Category Archives: Life
Pure Hawaiian White!
In a former life as a college Film & TV student, I worked on a mock commercial written and directed by a classmate friend of mine. It featured two guys in a run-down warehouse — one wanting to buy from the other some “premium Hawaiian white stuff” for his wife who desperately needed it.
The seller opens a case containing bags of white powder. The transaction is interrupted, and the commercial ends, with both men fleeing sudden sirens and flashing red and blue lights. The piece is really funny because it was done in the mid 1970s, during the height of the sugar shortage when prices skyrocketed.
Just this past week we had a whole other kind of “white stuff.”
Continue reading
13 Comments | tags: cold, doohickey, November, snow, sugar, temperature, winter | posted in Life
You did, too, right? (Non-USA residents excused.)
2 Comments | tags: democracy, election day, government, I voted, politicians, USA, USAnian, vote | posted in Life
I’m not sure Eric Clapton is the greatest guitar player ever. I can think of a number of other guitar “gods” that seem in his class (Carlos Santana and Lindsey Buckingham, to name just two). But I am pretty sure the late (great!) George Carlin was without peer. I can’t think of anyone else who lasted longer (50 years!), worked harder, gave us so many classic bits or been more consistently good. He died in 2008, at 71, having done his 14th HBO special just four months earlier.
I thought he went through an angry period (the 1990s, maybe?) where he seemed to lash out indiscriminately at everything and everyone. He seemed a little less funny to me then, but he was never really wrong… just angry. I only ever really disagreed with him once.
And that was on his view that you shouldn’t vote.
Continue reading
40 Comments | tags: Carlos Santana, democracy, election day, Eric Clapton, George Carlin, government, Lindsey Buckingham, politicians, USA, USAnian, vote | posted in Life
Sometimes you encounter someone who seems to really hit the nail on the head in terms of how they see the world. The brilliance of these moments is that — especially if you tend to be a social outlier — you’re given the gift of knowing you’re not alone. There are people who not only see the world as you do but see it even more clearly and intelligently than you ever could.
Leon Wieseltier appeared on The Colbert Report last Tuesday (Oct 7), and I was so blown away by his words that I kept rewinding and rewinding so I could write it all down and record here what he said.
I was especially impressed by his ten-word critique of modern society!
Continue reading
47 Comments | tags: Colbert Nation, critical thinking, democratic society, emotional mind, Leon Wieseltier, rational mind, rational thought, Robert Plant, Robert Plant - Rainbow, Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report | posted in Life, Quotes, TV
Last time I gave you the final chapter in the Story of Samantha — the repose of her ashes. Two years ago, I gave you an early chapter, the Tale of the Perfect Day (in part, a tale of a tail). This time, somewhat like a (long-delayed) wake, I’m going to share some random memories from The Life of Sam.
Actually, she was Samantha II. The first Samantha was a puppy I shared with a roommate. That Sam died very young when she lost in an attempt to take down a passing bus. My roommate, who’d left the gate open, was utterly devastated. We buried her beneath a stand of Joshua trees far out in the Mojave Desert.
The puppy, that is, not my roommate.
Continue reading
18 Comments | tags: Bewitched, Black Lab, Black Labrador Retriever, dog games, dogs, Elizabeth Montgomery, Keeshond, Kong toy, Sam, Samantha | posted in Life
The autumn leaves that litter the trail crunch beneath my feet, and dozens of flying insects — grasshoppers I think — flee the oncoming giant tromping through their domain. The late morning sky is a lovely cerulean broken only by lonely, scattered cloud wisps. The October air is crisp — like a chilled white wine — dry, bracing, invigorating. I am given a perfect fall day to accomplish my task.
The trees that surround me, mostly oak and linden, a few scattered elms, give way to pines. Now the trail is covered in long pine needles and pinecones. Large birds — falcons perhaps — watch my passing with avian alarm. A brave one flies directly overhead to get a closer look at the encroaching human.
I’m seeking the “Cathedral of Pines,” the place I’ve chosen for Sam’s final rest.
Continue reading
36 Comments | tags: ashes, autumn leaves, Black Lab, Black Labrador Retriever, dogs, final resting place, last rites, mourning, parks, peace, perfect day, pine trees, quiet, Sam, Samantha, silence, trees | posted in Life
I’ve been trying to re-synch my clock to a more normal daylight cycle. All my life I’ve been a “night crawler.” My very first official job involved a retail position, but we worked outdoors. I noticed how, no matter how tired I was, once the sun fell, I got a fresh breath of wind. And even at my advanced age, staying up all night is easy (and so is napping all afternoon).
My (ex-)wife used to say I must have vampire blood in me. It’s true I do like to bite necks, but so far I have drawn only moans, no blood. It may be more that I’ve always identified with the idea, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Life is filled with so many interesting things, who wants to waste time sleeping? And for all my life, five hours seems to do me just fine.
But the point here is that I’ve been trying to become more of a day person.
Continue reading
19 Comments | tags: autumn, autumn leaves, frost, frosty lawn, frosty roof, global warming, lawn, snow, winter | posted in Life
If “we are what we eat,” then what about what we consume with our minds? If the food we eat becomes the substance of our muscles and bones, doesn’t the information we absorb become the substance of our thoughts and emotions? We understand that it’s not healthy to live on junk food alone; do we have a similar sense regarding our mental health?
I think a lot about the media content we absorb so casually day in and day out. In the last three or four decades, we seem to have come to an ugly, unfortunate place for entertainment dining. Our diet now is rich in violence and sexuality, and it’s served in a visceral emotional stew of force and conflict.
I think it’s disturbing, especially considering how few seem disturbed by it!
Continue reading
14 Comments | tags: Ali Larter, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brian Dennehy, CSI, F/X (movie), F/X2 (movie), Final Destination, movie violence, Quentin Tarantino, Sherlock Holmes, Total Recall, TV violence, violence, violence in movies | posted in Life, Movies, TV
If you’re wondering about the Gravitar change, it’s because I’ve temporarily switched my email notification address. I’m switching to a new service provider for my main email and personal website, so there needs to be an alternate for WordPress during the cut-over.
I could have used the Gmail account I set up for this blog, but Gmail and Goggle+ are too complicated for my taste. Maybe I’m getting old, but I’ve found it extremely challenging to learn my way around Google+ and YouTube.
Anyway, the Gravitar image is from a trip to Disney World — Epcot, to be specific. This would have been back in 1999, I think (wow; fifteen years!). They had a thing that would take your picture and merge it into one of several possible animals. Naturally, I picked the dog (my first dog as a child was a beagle, in fact).
Continue reading
22 Comments | tags: acedia, DisneyWorld, email, Gravitar, ISP, selfies, Weltschmerz | posted in Life
My personal life — at least from some angles — hasn’t had a lot of marks in the win column. The wins, it seems, have been mostly reserved for my work. In the early days, theatre lighting, student- and amateur-level efforts in film and TV, and finally, computer programming. My work has generally been deemed useful and of high-quality, so at least I don’t feel like a total fail.
But broken hearts litter my past, and I approach the six-decade mark without my own family or mate. My life has been daunted by physical limitations, plus I look like a bit like Quasimodo. The point is, outside of my work, I’m used to the dragon winning; I’m used to throwing snake eyes; I’m used to everything being difficult and a challenge.
But every once in a while… the Dragon loses!
Continue reading
16 Comments | tags: dragon loses, dragon wins, ginger cookies, leaky valve, plumbing, shower valve | posted in Life
Logos con carne 