What a view from Diamond Head.
Monday, February 27, 2006
What happened to this blog?
This blog used to be about Hawaii...and if you'll notice the recent trend in posts, they have become less about surfing, sun, and mountains, and more about things I like to hear, watch, and read.
I guess that's what happens when you WORK in Hawaii.
So, with that in mind, here's another review. I'll try and post some interesting pictures that I haven't posted before.
Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah
Do it.
Louder.
Feel Better? If you don't, then you didn't really clap your hands and say yeah.
I can guarantee that both clapping your hands and saying yeah! and listening to "Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah" (referred to as CYHASY in the future for brevity) will make you feel better. No matter how old or young you are, this album is delightfully different enough to make you do what they're called.
This was first recommended to me by the venerable Dan Szombathy in late 2005, and subsequently by amazon, iTunes, and various other music sources. I delayed and delayed until I just couldn't stand seeing this bizarre album cover without hearing the music. I love the haunting carnival barker sound shouting "Clap your hands!" on the 1st track...set the tone perfectly.
RATING: 4.5 out of 5
Recommended if you like (RIYL): Modest Mouse, The New Pornographers, or Broken Social Scene.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
The Thumbsucker Proxy
What an interesting film. This kinda snuck up on me, I don't even recall where I heard about it. I think it popped up on "you may like..." thing from Netflix or Amazon, maybe it was an old Ebert and Roeper podcast.
Whatever it was, good choice.
The casting is excellent: Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, and (get this) a tolerable Keanu Reeves (as the orthodontist/philosophical guru).
The music is better: The Polyphonic Spree frontman Tim DeLaughter composed the original score which gives us brief background snippets of their orchestral work and some good songs mixed in. I am not a fan of "TPS," and can't really tolerate their work in most settings, but it really works in a movie setting. All of the other music comes from the late, great Eliott Smith.
The movie works a lot like many other movies of the past couple of years...it has shades of "I Heart Huckabees," "Garden State," and "The United States of Leland" (featuring the music of Jeremy Enigk of Sunny Day Real Estate and The Fire Theft). If you've seen any of these movies you'll know what I mean, maybe not Garden State as much but the rest are a little heavy on preaching a philosophy of some kind, even though each of the movies seems unsure as to what that philosophy is.
Anyway, Thumbsucker is a great existential movie (Being and Becoming).
Here's a link if you feel like reading one take on basic existential philosophy.
The film follows a teenager through a series of changes, developments, experiments, and lifestyles not too unfamiliar to anyone who has made mistakes in life; it shows how uncomfortable he is in his attempt to BE until he learns (from our whoa! philosopher) that one must BECOME.
It puts a finger so directly on that uncomfortable time in adolescence when we wanted to have the answers, when we needed to know the RIGHT course for our lives, when simply letting the journey happen was not an option. IDEALISM. That's it.
I'm now no longer writing from the top of my head, but writing to try and sound smart...and doing a poor job, so I'll spare you.
Watch this movie.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Random old story resolved
I played tennis for the first time since JoAnna and I got married this President's Day. I should have started with someone who didn't play #2 singles in college. Today is Wednesday and "the sore" is reaching its peak. Good news -- even though I lost 6-3, 6-4, he's as sore as me.
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Today was the court date. I don't think I posted the story but many have heard me tell it...I really like telling stories. I awoke at 5:00am to drive 20-ish miles in an hour and a half (curse you Hawaii and all your beauty, making everyone want to live here, and therefore making traffic ridiculous) for my court hearing regarding a New Year's Day traffic stop, where I "failed to have current proof of insurance" on federal property (a stone's throw from my house). So, I received a summons to appear in FEDERAL court, or have a warrant for my arrest. Even after (or maybe because?) I went home, retrieved the proof of insurance (which was dated 12-26, that right, five days later), and went to talk to the Military Police who pulled me over at the DUI checkpoint.
This was all because my tail lights and brake lights had shorted out on my way home (presumably) that night. "Why do you have two tail lights out?" the MP asked, surely thinking I knew the answer. So, the tail lights needed to be fixed...after trying a bunch of things I jammed some cardboard in there to solve the shorting problem. This worked like a charm until the safety check needed to be performed on the car. I removed the cardboard, because surely this wasn't going to pass, and hoped for the best. "Well, the lights worked for a second and then the whole back end went dark, but I'm going to pass it anyway." the mechanic says.
Uh, Ok...thanks?
So, back to the court date. I show up early 7:30 for 8:30 court and wait. There were about ten of us waiting...just us alone in the room, no baliff, no lawyers, no judge, nothing.
I've never been in a courtroom before...ominous.
Then the perky legal assistant comes in and says, come up and check in and if you have a minor offense we can discuss that. I show her my summons, ticket, license, and P of I (as I've just now decided to call it) and she looks at all these pieces of my information and then at me and says, simply, "dismissed." WHAT! Three double takes later, I get the impression that she is done with me and that I should leave, go away, be gone, get outta there. Didn't even get to "approach the bench."
Oh yeah, then I went to Saturn (eww) and tried to get the lights fixed. One hour and $0.00 later, everything is tip-top. Making the correction - Saturn (yea!)
Saturday, February 04, 2006
And we thought Lucas was a surprise
On Friday after school, one of my fellow IPES employees calls and says, "Do you want a dog?" One month ago that would have been an easy answer..."No way, not right now." For some reason, JoAnna has been saying, "I want a new dog." and "Lucas needs a pet."
So upon receiving this call, I said, "let me talk with my wife." She replied, "The owners are taking to the pound tonight." "Bring him over," I say.
So, "Fargo" arrived a little while later. And though he was in desperate need of a bath and a trim, we decided that he should be our dog. He is a 3 1/2 year old Australian Silky Terrier...basically a big Yorkshire Terrier.
He didn't respond to Fargo for some reason, so we felt free to change his name. His registration papers say his name is "Cosway His Nibs" (what?), so we figured the appropriate name would be "Cosmo."
And he is the best kind of dog...a free one.
We took him to a groomer today. Nice, huh?
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