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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
