was like Get a newspaper!

This weekend he has some family coming into town. He has a big event going on with his church on Sunday. I don't want to pry in on what his beliefs are, but it would be nice if someone invites us to the church. I always liked to support my roommates in what they had going on.

New Roommate Update

2008-04-26T09:32:00.006-06:00

The new roommate, D, is getting settled. We are starting to notice patterns in his behaviour. He usually wears pajamas which I have never seen in other roommates. They are funny though. They are like jumpsuits. He seems to be some sort of Elvis impersonator walking around the house doing karate chops and making that "Uh uh Huh" sound.

He starts his day off by using the restroom. He kind of uses the restroom a lot. He must drink lots of water and eat plenty of fiber. Then, he changes into some really nice cottony clothes. He always looks very comfortable. My brother-in-law, E, pointed out that D has Emo hair. He has not acted terribly Emo. He does not hang out in his room all day being morose. He has no black clothes. I guess he does not smile that much, but he seems normal. Am I being stereotypical and intolerant? I don't want anything weird in my house... well, weirder than me.

He has some very refined eating habits. He generally eats the same thing my wife eats. I am not sure what it is about her choices of food that make him so gung-ho. Of course, she and I eat most of the same food. But D just loves those Creamies. And eggs. And, of course green beans. Whole cans!

I am thinking he might be a magician of some sort. He has these real colorful straight jackets that we help him put on. Then, we turn our eyes and his hands have been free. I don't know how he does it. He is also very masterful-looking with his hands. We will be talking with him and he just moves his hands around with real great emphasis. I thought he was aspiring to be an actor like Captain Kirk or Hamlet or something.

It is hard to know what he is up to exactly. He is still pretty young. As a roommate, I try to make it a rule not to get in the way of people's dreams and aspirations. So, if he wants to be some Captain Kirk style Elvis magician, by all means. We encourage that kind of free-spirited behaviour in our home. Well, as long as they pay their rent of course.

A Conversation

2008-04-23T21:54:00.003-06:00

Father: Son, we need to talk.
Son: Yes, Dad.
Father: I have a request. No pressure.
Son: Of course, Dad. What's up?
Father: I really like what you are doing. I am very pleased with your attitude.
Son: Dad, spit it out!
Father: Well, it is just that you don't seem to be sleeping very much.
Son: Yeah, I know. I think it is a phase I am going through.
Father: Mom and I are very concerned.
Son: About me?
Father: Well... no. Not exactly. We are more concerned about ourselves.
Son: I can understand that.
Father: It is just that if you don't sleep, we don't sleep.
Son: I think I am getting plenty of sleep.
Father: Oh, absolutely. I have no doubt of that. It is just the timing of it.
Son: I don't know what to say, Dad. I sleep when I am tired. You do the same.
Father: I know. I know.
Son: Dad, this sounds like a problem you and Mom need to work out. I will do what I can, but I think there is not much I can do. Yawn...

Roommate Expectations (so cheap)

2008-04-18T09:52:00.003-06:00

D has taken over our lives. He is a really strange roommate. He only sleeps in three-hour increments. He wakes up, goes to the bathroom, then on to the kitchen to get a glass of milk. I think my Uncle G is a big milk fan too. I will have to ask him if he has to get up at weird hours. It would not be so bad if D quietly did these things, but he wakes us up in the process.

He also has us driving him around everywhere. We went to visit his twin cousins, H and B, twice yesterday. And, his Aunt M flew in from Germany so we had to be there for that. He is very family-oriented, so that is good. I am going to have to have a talk with his parents though, because some of this behaviour is just downright childish.

When it comes to roommates, my expectations are this:
1. Have your own car (or at least know how to drive)
2. Sleep like normal people sleep
3. Help out around the house from time to time
4. Bathe yourself
5. Be uglier and less charming than me.

That is not such a hard list, is it?

This Is the Last Straw!

2008-04-14T22:43:00.002-06:00

The new roommate, D, must be from California or something. He is making claims that the sun is not good enough here in Utah, so he has ordered his own tanning bed to be in our house. So, he spends all day in there and only comes out to use the restroom and eat.

He has not been very social either since the tanning bed got here. I guess he really has to gear up and be ready for when summer hits. I understand that need. There is nothing more embarrassing than being at the pool and having this white body or a real bad farmer tan. I will bet the girls are just going to come running to see his glistening golden brown muscles.

The Never-Ending Metaphor

2008-04-14T00:12:00.003-06:00

The new roommate has moved in and he brought his Grandma with him. She is helping him with all the things he cannot do himself. And, she is helping fill in the void where his parents fall short.

He certainly has a lot of charm. Everyone that sees him is a big fan. I just don't understand how someone can do so little and be so popular. I have had roommates like this before. The fact that they existed was all girls needed in order to have crushes on them. There goes my jealousy again.

He keeps sleeping all the time. We want him to eat more, but he dozes off. We have been sitting around with him when he fell asleep right in the middle of lunch.

He took a bath today... finally! Who is this guy going all that time without bathing? It does not seem to matter though. I thought he would at least go into the shower and do it, but no! He got up on the counter and displayed his nakedness to everyone in the house.

I really do like him though. We talk all the time. Actually, I do most of the talking. He is a great listener. He is not judgmental at all. Sometimes you get roommates who are so full of themselves. Not him. His name is D and I recommend meeting him. He will change your life as he has mine.

Being Apparent

2008-04-14T00:09:00.002-06:00

Everyone says that being apparent is tough work. I just figure it is all about showing up.

One That Rhymes - Late Night Poetry

2008-04-12T00:08:00.002-06:00

He came one Monday Night
All white and purple and gooey
He had so much hair
He sort of looked like Chewie.

We looked outside to see the snow
And then back again inside
Some strange wind blew out there
Creating this wonderful child

Not expecting him so soon
The doctor gave us voice.
With Caesar as our guide
We marvelled at our choice.

We find in him new hope and life
As we age inside our skin.
But exercise is sure
As we try to keep up with him.

Fatherhood

2008-04-11T23:57:00.002-06:00

I met my son today
It took a few years.
I had to meet my wife first
And get a house and a dog.

We found him a crib
And a car seat.
I bought him a gift today also
I figured he needed a dog too

Now I just watch him grow
He does not smile yet.
He does not see me either.
But I like him. He's asleep.

The New Roommate Is In Town

2008-04-08T17:44:00.002-06:00

The new roommate is in town. We have been visiting with him and helping him to get used to the new surroundings. I tried to explain to him the reasoning behind living in Utah. He seems okay with it as long as he gets 12 square meals a day.

It was great to meet him yesterday. He is a little heavier than in the pictures I saw of him. He does not talk too much. He is kind of stocky too. I am a little jealous of him, because he has a lot more hair than I do. I think my wife may pay more attention to him too.

I have had quite a few roommates over the years. Some really good ones too. I am hoping that he does not mind me watching tv all night long. I hope he does not knock on my door complaining about loud music. It would also be nice if he cleans up after himself too. So many roommates in the past who just think that I am a parent who is supposed to clean up after them...

The Sick Chronicles

2008-04-02T22:30:00.004-06:00

Over the past couple weeks, I have been sick and I wanted to describe it and get the full experience as one who is sick. Since being sick is physical and mental, what better way to convey the inner feeling than to write while my mind is ... sick?

My Side of the Mirror
I have been fortunate. I hardly ever get sick. And if I do, it is a small incident. It never lasts more than two days. But this all changed last week when I got really sick. I have it all. Couqhing, Sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, fever, hot sweats, cold sweats, inability to sleep, etc.

I am drinking lots of water. And, I am eating lots of oranges. My appetite is down, but not too down. I am just sick. And one has to be patient with sick. Much can be said for sick. It is the time of life when one has all the time in the world, but no motivation, nor much ability. Finally, I can get caught up on all those tv shows or movies I have been wanting to watch.

But there is something lost when sickness enters the picture. I can't watch things and enjoy them, because the whole notion of inspiration is to watch something and be motivated to go accomplish more.

Sick is a justification to do nothing, but rest. So, why all the guilt? Because I can still do most everything. I can wash the dishes and do the laundry. I can clean my room, but I am supposed to be resting. Sickness is kind of about being patient. One's body is doing all it can to fight off the invasion that has occurred. So, I try to arm it with all I can. Water and juice and fruit. I probably should add some soup in there too.

What is the aspect of sick that people should glean from it? Is being sick bad? Well, it is frustrating. I guess there is being sick, the sick attitude and then the person who, despite being sick, rises above it. For someone who does not get sick very often, I easily fall into the sick attitude. Leave me alone. Let me recover. It's almost done. I just need to spend every day walking around the house in my pajamas. Is all of this really necessary?

Perhaps it is. Maybe that helps us fall into the patience aspect of being sick. You're sick! Accept it! Mope around the house in my pajamas.

Or, is the sickness more a state of mind that one needs to overcome by mere will? Since this is the harder of the two, perhaps it is best to follow this train of thought for awhile. I have heard of people who are extremely sick but one would never know by how they behave.

Of course we all know the chronic types who are always sick and make sure that everyone knows they are. Are these people justified? Possibly. They have been dealt a bad hand. Others should know what they have to go through. Whether they are as sick as they think, there is no doubt that they are somewhat sick. We are not to judge. We are only to help and serve, try to empathize.

My side of the mirror in our bathroom is disgusting. I guess I brush my teeth in a very unique way that causes the toothpaste to splatter all over the place. I let it get this way and leave it there for far too long. This is sick. Sick behaviour. How hard is it to walk in the other room, grab a paper towel and the Windex and quickly clean it off? Not hard.

Sick Mode
With these new developments, there is light at the end of the tunnel. So, I guess I can stop being in sick mode, despite the fact that I don't really feel much better.

What is sick mode? It is the concept or the idea of being sick. The feel sorry for yourself mode. The lay around in your pajamas all day and not take a shower for three mode. It is the patience mode. It is the watch the lamest things you can find on tv mode. It is kind of like giving up on ever getting better. Not that one really believes that, but it is just part of the mode. It is almost like a role one is playing.

So why not just never enter sick mode? Despite how bad one feels, one should always take it that it will soon be over, right? Isn't the one who is in sick mode just making everything worse for oneself including those around them? I am arguing for the necessity of sick mode.

sick....
I want to write about this sick experience while I am sick, because then I can truly give it the credit it deserves, or wants.

Being sick is such a deplorable state. It is the antithesis of everything one wants to achieve and do. It takes the body and turns it upside down convincing one that everything good is bad and everything bad is worse.

Exacerbation

2008-04-02T21:17:00.002-06:00

I went to the doctor the other day because of this stupid sickness. As a result, I am not really sure what is going on. I had a notebook with me. I wrote down as much as I could. I tried to remember what happened. I do remember it was an older female physician and I talked a lot about my symptoms.

The one word I do remember was Exacerbation. I think I have officially been diagnosed with Exacerbation. I think she used that word about 10 times. That must be it.

My sore throat was exacerbated by my allergies. Or, my upper respiratory problem was exacerbated by my allergies. Or, my allergies were exacerbated by my allergies. How many is that? Three? Okay, seven more exacerbations.

Uncomfortable yet? It's not a very comforting word.

Five Year Goal

2008-03-29T12:49:00.003-06:00

Since I am sick in bed right now, I guess it is time to do my 5 year goals.

My first one is that I want to be a successful business owner. So, let's map this out. I need to get a product. My product will be home mazes. People often have unfinished basements and they plan to get around to it eventually. This will be the neverending entertainment of having a spooky maze in their basement. Of course, they do not have to be spooky or creepy. It could be It's a Small World themed. Or, it could have a Gilligan's Island theme throughout. Or, it could be a Barry Manilow theme. None of these ideas are creepy...

We have our product. Now, materials. Are we going to just use cardboard everywhere? There should be some firm materials. We don't want the customer to cheat and knock over the walls to escape. And, we will probably want to have the spots where they can only crawl on their stomachs. So, wood framing and nails. Strobe lights. We will need some good software to draw this all out on first.

Then, there is the liability aspect. Even though we will want to have spiked walls and darts shooting out, there should not be anything which will really hurt or maim. Maybe just a brief sting. Like getting a shot.

We would also want to make it changeable. Once you learn a maze, it is not very fun to do the same maze again, so we would have to put casters on them and lock them into various places. That will be a good selling point though. We could have a monthly maze-changing service, where our team goes out and configures it to a whole new maze. For the low price of only $20.99 a month.

In five years, I need to be making a profit. With that profit we need to be able to pay our bills and go to the movies from time to time. So does that mean we make no profit for the first 4 years? I guess I will need to ease into this. Since not everyone will be clamoring for a new BaMazeMent right away, it will have to be a part time thing after my regular job. The goal in 5 years will be to quit my day job and start BaMazeMent Inc. full time. It may not happen just like that, but it's written down.

This five year goal stuff is hard work. But I feel good knowing that everyone who reads my blog now knows my ultimate dream, confusing people in their own homes.

The Topper

2008-03-25T22:32:00.002-06:00

Yep! You know him (or her). The one who always has a better story. No matter how good the story is. No matter how fantastic. No matter how much of a lie the original is, he has a better one. His is better, more fantastic, a bigger lie.

The nature of the topper is the toughest thing to deal with, because in a way, by you telling a story at all, you are stepping on their toes. They seem to feel that they are the only ones entitled to be telling the amazing story. How dare you even think that your story or happening or experience could even compete with their incredible adventure...

How does one argue with a topper? Do you come out directly and tell them that their story sucks? Do you tell them like you would a child that they are being rude in trying to top someone else's story? Do we just chalk it up to the topper's insecurity as the cause?

I honestly think that most toppers are completely clueless. They think that they are supposed to come up with a topper. If someone shares a story, they go into their topper library in their head and come up with the best possible match for the initial story and then share it thinking that if they do not, then they are not showing proper attention to the original story. I think they feel like they are validating the original with their own.

But, a message to the topper in all of you. Don't! Just hear the story out and ask about the story. Laugh at the story. We won't think you are boring if you do not give us a whole new, different story. Make us feel good about our story. And then, if the conversation dies off and there is a need for yours, then go ahead.

But please! Don't make us think that if we tell a story then we are just going to be inundated with yours! And whatever you do, don't say: "Oh! I have a better one!" Or "Get this! You won't believe this!"

Give us lame storytellers a chance!

By the way, we all do it. Despite our best intentions, we find ourselves in situations with certain people where we just have to outdo them. Thank you to the great listeners of the world. I will try to be better.

Cake

2008-03-21T08:33:00.006-06:00

I love cake. It is one of the great food groups. I like fruits and vegetables. Potatoes and carrots, strawberries and bananas, avocado and tomato. But cake is just so good. Some people get excited over having cake and ice cream. They seem to want the ice cream more and the cake is just some sort of filler. For me, it is the opposite. Ice cream is disgusting.

Well, I won't go that far. Ice cream is pretty good. But cake is where it is at. I can eat cake without the frosting even. Of course it has to be pretty good cake. Really moist. But if the frosting is there, it can really make for an enjoyable eating experience. The combination of the cold fork slicing through, gathering a portion of frosting and cake along with the backing of the plate as support make the experience. Just doing that step alone is significant. Putting it in the mouth is good too. But you have to have that first step to make that second step really work.

And this is where the true problem cake comes in. Problem cake? What sort of problem cake could there possibly be?

Cupcake! The poorest cake eating experience there is.

I am not sure who came up with this, but it was not thought out very well. The paper on the bottom is annoying and it seems wasteful. Everytime I have to eat it, I have to peel it off the bottom. It is like eating a banana or an orange, but with fruit there is some health benefit at the end. If I am going to eat something bad for me, it should be as simple as popping it in. Don't make me work for it!

Then, there is the frosting. I always have to lick it off the top. I have been doing that since I was little. I cannot eat it along with the cupcake. It's too tall. The frosting will get all over my face. And if I go for the frosting-face scenario, the cupcake is just big enough that it takes 3 or 4 bites to finish. And, without a plate and fork, I am totally lost.

When I lick off the frosting first, there goes the great taste of the cake. The frosting's sweetness is too intense and instead of the symbiotic relationship with the cake, it just detracts from it. I would be okay with eating the cake and then the frosting, but that is near impossible.

The next time someone offers me a cupcake I swear I am really going to...

...shrug and eat it my old, lame way.

That's Politics, Folks!

2008-03-15T09:10:00.004-06:00

Politics are funny. Politics is funny. You know politics. They are funny. It's funny... politics.

We have been mired in scandal lately. The governor of New York had a problem which got exposed to the world. Before this, I did not even know who he was. Now, we know who he is and his wife and the prostitute. We know them by name and can now answer Trivia Pursuit questions about them later on. So here I am one of those shallow people who only find something out after the scandal. And that is politics.

There was this guy named Mc who was really focused and determined to do the best he could. He had such tunnel vision that his personality was almost completely lost. He was awarded for this though. The powers that be saw the extreme value of this individual. Some may have thought of Mc as a noser or kiss-up, but a couple of us think otherwise. He just had a vision of what he was supposed to do and he did it. The individuals around him did not matter as much. They only mattered in the way that he could teach them to do work like him.

While I would never have gone about things the way Mc did I think I am reaching the point where I can respect him for what he did accomplish. And he is certainly remembered among many people for his extremism.

The politics affected Mc in an unusual way. They didn't affect him. He still maintained his focus. He was still as difficult a person to talk to as ever. But he had the position of authority, the most glamorous position of the organization. Many people would get that position and use it for show. They would constantly be looking to look better and go for the praise. As far as I could tell, Mc had no such appreciation for the adulation. Nothing he did made him look any better or made everyone feel anymore comfortable.

In an actual, political world, how would Mc do? Imagine a governor, a congressperson, a president who just did the work at hand. Imagine someone being there you respected but didn't really like.

Greatness Index Proposal

2008-03-14T22:44:00.003-06:00

"The suspense is killing me. I hope it'll last."

How can they do remakes of great movies? Or songs? Or whatever? I have this rule which states:

If you are not going to do it better than the first one, don't do it!

What is so hard about this rule?

We were in the car listening to the radio the other day and heard the most boring version of Forever Young ever. It was totally dull. I have no idea who it was, but if I find out, they lose a notch. Alphaville would be turning over in their grave. And they may not even be the original authors of the song, but they did make it great.

With music, there are always people doing remakes. U2 did I Am the Walrus. I suppose that was not so horrible, but it was still kind of lame. There were two movies which came out about the same time where they did Twist and Shout, a song that just sucks to begin with. Okay. Enough on the Beatles. (The movies were Back to School and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.)

Back to Movies
Why would you remake Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Force people to see the original, because they are not going to see anything better.

King Kong is just the best. What does Peter Jackson do? He does an homage to the original by including everything he could from the original plus adding his own pukefest. I think Peter just lost it when he did Return of the King. He figured the audience wants to be in the theater seeing people say farewell for hours and hours.

Psycho. They did the exact same movie. They changed about a half percent of it. How can Vince Vaughn live with himself after that? Don't they realize that they are just duplicating something that cannot be duplicated?

I think there needs to be a meter on greatness and once a movie has achieved a certain perfection then it cannot be redone. Once it makes it on that list, that's it. People have to see the original or they do not get to see it redone. No laziness here! Then, what does that do? It forces the movie industry to come up with... Oh no! Not that! Originality?! What is that?

So I propose the Greatness Index, a list of movies which they cannot redo. And much like the writer's strike I want actors to join with me on this great cause. May the classics remain. May the new interpretation not be allowed... May originality be the new norm.

The start of the proposed list:

Star Wars IV - VI (They can remake I - III all they want)
Jaws (just the first one)
Apocalypse Now
The Wizard of Oz
The Matrix (just the first one. No excuse for the sequels)

Lots of controversy already I can tell. People are just chomping at the bit to get a CG Jaws in there...

Maslow Again...

2008-03-09T21:30:00.002-06:00

While in church today, a couple spoke about their humanitarian mission. The sister related a couple stories about what is going on. The church is not proselyting in some countries, because they are not allowed to. However, certain countries are still allowing churches to give them aid. And, this is where the church volunteers' efforts really touched me.

I like the idea of helping the poor and needy and when I see them in well-developed countries like ours, it makes me feel less charitable towards them. I know that this is not really how charity works, but we definitely live in the land of opportunity. So many things are at our disposal. In the middle of the night, I can jump in my truck and drive to a convenience store and buy toenail clippers. I can go to a job every day where I sit in a relaxing air conditioned building which supplies me with filtered water and an endless supply of information. I can fly for a couple hours and visit my parents in a city which has perfect weather most of the year round.

So what? So what! So what. Why state the obvious? Why worry about something we cannot do anything about? Or why worry about something we are not going to do anything about?

There are people starving, dying, clamoring for something to hold onto in these other countries. Very simple things.

Water
The water I get at work is being filtered again after the previous filtering station which did not make it taste good enough for me. The sister brought up how the volunteer church members go to these villages and help the people find their water source. Then, they set up filtering mechanisms for the people to use. And, I imagine they are not getting the treatment that I am where I get it to taste good too. But perhaps the water tastes more delicious to them, because they are not getting dysentery or diarrhea from it anymore.

Blindness
I just got contact lenses about a month ago. Glasses were a real pain. They do not look good at all. The sister told of how the volunteers are helping those with blindness due to cataracts. They are teaching the doctors in those countries how to perform the surgeries themselves. I do not have cataracts, but I get an eye appointment every year to check up on all those things.

Mush
In an area of Africa, there is this type of mush which was created to feed the masses. This became their staple. The story went that the volunteers brought the mush back to the states and analyzed what was in it. They then improved it by adding vitamins and nutrients to it. They sent it back in this improved form. My wife turned to me and commented that it was Manna.

Exactly! This is the practical application of a Biblical story we have heard about and not really known what to do with. God fed the Israelites for 40 years with food which they could not supply for themselves. What is wrong with us helping to feed the starving nations who are having difficulty with the basics? And, when a people is having trouble with the basics like food and water, the last thing they need is a new religion being preached to them. I think the Gospel is important in people's lives of course, but this kind of service is the good news the poor needs to have first and foremost.

Reinventing Cleanliness

2008-03-05T07:36:00.005-07:00

There is rope in the back of my truck which was used awhile ago to secure some chairs and tables. It is still strung across the bed of my truck all loose and untied signalling me that there is yet another thing to do.
With just my truck alone, I need to:

Get a trash bag

Put up my new volleyball sticker on the rear window

Replace my CD's

Vacuum the floor

Undo the rope.

Change the oil

Rotate the tires

Clean the outside.

Get Rhino Lining

Get a camper shell

9 and 10 have been there since I bought the truck eight years ago. I am not anticipating ever getting that done.

Bombarded with things that are yet to be done is the plight of people. A never ending list of undone things, chores, tasks, simple to-do's.

As I go through my house, each room that I look into has something which needs to be done. Each room has multiple things. Dusting and vacuuming are just the start. What about the corners? Cleaning the furniture? Rearranging the motif? The carpet buckle?

I am pretty impressed with my brother-in-law, T, who has managed to finish his basement himself with a little help from his brothers and various others. Going down there, it is like wow! Here I am taking 3 or 4 months to do the baby room. He is taking 2 or 3 months to do the basement. And in the fall, he landscaped his yard.

Oh, for motivation! Why do all this stuff when I can spend that time watching movies or writing or reading? Who do I have to impress? Don't answer that! I think the reality of that question is that I need to impress myself.

If I walk into somebody else's house, what do I expect out of them? (Hopefully nothing, you judgmental jerk!) But whatever standard one has for others should be that same standard for oneself and their environment. If I am going to clean my house, my truck, or fix things, it should be because I want to be in that clean, picked-up environment.

As an example, every once in awhile I clean the windshield on my truck and the mirrors. I love that. I love when it is so clear that you can hardly tell the windshield is there. I love that clarity. But why don't I keep it like that all the time?

I really do like things to be clean. I do not like being a slob. I personally feel better when my environment is picked up.

My resolve is to do what I like. Not that I like cleaning, but I do like being in a clean environment. (I suppose the to-do list is mostly cleaning. It usually is. What is pulling weeds, but cleaning the yard?)

Something Positive

2008-03-03T08:00:00.004-07:00

I really enjoyed the movie Sky High. I watched it last week by myself because A refused to, saying that it was definitely one she would pass on. But there was something about it which had appealled to me since I saw the preview in the theatre. And somehow, it worked.

Don't get me wrong. When it comes to teenage super power movies, it is no Return from Witch Mountain nor Wonder Twins, but it does have its own creative feel to it. I felt like it was the Xmen school, but not taking itself so seriously.

Seeing Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Cloris Leachman, and Bruce Campbell all helped me. They had bit roles with some decent gags. Like, just seeing the character Medulla played by Kevin McDonald was too funny. He had this gigantic head, but the face was normal size, so it implied he had a huge brain. On a double date with Bruce Campbell, the two chicks are all impressed with him because of his intelligence, while Bruce has no play at all (which is kind of unbelievable).

As far as the teenage aspect of it goes, the movie moves along pretty quick. One gets a feel for the standard teen angst, but it does not get too sappy to not deal with. Maybe a couple of them step out of character a bit, but I was okay with it.

I liked the idea of the school judging the students initially to see if their super power qualifies them for "hero" or "sidekick". And the sidekick group has renamed themselves "Hero Support" to feel better.

The soundtrack was really good though. They took some great songs from the eighties and had them redone by newer groups like Bowling for Soup. I love hearing old English Beat songs. That is something you never hear in movies. Of course, it is just the song all teenybopped out but it works. For me anyway.

Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston were sort of forgettable as Will Stronghold's parents. They could have done something better with that. I thought Will's "popular" hairstyle was kind of weird looking. That's popular hair? Also, the sidekick friends were okay. One got the idea. They were lame, but individualistic. Blah blah blah.

All in all, it moved at a good pace. It was fun to see various super powers get demonstrated and whether each qualified as a "hero" or a "sidekick". Suspension of disbelief worked. I was pulled in and that is what matters.

The Fan Above

2008-02-29T23:44:00.006-07:00

The fan above my head.

The fan above my bed.

The fan above I dread.

Many nights in my half-awake slumber, I look up and see the menacing five-blade fan light above our bed. It calls to me and causes me to act in ways I cannot explain rationally. But then again I am asleep, mostly...

A few years ago I started having sleep related awakenings, where I would wake up, but not really be awake. I am essentially in a dream while I am conscious of my surroundings. I think this is because my eyes are open. But, somehow my mind is still going off the world of the dream and as we all know in dreams, anything goes.

The freakiest one for me came when I would go out to my car at work to take a nap. I was still in school and single, so I never got enough sleep. I was in the driver's seat and the car started rolling. I could not move to grab the wheel or slam on the brakes. All I could do was watch as I helplessly tried to force my body awake. But alas, the car was not really moving. It was just the craziness of the dream world taking over. I learned my lesson after that. I would only sleep in the passenger seat. Now that I think about it, was that really smarter?

There have been a couple of movies which give me the impression that if you die in your dream, you die in real life. One was Dreamscape with David Patrick Kelley and Dennis Quaid (in that order). The other movie was the Matrix. "The body cannot live without the mind." I am not sure if the Matrix counts since it is not really dreaming. Or is it?

But back to our ceiling fan. The other day I was standing on the bed to get up there to do something with the fan. Knowing that I was not really awake, this really freaked my wife out.

I was telling my wife that I wanted to put some ribbon up there and study it for awhile when awake. The theory is that when I am in this dream state, seeing the ribbon will help me see how ridiculous it all is and just go back to sleep. But I don't know. The ribbon could come to life, crawl up to the top and undo the fan support causing the ceiling fan to come crashing down on our legs.

I know these instances seem silly, but in the dream it all makes sense. There is something about that fan hanging above our beds, whether it is oscillating or not, that just makes it a perfect vehicle of sabotage. And this brings me to the game aspect of the dream. Somehow and in some way, a game is going on in these dreams. Like, little people the size of ants are teaming up against us and, like gremlins, are messing with our electronics. Or it may not be little people at all. It may be the electronics themselves. Or it is normal size people, but somehow they control things in the room while we are not in there.

Many times I am concerned about my wife in this half awake dream state. I will continually ask her if she is okay. Over and over again. I suppose I am really concerned about her safety. Add to that the fact that she is pregnant right now and it only serves to make the paranoia worse.

I am sure you are wondering if I am cuckoo, but it is a dream. The problem is that it is a dream that is making its way into the real world. I suppose that is every dream's goal.

The (Not So) Classic Western

2008-02-24T15:35:00.004-07:00

Silverado is on right now and it is one of those movies that everyone loves. I am not sure why, but I love it too. Maybe it is because it has modern day actors in it... from the 80's. It is probably because Kevin Costner is so youthful and energetic. Maybe it is because Danny Glover is accepted as just one of the guys. I bet it was tough for Kevin Kline to compete for the cute factor with Costner. Or should I say: I bet it was tough for Kevin Kline to concede the cute factor to Costner? But, clearly, Kline does what he can.

I can't rip on Scott Glenn though. As far as I am concerned he is essentially flawless. That is not to say that there are no bad Scott Glenn roles. It is just that he always delivers ruggedness. From the first time I saw him in Urban Cowboy to the horrifically bad Vertical Limit, he is the embodiment of tough guy and bad-ass. But even in roles like in Bourne Ultimatum or Silence of the Lambs, he is a guy in charge who just seems like he knows what he is doing.

But back to the cheesy Silverado. We have the typical town which has an endless array of bad guys run by a corrupt sheriff played by the equally not so classic Brian Denehy. There is the whorehouse matron with the heart of gold played by Linda Hunt. And of course Jeff Goldblum as the underhanded, gentleman gambler who carries a knife in his shoe. (Warning: Plot point!)

Why do we accept all this? It is like more Hollywood than it is a western town. I suppose that is what happens with all-star casts. As the audience, we do not even care about the plot, or even if there is one. We just want to see our favourite cheeseball in the roles we already know. Don't give us anything new. Just give us what we expect. Don't surprise us. Let us fill in the blanks. Or wait! You fill in the blanks. You do everything. We'll just pay the money to watch it. There!

What qualifies?

2008-02-20T20:46:00.005-07:00

I finally sort of watched Predator 2. It was on TNT and it was late. It was nice to see a lot of actors that I have known over the years. Gary Busey, Bill Paxton, Maria Conchita Alonso, Danny Glover and of course Adam Baldwin.

I wonder if my Uncle G has this on his list of movies he watches every time they are on. It certainly qualifies. It is violent and has a lot of cheesy lines to it. It probably does not have enough cheesy lines though.

Uncle G's list (as far as I know):

Revenge of the Nerds
The Substitute
Commando
Total Recall
Tremors
Tremors 2
The Quest (Van Damme)
Roadhouse

Those are the main ones I can remember right now. My Dad would have a more comprehensive list since he gets them quoted to him all the time. So I wonder if Predator 2 falls into the list. It has actors you love to hate. It has action. It has revenge. I am not sure that Revenge of the Nerds really has any revenge in it. Unless Bernie Casey telling John Goodman to hold it right there constitutes revenge, I don't know if it really counts. I guess the panty raid, the itching powder, the javelin throw and Takashi's tricycle race could all qualify as some sort of revenge. But after all, they're nerds.

Predator 2 was kind of silly. Violence for violence sake. I think that should qualify. Not so sure about the lines though. We will have to petition.

(The entries in red are the ones I have added since originally posting.)

Marketing...

2008-02-18T21:55:00.002-07:00

With the help of friends everywhere, my Dad and I were able to get his website for his art business up and running. Various sites have been up for a few years, but we finally got the name changed and the site revamped. It is exciting to get a website together and have all the pieces there. It is nice to have a look that is appealling to people. At least I hope it is.

The one thing I have trouble with is that presentation. Initially, I had a site set up which allowed people to go into two different locations. One for Sports and another for Custom. It had many pages with paintings and data for each one, but the initial page was confusing. There was barely any information about the artist. Each page had the title of the work, a price, dimensions, Stats and his take. There was no shopping cart, so it was a little lacking there.

Then, I went through and designed a completely different site. And it took me a couple years. I drew it out and came up with a look and feel based on various subcategories, but I had a white background and lots of icons everywhere. I was fairly pleased with it when I got it up and running, but a good friend, T, who has lots of internet marketing experience told me to change it. He gave me lots of advice, basic pointers that I just have no clue about. Stuff, like having a black background so your eye goes straight to the painting and not to other spots. Have the website be the name of the artist instead of the business name. And, have a good bio, because people like that. They like to know more.

I realize that it is ongoing and even with all the changes, there is still more to do. I look forward to them, because it is all about learning the concepts.

What Did They Do with the Real Darth Vader?

2008-02-13T23:13:00.003-07:00

I have one main problem with the Star Wars prequels. What happened to Darth Vader? I am sorry, but Hayden Christensen is not Darth Vader. He is not a believable Darth Vader in any way, shape or form. I cannot believe that they could get away with that. Did they get away with it? Is everybody buying it? I'm not.

It would be extremely difficult to watch 1 - 6 now in that order. Darth Vader from 3 to 4 is like night and day. The problem I had was that I kept waiting for the transition to occur. There are a couple glimpses, but it is a whiny kid with a couple of basic dilemmas. I do not see the Emperor wanting this guy as his apprentice. Look at Darth Maul. He had focus and determination. Darth Maul was obviously expendable, but I do not think that Darth Maul started out with a jedi master who he kept complaining to. And, the emperor was not way excited to get this brat he had to babysit.

I understand the whole idea of making the Emperor the ultimate evil guy and having Anakin Skywalker become his stooge. That works great for the whole story, but let's back up to Episode IV and being first introduced to Darth Vader. What are my initial thoughts when I see him? Huge guy. Wears a bad-a mask and helmet. Dressed in black. Deep, intense voice. Ruthless. Motivated. Focused. He is evil, but there is no doubt that he controls his own destiny. There is mention of the Emperor, but Darth Vader is plenty for us. He strangles people from across the room. He is well acquainted with the dark side of the force. As my Dad says, he is a major threat.

I understand that Star Wars is about fun and is essentially a kids series. So, taking someone you (are supposed to) love and making them evil is a tough chore. In Phantom Menace, he is the hero child. There is an innocence at that point. Leave it there. Introduce these characters and create a complex character in a padowan learner who is too old to begin the training.

Then, start Attack of the Clones off with Anakin going to find his mother. He needs to be on the evil path right away. He goes nuts on the Sand People and feels the power of the dark side. He is not crying about it to Padme. He has done something evil and has begun the change. Then, he meets back up with Obi-Wan and there is duplicity in his talk. Let's use that scene with the Sand People to characterize him. In Attack of the Clones, they gloss over it. Yoda is concerned. Padme enables him. Then, it is over. They get on to their new battle.

No! The prequels are about Darth Vader's demise. Let's not kid ourselves. We need to see this through and have it be compelling. I hate Hayden Christensen as Anakin. I don't think he is a bad actor. They just made him too unappealing. Luke Skywalker is the whiner of the series. He represents the everyman. Anakin does not. He is the gifted child who abuses his power. We see this type of person all the time, but he does not learn until it is too late. So, instead of making him a hero in these movies, let's show him as the anti-hero.

Instead of having him be so confused with his emotions and his duty toward the jedi order, have him be focused in the wrong direction. Let's see that look in his eye. He knows it goes against the jedi order to be in love with Padme, but it's what he wants, so he goes for it. We do not see him crying when she does not kiss him back. We see him determined and resolute. She'll come around.

The movie is not too far off, but let's see a Darth Vader that is consistent with 4, 5, and 6, because those movies are the bread and butter. We want to see the prequels, because we want to see how Anakin Skywalker gets to be Darth Vader, the ultimate evil character. And seeing this guy who cannot control his emotions and whose whole existence is focused around this girl is inconsistent. They can be somewhat subtle about his transformation.

The only way they could possibly explain that Anakin becomes Darth Vader is to have another trilogy in between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. They need to show him go through the true transformation. I just don't buy the whole Padme problem. And, she dies of a broken heart. She is not a true champion, like she was in the other two movies. They only killed her off for convenience sake. Let's tie it all in together with a stupid death, because we already dug the hole.

I feel like George Lucas did not do it right. I wish someone would. He created 4, 5 and 6. But he did not give us 1, 2 and 3 with any kind of believability or consistency. So, in a lot of ways, it was a waste. Unfortunate, because I really want to know how Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader. I still do...

The Love Tie

2008-02-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

I wore the Love Tie
Because I wanted to
It was a gift
The first of two

The giver is considerate
Much more than I
I don't see things and think:
Who can I for this buy?

I see stuff I like
And consider my wallet
I guess I am selfish
I think that's what they call it.

So when searching the internet
Or browsing in stores
Giving is Living
And thinking to give soars

Stickin' it to the Internet

2008-02-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

Internet Service Providers (ISPs), like cell phone companies are the worst companies to deal with. They all seem to be pretty lame when it comes down to it. I have had DSL, Cable, Fiber, Wireless, and of course everyone's favourite, Dial-Up. I suppose it comes down to which one will produce the least amount of pain.

We have to have internet, don't we? They are the pieces of technology that make up our world and its nonsense. How else would I be able to write unless I could post to my blog? I could go downstairs and put down a bunch of ideas, but unless I can have the immediate gratification of assuming friends and family are reading this, what good is it?

I have to know every day what my banking account balance is. Before, we had to keep a checkbook and get a monthly balance in the mail to know where we stood. Now, I can go in and freak out everyday.

I have to read the news. I never watched the news in my life growing up. I still don't watch the news, but I have this obsession with constantly being up to date on everything. And what is everything really? Another hiker lost in the mountains of Oregon or California or Utah. Another sports player busted for doping or drugs or slapping a woman. Why am I reading this? Am I really so informed?

And of course, I have to keep up to date on my emails, which comprises mainly ads from Target, Costco, AFX, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Delta, Travelocity, etc. It is just checking off a list. It becomes almost an OCD thing.

These past two weeks we have been dealing with the pain of no Internet from Digis, which is a wireless ISP. They use radios on your roof to point to towers in the area. Most of the year, Digis is fine, but when something went wrong, it took them 10 days to get somebody out. And, they gave us a window of 12pm - 6pm. Based on principle alone, we have to go with someone else. Waiting two weeks to get Internet usage in this day and age is ridiculous.

When I spoke to the Digis lady on cancellation, she stated that that was a long time and that they give businesses a higher priority. That is fine with me. You go with the deep pockets. That is business, but they are not going to get my business as long as that is their model. And if I can influence anyone to go with something different, I will.

We had a guy come out from High Speed Utah. It is a small company which one guy runs with a couple of buddies. We'll see how it goes, but he was out here right away to get us hooked up. It took him less than an hour. It was refreshing to know that a small business guy could get one over on the big conglomerates. He even said that Digis offered to buy him out. But, he likes what he does. And he says he rarely gets customer service calls. His website is nothing great. I really don't know. It may be horrible, worse than Digis or Comcast or Qwest or whoever. But for now, I am going with the little guy.

Grandpa always said that small business was the backbone of America.

Yeah, They're Hicks, Rita

2008-02-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

I have been looking forward all day long to watching Groundhog Day. I have been working online and on the room hoping that later I could finally watch one of the greatest movies of all time. So I came downstairs, turned on the tv and went to the dvd shelf to find my copy of Punxsatawney Phil and it is not there. I am racking my brains and I can only think of one place... W and D's.

There goes another Groundhog Day without watching "Hey Phil! Hey Phil! I thought that was you... Don't tell me you don't remember 'cause I sure as heckfire remember you. Ned! Ryerson! Needlenose Ned! Ned the Head! Come on, buddy..."

It is weird to feel that helpless disappointment. Kind of like jumping in the shower and having only cold water or waking up each morning to "I Got You, Babe".

Made Where? Here? By Us?

2008-01-27T23:22:00.000-07:00

Aunt J made some really cute baby clothes for us. She crocheted them and it was so neat to get the package from her and see the craftmanship that she did. Someone in the United States actually did something that was not on a computer or on paper and has a function.

Our society seems to have gotten so far away from craftmanship. Everything we buy is made someplace else. Our cars, our furniture, our electronics, our food...

The thing Aunt J told me to do was to make sure to keep the items in the family when we are done with them. It had not really occurred to me how important that is, but it was a great reminder of the need to be creative and have things to pass down to future generations. My great grandfather O was an amazing mechanic. When he died, we got his tools.

It also reinforces the idea of making our own stuff. Why not? My wife made pillowcases for the family for Christmas. I know that I am going to be using that pillowcase for Christmas for the rest of my life. I even helped... I ironed them a little.

And of course, my Dad's paintings will always be treasured. My sister and I feel loss every time someone else buys his work. We kind of want to horde them all up. Of course, we cannot do that, but I hope to have many more paintings of his.

Not So Sly...

2008-01-26T23:21:00.000-07:00

I don't get it. I really don't. What is with Sylvester Stallone doing Rocky and Rambo lately? Are these really such endearing characters that we have to see them again? What is wrong with creating something new, Sly? What is with our stupid sequel-oriented society? All we do is watch sequels. All they give us is sequels.

People who love making money probably think sequels are just the best thing ever. They probably marvel at the idea. How brilliant. Some movie company happened to make something that we enjoyed once, so they are just going to give them the same thing over again and demand our money. Then, they are going to give it to us again and again and again.

Look at the movie, Jaws. What a great movie. Then, look at the sequels! How embarrassing! Yet, the sequels probably made so much money that they dwarfed the original! But, they are such forgettable movies. Spielberg had no interest in a sequel. He made the movie. That was the movie. He killed the shark. Why would another shark come to the same cold water? Why would the shark have the same theme music? But yet the producers guessed right. All they needed to have was some scared kids in sailboats out in the middle of the ocean and there is our Jaws movie.

Think about this formula. Someone comes up with a creative movie. And, people go to see it and it makes all kinds of money. Then, the producers are thinking sequel. So, they bring back as much as they can from the original. But wait! We are going to have in this one a funny little Asian kid as Indy's sidekick. Or, we will have the Karate Kid be a girl. That will really throw them. So, there is no art left in it at all. It is just the constant pandering of these studios trying to target the audience.

And they wonder why people aren't going to movies anymore. The creativity is not there. They are not bringing us anything. They just regurgitate the same formulas. If movies cannot bring us a new, fun experience, then maybe they need to change. And I hate to say that because I love movies.

There Is No Eye in Team

2008-01-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Recently, I had a discussion with my friend, L, on team commitment in sports. He got me to understand his point of view, even though I felt his style was not terribly considerate.

Team commitment is one of the initial steps it takes to having a good cohesive group that can win ball games.

I grew up with a Father who loved Fastpitch Softball. He lived and breathed it each weekend. He had the opportunity to manage a team of players after he had played a number of years. Part of being a manager was the concept of getting people to be there. If they did not have nine guys, then chances are they would have to give me a glove and have me go play right field. I don't think this ever happened, thank goodness, but I think it was brought up as a possibility. I know that in his city league, they would pick up people off the street and they would be out there in their jeans... Jeans! How embarrassing!

So why not recruit more players to the team? This could work if everyone on the team understands that they do not get as much playing time. But people sign up to play sports because they want to play. If my Dad had 18 players and all of them did show up, then half the team would have to sit on the bench. It was usually a tough decision for Dad to have to bench any players who sacrificed their time to come play. People also have egos. They complain or may jump ship to another team if they do not get their time on the field. Dad would often have to sit himself and he hated that, because he always wanted to play.

The main issue I have with commitment is the consideration one has for the other players on the team, especially the person in charge of the team. This goes for any type of sports team, whether it is some bowling league or a soccer team or a church basketball team. The initial goal for the manager is to make sure enough people are going to show up. Now, an objection to this might be "if not enough people show up, then obviously it is not very important to them to even play, so what does it matter?" It matters to those people who do show up. They look forward to playing week to week. This is how they choose to spend their free time. If people only come out to play when they feel like coming out or it is convenient to them, then the team and manager is forced to not trust them.

Trust is an initial component in many types of relationships. Family, business, and of course sports all rely on trust to start getting things going in the direction they want. Once the trust is established, then the team starts working together toward a common goal. In Family, the goal is to have love and joy. In Business, the goal is to make money. In Sports, the goal is to win.

The concept of winning is a little controversial in some of our namby pamby circles. We have this movement in children's sports which has kids dress up in the cute uniforms and all their expensive cute gear just so they can stand out there, not learn the game, do whatever they want and be awarded for it. I suppose the argument is if kids learned that winning and losing is part of the game, they may become upset, cry and go shoot up a mall somewhere. The child out there picking flowers on the ground, staring at the clouds and twirling in circles is encouraged. This is our future, non-committed, totally unique sports player.

My radical concept is this: The players go out there, work together as a team, learn how to improve their skills, and win. People like winning. People like doing their best and seeing the reward on the other end.

Now, does everyone like winning? Obviously not. Some people, like the twirling child, show up when they want, go out and do what they want with no expectation at all from anyone else or any team members. They have no interest in the team, nor helping the team get better.

Some non-committed players are good and they may hit home runs, score goals, spike the ball, score touchdowns, etc. But when they do not have the trust of the team, it becomes confusing to the players how to work with this individual. People get frustrated with team members who do not care about them. If there is no respect, even when there is some success, it is hard to have joy.

I am a big proponent of team. My favourite sport is volleyball and one could not ask for a more team sport. Every player has to work together. But it is not just with volleyball. I see it in every team sport. The trust and the teamwork have to be there and when it is not, it might as well be the children playing in the clouds.

I think there is a place for these people who do not care about their team. They could try the golf course. Oh wait! There may be people behind one depending on them to go faster. So forget that. Try tennis. Nope. Can't do that because their opponent depends on one to show up. Aha! I know where the non-committed individual fits in. The computer. There, they can play whatever they want, whenever they want. They can have a team. Or not have a team. They can win or lose. No one cares. And with a wii, they can actually mimic the sports actions.

Look at computers! They are so perfect... Perfect for people who have no desire to have relationships with mere mortals who want to have fun together and win.

A Very Precise Procedure

2008-01-18T22:50:00.000-07:00

This week was Movie Night with T, a double feature on Wednesday. As part of this, we decided to pick up some wings. Well, I know that I cannot do KFC. I get sick there. And, I guess Wingers just does not quite match up to...(drum roll please)

Being the magnanimous one, I decided to brave it and pick them up (the wings), even though it would be much closer for T to get them. I guess I did not really think about it at the time, but this makes me look really bad. Oh yeah, I am really magnanimous, going out of my way to pick up chicken wings at a place populated with tip-hungry babes in tight tank tops and shiny orange shorts hiked up to their armpits.

This place is kind of taboo in this particular state with this particular culture, so one can imagine the anxiety of approaching the building. I see a guy smoking in the parking lot and I want to acknowledge him and have him give me the nod of approval to somewhat signify that we are all in this together. But he doesn't. The place just seems like a stripper bar from the outside. There are no friendly open windows. There are some that face the west, but they are all shaded and darkened (mainly because that direction faces the sun for the better part of the day during the summer), but still...

I walk in and I am immediately intimidated. I don't want to be. I want to just get my wings and go. I have nothing to prove here. But there the staff are, all bunched up together waiting for the evening rush to start. They look like a chick clique from high school. Or college. Absolute control on their part. I hate that!

One of them is friendly and asks if she can help me. I told them I was there for take-out and I had called in.

They then needed to call Monica, who I guess was the one who took my order over the phone. I remember her name, because the beyond belief fake-boobed chick at the counter kept calling her "Mon! Mon! Monica! Mon! Hey Monica!" This really threw me off. Why could this other girl not just ring me up? Why did Monica, who was apparently busy with something else in the back, have to ring me up? Unfortunately for Monica, it was not until much later that I figured out the reason.

So, I sign for the receipt and it came to $14 for a 20 piece meal. Since I called in, I figured not much tip is really necessary, so I left a buck, making it an even $15. I grabbed my wings and left.
Some may say that this is not a very big deal, but upon reflection, I realized a couple things. First, this is Hooters. The whole idea of it is to have big hootered women serve guy-type meals to dudes. The women are made to look athletic with not too many clothes on. They act extraordinarily friendly, even flirtatious as part of their job. So, all of that comes in a complete package. Each person who orders gets their own special Hooters girl. So that goes for when one comes to sit down or if one calls in. Monica was my Hooters girl and I gave her a dollar tip.

My wife says so what. When someone calls in one expects that there is no tip necessary. But, I feel bad. Whether one likes the system or not, there is still the Hooters experience. Sure, my Hooters experience was only a couple minutes, but the girl did everything she could to make it Hooterized. She dropped the wings in a little before I got there. She smiled and had on the outfit. I think that going to Hooters is a little different than going to Denny's or Outback or Fuddrucker's. More is expected of the customer.

Even if the system is not part of one's standard procedure, one should still respect it. I may visit another church and as they pass around the collection plate, it is only courtesy to drop in some money. Or, if my cousin does the magazine drive shakedown from her school, I should at least pick up a subscription to France Weekly.

If I am willing to go to such lengths for other situations, then why should I not give more money to some girl who is essentially selling her body to make a living?

N

2008-01-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

I have a friend named N, who I really respect as a writer. He has not written anything in at least 10 years, but I still know he has it in him. I asked him to read my blog and comment on it. I want his critique. Sometimes I know I go for the cheap joke and I would appreciate it if he was there to call me on it.

I have an Uncle N too who is a great director. He has made lots of great movies. Even though he has not done a movie in quite awhile, I still know he has it in him. And, Uncle N has a way of calling me on stuff too.

I need to have N write a script for Uncle N. Then, I could be entertained, because that is what I miss.

I enjoy the creative world. I feel saddened by all those who give it up. I know it is a lot of effort, but please don't. Just do something, even if it is small...

I Like High Mountain Huckleberry Soda

2008-01-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

I am reading the Adventures of HuckleBerry Finn right now. I remember reading it as a kid and seeing this really cool HBO mini-series on it. But now that I am reading it as an adult, it speaks to me much more than it did before.

Huckleberry Finn is this boy who is caught up in the whole slavery dilemma. He thinks slaves are property, but then he has a real friendship with Jim, a black man. He is actually in a situation where he is somewhat driven to do the right thing even though society tells him it is not. Huck is a fascinating character, because he is sort of the rebel of the town. He is not a character many people would normally be able to identify with. But Twain writes it in such a way so as to make you feel like Huck is totally normal (or totally Twain).

I think most people are not as fortunate as Huckleberry Finn in their ability to be free of society's restrictions. We grow up going to school, church and thinking a certain way. Our families raise us to take a certain political stance. We come to see ourselves as people who have a certain place within that society. An importance. I was not raised to hate other races, but I know that at some point I had to recognize the differences in race and come to some conclusions about them. Whether those conclusions were right or wrong, they were important in recognizing who I was and what I could do.

Huck Finn was a boy who was forced to see those differences a little earlier in his life than most. But, in being a rebel and a boy instead of a man, he is not cornered into making a societal choice. He is free to think over what to do. He has society telling him slavery is the way things are supposed to be. He also sees Jim as a person and a friend. Reading this as a boy, the answers are so obvious. Reading this as an adult, there is a very profound metaphor about the way man is and what needs to be overcome.

It is more than just slavery that Huck has issues with. When it comes to man's relationship with God and the practical notions of prayer, he has a real hard time. Why pray when there is no visible evidence that it works? It is the common man mentality of wanting to see proof before one does something. Even though I have a pretty firm belief in prayer myself, I still see how someone who has no upbringing with that might have problems relating to it.

Going down the river with Jim to help him become free was not Huck's only goal. He was essentially escaping himself from the tyranny of his father. So, having Jim along helped him with his loneliness and in making decisions. I do want to help other people in life, but on the way, I want to play volleyball, basketball, golf and many other sports. I want to write, create, program and learn. I want to make money, save it and spend it. I want to be married and have children. I want to watch movies, read books and listen to CDs. I can do all this self-interest and still help others right?

Oh! And I want to drink High Mountain Huckleberry Soda...

Way to go, Norv!

2008-01-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

The Chargers came out in the second half and looked a ton better.

Football... Leading the Way to Bigger Egos

2008-01-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

You know what I love about College Football that bothers me about the NFL? Yep! You guessed it! Celebration Penalty! How I wish that those idiots in the NFL would cut that celebration crap out after every stupid play. It's so embarrassing and it takes so much away from the game.

Some may ask why it takes away from the game. I feel that there are three main issues with this.

1. The player is acting in a proud way which directs more attention to him. He is essentially saying that "I tackled the quarterback!" or "I ran it into the end zone!" or "I got away with the pass interference!" But that is just it. He may have done those things, but he did not do it without the help of his team. They are making it so that people remember them regardless of their actual play. And, maybe that is a smart decision when it comes to making more money, but it is so sad to see that results do not count on their own.

2. They are taunting the other team. They are rubbing their noses in it and I was always told that that is poor sportsmanship. Those guys are out there playing their guts out and suddenly one play happens to go the wrong way and the opposing player gets to do his Lights Out dance. So when my kids are playing football with their friends and the quarterback gets sacked by my boy, I am to expect my son to get up and jump up and down pumping his fists in a squatting position? Well, that is what his football idol does. Those are the kind of people I do not want to play with.

3. It becomes a matter of one-upmanship which has nothing to do with the sport. The player makes a touchdown and pulls out a Sharpie to sign the ball and give it to a fan. Or another player scores and gets in a lame bowling stance. The shock-factor becomes more to them than the game. Each one of them has to have their own little dance or signature. And once again, the player is making sure the focus is all on him.

I see this stuff and I do not want to even watch football. I do not want to see my team do that. I feel like they are not my team when they act in that way.

And what is the excuse that they make for this poor behaviour? Well, the kids love it. The kids look up to this form of creative expression that the individual players have out on the field. To me, the creative expression comes in the performance of the game. When a running back dances around to avoid tackles and makes significant yardage, that is the art I want to see. Those are the moves that are proper for the game. It is almost as if the players insist on bringing the Super Bowl Halftime Show to each game. And we all know that those are the worst performances ever...

I remember playing sports and getting excited when I did something well (do something well. I still play), but at that point, the game is far from over. If it is the last play, it is okay to celebrate and dance around, because at that point, the game is over. One celebrates a victory. One does not celebrate and dance around over a single play. Because we all know what happens next. The following four plays the guy gets burned. Nothing is said about that though.

I think the problem is the showmanship of football. It is the biggest sport in the United States of America. It has a ton of money in it and so many fans. And, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. The players not only have the biggest egos, but they are getting paid so much money. So, there is no end to it. With that ego comes a bigger focus on the individual and the team means less and less.

But then, the league loves it. As long as it brings in more money, the NFL does not care. They could care less if they are helping to create poor sports and egotistical jerks both on and off the field. Make it a penalty to do that stuff like in College. Let's head back to college and learn something. If nothing else, the future of American sports would have some hope with the team concept...

Watching Your Team Lose

2008-01-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

One of the difficult things in life is watching your team lose. Spending the 2 or 3 hours of pain experiencing the trauma, the disappointment, the weakness and everything that is included with losing can be so frustrating. Why is it so disappointing? Why do we hope so much for our team to win? What do we have invested in it, besides our time for those couple hours?

It is half time right now of the San Diego Chargers - Tennessee Titans Wild Card Game and the Chargers are losing 6 - 0. They look terrible out there. This is a team that made it to the playoffs? Where is our star running back, LT? Our defense is doing pretty well, but our offense just looks poor. Tennesse has been just plugging away with short gains. We keep going for these big plays to save us. Isn't that something that they should have learned from years of playing the game? Get the first down. Get the first down. Charge up the field, slow if you have to, but just dominate. We keep getting to 3rd and long and have to rely on an amazing play to save us.

Now, I am just about to start up the second half and I hope that they come out and decide to be champions. Sports can be so tough to watch. You think it is just so mental. And from playing, I know that is true. So, what is it that these guys need? Do they need Gene Hackman to come in there and give them a rousing speech?

Norv Turner was brought in this year and still made the playoffs proving us all wrong that doubted he could do it. I figured he was a terrible coach, because he does have a losing record in the NFL. He is a good offensive coordinator I guess. But by making the playoffs I figure he proved something. He could do what Marty Schottenheimer could. Now, it would be nice if he could show us that he can do even more. Let's win a playoff game.

Man's True Best Friend (Or At Least Mine)

2008-01-03T22:24:00.000-07:00

It's fun to be with my wife. We have a good time together. We are able to laugh at things we do and say.

Over the Christmas break, we slept in each morning and spent a lot of time reading. We did a little work, but as little as possible.

I was very impressed with her ability to paint as we started our new roommate's room. I felt a little bad that she had to do it, but she is much better at it than I am. I did learn a lot after making some big mistakes myself, but when we went to do the second coat, she was the champion.

If you look closely at this photo you will see a couple things that will make you smile and then possibly a little angry at me. She is wearing a mask because of the paint fumes. She is working hard to paint with a roller, because her husband was kind of clueless when he tried to do it. Also, I am taking the picture of her back while she is working.

She did not like it though when I told her of my intentions to stretch this room project out 4 months. All I was trying to say was that we did not have to get it all done immediately. The reason for this in my eyes was that I did not want to have to demand help so quick. In fact, I think I was secretly trying to figure out how to do it all on my own without having to ask anyone for help.

It is nice to be with someone who is fun to be with. It is nice to look at her and be amused or impressed. I like how she handles things and people and the way she reacts to stuff. Could this be any more vague?

It's hard to express love in more than just the pronouncement of love. It is difficult to know all the things to say. When we are with friends, they will ask her questions and I want to hear what she has to say. I look forward to her way of telling a story. Her exaggeration.

I suppose it may be difficult to say stuff like this, because I would have to explain it all later. Whereas, if I just write about the dog, he has no way of defending himself, much less reading what is said about him...

But I love my wife, A.

Making their way... the only way they know how...

2007-12-30T23:18:00.001-07:00

I fear that my blog has turned into The Life and Postings of Sidemoss and His Dog. I will do my best to rectify this, but I am not sure that it can be helped. Originally, my life and reflections were based on the movies I watched, but I hardly watch anything anymore. I always wanted life to be like this, where I read and write and enjoy life making observations day to day. I have wanted to minimize the TV experience as much as possible, since true adventure usually occurs outside the realm of TV.

The idea is to become more creative and less critical. More productive and less producer-minded. Wow! I have been watching TV a long time. I think this writers' strike was the best thing that could have happened to my world...

Here we are
Face to Face
A couple of Silver Spoons...

Is TV creative? Or is it embarrassing? Is it there for escape? Or is it there to steal our time?

I am ready for diapers...

2007-12-30T22:25:00.000-07:00

I am ready for diapers...

I think I am anyway. The other night was extremely cold, so I let Forrest sleep in the garage. I set up the Heat Dish in there and tied his leash to the railing. We bought him a $10 pillow from Cal Ranch, so it seemed like everything should work out well.

I had a tough time sleeping, mainly because of the Heat Dish being on all night. It was pretty safe, but still with Forrest, it made things unpredictable. The next morning I got up and let him out as soon as I woke up. I really did not notice anything out of the ordinary. His pillow looked a little wet, like he got real slobbery on it. I turned off the Heat Dish and went back to bed.

A few hours later, I decided to go shovel the driveway. When I passed Forrest's sleeping spot I noticed that he had in fact chewed off the corner of the pillow. On closer inspection, I discovered that in the night Forrest had crapped. The slobber all over the pillow was not slobber, but poop. It was on the underside and fused with the cold cement garage floor. It was a moment of anger and frustration with how a dog can be so lame...

Now, Forrest is a pretty big dog, so when he goes to the proverbial restroom, it is usually a double or triple flusher. After a week, when I scoop the poop in the backyard, we need to rent a backhoe to lift the poop bag out and place it in a trash can. So this garage dookie was all over the place.

When I assessed the situation later on, I realized that I really did not give Forrest a whole lot of options. In my effort to save him from the cold, I put him on a very short leash with a water dish in walking distance, a pillow, stairs and not much else. I was not even thinking about the bathroom situation. Thinking back, the time I went out to see him before I went to bed, he really wanted out. I think that was the signal that he had to go and not that he wanted to escape. How could I know this since he is an outside dog? But now, it does make sense. So, the situation is not without logic. Maybe I am the lame one.

So I scooped up as much as I could with a towel and threw that away. Then, the pillow. I threw that away. Paper Towels. Threw away. But the fused poop to the cold cement? What about that? I had to go in and get a bucket of warm water with a rag. This I did a couple times. It is now the cleanest spot on the whole garage floor.

How does this make me ready for diapers? My thinking on this is that I have a big fear of the whole dirty diaper concept. It smells. It's gross. It gets all over the place. I have had a tough enough time handling my own #2 visits... So here I am face to face with dog crap which is the equivalent of probably a week's worth of newborn infant poop. And I overcame it! Even though I wanted to run and hide in a closet full of baby wipes. I can only compare this to the scene in Batman Begins where he embraces the thing he fears the most by being in a cave surrounded by bats.

I am not sure what I am getting at exactly. Am I saying that I am going to be a super hero whose power emanates from the stealthy qualities exhibited by poop? I don't think that is what I am saying, but I think there is definitely a principle here in fighting fire with fire...

Or maybe I am just going to be the best diaper changer ever. People will call me from miles around to change them. Actually, I do not want to be so much of an overachiever...

DreamViewer

2007-12-26T22:27:00.000-07:00

In the movie Until the End of the World, the characters reach a point where they get these handheld devices which allow them to see their own dreams. They become so addicted to the device that they do not do anything, but just spend their whole day watching their dreams. It is kind of a mistake for the movie, because there is a pretty compelling plot up to that point and the movie nosedives when the dream viewing comes along. However, I like the idea that it conveyed, that the people could not (or would not) do anything but continue in their own self-absorption with this little mechanical device. And their relationships just fall apart, because they can only exist for their dreams.

I just received one of these little devices for Christmas and I caught a glimpse of myself staring into the void of the view screen, while my wife spoke to me in the background. With these types of wonderment, we need never be bored again. Now, we can access information at the drop of a hat. Videos, Music, Phone Calls, Internet. When I go to the bathroom, I can continue shopping or researching or sending text messages to friends. No longer do I have personal time to reflect on life or new inventions. I have my dreams before me and I can just continue accessing all that it will allow.

I am not sure what the resolution was for them in the movie. I think they ran out of batteries or something. I do need to come up with ways to keep myself from being lost in the void of my own dreams. I am going to seek out boredom because I need to take away the control I feel like I have to have. I will leave the device in my room and go shovel snow. I will watch the DIY channel and come up with dreams on my own.

The DreamViewer is a great tool. I cannot imagine something today being so cool and useful. It is a means. It is a means. A means. Not an end.

Round 2... Fight!

2007-12-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

The results are in.
The votes have been counted.
And, the unit has spoken.
The W name lives on.

My wife is carrying a son.

Resolution #683

2007-12-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

Do you ever look back on a time and wish you had been more like George Costanza?

Yesterday, we were dining at Carrabba's for lunch. My friend, M, orders a smoothie. It came with a straw. The waiter left for a few minutes and then came back for our orders. When he returned, M asked him for a spoon. The waiter's response was this: "We only provide spoons when you order soup." Then, he left and never brought us a spoon the whole time we were there. We ended up paying for our meal and giving him a decent tip. We also made excuses for the guy saying things like: "Well, he's new." Or "It's the company's policy."

At the time I actually mentioned that it would be nice to have someone with us who has a confrontational personality. Now, that I look back on it, I should have said this: "Are you really not going to bring him a spoon? What? Were we supposed to bring our own spoons? I didn't see a sign outside that said: Unless you are ordering soup, no spoon will be provided. How is a smoothie not soup? It is like a fruit soup!"

This was definitely a get the manager over there and cause a scene type situation. Maybe it is a manners thing and the fear was that he would slurp the smoothie. But wouldn't there be a greater fear in someone slurping soup? I would think that the policy would be to not bring out the spoon unless requested. I seriously doubt that they only have 3 spoons back in the kitchen and they are rationing them out to just soup buyers...

We all sat there being whiny, sarcastic programmers making fun of the situation, but doing nothing about it. So, from now on, I resolve to make situations uncomfortable in the name of ridiculous policy...

You make the call!

2007-12-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

In less than a week, I find out the gender of my first child. My wife wants a girl and I suppose I want a boy. I keep denying this wish, but I guess it is there, deep down. I think it is somewhat natural to want to have a child of your own gender so you can have some trace of identifiability. But perhaps there is a myth in thinking that there will actually be this link of understanding between the two of us. I have great nieces which help sway me to the female vote.

But, isn't there something to be said about teaming up against Mom in the cause of spilling food on our shirts? Won't it be better for us both to have innocent looks on our face when accused of the poor condition of the front of the toilet? We could shift the blame on each other and have an understanding that the vagueness of who is actually guilty matters little in comparison to the comraderie of having the same ailment. And won't it be great to have someone with the same "competitive spirit" to take games, puzzles and tv watching into the wee hours of the morning?

Yeah, I guess I do want a boy. It's what I know. And I think my wife wants a girl for the same reason. But I know that whatever, whoever our baby is, there will be a newness to it all that makes the experience joyful.

However, I suspect that being a boy is not the same as raising one, so I can say it is what I know, but I am a fool for making any such assumption.

So let me restate: I want a boy, because I am a boy and I think that sometimes I will be able to look into his eyes and know that he has crapped his pants, because I have been there. I feel safe with that.

Case Study Junkie

2007-12-15T10:31:00.001-07:00

I just finished The Road Less Travelled by M Scott Peck. I think it is my first psychotherapy book. I took Psychology in college and I had a mythology class too, but this is the first time I have read something by someone who almost seemed to be professional. I want to say that he was completely professional, but I would need to read another psychotherapy book. Or at least 2 others by different authors before I could come back and say that this sounds genuine.

I do like this book, but I have a concern that it is "pop psych". That was a term a psychology friend of mine used the other day. So much of the book appeals to the general Christian public that I was concerned he was pandering a bit. And, maybe the reason the book is so popular is because of this notion. Much of it seemed familiar. I would definitely recommend it to people to read.

Peck goes into some cool ideas, like the fact that life is difficult and that people often shy away from difficult things. He explains love and what is and is not love. He goes into talking about how all people have religion, though they may not attend or think they are religious.

I think I am a "case study junkie". Whenever Peck would introduce someone as a patient, suddenly I would get really interested. I guess that is one thing I love in life, being able to assign someone a particular problem and then going through the process of having it be discovered, worked on, resolved, or not. I am almost like the kid who calls people names and suddenly a girl bows her head in shame because I accidentally got it right for once. There I am making the girl feel bad for having a problem so easily recognizable...

I think case studies are kind of like chick flicks. In this book, there was an attractive girl who grew up in a strict, Catholic background, who married early and suddenly had these panic attacks after she realized her gay husband did not want to have sex with her anymore. I realize that I am oversimplifying an oversimplification, but it works. It fits together in this neat bundle and there is this total chick flick reward. And we cannot argue, because we have not sat there through session after session of mundane problems.

When I was younger I used to do character analysis of the people around me. As I have gotten older, I realized that people are much more complicated than just what an analysis could cover. Usually my analysis only covered a half page. But it was all I knew about the person, so I could not really go into more detail. I had a lot of fun with that. It appears that these case studies are an extension of that. However, the ones mentioned in the book are more like the CSI version of people. The case study where the villain always admits it in the end. They are just too powerless against the forensics.

I think that is my major issue with the book and possibly any psychology book I read in the future. The kind of stuff that appeals to me directly are the unpredictable things, the real things. Like, a man has a habit of going to church each Tuesday and the doctor discovers that he is off 2 days in his thinking, but cannot adjust. The deviation is that he does not check his mail on Sunday. So even though there is this compulsion on so many levels and the case falls into this two day off problem, there is still a glitch in him which knows that the day is Sunday. Something like this would be used in a CSI episode to show that he is a fraud. The psychotherapy author would not include it in the book, because it does not fit with what he is trying to say. But here I am saying it is still there and we cannot explain it, but it is kind of cool, because it has no real place.

And perhaps people would expect me, if I was the author, to have an explanation for the mail thing, but I wouldn't, or wouldn't want to. The deviation is demonstrated. The people notice it and we are left to conclude nothing, except that it is there.

The Student

2007-12-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

The other day I was walking Forrest. We were passing this house from across the street and he started to whimper. I looked over there to see if there was a dog or a cat or something, but I did not see anything except for a couple of lawn animals. I thought for a second and it occurred to me that he was afraid of this polar bear looking thing.

I think many of us have this wish inside us that when our students are confronted with something they are frightened of or very unsure about that the sudden enlightenment of what the thing actually is will cause an Aha moment to occur. It would be at this point that the student would slap the hand to the forehead and say something like: "What was I thinking?"

So, I pulled Forrest over there hoping that when he met up with the polar bear, he would in fact realize his mistake and feel the dominance so necessary in our young canines today. We got closer and Forrest went right up to the beast and sniffed at it. I was feeling confident that my young Padowan learner was indeed feeling the light within when all of a sudden, Forrest jumps back right into my legs almost taking me out. He is a big dog and that is a ton of force coming all at once. It was as if the polar bear had actually lunged at him and Forrest was so scared that he just had to get away.

The fear was still there even though this was not a real animal by any means. I suppose it represents something very frightening to Forrest though. Looking at it, it is a lot smaller than a real polar bear and a little smaller than Forrest. But, it does almost seem to be in an attack mode. I guess when we see certain images in movies we are frightened. Or, when walking through a haunted house we will be afraid of things we know are not real. I know that having my lifesize pinatas in the house would scare me when I saw them out of the corner of my eye.

I am trying to make excuses for him, because this seems so ridiculous. He is way bigger than most of the dogs we come across. So why does he not have that swagger? Maybe I ought to buy one of those polar bears and leave it in the backyard with him. Then, he can show it who is boss. That would probably be a very weird day.

The Tree Party

2007-12-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

We visited the Festival of Trees this year. I was not sure what to expect. I thought it would be outside and there would be ents guiding people about. I also thought the decorations would be solely on the trees and would not be creating a room theme all over the floor.

The idea is that people decorate a Christmas tree for a loved one who has died tragically of a disease or something else. I think they like to stick to the tragic theme even though it appeared that some people pictured there lived to ripe old ages. They decorate the tree with certain themes, presumably a theme related to the person who died. Like, if a man was into hunting giraffes, they would have some giraffe legs sticking out with a head on top. Or, if a child liked Disney (what child does not like Disney?), then the tree would have all sorts of Disney ornaments all over it. Then they sell or auction the trees to the rich. The proceeds go to Primary Children's Hospital, which is up in Salt Lake.

So, as I was in there, I had to say that every tree was amazing. Really, when it comes down to it, there are no ugly trees. Maybe a couple had colours which were not my favourite, but for the most part there was lots of creative energy in the place. Row upon row of trees. And then they had small trees and gingerbread houses and kids performing in costumes. It was quite an ordeal.

But, after looking at all these trees, I suppose I got into a mode of wanting to see something that was in fact, unique. There were a couple, but not many. For the most part, the trees all fit in. They were each overdone with as many repetitious decorations as they could muster. I was looking for the tree that spoke to me. I wanted there to be something that caused me to go Wow!

Now, can I just go in and criticize without doing anything myself? Of course not. It is not until we pick up our own swords and chop something in half that we can really call ourselves butcher, right? So, it is at this moment that I decide... Well, actually I decide that I could do something truly unique, but that would require some real effort and time and engineering skills.

Blind Boscoe

2007-11-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

A legend from my childhood died this week. At 12 years old, I was introduced to the world of Heavy Metal. My cousin was 2 1/2 years older than me and always knew what was cool before me. So, what he had was what I wanted. He had Candy-O by the Cars and Freedom of Choice by Devo. So, it would only follow that when the heavy metal craze hit in the early eighties, C would be right on board, and I would be tagging along.

As I look back on it, I was not fortunate enough to own any of the so-called truly cool heavy metal bands of the day, because they were a little too centered around Satan. I cannot remember if this was my choice or my Dad's. Or, if it was the influence my Dad had on me to make that kind of choice. I may have requested Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast or Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil as a birthday present, but I know that I did request Quiet Riot - Metal Health and got it. What a great album. It was total poser heavy metal. Wannabe heavy metal. Almost as bad as Christian Rock... but not that bad.

There were a few heavy metal bands at the time who qualified to be listenable, because they did not subscribe to such blatantly satanic themes. Quiet Riot seemed to be the king of these groups opting for the spotlight of popdom with Cum on Feel the Noize, a song spelled in a way which suggests sex instead of satanic influence. Way better for kids! The other groups were Def Leppard and Twisted Sister. Twisted Sister was a major one-hit wonder. Def Leppard never seemed that interesting to me. I would probably like them more if I listened to them now.

Quiet Riot's lead singer, Kevin Dubrow, died yesterday. He was only 52. I wonder what kind of life he actually lived. I heard a quote of his one time about how he wanted to live a life of a quiet riot. I think it was on one of those 80's Has Been shows. It was funny in his videos from the early 80's, Kevin's hair was really thinning, but in the photo on the news he had really long, curly hair with no sign of aging at all. Did he honestly wear a wig all these years? That just does not seem like what a true rocker would do... So maybe he wasn't.

Quiet Riot was important to me if for no other reason than that they were there for those early years when I was trying to fit in to a world which was full of cross-dressing, over-the-top, screaming-their-heads-off, big hair dudes. And now I wonder why I wanted to be a part of that...

I blame my cousin.

The Descriptive Niece

2007-11-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

One can never assume that any one year old is going to be interchangeable with any other. I have 3 of them in my life right now and each is as different as the other. This past week I got to spend it with the descriptive niece, the tour guide niece, the prepositional phrase niece, the action verb niece. She was absolutely hilarious as we continued to shower her with praise and affection.

I wonder just what people are capable of when they have nothing to prove to anyone but themselves. Isn't that the goal? Don't we all ultimately want to have the confidence to achieve anything? And shouldn't we be able to get there knowing that we have the support of those around us?

I realize that not everyone grew up in homes where the parents were loving and supportive. But I would like to think that most people would seek out those who would be giving and nurturing in their lives. Wouldn't people figure out that they would want to be around those who care about them?

I feel pretty fortunate to have grown up with great parents who cared about me and listened and were part of my life. I think it was difficult to be single for as long as I was, but it was always meaningful for me to have their support and know that I was not crazy. All the woman I was dating were. Okay, not all of them. But, having that kind of parental support should be enough to propel anyone forward, to believe that they can accomplish anything.

But what holds us back? What keeps us from dreaming? Is the disappointment of failure too much to want to take more chances?

As I look at my descriptive niece, I wonder what it is that could hold her back. She should be able to tackle anything. She should be able to be anything she wants. With loving parents who want the best for her, what is there to stop her? She should be able to be the tour guide who people look to for guidance through the city. She should be the teacher who sees the demonstration with proper vocabulary words. Or she could be the scientist who describes the procedure for a new method of space travel.

And there we will be clapping in support, because no matter what she accomplishes, her very existence has already touched our lives in more ways than she could possibly know.

Criticism

2007-11-18T20:22:00.001-07:00

Some people that I sort of respect in the entertainment industry really get down on critics. I guess it comes down to not wanting to be criticized for work that they do and may be proud of. Or, maybe they just do not want to be criticized for putting forth the effort. Perhaps they know what they do is bad, but it is still their passion.

But I still find a need to express my own opinion when it comes to the work that others may do. I figure no matter what it is or where, something needs to be said about it. It could be the train conductor who blasts his horn as he goes through the neighborhood in the middle of the night. Or, it could be the waitress who does not know how to kiss butt well enough. Maybe it is the old person who does not know how to drive. Shouldn't all these people be criticized for their poor performances?

And so it goes with actors who take lame roles or cannot act. Producers who make the same movies over and over again. Or, they come up with a lame script which cannot be rewritten because it already has all the basic producer elements it needs. The dopey main character dude, the hot chick who goes beyond her stereotype, the incompetent government, the dense parents, the clever mouse, the cute robot. We have seen it all before! Help!

But what good am I doing by criticizing? What am I doing to change it? Am I writing the script for the movie the way it is supposed to be written? Am I coming up with the next big thing, technology, way to look at things?

Not yet.