tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578351068950693452023-11-15T10:26:39.095-08:00Father of the Househoundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-2412495571492854542014-04-18T17:36:00.001-07:002014-04-18T17:36:52.194-07:00It's Loud in HereSo, I came to this coffee shop, Brew House in town to check out their wi-fi and see if they had electric sockets near any tables. Wi-fi needs a password, but otherwise free and at least a few of the booths along the walls have plug access, including the table I'm sitting at.<br />
<br />
Anyway, here I am just minding my own business, drinking a peppermint mocha and in comes some people with guitars and other electric music components. It stated out humbly enough, a couple guitar players/singers warming up quietly and softly, then they began to take turns at the microphone and more people came into the shop.<br />
<br />
I work late during the weekdays and am completely ignorant about what happens in my town in the evenings, besides the shootings and yelling in my neighborhood, the local ghetto. There were no posters on the windows of the coffee shop and no one asked for money. So I suppose it's just a local thing where random people can come in and show off their skills. I don't even know anyone's names or if they are a group or anything at all. But they draw a crowd and I suspect this is a weekly event.<br />
<br />
And the crowd is kind of noisy.<br />
<br />
I didn't really expect a coffee shop to be the local hangout of kids after school or on holiday break, but I guess they have to go somewhere. There are no arcades or dance clubs around here.<br />
<br />
The music was nice and there was even a beat box dude near the end of the "show" showing off his wub-wub effects. The guitar players were all acoustic and borderline folk singers, or maybe you could call them modern folk...I don't follow the scene so I'm pretty ignorant about such things.<br />
<br />
I like this environment better than Bigby's. I've been there a couple of times, but it's certainly a more corporate atmosphere. Here at the Brew House I get a sense of independence, a place more welcoming of the arts.<br />
<br />
It's just past eight thirty in the evening and there is a faint golden hue outside the large windows overlooking the highway that runs by the shop. The Brew House is only open until 9pm and people are starting to leave while a song writer from California is singing his second song. I've just emptied my second peppermint mocha.<br />
<br />
I'll come again.houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-62682675384184744352014-04-12T02:43:00.001-07:002014-04-12T02:44:13.139-07:00Something About Metallica's St. AngerI try.<br />
<br />
I try not to beat dead horses. And it's been so long since I opened the creaky door to this room...<br />
<br />
But I couldn't help myself this time. And I'm a little sick. Coughing, sneezing, snotting, squinting..."sigh"...and tired.<br />
<br />
Anyway, there's a discussion currently running at the Metallica "anything goes" board at Metallica.com. I go there once in a while to see if there's something interesting I've missed, maybe a new song or new album info. But tonight I spotted a St. Anger discussion. I knew what to expect...most Metallica fans hate the album. And sure enough, there was plenty of hate going around (though it was oddly free of rancid mouth foaming and harsh language, maybe the moderators are out in force in that forum?), and I only intended to read the first few posts and move on like I usually do. But something about the discussion captivated me.
For one thing, people keep comparing St. Anger with the Load albums. Sure, I've seen St. Anger compared to just about everything, but tonight it was mostly the Loads.<br />
<br />
And I have to wonder...why is this a thing?<br />
<br />
Comparing Metallica albums has to be done in "eras". For instance, the First Four can mostly be compared with each other. The band was faster, more thrashy, and darker...perhaps even more Metal with all the heavy metal trappings of the eighties. After that, of course, the band lost the fire of creation and albums became much more sparse, but also more distinct.
The Black Album stands alone as the first endeavor at serious radio play. Then the Loads which were first intended to be a double album, so they sound the same, but don't really count as individual works, and they too stand alone but as very creative and adventurous projects.<br />
<br />
Then comes St. Anger, another unique experience in the band's short lineup of material. But St. Anger is special. It stands in a whole different light than any of the other Metallica Albums to date, or after. St. Anger is a rage album. It's aggressive as nothing Metallica or even few other metal bands have ever dared to attempt. It has a frantic intensity to it that no other Metallica album can match. It is filled with sheer, raw, bitter emotion. A child will throw a fit, a loud tantrum, if he is denied his wishes. And Metallica's band members weren't quite getting what they wanted from life at the time St. Anger was being written. And so they threw a fit. A metal temper tantrum. People don't often bring up the album that was abandoned before St. Anger was conceived. The band locked themselves away in a barrack and tried to force some creative drive. We've heard some of the riffs and song structures that came from that endeavor, and possibly some of the material was recycled into more recent work, or even slammed into something on St. Anger...we don't know the full details of the aftermath. What we do know is that the band imploded with the stress of the endeavor then promptly ejected all of their rage and frustration onto St. Anger.
It's a unique album and stands on it's own, is what I'm saying. It cannot be compared to any of the other albums. It isn't the same Metallica that the fans grew up with. I get that. I respect that. But we can't compare apples to oranges, even if they grow from the same tree (and it's possible too, blended fruit trees are a real thing, look it up sometime!)<br />
<br />
For my part, I love classic Metallica. I've been following them since ...And Justice For All and instantly fell in love with Puppets and Lightning...Kill 'em All took some time to grow on me, it has a different production value to it and I have to be in a "classic mood" to enjoy it properly. The Black Album hasn't aged well with me and it also took some time for me to get past the fact that it wasn't another Justice album, but I still love some of the stuff on it. The Loads...oh man, talk about needing some time to get to know somebody...A country song? Are you serious? (first impressions and all that) but I really grew to love Metallica's take on bluesy riffs.<br />
<br />
And I love St. Anger.<br />
<br />
There, I said it. I've been a closeted St. Anger fan all these years. It's a rage album, and I sometimes need something filled to the brim with rage...something other than the weirdness that comes with old Manson or much of the Korn catalog...just pure, unadulterated rage. And that is what St. Anger is for me. I don't listen to it for the lyrical content or high production value. I prefer this album to be rough and splintered, jarring. Though I do sigh sometimes when the "kettle drums" pull me out of the experience, or when I have to change my focus to skip over "Invisible Kid". You see, Invisible Kid has no place on this album. Sure, it has a story that fits, but it takes the listener out of the rage fueled flames...it's that guy at the party that always makes you feel uncomfortable and makes you wonder if he was really invited or if he just crashed the place.<br />
<br />
I love St. Anger for what it is, just a rage-filled, uncompromising, rough-around-the-edges album. And it has no business being compared with other Metallica works.
houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-15192084560738100372011-11-07T01:38:00.000-08:002011-11-07T01:49:10.968-08:00A Movie Called TrespassSo, I'm a little half-way through this movie tonight and just had to pause it so I could gripe a little.<br /><br />Never mind that I might be getting a little tired of seeing Mr. Cage in every other movie, or that Nichole Kidman only seems to have two facial expressions (otherwise I really don't mind them in movies to be honest).<br /><br />What I want to point out is that halfway through this movie I became tired of seeing guns pointed at people's heads. When done right, a threatening move makes for some nice drama, but as with anything, too much is just too much.<br /><br />This movie has already had two or three moments that could have been played out very well but were used so often they have simply become played out...and I'm only a little over half-way. How many times does Cage need to say "no" when told to open the safe, for that matter, how many times does he need to be staring at the safe when he says it? How many times does he or his wife need to be tossed to the floor? And again, how many times does a gun need to be pointed a someone's head?<br /><br />Repetitive moments lose their impact very quickly in cinema.<br /><br />Is the movie actually any good? <br /><br />I'm not sure. <br /><br />There's a bit of mystery...maybe, but beyond that the movie is just full of repetitive moments. Even that movie that only showed a guy buried in a box had more originality than this. <br /><br />On the other hand, I do like the elongated art-deco lights on the wall.houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-25220377868570251252011-10-03T04:06:00.001-07:002011-10-03T04:06:53.087-07:00Learning to Walk TallHe was a friend<br />but we managed to get into some sort of<br />argument<br />I guess it was time to throw down<br />and swing at each other<br /><br />I told him I would let him hit me first<br /><br />He didn't seem sure of himself, but<br />he did it<br />Curled up those fingers<br />bulged out the knuckles<br />and let fly<br /><br />My head snapped sharply<br />to the right<br /><br />It stung<br /><br />But it passed quickly<br /><br />I remained standing still and<br />just looked at him<br /><br />"Is that all you've got?"<br /><br />He swung with his left<br />My head snapped to the side<br /><br />More stinging that passed quickly<br /><br />I stared at him some more<br /><br />"I'll let you hit me one more time."<br /><br />I'm not sure what I thought would happen<br />but one thing was for sure<br /><br />If he hit me again, I was going to <br />put him in the hospital<br /><br />It wasn't a boast<br /><br />It just felt like a matter of fact<br />An inevitability<br /><br />Something was happening here<br />and one way or another<br />I was never going to be the same<br /><br />He looked me up<br />then he looked me down<br /><br />His shoulders sank<br /><br />He turned and walked away<br /><br />Defeated<br /><br />I had taken his best<br />he had nothing left to give<br /><br />Something dangerous had<br />just been planted within me<br />and suddenly I could walk <br />a little taller<br /><br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like href="" send="true" width="450" show_faces="true" action="like" colorscheme="dark" font=""></fb:like>houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-61225538601838108502011-10-03T03:37:00.000-07:002011-10-03T03:38:55.157-07:00The MusicIt was the music<br /><br />It has always been the music<br /><br />Pulsating within my veins<br />my blood<br />my soul<br /><br />The hardest and heaviest<br />most energetic and intense<br />rhythms I could find<br /><br />I didn't care about<br />the lyrical content<br />most of the time<br /><br />Just needed to have the<br />nerves pounding<br /><br />Thunder crashing in my skull<br /><br />I would lie on my bed <br />stare at the ceiling<br />my eyes burning through the <br />roof<br />seeking a glimpse of <br />that eternal fire<br />the flames of passion<br />the molten plasma<br />of creation itself<br /><br />And once I was<br />fully engulfed<br />I would sit up <br />and write<br /><br />I was a teenager then<br />just a young, ignorant<br />boy<br /><br />I still have the music<br />it's angrier and harder<br />than ever before<br />and now I have thirty-six<br />years of damnation<br />and sin<br />and madness<br />to draw upon<br />for inspiration<br /><br />Let's rock<br /><br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like href="" send="true" width="450" show_faces="true" action="like" colorscheme="dark" font=""></fb:like>houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-23847800184140975182011-10-03T03:21:00.000-07:002011-10-03T03:22:52.702-07:00Riding the Orange RocketI don't know what<br />kind of car it was<br />I wasn't any sort of <br />car guy at the time<br />All I know is that <br />it was mean-looking<br />and orange<br /><br />All American muscle<br /><br />My friend and his<br />buddy let me<br />crawl into the back<br />and the tires<br />spun out at the<br />end of my dirt driveway<br /><br />We took a couple of turns<br />sharply and maybe a<br />little too quickly<br />but when we got to <br />the long straight <br />back road<br />that led to his house<br />the driver<br />dropped that<br />orange beast into<br />ferociousness<br /><br />I was pushed hard<br />into the seat<br />the engine roared<br />like a monster<br /><br />The world passed by like a blur<br />and I knew for certain that we were going to smash <br />into a<br />limp-engined <br />soft pussy<br />of an oncoming<br />vehicle and die<br />in an inferno<br />of twisted steel<br />and devil's hooves<br /><br />But instead we<br />slowed and pulled into his<br />driveway.<br /><br />It wasn't my<br />first brush<br />with death<br />but it may have<br />been my first<br />brush with life<br /><br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like href="" send="true" width="450" show_faces="true" action="like" colorscheme="dark" font=""></fb:like>houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-79709867372918179322011-09-20T03:00:00.000-07:002011-09-20T03:11:48.157-07:00Safe in My HomeI live a fairly safe <br />life now<br />with my<br />children<br />and wife<br /><br />I often feel<br />as though<br />I don't belong<br />but most<br />of the time<br />I like it<br /><br />It's not about<br />being safe<br />It's about <br />setting aside<br />my insanity<br /><br />But the joke's<br />on me<br /><br />Everyone<br />in this home<br />is mad<br /><br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like href="" send="true" width="450" show_faces="true" action="like" colorscheme="dark" font=""></fb:like>houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-90590572308216382182011-09-13T03:09:00.000-07:002011-09-13T03:11:01.989-07:00The Culture WarsThey're coming.<br />The survivors<br />The refugees<br />The soldiers<br />The seducers<br /><br />They're coming<br />With their music<br />With their clothes<br />With their dances<br />With their baggage<br /><br />They're coming<br />Ready to unload<br />Ready to share<br />Ready to shout<br />Ready to rage<br /><br />They're coming<br />For the freedom<br />For the riches<br />For the glory<br />For the fame<br /><br />They're coming<br /><br />And they're hungry<br /><br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like href="" send="true" width="450" show_faces="true" action="like" colorscheme="dark" font=""></fb:like>houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-1045205309493362462011-09-13T03:06:00.001-07:002011-09-13T03:09:37.640-07:00New Blogger Interface Issues.Wow.<br /><br />Just tried the new Blogger interface and what an abysmal ride it was. Couldn't edit an older post, couldn't publish the new post on first try, couldn't preview, and when it finally posted the format was nothing like I had wanted. So I had to delete it. <br /><br />When I tried to go back to the original interface I was given the option to leave feedback so I did...but after I sent it off I received an error message suggesting that my feedback was lost...so I guess they don't get to know what my problems were?<br /><br />Thankfully I was able to get back to the original interface.houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-42108251919966644222011-08-22T01:32:00.000-07:002011-08-22T01:56:50.668-07:00The Madness and the MagicBukowski.
<br />
<br />He is my personal evidence that there is always something new under the sun if you look. Yeah, he's dead now and plenty of people were aware of him a long time ago. But he's new to me.
<br />
<br />I'm reading my second book of poetry by him. Sometimes he can be bore, but other times he completely blows me away.
<br />
<br />See, he is familiar to me. I've known a lot of people who have lived like him. Many of his words are my own thoughts.
<br />
<br />He writes often of a madness among people. And a certain kind of magic that is waiting to be wielded.
<br />
<br />His poetry is full of the madness and the magic.
<br />
<br />The madness is defined by how we live our lives in that quiet desperation other poets have written about, it is the trap. The magic is the seizing of the day, the escape. We trap ourselves into lives that slowly kills us, numbs us, sucks everything of worth from our souls. But the magic gives us peace, frees us.
<br />
<br />One of Bukowski's observations is that you can't have it all. Sometimes you may have to cut off some limbs. It is painful. We fear the pain, so we stay in the trap.
<br />
<br />Safe.
<br />
<br />There is a Christian musician who married into a family full of worship. He had children with his beautiful wife. He wrote many hit songs proclaiming the greatness of God.
<br />
<br />One day he made a public statement that he was gay. That he had been lying to himself and everyone around him for over thirty years. He was finally ready to live an honest life, to free himself of a great burden.
<br />
<br />He is now divorced. I found a website online with a recent song of his, something about how no one can tell him what to do, how to live his life. He seems happy, though his children and ex-wife are likely confused and full of turmoil.
<br />
<br />Bukowski would probably congratulate this man and declare loudly, "What took you so long?"
<br />
<br />I'm sure that this musician is taking care of his children financially and visits them. I don't know how old they were when he freed himself. But that's a long time to stay in the trap, to dance with the madness. He is free now. It was probably a painful amputation, and he probably tries to scratch where the limb once was. Some people probably hate him for what he put his family through.
<br />
<br />But sometimes, it takes sacrifice to set things right.
<br />
<br />The madness and the magic, live happy or die miserable.
<br />
<br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like href="" send="true" width="450" show_faces="true" action="like" colorscheme="dark" font=""></fb:like>
<br />
<br /> houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-69942265963028802782011-08-16T02:41:00.000-07:002011-08-16T02:57:21.341-07:00Slowly, swiftlyWhen it comes,
<br />it comes slowly
<br />
<br />but when it goes,
<br />it goes swiftly.
<br />
<br />That spark of creativity,
<br />the burst of inspiration.
<br />
<br />It rides upon a beam of light
<br />picks up speed as it comes nearer
<br />then,
<br />
<br />WHOOSH!
<br />
<br />It's gone.
<br />
<br />Be quick
<br />lest you miss it.
<br />
<br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like href="" send="true" width="450" show_faces="true" action="like" colorscheme="dark" font=""></fb:like>
<br />houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-57157227865252812442011-08-15T20:44:00.000-07:002011-08-15T21:18:47.195-07:00Changing SeasonsYou can feel it in the air...something is different, something has changed.
<br />
<br />Yesterday I had some sniffles and a scratchy throat, I thought I was sick. But today I'm fine.
<br />
<br />I've turned the air conditioner off the past few nights, only leaving it on for a few hours during the day.
<br />
<br />The morning takes longer to brighten and the night is coming more quickly.
<br />
<br />First comes the Fall, then the Winter.
<br />
<br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like href="" send="true" width="450" show_faces="true" action="like" colorscheme="dark" font=""></fb:like>houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-17122064662300540102011-07-30T19:34:00.000-07:002011-08-15T21:33:02.715-07:00The Company MenFirst, don't confuse this movie with the similarly-titled, In the Company of Men. Two different movies.
<br />
<br />Second, this movie is a farce.
<br />
<br />I enjoyed it well enough and will likely watch it again but it has some issues that reminded me of Wallstreet 2.
<br />
<br />The main character loses his cushy corporate job and finds himself in the wonky world of the Blue-Collar man.
<br />
<br />I think we are supposed to feel like he learns something important about how lucky he is to be living the corporate lifestyle and that the Blue-Collars are important too. But that message is lost somewhere. Maybe I'm wrong and only suspected that to be the plot since most of the White-Collar-man-turns-Blue-Collar stories go that route.
<br />
<br />But not this one.
<br />
<br />We find out he's been working with his company for about twelve years. He is currently making 120k per year. After a few weeks of being unemployed he has to sell the house and move in with his wife's parents. Sell the Porsche. Get a job with his brother-in-law the carpenter...oh and spend some quality time with his son...I guess.
<br />
<br />The problem here is that there is only one major splurge...a golf club membership.
<br />
<br />At 120k a year, with only one child, why is he still making payments on the car? Maybe the house was a little big for a three-person family, but it's in the middle of an average middle-class neighborhood...or maybe slightly higher than middle class. It couldn't have cost more than 500k. I'm actually thinking is was more like 200-300k.
<br />
<br />So, he's got the house, the car, and a club membership. There is no boat in the driveway or mention of one elsewhere. No additional properties. No evidence of lavish expenditures (we see one corporate wife has just purchased a table that costs a few thousand dollars). He seems to be an average man with average luxuries. Yet with his high income, he is actually ushered into the poor house after only a couple of months. I think we missed something here.
<br />
<br />Anyway, he throws a hissy fit an out-state job offer, gets angry over the competition he faces, snubs his nose at his secretary when she asks about her own job security, reluctantly accepts the carpentry job with his brother-in-law...but thankfully gets back into the corporate setting after losing everything.
<br />
<br />So, what was the point of this movie?
<br />
<br />Was it just to show that corporate executives are people too?
<br />
<br />Because with winning quotes like, "I don't want to be just another asshole with a resume!", I think something was lost in translation. Yet, it sums up exactly what the movie is about.
<br />
<br />
<br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like href="" send="true" width="450" show_faces="true" action="like" colorscheme="dark" font=""></fb:like>houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-36774229501706526402011-07-30T19:22:00.000-07:002011-08-15T21:33:23.402-07:00The NumbnessWhen you are standing on your feet for a twelve-hour shift, it does something to your body. It's a strange soreness. Not like muscle aches or strained joints. It's kind of like the pads of your feet go to sleep and spend all of a day off trying to wake up. Lot's of tingling ensues but if you actually rub or scratch the heel you are not sure there is any feeling.
<br />
<br />The sensation goes away. By the time you clock in for the next day of work you're feeling "peppy" and bouncing on those feet like everything is good. And it is, until somewhere around that ten-hour mark and you still have two more hours to go.
<br />
<br />Also, it doesn't matter how many hours you work. Be it four hours or fourteen, the last hour will always be the longest part of the day.
<br />
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<br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like href="" send="true" width="450" show_faces="true" action="like" colorscheme="dark" font=""></fb:like>houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-12296993289026436132011-07-26T13:04:00.001-07:002011-07-30T20:01:48.265-07:00Been AwhileIt's been a long time since I posted here. But, honestly that seems to be the suitable intro to most of the posts on this blog.<br /><br />I've got some personal adventures to share. Lot's of changes (positive ones!) in my life over the past year.<br /><br />Sleep Apnea<br />A new house (our first!)<br />A new baby (or two, depends on how much of myself I've already shared here)<br />A new job<br />Writing projects<br /><br />So much new stuff I haven't shared!<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://thevelvetcafe.wordpress.com/">Jessica</a>, formerly of the World of Warcraft blog, The Pink Pigtail Inn, for inadvertently inspiring me to dust off this old house!houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-74781964520865869122010-12-29T15:36:00.001-08:002011-08-15T21:34:34.972-07:00Wallstreet 2I think Oliver Stone was a little off his game with this one. He didn't seem to have much of a point. This would have been a good time to show how technology has largely taken the middle man out of the picture and left the most of the action to near-light-speed information transfer systems. The industry calls them black boxes, I guess. Anyway, Wallstreet is a shell of what it once was, almost all the of businesses that once thrived there are gone now. And the floor isn't as full as it used to be.
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<br />So then, what was this movie about?
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<br />It jumped around a lot. We got a glimpse of banks collapsing, getting handouts, and investors shutting out green technologies to keep the oil profitable.
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<br />The lead character was just as fractured as the story. His mother shows up in the middle of the movie but we don't really know why. Then she shows up later asking for money and we learn that her son (our lead character) is having financial problems and can't help her. We missed something here. We know he got fired, but when did he become broke?
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<br />His girlfriend breaks up with him because he is a liar and a manipulator, but everything turns out ok because her daddy has a change of heart? How does this change her relationship with our lead character?
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<br />So, yeah, this movie lacking in the story department. View at your own risk.
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<br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like href="" send="true" width="450" show_faces="true" action="like" colorscheme="dark" font=""></fb:like>houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-75682574098172534932010-06-14T15:47:00.000-07:002011-07-30T20:03:51.176-07:00Wealth Beyond ReasonRecently Afghanistan was found to be loaded with copper, iron, and lithium deposits worth over a trillion dollars.<br /><br />The "officials" who commented on the finds said that all the people of the war-torn nation need do is lay down their arms and set up an industrial infrastructure and all will be fine and dandy.<br /><br />But, if it is that easy, then why has the African nations and their people not seen similar results with all of their diamond mines? They too are in need of an infrastructure and then things will get rolling for them as well.<br /><br />The sad truth is that these natural resource markets are quickly sucked up by large corporations and then the product is severely controlled. No system will ever be put in place for local people to learn what they need to know to create their own infrastructure. The third world governments enjoy their personal relationships with foreign banks too much to care about their own people.<br /><br />It would be great if I could be proven wrong, but I doubt it will happen.houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-795620134165025012009-12-29T23:33:00.000-08:002011-08-15T21:38:43.174-07:00Accentuate Writer's Challenge: Why I Write.I'm late to the party, but I'll do this anyway. The challenge is simple, write about the first time you felt like you were a writer.
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<br />I don't remember what grade it was, but one of my junior high school English teachers somehow inspired me to go home and write a short story. It was probably one of our assignments, but it was just too long ago now to remember. I also do not remember asking her to read the work or even if I actually handed it in for credit. What I do remember is her coming to my desk with my story and telling me how good it was.
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<br />Apparently that is all it took for me.
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<br />Somewhere I still have my first three short stories packed away somewhere with other odds and ends from my past, but it's been so long since I even accidentally ran across them it is quite possible that they've been tossed.
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<br />One was a sci-fi story about an attempt at establishing a colony on an alien world and the doom that engulfed it.
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<br />Another was more sci-fi but tinged with horror about a young man walking alone one evening and encountering a stranger who professes to be an alien and also the young man's father...this one was very moody, lots of shivers in the dark and the scuttling of leaves...I like it. I remember reading it over on several occasions and transporting myself to that lonely, cold and dark place in the woods.
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<br />The third was ultra violent. It also had a sci-fi twist. The violence was inspired by a novel I read called The Blood of the Children by Alan Rodgers. I don't remember much about my story except that it was about an older sister who violently loathed her younger sister. The younger sister was largely hated by their mother also. So, there was this huge dramatic darkness within the younger sister and she was getting ready to do some very bad things. This was the longest of the three stories (about three times as long as the others) but I never finished it, didn't hardly start it really, but I was certainly proud of the endeavor.
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<br />Throughout the rest of Junior High and High School, when I wasn't starting stories that would never be finished, I was writing a lot of dark poetry. I was heavily inspired by heavy metal and the occult. My 10th grade English teacher in High School was impressed with one of my writing assignments and introduced me to the head of the High School English department who would go on to be my 11th and 12th grade English teacher, my Creative Writing and Modern Mythology teacher, and also my instructor for three years in the High School magazine course. It was through him that I would find my greatest motivation and also my greatest failure. He taught me to write about things that I know and observe rather than veiled copies of what I had read in the latest horror publications. Once I was elected to represent my High School for the literary arts in an annual regional competition, I forced my writing for the first time. I wanted to impress absolutely everyone that I could imagine. I did not write my entry for myself. I don't know if I would have won anything at that competition if I had done things differently, but I know now that I never gave myself the chance.
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<br />I'm 34 now and still have problems writing for myself. My blogs are my most current attempt to do just that though. I dabbled in freelancing to a couple of online article sites, but I just wasn't enjoying it. I gave NANOWRIMO a shot in 2008 and wrote two short stories for entry in the Accentuate Writer's Forum contests.
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<br />I am happy for my blogs though I am still unfulfilled. But at least I can say that I am still writing after all these years. It wasn't until I submitted my work to the Accentuate Writers Forum that I learned how bad my grammar is. Since then I've started college and am taking English refresher classes as part of my course study (electronics). Who knows, maybe I'll get something written (and finished) that I am happy with and is also well-written within the next year or two.
<br />The sky's the limit!
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<br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like href="" send="true" width="450" show_faces="true" action="like" colorscheme="dark" font=""></fb:like>houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-63987286251705538272009-09-18T01:34:00.000-07:002011-07-30T20:05:02.822-07:00How many children is too many?I did a Google search for this question recently and was stunned by the overwhelming popular answer: two is too many. Or maybe three. Certainly more than that is too many.<br /><br />Points made in some comments I read:<br /><br />People with a lot of kids are selfish and irresponsible.<br /><br />The world is already over populated and people should aim for 0% population growth.<br /><br />Please, give me a break!<br /><br />I'll tell you what selfish is. Selfish is blowing your 50k-100k salary on frivolous material possessions. Selfish is having a full freezer and refrigerator while watching starving third-world children on the news.<br /><br />And how about those starving children? Why are they starving? Because there are too many of them? Or because the the governments of their nations strive to keep the populations uneducated? Maybe because even when first world nations do give charitable donations, those government officials keep most (or all) of the gifts for themselves?<br /><br />What about the agricultural industry that has managed to place patents on enhanced seed and grain while pushing the original, natural seed and grain almost into extinction? So that if a third world nation wanted or could grow its own grain, they have to purchase the seed from the patent holder? In North America, private farmers are sued all the time when some stray, patented seed migrates to their fields.<br /><br />Fresh water requires an infrastructure to clean waste and direct the water where it is needed. But it doesn't matter if your nation has one billion people or twenty billion people, if the government does not want to spend money on that system, or they are so corrupt that no private industry can afford to stake a claim, than any number of people becomes too many.<br /><br />No, parents of large families are not guilty of selfishness (ok, I'm sure some are) but rather they are guilty of living a fantasy where people are free to live how they want to live.<br /><br />Land of the free? More like, land of the gotta-have-it-alls and want-mores.<br /><br />What these population control freaks often neglect to share in their published comments or articles is the number of parents who look back and wish they had dared to produce more children.<br /><br />Even church is not a safe harbor for Christian families who would like to have more children. But the number of Christians who wish they could have more is steadily growing.<br /><br />The truth is, having a large family is time-consuming. Do you have hobbies and self interests? A pile of kids is going to change that. You can still have hobbies, you can even get away once in a while for some quiet time. The problem is that many parents just can't fathom sacrificing for a family and when they see another set of parents who appear to be successfully raising lots of kids, jealousy abounds.<br /><br />It's funny how all these educated people say we need to control the population and reduce growth. Vasectomies should be handed out to everyone. What a bunch of slackers. Here's some science for you, straight out of the Theory of Evolution, if you don't use it, you lose it.houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-47706872819470611832009-03-10T04:00:00.000-07:002011-07-30T20:05:33.074-07:00Self-LoathingIn my life, I have tried not be too proud or arrogant. I really have no reason to be either. However, there appears to be a fine line between humility and self-loathing that I have managed to cross over.<br /><br />My wife and I recently scheduled an appointment with the Pastor of our church. It is the first time we have done this in several years. He asked if we would like to meet him right away, he had an appointment, but he could post-pone it for us. I said no. We wound up scheduling the meeting for the following week.<br /><br />When the phone was hung up, my wife asked if I was sure we shouldn't meet him sooner (we had some personal issues that needed to be addressed quickly) and I said that he was certainly willing to put off his plans and drop everything for us, but I didn't feel I was important enough for that kind of attention.<br /><br />My wife looked deeply into my eyes and said, "You ARE that important and I wish you could see that."<br /><br />This is potentially my greatest struggle. Do I have the right to stand up and declare that I am important enough to warrant special attention from anybody? I confess that I have begun to believe that doing so might be better than believing that I am worthless. My self-loathing could be the greatest threat to my family that we will ever face.<br /><br />Am I up to the task to change this?<br /><br />Am I man enough to demand respect?<br /><br />I just don't know...houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-90287316216003216902009-02-18T19:31:00.000-08:002011-07-30T20:05:54.318-07:00Swing VoteThe short and sweet of it is that this movie ALMOST makes a good point.<br /><br />You see, someone has to choose the questions that are asked at the presidential debates. Have you ever asked yourself WHO is doing the asking and WHY the questions seem to be the same every four years?<br /><br />I thought for a moment that this movie was going to have bite. That it was going to be about what happens when the nominees are forced to look an actual working American in the eyes and answer HIS questions.<br /><br />Unfortunately, this movie ends with only one question asked and we don't even get to hear an answer. Instead, the movie takes the more obvious turn and shoves the lethargic voter issue down your throat.<br /><br />We fade out with an image of a very pleased, finally happy, previously apathetic voter doing his civic duty. Yes, sometimes 2+2 can equal five. Yeah, I went there. And why not? The movie does not deserve a more thoughtful and intellectual comparison than the overly cliched 1984 novel.<br /><br />As for Kevin Costner, I thought his acting was well done. He's not Hollywood's greatest or most popular face to put to film, but I do think he does well here. If you want to see a decent Kevin Costner film, go ahead and give this one a shot, although he does an awful lot of cussing, but it makes his role more believable here. Just don't get fooled into thinking that you are watching a meaningful political commentary, the end message is simply, "Get out there and vote!"houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-42466681987892967322009-02-12T11:55:00.000-08:002011-07-30T20:06:36.142-07:00A Business Needs MoreWhen I re-read my last post it occurred to me to touch on the concept of MORE. I ended the last post with the idea that a business must consume ever more resources to make ever larger profits and is not satisfied with a steady line.<br /><br />Some would argue that a business must always demand more because the cost of materials always only increase.<br /><br />Yet, this is exactly the problem. A mining company wants MORE, the raw materials foundry wants MORE, the materials fabricators want MORE, the assembly shops want MORE, the shipping companies want MORE...<br /><br />When one company demands more, it affects all other companies and their workforces.<br /><br />If a company were to draw a line and say, "We are satisfied with our current profit margin and will only ask for more if needed."<br /><br />Unfortunately the shareholders always say "Yes, MORE is needed."houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-57837293126789864892009-02-12T10:12:00.000-08:002011-07-30T20:07:15.953-07:00Ethics on the JobThere is some discussion occurring on some blogs that I frequent about the current bout of lay-offs in the work environment. These blogs refer to other blogs and the discussion becomes somewhat muddied and difficult to follow. However, I've read enough across the blogs to have come up with something to say on the subject.<br /><br />If anyone reading this wants to follow along (if it's even possible) here is where to go:<br /><br /><a href="http://greedygoblin.blogspot.com/2009/02/tomorrow-is-another-day.html">The Greedy Goblin</a><br /><br /><a href="http://greedygoblin.blogspot.com/2009/02/tomorrow-is-another-day.html">Tobold's MMORPG Blog</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.brokentoys.org/2009/02/11/im-just-a-poor-mid-level-line-producer-whose-intentions-are-good/">Broken Toys</a><br /><br />In short the discussion goes from one party lamenting the current lay-offs while another party explains, in pure economic sense, that the lay-offs are justifiable and that the people affected have brought it upon themselves, while the third party says both views hold merit.<br /><br />I'm left to wonder, where do I stand?<br /><br />I was laid off for over nine months.<br /><br />I just happen to live in the city with the worst unemployment rate in the country. The state itself is among the top contenders.<br /><br />I was one of those guys who had a lot negative things to say about well fare participants, but I did try to keep an open mind. Some people can't help where they've found themselves due to tragic accidents or unforeseen illnesses. I also understand that some businesses can't help their issues either due to natural disasters or corruption from within.<br /><br />But then I suddenly found myself on the job hunt. I often ask myself if I can try harder or if my circumstances could have been avoided had I performed better. After all, my company is still operational. I do recall that my two hour drive every day was starting to wear on me, but I felt as though my hands were tied. I could not afford to move and any job closer would pay less.<br /><br />Yes, I chose to take a wife and four home-schooled children so my budget has always been tight. But was it fair for my company to experience 4 years of rapid growth and huge profits that saw it go from 20$ million when I started to over 50$ million when I left and only give two small pay increases in that time? I think it could be argued that I had nothing to do with the increased sales. I also had little to do with the quality and nothing to do with the design process of the product.<br /><br />For a time I had a tremendous amount of company loyalty. But something happened along the way. I saw how much MORE the executives were making every year. I saw their new cars in the parking lot (while I could barely afford to keep my 15 year old car running). And in the four years of massive profit gains, I received about one dollar more an hour. This minute pay increase over a four year period does not make up for cost of living increases.<br /><br />Some would argue that a business must meet its bottom line at all costs. I would agree if those businesses were attempting to hold a steady profit. But that is not the case with most businesses. They want MORE and LARGER profit every year. My company was not satisfied with growing from 20-50 million. They demanded 60 million for the following year.<br /><br />There is something wrong when a company slashes man power and makes the remaining work force work ever harder to achieve MORE. It is not a matter of survival, it is a matter of consumption. How much effort and time can they consume from the work force? A business is like a hungry beast with a stomach that has no bottom. I can eat two sandwiches for lunch and be satisfied to eat two more for tomorrow's lunch. A business must eat ever more.houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-63491226348770526022009-01-28T16:37:00.000-08:002011-07-30T20:07:49.565-07:00Quantum BitsIn the physical world that we are familiar with and live in, we understand about the role of molecules and cells, strings of sugars and amino acids, elements and atoms. But at the quantum level, where individual atoms or even parts of atoms can be studied, the natural laws that we adhere to suddenly change.<br /><br />It has occurred to me that the reason is simple, if not well understood. At different levels of size, things play by a different set of rules.<br /><br />Imagine if we could observe structural masses that our known universe is actually inside of. What kind of natural rules would play out at that size? What if there is a whole other universe at orders of magnitude smaller than the quantum structures that we can observe or predict?<br /><br />We know so little about what we can see. Yet we know so much more than when we were skeptical about the existence of atoms themselves.houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2757835106895069345.post-89352104441675050012008-05-20T01:15:00.001-07:002011-07-30T20:08:41.544-07:00Words<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">W O R D S<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Grammar is not my strong point.<span style=""> </span>Never was.<span style=""> </span>For instance, I can’t look at a paragraph and tell you where prepositional phrases are or even what a preposition is.<span style=""> </span>I know what a verb and noun are; I know what a subject is.<span style=""> </span>But I know how to craft words into sentences that “sound nice”.<span style=""> </span>Proper punctuation is also beyond me, but if I re-read what I have written I can “feel” if there are too many comas or if sentences are choppy and need a colon or semi colon, though I don’t know WHY they are used in the manner that feels right.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I’m the musician who cannot write his own notes; the guitar tutor who cannot make his own music.<span style=""> </span>Often when the song is writ, it sounds too familiar.<span style=""> </span>This example, I think is a good analogy to how I write.<span style=""> </span>The words feel “right”, the structure looks “good”.<span style=""> </span>I have files of poetry on yellowed pages, partial stories tossed in boxes lost in storage.<span style=""> </span>I must have written volumes worth of love letters.<span style=""> </span>And while I also mostly taught myself to read and write music and play keyboards and even the guitar, I fancy myself a wordsmith.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Both music and words have power, but this is about the words.<span style=""> </span>Words are at the start and end of wars. Words win your lover’s heart or break it.<span style=""> </span>They can shame a person or heal sadness.<span style=""> </span>It was with words that our forefathers drew the blueprint for the most powerful, free nation in the world’s history.<span style=""> </span>Mercy is imparted with words and so too is forgiveness.<span style=""> </span>Comedy, tragedy, parable, knowledge; words can invoke all of these.<span style=""> </span>Shifting sands in desert winds, pulsing tides of oceans; Cosmological mysteries and astronomical wonders can be painted as well with words as with the brush strokes of a painter.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In recent years, the power of words has diminished.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The vocabulary used by our fore fathers is all but lost.<span style=""> </span>Even our current president can scarcely string together a coherent sentence and he even has paid “experts” to do most of the work for him.<span style=""> </span>The poetry of music has been reduced to long, rhythmic progressions of profanities and trendy slang. <span style=""> </span>Sometimes it seems our language is only a step or two away from being reduced to grunts and hand motions.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A person with a confident grasp of an extensive vocabulary can still demand respect and be very successful in life.<span style=""> </span>I hope the digression of words doesn’t go much further.<span style=""> </span>Once we lose knowledge of the power of words we will lose knowledge of a great many other things.<span style=""> </span>Could we write the Constitution today if the Revolutionary War was only just occurring?<span style=""> </span></p>houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12461545986646322317noreply@blogger.com0