movies

so i just finished that last post, but nellie is still photoshopping our christmas card, so ill keep on writing. a bunch of movies are coming out in time for christmas, along with all of the oscar hopefuls, so here are some quick thoughts:

before i get anywhere though, ghost town comes out on video on dec. 28th. everything about this movie has been strange and upsetting. it didnt do well in the box office even though its hands down the funniest movie of the year and possibly the funniest movie ever. not sure why they are releasing the dvd on the 28th. perfect timing. it will come out during that week after christmas when people are shopping like crazy and everyone is thinking about a great dvd they can by a loved one. regardless of the poor timing, do yourself a favor and go out and buy it. its the best movie you havnt seen. dont even rent it. its worth the $20.

another quick movie comment. rotten tomatoes created a list of its 25 best christmas movies. there were a couple problems with the list. somehow 'its a wonderful life' wasnt number 1. i dont know how thats possible. i know its cliche to say that is the best christmas movie, but it really is. nellie by the way doesnt like that movie. i just found that out the other day. thats necessary pre marriage info that one needs. not that it would have been a deal breaker, but it was really a struggle for me when i found out.

but my other complaint with the movie, besides die hard being number 3 on the list (which makes no sense to me. what makes you think more of christmas than die hard and gremlins - also on the list) was the fact that 'love actually' wasnt on the list. thats another fantastic movie. one of the best feel good movies. everything works out for everybody. its almost over the top in the way it all works out, but its so feel good that you dont mind at all. find that one on a cable channel and tivo it. its great.

holiday stuff:


valkyrie: in commenting about how he wasnt going to go see this movie, my friend dave mentioned how the previews and the design look a lot like the oceans 11 movies. and its true. they have that red line that travels through some gray background, and they make it look all hip. which is fine and understandable. assassinating hitler is really hip. i bet it was totally the thing to do back in the day. but what about that eye patch? when was the last time anyone not a pirate successfully pulled off the eye patch? i know that they are trying to base this off the true story, but we all know that everything in the movie wont be exactly how it went. couldnt this have been a part that they altered from the original story? i havnt seen it, but is the eye patch that integral to the story? surely they cant take themselves seriously with that thing, so i dont know how i can.

not sure if we will see it. probably wont take nellie to go see it, but if the family is going over the holidays, then i would go. otherwise, i doubt it.

marley and me: you know who likes animal movies? ron. that was always a running joke in our house growing up. whenever my dad went to rent a video, we always had to make sure someone went with him, otherwise he would come home with some movie that starred, or co-starred an animal. lets be honest though, who doesnt love a good animal movie? nellie loves them. thats why she's getting the beethoven trilogy for christmas. along with ed.

same as above on seeing this one. i actually wouldnt mind it, but wont go unless its some holiday family outing.

yes man and seven pounds: ive seen the trailers for both of these movies and one movie i feel like i know already what happens and the other i have no idea what is even going on; and i dont think thats a good thing for either one.

yes man: not entirely sure. jim carrey always says no and is negative. starts saying yes. realizes that he enjoys it and really 'starts living life.' it probably gets out of control. he hurts people somehow. in the end there is some moral about saying yes to more things and enjoying life. i dont know. this movie probably isnt terrible and probably has some funny moments, i dont see how this one couldnt wait until dvd though.

seven pounds: um. not sure what the heck is going on. will smith trying to be dramatic and the movie trying to be deeper than it really is. maybe its powerful and heartfelt, but it cant be a good sign when they wont tell you anything about the story and critics havnt been very kind in their reviews. i enjoy a lot of what will smith does, but i think ill pass.

the spirit: i thought from the previews that this would for sure be rated r. somehow its not though and its only pg-13. looks visually stimulating and thats about it. i cant see myself seeing this unless many people tell me its great and that i need to go, which i also cant see happening.

oscar stuff:

benjamin button: nellie and i will go see this one. nellie has wanted to ever since she saw the trailer. it does look great. seems like a great story. plus it has such a nice, inspirational soundtrack. watch the preview. youll be humming the music to yourself and fantasizing that you are as cool as brad pitt and that you too are riding on some motorcycle in the middle of somewhere really cool on your way to do something even cooler. i know im not the only one that does this. nellie does it too. she told me. im pretty sure though that in her fantasy, brad is also on the bike. thats not true. its eric bana. she loves that chump.



gran torino: i hope im like clint eastwood when i grow up. i hope i find something that i love and that the older i get the more dominant and good at it i get. the guy is pushing at least 110, yet he still cranks out movies. but he doesnt need to make stuff to establish himself, nor to try to impress his friends. he's already won tons of oscars. he just seems to love it and he's good at it, so he continues to make stuff. unlike seven pounds, i know there is more to this story than what i see in the previews. its clint eastwood so he's for sure tapping into some heavier topics and issues with the movie. he always does, i dont know what they are, but you know it will be thought provoking. he could take 'house bunny' and somehow find a way to discuss some societal issue.

the other rad thing about clint, he does the music for all his movies. rad. who knew such an old dude had such a good ear? i heard that he, like lavell edwards, has perfect pitch.

the wrestler: the sports guy did an article about this show. everything he writes is better than anything i could ever write, especially when he is discussing pop culture and movies. critics are loving this show and it looks like a really interesting story about a terribly messed up 'sport.'

another rated r movie and a bunch of others: revolutionary road, the reader, frost/nixon, slumdog millionaire. they are all getting lots of 'buzz.' ive only heard things about the last two.i guess i shouldnt lump them all together since they are vastly different. everyone raves about slumdog and frost/nixon looks like a legitimately interesting story that i would like to see. im sure the other ones are good as well. they just look like movies that people in hollywood make for other people in hollywood or oscar people and really its only the oscar people that enjoy them. not that its bad to make a movie for your peers, but they definitely seem more like they are geared or made to try and win awards than win over audiences or the masses. not that thats a bad thing necessarily. sometimes when movies are made to try and please the masses then you come up with stuff like this.

doubt: the only reason its not lumped with the other ones is because its rated pg-13. no idea what its about. some catholic priest and he doubts something. or he knows someone that doubts something. there is a nun involved so maybe she is the one that doubts something. or maybe she doubts that he doubts something. or they both doubt the other ones knows they doubt, but they also doubt that as well, leaving room for more doubt. chances of seeing it: doubtful (it actually doesnt look bad. i am pretty intrigued. like phillip seymour hoffman, but i just cant see us actually going to the theaters and watching this show).

rsvp

so society struggles with rsvp'ing. thats probably too much of a blanket statement and generalization. but i think people really do have a problem with it. i feel i can say that because im one of those people and i have a problem with rsvp'ing. but in the past few months i have had a few occasions where i needed people to rsvp and they didnt. and it was somewhat frustrating. yet just last week i realized i did the exact same thing that people do to me when i didnt rsvp. well, i did, but super late. my friends were throwing a birthday party and i was sent an invitation a week in advance and i knew right when i got the invitation email that nellie and i couldnt go. we already had plans that we couldnt get out of that night and we just werent going to be able to go. i knew that as i was reading the email. i could have immediately responded and said that we couldnt go. instead, i waited until the afternoon before the party to rsvp. better late than never i guess. but pretty much worthless at that point. which made me think about rsvp'ing and why people dont.

assumption: you know what they say about assuming things. thats right. somehow it both turns us into donkeys. granted, many times, assumptions with rsvp'ing are valid. like my family assuming that they dont need to rsvp to our wedding. they didnt, it was a valid assumption. i knew they had bought plane flights from seattle or just that they were coming and i could assume they were going to come so we should buy them a plate for the luncheon. but tons of other people didnt rsvp. we had no idea how many people were actually going to show up.

a good rsvp'er is ryan darby. its as though he has planned many events in his day. he'll always respond. we invited him to run a race with us in april, fully knowing that his wife is due to have a baby within a week of the race. we knew he couldnt run, but we still wanted to invite him to let him know that we wished he could run. anyways, of the 10 or so people we sent the email to, he was the only one to respond. the only one.

anyways, there are other reasons people dont rsvp, but while writing this i started getting bored. im realizing that this is probably one of those things that you think about while at work or while waiting for people to rsvp to some sort of event you are trying to put together, but when you place your thoughts onto paper, or a blog, it turns out to be pretty boring and lame thoughts to actually share with other people. really not that important or interesting. so one day, if we are ever stranded on a desert island or on a road trip and we have exhausted all other conversation topics, i suppose we can resume this one. of course, if it ever gets that bad, maybe we should just pull over for snacks, or start swimming instead.

pilgrims and indians

i know that thanksgiving has already passed and that we are steamrolling into christmas, but i still wanted to quickly post this. i already showed this to most of my family and im sure other people have already seen this, but its worth a few quick thoughts. this particularly hit home not just because i grew up in claremont, but i went to condit elementary school and participated in this tradition. the two elementary schools are on the same street about a mile away from each other. i cant exactly remember what i dressed up as. i think i was a pilgrim because i feel like i remember 'hosting' the meal and i dont remember walking to the other elementary school. im sure my sister lark would remember, because we were two years apart, so whatever she was, i would have been the same. anyways, there are 6 kids in my family, we all went to condit elementary and thus we all participated in this tradition. pretty cool and also pretty typical of this issue to occur in claremont. its a great and safe community, perfect for growing up. but it is a university town, home to 5 small, liberal arts schools, so you have a lot of nonsense going on as well. anyways, here is the article, with some of my thoughts after:

"For decades, Claremont kindergartners have celebrated Thanksgiving by dressing up as pilgrims and Native Americans and sharing a feast. But on Tuesday, when the youngsters meet for their turkey and songs, they won't be wearing their hand-made bonnets, headdresses and fringed vests.

Parents in this quiet university town are sharply divided over what these construction-paper symbols represent: A simple child's depiction of the traditional (if not wholly accurate) tale of two factions setting aside their differences to give thanks over a shared meal? Or a cartoonish stereotype that would never be allowed of other racial, ethnic or religious groups?

"It's demeaning," Michelle Raheja, the mother of a kindergartner at Condit Elementary School, wrote to her daughter's teacher. "I'm sure you can appreciate the inappropriateness of asking children to dress up like slaves (and kind slave masters), or Jews (and friendly Nazis), or members of any other racial minority group who has struggled in our nation's history." 1

Raheja, whose mother is a Seneca, wrote the letter upon hearing of a four-decade district tradition, where kindergartners at Condit and Mountain View elementary schools take annual turns dressing up and visiting the other school for a Thanksgiving feast. This year, the Mountain View children would have dressed as Native Americans and walked to Condit, whose students would have dressed as Pilgrims.

Raheja, an English professor at UC Riverside who specializes in Native American literature, said she met with teachers and administrators in hopes that the district could hold a public forum to discuss alternatives that celebrate thankfulness without "dehumanizing" her daughter's ancestry.

"There is nothing to be served by dressing up as a racist stereotype," she said. 2

Last week, rumors began to circulate on both campuses that the district was planning to cancel the event, and infuriated parents argued over the matter at a heated school board meeting Thursday. District Supt. David Cash announced at the end of the meeting that the two schools had tentatively decided to hold the event without the costumes, and sent a memo to parents Friday confirming the decision.

Cash and the principals of Condit and Mountain View did not respond to interview requests.

But many parents, who are convinced the decision was made before the board meeting, accused administrators of bowing to political correctness.

Kathleen Lucas, a Condit parent who is of Choctaw heritage, said her son -- now a first-grader -- still wears the vest and feathered headband he made last year to celebrate the holiday.

"My son was so proud," she said. "In his eyes, he thinks that's what it looks like to be Indian."

Among the costume supporters, there is a vein of suspicion that casts Raheja and others opposed to the costumes as agenda-driven elitists. Of the handful of others who spoke with Raheja against the costumes at the board meeting, one teaches at the University of Redlands, one is an instructor at Riverside Community College, and one is a former Pitzer College professor.

Raheja is "using those children as a political platform for herself and her ideas," Constance Garabedian said as her 5-year-old Mountain View kindergartner happily practiced a song about Native Americans in the background. "I'm not a professor and I'm not a historian, but I can put the dots together." 3

The debate is far from over. Some parents plan to send their children to school in costume Tuesday -- doubting that administrators will force them to take them off. The following day, some plan to keep their children home, costing the district attendance funds to punish them for modifying the event.

"She's not going to tell us what we can and cannot wear," said Dena Murphy, whose 5-year-old son attends Mountain View. "We're tired of [district officials] cowing down to people. It's not right." 4

But others hoped that tempers would calm over the long holiday weekend, and the community could come together to have a fruitful discussion about Thanksgiving and its meaning.

"Its always a good thing to think about, critically, how we teach kids, even from very young ages, the message we want them to learn, and the respect for the diversity of the American experiences," said Jennifer Tilton, an assistant professor of race and ethnic studies at the University of Redlands and a Claremont parent who opposes the costumes." 5

1. ok, the first reaction to this quote is that this lady is just ridiculous and her quote is asinine. but ill try and understand the comparison. all involved groups abusing another group. the pilgrims or settler eventually did abuse the indians in various ways for centuries. i dont think any american would ever deny that. just like no american would ever deny how bad slavery was. the nazis and jews, well, thats in a league of its own, but still, it was a group abusing another group, by mass execution.

now, i dont think its worth really getting into, but its hard comparing history because while 'history repeats itself,' history is also never the same. you can compare these groups yet at the same time they are so different its not worth comparing. the way the nazis viewed the jews is the result of the brainwashing of a psychologically sick group of dictators. slavery on the american continent is a result of centuries of groups feeling a sense of superiority over another group for whatever reason. doesn't mean its alright, but its been done throughout all of history. sadly, it just extended to the american continent. pilgrims or settlers and indians was unlike anything else in all of history. literally like alien encounters. there are various reasons the two groups clashed with each other.

look, one can make historical comparisons all day long, but just as easily find differences. so while there may be the comparison that all of these groups abused the other groups and that makes it bad to dress children up like the groups; there is also the extreme difference that before any of that started, and unlike the other groups, these two groups lived peaceably with one another. no one is talking about celebrating when one group tried to destroy another group or celebrating that, rather its an extremely unique moment in history when two groups as alien and as foreign to each other as the world has ever known, got together and helped each other survive.

2. so it appears that this is more of the issue then: the costumes. at least thats what the parent seems to indicate. as i recal, the costumes involve construction paper headbands and feathers and maybe a vest made from a brown paper bag. i know that they didnt have construction paper back in the 1600's, and im not trying to be an ignorant american, but didnt indians sort of dress like that? seriously though. did they not wear headbands? with feathers? maybe a vest made of some sort of animal skin? honestly, if im off, id like to know. i dont think its proper to mock any group of people, but i dont think paper bag vest made by a kindergartener is so completely off as a representation of clothing that the indians actually wore. and im being serious. these kids are 5. they dont have much at their disposal.

are people upset that we are remembering them/stereotyping them as people that wear feathers and walk around in a loin cloth? if so, no one is saying that you do it now, just that your ancestors at one point did. if thats their beef then thats just lame. get over it. i mean, im a mormon. people will forever think i have 8 wives. people will always comment about it. you have to hope and assume they know we still dont have many wives. if they do, then you just look at them and get upset that they breathe the same oxygen as you because they are an idiot.

3. this lady is awesome. i dont know her. but you can tell she was just livid about this situation. she's the type of mother that gets so upset about the situation that she makes her child dress up as an indian and then she puts on her own pocohantus outfit to upset the demonstrators even more. the only real upsetting part is that she's probably like 43 and her body shouldnt be allowed anywhere near pocohantus mini-dresses.

4. see 3. especially mini-dress part.

5. i dont really have anything new to say here. again, i think im just missing something here. i dont understand if the issue is the costumes or upset about thanksgiving. if its the costumes, are they really that off? if its upset about thanksgiving or the message these kids are getting at a young age, i dont really understand what harmful message they could be getting this young. they are 5, so all they get out of it is that the pilgrims and indians ate one time together. it was a big feast that included turkey and rice crispy treats for dessert. and then they all got to play on the playground together.

economy solution (?)

the other day i rode the elevator with a random stranger.  for whatever reason he started spouting off to me about the economy.  no 'hello's' or anything, just 'hi im a total stranger and now im going to start talking to you as though we are longtime friends about a random subject.'  anyways, he told me that there was yet another bailout that was happening and that the government should just give every citizen $1,000,000 instead of bailing out all of these businesses.  ive received some email forwards that have proposed this same theory, so this man wasnt the first person to present this idea.  now im no economist, but i just dont think it would work.  it sounds like a great idea to all of us commoners and in an ideal world it could work.  you and i, and other responsible adults would probably be wise and prudent with our $1,000,000.  i know i would pay off all my student loans (pay back debt to the government), we would probably buy a house and pay for all of it or a huge portion of it (and not default on our loan and help the housing market), we would probably make a fun purchase, like a new car (and thus help the economy) and then we would invest a large portion as well (thus helping stocks and other areas that currently could use some investors).  

anyways, like i said, im no economist so i dont even know if every person that received $1,000,000 spent it prudently, if it would even save all the failing businesses.  you would think it would since people could pay off their houses and invest in the economy.  but the bottom line is that we all arent prudent and reasonable, in fact, most arent.  and when the man was telling me about 'his idea,' it made me think of a clip from the chappelle show, which perfectly explains what would really happen if the masses were given a huge chunk of money.  (note:  this clip does come from the chappelle show, therefore the language and content isnt entirely family friendly)

Dave Chappelle-Reparations For Slavery | Funny Jokes at JibJab

random stuff

4 thoughts

1. photographers. i dont know what it is about people and thinking that because they bought an expensive camera they are suddenly a photographer. maybe its people in their 20s and trying to figure out what they want to do with their life or something, but just because you have an expensive camera doesnt mean that im impressed with your work or at all consider you a photographer. it is a 'cool hobby' or job and i dont mind you having an interest in photography. but we all could take photos of our friends in front of some random building and then go to the computer and distort the background and blow out the colors so they look hip and 'artsy.'

2. movies. bond is coming out soon. ron is a big bond fan. he would always want to go see them. they are pretty good movies, but the last one was awesome. the bond franchise has done a good job with the recent ones, just like batman. he is a human again. i liked pierce brosnan as bond, but the last ones were ridiculous - casting denise richards didnt help. but now, at least in the last one, bond does things that are 'believable.' i know 'batman' isnt exactly believable, but its at least has a realistic feel, unlike spiderman or x men that arent realistic and they arent trying to be. anyways, the bond looks rad. even nellie is excited.

the other movie that looks great is 'australia.' its the newest baz lahrmann film. say what you want about 'romeo and juliet' and 'moulin rouge,' but they were both 'visually stimulating' and extremely creative. he's more than just a guy that 'liked film and so he bought an expensive camera and decided to shoot a movie.' i think he actually has talent and true creativity. maybe im hyping up the movie too much. but the previews look great, the cast looks legit, its about world war 2 (everyone's favorite war) and the director is creative. im intrigued. we're intrigued. we will go.

3. beck. oh beck. i love you so. i want to name my first born after you. we saw him on monday night at 'club nokia.' its a small intimate 2000 person venue next to the nokia theatre. it was actually a great venue. it just opened. beck was actually the first person to play there. but the venue was clean and great.

but i dont really know what to say about beck. i LOVE his music so im a little partial to anything he does. but he's just a true musician. words cant really describe seeing him, just like words cant really describe when you see any musician that is really talented and they are just putting on a great show. you can tell he's up there and he is just sort of jamming and almost being selfish about the music. he's putting on a show, but he's also just experimenting with his music. playing and singing songs in different keys. remixing his own songs. if youve been to one of these shows then you know how it is. you have someone or a group that loves their music and loves performing and doesnt really do shows for the fans as much as just for the love of playing the music. sounds corny. i cant really explain it. if you dont understand then go see beck. he's so good. and a musical genius. if you dont believe me, see his show. sometime between his acoustic set and his rapping and beat boxing and his random dancer coming out during the encore youll be sold and amazed and so happy you are at the show. i love him.

4. siestas. so i started thinking about this the other day when i was at work struggling to stay awake at 3 in the afternoon. it might be a messed up schedule to us americans. but thats because we never do what is natural or what our bodies need. like how we eat fast food and work 15-18 hours a day. but i realized that im most alert every day in the morning when i get to work and then at the end of the day before its time to go home. but at that point i really want to go home and i dont care to be at work anymore. im sick of it even though im alert and i could be really productive. unlike those after lunch hours when im fighting sleep and i cant focus. which is a bad combination. it just leads to me being unsatisfied that i cant focus and then being unhappy that im working, which leads me to then question my chosen job and career and ultimately my existence. ok, its usually not that extreme. but i usually cant focus and the last place i want to be is at work.

which is why the siesta is brilliant. these people realized that they werent being effective at their jobs so they said, 'screw it. why fight it? im going home to take a nap, hang out with my family, and then ill come back and finish this when im more alert.' its a brilliant schedule. it will of course never work here where you spend your whole day working. no time for naps. plus, it could never work unless you work 5 minutes from your house. otherwise your whole break is spent commuting. which is no fun.

so it wont work here. which is a bummer because it would be so great and conducive to my natural desires. not that its always a good thing to give into those desires. sometimes though its good to follow the spanish. just people listening to their bodies. too bad these people also have a negative population growth rate so its only a matter of years until they are an extinct species. que vayan con dios.

love 'the onion'

Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job

WASHINGTON—African-American man Barack Obama, 47, was given the least-desirable job in the entire country Tuesday when he was elected president of the United States of America. In his new high-stress, low-reward position, Obama will be charged with such tasks as completely overhauling the nation's broken-down economy, repairing the crumbling infrastructure, and generally having to please more than 300 million Americans and cater to their every whim on a daily basis. As part of his duties, the black man will have to spend four to eight years cleaning up the messes other people left behind. The job comes with such intense scrutiny and so certain a guarantee of failure that only one other person even bothered applying for it. Said scholar and activist Mark L. Denton, "It just goes to show you that, in this country, a black man still can't catch a break."

just brilliant.  they put the best spin on everything, and usually find a way to offend someone or everyone in the process.  not that it matters.  they dont take themselves seriously, so why should we?

symphony

so nellie and i hit up the symphony on saturday night.  because thats how we roll.  b and d (nellie's parents - bob and donna) hooked us up with some tickets and we made an appearance - it actually was just an appearance - we didnt get there until after intermission.  nellie wanted to visit with her sisters and i was glued to the tv watching the texas v. texas tech game.  did you see that game?!  oh man what a finish.  i love college football.  its like a symphony... 

actually, thats not why im blogging about it.  although im sure there are plenty of easy and cheesy parallels that one could make between the two.  but i really enjoyed the symphony.  and not just because i was only there for 45 minutes, although that might have helped.  but i think that i have finally reached an age where i actually do enjoy it.  i dont LOVE it.  its not my ideal night out or concert.  nellie and i are going to a beck concert next monday (tickets are totally cheap btw - like $2o on stubhub) and i am way more excited about that show.  but the symphony wasnt bad at all.  

so as i was sitting amongst the cultured class and drinking my fine wine, i was thinking about why i was enjoying the music.  i have always been somewhat familiar with classical music.  my mom is a fantastic pianist and music was always a part of our home.  we could only study to classical music growing up and during law school the only music i could listen to while studying was classical music, everything else was too distracting.  but i never really loved classical music.  and i still dont.  its great in its time and place, just not my first choice.  but i think i can finally appreciate it. 

i think the older you get the more you can appreciate and understand how difficult it is to do certain things and seeing or hearing someone do one of those things well, is always entertaining to some degree.  and i think that is what happened on saturday night.  normally i enjoy classical music as a background to some other task or maybe if im trying to sleep, but never as a main event.   but now, i understand how hard it is to be good at playing an instrument.  there is so much time that is put into it.  i cannot pick up one of those instruments and do what they are doing.  it would take me years and years to get to where they are, and i still might fall short.  and i think i may have realized or known that before or when i was younger, but i never really appreciated it.  and the same idea goes for the whole symphony.  just looking at everyone do their own part and then combining everything to create the great sound, is really remarkable.  i realized before it wasnt easy, but i dont think i ever really appreciated how hard it was.  its like a football game.  if everyone doesnt do their individual parts, the plays dont work. if the linemen dont block and pick up the blitz, and if the wide receivers dont run their correct routes, and if the quarterback doesnt make a perfect throw to the sidelines, then the receiver cant catch the ball and score the winning touchdown with 1 second to go and beat the number 1 team in the nation.  just amazing.

sorry, i didnt want to make the cheesy comparison, but that game was so good.  in any event, the symphony was a good time.  i dont know that ill be a season ticket holder any time soon, but i was glad we went.  i just think that as you get older, you fail at things and you realize how hard something is, and also you succeed and become good at something and you realize how hard it was to get to the point where you are good at it (unless you are dave axelgard and youre the best at everything).  but thats ok because it really helps us be able to appreciate so many things in life.  i guess thats why we are supposed to share our talents.  because some of us just have it, and others of us dont.  and those of us that dont have it, sometimes like to hear what youve got.  especially when its free and you are done sharing before we can get bored and stop appreciating your talent.  

prop 8

so the election is in about a week and ill be happy for it to be over.  im not so interested with the presidential election as i am about prop 8.  i support prop 8 and am going to vote 'yes' on prop 8.  im tired though of the opposition.  not that i havent been vocal or an open supporter of prop 8.  but i havent attacked the other side.  not that i mind or am not used to opposition or even a little bit of persecution when it comes to my beliefs. im mormon.  its synonymous with religious persecution.  ok.  not entirely.  but i do believe that a 14 year old talked with god.  i also believe he translated a golden bible.  and it only gets stranger from there.  i spent 2 years in spain talking to people about my religion. im plenty used to people not agreeing with my beliefs and sometimes telling me i was crazy for what i believed.  which is fine.  you dont have to agree with me, but it would be nice if people at least accepted that i might believe something different than what they do.  and im not saying that everyone in favor of 'no' on 8 doesnt accept my viewpoint.  not at all.  im sure most do accept that i, and others can and do have an opposing viewpoint on an issue.  that its conceivable that i, and others might actually have different beliefs on an issue.  but there are always small minorities that have voices like majorities.  

i think the whole thing has gotten a little out of hand.  for instance, the school system is right at the center of some of it.  look, i realize that its not part of california school curriculum to teach about marriage.  but that doesnt mean they cant.  just because they dont have to teach about it, doesnt mean they cant if they dont want to.  at the same time, come on, its homosexuality.  its commonplace in america today.  whether or not this proposition passes, homosexuality will be taught in schools.  maybe it wont be taught that two people of the same gender can marry, but do you honestly think that this day in age any child is going to go through a sex-ed class in school and that the teacher wont at least discuss homosexuality?  and even if that teacher doesnt, your child will be taught plenty about homosexuality and sex on the playground and everywhere else.  its as though children are only taught things at school.  but in reality, most of a child's street education comes from friends and many other places.  you get a sex ed class in school and that will comprise 25% of the sex education your child gets outside the home.  the rest will come from somewhere else.  i still remember the day magic johnson got aids.  why?  because it was the first time i ever heard about or learned about aids. my friends and i spent all day at school talking about aids.  did any of us really know much about it?  nope.  but we spent the whole day teaching each other about it.  so this is all just more of an indicator to me, that its increasingly important to make sure that my future children are taught many things in the home.  am i going to home school them?  never.  i dont want them to be awkward.  but i do want my children getting married in a mormon temple.  im guessing that isnt being taught in the schools.  just like i assume history classes wont be devoting as much attention to joseph smith as i would like.  no matter what happens with this proposition, if i want my children to have a certain background or upbringing, a lot of it will have to be taught in the home.  

anyways, im rambling.  and maybe im off completely on that and on this entire issue.  maybe im not.  basically, its become a massive and heated mess.  people are trying to redefine marriage.  sorry.  i cant.  if it was another issue about gay rights or privileges, then i might be able to have a different viewpoint.  i believe that marriage is between man and a woman. thats correct.  its a belief.  im basing my political viewpoint on a belief.  im not the first to do it.  probably wont be the last.  i understand that other people may think that its a right of theirs to marry someone of the same gender.  hopefully they will understand that i have a belief and im sticking to it.  

anyways, its just unfortunate that its become such an issue and if there ever was a point where a middle ground could have been reached, its long gone now.  'equality of rights.'  if only it were that easy.  one side wants a right and i want to exercise my right of religion.  here, they happen to conflict.  im sorry if my religion or beliefs are upsetting to you.  what do you want me to do?  im not going to change them.  not an option.  so i guess we just have to remain on opposite sides of the issue with my viewpoints/beliefs sometimes being mocked or ridiculed.  its fine.  its not the first time.  surely wont be the last.  a break would be nice though.   

happiest place on earth...and in hell

so last night nellie and i went to disneyland. we try to limit our 'happiness' to 2 rides each time we go to disneyland. we try to do two different rides so that we will get through them all by the time our season passes expire in february. last night we did a repeat of space mountain, but we did get to two new rides: 'mr. toads wild ride' and 'pinocchio.'

so i dont know what exactly mr. toads wild ride is based on, but its a messed up ride. i thought it was based on the story 'the wind and the willows.' i dont really remember that story that well, but i remember seeing the cartoon when i was younger. all i really remember was that there was a toad and he got himself in to troubles and at the end he somehow escapes from rats or weasels. im not exactly sure. not that it really matters though because the ride is completely ridiculous and makes no sense.

in most of those storybook rides, there are voices or someone sort of narrarating as you go through the ride. there are no voices on mr. toads, so you are left to interpret the story on your own. you start by going in and out of a library. then through some sort of alley where there are weasels on the ceiling. then you weave around and head through the streets of london. you almost get into about 4 car accidents and there are explosives all over the place. at one point there is a bartender selling beer.  later, you find yourself weaving around some fountain and before you know it, some random judge is reaching over his bench and pointing a finger, presumably signaling that you are being sentenced, and your sentence is through the next door. what is through the next door? hell. it gets hot. literally a temperature increase.  there is fire all over. the room is full of a large devil and many small devils that are laughing and screaming all over the place. at least there is a happy ending right around the corner. oh wait, no there's not, when you leave that room, there are fake explosives and then the ride is over (btw, if you want to see it, there is a fair/poor youtube video of it). 

so technically, the ride ends in hell. which is fine by nellie and i. we are comfortable there and are able to laugh at the experience. but what about the children? nellie and i as adults couldnt even understand what was going on. but at least we were able to laugh about it and walk away unscathed and realize its just disney being crazy like they were with the pink elephants in dumbo. but a child? they just sit there silently, wide-eyed staring at all the craziness, soaking it all in. here is what they gather from that. there are scary, cigar smoking weasels in some city called london. stuff blows up for no reason. beer is good. and anytime an old person points a finger at me it means i have to go to the hot room with the scary, red-faced, horned man with all of his scary, pointy tailed rodents. no wonder children hate going to their grandparents house. and its all at the happiest place on earth. (note to reader: this in no way is some sort of blog post about how disneyland should shut down that ride. not at all. im not crying here and pleading for the children. i dont have any, so frankly i dont care about them...thats not entirely true. but im really not that worried about them and their response to this ride. if it were my kids, id let them go on. well, for sure if it was a niece or a nephew id let them go. im the worst uncle.)

we then went on pinocchio.  also traumatizing for children.  but at least in this one there are voices that are somewhat narrating and letting you know whats going on with the story.  which is good because children are turning into donkeys so somebody better be telling these little kids what the heck is going on.  going through hell is bad enough without being told why, but turning into a donkey without knowing the reason is worse.  anyways, the reason i bring up pinocchio is because rottentomatoes.com had it rated as the number 3 animated film of all time - number 1 being 'toy story 2.'  i love the toy story movies.  its amazing that a sequel is supposedly better than the original.  i dont dispute it.  the original is number 4 on the list.  both are just so good though.  they make me happy.  and so do their rides at disneyland. 

so at first i was surprised by pinocchio being so high on the list, but then while going on the ride, i realized that its actually a pretty powerful and amazing story with lots of great themes.  you have the always loyal conscience in jimmy cricket.  never leaves pinocchio's side.  always there and always trying to help him out; temptations from the real world; lying of course; second chances; of course there is the whole traumatizing part about the boys turning into donkeys.  and it is really freaky, but its also very powerful imagery of these boys getting caught up in temptations and then vile habits and addictions to the point where they are no longer able to choose for themselves and they are literally bound and taken captive and into slavery by this lifestyle; pinocchio narrowly escapes because his always faithful conscience barely bails him out; he gets in more trouble, but ultimately saves his father/creator that always loved him and never gave up on him.  

its a pretty remarkable tale.  it all made sense to me and i realized how great of a story it is when i was on the ride.  granted, seeing it so high on the list the day before made me wonder what other people saw in the show and then the ride reminded me of the many powerful themes from the story.  but again, just like 'mr. toads,' im an adult and im thinking and processing the themes of the story and the ride.  im getting a completely different experience than the children.  the children are just sitting wide-eyed thinking that they are going to hell and if they somehow escape that, they will just be turned into a donkey anyways.  such a happy place.  

cheese dome update

since this post seemed to be such a hit amongst readers, i thought id give a quick update on everyone's favorite wedding gift. turns out that we did receive one. nellie's cousin nikki bought us one. she bought it back in july but wasnt able to make it to the wedding so we didnt get it until sometime in september.

so i was thrilled to receive it of course. i have wanted one for quite sometime and since one hasnt been effectively used since 1962, i was excited to put ours to use. it performed beautifully. it helped mold our cheese faster than if we had just left it out on the counter. i left it out all day and when nellie and i got home from work our house stunk like moldy cheese.

nellie: gross. the house stinks. why did you leave the cheese out?

me: what are you talking about?  i left it in the cheese dome.

nellie: right. but you arent supposed to leave it out.

me: so we put it in the cheese dome in the fridge?

nellie:  well, no.  you leave it out, just not all day.

me:  oh.  right.  just during parties and holidays.  

nellie:  exactly.  

such a useful gift.

one other update really quick on the pancake warmer:

we have church at 8 am. i know, its just absurd. i dont know how families with young children pull it off. wait, yes i do. they dont.  they miss the first half of sacrament meeting. nellie and i barely make it there. usually thats because nellie doesnt want to get dressed in the morning and is kicking and screaming when im trying to put her shoes on. (thats not true. shes great at getting dressed. wouldnt that be terrible if it was true though? marriage nightmare #43.  sandwiched right in between your wife getting emotional and breaking down once a month for no reason and her nitpicking you on bathroom etiquette.)

anyways, because of early church, we usually dont have time for breakfast and when we get home we are hungry, but its only 11 am so we are still in sort of a breakfast food mood. so we have been making waffles almost every sunday after church. we have had them for about 4-5 straight sundays.  its a good little tradition.  but do you know how many times nellie has busted out the pancake warmer? thats right - zero.  granted, i know these are waffles and not pancakes, and the warmer does call for pancakes. but i believe the real reason is because nellie forgot that the thing even exists. why? because no rational human being ever thinks to use a pancake warmer. and you know what? nellie is rational.  shes not #43 from above.  

so in theory these items are a great idea, but in reality, you are just hungry and you plop the extra waffles on a plate and you start eating without thinking of anywhere to store the waffles.  why would you?  a plate gets the job done just fine and anything else would be absurd.  unfortunately, you cant make money off the real world. which is why these registry people are so evil.  in the real world you put your extra waffles on a plate.  but you already suckered her into buying 12 plates for her family of 2, so you cant sell her another plate.  so you create the pancake warmer.  they know women will see something and envision themselves using it and buy it, but then get home and never find a purpose for it or forget they own it.  but in the meantime at least it they will have a happy husband who gets to look at the items every day and wonder what sorts of other 'useful in theory' purchases are in store in for him.  

lost angels of anaheim

every once in awhile ill blog about sports for the reading pleasure of no one. i think about sports constantly and follow them religiously. nellie is beginning to realize this. there is always something going on. college football goes from the end of august to january. by then, college basketball is underway with march madness approaching. during that time, the euro soccer leagues are going on and they are usually finishing in april and may and help fill in the gap until baseball season is underway for the rest of the summer.

anyways, im no sports writer or critic. but i am a fan and the angels are on my thoughts, so ill throw in my two cents in case anyone cares. which im sure no one does. but yes, i am an angels fan. and i think a true one at that. ron took us to angels games when we were young because he didnt want to deal with la traffic and crowds at dodger stadium. now that im older, i realize how ridiculous both of those are and i would do the same thing too with my children. in the meantime though, i started following the angels ever since 1986. i wasnt always the best fan. when the nation fell out of baseball, i did too. but i do feel secure claiming my fanhood all the way back to 86, maybe 87.

now that i have established myself, ill vent. we lost again to the red sox. its completely ridiculous. i hate the red sox. as do many angels fans by now. and like many fans, i hate the so called 'red sox nation.' perhaps its just jealousy because the red sox are so well represented in every part of the country. go to an angels game and youll hear just about as many cheers for the red sox as you will the angels. which is frustrating. look, you didnt win a world series for 80-some-odd-years. we all rooted for you to win it back in 2004. you pulled it off and broke 'the curse.' before you were lovable losers (see: chicago cubs), now you are the trendy bandwagon team with obnoxious fans and a payroll similar to that of your new york counterparts. so own it. my team wanted to be the dodgers and take over la so we admitted it and added it to our name. you probably wont admit it, but since you are becoming like your east coast counterparts, we'll just call you the boston red sox of new york, because that is what you have become.

that was ridiculous rambling that didnt really make sense. the frustrating part about the series was that the angels lost the series. boston didnt win it. we were the better team and played poorly. my friend chris gave a rundown of his thoughts on some players on the team. i actually disagree with him on a few of the players. but here's my thoughts:

garret anderson: you were great. an angel legend. thanks for the memories. youre washed up. here's the door.

vlad: i didnt think he had a terrible series. better than past series. he was patient at the plate. didnt have an incredible power series, but did do great at getting on base. of course, i love the guy. he's the equivalent of raul on real madrid. he can do no wrong.

howie kendrick: i used to be high on this guy because i was buying into the hype that he was an amazing young talent and the future of the franchise etc. but i thing im off the bandwagon now. i dont think its possible to have a worse series than howie kendrick. its not just that he did poorly, he looked utterly lost and had zero confidence the entire time. amazing young talent rises to the occassion and lives for their first playoff experience. he's always hurt during the season and no one with a 'bright future' like they say he has, would commit so many errors in the playoffs and swing like theyve never seen a baseball before. he's nothing special. we have been waiting for his 'emmergence' for a couple of years now and if he was truly a star he would have stepped up by now and for sure at least once during the series instead of being a liability the whole time. he's a decent player and thats all. he's not filling any big shoes any time soon, if ever.

starting pitching: chris didnt seem to think we have a number 2 guy, but i think santana was solid this year. he did have a shaky start in the playoffs when he gave up 5 runs in the first inning, but then he shut the red sox out for the next 7 innings. i think he's legit. our rotation isnt bad. one of the best in baseball. our three starters for the playoffs: lackey, santana and saunders i think match up as well or better than any other team out there. it was the poor hitting and defense that did us in. not the starting pitching.

scot shields: yes. there is just one 't' on his name. chris is anti-scot. i like the guy. perhaps he was the losing pitcher in the deciding game 4, and it may seem like he has lost games for us a lot, but he's as good of a set up guy as there is out there. he can throw forever. legend has it that in a college game he threw 260 pitches. for anyone not familiar with baseball, thats ridiculous. 100 pitches is about average for pitchers these days. 130 is a ton. 260 is nearly criminal unless you have a rubber arm. if you watched game 3, were you sweating more when shields was pitching or when k-rod was pitching?

which is my next guy: k-rod. let him go. he wants a ton of money and he's not worth it. if scoscia had ANY confidence in k-rod at all, he would have brought him in to pitch to the red sox in the 9th of game 4. if k-rod was really that lights out and shields wasnt and scoscia knew it, he would have brought k-rod in to ensure the angels get another at bat in the 10th inning. he didnt. he knew that his chances were as good with shields than with k-rod. plus, k-rod is a wuss. he will only pitch one inning a game. just 3 outs. its not like he would come in and pitch the 9th and then the 10th if there was one. so scoscia had to stick with shields. whats more valuable, a guy that will pitch forever if you ask him or someone that will only do 1 inning max? plus, it usually takes him an hour and 3 walks to get those 3 outs. i dont need that. he wants 10 million a year, let the mariners or some desperate team give it to him. i hope we dont.

last guy: mark texeira. again, chris says we have to get him. so does my nephew and bro-in-law. im not so sold. he's good. great defensive skills. he played really well in the post season. im not saying hes bad, i just dont know what we want from him. we always wanted a BIG bat to help out vlad, and he's not that. he's got a good bat, but be honest. vlad is on par with david ortiz and manny ramirez. at least in his prime. is a vlad/texeira combo nearly as intimidating as the ortiz/manny combo was a few years ago? not remotely. texeira is good, but he wont punish you. which is what manny and ortiz did. if you refused to pitch to manny or were afraid and you walked him, ortiz would punish you because you had to pitch to one of them. if you tried to pitch to manny, then he would punish you. again, texeira is good, but i dont think he's worth breaking the bank. maybe im wrong. i just think that for the money he will want, plus the money k-rod will want, the angels could get a super star that is more intimidating than vlad. thats not their style though. they'll pursue what they have and try and keep texeira.

anyways, those are my ramblings. if you made it this far, you must really love the angels or be my wife because im even getting tired of typing this.

hawaii aloha

the strokes have a b-side called 'hawaii aloha.' its a great song. being a 'b side' its not well known, but its got a great 'hawaii feel' to it. another great song which i just heard the other day is 'gamma ray' by beck. its from his 'modern guilt' album. its got a great surf rock/beach boys feel to it. i love beck. he played the hollywood bowl last week and we really wanted to go, but tickets were ridiculously expensive. when i become rich, im not spending my money on cars or big houses. im spending it on traveling and pit tickets to concerts of all my favorite bands. the 'and' in there means that they are a combined purchase. so ill be seeing beck in the pit in some random venue in tokyo before then heading over to catch radiohead the following weekend in the pit in prague.

anyways, thats the future travel plans. now for recent stuff. im not sure that anyone even cares, but i said there would be a three part series with the marriage stuff so i have to make this post so i can move on with other random stuff. so we did hawaii for the honeymoon. it was fantastic. nellie keeps on saying that she wishes we were still on our honeymoon. im pretty sure thats because she doesnt want to go work in the morning though.

so i tried to keep it a secret from nellie where we were going. i did that because i thought it would be a fun surprise, and so that i could keep annoying people from telling me all the things we had to do in hawaii. the ironic thing is that i did tell a few people and some of them gave me advice on things to do and most all of them were spot on with their recommendations. it was as though they had been there before and done these things and tried them out for us. since i dont really know what to say about the trip, ill just be a hypocrite and the guy i tried to avoid and list some recommendations/thoughts on stuff:

1. tandem surfing in waikiki. i remember my friend jason wallace (wally) telling me when he was in hawaii he did some tandem surfing. so we tried it and we actually got up and rode a wave. it was awesome. we were out there for an hour and only caught 2 waves. that part isnt impressive, but we were totally surfing...on the same board...with nellie on my shoulders...while i was hanging five. i know. only five. not that impressive. but ten is hard.

2. the pineapple room. my friend karl suggested this place. nellie and i loved it. the edamame is fantastic. so good. its in the mall, literally inside the macy's. literally. like head to the third floor of the macy's and its in the men's department between the shoes and the boys section or something random like that. you cant access it from anywhere else besides through the macy's. so strange. i dont know who chose the location, but surely he was fired. i dont know what he was thinking. 'hey look, the macy's is closing down their belts and accessories area, why dont we build our restaurant there. perfect.'

3. kayaking in kauai. eh. not the worst activity we did. certainly not the best. it was river kayaking and then a hike to a waterfall which was only ok and not that impressive. kayaking is fun so if you want to do it, then you should.

4. zip-lining. this was the worst activity we did. terribly overpriced and so lame. i did this in costa rica and it was awesome. they pretty much just give you a harness and a beer and send you on your way. if the line snaps and you fall and die, what do they care? they already got your $30. in costa rica you zip line on about 15 lines with the longest one being 300 yards over a valley. you are 40 feet over the tree line. its amazing. hawaii was 4x that amount and there were only 5 'runs.' but 2 of the lines you did twice and one was 'simulated repelling.' it was horrific. it was your classic example of a wildly overpriced activity completely geared towards sucker american tourists who they know are willing to pay because hey, its our honeymoon. other zip lines there may be better, i dont know. if it has 5 lines and ends at a rope swing waterfall, stay away. its a waste.

speaking of the rope swing, that also enticed me. such a sucker. i had big dreams of riding some zip line and dropping off into some pool near a waterfall. im sure pocohantus was also there now that i think about it. anyways, when we got to this rope swing, there were tons of people there that just trespassed onto the private property and took advantage of the free rope swing. which is what you should do if you go to hawaii.

6. shipwreck beach at the hayatt resort. this place is great for a few reasons. 1. the beach is actually great. actual waves and no rip current that will kill you immediately (like so many other beaches advertise). 2. there is a great rock to jump off of. supposedly its the same rock that harrison ford and anne heche (or their stunt doubles) jumped off of in the movie '6 days and 7 nights.' (go to 1:30 in the preview and you can see it.) nellie and i didnt need stunt doubles. it was a great time. although there is no documented evidence of nellie actually jumping off the rock, so who knows if she actually did. the other great part are the pools at the hyatt. all the big resorts are right next to public beaches and their pools are right next to the ocean. they have no idea actually is a guest and who isnt so you can just walk onto the property and swim in their pools and hang out in their hot tubs. which was excellent and highly recommended.

7. the helicopter ride. i actually do recommend this. i say actually not because it is expensive, but because it made me incredibly sick. nellie too. it took us awhile to recover. afterwards we drove to the nearest mini-mart and got a sprite and saltine crackers and sat huddled over on a dirty bench staring at the ground for awhile until we recovered...which was many hours later. we were with 2 german guys that didnt get sick at all so im sure most dont. it just hit us pretty bad, yet i still recommend it.

anyways, those are the ramblings. there is plenty more i could say. we did tons of activities (nodding my head and hi-fiving my bros right now). no literally we did a bunch of great outdoor activities and ate out plenty. if you are ever going let me know. ive got tons of great advice im happy to give, i just dont care what you have to say/recommend.

ghost town

i just wanted to really quick give a plug for this movie. not that i have a large audience for this blog, but i didnt know how else to really give a plug for it. i was planning on seeing it, but then my friend zach saw it and raved about it, so we went last night. its great. so here a few reasons why you should go this weekend:

1. it probably wont be in theaters next weekend. sadly, its a great movie that, like other quality movies, isnt making much money. it came out last weekend, critics loved it, but somehow 'tyler perry's the family that preys together' and other cinema vomit makes more money. its well thought out and has quality, but maybe not big named actors in it, so it doesnt do as well as lame movies with crap plots and junk actors. bummer.

2. the actors are really actually great though.

a. ricky gervais. if you havnt seen him then you have to go. he is the inspiration behind 'the office.' it started in england and he created it. so what you see on nbc every thursday is a knock off of his creation and brilliance, so dont give steve carrell too much credit (although he does do a good job and has done well at making the character his own), he's just trying to be what ricky gervais was/created. if you look in the credits of the office youll see that he produced it.

b. greg kinnear. who doesnt love this guy?

c. tia leoni. also fantastic. she's great. she's a 40 year old that is totally hot but seems like a normal woman and not a celebrity (can i say that now that im married? i dont really know if i can make comments like that anymore. i guess ill find out tonight... love you nellie).

3. the movie perfectly captures the comedy that ricky gervais created and/or perfected. so entertaining. nellie had never seen him before and she and i were both laughing hard at so many parts. he's created a really funny character.

4. its just a flat out good movie. good story. not too predictable. youll be happy you went and wont be upset you spent $11.50 getting in. look, its a weekend, youre probably going to the movies anyways, just go to it. all the other junk will be there for you next weekend.

5. the previews we saw were fantastic. the new bond movie looks amazing. 'australia' looks really, really good. something else. and that other one too. they both looked good at the time even though i dont remember what they were.

that one day we got married

so i need to finish these posts about big summer events.  im sure everyone already knows, but nellie and i did get married on august 9th.  it was a great day.  its true that the sealing is the best part of the day.  by far.  not wanting to go into it or discuss it on a blog, ill just give some thoughts from other stuff that happened.  

it was really hot.  we took photos throughout the afternoon and we were just dying.  they photos turned out great.  we had a great photographer.  her name is rachel.  her blog is rachelthurston@blogspot.com.  one advice that we got from people was to make sure you have a good photographer.  maybe cut costs in some areas, but if there is one area you are going to spend money then do it on a photographer.  and i totally agree.  im not really an artistic guy nor do i really claim to have an 'artistic eye' or anything, so i cant really explain why, but you can just tell when some people have a true artistic ability compared to someone that just bought an expensive camera and now calls him/herself a photographer.  plus, like people told me, the photos are really the only tangible thing you keep for a long time that remind you of the wedding day.  besides the pancake warmer.

thank you katie clifford for reading my blog and for buying us a very useful pancake warmer. nellie has been wanting one for a long time.  you have also ensured yourself a lifetime of worthless gifts.  gifts that dont even sound like they have a purpose and in reality really dont.  supposedly someone bought us the cheese dome. our registry indicated that it was bought, but we never actually got it.  someone probably wised up after buying it and didnt want a lifetime of lame gifts so they didnt give it to us.  or some friend performed a random act of kindness and and bought it and just threw it away so that it could clutter up a dumpster instead of our kitchen.

speaking of clutter, i realized another problem with registering.  cups.  whoever makes these registery things hates men and has never been married.  they are bitter and just leading women astray so that they will unknowingly make man's life miserable because somewhere, some man made that woman's life miserable.  im actually not sure what happened, but do you know how many cups these registries recommend women register for?  12.  12!  who needs 12 cups.  do you know many cups newleyweds need?  2.  and they can even be styrofoam if necessary. instead we have 12 small drinking glasses.  12 larger drinking glasses.  12 mugs.  12 goblets.  and only 4 (thankfully) nice wine glasses.  giving us a nice total of 52 cups/glasses. 52!  when will we ever need 52 glasses?  when we are hosting our party for 50 people?  right.  as though we will be using real cups and not plastic ones.  its the same thing with plates.  we have tons.  i realize someday we might have a family and someday we also might host dinner guests.  in the meantime, or today, we have a crowded kitchen with plenty of items to collect dust.  when i was unloading all of the cups i kept on asking nellie why we had so many.  'i dont know,' she replied, 'thats how many it says to register for.'  fantastic.  love the obedience.  hate the instructor.  

im digressing from the wedding day and focusing on all the gifts.  we did get a lot, so thanks to everyone.  nellie said that it was like christmas.  and it really was with all the gifts.  only it was child's worst christmas nightmare.  even nellie, as excited as she was at the beginning, couldnt keep the excitement throughout.  i mean, how excited can you possibly be over boxes and boxes of dishware?  

back to the wedding.  we had lunch.  we took photos.  we helped set up for the reception and then we had the reception. the house looked great.  i hear the food was great.  we talked to people for about an hour.  then we did cake.  then we danced.  the first dance was obligatory and totally awkward.  then there was a regular dance.  dj dave did a great job.  it was actually really fun.  'obk' was amazing to get the dance going.  'freestyler' was just outstanding.  that was a dance party favorite that originated from a dance 'party' we had at byu where there was just 7 of us and we created a little dance to that song and its lived on ever since.  then nellie threw her bouquet, i grabbed her upper thigh, we went to the car and drove off into the sunset.  not quite like that, but close enough.  

it was a very memorable day.  i think one of the best parts was the interaction between mine and nellie's family.  nellie has an awesome family. mine is a little bit better.  many on both sides have commented on how enjoyable it was being with and hanging out with the other family.  which was really cool.  im not surprised they got along well, but it was nice to hear they all got along so well and wished they could hang out again.  sad part is that they probably never will.  which is perhaps why the wedding day is so great.  because it will never happen again. its just a one time event.  im sure our families got along well, but couple that with the warm august night, good times and knowing that it wont ever happen again, and it becomes a little more nostalgic, a little bit sweeter and sits a little better in the memory.  so thanks to all that came and gave gifts and made it a wonderful day.  it really was one for the books.  or the blog.  

batman and the bar

so, its been awhile since i last posted. some rather large life events have happened in the past two months that have kept me from having much time to write.  this will be the first in a three part series to get everyone caught up on what has happened. 

so i took the bar last month. it was the last three days of july.  i took it out in ontario.  it was pretty crazy.  unfortunately, there were no classic moments where someone stands up in the middle of the test and throws their laptop on the floor and then runs out crying leaving everyone looking around awkwardly until everyone hears a gunshot from the parking lot. but the bar is intense.  in ontario, there are about 5000+ people taking the bar and everyone is in one giant room frantically typing away for 3 hours at a time, 6 total hours a day.  its a little intimidating and rather daunting.  

while there were no suicides, there was an earthquake.  that was fun.  we took the bar at the convention center which is fairly near the airport.  when the building started to rumble, i at first just thought it was a large plane flying overhead.  it wasnt until it really started to roll that i realized it was an earthquake.  most other people realized it too and all 5000 went under their tables.  some brought their laptops with them under the table. not to protect their laptop, but so that they could continue typing while under the table.  only a small handful didnt duck under the table, but once the rolling stopped, everyone in unison bounced up back to the table and immediately began typing away frantically trying to pick back up where they were and worried that we had all just lost a precious 30 seconds that we so desperately needed.  unless you are the girl next to me that finished about 20 min early every day.

so the interesting thing about the bar, and the somewhat intimidating thing is that you are in a room of about 5000 people and you just dont know anyone's story.  around half are from non-accredited law schools, which is great because the percentage of those people that pass is really low, so the more of them the merrier.  but take the girl next to me for example:  who finishes early?  i immediately assumed when she finished early that she has no idea what she is doing and therefore probably failed.  but the guy in front of me also finished early which made me question him too until i found out the last day that 1. he is a byu law grad (good school), 2. he has a pending offer at a large law firm in orange county (omelveny and myers - huge firm), 3. he is going to get a masters in law at florida next year.  he chose florida because they are the number 2 program in the nation and they gave him a full ride scholarship, but he did get into nyu, the number 1 program.  how do i know all of this?  because he volunteered it all to me and everyone around us.  so the guy is a complete tool.  but sadly a smart one.  so just finishing early doesnt mean youre an idiot and probably going to fail.  it may however mean you are annoying.  

batman also came out this summer.  if you havnt seen it then please quit reading this and go see it.  i saw it opening weekend.  it was really one of the only breaks i had during bar study.  and one of the only things i had to look forward to all summer.  

so i dont know if this is a spoiler alert, probably though, so dont keep reading if you havnt seen it.  but again, if you havnt seen it, quit reading in general and go see it.  seriously, your life will be much better by seeing that movie than by reading this blog.  but i have a friend that is really into the comic books and he was telling a mutual friend of ours about how in the comic books, the joker never dies.  batman can never actually kill him.  other vililans come and go, but the joker is always around.  which is sort of ironic and a bummer about the movie.  the joker doesnt die in the film, but the actor actually did in real life.  which is a shame since heath ledger was so incredible and if the movies are following the comic books, he would of kept on reappearing in the films.  and who wouldnt love that?  

ok, so why these two events in the same post?  because they are both similar events in that both are as bad or as good as everyone told me or as i expected.  i saw the first 10 minutes of batman months ago and have been waiting in anticipation ever since.  i was very much looking forward to seeing it.  friends of mine saw it opening night and raved about how good it was.  everyone said the joker was amazing and that the movie was phenomenal.  the cool thing about it was that no matter how much hype it got, it was going to live up to it because it was that good.  it couldnt be overhyped.  few things are that good in life.  

conversely, i had been thinking about the bar for 3 years and really thinking about it for a year and it had been occupying and controlling my mind for the 2-3 months proceeding it.  again, the bar was as bad and as intense as everyone said.  people told me for 3 years that bar study is horrific and just gnarly and so draining and just a terrible experience.   but no matter how much people said about it and tried to warn me, they couldnt quite do it, because it was one of those things that couldnt be overwarned (?).  you can tell people that they are going to lose sleep and study for 14 hours a day and be all out miserable for the 2 weeks before the bar, and while those people will probably believe you, they really wont get how bad it really is until they are lying there in some cheap comfort suites hotel room on the monday night before the bar starts, completely awake, wishing they could sleep but they cant because they are just dreading and fearing the unknown that is california bar exam.  so fun. 

stay tuned for the next part in our series:  did we really just get married?  it still kind of feels like we are just dating.  

a cheese dome?

so nellie and i are engaged.  im assuming most readers know that since most readers are friends or family.  if you arent one of those then you probably dont know that, but i probably dont know you, so i dont really care that you know that.  (hopefully that didnt drive away any friends that really didnt know.  sorry if you didnt know.  im engaged).  anyways, i am studying for the bar right now which has excused me from a lot of the wedding planning.  which is really great in my opinion.  not that i wouldnt be happy to participate, but i frankly dont care about a lot of things so i dont really have an opinion to give.  i think nellie is beginning to realize that.  she asked me today what type of bedding i wanted.  really?  bedding?  i know i should care and i want to, but arent we asleep with our eyes closed when we are in the bed? (insert obligatory newlywed sex joke...then say to yourself, 'zing!') its our bedroom, so its not like a family room or living area, so if you want flowers, whatever.  again, maybe i should care, but i dont find it something to fuss about.  im man enough to sleep in flowers.  again, my eyes are closed.  you may feel like a tough guy because you have pittsburg steelers sheets on your bed, but at the end of the day (pun intended), my flowers sheets get the job done just as well as your tough guy steelers sheets.  

another reason that its probably a good thing that im not participating in the wedding planning is because there would be serious conflicts when it came time to registering.  i havnt had time to do it so she just does it and its really for the better.  today we stopped by crate and barrel and she showed me some of the things she registered for....and it was ridiculous.  the problem is that the store owners give these ladies a gun and they just walk around and 'shoot' all the items they want.  the other problem is that these ladies are walking around without men so they have no rational thoughts running through their brains.  for instance, nellie registered for a cheese dome.  a cheese dome?  what is a cheese dome?  its a piece of wood with a dome shaped piece of glass on top of it to preserve your cheese...for when you set it out on the counter for an extended period of time with the purpose of having it mold faster than it already does?  i dont get it.  when do you use a cheese dome?  its for parties says nellie.  and for the holidays.  great.  we get a gift that we only use once a year.  someone is going to spend $25 bucks on us and its blown on something we might use every christmas to help our cheese mold faster.  awesome.  

other choice items included a fondue machine.  granted, fondue is great.  can be fun.  the rational part thinks though, thats a lot of money.  how often are we going to be using this thing?  wouldnt we rather have someone spend that much money and buy us something we might use more than once every decade?  its for parties says nellie.  oh.  of course.  we also registered for three cups that are connected in the middle with a handle.  'it could be useful for serving hummus,' says nellie.  i dont even know how to respond to that.  

also on the registery is a dessert serving platter.  basically its three plates that are connected with the largest one on the bottom and the smallest one on the top.  everyone has seen these.  purpose?  none in my opinion. you can accomplish the same thing with three regular, unattached plates.  but it also has a purpose apparently.  its for parties says nellie.  of course.  another party.  as it is, we throw them nightly, we will need this. 

and of course, my all time favorite of the day:  the pancake warmer.  purpose?  to warm pancakes.  times in the history of man one has really ever been needed?  zero.

so here is the real problem with this stuff.  i know we will get it.  why?  because im a guy and i would buy it for other couples.  girls are going to take other guys with them to buy a wedding gift. the guy will already be bugged that he has to spend money on someone else and that its spent on lame kitchen items.  they will go into the store and get the list of items on our registery.  they will look over the items and the guy wont see anything 'normal' or 'practical,' he will automatically find all the random junk that he knows the couple doesnt need and insist on buying it.  why?  because its funny.  because hes a logical thinker and he knows that no one really needs a pancake warmer.  but it makes him laugh to buy it and 'hey, they registered for it.  if they didnt need it, they shouldnt have registered for it.  but they did, so clearly they want it, so im getting it for them.  i could get them forks, or spoons, or anything that people actually use, but they (she) registered for this, so we are buying it.'  then he laughs all the way to the reception.  which is fine.  im pumped to get all of this stuff.  it just means we will be throwing the sweetest fondue, hummus and cheese parties this town has ever seen and youre all invited.  and dont worry if you have to come late, the pancakes will still be warm.  

the gas man

so im currently living without electricity or gas.  well, not entirely without electricity.  somehow we are pirating electricity right now.  im living in my grandma's old house. she passed away a little over a year ago.  her house was almost in the exact same state as when it was bought in the 1950s.  no garbage disposal.  no washing machine.  all the same plumbing.  a purple bedroom.  that wasnt the same as when it was bought.  at least i hope not unless it meant the house was a few thousand dollars cheaper.  (note:  purple room means all purple.  walls, window sills, ceiling, doors, door jams, door knobs.  yes.  door knobs.  anything that wasnt carpet in that room was purple.  awesome).  

anyways, in march my dad and i were tearing out the cabinets in the kitchen when we started to smell smoke.  something smelled like it was burning.  we felt the walls around where we took out the cabinets and they were really hot, especially next to the water heater.  yes, for whatever strange reason, the water heater was in the kitchen.  right next to the fridge and the sink.  not covered either.  just right there in the corner.  hanging out being aesthetically pleasing for everyone.  anyways, we took out the water heater out and the area didnt cool off.  so we called the fire department.  four fire trucks and 8-10 firemen later, the kitchen was missing  a wall needed new electrical wiring.  so in the matter of a few minutes, the house no longer had hot water nor electricity.  

my roommate zach and i moved in a few weeks ago.  mainly to get out of our house that had 8 guys living in it, and so that i could escape for a couple months to study for the bar.  it was anticipated that there would be hot water and electricity by the time we moved in, but there have been so many improvements going on in the house, that as important as those things sound, there were other, more important things going on.  plus, the water heater needed to be installed outside with a shed built around it, and that isnt as easy as just buying a new one and putting it where the old one was.  and the electricity, well, when you are dealing with an insurance hired electrician, you can expect delays.  delays of a month?  sure, never underestimate insurance companies and how long they can take.  youre getting the work for 'free.'  you cant complain about how long it is taking.  plus, the electrician somehow stripped an extension chord and wired it into the wire on the roof, so that gives us electricity.  we just run a power strip from that and send extension chords through the house and use lamps for light.  better than nothing.  im not sure where the electricity is coming from since edison hasnt come by to turn on the box outside.  its a time in my life where i really feel like i can plead ignorance.  im an idiot when it comes to most home repairs so electrical stuff would be like someone speaking to me in finnish.  all i know is that an orange extension chord comes off our roof and it has a live current in it, so i use it.  

well, friday was supposed to be the big day.  the gas man was coming over.  we had our heater installed and covered.  they could have come earlier that week but no day really worked for my roommate or i.  but friday was the day.  the last of the cold showers.  which are so terrible.  im sure there are many people out there that are like, 'suck it up.  i took cold showers for 2 years on my mission.'  well, i didnt.  im sorry you went to some broke country, but i went to spain.  we had hot water.  (i actually ironically lived in an apartment that had a broken water heater and i did have to take cold showers for a couple months, but that doesnt help me right now).  plus, just because you may have showered in cold water doesnt mean you liked it.  perhaps you got used to it, but no one, if they had the choice would shower in cold water every morning instead of hot water.  i know you didnt get home and shower in cold water just because you were used to it and wanted to remember the mission. if you did, then im also sure you showed girls pictures of your mission on all your dates.  always a smooth move.  the babes love it.  plus, im living in long beach california.  if i was in hondorus, i wouldnt complain.  id be happy with water period.  or plumbing, no matter what decade it was from. but i guess im not a tough guy because i havnt grown to love the cold shower and i was happy for friday to come.  the city, like all lame entities, told us that they would come by sometime in the morning between 7 am and noon.  thanks jerks.  i find it impossible to believe that you cant give us a better estimate of when you will come.  impossible.  but its fine.  i agreed to watch my bar prep class online and wait at home.  

so i set my alarm for 7 am friday morning.  i didnt jump out of bed, but actually rolled out of bed at 7:15.  i went out front to take the trash cans in and to my horror i saw a white piece of paper on the door explaining that the gas people from the city had come by at 7:05, probably knocked once, no one came in 10 seconds so they split.  that, or they banged on the door, but i didnt hear them because i was lazily lying in bed.  but they are the bad guys in this blog, so they get the blame.  either way, i couldnt believe that of all the appointments that day, i was first on the list.  they tell me to be sure to set aside 5 hours of my day, and then they stop by in the first 5 minutes of those 5 hours.  and i missed them.  so i called them immediately and said that i didnt hear them and asked if they could come back.  the guy said they couldnt and that i would have to reschedule.  which i find hard to believe.  we are in long beach.  are there really so many people living without gas in this city that their mornings and afternoons are completely booked all day, every day?  could they really not come back?  plus, i know that their friday morning wasnt booked because one of their customers, me, 'wasnt home' when they stopped by.  so that freed up some time.  i mean, was there such a long wait list that someone was bumped into my spot immediately?  when i asked him when they could come back he said they had an opening on monday morning.  oh really?  you have spots open on the next available work day, but somehow your current work day, a friday, is entirely booked?  amazing.  such bad luck for these long beach city workers.  all of the thousands of people living without gas in this city scheduled on friday.  crazy how that works sometimes. so i had no choice and rescheduled for monday and committed myself to 3 more cold showers.  the electrician didnt come either.  that was probably expected though.  he probably just didnt want to.  no need.  as though the insurance company is breathing down his neck to provide prompt assistance to their customers.  they defined the term delay.  but its fine, we have our power strips and extension chords.  its not that bad. i should probably end this and cool off with a cold shower or something before i get too riled up about it.  good thing i live in honduras.  

on my mind

so there are a couple things that i keep on thinking about and keep popping back in my mind. one of them is the indiana jones movie. im going to spoil some of it at the end of this post.  if you havnt seen it, you should probably just wait for it to come out on dvd.  either way, if you dont want it to be spoiled, that was your warning.

1. the new coldplay song 'viva la vida.' its a great song. it really is. one of those instant classics for me. right when i heard it, i enjoyed it. it has great lyrics. it has an orchestra which is always a classy touch. it give the song a fuller sound and fools you into thinking that these people listen to classical music. so its a great song, but i cant remember the last time i heard a song that got so stuck in my head. its amazing. and this isnt your typical you hear a pop song on the radio and it gets stuck in your head for the next 6 hours, like your typical spice girls song. this song has been in my head since the first time i heard it. which is completely terrible since its not some lame song like 'my humps' or 'california love.'  but literally days of it resonating in my head.  

2. a few weeks ago driving home from san francisco, nellie and i got into a heated discussion about female rock bands or female lead singers. she thinks that the greatest female performer/singer of all time in bjork with hillary duff coming in a close second; and that the best female band ever is 'swv' (sisters with voices). anyways, somehow in the conversation we started discussing rock bands with female lead singers and we brought up 'no doubt.' we couldnt think of many other bands that were bigger than 'no doubt.' which sounds and is kinda surprising. there are many other bands. the pretenders. dire straits. the go-go's. i mean, its definitely a debate, but it was just random realizing that 'no doubt' would have to be in the discussion.  think about it.  rock bands with female lead singers.  i might be totally off on this one.  but i think that if you think about it for a bit, youll realize, whether you like them or not, no doubt has to be in the discussion.  that first album was HUGE.  not that it really matters at all. as im writing this im getting kinda bored and realizing that this topic is really only interesting after you have been sitting in a car for hours and your brain and butt are going numb.

3. ok. indiana jones. heres the thing. it wasnt a bad movie. it wasnt like godzilla or hollywood homicide.  i didnt get out of it thinking that i wasted money and upset that i went. but it wasnt a good movie. it was completely neutral. just plain vanilla ice cream. ice cream is always good. you cant really ever get upset about ice cream. but you dont get too excited about it or go brag to people afterwards that you had vanilla ice cream and recommend that everyone go eat a tub right here and now. but the most upsetting part was that it wouldnt have been that hard to make it into a decent movie. i think my friend dave described it well when he said that it felt like everyone was mailing it in. and its true. i wonder if speilberg even wanted to direct it or if the studio just came to him and said that they would give him $30 million if he would do it knowing that they could just put a harrison ford corpse on the screen for an hour and half and throw in that it was done by speilberg that it would make at least $100 million. and it has. but speilberg is good. he's proven it. he doesnt need this movie. he probably has many other things he would rather do, but for the right price will do what the masses want. who wouldnt? but harrison ford. he hasnt been doing anything lately besides sitting around helping his girlfriend get skinnier. i dont know why he didnt care to put much more effort into it.

anyways, here are just some quick things that i think they could have improved or done without that would have easily made it into a good movie and not just an, 'eh, whatever' movie. 

the opening sequence: i know that most movies are filmed in a large warehouse/set somewhere in hollywood, but at least try and make it seem like you are 'on location' somewhere.  they mailed it in by saying, 'you know, we are currently standing in a large warehouse.  how about we start the movie with indiana in a large warehouse where he is looking for a box.  that way we wont have to do any set design.  plus, boxes are real easy to find.  they have them all over in alleys behind grocery stores.  we can just stamp them with us army words and phrases and fool people into thinking we are in an actual military warehouse.  oh that audience.  so foolish.'

the atomic bomb.  really?  why?  i know that all indiana jones movies have a 'fast' opening with lots of action.  but again, its like they couldnt come up with anything so they said, 'how about he sits in a fridge and escapes an atomic bomb?'  made no sense.  did nothing to further the movie.  wasnt really suspenseful.  plus he evaded an atomic bomb by hopping in a fridge!  come on.  

i said this in the earlier post, but the only redeeming or quality part of the movie was the initial interaction with harrison ford and shiloa imbuff.  they had great chemistry.  it was fun.  they were explaining the plot.  which was sort of strange and hard to follow later.  but they had a fun chase scene.  a good fight and it was well done and exciting.  by far the best part.  i honestly do hope that if there is a next indiana that shia takes over the lead role because he will put forth more effort and that harrison ford has more of a supporting role.  i think it could be good.

for some reason they go to peru (its really not explained well at all and youre not even sure whats going on there) and for whatever reason random monkey guys attack them and then they hit them with a shovel and the monkeymen leave forever and never return.  no idea where they came from or who they are or where they went.  you spend most of the time wondering what's going on and then they kill them and move on with the story.  really random and puzzling.  pretty stupid too and a weak effort at having some suspense or excitement.  

swinging in the trees with the monkeys.  really?  no really?  swinging with monkeys?  on vines.  from tree to tree until you catch up to the cars.  really?  someone wrote this into the script and then 20 other people approved it?  at no point did anyone think that by putting it in the movie you would lose half your audience?  swinging with monkeys.  really?  the problem with computer animation is that movies can do crap like this and get away with it.  before, the writers and directors would have been forced into using their brains and coming up with some sort of logical, conceivable way to have shia meet back up with everyone besides having him swing there with monkeys!  unbelievable.  and i know that indiana jones is sort of like james bond where he is kinda invincible so he can do otherwise unrealistic things, like being dragged on the ground from the back of a truck.  but swinging with monkeys?  a new low.  (this was the part that really lost nellie.  we saw the midnight showing which she really didnt want to see because she was tired.  i told her that it would be fun and that its things like this that she will fondly remember someday because we wont always be youthful and able to do midnight movies.  she didnt really buy the cheap sales pitch. either way, she came and really started laughing at this part and how ridiculous it was.  she then punched me in the throat as a reminder that she was bitter that i dragged her out of bed for such a quality flick).

but that was the tone of the movie.  not much thought.  mailing it in.  sorry dave for stealing your descriptive word.  but its true.  the waterfall?  come on.  again, a little effort would have made it a good movie.  im fine if they go off the first one.  its conceivable that they might survive.  but all they would have had to do is for someone to say something blatantly obvious like, 'hey, if we go off that next one, there are rocks at the bottom and we will die.  we better figure something out.  we dont want to die.'  and then for indiana to get out his whip, break off the doors of the car, and then they all use them like wakeboards or something and float to the side of the river.  i know thats bad.  but its better than just going off the giant waterfall and pretending they would live.  

anyways, im going off too much about this movie and its not necessary.  just lots of little things that could have made it good.  not trying hard.  like using the snake as a rope to help indiana out.  remember how indiana hates snakes?  so they have to use one somewhere.  its obligatory.  this is an easy way to do it.  everyone will laugh because it makes sense to use a snake as a rope.  plus, its funny.  remember, indiana doesnt like snakes.  he wont want to grab it.  my stomach hurts just thinking about it.  so brilliantly funny.  

well, at some point the movie ends with some lame message about how the sacred treasure is actually knowledge.  oooohhh.  deep.  the aliens didnt seek after killing us.  they just wanted knowledge.  knowledge was their treasure.  knowledge is power.  thanks.  i wish i would have know that before the movie because my treasure is money.  and i lost $20 bucks of it on this movie which didnt give me any knowledge, but if anything, just made me feel stupid that i spent money on a movie that knew i would spend money on it because it had indiana jones in the title.  dang.  fooled again.  hi nikki brown harris.  pre-ceptions rule.  tell your cousin.