“Work Hard and Be Nice”

I’ve been sitting here listening to music from Andytown’s blog trying to think of something to write about. Recently I’ve written several blogs, but I decided to delete them because I realized they were too pretentious or cynical. And I don’t want the blog to merely devolve into my complaints or ego support. Lately I’ve been trying really hard to be less cynical. Cynicism comes naturally to most people who think critically and have a little bit of pessimism. I definitely have both, the end result being that I am cynical far too often. And to be honest I was just fine with that, until the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien ended. I like Conando, he has an amazing sense of humor, he was a writer for the Simpsons when the Simpsons was at its peak, and he was also an excellent tv show host. His humor poked fun of himself, he treated people with respect, and he truly enjoyed what he was doing. When his stint as the tonight show was tragically cut short, he handled the situation with class (his letter addressing the situation). Personally I thought the last few episodes of the show were among his best. In the end of his show he advised his audience to avoid cynicism saying it was unattractive and leads nowhere. To be honest this caught me off guard and convicted me. Here’s a guy who has just lost his job and position with a company with whom he has been working for 20 years, because of the incompetence of his superiors. If anyone has a right to be cynical, it’s him. I was cynical about the whole Conan fiasco and I’m pretty sure it affected him a lot more than me. So, because it came from an unexpected source at an unexpected time, this plea has encouraged me to quit being a cynic. The second piece of advice given by Conando was to “work hard and be nice.” I’m good at half or this. I’m working on the other half. So now I would just like to say thank you to Conan for putting on a great show, and for motivating one cynic to “work hard and be nice.” If you haven’t seen it watch Conan’s last show it was truly amazing show featuring Neil Diamond, Tom Hanks, and Steve Carrel. It also had an amazing performance at the end with Beck, Elvis Costello, a guy from ZZ Top and Conan himself, which was unfortunately tainted by patently unfunny performance by Will Ferrell (if you’re bringing out such excellent musicians why ruin it with Will singing?). Where ever Conan ends up I’m sure he will continue to entertain and inspire.

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Library

I was in the library when it closed yesterday. I was at the library when it opened today. I was in the library when it closed today. So that’s my life. How are you?

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My Childhood Education

Now this is a story, all about how my life got flipped turned upside down. And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there. I’ll tell you how I came to possess an intellect so rare. I’m sure that most people know that the way in which a child plays is an important part of their growth and development as a person. Well, I’m not most people and I just recently figured this out. I discovered this by realizing how much computer games contributed to my education. When I was a kid computer games were still kinda a novelty and were just beginning to become popular. I remember playing Oregon Trail, Wolfenstien (the original), SimCity, Dune II, Math blaster, Heroes of Might and Magic, and other classics. However, there is one game that stands out above the rest in terms of games that dominated my youth. That video game is Sid Meier’s Civilization. It was a game where you were given control of a civilization and your goal was to lead it to cultural or military superiority. Aside from teaching me how to spell civilization, this game taught me quite a bit. It taught me about different types of buildings; I learned what an aqueduct, granary, and barracks were, I learned about ancient wonders of the world such as the Colossus at Rhodes, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and the Great Library of Alexandria. I learned the names of famous leaders for different countries such as Otto von Bismark, Catharine the Great, and Ghandi. The game taught me what metallurgy and feudalism are. It showed me the benefits and downsides of various forms of government (I would always become a democracy early in the game so that I would advance technologically faster than everyone else, and then switch to communism so that I could invade my neighbors without my citizens revolting). I also remember that the capitol of the Aztec civilization was Tenochtitlan. In other words this one game expanded my knowledge more than many of my classes in grade school. In fact I can’t remember a class in grade school in which I learned more than I learned from that game. Now I’m not saying that all computer games are great and will turn your children into super geniouses … super geni … super smart people like me. But I am saying that one well-made game both entertained and educated me in a way that stuck with me to this day. The other thing which has stuck with me to this day is my childhood passion and desire to rule the world with complete dominion and supreme authority.

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Get Well

Get well soon John Charles. Sorry you got beat up. I’ll find that guy and punch him in the back of the head for you.

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Isolation, Humanity, Mortality

Do you know what is really good? Pistachio pudding.  It’s so delicious, even though it doesn’t really look that good. I mean it kinda has this eerie green color. And who would think that a pudding based off or a nut would be so delectable. Its pretty easy to make. You just add milk to the packet, mix and then wait. The packet says that it makes 4 servings but I ate it all.

Now I would like to stray from my prepared remarks to talk about the movie Moon. This movie might be categorized as science fiction, but the label science fiction doesn’t really tell you what the film is addressing.The label science fiction has more to do with the setting of a movie than its contents. The 5th Element is a science fiction movie as is Gattica, but other than that movies little in common. One is an action flick and the other is a drama. Good science fiction, like all good fiction, creates a unique setting in which a particular truth or aspect of humanity will be revealed.

Based on this criteria, Moon certainly is good science fiction. The story follows Sam Bell. Lunar Industries has contracted him to extract energy rich helium-3 from the Moon’s surface. His contract is for 3 years and is quickly coming to a close. He left behind a wife and daughter with whom he can send delayed messages, but no live contact can be made because of a communications satellite in ill repair. The station is largely automated and Sam’s only real companion is an robotic program called Gerty. At the end of this very long stint, the isolation is clearly beginning to affect Sam. He begins to hallucinate. The events that ensue, hallucination and sickness, threaten his return trip to earth.

Without giving too much away, the film reveals that Sam’s work is a labor of love for his family. The distance was a good thing for his relationships. His long stretch of isolation developed patience and taken the edge off of his temper. It also addresses the question of “what makes us human?” Is it our work, our relationships, our emotions, our ability to make sacrifices? It also addresses our mortality. It shows that dying is as natural as life, but how do we face death? Dying is one of the best tools in literature. Knowing how life ends and that it ends, should always give more weight to the actions of the living. Our days are numbered.

Moon is not only good science fiction, but good drama. It brings to light the importance of making the most of the short time we have on Earth (or its nearby satellite).  It creates tension. It demonstrates the growth and development of the protagonist. The movie does an excellent job of evoking the emotions it seeks to create. The beginning of the film is slow and largely uneventful, yet serves to reinforce the isolation and monotony of Sam’s life. The suspense it creates feels real and relevant to the plot. Sam’s mortality is clearly felt when his health deteriorates. His confusion is felt as he sees a girl on the station. Moon is a thought provoking film which left me facing the reality of my own mortality as well as the importance of loving relationships. The film demonstrates that the one thing that will push a man through isolation, monotony, distance, time, hard work, is simple: love.

There is a view of the world which sees everything in terms of wasted potential. Look at all these people stuck in dead end jobs going no where. I think there’s more hope out there than that. I think there are a lot of people out there who have sacrificed their dreams and aspirations, because they found something better. They fell for a girl or they wanted to start a family. They put aside the promotion to spend more time with the kids. Everything they give up and everything they work for is a labor of love. Love necessitates sacrifice. If you don’t care for something more than yourself and your interests, you don’t really love it. You just love the way it makes you feel, which is the same thing as saying you just love yourself. Its in making the hard decisions, staying in for the long haul, enduring the sharp pains that love is truly tested.

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Information Addict

I think I may be an information addict. While people often have one area of expertise or interest, I’m just interested in absorbing new information. I’ve come to realize this after reading hundreds of pages in a few days. Most of it is for school which is explainable, but then for my free time I’ll read. I’ll browse the internet, look at books, read blogs, listen to language learning tapes. I’ll also watch tv or movies to relax. But especially with movies I’ll do research to figure out what type of movies I want to watch and what the movie is about. I’m beginning to become aware that I don’t get tired of absorbing information I just get tired of particular topics.

I think in general an attraction to information is a good thing. Its a sign of curiosity (that’s why my friends call me whiskers). I want to discover what is going on, what people are thinking, and all the fascinating things this world has to offer. The downside is I don’t spend enough time processing information. The other down side is that I spend a lot of time sitting. I hate sitting. I sit for class, for reading, for writing papers, for blogging, for watching tv, and I hate sitting. I’d rather be running, standing, jumping, lying, climbing, but not sitting I get too much sitting. I kinda want to find an old stationary bike and put it in my room and attach a desk to it so that I can at least get a workout while I’m reading or on the computer. But that would still be sitting, have I mentioned that I don’t like sitting. I also have horrible posture when I sit, so I feel like I’m shorter every time I leave the library after attacking a pile of books for several hours.

I’m a slow reader as well. But I don’t mind that as much. I kinda like taking my time reading a book. Its like savoring your food (which I don’t do, I eat like its going out of style). For authors I particularly enjoy, I start to get sad at the end of the book that I have to finish it. I’ll also stop and imagine the character acting out scenes if I really really enjoy an author. If I have to read a bad book I can always skim.  Aight, I need to get something to eat. Adios amigos.

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Value Based Decisions

Recently, I have been thinking about my future quite a bit. It is getting towards the end of my degree and some decisions need to be made. This includes whether I should change my major, as well as where I should do an internship (the internship I am participating in right now won’t count towards my major). For the most part this decision making process has involved a lot of confusion and very little progress. It also makes me realize how little I trust God with the uncertainties of life.

A conversation with a friend has given me new and valuable tool for making decisions. The realization that I make goal oriented decisions is not surprising. The realization that goals might not be what I should be pursuing, is as simple as it is profound. Originally almost all goals are based on things we value, but over time they can drift away from those values. The job I get to support my family, begins to keep me from my family. The reason this happens is because success in the job begins to become a new goal, and that goal starts to take on a life of its own and may eventually cause damage to something you value more, family. I kinda feel like that in my life right now. I’ve been very focused on my academics. So focused that I look around and realizing that it taking away from the things I value, relationships, ministry, personal character, etc.

Now changing won’t be easy. Especially for someone as stubborn as I can be. But I need to make sure the decisions I am making are based on my core values, and not just in the long run. I need to do the daily activities which insure that I take my values seriously. When I say values I am referring to the relationships, spiritual life, and ideals that I consider more important than anything else. They matter more than getting a degree, money, security, entertainments or any of the other things that seem to preoccupy my time and energy.

The other way I need to reorient my decision making process is to ask the right questions. I need to start being more worried about what type of person I want to be than what type of things I want to accomplish. I need to focus more on building my character than accomplishing objectives. G.K. Chesterton said, “If a man were to shoot his grandmother from a distance of 500 yards, I should call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man.” In the end people will not particularly care whether or not I have a degree or what I’ve accomplished so much as whether or not I am a good man. At least the people who matter won’t.

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I’ve been thinking.

Actually I haven’t. Sorry for the misleading title.

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Cleaning Up a Bit

So, I’ve been cleaning a good bit today. I’ve done laundry and folded clothes. I’ve been sorting through the piles of paper on my desk. I’ve also cleaned out all the dishes and pots in the sink. I think that is one of my biggest pet peeves. When the dishwasher is dirty to have people leave their dishes with food and water sitting in the sink. Also, leaving your pots and pans in the sink for someone else to clean up is not cool. Stuff sitting in the sink, especially if it hasn’t even been rinsed out, grosses me out. It begins to create new civilizations of microbiotic life (by the way I’m proud of myself, wordpress’s spell check did not have microbiotic, but it is a real word that I spelled correctly). It also creates nasty smells, because old food left in water lying in a sink tends to decompose. So, I destroyed the civilizations and eliminated the sources of odor in the kitchen. Then I returned to cleaning my room. It’s kinda depressing because, there are so many little things to sort through. I usually check every receipt before throwing it out. I keep old quizes far long than I should on the off chance that I will look over it to prepare for some future exam. This is completely irrational since I almost never do this.

Through out the course of cleaning I discovered my ipod. This was very exciting since it has been missing for a few months. But before you think I am a total slob, know that I did not discover it by cleaning or even looking for it. I have done both in searching for it before. It was when my roommate came into my room to ask me a question. He asked me if I thought I could jump from my window onto the neighbor’s roof. In order to check the distance and height of the roof before giving him an assessment I pulled up the blinds to one of my windows (my tiny room has four windows on two walls, which means it has about as much insulation as a mesh shirt). Upon raising the blinds, I saw the long forgotten ipod on the corner of the windowsill. I was glad to be reunited with my long lost setholopod (as he is named). I would also like to apologize to the gentleman who smashed my window and broke into my car several months ago, I have been unjustly blaming you for the missing ipod. I can only beg your forgiveness and let you know that it was an honest mistake. Also if any of the small forms of life which were beginning to grow in our sink, became conscious learned how to use the internet and have found my blog in an attempt to seek vengeance for destroying your world, I would like to apologize as well. It wasn’t personal. I just think that sinks should be used for cleaning plates and not fostering new life forms as some of my housemates seem to believe.

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7 Kinda Creepy Music Videos and One Bonus Video

So I’ve done a few music video posts. And its time to dedicate one to the videos that are a little off kilter. I’ve already posted one with Bat for Lashes “What’s a Girl to Do” so I won’t repeat that one… although its a pretty scary bike ride. So here are some kinda creepy videos, nothing super creepy like Aphex Twin, cause I can’t get into that stuff.

We’ll start off with a nice little dance music video. What makes it creepy? Well aside from a few strange parkour/breakdance moves… what the heck is that thing? Here is The Chemical Brother’s “Midnight Madness.”

UNKLE’s “Rabbit in Your headlights” is as interesting as it non-sensical. The video follows a ranting man walking through traffic. It is kinda long but watch it till the end.

This video is strange for a host of reasons. Any one of these things in a music video would be comedic. But all of them, singing together starts to creep me out. Here is The Avalanches’ “Frontier Psychatrist.”

Well the Chemical brothers have made the list again. This time with menacing machines and mental instability. Also the leotards at the beginning are kinda freaky. I have a theory that there is a director’s cut somewhere out there where the scene on the rooftop plays out differently. Here is their music video “Believe.”

This video starts out funny; who doesn’t enjoy monkeys playing instruments? Later it takes a nasty turn; who isn’t afraid of freaky man-faced monkeys? Here is Basement Jaxx’s “Where’s your head at.”

I don’t know if creepy is the right term for this music video. But it is one of those music videos that keeps people talking. Anyone who has seen it is haunted by the question, “What did he say?” If you’ve seen it you already know I’m talking about Radiohead’s “Just.”

Interpol has a generally haunting sound to their music. Combine that with the scene of an accident, it makes it a little creepier. Then add in some puppet with surprisingly realistic teeth, it gets really creepy.

Ok, that’s it for creepy videos. Here’s a bonus video that makes me laugh. The puppets in this one don’t freak me out as much. Warning: it has some inappropriate language.

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