prejudice

so i havnt been posting a ton lately. its hard blogging sometimes because if you dont keep up with it, then i feel like things build up and that i have so much that i dont even want to try and catch up with everything. that, and a lot of times i feel like a lot of things are just small random thoughts that dont necessarily warrant a whole post, or they are just random insignificant thoughts that i dont know if i should even take the time to write about them. here is one such recent thought:

a few weeks ago we went to the byu/ucla football game. it was a great time. here are a couple of photos from the game. it was great to go with lance. one of the last activities we did before he went on his mission. (and by the way, we really beat the 'last' game to a pulp before lance left. everything we did for the whole summer before he left was considered 'his last.' im sure we didnt make it any easier for him by causing so much buildup for so many months).

anyways, so byu lost the game. it was upsetting. the most upsetting part of it was that there were many questionable calls that occurred throughout the game that were against byu. calls that even tv announcers said should have gone in byu's favor. but it wasnt so much that the calls were upsetting as opposed to my thoughts or reactions. i cursed out loud and punched five ucla fans, started a small riot in the stands and got arrested. actually thats not true. i didnt say anything, but i thought many things.

sadly, one of the first thoughts that came into my mind was that the refs were making the calls against byu because they were anti-byu and more specifically were making calls against us because we were a mormon school. i know, its a terrible thought and i have thought a lot about it since. mainly because im ashamed that i thought it or even potentially believed it for a bit for various reasons.

a main reason is because its such a cheap card to play. its like in arguing you are taught that the 'slippery slope' argument is the last resort argument and the worst argument or 'card to pull.' and its true. if you are ever using that argument, its usually because you cant think of anything else to say. i feel like the thinking other people are racist or prejudiced and that is the reason or motive behind their action is the cheapest and weakest argument. doesnt mean it might not be the correct reason behind the things someone is doing, but its a terrible place to start. isnt it much more plausible that the refs, from the pac 10 conference, just flat out favored ucla because ucla is from the conference that they represent, as opposed to thinking they all have some issue against mormons?

another reason, is because im always critical of people that pull the 'race card.' granted, this isnt a race issue, but its similar in nature. anyways, apparently im critical and hypocritical. im critical because i always think that although there was widespread racism years ago, but its really not as prevalent in society today, so when people pull the racism card, im critical of their thinking. granted, i admit that it exists, but i dont think it exists as much as it is argued or as often as the card is pulled. also, i think that a lot of the people that are using the race card havnt really been persecuted like previous generations. yet here i am, being hypocritical because im doing the exact same thing. im thinking some sort of prejudice against me, yet i have never been persecuted for my beliefs. never. yes, early mormons were persecuted and murdered and driven from their homes, but i havnt ever received anything in my lifetime. which puts me in the same boat as everyone else. just sitting back and complaining even though i have absolutely no reason to complain or think that the world is conspiring against me. they havnt done anything yet to me to show that they are conspiring against me, so why should i think it?

well, i might be making something out of nothing, or drawing parallels where they dont exist. nonetheless, the thoughts just got me thinking and i finally decided to write them. basically, if i had to come to a conclusion about the thoughts its that, i really dont think all the refs had an issue against mormons and they decided to use their moment to ref the game against byu as an opportunity to demonstrate their prejudice against mormons. but even more so, when it comes to religion, i am in a minority. and im not sure if its natural as a minority to automatically think or feel that the world is conspiring against you, especially in areas where your minority status can come into play. but regardless, its a terrible way to live to have that mentality. really it is. life is no fun thinking that everything revolves around your minority status. id like to give society the benefit of the doubt and assume that they arent viewing me different because of it. and even if they are, even if the refs really were calling the game in favor of ucla because they dont like byu and/or mormons, i just dont want to go through life thinking that people are like that. its a terrible way to live, and no fun at all, so im going to try not to (sorry this post ended up being long as usual and to end it in a preposition).

the bifecta

so i thought i should just report back on the two concerts for anyone that cares. last thursday we went to 'arcade fire' out at the hollywood bowl. a definite highlight of the evening was deciding to eat at 'phillipes' for dinner. we were going to eat at some random peruvian seafood place that my friend once told me about, but upon hearing that nellie had never been to phillipes, we decided to go there, which was also nice because traffic was bad on the 101 and it was nice to get out of it and let it die down. not that it really did, because it is downtown l.a.

so phillipes was classic and excellent as expected. love consistency. arcade fire was also classic and excellent as expected. we were at the hollywood bowl, so we were about a mile away. but it was fine. the bowl has its own sort of charm. the show was very similar to the last time i saw them back in june or so. anyways, the main reason i wanted to write about the concert is because i was thinking about it and i dont know why i havnt converted more people to arcade fire and why everyone isnt a fan.

first, i just learned that the lead singer and his brother are mormons. i cant really confirm it. wikipedia didnt say anything about it, so i dont know if i can believe it. yet the very credible famousmormons.net confirms it.

second, they are true musicians. if you appreciate music, i dont know how you cant like this band. they have a such a full sound with nine members in the band. in every song they are playing many different instruments and they all play at least 3 or 4 instruments. you have to enjoy a band where in one song a girl is singing and then in the next she is playing one of the two drum sets, or the hurdy gurdy (which they really do use).

third, they have such a great sound. they are the perfect rock band. this is the one that really got me thinking and made me decide that i need to proselyte for them. they have a sound that i think everyone would enjoy hearing. everyone. even kids. really. i walked away thinking that family members that i dont think follow music much (paige, laura, eric maybe, not sure how much he listens to music. i just know he likes van halen) would really like arcade fire. even ron and shanon. so i invite everyone reading this to give arcade fire a chance. they have two incredible albums. 'funeral' and 'neon bible.' here are some of my favorite songs from those two albums: 'keep the car running' (note the use of the hurdy gurdy), 'rebellion (lies),' 'black wave/bad vibrations,' 'wake up,' 'neighborhood # 1.' these are of course videos, youre best served by just buying the albums. if you regret the purchase just let me know and when christmas rolls around, ill just use that as your christmas gift.

fourth, thy are canucks. everyone loves a canuck.

finally, especially for family members: this is one of lance's favorite bands. you know, lance, elder sommer. our younger brother in brazil. he LOVES arcade fire. we all know he is musically talented and has a great ear and knows great music when he hears it. so if you wont do it for me, do it for lance. listen to them for lance.

so the next night i suckered nellie into going to another concert with me. we went and saw muse. i dont really know how to describe seeing muse in concert. perhaps stryker, the kroq dj that introduced them stated it best when he essentially said that what he loves about muse is that we (everyone at the concert) know that they are great, yet whenever anyone asks us why we like them, we cant really explain it, but they are just incredible.

and they are incredible. especially in concert. the amount of energy they produce is unparalleled. they get the whole stadium on their feet with the first song and even the people up on the lawn dont sit down until they leave the stage. EVERYONE that i have ever talked to that has seen muse in concert has said they were amazing. not one person has ever not been blown away by them.

another random selling pitch i can throw in there, even though no selling should be necessary. but my mom mentioned that the author of the 'twilight' book series, stephenie meyer, mentions muse in her second book 'new moon' when she is giving her thanks to certain people. i guess she says something about how they helped or inspired her or something like that.

anyways, here is one muse song: starlight. i would include more, but i feel like i dont need to sell muse to people. arcade fire because they arent as well known and i really think people of all ages will like them. sadly, i dont think everyone will cling to muse even though everyone should. i cant adequately explain how much they ROCK.

two final notes: first, just a quick warning to the guys: chicks dig muse and their lead singer matthew bellamy. so its good because all ladies will want to go to their concert, but beware because many of them WILL fall in love with him by the end of the night. chicks already dig the rock star. this guy plays guitar and piano and is an incredible singer. not to mention he sports a red, yes red suit with a black t-shirt underneath. we just cant compete. the ladies will be forever grateful for taking them to the show, just know that when they go home at night, they will have given their heart away to another man.

second: it was supposed to rain all weekend, but it was clear skys and a mostly full moon on thursday and on friday, as the concert was ending, we began feeling rain drops and as we got into the car to go home it began to pour. we couldnt have asked for better timing. surely there are many potentially witty, but mostly blasphemous lines to insert here about who else might endorse these bands but i dont want to die tomorrow.

stupid meg

check this out.

acute anxiety? sounds like a cheap excuse for her needing to make a pit stop in some drug rehab center. the real unfortunate part about it is that she hardly contributes anything to the band. he is the musical genius. and yes. a genius. she just bangs some drums. she doesnt do anything spectacular on them. not that playing the drums is easy, i cant do it, but i could sit up there in her place and the concert would still sound alright because jack was up there rocking out.

well, bottom line is, my trifecta has been downgraded. its now just a difecta (?). or a duoecta (?). maybe its biecta.

open mic

alright, so tonight i went and performed stand up comedy at 'the laugh factory' in hollywood. yes, i just re-read that sentence and it looks and is correct. towards the beginning of the summer i was talking with someone and i cant remember even how it came up, but i silently made a goal to try stand up comedy once. i think the main motivation behind it was viewing the situation as the ultimate public speaking challenge. i enjoy public speaking. i feel comfortable speaking in public. i am by no means a master at it. ive been very humbled in law school with my public speaking abilities, but i am taking classes that are making me improve my skills. but comedy? thats just a different realm. do i think im funny? no. not really. i think i have my moments. but i think everyone has their moments. and i think most of my moments come around people that i know and with which i feel very comfortable. which is very different than standing on a stage and speaking to complete strangers and trying to get them to laugh. which is why it seemed like such a challenge and for whatever reason, i wanted to try it. it was also an opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and do something different. and makes for a good blog post right?

so i went to the laugh factory. same place where michael richards (a.k.a. kramer) blew up a few months ago. i actually tried to go last week but i missed sign ups. they only take the first 15 people that show up. so this week i ditched out on international law, and headed up to hollywood and got my name on the list. i think it was at that point that it really donned on me that this was actually going to happen. i called my friend dave to let him know about it. i even invited him. i figured that if i train wrecked it would be fun to have someone to laugh about it with. fortunately he couldnt make it.

so the attendance was sparse. it was essentially just the people performing and a few random friends and some guys that performed for longer sets after we were done. we all got 3 minutes each. which is actually pretty short. i thought i was going to get around 5-10 minutes so i had prepared more stuff, but i had to cut it down. so i only spoke about blind people and car commercials. it really wasnt that bad. it went rather quickly, mainly because i knew what i was going to say. did anyone laugh? sure. some. there were also cricket moments. it wasnt really much of a crowd (not that i know what a good comedy crowd is) because it was basically just performing for each other. but after the show, the owner of the laugh factory sat down individually with each of us and gave us a critique and told us what he thought of our short act. and that was really cool to hear what he had to say. not that i am looking to make a career out of this, but since it was hard to gauge how i did based on the tiny crowd, ill just use his opinion as an indication of how i did.

however, if you ever have a chance, go to an open mic comedy night. especially one of these. all of us performers received 4 free tickets to invite friends. if you can ever get a free ticket, go. its $20 otherwise, and thats probably not worth it, but there is a great mix of good and unintentional comedy. i think that i felt alright about my performance because there were so many train wrecks. one of those, 'im not quite sure how i did, but i know i wasnt as bad as that guy.' actually, it was downright unbearable at times. i found myself laughing at how ridiculous some people were. its hard to even explain. there were 13 of us. probably 7 were just bad. and 5 of those 7 were real bad. one guy i think could have been funny in his own setting - it had to be 'g' rated, which they informed us of as we sat down, so he had to alter much of his act and i think he had potential if he was with an audience that enjoyed listening to a guy swear a lot. i dont really, but you could tell that he had potential with those types. then there were 4 that were legitimate and good. and then there was me.

but i really cant explain about those other 7. i dont know what they were thinking. are people just walking down the street and they see a comedy club and they walk in and try and perform? its as though they didnt even think about it beforehand or didnt prepare a thing. here was one of my favorite 'jokes:'

'so its been hot the past few days. real hot. i like walk outside, and im like, man...im hot.'

(pause)

(waits for laughter)

(still no laughter until i realize that we just heard a punchline which makes me start to laugh)

anyways, im really not trying to make fun of these guys. its not easy getting up there. so i really do commend and respect them for that. i guess that we just approach things differently. i had things planned in my head since early july and was running over them all day today. these guys have another approach. not sure what it is, but its unique to them im sure.

so in the end im glad i did it. will i do it again? honestly, i would like to do a longer set. nothing too long, maybe 5-10 minutes and thats only because i had prepared more stuff that i would like to say at least once on stage. and maybe if there is a next time around i wont be so secretive about it and ill inform people if they are interested in watching some sub par comedy.

my apologies

so i just wanted to quickly apologize if i ever say anything that offends or upsets anyone. i do understand that this is my blog and i should and can be able to say whatever i want and im not forcing anyone to visit the site. i also understand that i cant please everyone with everything i ever say, and its pointless to even try. yet, i also never really write anything to intentionally offend or upset anyone. many times i may write things that are dry or sarcastic and they may be improperly understood or i may just be trying to be funny and what i say is not funny at all, and offensive or upsetting to people.

so ill probably just honestly continue writing what i want to write, but if anyone is ever upset or offended by anything i do write, i would hope that you would let me know. again, i know you dont have to be here, but i appreciate you being here, so if you have any complaints, please let me know as im not trying to upset anyone and your thoughts will be duly noted.

concert journal

so i have a few concerts coming up and two that i recently attended. i went to a wilco concert last wednesday and an 'angels and airwaves' concert on friday, so i thought i would give a few commentaries.

first, wilco. wilco isnt a terribly well-known band. they played at the greek theatre up in l.a. they were outstanding. i am a wilco fan, so my opinion is probably biased. however, cousin dave, not a wilco fan, and not familiar with them went, and he said that there were about 3 or so incredible songs, 3 really good ones, and the rest were alright. he didnt complain about it and didnt seem too upset that he attended, and i think thats a pretty good review for someone who had no idea what to expect before the night started.

for me, it was a near perfect evening. it was warm. around 70 degrees. i was borderline hot because i was wearing jeans. we were nestled in the hills of l.a. (and you really do feel nestled, youre on the back side of the hill where griffith observatory is and although there is a large sprawling city literally right around the corner and less than a quarter mile away, because of how its set up, you only see pine trees and hills around you and you cant see city lights. really nice venue), listening to a group that i thoroughly enjoy. and wilco are great musicians. they have a great sound. this was the second concert i have been to and both have not disappointed. the other one was in a small indoor venue, which is usually preferable in my opinion, however, the nice outside setting really did make up for not having the intimate setting. it was a great way to spend a final summer evening. even though summer did end a few weeks ago.

oh angels and airwaves. where do i begin? once upon a time there was a band called 'blink 182.' they entered the trendy music scene by storm and sold nearly a billion copies of every song they ever wrote and essentially conquered the world and did as much as any band could do in a lifetime. the lead singer (this amazing man to the left) thankfully, took it upon himself to not only continue to produce and create great music with another band, but to tour and take that music to the masses and effectively change the world through his music and give us all meaning to our lives. f-yeah.

so 'angels and airwaves' have one album and it was good. trendy and all the songs sound the same. not only do they sound the same, but they are the same. and its not a bad sound, it just sounds better when they have had 10-12 takes in the studio. they all have essentially the same guitar riff and you can literally sing any of their songs to the tune of on of their other songs. which we did throughout the concert. if we didnt know the words to one song, we would just sing the words to a song we knew because they are all essentially the same song. it was highly entertaining.

the other amazing part about the concert were the 5-10 minute monologues in between each song where the lead singer would tell us about his life story or tell terrible jokes that on one, unless they are wanting to mother his children would laugh at. my favorite was when he went into this long monologue telling us about his life story and talking about how some bands and some songs have the ability to change the world and then they began to play their hit song, clearly demonstrating his belief that they, 'angels and airwaves' are changing the world. because their music is that deep and influential. (i just found the monologue on youtube if you want to see it)

anyways, that concert was only $6. it was the free concert that followed the friday horse races at the del mar race track in san diego. so i cant really complain about it, since it wasnt really a loss or a waste of money. so two concerts in one week. both very different experiences. neither one a bad experience really. just one im forever grateful to have witnessed so that i can tell my grandchildren about them because they are changing the world.