I haven't had a chance to do anything crazy recently. Mostly just working and hanging around with friends in casual settings suitable for the sensitive ears of a near-one-year-old British/American ragamuffin.
Most of my activities are already on written record in the more populated areas of the blogosphere by the time I have a chance to get finger to keyboard so I don't find the need to write often.
Therefore I must focus on my unique experiences lest some other more motivated web journalist scoop me.
UNNECESSARY BOOK REVIEW
I finished Live From New York. It is a backstage look at SNL as told by the cast, writers, producers, etc. The book is mostly quotations from interviews performed with said individuals. The book follows chronologically starting with the formulation for the ideas of the first show, it's casting, the airing, and then follows along up to the end of the 2002 season.
The book was mostly enjoyable in a celebrity gossip kind of way. There are no brilliant insights or revelations of philosophical importance. It is mostly people just reflecting on a time in their life that they treasured and the people that they miss. There are a lot of funny stories told by the people involved which gives it a lot of appeal. The writers interject to introduce sections and mostly provide factual information.
The book does have its shortcomings. Just about everyone oversells the importance of SNL. I would be willing to bet that more than 75% of the people interviewed would rank it as not only their favorite TV show of all time but the most important of all time as well. They claim that it is the most politically subversive show and glorify Michaels' stance to let writers be as political as they desire. If it were just those interviewed being self-important it would be fine, but the writers seem to enjoy it as well. Most of the time they are editorializing it is to say how great Lorne Michaels' ass is or something.
I enjoyed the book. My recommendation is to read it if you find the people on the show funny (Murray, Belushi, Carvey, Rock, etc.) because they are mostly funny in the book. It makes a good toilet book because the quotes are neatly divided so it is very easy to pick up and put down at any point. Don't go out of your way to read it for a complete dissection of SNL culture. It's mostly talks about parties, drugs, and jerks.
Favorite stories/moments:
-Belushi and Akroyd were walking down the street one time and Belushi was hit by a truck. He got up and walked away.
-Steven Seagal and Robert Blake seem to be the consensus for biggest jerks ever to host the show.
-Steve Martin and Tom Hanks seem to be the consensus for best hosts. I would have to agree if only for the Brocktoon sketch.
-By far my favorite story is from when Chevy Chase came to host in the crappy season in the mid 80s. Apparently Chevy can be a real jerk to people when he comes back to host. Terry Sweeney was an openly gay actor in the cast. From Jon Lovitz:
"...there was a meeting of the writers and staff. So Chevy looks at Sweeney and goes, "You're gay, right?" Terry goes, "Yes, what would you like to do for you?" Chevy goes, "Well, you can start by licking my balls."
Indoor football tomorrow. Time to listen to speed metal at insane volumes for the next 36 hours to get jacked.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
You gotta take money to make money.
Haven't posted in a while. Read my previous two posts to find out what I've been busy with.
First frisbee practice in a while last night. Sprinted hard and had a good time. My legs are sore.
Checked out the NYTimes today. This article caught my eye. Seems Ford didn't do so well. That's what they get for relying on SUVs and Pickups. "The biggest blow to Ford in recent years has come from rising gasoline prices, which depressed sales of the big pickups and sport utility vehicles it depends on for profits." No shit.
I started thinking about this though, not about Ford or gas prices but the dollar figure itself. $12.7 billion dollars. That's a lot of money. I started to think about how much money this actually was and I've come to the following conclusions: a) I'm curious to know how many countries have a gross domestic income less than what Ford lost, and b) I would be an awesome rich guy.
Louis C K has a great bit about this where he talks about Bill Gates and all the crazy stuff he could do with his money. He says "If I had that much money, I wouldn't have it for long because I would just think of all the crazy stuff I could do with it." This is how I feel. To give you an idea of how much money this actually is, think of it this way:
At $100/hr for an entire year you would make $100*40*52 = $208,000 in a year. That is just over one hundred thousandth of $12.7 billion. You could sit in the champagne room of a strip club for eight hours a day, every work day, for an entire year at $500/hr and still only spend about one ten thousandth of your money.
List of crazy things I would do with this much money:
-buy an island, build a mansion on it, and then blow the whole island up using military grade explosives
-make a movie adaptation of "Progress the Monkey"
-make a movie adaptation of "Buzby, Berkeley, and Katrina"
-buy a blimp and use it throw pinatas out onto Michigan Ave during holidays
-buy a major newspaper and include one made up story somewhere in the paper everyday, but do not tell your writing staff or your editors; when/if confronted, insist that the stories are true no matter how ridiculous they are
-buy a custom made Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster; I know that's not ridiculous, I just love that car
This is just a short list. I could keep going but I have work to do. Imaging if Ford had done any of these things instead of making cars.
First soccer game tonight. I'm pumped.
First frisbee practice in a while last night. Sprinted hard and had a good time. My legs are sore.
Checked out the NYTimes today. This article caught my eye. Seems Ford didn't do so well. That's what they get for relying on SUVs and Pickups. "The biggest blow to Ford in recent years has come from rising gasoline prices, which depressed sales of the big pickups and sport utility vehicles it depends on for profits." No shit.
I started thinking about this though, not about Ford or gas prices but the dollar figure itself. $12.7 billion dollars. That's a lot of money. I started to think about how much money this actually was and I've come to the following conclusions: a) I'm curious to know how many countries have a gross domestic income less than what Ford lost, and b) I would be an awesome rich guy.
Louis C K has a great bit about this where he talks about Bill Gates and all the crazy stuff he could do with his money. He says "If I had that much money, I wouldn't have it for long because I would just think of all the crazy stuff I could do with it." This is how I feel. To give you an idea of how much money this actually is, think of it this way:
At $100/hr for an entire year you would make $100*40*52 = $208,000 in a year. That is just over one hundred thousandth of $12.7 billion. You could sit in the champagne room of a strip club for eight hours a day, every work day, for an entire year at $500/hr and still only spend about one ten thousandth of your money.
List of crazy things I would do with this much money:
-buy an island, build a mansion on it, and then blow the whole island up using military grade explosives
-make a movie adaptation of "Progress the Monkey"
-make a movie adaptation of "Buzby, Berkeley, and Katrina"
-buy a blimp and use it throw pinatas out onto Michigan Ave during holidays
-buy a major newspaper and include one made up story somewhere in the paper everyday, but do not tell your writing staff or your editors; when/if confronted, insist that the stories are true no matter how ridiculous they are
-buy a custom made Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster; I know that's not ridiculous, I just love that car
This is just a short list. I could keep going but I have work to do. Imaging if Ford had done any of these things instead of making cars.
First soccer game tonight. I'm pumped.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
"You know what the best part is? It's not knowing that your friends have your back...
it's knowing that you have theirs."
On Friday I worked hard all day at the labs. I didn't have time to check my email messages at all that day. I worked pretty much straight through from 9 to 5 checking up on things and showing the grad students how to perform certain procedures. When I finally got home I was tired and really hungry.
I got home and immediately grabbed a bite to eat (yogurt and something that escapes me right now). I sat down in front of my computer with my yogurt to check my mail for the first time that day. I was greeted with the usual spam, some notes from my mom, some other things.
Then I came to an email from Colyn. It was titled simply "Hank...". This struck me as odd so I opened the email.
Hank, a 22 year old senior at UIC and one of the captains of the UIC Men's Ultimate team, was killed in a car accident late Thursday night.
I sat in shock for a while and then began to sort out some thoughts. My thanks to Cass who gave me a hug and told me to sit down with some water and just relax for a minute.
Hank was a fun teammate and a good friend. I honestly think he may have frustrated me more than anyone else on the team just because I knew how much potential he had if he would put forth more effort. That's not to say he didn't try hard, it's just to say that I always felt that with motivation he could be more. We laughed, drank, and played together and I will miss him dearly. My deepest sympathy to his family and loved ones.
Again, no long speeches on the meaning of life or anything like that. Time for my favorite Hank story.
Sectionals two years ago. The final game for UIC was against U of C, a friendly team that we have developed a good rapport with. Both teams have been eliminated from contention at this point. To start the game off it is customary to flip discs (similar to a coin toss) but to end the day right the decision was made to have a shotgun line. Our two best drinkers vs. their two best, first man starts to shotgun his beer and the second player cannot start until he has finished. We send Sean and Hank to the line. Sean and Hank proceed to finish their beers before their first player had even finished his. Hank, as anchor, finishes his beer to seal the victory, crushes his can with his fist, spikes it on the ground, turns to the U of C team and says "Welcome to public school, Bitches!"
On Saturday I played soccer for three hours. During the game I got a call from my brother. The father of a good friend Chuck (one of four groomsmen at my brother's wedding) passed away over Friday night. I did not know the man, but my heart goes out to his family.
I can only look to the quote that is the title of this post (and Hank's favorite movie quote) and decide exactly how much that means to me.
On Friday I worked hard all day at the labs. I didn't have time to check my email messages at all that day. I worked pretty much straight through from 9 to 5 checking up on things and showing the grad students how to perform certain procedures. When I finally got home I was tired and really hungry.
I got home and immediately grabbed a bite to eat (yogurt and something that escapes me right now). I sat down in front of my computer with my yogurt to check my mail for the first time that day. I was greeted with the usual spam, some notes from my mom, some other things.
Then I came to an email from Colyn. It was titled simply "Hank...". This struck me as odd so I opened the email.
Hank, a 22 year old senior at UIC and one of the captains of the UIC Men's Ultimate team, was killed in a car accident late Thursday night.
I sat in shock for a while and then began to sort out some thoughts. My thanks to Cass who gave me a hug and told me to sit down with some water and just relax for a minute.
Hank was a fun teammate and a good friend. I honestly think he may have frustrated me more than anyone else on the team just because I knew how much potential he had if he would put forth more effort. That's not to say he didn't try hard, it's just to say that I always felt that with motivation he could be more. We laughed, drank, and played together and I will miss him dearly. My deepest sympathy to his family and loved ones.
Again, no long speeches on the meaning of life or anything like that. Time for my favorite Hank story.
Sectionals two years ago. The final game for UIC was against U of C, a friendly team that we have developed a good rapport with. Both teams have been eliminated from contention at this point. To start the game off it is customary to flip discs (similar to a coin toss) but to end the day right the decision was made to have a shotgun line. Our two best drinkers vs. their two best, first man starts to shotgun his beer and the second player cannot start until he has finished. We send Sean and Hank to the line. Sean and Hank proceed to finish their beers before their first player had even finished his. Hank, as anchor, finishes his beer to seal the victory, crushes his can with his fist, spikes it on the ground, turns to the U of C team and says "Welcome to public school, Bitches!"
On Saturday I played soccer for three hours. During the game I got a call from my brother. The father of a good friend Chuck (one of four groomsmen at my brother's wedding) passed away over Friday night. I did not know the man, but my heart goes out to his family.
I can only look to the quote that is the title of this post (and Hank's favorite movie quote) and decide exactly how much that means to me.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
I resolve to evolve.
So Florida won the National Championship. On the one hand I hate Florida schools, but on the other hand I really hate Ohio State, THE losers of the National Championship game.
In this New Year I have come to accept the following fact: I hate running. Not the act of running, but the sport of running. I know it keeps me in shape and I feel good afterwards but it kills my legs and I become ridiculously bored. No offense to Cass, my running partner and my inspiration to actually go outside most nights.
The point is that I am tricking myself to get into better shape. On a playing field during Ultimate I feel like I can run for hours but when I am just outside running I finish two miles and get annoyed so I stop. It does feel healthy so I will keep it up but in order to encourage myself to get active I am participating in as much as possible. I plan on playing in city Ultimate leagues as usual but I am also playing indoor soccer. This in addition to practicing for these sports when possible should keep me moving and in shape.
In related news, I am absolutely psyched for soccer. So to encourage the hype train here are some great clips from YouTube. Watch them at your leisure.
Thierry Henry = Better Than You
Top 10 Goals from the Premiership Season (first half)
(Number 2 is a personal favorite, but Number 1 is awesome)
Update: I posted this, and then I decided to check the weather. It is supposed to get significantly cold this next week. It's below freezing outside now (9pmish) and I would normally run in the evening so it looks like this won't be happening for a while. I better get used to the idea of using Cass's elliptical machine.
In this New Year I have come to accept the following fact: I hate running. Not the act of running, but the sport of running. I know it keeps me in shape and I feel good afterwards but it kills my legs and I become ridiculously bored. No offense to Cass, my running partner and my inspiration to actually go outside most nights.
The point is that I am tricking myself to get into better shape. On a playing field during Ultimate I feel like I can run for hours but when I am just outside running I finish two miles and get annoyed so I stop. It does feel healthy so I will keep it up but in order to encourage myself to get active I am participating in as much as possible. I plan on playing in city Ultimate leagues as usual but I am also playing indoor soccer. This in addition to practicing for these sports when possible should keep me moving and in shape.
In related news, I am absolutely psyched for soccer. So to encourage the hype train here are some great clips from YouTube. Watch them at your leisure.
Thierry Henry = Better Than You
Top 10 Goals from the Premiership Season (first half)
(Number 2 is a personal favorite, but Number 1 is awesome)
Update: I posted this, and then I decided to check the weather. It is supposed to get significantly cold this next week. It's below freezing outside now (9pmish) and I would normally run in the evening so it looks like this won't be happening for a while. I better get used to the idea of using Cass's elliptical machine.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Moments of silence punctuated by uproarious laughter.
I haven't blogged in a while. This is for a number of reasons that I will now blog about as is the custom among the bloggerati. A large volume of work has kept me busy with...well work. My New Year's celebration was enjoyable however it has been chronicled already. And most significantly was the very recent passing of a family friend.
The man was the husband of my mother's best friend since before my older brother was born. This woman is honestly one of my favorite in the world. She is constantly full of life and spunk and has never once said anything but a kind word to me. Seeing her cry makes me hurt in that soft part in the middle.
The funeral was actually perhaps the best I have ever been to, whether that is appropriate to say or not. It was an actual celebration of the man's life as opposed to a sermon or melancholy obligation. Personal friends got up to share anecdotes that made everyone realize what they loved about the man. There was mourning, but there was also laughter. Every person's funeral should have that.
I honestly didn't know the man too well, but I knew he made his wife happy and was kind to me when I met him. I am sad that the world is without him.
I don't want to get introspective and rant about my feelings about the afterlife or spirituality or anything like that. I'm not that kind of person. Funerals/death don't really have that effect on me. Instead I want to do what I can by sharing my favorite story about "Big Jim" that I heard.
When they were teenagers Jim and his brother were hired to paint a house. Jim's brother apparently didn't pay attention when they arrived to the house and pulled up into the driveway. After unloading the tools and ladders and so forth from their truck the brother asked Jim how he wants to split the workload. Jim said that he would take the front of the house and that the brother could take the back since the back would be easier since no one really sees the back and his brother could be a little less careful. "Go ahead and you'll be done in no time," Jim said. Jim's brother worked all day to finish the back. As it was getting dark he finally finished and came around to the front to find Jim relaxing with some beers from the cooler. He had been done for several hours. The house was half brick in front.
The man was the husband of my mother's best friend since before my older brother was born. This woman is honestly one of my favorite in the world. She is constantly full of life and spunk and has never once said anything but a kind word to me. Seeing her cry makes me hurt in that soft part in the middle.
The funeral was actually perhaps the best I have ever been to, whether that is appropriate to say or not. It was an actual celebration of the man's life as opposed to a sermon or melancholy obligation. Personal friends got up to share anecdotes that made everyone realize what they loved about the man. There was mourning, but there was also laughter. Every person's funeral should have that.
I honestly didn't know the man too well, but I knew he made his wife happy and was kind to me when I met him. I am sad that the world is without him.
I don't want to get introspective and rant about my feelings about the afterlife or spirituality or anything like that. I'm not that kind of person. Funerals/death don't really have that effect on me. Instead I want to do what I can by sharing my favorite story about "Big Jim" that I heard.
When they were teenagers Jim and his brother were hired to paint a house. Jim's brother apparently didn't pay attention when they arrived to the house and pulled up into the driveway. After unloading the tools and ladders and so forth from their truck the brother asked Jim how he wants to split the workload. Jim said that he would take the front of the house and that the brother could take the back since the back would be easier since no one really sees the back and his brother could be a little less careful. "Go ahead and you'll be done in no time," Jim said. Jim's brother worked all day to finish the back. As it was getting dark he finally finished and came around to the front to find Jim relaxing with some beers from the cooler. He had been done for several hours. The house was half brick in front.
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