| Oh Hey, Kids. |
[May. 9th, 2009|01:03 pm] |
Been a while, but I randomly decided I should throw a quick post out there.
Stuff's stuff here. I just saw Star Trek last night with at least 31 of my closest friends. It was crazy, and for a minute I had a flashback to college. The movie was pretty good too. I might actually pay attention to the series in the future, although those of you who try to put the series on the same level as Star Wars are mad.
In other news, I'm moving into a new apt, but not changing my address. We're downsizing on roommates, going from 7 to 3, which is a brilliant change. I'm living with my coworker Jared, and his younger brother Colin, and we'll be moving in once the floors are done. Don't be fooled by the term downsizing: I'm getting a room four times the size of the one I have now; Five, if you count the high ceilings. It's got a Marble-manteled Fireplace, and pocket doors, with about 11 foot ceilings. Did I mention Hardwood floors?
Anyway, in other news, Tim and Rebecca will be back state-side, and I'm taking a cross-country Road trip with them from Boston to Seattle, Vancouver to Bakersfield, some the end of May. We're going to Portland (OR), Seattle (WA), Vancouver (Canada), San Francisco (CA), Madison (WI), Timbucktoo (MI), and some palces back East. It's been a life goal of mine to do this, and I'm stoked to be doing it with two of my favourite people!
Three weeks after I return, I'll be off to Germany with my family, to visit Simon! Simon stayed with us fr a year, and I was never as close to my family as I was when he was here. As a result, his family is thanking us by showing us around Germany, with a stop in Austria or someplace in the Alps. We'll be visiting Hamburg, Neuschwanstein, and a bunch of other places I can't remember.
As a photographer, I am super stoked to have such a beautiful country to photograph and explore, and I'm all warmed up after my stint in Ireland last fall.
How am I affording all this time off from work? I have no idea, so please don't ask. Actually, I've been saving my tax returns each year to make sure that, despite making poverty level pay, I can still visit the world. Believe me, if I can afford it, anyone can. |
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| Bush??? |
[Jan. 12th, 2009|10:44 pm] |
This morning, while driving to work, I decided to forgo my iPod and turn on NPR. Much to my surprise, Bush was giving his last Press Conference, and as I listened, I felt a bit of sadness. I know he and his cronies have been terrible for this country, and we can't have any more of his policies. But I was sad.
I posted a similar entry a few years back, when I heard that they killed Saddam. I didn't then, nor do I now, mourn for their legacies. I thought them both terrible men, one way or another. Yet, at the end of the day, these two people are simply men. They both worked hard, and now they're both irrelevant. While I've been cheering for Jan 20th, as it approaches, my excitement feels a bit more hollow. It's like wishing for violence against a man, but as he approaches, you see first his sweat, pores, and soon, his humanity. It's much harder to hate a person up close.
A week after September 11th, 2001, Richard Gere was booed off the stage when he said that it was time to forgive. It took me almost 7 years to heed his words, not for the terrorists, but towards Bush. You know, we and the media love to make fun of him, to shout his shortcomings from every rooftop. He screwed up, but does that warrant our terrible actions?
My decision to forgive The President came a while back when I asked myself what I would say to Bush if we met. My first though was to scold him. What a mess he had caused, and how dare he! But no, that's just not who I am. Then I started thinking from his prospective. How awful to be hated by so many! Can you imagine? How could I kick a fallen man? My mom taught me that when someone's down, you help them up.
So I forgave him.
I didn't forget what he did. I didn't forget where we are, and I didn't excuse what had been done. No. I still disagreed, but I forgave.
I forgave him because it seemed wrong not to. I'm not one who likes holding a grudge. Not when people mean well. And I think he did. Ever since, I have not been able to be as sour towards him. I don't find the shows and movies slandering him funny. I was down right offended when Oliver Stone portrayed him with his Bushisms during the private life in his film, 'W', despite strong evidence that in private, President Bush was quite sharp, clever and well kept. I thought that "Little Bush" was about 6 years too late to feed on my hatred of such a man. I thought about these writers, and about the rest of us. We're all good people, but what have we become when we have so openly slandered another man, simply because we disagree with him?
So today, when he spoke for the last time, I felt the tears welling at the self-realized irrelevance of a once great man. An early philosopher once suggested that great insight leads to right action. Meaning that one who knows right, will do right. I believe that, and I don't believe a man should be condemned for having poor insight. So as Obama takes center stage, I gaze towards the curtain, watching an irrelevant man walk off stage, unnoticed. |
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| Zuccini Monster |
[Jan. 12th, 2009|12:25 am] |
I've chopped a lot of zucchini's contemplating making this guy.
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| One of us in the Whitehouse |
[Nov. 11th, 2008|09:38 am] |
While Obama has gathered a lot of attention for being the first black president, there is a more important first that crosses race and gender. According to Wired and TWiT, Obama is actually a huge geek. Apparently he walked up to Michelle Obama when she was wearing a bling belt buckle, pressed it and said in his best Scotty voice "Those lithium crystals are broke."
I'm drunk on Panda mystery! |
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| This is your argument for assault weapons? |
[Oct. 27th, 2008|09:29 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  aggravated | ] |
So this weekend an 8-year-old was killed when he was shot in the head. By an oozie. That he was firing. With adult supervision.
At a gun show.
Morons. |
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| Ratings and Cancelation |
[Oct. 27th, 2008|12:18 am] |
I was scouring the internet tonight after I finished the Journeyman series tonight on Hulu. I stumbled across this article, and thought they had some valid points: The system used for calculating ratings is retarded.
I can't help but notice that countless good shows get canceled. I'm talking Firefly, Studio 60, Journeyman, and so many others. A common theme throughout all of these series is the intelligent level of writing and development which they receive. Yet curiously, networks claim bad ratings and cancel them, one after another. Never mind that each of these series have been backed by people who have critical acclaim from previous projects. Studio 60 was from Aaron Sorkin, who brought us The West Wing and Sports Night; Journeyman was from co-producer of The West Wing and Sports Night as well, and winner of 3 Emmys. I don't have to remind most of you about Joss Whedon.
Why do these shows get the brush while other, less quality shows, such as Lipstick Joungle get renewed? Well I have a few theories, because there are a few other things these shows also share. First of all, Two of the three of these shows are sci-fi, and as is pointed out, Sci-Fi shows are not so cheap to make. The third, Studio 60, had the name Sorkin behind it, and was able to get a huge budget, along with expensive stars, making it less attractive to more cheaply developed reality shows.
Additionally, I feel that shows that need several episodes to develop their characters seem to fair poorly with the attention span of modern-day Americans. Journeyman was one such show, as was Studio 60. It takes a huge stroke of luck, or talent, to sneak a character-developed show through those first weeks of coveting viewership. Lost managed to pull it off quite well, although JJ Abrams has not fared so well with his newest show Fringe.
I can't say that I'm not a culprit of this quick judgment, nor can Apples, who dismissed Journeyman as a bad 'Quantom Leap rip-off.' I did as much with Fringe, tired of seeing yet another 'detective show.' Perhaps I owe Abrams another shot.
In the meantime, what will it take to stop the dumbing down of American television? I can only rewatch the canceled classic so many times. I only hope that as everything moves to the internet, that the networks get some better polling data on exactly what people like. That, and do a better job promoting their projects for quality, rather than just for a quick buck. |
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| So 'Canceled' means it's good? |
[Oct. 26th, 2008|08:13 pm] |
I'm watching a show called Journeyman over on Hulu, and it's really good! Of course, it only aired one season before being canceled, but now I come to find that the guy behind it worked on both Sports Night and The West Wing.
Why does Hollywood cancel good shows while leaving crap on the air? Seriously, I want to punch people that give crappy reality shows all the ratings, and hang well written shows out to dry.
Either way, if you're looking for a new series to fill the void of this lack-luster fall season, then check out Journeyman. |
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| In Which Ben Throws Out his Back, and then Goes to the Gym |
[Oct. 25th, 2008|12:10 pm] |
So last Sunday I sneezed. This was not just any sneeze, but one that immobilized my lower back. I spent all of Sunday on Sara and Dave's floor in horrible pain. I find this ironic as I am the healthiest and most athletic out of the 7 people currently residing in my house. Either way, Sitting has been incredibly painful, and causes me to walk around like either my Grandpa or Wyatt Earp.
So almost a week later, I still have trouble walking normally, and sitting here for even 15 minutes has started to bother me. And yet, I've been going to the gym for 2 days in a row now, and nothing seems to really be painful there. I've run 1600 meters, done countless pullups, pushups, Supermans, Situps, Burpees and countless other things. Even the rowing machine, where I sit and use my complete range of bending, does not bother me. So why is it that I can't sit at my computer and do work that needs to be done?
This is quite frustrating.
I suppose I'm doomed to kick back and watch episodes of Top gear and DR Who for days on end.
I can deal with that. |
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| The Things You can Still Do.... |
[Oct. 20th, 2008|06:33 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  In Pain | ] |
| [ | music |
| | TWiT.tv - This Week in Tech Podcast | ] |
So yesterday I threw out my back when I sneezed. I spent the rest of the day at Sara and Dave's, along with Kayla, mostly eating and lieing on the floor in pain. Ironically, I've discovered that I can still do pull-ups without a problem, which I have been doing on random surfaces around the warehouse at work. The things you can do... |
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| Mid-Year's Resolution... |
[Oct. 19th, 2008|12:38 pm] |
I've had my 80 gig iPod for about 6 months now, and I've spent a good portion of that time using the shuffle feature. It's retarded. It likes to play Billy Joel as every third song. Granted, I have a *lot* of Billy Joel, but still: It was making me annoyed with him, and that shouldn't happen. Additionally, the shuffle seems to constantly avoid certain tracks of any given artist. I've also noticed myself lately getting sick of my music collection, despite having about 800 artists from many genres of music.
I started thinking about the things I miss about CDs. The big thing was that I was less likly to skip tracks when I was listening to an album. This isn't so when you're on shuffle. And I think we all know that skipping is exponential, so to speak: Once you start, you tend to do it more and more. Additionally, I miss albums because they're arranged in a way that the songs compliment each other much more.
So I've decided that my Mid-Year's resolution is to not only nix the shuffle feature on my iPod, but to commit to albums again. That meant going through my music and nixing a lot of singles that do me no good. So last night, I did just that. I deleted my entire library from Songbird (You're welcome). I went into the directory and started deleting a lot of old MP3s that I had before I really knew what I liked. Lots of late 90's alternative rock crap. I've gone from 850 or so artists down to about 600, and I don't really miss any of them. Additionally, I noticed that several artists (that I knew were supposed to be good) I did not have full albums for. Despite liking them, I deleted several mish-mashed of their songs, keeping only albums and a few singles. The Decemberists were one such group, as was Radiohead. I went over to Amazon and bought a few new albums, including The Decemberists' The Crane Wife. OMG, I always knew I liked a few of their songs, but what a difference! The entire albumn is amazing. Listening to this album was the perfect proof of my point: Listening to a complete album made me appreciate a band in a way I never had before. I plan on trying this next with Radiohead, a band I've never been able to appreciate in the past. (BTW, I also bought The Kooks Album, as well as Holst's The Planets for $3!)
I know people like to steal their music, but I can't emphasize how addicted I am to Amazon's MP3 store! I get full albums on the cheap, at super high quality, and without any DRM bullshit. Not to mention avoiding Bit Torrent means I'm not risking lawsuits from The Man.
I'm excited for this new leaf in my musical habits. I'm thinking this is one Mid-year's resolution that's going to make a permanent difference. |
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| Memories and Changes |
[Oct. 8th, 2008|12:26 am] |
I was just reading ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ellie's post on Tom Davis, about how he changed her life, and how he is the reason she is a pacifist. I started thinking about how he affected me.
He is the reason I'm not an arrogant bastard. I love philosophy, and I love being right. I can't help it. It's a good feeling. However, when I first met him, I was pretty arrogant. I was a confirmed Catholic that was bitterly skeptical of religion, and of people that spoke about God. I was an arrogant Democrat that believed Republican was synonymous with enemy. I was many things, but mostly, I was arrogant. I didn't listen to the other side.
I have a few times talked about the sharp regret I have for telling Dennis Shuager, Tom's colleague, "You're wrong." I remember the "oohs" that rose up throughout the room as the words leapt from my lips. 2 words. 2 syllables. "You're Wrong." I instantly regretted those words. As I looked back at that moment, I often attributed it as a transforming moment for my approach to life. Now, I know that this was not the moment, but a reference point for later reflection. It was in the following semesters with Tom that that I really began to change.
It wasn't any one thing Tom said. It was the constant calmness with which he said it. Even when he was upset, he seemed to have a gentleness about him that made it impossible to build your own anger. I still remember him describing to us the idea of God as a house. He said that all of these religions would stand on a different side of the house and explain what they saw. Everyone's description was different, but all were describing parts of the same thing. It was about realizing that there could be a bit of commonality with even your enemy or opponent that would advance your own search for Truth. Failing to consider the words of the opposition could limit your own perspective. The extent to which Tom practiced this very lesson in day to day life is what made this moral so clear.
I also remember his saying "Don't let the ocean into the bathtub." I know he didn't create it, but I use it all the time. To me that will always be his.
There are so many lost memories of Tom Davis, but the effects remain clear. Tom created changed in ways that remain with us to this day. It is in the proof that some of us are so upset, that we cannot bear to attend his funeral. It is in the fact that a single day cannot contain our sorrow. Most of all, it is in the fact that his Truths are still passed along long after we have parted ways.
I have never much believed in Heaven, but I hope to meet him there. |
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| Death of a Mentor... |
[Oct. 6th, 2008|09:35 pm] |
Today I received an email informing me that my old professor, Tom Davis, had died. I don't know why or how, just that it happened. It's a strange feeling to me to reflect upon this news, and it brings up many different emotions.
When I met Tom, I had just been kicked out of college after my first year of school. Before they got rid of me, I had found a strong bond with Philosophy and, failing to find suitable classes in my major at my sentence of community college, I vowed to take as much philosophy as I could. My first class with Tom was "The Story of Light," a great class that looked at the views of light over time from various disciplines. From the beginning, you could see that he was one of those rare professors, and although he took a sabbatical for a good part of the semester, I felt a bit better with attending community college after joining his class.
It wasn't until later that we became close. I would spend a half hour with him in the hallway after class, talking about the future and problems plaguing man-kind's path, or the plights of Descarte. I would also time and time again disappoint him with my half-assed papers, the ones he knew were below my level, but was too nice to punish me for.
I would bang those papers out in a single night, often not finishing before 1 am. One time, however, I spent a few days really doing my research. It was a paper on black holes, and when he handed it back, both he and Dennis (his co-professor for the class) told me how much better my work was. Unfortunately, that was not a new leaf for me, and I remember (at the end of my last class) that I really let him down.
I have thought back to the silent disappointment from Tom many times since that semester, and it remains one of the great failures of my life. I think that with all my past mentors, they have seen the disappointment in how I fail to achieve what I am capable of. It has been a silent hope that some day I might do something worthy of my potential. When that day came, they could all be there to see me and think "I guess he made it after all." Much like the kid who seeks his dad's approval when he accomplishes something great.
Tom is one of several mentors whom I had hoped to make-up for. A few that come to mind are Mrs Larson, my high school computer teacher, Dr Robinson, my Marist Physics teacher, and of course my Dad. These are some of the people that I think about when I strive to do better, and that provide my guilt when I give in to laziness. These people are the same whom I hope to surprise some day when I finally do something great. Today, time has showed me that my chances will not be around forever; And that single fact has almost brought me to tears. |
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| The Life of Pi |
[Sep. 22nd, 2008|02:34 am] |
I've been slower with books recently, but since Dallas at the end of May, I've been reading "The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. This book went through phases for me, from the interestingly intellectual, to horrifying, to lulls and monotony to wonder and sheer 'wow.' After finishing this book, I have a mind to look at the bible, among many other things, in a new way.
It's late, and I don't have the consciousness to really get into things, but I do wonder if anyone else has read this book, and what you many have thought. I'm still too blown away to really make a formal dissection.
In the meantime, inspired by Emma, I picked up a copy of The Alchemist today, and unless my mood changes, I'm planning on making that my next book. Hopefully I can make a better habit of keeping up on my reading. Those moments at the end of a book where everything comes together are far too rare to limit to a few times a year. |
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| Donald and the Gorilla |
[Sep. 17th, 2008|02:30 pm] |
Thanks to Fred, I've rediscovered that fantastic Disney cartoon from the when we were kids! They don't make cartoons like this anymore! Of course, I remember it being much scarier, but that radio announcer still has an omnious tone. Anyway, here's the cartoon thanks to youtube! |
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| Halloween Ideas! |
[Sep. 17th, 2008|11:17 am] |
OK, so I was talking to Malinda the other day, who was for some reason thinking about Halloween way too early (I blame dept stores). This got me thinking about what to do before the night of a halloween party. Very unlike me. Anyway. Many of you know my love of Joseph Stalin, "The Boss." So I'm thinking of the threadless shirt "The Communist Party," and I NEED to go as a drunk Stalin with a lampshade on his head! or maybe Stalin when he was in a college frat or something.
That is all. |
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| I'm Still Alive, and Not in Japan |
[Sep. 17th, 2008|10:51 am] |
So every few months I log into LJ. I realized I left you all on kind of a cliff hanger last time, so I figured I'd check in.
I'm not in Japan.
Not for now, anyway. Depending on factors, I'm not ruling out next April as a possibility. Tim and Rebecca are apparently spending at least one more year there. I figure, if I decide to go, why not start at the same time as them, in case they go somewhere else.
Things are going pretty good for me otherwise. I'm still taking I Liq Chuan, and I've started going to my friend's gym. Since I'm a poor mo-fo, I'm designing his website and a database in exchange for membership. It's www.crossfitFishkill.com, although until Friday, I don't suspect you'll see the new website. I really do love it there, however. I've been running for the past 2 years, but I never saw myself as a gym guy. I ran because it was outside and on my own. I could step out my door on a whim and just run 5 miles in any direction. In a sense, it was getting me away from the usual scenery.
In a sense, Crossfit has done the same thing. Anyone who knows Poughkeepsie knows Rt 9. I hate this road. I hardly leave it since moving down here. It's congested 6-lanes of traffic crowded between strip-mall after strip mall. Barf. Well Crossfit is about 18 minutes off the beast, down nice back roads devoid of any nation-wide businesses. It's really half the reason I love going. However, I'm really getting addicted to the exercise. I'd really recommend it for anyone who needs a bit of a change. The plus side is that it's not a place where you work out on your own. It's all personal training, so you're forced to participate.
Otherwise, things have been pretty tame. Dave, Mark and I tried to plan a backpacking trip to Mt Marcy, the highest peak in NY a few weeks back. I was inspired to attempt this after my Dad, my Brother and I made an overnight attempt in August that was encombered by rain and massive mud-ridden trails. There was also the constant threat of bears, although we escaped without evisceration. (wew!) So plans conflicted with that hurricane thing, and we had to put it off. I'm really psyched to do things like this more often. I feel like being a 20-something is all about crazy backpacking trips, white-water rafting and other crazy things. I don't think any of us have done enough of that, although this summer has been a renaissance for myself with the outdoors. I really recommend a good camera to get yourself motivated to get outside on the weekends. It's done wonders for me (You can see some of my stuff over at flicker: My Photostream).
Hey, side note: Does anyone else remember that old Disney cartoon where Goofy (or Micky or someone) is in a dark room watching the TV, when they announce that a killer ape is on the loose? I seriously reference that cartoon all the time, but no one gets the reference.
Either way... Killer ape. On the loose. That is all. |
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| Urgent Decision This Weekend |
[Jul. 11th, 2008|12:29 am] |
Tim just emailed, and he's calling me tomorrow morning. Apparently another teacher just quit, and they want me to take over in Japan. I have to decide. This weekend. If I take it, I have 2 weeks on the outside before I'd be in Japan.
This is going to be a stressful weekend. |
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| Vegetarians on Trial - or - Redefining the Classification of a Species through their Dining Habbits |
[Jul. 9th, 2008|12:05 pm] |
So I work with a vegan, and today I found offense with him. I have realized that because we are classified as Omnivores, Vegans technically can be recatagorized as Herbivores. This bothers me, as it seems to be limiting your potential by narrowing the scope of your experience and potential. To me, it is no better than segregation. Limiting yourself in a way the redefines you biological definition to a more limited scope is just no good.
My question for you is this: can we save vegetarians from this same fate by retaining their classification as omnivores? So far, my co-work and I seem to think that by eating byproducts of animals, such as cheese, they technically are still omnivores.
Now, to be fair, when one of my best friends Dave was vegan, he changed my view of food by getting out of the belief that every meal revolves around meat. Of course, having a meat-centric view is also a bit backwards, but can easily be corrected without dismissing it all together. I have even recently started spending 1-2 days a week as a vegetarian, and finding meals lacking meat. I embrace this idea; After all, diversity can be best appreciated through immersion into different cultures, provided you do not forget your origins.
So biologists and thinkers alike, please help save my vegetarian friends from the fate of redefining themselves as herbivores. What were fate could their be than to deny or limit our potential as a species?
Note: Now, to be fair, if you seriously think I am offended by the act of being vegan, or that I hate vegans, then you clearly don't know me very well. The sheer act of denial of an aspect of life that everyone enjoys only increases the diversity of our species. That said, I believe that it is important to have an open and heated dialog to analyze any major decision we make. We owe it to ourselves and those whom we might influence to make sure we are making the wisest and well informed decisions possible. After all, if we lead through action, let us be confident in our examples. |
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