I called in from work today, because I have been struck with the mystery disease from hell. I have no energy whatsoever [which is (part of) why I haven't replied to the comments on the free will post. Which I do appreciate. I'll get to that soon. Or maybe I won't! Heh.], and my throat hurts to swallow (or touch, because the inside has swollen so much.) and my lower back is absolutely killing me. Also, moving too suddenly results in a massively killer headache.
Some of this is due to allergies, I know. Still doesn't help in making it go away.
(And I doubt severely that the allergies are causing my back pain.)
Anyway. Can you believe that April is (almost) done? Gahhhh.
As has been the custom this year, month-end means adding up word counts and movie reviews (such as they are)
I don't have the energy to do movie recaps, so instead I'll just say that all of the films seen in April were enjoyable, in their own unique ways. Yes, even She's All That. (Or perhaps I'm just delieroius right now.)
Word count total: 241; 192; 501; 272; 535; 874; 783; 437; 237; 201; 94; 748; 573; 994
And this one is - 236
Bringing the month total to - 6918
And year to date - 23,739
Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go lie down and die [/overdramatic]
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
How it's supposed to happen
So, yeah. Free will.
I really doubt I'm in the right frame of mind to do this proper, which is how it seems to go each time I go about trying to type up a 'deep thought' type of post.
I'll attempt it regardless. If I jump around and don't make my points clearly enough, well, that's pretty much P@ for the course, isn't it?
After giving the matter of free will some thought, i've decided that it most likely doesn't truly exist. However, bottom line is, we have the illusion of it, which might ultimately result in the same thing. (Heh. I think I just covered both bases there. [doh]) And in the end, it really can't be proven or disproven, so arguing about it is just so much mental masturbation. Which, granted, can be fun, but in the end doesn't really accomplish much.
That being said....
Here's something: For those of you who believe that free will exists... prove it? And, yeah, I know that just three sentences back I said that was an impossible task, but, you know, humor me. Either prove it, or tell me why you think that it does exist.
I'm going to explain why I think it doesn't.
The Universe is, as far as I can tell, a deterministic place. When certain actions happen, you will always get the same reaction. Light always travels at 186,000 miles per second (yeah, yeah, except when it doesn't). The earth always orbits around the sun. Gravity always works (again, yeah, yeah, except where it doesn't... and actually, I think that still stands that gravity remains working, it's just that there isn't any in zero-g. I'm not an expert on the matter [heh. pun.], and I don't need to be, my point stands that these things have no choice in how they work. They just do. If you drop a bowling ball, it will always fall to the ground. So, bowling balls don't have free will. At least in regard to whether they want to obey the law of gravity.)
But, the above examples are all of nonliving things. Life is a different matter, some may say.
Well. Let's take a look at life.
Your lungs will always do the job they were made to do (assuming you don't smoke or develop cancer or whatever).
Your stomach will always do the job it was made to do.
Skin cells always react the same way to cold.
So, by breaking your body down, you can see that individual body parts don't have free will. Your blood always flows. It doesn't make a decision between clotting or not, for example.
So, what about consciousness? The ultimate test. Well, it would help if we knew exactly what consciousness is. I mean, if we're going to say that only conscious things have free will, does this mean that people with underdeveloped levels of consciousness (say, babies) don't have free will?
...I'm not sure where I'm going with that. [shrug]
Here's what I propose, though. That since everything else is deterministic, and is only reacting to events that have come before - that all of the present is effect from the past's causes - then why would consciousness be any different? How could it be?
When you are given a choice, whatever you wind up picking is what you had to pick. Because of everything that has happened from the creation of the Universe up to that point in time. There was no other option, really. You are simply reacting to the weight of history.
In order for the choice to have been different, there would have to have been something different done at the Big Bang (or however the Universe began). Seriously.
So, that's basically it. I don't feel I've explained it very well, but I'm open to dialog in the commenting section. And I'm not set in stone on this theory, either. If evidence of free will comes along, and it's convincing enough, I'll happily change my mind. (Of course, at this point I see it more as I would have to change my mind, because there's no other way that it could've happened.) ;)
Some interesting 'side effects' of this belief of Fate:
It goes a long way toward explaining psychic abilities that some people seem to display. The human brain has evolved to be superbly adept at picking out patterns. If all of life is basically a set of dominoes falling, if you can get a good enough picture of what way the dominoes will fall, you could conceivably predict when the next one would. (Does that make any sense?)
Theoretically, one could know everything that is going to happen (and, by extrapolating, everything that ever did) if you could look at the patterns enough. Perhaps that's what our ultimate destiny is.
Another thing, and it's more a neat idea than anything, is that if there is no free will, and if there is a god, then obviously god doesn't have free will either. Which would explain "why god lets bad things happen", which is one question that millions of people (theists and atheists and agnostics together) have asked themselves. God lets bad things happen (and good things) because God had no choice in the matter. This is how it is supposed to happen.
And lastly, I've found that accepting the idea of fate and predeterminism, bad things are easier to accept. It's kinda a Zen thing, really. There was no way of avoiding it, none of the choices I, or anyone else, would've made any difference, so, there ya go. Paradoxically, I have a feeling that many people don't want to give up the idea of free will. (Because they're enamored with control, is my suspicion.) At first the idea of lack of free will bothered me, too, but I've come to terms with it. Because there's no other way that it could've been. :)
All right. Have at it.
I really doubt I'm in the right frame of mind to do this proper, which is how it seems to go each time I go about trying to type up a 'deep thought' type of post.
I'll attempt it regardless. If I jump around and don't make my points clearly enough, well, that's pretty much P@ for the course, isn't it?
After giving the matter of free will some thought, i've decided that it most likely doesn't truly exist. However, bottom line is, we have the illusion of it, which might ultimately result in the same thing. (Heh. I think I just covered both bases there. [doh]) And in the end, it really can't be proven or disproven, so arguing about it is just so much mental masturbation. Which, granted, can be fun, but in the end doesn't really accomplish much.
That being said....
Here's something: For those of you who believe that free will exists... prove it? And, yeah, I know that just three sentences back I said that was an impossible task, but, you know, humor me. Either prove it, or tell me why you think that it does exist.
I'm going to explain why I think it doesn't.
The Universe is, as far as I can tell, a deterministic place. When certain actions happen, you will always get the same reaction. Light always travels at 186,000 miles per second (yeah, yeah, except when it doesn't). The earth always orbits around the sun. Gravity always works (again, yeah, yeah, except where it doesn't... and actually, I think that still stands that gravity remains working, it's just that there isn't any in zero-g. I'm not an expert on the matter [heh. pun.], and I don't need to be, my point stands that these things have no choice in how they work. They just do. If you drop a bowling ball, it will always fall to the ground. So, bowling balls don't have free will. At least in regard to whether they want to obey the law of gravity.)
But, the above examples are all of nonliving things. Life is a different matter, some may say.
Well. Let's take a look at life.
Your lungs will always do the job they were made to do (assuming you don't smoke or develop cancer or whatever).
Your stomach will always do the job it was made to do.
Skin cells always react the same way to cold.
So, by breaking your body down, you can see that individual body parts don't have free will. Your blood always flows. It doesn't make a decision between clotting or not, for example.
So, what about consciousness? The ultimate test. Well, it would help if we knew exactly what consciousness is. I mean, if we're going to say that only conscious things have free will, does this mean that people with underdeveloped levels of consciousness (say, babies) don't have free will?
...I'm not sure where I'm going with that. [shrug]
Here's what I propose, though. That since everything else is deterministic, and is only reacting to events that have come before - that all of the present is effect from the past's causes - then why would consciousness be any different? How could it be?
When you are given a choice, whatever you wind up picking is what you had to pick. Because of everything that has happened from the creation of the Universe up to that point in time. There was no other option, really. You are simply reacting to the weight of history.
In order for the choice to have been different, there would have to have been something different done at the Big Bang (or however the Universe began). Seriously.
So, that's basically it. I don't feel I've explained it very well, but I'm open to dialog in the commenting section. And I'm not set in stone on this theory, either. If evidence of free will comes along, and it's convincing enough, I'll happily change my mind. (Of course, at this point I see it more as I would have to change my mind, because there's no other way that it could've happened.) ;)
Some interesting 'side effects' of this belief of Fate:
It goes a long way toward explaining psychic abilities that some people seem to display. The human brain has evolved to be superbly adept at picking out patterns. If all of life is basically a set of dominoes falling, if you can get a good enough picture of what way the dominoes will fall, you could conceivably predict when the next one would. (Does that make any sense?)
Theoretically, one could know everything that is going to happen (and, by extrapolating, everything that ever did) if you could look at the patterns enough. Perhaps that's what our ultimate destiny is.
Another thing, and it's more a neat idea than anything, is that if there is no free will, and if there is a god, then obviously god doesn't have free will either. Which would explain "why god lets bad things happen", which is one question that millions of people (theists and atheists and agnostics together) have asked themselves. God lets bad things happen (and good things) because God had no choice in the matter. This is how it is supposed to happen.
And lastly, I've found that accepting the idea of fate and predeterminism, bad things are easier to accept. It's kinda a Zen thing, really. There was no way of avoiding it, none of the choices I, or anyone else, would've made any difference, so, there ya go. Paradoxically, I have a feeling that many people don't want to give up the idea of free will. (Because they're enamored with control, is my suspicion.) At first the idea of lack of free will bothered me, too, but I've come to terms with it. Because there's no other way that it could've been. :)
All right. Have at it.
Friday, April 25, 2008
How Thursday Went
Woke up at Early:30, as per usual.
Got ready, then woke Saren and Harper. Made them breakfast, and then Steph woke up too, as did Irina. The whole family was up before 6:30! Mark it on your calendars!
Me, Saren and Harper left for work, with the girls' lunch around 6:45.
The early morning poll on the way in was, "If a co-worker gets one of these, there's a 40% chance you will, too." (The answer was "headache".)
Got to work around 7:15.
Over the course of the 6 hours we were there, we:
(not necessarily in order)
Ate lunch.
Walked to 7-11.
Visited nearly every office in both buildings.
Killed tapes. [not really killing, since they're not alive. It means we removed the labels from tapes that have aired, and put them back in the pile to be reused.]
Added the South Park episode numbers for the 1st and 2nd run episodes for May through September. [the girls did all that, actually. I read the numbers to them, they took turns entering the data into the computer.]
Emailed Steph.
Did the Dr. Phil Shuffle. [not a dance, per se.]
Listened to the Whale.
Played with the transformer at my desk (Starscream)
So, you know, more or less just like any other day at work for me. Except that it was shorter, and I had helpers.
After lunch we left to go back home. We picked up Steph and Irina, drove to Taco Bell for lunch for Steph, and then to Bounce U.
At Bounce U, Steph talked with some of the moms while I played with all 3 girls in the bouncy ...things.
Harper asked if I would "chase her around", and so we eventually all partook in a game of Terminator. There are nerf balls all over the place at Bounce U, and we decided that the balls could be used as "bullets". If you were killed or lost a limb, you would remain dead or maimed until someone else touched you. (Just like in real life!)
Lots of running around (or walking around, on my part. I was not a T-1000, and thus did all my hunting at a casual pace) and dying ensued. (I even allowed some artistic license where if a bullet hit me in the chest or head, that I, too, would be 'deactivated' until I was touched.)
Irina mostly just ran from me, and/or chased all of us with a ball in her hand. But, at one point Saren was "dead", and Harper was also "dead", both lying on the ground. Seeing this, Irina decided to "die" as well.
Upon seeing that all 3 of my targets had been terminated, my mission was accomplished.
So, you may ask, how does a Terminator celebrate a successful operation?
By doing the Terminator dance.
Which, of course, looks suspiciously like The Robot.
:)
After about two and a half hours at Bounce U, we left for Star Nursery where we perused the tomato plants and herbs and tortoises and whatnot.
Then it was home again, home again, jiggity-jig.
At night we watched Survivor (Can Natalie go back to being in the background? It was better when we didn't hear from her) and then 30 Rock and then Lost, and by the end of that we were all super-exhausted and ready to collapse into sleep, which, for the most part, we did.
Overall, a very good day.
Got ready, then woke Saren and Harper. Made them breakfast, and then Steph woke up too, as did Irina. The whole family was up before 6:30! Mark it on your calendars!
Me, Saren and Harper left for work, with the girls' lunch around 6:45.
The early morning poll on the way in was, "If a co-worker gets one of these, there's a 40% chance you will, too." (The answer was "headache".)
Got to work around 7:15.
Over the course of the 6 hours we were there, we:
(not necessarily in order)
Ate lunch.
Walked to 7-11.
Visited nearly every office in both buildings.
Killed tapes. [not really killing, since they're not alive. It means we removed the labels from tapes that have aired, and put them back in the pile to be reused.]
Added the South Park episode numbers for the 1st and 2nd run episodes for May through September. [the girls did all that, actually. I read the numbers to them, they took turns entering the data into the computer.]
Emailed Steph.
Did the Dr. Phil Shuffle. [not a dance, per se.]
Listened to the Whale.
Played with the transformer at my desk (Starscream)
So, you know, more or less just like any other day at work for me. Except that it was shorter, and I had helpers.
After lunch we left to go back home. We picked up Steph and Irina, drove to Taco Bell for lunch for Steph, and then to Bounce U.
At Bounce U, Steph talked with some of the moms while I played with all 3 girls in the bouncy ...things.
Harper asked if I would "chase her around", and so we eventually all partook in a game of Terminator. There are nerf balls all over the place at Bounce U, and we decided that the balls could be used as "bullets". If you were killed or lost a limb, you would remain dead or maimed until someone else touched you. (Just like in real life!)
Lots of running around (or walking around, on my part. I was not a T-1000, and thus did all my hunting at a casual pace) and dying ensued. (I even allowed some artistic license where if a bullet hit me in the chest or head, that I, too, would be 'deactivated' until I was touched.)
Irina mostly just ran from me, and/or chased all of us with a ball in her hand. But, at one point Saren was "dead", and Harper was also "dead", both lying on the ground. Seeing this, Irina decided to "die" as well.
Upon seeing that all 3 of my targets had been terminated, my mission was accomplished.
So, you may ask, how does a Terminator celebrate a successful operation?
By doing the Terminator dance.
Which, of course, looks suspiciously like The Robot.
:)
After about two and a half hours at Bounce U, we left for Star Nursery where we perused the tomato plants and herbs and tortoises and whatnot.
Then it was home again, home again, jiggity-jig.
At night we watched Survivor (Can Natalie go back to being in the background? It was better when we didn't hear from her) and then 30 Rock and then Lost, and by the end of that we were all super-exhausted and ready to collapse into sleep, which, for the most part, we did.
Overall, a very good day.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
When every judgment seems to smack of doom
"Nanci" ~ Toad the Wet Sprocket
Random thoughts from the past day or so. I have a headache (that, plus my tendency to ramble), so I don't know that I'll get to all of them, but I'll try.
On the drive home today, I saw two vehicles with the Superman symbol on the back. Weird.
But I also had the radio on scan (not uncommon) and one of the stations was playing Five For Fighting's "Superman (It's Not Easy)". Weirder!
Every morning on the way in to work, I listen to 97.1 because they have the "Early Morning Poll", in which they ask a trivia question, people call, guess the answer, win prizes. Yesterday the question was, "This is reported every 3 minutes, worldwide."
The answer turned out to be "UFO Sightings". [eyebrow]
I googled the phrase 'every 3 minutes worldwide' a few minutes ago (before typing this entry up, actually) and I didn't see anything about UFOs in my brief glancing at the results. I did, however, see two or three sites claiming that a child is killed on the road every three minutes. Yikes. I guess that's a lot more depressing for a radio show to report in the morning than UFO sightings. (Oh, and when I googled 'every 3 minutes worldwide ufo', I turned up plenty of sites that reported that, yes, there are supposedly over 70,000 a year. So, there ya go.)
Anyway. I know I've seen plenty of stuff in the sky that I couldn't identify, which is the technical definition of UFO. I doubt highly that any of the objects I saw were flying saucers, though.
I open it to the fair readers: Had any UFO sightings? And do you think they were alien crafts? Do you think that flying saucers are real and/or are aliens?
Personally, I don't really believe that there's anything to the whole UFO-abduction/greys walk among us/X-Files were telling the truth debacle, but, just like proof of god, or free will, or ghosts, there's no knowing absolutely 100% either way.
Actually, as I sit here typing this up, and my head keeps pounding, I start to think, "no. I can say that there is no God. That there is no free will. And that ghosts do not exist." Because, looking at those things logically, you can see that they're just silly.
Of course, as I typed that, my brain said, "Yes, and think of all the things in life that defy logic." (Although, um. What?) [Good hell. I am like the definition of 'indecisive'.]
Whatever. The point is, people will believe whatever they want to believe.
Moving on...
Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day. It's "Take Your Child(ren) To Work Day", so, Saren, Harper, and I will go to work for about half the day. Then, sometime after lunch, we'll leave in order to attend the Henderson Homeschoolers Day at Bounce U for a few hours. (With Steph and Irina as well). And then that night, Lost returns! (At 10pm!)
It's a good thing that it's a blog-free day. It'll give me stuff to talk about on Friday. Heh.
We got Disc 4 of Season 4 of Buffy today. I'm shocked - shocked! - that the last episode on there is This Year's Girl. That means Who Are You (part 2 of the 2-parter) is on the next disc. That's just some bone-headed scheduling there.
At work today someone asked me what "kosher" meant. My best guess -not being Jewish and all - was that it had to deal with food and how it was prepared? Something about how the animal is killed or something? I don't really know, but the point is that that's another strike against religion in my book. I don't want to be told what I can and can not eat. I guess if I ever do decide to convert to some religion or 'nother, that that will be among my guidelines: "Must not have rules regarding eating".
Also at work today, the topic of the Mayan calendar came up. 12/21/12, baby!! But, as we get closer to that day (4.5 years and counting!), and after doing a little more looking into the matter, I really dont' think that anything will come of that day. (Um. Apart from the zombiepocalypse, of course.) But it is still a cool date, no matter what happens.
Holy crap. I'm starving! I think that's my cue to Publish Post!
Random thoughts from the past day or so. I have a headache (that, plus my tendency to ramble), so I don't know that I'll get to all of them, but I'll try.
On the drive home today, I saw two vehicles with the Superman symbol on the back. Weird.
But I also had the radio on scan (not uncommon) and one of the stations was playing Five For Fighting's "Superman (It's Not Easy)". Weirder!
Every morning on the way in to work, I listen to 97.1 because they have the "Early Morning Poll", in which they ask a trivia question, people call, guess the answer, win prizes. Yesterday the question was, "This is reported every 3 minutes, worldwide."
The answer turned out to be "UFO Sightings". [eyebrow]
I googled the phrase 'every 3 minutes worldwide' a few minutes ago (before typing this entry up, actually) and I didn't see anything about UFOs in my brief glancing at the results. I did, however, see two or three sites claiming that a child is killed on the road every three minutes. Yikes. I guess that's a lot more depressing for a radio show to report in the morning than UFO sightings. (Oh, and when I googled 'every 3 minutes worldwide ufo', I turned up plenty of sites that reported that, yes, there are supposedly over 70,000 a year. So, there ya go.)
Anyway. I know I've seen plenty of stuff in the sky that I couldn't identify, which is the technical definition of UFO. I doubt highly that any of the objects I saw were flying saucers, though.
I open it to the fair readers: Had any UFO sightings? And do you think they were alien crafts? Do you think that flying saucers are real and/or are aliens?
Personally, I don't really believe that there's anything to the whole UFO-abduction/greys walk among us/X-Files were telling the truth debacle, but, just like proof of god, or free will, or ghosts, there's no knowing absolutely 100% either way.
Actually, as I sit here typing this up, and my head keeps pounding, I start to think, "no. I can say that there is no God. That there is no free will. And that ghosts do not exist." Because, looking at those things logically, you can see that they're just silly.
Of course, as I typed that, my brain said, "Yes, and think of all the things in life that defy logic." (Although, um. What?) [Good hell. I am like the definition of 'indecisive'.]
Whatever. The point is, people will believe whatever they want to believe.
Moving on...
Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day. It's "Take Your Child(ren) To Work Day", so, Saren, Harper, and I will go to work for about half the day. Then, sometime after lunch, we'll leave in order to attend the Henderson Homeschoolers Day at Bounce U for a few hours. (With Steph and Irina as well). And then that night, Lost returns! (At 10pm!)
It's a good thing that it's a blog-free day. It'll give me stuff to talk about on Friday. Heh.
We got Disc 4 of Season 4 of Buffy today. I'm shocked - shocked! - that the last episode on there is This Year's Girl. That means Who Are You (part 2 of the 2-parter) is on the next disc. That's just some bone-headed scheduling there.
At work today someone asked me what "kosher" meant. My best guess -not being Jewish and all - was that it had to deal with food and how it was prepared? Something about how the animal is killed or something? I don't really know, but the point is that that's another strike against religion in my book. I don't want to be told what I can and can not eat. I guess if I ever do decide to convert to some religion or 'nother, that that will be among my guidelines: "Must not have rules regarding eating".
Also at work today, the topic of the Mayan calendar came up. 12/21/12, baby!! But, as we get closer to that day (4.5 years and counting!), and after doing a little more looking into the matter, I really dont' think that anything will come of that day. (Um. Apart from the zombiepocalypse, of course.) But it is still a cool date, no matter what happens.
Holy crap. I'm starving! I think that's my cue to Publish Post!
Monday, April 21, 2008
blahmeh
Blah. And. Meh.
I considered posting a list of Stephen King's bibliography, and bolding the ones I've read/seen (mostly because I'm about 1/2 of the way through Duma Key right now) but, after thinking about it, the idea seems kinda lame. (ha! kindalame!! Good times.)
I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to continue doing this 'blog every other day' gimmick for the rest of the year. Part of me wants to stop, part of me wants to continue. We'll see.
This entry is Duh-ll. I blame it on being Monday.
I considered posting a list of Stephen King's bibliography, and bolding the ones I've read/seen (mostly because I'm about 1/2 of the way through Duma Key right now) but, after thinking about it, the idea seems kinda lame. (ha! kindalame!! Good times.)
I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to continue doing this 'blog every other day' gimmick for the rest of the year. Part of me wants to stop, part of me wants to continue. We'll see.
This entry is Duh-ll. I blame it on being Monday.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
The Harry Potter Code
JK Rowling knows the mysteries of the universe, and they are hidden within her opuses.
Now, for the low, low price of 19.95*, I can reveal to you how to discover your very own personal message from Ms. Rowling!
You will need all 7 Harry Potter books in order to do this properly.
You will also need to know your birthday.
In each book, go to the chapter that corresponds with your birth-month. (Chapter 1 if you were born in January, Chapter 2 if you were born in February, etc.)
Then, pick the word that corresponds with the date that you were born.
Do this for all 7 books.
So, if you were born on April 19th, you would pick the 19th word out of Chapter 4 from each volume.
Here is my Harry Potter Code (June 14th), in case you are curious:
scared from day room straight weeks followed
(What does it mean!?)
If you take the time to work this out, please share. I'm curious if anyone else gets anything that almost resembles some sort of coherent sentence.
*About 19.95 seconds, which is probably about how long it took to read the entry, I suppose.
Now, for the low, low price of 19.95*, I can reveal to you how to discover your very own personal message from Ms. Rowling!
You will need all 7 Harry Potter books in order to do this properly.
You will also need to know your birthday.
In each book, go to the chapter that corresponds with your birth-month. (Chapter 1 if you were born in January, Chapter 2 if you were born in February, etc.)
Then, pick the word that corresponds with the date that you were born.
Do this for all 7 books.
So, if you were born on April 19th, you would pick the 19th word out of Chapter 4 from each volume.
Here is my Harry Potter Code (June 14th), in case you are curious:
(What does it mean!?)
If you take the time to work this out, please share. I'm curious if anyone else gets anything that almost resembles some sort of coherent sentence.
*About 19.95 seconds, which is probably about how long it took to read the entry, I suppose.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
What god is
On the way into work today, I took the freeway, as opposed to the surface streets I normally traverse. (This was because I didn't go in until later in the day due to the girls having a doctor's appointment. Which Steph wrote about here.)
Anyway, since this was not my normal route, I saw a billboard that I normally would not.
The billboard was all black, with white letters printed on it.
It read:
"I Am." - God
My first thought was... "God is a billboard?" (Yes, I was being obtuse and ignoring the punctuation.)
But. That made me start to think about all the different ideas about god that people have.
I bet if you asked a thousand people "What is god?", you'd get at least 40 different answers. ;)
Hell, I could probably come up with 40 answers to that question myself, and I'm just one person.
God is...
love
a lie
a father
a creator
everywhere
in the tv
a dick
google
no, really, god is google
a guy with a beard up in the sky
omniscient
omnipotent
energy
a dj
music
communication
Jesus
Buddha
Allah
incompetent
dead
imaginary
fictional
money
a concept
on my side
a woman
Well, you get the point.
The better question (or one not asked as often, I guess) would be: "What isn't god?"
So, I pose both questions to you, fellow P@riots:
What is (or isn't) god?
Anyway, since this was not my normal route, I saw a billboard that I normally would not.
The billboard was all black, with white letters printed on it.
It read:
My first thought was... "God is a billboard?" (Yes, I was being obtuse and ignoring the punctuation.)
But. That made me start to think about all the different ideas about god that people have.
I bet if you asked a thousand people "What is god?", you'd get at least 40 different answers. ;)
Hell, I could probably come up with 40 answers to that question myself, and I'm just one person.
God is...
love
a lie
a father
a creator
everywhere
in the tv
a dick
no, really, god is google
a guy with a beard up in the sky
omniscient
omnipotent
energy
a dj
music
communication
Jesus
Buddha
Allah
incompetent
dead
imaginary
fictional
money
a concept
on my side
a woman
Well, you get the point.
The better question (or one not asked as often, I guess) would be: "What isn't god?"
So, I pose both questions to you, fellow P@riots:
What is (or isn't) god?
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
50 tv
One of these days soon, I'm going to write an entry that isn't an internet meme. (Actually, see the end of this post!)
So, yeah, Empire Magazine (again, who??) has apparently issued their "Top 50 Television Shows of All Time [even though none on the list are from the Future, and nothing prior to the 1960s was any good]", and so everyone and their mom has decided to list it on their blog, with the stipulations that you highlight the shows you've seen all the episodes of and italicize the ones you've seen at least one episode of.
Loreley came up with a couple of brilliant additions -crossing out the ones you hate and/or never want to see and coloring the ones you'd like to see some day.
Anyway. I know that reading about other people's television viewing habits (even mine!) isn't the most exciting thing, so there's actually more to this post at the end. It's just a 'yes or no' question, but hopefully it will spark some commentage.
Okay! List!
50. Quantum Leap
49.Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars - [only halfway italicized, because I fell asleep during the one episode I tried to watch]
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex & The City
45. Farscape
44. Cracker - [um What?]
43. Star Trek
42. Only Fools and Horses - [um...]
41. Band of Brothers - [okay, at least this one I've heard of]
40. Life on Mars
39. Monty Python's Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted
35. Alias
34. Frasier [really?]
33. CSI: Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood [we're about 6-8 episodes away from this being bolded]
30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf
25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23.The Office UK [the US version is pretty unwatchable, and I have no interest in seeing the UK version]
22. The Shield [again, about 6 episodes away from having this bolded]
21. Angel
20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who (new version)
15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica
12.Family Guy
11. Seinfeld
10. Spaced
09. The X-Files
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06.24
05. Lost
04.The West Wing
03.The Sopranos
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer [well, except I still haven't seen the first five minutes of the episode that shows Giles *not* getting his head chopped off]
01. The Simpsons (although *maybe* this could be bolded by now.)
And, simple question time:
Live Albums: Yay or Nay? [feel free to elaborate if you'd like, of course]
So, yeah, Empire Magazine (again, who??) has apparently issued their "Top 50 Television Shows of All Time [even though none on the list are from the Future, and nothing prior to the 1960s was any good]", and so everyone and their mom has decided to list it on their blog, with the stipulations that you highlight the shows you've seen all the episodes of and italicize the ones you've seen at least one episode of.
Loreley came up with a couple of brilliant additions -
Anyway. I know that reading about other people's television viewing habits (even mine!) isn't the most exciting thing, so there's actually more to this post at the end. It's just a 'yes or no' question, but hopefully it will spark some commentage.
Okay! List!
50. Quantum Leap
49.
48. Veronica Mars - [only halfway italicized, because I fell asleep during the one episode I tried to watch]
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex & The City
45. Farscape
44. Cracker - [um What?]
43. Star Trek
42. Only Fools and Horses - [um...]
41. Band of Brothers - [okay, at least this one I've heard of]
40. Life on Mars
39. Monty Python's Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted
35. Alias
34. Frasier [really?]
33. CSI: Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood [we're about 6-8 episodes away from this being bolded]
30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf
25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23.
22. The Shield [again, about 6 episodes away from having this bolded]
21. Angel
20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who (new version)
15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica
12.
11. Seinfeld
10. Spaced
09. The X-Files
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06.
05. Lost
04.
03.
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer [well, except I still haven't seen the first five minutes of the episode that shows Giles *not* getting his head chopped off]
01. The Simpsons (although *maybe* this could be bolded by now.)
And, simple question time:
Live Albums: Yay or Nay? [feel free to elaborate if you'd like, of course]
Sunday, April 13, 2008
#1 through the years
This could possibly be the start of a meme, but maybe not.
Here's the thing.
1) Go to this site and you can find out what song was #1 (according to Billboard Magazine) on the US Charts on any particular week in history.
2) Look up your birthday.
3) List the #1 songs that have occurred on your birthday throughout the years you've been alive.
4) Cringe at how bad music was, and how bad it is now!
Here's mine:
1975 ... "Sister Golden Hair" by America - Hooray! We're off to a really good start!!
1976 ... "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney & Wings - What's wrong with that?
1977 ... "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac - Huh. Apparently this is the only Fleetwood Mac song to ever hit #1. And it did it during my birthday.
1978 ... "Shadow Dancing" by Andy Gibb - [shudder]
1979 ... "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer - The late 70s just were not all that good, were they?
1980 ... "Funkytown" by Lipps, Inc. - Won't someone please take them to Funkytown? ....Please?
1981 ... "Medley: Intro Venus/Sugar Sugar/No Reply/I'll Be Back/Drive My Car/Do You Want to Know a Secret/We Can Work It Out/I Should Have Known Better/Nowhere Man/You're Going to Lose That Girl/Stars on 45" by Stars on 45 - Woo! Disco!!... god. When does it *end*?
1982 ... "Ebony and Ivory" by Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder - Man. Paul McCartney is in here again. Three times, if you count the '81 cover/medley thing. Weird. Anyway, I can never hear this song without thinking about the SNL skit where they mocked it.
1983 ... "Flashdance ... What a Feeling" by Irene Cara - I've never seen this movie.
1984 ... "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper - Cyndi Lauper could probably sing the phone book and still give me goosebumps. Be sure to check out the cheesy video!
1985 ... "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears - After seeing the video, I have only one question. What the hell, Tears for Fears??
1986 ... "On My Own" by Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald - I don't know what I was listening to on my 11th birthday, but I can guarantee that it wasn't this.
1987 ... "Head to Toe" by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam - See, maybe it's a good thing that MTV stopped playing videos. People actually liked this??
1988 ... "Together Forever" by Rick Astley - There's probably some sort of RickRoll joke to be made here, but I'm too tired to figure it out.
1989 ... "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" by New Kids on the Block - Steph just walked by and asked me, "Why are you listening to 9th grade?"
1990 ... "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette - Hee. "Pretty Woman". I actually thought that this song came from "Mannequin".
1991 ... "Rush Rush" by Paula Abdul - We're just going to ignore the number of times I watched this back then, shall we?
1992 ... "I'll Be There" by Mariah Carey - Yeah. Wasn't this song #1 for, like, 985 consecutive weeks or something? Mariah Carey was just unavoidable for a while.
1993 ... "That's the Way Love Goes" by Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation 1814 was better, but whatever.
1994 ... "I Swear" by All-4-One - There were much better songs coming out in 1994, people. Why was *this* the top of the charts?
1995 ... "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" by Bryan Adams - You know... this is the second time in less than a month that this song has been mentioned on my blog. I think that's plenty. No more Bryan Adams for me. I'm putting a moratorium on him.
1996 ... "Tha Crossroads" by Bone thugs-n-harmony - ...and just like that, we're into songs I've never heard. [sigh]
1997 ... "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112 - ...and now we're into songs that I've heard, but wish I never had. ...although the first 16 seconds of the video almost make up for the crappiness of the song. (Okay, they don't, really, but they are pretty good.)
1998 ... "The Boy Is Mine" by Brandy & Monica - WHAT?
1999 ... "If You Had My Love" by Jennifer Lopez - Jennifer Lopez ROCKS!!!
2000 ... "Try Again" by Aaliyah - I have a headache now.
2001 ... "Lady Marmalade" by Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya & Pink - I like this song, actually.
2002 ... "Foolish" by Ashanti - I think I'm going to just stop commenting, because, really, I am so out of my element with regard to these remaining songs...
2003 ... "21 Questions" by 50 Cent featuring Nate Dogg
2004 ... "Burn" by Usher - NIN's Burn was a LOT better. But then, it came out in '97.... and also, it was Nine Inch Nails.
2005 ... "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey
2006 ... "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean
2007 ... "Umbrella" by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z
Here's the thing.
1) Go to this site and you can find out what song was #1 (according to Billboard Magazine) on the US Charts on any particular week in history.
2) Look up your birthday.
3) List the #1 songs that have occurred on your birthday throughout the years you've been alive.
4) Cringe at how bad music was, and how bad it is now!
Here's mine:
1975 ... "Sister Golden Hair" by America - Hooray! We're off to a really good start!!
1976 ... "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney & Wings - What's wrong with that?
1977 ... "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac - Huh. Apparently this is the only Fleetwood Mac song to ever hit #1. And it did it during my birthday.
1978 ... "Shadow Dancing" by Andy Gibb - [shudder]
1979 ... "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer - The late 70s just were not all that good, were they?
1980 ... "Funkytown" by Lipps, Inc. - Won't someone please take them to Funkytown? ....Please?
1981 ... "Medley: Intro Venus/Sugar Sugar/No Reply/I'll Be Back/Drive My Car/Do You Want to Know a Secret/We Can Work It Out/I Should Have Known Better/Nowhere Man/You're Going to Lose That Girl/Stars on 45" by Stars on 45 - Woo! Disco!!... god. When does it *end*?
1982 ... "Ebony and Ivory" by Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder - Man. Paul McCartney is in here again. Three times, if you count the '81 cover/medley thing. Weird. Anyway, I can never hear this song without thinking about the SNL skit where they mocked it.
1983 ... "Flashdance ... What a Feeling" by Irene Cara - I've never seen this movie.
1984 ... "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper - Cyndi Lauper could probably sing the phone book and still give me goosebumps. Be sure to check out the cheesy video!
1985 ... "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears - After seeing the video, I have only one question. What the hell, Tears for Fears??
1986 ... "On My Own" by Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald - I don't know what I was listening to on my 11th birthday, but I can guarantee that it wasn't this.
1987 ... "Head to Toe" by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam - See, maybe it's a good thing that MTV stopped playing videos. People actually liked this??
1988 ... "Together Forever" by Rick Astley - There's probably some sort of RickRoll joke to be made here, but I'm too tired to figure it out.
1989 ... "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" by New Kids on the Block - Steph just walked by and asked me, "Why are you listening to 9th grade?"
1990 ... "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette - Hee. "Pretty Woman". I actually thought that this song came from "Mannequin".
1991 ... "Rush Rush" by Paula Abdul - We're just going to ignore the number of times I watched this back then, shall we?
1992 ... "I'll Be There" by Mariah Carey - Yeah. Wasn't this song #1 for, like, 985 consecutive weeks or something? Mariah Carey was just unavoidable for a while.
1993 ... "That's the Way Love Goes" by Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation 1814 was better, but whatever.
1994 ... "I Swear" by All-4-One - There were much better songs coming out in 1994, people. Why was *this* the top of the charts?
1995 ... "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" by Bryan Adams - You know... this is the second time in less than a month that this song has been mentioned on my blog. I think that's plenty. No more Bryan Adams for me. I'm putting a moratorium on him.
1996 ... "Tha Crossroads" by Bone thugs-n-harmony - ...and just like that, we're into songs I've never heard. [sigh]
1997 ... "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112 - ...and now we're into songs that I've heard, but wish I never had. ...although the first 16 seconds of the video almost make up for the crappiness of the song. (Okay, they don't, really, but they are pretty good.)
1998 ... "The Boy Is Mine" by Brandy & Monica - WHAT?
1999 ... "If You Had My Love" by Jennifer Lopez - Jennifer Lopez ROCKS!!!
2000 ... "Try Again" by Aaliyah - I have a headache now.
2001 ... "Lady Marmalade" by Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya & Pink - I like this song, actually.
2002 ... "Foolish" by Ashanti - I think I'm going to just stop commenting, because, really, I am so out of my element with regard to these remaining songs...
2003 ... "21 Questions" by 50 Cent featuring Nate Dogg
2004 ... "Burn" by Usher - NIN's Burn was a LOT better. But then, it came out in '97.... and also, it was Nine Inch Nails.
2005 ... "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey
2006 ... "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean
2007 ... "Umbrella" by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z
Friday, April 11, 2008
You had all of them on your side, didn't you? Didn't you?
Ha. I'm clever.
A week ago I went and saw The Ruins in the theater.
Today, I finished reading The Ruins - the book on which the movie was based.
I enjoyed both works, but the book was a LOT better. In fact, yesterday, when I was around the 200 page mark, I said aloud to Steph, "Man. I wish they had made this into a movie."
Because while the movie was pretty faithful to the book, quite a bit of the pieces of the puzzle were changed. It's almost like both of them were telling the same story, but the book said, "It happened like this," and then the movie said, "Well, kinda. But I think it happened like this."
And now, it's time for spoilers for both the movie AND the book, so only highlight if you don't mind having the story RUINed. (Hee!)
Movie spoilers:
I enjoyed the movie - there were several twists I did not see coming *at all* (namely: Dimitri getting shot at the beginning [holy crap!], the plants imitating the cell-phone ring [creepy!], the rope snapping), and there was one time where I actually jumped, even though I knew a 'scare' was coming. I think that it was when Amy was down in the shaft and examining the vines, but I can't remember exactly.
Another neat thing about this horror movie was that the 'killer' didn't really do much of the killing. The vine itself really only killed Mathias, after he broke his back and had his legs cut off. (Which, dude. Yuck.) Oh, and the girl at the beginning. But the rest of the deaths were due to the characters turning on each other and being all paranoid/scared/whatever.
The only complaint I really had with the film was that the ending seemed kinda weak. I was really expecting a different ending - an epilogue where it showed Amy getting back to civilization, but showing that she was infected with the vine. (Although had that happened, I would've no doubt complained that it was predictable and lame. [um. because that ending kinda is]) But *not* following up on what happened to her? That's just ...oookay. ?
And then showing the Greeks arriving was just like, "All right. So?" I mean, we didn't really know those characters, and yeah, it was showing that the cycle was continuing, but... I don't know. The entire ending seemed weak.
But up until then, I pretty much enjoyed the ride. I even turned to my coworker at one point (there were maybe 30 minutes left) and said, "I don't think that any of them are going to make it." Which I thought would've been a really ballsy ending. I mean, in horror movies one of the people always survives for the sequel. Right? You can't kill off all your protagonists. (I'm sure there are movies that have done this in the past, and feel free to tell me what they are, but I do know that it must be really rare.)
So maybe that was another reason the ending bugged. I was expecting the mother of all downer endings, and instead was left with an open-ended "she got away and that's all you need to know". Bah.
Book spoilers (with some movie thrown in):
Wow. Killing off all your protagonists really is a ballsy move.
And the vine is a LOT more insidious in the book than in the movie. That plant was just out and out evil. Taunting them. Laughing at them. Using their voices (which was also done in the movie, but much clearer in the book) against them. The trap that it set up in the shaft... The food odors.
And the acid sap was brilliant. They should've had that in the movie, because it raised the stakes a LOT. Not being able to destroy the plant without being physically harmed just makes it that much more formidable a foe.
It's interesting, though, how different characters met different fates. I mean in the movie, Dimitri gets shot before even going up the temple. In the book, he spends most of the narrative being called Pablo - and he's the one who breaks his back and has his legs amputated.
That was another better difference - the relationship between the 4 Americans and Mathias and the Greeks was much more believable in the book. The movie happened too sudden. In fact, until Mathias broke his back (in the movie), I was actually suspecting that he was leading them to the Ruins on purpose, and that he was going to be the bad guy. (Which is hilarious, since in the book they discus a movie version of their ordeal, and they state that Mathias, being the German of the group, would be the bad guy -"Nazi"- in the movie.)
I would like to have more backstory/explanation about the plant. And the Mayans' relationship with it. And how often does it actually get victims?
Overall, the book was quite engrossing, although depressing.
Unless you're rooting (ha!) for the plant. In which case it's the feel-good novel of the decade! The plant totally ate those young jerks! Go, plant!!
Now, though, I don't have anything to read anymore. Bummer.
A week ago I went and saw The Ruins in the theater.
Today, I finished reading The Ruins - the book on which the movie was based.
I enjoyed both works, but the book was a LOT better. In fact, yesterday, when I was around the 200 page mark, I said aloud to Steph, "Man. I wish they had made this into a movie."
Because while the movie was pretty faithful to the book, quite a bit of the pieces of the puzzle were changed. It's almost like both of them were telling the same story, but the book said, "It happened like this," and then the movie said, "Well, kinda. But I think it happened like this."
And now, it's time for spoilers for both the movie AND the book, so only highlight if you don't mind having the story RUINed. (Hee!)
Movie spoilers:
I enjoyed the movie - there were several twists I did not see coming *at all* (namely: Dimitri getting shot at the beginning [holy crap!], the plants imitating the cell-phone ring [creepy!], the rope snapping), and there was one time where I actually jumped, even though I knew a 'scare' was coming. I think that it was when Amy was down in the shaft and examining the vines, but I can't remember exactly.
Another neat thing about this horror movie was that the 'killer' didn't really do much of the killing. The vine itself really only killed Mathias, after he broke his back and had his legs cut off. (Which, dude. Yuck.) Oh, and the girl at the beginning. But the rest of the deaths were due to the characters turning on each other and being all paranoid/scared/whatever.
The only complaint I really had with the film was that the ending seemed kinda weak. I was really expecting a different ending - an epilogue where it showed Amy getting back to civilization, but showing that she was infected with the vine. (Although had that happened, I would've no doubt complained that it was predictable and lame. [um. because that ending kinda is]) But *not* following up on what happened to her? That's just ...oookay. ?
And then showing the Greeks arriving was just like, "All right. So?" I mean, we didn't really know those characters, and yeah, it was showing that the cycle was continuing, but... I don't know. The entire ending seemed weak.
But up until then, I pretty much enjoyed the ride. I even turned to my coworker at one point (there were maybe 30 minutes left) and said, "I don't think that any of them are going to make it." Which I thought would've been a really ballsy ending. I mean, in horror movies one of the people always survives for the sequel. Right? You can't kill off all your protagonists. (I'm sure there are movies that have done this in the past, and feel free to tell me what they are, but I do know that it must be really rare.)
So maybe that was another reason the ending bugged. I was expecting the mother of all downer endings, and instead was left with an open-ended "she got away and that's all you need to know". Bah.
Book spoilers (with some movie thrown in):
Wow. Killing off all your protagonists really is a ballsy move.
And the vine is a LOT more insidious in the book than in the movie. That plant was just out and out evil. Taunting them. Laughing at them. Using their voices (which was also done in the movie, but much clearer in the book) against them. The trap that it set up in the shaft... The food odors.
And the acid sap was brilliant. They should've had that in the movie, because it raised the stakes a LOT. Not being able to destroy the plant without being physically harmed just makes it that much more formidable a foe.
It's interesting, though, how different characters met different fates. I mean in the movie, Dimitri gets shot before even going up the temple. In the book, he spends most of the narrative being called Pablo - and he's the one who breaks his back and has his legs amputated.
That was another better difference - the relationship between the 4 Americans and Mathias and the Greeks was much more believable in the book. The movie happened too sudden. In fact, until Mathias broke his back (in the movie), I was actually suspecting that he was leading them to the Ruins on purpose, and that he was going to be the bad guy. (Which is hilarious, since in the book they discus a movie version of their ordeal, and they state that Mathias, being the German of the group, would be the bad guy -"Nazi"- in the movie.)
I would like to have more backstory/explanation about the plant. And the Mayans' relationship with it. And how often does it actually get victims?
Overall, the book was quite engrossing, although depressing.
Unless you're rooting (ha!) for the plant. In which case it's the feel-good novel of the decade! The plant totally ate those young jerks! Go, plant!!
Now, though, I don't have anything to read anymore. Bummer.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
iTunes top 20.
Idea shamelessly stolen from Jupe.
The following list is the top 20 songs from our iTunes library, sorted by amount of times the songs have been played.
Just for a sense of suspense (ha!) I'm going to list them countdown style.
20 - I'm Giving Santa a Pikachu This Christmas by the Pokemon Christmas Bash (21 times) - Heh.
19 - Don't Let's Start by They Might Be Giants (22 times) - "No one in the world ever gets what they want, and that is beautiful." So, so true.
18 - Look What You've Done by Jet (22 times) - What can I say? This song sounds Beatles-esque, thus it gets played.
17 - Jingle Bells by James Taylor (22 times) - Xmastime is popular around here.
16 - Looks Good (But You Looked Away) by The Helio Sequence (22 times)
15 - Clap Your Hands by They Might Be Giants (23 times) - Dude. It's TMBG. It's catchy. It's totally danceable. It's under a minute and a half long. I'm amazed we've not played it more.
14 - Two-Headed Boy by Neutral Milk Hotel (23 times) - NMH is the type of band that you would think that most people would hate, (and probably do) but it's so good!
13 - Ramona by Guster (23 times) - I like Guster, and probably would've never heard of them if not for Soupy. Thanks!!
12 - Trains to Brazil by Guilemots (23 times) - Oh! I've heard this song plenty (23!) of times, but never really knew what it was. Heh. I always thought it was The Shins. Now I know.
11 - King of Carrot Flowers Part 1 by Neutral Milk Hotel (24 times) - I think this may be my favorite NMH song.
10 - Experimental Film by They Might Be Giants (25 times) - Even though I can't explain it, I already know how great it is. I dare anyone to listen to this song (or watch the homestarrunner-based video) and not be put in a good mood.
9 - Young Pilgrims by The Shins (27 times) - "I know there is this side of me that wants to grab the yoke from the pilot and just fly the whole mess into the sea."
Preach it, brother.
8 - Delicate by Damien Rice (28 times)
7 - Kissing the Lipless by The Shins (29 times)
6 - Don't Look Away by The Helio Sequence (29 times) - Hear song. Must dance.
5 - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel (30 times) - This one's good, too.
4 - Your Attitude Towards Cuttlefish by Paper Moon (33 times) - According to the 'last played' on iTunes, we haven't heard this since November of last year. But it was popular at the time, huh?
3 - My Favorite Things by Nathan (37 times) - Um. Who? But, yeah. Still a good cover.
2 - Meow Meow Lullaby by Nada Surf (38 times) - The ending is a little too repetitive for my liking, but the girls (obviously) love this song. I like it too, I just think that Nada Surf could've cut out a few 'meows' at the end.
and the most played song on our iTunes list...
1 - Spider Pig by Hans Zimmer, from the Simpsons Movie Soundtrack (39 times) - It's only a minute long, so it's easy to do multiple listens repeatedly.
The following list is the top 20 songs from our iTunes library, sorted by amount of times the songs have been played.
Just for a sense of suspense (ha!) I'm going to list them countdown style.
20 - I'm Giving Santa a Pikachu This Christmas by the Pokemon Christmas Bash (21 times) - Heh.
19 - Don't Let's Start by They Might Be Giants (22 times) - "No one in the world ever gets what they want, and that is beautiful." So, so true.
18 - Look What You've Done by Jet (22 times) - What can I say? This song sounds Beatles-esque, thus it gets played.
17 - Jingle Bells by James Taylor (22 times) - Xmastime is popular around here.
16 - Looks Good (But You Looked Away) by The Helio Sequence (22 times)
15 - Clap Your Hands by They Might Be Giants (23 times) - Dude. It's TMBG. It's catchy. It's totally danceable. It's under a minute and a half long. I'm amazed we've not played it more.
14 - Two-Headed Boy by Neutral Milk Hotel (23 times) - NMH is the type of band that you would think that most people would hate, (and probably do) but it's so good!
13 - Ramona by Guster (23 times) - I like Guster, and probably would've never heard of them if not for Soupy. Thanks!!
12 - Trains to Brazil by Guilemots (23 times) - Oh! I've heard this song plenty (23!) of times, but never really knew what it was. Heh. I always thought it was The Shins. Now I know.
11 - King of Carrot Flowers Part 1 by Neutral Milk Hotel (24 times) - I think this may be my favorite NMH song.
10 - Experimental Film by They Might Be Giants (25 times) - Even though I can't explain it, I already know how great it is. I dare anyone to listen to this song (or watch the homestarrunner-based video) and not be put in a good mood.
9 - Young Pilgrims by The Shins (27 times) - "I know there is this side of me that wants to grab the yoke from the pilot and just fly the whole mess into the sea."
Preach it, brother.
8 - Delicate by Damien Rice (28 times)
7 - Kissing the Lipless by The Shins (29 times)
6 - Don't Look Away by The Helio Sequence (29 times) - Hear song. Must dance.
5 - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel (30 times) - This one's good, too.
4 - Your Attitude Towards Cuttlefish by Paper Moon (33 times) - According to the 'last played' on iTunes, we haven't heard this since November of last year. But it was popular at the time, huh?
3 - My Favorite Things by Nathan (37 times) - Um. Who? But, yeah. Still a good cover.
2 - Meow Meow Lullaby by Nada Surf (38 times) - The ending is a little too repetitive for my liking, but the girls (obviously) love this song. I like it too, I just think that Nada Surf could've cut out a few 'meows' at the end.
and the most played song on our iTunes list...
1 - Spider Pig by Hans Zimmer, from the Simpsons Movie Soundtrack (39 times) - It's only a minute long, so it's easy to do multiple listens repeatedly.
Monday, April 07, 2008
This memoir's just six words long
(I may be too tired to pull this off properly. We'll give it a go regardless, eh?)
By now, you have more than likely seen the original six-word memoir meme, wherein you are supposed to come up describe your life in six words or less.
Now, the goal is to be more creative - write six word memoirs for other people.
They can be for people you know, or celebrities (living or dead) or even fictional characters. There really is no limit. Well, except for the six-word limit.
I suppose to make this meme 'spread', I should list that people need to 'tag' others to play. So, you know, do that. And, of course, it would be great if when doing so, linkage back to here was included.
Here are my contributions!
Harry Potter - Boy Who Lived became somewhat pompous
Darth Vader - I Use Force, and hate sand.
Julius Ceasar - Should have listened to the soothsayer.
George Romero - Great zombie flicks, others kinda meh.
Indiana Jones - Why'd there have to be snakes?
Jeff Probst - Tribe's spoken. Come on in, guys!
John Lennon - Imagine. All you need is love.
Christopher Walken - My voice. Can creep. You out.
I considered doing movie synopses as well, but I really am too tired to create anything beyond what I've just done. But, really, the possibilities with this are endless. I don't really care whether this twist on the meme catches on or not, but if you do decide to play along, leave me a comment and let me know. I'd like to read some of the ones you come up with.
By now, you have more than likely seen the original six-word memoir meme, wherein you are supposed to come up describe your life in six words or less.
Now, the goal is to be more creative - write six word memoirs for other people.
They can be for people you know, or celebrities (living or dead) or even fictional characters. There really is no limit. Well, except for the six-word limit.
I suppose to make this meme 'spread', I should list that people need to 'tag' others to play. So, you know, do that. And, of course, it would be great if when doing so, linkage back to here was included.
Here are my contributions!
Harry Potter - Boy Who Lived became somewhat pompous
Darth Vader - I Use Force, and hate sand.
Julius Ceasar - Should have listened to the soothsayer.
George Romero - Great zombie flicks, others kinda meh.
Indiana Jones - Why'd there have to be snakes?
Jeff Probst - Tribe's spoken. Come on in, guys!
John Lennon - Imagine. All you need is love.
Christopher Walken - My voice. Can creep. You out.
I considered doing movie synopses as well, but I really am too tired to create anything beyond what I've just done. But, really, the possibilities with this are endless. I don't really care whether this twist on the meme catches on or not, but if you do decide to play along, leave me a comment and let me know. I'd like to read some of the ones you come up with.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
then the devil is six
Simon has tagged me to complete the '6 word memoir' meme. Since my internet circle of friends travel together, you've probably seen the following introduction plenty o' times already, but just for the sake of thoroughness, here's the backstory/beginning of the meme:
The Six-Words Meme was originally started by Smith Magazine.
Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Last year, SMITH Magazine re-ignited the recountre by asking our readers for their own six-word memoirs. They sent in short life stories in droves, from the bittersweet (“Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”) and poignant (“I still make coffee for two”) to the inspirational (“Business school? Bah! Pop music? Hurrah”) and hilarious (“I like big butts, can’t lie”).
Here are the rules:
1) Write your own six word memoir.
2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post, and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4) Tag at least five more blogs with links.
5) Don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.
6) Have fun.
Now. Mine.
I have to admit, this was not an easy thing for me to do. And, in fact, I have come up with several possibilities (how P@ypical of me, huh?). And so, without further ado, here are mysix seven word memoirs:
"I am just like Jesus," I said.
Okay. Now, some that would actually fall into the 6 category:
Heh. The above 'countdown' version almost plays out like a dialog.
Anyway. Time to tag people, huh?
Okay:
Stephanie
Miranda
Will
Matty
Jupe
(how weird is it that the rules say to tag 5 people when the whole theme is six words? Consistency, people!!)
And finally, thanks, Simon, for providing me with material to blog for today. :)
The Six-Words Meme was originally started by Smith Magazine.
Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Last year, SMITH Magazine re-ignited the recountre by asking our readers for their own six-word memoirs. They sent in short life stories in droves, from the bittersweet (“Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”) and poignant (“I still make coffee for two”) to the inspirational (“Business school? Bah! Pop music? Hurrah”) and hilarious (“I like big butts, can’t lie”).
Here are the rules:
1) Write your own six word memoir.
2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post, and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4) Tag at least five more blogs with links.
5) Don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.
6) Have fun.
Now. Mine.
I have to admit, this was not an easy thing for me to do. And, in fact, I have come up with several possibilities (how P@ypical of me, huh?). And so, without further ado, here are my
You know me, never could obey rules.
"I am," I said. Just like Jesus.
"I am just like Jesus," I said.
Life summed up in six words? No.
I don't think I'm doing this right.
I don't think I'm doing this right.
Okay. Now, some that would actually fall into the 6 category:
God. Where did the time go?
Should have laughed more. Ha ha!
Just six words? Can't be done.
Life is good, beats the alternative.
Blah, blah, blah. Yada, yada, yada.
Stephanie, Saren, Harper, Irina equals love.
So much potential wasted... oooh, TV!!
Not all that different from you.
Happy, then bitter, now happy again.
Life, overall, is really quite good.
Should have laughed more. Ha ha!
Just six words? Can't be done.
Life is good, beats the alternative.
Blah, blah, blah. Yada, yada, yada.
Stephanie, Saren, Harper, Irina equals love.
So much potential wasted... oooh, TV!!
Not all that different from you.
Happy, then bitter, now happy again.
Life, overall, is really quite good.
I think if I had to pick one to be my 'official' entry, I'd go with either the final one listed above, or the second.
Interestingly, these don't have to be 6 words exactly. They can be less, but most people use all 6 when doing this. Here are some I came up with that are a little more thrifty:
Interestingly, these don't have to be 6 words exactly. They can be less, but most people use all 6 when doing this. Here are some I came up with that are a little more thrifty:
Uniquely unique, just like others.
Wouldn't change a thing.
Well, now what?
Start living!!
Huh?
Wouldn't change a thing.
Well, now what?
Start living!!
Huh?
Heh. The above 'countdown' version almost plays out like a dialog.
Anyway. Time to tag people, huh?
Okay:
Stephanie
Miranda
Will
Matty
Jupe
(how weird is it that the rules say to tag 5 people when the whole theme is six words? Consistency, people!!)
And finally, thanks, Simon, for providing me with material to blog for today. :)
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Today was a 2 breakfast day.
I have left the blog post made on the April Fool's Day "blank", just to keep in spirit of the day.
In the return to visibility for the P@rix, I opted, as you can see, to change up the colors a bit. Not sure if I'll stick with what I have now. I've been wanting to change the layout for a while, so don't be surprised if it changes yet again.
Surprisingly, or not, really, I don't have anything to talk about at this time. I *do* have, however, that annoying restless feeling that I sometimes get when I feel like I should be doing something, but I'm either too lazy to, or I don't know *what* I should be doing. I think I need a haircut.
Tomorrow being Friday, I think we might go to the library. Which is (usually) a good thing. I certainly would like to have something to read again. The question is - what? I'm so picky when it comes to reading anymore, and so much of what is out there just does *not* grab my interest. Recommendations are always welcome, though.
In the return to visibility for the P@rix, I opted, as you can see, to change up the colors a bit. Not sure if I'll stick with what I have now. I've been wanting to change the layout for a while, so don't be surprised if it changes yet again.
Surprisingly, or not, really, I don't have anything to talk about at this time. I *do* have, however, that annoying restless feeling that I sometimes get when I feel like I should be doing something, but I'm either too lazy to, or I don't know *what* I should be doing. I think I need a haircut.
Tomorrow being Friday, I think we might go to the library. Which is (usually) a good thing. I certainly would like to have something to read again. The question is - what? I'm so picky when it comes to reading anymore, and so much of what is out there just does *not* grab my interest. Recommendations are always welcome, though.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
What a fool believes
She's like the wind!
So, today is/was April the 1st. I was planning on posting about fooling choices I have made in my life, or at least one of them, but now I've got a headache and am not really up to blogging. Besides, I honestly can't remember which foolish choice I was going to talk about. (I have so many to choose from, you see.)
I was going through my old notebooks though, and found my journal (or one of) from the '92/'93 era. After skimming a few pages, all I can say is, "Yeeesh!" I was very angry at the time, and quite depressed. What is sad, though, is how obvious it is to me now (yay, hindsight!) that all I was truly looking for was attention and acceptance. Perhaps some understanding as well.
Which, you know, is probably true at anytime in one's life, and of just about everyone on the planet. So, way to go with the deep insight there, P@.
Anyway. I believe that one of the main reasons I'm no longer (quite) so bitter and pissed and going around with a chip on my shoulder is that I have Steph and the girls in my life. I've told Stephanie many times that she saved my life, and it's absolutely true. Not only did she save my life, but she helped make it one worth saving. I'm a very lucky man.
So, today is/was April the 1st. I was planning on posting about fooling choices I have made in my life, or at least one of them, but now I've got a headache and am not really up to blogging. Besides, I honestly can't remember which foolish choice I was going to talk about. (I have so many to choose from, you see.)
I was going through my old notebooks though, and found my journal (or one of) from the '92/'93 era. After skimming a few pages, all I can say is, "Yeeesh!" I was very angry at the time, and quite depressed. What is sad, though, is how obvious it is to me now (yay, hindsight!) that all I was truly looking for was attention and acceptance. Perhaps some understanding as well.
Which, you know, is probably true at anytime in one's life, and of just about everyone on the planet. So, way to go with the deep insight there, P@.
Anyway. I believe that one of the main reasons I'm no longer (quite) so bitter and pissed and going around with a chip on my shoulder is that I have Steph and the girls in my life. I've told Stephanie many times that she saved my life, and it's absolutely true. Not only did she save my life, but she helped make it one worth saving. I'm a very lucky man.
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