Dec 27th, 2010

I hope all of you are recovering from your Christmas festivities. I went to bed about 11 or so last night which is early for me and I woke up at about 3:30 am. I am not sure what that means but I am not overly thrilled about it that is for sure. So I am writing this at about 5 am after playing several games of Football Manager 11 followed up by a losing effort in League of Legends. I saw basically two movies this weekend. Well more like 1 and a half. I went on Christmas day to see "The Kings Speech" with my parents and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. There were a couple of things that it did for me. It highlighted an area of history that I have always been a little bit interested in as well as showing me some new aspects of what was going on that I had not learned about in school. So if you are looking for a relatively cerebral film that tells a good story I would highly recommend it.

The other film that I only watched part of was "Inception" now I realize that is was kind of the hot film from last year. There were several stories written about it and many of the webcomics and blogs I read wrote about it. There was a big twist at the end that was supposed to be surprising and it dealt with what is really reality and how do we perceive it. I think maybe the idea that if I feel it is reality then it is reality even if in truth I am in a tube being fed paste kind of like "The Matrix" or if your actually intelligent or well read Plato's The Cave. But enough of my snarkiness. So after about 20 minutes or so of Leonardo DiCaprio fiddling around in peoples dreams along with some things in real life which I suspect were actually Leonardos dreams. (Spoiler) I realized that I just did not care about this story. It has been told and retold and retold better and in a far more interesting manner then this film.

I think that both reality and the nature of Free Will are big deals and important questions for those of us who care about that kind of thing to process but it is not done well in this film and it doesn't need to be redone by another ham-handed director. In this case the only good thing being that it wasn't a film directed by M. Night Shamaladingdong because he is a hack of the highest order. I believe that I will say that again just because it makes me feel good. M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN IS A HACK OF THE HIGHEST ORDER!!! Ahh that feels nice. Say it with me. I feel better and I think you will also.

A different sort of film that I would highly recommend is "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" it is pure escapism but oh so much fun. I love that you basically take a seat and then are along for the ride and if, like me, you have grown up playing video games or reading comic books then you will enjoy it even more. Check it out. You will not be sorry and if you are then it is possible that we may not be able to be friends. I am sorry but that is just the way it is. There are some things that are to much for me to get past. So you think real long and hard before you give me your two cents concerning this film. Because if you do not like it my wrath will come down upon you like Thor's hammer with the wrath and fury of two suns colliding!!!!

COUNT ON THAT!!!!!

Monday

Hello again my friends, I hope this Monday finds you well. We are moving closer to Christmas and then New Years I would love to say I am excited about this but in all honesty it is just not that big of a deal to me. These last two years the holiday season has just kind of blended together in a lump and have not been either the most satisfying or the most fun. Not that they have to be and apart from a few peaks during time spent with friends it has been overall a pretty bleak couple of years. One benefit is that at least at this point I can only hope things began to get better.

I have made some new friends in this last year and gotten re-acquainted with some old friends and that has been a good thing. But this is really not where I expected to be at 41 years old. "Ouch" I know it shouldn't hurt me to write that down but it does. I think I had some unspoken expectations about what it would mean and look like to be 41 and I am certainly not meeting them. I realize that this isn't the end of the world it is just the reality of what I am dealing with. I am fully aware that things could be far worse.

That being said. One of the things that I do miss most of all is riding the train on a daily basis. I wish I had the money to just get up in the morning and drive to Wilsonville and hop on the train and ride it back and forth. I really used to enjoy the time I spent both riding the train and writing on it. I am really hoping for a job that will allow me some of that again. I think it was good time well spent and better time then sitting in my car on 217 that is for sure.

It has been an odd experience being unemployed for this long. I wish I could be more productive in terms of my writing but it is hard to motivate myself to be angry about things or feel that excited or upset. I think part of my defense mechanism so I do not freak out about money getting tighter is to not allow myself to feel super emotional about anything and keep myself locked down which we all now is not a healthy way to live and not how I have ever lived my life. There are some pretty important things going on in the world politically right now and I just am unable to bring myself to be excited about them. Oh sure, there is a feeling in the back of my mind that I really should care about that and that this is a big deal but I just do not feel the urge to be either righteously indignant or really happy about it.

I know there are people who think that I am depressed and I should go visit someone but that is not an option right now. I hope that one day it will be and perhaps I can continue to use this blog as a way to process some of what I am feeling but also I am not sure if this is the correct forum for such a thing as well. Talk to you later folks.

Dispatches From the World of Film

So I just finished watching a film called Pirate Radio and I have to tell you. I really, really enjoyed it. As anyone who knows me can tell you I am a sucker for a film that uses music in a good way and if it is a film that is about music as well then I am pretty much locked in. One of my favorite films of all time is Almost Famous and I have touched on that here before. But I want to encourage all you to check Pirate Radio out. The trailer is below

Thursday

blankety, blank, blank today.

Wednesday

Pretty crazy wild weather day yesterday. I know that we on average in Oregon get a couple of tornadoes a year but wow. The one that hit Aumsville yesterday was a doozy. The air temperature alone has been really higher then normal I think for the last week or so. I tend to wear shorts given a choice even in the winter time but I often have a long sleeve shirt on or a light jacket over it but Monday I was out doing some things and I just had on a t-shirt and shorts. Even for me that is a bit extreme in December but I wasn't uncomfortable at all.

I did read an interesting thing this morning. I do not know if all of my readers, or any for that matter, will remember this but right after President Obama was elected there was a huge rush on handguns in America. You couldn't turn on the television or radio or read a political blog without someone talking about the shortage of both guns and ammunition. Well it seems that times have changed again. The ammunition shortage is over there seems to be plenty of that to go around. Also Obama has made no significant moves to control or outlaw guns. Because of that along with some other things both societal and economically related. A large amount the guns purchased in the post election surge are being resold in the used market or private person to person sales. In fact gun manufactures Smith & Wesson actually posted a loss this last quarter. I am not sure what it all means other then that I think that people are not running as scared as they used to be running. They seem to be scared about other things but not about guns being taken away or ammunition being outlawed.

I think the people that actually benefited from this whole thing was the National Rifle Association (NRA). The annual revenue for the NRA is around $250 Million. Which is fine people can give money to who they see fit. I just find it interesting that what drives such giving is pure abject fear. I know that we try to rise above the emotional and like to think that we are rational beings but in our core the reptile brain freaks out and pushes us to do things that are emotionally based and may not be in our best interests. I find that fascinating.

Tuesday

Not feeling super inspired this morning. But on the plus side I am not feeling really cynical either so I suppose that is a good thing. I am just trying to keep the wheels turning. You folks have a good day.

Monday

So, I, had an interesting thought this morning as I was getting ready to head down to the coffee shop. It came about because of a discussion that my house-mate and I had yesterday during the Pittsburgh Steelers game. They were showing basically the same Toyota car commercial over and over during the breaks. It was a national commercial and the point of it was that you never know who you will see buying a Toyota. What my house-mate commented on was that it also seemed that you would never see any African-Americans at the Toyota dealerships and very few Hispanics other then Eric Estrada, but I do not think famous people count, because in this case it was special because he was Eric Estrada not because he was Hispanic. When my friend pointed that out I countered with "Well perhaps African-Americans do not buy Toyotas. Maybe it is a demographic thing?" Now, I was being factitious but it made me think. I have grown up in Salem, Oregon. It is a small to midsized town in the heart of the Willamette Valley and on the west side of Oregon. I am within a hour long drive or less from the Pacific Ocean.

Now, I grew up here and Salem is a pretty white town. It is possible that we are now more then 50% Hispanic I do not know the exact numbers but I know as a child the few people of color in my grade school all the way through to high school were usually Asian of some sort. There were just not very many African Americans. But what I wonder is...should I care about that? Should it bother me when I see a commercial that is obviously whitewashed or conversely been run through some sort of committee that said well we need a rainbow so lets get one of every race. To me that is not realistic.

Now, do not get me wrong I have no problem with integration and the more people of differing backgrounds and experiences the more exciting a place can be to live and I think the food in those places will be better by far then a place that is predominately one race or the other. But, I am unable to control who moves where and I tend to feel like these things happen organically and do not happen smoothly or well when done artificially.

So should I be concerned about something that I really have no control over other then that I in my own personal life can be welcoming to all peoples. I am not in a position of authority. I am unable to make laws that will impact societal mores one way or the other. So should it bother me if notice a commercial is racist? Does it make me a bad person if it doesn't bother me?

Just some thoughts that are bouncing around in the old noggin this morning.

Television

So I watched The Office last night or actually this morning on the DVR and I do not remember Michael Scott being so detached from reality. I realize he has always been a little out there. But last night seemed like he really is just detached from reality. I enjoyed the show but I wonder how much longer it can go on. It seems a little stale to me.

Thursday

Blah, blah, blah.........I got nothing today. perhaps I will post something this afternoon.

Wednesday?

Today is Wednesday. I need to keep repeating that because I woke up thinking it was Saturday. I am not sure why. I went to bed between 10 and 11 and slept until 7:30 so I am not really sure what this new schedule is doing but it feels like my body clock is adjusting to something. I am just not sure what it is adjusting to.

I am still trying to figure out some sort of thematic theme that I want this blog to operate under be it entertainment or politics or just whatever pops into my head. I realize that is what it is right now but it worries me that the random nature of the writings will drive some readers away. Not that I am trying to make money off of this but you know that kind of thing is always pretty cool. I think my ultimate goal is to get rich enough that I can complain about the Government taking to much of my hard earned money. I doubt that will ever happen though.

Oh!! I did hear something last night that I found really interesting. I was half listening to the Daily Show and they had a retired general named Hugh Shelton on who has just released a book detailing his 40 years in the U.S. Army. That alone might make for some interesting reading but what I found even more interesting was that after the general walked out. Jon Stewart said "I heard you just recovered from an injury?" The general went on to detail how he had fallen out of a tree or off of a ladder and been paralyzed. He was ultimately taken the military hospital in DC and they elevated his blood pressure to, in his words, "dangerous levels" for about 8 hours and he was cured. I am sure the actual procedure was far more complicated then that but I still thought it was pretty amazing that some one figured out if we can really get blood around the injured areas maybe the human body can fix itself. I think that is pretty neat and I am constantly astounded at how the human body can repair itself.

That is all for today. Keep on rocking folks!!

Tuesday for Tea

Well day 2 of trying to get myself on some sort of reasonable schedule started bright and early. I went to bed last night between 11 and midnight and I woke up this morning at 4 am. I am not sure if this is good or bad. If I fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon I am pretty sure it is a bad thing. But all that aside here I am awake and typing and drinking my second cup of black tea which I have sweetened with some tasty blackberry honey.

So I sit here listening to several different morning shows on NPR and trying to figure out the best way to get a job. They just did a quick blurb on the radio about people working longer in life because they will not have enough in savings to retire on and I thought "oh boy. I also have that to look forward to." I do not say that to be a downer it is just the sad truth. I need to find a job that pays the bills as well as allows me to save a little bit and has some form of health insurance attached to it. Or, pays enough to allow me to purchase my own health care.

Today is also Dec 7th. Which is Pearl Harbor day. I would be remiss not to acknowledge that. I have a far older 3rd cousin I believe who was in Pearl Harbor I have never met the man but my mother has always talked fondly of him. I am thankful for the service he did for the country and for servicemen and women who do an extraordinarily hard job as far as I am concerned and all personal politics aside I am not sure that it is a job that I could do.

Well that is it for today. I do not have any real tidbits of wisdom for you but I hope that will happen as I continue to progress in my daily writings and try to find some form of theme to work under. I have some vague ideas about using a book on writing that I have as some sort of a catalyst for my daily writings so we will see if that idea comes to pass or not.

Have a good day.

Foggy Groggy Monday

Well it is Monday morning as usual and I am not typing well. I am feeling a little foggy this morning. I am not sure why. I thought I slept pretty well. I mean sure I stayed up probably later then I should have but that is nothing strange for me. But, when the alarm went off this morning at 7:30 I lay there in bed trying to get a handle on what day it was. That is not the norm for me at all. I am even one and a half cups of coffee down and still not all together there. I am torn because I feel like I need to be productive and find five new jobs to apply for. As well as work on updating my resume and trying to find the perfect sounding phrase that will make a prospective employer say "Wow! This Lance is the right person for the job. I will call him up right a way." Or just calling today a wash and curling up on the couch wrapped in my comforter and watching movies on the Lifetime channel.

I am really feeling the need lately to get myself on some form of schedule that is like having a job. I have been unemployed since July and I am starting to fall into staying up to late and wondering around the house in my pajamas kind of behavior and I know that is going to make finding a job that much harder. I think I am going to start working on fixing this by pledging to you my faithful reader or readers as the case my be and trying to post daily. I hope that will help me actually focus my time on the internet as well as allow me to sharpen my research and my writing skills. As usual I am not sure what path this will take in terms of form of blog posts or what particular topics I might be addressing but rest assured I will be blowing your socks of with the power and majesty of my writings.

So be prepared for the losing of your socks!!