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.