movie weekend

Wow... it's been too long. My fault!

I was sick for the last few days (still a little sick now), so I did what any graduate would do with a lot of free time and no energy to go outside: I watched movies. Here's the list from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday:

1. Rambo: First Blood
2. Rocky Balboa (with commentary)
3. Shooter
4. Forgetting Sara Marshall
5. Up
6. Star Trek Nemesis
7. The Dark Knight
8. Tropic Thunder
9. Hancock
10. Milk
11. The Incredible Hulk

Great weekend! I forgot how fantastic a movie Rambo: First Blood really is. Sure, I may have a little Sly bias, but it's still a great flick. Star Trek Nemesis reminded me how amazing the new Star Trek is in comparison. The rest were a lot of fun...

random LA wednesday night

I'm not ashamed to admit it - I love John Mayer. So when I read the following tweet from him, I got pretty excited:

"Gonna hit up Hotel Cafe in Hollywood at 11ish... 21+ I'll trade you new songs for no videoing them? : ) (((bats lashes))) Need guinea pigs."

My friend Josh had been texting me about the show, so we decide to go. Realize: Nikki and I were just about to go to bed. She had to get up early, so we were calling it a night around 10:30. But how could we pass this up?

I call my friend Ryan: "Wake up. I'm coming to get you." Surprisingly, he's fine with that.

So Nikki and I pick him up around 11 and head over to Hotel Cafe on Cahuenga. After we park, as we're walking toward the entrance, we pass a bunch of rabid paparazzi hoping something good will happen. I felt the same way... I would be lying if I didn't say I was skeptical. Here we are, late at night, at a random bar in Hollywood all because of a 140 character message on twitter from a person we think is John Mayer. Could it be for real?

We get to the entrance to the club, and there are a few people in line... not many. We pay the $5 cover, head in, and make our way to the stage. The place is packed, and most people are just facing the stage wondering the same thing as me and the paparazzi. Is he really coming?

As we're waiting, I turn to say something to Ryan when I notice that Andy Dick is standing next to him. "Nice!" A few minutes later, Zach Levi is chatting to Andy Dick and he has his arms around his girlfriend. "Also Nice!" Still no John Mayer, but the presence of a few other celebs makes his arrival seem more of a reality.

A few more minutes roll by, and I turn again to say something to Ryan when I notice a tall guy carrying a guitar, a little hunched over and walking in our direction. "Ryan. Look." It's John, and he walks right past us. "How's it going?" he says as he passes, but I can't do much but stare. Remember, I love this guy.

He's by himself, so he jumps up on stage and starts getting his guitar ready. Once he's all checked in and ready to start he says, "Hold on. I have to tweet."

For the next hour or so, he plays a collection of new and old songs, including "3x5," "Belief," "Half of My Heart," and a few other new ones. It was unreal! And to think, I almost went to bed!

When he finishes, he starts packing up his guitar to leave. A bunch of us head to the stage like 14 year-old girls. All I want to do is shake his hand, but the giddy girls in the front won't leave, so I fail. I go back to where we were standing, hoping that he would walk that way again, and he does. I grab his shoulder and say, "John. Great job." It's all I could think to say. Nikki said he looked at me when I said his name, but I blacked out for a second. Yeah, I'm ridiculous. I admit it. But what can I say? I really like this guy!

We finally get outside, but decide to wait a few more minutes until he leaves. The paparazzi are breathlessly waiting for his exit. When he finally clears the club's doors, the flash bulbs are enough to make anyone start ceasing. It's intense. He jumps in his car, pushes a few paparazzi out of the way, and he's on his way home.

What a night! It's times like these I don't think I ever want to leave LA. On a random Wednesday night, after watching American Idol, we go to a bar in Hollywood to pay $5 to hear John Mayer play songs that no one else has heard. Somehow, my life actually does feel a little more complete.

liberal quakerism?

Just for fun, I took the "Christian Denomination Selector" test from this website. My top 5 are as follows:

#1. Seventh Day Adventist (I guess because I didn't have a preference for day of worship)
#2. Episcopal/Anglican Church (maybe because I'm OK with women pastors)
#3. Methodist/Wesleyan Church (who knows)
#4. Liberal Quakerism (that just sounds awesome!)
#5. Mennonite Brethren (good insurance plans from what I hear)

I will say that #6 was the AG, so I guess my roots did come through a little bit.

What were your top 5?

valen-times

Nikki and I just got back from a weekend trip to San Diego. We went to the zoo, had a nice meal, and went to the Wild Animal Park. It was a great time! I had not been to the San Diego zoo or the Wild Animal park, but hearing so much about them, I had high expectation. Let me tell you, they did not disappoint!

I uploaded a bunch of videos I took at the zoo to my youtube channel, and I thought that instead of posting them one at a time, I'd stick them all in this blog. So here they are! Enjoy:

evolution

ugh. I just finished an interpretive assignment of Acts 6:1-7. I'm thinking of posting some of my thoughts as a blog, but I'm a little spent right now. So instead, enjoy some concrete proof of evolution:

planes are annoying

Since I've moved to SoCal, I've been on a lot of planes. Nikki and I go back to the east coast several times each year, and most of those trips are not direct. So needless to say, we've been on a lot of planes.

I thought it would be fun to make a little list of some of the things that irritate me when I'm on a plane. Feel free to comment and add to the list.

1. Seating stress (window, isle, front, back, who's going to sit next to me, etc)
2. People behind you who use your seat back to get up
3. Tiny bathrooms (I actually can't stand straight in the forward bathroom)
4. Lack of information (why aren't we moving? How much longer?)
5. Restriction on "electronic devices" (exactly why can't I leave my iPod on when we takeoff?)
6. People who take forever to get themselves situated before sitting down
7. People who talk to the person next to them like they're at the other end of the plane
8. Kicking kids
9. De-icing (could this process take any longer?)
10. Reading lights that are as bright as the sun

There's a start. Add some to the list...

days inn debacle

echo mountain

You can't hear me that well in this video, but this is part of my day on Echo Mountain this past Saturday. It was a great day and nice to be alone for some deep thinking...



On the way down, I passed a bunch of guys biking up the mountain. This takes some serious skill and stamina. Here's one guy I passed:

My Christmas Mix

There are only a few absolutes in my life, and one is absolutely no Christmas music before Thanksgiving (we can talk about absolutes later)... So now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, I thought I would blog about my favorite Christmas songs. So here we go in no particular order:

1. Christmastime is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio

- Quite possibly one of the most beautiful Christmas songs every written. Imagine yourself on a snowy night sitting by the firelight in silence with people you love.

2. Let it Snow - Ella Fitzgerald

- One of the best renditions of this song I know. Ella is smooth and perfect. And, I love this song... especially living in LA where it never snows. It makes me miss the East Coast.

3. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm - Dean Martin

- Fun song, and Dean's voice is relaxed and conversational. It's a perfect fit for this song.

4. Cool Yule - Kurt Elling

-Fun song. "You're gonna flip when you see ol' St. Nick play a lick on a peppermint stick."

5. Christmas Song - Nat King Cole

- It's a classic, what can I say. Some other great renditions: India Arie and Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Mel Torme, Vince Guaraldi.

6. Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses

- It's kind of a cult classic. Not one of the nostalgic pieces, but it's a lot of fun to listen to.

7. Christmas is Coming - Vince Guaraldi Trio

- I guess you should listen to this before "Christmas is Here." But I like "Christmas is Here" better...

8. Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt

- Kind of sexy if I'm allowed to say that.

9. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2

- Classic raspy/shouty Bono in a Christmas song. Can you ask for more?

10. O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Steven Curtis Chapman

- One of my favorite Christmas hymns. It has such power and emotion in the melody, and SCC does a great job with this one.

11. O Holy Night - Mariah Carey

- Another favorite Christmas hymn, and Mariah rips is in a freaky way. Is that whistling or singing?

12. Jingle Bells - James Taylor

-Nice twist on a classic. It's funky...

13. Soulful Christmas - James Brown

- How can you not like a Christmas song where the singer thanks his fans for buying his albums and coming to his concerts?

14. Sleigh Ride - Ella Fitzgerald

- All of the above about Ella applies.

15. My Favorite Things - Diana Ross

- I never understood why this is a Christmas song... because it says "mittens" and "packages?" Anyway, Diana's version is classic. It's got attitude and swings real nice.

On a side note, as you listen to Christmas music this season, listen to how many different Christmas songs actually quote Jingle Bells at some point. The most obvious one is Nat King Cole's Christmas Song.

steep thoughts

I just want to write something really deep. I want to blow your mind grapes with my incredible insights. But I can't think of anything good. Shouldn't I just be brimming with depth... wait, does that sentence even make sense? Can you brim with depth? Isn't that like exploding with insight? Or being manically reflective? Or slowly rushing? Or maybe silky turbulence? Or unflushing a toilet?

I've derailed.

I'm thirsty.

abusing the new ride

Here's Ricardo abusing my new ride... I swear it doesn't ride the same anymore:

CPBS

Wherever you stand on the election, one thing is clear. Both candidates have been completely silent on an issue that plagues America every day:

Creamy Peanut Butter Supremacy.

That's right. Forget the financial crisis and the environment. This is a serious issue. Every grocery store near my house AND the Target show blatant texture bias toward creamy. A consumer can find cans of creamy peanut butter in every size, from the personal to the family size. But try to find a fair representation of chunky. You're lucky to find a tiny little can of it shoved way back on the shelf.

It is a sad day when chunky peanut butter lovers are not treated equally, and that day has come. I dream of the day when peanut butter will not be judged by texture and consistency but by those who love the product.

Please, end creamy peanut butter's reign on the peanut butter isle. Support chunky. That's change we all need.

epi

So I kind of made an idiot of myself last night during my Greek reading class... this may be a little hard to explain, but I'll try.

There's a preposition in Greek that is used often and with many different meanings. The preposition is transliterated "epi". So we were trying to figure out what it meant in a certain context, and my Greek prof, the famous David Keifer, said, "Everything takes epi at some point."

I laughed because I thought he was making a joke by using a double entendre. He looked at me as if to say, "Please, share." So I told him how I thought he was making a joke by saying, "Everything takes a pee at some point."

Apparently he wasn't trying to say that and didn't think my joke was very funny. oops.

Sometimes you just gotta praise him

Paramorons

A little experiment me and my friend Ryan are working on...

1. Hypochondriacs make me sick.
2. Melodramatic people are ruining my life!
3. People who never finish their sentences really make me
4. People who use figures of speech are the cat’s meow.
5. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when I think about emotionally unstable people.
6. I’m not sure how I feel about indecisive people.
7. Sentimental people are so sweet!
8. Prepositions are terrible words to end sentences with.
9. Self-Centered people always interrupt me when I'm trying to talk
10. People who use metaphors ought to shampoo my crotch
11. People who state the obvious always point out things that most people think are obvious.
12. I just can’t handle intolerant people.
13. People who are vain make me look bad.
14. Racist people make me angrier than Asian drivers.
15. People who work on an assembly line have another thing coming.
16. People who ramble on are so frustrating because it seems like they never know exactly when to stop making the point they are trying to make even well after it seems like they made their point they just go on and on and don’t stop no matter how much you want them to stop or no matter how well they made the point they are trying to make.
17. People who think they are humble are not as humble as me.
18. People who repeat themselves repeat themselves.
19. People with bad grammars, is so! hard to around with.
20. I really, really, really hate whiny people so much!
21. I remembered how much I hate people who name-drop when I was hanging out with John Mayer's manager last week.
22. I know more than a few ambiguous people.
23. I’m really put off by people who procrastinate.
24. Abbrevs are sweeping the naysh.
25. I just don’t get it when people feel misunderstood.
26. People with low self-esteem are just not worth my time.
    

Why I Love LA

Tonight, the day after St. Patrick's Day, I'm going with a French guy, two Belgian guys, a guy from Indiana, and a Mexican girl to hear some Latin Jazz at a place that only makes Baked Potatoes just across the street from Universal City. What?

clawed my way to victory

I had an interesting experience at Dave and Busters on Saturday night. I got bored with the arcade games, so I decided to try my luck at the claw stuffed animal machine thingy. You know what I'm talking about: Those frustrating glass cases with all the wonderful stuffed animals and the most ineffective grabbing claw ever created. Most people think these things should have a big sign on them that says, "Don't bother. You're not getting anything. Just drop your coins in and walk away."



Well I had heard some "tips" on how to beat these things (don't ask my why such information would even be important to me), so I decided to give it a try. To get to the point, I went 14 for about 20. That's 14 crappy stuffed animals out of 20 tries! Not bad odds... I was doing so great that the lady had to come and keep filling the machine.

So I thought it would be cool to let my readers (both of them) in on my experienced tips. Here they are:

1. Don't look for what you want, look for what you can get.

-Most people approach the machine and look for a toy they would really want and go for that. This is problematic because what you want might not actually be accessible. It's better to actually win something than try for what you want and never get it. It's best to survey the pile and see what is ripe for the picking. The next tips help you decide which is best.

2. Go for a toy that's resting softly on the top and not under any other toys.

-We all know how weak those claws are, and that there is no chance they will pull anything up that's under something else. So try to go for something that has no part under anything else.

3. Go for a toy that's in the middle.

-Since the claw has such terrible range, you have to go for something that's toward the middle of the pile. The toys around the edge are probably too close to the glass to grab right.

4. Go for a toy with "grabable shape."

-Something long and skinny will probably be difficult to grab. Look for something with a size and shape that would be perfect for the claw. Something with a big head or body would work great. Also, check to see if you can grab the string or tag of a toy.

5. Go for a toy near the edge of the chute.

-There may be something close to the hole that you can just nudge with the claw and it will drop in the chute. Then you don't even have to worry about the claw and it's terrible grabbing power.

6. Go for a toy that's up high.

-These claws have terrible range, so a lower toy might be out of reach of the claw. Then you're screwed and there goes 50 cents.


7. Take your time.

-You usually have a time limit before the claw automatically goes, so use the whole time if you need it. Go to the side of the machine to check your angle to make sure you get the perfect grab. There's nothing worse than hitting the button and finding out you had the right "left-to-right" position but weren't deep enough or shallow enough.

That should give you a good start. Have fun cleaning out the machines. Fight the power!