So I had a class on interviewing techniques today. It was one of the most useful classes that I have taken since I started actually trying to find gainful employment. Not that the other ones were bad, it is just that I don’t really need to go through a self-assessment (as others have noted, I might be the most self-aware person on the planet) or a resume class (because I have made a living out of having pieces of paper that say that I am smart). But going through the ins and outs of the interview process (as well as how to negotiate) is always useful.
Now I am very familiar with the behavioral style of interviews otherwise known as the “tell me about a time when” interview. Basically as long as you can think on your feet and tell a story you can make it through those. I’ve even dealt with psychological screening questions before, which are always a joy to go through. Apparently employers feel that they need to question my sanity along with my talent set. But something I’ve been thinking about this week is changing the tone of the entire interview process. Instead of reacting to questions why not take a more proactive, even aggressive approach? Such as the following…
“You consider that to be a valid question? Seriously, is that what they teach you to ask in order to find the most qualified candidate? You might as well just throw all the resumes up in the air and grab one at random.”
Or
“What do you mean you are not going to hire me? Have you lost your mind? I mean, it is possible that you ate lead paint chips as a child but otherwise I can’t think of one valid reason why this company shouldn’t hire me. Hell, they should hire me just so they could fire you. I could fill both roles without breaking a sweat.”
Who knows, it might work.
The other big thing is that it is National Spelling Bee week! I of course have already assembled my fantasy team (The Onomatopoeia Britannica) for the event. Hey, if ESPN is going to broadcast it I am going to wager money and develop a fantasy team for it. My rules are pretty straightforward. Look for kids who did good, but not too good, in the geography bee. The kids who win that tend to peak too soon and are coming off such a rush that they don’t have their game faces on. Also, always lean towards the home schooled kids. They tend to be more socially backwards and inclined to spend their time reading a dictionary as opposed to playing organized sports or being outdoors.
For those who wonder, I actually never competed in one of these spelling bees. I wouldn’t have been very good though I was a pretty good speller in my day. I can memorize like mad so I might have had a shot but was never into it. I did however win a rather large history quiz contest in grade school, which resulted in my meeting my congressman a few times. It was essentially one large history trivia contest and I smoked the field at that. Yep, even as a kid I was a trivia maven. And of course, I competed in more math contests than I could possibly imagine even making state my senior year. Yes, that is how it is phrased. I’m not sure if I should be proud of that fact. I was the coolest guy there so at least I had that going for me.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
I expected wacky neighbors as well...
Based on the comment on the last post I have decided to try to come up with a list of all the things from television shows and movies that I wish I had right now. Because I feel that it is incredibly cruel to tempt a child with these wonderous visions and then never allow him to achieve them. Anyway, feel free to add to the list in the comments.
· A train running through my living room that I could ride like in Silver Spoons.
· A car that talks with the voice of one of the doctors from St. Elsewhere.
· A robot little sister / maid.
· A video game machine that once I mastered it I would be contacted by an alien race so that I could save their civilization due to my expertise.
· A potion that once ingested would allow me to bounce around a forest.
· My own aircraft carrier (hey, you only needed one person to pilot it).
· A neverending story, which would reduce my need to go to bookstores greatly.
· An alien that would hang out in my house, crack jokes and threaten to eat the neighbor’s cat.
· An Atlasphere for use as daily transportation and / or settling blood feuds.
· Spiked shoulder pads as everyday apparel.
· A dating service in which the quality of your selection would be voted on by a random sampling of peers and if they agreed with you this would provide you with another free date.
· A high school corridor in which everyone spends time getting in and out of lockers cracking jokes.
· The ability to avoid any question by agreeing to take a physical challenge.
· Have a car where the doors are welded shut for no apparent reason.
· A suit that would provide me with superpowers except that I lost the instruction manual and now have to use trial and error to figure things out. Oh, and a cool theme song to go with said suit.
· All personal disputes to be solved via laser tag.
· The ability to escape any situation using only a paper clip, some baking soda, and a piece of lint.
· An old woman who lives in my quiet town who solves murders while no one questions why a quiet little spot seems to have an abnormally high murder rate.
· Barring a robot maid, a British butler would be a nice addition to the homestead.
· Personal wealth to be decided solely by my ability to avoid whammies.
Wednesday Night Music Club: Going back to the personal vaults at the moment for an old favorite. I’m a big John Hiatt fan and he is another one of those artists I listen to when things aren’t going as well as they could be. His music just gets me and keeps me going. Great songwriting and just some really good music.
· A train running through my living room that I could ride like in Silver Spoons.
· A car that talks with the voice of one of the doctors from St. Elsewhere.
· A robot little sister / maid.
· A video game machine that once I mastered it I would be contacted by an alien race so that I could save their civilization due to my expertise.
· A potion that once ingested would allow me to bounce around a forest.
· My own aircraft carrier (hey, you only needed one person to pilot it).
· A neverending story, which would reduce my need to go to bookstores greatly.
· An alien that would hang out in my house, crack jokes and threaten to eat the neighbor’s cat.
· An Atlasphere for use as daily transportation and / or settling blood feuds.
· Spiked shoulder pads as everyday apparel.
· A dating service in which the quality of your selection would be voted on by a random sampling of peers and if they agreed with you this would provide you with another free date.
· A high school corridor in which everyone spends time getting in and out of lockers cracking jokes.
· The ability to avoid any question by agreeing to take a physical challenge.
· Have a car where the doors are welded shut for no apparent reason.
· A suit that would provide me with superpowers except that I lost the instruction manual and now have to use trial and error to figure things out. Oh, and a cool theme song to go with said suit.
· All personal disputes to be solved via laser tag.
· The ability to escape any situation using only a paper clip, some baking soda, and a piece of lint.
· An old woman who lives in my quiet town who solves murders while no one questions why a quiet little spot seems to have an abnormally high murder rate.
· Barring a robot maid, a British butler would be a nice addition to the homestead.
· Personal wealth to be decided solely by my ability to avoid whammies.
Wednesday Night Music Club: Going back to the personal vaults at the moment for an old favorite. I’m a big John Hiatt fan and he is another one of those artists I listen to when things aren’t going as well as they could be. His music just gets me and keeps me going. Great songwriting and just some really good music.
Walking on the moon...
Did anyone else see the story about the guy who was trying to set the record for highest free fall? This dude was planning to jump out of a balloon at 40,000 feet and skydive his way back to Earth today. He failed not because of a lack of nerve or his parachute malfunctioning. No, what happened is while they were preparing everything the balloon floated away. That must have been the funniest thing ever. Months and years of preparation, the guy is putting on essentially a space suit to survive the jump and he looks up to see the balloon floating off into the distance. That is awesome beyond words.
Also, it is nice to know that the lone toilet on the space station is broken. Of all the things that you would want to have redundant systems for wouldn’t the bathroom be one of them? I believe that NASA has given the order for the astronauts to hold it in for the next three months until the replacement parts can be shipped. That has to be a rather lonely feeling being far away from any possible plumber.
Even as a space geek I really have a strong dislike for the space station for exactly this reason. The darn thing just doesn’t work right. It’s too expensive and doesn’t do anything useful. Yes, it technically provides some information on long term space flights but it does so at such a high cost that it makes the data meaningless. Plus we end up launching shuttles to transport parts, which is a further waste of time and money. No one gets excited by the space station, it doesn’t drum up public support and I know of no hard science that is coming out of it.
I’m much more impressed by the story of the new Mars lander. First off, you really need to understand how amazingly difficult pulling something like that off really is. Fire a rocket, send it to another planet, and have the lander touch down perfectly healthy right where you want it to go. Just think of the math and the planning that has to go into something like that where one mistake can destroy the entire project. Even better, the thing actually works. It lands and the camera works and it is ready to start taking samples. To me at least, that is exciting stuff.
(Not as exciting as Spirit and Opportunity, which are sadly being shut down due to budget cuts. They just happen to be the two greatest machines ever built. They’ve gone several miles across Mars for crying out loud and they still work. Why the funding is cut is beyond me.)
It pains me to say it but I would much rather see our future space exploration consist primarily of rovers and landers. I know the goal is to send humans to Mars and I would like to see that one day but right now the technology just isn’t there. I don’t even think it is worth the effort of planning such a trip right now. It’s too costly and too dangerous. But the robots are working well and can perform the tasks we need them to. Let’s focus on that, shall we?
Also, it is nice to know that the lone toilet on the space station is broken. Of all the things that you would want to have redundant systems for wouldn’t the bathroom be one of them? I believe that NASA has given the order for the astronauts to hold it in for the next three months until the replacement parts can be shipped. That has to be a rather lonely feeling being far away from any possible plumber.
Even as a space geek I really have a strong dislike for the space station for exactly this reason. The darn thing just doesn’t work right. It’s too expensive and doesn’t do anything useful. Yes, it technically provides some information on long term space flights but it does so at such a high cost that it makes the data meaningless. Plus we end up launching shuttles to transport parts, which is a further waste of time and money. No one gets excited by the space station, it doesn’t drum up public support and I know of no hard science that is coming out of it.
I’m much more impressed by the story of the new Mars lander. First off, you really need to understand how amazingly difficult pulling something like that off really is. Fire a rocket, send it to another planet, and have the lander touch down perfectly healthy right where you want it to go. Just think of the math and the planning that has to go into something like that where one mistake can destroy the entire project. Even better, the thing actually works. It lands and the camera works and it is ready to start taking samples. To me at least, that is exciting stuff.
(Not as exciting as Spirit and Opportunity, which are sadly being shut down due to budget cuts. They just happen to be the two greatest machines ever built. They’ve gone several miles across Mars for crying out loud and they still work. Why the funding is cut is beyond me.)
It pains me to say it but I would much rather see our future space exploration consist primarily of rovers and landers. I know the goal is to send humans to Mars and I would like to see that one day but right now the technology just isn’t there. I don’t even think it is worth the effort of planning such a trip right now. It’s too costly and too dangerous. But the robots are working well and can perform the tasks we need them to. Let’s focus on that, shall we?
Monday, May 26, 2008
Forgotten Television Shows: Volume ??
(Was halfway through this post last week when everything went pear shaped. It’s much too cool a topic to just let lie in my laptop.)
Back to one of my favorite topics…forgotten television shows.
I worry about kids today. Not because they have no sense of decorum and are inheriting a planet without polar bears or an ozone layer. No, it is because they have completely been ignored in the vital category of Saturday morning cartoons. Seriously, have you tried to watch Saturday morning television while hungover recently? Where did all the cartoons go? I’m stuck watching Hannah Montana and that just makes me wonder exactly who decided that mating with Billy Ray Cyrus was a good idea from an evolutionary perspective.
Now back in my day a nine year old, hungover or not, had plenty of options on a Saturday morning. Cartoons that would develop a sense of wonder. Shows that would make us sit spellbound for hours discovering just how to make an accordion out of a radiator or how to set odds on Laff-a-Lympics. But nothing matches the glory that was Thundarr the Barbarian.
Thundarr (and yes, there are two r’s even if spell check doesn’t believe me) had a rather amazing plot. In the future a runaway planet passes between the earth and the moon, ripping the moon in two and causing absolute chaos and destruction of civilization as we know it. How far into the future you might ask? 1994. Yes, even while watching Saturday morning cartoons I was reminded that the world would be destroyed by the time I turned 21. They didn’t coddle us and tell us that we were special. Our entertainment consisted of reminders that destruction was going to reign. It made us tough.
So the story goes that 2000 years after my 21st birthday party ends with the destruction of all mankind Earth has devolved into some strange mix of Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons. We have our hero, Thundarr, who seems to be unable to find pants in the future and runs around swinging his sun sword at anything that moves. Typically an evil wizard or some sort of mad scientist (well, really they just have these really bad headaches but diagnosis is also lacking in the future. Thundarr is joined by Princess Ariel whose actual claim to the title of Princess has never been documented. We never meet the king or queen and one would wonder why someone would raise a member of the royal family to be a sorceress who could shoot laser beams from her hands. She also seems to be lacking in the pants department but with much less complaints from the viewing audience.
Of course, the only reason one watched the show was for the third member of the team: Ookla the Mok. Some might consider him to be a low rent Chewbacca. He did happen to be a large, hairy, muscular non-verbal creature who seemed to only exist to help out the human heroes. But he was so much cooler than that. Mainly by the fact that a) it was never explained what a Mok was, b) he was never called just Ookla, it was always Ookla the Mok, and c) Ookla is a really fun name to say when you are nine. He was what nine year old boys love to watch. Some large creature whose only job is to break things. No character development, no love interest, just rampant destruction with a cool name.
How influential was this character on me? More than a decade later when I created a monk character in a role playing game he was named “Ookla the Monk”. That is so cool.
I can’t recall a single plot of this show. I had to have seen every episode though. It was just an escape from the everyday. It might not have been Shakespeare but it sure beats having to watch what is on right now.
The five random CDs…
1) Lyle Lovett “I Love Everybody”
2) Anders Osborne “Which Way to Here”
3) John Wesley Harding “Awake”
4) Ryan Adams “Demolition”
5) Victoria Williams “Water to Drink”
Note: I’ve made the executive decision that the random CDs should be listened to in the car like I originally intended. Since I’m driving a lot less right now it is no longer a guarantee that I will listen to five in a week. So I’ll just update the list as I make it through. For those wondering, in the past 29 months I have listened to 90% of my collection using this method. Not much farther to go.
Back to one of my favorite topics…forgotten television shows.
I worry about kids today. Not because they have no sense of decorum and are inheriting a planet without polar bears or an ozone layer. No, it is because they have completely been ignored in the vital category of Saturday morning cartoons. Seriously, have you tried to watch Saturday morning television while hungover recently? Where did all the cartoons go? I’m stuck watching Hannah Montana and that just makes me wonder exactly who decided that mating with Billy Ray Cyrus was a good idea from an evolutionary perspective.
Now back in my day a nine year old, hungover or not, had plenty of options on a Saturday morning. Cartoons that would develop a sense of wonder. Shows that would make us sit spellbound for hours discovering just how to make an accordion out of a radiator or how to set odds on Laff-a-Lympics. But nothing matches the glory that was Thundarr the Barbarian.
Thundarr (and yes, there are two r’s even if spell check doesn’t believe me) had a rather amazing plot. In the future a runaway planet passes between the earth and the moon, ripping the moon in two and causing absolute chaos and destruction of civilization as we know it. How far into the future you might ask? 1994. Yes, even while watching Saturday morning cartoons I was reminded that the world would be destroyed by the time I turned 21. They didn’t coddle us and tell us that we were special. Our entertainment consisted of reminders that destruction was going to reign. It made us tough.
So the story goes that 2000 years after my 21st birthday party ends with the destruction of all mankind Earth has devolved into some strange mix of Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons. We have our hero, Thundarr, who seems to be unable to find pants in the future and runs around swinging his sun sword at anything that moves. Typically an evil wizard or some sort of mad scientist (well, really they just have these really bad headaches but diagnosis is also lacking in the future. Thundarr is joined by Princess Ariel whose actual claim to the title of Princess has never been documented. We never meet the king or queen and one would wonder why someone would raise a member of the royal family to be a sorceress who could shoot laser beams from her hands. She also seems to be lacking in the pants department but with much less complaints from the viewing audience.
Of course, the only reason one watched the show was for the third member of the team: Ookla the Mok. Some might consider him to be a low rent Chewbacca. He did happen to be a large, hairy, muscular non-verbal creature who seemed to only exist to help out the human heroes. But he was so much cooler than that. Mainly by the fact that a) it was never explained what a Mok was, b) he was never called just Ookla, it was always Ookla the Mok, and c) Ookla is a really fun name to say when you are nine. He was what nine year old boys love to watch. Some large creature whose only job is to break things. No character development, no love interest, just rampant destruction with a cool name.
How influential was this character on me? More than a decade later when I created a monk character in a role playing game he was named “Ookla the Monk”. That is so cool.
I can’t recall a single plot of this show. I had to have seen every episode though. It was just an escape from the everyday. It might not have been Shakespeare but it sure beats having to watch what is on right now.
The five random CDs…
1) Lyle Lovett “I Love Everybody”
2) Anders Osborne “Which Way to Here”
3) John Wesley Harding “Awake”
4) Ryan Adams “Demolition”
5) Victoria Williams “Water to Drink”
Note: I’ve made the executive decision that the random CDs should be listened to in the car like I originally intended. Since I’m driving a lot less right now it is no longer a guarantee that I will listen to five in a week. So I’ll just update the list as I make it through. For those wondering, in the past 29 months I have listened to 90% of my collection using this method. Not much farther to go.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
If she wasn't adjusting her makeup...
The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend means one thing and one thing only to me, I am going to spend all day watching cars turn left. It's a tradition unlike any other. I just sit down on the couch and watch auto racing all day long. I get upset when events cause me to miss portions of a race. I mean, couldn't my brother have the foresight to graduate from grade school on some other day? I had to miss Arie Lyundeyk winning the Indy 500 because of that.
I wasn't able to live blog the Indy 500 this year but I caught most of the race. Saw the most improtant part, which was Danica Patrick storming off because she got hit from behind. Now I would typically make a joke here that either references a) women drivers or b) the fact that she got rear ended but according to the replay it wasn't really her fault. She wasn't going to win the race but she was at least headed towards a respectable finish.
I did miss all of the pageantry and that is part of the reason you watch Indy. It is one of those events where the opening means asmuch as anything. I don't know why but summer seems to start with Jim Nabors singing Back Home Again in Indiana and Florence Henderson singing God Bless America. There is also the irony of remembering those who died defending our country by having foreigners drive around in circles for several hours. The race itself seemed to be pretty good but it still doesn't match the good old days of Foyt and Andretti and Rutherford and Mears. Those names still show up occasionally but not with the same talent as before.
Auto racing is a strange sport to watch and I've been a fan pretty much my entire life. It really is just watching a bunch of guys turning left over and over again. I understand the strategy and the tactics used and it certainly is a physical struggle to deal with the G forces but it is still a little odd. I'm not sure how to explain my fandom. I don't wear t-shirts of my favorite drivers or go to races and scream "Woo hoo". I use the explanation that I watch racing the same way other people watch golf. It isn't something that glues you to the television set as you wait with baited breath over every possibility. It's something that you have on while you do something else.
But it does mean that summer is here and the living is easy. What shall my summer hold? Your guess is as good as mine.
I wasn't able to live blog the Indy 500 this year but I caught most of the race. Saw the most improtant part, which was Danica Patrick storming off because she got hit from behind. Now I would typically make a joke here that either references a) women drivers or b) the fact that she got rear ended but according to the replay it wasn't really her fault. She wasn't going to win the race but she was at least headed towards a respectable finish.
I did miss all of the pageantry and that is part of the reason you watch Indy. It is one of those events where the opening means asmuch as anything. I don't know why but summer seems to start with Jim Nabors singing Back Home Again in Indiana and Florence Henderson singing God Bless America. There is also the irony of remembering those who died defending our country by having foreigners drive around in circles for several hours. The race itself seemed to be pretty good but it still doesn't match the good old days of Foyt and Andretti and Rutherford and Mears. Those names still show up occasionally but not with the same talent as before.
Auto racing is a strange sport to watch and I've been a fan pretty much my entire life. It really is just watching a bunch of guys turning left over and over again. I understand the strategy and the tactics used and it certainly is a physical struggle to deal with the G forces but it is still a little odd. I'm not sure how to explain my fandom. I don't wear t-shirts of my favorite drivers or go to races and scream "Woo hoo". I use the explanation that I watch racing the same way other people watch golf. It isn't something that glues you to the television set as you wait with baited breath over every possibility. It's something that you have on while you do something else.
But it does mean that summer is here and the living is easy. What shall my summer hold? Your guess is as good as mine.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
A welcome break...
So the lamp in my office had a significant light bulb failure this week. Those things happen of course. I went to my cabinet and found out that the stash of light bulbs that I have had since I moved into this place had finally run out. A quick trip to the store later (because otherwise I would be writing by the glow of the laptop screen and that grows tiring very quickly) and I came back with one of those energy efficient fluorescent bulbs. Now I had never bought one before but I thought that I should be nice to the environment and pick one up.
As a result, I now feel as if I am sitting in some corner of an airport under really bad lighting. Seriously, it just looks totally wrong. I know that I am saving energy and carbon emissions but can’t I just have a light bulb that lights up like a light bulb. I know that I will get used to it but it’s tough to adjust to a new form of light when you are in your mid-30’s.
Switching gears, as I also took a networking class yesterday I will state officially that if anyone knows of a job where I might possibly be qualified please let me know. I will treat you to the Outback Steakhouse gift card that is currently sitting somewhere in my apartment. I’m starting to get serious about the whole job search process and would like to find something in the next month or two. I’ve got some feelers out there already but I’ll take any advice that I can find. At some point I’ll need to start getting paid again.
I know it probably seems odd that I haven’t been serious about it up to now. If you know me then you know that work and my career seem to be the driving force in everything I do. I think I just got tired of that and wanted to spend some time where that was not my biggest concern. To just shut down and sleep in and return to the person that I want to be. Sitting in a cube for hours a day is not exactly a natural environment and though I enjoyed my times it also became quite a drag. This has been my first chance in ages to just stop everything and get back to being me.
The results have been astounding. A lot of the issues that have been plaguing me for years and have just gnawed at me have gone away. I just feel like I am back to being me again. There wasn’t some magic button that got pushed; I think I just finally caught my breath. Took a few moments to look around and see the beauty that was around me. Take the time to actually talk with my friends instead of just run by them as I race from one moment to the next. All of those things we wish we could do I have had the time to enjoy.
I’ll be back working soon enough. Yes, I’ll probably complain about whatever company I find myself in. But I hope that this part of myself will remain. I’ve actually relaxed. People who have known me for a while understand how insane a statement that is. I’m always stressed; it is my primary emotion. That is a tiring way to live and from now on I just want to be a bit more zen with the world. I think that might be the way to go.
As a result, I now feel as if I am sitting in some corner of an airport under really bad lighting. Seriously, it just looks totally wrong. I know that I am saving energy and carbon emissions but can’t I just have a light bulb that lights up like a light bulb. I know that I will get used to it but it’s tough to adjust to a new form of light when you are in your mid-30’s.
Switching gears, as I also took a networking class yesterday I will state officially that if anyone knows of a job where I might possibly be qualified please let me know. I will treat you to the Outback Steakhouse gift card that is currently sitting somewhere in my apartment. I’m starting to get serious about the whole job search process and would like to find something in the next month or two. I’ve got some feelers out there already but I’ll take any advice that I can find. At some point I’ll need to start getting paid again.
I know it probably seems odd that I haven’t been serious about it up to now. If you know me then you know that work and my career seem to be the driving force in everything I do. I think I just got tired of that and wanted to spend some time where that was not my biggest concern. To just shut down and sleep in and return to the person that I want to be. Sitting in a cube for hours a day is not exactly a natural environment and though I enjoyed my times it also became quite a drag. This has been my first chance in ages to just stop everything and get back to being me.
The results have been astounding. A lot of the issues that have been plaguing me for years and have just gnawed at me have gone away. I just feel like I am back to being me again. There wasn’t some magic button that got pushed; I think I just finally caught my breath. Took a few moments to look around and see the beauty that was around me. Take the time to actually talk with my friends instead of just run by them as I race from one moment to the next. All of those things we wish we could do I have had the time to enjoy.
I’ll be back working soon enough. Yes, I’ll probably complain about whatever company I find myself in. But I hope that this part of myself will remain. I’ve actually relaxed. People who have known me for a while understand how insane a statement that is. I’m always stressed; it is my primary emotion. That is a tiring way to live and from now on I just want to be a bit more zen with the world. I think that might be the way to go.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Branding yourself...
Note to whoever actually does read this blog: I apologize for the lack of posts and original material the past few days. Some people know why, others can ask if they know me well enough. Let’s just say that real life took much greater precedence over my writing. I’m fine (this isn’t one of those instances where I stopped posting because doctors were poking me with various instruments) but there are several people I am keeping in my thoughts and prayers right now. I’ll leave it at that.
But after spending a couple of days in a deep think I’ve decided to do what I do best. I focus on what is important, I get my work done and I put on the floppy shoes and clown nose. Keeping busy helps me get back into my routine and I get back to telling jokes and sharing stories. It’s what I do well and as clichéd as it sounds I actually believe that laughter is the best medicine. Maybe it isn’t the best coping mechanism but it works for me. Here we go…
So as part of my ongoing effort to find a job, which so far has avoided such steps as “applying for a job”, “finding a headhunter” or “stand on a street corner with a sign ‘Will run complex statistical regressions for beer’”, I took a self-marketing class today. This is a little odd given the fact that I had spent two years working in the marketing department. You would think I would have picked up some skills during that time. Admittedly I’m out of work due to lack of business but still at least I know what not to do.
I started to think of good marketing tactics to apply in order to make me the most desirable candidate if not in the country then at least in the tri-state region. (That would be Kansas, Missouri and, uh, North Dakota maybe?) My first step is going to be a cryptic billboard campaign. All along the highway you’ll start seeing signs with “Your future is right around the corner 08/08/08” written on them. I’ll follow that up with my guerilla marketing efforts. I’ll send taggers into all of the major cities with instructions to paint “The solution is at hand”, “Knowledge is the key” and “The sums of the ifs shall be the answer to your needs” all with the 08/08/08 tag line.
Then we will start the viral internet campaign. YouTube postings will appear of people talking about how they have found clarity out of randomness, numbers falling from the sky and of the world regressing to the mean. One post will simply consist of people repeating “Eight, eight, oh eight” in various places around the world. Links to a website will slowly appear (I’ll keep the domain mysterious for now). There even more clues will be revealed as a story about a hidden genius will be told. Sparks of electricity will shoot across the background of the page. At random moments the page will just devolve into a sea of numbers that float off into all directions until coalescing into the single image of “08/08/08”.
Soon the entire world will be abuzz over just what will happen that date. News crews will be at every corner, unsure of where the unveiling of this answer will appear. People will take off from work, the entire world economy will wait with baited breath until 8:08:08 GMT on 8/8/08 when billboards will be uncovered, television stations across the world will all show the same image, and a mass of people gathered in Times Square will look up and see…
Me in a suit with two thumbs up talking about my skill in Excel and quantitative analysis. Resumes will fall into the crowd like confetti. Television screens will show me in action. “Here’s EC writing an If/Then statement. Here he is doing a Powerpoint presentation. Oh look, here he is filling up a coffee pot for people even when he doesn’t drink coffee.” A mass email will be sent across the globe asking “If you have any contacts who might help me find a job please let me know. Any contact that leads to employment will be repaid with a $25 gift card to Outback Steakhouse. No rules, just right.”
Sure, I’d be in debt up to my eyeballs but I’m pretty sure somebody would hire me. It would be a hell of a lot more fun than posting to Monster.
Wednesday Night Music Club: Not sure if I’ve ever posted any Freedy Johnston before. He is easily one of my favorites, though no one seems to remember him anymore. I just like his style.
But after spending a couple of days in a deep think I’ve decided to do what I do best. I focus on what is important, I get my work done and I put on the floppy shoes and clown nose. Keeping busy helps me get back into my routine and I get back to telling jokes and sharing stories. It’s what I do well and as clichéd as it sounds I actually believe that laughter is the best medicine. Maybe it isn’t the best coping mechanism but it works for me. Here we go…
So as part of my ongoing effort to find a job, which so far has avoided such steps as “applying for a job”, “finding a headhunter” or “stand on a street corner with a sign ‘Will run complex statistical regressions for beer’”, I took a self-marketing class today. This is a little odd given the fact that I had spent two years working in the marketing department. You would think I would have picked up some skills during that time. Admittedly I’m out of work due to lack of business but still at least I know what not to do.
I started to think of good marketing tactics to apply in order to make me the most desirable candidate if not in the country then at least in the tri-state region. (That would be Kansas, Missouri and, uh, North Dakota maybe?) My first step is going to be a cryptic billboard campaign. All along the highway you’ll start seeing signs with “Your future is right around the corner 08/08/08” written on them. I’ll follow that up with my guerilla marketing efforts. I’ll send taggers into all of the major cities with instructions to paint “The solution is at hand”, “Knowledge is the key” and “The sums of the ifs shall be the answer to your needs” all with the 08/08/08 tag line.
Then we will start the viral internet campaign. YouTube postings will appear of people talking about how they have found clarity out of randomness, numbers falling from the sky and of the world regressing to the mean. One post will simply consist of people repeating “Eight, eight, oh eight” in various places around the world. Links to a website will slowly appear (I’ll keep the domain mysterious for now). There even more clues will be revealed as a story about a hidden genius will be told. Sparks of electricity will shoot across the background of the page. At random moments the page will just devolve into a sea of numbers that float off into all directions until coalescing into the single image of “08/08/08”.
Soon the entire world will be abuzz over just what will happen that date. News crews will be at every corner, unsure of where the unveiling of this answer will appear. People will take off from work, the entire world economy will wait with baited breath until 8:08:08 GMT on 8/8/08 when billboards will be uncovered, television stations across the world will all show the same image, and a mass of people gathered in Times Square will look up and see…
Me in a suit with two thumbs up talking about my skill in Excel and quantitative analysis. Resumes will fall into the crowd like confetti. Television screens will show me in action. “Here’s EC writing an If/Then statement. Here he is doing a Powerpoint presentation. Oh look, here he is filling up a coffee pot for people even when he doesn’t drink coffee.” A mass email will be sent across the globe asking “If you have any contacts who might help me find a job please let me know. Any contact that leads to employment will be repaid with a $25 gift card to Outback Steakhouse. No rules, just right.”
Sure, I’d be in debt up to my eyeballs but I’m pretty sure somebody would hire me. It would be a hell of a lot more fun than posting to Monster.
Wednesday Night Music Club: Not sure if I’ve ever posted any Freedy Johnston before. He is easily one of my favorites, though no one seems to remember him anymore. I just like his style.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Even Infinity Can Get Crowded Sometimes
(Sorry if I may have posted it before. I can't really write anything new at the moment. Here is an old short piece about the universe that I have written.)
There are an abundance of theories on the true nature of the universe. Most have been invented by theoretical physicists who have nothing else to do other than sit in a windowless office in some neglected college physics building wondering if they made the right career choice. Most of these theories are utter nonsense, filled with meaningless Greek letters and bound to exist only in some scientific journal in a dusty library corner. There is one theory however, little known outside the highest scientific and philosophical circles, which would change all perceptions of space and time, history and myth, truth and fiction.
The theory's evolution went something like this. It had been widely accepted for hundreds of years that mankind lived in this big place called the universe and everything in this universe was made up of little pieces of something called matter. This idea was fine by itself and most people just accepted it as the obvious and went on to live productive lives. Scientists can't leave a good idea alone, however, especially one scientist who had spent a little too much time staring at magnet. "If a magnet has a north pole and a south pole, polar opposites if you will, then matter should have its own opposite, antimatter." This theory was met by much laughter and a few federal grants, until one day someone went into a lab and created antimatter.
There was much rejoicing in physics buildings that day. Not only had they showed that their theories can actually be proven true but they had single handedly created the basis for Star Trek.
The traditional practice of jumping on the scientific bandwagon continued. Another physicist, looking back at the magnet hypothesis, thought, "If we have a universe made of matter and antimatter exists then there must be a parallel universe exactly like ours except that it is made of antimatter." Joy flooded down the corridors of physics departments that day as a theory that could not be proven was accepted into law and you knew that this was going to cause numerous papers to be written.
There was one little known tenant to this theory. Quantum theory does not allow only two of something. An event can be impossible, be unique, or be infinite so if there are two universes there must be a third and a fourth and so on to infinity. This brought smiles to the faces of the theoretical physicists, knowing that in an infinite variety of universes there must be at least one where they rule the world, or are married to supermodels, or preferably both. In fact, much of the time spent in the office was now specifically dedicated to imagining these parallel universes as opposed to finding a way to reach them.
One night, seemingly unconnected to all these previous events, two overworked physics grad students were arguing after a long Friday night in lab. The argument was not over the experiment, or over deep scientific theory, or even on why they weren't out at a bar like everyone else on campus but whether or not the color of a professor's hideous sweater was orange or red. The argument grew so heated that they broke into the professor's office to take the sweater and perform spectography experiments on it. Whatever the wavelength of the light it refracted, that would be the color of the sweater.
After setting up the experiment one of the students looked at the readout and declared the sweater to be orange. The other in disbelief took a look at the results and said that it must be red. "You must have knocked the machine,” said Ray, for that was his name. "Either that or you don't know how to read," replied Ron. They finally settled on reading the results together. Once again the digital meter confirmed what they believed and countered the other’s hard fought beliefs.
They both stepped back to understand the results. They read the same meter but it read differently to each of them. It dawned on them that what they perceived the color of the sweater was in fact the wavelength of the light to each of their eyes. Their perceptions were not wrong. This could only mean one thing; that they found themselves at the intersection of two parallel universes. The sweater truly was at two places at once.
The implications are staggering. All this mucking about trying to find wormholes in the space-time continuum is completely unnecessary. Universes are not parallel but constantly intersecting. It's as if there isn't enough room for all possible universes. Like God couldn't stack all the possible universes one atop another but rather shoved them together and had them intermingle at certain points. Even infinity can get crowded sometimes.
What is more confusing is that what we consider a common past is only true because we all believe it to be true. The present may be common, for the most part, for that's where an intersection point is, but the past may be totally different. Rome may never have ruled the world; the Coliseum could just be the ruined shell of a racetrack. What's true in my universe is not true in yours, which explains errors in history books and everyone's misconceptions of the world.
Does this matter? Can we all accept the fact that we are all caught at a common intersection of billions of universes, all slightly different? Is life with blinders on possible, have we been doing it for centuries? Maybe the stories of dragons and faeries are true, not in my universe perhaps but in that of the storyteller. All I know is that the stories that follow are true, at least to those who walked through the mists of time, stepping from one world to the next in search for truth, love, knowledge, redemption, life.
There are an abundance of theories on the true nature of the universe. Most have been invented by theoretical physicists who have nothing else to do other than sit in a windowless office in some neglected college physics building wondering if they made the right career choice. Most of these theories are utter nonsense, filled with meaningless Greek letters and bound to exist only in some scientific journal in a dusty library corner. There is one theory however, little known outside the highest scientific and philosophical circles, which would change all perceptions of space and time, history and myth, truth and fiction.
The theory's evolution went something like this. It had been widely accepted for hundreds of years that mankind lived in this big place called the universe and everything in this universe was made up of little pieces of something called matter. This idea was fine by itself and most people just accepted it as the obvious and went on to live productive lives. Scientists can't leave a good idea alone, however, especially one scientist who had spent a little too much time staring at magnet. "If a magnet has a north pole and a south pole, polar opposites if you will, then matter should have its own opposite, antimatter." This theory was met by much laughter and a few federal grants, until one day someone went into a lab and created antimatter.
There was much rejoicing in physics buildings that day. Not only had they showed that their theories can actually be proven true but they had single handedly created the basis for Star Trek.
The traditional practice of jumping on the scientific bandwagon continued. Another physicist, looking back at the magnet hypothesis, thought, "If we have a universe made of matter and antimatter exists then there must be a parallel universe exactly like ours except that it is made of antimatter." Joy flooded down the corridors of physics departments that day as a theory that could not be proven was accepted into law and you knew that this was going to cause numerous papers to be written.
There was one little known tenant to this theory. Quantum theory does not allow only two of something. An event can be impossible, be unique, or be infinite so if there are two universes there must be a third and a fourth and so on to infinity. This brought smiles to the faces of the theoretical physicists, knowing that in an infinite variety of universes there must be at least one where they rule the world, or are married to supermodels, or preferably both. In fact, much of the time spent in the office was now specifically dedicated to imagining these parallel universes as opposed to finding a way to reach them.
One night, seemingly unconnected to all these previous events, two overworked physics grad students were arguing after a long Friday night in lab. The argument was not over the experiment, or over deep scientific theory, or even on why they weren't out at a bar like everyone else on campus but whether or not the color of a professor's hideous sweater was orange or red. The argument grew so heated that they broke into the professor's office to take the sweater and perform spectography experiments on it. Whatever the wavelength of the light it refracted, that would be the color of the sweater.
After setting up the experiment one of the students looked at the readout and declared the sweater to be orange. The other in disbelief took a look at the results and said that it must be red. "You must have knocked the machine,” said Ray, for that was his name. "Either that or you don't know how to read," replied Ron. They finally settled on reading the results together. Once again the digital meter confirmed what they believed and countered the other’s hard fought beliefs.
They both stepped back to understand the results. They read the same meter but it read differently to each of them. It dawned on them that what they perceived the color of the sweater was in fact the wavelength of the light to each of their eyes. Their perceptions were not wrong. This could only mean one thing; that they found themselves at the intersection of two parallel universes. The sweater truly was at two places at once.
The implications are staggering. All this mucking about trying to find wormholes in the space-time continuum is completely unnecessary. Universes are not parallel but constantly intersecting. It's as if there isn't enough room for all possible universes. Like God couldn't stack all the possible universes one atop another but rather shoved them together and had them intermingle at certain points. Even infinity can get crowded sometimes.
What is more confusing is that what we consider a common past is only true because we all believe it to be true. The present may be common, for the most part, for that's where an intersection point is, but the past may be totally different. Rome may never have ruled the world; the Coliseum could just be the ruined shell of a racetrack. What's true in my universe is not true in yours, which explains errors in history books and everyone's misconceptions of the world.
Does this matter? Can we all accept the fact that we are all caught at a common intersection of billions of universes, all slightly different? Is life with blinders on possible, have we been doing it for centuries? Maybe the stories of dragons and faeries are true, not in my universe perhaps but in that of the storyteller. All I know is that the stories that follow are true, at least to those who walked through the mists of time, stepping from one world to the next in search for truth, love, knowledge, redemption, life.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Numbers or letters
The comments on my last post were pretty interesting. Mainly they hit upon what really is one of the biggest challenges that I have had to deal with my entire life, which is the fact that what I am passionate for doesn’t match up with my natural skills.
I do have a natural affinity for numbers. I am just a born and bred quant guy. As a kid not only did I run simulations of sports seasons but I kept detailed statistical records. I can look at numbers on a page or a screen and understand how they all interact and what they mean. I can’t explain how or why that is. It really is just how my brain is wired. Numbers and logic just make sense to me.
But that doesn’t mean that it is something I am passionate. True, I do enjoy working with numbers but not if it is just working for working’s sake. That’s why I’m not an accountant. I would get to spend all day with spreadsheets and debits and credits and numbers in columns summing up to predictable totals but I can do that for about a week before I get bored silly. It’s too repetitive and too uncreative. I prefer to work with numbers where there is some creativity involved in how to use them and interpret them with the focus more on the back end. Which is where the big difficulty arises.
See, at my heart I view myself as a very creative person. I’d prefer to be a writer or a historian, some field where coming up with new ways to explain something is the key. While writing the blog is essentially a cheap form of therapy writing in general is one of my favorite pastimes. Not much can beat the high you get when you write something amazing and realize that no one has ever written this before. That’s only matched by having someone read your work and tell you that it touched them.
So why don’t I just become a writer? It’s a very tough question for me to address. I do think I have the natural talent to be one. My grammar is worse than it should be but that is more because of the fact that I don’t edit or proofread than anything. In terms of creativity and the ability to turn a phrase I think I can stand on my own. There are just two problems that I face. The first is that the amount of dedication required to truly be a writer is daunting. It is not just a few hours in a coffee shop. It is a full time job spent staring at a screen wondering if what you are doing makes any sense at all. The other problem is that even if I am talented and even if I dedicate myself fully to being a writer and give it every ounce of determination that I have in my body there is no guarantee that I will be successful. I’m not talking Stephen King successful. I’m talking getting someone I don’t know to pay me for something I wrote.
And that sadly is an issue in my mind with what I am going to do next. I mentioned this to Foodie today but I really do think it is true. One of the reasons that I have been successful in my life is that I don’t put myself in positions where I can fail. I know that I can do numbers so I take number related jobs that I could perform in my sleep or hungover or possibly both. Writing isn’t one of those professions. I might love it, it might give my life meaning, but I just don’t know if I can have success at it.
Maybe that is really shallow thinking on my part. That I’ll put aside my personal happiness just so I can have a few symbols of exterior success. It’s even odder given that most people know that money really isn’t a driving factor for me. I’d much rather know that I am making a beneficial impact on the world than be rich. I’d just like to be well off. I know that it is going to be difficult, if not impossible, to find an inspiring, life-affirming job that pays well. Doesn’t mean that I’m not going to try.
I’m never going to stop writing. I’ll always be looking for a way to make this a bigger and bigger part of my life. I have so many stories to tell and I have a view of the world that I think is important to make known. I can’t be a lead singer or a director or a painter but I can write. It might not be what I call my career but it will always be a part of my life. That is probably more important.
Best of 120 Minutes: Found this on YouTube and thought that since The Cure are playing in town tomorrow night I might as well post Dinosaur Jr. covering The Cure. It’s slightly less goth, which is a good thing.
I do have a natural affinity for numbers. I am just a born and bred quant guy. As a kid not only did I run simulations of sports seasons but I kept detailed statistical records. I can look at numbers on a page or a screen and understand how they all interact and what they mean. I can’t explain how or why that is. It really is just how my brain is wired. Numbers and logic just make sense to me.
But that doesn’t mean that it is something I am passionate. True, I do enjoy working with numbers but not if it is just working for working’s sake. That’s why I’m not an accountant. I would get to spend all day with spreadsheets and debits and credits and numbers in columns summing up to predictable totals but I can do that for about a week before I get bored silly. It’s too repetitive and too uncreative. I prefer to work with numbers where there is some creativity involved in how to use them and interpret them with the focus more on the back end. Which is where the big difficulty arises.
See, at my heart I view myself as a very creative person. I’d prefer to be a writer or a historian, some field where coming up with new ways to explain something is the key. While writing the blog is essentially a cheap form of therapy writing in general is one of my favorite pastimes. Not much can beat the high you get when you write something amazing and realize that no one has ever written this before. That’s only matched by having someone read your work and tell you that it touched them.
So why don’t I just become a writer? It’s a very tough question for me to address. I do think I have the natural talent to be one. My grammar is worse than it should be but that is more because of the fact that I don’t edit or proofread than anything. In terms of creativity and the ability to turn a phrase I think I can stand on my own. There are just two problems that I face. The first is that the amount of dedication required to truly be a writer is daunting. It is not just a few hours in a coffee shop. It is a full time job spent staring at a screen wondering if what you are doing makes any sense at all. The other problem is that even if I am talented and even if I dedicate myself fully to being a writer and give it every ounce of determination that I have in my body there is no guarantee that I will be successful. I’m not talking Stephen King successful. I’m talking getting someone I don’t know to pay me for something I wrote.
And that sadly is an issue in my mind with what I am going to do next. I mentioned this to Foodie today but I really do think it is true. One of the reasons that I have been successful in my life is that I don’t put myself in positions where I can fail. I know that I can do numbers so I take number related jobs that I could perform in my sleep or hungover or possibly both. Writing isn’t one of those professions. I might love it, it might give my life meaning, but I just don’t know if I can have success at it.
Maybe that is really shallow thinking on my part. That I’ll put aside my personal happiness just so I can have a few symbols of exterior success. It’s even odder given that most people know that money really isn’t a driving factor for me. I’d much rather know that I am making a beneficial impact on the world than be rich. I’d just like to be well off. I know that it is going to be difficult, if not impossible, to find an inspiring, life-affirming job that pays well. Doesn’t mean that I’m not going to try.
I’m never going to stop writing. I’ll always be looking for a way to make this a bigger and bigger part of my life. I have so many stories to tell and I have a view of the world that I think is important to make known. I can’t be a lead singer or a director or a painter but I can write. It might not be what I call my career but it will always be a part of my life. That is probably more important.
Best of 120 Minutes: Found this on YouTube and thought that since The Cure are playing in town tomorrow night I might as well post Dinosaur Jr. covering The Cure. It’s slightly less goth, which is a good thing.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
What might the future hold...
I’ve been thinking a lot about what I should do for a living. Obviously this is a big question for me as everyone continually asks what I plan on doing next. I was granted a few blissful weeks where saying “I don’t know” was a valid answer but now that reply just makes me look lazy. I’m in my mid-30’s; I should have figured this out by now. The thing is I don’t think I ever had it figured out in the first place.
My becoming an electrical engineer was as much a result of my being insanely practical when I was sixteen than anything. As I told someone today I was one of those people who was forty when they were sixteen. No rebellious spirit, just a focus on doing the job and making a career. I’ll never claim that I was naturally an electrical engineer. Sure, there were parts of the field that excited me but it was never my biggest interest. I’d much rather study history or English. Those two fields were my passions. But I happen to have this innate talent for math and science and I knew that I could go to college and four years later have a nice job by being a EE. There was not a doubt in my mind that I would be successful and it all went according to plan.
But I’m not sure if that made me happy. I did luck into the one part of electrical engineering that I truly enjoyed. I can’t explain it but I did get quite a thrill out of figuring out how the electrical grid worked and being able to predict what would flow on each line. I still got burnt out on it but it was at least enjoyable. When that happened I decided to go to business school in order to further my career. Again, no doubt in my mind that I would succeed.
So I accomplished that task as well and moved on to the world of finance. I’ve show some talent there as well but I saw that when I was stuck in more of an accounting role I got bored and needed more freedom. Marketing gave me that freedom but I still was never just handed the ball and allowed to run wild. Hence, my leaving the company to pursue momentary gainful unemployment.
None of this answers the question of what I want to do next. I still don’t know if I have an answer. Yes, I would like to try my hand at being a writer but I still don’t know if I have the courage to do so. Writing is my passion and my dream and I still fear being told that I am just a hack at it. It’s why I didn’t become an English major and even as an adult I don’t know if my ego could take that big of a hit. I can do finance in my sleep or go back to engineering but I don’t know if any of that will make me happy. Those would just be jobs. I’d get my paycheck and then
focus on my real life. That’s not naturally bad but it isn’t my goal.
I just want to find a job where I feel inspired every day. Where I feel that I am making a difference. Where I can use my myriad of skills as the numbers guy who understands culture and customers to become incredibly successful. There has to be something out there for a guy like me. I guess I just have to find it.
This all would have been much easier if my lifelong dream had been to be a fireman.
My becoming an electrical engineer was as much a result of my being insanely practical when I was sixteen than anything. As I told someone today I was one of those people who was forty when they were sixteen. No rebellious spirit, just a focus on doing the job and making a career. I’ll never claim that I was naturally an electrical engineer. Sure, there were parts of the field that excited me but it was never my biggest interest. I’d much rather study history or English. Those two fields were my passions. But I happen to have this innate talent for math and science and I knew that I could go to college and four years later have a nice job by being a EE. There was not a doubt in my mind that I would be successful and it all went according to plan.
But I’m not sure if that made me happy. I did luck into the one part of electrical engineering that I truly enjoyed. I can’t explain it but I did get quite a thrill out of figuring out how the electrical grid worked and being able to predict what would flow on each line. I still got burnt out on it but it was at least enjoyable. When that happened I decided to go to business school in order to further my career. Again, no doubt in my mind that I would succeed.
So I accomplished that task as well and moved on to the world of finance. I’ve show some talent there as well but I saw that when I was stuck in more of an accounting role I got bored and needed more freedom. Marketing gave me that freedom but I still was never just handed the ball and allowed to run wild. Hence, my leaving the company to pursue momentary gainful unemployment.
None of this answers the question of what I want to do next. I still don’t know if I have an answer. Yes, I would like to try my hand at being a writer but I still don’t know if I have the courage to do so. Writing is my passion and my dream and I still fear being told that I am just a hack at it. It’s why I didn’t become an English major and even as an adult I don’t know if my ego could take that big of a hit. I can do finance in my sleep or go back to engineering but I don’t know if any of that will make me happy. Those would just be jobs. I’d get my paycheck and then
focus on my real life. That’s not naturally bad but it isn’t my goal.
I just want to find a job where I feel inspired every day. Where I feel that I am making a difference. Where I can use my myriad of skills as the numbers guy who understands culture and customers to become incredibly successful. There has to be something out there for a guy like me. I guess I just have to find it.
This all would have been much easier if my lifelong dream had been to be a fireman.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
My memories are obliterated by celluloid
Wednesday Night Music Club: I’m going to lead with this today on the hope that people will click on it. I have no idea how many people actually watch the videos that I include but I will continue to do this until I run out of music that I enjoy that no one else has ever heard. Last week I saw Last Town Chorus open for Kathleen Edwards and I feel a great need to include their cover of David Bowie’s “Modern Love”. It is pretty spell binding. Give it a listen.
So apparently (and I say that because I can’t drag myself to the theater to find out personally) they have ruined another childhood memory with a bad movie remake. How someone could ruin a concept as awesome as Speed Racer is beyond me. We are talking about drama in its simplest form. Young hero. Fast car. Cute girlfriend. A monkey. Shakespeare used the exact same components to write The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Speed Racer was probably the first anime I ever watched on a regular basis. You never quite understood what was going on, or why the characters mouths always seemed to be half a beat behind what they were saying, but it was the ultimate entertainment for a nine year old boy. It had auto races that consisted entirely of crashes. Hell, one episode featured a race where everyone crashed other than Speed and the uber-cool Racer X. When MTV started replaying the episodes when I was in college I was stunned to discover that there were at least three fatal crashes in the opening credits alone. Watched that way it is a rather disturbing show.
But it is strange to try to turn that franchise into a tent pole summer movie. Let’s look at the fanbase for the original series: dudes in their thirties who watched a lot of television. We’re not exactly the best demographic to try to attract. We won’t go to movies by ourselves and will only go with our significant others who would much rather not watch a movie about a car. If you were a big enough geek like myself to be a huge fan then the entire concept of the movie will upset you because you are ruining a beloved original. Most other people, especially your teenage crowd, will have no clue what the movie is supposed to be about.
This should be a warning for those who wish to film the Voltron movie. I’m so concerned about that turning into a big pile of suck. As someone who owns the entire series on DVD (and yes, it is prominently displayed in my DVD collection) I really don’t want to watch the greatest series of all time turned into a joke. Giant robotic lions. Ro-beasts. This is the basis of my childhood. You shouldn’t be allowed to direct the film unless you can name the pilot of each lion.
And don’t even get me started on the G.I. Joe movie. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, unless Tomax and Xamot are in it I don’t want to see it.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Know Thyself Via Standardized Tests
I had my official self assessment review today. This differs from my assessment of Bill Self (a traitor who shall never be allowed to set foot in the state of Illinois again) but is roughly as accurate. Since these are always so much fun to take I figured that I might as well share with the world just what all of these tests say about me.
(For those wondering, yes I am an INTJ on the Meyers Brigg. Was there any doubt?)
So, here is what I reviewed this morning.
My Interests: “Scheduling, Doing detailed work, Keeping close contact, Working with numbers, Working with Systems”. Guess I can’t argue with that. Numbers, systems and detailed work are pretty much in my wheelhouse. I like working with them except that dealing exclusively with them bores me pretty completely. How they have scheduling on the list is beyond me. I don’t believe there is anything more tedious than maintaining Microsoft Project files. I’d rather, you know, do the work.
My Work Style: “Insightful, Selectively Sociable, Thoughtful, Reflective, Optimistic”: Wow, optimistic? Really? Apparently they didn’t grade “bitter to the core” as an attribute. Insightful and thoughtful are right on. Selectively sociable is actually a really nice description of how I act in a workplace environment. Not everyone is my friend. And I guess reflective is based on my tendency to wear shiny metallic vests to work.
My Needs: “Encourage competition, Be Assertive, Allow Flexibility, Introduce Novelty and Variety”: I’m a bit concerned on this one because half of these are dead on and half I don’t get at all. Flexibility has become a key to me as I’ve grown more and more tired with bureaucracy as I’ve found myself mired in it. Variety has been the cornerstone of my career as I just always want to try something different and keep on learning. But encourage competition? That seems to imply a level of cut-throat that I’m not comfortable with. And maybe they equate a want for having people to tell the truth with being assertive. Who knows.
My Stress Behaviors: “Easily distracted, Distrust others, Become domineering, Fail to follow the plan”. On the plus side, at least it doesn’t say ‘under times of high stress, brings flamethrower to office’ or ‘refers to upper management as being unable to find their own ass with both hands, a map and a team of bloody sherpas.’ I guess that is a good thing. Do I really become domineering? That doesn’t seem to be in my nature. The getting off plan at least makes sense. When stressed I tend to do what I think is right, no matter what anyone else is telling me to do. Not always the best thing politically.
My Top 4 Areas of Interest: “Numerical, Scientific, Literary, Musical” Can’t really argue there. I like the fact that this shows the dichotomy (or schizophrenia) of my nature. Part of me is this highly mathematic, detailed oriented robot who likes nothing more than sitting down with numbers and writing if-then statements until the numbers dance their way into a deeper meaning. The other part of me is this creative guy who would like nothing better to sit in a coffee shop all day writing bad poetry and discussing how Feist completely sold her soul to Apple. It’s a pretty bizarre mix but I like it.
Finally, here is the big one. What should I be when I grow up? What are my optimal careers?
My Top 5 Job Titles: “Administrative Professionals, Accounting, Numerical Administrative, Banking and Finance, General Administrative” So after peering into my soul I’ve been told that I should be either an auditor or an accountant. Sigh. It’s not exactly the most exciting of professions. I was kind of hoping that “lion tamer” would make the cut. I mean, yes I’ve been doing finance in one form or another for the past five years and been working with numbers my entire life but I would think that I would have a few more options out there. This doesn’t surprise me but I would think that there would be a bit more flexibility.
Oh and yes I am apparently better suited to being a secretary than an engineer. Double sigh. I have a feeling that I will be getting a call from Illinois regarding my diploma. Seriously, I’ll never claim to being the best EE but I did a dang good job at it. Was promoted like mad in my old company. I’d suck as a secretary. I’d just let all calls go to voice mail and spend my day pilfering office supplies. Though at least I’d be the only one on the floor who could fix the printer.
(For those wondering, yes I am an INTJ on the Meyers Brigg. Was there any doubt?)
So, here is what I reviewed this morning.
My Interests: “Scheduling, Doing detailed work, Keeping close contact, Working with numbers, Working with Systems”. Guess I can’t argue with that. Numbers, systems and detailed work are pretty much in my wheelhouse. I like working with them except that dealing exclusively with them bores me pretty completely. How they have scheduling on the list is beyond me. I don’t believe there is anything more tedious than maintaining Microsoft Project files. I’d rather, you know, do the work.
My Work Style: “Insightful, Selectively Sociable, Thoughtful, Reflective, Optimistic”: Wow, optimistic? Really? Apparently they didn’t grade “bitter to the core” as an attribute. Insightful and thoughtful are right on. Selectively sociable is actually a really nice description of how I act in a workplace environment. Not everyone is my friend. And I guess reflective is based on my tendency to wear shiny metallic vests to work.
My Needs: “Encourage competition, Be Assertive, Allow Flexibility, Introduce Novelty and Variety”: I’m a bit concerned on this one because half of these are dead on and half I don’t get at all. Flexibility has become a key to me as I’ve grown more and more tired with bureaucracy as I’ve found myself mired in it. Variety has been the cornerstone of my career as I just always want to try something different and keep on learning. But encourage competition? That seems to imply a level of cut-throat that I’m not comfortable with. And maybe they equate a want for having people to tell the truth with being assertive. Who knows.
My Stress Behaviors: “Easily distracted, Distrust others, Become domineering, Fail to follow the plan”. On the plus side, at least it doesn’t say ‘under times of high stress, brings flamethrower to office’ or ‘refers to upper management as being unable to find their own ass with both hands, a map and a team of bloody sherpas.’ I guess that is a good thing. Do I really become domineering? That doesn’t seem to be in my nature. The getting off plan at least makes sense. When stressed I tend to do what I think is right, no matter what anyone else is telling me to do. Not always the best thing politically.
My Top 4 Areas of Interest: “Numerical, Scientific, Literary, Musical” Can’t really argue there. I like the fact that this shows the dichotomy (or schizophrenia) of my nature. Part of me is this highly mathematic, detailed oriented robot who likes nothing more than sitting down with numbers and writing if-then statements until the numbers dance their way into a deeper meaning. The other part of me is this creative guy who would like nothing better to sit in a coffee shop all day writing bad poetry and discussing how Feist completely sold her soul to Apple. It’s a pretty bizarre mix but I like it.
Finally, here is the big one. What should I be when I grow up? What are my optimal careers?
My Top 5 Job Titles: “Administrative Professionals, Accounting, Numerical Administrative, Banking and Finance, General Administrative” So after peering into my soul I’ve been told that I should be either an auditor or an accountant. Sigh. It’s not exactly the most exciting of professions. I was kind of hoping that “lion tamer” would make the cut. I mean, yes I’ve been doing finance in one form or another for the past five years and been working with numbers my entire life but I would think that I would have a few more options out there. This doesn’t surprise me but I would think that there would be a bit more flexibility.
Oh and yes I am apparently better suited to being a secretary than an engineer. Double sigh. I have a feeling that I will be getting a call from Illinois regarding my diploma. Seriously, I’ll never claim to being the best EE but I did a dang good job at it. Was promoted like mad in my old company. I’d suck as a secretary. I’d just let all calls go to voice mail and spend my day pilfering office supplies. Though at least I’d be the only one on the floor who could fix the printer.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Should've hired Billy Idol as the evening's entertainment
Re: Last post’s comment. It’s interesting that I might be the only person in the world who is chastised for being content. While I admit that bitter, cynical, hates everything and everyone EC makes for much more interesting blog posts I would hope that I am occasionally allowed to feel content with my circumstance. It is a rather rare occurrence. So though I offer great apologies to those who believe that my quality of writing has suffered because at the moment I am not moping about complaining about how horrible my life is please allow me to enjoy my current harmonious state. I think I deserve this respite.
Guess I might as well write about Jenna Bush’s wedding. Now I wasn’t there of course though I did send a very nice espresso machine. (I have one rule regarding wedding gifts. Always buy the one thing on the registry that you are certain will never be opened. Everyone asks for an espresso machine but no one ever uses theirs. It just sits in a box in the junk closet and gets moved from house to house for twenty years until it is finally tossed. By the time they open the box and discover that all that is in there is rolled up balls of newspaper they won’t even remember who sent it to them.) But even given my absence there are a couple of comments I would like to make.
First off, isn’t it strange how low key of an affair this was. I mean, we are talking about the president’s daughter getting married and it was barely a blip on the radar. I mean, this was nothing compared to the Miley Cyrus pictures or the fact that the entire Speed Racer franchise was ruined this weekend to the point that I can no longer wear my Racer X t-shirt with pride. Royal weddings are always massive events and while presidents aren’t royalty you would think that this would be a bit more significant. It might just be because the Bush twins have been really low profile over the past eight years. I’m not sure if I could recognize them, which wasn’t the case of Chelsea who became her own media figure even if she didn’t want to be one.
Also, I’m impressed that Jenna married Sammy Hagar. The choice of “I Can’t Drive 65” as the wedding song was a given and I did appreciate the fact that the entire wedding reception was sponsored by Cabo Wabo tequila. Cabo Wabo: It’s what you drink when you are trying to impress someone who doesn’t know any better. Oh sorry, she married Henry Hager, my mistake. (Does anyone else get a weird vibe from his picture? I mean, she seems out of his league.)
But to give credit where credit is due, their first dance was to a Taj Mahal song so props for that.
And since people want to know the particulars here they are. 200 guests with presumably an open bar. I believe oil wells were given as gifts to all of the attendees (either that or they were hand delivered their tax rebate checks). 14 women comprised the “house party” because apparently bridesmaids are passé now or something. 14 guys were tagged to be ushers, which usually means you wear a suit and try to act like you’re not already drunk. Particulars of the pre-nup were not discussed, which I feel should now just be a part of the vows. “Do you take this woman until death do you part with the knowledge that if you leave her prior to that moment she shall legally claim your car, your baseball card collection and your left kidney?”
Yeah, I know. I am such a romantic.
Guess I might as well write about Jenna Bush’s wedding. Now I wasn’t there of course though I did send a very nice espresso machine. (I have one rule regarding wedding gifts. Always buy the one thing on the registry that you are certain will never be opened. Everyone asks for an espresso machine but no one ever uses theirs. It just sits in a box in the junk closet and gets moved from house to house for twenty years until it is finally tossed. By the time they open the box and discover that all that is in there is rolled up balls of newspaper they won’t even remember who sent it to them.) But even given my absence there are a couple of comments I would like to make.
First off, isn’t it strange how low key of an affair this was. I mean, we are talking about the president’s daughter getting married and it was barely a blip on the radar. I mean, this was nothing compared to the Miley Cyrus pictures or the fact that the entire Speed Racer franchise was ruined this weekend to the point that I can no longer wear my Racer X t-shirt with pride. Royal weddings are always massive events and while presidents aren’t royalty you would think that this would be a bit more significant. It might just be because the Bush twins have been really low profile over the past eight years. I’m not sure if I could recognize them, which wasn’t the case of Chelsea who became her own media figure even if she didn’t want to be one.
Also, I’m impressed that Jenna married Sammy Hagar. The choice of “I Can’t Drive 65” as the wedding song was a given and I did appreciate the fact that the entire wedding reception was sponsored by Cabo Wabo tequila. Cabo Wabo: It’s what you drink when you are trying to impress someone who doesn’t know any better. Oh sorry, she married Henry Hager, my mistake. (Does anyone else get a weird vibe from his picture? I mean, she seems out of his league.)
But to give credit where credit is due, their first dance was to a Taj Mahal song so props for that.
And since people want to know the particulars here they are. 200 guests with presumably an open bar. I believe oil wells were given as gifts to all of the attendees (either that or they were hand delivered their tax rebate checks). 14 women comprised the “house party” because apparently bridesmaids are passé now or something. 14 guys were tagged to be ushers, which usually means you wear a suit and try to act like you’re not already drunk. Particulars of the pre-nup were not discussed, which I feel should now just be a part of the vows. “Do you take this woman until death do you part with the knowledge that if you leave her prior to that moment she shall legally claim your car, your baseball card collection and your left kidney?”
Yeah, I know. I am such a romantic.
A shuttlecock can be art, apparently
I could tell a lot of stories based on my afternoon at the Nelson-Atkins art museum (including one about dancing trees) but I’ll settle for the following. While walking through the main building I realized that every painting was either a) religious in nature often showing a saint in some form of martyrdom or b) involved livestock, particularly cattle. To be honest, if you asked me to predict what type of art would be featured in a Kansas City art museum I would pretty much guess pictures of religious figures and cattle. Surprisingly there were very few instances where the two were intertwined. I kept on expecting to see “Madonna with child at rendering plant.”
It’s been a rather quiet weekend. I took some time off from the blog, mainly because I was working on the novel. I have reached the 10K word plateau and finished what is actually being referred to as Part One of the story. This is my backstory / introduce most of the major characters over two days of novel time in which our hero pretty much sits there and has everything take place around him. He’s not exactly action oriented at this point in the story. To be honest, he’s drunk of hungover for most of it. I think my novel will be shipped with its own commemorative shot glass to enhance the experience.
Hell, at one point last night I found myself watching Nascar. Not just watching the race but being rather enthralled by it. I’m still trying to figure out the whole Kyle Busch paint scheme. He drives the M&M’s car, which is also being cosponsored by the Indiana Jones movie. Hence, the green M&M is wearing the hat and brandishing a whip which is an awfully strange thing for a piece of candy to do. Is this implying that most of the American populace (or at least the portion that watches cars turn left) wishes to eat Harrison Ford? Or does this mean that my chocolate snack of choice is going to kick my ass if I try to consume it? Talk about mixed messages.
I’ll admit to watching races (and at lesser moments, having some additional interests on the races) but I still say that I watch Nascar in the same way that other people watch golf. In that they aren’t actually paying attention; that is just what is on the television set while they are doing something else. It’s interesting enough to watch casually and I follow it closely so that I have favorites but it isn’t something that I schedule my day around. Plus, now that Tony Stewart stopped driving a Pontiac I can’t support him until I get a new car. Because that is just what fans do.
Best of 120 Minutes: I just feel like posting another Throwing Muses video today. If anyone knows where I can find a copy of The Real Ramona on CD let me know. I have it on tape somewhere in my apartment and I really need to get that on CD. Yes, I could just download it but it wouldn’t be the same.
The five random CDs for the week (returning after a one week hiatus):
1) Continental Drifters “Better Day”
2) Drive-By Truckers “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark”
3) Robbie Fulks “Revenge”
4) Pearl Jam “No Code”
5) Old Crow Medicine Show “Big Iron World”
It’s been a rather quiet weekend. I took some time off from the blog, mainly because I was working on the novel. I have reached the 10K word plateau and finished what is actually being referred to as Part One of the story. This is my backstory / introduce most of the major characters over two days of novel time in which our hero pretty much sits there and has everything take place around him. He’s not exactly action oriented at this point in the story. To be honest, he’s drunk of hungover for most of it. I think my novel will be shipped with its own commemorative shot glass to enhance the experience.
Hell, at one point last night I found myself watching Nascar. Not just watching the race but being rather enthralled by it. I’m still trying to figure out the whole Kyle Busch paint scheme. He drives the M&M’s car, which is also being cosponsored by the Indiana Jones movie. Hence, the green M&M is wearing the hat and brandishing a whip which is an awfully strange thing for a piece of candy to do. Is this implying that most of the American populace (or at least the portion that watches cars turn left) wishes to eat Harrison Ford? Or does this mean that my chocolate snack of choice is going to kick my ass if I try to consume it? Talk about mixed messages.
I’ll admit to watching races (and at lesser moments, having some additional interests on the races) but I still say that I watch Nascar in the same way that other people watch golf. In that they aren’t actually paying attention; that is just what is on the television set while they are doing something else. It’s interesting enough to watch casually and I follow it closely so that I have favorites but it isn’t something that I schedule my day around. Plus, now that Tony Stewart stopped driving a Pontiac I can’t support him until I get a new car. Because that is just what fans do.
Best of 120 Minutes: I just feel like posting another Throwing Muses video today. If anyone knows where I can find a copy of The Real Ramona on CD let me know. I have it on tape somewhere in my apartment and I really need to get that on CD. Yes, I could just download it but it wouldn’t be the same.
The five random CDs for the week (returning after a one week hiatus):
1) Continental Drifters “Better Day”
2) Drive-By Truckers “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark”
3) Robbie Fulks “Revenge”
4) Pearl Jam “No Code”
5) Old Crow Medicine Show “Big Iron World”
Thursday, May 08, 2008
And shouldn't cat food be mouse flavored?
As I’ve mentioned before, one of the nice side effects of unemployment is that I get to watch a lot of television. This means that I get to see some commercials that I might otherwise not come across. Clearly the daytime television audience is slightly different than that from later in the day. For example, let us examine Fancy Feast.
Now I have nothing against cats per se. They are perfectly respectable creatures, even if they do view the world in four dimensions and thus suddenly take off without warning because they see what is going to happen in that spot at some time in the future. And obviously they do need to be fed. So I understand the need to buy cat food. I can even see that you love your cat to the point that high quality cat food would be a consideration. However, the following seems to be a bit overboard. You can get your cat Filet Mignon Flavor with Real Seafood and Shrimp. If that doesn’t please your cat’s palate then maybe you can try the Tuscan medley, which is inspired by the artistry of Tuscan cuisine (that quote is directly from the website.)
I hate to break it to you but your cat does not understand the concept of cuisine. It is not transported to Italy and imagines itself hiding out in some villa somewhere. It’s a cat. They are not capable of higher level reasoning. They see it as food, plain and simple. They don’t have a palate. For crying out loud, they lick themselves at every opportunity. Though let’s be honest, if the human race was that flexible we probably still wouldn’t have invented the wheel. But seriously, there has to be something better for you than to pay for gourmet cat food for a creature that cannot comprehend the concept of gourmet food. Feed your cat well, take care of the little guy, but don’t waste money on something this foolish. Give what you would spend to charity or something. I’m sure some people would like real seafood or shrimp.
(Why seafood and shrimp are considered separate items really needs to be discussed as well. If shrimp have started walking I really think that should be a news item.)
There is one other story that I found out about today that I need to mention. I finally saw a mention on VH1 that they are casting for season two of The Pick Up Artist. Once again, my agent has failed to get me an early audition for the show. In fact, I’ve even missed the ability to apply online for a position. Now the good news is that I would probably be disqualified from the show for the fact that I am just too awesome for words but I’d still like a chance to meet Mystery and / or El Matador. J-Dog always seemed to be a bit of a douche, though.
But that does mean I will have another season to live blog, which is awesome. I’m curious as to who they got to apply. You actually know going in that you will be embarrassed in front of a national television audience. But, Mystery does have some lessons to teach even if they are rather disturbing at times. I still think he is wrong at points (including the fact of viewing relationships as some massive video game) but the guy does seem to have a decent grasp on psychology. If anything, this lets me know that I will soon get to watch guys geekier than me on tv. Can’t complain about that.
Now I have nothing against cats per se. They are perfectly respectable creatures, even if they do view the world in four dimensions and thus suddenly take off without warning because they see what is going to happen in that spot at some time in the future. And obviously they do need to be fed. So I understand the need to buy cat food. I can even see that you love your cat to the point that high quality cat food would be a consideration. However, the following seems to be a bit overboard. You can get your cat Filet Mignon Flavor with Real Seafood and Shrimp. If that doesn’t please your cat’s palate then maybe you can try the Tuscan medley, which is inspired by the artistry of Tuscan cuisine (that quote is directly from the website.)
I hate to break it to you but your cat does not understand the concept of cuisine. It is not transported to Italy and imagines itself hiding out in some villa somewhere. It’s a cat. They are not capable of higher level reasoning. They see it as food, plain and simple. They don’t have a palate. For crying out loud, they lick themselves at every opportunity. Though let’s be honest, if the human race was that flexible we probably still wouldn’t have invented the wheel. But seriously, there has to be something better for you than to pay for gourmet cat food for a creature that cannot comprehend the concept of gourmet food. Feed your cat well, take care of the little guy, but don’t waste money on something this foolish. Give what you would spend to charity or something. I’m sure some people would like real seafood or shrimp.
(Why seafood and shrimp are considered separate items really needs to be discussed as well. If shrimp have started walking I really think that should be a news item.)
There is one other story that I found out about today that I need to mention. I finally saw a mention on VH1 that they are casting for season two of The Pick Up Artist. Once again, my agent has failed to get me an early audition for the show. In fact, I’ve even missed the ability to apply online for a position. Now the good news is that I would probably be disqualified from the show for the fact that I am just too awesome for words but I’d still like a chance to meet Mystery and / or El Matador. J-Dog always seemed to be a bit of a douche, though.
But that does mean I will have another season to live blog, which is awesome. I’m curious as to who they got to apply. You actually know going in that you will be embarrassed in front of a national television audience. But, Mystery does have some lessons to teach even if they are rather disturbing at times. I still think he is wrong at points (including the fact of viewing relationships as some massive video game) but the guy does seem to have a decent grasp on psychology. If anything, this lets me know that I will soon get to watch guys geekier than me on tv. Can’t complain about that.
Get Up, Stand Up
Re: the comment on last night’s post. When I invent my time machine (and trust me once my shipment of dilithium crystals come in I will be able to commence active testing) I would like whoever wrote that comment to find said time machine, travel to the University of Illinois campus circa 1993 or 94, make their way to Everitt Lab and find the tall, skinny kid with glasses. Wait, I’ll need to be more specific. Find the tall, skinny kid with glasses, a blue backpack and a Duke baseball cap. Once you locate him, please repeat word for word what was written in the comment. It might have made the years spent in the lab much more bearable if I knew someone considered it exciting.
Seriously, the only time anyone ever referred to anything I did as “hot” is when I set a circuit board on fire. We almost had to break out the fire extinguishers.
Wednesday Night Music Club: So I just got back from seeing Kathleen Edwards in concert That’s part of the reason why I posted the video but mainly I think Kathleen is so incredible that I can’t believe that everyone doesn’t know who she is at the moment. She is such a talented singer and songwriter that it makes you wish that this is what you would hear on pop radio as opposed to whatever American Idol wannabe now runs the charts.
The show was at Knuckleheads and I really need to go on a rant about this club. First off, the place is the musical equivalent of Brigadoon in that it is impossible to find and might not actually exist. The official website directions actually has you going more than a mile out of your way to find the place and you have to follow some very small signs to figure out how to navigate the neighborhood. If you miss a turn you are just plain out of luck. It is a roadhouse in the industrial part of town with train tracks running literally behind the club. If you can find it the place is awesome.
However, with the roadhouse design comes one very small flaw. Their stage is maybe a foot off the ground and in front of the stage there is this small open area, then some pillars and a low wall and then this big room with tables where everyone sits down to watch the show. This setup causes nightmares for me and has resulted in my being yelled at the last two times I’ve seen a band there.
See, I consider it a sin to sit down at a concert. Unless I am given a ticket with a specific seat number or the show is this mellow, acoustic thing where it is best meant to be experienced in quiet contemplation I want to be standing and bouncing around. Not only does that make me feel better but it makes the band feel better. You know you are reaching people when they are moving about. I’ll almost always stand (I make exceptions at times if I’d be the only person standing) and I feel that is the way people in every other venue on the planet would behave.
But here this is an issue. I started off fine. I found a pillar to stand in front of and figured that no one could yell at me for blocking their view because the damn pillar was still going to be there. But, some guy with a camera (and I’ll rant about people watching concerts through the viewscreen of a digital camera some other time) knocked me off of my perch so I stood to the side for about half a song. After which I was yelled at for blocking the view of the people behind me. Luckily, camera dude gave up his seat to knock me out of the way so I just stole his seat back. Still, I felt like a complete doufus sitting while Kathleen was rocking out but I did get to see several other people chastised for standing.
I stand for the encore and once again was told by the people behind me to sit down. Given that it was the encore I decided that I earned the right to be pissy and say “Or you could stand up”. That didn’t win me any favors with them. I’m sorry but we were in the midst of a great set by an amazing performer. Get off your ass and stand and dance and enjoy life. The Iguanas are playing there next week and I don’t know if I’ll go because I don’t want to have to deal with people giving me crap for a band whose entire mission in life is to make people happy by getting them to celebrate. You don’t sit during an Iguanas show. You just don’t.
So I’m asking for two things. First off, go out and buy a Kathleen Edwards CD. I’ve played a few of her songs here as part of the music club and I guarantee you that this will be one of your best music purchases in ages. Second, next time you go to a show stand as close to the stage as possible. If you want to just sit there and watch rent a freaking DVD and stay on your couch. The rest of us want to live in the moment we find ourselves in.
Seriously, the only time anyone ever referred to anything I did as “hot” is when I set a circuit board on fire. We almost had to break out the fire extinguishers.
Wednesday Night Music Club: So I just got back from seeing Kathleen Edwards in concert That’s part of the reason why I posted the video but mainly I think Kathleen is so incredible that I can’t believe that everyone doesn’t know who she is at the moment. She is such a talented singer and songwriter that it makes you wish that this is what you would hear on pop radio as opposed to whatever American Idol wannabe now runs the charts.
The show was at Knuckleheads and I really need to go on a rant about this club. First off, the place is the musical equivalent of Brigadoon in that it is impossible to find and might not actually exist. The official website directions actually has you going more than a mile out of your way to find the place and you have to follow some very small signs to figure out how to navigate the neighborhood. If you miss a turn you are just plain out of luck. It is a roadhouse in the industrial part of town with train tracks running literally behind the club. If you can find it the place is awesome.
However, with the roadhouse design comes one very small flaw. Their stage is maybe a foot off the ground and in front of the stage there is this small open area, then some pillars and a low wall and then this big room with tables where everyone sits down to watch the show. This setup causes nightmares for me and has resulted in my being yelled at the last two times I’ve seen a band there.
See, I consider it a sin to sit down at a concert. Unless I am given a ticket with a specific seat number or the show is this mellow, acoustic thing where it is best meant to be experienced in quiet contemplation I want to be standing and bouncing around. Not only does that make me feel better but it makes the band feel better. You know you are reaching people when they are moving about. I’ll almost always stand (I make exceptions at times if I’d be the only person standing) and I feel that is the way people in every other venue on the planet would behave.
But here this is an issue. I started off fine. I found a pillar to stand in front of and figured that no one could yell at me for blocking their view because the damn pillar was still going to be there. But, some guy with a camera (and I’ll rant about people watching concerts through the viewscreen of a digital camera some other time) knocked me off of my perch so I stood to the side for about half a song. After which I was yelled at for blocking the view of the people behind me. Luckily, camera dude gave up his seat to knock me out of the way so I just stole his seat back. Still, I felt like a complete doufus sitting while Kathleen was rocking out but I did get to see several other people chastised for standing.
I stand for the encore and once again was told by the people behind me to sit down. Given that it was the encore I decided that I earned the right to be pissy and say “Or you could stand up”. That didn’t win me any favors with them. I’m sorry but we were in the midst of a great set by an amazing performer. Get off your ass and stand and dance and enjoy life. The Iguanas are playing there next week and I don’t know if I’ll go because I don’t want to have to deal with people giving me crap for a band whose entire mission in life is to make people happy by getting them to celebrate. You don’t sit during an Iguanas show. You just don’t.
So I’m asking for two things. First off, go out and buy a Kathleen Edwards CD. I’ve played a few of her songs here as part of the music club and I guarantee you that this will be one of your best music purchases in ages. Second, next time you go to a show stand as close to the stage as possible. If you want to just sit there and watch rent a freaking DVD and stay on your couch. The rest of us want to live in the moment we find ourselves in.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Apparently I didn't need to learn Maxwell's Equations
Per the comments, I also am concerned about my growing Milwaukee based fans. Now, I’m confident that one of those comments came from Super Dave, my long time partner in crime and the inspiration for the character of Josh in my novel. (At the present moment Josh’s main characteristic is using the word “dude” in every sentence, which actually isn’t a Super Dave trademark but it seems to work.) However, Super Dave is the only person I know in Milwaukee so whoever made the other comment: welcome. Hope you stay a while.
(Ok, just a random comment here but Mike Huckabee still received 10% of the vote in the Indiana primary. True, he stopped campaigning and it doesn’t matter but that is still more than what Ron Paul got. So please, for those of you who still have Ron Paul bumper stickers on your car, can you just remove them already. It’s over. Let’s move forward.)
I’m kind of searching for a topic here so I just flipped over to Wikipedia to find out that HP has created the fourth type of passive electrical components. Now everyone knows the three main types: resistors (measured in Ohms), inductors (measured in Henrys) and capacitors (measured in Farads after one of my heroes, the legendary Michael Faraday). We now have the memristor, which…which…ok, I don’t have the faintest clue what a memristor is. I have a degree in electrical engineering and have read this article twice and yet I am still lost. True, I have been drinking tonight but I feel more confident that Wikipedia is just now making stuff up. Either that or I should not apply for engineering jobs any time soon.
Speaking of that, as part of this career coaching experience I have signed up for I was given a self-assessment to determine what jobs I am most suited for. I’ve done a ton of these in the past and they all turn out the same way. I should work on something numerical and analytical with the phrase “you should really be an accountant” appearing somewhere in the official paperwork. Except for the fact that I find that work boring and tedious. Incredibly easy since in accounting you know at the end of the day your debits will equal your credits so as long as you know how to add and subtract you can be an accountant but still, not the most satisfying job in the world. I am also always told that I should avoid physical labor and the outdoors just in case I suddenly start dreaming of becoming a lumberjack.
(Of course being a lumberjack is perfectly ok. You sleep all night and you work all day.)
What’s interesting is that I actually scored low on whether I should be an engineer. Typically I am off the charts on that metric. I mean, I’ve been an engineer. I’m trained in that field and despite the fact that I switched careers I still don’t feel as if I have ever left. I dug into the results some more and I found out that I shouldn’t be an engineer because I do not take projects one step at a time making sure that each step is properly completed before starting the next one.
Whoever made this test has no idea what life is like as an engineer. If I did everything step by step I would have been fired by week two. Being an engineer means being able to think on your feet, change direction on a dime and know how to multi-task and combine steps at a moment’s notice. You simply don’t have the luxury of being meticulous; you just have to get the work done. I still don’t know if I would consider myself a good electrical engineer (I’m admittedly weak on theory and intuition surrounding electricity) but I was a damn good power systems engineer. I could tell you how power flows through a grid better than almost anyone. You don’t do that by being meticulous. You do that by being so well versed in a complex and abstract subject. I shouldn’t be an engineer? That might be true (because I think I want more out of life) but trust me, I have all the skills required to be one.
(Ok, just a random comment here but Mike Huckabee still received 10% of the vote in the Indiana primary. True, he stopped campaigning and it doesn’t matter but that is still more than what Ron Paul got. So please, for those of you who still have Ron Paul bumper stickers on your car, can you just remove them already. It’s over. Let’s move forward.)
I’m kind of searching for a topic here so I just flipped over to Wikipedia to find out that HP has created the fourth type of passive electrical components. Now everyone knows the three main types: resistors (measured in Ohms), inductors (measured in Henrys) and capacitors (measured in Farads after one of my heroes, the legendary Michael Faraday). We now have the memristor, which…which…ok, I don’t have the faintest clue what a memristor is. I have a degree in electrical engineering and have read this article twice and yet I am still lost. True, I have been drinking tonight but I feel more confident that Wikipedia is just now making stuff up. Either that or I should not apply for engineering jobs any time soon.
Speaking of that, as part of this career coaching experience I have signed up for I was given a self-assessment to determine what jobs I am most suited for. I’ve done a ton of these in the past and they all turn out the same way. I should work on something numerical and analytical with the phrase “you should really be an accountant” appearing somewhere in the official paperwork. Except for the fact that I find that work boring and tedious. Incredibly easy since in accounting you know at the end of the day your debits will equal your credits so as long as you know how to add and subtract you can be an accountant but still, not the most satisfying job in the world. I am also always told that I should avoid physical labor and the outdoors just in case I suddenly start dreaming of becoming a lumberjack.
(Of course being a lumberjack is perfectly ok. You sleep all night and you work all day.)
What’s interesting is that I actually scored low on whether I should be an engineer. Typically I am off the charts on that metric. I mean, I’ve been an engineer. I’m trained in that field and despite the fact that I switched careers I still don’t feel as if I have ever left. I dug into the results some more and I found out that I shouldn’t be an engineer because I do not take projects one step at a time making sure that each step is properly completed before starting the next one.
Whoever made this test has no idea what life is like as an engineer. If I did everything step by step I would have been fired by week two. Being an engineer means being able to think on your feet, change direction on a dime and know how to multi-task and combine steps at a moment’s notice. You simply don’t have the luxury of being meticulous; you just have to get the work done. I still don’t know if I would consider myself a good electrical engineer (I’m admittedly weak on theory and intuition surrounding electricity) but I was a damn good power systems engineer. I could tell you how power flows through a grid better than almost anyone. You don’t do that by being meticulous. You do that by being so well versed in a complex and abstract subject. I shouldn’t be an engineer? That might be true (because I think I want more out of life) but trust me, I have all the skills required to be one.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Pulling a ship over a mountain
Re: Aquaman. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Being able to talk to fish is not a superpower. So Aquaman can order bluegills to do his bidding. Please tell me when in the world that is a useful skill? And don’t pull that crap from the old Justice League cartoon in which he orders a swordfish to cut a hole in a submarine. Real fish don’t have skulls capable of breaking through reinforced steel. Aquaman can’t even get chicks with his lame superpower. “Hey baby, watch me swim” just doesn’t work. I mean, Hawkman’s only skill is his ability to fly but that might at least help him get laid if the beak doesn’t get in the way.
Just got back from The Swell Season show and it has quickly earned its place amongst one of my favorite concerts ever. Of course, Glen Hansard and The Frames make up a significant portion of my Top Ten in terms of concerts and tonight was no exception. First, I should probably describe who The Swell Season actually is. It’s not The Frames and it’s not Glen and Marketa Irglova (the two who won the Oscar for best song for what I just posted). It’s really The Frames playing slightly acoustic with Marketa on piano. I’m pretty sure for legal reasons this has to be referred to as a different band hence The Swell Season.
The show started with Glen taking the stage and standing on the edge and singing Say It To Me Now unamplified. That is an insanely daring way to start a show at a place as big as the Uptown. I’ve seen people do it before but it is typically at the end of a great set when you know that you will be able to get people to be quiet. To do it at the start, when you still have a bunch of drunks who don’t know how to act in a concert mulling about, is a rather daring move. It is also just an amazing moment.
They then played through pretty much the entire soundtrack to the movie Once, along with some Glen and Marketa songs that didn’t make the movie. She even sang a new song that was just stunning. I’m going to download the concert just to get a copy of that song. Glen was his usual joyful self on stage; telling stories and enjoying every single moment. He even talked about what it is like after winning the Oscar and how part of him kind of wishes that he could go back to what it was like before. He has spent 17 years with The Frames fighting for every gig and acclaim and now he is successful and trying to figure out how to deal with it. Luckily he is dealing with it by just being Glen; singing his heart out, playing great music and just making every person in the audience happy.
If that is the one thing I can say about his live shows is that you never leave a place feeling more joyous than when you see The Frames (in any name) perform. You leave feeling alive and wanting to experience the entire world. You can’t hear songs like Fitzcarraldo or Star, Star and not want to take on all comers. They truly are my favorite band in the world and have been for the past couple of years.
Someone asked me recently how I was reacting to the fact that my favorite band was now popular. How they can now sell out a theater when before I was one of maybe a couple of hundred people in a club watching them play. While I missed being able to stand next to the stage tonight I have nothing but great respect for Glen and Marketa and all the rest. They are the best musical story I have seen in ages. They have become popular and sold an unbelievable amount of records without changing a single aspect of who they are. It’s the same music and the same personas with no corporate tinkering. They’ve become successful while making art. It’s a wonder of the modern world.
Just got back from The Swell Season show and it has quickly earned its place amongst one of my favorite concerts ever. Of course, Glen Hansard and The Frames make up a significant portion of my Top Ten in terms of concerts and tonight was no exception. First, I should probably describe who The Swell Season actually is. It’s not The Frames and it’s not Glen and Marketa Irglova (the two who won the Oscar for best song for what I just posted). It’s really The Frames playing slightly acoustic with Marketa on piano. I’m pretty sure for legal reasons this has to be referred to as a different band hence The Swell Season.
The show started with Glen taking the stage and standing on the edge and singing Say It To Me Now unamplified. That is an insanely daring way to start a show at a place as big as the Uptown. I’ve seen people do it before but it is typically at the end of a great set when you know that you will be able to get people to be quiet. To do it at the start, when you still have a bunch of drunks who don’t know how to act in a concert mulling about, is a rather daring move. It is also just an amazing moment.
They then played through pretty much the entire soundtrack to the movie Once, along with some Glen and Marketa songs that didn’t make the movie. She even sang a new song that was just stunning. I’m going to download the concert just to get a copy of that song. Glen was his usual joyful self on stage; telling stories and enjoying every single moment. He even talked about what it is like after winning the Oscar and how part of him kind of wishes that he could go back to what it was like before. He has spent 17 years with The Frames fighting for every gig and acclaim and now he is successful and trying to figure out how to deal with it. Luckily he is dealing with it by just being Glen; singing his heart out, playing great music and just making every person in the audience happy.
If that is the one thing I can say about his live shows is that you never leave a place feeling more joyous than when you see The Frames (in any name) perform. You leave feeling alive and wanting to experience the entire world. You can’t hear songs like Fitzcarraldo or Star, Star and not want to take on all comers. They truly are my favorite band in the world and have been for the past couple of years.
Someone asked me recently how I was reacting to the fact that my favorite band was now popular. How they can now sell out a theater when before I was one of maybe a couple of hundred people in a club watching them play. While I missed being able to stand next to the stage tonight I have nothing but great respect for Glen and Marketa and all the rest. They are the best musical story I have seen in ages. They have become popular and sold an unbelievable amount of records without changing a single aspect of who they are. It’s the same music and the same personas with no corporate tinkering. They’ve become successful while making art. It’s a wonder of the modern world.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Will spreadsheet for food
Well, I knew that at some point I was going to have to break down and do this. Having spent a month on the dole, doing nothing except enjoying myself, I knew that at some point I was going to have to get serious about finding a job. Haphazardly surfing CareerBuilder and Monster just was not going to cut it. So, tomorrow I meet with my career management team.
In the old days my career management team would be a bunch of buddies that I would meet at a bar. I’d see them, we’d joke about our prospects and then get so horribly drunk we knew that we could count on each other for references solely because of the amount of blackmail material that we had on one another. It was informal and met at an acceptable hour. This meeting is at nine in the morning tomorrow and requires business casual attire.
My first problem with this is the hour. I originally signed up for a meeting in the afternoon. That seemed perfectly sensible. I’m unemployed after all and that means that I no longer have to set the alarm clock. Typically I wake up some time in the middle of the morning, stumble around and find a pair of pants at just the moment where lunch starts sounding like a good idea. I originally assumed that I was going to be very structured during my unemployment. That given all of my years of work that the prospect of sleeping in would grow tiring very quickly. That just hasn’t been the case.
So now I’m going to have to set three alarm clocks just to make sure that I get up in enough time to look like a human being when I make it to this meeting. It is a decent drive, which isn’t entirely a bad thing but it is just more work than I am used to. Plus, I know that I should try to be presentable and that has been a problem on Monday mornings my entire life. Who wants to be anywhere on a Monday morning besides their own bed?
The other thing is that they have specifically stated that I need to wear business casual attire. Now this isn’t that big of a deal for me because it is not as if I don’t have a thousand dress shirts hanging in my closet waiting to be worn. I have so many years of experience wearing dress clothes that I can tie a tie one handed while driving if need be. I’m a little more perplexed as to why I need to dress up for a meeting. I’m not going to be interviewing. They didn’t tell me to bring my resume. I’m just going to be sitting in a conference room for a few hours. Can’t see why I just can’t show up in jeans and a KMFDM t-shirt like I do to everything else in life.
I guess what really bothers me with this meeting is that tomorrow I am going to have to get up and act as though I am going to work. I’ve spent the past five weeks not working and it has been wonderful. I haven’t felt this good in ages. It’s not as if I haven’t accomplished anything. True, I haven’t made as much progress on my writing as I would like but I am moving forward with it. I’ve taken care of myself this past month and that has been brilliant. Now, while I know that getting a job is simply something that I must do, I really don’t want to go all out on the process. I still have months of severance pay left and a desire to live this life for as long as I can.
I’m going tomorrow because I know that it is the right thing to do. I’ll need a job eventually. I can’t spend the rest of my life hanging about coffee shops and sleeping in every morning. But I don’t really see the need to end this any sooner than I have to. I’m happy right now. Really, really happy right now. I just want it to last.
Best of 120 Minutes: I’ve been listening to The Pogues all weekend. Figured that is as good a way to start the week as any.
In the old days my career management team would be a bunch of buddies that I would meet at a bar. I’d see them, we’d joke about our prospects and then get so horribly drunk we knew that we could count on each other for references solely because of the amount of blackmail material that we had on one another. It was informal and met at an acceptable hour. This meeting is at nine in the morning tomorrow and requires business casual attire.
My first problem with this is the hour. I originally signed up for a meeting in the afternoon. That seemed perfectly sensible. I’m unemployed after all and that means that I no longer have to set the alarm clock. Typically I wake up some time in the middle of the morning, stumble around and find a pair of pants at just the moment where lunch starts sounding like a good idea. I originally assumed that I was going to be very structured during my unemployment. That given all of my years of work that the prospect of sleeping in would grow tiring very quickly. That just hasn’t been the case.
So now I’m going to have to set three alarm clocks just to make sure that I get up in enough time to look like a human being when I make it to this meeting. It is a decent drive, which isn’t entirely a bad thing but it is just more work than I am used to. Plus, I know that I should try to be presentable and that has been a problem on Monday mornings my entire life. Who wants to be anywhere on a Monday morning besides their own bed?
The other thing is that they have specifically stated that I need to wear business casual attire. Now this isn’t that big of a deal for me because it is not as if I don’t have a thousand dress shirts hanging in my closet waiting to be worn. I have so many years of experience wearing dress clothes that I can tie a tie one handed while driving if need be. I’m a little more perplexed as to why I need to dress up for a meeting. I’m not going to be interviewing. They didn’t tell me to bring my resume. I’m just going to be sitting in a conference room for a few hours. Can’t see why I just can’t show up in jeans and a KMFDM t-shirt like I do to everything else in life.
I guess what really bothers me with this meeting is that tomorrow I am going to have to get up and act as though I am going to work. I’ve spent the past five weeks not working and it has been wonderful. I haven’t felt this good in ages. It’s not as if I haven’t accomplished anything. True, I haven’t made as much progress on my writing as I would like but I am moving forward with it. I’ve taken care of myself this past month and that has been brilliant. Now, while I know that getting a job is simply something that I must do, I really don’t want to go all out on the process. I still have months of severance pay left and a desire to live this life for as long as I can.
I’m going tomorrow because I know that it is the right thing to do. I’ll need a job eventually. I can’t spend the rest of my life hanging about coffee shops and sleeping in every morning. But I don’t really see the need to end this any sooner than I have to. I’m happy right now. Really, really happy right now. I just want it to last.
Best of 120 Minutes: I’ve been listening to The Pogues all weekend. Figured that is as good a way to start the week as any.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Time for a chat...
For some reason I have been doing a lot of internet chatting recently. This is after completely ignoring all internet messaging programs for pretty much my entire life. I’m just naturally an email type of person where I can casually go off on thousand word rants about subjects that absolutely no one would care about. Heck, the blog was formed partially because my friends were sick of my emailing them long stories about nothing.
But now everyone wants to chat with me. I’ve apparently grown more popular recently. Either that or since everyone knows that I am unemployed and have nothing else to do I have become everyone’s favorite waste of time. It’s like I’m a human Sudoku or something. Actually, that is a pretty good description of me. You have to spend a lot of time fiddling around with numbers in order to have me make any sort of sense.
I don’t mind chatting, really. It certainly makes my days more interesting and saves me from my fear that unemployment was going to result in my spending multiple days talking to no one who wasn’t a cashier or a bartender. And if a friend needs to talk I’m there for them in any way, shape or form. But the entire internet chat concept is strange to me and really doesn’t work for me.
For one thing, I really like writing in complete sentences that actually involve grammar and punctuation. Now it is true that I have written blog entries that just consist of bullet points those individual points were well constructed. Most people I chat with can’t be bothered to capitalize words and I find myself doing the same just so I won’t look odd. Otherwise it is like speaking Shakespearean English to a drunk. True, the language is technically the same but neither of you are going to make a lick of sense to one another.
There is also the strange fact that you are holding a conversation in which neither of you are sure when the other one has stopped talking or quit listening. While some chat programs let you know when the other person is typing, which is at least a slight indication that the other person wants to speak, they never tell you “the other party has stepped away from the laptop so stop pouring your heart out because they aren’t paying a lick of attention to you.” Now that would be a good emoticon to have available. Maybe it would be a smiley face looking at a TV while another smiley face is trying to plead for attention.
But my biggest problem with chat is why don’t you just call the other person? Sure, sometimes that is not a possibility. If you’re stuck in an office there are some conversations that are better had through a chat. But it’s when people chat with me when we are both just at home sitting at our computers. Heck, it’s even after nine so it’s not like you are going to be using any wireless minutes. It just seems like another wall we put up to keep ourselves separated from people. Words on a screen are less personal than actually talking. It doesn’t bother me too much but I wonder why we just can’t talk to each other anymore. We just seem content to interact with the digital versions of each other. I think that is a mistake. Analog is a good way to go.
But now everyone wants to chat with me. I’ve apparently grown more popular recently. Either that or since everyone knows that I am unemployed and have nothing else to do I have become everyone’s favorite waste of time. It’s like I’m a human Sudoku or something. Actually, that is a pretty good description of me. You have to spend a lot of time fiddling around with numbers in order to have me make any sort of sense.
I don’t mind chatting, really. It certainly makes my days more interesting and saves me from my fear that unemployment was going to result in my spending multiple days talking to no one who wasn’t a cashier or a bartender. And if a friend needs to talk I’m there for them in any way, shape or form. But the entire internet chat concept is strange to me and really doesn’t work for me.
For one thing, I really like writing in complete sentences that actually involve grammar and punctuation. Now it is true that I have written blog entries that just consist of bullet points those individual points were well constructed. Most people I chat with can’t be bothered to capitalize words and I find myself doing the same just so I won’t look odd. Otherwise it is like speaking Shakespearean English to a drunk. True, the language is technically the same but neither of you are going to make a lick of sense to one another.
There is also the strange fact that you are holding a conversation in which neither of you are sure when the other one has stopped talking or quit listening. While some chat programs let you know when the other person is typing, which is at least a slight indication that the other person wants to speak, they never tell you “the other party has stepped away from the laptop so stop pouring your heart out because they aren’t paying a lick of attention to you.” Now that would be a good emoticon to have available. Maybe it would be a smiley face looking at a TV while another smiley face is trying to plead for attention.
But my biggest problem with chat is why don’t you just call the other person? Sure, sometimes that is not a possibility. If you’re stuck in an office there are some conversations that are better had through a chat. But it’s when people chat with me when we are both just at home sitting at our computers. Heck, it’s even after nine so it’s not like you are going to be using any wireless minutes. It just seems like another wall we put up to keep ourselves separated from people. Words on a screen are less personal than actually talking. It doesn’t bother me too much but I wonder why we just can’t talk to each other anymore. We just seem content to interact with the digital versions of each other. I think that is a mistake. Analog is a good way to go.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
I am Iron Man
This might be a tough blog post to write. Not because it is going to be on a sensitive subject or anything. More like I’ve been at a computer writing on and off for the past six hours so coming up with yet another topic to write about is going to be a little challenging. My main break so far was for dinner and to watch the storm of doom that came through the area. The tornado sirens even went off, which caused me to rush onto my porch to see what was happening.
Yeah, self-preservation is not exactly one of my strong suits.
I did accomplish one very important task today. I got my hair cut. I’ll put that on the plus side of the unemployment ledger; I can get a haircut on a Thursday afternoon and not feel bad about it in the least. Before it was always a Saturday errand and it bummed me out that I was using up some of my valuable free time in a situation where multi-tasking would be a dangerous undertaking. This afternoon all I had to do was decide between a haircut and watching Judge Judy. This is a much nicer way to live.
Since I am low on topics, and since the movie is coming out, I might as well give my views on Iron Man. I heard him described as a second tier hero today and I didn’t think that was fair. True, he probably ranks behind Spidey and the Hulk and Captain America in the Marvel pantheon but I always thought he was pretty cool. I always liked him better than the Fantastic Four as a whole (I never understood why you would have a guy whose only ability is that he can stretch his body be the leader of a fighting force) and he would totally kick Aquaman’s ass (yes, that is a DC character but I just really, really hate Aquaman. Swimming is not a superpower.)
Iron Man is actually a rather interesting character. Originally he wore the suit due to a heart condition that was caused by stepping on a landmine in southeast Asia. His character was kind of built around the whole Vietnam anti-communist view. Not sure if they were aiming for an update Captain America or not but in the end the character became the billionaire playboy. Similar to Bruce Wayne but without as much of the dark edge.
Ok, that’s not entirely accurate. The biggest part of the Iron Man mystique is that Tony Stark is an alcoholic. That’s not something you would typically see in the comic books. Heroes might have weaknesses but it is always something like kryptonite. Here it was shown that there really was a man behind the suit who was as human as one can be. It makes for a rather amazing character. The reason I’ve never liked Superman is that the character is essentially a god. He comes from outer space, has unearthly powers and does nothing wrong. Batman is human and has no superpowers, just surviving on his wits and skill. Iron Man falls somewhere in between, human and flawed but with the ability to fly and blow stuff up by shooting laser beams from his hands.
Does that mean that the movie will be any good? It looks good and Robert Downey Jr. is a brilliant choice to play Tony Stark. He just has the alcoholic playboy look about him. I like the look better than Speed Racer, which even in commercials seems to annoy me. Mainly I just hope for superhero movies that make me remember why I read comic books in the first place. To escape from the every day.
Now, when they make Watchmen into a movie I’ll really rip into what they are doing. Unless they make that a 12 hour movie it is just not going to work.
Yeah, self-preservation is not exactly one of my strong suits.
I did accomplish one very important task today. I got my hair cut. I’ll put that on the plus side of the unemployment ledger; I can get a haircut on a Thursday afternoon and not feel bad about it in the least. Before it was always a Saturday errand and it bummed me out that I was using up some of my valuable free time in a situation where multi-tasking would be a dangerous undertaking. This afternoon all I had to do was decide between a haircut and watching Judge Judy. This is a much nicer way to live.
Since I am low on topics, and since the movie is coming out, I might as well give my views on Iron Man. I heard him described as a second tier hero today and I didn’t think that was fair. True, he probably ranks behind Spidey and the Hulk and Captain America in the Marvel pantheon but I always thought he was pretty cool. I always liked him better than the Fantastic Four as a whole (I never understood why you would have a guy whose only ability is that he can stretch his body be the leader of a fighting force) and he would totally kick Aquaman’s ass (yes, that is a DC character but I just really, really hate Aquaman. Swimming is not a superpower.)
Iron Man is actually a rather interesting character. Originally he wore the suit due to a heart condition that was caused by stepping on a landmine in southeast Asia. His character was kind of built around the whole Vietnam anti-communist view. Not sure if they were aiming for an update Captain America or not but in the end the character became the billionaire playboy. Similar to Bruce Wayne but without as much of the dark edge.
Ok, that’s not entirely accurate. The biggest part of the Iron Man mystique is that Tony Stark is an alcoholic. That’s not something you would typically see in the comic books. Heroes might have weaknesses but it is always something like kryptonite. Here it was shown that there really was a man behind the suit who was as human as one can be. It makes for a rather amazing character. The reason I’ve never liked Superman is that the character is essentially a god. He comes from outer space, has unearthly powers and does nothing wrong. Batman is human and has no superpowers, just surviving on his wits and skill. Iron Man falls somewhere in between, human and flawed but with the ability to fly and blow stuff up by shooting laser beams from his hands.
Does that mean that the movie will be any good? It looks good and Robert Downey Jr. is a brilliant choice to play Tony Stark. He just has the alcoholic playboy look about him. I like the look better than Speed Racer, which even in commercials seems to annoy me. Mainly I just hope for superhero movies that make me remember why I read comic books in the first place. To escape from the every day.
Now, when they make Watchmen into a movie I’ll really rip into what they are doing. Unless they make that a 12 hour movie it is just not going to work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)