Friday, December 31, 2004
Fast and loose...
I'm still changing up the lineup. After Trekkies 2, Godzilla 2000 has just entered the realm of screenable movies. What a great horrid movie. I can't wait to see the final Godzilla movie that's coming out.
What next?
Microcosmos followed GITS INNOCENCE. GITS INNOCENCE? Not that great. I liked it better than the first though, so that's something. Microcosmos was amazing. Someday I need to find out just how they did the cinematography.
We started showing NAQOYQATSI, but it didn't play very well, so we took a detour... showing the trailers for All This and World War II, Blacula, Sister Street Fighter, The Wonderful Land of Oz, The Street Fighter's Last Revenge, Abba The Move and above all else STUNT ROCK .
After that we watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High . For whatever reason, I think it holds up so much better than say, American Pie, but then again it was written by Cameron Crowe.
After a pizza brake, we've just sat down to watch Trekkies 2.
We started showing NAQOYQATSI, but it didn't play very well, so we took a detour... showing the trailers for All This and World War II, Blacula, Sister Street Fighter, The Wonderful Land of Oz, The Street Fighter's Last Revenge, Abba The Move and above all else STUNT ROCK .
After that we watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High . For whatever reason, I think it holds up so much better than say, American Pie, but then again it was written by Cameron Crowe.
After a pizza brake, we've just sat down to watch Trekkies 2.
the third movie has just begun...
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Before this we watched The Yes Men which is a documentary from the same people that created American Movie, one of my favorite movies of the past few years. I don't know that I liked The Yes Men as much as American Movie but it was pretty decent.
I don't know what to expect with GITS:Innocence. I wasn't a big fan of the first when I saw it 10 years ago or so, but with a different mindset and age, maybe that will translate into a better impression of the sequel. Still only 4 people here, but we're munching on Puerco Pibil and Chicken soft tacos that are just MMMMMMMMagnifico. Oh they taste so good. Two of my favorite passions, movies and food all rolled into one.
More later.
I don't know what to expect with GITS:Innocence. I wasn't a big fan of the first when I saw it 10 years ago or so, but with a different mindset and age, maybe that will translate into a better impression of the sequel. Still only 4 people here, but we're munching on Puerco Pibil and Chicken soft tacos that are just MMMMMMMMagnifico. Oh they taste so good. Two of my favorite passions, movies and food all rolled into one.
More later.
liveblogging from Angela and Brian's "Numb-Butt-A-Thon"
So far, only three people are here... Ang, Gina and myself and we've
started watching the first movie of the day ONE MILLION YEARS
B.C.. So far, people sure were hirsute back a million years ago...
and apparently the beach clan has plenty of money for big hairdos.
Here comes the attack of the giant sea turtle! Because, y'know...
Turtles are scary when they're THAT BIG! Anyway, back to watching the
flick. -B
started watching the first movie of the day ONE MILLION YEARS
B.C.. So far, people sure were hirsute back a million years ago...
and apparently the beach clan has plenty of money for big hairdos.
Here comes the attack of the giant sea turtle! Because, y'know...
Turtles are scary when they're THAT BIG! Anyway, back to watching the
flick. -B
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Friday, November 12, 2004
Saturday, November 06, 2004
Quotes that really just confound me..
still completely numb after getting the first part of a root canal
today. As I drove in to the dentists office, there were 3 or 4 deer
wandering through the parking lot. I tried to get a picture, but they
ran off when I parked.
I've been lurking on Echo for the most part since the election results
came in, but I thought I'd post a few of the things that really just
confuse me. I don't understand the far left side of the aisle
sometimes. Some choice quotes..
In regards to Yasser Arafat..
" I think it's really bad. There is no clear leadership amongst the
Palestinians, and whatever you thought of Arafat, at least he was not an
extremist. Who knows what we'll get now?"
Arafat wasn't an extremist? The guy who has been coordinating suicide
murders the past few years?
In regards to preparing for the future...
"What we need is our own machine. We need funding, we need think-tankery
(if you will), and we need to build our own media (with media stars).
NPR isn't it. Air America is a nice model but it isn't penetrating the
Right, and it's way too small. Pacifica is too small, too radical and not
slick enough.
We need TV. We need the equivalent of a FOX News, but without the lies. And
for that we need money. Lots of money. Sell stock shares. If everyone who
voted Kerry bought one $100 share of stock, that's $5 billion. It's not a
donation it's an investment.
What happened with Gore's TV network?"
We just got through an election where everything in the world for the
most part was against getting Bush reelected. CBS news tried to spring
false memos... they tried to spring missing explosives stories. Air
America was created. A collection of viruently anti-bush documentaries
were made and they talk about needing infrastructure? I don't get it.
"We lost because we weren't prepared. Not because we were wrong. Not because
our values (if you will) are wrong.
The Right has been building their machine for 30-40 years. We've been at it
for 4, (2 really). AND WE ALMOST WON ANYWAY!"
you weren't prepared. You weren't PREPARED? I remember the
handwringing that happened after Bush lost in 92 and Clinton won
reelection in 96. We didn't have our ducks in a row then, but if it
also hadn't been for Perot, we might have had a chance. But to blame
not being prepared is folly. For better or worse, there's a war going
on. Presidents are generally reelected in war time, this was no
exception. In addition, there were a lot of people that didn't like
the idea of the Supreme Court going a certain direction for 30 years,
giving some of our sovereignty away by joining the world court and
furthur institutionalising more and more of society into the
government. I agree that there's a lot I don't agree with Bush on, but
I didn't vote for him just because he was a Christian, and I don't
think most other people did either.
"perhaps the left should follow karl rove's model for real and start
making calls to the entire country asking if they know jenna bush is
marrying mary cheney and they are having a black baby."
all of the calls I got from the Republican GOTV last weekend were more
about just getting TO the polls than they were about any issue in
particular.
anyway. it goes on and on. Maybe things will calm down, but I don't
think so. In the mean time, I'll continue to lurk.
-Brian
today. As I drove in to the dentists office, there were 3 or 4 deer
wandering through the parking lot. I tried to get a picture, but they
ran off when I parked.
I've been lurking on Echo for the most part since the election results
came in, but I thought I'd post a few of the things that really just
confuse me. I don't understand the far left side of the aisle
sometimes. Some choice quotes..
In regards to Yasser Arafat..
" I think it's really bad. There is no clear leadership amongst the
Palestinians, and whatever you thought of Arafat, at least he was not an
extremist. Who knows what we'll get now?"
Arafat wasn't an extremist? The guy who has been coordinating suicide
murders the past few years?
In regards to preparing for the future...
"What we need is our own machine. We need funding, we need think-tankery
(if you will), and we need to build our own media (with media stars).
NPR isn't it. Air America is a nice model but it isn't penetrating the
Right, and it's way too small. Pacifica is too small, too radical and not
slick enough.
We need TV. We need the equivalent of a FOX News, but without the lies. And
for that we need money. Lots of money. Sell stock shares. If everyone who
voted Kerry bought one $100 share of stock, that's $5 billion. It's not a
donation it's an investment.
What happened with Gore's TV network?"
We just got through an election where everything in the world for the
most part was against getting Bush reelected. CBS news tried to spring
false memos... they tried to spring missing explosives stories. Air
America was created. A collection of viruently anti-bush documentaries
were made and they talk about needing infrastructure? I don't get it.
"We lost because we weren't prepared. Not because we were wrong. Not because
our values (if you will) are wrong.
The Right has been building their machine for 30-40 years. We've been at it
for 4, (2 really). AND WE ALMOST WON ANYWAY!"
you weren't prepared. You weren't PREPARED? I remember the
handwringing that happened after Bush lost in 92 and Clinton won
reelection in 96. We didn't have our ducks in a row then, but if it
also hadn't been for Perot, we might have had a chance. But to blame
not being prepared is folly. For better or worse, there's a war going
on. Presidents are generally reelected in war time, this was no
exception. In addition, there were a lot of people that didn't like
the idea of the Supreme Court going a certain direction for 30 years,
giving some of our sovereignty away by joining the world court and
furthur institutionalising more and more of society into the
government. I agree that there's a lot I don't agree with Bush on, but
I didn't vote for him just because he was a Christian, and I don't
think most other people did either.
"perhaps the left should follow karl rove's model for real and start
making calls to the entire country asking if they know jenna bush is
marrying mary cheney and they are having a black baby."
all of the calls I got from the Republican GOTV last weekend were more
about just getting TO the polls than they were about any issue in
particular.
anyway. it goes on and on. Maybe things will calm down, but I don't
think so. In the mean time, I'll continue to lurk.
-Brian
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Quotes that really just confound me..
still completely numb after getting the first part of a root canal
today. As I drove in to the dentists office, there were 3 or 4 deer
wandering through the parking lot. I tried to get a picture, but they
ran off when I parked.
I've been lurking on Echo for the most part since the election results
came in, but I thought I'd post a few of the things that really just
confuse me. I don't understand the far left side of the aisle
sometimes. Some choice quotes..
In regards to Yasser Arafat..
" I think it's really bad. There is no clear leadership amongst the
Palestinians, and whatever you thought of Arafat, at least he was not an
extremist. Who knows what we'll get now?"
Arafat wasn't an extremist? The guy who has been coordinating suicide
murders the past few years?
In regards to preparing for the future...
"What we need is our own machine. We need funding, we need think-tankery
(if you will), and we need to build our own media (with media stars).
NPR isn't it. Air America is a nice model but it isn't penetrating the
Right, and it's way too small. Pacifica is too small, too radical and not
slick enough.
We need TV. We need the equivalent of a FOX News, but without the lies. And
for that we need money. Lots of money. Sell stock shares. If everyone who
voted Kerry bought one $100 share of stock, that's $5 billion. It's not a
donation it's an investment.
What happened with Gore's TV network?"
We just got through an election where everything in the world for the
most part was against getting Bush reelected. CBS news tried to spring
false memos... they tried to spring missing explosives stories. Air
America was created. A collection of viruently anti-bush documentaries
were made and they talk about needing infrastructure? I don't get it.
"We lost because we weren't prepared. Not because we were wrong. Not because
our values (if you will) are wrong.
The Right has been building their machine for 30-40 years. We've been at it
for 4, (2 really). AND WE ALMOST WON ANYWAY!"
you weren't prepared. You weren't PREPARED? I remember the
handwringing that happened after Bush lost in 92 and Clinton won
reelection in 96. We didn't have our ducks in a row then, but if it
also hadn't been for Perot, we might have had a chance. But to blame
not being prepared is folly. For better or worse, there's a war going
on. Presidents are generally reelected in war time, this was no
exception. In addition, there were a lot of people that didn't like
the idea of the Supreme Court going a certain direction for 30 years,
giving some of our sovereignty away by joining the world court and
furthur institutionalising more and more of society into the
government. I agree that there's a lot I don't agree with Bush on, but
I didn't vote for him just because he was a Christian, and I don't
think most other people did either.
"perhaps the left should follow karl rove's model for real and start
making calls to the entire country asking if they know jenna bush is
marrying mary cheney and they are having a black baby."
all of the calls I got from the Republican GOTV last weekend were more
about just getting TO the polls than they were about any issue in
particular.
anyway. it goes on and on. Maybe things will calm down, but I don't
think so. In the mean time, I'll continue to lurk.
-Brian
today. As I drove in to the dentists office, there were 3 or 4 deer
wandering through the parking lot. I tried to get a picture, but they
ran off when I parked.
I've been lurking on Echo for the most part since the election results
came in, but I thought I'd post a few of the things that really just
confuse me. I don't understand the far left side of the aisle
sometimes. Some choice quotes..
In regards to Yasser Arafat..
" I think it's really bad. There is no clear leadership amongst the
Palestinians, and whatever you thought of Arafat, at least he was not an
extremist. Who knows what we'll get now?"
Arafat wasn't an extremist? The guy who has been coordinating suicide
murders the past few years?
In regards to preparing for the future...
"What we need is our own machine. We need funding, we need think-tankery
(if you will), and we need to build our own media (with media stars).
NPR isn't it. Air America is a nice model but it isn't penetrating the
Right, and it's way too small. Pacifica is too small, too radical and not
slick enough.
We need TV. We need the equivalent of a FOX News, but without the lies. And
for that we need money. Lots of money. Sell stock shares. If everyone who
voted Kerry bought one $100 share of stock, that's $5 billion. It's not a
donation it's an investment.
What happened with Gore's TV network?"
We just got through an election where everything in the world for the
most part was against getting Bush reelected. CBS news tried to spring
false memos... they tried to spring missing explosives stories. Air
America was created. A collection of viruently anti-bush documentaries
were made and they talk about needing infrastructure? I don't get it.
"We lost because we weren't prepared. Not because we were wrong. Not because
our values (if you will) are wrong.
The Right has been building their machine for 30-40 years. We've been at it
for 4, (2 really). AND WE ALMOST WON ANYWAY!"
you weren't prepared. You weren't PREPARED? I remember the
handwringing that happened after Bush lost in 92 and Clinton won
reelection in 96. We didn't have our ducks in a row then, but if it
also hadn't been for Perot, we might have had a chance. But to blame
not being prepared is folly. For better or worse, there's a war going
on. Presidents are generally reelected in war time, this was no
exception. In addition, there were a lot of people that didn't like
the idea of the Supreme Court going a certain direction for 30 years,
giving some of our sovereignty away by joining the world court and
furthur institutionalising more and more of society into the
government. I agree that there's a lot I don't agree with Bush on, but
I didn't vote for him just because he was a Christian, and I don't
think most other people did either.
"perhaps the left should follow karl rove's model for real and start
making calls to the entire country asking if they know jenna bush is
marrying mary cheney and they are having a black baby."
all of the calls I got from the Republican GOTV last weekend were more
about just getting TO the polls than they were about any issue in
particular.
anyway. it goes on and on. Maybe things will calm down, but I don't
think so. In the mean time, I'll continue to lurk.
-Brian
Monday, November 01, 2004
A Picture Share!
The penguins are at home on a day like this...which come to think of it is where I should be.
A Picture Share!
This is depressing... of course it will all be gone soon. Oh well. Now if only the movie theatre they're building was finished.
Sunday, October 31, 2004
A Picture Share!
This pizza that Ang and I had at Extreme Pizza was so good Ang made me take a picture of it.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
A Picture Share!
Ah the joys of motion design. This is a week where I get to be buried in After Effects files. The comp on screen has 128 layers
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
and so the Christmas season begins...
In early September Ang and I were shocked to see Christmas stuff up at
Target and Dillard's.. and we shrugged it off, but with the purchase
of Christmas Vinyl at Goodwill on Saturday, the Christmas season, or
at least the season of Tis the Season to Be Cheesy assembly has begun.
I got ahold of a copy of the new Barenaked Ladies "Barenaked for the
Holidays" album this morning. I don't know that there's anything
that's going to immediately make it onto the yearly disc, but I know
it's going to make it onto the playlists that I play at home (which is
to say that I generally never get around to listening to the Christmas
discs that I make myself... just everyone elses. ;-))
Anyway, I'm not entirely sure what this years disc is going to be
comprised of, but I know that I'm still searching for wooden AOL
boxes. If I can find enough, everything is getting mailed out in those
this year. We'll see. But I digress. Pick up the new BNL disc if you
get the chance, it's worth a listen.
Target and Dillard's.. and we shrugged it off, but with the purchase
of Christmas Vinyl at Goodwill on Saturday, the Christmas season, or
at least the season of Tis the Season to Be Cheesy assembly has begun.
I got ahold of a copy of the new Barenaked Ladies "Barenaked for the
Holidays" album this morning. I don't know that there's anything
that's going to immediately make it onto the yearly disc, but I know
it's going to make it onto the playlists that I play at home (which is
to say that I generally never get around to listening to the Christmas
discs that I make myself... just everyone elses. ;-))
Anyway, I'm not entirely sure what this years disc is going to be
comprised of, but I know that I'm still searching for wooden AOL
boxes. If I can find enough, everything is getting mailed out in those
this year. We'll see. But I digress. Pick up the new BNL disc if you
get the chance, it's worth a listen.
Monday, October 11, 2004
Today's required reading...
Belmont Club
Wretchard has consistenly become one of the guys I look to for solid, logical analysis. If you haven't had a chance to read his analysis of Kerry's interview in this Sunday's New York Times, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
Wretchard has consistenly become one of the guys I look to for solid, logical analysis. If you haven't had a chance to read his analysis of Kerry's interview in this Sunday's New York Times, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
Sunday, October 10, 2004
A Picture Share!
Easter Island? Nope. Giant fiberglass chickens getting a ride down I-35. many thanks to Photographer Angela(TM) Heh.
A Picture Share!
Pastor Mike crowning Scarlet with a KFC ."kash for Christ" bucket at Refuse a couple weeks ago...
A Picture Share!
Pastor Eric preaching at Scum... not for any particular reason. Just takin' pictures. More photos in a while.
Saturday, October 09, 2004
more ODD oddcoupling...
I have a massive headache so we'll see how far I actually get into
this before I quit for the night, but we sat down with some "Friday
Pizza" from Safeway (because I was craving pepperoni) and rootbeer
tonight to watch the second debate. I missed the vice presidential
debate the other night because of church, but being as big a political
junkie as I am, I couldn't bear the thought of missing another debate.
When I got out of high school and started working at the public access
station, I think I became even more of a political junkie than I HAD
been because we would do extensive local election coverage culminating
in live election results on the air. There's always something electric
about live television, and everything that went into getting the
election night show on the air from running to city halls to find out
where the results are, to coordinating candidates to interviews, to
communicating with the field locations made for a lot of excitement.
I still remember the 1997 election night. I didn't need to be at the
station right away that night so I had the chance to go and see
Sixpence None the Richer do a little acoustic set at a local bookstore
and pick up their album that had just come out on Steve Taylor's
SQUINT label. They were in the midst of flying from Columbus (I think)
on a whirlwind promotional tour. I found this from a press release on
rec.music.christian
During the first week of Sixpence None the Richer's album release, the band
embarked on a 6 day, 12 city promotional tour, making appearances at Christian
retail outlets, radio stations and colleges. Cities visited included Chicago,
Minneapolis, Green Bay, Columbus (Ohio), Chattanooga, Atlanta and Dallas, among
others.
"I'd always wanted to ride in a Lear Jet, so it was quite a thrill flying with
the band to six cities in the first two days," reflects Taylor, who joined the
group for the tour's intense launch. "Whether it was meeting 80 people
in-store for a 6:30 'Breakfast with Sixpence,' or joining the band in taking
listener calls at radio, it's evident that Sixpence's fans are loyal and they
are many."
Before they played the show, I seem to remember that they had dinner
at the Old Chicago on the other side of the mall. Almost a year later,
while in Chicago on a trip to bring my sister to school, I'd see them
play the coffee shop of a Borders and then have dinner a table away
from them after meeting up with my friends Beki and Randy. They
weren't big yet then, but it was coming. A few months prior to the
Chicago show, they actually led me to get into my first show at the
Fine Line Music Cafe (a club that was VERY 21+ and which I had gotten
thrown out of when I was 15 and trying to get into an Over the Rhine
show by convincing them that I was a Russian Immigrant. Don't knock
it, the girl I was with actually WAS a Russian immigrant. Pulling out
my permit though wasn't a smart move) My friend Terry was the guy to
go to for portable sound equipment so we dragged a system out to the
mall of america to do an instore at Sam Goody and then Pegtop (my
friend Terry's band) opened for them that night at the Fine Line. I
was psyched that no one carded me.
But back to the night in November of 97. By early November in
Minnesota, the nights can be especially crisp. That night was no
exception. 20 or 30 people gathered for the short set and we all
bought CDs to take with us. I remember being a bit confused by the
fact that the main artwork for the CD was actually on the back of the
disc, but that was something Squint tried doing to give more room for
artwork. I was in charge of the graphics that election night, so after
everything was done that night (1-2am?) I was chugging away listening
to the Sixpence disc at my desk finishing up everything I needed to
do. I don't think at that point I had my BLAZING FAST blue and white
G3 400 yet, so I was probably designing on a 233 beige G3 and doing
some sort of weird conversion so that I could load all of the graphics
into Scala on an even MORE ancient Amiga. Anyway, the gist of the
story is that on top of the adrenaline of doing live election night
coverage, you had a cool little concert mixed on top of things ( I
feel a little bit like Tony in the 24 Hour Party People
movie.
So tonight we were watching the debate. It goes without saying that
everyone on Echo thought that Bush was HORRENDOUS and SCARY and VILE
and EVIL which still bothers me a bit I guess, I don't understand the
shrillness, but that's a post for another day. But I thought Bush did
a nice job. He wasn't flashy, but he kept his facial expression to
himself and point after point I thought he was fairly solid. I
appreciated seeing him take pictures with people in the audience after
the debate. He looked genuinely happy to be with the people that were
there. Kerry on the other hand was talking to Theresa and Charley
Gibson, not really doing any interacting at all. I think that that
simple observation very clearly defines who these two candidates are.
Bush for all the vile stuff thrown at him, still really loves to talk
to people and kerry doesn't want to talk to anyone who can't do
something for him.
How do I tie this into The Rookie though? A few simple things...
1) Both the debate and the movie featured prominent Texans
2) Both president Bush and the movie have a tie to the Texas Rangers
(Jimmy Morris pitches his first game for the Devil Rays against the
Rangers)
and
3) I'll paraphrase because I don't completely remember the quote, but
it was something along the lines of "Sometimes we have to give up the
things we wish for to do the things we were meant for" I don't know
that Bush really wished to be in the presidency, but I think it was
something he was meant for. This could get me into trouble with a lot
of people, but like I wrote in my posting a day or so ago, I think
Bush is one of those people who didn't get any choice in the matter.
He was chosen to be in the presidency for some greater purpose. Maybe
that was in making the right response to September 11th, maybe it
wasn't. I don't know that I'd go any farther than that, lest I stray
into Christimericanism (Is that a new word?)but I think there's a
reason why Bush is where he is.
At points, Morris really didn't want to get into the majors, going to
Fort Worth would have been the safe move, and he thought that that's
what he was supposed to do, but it could be construed from the movie
that he was "meant" to be in the big leagues. Like I started to say
above, Bush would probably rather be on his ranch mountain biking and
chopping down wood, but sometimes bigger things need to be
accomplished and once they're done, he'll have time for the small
things.
I think that's about as close as I'll get in trying to make
connections. The Rookie was definitely worth our $5, and I can
understand why my friend Zech makes it required viewing before the
baseball season starts every year, but I don't think I'd rank it at
the top of my favorite baseball movies. Maybe top 5. I think my
favorite baseball movie is still Field of Dreams. I remember seeing it
with my dad at Roseville 4 (the cheap little discount theatre I grew
up going to with the amazingly comfortable yet ancinet rocking theatre
seats) and tearing up a bit when Costner's character meets his dad on
the field. Major League (which I remember being so excited to see once
again at Roseville 4 because I was underage) would rank up there too.
I'm not saying it's a GOOD movie, but in the hierarchy of baseball
movies it's right up there. Another Roseville 4 baseball movie that
needs to rank somewhere would be The Sandlot, but I don't know if that
would make the top five.
I haven't really gotten into baseball since I've been out in Colorado.
Keeping up with the Twinkies isn't as easy as flipping on CCO and the
Rockies haven't exactly been a team to keep your eye out for. But
watching the Rookie tonight reminded me what I love about the game,
even if I did suck at it when I played. I might need to rent For the
Love of the Game some time soon to see how well it holds up. Yes, I
DID see that one at Roseville 4 with my dad as well. I'm blathering on
and it's 12:30 here, so I should wrap this stream of consciousness
post up, but I promise I'll post more later.
-Brian the headachey.
this before I quit for the night, but we sat down with some "Friday
Pizza" from Safeway (because I was craving pepperoni) and rootbeer
tonight to watch the second debate. I missed the vice presidential
debate the other night because of church, but being as big a political
junkie as I am, I couldn't bear the thought of missing another debate.
When I got out of high school and started working at the public access
station, I think I became even more of a political junkie than I HAD
been because we would do extensive local election coverage culminating
in live election results on the air. There's always something electric
about live television, and everything that went into getting the
election night show on the air from running to city halls to find out
where the results are, to coordinating candidates to interviews, to
communicating with the field locations made for a lot of excitement.
I still remember the 1997 election night. I didn't need to be at the
station right away that night so I had the chance to go and see
Sixpence None the Richer do a little acoustic set at a local bookstore
and pick up their album that had just come out on Steve Taylor's
SQUINT label. They were in the midst of flying from Columbus (I think)
on a whirlwind promotional tour. I found this from a press release on
rec.music.christian
During the first week of Sixpence None the Richer's album release, the band
embarked on a 6 day, 12 city promotional tour, making appearances at Christian
retail outlets, radio stations and colleges. Cities visited included Chicago,
Minneapolis, Green Bay, Columbus (Ohio), Chattanooga, Atlanta and Dallas, among
others.
"I'd always wanted to ride in a Lear Jet, so it was quite a thrill flying with
the band to six cities in the first two days," reflects Taylor, who joined the
group for the tour's intense launch. "Whether it was meeting 80 people
in-store for a 6:30 'Breakfast with Sixpence,' or joining the band in taking
listener calls at radio, it's evident that Sixpence's fans are loyal and they
are many."
Before they played the show, I seem to remember that they had dinner
at the Old Chicago on the other side of the mall. Almost a year later,
while in Chicago on a trip to bring my sister to school, I'd see them
play the coffee shop of a Borders and then have dinner a table away
from them after meeting up with my friends Beki and Randy. They
weren't big yet then, but it was coming. A few months prior to the
Chicago show, they actually led me to get into my first show at the
Fine Line Music Cafe (a club that was VERY 21+ and which I had gotten
thrown out of when I was 15 and trying to get into an Over the Rhine
show by convincing them that I was a Russian Immigrant. Don't knock
it, the girl I was with actually WAS a Russian immigrant. Pulling out
my permit though wasn't a smart move) My friend Terry was the guy to
go to for portable sound equipment so we dragged a system out to the
mall of america to do an instore at Sam Goody and then Pegtop (my
friend Terry's band) opened for them that night at the Fine Line. I
was psyched that no one carded me.
But back to the night in November of 97. By early November in
Minnesota, the nights can be especially crisp. That night was no
exception. 20 or 30 people gathered for the short set and we all
bought CDs to take with us. I remember being a bit confused by the
fact that the main artwork for the CD was actually on the back of the
disc, but that was something Squint tried doing to give more room for
artwork. I was in charge of the graphics that election night, so after
everything was done that night (1-2am?) I was chugging away listening
to the Sixpence disc at my desk finishing up everything I needed to
do. I don't think at that point I had my BLAZING FAST blue and white
G3 400 yet, so I was probably designing on a 233 beige G3 and doing
some sort of weird conversion so that I could load all of the graphics
into Scala on an even MORE ancient Amiga. Anyway, the gist of the
story is that on top of the adrenaline of doing live election night
coverage, you had a cool little concert mixed on top of things ( I
feel a little bit like Tony in the 24 Hour Party People
movie.
So tonight we were watching the debate. It goes without saying that
everyone on Echo thought that Bush was HORRENDOUS and SCARY and VILE
and EVIL which still bothers me a bit I guess, I don't understand the
shrillness, but that's a post for another day. But I thought Bush did
a nice job. He wasn't flashy, but he kept his facial expression to
himself and point after point I thought he was fairly solid. I
appreciated seeing him take pictures with people in the audience after
the debate. He looked genuinely happy to be with the people that were
there. Kerry on the other hand was talking to Theresa and Charley
Gibson, not really doing any interacting at all. I think that that
simple observation very clearly defines who these two candidates are.
Bush for all the vile stuff thrown at him, still really loves to talk
to people and kerry doesn't want to talk to anyone who can't do
something for him.
How do I tie this into The Rookie though? A few simple things...
1) Both the debate and the movie featured prominent Texans
2) Both president Bush and the movie have a tie to the Texas Rangers
(Jimmy Morris pitches his first game for the Devil Rays against the
Rangers)
and
3) I'll paraphrase because I don't completely remember the quote, but
it was something along the lines of "Sometimes we have to give up the
things we wish for to do the things we were meant for" I don't know
that Bush really wished to be in the presidency, but I think it was
something he was meant for. This could get me into trouble with a lot
of people, but like I wrote in my posting a day or so ago, I think
Bush is one of those people who didn't get any choice in the matter.
He was chosen to be in the presidency for some greater purpose. Maybe
that was in making the right response to September 11th, maybe it
wasn't. I don't know that I'd go any farther than that, lest I stray
into Christimericanism (Is that a new word?)but I think there's a
reason why Bush is where he is.
At points, Morris really didn't want to get into the majors, going to
Fort Worth would have been the safe move, and he thought that that's
what he was supposed to do, but it could be construed from the movie
that he was "meant" to be in the big leagues. Like I started to say
above, Bush would probably rather be on his ranch mountain biking and
chopping down wood, but sometimes bigger things need to be
accomplished and once they're done, he'll have time for the small
things.
I think that's about as close as I'll get in trying to make
connections. The Rookie was definitely worth our $5, and I can
understand why my friend Zech makes it required viewing before the
baseball season starts every year, but I don't think I'd rank it at
the top of my favorite baseball movies. Maybe top 5. I think my
favorite baseball movie is still Field of Dreams. I remember seeing it
with my dad at Roseville 4 (the cheap little discount theatre I grew
up going to with the amazingly comfortable yet ancinet rocking theatre
seats) and tearing up a bit when Costner's character meets his dad on
the field. Major League (which I remember being so excited to see once
again at Roseville 4 because I was underage) would rank up there too.
I'm not saying it's a GOOD movie, but in the hierarchy of baseball
movies it's right up there. Another Roseville 4 baseball movie that
needs to rank somewhere would be The Sandlot, but I don't know if that
would make the top five.
I haven't really gotten into baseball since I've been out in Colorado.
Keeping up with the Twinkies isn't as easy as flipping on CCO and the
Rockies haven't exactly been a team to keep your eye out for. But
watching the Rookie tonight reminded me what I love about the game,
even if I did suck at it when I played. I might need to rent For the
Love of the Game some time soon to see how well it holds up. Yes, I
DID see that one at Roseville 4 with my dad as well. I'm blathering on
and it's 12:30 here, so I should wrap this stream of consciousness
post up, but I promise I'll post more later.
-Brian the headachey.
Friday, October 08, 2004
A Picture Share!
Never got around to posting this shot of my 16 y.o. friend Marcus. I'm still not entirely sure why he shaved like that...strange
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
the morning's playlist...
right now, I'm listening to this unofficial Joan of Arcadia 1st season
soundtrack that someone compiled and released on bittorrent. It's
actually a pretty decent collection, Damien Rice, Fountain's of Wayne,
Howie Day, Chantal Kreviazuk... just pretty mellow stuff for the most
part, which fits the gray day outside today. One of the things I
haven't gotten used to here in Colorado are the days where the clouds
are so low that the delineation between fog and clouds is lost. Today
on my way to work, the air force academy was completely obscured by
clouds that had descended. You could see the road from the bottom of
the valley driving up into the cloud with the mountains peeking out
above. Kind of pretty, but surreal at the same time.
I could come up with some grand life statement about the clouds
obscuring the current, but not obscuring the past and our dreams of
the future, but no... i'll just say that clouds are intriguing, and
they get in the way. Some fridays, I meet my friends Dave and Cam for
breakfast at this great little restaraunt in Colorado Springs called
the Omelette Parlor. Between 6 and 7 all their omelettes are half off,
so in the interest of being cheap, we show up at the crack of dawn to
wolf down giant plates of omelettey goodness. But the reason I mention
this at all is that sometimes, driving down to Colorado Springs proper
at 5:45, you can see the sun rising on the valley that we live above
between us and the air force academy, and you can see that clouds have
obscured all of it, giving the allusion that you're floating above the
clouds. It's nice.
Anyway, back to work. I've got too much to accomplish today.
Deus Te Amat, and I do too
soundtrack that someone compiled and released on bittorrent. It's
actually a pretty decent collection, Damien Rice, Fountain's of Wayne,
Howie Day, Chantal Kreviazuk... just pretty mellow stuff for the most
part, which fits the gray day outside today. One of the things I
haven't gotten used to here in Colorado are the days where the clouds
are so low that the delineation between fog and clouds is lost. Today
on my way to work, the air force academy was completely obscured by
clouds that had descended. You could see the road from the bottom of
the valley driving up into the cloud with the mountains peeking out
above. Kind of pretty, but surreal at the same time.
I could come up with some grand life statement about the clouds
obscuring the current, but not obscuring the past and our dreams of
the future, but no... i'll just say that clouds are intriguing, and
they get in the way. Some fridays, I meet my friends Dave and Cam for
breakfast at this great little restaraunt in Colorado Springs called
the Omelette Parlor. Between 6 and 7 all their omelettes are half off,
so in the interest of being cheap, we show up at the crack of dawn to
wolf down giant plates of omelettey goodness. But the reason I mention
this at all is that sometimes, driving down to Colorado Springs proper
at 5:45, you can see the sun rising on the valley that we live above
between us and the air force academy, and you can see that clouds have
obscured all of it, giving the allusion that you're floating above the
clouds. It's nice.
Anyway, back to work. I've got too much to accomplish today.
Deus Te Amat, and I do too
Monday, October 04, 2004
Oddcoupling in a different vein
Ang and I had a bit of a different oddcoupling tonight, Friday night's Joan of Arcadia (which we missed because we were at film society watching City of God ) and Spiderman 2 .
I was just remarking to Angela that I envy Spiderman. I think deepdown there's a part of every kid that wishes they could grow up and do these amazing things. Knowing they can't, they live vicariously through their comic books and movies and video games. I think that City of Heroes might be as popular as it is because of that. Someday, when virtual reality really becomes reality vs. the vaporware that it continues to be, City of Heroes could become a much more interesting game, but until then, I know that even though I envy Spidey, I will never BE Spidey, if only because I can barely even ride a roller coaster at Six Flags without feeling the motion sickness kick in. I am human and fear (no, fear really isn't the right word) that I always will be.
I'm losing where i was trying to go with this because Angela is watching TV in the background and it's making me lose my train of thought. What's the connecting thread? I think there's actually a substantially strong one. Both Joan and Peter Parker didn't choose to be who they are. Both try to be who they aren't and bad things happen, both have to come back and realize what they need to be. I'm interested in seeing where Joan goes this season. Last season, as she struggled with trying to figure out where God was taking her, or guiding her to do, she didn't really struggle with it that much. There was a superficial struggle, but nothing concrete and set in stone. Joan faces an Augustinian struggle. Before Augustine, the church was full of the supernatural. The supernatural was accepted. It was anticipated. It was a vibrant part of the church. Augustine steps in... (although in all fairness to Augustine, it wasn't just him... but the whole Roman way of thinking) Logic is all the rage and silly things like Leviathan and the Nephilum must be struck from the record because if it's not tangible, it must not be real. Now, Joan struggles with just that. Is this a tangible thing that's happening to her? Is God ACTUALLY talking to her or is it something that means she's crazy? She'd like to think it's her being crazy, but God introduces her to someone who truly is crazy and shows how the insanity is destructive and not constructive. Knowing that she has the option of being sane and still believing that God could speak to her she has to deal with whether she can actually do this task she's been charged with or not.
The problem we find is that there's really no choice. Linda, my boss, talks about how "many are called, but few are chosen." Traditionally, it's been translated to mean that many people are called to the faith but there are only a few who choose to follow. Linda comes at it from a different path. Many are called, many are saved. But God in whatever infinite wisdom has specific tasks that need to be done by specific people for reasons that are unknown to anyone but him and those are going to be done no matter what this person does, even if they have to come kicking and screaming. One could imagine that Spiderman and Joan are stuck in the same situation. For unknown reasons they've been charged with changing the world in real and tangible ways. They can struggle against it all they want, but at the end of the day, they're still going to be dragged kicking and screaming towards doing the right thing.
Aunt May talks about giving up dreams in order to do the right thing and be a hero. Maybe that's true. But I get the sense that the 'A' plan that God has for us if we chase after him, or if we're dragged kicking and screaming, has the potential to be so much greater than any dreams we could potentially have.
In any case, I don't know where my thoughts are wandering off to, and maybe as the ideas roll around my head, I'll come back and expound some more, but even though I know that Spiderman and Joan of Arcadia are fiction... I can't not think that there's some tangible bit of truth that we can glean from their respective dilemnas. I know that some people have reacted negatively to what Linda calls "red people" saying that God calls everyone and that by saying that there are certain people that God is ESPECIALLY calling, it elevates them and turns Christianity into some kind of hierarchy. "You're more Christian than I am! YEAH RIGHT YOU ARE! Get off your podium!" Maybe there's some truth to that, but maybe there isn't. Linda mentions that one of the ways you know you're red is that you're too Christian for your secular friends and too secular for your Christian friends. I can see that. I feel that all the time. But I'm blathering. More thoughts as I think them through.
In the words of my friend Ian Punnett
Deus Te Amat (and I do too)
Bri
I was just remarking to Angela that I envy Spiderman. I think deepdown there's a part of every kid that wishes they could grow up and do these amazing things. Knowing they can't, they live vicariously through their comic books and movies and video games. I think that City of Heroes might be as popular as it is because of that. Someday, when virtual reality really becomes reality vs. the vaporware that it continues to be, City of Heroes could become a much more interesting game, but until then, I know that even though I envy Spidey, I will never BE Spidey, if only because I can barely even ride a roller coaster at Six Flags without feeling the motion sickness kick in. I am human and fear (no, fear really isn't the right word) that I always will be.
I'm losing where i was trying to go with this because Angela is watching TV in the background and it's making me lose my train of thought. What's the connecting thread? I think there's actually a substantially strong one. Both Joan and Peter Parker didn't choose to be who they are. Both try to be who they aren't and bad things happen, both have to come back and realize what they need to be. I'm interested in seeing where Joan goes this season. Last season, as she struggled with trying to figure out where God was taking her, or guiding her to do, she didn't really struggle with it that much. There was a superficial struggle, but nothing concrete and set in stone. Joan faces an Augustinian struggle. Before Augustine, the church was full of the supernatural. The supernatural was accepted. It was anticipated. It was a vibrant part of the church. Augustine steps in... (although in all fairness to Augustine, it wasn't just him... but the whole Roman way of thinking) Logic is all the rage and silly things like Leviathan and the Nephilum must be struck from the record because if it's not tangible, it must not be real. Now, Joan struggles with just that. Is this a tangible thing that's happening to her? Is God ACTUALLY talking to her or is it something that means she's crazy? She'd like to think it's her being crazy, but God introduces her to someone who truly is crazy and shows how the insanity is destructive and not constructive. Knowing that she has the option of being sane and still believing that God could speak to her she has to deal with whether she can actually do this task she's been charged with or not.
The problem we find is that there's really no choice. Linda, my boss, talks about how "many are called, but few are chosen." Traditionally, it's been translated to mean that many people are called to the faith but there are only a few who choose to follow. Linda comes at it from a different path. Many are called, many are saved. But God in whatever infinite wisdom has specific tasks that need to be done by specific people for reasons that are unknown to anyone but him and those are going to be done no matter what this person does, even if they have to come kicking and screaming. One could imagine that Spiderman and Joan are stuck in the same situation. For unknown reasons they've been charged with changing the world in real and tangible ways. They can struggle against it all they want, but at the end of the day, they're still going to be dragged kicking and screaming towards doing the right thing.
Aunt May talks about giving up dreams in order to do the right thing and be a hero. Maybe that's true. But I get the sense that the 'A' plan that God has for us if we chase after him, or if we're dragged kicking and screaming, has the potential to be so much greater than any dreams we could potentially have.
In any case, I don't know where my thoughts are wandering off to, and maybe as the ideas roll around my head, I'll come back and expound some more, but even though I know that Spiderman and Joan of Arcadia are fiction... I can't not think that there's some tangible bit of truth that we can glean from their respective dilemnas. I know that some people have reacted negatively to what Linda calls "red people" saying that God calls everyone and that by saying that there are certain people that God is ESPECIALLY calling, it elevates them and turns Christianity into some kind of hierarchy. "You're more Christian than I am! YEAH RIGHT YOU ARE! Get off your podium!" Maybe there's some truth to that, but maybe there isn't. Linda mentions that one of the ways you know you're red is that you're too Christian for your secular friends and too secular for your Christian friends. I can see that. I feel that all the time. But I'm blathering. More thoughts as I think them through.
In the words of my friend Ian Punnett
Deus Te Amat (and I do too)
Bri
Sunday, October 03, 2004
A Picture Share!
Why didn't anyone tell me that Target makes generic dr.pepper now...or for that matter why it's actually pretty good. Hmmmm
Thursday, September 30, 2004
A Picture Share!
Pikes Peak off in the distance. Its nice seeing it white again. Sorry for the weird angle... I was driving. More later.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
A Picture Share!
Just A Test. this Was at Freebirds in Austin. i've always Thought Lady Liberty Could Be A Biker-chick
DVDs, DVDs and more DVDs
Not sure why i can't post via email right now, so back into the blogger interface to paste this into the editor... next... pblogging!
think Angela and I need to enter some sort of Home Theatre 12 Step
group... we can't seem to stop finding things that we want to add to
the collection. Between Star Wars, THX1138 and the overflowing
no-cover bins of DVDs at the Movie Trading Company, we've added more
discs lately than we really have the time to watch right now. We were
in San Antonio last week for a wedding and stopped to see friends in
Austin while on the way. Move Trading Company was having their grand
opening, so we stopped by to see what they had. Here's what we ended
up walking out with...
Whale Rider
Bend It Like Beckham
Leon:The Professional
The Rookie
Hulk
League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Bruce Almighty
and two others that I can't think of the name of right off the top of
my head...
then, yesterday night we picked up
Master and Commander
Cabin Fever
an independant William H Macy movie that Angela wanted to see
and once again, I can't think of the fourth movie.
but Best Buy also had a bunch of 2 for 15 DVDs which let me pick up
Undercover Brother and Chinatown (which we plan on showing at Film
Society at some point, so it made sense to pay as little as possible
for it).
Anyway, so the bottom line is that we're movie geeks through and
through. Once it's cold enough, I'll be watching movies while riding
the bike trainer. It's a good life.
blah. back to editing. I'll have some more to write later, but that's
it for now.
I still have thoughts on the last couple of Oddcouplings we've done,
and I want to start formulating some thoughts on City of God, which if
you're in Colorado Springs this Friday, you should really come see.
CSFS meets at 7:00 at Vanguard Church on North Academy behind Gunther
Toodys and it's FREE! So come out and geek out over movies with us.
think Angela and I need to enter some sort of Home Theatre 12 Step
group... we can't seem to stop finding things that we want to add to
the collection. Between Star Wars, THX1138 and the overflowing
no-cover bins of DVDs at the Movie Trading Company, we've added more
discs lately than we really have the time to watch right now. We were
in San Antonio last week for a wedding and stopped to see friends in
Austin while on the way. Move Trading Company was having their grand
opening, so we stopped by to see what they had. Here's what we ended
up walking out with...
Whale Rider
Bend It Like Beckham
Leon:The Professional
The Rookie
Hulk
League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Bruce Almighty
and two others that I can't think of the name of right off the top of
my head...
then, yesterday night we picked up
Master and Commander
Cabin Fever
an independant William H Macy movie that Angela wanted to see
and once again, I can't think of the fourth movie.
but Best Buy also had a bunch of 2 for 15 DVDs which let me pick up
Undercover Brother and Chinatown (which we plan on showing at Film
Society at some point, so it made sense to pay as little as possible
for it).
Anyway, so the bottom line is that we're movie geeks through and
through. Once it's cold enough, I'll be watching movies while riding
the bike trainer. It's a good life.
blah. back to editing. I'll have some more to write later, but that's
it for now.
I still have thoughts on the last couple of Oddcouplings we've done,
and I want to start formulating some thoughts on City of God, which if
you're in Colorado Springs this Friday, you should really come see.
CSFS meets at 7:00 at Vanguard Church on North Academy behind Gunther
Toodys and it's FREE! So come out and geek out over movies with us.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Film Society
just finished up the new email for the film society. I don't know that
I'm completely happy with it, but I think it might work a LITTLE
better than the old version. We'll see though. In the meantime, I have
to be at a meeting at 6am so it's off to bed for me so that I can get
a QUALITY 4 hours. MMMMM
I'm completely happy with it, but I think it might work a LITTLE
better than the old version. We'll see though. In the meantime, I have
to be at a meeting at 6am so it's off to bed for me so that I can get
a QUALITY 4 hours. MMMMM
Monday, September 20, 2004
Things that drive me batty...
two things have to be added to the list of things that just completely
drive me batty today.
#1... people who hear something I say completely differently than the
way I say it, agree and then upon clarification from me, agree again
and say that that's what they were agreeing with as they state what
they thought they heard the first time again.
#2... programming directors who don't air the correct program that you
took the time to drop ship to them with Saturday delivery with
explicit writing on the envelop that say it's for air on Monday. Why
go through the hassle and the expense of getting something to them if
they're not going to run it. Blah.
I rode a little over 40 miles this weekend and it felt pretty good.
Saturday I went out riding with my friends Russel and Cody. I usually
don't ride with Cody because he's one of those scrawny guys that
climbs hills like a Mountain Goat. Anyway, Cody decided he's going to
invite his friend Danny to ride with us. Danny's
a nice guy, but Danny's also one of the best riders in the state.
http://www.teamhealthnet.com/team/dannypate.html
I've dubbed the ride "Punish the fat man" for the fat man (me) was
severely punished as we did a few thousand feet worth of climbing. The
flats? I'm fine. The hills? sucking wind. Of course, I didn't realize
at
first that I was climbing one of the main climbs in my big ring up
front... but it was still a lesson in humbleness.
Sunday I was excited about going riding with the cycling club, but for
some reason I completely spaced out what time the ride was and arrived
an hour early to (unsurprisingly given it was an hour early) not find
anyone there. So, thinking the ride had been cancelled, I rode off on
my own and climbed through Garden of the Gods for the second time in
two days. This time, knowing what the climb was like, I was able to
pace myself a bit more and not stop nearly as much. Of course, I
wasn't chasing after some pro cyclist either.
But anyway, back to editing, which lately seems to be what my
existence at work is. I do love my job though.
-B
drive me batty today.
#1... people who hear something I say completely differently than the
way I say it, agree and then upon clarification from me, agree again
and say that that's what they were agreeing with as they state what
they thought they heard the first time again.
#2... programming directors who don't air the correct program that you
took the time to drop ship to them with Saturday delivery with
explicit writing on the envelop that say it's for air on Monday. Why
go through the hassle and the expense of getting something to them if
they're not going to run it. Blah.
I rode a little over 40 miles this weekend and it felt pretty good.
Saturday I went out riding with my friends Russel and Cody. I usually
don't ride with Cody because he's one of those scrawny guys that
climbs hills like a Mountain Goat. Anyway, Cody decided he's going to
invite his friend Danny to ride with us. Danny's
a nice guy, but Danny's also one of the best riders in the state.
http://www.teamhealthnet.com/team/dannypate.html
I've dubbed the ride "Punish the fat man" for the fat man (me) was
severely punished as we did a few thousand feet worth of climbing. The
flats? I'm fine. The hills? sucking wind. Of course, I didn't realize
at
first that I was climbing one of the main climbs in my big ring up
front... but it was still a lesson in humbleness.
Sunday I was excited about going riding with the cycling club, but for
some reason I completely spaced out what time the ride was and arrived
an hour early to (unsurprisingly given it was an hour early) not find
anyone there. So, thinking the ride had been cancelled, I rode off on
my own and climbed through Garden of the Gods for the second time in
two days. This time, knowing what the climb was like, I was able to
pace myself a bit more and not stop nearly as much. Of course, I
wasn't chasing after some pro cyclist either.
But anyway, back to editing, which lately seems to be what my
existence at work is. I do love my job though.
-B
Thursday, September 09, 2004
News from Florida...
Hiya. We just got internet access at the house. It's been three days of
absoulte grunt work cutting down trees (Banana, Mango and Grapefruit)
hacking apart aluminum Lanais frame(s) and living in powerless, hot, muggy
southeastern swampy Florida. There's been a strictly police enforced 8:00
curfew so we've been heading to bed early and getting up with the sunrise.
Today, about noon, the power came on. A couple hours later, we got cable
(and internet!) It looks (we didn't turn anything on) like the production
equipment is alright, but the church we had everything in is just trashed.
It looks like the roof was a sardine can, just peeled up, rolled and
thrown off the roof into the parking lot. Once we walked in you could just
smell all the mold that's quickly popped up into the dank shredded
interior.
We're finishing some minor cleanup and then wrapping up. We leave
tomorrow. I'm surprised at how much stuff is still here, Almost every other
house in the area survived intact, the boss' house seems to have taken the
brunt. There's no real good reason, I guess. Anyway, that's the scoop. I'm
anxious to get home, though I look forward to showing up when I'm not
entering a state of emergency area. Everyone we've met is just completely
shellshocked with the thought that Ivan might swing in.
I can hear Larry (the boss) calling everyone off to go grab dinner (and
beer!) so I should run, but I'll have more later.
absoulte grunt work cutting down trees (Banana, Mango and Grapefruit)
hacking apart aluminum Lanais frame(s) and living in powerless, hot, muggy
southeastern swampy Florida. There's been a strictly police enforced 8:00
curfew so we've been heading to bed early and getting up with the sunrise.
Today, about noon, the power came on. A couple hours later, we got cable
(and internet!) It looks (we didn't turn anything on) like the production
equipment is alright, but the church we had everything in is just trashed.
It looks like the roof was a sardine can, just peeled up, rolled and
thrown off the roof into the parking lot. Once we walked in you could just
smell all the mold that's quickly popped up into the dank shredded
interior.
We're finishing some minor cleanup and then wrapping up. We leave
tomorrow. I'm surprised at how much stuff is still here, Almost every other
house in the area survived intact, the boss' house seems to have taken the
brunt. There's no real good reason, I guess. Anyway, that's the scoop. I'm
anxious to get home, though I look forward to showing up when I'm not
entering a state of emergency area. Everyone we've met is just completely
shellshocked with the thought that Ivan might swing in.
I can hear Larry (the boss) calling everyone off to go grab dinner (and
beer!) so I should run, but I'll have more later.
Monday, September 06, 2004
off we go into the wild blue yonder...
Yesterday night I was convinced that I was going to be at our first
Refuse service on Tuesday night, but this afternoon I got a call from
Larry (one of the company heads) asking me to head down to Florida and
do grunt work. So, I fly out tomorrow and come back on Friday. We were
going to leave everything for a little while and come back to it, but
with Ivan potentially tracking into Florida, we didn't think that
would be a good idea. So, I'm going to miss the first service. I know
there'll be more, but I'm really bumming about this. Your prayers
would be appreciated.
Oh, we've also gotten reports that our studio equipment probably is
trashed. When someone at the church picked up one of our cameras,
water poured out. I guess it means we'll be able to get new equipment,
but it's frustrating.
Bri
Refuse service on Tuesday night, but this afternoon I got a call from
Larry (one of the company heads) asking me to head down to Florida and
do grunt work. So, I fly out tomorrow and come back on Friday. We were
going to leave everything for a little while and come back to it, but
with Ivan potentially tracking into Florida, we didn't think that
would be a good idea. So, I'm going to miss the first service. I know
there'll be more, but I'm really bumming about this. Your prayers
would be appreciated.
Oh, we've also gotten reports that our studio equipment probably is
trashed. When someone at the church picked up one of our cameras,
water poured out. I guess it means we'll be able to get new equipment,
but it's frustrating.
Bri
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Prayer request...
just talked to one of my coworkers. The conference we were going to be
putting on next Friday is off indefinitely. The roof of the church
we're connected with in West Palm Beach was completely ripped off and
the building's been condemmed. In addition, we've got at least
$100,000 worth of studio equipment in the building. Cameras,
switchers, production lights, monitors... oh well, thankfully it's
insured if it turns out to be completely destroyed (which is what I'm
guessing). My bosses house, while surviving, didn't completely stay in
one piece. The enclosure over their pool was ripped off, some of their
hurricane shutters were destroyed and they lost their grapefruit tree.
I don't know if any windows blew in yet.
This storm moved so slowly that it kept 100+ mile an hour winds in the
area for over 40 hours. I don't know whether I'm still going down
there next week, though I'd like to. I guess part of it's voyeuristic,
but I'd really like to be there to help. Who knows if that's going to
happen. More later as I find stuff out.
putting on next Friday is off indefinitely. The roof of the church
we're connected with in West Palm Beach was completely ripped off and
the building's been condemmed. In addition, we've got at least
$100,000 worth of studio equipment in the building. Cameras,
switchers, production lights, monitors... oh well, thankfully it's
insured if it turns out to be completely destroyed (which is what I'm
guessing). My bosses house, while surviving, didn't completely stay in
one piece. The enclosure over their pool was ripped off, some of their
hurricane shutters were destroyed and they lost their grapefruit tree.
I don't know if any windows blew in yet.
This storm moved so slowly that it kept 100+ mile an hour winds in the
area for over 40 hours. I don't know whether I'm still going down
there next week, though I'd like to. I guess part of it's voyeuristic,
but I'd really like to be there to help. Who knows if that's going to
happen. More later as I find stuff out.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
A good night for movie watching (and collecting)
It would seem that a cold front is sweeping into Colorado Springs and
bringing with it promises of nights under swaddled blankets watching
DVDs by the light of the cathode ray. I love September and October. I
love the changing season, there's a sense of newness in the air
because of memories of school days, but there's a sense of melancholy
knowing that summer's over. Thankfully, Summer coasts for a long time
in Colorado Springs. Summer's last gasp is scheduled sometime in
November.
Ang and I were feeling affluent tonight after we found out our rent is
going down and their tossing in another free month so we headed to
Hollywood Video after cashing her check. Hollywood went back to their
3 for $30 sale, but they added a whole SLEW of things to the 3 for 20
section and introduced a $5.99 section. We ended up picking up
One Hour Photo
Narc
The Good Girl
Looney Tunes - Back in Action
Spellbound
Thirteen
The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys
Welcome to Collinwood
and Melving Goes to Dinner
for right around $60. That's not so bad for 9 movies. Now we just need
to find time to watch all of them. THANKFULLY, that's what cold fall
nights are for. (That and hot cinnamon laced apple cider)
bringing with it promises of nights under swaddled blankets watching
DVDs by the light of the cathode ray. I love September and October. I
love the changing season, there's a sense of newness in the air
because of memories of school days, but there's a sense of melancholy
knowing that summer's over. Thankfully, Summer coasts for a long time
in Colorado Springs. Summer's last gasp is scheduled sometime in
November.
Ang and I were feeling affluent tonight after we found out our rent is
going down and their tossing in another free month so we headed to
Hollywood Video after cashing her check. Hollywood went back to their
3 for $30 sale, but they added a whole SLEW of things to the 3 for 20
section and introduced a $5.99 section. We ended up picking up
One Hour Photo
Narc
The Good Girl
Looney Tunes - Back in Action
Spellbound
Thirteen
The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys
Welcome to Collinwood
and Melving Goes to Dinner
for right around $60. That's not so bad for 9 movies. Now we just need
to find time to watch all of them. THANKFULLY, that's what cold fall
nights are for. (That and hot cinnamon laced apple cider)
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Today is a good day to be a movie geek...
Mercenary Dinosaurs bred to take the earth back from the dinosaurs
running rampant and ripping apart little children at baseball games...
http://aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=18166
The promise of Ash being given the opportunity to rip Jason and Freddy
a new one...
http://aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=18164
and a new trailer for the guy who I think might be my favorite current
director, Wes Anderson
http://aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=18172
life is good for a movie geek like me.
running rampant and ripping apart little children at baseball games...
http://aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=18166
The promise of Ash being given the opportunity to rip Jason and Freddy
a new one...
http://aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=18164
and a new trailer for the guy who I think might be my favorite current
director, Wes Anderson
http://aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=18172
life is good for a movie geek like me.
Monday, July 26, 2004
The devil's playground
Ang and I took a bit of a break from the list this weekend just
because we had people over and didn't necessarily want to impose our
cinematic torture on them. But in the 3 for 20 bin at Hollywood over
the weekend I picked up The Fast Runner, Monsoon Wedding and The
Devil's Playground... we watched Monsoon Wedding saturday night and
the movie I was most looking forward to The Devil's Playground
yesterday. I guess Ang and I have been on a bit of a documentary kick
lately, from Capturing the Friedmans to A Decade Under the Influence
to Lost in La Mancha to Stevie we've either watched or got quite a few
documentaries in the viewing queue.
Devil's Playground follows a group of Amish youth as they go through
Rumspringa... basically their time to see if they want to "become
english" or get baptised into the Amish church. They get to drive,
drink, smoke, go to the mall, hook up and do just about everything
else that isn't condoned by the church, and at first glance I thought
it was going to be something along hte lines of "Amish Girls Gone
Wild". I suppose it is in a way, but not in the same way. The partying
reminded me a lot of the time I spent working Texas Week on South
Padre Island running drunk busses. Everything looks fun until you see
the guy who's having a bad trip on ecstasy and is having what looks
like a seizure on the ground, or the girl who's so mind blowingly
drunk that she can barely function. I guess the Amish consider it a
matter of getting the world out of their children's system so that
they can choose the Amish life without regrets, but in a world where
it's much easier to go to extremes, it's surprising that they still
have a 90% retention rate (the highest it's been in centuries)
The film was shot on DV, and what looks like low end DV at that, but
it's interesting enough that you can forgive it's technical
inadequacies. Anyway, it's worth checking out. It doesn't rise to the
level of Lost in La Mancha or Capturing the Friedman's, but it's an
interesting little story nonetheless. It's also one of the first
documentaries that's been allowed to film Amish life.. capturing
interviews with older Amish as well, so it's interesting to look into
a pretty foreigh culture.
Have any of you seen an interesting documentary lately? Mayor
Hickenlooper's brother's Mayor of the Sunset Strip is still probably
in my top 10 documentaries of the year.
Don't forget Colorado Springs Film Society is tonight with a screening
of The Manchurian Candidate. Come check out the original before seeing
the remake this weekend. The doors at Vanguard Church open at 6:30
with the movie starting at 7 and a discussion following afterwards.
Vanguard is behind Gunther Toodys off the corner of Austin Bluffs and
N. Academy.
Hopefully see you tonight!
Brian
because we had people over and didn't necessarily want to impose our
cinematic torture on them. But in the 3 for 20 bin at Hollywood over
the weekend I picked up The Fast Runner, Monsoon Wedding and The
Devil's Playground... we watched Monsoon Wedding saturday night and
the movie I was most looking forward to The Devil's Playground
yesterday. I guess Ang and I have been on a bit of a documentary kick
lately, from Capturing the Friedmans to A Decade Under the Influence
to Lost in La Mancha to Stevie we've either watched or got quite a few
documentaries in the viewing queue.
Devil's Playground follows a group of Amish youth as they go through
Rumspringa... basically their time to see if they want to "become
english" or get baptised into the Amish church. They get to drive,
drink, smoke, go to the mall, hook up and do just about everything
else that isn't condoned by the church, and at first glance I thought
it was going to be something along hte lines of "Amish Girls Gone
Wild". I suppose it is in a way, but not in the same way. The partying
reminded me a lot of the time I spent working Texas Week on South
Padre Island running drunk busses. Everything looks fun until you see
the guy who's having a bad trip on ecstasy and is having what looks
like a seizure on the ground, or the girl who's so mind blowingly
drunk that she can barely function. I guess the Amish consider it a
matter of getting the world out of their children's system so that
they can choose the Amish life without regrets, but in a world where
it's much easier to go to extremes, it's surprising that they still
have a 90% retention rate (the highest it's been in centuries)
The film was shot on DV, and what looks like low end DV at that, but
it's interesting enough that you can forgive it's technical
inadequacies. Anyway, it's worth checking out. It doesn't rise to the
level of Lost in La Mancha or Capturing the Friedman's, but it's an
interesting little story nonetheless. It's also one of the first
documentaries that's been allowed to film Amish life.. capturing
interviews with older Amish as well, so it's interesting to look into
a pretty foreigh culture.
Have any of you seen an interesting documentary lately? Mayor
Hickenlooper's brother's Mayor of the Sunset Strip is still probably
in my top 10 documentaries of the year.
Don't forget Colorado Springs Film Society is tonight with a screening
of The Manchurian Candidate. Come check out the original before seeing
the remake this weekend. The doors at Vanguard Church open at 6:30
with the movie starting at 7 and a discussion following afterwards.
Vanguard is behind Gunther Toodys off the corner of Austin Bluffs and
N. Academy.
Hopefully see you tonight!
Brian
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Oddcoupling pt1
As I write this, Angela is commenting about all of the little
similarities that she found in the movie... six degree esque things...
nothing that could add up to a cohesive whole, yet it's my job to find
some common theme between two movies that let's admit, have absolutely
nothing in common.
Hoffa and Pumpkin... movies that have both been named with names. But
I think that these two flicks have common threads; class and
leadership.
In Hoffa, we have Jack Nicholson portraying a man who wants to turn
the Teamsters into the nations most powerful union. For better or
worse, he's organizing the truck drivers against their 'evil
opressors' the owners. In Pumpkin, we have a sorority that wants to
claim the sorority of the year award from the sorority that's won it
the previous 20 years.
Hoffa, decides that he's going to work with the Mafia in order to
attain his goals of winning over the company owners. Jeanine
Kryszinsky (Dominique Swain) decides that she (and her sorority
sisters) are going to work with special ed students in order to win
P.C. points with the Greek Council and boost their chances of winning.
Both, through their choices instigate their eventual doom.
The mafia, once Hoffa gets out of jail and realizes that he's not
going to be able to regain the Teamster presidency, takes Hoffa out
because he won't quiet down. Christina Ricci's character's
relationship with Pumpkin, ruins any chances of the sorority winning
the yearly award.
I know that these seem like tenuous connections at best, but no one
said that finding connections was going to be easy. Angela drew the
next number tonight, but since I have a really early meeting, we
watched a movie that accidentally didn't make it into our pool,
_Miracle_. I grew up hearing the story of the 80 olympic hockey team
pretty often because a lot of the guys were Minnesotan and Herb Brooks
was a Minnesotan... even if you don't play hockey in Minnesota (I
didn't) there's still an appreciation of it amongst a large percentage
of the population. Plus, there's always a bit of a "train wreck"
phenomena with movies that are shot in your own hometown. Even if
you're not that interested in the movie (read: Joe Somebody, Drop Dead
Fred) you watch because you want to see the scenery. I'm glad that
Miracle was better than that.
Tomorrow's movies... when we have more time. 21 Grams and Pieces of April
21 Grams
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Written By Guillermo Arriaga
Starring
Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro (I dig him)
This is the story of three gentle persons: Paul Rivers (Penn) an
ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English emigré
(Gainsbourg), Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban
housewife, happily married and mother of two little girls, and Jack
Jordan (Del Toro), an ex-convict who has found in his Christian faith
the strength to raise a family. They will be brought together by a
terrible accident that will change their lives. By the final frame,
none of them will be the same as they will learn harsh truths about
love, faith, courage, desire and guilt, and how chance can change our
worlds irretrievably, forever.
and
Pieces of April
Written and Directed by Peter Hedges
starring
Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke and Oliver Platt
April Burns (Holmes) invites her family to Thanksgiving dinner at her
teeny apartment on New York's Lower East Side. As they make their way
to the city from suburban Pennsylvania, April must endure a comedy of
errors - like finding out her oven doesn't work - in order to pull off
the big event.
So anyway, that's the current scoop. Don't forget the Colorado Springs
Film Society meets this Monday evening with a showing of the
Manchurian Candidate. There's a new print that just came out on DVD
this week and it will be interesting to see it in light of the new
version that comes out next Friday (surprisingly, I hear the new
version is actually quite good in it's own way)
More later,
Brian
similarities that she found in the movie... six degree esque things...
nothing that could add up to a cohesive whole, yet it's my job to find
some common theme between two movies that let's admit, have absolutely
nothing in common.
Hoffa and Pumpkin... movies that have both been named with names. But
I think that these two flicks have common threads; class and
leadership.
In Hoffa, we have Jack Nicholson portraying a man who wants to turn
the Teamsters into the nations most powerful union. For better or
worse, he's organizing the truck drivers against their 'evil
opressors' the owners. In Pumpkin, we have a sorority that wants to
claim the sorority of the year award from the sorority that's won it
the previous 20 years.
Hoffa, decides that he's going to work with the Mafia in order to
attain his goals of winning over the company owners. Jeanine
Kryszinsky (Dominique Swain) decides that she (and her sorority
sisters) are going to work with special ed students in order to win
P.C. points with the Greek Council and boost their chances of winning.
Both, through their choices instigate their eventual doom.
The mafia, once Hoffa gets out of jail and realizes that he's not
going to be able to regain the Teamster presidency, takes Hoffa out
because he won't quiet down. Christina Ricci's character's
relationship with Pumpkin, ruins any chances of the sorority winning
the yearly award.
I know that these seem like tenuous connections at best, but no one
said that finding connections was going to be easy. Angela drew the
next number tonight, but since I have a really early meeting, we
watched a movie that accidentally didn't make it into our pool,
_Miracle_. I grew up hearing the story of the 80 olympic hockey team
pretty often because a lot of the guys were Minnesotan and Herb Brooks
was a Minnesotan... even if you don't play hockey in Minnesota (I
didn't) there's still an appreciation of it amongst a large percentage
of the population. Plus, there's always a bit of a "train wreck"
phenomena with movies that are shot in your own hometown. Even if
you're not that interested in the movie (read: Joe Somebody, Drop Dead
Fred) you watch because you want to see the scenery. I'm glad that
Miracle was better than that.
Tomorrow's movies... when we have more time. 21 Grams and Pieces of April
21 Grams
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Written By Guillermo Arriaga
Starring
Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro (I dig him)
This is the story of three gentle persons: Paul Rivers (Penn) an
ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English emigré
(Gainsbourg), Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban
housewife, happily married and mother of two little girls, and Jack
Jordan (Del Toro), an ex-convict who has found in his Christian faith
the strength to raise a family. They will be brought together by a
terrible accident that will change their lives. By the final frame,
none of them will be the same as they will learn harsh truths about
love, faith, courage, desire and guilt, and how chance can change our
worlds irretrievably, forever.
and
Pieces of April
Written and Directed by Peter Hedges
starring
Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke and Oliver Platt
April Burns (Holmes) invites her family to Thanksgiving dinner at her
teeny apartment on New York's Lower East Side. As they make their way
to the city from suburban Pennsylvania, April must endure a comedy of
errors - like finding out her oven doesn't work - in order to pull off
the big event.
So anyway, that's the current scoop. Don't forget the Colorado Springs
Film Society meets this Monday evening with a showing of the
Manchurian Candidate. There's a new print that just came out on DVD
this week and it will be interesting to see it in light of the new
version that comes out next Friday (surprisingly, I hear the new
version is actually quite good in it's own way)
More later,
Brian
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Oddcoupling
Ang and I were talking yesterday night and decided we REALLY needed to
pare down the number of DVDs we own that we haven't watched yet. This
evening we sorted out the movies and came up with 32 that we either
haven't seen since they were in the theater, or haven't seen at all.
From that we decided to randomly pair the movies and see what kind of
strange threads these movies could have when thrown together in ways
that they were never meant to be combined.
Here are the pairings that we've numbered off and placed into a hat....
1. Toxic Avenger 4:Citizen Toxie / Auto Focus
2. Bubba Ho Tep / Dirty Pretty Things
3. CQ / Willard
4. Signs / Lost In La Mancha
5. Dark City / The Last Samurai
6. Pumpkin / Hoffa
7. Stevie / 13 Conversations About 1 Thing
8. Novocaine / The Contender
9. Hedwig and the Angry Inch / Ripley's Game
10. Vanilla Sky / Sexy Beast
11. 21 Grams / Pieces of April
12. Northfork / The Last Starfighter
13. Millenium Actress / Metropolis (2002 Japanese version)
14. The Quiet American (remake) / The Kid Stays In The Picture
15. The Heist / The Pianist
16. Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil / Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Tonight, we drew #6 out of the hat and then randomly chose to watch
Hoffa and then Pumpkin. I have NO idea how they could potentially tie
together, but that's part of the (torture) fun.
Movie #1
---------------------------------------------------------
Hoffa http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104427
Directed by Danny Devito
Written by David Mamet
starring Jack Nicholson and Danny Devito
Danny DeVito's portrait of Union leader James R. Hoffa, as seen
through the eyes of his friend, Bobby Ciaro. The film follows Hoffa
through his countless battles with the RTA and President Roosevelt all
the way to a conclusion that negates the theory that he disappeared in
1975.
Movie #2
---------------------------------------------------------
Pumpkin
Directed By Anthony Abrams & Adam Larson Broder
Written By Adam Larson Broder
Perky, perfect Carolyn and her Alpha Omega Pi sisters plan to win
Sorority of the Year by impressing the Greek Council with a killer
charity: coaching mentally challenged athletes for the regional
Challenged Games. When Carolyn's assigned to coach Pumpkin she's
terrified at first, but soon sees in him something she's never seen
before: a gentle humanity and honest clarity that touches her soul. To
the horror of her friends and Pumpkin's overprotective mother, Carolyn
falls in love, becoming an outcast in the process. As Carolyn's
"perfect life" falls apart, Pumpkin teaches her that perfect isn't
always perfect after all.
Play along! Make your own pairings and let's talk about them... I'll
try and post some thoughts at the end of the evening.
Brian
--
not getting enough of my blather?
check out http://flabbyironman.blogspot.com
and check out Lakeland Leadership League Presents
Mondays and Fridays on Sky Angel ch 9701
pare down the number of DVDs we own that we haven't watched yet. This
evening we sorted out the movies and came up with 32 that we either
haven't seen since they were in the theater, or haven't seen at all.
From that we decided to randomly pair the movies and see what kind of
strange threads these movies could have when thrown together in ways
that they were never meant to be combined.
Here are the pairings that we've numbered off and placed into a hat....
1. Toxic Avenger 4:Citizen Toxie / Auto Focus
2. Bubba Ho Tep / Dirty Pretty Things
3. CQ / Willard
4. Signs / Lost In La Mancha
5. Dark City / The Last Samurai
6. Pumpkin / Hoffa
7. Stevie / 13 Conversations About 1 Thing
8. Novocaine / The Contender
9. Hedwig and the Angry Inch / Ripley's Game
10. Vanilla Sky / Sexy Beast
11. 21 Grams / Pieces of April
12. Northfork / The Last Starfighter
13. Millenium Actress / Metropolis (2002 Japanese version)
14. The Quiet American (remake) / The Kid Stays In The Picture
15. The Heist / The Pianist
16. Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil / Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Tonight, we drew #6 out of the hat and then randomly chose to watch
Hoffa and then Pumpkin. I have NO idea how they could potentially tie
together, but that's part of the (torture) fun.
Movie #1
---------------------------------------------------------
Hoffa http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104427
Directed by Danny Devito
Written by David Mamet
starring Jack Nicholson and Danny Devito
Danny DeVito's portrait of Union leader James R. Hoffa, as seen
through the eyes of his friend, Bobby Ciaro. The film follows Hoffa
through his countless battles with the RTA and President Roosevelt all
the way to a conclusion that negates the theory that he disappeared in
1975.
Movie #2
---------------------------------------------------------
Pumpkin
Directed By Anthony Abrams & Adam Larson Broder
Written By Adam Larson Broder
Perky, perfect Carolyn and her Alpha Omega Pi sisters plan to win
Sorority of the Year by impressing the Greek Council with a killer
charity: coaching mentally challenged athletes for the regional
Challenged Games. When Carolyn's assigned to coach Pumpkin she's
terrified at first, but soon sees in him something she's never seen
before: a gentle humanity and honest clarity that touches her soul. To
the horror of her friends and Pumpkin's overprotective mother, Carolyn
falls in love, becoming an outcast in the process. As Carolyn's
"perfect life" falls apart, Pumpkin teaches her that perfect isn't
always perfect after all.
Play along! Make your own pairings and let's talk about them... I'll
try and post some thoughts at the end of the evening.
Brian
--
not getting enough of my blather?
check out http://flabbyironman.blogspot.com
and check out Lakeland Leadership League Presents
Mondays and Fridays on Sky Angel ch 9701
Sunday, June 27, 2004
The Echo Chronicles pt 2
discussing Fahrenheit 9/11, there are yet still more examples about people showing their bias.
576:778) Erin a.k.a. EB 27-JUN-04 18:47
Touching article in today's Times about a couple from Kokomo, Ind., who
drove 50 miles to the nearest "art house" to see F9/11 with like-thinking
people in a red state.
Is she feeling sorry for the fact that these "Blues" have to live in a "Red" state? I don't understand. Ugh. I just don't understand why I'm not human because I'm conservative. Why is anything I do a "Stupid" thing? Can I not be intelligent and conservative? It makes me mad.
and another note from "Kev Dawg"
576:770) Kev Dawg 27-JUN-04 11:44
It will make them upset, it might make them angry. It might make them feel
the president made some bad mistakes.
As far as propaganda goes, I'm not sure what that means anymore, or if it's
being used the same way as it was in WW II for example. Is opinion
propaganda now?
Isn't Moore's propaganda the exact same kind of propaganda that the
Government uses in ALL the official information they release? Just from the
other side. The same official information the media NEEDS to function, and
has to cowtow the White House to get continue to have access to? And when
they don't cowtow or ask a few hard questions, they're cut off?
Isn't the official White House press breifings propaganda? But propaganda we
pay for out of our taxes?
When the White House inserts campaign slogans directly from the RNC on the
cover of official Government budget reports, and that's NOT called
propaganda by the media... but a filmmaker showing live footage, real
footage, real events, just film that has been censured by the Government, is
accused of using propaganda by the media... I don't know what's up.
Why is the media attacking Moore? Why are they against opinions?
- - - - -
Moore does bring out the moonbats, I guess.
576:778) Erin a.k.a. EB 27-JUN-04 18:47
Touching article in today's Times about a couple from Kokomo, Ind., who
drove 50 miles to the nearest "art house" to see F9/11 with like-thinking
people in a red state.
Is she feeling sorry for the fact that these "Blues" have to live in a "Red" state? I don't understand. Ugh. I just don't understand why I'm not human because I'm conservative. Why is anything I do a "Stupid" thing? Can I not be intelligent and conservative? It makes me mad.
and another note from "Kev Dawg"
576:770) Kev Dawg 27-JUN-04 11:44
It will make them upset, it might make them angry. It might make them feel
the president made some bad mistakes.
As far as propaganda goes, I'm not sure what that means anymore, or if it's
being used the same way as it was in WW II for example. Is opinion
propaganda now?
Isn't Moore's propaganda the exact same kind of propaganda that the
Government uses in ALL the official information they release? Just from the
other side. The same official information the media NEEDS to function, and
has to cowtow the White House to get continue to have access to? And when
they don't cowtow or ask a few hard questions, they're cut off?
Isn't the official White House press breifings propaganda? But propaganda we
pay for out of our taxes?
When the White House inserts campaign slogans directly from the RNC on the
cover of official Government budget reports, and that's NOT called
propaganda by the media... but a filmmaker showing live footage, real
footage, real events, just film that has been censured by the Government, is
accused of using propaganda by the media... I don't know what's up.
Why is the media attacking Moore? Why are they against opinions?
- - - - -
Moore does bring out the moonbats, I guess.
Saturday, June 26, 2004
The Echo Chronicles...
I'm on this bulleting board called Echo. Once, long, long ago I picked up a book the creator of the bulletin board wrote called Cyberville and I was hooked. The only thing that I still struggle with is the fact that I'm very much alone on the site in my political beliefs. The movie conference, discussing Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 has become much like it usually is, full of vituperative and blustering comments. I try and post when and where I can, always making sure to be polite... but how do you respond to this?
576:764) Kev Dawg 26-JUN-04 21:24
It's become some kind of weird twist of logic but no matter how horrible
Bush may be, he get's a 50% off pass with the argument that we need to be
fair and balanced.
This ends up meaning that half the time we hear the truth about him and half
the time we have to hear his lies.
This is not being fair and balanced. This is being truthful half the time
and spreading lies the other half.
Can there be no ideological differences? Just RIGHT and WRONG? There are things I disagree with Bush about (mostly that he's not as fiscally conservative as I'd like him to be) but to just state that anything that comes out of his mouth is a lie? I don't get it. Can someone help me?
576:764) Kev Dawg 26-JUN-04 21:24
It's become some kind of weird twist of logic but no matter how horrible
Bush may be, he get's a 50% off pass with the argument that we need to be
fair and balanced.
This ends up meaning that half the time we hear the truth about him and half
the time we have to hear his lies.
This is not being fair and balanced. This is being truthful half the time
and spreading lies the other half.
Can there be no ideological differences? Just RIGHT and WRONG? There are things I disagree with Bush about (mostly that he's not as fiscally conservative as I'd like him to be) but to just state that anything that comes out of his mouth is a lie? I don't get it. Can someone help me?
Monday, June 21, 2004
Posts from the notebooks part 2
I remember writing this next post on my way back to Minnesota last
June. Angela and I had a couples shower before we left the next
morning for Cornerstone. I was stuck on an airplane.
Stuck in Row 6, Seat C he poured himself into the Bruce Cockburn song
he was listening to about the end of the world. Next to him, a thin
scandinavian woman from Minneapolis sat pensively reading on of the
three hundred sixty two Left Behind novels. If this were the last
night of the world, what would I do? What would I do that was
different? The words resonated and he realized that he'd be doing
exactly what he's doing now, flying across the country to see his
fiance, making a connection whole again that's been broken by
geography.
He looked to his left and saw a marker scrawled bookmark of Jesus next
to the woman's book. Is believing in the end of things during your
lifetime a narcissistic belief? "I'm so important that I'm not going
to die a man alone in the relentless march of time! No, I'm going to
go out with a bang with everyone else so that when we're done, the
party's over."
No, he didn't think that way, and didn't care much for Left Behind,
though he remembered a time in his life when he was. "Life", he
though,"is too short to worry about the end of it.
June. Angela and I had a couples shower before we left the next
morning for Cornerstone. I was stuck on an airplane.
Stuck in Row 6, Seat C he poured himself into the Bruce Cockburn song
he was listening to about the end of the world. Next to him, a thin
scandinavian woman from Minneapolis sat pensively reading on of the
three hundred sixty two Left Behind novels. If this were the last
night of the world, what would I do? What would I do that was
different? The words resonated and he realized that he'd be doing
exactly what he's doing now, flying across the country to see his
fiance, making a connection whole again that's been broken by
geography.
He looked to his left and saw a marker scrawled bookmark of Jesus next
to the woman's book. Is believing in the end of things during your
lifetime a narcissistic belief? "I'm so important that I'm not going
to die a man alone in the relentless march of time! No, I'm going to
go out with a bang with everyone else so that when we're done, the
party's over."
No, he didn't think that way, and didn't care much for Left Behind,
though he remembered a time in his life when he was. "Life", he
though,"is too short to worry about the end of it.
Posts from the notebooks part 1
NP: Circle Slide by the Choir off of one of my favorite albums EVER
The Choir's Circle Slide
I remember picking up Circle Slide at a Northwestern
Bookstore near my house in Maplewood, MN. They didn't have the
greatest music selection, but it was nearby and thus the easiest place
to convince my parents to take me. I think they even bought the disc
for me. I had probably just purchased my first CD player a few months
prior since I remember lining up my CDs and thinking I was really cool
for having something around 40 discs. Now, Angela and I have over
1200.
Anyway, this is a little piece that I found in one of my notebooks. It
doesn't have any sort of ending, but I thought it was a nice
beginning...
Back packed, key in hand, and heart stilled. Trepidation was bleeding
itself away as the time to the start of the mission clicked down
moment by moment. The days previously had almost seemed to stretch.
Moving along almost languidly, and even yesterday was fairly
leisurely, but today was different. Today it seemed as ifthe clock had
gone haywire and was just freely spinning.
anyway, that's all that I wrote. I'm not sure why, and I'm not even
entirely sure when I wrote it. But it's there FWIW.
The Choir's Circle Slide
I remember picking up Circle Slide at a Northwestern
Bookstore near my house in Maplewood, MN. They didn't have the
greatest music selection, but it was nearby and thus the easiest place
to convince my parents to take me. I think they even bought the disc
for me. I had probably just purchased my first CD player a few months
prior since I remember lining up my CDs and thinking I was really cool
for having something around 40 discs. Now, Angela and I have over
1200.
Anyway, this is a little piece that I found in one of my notebooks. It
doesn't have any sort of ending, but I thought it was a nice
beginning...
Back packed, key in hand, and heart stilled. Trepidation was bleeding
itself away as the time to the start of the mission clicked down
moment by moment. The days previously had almost seemed to stretch.
Moving along almost languidly, and even yesterday was fairly
leisurely, but today was different. Today it seemed as ifthe clock had
gone haywire and was just freely spinning.
anyway, that's all that I wrote. I'm not sure why, and I'm not even
entirely sure when I wrote it. But it's there FWIW.
DVD Pet Peeves...
Over lunch I picked up 21 Grams and Millenium Actress at
Blockbuster... Ang and I have generally stopped buying there because
it's cheaper at Hollywood, but they had a copy of Hedwig and the Angry
Itch there a couple weeks ago that I didn't buy and I wanted to see if
they still had it (being Colorado Springs and not thinking that
there's much of a community into musicals about botched operation
transsexuals) Anyway, they didn't... but they did have 21 Grams which
I hadn't seen anywhere else (it's the type of movie that only ever
gets a couple of copies at the store so when they go into the used
section they don't last long, as opposed to say Terminator 3 and X2)
Why do studios realease SUPER barebones movies? the 21 Grams disc
doesn't even have a trailor on it. ERGH. I don't need a lot of
features, but having the trailer isn't that difficult and is kind of
handy. I suppose they're coming out with a special edition at some
point, but I don't know that it's a movie I like enough to buy twice.
Blockbuster... Ang and I have generally stopped buying there because
it's cheaper at Hollywood, but they had a copy of Hedwig and the Angry
Itch there a couple weeks ago that I didn't buy and I wanted to see if
they still had it (being Colorado Springs and not thinking that
there's much of a community into musicals about botched operation
transsexuals) Anyway, they didn't... but they did have 21 Grams which
I hadn't seen anywhere else (it's the type of movie that only ever
gets a couple of copies at the store so when they go into the used
section they don't last long, as opposed to say Terminator 3 and X2)
Why do studios realease SUPER barebones movies? the 21 Grams disc
doesn't even have a trailor on it. ERGH. I don't need a lot of
features, but having the trailer isn't that difficult and is kind of
handy. I suppose they're coming out with a special edition at some
point, but I don't know that it's a movie I like enough to buy twice.
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Movies of the evening...
Tonight's viewing? IN AMERICA and MAYOR OF THE SUNSET STRIP. Man, you feel
really bad for the guy at teh center of the movie by the end. Sure he
lived at the center of this little universe and birthed the careers of a
who's who list of people, but at the end of the day all he was left with
were photos and ephemera in his tiny apartment. No real friends, no real
partners, just histories with celebrities that used him as a mirror to
reflect upon themselves. Sad.
really bad for the guy at teh center of the movie by the end. Sure he
lived at the center of this little universe and birthed the careers of a
who's who list of people, but at the end of the day all he was left with
were photos and ephemera in his tiny apartment. No real friends, no real
partners, just histories with celebrities that used him as a mirror to
reflect upon themselves. Sad.
Friday, June 18, 2004
DVD Pet Peeves
Over lunch I picked up 21 Grams and Millenium Actress at
Blockbuster... Ang and I have generally stopped buying there because
it's cheaper at Hollywood, but they had a copy of Hedwig and the Angry
Itch there a couple weeks ago that I didn't buy and I wanted to see if
they still had it (being Colorado Springs and not thinking that
there's much of a community into musicals about botched operation
transsexuals) Anyway, they didn't... but they did have 21 Grams which
I hadn't seen anywhere else (it's the type of movie that only ever
gets a couple of copies at the store so when they go into the used
section they don't last long, as opposed to say Terminator 3 and X2)
Why do studios realease SUPER barebones movies? the 21 Grams disc
doesn't even have a trailor on it. ERGH. I don't need a lot of
features, but having the trailer isn't that difficult and is kind of
handy. I suppose they're coming out with a special edition at some
point, but I don't know that it's a movie I like enough to buy twice.
Blockbuster... Ang and I have generally stopped buying there because
it's cheaper at Hollywood, but they had a copy of Hedwig and the Angry
Itch there a couple weeks ago that I didn't buy and I wanted to see if
they still had it (being Colorado Springs and not thinking that
there's much of a community into musicals about botched operation
transsexuals) Anyway, they didn't... but they did have 21 Grams which
I hadn't seen anywhere else (it's the type of movie that only ever
gets a couple of copies at the store so when they go into the used
section they don't last long, as opposed to say Terminator 3 and X2)
Why do studios realease SUPER barebones movies? the 21 Grams disc
doesn't even have a trailor on it. ERGH. I don't need a lot of
features, but having the trailer isn't that difficult and is kind of
handy. I suppose they're coming out with a special edition at some
point, but I don't know that it's a movie I like enough to buy twice.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Posts from the notebooks part 2
I remember writing this next post on my way back to Minnesota last
June. Angela and I had a couples shower before we left the next
morning for Cornerstone. I was stuck on an airplane.
Stuck in Row 6, Seat C he poured himself into the Bruce Cockburn song
he was listening to about the end of the world. Next to him, a thin
scandinavian woman from Minneapolis sat pensively reading on of the
three hundred sixty two Left Behind novels. If this were the last
night of the world, what would I do? What would I do that was
different? The words resonated and he realized that he'd be doing
exactly what he's doing now, flying across the country to see his
fiance, making a connection whole again that's been broken by
geography.
He looked to his left and saw a marker scrawled bookmark of Jesus next
to the woman's book. Is believing in the end of things during your
lifetime a narcissistic belief? "I'm so important that I'm not going
to die a man alone in the relentless march of time! No, I'm going to
go out with a bang with everyone else so that when we're done, the
party's over."
No, he didn't think that way, and didn't care much for Left Behind,
though he remembered a time in his life when he was. "Life", he
though,"is too short to worry about the end of it.
June. Angela and I had a couples shower before we left the next
morning for Cornerstone. I was stuck on an airplane.
Stuck in Row 6, Seat C he poured himself into the Bruce Cockburn song
he was listening to about the end of the world. Next to him, a thin
scandinavian woman from Minneapolis sat pensively reading on of the
three hundred sixty two Left Behind novels. If this were the last
night of the world, what would I do? What would I do that was
different? The words resonated and he realized that he'd be doing
exactly what he's doing now, flying across the country to see his
fiance, making a connection whole again that's been broken by
geography.
He looked to his left and saw a marker scrawled bookmark of Jesus next
to the woman's book. Is believing in the end of things during your
lifetime a narcissistic belief? "I'm so important that I'm not going
to die a man alone in the relentless march of time! No, I'm going to
go out with a bang with everyone else so that when we're done, the
party's over."
No, he didn't think that way, and didn't care much for Left Behind,
though he remembered a time in his life when he was. "Life", he
though,"is too short to worry about the end of it.
Posts from the notebooks part 1
NP: Circle Slide by the Choir off of one of my favorite albums EVER
The Choir's Circle Slide
I remember picking up Circle Slide at a Northwestern
Bookstore near my house in Maplewood, MN. They didn't have the
greatest music selection, but it was nearby and thus the easiest place
to convince my parents to take me. I think they even bought the disc
for me. I had probably just purchased my first CD player a few months
prior since I remember lining up my CDs and thinking I was really cool
for having something around 40 discs. Now, Angela and I have over
1200.
Anyway, this is a little piece that I found in one of my notebooks. It
doesn't have any sort of ending, but I thought it was a nice
beginning...
Back packed, key in hand, and heart stilled. Trepidation was bleeding
itself away as the time to the start of the mission clicked down
moment by moment. The days previously had almost seemed to stretch.
Moving along almost languidly, and even yesterday was fairly
leisurely, but today was different. Today it seemed as ifthe clock had
gone haywire and was just freely spinning.
anyway, that's all that I wrote. I'm not sure why, and I'm not even
entirely sure when I wrote it. But it's there FWIW.
The Choir's Circle Slide
I remember picking up Circle Slide at a Northwestern
Bookstore near my house in Maplewood, MN. They didn't have the
greatest music selection, but it was nearby and thus the easiest place
to convince my parents to take me. I think they even bought the disc
for me. I had probably just purchased my first CD player a few months
prior since I remember lining up my CDs and thinking I was really cool
for having something around 40 discs. Now, Angela and I have over
1200.
Anyway, this is a little piece that I found in one of my notebooks. It
doesn't have any sort of ending, but I thought it was a nice
beginning...
Back packed, key in hand, and heart stilled. Trepidation was bleeding
itself away as the time to the start of the mission clicked down
moment by moment. The days previously had almost seemed to stretch.
Moving along almost languidly, and even yesterday was fairly
leisurely, but today was different. Today it seemed as ifthe clock had
gone haywire and was just freely spinning.
anyway, that's all that I wrote. I'm not sure why, and I'm not even
entirely sure when I wrote it. But it's there FWIW.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
More Gmail
I'm still just getting into Gmail, but I'm becoming more impressed by
it. I really dig the conversation threading that it created. Instead
of opening individual e-mails, you open a 'conversation' that shows
all of the e-mails in a thread in one web page so that you don't have
to keep clicking. If you want to reply to something, you click reply
under the e-mail you want to reply to and it automatically opens a
reply area right inside the page so that once again you don't need to
leave the page. Once you're done writing your e-mail, you click send,
and the little input area of the page disappears and your new message
appears at the bottom of the thread. It can also automatically
hide/show quoting so that you don't have to wade through old quotes.
Anyway, I'm pretty impressed, at least much more so than I ever
thought I'd be. I can see Gmail catching on quite a bit once it's
officially released.
Must do timesheet(s) today. Thankfully it should be relatively easy. More later.
it. I really dig the conversation threading that it created. Instead
of opening individual e-mails, you open a 'conversation' that shows
all of the e-mails in a thread in one web page so that you don't have
to keep clicking. If you want to reply to something, you click reply
under the e-mail you want to reply to and it automatically opens a
reply area right inside the page so that once again you don't need to
leave the page. Once you're done writing your e-mail, you click send,
and the little input area of the page disappears and your new message
appears at the bottom of the thread. It can also automatically
hide/show quoting so that you don't have to wade through old quotes.
Anyway, I'm pretty impressed, at least much more so than I ever
thought I'd be. I can see Gmail catching on quite a bit once it's
officially released.
Must do timesheet(s) today. Thankfully it should be relatively easy. More later.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Gmail!
I was digging around in my blogspot control panel and noticed that I
was invited to get a Gmail account. So far, it seems pretty cool.
Although I'm only getting started with it. I like the keyboard
commands you can use from the main panel though.
was invited to get a Gmail account. So far, it seems pretty cool.
Although I'm only getting started with it. I like the keyboard
commands you can use from the main panel though.
Too Much Stuff...
I swear that the move from Minneapolis to Colorado Springs will never end. So far, we've dragged at least 4 Santa Fe's worth of stuff down to our Apartment, along with an Elantra worth, part of a moving truck worth, and a full size van worth. Our apartment is slowly getting to the point where we won't have any more storage, which means another round of binging and purging. But binging and purging aren't always bad things, at least when they don't involve puking on demand. ;-)
I think Big Fish comes out to the used section at Hollywood today, maybe I'll have to swing by and find out.
NP: Beastie Boy's - Ch Ch Check it Out
Just starting to listen to the new album. The jury is out. I do know I don't dig the politics, but the beats are so.... FUNKY. (shakes his little white boy booty as much as he can while he sits at his desk)
Getting back into the thick of things...
It's always a pain getting everything caught up from being out of the office for a couple of days and today, thankfully or not, is about the same. Ang and I ended up getting home at about 10:00 last night and falling flat on the bed. This means that the Santa Fe didn't get unloaded, but also meant that our apartment got to remain clean for one more day before being messed up with a SUVfull of stuff that we're not entirely sure we have a place for.
One of the things I was excited about doing over the weekend was getting at least a little bit of riding in so that I could appreciate the terrain and abundance of oxygen. I thought that it would be easier to ride, and in a way it was, but the main difference was in how wattage could be applied. Like I said, i was surprised that the heart rate was the same, it didn't go down. But I could in general go a few miles an hour faster. I'm not sure whether this is just because of terrain or because of atmosphere. My thought is that is has more to do with terrain because I seem to remember having about the same level of performance back when I lived in Minnesota. No matter what though, it was nice riding back home, and it reminded me of how much I like my Fuji Team. The mountain bike I bought is nice, but the shifting of my Ultegra components is buttery smooth.
Back to work, I've got timesheets and other stuff to finish, but maybe I'll post some journal entries that I found in one of my notebooks a little later.
Saturday, June 12, 2004
YAWN...
Ang and I headed up to Minnesota last night to spend the weekend with family. While it usually makes sense to do the drive fromC olorado Springs in one shot, it sure does cause a lot of wear and tear. But we're here, and we have to figure out a way to squeeze visits with all of our friends into three days, have two birthday parties, have two fathers day celebrations, and attend a wedding. I'm also DESPERATE to squeeze a ride in while I'm here. I'm anxious to do a little bit of riding where the air is thick and the altitude is low before i head back up to the sky. It's hard to look up in the sky and realize that you live a mile above where you currently are. Anyway, we're spending the evening tonight with Angela's sister and brother in law and tomorrow night we spend the evening with my sister and brother in law (who I'm anxious to see). More later
Bri
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
You've seen electoral breakdown maps... but have you seen this?
http://www.popvssoda.com/countystats/total-county.html
how every county in the country breaks down when it comes to whether carbonated beverages are called "Pop" or "Soda" looks like little El Paso county where Ang and I live now is firmly in "Soda" land, yet Minne'soda' is firmly in the pop column (which of course is the right term to use... Coke and Soda is wrong doncha know!)
anyway, thought it was interesting.
Bri
Monday, June 07, 2004
Monday morning starts like any Monday morning, a long slow ride into work (because it's uphill) and timesheets. Ah the joy of timesheets. I'm working harder on trying to put together my timesheets for the week prior instead of the six month delay I once fell behind on in my timesheets. Have you ever tried to fill out six months of timesheets in one sitting? It's a BIG pain.
The ride to work was nice this morning. It's still uphill, and it was warmer today than it has been, but it's getting to be more enjoyable than it has been. Riding home is always MORE enjoyable, but why ride to work if you're not getting some satisfaction out of it. So, with my gatorade to the left of me, my WACOM table to the right, I dive in to my timesheets.
Saturday, after riding to work to fetch my cellphone, I rode down to downtown Colorado Springs and then up to the Target at Union and Academy to meet Angelina. I was surprised at how good I felt when I finished, and it makes me anxious to ride in Minnesota this weekend. To ride on flat ground with air? It's got to be wonderful. I'm looking forward to it. I don't know that I'll be some sort of "mutant cycling beast" but I've got to ride better there than I do here. Anyway, the whole ride clicked in at a little over 30 miles, so I'm getting there. I don't know that I'm in any shape to do the Triple Bypass this year, but maybe I can do the Hotter than Hell 100 in August.
I'm listening to Five Iron Frenzy's FIF2:Electric Boogaloo and it just got to Spartan, a song that I once wrote about on this blog. Man, great song. I remember driving across Minnesota on my way to TCBC's Weekend on Wheels in southern Minnesota hearing that song at about 5 in the morning. I remember how much I missed Angela that weekend. It was only two days, but being alone in a dorm room trying to psych myself up for the Ironman really made me long for Angela. Man, that was only two days. I have no idea how I ever made it for the two months that Angela was still in Minnesota before moving down here, and I feel blessed that I get to go home and see her every night.
Angela gets Shape magazine and I was digging through it on Sunday while I was cleaning the bikes. There was an article on the inside talking about triathlon and how to go about doing a sprint. At one point in the article they mention that there's no need to think of triathlon in the same category as "Extreme Triathlons" like the Ironman, and that only a very small minority of people ever complete an Ironman distance triathlon. Reading that made me feel good, although I've got SOOOO far to go before i do another one. Someday, god willing, I will though.
Anyway, back to the timesheets!
Friday, June 04, 2004
A pedaling we will go...
Ang and I had the chance to go see the new Harry Potter flick Wednesday night which meant leaving from my office. The Elantra gets better mileage than the Santa Fe, so it got the honors of driving through the inter-city Colorado rush hour. Getting home late, meant that the Santa Fe got left at the office, demanding a fresh return to the bike. So, I'm now back to riding. It always seems that the second day is easier than the first. Although yesterday, I had the benefit of a tailwind. Today, of course, I got the headwind. Anyway, I'm buried under a pile of things to do at work, so I need to be brief.
The new Harry Potter flick? Pretty good stuff. I haven't seen the first two Harry Potter movies, but I like what Alfonso Cuaron did with what I had seen. Everything seems a bit more grown up. Now if only the audience had grown up as much as the movie. I'm a big fan of quiet theaters, too much noise of any kind, candy wrappers, laughing, nonstop talking? They're all at the top of my theatre pet peeves, and everyone one of them was on full display Wed. night. The worst part of the evening was when the two college girls behind us who had been talking the ENTIRE movie, SCREAMED at one of the names in the credits, making me recoil in pain. Thankfully they apologized, but I wanted to inflict righteous vengeance on them, whatever that might have been. Coming up next? Free Napoleon Dynamite screenings!
Friday, May 28, 2004
We live in a deflationary world, and I am a deflationary girl...
or something like that. Driving past the local Blockbuster today to pick up a sandwich at Subway, I noticed that in an effort to counterprogram Hollywood Video, they've also switched to 3 for $25. This, on the face of it is a boon to the consumer. I know that it will probably alter my buying pattern. I was done shopping at Blockbuster when it was two for twenty dollars, but I'm more likely to shop there now that it's a comparable 3 for $25. But how much more needs to happen before the used DVD market would become deflationary? At some point, in a war between two companies over the aforementioned DVD prices could cause used DVD prices to spiral, ruining the market. Why would I pay 3 for $25 for something when I know that it's only REALLY worth X? Do I hold off on buying until it reaches price point X? Do I see it at price point X and knowing the history of the market decide that I should wait until it reaches price point Y?
Obviously, this is a rather simplistic model, but one wonders if CD price fixing was fixed for anti-deflationary reasons. It just seems as though there's more volatibility in the used DVD market than their is in the used CD market... but then again, you couldn't ever really buy used CDs at a national chain that's as highly visible as the equivalent Blockbuster or Hollywood video. Thoughts?
Obviously, this is a rather simplistic model, but one wonders if CD price fixing was fixed for anti-deflationary reasons. It just seems as though there's more volatibility in the used DVD market than their is in the used CD market... but then again, you couldn't ever really buy used CDs at a national chain that's as highly visible as the equivalent Blockbuster or Hollywood video. Thoughts?
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Yawn
NP: Over The Rhine's Show Me off of Ohio
Man, what a great song. The Ohio album was hit or miss for me, but Show Me is just one of those songs that fires on all cylinders. Over the Rhine has always been one of those bands that I enjoy shooting... camera NOT gun. Working as a staff photographer for the website at Cornerstone Festival the past few years has meant that at some point every year, I end up hanging off the side of the stage shooting photos of Linferd and Karen.
The song just ended and now something off the GlassByrd album is playing now. When I first heard Common Children back in 1995, I'd have never thought that they'd turn into a band I was actually really into. But Marc Byrd turned into a pretty great songwriter. If you've heard anything by him, you've probably heard "God of Wonders", but the rest of his body of work is as good or better.
I can't seem to get the sleep out of my eyes this morning. I suppose that's not completely abnormal, but normalyl I'm more awake than this, especially when I get 8 hours or so. Anyway, I'm working on labels for a little mini-series we're putting out around my bosses new book Lucifer's Flood It's out now through our website, but it'll be officially released this summer through Creation House Press. Enough blathering from me. Sometime today I'll post a picture of my cleaned up office space.
Man, what a great song. The Ohio album was hit or miss for me, but Show Me is just one of those songs that fires on all cylinders. Over the Rhine has always been one of those bands that I enjoy shooting... camera NOT gun. Working as a staff photographer for the website at Cornerstone Festival the past few years has meant that at some point every year, I end up hanging off the side of the stage shooting photos of Linferd and Karen.
The song just ended and now something off the GlassByrd album is playing now. When I first heard Common Children back in 1995, I'd have never thought that they'd turn into a band I was actually really into. But Marc Byrd turned into a pretty great songwriter. If you've heard anything by him, you've probably heard "God of Wonders", but the rest of his body of work is as good or better.
I can't seem to get the sleep out of my eyes this morning. I suppose that's not completely abnormal, but normalyl I'm more awake than this, especially when I get 8 hours or so. Anyway, I'm working on labels for a little mini-series we're putting out around my bosses new book Lucifer's Flood It's out now through our website, but it'll be officially released this summer through Creation House Press. Enough blathering from me. Sometime today I'll post a picture of my cleaned up office space.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Not that there's anyone reading this...
but if you haven't RSVPed for the Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash, DO IT! It's good for you! (or something like that)
I'm going to bed. The bosses come back tomorrow and I have to be my freshest and mintiest. Blah. But it will be good to see them... and since they're back, it'll be an excuse to cook the 6lb brisket on Saturday and roast some corn to act as a base for my butter with red pepper and fresh basil. MMMMMM. I shouldn't be making myself hungry before I go to bed. Oh well.
I'm going to bed. The bosses come back tomorrow and I have to be my freshest and mintiest. Blah. But it will be good to see them... and since they're back, it'll be an excuse to cook the 6lb brisket on Saturday and roast some corn to act as a base for my butter with red pepper and fresh basil. MMMMMM. I shouldn't be making myself hungry before I go to bed. Oh well.
This is kinda cool...
Ang and I have been using this program called DVDpedia to catalogue our DVDs. I just found out today that you can actually export the list to a HTML file, so if you want, here's a link to our current movie connection. :-)
Ah the joys of a clean office...
or at least, that's what I told myself today as I scrubbed my office from top to bottom in preparation of the bosses arriving. Winter is nice at work, since my immediate supervisor and the married couple at the top head to Florida to tape the teaching material that we edit the rest of the year. The pace of life slows down during these months, and while life at Lakeland isn't the most stressful existence in the world, these months from January to June are cherished.
So now, after working all day on cleaning my office, I have to say that things look pretty good. That's not to say that everything's perfect, but the extra papers have been thrown away, the dust has been vacuumed up and things have been put in as proper a place as they can be.
I set up a separate area in the office today to record voiceovers in. My Dual Gigahertz G4 is primarily a graphics box, and the Dual 1.25 is my editing machine, but I had a corner of my office that was being unused. It's not unused anymore. I took a cassette deck that didn't really have a place, and wired it up underneath a Mackie soundboard that didn't have a place, then ran a microphone to the mixing board and the output of the board to this MAudio MobilePre box that we bought for mobile audio production in January. I have to say that it actually works pretty slick. There's a 15 foot USB cable that spans from the audio area to the Dual 1Ghz which let's it be in it's own area. I like a clean workspace. Having everything bunched up doesn't really serve that very well.
I've still got to figure out what to do with our hard drives. When we originally bought our editing stations, we decided it was cheaper to buy firewire drives than build a RAID. It worked really well, but now we've got a collection of twenty or so firewire drives that are sitting on the other side of the office hooked up the Dual 1.25. I'd love to buy a couple of
THESE
I've got a nice rack that our AJA IO is sitting in along with a couple of old decks, and it would be nice to mount two of these into the rack. In a single swipe, I could wipe out twenty drives and have more space in two. Sounds nice.
Ang sent a Bass to a friend from one of the mailing lists she was on in exchange for postage that never seemed to come. We forgot about it, writing it off, and were pleasantly surprised the other day to see the $50 worth of postage show up. Since we've paid our bills this month, we decided to use it to check things off "our list". So, in a period of 30 minutes or so, we added the following to our DVD collection...
Capturing the Friedmans
X2
Vanilla Sky
Heist (which I'm anxious to see. I missed it in the theater, and I've always been a big fan of David Mamet)
Under the Tuscan Sun (Angela's mom is coming for the Memorial Day weekend, and since her parents are in the process of splitting up, we figured that Under the Tuscan Sun might appeal to her.) It's not a great movie, but Angela and I both enjoyed it when we paid a $1 to see it at the discount theatre. Can't beat .50 cent Tuesday.)
Lost In Translation - Angela's choice. I liked Lost In Translation, or more appropriately, I liked BILL MURRAY in Lost In Translation, but it's a nice little Tone Poem of a movie. It's a little movie, and sometimes that's a good thing. There doesn't need to be an explosion every five minutes, and sometimes being restrained can be as artful. Restraint is something I try and practice in my design. I have various levels of success in this. Most of the time, my exercise in restraint stays restrained, but within the restraint is quite a bit of complexity. Other times my restraint is a complete failure and it's a mash of everything.
I'm soaking in the cleanliness and quiet right now. Angela should be heading home from work, so I should leave too, but with a little bit of music on (right now it's from the Desperation CD by the worship team from The Mill at New Life) and my reorganized workstation I'm having a hard time getting off the Aeron. I wish there were a way to record atmosphere. Sure, you can record ambient sound and even shoot video of a scene, but it's hard to near impossible to capture the feeling inside that the atmosphere is creating.
Anyway, I'm blathering. It's more cleaning tonight as we prepare the apartment for Angela's mother's arrival. Life is good.
Bri
So now, after working all day on cleaning my office, I have to say that things look pretty good. That's not to say that everything's perfect, but the extra papers have been thrown away, the dust has been vacuumed up and things have been put in as proper a place as they can be.
I set up a separate area in the office today to record voiceovers in. My Dual Gigahertz G4 is primarily a graphics box, and the Dual 1.25 is my editing machine, but I had a corner of my office that was being unused. It's not unused anymore. I took a cassette deck that didn't really have a place, and wired it up underneath a Mackie soundboard that didn't have a place, then ran a microphone to the mixing board and the output of the board to this MAudio MobilePre box that we bought for mobile audio production in January. I have to say that it actually works pretty slick. There's a 15 foot USB cable that spans from the audio area to the Dual 1Ghz which let's it be in it's own area. I like a clean workspace. Having everything bunched up doesn't really serve that very well.
I've still got to figure out what to do with our hard drives. When we originally bought our editing stations, we decided it was cheaper to buy firewire drives than build a RAID. It worked really well, but now we've got a collection of twenty or so firewire drives that are sitting on the other side of the office hooked up the Dual 1.25. I'd love to buy a couple of
THESE
I've got a nice rack that our AJA IO is sitting in along with a couple of old decks, and it would be nice to mount two of these into the rack. In a single swipe, I could wipe out twenty drives and have more space in two. Sounds nice.
Ang sent a Bass to a friend from one of the mailing lists she was on in exchange for postage that never seemed to come. We forgot about it, writing it off, and were pleasantly surprised the other day to see the $50 worth of postage show up. Since we've paid our bills this month, we decided to use it to check things off "our list". So, in a period of 30 minutes or so, we added the following to our DVD collection...
Capturing the Friedmans
X2
Vanilla Sky
Heist (which I'm anxious to see. I missed it in the theater, and I've always been a big fan of David Mamet)
Under the Tuscan Sun (Angela's mom is coming for the Memorial Day weekend, and since her parents are in the process of splitting up, we figured that Under the Tuscan Sun might appeal to her.) It's not a great movie, but Angela and I both enjoyed it when we paid a $1 to see it at the discount theatre. Can't beat .50 cent Tuesday.)
Lost In Translation - Angela's choice. I liked Lost In Translation, or more appropriately, I liked BILL MURRAY in Lost In Translation, but it's a nice little Tone Poem of a movie. It's a little movie, and sometimes that's a good thing. There doesn't need to be an explosion every five minutes, and sometimes being restrained can be as artful. Restraint is something I try and practice in my design. I have various levels of success in this. Most of the time, my exercise in restraint stays restrained, but within the restraint is quite a bit of complexity. Other times my restraint is a complete failure and it's a mash of everything.
I'm soaking in the cleanliness and quiet right now. Angela should be heading home from work, so I should leave too, but with a little bit of music on (right now it's from the Desperation CD by the worship team from The Mill at New Life) and my reorganized workstation I'm having a hard time getting off the Aeron. I wish there were a way to record atmosphere. Sure, you can record ambient sound and even shoot video of a scene, but it's hard to near impossible to capture the feeling inside that the atmosphere is creating.
Anyway, I'm blathering. It's more cleaning tonight as we prepare the apartment for Angela's mother's arrival. Life is good.
Bri
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
No cycling, but lots of film...
I have an addiction. I'm not proud of it, and I don't know that there's any sort of 12 step program for it (though being a Minnesotan, I'm sure there's one back in the homeland) Unfortunately, my wife is into this addiction as much as I am. The addiction? The 3 for $25 DVDs at Hollywood Video. If the selection sucked, my pocketbook would be happy, but making a list of things we desired the other night, there are roughly 30 or so DVDs still at the store that we desire. Meanwhile, the number of DVDs in the library ticks upward. Current count? 342. I'm thinking of repackaging all of them in slimline DVD cases to save space, but I'm not sure. Anyone have any suggestions?
This week's purchases?
Open Range
Intolerable Cruelty
and
LoveActually
last week's purchases?
Levity (a surprising film with AMAZING cinematography from Roger Deacons, but then again, his cinematography is always wonderful)
The Singing Detective (which was good, but not as good as it could have been)
and
Dummy (which still might be my favorite romance of the year... any movie that has the character falling in love after learning to communicate through his ventriloquist dummy? MOVIE MAGIC. heh. It really was a decent flick. Though kind of on the quirky side. I mean, how many films feature not only a character that falls in love with his job counselor by speaking through his dummy, and Milla Jovovich as a punk rocker in a Klezmer band?)
anyway, the DVD march continues on.
Yesterday night was Colorado Springs Film Society, and though we had 12 people there, 5 of them were either related to (my wife) or the ressurectors (the other 4 of us) Hopefully we can find a way to get more people interested in coming. I need to work on marketing.
This week's purchases?
Open Range
Intolerable Cruelty
and
LoveActually
last week's purchases?
Levity (a surprising film with AMAZING cinematography from Roger Deacons, but then again, his cinematography is always wonderful)
The Singing Detective (which was good, but not as good as it could have been)
and
Dummy (which still might be my favorite romance of the year... any movie that has the character falling in love after learning to communicate through his ventriloquist dummy? MOVIE MAGIC. heh. It really was a decent flick. Though kind of on the quirky side. I mean, how many films feature not only a character that falls in love with his job counselor by speaking through his dummy, and Milla Jovovich as a punk rocker in a Klezmer band?)
anyway, the DVD march continues on.
Yesterday night was Colorado Springs Film Society, and though we had 12 people there, 5 of them were either related to (my wife) or the ressurectors (the other 4 of us) Hopefully we can find a way to get more people interested in coming. I need to work on marketing.
Thursday, May 20, 2004
This is a test, this is only a test...
I'm sitting in my office right now, with the Outlook Web Access window open on my desktop. Hopefully, I'll be on my bicycle this evening and if I am, that'll be the first time in quite a while. I still need to find a balance that I haven't been able to find yet. I stopped because I was battling a cold, but once you stop, it's hard to get started again. Anyway, I'm mostly just posting to see if I can post from my e-mail program. Here's hoping!
Brian
Brian
Monday, May 03, 2004
I have found the enemy, and it is the TRIPLE BYPASS....
I remember the day I heard that there was an Ironman race coming to Wisconsin... something clicked in the back of my mind, even though I'd never been much of a runner or a swimmer. It was one of those things where you didn't really know if it was possible to acheive it, but that might be more fun than anything to try. It's not quite the same feeling, but I definitely felt pangs of the same thing as I looked at the webpage for the Triple Bypass.
I remember the day I heard that there was an Ironman race coming to Wisconsin... something clicked in the back of my mind, even though I'd never been much of a runner or a swimmer. It was one of those things where you didn't really know if it was possible to acheive it, but that might be more fun than anything to try. It's not quite the same feeling, but I definitely felt pangs of the same thing as I looked at the webpage for the Triple Bypass.
doesn't it look like fun? Ok, maybe fun isn't the right word, but it at the very least looks like something that could be a good kick in the pants for me.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
The Long Slow Fall Out Of Not So Glory
It's been quite a while since I've posted. Maybe I haven't posted out of a bit of shame. Maybe I've just been lazy. Maybe I haven't posted because of life changes. Whatever reason I have probably isn't a good one, but it's all I have. I was walking through the bathroom of my apartment tonight looking at some bike clothes strewn about the floor thinking that it's been a year and a half since Ironman Wisconsin 2002 and that it's all sort of been downhill from that moment. I don't know that I've ridden more than a couple of hundred miles since September of 2002 and I'm just starting to pick up the pieces. They're depressing pieces. Pieces that are even more depressing when you exacerbate them with elevation here in Colorado where I'm now living. Think it's hard to bike a long distance when you're out of shape? Try biking that same distance while you're out of shape and can't breathe.
It surprises me that I still weigh roughly the same as I did when all of my training went out the window. Should I feel blessed about that? Or should I be ashamed that it's probably just a redistribution of fat and muscle. What can I do to change? Is there hope? Surely there's hope, for if there wasn't, there would be no reason to restart the blog.
What's changed aside from being a new resident of 'The Centennial State'? Probably the biggest change is just that I've gotten married to quite a lovely lady. Everything that you're told about marriage, or at least what I've been told about marriage is wrong. I'm sure there's a part of me, just like there's a part of every evangelical male that gets married for the sex. If you can't have it, you want it... and you go for it the way you know you're allowed to get it. Getting married. Upon getting married, you realize that sex is much less sexy than how it's portrayed in the culture around you. It's not bad. In fact, it's really quite good, but dealing with perceptions and then reorienting and rewriting them to reflect a newly perceived reality is definitely a process. A good chunk of married life seems to be a bit like that. It's not quite as sexy as it's portrayed, but it's also much richer.
But what does all of this have to do with Triathlon? It has to do with triathlon because it changes you. Marriage made me very aware of the attention I was giving to my wife. That I felt obligated to be able to give her my attention when I wasn't at work. I haven't felt (now that it's spring again) that I can leave and go for a group ride once or twice a week. I haven't found the balance between showering attention on my bride, and chasing after another one of my goals.
On Chasing Goals...
I'm also dealing with just what it is I want to accomplish. Do I want to excel at the job I feel God called me into? Do I want to start up this sideproject design company so that my wife and I can stop donating plasma and pay the back taxes that I still owe from my days of freelancing? Life is a balancing act and one that I'm still struggling to walk. But God is a God of grace, and though I know I keep falling off the tightrope, that safety net is there and I can get up and try to walk across again.
More later, but I needed to post something while the muse was in the room.
-Bri
It surprises me that I still weigh roughly the same as I did when all of my training went out the window. Should I feel blessed about that? Or should I be ashamed that it's probably just a redistribution of fat and muscle. What can I do to change? Is there hope? Surely there's hope, for if there wasn't, there would be no reason to restart the blog.
What's changed aside from being a new resident of 'The Centennial State'? Probably the biggest change is just that I've gotten married to quite a lovely lady. Everything that you're told about marriage, or at least what I've been told about marriage is wrong. I'm sure there's a part of me, just like there's a part of every evangelical male that gets married for the sex. If you can't have it, you want it... and you go for it the way you know you're allowed to get it. Getting married. Upon getting married, you realize that sex is much less sexy than how it's portrayed in the culture around you. It's not bad. In fact, it's really quite good, but dealing with perceptions and then reorienting and rewriting them to reflect a newly perceived reality is definitely a process. A good chunk of married life seems to be a bit like that. It's not quite as sexy as it's portrayed, but it's also much richer.
But what does all of this have to do with Triathlon? It has to do with triathlon because it changes you. Marriage made me very aware of the attention I was giving to my wife. That I felt obligated to be able to give her my attention when I wasn't at work. I haven't felt (now that it's spring again) that I can leave and go for a group ride once or twice a week. I haven't found the balance between showering attention on my bride, and chasing after another one of my goals.
On Chasing Goals...
I'm also dealing with just what it is I want to accomplish. Do I want to excel at the job I feel God called me into? Do I want to start up this sideproject design company so that my wife and I can stop donating plasma and pay the back taxes that I still owe from my days of freelancing? Life is a balancing act and one that I'm still struggling to walk. But God is a God of grace, and though I know I keep falling off the tightrope, that safety net is there and I can get up and try to walk across again.
More later, but I needed to post something while the muse was in the room.
-Bri
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