Back and Better Than Ever

YES! My blog is finally back up. Blogger has been having problems, and I haven't been able to access my blog for about 3 days. I hope these problems are over and we can get back to normal. So if you have been getting "error" or "forbidden" messages when you try to access my blog it seems to be better now, but that may not be permenant.

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched: I just went to my blog and found the formating all messed up. They must be working still.
Please stick with me. I'm sure they will get it fixed soon. If not, I will move my blog to another service and will let all of my readers know where to find me.

March Madness?

I've only seen about 10 total minutes of the tournament so far this year. Last year I took the week off, and watched all the coverage CBS could dish out. The little bit I did see made me not want to watch at all. I thought Winthrop totally got robbed today with that phantom foul call. How can a guy who is standing perfectly still with his hands straight up in the air commit a foul? He wasn't even moving. Doesn't he have a right to the space he occupies as long as it is not directly under the basket? I guess if your a 15 seed, you don't have a right to much of anything except getting bounced in the 1st round by the refs.
Big thumbs down...
-to the refs in that game.
-to me for not blogging enough this week
-to That 70's Show not ending last year

Big thumbs up...
-to Savemart for the beautiful cut of beef I purchased and BBQed tonight
-to Craig Kilborn for being such a funny SOB. Where is that guy? I would pay money to see more of him. I enjoyed him on Sportscenter, the daily show and finally his latenight show. Too bad that didn't work out. The only thing I've seen him in since then is OLD SCHOOL (aka the funniest movie ever), and he was hilarous. Actually, I also saw the Sportscenter he returned to do, but Dan Patrick barely let him get a word in edgewise. That makes me think... Kilborn has this bit that he does where he plays this really straight, guys-guy, jerk very similar to his role in Old School (did I mention its funny?). I bet Dan Patrick is the inspiration for that bit.
-my soft bed. I am going to it now. My alarm is set for 4:45 am. Talk about March Madness!

Huh?

I was going to make some mean jokes about the name of this farm, but I felt too bad. Lets just say, if you are going to start a business, take some time to think about ALL the ways a name can be taken. That goes for naming children too.
Oh, I can't resist.
"I don't know what they grow, but I bet it gets tall fast."

Think my joke is lame? Comment and tell me a better one.

Light it up

It rain fairly steadily in bakersfield all day yesterday. As I was driving around town with my windshield wipers on their highest setting, I barely noticed a few things that almost looked like cars--it was hard to tell through all the rain. They couldn't have been cars, though, since they didn't have any lights on. You see, California law stipulates that one must use headlights during any sustained rainfall or visibility less than 1,000 feet. Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself (very bottom of the page). Oh, and for those of you who think your parking light (those little orange ones) count, they don't.
I am not a fan of daytime running lights, but I think this is a good law. It is so much easier to see someone in a storm if they have their lights on. Plus, when the roads are wet, you need extra time to react and seeing someone a spit second earlier could make a huge difference. Too bad it will never be enforced. No cops want to spend a rainy day getting out of their cosy squad cars to write $96 tickets.

She drives real fast and she drives real hard

In working for the farm, I often do a lot of driving. I would have to say that this is by far the most stressful and frustrating part of my job. The roadways in Bakersfield are downright dangerous. The combination of poor urban planning, explosive population growth, the popularity of SUVs and inconsistently enforced traffic laws has led to what I believe is one of the most dangerous areas to drive in the country. I am seriously scared to be on the road much of the time!
I could go on and on about how stupid people are and how hypocritical our traffic laws have become, but I won't (ok, maybe I will later). Instead here is what I think is a great idea: go to http://www.campusmoviefest.com/movies.html and click on "A Meditation on the Speed Limit". Big props to these guys/girls. This is the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that our country needs from the younger generations. I don't know how happy their parents are about them risking their lives though.

Camping Trips

This summer, Julie and I went camping. Julie is the best girl camper ever. She loves it. Plus hot dogs and smores are 2 of her favorite foods. Needless to say, we had a great time and can't wait to do it again. We are planning to go some time this year with my brother if his back ever heals. We are also thinking of planning some 3 day weekend type trips. Does anyone out there have a great place they like to go that we might enjoy? Any suggestions or recommendations would be much appreciated.

Here are some pictures from out trip to Crater Lake in Oregon...
CRATER LAKE

Let me just say that this lake is freaking huge, and scary to look at. The edge of the lake is a sheer cliff ALL THE WAY AROUND. If you are afraid of heights (I am), this can be tough to deal with, but it is worth it. You can't understand how huge this is until you experience it in person. I have never felt so small in my life as I did the day I stood at the edge of this lake. It is a totally humbling experience, and I will always carry it with me as part of how I see myself in relation to the world around me.

ME


JULIE

No Body Know the Troubles I've Seen...

It looks like I will spend most of the spring sick again this year. Last year I got very sick in the end of January, and was sick until about mid April. This year I got a bad cold about 3 weeks ago. Took a course of antibiotics, felt terrible for 2 weeks, got better for about a week. Now I have terrible ear pain and sore throat. One of my tonsils is swollen to about the size of Mini cooper. Looks like I will be spending another morning in the doctors office.
I top it all off, I can't sleep at 1 AM and I am typing a post right next to my sleeping wife. She is super pissed right now. Must go make amends.

The Weekend in Pictures

This is such a great place! I dropped $50 here without even trying. Ouch.

Julie talked me into going to what she calls CPK this weekend. As expected, I didn't like it very much, but she loves that place.

Here's a pic of Julie driving me around (or crazy). Here's how our conversation went:
ME: Hey Jules, its cloudy. Whats with the Sunglasses? Who do you think you are, Bono, or something?
HER: You wish! (implying I am secretly in love with Bono)

Darn her quick wit! I wish I married someone stupider than me.


This is Julie on her horse, Sweetie. This horse can be pretty ornery and mischievous. Actually, I shouldn't say that. She can be very sweet, and she is almost always a perfect angel when I want to work her or ride her. She occasionally does some things to make Julie mad, but I can understand that.

Julie looks really good riding her, and today was a beautiful day for a ride. All of the almond trees are blooming.
I guess spring has sprung.

On a side note, I am currently listening to Your Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond by Taj Mahal
I got his CD Giant Step/De Ole Folks at Home this weekend and am loving it. I was debating whether to get a collection of his hits or buy his old albums. Well, I went the album route and I'm not regretting it yet. I may have to get another soon.

Pathetic & Trivial Friday Post

I don't know if I've said this before, but I have a serious problem. Not that one. Not that one either... Just let me finish! I try to avoid listening to music on the radio, but on occasion I have run across the song Here Without You by 3 Doors Down. I think this song should totally be a twangy country song. When you hear it, you can totally imagine some guy singing it in a whiny country music falsetto. Sometimes, if I am in the car with Julie, I practice singing it in my best country singer voice.

Stay tuned. I am going to try to take some pictures of my weekend adventures to share with y'all, so there's something to look forward to.

If your interested, I am currently listening to I Stood on the Banks of the Jordan by Reverend James Cleveland. I bet you didn't know that I am into old gospel and Spirituals. It has a gritty/worldly, yet hopefull feel that really appeals to me(I like bluegrass for the same reason). It doesn't deny the difficulties in the world. It stares them strait in the face and says, "Bring it on." I would love to get some vinyl of some old spirituals some day.

To let it go... and so to find a way

Well, I'm in a really bad mood today. I wouldn't say its for no reason, just for lots of little reasons. I actually have been a little cantankerous and irritable all week, but today it started to come to the surface like a painful blemish. This got me thinking about the different things people do to unwind, decompress, de-stress, etc. Since I have moved to Bakersfield, I have been having trouble developing new habits to get over a hard day. I had more ways than I think I needed in Fresno. My favorite... I would call my good friend Adam and we would go have a pint in a quiet bar somewhere in tower where the world could never find me. But, alas, the Tower District is 2 hours and about 30 bucks in gas away from me right now, and my good friend is most likely carousing with at least two beautiful women right now...
But back to my subject of what people do to unwind. Here are some things that have been working for me lately:
-Play FIFA on my playstation
-Listen to music
On this subject, check out I Love the Rain the Most by Joe Purdy
or for something completely differnt, I have been enjoying Arctic Monkey recently, but I know most won't like this.
-Drink Beer and eat Salty snacks (I never fails... to give you a hangover)
-Watch DVDs of the Simpsons. Watching this show to decompress after a long day has been a tradition for me since college. Unfortunately, the local station stopped playing an hour of Simpsons reruns in the evening. Now I only have my DVDs to console me. Anyone who wants to buy me season 7 I welcome to do so. I might send my wife out to get it right now though!

Things I don't do:
-Drive (if I can avoid it)
-Talk to people who annoy me. This runs the risk of sending me over the edge and unleashing a tirade that even the most annoying person in the world doesn't deserve.
-Discuss sensitive issues with my wife.

Well, I don't really know where I was going with this. I'm sure I'll look back and think about how poorly written this post is, but I won't delete. I couldn't take the backlash that I would get from my readers.

Evil Genius or Just Evil? You Decide!

Well, well, well... My last post generated quite a bit of wild speculation about why I want a huge fish tank. Clearly some of you see me as a mad scientist (not too far off). Ok, I'll tell you what it is for, with the caveat that anything I publish here is proprietary intellectual material. For those of you who are idiots, that means you can't steal my ideas.
As many of you know, I have become interested in bass fishing of late. I recently found out that small bass (about 6-8 inches) keep very well in a fish tank. I have even found websites of some scientists and college profs who have kept them. In case you still want to steal my ideas (even after that strongly-worded warning), I'm not linking to these sites. If you want to steal my idea, you will have to do your own work.
So here is my idea: I am interested in making a Skinner box . But instead of using a rat or other land animal, I will be using a largemouth bass. This will allow me to do operant conditioning experiments and gather data to better understand the cognition of bass and other fish. Specifically, I am interested in learning how quickly bass fish learn and modify behaviors.

Now its time for the test portion of my post (don't worry! there's only one question)
The end result of my experiments will be:

a)I will never get laid again (luckily I hid my extremely nerdy qualities until after marriage. Or did I?)

b)I will become the greatest bass fisherman the world has ever known (I may already be that, though.)

c)I will get tired and watch Star Trek (I don't like the show, but all this is making me think I might like it soon)

d)All of the above

Please feel free comment and tell my what a loser I am or join my losery ranks and give me ideas for my experiments.

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Igor, would you mind telling me whose brain I did put in?
Igor: And you won't be angry?
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: I will NOT be angry.
Igor: Abby someone.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Abby someone. Abby who?
Igor: Abby Normal.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Abby Normal?
Igor: I'm almost sure that was the name.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Are you saying that I put an abnormal brain into a seven and a half foot long, fifty-four inch wide GORILLA? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE TELLING ME?

Wanted...

Does anyone out there have an old aquarium that is over 50 gallons, in decent condition, and that they would be willing to sell me for a reasonable price? I am in the market for a large fish tank (preferably at least 48" long, but less might be ok), and retail prices on them are outrageous!

This is for a personal science project that I am interested in doing, so your efforts would go to the worthy cause of advancing human civilization.

Ideas for Rent

Unfortunately for you, my wife found out about my ideas concerning leadership. So, instead of giving my ideas out to the world for free, she wants me to develop a seminar that people will have to pay for. If you know her, I'm sure you can picture her saying this. This is the girl who used to rent her Barbie stuff to other kids instead of sharing!

Just so you know what I'm thinking about, I will give you an illustration. Imagine your friends invite you to play a new game with them. They take you out to where you are going to play, and they explain all the rules and strategies to you. When they are confident you understand, you all begin to play together. Almost as soon as the game starts, you start to notice that people seem to be doing things you thought were against the rules. Then, they start penalizing you for infractions that you thought were totally legal. Next, your team is getting frustrated with you, even though you are trying to do exactly the strategy they described to you before you started.
How would you feel in this situation? Confused and frustrated. And rightly so! If there were other rules that superceded the ones they described at the beginning, why didn't they just tell you about them before hand? Are they just changing the rules as they go along in order to cheat, or because they don't understand the rules very well themselves? And why is your team so mad? Aren't you just doing what they told you to do? If they had wanted you to do something else, all they had to do was tell you.
Sadly, I've noticed that many of my friends and relatives are felling this exact way in their lives. Be it at work, church, school, other groups, or even at home, many people feel confused and disoriented because the "rules" of the group seem to be always changing. This is a direct result of poor leadership. One of the bedrocks of good leadership is consistency, and that seems to be a trait severely lacking in many leaders today. There are many reasons for this lack of consistency, many possible solutions, and many good reasons to be more consistent.
Imagine yourself as the leader in any group situation you want. For some this might be hard, for others it will be very easy. Until you've led, you can't grasp how hard a task it actually is. What if I told you (remember, your a leader right now) I could make your group:
-achieve its goals faster with less work
-save more money
-improve interactions and relationships with other groups
-improve member morale, satisfaction, and retention
all while reducing the work load on you (the leader)?
Doesn't that sound good?

A Leaf in the Wind

It has come to my attention that there really is a leadership crisis in America today. I'm not talking about what is going on in the nation's capitol. I'm talking about the kind of leadership that we all experience daily in our homes, civic organizations, religious groups and, yes, our jobs too! I am interested in exploring the idea of consistency in leadership over my next few posts, and I hope that you will bear with me while I stuggle to awkwardly articulate my thoughts on the subject.
Never fear, I will soon get this out of my system and go back to writing about the stupid things I say to get in trouble with Julie and the things that I am breaking at work.
If it gets too intense, I may simply abort this effort. In which case, you will just have to have a conversation with me sometime to get the rest of my thoughts.

Stuff you need to know to live

Tonight, I feel I should enlighten my readers with some odd news to which they might not otherwise be exposed. 3 links, and then I go to bread... I mean bed. (If you can name the simpsons episode this comes from, I will give you 5 bucks.)

Some people are such stupid idiots. I would have sent her to jail and sued her. I wouldn't have asked for money. I would have asked to damages to be paid in her having to put signs up on her house that say she is a stupid idiot.

I always thought those guys were TOO well dressed. Check it out.

I've heard of some crazy fights at churches, but this takes it to another level.

Dodger Symbolism from a Giants fan

Found an old, but very cool video of a crane accident. This crane was called Big Blue and was one of the biggest cranes in the world at the time. It was an icon of the industry, and many people knew about and even admired it (you might say they looked up to it. HA HA). Well, they were using it to put the roof on a baseball staduim, Miller Park, in 1999. They were doing one of the largest lifts ever (the section you see lifted is 3/8 of an acre and 100's of tons of steal), and the 4 guys who drive it were in too much of a hurry to take wind readings. The rest you can see for yourself.
Sadly, 3 concrete workers were in the stadium at the time and lost their lives. There is a statue honoring them outside of the ballpark now.

Watching this big blue machine go down hard at a ballpark makes me think of how hard the fall will be on the dodgers this season. They're gonna get hurt so bad they will have to change their colors to black and blue.

"Teamwork"

When I saw this commercial on the Super Bowl, I immediately thought of my wife. I later showed it to her online. She absolutely loves it. I'm not trying to say that she feels this way at work... oh wait, yes I am. Anyway click on the link and hit the play botton for the commercial "Window" if you want to check it out.

I can't get no respect!

Here are some movies that I feel don't get the credit they deserve:
-The Truman Show
Just a great, great movie. I don't know what else to say but that. Everything about it is top class (screenplay, cinematography, acting, etc). I think some people don't give it the respect it deserves because Jim Carrey is in the lead role, but I think it deserves a second look.

-Gladiator
What happened to this movie. One day, it was the greatest epic made in this generation. The next, no one even remembers it. One day, Russel Crowe was winning the Oscar for it. The next day, people don't even mention it when they list the movies he's in. Sure, he's done some other good ones, but when people mention Master and Commander instead of Gladiator that is a problem for me. I could pull this movie out on any day of the week, and have a great time watching it. Which is a lot to say for me. I am a moody guy, and usually I need to really get in the mood to rewatch a film I own.

-Mr Smith Goes to Washington
People who have never heard of this movie should go out and rent it right now! Even if you don't like it. It is short, and Capra is at his prophetic best. I will just tell you that I understand this film has some shortcomings, but it is one of my favorite pre WWII films. This film is also a must watch for anyone who want to talk politics or anyone who wants to act like an "intellectual snob" (i use this term to refer to people who are snobby about what they know. I know this one applies to many of my readers. Especially Ed, no offense. I'm not implying in this term that all intellectuals are snobby. I actually find the uneducated to be more agressively exclusivist than the intelligencia as a whole).

-Punchdrunk Love
Many of the people with whom I saw this film did not like it at all. I am fine with that, but I disagree. I felt that the film accurately portrayed that life of some very psychologically troubled people with whom I could on some level identify. I warn all readers that this movie is no happy-go -lucky film. It has some very difficult scenes in which the viewers is meant to feel uncomfortable, because that is how the characters are feeling. In the end, though, there is a sense that there is hope for redemption, even if it comes in a very flawed and imperfect form.

-Memento
What happened to this movie? Everyone was talking about how crazy and amazing it was, and then they all got over it. This is one movie that I don't own that I wish I did. It also was what really gave Christopher Nolan some serious Hollywood clout. As a side note, I had always been curious about the short-term memory loss thing, and I recently found out that it can really work just like it does on this movie.

-50 First Dates
Speaking of short-term memory loss. This is a great movie to watch with girls who don't like serious movies. You all know the type. My wife is generally one. You know, you want to sit down to a video on friday night, but you don't want to have to explain the plot the whole time or have her get mad at the end because it was too scary, violent or whatever. All I'm saying is, its never failed for me. Just trying to help you guys out.

Well, I have a few more, but this will have to do for now. Maybe if I get a response I can add to my list, or we can just argue about it in the comments.

A quarter of a century!

If you know this girl, call and wish her Happy Birthday! I won't tell you how old she is, but I will tell you that she was born in 1981.
Julie, I love you!

Other famous people who share her birthdate (2/7): Charles Dickens, Sinclair Lewis, Chris Rock, NBA guard Steve Nash.

OVER-RATED (chant)

I been spending some quality time with a tractor lately, and it has left me with plenty of time to think. I know the Oscar nominations came out this week, but I hardly know what was nominated because the news is only reporting on a certain movie I'm so sick of hearing about that I won't even mention the title. Although, I will say that I can't believe how ironic and euphemistic the title is! Its not like I really care about gay issues either way, I just hate how the media tries to find any scrap of sensational news and then report on only that for as long as they can make the story last. Is anyone actually doing real journalism anymore?
Ayway, in honor of Oscar nominations I have been thinking about movies lately and decided to release a series of my own movie lists. I will get it kicked off (in my typically critical fasion) with 9 movies I think are totally overrated. Why not 10? The number 10 seems so trite, doesn't it? Plus, I only thought of 9.

9 Overrated Movies (in no order of importance)

- Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
In case you missed this one, it is a documentary about how this hard rock band got therapy and worked out all their issues so that they could stay together as a band. The thing is, when I watched it I realized that they are still totally screwed up after all the therapy. Nothing really changes. One guy gets sober, and another falls off the wagon. That pattern pretty much repeats over and over. Lots of critics gave this movie positive reviews, but I don't really see what is great about it. These guys just wanted to film their lives so that they could sell a product they didn't have to work to make to their already loyal fanbase. Lame money-grab. Nothing more.

- Top Gun
I don't really hate this movie, just think it gets more love than it should. Anyone who is a fan of the Sports Guy knows of all his references to the latent homo-eroticism in this one. I'm so glad he had the courage to say what everyone else was thinking, that beach volleyball scene has to be the gayest thing in the history of all cinema. Way more gay than Brokeback, more flaming than Robin Williams in the Birdcage. I'm not gay bashing here, I'm just saying that the people in that scene are claiming to be straight, but aren't acting like it. That may be how guys play volleyball at Immanuel High School, but at my high school guys were into chicks! I do have to say that Tim Robbins is so funny and goofy in this movie, and laughing at the few scenes he is in saves the film in my book.

- The Sixth Sense
"I see dead people!" All I have to say about this one is this: if you didn't figure out that Bruce Willis was dead before the end of the movie when it is revealed, then you should seriously question your mental capacity.

- The Princes Bride
I actually like this one. I just think people give it more credit than it deserves as a children's movie. With all the violence, gore and hinted at sexual abuse, is this film really appropiate for children? I say sure, but our society seems to have decided that children should be sheltered from all form of this bad stuff. At the same time however, society seems to turn its back on some of the worste offenders, and I think this movie is a good example of the societal inconsistency.

- Field of Dreams
BORING! Someone decided they didn't know how to write drama, so they wrote a story with an intentionally intricate and dragging plotline, knowing that it would fool some people into thinking they were seeing something dramatic and emotional. Where some might see dramatic pauses, I see nothing happening and am unimpressed.

- Titanic
This was the first film that came to mind when I started thinking about the concept. As it turns out, just about everyone I asked mentioned this film as one of their choices for most overrated. I'm sick of hearing how romantic it is. If it is so romantic, than how come the pick-up line "hey, I don't have any money... want to go fornicate in the back of a car" never works? Huh?
I don't have a problem with the awards it won for costumes, sets of speciall effects. They built a freaking ship and sunk it. How cool is that? But that doesn't make it a great movie. I remember going to see this in high school with my girlfriend. It was me and 2 buddies (all with our girlfriends), and we all pissed the girls off royally with our behavior in the movie. I have to rate the unintentional comedy scale very high in this movie. In fact, even though the concept hadn't been put into words for me yet, I think this was one of the first times I recognised unintentional comedy.

- Any Steven Segal Movie
I don't think this needs much. The fact that anyone would pay to make a movie with him in it is more credit that he deserves. Thus, the overrated status.

- Unforgiven
Well, someone has to say it. Might as well be me. Clint Eastwood isn't tough! He lives in Carmel. How tough can someone from Carmel be? Talking like you smoke a carton a day doesn't make you tough, either. Plus, this movie was one of the most boring westerns I've ever seen.

- Its a Wonderful Life
I'm not saying this one isn't good. Just overrated. The amount of attention this movie gets is insane. It isn't even the best Christmas movie. It's not the best Jimmy Stewart movie either. I may not even be one of his best 5 performances. And, while it may be one of Capra's more balanced and personal films, it isn't very interesting subject matter when compared with his other work. I will give you a much more interesting Capra/Stewart film in a later post. How did this one even become a Christmas tradition? Why did it beat out other films like Holiday Inn, White Christmas, etc. to become the one that everyone is supposed to watch during the holidays?


Well, there they are. Feel free to let me know just how right or wrong I am.
P.S. "I see dead people."