bootie LA

a couple weeks ago zach, nellie and i met up with dave and his harem and went to bootie la's a very bootie christmas. it was pretty fantastic. dave found these guys a few years ago. they combine the best of all music worlds: techno, mash-ups and christmas music. they played (spun?) all the songs that we already loved, plus some new ones. zach, nellie and i bailed after a couple of hours, but dave stayed most of the night. that guy has some sort of dance energy reserve. he can last hours. of course he did have a harem to entertain, so he couldnt really tire.

anyways, christmas is around the corner and i meant to share these sooner so people could enjoy them throughout the entire holiday season. hopefully you'll still get a kick out of them. whether you love them or you cant believe how ridiculous they are, they are guaranteed to make you smile. they wont make you want to vomit like those kay jewelers commercials. that one with the deaf couple is the worst. nothing against deaf people, but the commercial makes nellie want to vomit.

you can listen to all of the songs at the link above. here are some of my favorites:

'imagine santa' is just a incredible mash-up. maybe the best one ever. two songs that you wouldn't expect to hear together, yet somehow are a perfect blend.

'every christmas you fake' - proof that even p-diddy gets into the christmas cheer.

'are you gonna stop the white x-mas' - just all over the place. christmas chaos. good chaos.

'christmas bop' - this is one from the new album. i really enjoyed this one, but that is probably because i love the song blitzkrieg bop. still, it's a great example of an christmas mash-up. it takes a great song and then just starts throwing bits of many different christmas songs throughout the song. so ridiculous and random, but so fun. i dont know how you can listen to it and not laugh. so great.

i hope you enjoy. merry christmas.

double dipped

on saturday night nellie and i double dipped and saw two movies. we went to the theater planning on seeing either 'invictus' or 'the blind side.' we struggled with the decision, but ultimately ended up going to see invictus. conveniently, right when we were getting out of invictus, there was a showing of 'the blind side' that had just started. since we didnt have a babysitter or any other obligation to attend to and since it's always better to watch 4 1/2 hours of movies instead of just 2, we decided to go for it.

so both movies were good but i think i actually liked 'the blind side' better. both are amazing stories, but i think that invictus was almost too difficult of a story to tell. there is just so much to the story, that it seems a little to difficult to pull off in 2- 2 1/2 hours. were it any other director besides clint eastwood, i would say maybe it was the director's fault, but if he can't even pull it off, i dont think anyone could. there was just too much to tackle...even for rugby players (zing!).

invictus is about the south african rugby team that helped unite a nation that was in serious turmoil over the recent election of nelson mandela and blacks being afforded all of the same opportunities as white people. i just think that hours alone could have been spent really showing the viewer how bad it was in south africa in the early 90s. the movie does deal with it, but in order to really make the rugby victory meaningful, you really have to be sucked in to what it meant to the country and you need a decent understanding of what the people were going through. maybe other people could have pulled it off, but i didnt really get sucked in emotionally to what was happening and what the people were going through. as such, there just wasn't as many goosebump moments in invictus as i would have anticipated. i was hoping for more moments where i had a lump in my throat and would think, 'sports are just awesome.' and i think that was because there was a lack of connection with the story which is due to all of the many layers. dont get me wrong, it was good, just not amazing. i could be off on this and could have had too high of expectations. but when its clint eastwood, morgan freeman and matt damon, how can you not be expecting greatness?

maybe that's why 'the blind side' was really good. it has sandra bullock so you naturally enter with low expectations. she is cute and fun, but her movies usually aren't very moving and make you want to punch yourself in the face rather than ponder greater things in life. she did great though and was highly entertaining, at last. just the opposite of invictus, i think blind side worked because it was more of a simple story to tell in that they just had to deal with the boy and telling his story. granted, many people could easily botch that simple task, but it's potentially a lot easier to tell the story of a family that helps a homeless high school boy than the story of a country that had it's centuries long race issues resolved by a rugby game. in one, you have to get the viewers up to speed with a country's history in 10 minutes. the other, you just have to get them up to speed with the first 16 years of a boy's life, which is pretty easy in this situation: he's from the projects and his mom is a drug addict. no need to say more, we pretty much get it.

again, both movies are good and worth seeing. both not really sports movies and both are pretty different so it is hard to compare them, but what's the point of this post and seeing both on the same night if you aren't going to compare them? i think an easy way to do it was in the closing credits. in both movies they show you photos of the actual people and players from the stories that were just told. in blind side, i got the goosebumps and the lump in my throat. i felt more connected to the story and so it made it more touching to see the actual people. not that invictus isn't touching and powerful, but not much connection. no lumps at the end of invictus. and the lumps never lie.

tragic and mind-boggling

just a disclaimer, not that all of my posts are funny and/or light-hearted, but this one isn't. although it is short. i've been thinking about it since i heard about it on the radio the other day.

here is a news story of a family of 4 that was killed in a car crash over thanksgiving weekend. the family was heading back to their home after having spent the thanksgiving holiday in hawaii. tragic and sad. they haven't confirmed that the 19 year-old driver was drunk, but his license had previously been suspended for a year because of a prior drunk driving accident. the driver later died at the hospital.

and, if you didn't think the story could get worse, you underestimated society:

here is a related story of a man and a woman who just days after the family died, broke into the family's house, stole all their items and fled in the family's van. opportunity knocks right? fortunately they were caught. but what has to happen in your life to get you to the point where after hearing about a family of four being killed in an auto accident, the first thing you think about is that their home is now vacant and should be easy to rob? at least these people help keep josh employed.

such a bummer

this whole story sort of bums me out and it really shouldn't. i shouldn't be fooled by athletes or celebrities or expect too much out of them. i think this one is a bummer because you always want to be able to relate to an athlete or celebrity. sometimes you just cant. for instance, i cant relate to derek jeter at all. he's a shortstop on the biggest baseball team of all time. as sure as the seasons will change, you can expect him to bounce from one supermodel girlfriend to another on a quarterly basis. he and i dont have much in common. not that i have much in common with tiger woods. he's the first billionaire athlete. he's a killer on the golf course. all sporting greats are. jordan, ali, tiger, even kobe bryant. its not enough to beat you, they have to dominate you and rip your heart out. the passion, the drive to win, the work ethic, stopping at nothing to be the best: not the greatest personality traits by any means, but it is pretty admirable. part of me, and i think part of most people, wish they had that passion and could channel it towards some endeavor. few do. but almost all of them are successful in one way or another.

but even though he and i aren't the same in that regard, tiger still seemed like he was 'a normal guy.' i liked him because i felt i could relate to him (i still like him, just bummed about his decisions). he grew up in cypress, right here in southern california. i lived in the neighboring city of garbage grove. he doesnt come from money. he's not some country club boy. despite all his money, he and his wife didnt have a nanny. they insisted on raising their kids. it appeared as though off the course, he was a normal guy and for whatever reason, it made me like him more. it's like george clooney. i've always liked him and the movies he did. after i read this article awhile ago, i was smitten (it's long, but a good read). these guys dont have lives like you and i, but you always hope they do. which is why it's nice to hear about tiger raising his own kids or read about george clooney crawling in the attic, and always a bummer when you are let down. i know they arent role models. i get that. most of them let you know pretty early on that you dont want your kids to grow up to become like them. that's just the thing though, there are so few that make you even believe that they might be a decent person and role model. just a bummer when yet another doesn't pan out.

WWII IN HD

nellie and i watched a few episodes of history channel's WWII IN HD tonight. it's excellent. really, really well done. much better than that ken burns WWII documentary that came out a couple years ago. i guess that they, whoever 'they' are, found color WWII footage and they turned it into a mini-series. for those that arent counting, WWII ended 64 years ago. how is it that they are finding stuff like this just now? i understand if its letters like in 'letters from Iwo Jima' that were buried on remote islands in the south pacific. but how are piles of color film footage just now being found? are there just boxes of stuff lying around the library of congress or somewhere and people don't know what is inside of them? some summer intern just has to sort through everything. 'hey, i found these boxes we might want to save. i guess its actual film footage from WWII. you know, WWII. anyways, the footage is in color. its kinda cool.'

well, whatever the reason it was 'lost' for so long it doesn't really matter because they have made very interesting and compelling stories out of the footage that was available. on the website it says that its a 5 night event. i dont know when it started, but i know it continues tomorrow night (tuesday the 17th). im sure there will be constant re-runs as well. it's pretty intense and not exactly light material. maybe everyone already knew about the series and was already watching it, but i still wanted to give it a plug because they are definitely worth recording and watching.

anyways, it puts me in a somber mood just thinking about it. we only watched 2 of the episodes tonight because we could only take so much of young boys fighting and dying for their country. it's amazing what those people went through. so to not be entirely somber in this post, here are a couple of stop-motion videos. what do they have to do with WWII? absolutely nothing. at least not yet. give it a few decades and they'll find stop-motion WWII footage. but we saw a kindle commercial tonight that was in stop motion and nellie mentioned how it seems to be all the rage these days. maybe it's been a fad for awhile and im behind and just now noticing it, but it is used quite a bit. i think the first time i recall seeing it was in a music video that dave showed nellie and i a few months ago. i'd like to think that im ahead of things and not behind the fads, so im sure that once i saw this video, then things really took off for the stop-motion industry(?). the other video is one that i also saw a couple months ago shortly after seeing the first one.

sorry for being so random with the two topics. just watch WWII IN HD. or dont. i dont care. it's your patriotism funeral.

fighting the couch

nellie and i were chatting today and she was telling me about how she can't eat lunch on the couch because when she does, she end up taking a longer lunch than anticipated. it made me think about this commercial by reebok. the commercial isn't new and most people have probably already seen it, but i think it's brilliant. granted, if my couch was attacking me like that, i would be scrambling for my life too. but i think it perfectly captures the difficulty to escape the couch. it really does take that sort of effort sometimes. it's so easy to get sucked in and stay on the couch. 9 times out of 10, i feel better about leaving the couch and doing something, even when i am tired or not in the mood to leave. there are those few times when lying on the couch really is better than getting up and getting out. but most of the time, if i escape the couch, i do feel better about myself.

i should also mention, that nellie by no means lies around on the couch all day. she exercises much more than i do. im happy if i exercise twice a week. she tries to exercise at least four to five times a week and usually does it. in fact, she is heading out to go running with a friend right now. yes, its 3:15 on a friday. why do we want to find another job again?

and sorry to the four people that follow this blog that i haven't been posting much lately. i think about posting and have things i would like to post about, just haven't done it. but that's not because i dont appreciate my four followers. i hope you understand that. thinking about posting has to be good for something. thoughts do speak louder or at least as loud as actions right? that sounds like the type of statement you would get from someone sitting on a couch. maybe that's why i like the commercial so much.

my virgin Virgin experience

on monday i had the opportunity to fly on virgin america for the first time. nellie flew virgin atlantic one time to europe and she has nothing but rave reviews for the airline. dave has constantly said how great virgin america is and that its the best airline. quite frankly, it was a fantastic experience. i honestly dont know how other airlines stay in business.

a couple weeks ago nellie and i flew to boston. we had some delta vouchers we had to use so we picked boston as our destination. we had a great time. delta was terrible though. if you ever want to get a delta voucher, just book a flight with delta the day before you need to actually go. i guarantee that they will be asking customers to be bumped from the flight in exchange for free flight vouchers. our round trip flight included 4 legs (two to get there and two for the way back - more on this in a second). before each leg, the announcers were on the PA system asking people if they would be willing to go on a later flight in exchange for free vouchers. they overbook every flight. i honestly think its their way of doing business.

one of the biggest drawbacks with delta is that its nearly impossible to book a direct flight unless you are flying from LAX to ontario. even with that flight, they will still probably layover in long beach or burbank. its such a pain when it only takes 5 hours to fly across the country but it ends up taking you 12 hours because of the layovers and delays.

virgin has only direct flights. one might argue that its because they only offer flights between 9 or 10 cities. and that might be true, but those are also the cities that you would want to go to. when nellie and i were trying to decide on our weekend destination, we thought of new york, boston and chicago - places where people want to go. maybe virgin doesn't fly to little rock or des moines, but im not interested in going to those places, ever.

so lets compare the two experiences:

check in:

virgin: as you walk up to check in, you hear music. not normal airport jazz, but house music. techno and electronica music. you think it must be some euro blasting his ipod near you but then you realize that its coming from a boom box at the check in counter. but not like a boom box that someone plugged in, an actual boom box that is built into the counter. as in, the people that make the big decisions at VA decided that it was important that all their customers are greeted with some up beat dance music. pretty hip.

delta: you are immediately asked if you would like to go on a different flight for a free voucher to fly their airline overcrowded airline again. if you decline, you are pushed along so they can ask the next customer.

plane impressions:

virgin: its hard to paint an accurate picture of a VA plane. i knew what to expect, but i was still pretty amazed. black leather seats. black. clean interior. dim lights throughout the cabin. and more techno music. its like you are walking into a party. you might think that this isn't your type of scene or maybe not the conditions you would like to fly in, but it really creates a great and happy mood throughout the cabin.

delta: old leather. crowded. everyone is stuffing their bags into the bin, except that there is no room because the flight is overbooked so now the stewardesses are checking on people's carry on bags. no better feeling that doing your best to avoid checking on your bag only to then realize it will have to be checked on because the airline is way overcrowded. you would be dying for techno music right now.

flight attendants:

virgin: they wear comfortable black pants, white shirts, like long sleeve t-shirts, and these cool zip up sweater/jackets/pull overs. very modern apparel. not unprofessional, but comfortable. looks like something people enjoy wearing. which is the coolest part about VA. instead of being traditional like every other airline, they decided to get rid of tradition and think about what people want on an airline and out of a flight experience.

delta: traditional. normal. uncomfortable pants. button up shirts with some thing around their neck that looks like they thought it was a tie so they tied it like one, only it was really a bandanna or something, so its just a large flowy thing coming out of their neck.

entertainment:

virgin: free direct tv. free on demand movies. free wifi. again, free wifi. on board. you get free internet. free music. free food (snacks). drinks of course.

delta: one drink. one snack. one. you hear? on our flight from detroit to LA nellie asked for another bag of pretzels and she was denied. flat out shut down. for a bag of freakin pretzels.

nellie: 'um, can i have another bag of pretzels?'

attendant: 'no. sorry.'

ok then.


cost:

the yesterday i got an email about how a bunch of the major airlines were slashing their prices and offering cheap flights - like $100 one way from LA to NY. good deals. but it made me curious about these 'deals.' so i went online and checked the email to verify that it was in fact true and that i could actually book a flight with united or delta or some other massive airline for roughly $100 one way across the country. and the deal was legit.

then i went onto VA and checked flights for the same time period to see how they compared. no special deals, no special discounts advertised. it was just their normal rate, at it was the same price as delta and united were offering. roughly $100 to get across the country. i was checking for flights in january so it would have been booking well far in advance. still though, their 'normal' price is the same as these great deals.

anyways, i couldnt have been happier with my virgin experience (had to include one). check it out next time you fly. you wont be disappointed.

and for anyone that has made it this far, im including a chat dave and i had the other day on gmail about my VA flight. a random moments where even though you are only communicating through a computer screen, you are still somehow right on the same page with the person. also shows how quick and clever dave is. sometimes i can hang with him, but not always. one of these days someone will discover that his brain is capable of way more than soundtrack videos.

12:34 PM Dave: k bone
sommdawg
6 minutes
12:40 PM me: daveeeed
12:41 PM Dave: yo
how was out of the office time yesterday?
12:43 PM me: amazing
i flew virgin america for the first time
12:44 PM how are you doing?
12:46 PM Dave: where did you go?
12:49 PM me: SF
well, redwood city, but flew into SF
12:50 PM Dave: sweet
isn't it a lovely airline?
12:51 PM i got my Virgin America visa card yesterday
me: nice
they were advertising them on the plane
12:52 PM Dave: i can't wait to start earning points towards a free flight on Virgin America with my new Virgin America Visa Platinum card!
12:55 PM me: a new Virgin America Visa Platinum card?! I had no idea they had one. Does it have good benefits and rewards?
12:56 PM Dave: Excellent, Kent, excellent!!
I get 3 points for every dollar spent on a Virgin America flight or in-flight services, and 1 point per dollar for all other purchase. And with free flights starting as low as 10,000 points, I'll be flying free by Easter!!!
12:57 PM Plus I get 2500 free points just for signing up, and up 2500 additional points for balance transfers during the first six month (all of which carry a super low 0% APR for the first six months)!
12:58 PM me: no way
no way
i dont believe it.
Dave: Believe it, kent, believe it!
and you're pre-approved
probably.
!!!
12:59 PM me: i already fly VA anyways, and now you are telling me that they will give me free rewards and flights just for flying with the airline that i love most?
1:00 PM what's next? are you going to tell me that sheep fly and that wasps mate with flowers? [audience laughter]
Dave: And with interest rates on credit cards skyrocketing in excess of 30% since the economic collapse, the 14.9% APR on the Virgin America Visa Platinum card is just one more reason to love the the Virgin America Platinum Card - The Greatest Thing Ever Made (TM)
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!
1:01 PM me: I'm waiting for my stupid internet to load so that I can sign up online right now. If only my internet provider was as reliable and friendly as Virgin America.
1:02 PM Dave: If only, Kent, if only!
1:03 PM me: haha. right. well, with VA having free WiFi on the plane and with all the flying I'll be doing with my new VA Platinum card, I won't even need internet in my home!
1:04 PM Dave: You won't need anything kent!
Sell your house! Leave your wife! VA is the only woman you'll ever need.
She'll take you places you've never been.
1:05 PM And when you take Virgin, every time feels like the first time!

Scioscia

Why did you take out Lackey? Why did you take out Weaver? Why do you ever put in Fuentes? Why not make Santana or someone else your closer in the postseason?

I know you guys won tonight, but you have made some poor coaching decisions in the postseason. Mainly, that you ever bother putting Fuentes on mound. I am a huge supporter and have been since you came to the team. You are usually brilliant in the regular season, but if your offense wasn't a whole lot better this season than previous years, you wouldn't be flying to the Bronx tonight. Your team does actually have the pieces to pull off wins. Put the puzzle together already.

brilliant

how do you get people to exercise and be healthy? like everything, make it more appealing and entertaining than its alternative. i want to go to there.

quick hits

1. two posts ago i told everyone to go see the new ricky gervais movie, 'the invention of lying.' then, in my last post i ranted about people being offended and that they shouldnt be unless they have grounds to be or 'standing.' (btw, i realize the post has a lot of holes and inconsistencies. it was more of a ramble instead of a well thought out rant. oh well). well apparently, as mentioned by paige in the comments, early reviews indicate that the movie has quite a bit of religious commentary. i told all my readers, who i think are mostly religious, though i dont know, to see a movie that pokes at religion, something that they all have standing to be offended with. not sure what you call that. unintentional?

2. something i have watched and so i do feel comfortable promoting it, is the tv show 'community.' its on nbc. not better than 30 rock, but way better than the office. the office is boring. the jokes are hardly inspired. they are running off of past popularity. not sure if they are even trying anymore or if they just dont have it. 'community' does have it though. good timing. clever jokes that actually make you laugh. community is like the young player that just broke into the big leagues and is trying to stay on the team and show everyone that he is good and deserves to be there. he has talent, but more importantly, he really tries hard. unlike the seasoned veteran the office that is just there to pick up the check. speaking of sports and young players:

3. im sure most people have already seen this but i thought it was still worth posting. msnbc has picked it up which means most media outlets have already mentioned it. but for all those people that come here for their news or sports updates, here it is. a pretty cool video.

offended

so i think we as a society get offended too easily. i think its a little out of control. people that aren't even offended just say they are because its the 'in' thing or they think they are supposed to be offended so they pretend they are. i know this isnt always the case, but people cant be offended nearly as often as they say they are, right?

so the other night the angels won their division and clinched a playoff birth. we were actually fortunate enough to go to the game. it was pretty awesome to see it. anyways, after the game, in typical pro-sports fashion, the angels celebrated by dumping champagne and beer on each other in the locker room. a little premature since they are going to lose to the red sox in a couple weeks anyways. but why not enjoy the moment right?

anyways, i think most people remember that earlier this season, one of the angel players, nick adenhart was killed by a drunk driver after a game. he was a promising young prospect and he had actually pitched a solid outing the night he died. really tragic. well, during the celebration, some of the angel players grabbed nick's jersey and held it as they celebrated. later on in the evening, the team even went out to the outfield wall to touch the memorial that was set up for him. but i guess the celebration has caused some heated discussion around these parts. some people think its wrong and are offended by the celebration because the players were dumping champagne and other alcoholic beverages on the jersey of the player that was killed by a drunk driver.

so i have some thoughts on people that are even offended by it. lame. go home.

second. i have to agree with jim rome on the subject of people being offended. he was talking about this story and mentioned that you cant tell someone that they arent offended or that something isnt offensive (even though i just did, but its justified later). and i do more or less agree with that statement. if you think something is offensive but i dont, doesnt mean that it isnt offensive or that you cant be offended by it. he used the example of the washington redskins. their mascot has been a topic of controversy and discussion for a long time. many people, most of them native americans, are offended by the mascot. other people say that its not offensive and that its just part of the history and part of the team. i have a problem with using the argument that its not offensive. it just doesnt work. you can say its part of the history, but you cant say its not offensive because it clearly is to some people.

so im fine with people being offended and i feel that you cant say to someone that something is or isnt offensive to them. but i also feel that people have to have 'standing' to be offended. in law, someone has to have standing to bring their case to court. basically, if someone wants to challenge a law, they have to prove that they are the ones being injured by the law and thus should be the ones to challenge it. no need to dive too much into legal stuff, but i sort of feel like it should be the same way with people being offended. you have to have some grounds to be offended. i realize this isnt always the case. if you are standing around with a bunch of white people and someone uses a derogatory word to describe an an african american, just because no one in the circle is african american doesnt mean they cant be offended by the language.

but take this incident with the angels celebration. who is offended and upset by this? is it nick adenhart's parents or family? if so, great. be offended. its your son and his tragic accident that they are supposedly mocking or treading lightly. i think you are completely misinterpreting the situation, but whatever, you CAN be offended. everyone else, quit being offended just because you think you should be. it doesnt concern or affect you, you just want to stir the pot and cause some controversy and discussion.

im probably taking this too far, but i do think that all of the speculation about being offended has just left us as a society in a bad situation. no one knows what to say or how to act sometimes and a lot of it is due to people that have no reason or standing to be offended, acting like they are offended by someone's words or actions. people that should be offended probably arent, but we assume they are because some loser assumed he should be offended and so he acted like it. thus, everyone is as confused as they are reading that last sentence and paragraph.

this is going on too long. not sure if anyone is even still reading. i just had to put in my two cents.

briefly, on the angel's playoff hopes: there are none. im as big a fan as most, but i see no reason why this year will be any different than any other year. we can win, but if we lose one of the first two games at home to the red sox we wont win the series. we are incapable of winning at fenway in the postseason. its a fact. red sox are banged up, but they do have better starting pitching than we do. however, our hitting is better than before. something that could decide the series: jason varitek. he's old and teams are stealing bases on him like crazy. he cant throw anyone out for the life of him. if we get on base, you know we are running all series long.

still though, i hate to be negative, but they have better starting pitching, which always wins in the postseason. they have the postseason experience. they dont have the mindset like we do. they have papelbon, we have fuentes. i hate papelbon more than any other player but id rather have him in the 9th over fuentes. in the last four times we have faced them in the post season we have won 1 game, they have won 12. i hope they win. i cant stand the sox. i hope they prove me wrong that this season isnt like all the others. seeing is believing.

less than 2 weeks away

only two more weeks until 'the invention of lying' hits the theaters. this is the latest ricky gervais project. if you read this blog then you probably know me and if you know me, then you know im a huge fan of ricky. his last movie, 'ghost town' was easily one of the best movies of last year. unfortunately few people saw it. but you would be hard pressed to find anyone that didnt like it. if someone didnt like it then there is no point in continuing to try and maintain a relationship with that person. i know that is harsh, but to not like that movie is the same as not enjoying comedy. why would you want to associate with someone that doesnt like comedy and is depressed all day? you wouldnt. so dont.

anyways, i dont want to hype up the movie too much and make people have too high of expectations, but at the same time, i would rather over-hype the movie and get people to go than not talk about it and have more people miss out on a fantastic movie, just like what happened with 'ghost town.' usually ive seen a movie before i pitch it so i am going out on a limb by selling this before i have 'screened it.' but im feeling pretty confident that this is a surefire bet. maybe not the greatest movie of all time, but worth the price of admission. seriously though, everything he does is brilliant. hopefully he comes through again with this movie.

anyways, for those perhaps unfamiliar with him and for those that love him and want to see some great stuff and get pumped for the movie: here are two clips from his appearances on the last two emmy award shows. they are just so funny. worth watching. after that is the 'invention of lying trailer.' after that, just for fun is his opening for his 'politics' stand up show. it does have some strong language, but its in british so for some reason it doesnt sound as bad or come across as strong as when someone says it in american. sort of like when someone swears in spanish. bad, but not as bad as swearing in english. enjoy. and go see the movie on oct. 2.

ignorance is bliss

with some things in life its just better when you are ignorant. i think that one of those things is a knowledge of germs. i think that little kids just have it better in this life because they dont have a concept of or really think about germs. granted, some basic knowledge is probably important, but i can see why they can and do make people go crazy. i wouldnt classify myself as a 'germ freak,' but i'm definitely aware. in a way though i cant really help it. i saw a tv 'primetime special' about germs in the bathroom. i guess i could have turned the channel but i stuck it out, and now im scarred. did you know that the dirtiest places, or most germ filled places in the bathroom are the floor and the faucet handle? the floor makes sense because its a floor. you wouldnt think the sink faucet handle until you realize that everyone touches the faucet before washing their hands and after taking care of business. so there. enjoy the knowledge that just does more damage than good. enjoy washing your hands and then looking at the dirty faucet handle and turning it off with your wrist for the rest of your life. the door handle, the notoriously 'dirty' place in the bathroom, is actually not so dirty. its one of the cleaner places since so many people use towels to grab the handle and in a way wipe off the door handle every time they open it.

so this past weekend, our whole family got together and my mom rented one of those big bounce tanks (it even had spiderman like the picture above) for all of the nieces and nephews to play in throughout the day. it was a huge hit. however, it did smell like hepatitis. im not exactly sure what hepatitis smells like, but just think of the ball rooms at chuck 'e cheese's. the one's where there is a two year old playing in them with his diaper half off. a nice combination of dirty kids and urine. anyways, i suggested that we wipe it down with some clorox. we did, and it smelled better, who knows if it actually mattered. but the 'problem' with cleaning it, is that none of the little kids cared. its a 'problem' because now that the weekend is over, i have a cold, but i dont think any of the kids do.

so i have a couple of (probably bogus) theories that i have adopted in life. i dont know that i live by them as much as i just use them as when convenient. for instance, one of my 'theories' is that its better to not use lip balm, or body lotion, or conditioner etc. because when you do, your body just creates a dependency on these items. you see, your skin naturally produces oils so that it doesn't dry out. by using things like lotion, your skin stops naturally taking care of itself since it relies on the lotion. its sort of like with drugs. your body creates a dependency on drugs and other areas of the body start shutting down and relying exclusively on the drugs or the outside substances. now i realize that this theory is completely baseless and false. im basically just lazy and dont want to use these items. i have no good reason for not wanting to use them, so i just make up theories that support my decisions. it is also a fun conversation piece.

person: 'do you have any chapstick?'

me: 'no. my body doesnt need those types of things. leave me alone lower lifeform.'

they are also fun theories to have when you are married to a woman whose father is a dermatologist and three of her brothers are also dermatologists. i think this may be the reason nellie just laughs and is speechless whenever i tell her i dont need to use any of these items. its either that or the logic and argument is so good that she's just stumped and doesnt have a reply.

another theory i have that relates to all of this is that being sick is all mental. usually referring to things like colds and flus. ill tell nellie that she isnt really sick and that its just mental. im such a caring husband. i dont think she had any idea how sympathetic of a guy she was marrying. so again, i know that this theory is also false and baseless, but sometimes i wonder if the thinking about germs and worry about them can actually cause us to get sick. if it supposedly can work where thinking you arent sick can help you get over your illness, then naturally worrying about germs or getting sick can also cause you to get sick more often. i realize that the theory isnt true, therefore there can be no logical opposite. however, my weekend does support my theory (not terribly surprising since i put a spin on most things when necessary to make them support the theory): the kids didnt care about germs. they laughed, and cried a lot in the bounce tank, and probably licked it or fell on it with their mouths open. they were so happy to play in the bounce tank that there was no time to think about meaningless things like germs and getting sick. so they didnt.

meanwhile, i, the fatherless uncle, worried about the well-being of my nieces and nephews playing in the hepatitis bounce tank and insisted that we clean it. i worried about them getting sick and it made me get sick. thus, ignorance is bliss because you dont get sick. non-ignorance, or knowledge is sadness since it results in sickness. yes, its a airtight theory. i should be a doctor. with this type of sound logic, im clearly a successful lawyer.

sports fever

so i said in another post that march is the best sports month of the year. and i think i stick by that statement/post. march madness is an incredibly exciting time and european soccer and the champions league soccer really gets exciting in march. but fall is such a magical sports time. the baseball season is coming to a close. its always exciting especially when the angels are in the playoffs. normally i would say that as long as we dont run into the red sox then we have a chance, but i dont think anyone could beat the yankees this year. they have better pitching and probably a better offense. the angels offense is better than previous years, but i still dont see how we can get past the yankees. regardless, playoff baseball is just fantastic. last year before we had cable, i would drag nellie out to restaurants with tv's each night so that we could watch the games. im sure we spent more money on food than what a cable bill would have cost. watching games on the couch isnt nearly as memorable as sitting on bar stools at lucille's in long beach though.

another great part about fall is the start of european futbol. matt and i are flirting with doing a soccer podcast. why? because its fun to 'play' radio dj and we have nothing better to do with our lives. we have actually recorded two podcasts, but we haven't put them up on itunes. part of that is due to the fact that we dont have a name for our podcast. last season we practically spoke each week on the phone about the happening in euro soccer. i also found myself having conversations with various friends each week about soccer, so we figured we should record the conversations and pretend that people care to listen to them.

im not sure who reads this blog, so i dont know if any futbol fans even read this. real madrid had a typical start. lots of offensive fire power, no defense. they won their opener 3-2. still vulnerable in the back. granted, they dont have pepe 'the back scratcher.' they also are missing sergio ramos who is out with injury. they are two key parts to the defense, but you cant win with just offense. hopefully xabi and lass solidify the midfield and keep things under control.

the epl is exciting. man u had a cheap win against arsenal. man u is vulnerable this year, not quite as much as liverpool, but i wouldnt bet on them over arsenal or chelsea right now. granted, its far too early to make too many predictions. im telling you, this futbol stuff is exciting.

but speaking of exciting, a little on the pigskin and the start of the football season. i guess i dont have too much to say but i was thinking about boise state v. oregon on thursday night to kick off the season and it got me excited. there is of course the cougs. last year the expectations were off the charts, which made us ripe for big disappointment, which is what happened. 'quest for perfection'? really? who thought of that. i understand the desire for an undefeated season, but to put that on all your t-shirts, you are just setting yourself up for a let down. anyways, i think that expectations are toned down this year. i dont know how they cant be when you open against oklahoma and the returning heisman trophy winner. no matter the result of that game, i think its a great game to start the season. there is a chance we could catch them by surprise and pull of an unbelievable upset, which i dont think we could do later in the season. if we do beat them, that would be a huge confident booster. but if we lose, i think it will help keep our expectations in check and remind us that we arent invincible. in years past we start off well and beat chumps like utah state or wyoming in september and early october, but then november rolls around and we fall apart. id rather take an early loss to oklahoma if it meant we then went on to win the rest of our games.

nellie is just as excited as i am. she cant wait for football on mondays and thursdays and saturdays, more futbol on saturdays (and sometimes late on sundays) and baseball on the days in between. as it is she is making cookies to celebrate sportscenter being on right now. she said its for mutual tomorrow night, but she jumped off the couch so quickly when sportscenter started that i know she was just bursting with excitement for the hour of sports coverage. its only september 1st and she can hardly contain herself. its gonna be a great fall.

accomplishments and crankiness

so i have three sort of random, but sort of connected thoughts that have gone through my mind today.

so first of all, i realize that i get cranky when i'm idle, or better said, slothful. idle is fine, but when im just being lazy and not accomplishing anything, then i can sometimes get in a foul mood. take this morning for example. i had every intention of getting up and working on our backyard. i had been planning and thinking about it all week. i slept in a bit and when i got out of bed i had a bowl of cereal. the english premiere league started today (more on this in another post) and so i sat down to eat breakfast and watch a game. one thing turns into another and suddenly im still in my underwear watching tv and now its 11. the morning is pretty much wasted. i still need to go to home depot and buy some stuff for the backyard. nellie then asks if when we go to home depot, if we can stop off at costco, which is literally next door (well, as 'next door' as you can get when dealing with massive warehouses. they share the same giant parking lot). but her bringing up going to costco got me a little bothered and cranky. and i realize that i was cranky for two reasons.

the first reason is because i was just sort of mad at myself and just in a bad mood because i wasnt accomplishing anything. ive realized that there is a connection between accomplishing things and happiness or feeling good about life. even at work, which i dont particularly love, i find that the worst days are the days where i dont accomplish much. and that is partly because i cant help but think in the back of my head how screwed i am for not billing a bunch of hours that day. but its also because its as though my brain or body hasn't been challenged or stimulated or anything and it just leaves me upset and a little depressed. i dont enjoy the type of law that i do, but doing it and accomplishing something, makes me feel better than not doing it. doing something i dont enjoy makes me happier than not doing something i dont enjoy. its sort of strange how that works.

(granted, i think that can only take you so far and perhaps happiness is the wrong word to use. because i wouldnt say on productive days that im happy, well i am happy, but its more of a feeling of satisfaction.)

the second reason i got a little cranky at the idea of going to costco is because i dont enjoy grocery shopping. costco is sort of different and i think i was decently behaved while we were there, but if there is something that brings out the male pms in me, its grocery shopping. and i dont know why. i feel bad that nellie has to put up with me. my friend dave reid warned me before i got married about 'going to target.' he told me that he loathes target since he got married because target trips last hours and girls buy so much random stuff and 'junk,' and it all costs a ton. from a guy's point of view you walk in empty handed and walk out $200 poorer. a girl will argue that youre not poorer because 'look at all the stuff we got.' but thats a moot point with guys and not a good argument. from a guy's perspective, everything in the bags besides the toilet paper you probably didnt need to buy, so you are $200 poorer because you exchanged that money for things you dont need. even the toilet paper probably isnt needed since there are still kleenex in the house.

anyways, target is bad, but i really struggle at the grocery store. probably because its very different from when i was single. when i was single i lived off of cereal for breakfast and late night snacks, pb & j for lunch with some cookies or something, and pasta roni for dinner. a delicacy that i have introduced nellie to since being married. sometimes, if i was being healthy, i would buy a couple of apples. thats it though. that was essentially my diet. if something was lacking, i made up for it with fast food. shopping was cheap, and overall pretty unhealthy. granted, i broke the bank by eating out, but whatever.

now that we are married, it feels like we frequent the grocery store once a week (realistically probably once every other week), and it kills me. i dont know why. i realize nellie is just taking care of me. she plans meals and always buys fresh fruit and vegetables. she is always talking about 'leafy greens' and can tell you the last date and time that she had her leafy greens and whether its been too long since we had them. im sure these are all good things and my body (and bowels) are better for it, but it means that we arent in and out of the grocery store in 10 minutes and the bill is 5 times as much as when i was single. its not entirely like a target trip because i know that i will be using the things we bought, but it takes so long to buy the stuff and we go through it so quickly and i know that we will be back blowing more money on it in just a couple weeks. its just too much for me to handle and i get cranky. i slouch over the cart and whine and ask when we will be done and stomp my feet when nellie says we still have to get buttermilk for a recipe she wants to try. i knock stuff off the shelves onto the ground and kick it and run over it with the cart. then when we get to the register i ask her if we really need everything. she asks if im going to be like this every time we go shopping. i tell her yes and remind her that she doesnt have to invite me. im a pill. one year in and she still loves me. i think so at least.

anyways, those first two things dont exactly relate to this last thing, but sort of, plus i didnt want to do another post. nellie and i saw 'julie and julia' tonight. we wanted to see 'the paper heart' but it was sold out. so nellie gave me the options of 'julie and julia' or 'the time travelers wife.' i tried to fake an injury and tell her that something was in my eye and that we better just go home, but it was to no avail.

honestly though, the movie wasnt that bad. good actually. here is why meryl streep has been nominated for like 18 academy awards: because she, like johnny depp or other great actors, convinces you that the character they are playing on screen is exactly how they would be if you met them on the street in real life. they are that convincing. with other actors you know how they would be in real life because they play the same character or act the same in every movie.

that aside, the movie is good and a well told story about food and accomplishing things. our wedding photographer saw it and discussed on her blog the many things the movie made her think about. one of which was asking the question: 'am i living up to my full potential.' its interesting because nellie and i felt the same way after and talked how the movie, in an interesting way, is inspiring.

not that its any sort of revolutionary or new concept, but im reading a book right now that talks about the reciprocal connection between happiness and success. essentially, studies show that happy people are more successful people, in many areas of life. also, studies show that success, in many areas, not just work, makes people happy, which of course in turn, leads to more success, and then more happiness etc. etc. the movie was cool because it was just two, seemingly ordinary women, finding something they love and doing it. and what is great, they both gained success out of it. not necessary of course, but a nice added bonus.

anyways, i wish i had something or some point that i was making to tie everything together, but not really. just sort of throwing thoughts out there. i realize that i feel better when i'm accomplishing things. nothing new. i really think i could accomplish more or at least do more things i love. ideally those things will bring success, although im not sure yet how podcasting can or will make me any money. but hey, if i love doing it and its some sort of accomplishment, then it brings happiness, which is all that really matters. as long as nellie doesnt drag me into the grocery story anymore, then i think ill have life all figured out.

quote of the day

'if at first you dont succeed, redefine what you did as success.'

-stephen colbert

the most interesting man

so it seems that many commercials have their tag line or their 'mascot' or trademark or something. usually if it works or is 'catchy' then they just beat it into the ground - think taco bell chihuahua. when a company does that, i normally get so sick of the mascot or idea, that i grow to hate it, even if i thought it was brilliant when it first debuted. i think everyone loved the taco bell dog the first time they saw him, 75 commercials later and you wished he was never born.

sometimes though, no matter what they do with their mascot, you cant get enough of it. i got sick of the geico cavemen, but i cant get enough of the geico wad of money with the eyeballs. i have no idea what it even means. i get of course that it represents the money you could be saving with geico, but why it has eyes and there is techno music whenever anyone looks at it doesnt make sense, but i think its brilliant and im a fan.

as i was driving home yesterday i heard yet another commercial on the radio for the dos equis 'most interesting man in the world.' im sure most people are familiar with these commercials. not quite sure why im such a fan of the dos equis guy/commercials, but they are fantastic. im sure many people hear the commercials and think they are so lame, but i think they are pretty great. it just has some voice that is talking about the most interesting man in the world and giving some random characteristics or commentaries about his life. then the man comes along and says, 'i dont always drink beer, but when i do, i prefer dos equis...stay thirsty my friends.' well, unfortunately i dont drink beer, but i love your commercials and if i did, i would drink dos equis for you, my friend.

here was the commercial i heard yesterday along with a couple of their tv ads. the first and last one are great. that second to last one killed me though for some reason. so stupid, yet so funny.

He once buried a time capsule full of things that haven't happened yet.

He has been pronounced dead 7 times...make that 8.

His bear hugs are actually hugs he gives to bears.

He can't be bought, but his beard clippings have been know to show up on auction.

He has never lost a sock.

If he disagrees with you, it is because you are wrong.





in some commercials he also provides his opinion on some subjects. this one is for nellie. his response is priceless.



He'd never initiate a conversation about the weather, even in a typhoon.

When it is raining, it is because he is sad.

Even his parrot's advice is insightful.

If there were an interesting gland, his would be larger than most men's entire lower intestines.

His shirts never wrinkle.

He is left-handed. And right-handed.

Even if he forgets to put postage on his mail, it gets there.

friday afternoon song?

so i realize that the blog has been a little music heavy lately. but i wanted to share another new favorite song. sorry it immediately starts playing. i couldnt find a video or anything. ill take it down once i make another post. nellie introduced me to this song and band. im around her quite a bit so its easy for her to share this stuff with me. the song is called 'happy as can be' by 'cut off your hands.' they are an aussie group. anyways, its just a great, addicting song. it gets going quick and never really slows down. nothing incredibly brilliant about the song, just a fun song. so if that beck song perfectly captured a sunday morning, both in name and feel, then i guess this song would be friday afternoon. just got off work and just all around happy to be done with work and off to the weekend. you might have plans, might not, doesnt matter, work is in the rear view mirror, the steering wheel is your drum set, its a friday and life is great.



on another quick music side note, jack white's next side project is out. the band is called 'dead weather.' dave axelgard says that they are good. i havnt heard it, but jack white is really a brilliant musician and anything he does is worth hearing.

the memorial

so nellie and i were fortunate enough to go to the michael jackson memorial yesterday. nellie got tickets through her verizon connection - mike vega. he's the same guy that got us tickets to the spice girls reunion tour. he also once got us tickets to a clippers/76ers game. needless to say, he hooks us up with all the hot events. two of those were actually pretty hot tickets. the clippers would have been a hot ticket had it been any other team not named the clippers.

anyways, the memorial was rather amazing. i think i might have been picking it apart a little too much when i was talking to my mom about it last night. but nellie said it best when she said, 'he's michael jackson. what were you expecting? as though anything could really live up his legacy.' which is so true. one of the speakers at the memorial said that he was the greatest entertainer of all time. nellie and i thought about that statement for about 2 seconds before we completely agreed. so you have the greatest entertainer of all time that is literally worshiped in many countries around the globe, but yet the last 15-20 years of his life were incredibly shady and all around odd sometimes, and you have to have a memorial for him. plus, given the fact that he's a worldwide celebrity, there has to be some sort of public memorial. im sure it would have been easiest for the family to just have a private burial with family and friends that knew him best. but you cant do that with michael jackson. yet it wasnt a tribute concert. apparently that is coming later and im sure it will be the big stage massive explosion production and will probably be really good. but there had to be music. no music at an mj memorial would be like no one giggling at ricky gervais' funeral. but you cant exactly sing or dance to 'beat it' or 'bad' or 'black or white' at a funeral. just wouldnt be fitting. and because it was a memorial, there were speakers like a normal funeral, only the world was invited to this one. so all things considered and taking into account all of those factors (greatest entertainer; strange, strange ending; incredible musician, but this is a memorial; want it to be somewhat personal and intimate, yet the world is on the guest list) i think they did a good job.


anyways, here are my thoughts on what we saw:

speakers:

kobe bryant and magic johnson:

kobe was fine. short and simple. which was good, since it didnt really make much sense why he was there. maybe he thought it was the other mj - michael jordan-that died? (5 minutes for that one?) i guess he was friends with singer mj and they did speak often, but lots of people did. im sure kobe wouldnt have been there had the memorial not been in his house and were he not the biggest basketball player on the planet at the moment. im sure ac green or vlade divac were both friends with mj back in their laker days, but yet they werent asked to speak. not that it matters, kobe kept it short and simple and did well.

magic was great. he told a great story about going to mj's house and when he got there mj's chef asked what magic would like to eat and he said grilled chicken. first of all, how cool would that be to go to a house that has a live in chef and when they ask if you would like anything to eat, you could say anything in the world and they would whip it up for you? i dont know what i would ask for, but it would be pretty cool. anyways, magic said that he and mj ended up sitting on the floor and talking and eating kfc. kfc! he said he thought it was the coolest thing that mj liked kfc. pretty great story.

smokey robinson and a producer from motown records.

nellie really liked both of these guys. i did too. smokey robinson seems incredibly normal and down to earth. both just talked about knowing young michael and how amazing it was to hear a 10 year old boy sing with such passion, especially when he couldnt relate to the lyrics of the song (leaving a girl, losing your love etc.).

queen latifa was great. she also seems completely normal and down to earth. i dont know what it is about her, but she just seems very 'real.' maybe im off with that, but i enjoyed her remarks.

brooke shields.

she was actually my favorite. nellie didnt like her remarks as much as others. i liked the personal stories she told. it made the memorial touching or made it seem real. i had no idea she and mj were such good and longtime friends. but she shared many personal stories about them hanging out as kids and teenagers. just normal stuff and normal stories that everyone could relate to. granted they were on a different scale. she told a story about how they were up one night before a wedding and just laughing and being mischievous, normal stuff that you do growing up. the only difference was that it was elizabeth taylor's wedding as opposed to your cousin who lives in ogden, utah. but it was cool to hear about how even though we all know him as the larger than life legend, he did have a side that you and i can relate to. i also think i liked her remarks because i feel like its the little random moments in life that live on past death. we all have them with many people and its those moments that are unique and you remember and that make it so hard when the person is gone. you cant really relate with the person speaking on the exact moment per se, but you can relate to having also shared random moments with close friends.

others:

rev. al sharpton. its no wonder he has made good money with speaking. he has a gift. lots of flowery language and plenty of goose bump moments. by the end, he had the crowd cheering. really, really impressive. only because in the moment, you are completely sucked in because the speaking was so exciting. granted, flowery, hollow words only get you so far and only leave you on a high for so long. its like the mission conference where you see clips from rudy or top gun and you are all pumped, only to lose that high 5 steps after you leave the conference.

he spoke a lot about michael and his impact on the color barrier (i know. surprising that he spoke about the color barrier of all topics). it made me think about about it more. he clearly demonstrated the ability to break the color barrier by going from black to white (5 more minutes). but the rev. made it sound like michael was the first black musician to come out of motown or be in people's homes. im sure the supremes and the temptations did more for breaking the color barrier than mj. not to downplay any impact mj may have had. those groups never reached a worldwide status as large as mj. but i view mj as more like a tiger woods. not the first african american golfer, so he didnt 'break' the color barrier, but what he has done in his field and his domination of it, has far surpassed what any other african american did. not sure if that analogy works. lets move on to the worst speaker:

some random congresswoman from houston. this lady was terrible. it was clear that although she was giving remarks about michael, she was just there to try and elevate herself. she had no real reason to be up there other than a government representative. she should have acknowledged that and sat down. instead she went off on how 'in this great country, you are innocent until proven guilty!' people then cheered, which was just lame because she doesnt really care about that, she just wanted to be a crowd pleaser. im not saying he's guilty, but our system was made by people and people are imperfect. its not flawless. the remark had nothing to do with anything else she was rambling about. she was just trying to get the crowd to remember her. thanks for your lame self promotion. now go back to texas and work on seceding from the union.

the music:

john mayer and stevie wonder.

both were great. i need to say that upfront. i enjoyed both quite a bit while they were happening. if i could have changed one thing, i think it would have been to have stevie do an all instrumental piece instead of john mayer and have john mayer sing with his song. stevie's song was good, but his intro where he was just playing the piano and not singing was really great. i would have liked for him to just continue playing. and there was nothing wrong with john mayer's solo, but i think he should have added words. again, both were great.

jermaine jackson and usher

do you know what i learned today? jermaine's son is named jermajesty. jermajesty! i only wish i was creative to come up with that name. nellie always complains that i never like any of the boys names she suggests (like skye. yes you read that correctly). well, jermajesty is one that i think we can both agree is a great name for our first son. its the next baby name fad, like brooklyn or cash.

anyways, i liked jermaine's song, didnt really care for him singing it. i felt the same way about usher. but at the same time, i liked that the songs werent polished and were flawed. sure, i probably would have rather seen usher do a 'billie jean' tribute and light up the stage. that boy can dance. but it was nice that the songs were 'real.' they werent pre-recorded like most concerts these days. the singing wasnt flawless. usher cried. im not sure if jermaine sang the right notes. but its ok. it just shows they are human. its nice seeing these people showed their human side at an event that reminds everyone that they too are human and merely mortal.

mariah carey and some dude

i guess mariah carey gave some apology today for her performance. but none was needed. it probably wasnt her best performance ever. but she wasnt performing in front of paying customers. it was just nice hearing someone with her talent sing a michael jackson classic, even if it wasnt perfect.

jennifer hudson

so i have been giving everyone a pass as though they couldnt have pulled off a flawless performance, yet jennifer hudson just crushed it. not sure that she needed the interpretive dancers. i had to go to the bathroom so bad and i was about to get up to go but then i heard the intro to the free willy song. a personal favorite. but man, what a set of pipes. of course if anyone could come through in that type of situation it was her. didnt she sing the national anthem at the super bowl only a couple months after her mom and other family members were shot in their home? isnt she also 8 months pregnant right now? good night this girl is impossible to keep down.

this video doesnt really do it justice. nellie brought up a good point about how things sound so much better live. when its echoing through the arena and the bass is really pumping, it really just blows through you and makes the hair on your back stand up the entire time.



so this is getting rather long. the memorial ended with a producer selling everyone on michael jackson and mourning that his company just lost out on millions. the final two songs were of course mj classics.

overall it was fantastic. when i said i always wanted to go to a michael jackson concert i never envisioned it would be this one. it wasnt a perfect production like i would have expected from an actual michael jackson concert. but he wasnt a perfect person. he was human that lived an extraordinary life. not sure how you memorialize such a person. probably by celebrating his life with some perfect moments, some flawed moments, and leaving with an overall feeling that we were lucky to have him, and even luckier that we got to experience it live.

long live the king

so my friend lindsey wrote me today and said she was looking forward to my michael jackson tribute post. she, as well as most close friends and family should know, i am a big fan. i recently wrote that i would pay more money to see him live and would like to see him over any other group or performer. but, im not quite sure what to say about his passing. so much has been said or will be said. people will just throw out their thoughts and opinions all weekend long. i have had many wandering thoughts. bill simmons, a sportswriter for espn said it well in an email exchange he had with his friend that "Before he went off the deep end, Jackson was definitely one of those rare, "I specifically remember moments of my life that he was involved in" celebrities." and its so true. i had one of those moments.

for me it was the spring/summer of 1999. i had just finished my freshman year of college. i was still living in provo and just working and taking some classes while waiting to go on the mission. i was living with my older brother, but he was in the process of rekindling a relationship with the girl that he would eventually marry. they had dated once before and were starting to hang out again. in typical fashion though they were pulling the, 'we arent dating again we just hang out 12 hours a day together and disappear without telling anyone where we are.' not that they need to tell anyone. they were adults. but we all have had friends like that or been in that situation and done it ourselves.

'hey, where's matt?'

'not sure, he was just here. did he leave?'

'i dont know. i didnt hear him say he was going anywhere, nor did i hear him leave, but i cant find him.'

12 hours later: 'oh, hey matt, welcome back from where ever it was you just were for the past day.'

back to michael. so i was dating a girl named sharman (yes, that was her name and she was from utah). she was a huge michael jackson fan. she was a cougarette and a dancer and could pop and lock like michael unlike anyone ive ever seen. she was actually working on a cruise ship for the summer, but i knew that she really liked michael jackson so i decided to make a mix tape for her. but not a mix tape like cassette tape, like a vhs mix tape. this was before the days of youtube and easy internet video access. so i went out and rented michael jackson music videos and did what any good mormon, boy scout would do. i hooked up a couple of vcr's at my sister lark's house and started pirating copies of my favorite music videos. i had pretty much set up a residence at lark's house. she and her roommates were michael fans. one roommate, jill, was actually reading a biography about him. lark was a dance major and a full-fledged fan of michael and his music. it was just the cosmos coming together. a long time fan. a budding dance major that liked his music and really appreciated his dancing. and myself, the recent convert just starting to learn of the brilliance that is michael jackson - especially when on stage.

but i remember in particular one afternoon, i was at lark's place, i dont think anyone was there but me. i was just hanging out, doing my thing - illegally pirating some michael jackson videos. i remember just sitting there on the edge of the coffee table just a couple feet in front of the tv and staring and watching smooth criminal and just being in awe of literally how smooth and effortlessly michael waltzed across a floor (jump to 6:35 in the video below). im as stiff as a board on the dance floor. i try and i enjoy dancing. but if there is anything i am not when im dancing, its smooth and fluid. and for whatever reason i clearly remember that moment and will always remember the summer of 99 as the michael jackson conversion summer. nothing necessarily amazing or special. but i had ive been a fan ever since and really had an appreciation for his music and especially dancing.



so that summer was probably my michael jackson moment, besides of course captain EO moments once a year at disneyland growing up. i always thought the guy was weird and sort of a creep until i got to know the michael jackson i missed in the 80s, and i was hooked ever since. not that he wasnt weird or didnt have issues, but unfortunately i heard more about the strange michael before i ever really got to know the better michael.

so unfortunately there was that other side. i am looking forward to when books are released about michael. im sure a lot will pour out right away, but hopefully at some point someone will write one that tells his story and the author isnt just in it for the money. the man clearly was a piece of work. i wasnt going to talk about it because its not fun to dwell on the other half of his life. but i do have some thoughts on it. nellie said yesterday that in a way she was glad he died. because he seemed so troubled and lonely that now he gets to escape all of those problems. and i think its so true. he was about to do his tour and i know that i, and i think everyone hoped that somehow it would be a resurrection of that old michael jackson that completely blew you away at some point in your life. but i think that was extremely wishful thinking. who knows, maybe he would have made a grand comeback and reverted back to being the greatest thing ever. but i dont think that was possible. he probably could have performed. heaven knows he could perform. and im sure it was something he could never lose no matter how much of his brain he had lost. but we are all so much of a product of our life experiences. look, i hardly know anything about his life. but he was 5 when he was started lead singing for the jackson 5. 5 years old! at 5 years old he became an entertainer. at 11 they had a number 1 hit. again, at 11 years old he had already been a performer for 6 years and was lead singing for a hit group. 11! then of course there are all sorts of stories of family abuse and other nasty stuff. those problems alone mess people up for life. couple it with being the biggest thing the world has ever known and you will for sure end up a head case. its funny how i, and probably many other people, dream sometimes of being famous (like a famous football star for real madrid), but i wonder how much other people, like michael jackson, maybe just dreamed of being normal. he was never really a part of society. at 5 he started performing and he was soon thereafter a superstar. so the only part of his life that you and i would call normal or could relate to are his first 5 years. if that. i wonder if he would have given it all up for a simple life with a working dad and a stay at home mom and some brothers and sisters that never went on to become famous.

so not to get too religious in the post. but again, these are my wandering thoughts during this whole thing. one of the coolest things about being religious and believing in something beyond this life, is the belief that there is something better beyond this life and that you can leave things here. at some point you can be relieved of everything and it will get sorted out later. and maybe not always in a good way. it wont be chocolate chip cookies and milk for everyone. i pirated movies in my day (i have since gone out and bought michael jackson music video dvd's so that sort of makes up for it, right? plus vhs, was about 2 years shy of becoming completely obsolete and worthless so that should factor into it as well - its those types of sound arguments that im sure will help me one day in court). but there is great power and comfort in that hope of something better and things getting sorted out. so did michael jackson molest children? theres a really good chance. nothing technically proven in court, but lots of bad evidence that makes it seem like he did. was he himself molested? not sure. abused? definitely. does that justify any of his wrongdoings? absolutely not. does it some how factor in to everything? i would think, but i dont know. but i dont have to sort it out. but i know michael was clearly troubled and had a lot of demons and that he doesnt have to deal with everything while someone sorts everything out.

i'm sad he died. i really wished to see him perform live. it really was a life dream of mine. i hoped that it was possible. but ill admit, sometimes it was hard being a fan. he would just do so many strange things that i wanted to overlook, but just couldnt. he would do things and people would ask if i really liked that weirdo. id have to try and explain that i did, but he was strange, but he was so great back in the day. so as bummed that i am that he's gone, i think the glory years were long gone and never coming back anyways. if there is anything good from this, its that whatever demons and crazy issues he was dealing with and carrying he no longer has to deal with. it also means that we no longer have to deal with remembering him that way. his troubled side will linger for awhile, but eventually we will just remember the great, and let someone else deal with the bad. which is sort of how it should be with everyone. but especially someone that was immortalized by the world over, unlike anything we will probably ever see again. long live the king, of pop.

holga photos

17-Year-Old Thinks She's Getting Into Photography

June 8, 2009 | The Onion Issue 45•24

EUGENE, OR—After wasting an afternoon taking pictures of a broken tricycle, moss on trees, and the shadow of a wrought-iron fence, Churchill Alternative High School senior Jessica Ivers falsely informed family and friends Saturday that she was getting into photography. "I love the way real film looks," said Ivers, who has owned the old single-lens reflex 35 millimeter camera for exactly one week, and named as her favorite photographers "probably Diane Arbus" and the French guy who took the picture of the boy with the wine bottle. "I'm really fascinated by textures, and I think I'll be able to get some good shots of my grandma's hands this weekend." Sources close to Ivers expect the camera to join her clarinet and yoga mat under her bed once she pays $14.85 to develop the roll of clumsy, overexposed images.


so i'm not getting into photography, but i do find it interesting. dont worry, i didnt go out and buy an expensive camera with a big lens and im not about therefore call myself a photographer and start asking you to refer your friends so that i can do their weddings even though i have no experience or training beyond reading the instruction manual for my expensive camera. not remotely.

but nellie and i do own a holga camera. two actually. my friend bought me one a couple years ago and they are pretty cool. nellie brought one to europe and i'm glad she did. so i like the holga because you never know what you are going to get. its not digital and requires film so you cant immediately see how the picture turned out. you also have to advance the film manually and you have to try and line up each picture correctly(?). not sure how to explain that. there is no automatic advancement that puts the slide in the right position. so sometimes your pictures overlap if you dont line it up exactly, which almost always happens because there is no way to know if its lined up correctly. also, if you forget to wind it, then it will just take pictures on top of each other. it also has an old school button which literally just opens up the shutter. so depending on how long you hold down the button will determine how much light comes in to each picture. i dont know if its for that reason or another, but the colors usually get blown out.

so as you can tell, the pictures are pretty unpredictable as to how they will come out. again, im not getting into photography. im not about to start selling these photos (unless of course you wanted to buy them), but i did think some were worth posting.



so this and the last one might be my favorite. i think its mainly because of the colors. nothing is really going on in the photo. the coastline is of course great, but the holga doesnt really give you much detail and its not as good as any digital camera. but the colors are fascinating. i feel like it has a colors and a feel that people would try and mimic with a photo editing program. its dull and feels like the photo could have been taken in the 1970s. except that if it was taken in the 70s, there is no way the blue in the ocean would be as bright and vibrant. its almost as though it captures the colors in their purest and best form. not entirely, but the sand is very brown and dull. it wasnt that dull of course, it was lighter sand, just like the ocean wasnt that blue, although it was lighter than the pacific ocean and was pretty blue. somehow the one is dulled down and the other blown out and they create a great contrast. believe me, not all turn out like this, most are just a mess, but sometimes you get something interesting, like this one.



this one is great only because the grass turned out yellow. why? i dont know. it wasnt yellow. it was some of the greenest and nicest grass ive ever been on. yet for some reason it comes out yellow. maybe because the film wasnt wound properly and so there was more light exposed on the picture when the next picture was taken. not sure. someone with a tiny bit of photography knowledge probably knows. this one also shows what happens when you dont wind the film properly and two photos overlap.



this one is actually four pictures combined. nellie forgot to wind the film after each photo so she ended up taking four pictures on top of each other. completely done by accident, but it made the field look fuller and it just looks really cool.



so i really like these two because it shows you the impact of the sun. pretty much the same photo, one just towards the sun and the other not. but the contrast and impact of the sun is awesome. but the one towards the sun doesnt get blown out and the whole image doesnt go bright yellow where you cant see anything. instead the colors just come out and explode. whereas the other one is dull but strong colors. again, it has a sort of faded, ancient feel to it or almost feels like its out of a scene from a horror film where they blur the screen and fade the colors.





nellie really likes this one. its just a random photo. this is our attempt at being 'artsy' with our photography, yet unoriginal. like taking photos of the texture of your grandma's hands, or a picture of your friends in front of that totally cool building downtown that is like old looking with the paint chipping off.



so nellie took this one. its just a random street in madrid. i like how the street and buildings are brown and look faded, yet there are random colors throughout, like the green tree, a strip of blue sky, and the random red shirt. again, its a fun camera because its so unpredictable. im sure many photographers know how to 'use' them so that their photos turn our how they want or how they expect. we dont really know what we are doing. which is actually better for us since it keeps our expectations low and makes it that much better when we get an interesting photo because we have no idea why it turned out but others didnt. sometimes its nice having things be unpredictable.

here a couple others: the temple and then a picture on omaha beach looking up at the hills and cliffs that the allied forces had to climb.