What Does This Mean To You?

Molly Mormon.

I heard a couple of people utter this term a couple of times just this weekend and it had a really negative connotation. That didn't really surprise me, but what did surprise me was the things they were in reference to. I asked about one girl that I've been kind of interested in getting to know and the girl I was talking to called her really Molly. I didn't really think much of it until she was talking about how this girl's ex-boyfriend wanted her to go to a pretty big concert on a Sunday and she didn't want to go. And that just kind of surprised me. Is that really that Molly to do that? Or in other words, is that such a strict interpretation for a lot of members of the church? I can understand work things and how that comes up sometimes and you should do your best to avoid it, but a concert? That feels worse to me than buying stuff at the store because you're out of milk. Am I alone?

The other person used it when she was describing how she is a worker and can survive on her own, and then she said she was definitely not a Molly Mormon and that she didn't need to be taken care of. So the implication was that Mollys are very dependent and could never get a real job to pay the bills if it came down to it.

I guess one of my problems is that I just never use the term to begin with, so maybe that's why I'm kind of out of touch with what it means. I think what's more interesting is what people consider strict behavior and what is permissible. I don't think I'm a judgmental person, but I just know that if it's up to me, I'm not going to go to a concert on a Sunday because you just shouldn't. Are you going to hell for that? Or course not. Is that something you should avoid? Yeah. Is that a really that strict of an interpretation about how to keep the Sabbath day holy? Depends on who you're asking, I guess.

I Saw It Again

Yeah, I saw 1408 again. Dave and Caitlin wanted to see it, what was I supposed to do? It still got me at some parts even though I just saw it last week. This is definitely going to be one of those mormon favorite halloween movies because it is PG-13. If you haven't, and you're not too much of a wuss (Karen), then go see it. It has all the elements a good scary movie should have, the jumpy parts as well as just eliciting dread from the viewer. I didn't realize until last night, but the movie is only 90 minutes. It feels so much longer because you want him to get out so badly. It's awesome.

If you're in the area through August and want to check out the new AMC 14 in Tustin, then use this coupon. Found this other one too, free popcorn with drink purchase good through January, 2008.

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS: HOT ROD

If you haven't met these guys, these are the dudes. They are the funniest guys ever. Nothing you do for the next 35 days will matter.

Seriously...Is Everybody In Los Angeles Incapable Of Making Decent Decisions?

Most of my readers won't care, but last night not only was there a complete lack of a deadline deal involving anything of significance for the Lakers, but they picked up another point guard. Hey idiots! Didn't you do this last year? What the hell was the Farmar experiment about then? I know that the one of the most important rules for drafting is going for talent over need, but is this guy really that much better than everything else that was available? The only valid reason I can think of for getting another one is that Farmar's name is coming up in a lot of trade scenarios so they are preparing for his departure. The Lakers could not be in more disarray than they have been these last couple of months. In any case, it is another sad day in Mudville...

WHAT Is Going On?

Check this out. So, I guess Jessi was also hospitalized June 20th, the week she had that jazz performance with Pasha. Given that she had been hospitalized two consecutive weeks, the judges probably didn't want her jeopardizing the show anymore. There's your explanation, Caitlin. Because I know I sure as h-e-double hockey sticks wouldn't have kept watching if freaking Bette Midler eating her weight in cheetos was the one who kept filling in for her.

With that new piece of information, I don't blame the judges for bailing on her. She pretty much was doomed even before the Dance For Your Life! portion, methinks. But I don't think there has been another girl on that show who has been more smokin' hot than her. So as a tribute, here's her last routine, which was pretty decent.



SYTYCD - Pasha and Jessi - Cha Cha - Result Show Top 16

In spite of her not being at all articulate, I've been a supporter of hers from the very get go. Except for her solos, those always seems to really blow. But in any case, she always seemed to do really well in her performances and besides that, I'm a lookin' and I'm a likin'.

I'm sorry to see Jeebus go to. I saw on another blog a comment saying something like, "So last night was the results show, or as I like to call it, the saddest night of the week." The judges really shot themselves in the foot when they didn't send home Cedric. Nice kid. Sucks at anything that isn't a solo.

The DAMN Moment Of The Week

This week I almost want to give it to something other than another dance. After tearing into Cedric, AGAIN, he handled it all with a ton of class. He's just a really nice kid, don't you think? I don't think he could have come off any more gracious then if he had handled it any other way. So kudos to him, but seriously...they need to kick him off. He's just not on the same level with everybody else in the competition.

I know there is going to be opposition on this one, but I'm going with Dominic and Sabra. Maybe it's because it's one of the two dances that I learned in a latin ballroom class at BYU. Maybe it's because I just really like Dominic and Sabra. Maybe it's because I think Sabra is adorable and has some really really nice arms. That's not a metaphor for something else. I really like her arms. Or maybe it's because I think that song is really sweet. In any case, they really showed a ton of chemistry on stage. I think that draws me in as much as anything else. It's what I have really appreciated about Kameron and Lacey as well. When they are dancing, it looks like they are dating. But back to the DAMN...

Dominic was hitting his lines. That really impresses me because last week with the contemporary dance where he had a lot of opportunities to really put that on display, I thought he fell short. This time around though, he hit 'em, and hit 'em good. The whole thing just felt really smooth to me. And the thing with the rumba is that the way the arms are utilized, they are all out there on their own. It's hard to have your arms waving around and have it look graceful rather than stiff or like they are just hanging out there.

Can I say that I love Danny and his dancing, but I just hate his personality. Or lack thereof. At first I think he came off as cocky, but I think it's more because he is incapable of feeling emotion. So when he dances and doesn't express anything, people don't know how to interpret that. It's mostly just weird. I think you could see it the most when as the judges were making their comments to them after the dance, Anya was cute and super excited, or at least wanted to be. She would look up at him and notice that the guy is not even flinching so by the time they get to Nigel, she is hardly reacting as well. It is because of all of this that I have concluded that Danny is a robot, sent from another planet to destroy all feeling and sucking out our humanity, one dancer and one dance at a time. How else can you explain how technically sound he is and how he has been able to perform above average on every dance, but then at the same time somehow transform Anya from super excited and giddy to without feeling?

Laura, Cat is wondeful. Plus, she looks stunning in black and with her hair down and all natural. She is so natural when she is hosting. Start loving her. She does dwarf every other person on the planet. But she is so sweet, how can you not love her? She holds dancers hands. She gets excited for them. She makes funny faces sometimes too. Just pause her when she's talking. Greg and I got tons of great faces from Cat doing that last summer.

I know the audio blows. If you crank it, you can hear it. But it's hard to find clips so soon after the dance.

Comment away.


Dominic and Sabra Week 3

Free Hugs Anyone?

I hope I'm not the last person to jump on this train. At first I was probably much like you. This sounds kind of dumb. Don't be so cynical. And be sure to check out the website.

Do You Know What This Is Costing Me?

So...this is just a little thought I've had. But I never go onto espn.com anymore. Blogging has sucked up all of my excess websurfing time. Which I think is mostly a good thing. However, my sports appreciation and knowledge is dwindling because of my newfound addiction. I just hope you all appreciate what it takes for me to put up posts everyday. And several times a day. I used to check another sports website everyday for news and rumors on all of my favorite sports teams, whether they are in season or not. You can imagine how much I was reading about the Raiders, Angels, and Lakers and sometimes Braves.

While we're talking about sports. The Angels have been awesome. Except for the last three days when they decided to suck and get swept by the last place Royals. What is that? I wanted to post pictures of the game that I got to go to on Saturday, but I forgot my camera. It's funny that now I'm taking more pictures for the sole purpose of having more material for the blog. Funny, or retarded.

I have to give credit to Dave. He has had some all-star caliber comments the last week or so since he decided to start commenting. I almost want to recruit him onto the blogging team, but then the identity of the blog changes and I'm not ready to lose that artistic control. That may sound like a joke and for most of you who read this, you can probably hear the way I write about it and kind of tell that it could be. But it's totally not. I really like having this blog talk about exactly what I want it to talk about. The funny thing is that Dave talks about pretty much the same stuff as I do and since most of my activity is combined with him and his wife, there really wouldn't be much of a departure on the actual content of the site. Still though...not sure I want to relinquish the control I have. And I'm not sure he would want to post on here anyway.

While I'm thinking publicly, there has got to be a way for me to turn this into something that could be a resume builder. But I don't know if the balance of light and heavy tones could be maintained trying to turn this into something more substantial. Suggestions? Maybe if I could be more entertaining, this could just be an editorial and I could do more legwork in promoting it. I'm open to ideas.

On another note, does anyone else find it weird when a person writes about their own blog in third person? Chris Silva is not sure that he could recreate for his blog what it was that he happened upon while checking out other blogs earlier this afternoon, but to him it really seemed pompous the way another blogger decided to portray himself. He's not entirely sure he could do it without feeling like an as...you may have noticed, it's annoying.

Old Women Smell Weird

You know what I mean? Like, they just smell weird. There are a few here at my office and I walk past them and it's not necessarily bad, but it's just a swath of pungent aroma. With old men, they get hairy and their noses and ears get big, but you would think that with smelling weird it comes from some kind of product that you put on and that is something that you can help. Do they just not smell it? Or is it some kind of new age-defying product that they think will make them at least look younger, but then aromatically identify them as being old ladies? Yes, aromatically is a word. I looked it up. It's just weird and I don't hate it, but I could certainly do without it.

Best Jump Photo Ever

That's all. I love this picture. Such extension. Perfect timing. What's not to like?

I Dig Photos

Saw this on the MSN homepage. Cool stuff. Actually, whenever I go to the Getty my favorite exhibits are always the photo ones. Check, check, check, ch-check it out.

Brow Down

You gotta check this out. Go to this website, then go to Kevin and Bean on the left, and under their menu click on "Sounds" and in the right column, click on Brow Down.

Blair Out

I had no inkling that something like this would happen, but Tony Blair is out. He just resigned. I was looking around on the blogosphere for more commentary on it, but all I found was this article on NRO about the future of US-Britain relations. I wonder why he decided to step down. I have no idea what the current cycle is for the British Prime Minister so who knows if he has 1 year or 10 left in this current term. I wonder what the story is behind that though.

Best Villain Ever

The Joker. He is psychotic. And easily Batman's greatest foe. He killed two different guys who assumed the role of Robin. He shot Commissioner Gordon's daughter intending to kill her, but ended up only paralyzing her. He is just merciless. I don't know why I felt like writing about him. I think it comes as a result of seeing the press release photo of Heath Ledger as the Joker in the upcoming, Batman: The Dark Knight. I know where this is coming from. I actually was going to post about Transformers, and that is how I came across the Joker stuff. While I'm at it, Batman is the best comic book character ever. The guy has so many demons and so many personal issues, but he is relentless in his pursuit of justice. I love how dark the last Batman movie was. The next one is supposed to be even darker. Nice.

Nature or Nurture?

I ended up going inside to pick up my lunch rather than waiting in the line for the drive-thru because the line was so long. As soon as I entered, there was another line right there in the restaurant. Without even thinking about it, I just got in line and waited, assuming that line would get me where I wanted to go. And I was right. But it made me start thinking about what if everybody didn't have that common understanding about lines?

What if you were waiting at a crowded bus stop and there was just a mass of people and as soon as the bus arrived, people pushed their way in front of you and got on even though you were the first person waiting there? Or if you were at a fast food place waiting to order your food and people just walked in front of you and ordered? That's how it is in South America. It is awesome. I remember waiting at a bus stop and I was clearly in front of this old grandma, and when the bus came, she pushed her way in front of me and I think if I would have tripped and been on the ground, she wouldn't have even thought twice about stepping on my neck to get on that bus. So awesome. I love that about Chile.

Want to know another thing I love about South America? Pedestrians will never ever get in your way if you're driving a car. They will sprint across the street and get across just fine and sometimes it is pretty chaotic with people running across without any regard for crosswalks, but they would never dare cross your path. If you are driving down there, you will never get held up because some person audaciously assumes that they are walking and therefore have the right-of-way. The other day I was going to lunch with some friends and I had stopped at a stop sign and I saw these two women walking, but they hadn't yet gotten to the crosswalk so I started to go. At that point, one of the two begins walking out early into the crosswalk and shakes her head at me as I'm passing before she even had gotten on the street. And I wished at that same point that I was living in a country with little regard for somebody assuming they carry more weight than a car.

Roll Bounce Baby

For FHE last night we had an 80s skaties night over at the Holiday Skating Rink. So awesome. I ended up just going by myself and meeting everybody there, but I forgot how much I love just skating. Can we please all get together one weekend this summer and rent the place out? I want to go to Flashbacks and get some sweet 80s gear. I skated for about an hour and a half and didn't even talk to anybody really. I just skated. Feelin' it. So fun. I'm really serious about this. I think we should do it the first weekend in August. I'm looking into it.

While I'm on the subject and I've got their picture up, you should go see Roll Bounce. Is it dumb? Of course. Does it have some sweet one-liners? You bet your behind it does. Is there sweet skating? YES. Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettttttttt-NESS!

Fairness Doctrine

Yesterday I was listening to talk radio at work, a favorite pasttime of mine. The defeat of the immigration bill was attributed mostly to the efforts of conservative radio hosts. Recently, Diane Feinstein was complaining about the one-sided nature of talk radio and that maybe it's time to re-implement the Fairness Doctrine. She really is annoying. The doctrine is outdated when you consider the dissemination of information and how there are hundreds of different outlets to express multiple points of view. The fact that liberal media has not been successful on talk radio is due to supply and demand more than just mere one-sided points of view. In any case, liberals have a much more dominant and vocal voice than do conservatives when you consider major television news networks and the newspaper industry. Check out that link above about Diane Feinsten. I love Dean Barnett.

Dave and Caitlin's Niece

Check her out. The second one works fine.

Mountain Meadows

Raise your hand if you really know all that much about the Mountain Meadows Massacre? I did not. This is a really interesting article that I came across this morning. It gives a lot of insight into the context of the situation. I knew it was about a massacre, but when I actually got to the climax of the article, it still made me cringe. Such a sad turn of events. It really does help knowing that background, though. Definitely worth reading and knowing about if you're a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Movie Review: 1408

Okay...so this movie scared the hell out of me. Granted, I kind of haven't been watching "scary" movies for some time, but I don't normally scream like a little girl when it comes to actually being in the theater. There was one part in particular where I not only yelped, but had tensed up so much that I actually got a cramp in my hamstring. Don't worry. I didn't show it. I did go running earlier that day too so I think I was already fatigued. But the movie is very well played out. It does depart a good amount from the short story, but that was entirely necessary to beef up the screenplay and give it enough to fashion an entire movie. Cusack is wonderful. The story is gripping. Just as Card mentions that the artistry of fear is getting the audience to fear what the characters fear, this movie does that. You want him to escape. You watch his descent into insanity. And not only that, but that room is a bastard. It crosses lines that you just don't cross. Like Olin says, it is an evil effing room. Although there are some violent images, it is not a bloody movie at all in the sense of being like any of the recent horror films that have come out. It is everything you would want in a scary film. Check it out.

SYTYCD - Ivan & Allison Sexy Love

allison and ivan - sexy love

A friend pointed out that you'd never like this song if it weren't for this dance. So true.

SYTYCD - Ivan & Allison Why

Contemp. Dance - Why - Ivan & Allison

I think this one is actually the one they performed at the Finale. The first one is better. I still get the chills when I watch this.

SYTYCD Benji & Natalie

Benji and Natalie dancing Jazz

I know you probably don't care, but you don't know how annoying it has been trying to post these videos on here. For whatever reason, they keep getting pulled from Youtube and Metacafe. But I'm very dedicated to getting this videos all in one spot. Plus I think my audience will dig on this crap.

Knotts Berry Fun!

I'm all about having perfect days at amusement parks lately. My company had a picnic on Friday and so that meant closing the office at 11, heading over to Knott's to have a picnic, and then hanging out at the park for free. And free parking. Plus we all got paid for the day. Kind of awesome. It was just me and Mike Reid. Everybody has jobs these days. What's that all about?

The picture of Me and Mike actually strapped in the ride is Supreme Scream. When we got down, the kid operator asks me if I got some good pics and I respond, yeah. Then he said, good, because you're not coming back. What is it that makes him feel like he can be such a jerk about it? I'm not sure if it was the fact that he was making minimum wage or that part of his duties includes sweeping up after people. In spite of that...it was a good time.

SYTYCD - Jesus & Sara

So You Think You Can Dance Sara & Jesús

Can you believe this crap? This was less than 2 weeks ago and I can already post it. Damn.

SYTYCD - Benji & Donyelle

So You Think You Can Dance

I think this will work, but this comes courtesy of Myspace. Here you go. I think this was probably my favorite broadway routine of them all.

The DAMN Moment Of The Week

At Dave's suggestion, I'm going to have to go with the eliminations. Did anybody really believe that Cedric was going to be out Jimmy last night? Jimmy's solo was decent, but every one of his performances have been stellar. And the last couple of weeks the judges have done nothing, but trash on Cedric except for when it comes to his own solos. As harsh as they were, I'm inclined to agree with their criticism. If they want an all-around dancer then this kid is not the guy who can bring it. Hip-hop, which should have been his strong suit didn't even impress me as much as Neil's hip-hop did on Wednesday. On another note, I love that watching 2+ seasons makes me feel like I'm qualified to make far-reaching judgments about the quality and ability of other people's dance styles. But in a way it kind of does. I remember when I first started watching one comment that the judges would make a lot was about "lines". Then last night I found myself watching Dominic's contemporary, which was still good, but then compared to Danny, Travis's cousin, it's really not even close. Dom might be a better performer, but you can really see a difference in training and how polished that guy is. It's really cool, I think.

Since the award for DAMN moment of the week had to go the eliminations, I will say my favorite was probably Neil and Lauren. But as all the judges were saying, almost every single dance was really good. In fact, I would say that this season has been quite stellar. I'm going to have to attribute that to the rise in popularity of the show and the attraction to better talent. And as you've noticed, I found where they post clips of the show. It's tempting to post every routine that I thought was great, but I'll try and just limit it to highlights.

Transformers Robot Chicken

Scrubs - Airband

This is from my favorite Scrubs episode. Turk is awesome.

There Was No Joy In Irvine...

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,

And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;

But there is no joy in Irvine - mighty CHRIS CAN'T WATCH SYTYCD BECAUSE HIS FREAKIN' COUSINS CANCELLED THE RECORDINGS SO THEY COULD WATCH STUPID FUEL TV OR MTV2!

Wow...You can imagine my surprise this morning. I wake up. I read my scriptures. I grab a bowl of cereal to eat while I watch my show and ponder over who gets the coveted DAMN moment of the week, and then...wait...something's not right. B..b...but...I checked before I left for soccer...didn't I? Wasn't it recording? What's happening!? How could they!? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't you love those paintings? Yes, they are by the same guy. Edvard Munch. The first is The Scream, the second is Despair. The Scream is really an eery painting. Someone should write a story about it. Another post for another day? That would take me awhile, but I think it'd be a cool idea. Anyway, I'm lucky because I know Dave and Caitlin have it recorded and will come to save the day.

I Love Blogging

It's kind of crazy how much I enjoy blogging and just writing about whatever the heck I feel like. So remember how I mentioned that I'm going to start keeping a list about things to blog about? I totally did it today. And guess what. I have like 10 things to write on! And now, I've got 3 posts a week that I'm planning on doing Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. So those ideas will generate themselves. Writing is really addictive once you get into it. Did I ever tell you that I hope to write a book someday? I think that would be awesome. Anyway...tomorrow I start a second job, but I'm kind of bugged by it because the schedule doesn't look like it will work out like I hope it will. Is it wrong to want to turn down a job because it might cut into might cut into my blogging time? Yeah, I know. I'm absurd.

So what I really wanted to post about was a couple of other posts. I absolutely love seeing your comments. Special shout out goes to Dave and Caitlin. Husband and wife team totally independently came up with two of the coolest comments I've ever seen. Dave's is on the Comments on the War post and Caitlin's is on Fast Times. I'm surprised because the last seven or so posts all have comments, except for one - 1408. And I think I was the most proud of that one. I had to really dig to find that Orson Scott Card quote, because I thought I had the book but I guess I lost it, and then I had to transcribe the text from google books. I know it's long, but I think you'll appreciate it.

And did you listen to the "Chivas" song by Kelly? Really, you should. I'm so impressed with her talent. That was a live in the AM morning show people. Plus the song is really sassy. And her voice is just intoxicating. Listen to it. The Jay Mohr thing...so inappropriate, but funny. Check it out. Don't worry. I've got several posts I'm planning on tomorrow. Seriously...you should see the list, it's long. Or getting there.

Fast Times At...Human Resources

At the behest of a couple of readers, I'm going to be doing a weekly (bi-weekly maybe?) post on the stuff I see in HR. So I work at a property management company and I do a lot of the recruiting. Depending on how much stuff comes across my desk and if it's interesting, I'll post on it. You'll have to help me come up with a more creative title for this post. I have two items on the agenda for today:

• Contact information, work experience, education are all good things to put on your resume, but personal information is bad, i.e. social security numbers. Really, bro? Do you really think that I'm going to be hiring or asking you in for an interview based on what your SS number is?
• Next up is a story. On the property level, there is a property director and there is the leasing personnel and the maintenance staff. At one of our properties a truck was blocking access to one of the garages for the residents of the community. It belonged to an employee who had recently been fired and was moving out of the apartment in the same property. People were honking, yelling, and swearing that this guy to move. The property director called maintenance to have him removed, but to no avail. Then she had to approach him herself. He completely ignored her, got in his truck, and locked the door. He then attempted to back up while the director was standing behind the truck. Yelling at him to stop, the driver then puts the truck in park and exits and begins yelling at her and screaming vulgarities and insults. He then swore at her daughter. He even said, “you will be sorry, I know where you live.” She called the cops, but he had left by that time. Awesome.

A Quickie Before Work...

Like my friend over at the WetDonkey, I too think of posts all day long and then I keep forgetting them when it comes time to write. But on my way to work this morning I was listening to Star 98.7 and I heard Kelly Clarkson. Is it weird for me to love Kelly as well as a band called Strung Out? Her voice is amazing. She's pretty, but not overwhelmingly gorgeous. She's great, I think. Anyway...the song I heard is Chivas, and I thought it was awesome. Go ahead and click here if you want to hear her.

Something else that is very inappropriate and funny is Jay Mohr's Midget Walk over at KROQ. I can't seem to link to this one directly so just go to the Kevin and Bean Link and then on the menu on that page just scroll and down you'll be able to see it.

Seriously...I love Kelly Clarkson. No...like if she were right here, you would totally want to have sex with her. Oh yeah, I totally would. Name that reference!

Sometimes Discipline Requires A Lot Of Discipline

You know what I mean? Sometimes it is just hard to do the things that you're supposed to do. I think the hardest part about doing the things that are difficult for us is the anticipation of the difficulty of the task, but not necessarily doing the task itself, i.e. work is always worse the night before you have to go, but not while you're actually at it; running or working out for an extended amount of time is always hardest right before you actually get going.

Hey Pat Benatar, love isn't the only battlefield. Sometimes it's just in our own heads. It takes a lot of guts to get past the anxiety of the apprehension surrounding the thing I don't want to do, but that I know I need to do. All these things were running through my mind on my way to the gym this morning. Once those endorphins kicked in, it wasn't such a big deal. I just need to get past the mental hurdles that I put up in my head and realize that it will be much easier once I've got my momentum going. And so it goes...

1408

For more context on why I'm posting this video, read the post below.

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

Did anyone else love those books as much as I did? Do you remember in grade school when your teacher would give you the little catalogs of books that you could order? Was I the only kid who used to get SOOOOOO excited when those things would come around? I know the answer to that is no, because I was just talking to Greg the other day about how cool that used to be. But for about 3 years I had this insatiable appetite for ghost stories. I gobbled up all the Scary Stories books. I would read them in the family room with the lights dimmed low, all by myself. I even got a book that was called something like How To Catch A Ghost. I think my favorite book of ghost stories actually was a compilation that Roald Dahl collected. If you don't know his more unconventional writings then you don't know Roald Dahl. He is deliciously twisted. Also, Orson Scott Card has a great take on dread versus horror. He says,

"Which brings us to the most potent tool of storytellers. Fear. And not just fear, but dread. Dread is the first and the strongest of the three kinds of fear. It is that tension, that waiting that comes when you know there is something to fear but you have not yet identified what it is. The fear that comes when you first realize that your spouse should have been home an hour ago; when you hear a strange sound in the baby's bedroom; when you realize that a window you are sure you closed is now open, the curtains billowing, and you're alone in the house.

"Terror only comes when you see the thing you're afraid of. The intruder is coming at you with a knife. The headlights coming toward you are clearly in your lane. The klansmen have emerged from the bushes and one of them is holding a rope. That is when all the muscles of your body, except perhaps sphincters, tauten and you stand rigid; or you scream; or you run. There is a frenzy to this moment, a climactic power—but it is the power of release, not the power of tension. And bad as it is, it is better than dread in this respect: Now, at least, you know the face of the thing you fear. You know its borders and dimensions. You know what to expect...

"Obsessed with the desire to film the unfilmable, the makers of horror flicks now routinely show the unspeakable, in the process dehumanizing their audience by turning human suffering into pornographically escalating "entertainment." This is bad enough, but to my regret, too many writers of the fiction of fear are doing the same thing. They failed to learn the real lesson of Stephen King's success. It isn't the icky stuff that makes King's stories work. it's how much he makes you care about his characters before the icky stuff ever happens. And his best books are the ones like The Dead Zone and The Stand in which not that much horror ever happens at all. Rather the stories are suffused with dread leading up to cathartic moments of terror and pain. Most important, the suffering that characters goes through means something.

"That is the artistry of fear. To make the audience so empathize with a character that we fear what he fears, for his reasons. We don't stand outside, looking at a gory slime cover him or staring at gaping wounds. We stand inside him, anticipating the terrible things that might or will happen. Anybody can hack a fictional corpse. Only a storyteller can make you hope the character will live."

Which brings me to the purpose of this post - 1408. I really love John Cusack. I love him in his old stuff. I love him in the dark comedies. I love pretty much anything he does. He just seems like an every-man. With a Brad Pitt, you're never going to know a guy who is that beautiful in real life. But with John, there is a certain type of appeal that comes from just being a kind of regular guy.

I don't remember when I saw the trailer for the movie, but I was intrigued. For the last couple years, I just haven't been interested in most of the horror movies that have come out because they seem for the most part to be just showing and not telling anything. Hard to do in a movie, but it can be done, methinks. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but if you can think of one, please comment on this post and let me know.

When I heard a radio interview with John Cusack I learned that the movie is based on a short story by Stephen King. My interest was piqued. I had been drawn in. So I went and bought the book, but I just found out while looking for excerpts online that the whole thing is actually posted here. If you aren't interested in reading the whole thing, then perhaps read just the introduction that King wrote:

As well as the ever-popular premature burial, every writer of shock/suspense tales should write at least one story about the Ghostly Room At The Inn. This is my version of that story. The only unusual thing about it is that I never intended to finish it. I wrote the first three or four pages as part of an appendix for my On Writing book, wanting to show readers how a story evolves from first draft to second. Most of all, I wanted to provide concrete examples of the principles I'd been blathering about in the text. But something nice happened: the story seduced me, and I ended up writing all of it. I think that what scares us varies widely from one individual to the next (I've never been able to understand why Peruvian boomslangs give some people the creeps, for example), but this story scared me while I was working on it. It originally appeared as part of an audio compilation called Blood and Smoke, and the audio scared me even more. Scared the hell out of me. But hotel rooms are just naturally creepy places, don't you think? I mean, how many people have slept in that bed before you? How many of them were sick? How many were losing their minds? How many were perhaps thinking about reading a few final verses from the Bible in the drawer of the nightstand beside them and then hanging themselves in the closet beside the TV? Brrrr. In any case, let's check in, shall we? Here's your key... and you might take time to notice what those four innocent numbers add up to. It's just down the hall.

So this weekend I plan on seeing this movie. I'll post the trailer too. And it already seems to depart a lot from the story, but the beauty of the short story adaptation is that it is okay to use artistic license because the story isn't entirely fleshed out already.

Janet Reno's Dance Party - The Main Attraction

You ever seen the skit with Rudy Giuliani at Janet Reno's dance party? It's awesome. I tried finding it online, but nothing really came up. Sorry. This is a little more serious.

I haven't really been for or against Rudy Giuliani. For the most part, he seems to be a pretty decent leader. People really gravitate toward him, and I don't think there can be much doubt that New York was much better off under his leadership, and that especially became evident with 9/11. He's not really a social conservative, which seems to be a huge sticking point. Normally with me, it would be as well, but given the alternative - ANY of the democratic candidates - he doesn't seem so bad. So, with that in mind, I don't feel like he is such a bad option. And, I think he is a draw for both sides. I think if he were nominated, he would win the presidency. Last week, he gave 12 points that he intended to pursue as president of the United States. For the most part, it's impressive. You could argue that there is no real substance to it, but I think the point was more to give an outline of his intentions up through the election. So time will tell if he can come up with any viable options. Check it out and see what you think.

In another article, Jonah Goldberg gives a very compelling argument for free market schools. I think it's entirely convincing. But at the same time, I'm the same guy who just ordered Freedomnomics. Hopefully I will get through any of the 4 books that I just bought. Just in case you're wondering, here is a list of books that I'm currently reading:

• 42nd Parallel
• Catch-22
• Pride and Prejudice
• Rough Stone Rolling
• A Disciple's Life
• Les Miserables

But that's it. Plus I'm trying to do loglinear assignments and finish up my categorical data analysis class and a few others. I'm kind of an idiot.

Yahoo For Weddings!

I don't think this weekend could have gone any better than it did. The wedding was great. Our friend Nick "Chino" Tsu even made it to the sealing. Racing straight from a 4am shift at the hospital, he walked into the temple as we were being ushered into the sealing room, and as I'm texting him from inside the temple giving him updates as to where we were at so that he could know whether or not he could get inside in the "nick" of time. That's right. I went there. The sealing was nice. I think I've picked up more hard core doctrine at sealing ceremonies than any other place.

I think my favorite part had to be seeing all of our old friends. A long time ago I had a conversation with a friend about how at certain points of your life it is almost like you become teamed up with a group of people that are there just to help you get through certain times of your life. And then some of these people inevitably become so close to your heart because the memories you have of particular times are directly connected to these people who carried you through both good and bad times. It is a wonderful thing to be with those people again. I made the typical oath to keep in touch better this time around than I have in the past. At least for the moment, I am absolutely planning on keeping up these ties with these people better than I have been.

I spent 3 nights in a row reminiscing until 2-3 in the morning about what it was like to live together, to hang out freshman year, and to go on road trips. I wrote the post on Friday about the various accomplishments of all these people, but the absolute most amazing thing was to attend the sealing with every one of them and know what caliber of people I have had the privilege of associating with. This is so mormon-cliche, but it reminded me so much of Alma when he meets up with the sons of Mosiah and how they rejoiced to know that they were each still brethren in the Lord. There is no greater pleasure than to know that the people I care so much about still walk in righteousness. Thank God for that.

The DAMN Moment Of The Week

I can't remember who it was, but over at espn.com there was a particular writer who would write a weekly column about the NBA and he would pick out a DAMN moment each week. There was several weeks in a row where it was Gilbert Arenas. That guy had quite a stretch. Anyway, I bring this up because I'm going to pick out one of those for SYTYCD, and if you have a dispute you can comment about it and make your case.

It came out while everyone was still in town that I love SYTYCD and one of my buddy's totally made fun of me for it. But I don't care. That show is wonderful. So, I figure that I may as well fully embrace my love for that show.

This (as in last week) week's DAMN moment:

• Jesus and Sara - choreographed by Wade Robson, who has choreographed other such hit artists as Britney Spears, N'Sync, Christina Aguilera, and more. I love that tagline everytime they say his name anywhere.

Some people might dispute this one because they feel like it looked too much like last year's intro dance where they had the top 10 or so doing that zombie-like dance. But I'm going to have to differ on this one just because the dance was still so startling and unique from anything else you would normally see. Really, every dance that Wade choreographs comes across that way. They are simply awesome.

Honorable Mentions:

• Danny and Anya - Jive


• Lacey and Kameron - Contemporary

Both of those were amazing. Anya is an amazing performer, and as much as I am annoyed by Mia Michaels, her dances are usually among the most creative. I loved how much Lacey sold out when she jumped into Kameron and the guy didn't even budge. That was cool. Very good stuff.

Yay! Wedding!

I love these people. Good wedding. Good times. If you think you should have been included in here, but weren't, then I just did not get a good picture with you. Sorry. But there are some pretty good ones in here.

So...Today Is Going To Be Busy

For the 5 people who read my blog....today will be busy and I'll probably be occupied most of this weekend so there won't be a whole lot of time to blog. But...did anyone besides me, Dave, and Caitlin watch SYTYCD? This is so dorky, but I think I'm going to have a review column each Thursday and Friday because I am in love with this show. I'll write one later when I have more time. What else was I thinking about that I'd like to post in a public forum...Oh. So I have had a total of about 10 roommates or so, and most of them have been really close friends. I'm totally flabbergasted at how accomplished these people all are. These are the various graduate degrees that these people and a couple of friends pursuing and places they attended (if I know them)

• Law - Chapman
• Masters - Math - BYU, PhD - Michigan State
• MD - UNR, UNLV
• Podiatry - San Francisco somewhere
• Masters - Economics (?) - Brandeis
• Masters - Chem Eng - BYU, PhD - Stanford
• MBA - BYU
• Optometry - UAB
• Masters - National Security - Georgetown
• Masters -Accounting - BYU
• And soon to be dental school

And then there's me and I'm working on my masters. And the thing is, if you were to talk to these guys, only 1 or 2 of them you'd be like, yeah, that guy's a nerd, he's totally made for graduate school. But that is really crazy to think that my normal circle of friends will include a doctor, dentist, lawyer, doctor's of philosophy in various disciplines, podiatrist, etc. That's crazy! I'm proud of them all. And it's not to say that having graduate degrees makes you smarter or a better person, but it is a testament to the dedication that these people have, and that is what I admire. Honestly, I am so blessed to be associated with the people that I associate with. I will blog about them later.

Can I tell you how in love I am with my playlist? It opens with Heart, and now I'm listening to Toto and I freakin' love it!

I think one of the things that I really like about blogging is that this really has become a form of journal writing, and that the reward has been mostly intrinsic has kept me coming back. It's really cool. But it's nice that there have been some steady readers. Even if it's only a few of you.

I don't know why, but I woke up this morning and I'm just so grateful for everything and everyone. The sun is shining, birds are chirping, mexicans are playing el guapo de la manana in the nursery behind my house...things are good. I'm so excited for my buddy. I'm so excited to see all these people that I love so much that I haven't seen in years. Life is good. I bless the rains down in Africa. Gonna take some time to do the things we never haaaaa-aaaaaa-aaaaaave, ooooh-oooooh.

Comments On The War

Yesterday I was reading Jay Nordlinger over at National Review. He has a column that is called Impromptus and he touches on a number of different topics. I love the guy. I think I've mentioned him before, but he comes across as a very thoughtful person, with great insight. A couple of points that he brought up about the war (and if you want to read the article, it's here):

• The piece also tells you about AQI — al Qaeda in Iraq — whose members “brazenly made Anbar province a home base and slaughter pad with their marketplace car bombs, beheadings, and reputation for hiding bombs intended to kill parents in the corpses of dead children they’d gutted.” Do remember what al Qaeda is.
• Did you read this yesterday? “Suspected Sunni insurgents bombed and badly damaged a span over the main north-south highway leading from Baghdad,” making it “the third bridge attack in as many days in an apparent campaign against key transportation arteries.”And did you read this Victor Davis Hanson piece from last week? (It is superb, and typically so.) VDH: “Money and know-how can rebuild Iraq along the designs of Western material society — but that only makes it more vulnerable as a single transformer blown up or a pylon brought down can suddenly take away the newly found improved life.”And not only can “a suicide bomber with a $100 vest” destroy “$1 million worth of electrical infrastructure.” In a “gruesome equation,” he can “cast the American engineers into the role of the incompetent or sinister by their failure to repair and rebuild faster than an illiterate can destroy.”That is one of the devilish challenges of Iraq, and like situations. (I think of the Shining Path and Peru, about which I wrote last year.) (Here.)

If you don't know who Victor Davis Hanson is, get to know him. He is an amazing thinker and comes up with some of the most intelligent pieces you will ever read. There is so much that the mainstream media doesn't report on. They grossly underplay how evil terrorism is, how much success we are having, how important it is for us to be there, and highly overplay our setbacks and the difficulty of the mission.

So Much To Post, So Little Time

I've got like a million things running through my mind. But...before I try and tackle everything, let's start with one. So...I am in HR right now with a property management company. I screen resumes, do interviews, orientations, blah blah blah. We advertise positions through the web mostly and sometimes do career fairs or go to local colleges. The point is, we get a lot of resumes. In the last couple of months, I have come across several that are particularly stupid:

1. One guy sent an email and included an attachment for what was supposed to be a resume. Instead it was a letter to Cal State Long Beach begging them to let him back to school and that he would improve his performance. Not exactly your best foot forward.
2. Similar thing, a girl included an attachment, but instead of her resume, it was a personal pic for some kind of social networking website.
3. My favorite one, but I already forwarded her resume on to most of the people who read this blog. However, for the benefit of those who don't know about this, this is what she listed under her previous job experience -

October 2002 (Have worked here off and on for 4 years) Ecstasy Theatre Currently working here Entertainer

She was applying for a corporate receptionist position. If you're wondering what she means by entertainer and are thinking to yourself, no...she couldn't possibly mean...I'm here to tell you that yes. She does mean stripper. It is a strip club in Orange County. And she could have put bartender, or waitress, or whatever else, and I wouldn't have thought twice about it. But when I saw entertainer, I was like....wait...what? So anyway...I'm sorry, we were actually hoping that our Leasing Administrators would have stripping experience, not our receptionist. Try again.

No Work Posts Today

Except for this one. Which is probably a good thing because I've been going a little overboard with the amount of posts and writing that I have been doing lately. But rest assured that I will have something to spout off when I come back. But today is an easy day learning about 401k plans. Although it might be kind of boring. Plus I'm getting no sleep these days for reasons I don't care to delve into. If you have any suggestions for posts, hit me up in the comments. Otherwise it's all stuff that I'm interested in.

I include this photo just because I thought it was really cool. I remember seeing it in a coffee table book while browsing at Barnes and Noble. By the way, that has got to be one of the greatest things. I could spend hours looking and flipping through books that I'll probably buy and start reading years later. Kind of my thing these days. But this picture was taken at FDR's funeral and the caption to the photo by the photographer was really cool. He was looking around trying to capture the moment and the feelings associated with the passing of such a beloved president and he said something to the effect of, "I was looking around for a picture and then I saw this man behind me, and I said, my gosh, nobody else sees this shot."

I guess my post about Reagan yesterday just got me thinking about when people used to love the President of the United States. Just a cool photo. Anyway...See ya'll later.

Two Things Gave Me The Chills Today

I include this picture because I feel like my other posts today have been naked. This is the best I could do for an image of the chills. Before I get into any of that...I am posting at a furious rate right now. I don't know how long I will be able to keep this up. One thing I will say is that I have really enjoyed just being able to write. I hope that what I write is at least somewhat interesting and that it comes across clearly. I think it has reawakened also a greater desire in me to be more well-read. In a bunch of different ways. I want to read more classic fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. I just ordered several books on history and economics. Isn't that weird? That, I think, is inspired by my brother. The guy is relentless in his pursuit of just overall self-improvement. You know how when you're in grade school your teachers would ask who you look up to or who is your hero? I would always say my brother. That is still very much the case. He amazes me. I don't think he has any idea just how much he inspires me. Anyway...I digress...the two things:

1. The first song on the new Strung Out album. Every one of their albums has a leadoff song that has a sweet intro. The last album had what I think will be the best ever intro. But this one is really cool. It's just a really cool mix of different sounds and guitars and then the music just pops in. Like, literally explodes and it is really cool. I just love the capacity that music has to strike such a chord - pun intended - within our being. While I'm talking about music, I really love my playlist right now. I need to make a separate post dedicated specifically to music. But I just really dig on those songs. A LOT. When In Rome and Flock of Seagulls and Devo will be playing together in August sometime, I think, and I don't think anyone but Karen would want to go to that. But she's married, lives in another state, and I've never met her. But now we're blogging buddies and I love it. I guess I'm giving you the shout out because you inspired the playlist with your post on the music festival. But until recently, I didn't realize that another friend has been reading, or at least has read, my blog and I think she knows that at least one song is dedicated to her, Depeche Mode's Strangelove. Wow. I have the window up and that song just started playing as I typed that. Or maybe you didn't think I would remember that you love Depeche Mode. Anyway...


2. This one is much more profound. Today - and I realize I'm jumping on the boat a little bit late - but it's the annivesary of the speech Reagan gave when he challenged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. That is commonly cited as being the most important speech of his presidency. But I was listening to the radio and they replayed an excerpt from that speech and it literally gave me chills throughout my whole body. I love that there is a physiological response that is triggered entirely by emotion that we refer to as "the chills". This website gives the text of the speech as well as the audio, if you should want to listen to it. Most people don't realize this, but at that time Reagan was seen as a lame duck president. Control of the House and Senate shifted entirely to the Democrats. He was dealing with Iran-Contra hearings. Extremely difficult time for him. This might be impossible for some people to believe, but at one point his approval rating was actually lower than President Bush's. People hated him, both in and outside of the country. However, hindsight is 20/20. I read a book a few months ago called Greatness by Stephen Hayward that actually compares the leadership styles of Reagan and Churchill. A great, quick, read. Ronald Reagan was an amazing man. Being relatively young, we don't have much perspective on greatness or what great people resemble very much, but in his person we absolutely have an example of what it means to be great; he personifies what it means to be exemplary, what it means to stand and fight for right, what it means to be American.

I'll Have Some Immigration Reform, Please

The only thing the talking heads on conservative radio are talking about is immigration reform. Especially Hugh Hewitt. I don't really know where I sit with this thing yet. I do know that I'm not for amnesty for the 10 million plus that are already here in the United States. I have a problem with all of those people, last year especially, who were protesting and waving flags of their native countries. I know a good amount of that was fueled by a pro-socialist group and when I get time to post a source on that, I will.

Some personal experience with this...yesterday I did a new hire orientation for a guy from Burma. Really, really nice guy. Warm laugh, good worker it seems like. He is in his late 30s and I asked him what he missed most about Burma, and he said his girlfriend. Then I asked him what he has appreciated the most about being in the United States and he said, "opportunities abound". He told me about his aunt who has been here for about 30 years and it took him 8 years to get legal authorization to enter the US. And on top of that, nobody would accept any of his educational credentials from Burma so he is now about 1 year away from getting a degree in engineering from Cal Poly Pomona. *I'm listening to the Strung Out album and I LOVE IT. My favorite since Twisted By Design.* But he talked to me about how it's never too late here. People who are well into 50s and 60s are in his classes also working on their degrees. He says it's unbelievable the possibilities that exist here. He mentioned that the only thing you have to worry about is how you use your time. I got a lot more insight out of talking with him for 20 minutes than I was expecting. This conversation made me think about my own family and how they came over to the United States.

My dad had saved up about $30,000 before he came to open up a store and rent a place. They went through all of the legal gesturing you have to do, and now my mom and brother are citizens. But I wonder what people like my parents and Eugene think of all of those people who entered the country illegally and are now burdens rather than helps to the system. I wish I could remember the figure I heard the other night about how much it costs to have an illegal immigrant here for a year, but it's absurdly high.

This is ad hoc, but I would hypothesize that those who submit to all of the requirements to legally enter the country are more likely to be law-abiding citizens, have a higher level of economic and personal success, and are more likely to eventually become naturalized citizens of the United States. That is a good idea for a thesis or dissertation. I need to see if much research has been done in the way of looking into how divergent groups of legal and illegal immigrants are.

I know many of these people are escaping bad situations in their native countries, but maybe enforcing immigration laws will force the countries to step up and find their own solutions. This would be a lot better than counting on remittances from citizens who have left to find greener pastures. Again, I wish I could remember the figure, but I know it's in the billions with the amount of dollars that go to Mexico each year.

Anyway...just something I was thinking about.

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unusual Concert Happenings

Yeah...I had mentioned awhile ago that I would post some funny occurrences at concerts. I don't know if they're that funny when you weren't the one who went, but for the sake of the few who read this blog and who were actually there at these concerts, then you'll appreciate this:

• Warped Tour, 1998 - It was the night after Grad night and we had all been up most of the night and went to the all day affair at what was then referred to as...the Meadows. And there we met with the secret society known as...The Pentaverate. Sorry. But it was called the Irvine Meadows. We all had disposable cameras with the last pictures we would take with many of our friends from the night before, only to hear guitars blazing from one of the stages which were easily identified as belonging to our favorite band playing that day, Strung Out. They refused to allow us to take in these cameras (because we also brought backpacks full of food), so we just tossed everything so that we could get inside and not miss anymore of the show. So much for the memories. That's not the good part though. I think I got about 100+ stickers, and 10+ cds for free. So awesome. Strung Out, Bad Religion, AFI, Deftones, Cheater, Hi-Standard, and a bunch of others played. Why I bring all this up though was that after about 6 hours of being all dusty and sweaty from hanging out with a couple thousand other concert-goers (who are generally not clean people to begin with) we finish the day going to see Hi-Standard. We all sported bare chests in true punk rawk fashion. They were not a big band at all, but they have some fun songs. What was so startling/awesome was that after being there all day long, the crowd was overwhelmed by Japanese guys. Like several hundred. It was so weird because we had been there all day long and never noticed a large throng of asian guys, but here they all were, in full force supporting their boys from Tokyo. So cool. Plus, I remember them all wearing bandanas like the one Mr. Miyagi gives Daniel in Karate Kid and ones with the rising sun on them. I know you think I'm just stereotyping, but they really were wearing those bandanas. And, those are my people so I can stereotype all I want. So I drive a japanese made car, am really good at video games, and good at math. Just staying true to form. At least that half that's Japanese.
  
• Lagwagon, 1998 - So my best friend, Dave, has a play that he has the lead for. Really cool, huh? Except, I decide that I'd rather go to a concert than see him play the lead. You know...I feel like there was a pretty good reason I didn't go the night before. But I feel bad for not going. But I didn't then. Funny how that happens. In any case, I'm leaving his house to go to the show and his front door faces the street and my car is parked within view of the hallway of his house. As I'm heading out, I thought it would be funny if, for dramatic effect, I stare at him while accelerating off quickly. Me, being an idiot, had put the car in reverse which was a complete surprise to Dave as well as myself. Lurching backward, rather than forward, I back into the family van and wreck the grill. About a week before I'm about to shell out money to make the repairs, the van gets stolen. A 10 year old van with 100,000+ miles on it with no emergency brake. I still maintain my innocence. I go with only 2 other friends to see Lagwagon, but it takes us about 2 1/2 hours to make what should be a 45 minute trip. Within a 5 mile stretch, there were 3 accidents. All 3 of us feeling a lot of frustration, listen to Rage Against the Machine on the way to the show, and that turned out to be almost as fun as the concert itself. And then with hours of pent up energy, we go to one of the funnest shows I've ever been. One of those where you're in the crowd and your arms are tired afterwards because people are pushing so hard to get as close to the stage as possible.
  
• Strung Out, 1998- They played one last summer show which happened to be about the week before we first went up to BYU. We went with like 10-15 guys and we lose Billy Nelson. He emerges after everything is said and done and he has no shirt on. Someone says, "Bill, what happened to your shirt? (Look of bewilderment) "I have no idea." I just love that response. It was like he didn't even realize that he lost it.


• Unwritten Law, 2002 - A couple of times we popped down to Vegas from school to meet some of our California friends to see a show at the House of Blues. One of these times we go see the show, have a great time, and we all went to O'Shea's across the street from Ceasar's Palace because they have dollar tables. I have never gambled due to the fact that once I get really excited about something, I have no control and will lose myself to addiction. As evidenced by this blog. Plus, I think it totally warps your value of money. You kind of have to be around gambling to really understand that. And this was pre-specific recent council to not gamble. Anyway...so my high-roller friends are playing the dollar tables, doubling down on 11 with their $1 bets, and the guitarist and bassist from Unwritten Law join them at the table. So cool. Going to see a show at the House of Blues, $20. Playing blackjack at O'Shea's, $1. Playing blackjack at O'Shea's with the band who you came to see, priceless. It might have been a different Vegas show, but while watching the water show at the Bellagio, some girls start freaking out and ask us to take a picture of them with Linkin Park, who happened just to be standing right next to us watching the water dance to Andre Bochelli. Random.


• Yellowcard, 2004 - This was over Thanksgiving Break here in Irvine. So...I have this uncanny ability to be able to fall asleep ANYWHERE. I mean, ANYWHERE. I don't think of myself as a sleepy person, but basically, if I sit still long enough I will just get tired and can fall asleep. And it's a choosing thing too. It's not like I'm narcoleptic. It's kind of like if a reptile gets really cold, its body will shut down and go into a type of suspended animation. They do that, right? I would be an X-man if I could figure out how to sleep-fight, but until then, I'm just well-rested. Anyway, it is UNBELIEVABLY loud in the Bren Events Center. And Yelloward still has a couple of opening bands before they get on. And I go into the stands and I totally take a cat-nap until the appointed time. It might not seem that amazing, but try going to a small venue where a dozen speakers are propped up above your head, and then you'll know what I'm talking about. When you can suffer through a nap while acquiring tinnitus, then come talk to me and we'll have a sleep off.

Mormonism and Democracy

This came to me by way of Jared Ong, but it's a really interesting transcript of a forum - The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life - whose main speaker, Richard Bushman, explains the marriage of mormonism and democracy. What's really cool about it is how educational the piece is about the church. Bushman's candor and breadth of knowledge of the church is unbelievable. He fields every question without any reservation, and is frankly, an incredible spokesman for the church. But he explains a lot in the way of even basic church doctrines to very complicated ones. Milk and meat, so to speak. A question and answer follow the forum and some of the audience members come from somewhat unsympathetic perspectives based on assertions made by dissenting members of the church, so it is not as if all in attendance were looking to absolve the church of perceived injustices. What I think is so neat about the piece is the way in which he answers the questions. Really educational, but really clear and concise. It really promotes understanding. It's good.

Free the Film

Islam vs. Islamists tells the story of the moderate Muslims who believe in the blending of the principles of their faith with the tenets of democracy. Doesn't that sound completely insane? Anyway, the producer is Frank Gafney and his website is here. For more information about the film, here is a transcript from an interview he had with Hugh Hewitt. And here is a video of an interview that he had with Michelle Malkin. Or at least the link to it. They're not too long, so give it a look if you have the chance. Interesting stuff.

Slake Thy Thirst

If you don't like punk music, then don't bother reading. But if you do...then get this album. It will blow your mind. There are few bands that I would refer to plainly as bada$$, but Strung Out continues to do it, over and over again. Just when I think their stuff is as tough as it gets, they come up with a new album that just makes me say, damn. I don't think I can get their new stuff on my playlist, but I can at least get the old stuff and you can get a lick of that tasty treat. Slake thy thirst on this tasty treat. Get the new album here.

Swear Jar

So f***in awesome.

Best Magic Mountain Day Ever

I can't believe how awesome the features are with these blogs. This was a trip to Magic Mountain that we had a couple of weeks ago. So fun. Best day at Magic Mountain ever. The weather wasn't too hot like it normally is in the summer. We went on every ride in the park that we wanted. We didn't wait more than 30-40 minutes for any ride. And for the best ride in the park we found a way to sneak up to the front of the line. That's right. I have no qualms whatsoever with cheating the other suckers who had to wait 2+ hours to get on the ride. Neither did the 11 other people who I went with feel bad about it. And that's probably why I hang out with these people. So the pictures range from standing in line, to surprise photos shooting behind my head, to candid city-scape shots, to the stoop, to fun with super heroes. Best Magic Mountain day ever.

Romney '08?

At first, I thought Mitt Romney was a real long shot for the Republican nomination. I felt like maybe this could set him up for 2012, or beyond, kind of how Nixon ran in 1960 and it helped him to get some more nationwide exposure. I thought the Mormon thing would be something that would take some time to settle in for most of the nation. It seems like with the prospect of electing some minority class candidate, people need some time for the idea to sink in. I think that is true for electing women, African-Americans, Mormons, etc. I'm referring mostly to the types of candidates that most people are not used to voting for, i.e. not white, upper class men.

But according to some recent polls in New Hampshire, I believe, Romney has actually opened up quite a lead. It is so early in the game that this might not mean that much, but the news is definitely encouraging. He is handling the criticism with class and that is helping him a lot. What he really has going for him though is that he really is a good candidate. It has got to be so difficult to run in such an entrenched blue state and be working against/with one of the most liberal politicians in all of America, but still be held in high esteem amongst all those who have had contact with him. That has to say a lot about him. In addition to all of the other success he has had with all of his business ventures. Then throw in the fact that he has raised so much money and this guy is heading into the race with a full head of steam. So we'll see, I guess. But go here for Iowa and here for New Hampshire to see some references to some of the polls that show Romney gaining some momentum. Courtesy of Hugh Hewitt.

Does Culture Create Art?

Does the media define what entertainment is, or is the entertainment we pursue merely a reflection of who we are? I started asking this question when EVERYWHERE I was looking everyone had something to say about Paris Hilton. I was listening to Michael Medved and he was talking about how the media assumes that the public is composed of idiots and they really believe that this is what entertains us. He was indignant, and I knew where he was coming from, but then I still couldn't help but wonder what was going on with her. And my boss was talking about it as well. Then my co-worker who works across from me asked if I minded that she turn on the radio to hear the latest news on Paris. At lunch I'm eating Pizza at Ray's Pizza (which deserves a post dedicated to his pizza because he is AWESOME), and on the TV he has it tuned to CNN and what do I see?

I can't get away from her. She was at work. She was in my car on the way to lunch. She was at lunch. And then she was waiting for me at work when I got back. And when I left work...and on and on and on...

I know that the story is so played out and so old, but it continues to be at the center of our attention. I think any rational person who hears about her has to think it is all so completely ridiculous, but somehow we cannot help ourselves, it keeps us glued to the TV, radio, whatever. So...does the media dictate what is entertainment? Is culture a reflection of the people? Is this what we've come to?

Incidentally, if these questions interest you and you haven't read Farenheit 451, you really should. It talks a lot about these types of issues. He wrote it in response to how television might affect society. Ray Bradbury is almost prophetic. It's an incredible read. And short too, you could blow through it in a couple of hours.

So, is this who I am? Am I doomed to be immersed in a flood of media gossip about a celebutante whose only contribution to society is her careless, promiscuous attitude? It's almost like the Truman Show, but this is really real life. Did some person see that movie and realize that we were only a few steps from actually creating that scenario?

Just Learn English, Please

I was listening to Hugh Hewitt the other day and he was speaking with a writer from the LA times (I think) and the writer was spouting off about how awful it is that people expect everyone to learn English in America and that enforcing that as a national language equates to racism. I just can't believe how unreasonable some people can be. I would think that the idea would be that those who come to the United States want to come and assimilate into our culture and make it their home. When my parents emmgirated from Brazil my family didn't know any English whatsoever and decided to open up a couple of tailor shops. Talk about intimidating, right? However, my dad was smart about it and maybe got a little carried away with it, but they stopped speaking Portuguese, watched everything in English, and listened to only music in English until they were proficient in the language. And what's more, they succeeded. Both of my parents have done great and their kids aren't so bad either.

I know there are many who come without the intention of adopting a new home, hoping to either just take advantage of our resources or isolate themselves in their own culture. But hasn't one of the greatest things about this country been its ability to absorb ALL of the many different aspects of EVERY culture in the world? Do most people not look forward to Cinco De Mayo? Wasn't that exclusively Mexican? At the least, most people are now aware of it, if not celebrating it themselves. Do you even know what it's celebrating? And no...it's not their Independence day, so try again. What about St. Patrick's day? Irish and catholic tradition. What about Chinese New Year? Maybe you don't know when it is exactly, but you probably know that it's at least not on the regular new year and that it occurs sometime in February.

Anyway, I read an article by Jay Nordlinger of National Review. I really, really appreciate his points of view. Very thoughtful, very moral person. Check him out.

Signs You Are Really Getting Into Blogging

You come back early from lunch so that you can write a post because you want to make sure there is new material regularly. Yikes...I'm there.

And I saw this comment on another blog of a person who I don't even know, but who I think I must have been best friends with in another life because I dig her blog so much, "I think of things all day to blog about, and when it comes down to it, I forget what they were. I'm going to have to start keeping a list, just like the list I keep when I remember something I need to get at Wal-Mart next time I go shopping. I'm pathetic. But I know it, and I love it."

That is a dedicated blogger. And you know what else is funny about that? I read that comment thinking to myself not that that is weird or too extreme, but thinking "that's a good idea, maybe I should start doing that." Awesome.

Why It's Awesome To Live In Southern California

There are myriad reasons why it is AWESOME to live in Southern California. For starters, I think it has been 72 degrees and mostly sunny for about 8 months straight. Some think seasons are great and would argue that you can't appreciate nice weather without bad weather, but that is a huge load. I have experienced bad weather before, I don't need to go through weeks and months of crap to know that it is absolutely wonderful to be able to wear sandals and shorts and a t-shirt whenever the heck I feel like. I can go to the beach in January and have it still be pleasant. I might not want to swim in the ocean, but that's another story. The weather is just one of many reasons why it is great to be here.

The real reason I am writing is that I love sports. I could watch ESPN all day long, unless there is poker stuff going on, or NASCAR, or the WNBA, or golf. I just can't watch any of that. But I can watch things like the NFL draft and be totally glued for all 7 rounds, even when there are about 200 guys who will never play any significant amount of time in the pros. I can watch whole basketball, football, baseball, hockey, and soccer games, and various forms of fighting for an incredible length of time. I love living in a big market locale. I love that I can expect that I have one team in every major sport competing for the championship in any given sport. And when they aren't, I love that my guys are so self-absorbed and popular that they can usurp headlines even when they aren't playing and the most significant part of the year in his respective sport is playing itself out.

I love that the Ducks won the Stanley Cup. It is a classy organization and for the last several years, they have been one of the elite teams in the NHL. I've talked to several people who, until this last week when the news came out that they won, had no idea that they were even any good. Hello! Just a couple of years ago they took the Devils to 7 games in the Finals, and just last year they were in the Western Conference Finals up until the 7th game again. They are really good.

And then right across the freeway I have the Angels who are among the hottest teams in baseball. Not only will they win the division, but if their pitching stays intact and they can get some big contributions from their younger players, or get another big bat, they should be very serious contenders for the World Series. If the Cardinals could win last year, then pretty much anybody who makes it to the playoffs has a chance. Plus we have some pretty awesome college football and college basketball. I wish there was more football here. I guess we do have the Chargers and LT is probably one of the coolest players/people in professional sports, not to mention he is amazing, but he plays for a chief rival of MY team, the Raiders.

Yup, I said it. I love the Raiders. Probably more than any of the other teams I've mentioned. This is for another post, but it has been HARD to be a Raiders fan the last couple of years. But things are really looking up. There is a very positive buzz surrounding the new coaching staff and we have a potential franchise quarterback who can throw 85 yards. Unbelievable potential this kid has. Hopefully it all translates into on the field success. Anyway....I love me my sports, and I love being a fan down here in Southern California.