October 2005 Archives

I read this article yesterday on scary foods. I like food, and I like scary stuff, so a story about scary food intrigued me. What are these scary foods?

The article mentions 7 different specific scary foods.

I was quite surprised to find I had eaten one of them while in Korea-- number 6, sea cucumber.

I mentioned this to my brother-in-law last night who responded affirming their grossness-- "have you seen sea cucumber?" Apparently he had while scuba diving.

So I had to look it up and see what they really looked like... Yeah, I'm glad that experience is over with.

Here's the pumpkins we carved Friday. I thought Mar and Jesse's rendition of King of Town worked out great-- we used the stencils from homestarrunner.com.

The stencil for Trogdor was troublesome, you can see his arm is quite beefy and there's not mouth/teeth, and his feet are messed up. Maybe I just didn't have fine enough pumpkin carving tools this time around (a steak knife was about it, hehe). I actually liked my original rendition of Trogdor that I did 2 years ago... the one I did from memory. Less accurate but cooler in my opinion:

Anyways, hope everyone has a great halloween :) I'm sitting at work dressed in a Sith Robe. If one more person asks me if I'm Harry Potter I shall have to crush their throat.

In the order seen on the hike:

Though "Devil's Garden" is a very cool name, I wouldn't give the devil credit for anything as amazing as the scenery in this park.

With all the rocks and arches to look at, I found myself interested in dead trees. Interesting, no? I only wish I'd framed this shot better. Doesn't do the tree justice.

Here's Double O... though I cropped out the other O below the main one (it was obscured by shadow anyhow.)

Back at the camp site that night... I love this shot of the skyline at dusk.

Friday afternoon, Jesse, Mar, Shawn, Mel, and myself headed out to go to camping in Arches for the weekend. We hit Sam Hawk on the way south, mmm... Beautiful idea, what better way to start a weekend getaway than with great food? We ended up not getting to the camp site till close to 10pm. We met Jeff and Megan (Mini) there who had already set up camp and gotten a fire going. They brought a huge tent— all 7 of us fit comfortably inside, we probably could have put a few more people in there if we wanted to.

It was a blast. From hiking to several of the arches (most notably Double O— we didn’t have time to hike to Delicate Arch so we just climbed up a lookout point at sunset) to just having a great time around the camp fire, it was a great weekend. We cooked burgers and hot dogs and marshmallows (among other things) over the fire; Jeff brought his guitar and played while people sang along. Heh, the best was when he played “Hit Me Baby One More Time” and everyone sang along (except maybe me and Shawn, we didn’t know the words). In any case, it’s actually a decent song when done acoustic like that by someone who can actually sing.

Later Saturday night I read a few stories from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark... Very nostalgic and fun to get some people a little creeped out around the camp fire. Of course, then there was that bit that I knew was coming.

Back in August I went with Jeff, Jesse, and Megan to The Gorge in Washington to see Jack Johnson play, and on that trip there was a lot of senseless, silly laughter. You know, the kind where there’s nothing really that funny going on but you’re laughing until your eyes water and your stomach hurts because other people are laughing and it’s just contagious. Well Megan has an infectious laugh, and on that trip we did a lot of laughing on the road. I kind of suspected there’d be some laughter on this trip too since Jeff and Megan would be there.

When camping, the silliness always seems to hit when everyone is settling down to sleep in their tents. This is of course when me, Jeff and Megan had the giggles hit. This time around Shawn got sucked in and he was laughing along with us... Words can’t really describe it. Pointless but thoroughly enjoyable laughter. I’m sure the others, if they were awake, were annoyed with our antics, but dang it was fun. According to Megan, “best laugh ever.”

Did I mention the weather was perfect, the sky clear and the scenery beautiful? Thanks Jeff for reserving the camp site and for everything else.

I paused yesterday to consider the Holidays. You know, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years— the season as a whole. It hit me that this season would be starting in about a week and a half. I realized that for some reason I just don’t feel mentally prepared for the Holidays, heh. It’s not even a time of year that I stress out, what’s there to be prepared for? What happened to this year? I guess this year has been slightly extra disturbing with more than one relative having started listening to Christmas music before Halloween season was even in full swing, and then other acquaintances talking about getting all their Christmas shopping done by Nov. 1. Holy crap, give me my Halloween back!

Over the last few years we (me and my siblings) have become fond of the Homestarrunner.com Halloween cartoons, so I thought I’d make it easy this year to watch ‘em by linking ‘em all right here in this post. This is my minute contribution in support of Halloween-- it's still October, people! Enjoy!

• Homestarloween Party
• The House that Gave Sucky Treats
• Pumpkin Carve-nival
• 3 Times Halloween Funjob
• Halloween Fairstival
• That a Ghost
• Fan Costume Commentary

And man... I may have to do another Trogdor Pumpkin this year. I think I said that last year and didn't do it. Who's down for some pumpkin carving next weekend?

Josh brought up an interesting point in my last post with regards to music (it actually touches on something I considered while writing my recent iPod rant-- the iTunes music store). I began to respond in the comments section, but figured this was interesting enough to merit it's own post.

So the issue is listening vs. hearing, and perhaps music vs. noise.

When I wrote about iPods I had considered what songs were the most popular in the iTunes music store. Inevitably it's 50 cent, Black Eyed Peas, or Kanye Westor something like that in the top 10. Stuff I'd probably assume is crap (according to my opinion / taste, of course). This is what people are buying and listening to, those ratings are based off sales. Those are probably songs that get way overplayed on certain radio stations as well.

What makes music, music? Can something be music but be reduced to noise simply by only hearing it and not listening to it? Honestly, depending upon the amount of attention I have to give to the music, there may be several levels of listening. For example, playing a song on repeat all the way to work. Driving to work is something I do every day, I follow the same roads, very little changes from day to day. It doesn't take a great deal of effort be alert to other drivers, traffic lights, etc. In this scenario, I'd like to think that I'm listening to the music more than when, say, I'm involved in a project at work or for school. I'd say that I'm listening to that song on the way to work. Though I have to ask-- does it require the participation of the person hearing it for it to really be considered music?

Another example: in November of 2001 I bought the Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack because I follow film scores and am always on the lookout for good soundtracks. At that point I wasn't looking forward to the movie at all that I can remember-- I was just interested in music. After buying it I "listened" to it while working on a project for a class I was taking. I don't remember being terribly impressed by the music at that time. Thinking back in the context of this dialogue, I probably wasn't listening to music as much as I had turned on some background noise that I wasn't paying much attention to, because now that soundtrack ranks up there as one of my favorites. I'm sure my love of the book / movies helps with that, but really-- I wasn't listening to know if it was good or not, or to know if you could even call it music. There is some music that I don't enjoy listening to by itself, but works really well as background music.

Music often becomes the soundtrack for my thoughts and feelings. I listen to different types of music depending on my mood. I love to immerse myself in it. If I'm sitting at work with my earphones in with the same song on repeat, there's a good chance I'm busy doing something else such that I'm not paying terribly close attention to that song. Then again, there's that mood / soundtrack factor. Music often connects with the emotions, and listening (yes listening) to that song on repeat may be a form of expression, a way to augment whatever I'm feeling without having to concentrate solely on it. So is it just noise at this point? When does it cease to be music and become noise?

I suppose I just think the subject is interesting to consider, because how you approach music (or noise) can affect your level of appreciation for it and enjoyment of it. I think each person appreciates music on their own level. Me, I tend to obsess over sound quality. You won't find me buying music from the iTunes store because it's lossy, it's tainted, it doesn't meet my standard of quality-- if I want to listen to something seriously then I'm going to buy the CD. You won't find me listening to the cheap earbuds that come with music players because it cheapens the experience of listening. I am by no means an audiophile, but I have a basic grasp of what different levels of quality exist in sound reproduction. Defects in the sound detract from the listening experience, to me. They distract me from what's important-- the music itself.

Josh is more educated in music than I (is that an understatement or what? Hehe...) This is why I think it'd be fun to co-author a film score blog. I could give average, every-man enthusiast point of view, and Josh could be much more articulate and critical about the quality of a score or piece of music. One of these days...

Do you ever listen to a single song on repeat over and over?

The geek in me somehow managed to refrain from posting when the iPod Nano was released a number of weeks ago. Today I must break down and write about iPods. iPods have become an icon, a status symbol-- it fascinates me that this fairly techy toy is now a common household name. It literally is the new Walkman.

What brings this topic on, you ask... well in Art History we're currently studying Greece. Art History has been fascinating this semester, I'm very much enjoying learning it (though cramming for essay tests is much less pleasant). Greece is much more interesting than I ever thought. So many ideas and attitudes we see today originated in ancient Greece.

Mr Furious: I'm a Pantera's box you do NOT want to open!
Casanova Frankenstein: It is PANDORA.
Mr. Furious: Uh, please don't correct me. It sickens me.

For example, the idea that women are evil. I support that idea. In Greek mythology, woman was given to man not as a help-meet, but as a punishment for Prometheus stealing fire. Most of us know the rest of the story, that she opened Pandora's jar or box and released pretty much everything bad in the world-- all the diseases, sorrows, vices, and crimes that afflict humanity (mercifully the gods also placed hope in Pandora's box to relieve the suffering caused by these ills). So the attitude in early Greece was literally that the kitchen / home was the woman's place, she was rarely allowed out, for she couldn't be trusted. If she were to go out she would sleep around and there would be no way for the husband to know that the children she bore were his.

Ok that was a long side note. What does that have to do with iPods, you ask? Ok I'm getting there, that was just a thought I meant to write down last week. So today we began talking about the decline of moral values in Greece. Humanism had been a focus in Greece for years-- belief in and the glorifying of the greatness of mankind. They had great pride because of their amazing defeat of Persia in the Persian Wars (they were impossibly outnumbered. Sounded a lot like Helm's Deep to me).

Their social values shifted years later when the city-states of Greece were devastated both morally and economically by civil war. They lost faith in the ideals of humanism and emphasis became to be upon the self, personal comfort, luxury, and pleasure-- materialism.

The instructor related this to American history-- how after a great victory, say after World War II, how society was boosted and people became very positive and idealistic; and how after a divisive war America was torn apart (he cited Vietnam as his example for that), people becoming cynical and selfish, seeking their own interests since their country had failed them. He began ranting about how this is how society is today-- "Is it anything other than materialistic?! We want good jobs so we can get money so we can get stuff! Fancy houses and cars..."

As he ranted he mentioned his own kids and how "'I have to have an iPod! And it has to be the 60 gig one that holds 10,000 songs!' WHO THE HELL HAS 10,000 songs?!" I busted up at this point. The iPod had become the main object of materialism in his little lecture-closing rant and this is obviously something he was dealing with at home.

The iPod. A symbol of the decline of human social values, symbolic of selfishness, decadence, luxury and pleasure. Look, they even reveal their true nature by coming in black now. Isn't Steve Jobs perfect as the devil with his army of dark angels in the Apple marketing department? I can't deny that when that black iPod Nano came out last month I literally was tormented by it. I wanted it so bad, I had to have one. I was distracted by the hype all day at work the day it was announced / unveiled. It was seductive... so sleek, so tiny, so cool. Oh the temptation... I would say Steve Jobs is the devil only among geeks, but everyone knows what an iPod is and I know for a fact that very non-geek people are also seduced by the image to buy them. (After the hype subsided I was able to escape temptation and remain iPod Nano-free. I just told myself I couldn't justify buying one when one with larger storage capacity would come out in 4 months or so-- yes, of course there are always upgrades.. I could safely talk myself out of ever buying another mp3 player based on this philosophy of a better one being 4-6 months down the road). Regardless, it's not uncommon to hear a discussion about iPods among the average crowd, whether it bet a debate for/against it or people small talking about how cool the latest iPod is.

Not only is the iPod a symbol of materialism and the decay of social values, but it's breeding anti-socialism among the rising generation! Our very social fabric is at risk! Hehe... read the following letter to the editor published in the school paper last week-- this had me busting up too:

Dear Editor,

- Desiree

I think she's just jealous that she doesn't have her own iPod. Steve Jobs may be the devil, but I gotta hand it to him-- he's a genius. Look how visible the iPod is and how much people talk about it. People don't know about any other mp3 player, for the most part. But they all know about iPods and buy them. Whether they really love / want to listen to music or just want to be cool / hip, the iPod now has mass appeal. Steve is playing his pipe well, I just wonder where he's leading us. I'm sure it's much bigger than just mp3 players...

All the siblings got together to go up Provo canyon to "Haunted Train Ride" on Friday night for fun. Of course, what happens when we all get together? Oh yeah, we (at least some of us) turn into clowns. Figuratively speaking, of course. I'm sure we were pretty annoying to some of the other passengers on the train, but we had fun with it. Any excuse to scream in falsetto and I'm there.

I was trying to take a long exposure of Shawn since it was dark and I didn't want to use a flash, but Mel snapped a shot with a flash while I was exposing... it kinda turned out cool, I thought. I might have to play around some more with using an external flash like that to get multiple exposures in a single digital shot.

Again, more pics at the crazy pills blog.

Weisswurst and some potato pancake thingeys.

I guess it's becoming a tradition to hit Oktoberfest each year in October. It's just fun to go up to the canyon in the fall and experience a hint of German culture. Of course this wouldn't be my blog if I didn't post a picture of the food I ate. I tried weisswurst for the first time ever today (I've had knockwurst and bratwurst a number of times in the past along with the usual sauer kraut, etc.)-- it was pretty good. (For those who don't know, it's made of veal-- I know, inhumane, huh?)

More pics over at the crazy pills blog.

Cosmo bugs Dwane while Dwane tries to make a phone call

Went with Dwane, Kathy, and Lori at lunch to visit Dwane and Ann's horse, though this is Cosmo, who is not one of their horses. Cosmo was just super friendly. This was the first time I'd ever actually been close to a horse. Powerful beasts they are... and pretty. I can kinda see why some people love horses so much.

Cosmo kept nudging me in the stomach. I wonder what he was trying to tell me...

One of the perks of going to work earlier-- the sunrise. It looked surreal today...

My car seemed to have sprouted some fur this morning.

SNOW, hosehead.

"A year passed. Winter changed into Spring. Spring
changed into Summer. Summer changed back into Winter. And Winter
gave Spring and Summer a miss and went straight on into Autumn.
Until one day..."

Yeah. It's only October 5, folks ;-)

Rach: am I too nice for my own good?
Me: why do you ask?
Rach: because last night I brought dinner to a guy at work that was a jerk to me
Me: hmmm... no, not according to Romans 12:20 you're not.
Me: "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." hehe...

Hehe... I thought I was being funny but was led to ponder a little more deeply the meaning of that verse. I suppose it's no good if your intent in being kind is out of spite-- "to heap coals of fire on their head", huh? In that case the thought of vengence is probably your sole reward for whatever act of kindness. Verse 21 says:

"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."

So a guy is a jerk to a girl, she should just be a jerk back? Hate him? Avoid him? Apparently this girl's roomates had a problem with her doing something nice for this guy who had been a jerk to her. I mean maybe she shouldn't let her self be used or anything, but is there anything wrong with doing a good deed to someone who might have been rude to you in the past? If anything it might help the other person. If not, you've at least kept your hands clean by not becoming "evil" like them, but not letting anger or hate or bitterness get the better of you.

Of course things change a bit if she's crushing on him and he just uses her. Gotta be careful about that. But I guess if she doesn't like him like that and this is just an isolated incident... then she did something genuinely good / Christ-like.

So on the way to lunch yesterday with the illustrators, we saw a guy riding around on some sort of farm vehicle (I didn't think it was big enough to be a plow, looked to me more like a huge sitting lawn mower). Lori says "oh look he's plowing the field." Whether he was or not, Dwane's response was great:

"I plowed a field once. It was so boring. There was a dead cow in the middle of the field so I kept running over it just to have something to do."

The power was out at work this morning for nearly an hour and a half. It might still be out, though they've generated enough power for us to work again. I was forced to study art history (I'm probably lucky as I can use all the study time I can get for the test this week). That is, until Marianne brought down her laptop and started showing me the most recent Strong Bad e-mails... man those guys that make that site crack me up, so random.