Saturday, March 30, 2002

This could never be a daily. Too many things to do. Not enough time to even think about something to write about. So those two or three of you who come here on a daily basis, thanks, but you might want to come every 3 days or so. I figure that's as regular as I can be.

I'm in a Guster Mood. Check them out on the left. They are a band, but not a Christian band like many people seem to think. They are, in fact, Jewish. Musically, I want to do what they are doing. Write some songs, get in a studio and record. They tour, but I don't really have the interest to tour. I'd rather record great music. Maybe one day, I'll share some lyrics with you. Maybe one day later, I'll share some songs with you. Maybe one day, I'll have some decent equipment.

"Two points for honesty. It must make you sad to know that nobody cares at all"
-- Guster
"Two Points For Honesty"
Lost and Gone Forever

Wednesday, March 27, 2002

Happiness is...

...watching hours of clips from "Friends" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" and being able to call it work.
...the warmth of cuddling with your spouse, significant other, pet, and at the risk of sounding like a sicko, kid.
...feeling the wind in your hair while you take your daily lunch stroll.
...talking to what you call God and hearing his/her/its reply.
...the wedding video and the wedding video drinking game.
...having your smile returned.

What about you?

Monday, March 25, 2002

The only time I've ever been sure about what will win at The Oscars was when "Titanic" swept the place . I was sure of this because it was 3 hours of my life I can't have back. Ok, I'll concede it deserved the technical awards and best director, maybe...but in my opinion, it was not the Best Picture material...

So, the only prediction from this year's awards that I can claim I got right was Moulin Rouge for Best Costumes. And I have my wife to thank for that. Never ever bet against my wife for best costumes. NEVER.

Despite it's length, I enjoyed the whole show. Whoopi was a great host, as usual, though I think she was better when "Elizabeth," and "Shakespeare in Love" were up for awards. My favorite Whoopi moment was when she was introducing "Moulin Rouge" as a Best Picture nominee. She was talking about how much hard work went into making it and then said "Apparently all without a director." Big Laugh at the Academy for snubbing Baz Luhrmann in the Best Director category. Yes, he was snubbed.

And I don't wanna say anything more than what a wonderful moment in time to see Halle Berry and Denzel both win the Best Actress/Actor award. I don't think there's anything I could add that hasn't been said about that.

I wonder what the Bohemian movement would be like in the age of the internet...

Truth. Beauty. Freedom. Love. Blog.

Sunday, March 24, 2002

A few thoughts about E. T. : The 20th Anniversary

- It's a scary movie for little kids.
- Steven Spielberg...Wow.
- Peter Coyote's character is billed as "Keys." They never said his name in the movie.
- There's a healthy amount of curse or swear words you wouldn't want your 4-year-old to hear or say....like "penis breath"
- You really get a feel for what it was like to live in the early 80's.

Tonight's Oscar Night. I haven't seen all the movies nominated so I don't think I can make great guesses. While I'd love for Nicole Kidman to win Best Actress for Moulin Rouge, I think either Sissy Spacek or Halle Berry will in it. Russell Crowe will most likely not win because of the BAFTA incident, though he is probably the front runner. Best Picture...I really don't know. I'd like Lord of the Rings or Moulin Rouge to win. Preferably, Mouin Rouge. But I don't think Moulin Rouge will win anything other than editing or cinematography, or costumes. Lord of the Rings is a very safe bet for the other techinical awards. Best Director?? I don't know.

Yes, I'm one of the people who think Moulin Rouge was one of the most daring movies made in recent history. It's only a bonus that I get to drool over both Nicole Kidman and Ewan *swoon* McGregor...

Saturday, March 23, 2002

At the kid's Tae Kwon Do class, there's obviously a lot of kids. However, many of the kids are actually brothers or sisters of other kids actually learning the sacred art. And, a few of the mothers let these children roam free. Which wouldn't be bad if the 2 - 4 year olds would stay inside and not go near the parking lot where the car's don't notice anything.

At the last few classes, one of the cutest Oriental (Korean, I think) toddlers has been going outside to pick some of the flowers off of the bushes that are less than 10 feet from the parking lot. She can't been more than 3, and if she is 3, she just turned 3. Now, the
mother lets her do this and doesn't stay outside with her to watch her. Although, she does watch her from inside. And occasionally, the little girl will get too close to the parking lot. And occasionally, her mother doesn't notice.

So, I will take myself and my book outside (presently Tolkien's Lord of the Rings) and either sit on the bench or lean on a pole close to the flower-picker. One eye on the book, one on the flower child. I've only had to tell her once that she was too close to the parking lot. She looked at me funny like she didn't understand what I said (she's is only maybe 2). Then, she said something in Korean and turned from the parking lot, back to her flower picking.

Now, I'm thinking that I certainly wouldn't let my kid get that close to the parking lot. If I did, I'd be right with him/her picking flowers, keeping myself between the kid and the parking lot. Perhaps, it's a cultural thing? Or maybe, I�m just over-protective? I don�t know. I just know that one of the kids slept through half of the �Lord of the Rings� movie and thought it was �kinda scary.� And, I got a flower too.

In other news, thank you to the folks at Blog of the Day for making this barely month old place yesterday�s Blog of the Day. Never thought that people would read what I have to say. But I guess you do. Thanks :)

Wednesday, March 20, 2002

If you were paying attention to the opening last night's Smallville (Tuesdays at 9/8 central on the WB), you should have gotten a good ol' chuckle. Johnathan Kent was driving in his truck listening to Waylon Jenning's "Good Ol' Boy" on the radio. Possibly a tribune to the late country singer, but you chuckled because Luke Duke was listening to the theme song to Dukes of Hazzard.

Remember the one episode of the original Star Trek where Spock gets sprayed by some plant and find emotion and love? Well, I think that same plant was apart of Smallville's plot, too. Jonathan Kent got sprayed and was all over his wife, slapping her ass, even putting of his regular farm work so they could...uh...do some other farming, if you catch my drift. Lana Lang got sprayed, and, well remember Phoebe Cates from Fast Times at Ridgemont High when she got out of the pool? Remember how turned-on you were when you first saw that? Well, I think the WB generation felt the same way last night (I know I did *giggle*)


Too bad one of the side effects of being sprayed by the plant was a coma that could lead to death...That's because a crazy scientist cross-bred the plant with ...anyone???....meteor rocks, aka Kryptonite. I won't get into the whole plot of it all, but if you want to go here, and choose the Nicodemus episode (or just browse around and drool over the pictures of Lex).

I don't know where I was going with that...but at least Smallville didn't have the usual "freak of the week" for Clark to fight. And that was an interesting change. Here's hoping they write more Smallville's without a "freak of the week."

Tuesday, March 19, 2002

"[Creativity is] like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights but you can make the whole trip that way."

-- E. L. Doctorow

"The most gifted members of the human species are at their creative best when they cannot have their way."

-- Eric Hoffer

"Creativity varies inversely with the number of cooks involved in the broth."

-- Bernice Fitz-Gibbon

These three quotes are taped to my bulletin board at work. They help to keep me sane. Honestly, I've never read anything by the people I'm quoting. Never even heard of them until I was given a "Creative Voices" days-of-the-week calender by a favorite former boss. But their words ring true, at least for me.

I never know how a project is going to end up. I can storyboard it, spend hours and days pre-producing it, but when I sit down to edit, something takes over. Creativity, I guess. I'm sitting at the machine, and an instinct takes over. It drives me until I'm finished editing. But, I never really know what it's gonna look like until its done. I'll make the trip, but I don't know the roads. There are a few road bumps or higher ups telling me to turn right or left. And that's ok; the destination is the same.

Sometimes, the best way to get where you're going is not to know the way...

Thursday, March 14, 2002

Tonight, Rosie O'Donnell comes out of the closet. Primetime Thursday with Diane Sawyer. Check your local listings.

Big Deal.

So, what if she's gay? You'll still watch her show because its good. And gay people can in fact be good parents, despite what the state of Florida will tell you...

The thing I don't understand about homosexuality is this: How is a homosexual relationship different from a heterosexual one? And sex isn't it answer I'm talking about. I don't see how there's a difference. A relationship, whether its homo or hetero, is a relationship.

Now, this is the thing that bothers me. Most homosexuals I know want the world to recognize that a homosexual relationship is no different from a hetero one. OK, no problem there. But, the same people who want the world to recoginze the relationship is the same, don't live by "the rules" of a heterosexual one. Why is it ok for a gay man to cheat on his partner? Does it not hurt the partner's feelings? If you want me to recognize that your homo relationship has the same benefits as my heterosexual one, then you also have to accept that all the good things about a relationship come with all the bad things too.

I don't think America is ready to legal recognize a gay union as a legal marriage. Personally, I don't have a problem calling it a marriage. You take vows that say I love you, honor you, etc. And in any marriage, you have to uphold those vows, or there could be consequences. Until more people in the gay community live up to that standard, their marriages won't be recognized marriages, legally or otherwise.

Also, I should note that I don't mean any of this as a sweeping, generalization of the gay community. There are plenty of gay couples who uphold their vows and love each other, probably more than most heterosexual couples. But, there's needs to be more. To be accepted by society, you have to live up to society's standards, and not expect their standards to be lowered for you.

Thursday, March 07, 2002

"Woke up today to everything grey and all that I saw just kept going on and on..."

-- Guster
What You Wish For
Lost and Gone Forever

Everything Grey. What an interesting thought. It's not black. It's not white. It's not definate. It just is. It's an amalgam of all sorts of things.

Everything.

Grey.