Pop-up books were more 3D than Avatar.

     Lately, my days have been up and down.  I'm sure this is nothing unfamiliar to you.  We all go through phases of good times and bad.  It's just the balancing of the Universe.  Someone can't experience so much negativity without some positive relief. 
     We deal with these darker times in different ways.  Now, I don't have any scholarly studies or reports in my back pocket from which I can spout off a random supporting fact for my thesis, but I believe this inhabits the realm of "common human knowledge."  Some people sulk, others go for a run, a select few scream obscenities into a pillow. 

Pillow's don't care.  They love you no matter what.

     Sharing my experiences with you has been all over the place thus far.  Not one of my posts could say they would belong in the same subject matter as the other.  I'm unique in that way, or rather, this weblog is unique.  And, I know, when you see a link to this thing on Facebook or Twitter, you're thinking, "Gah, another example of the Internet being used to display nothing more than an individual's narcissism.  Dude, nobody cares about your whining or how cute your puppies/kittens are!"
     I think the same thing.  And honestly, I don't think I would even read my own posts if I didn't have a constant fear that I misworded something.  But enough about the fact that very few people in this world have something important to say...

Dealing With Negativity
     The negativity I'm referring to here is the negative energy and events that sometimes take up space in our world.  Let's skip other examples of how I think others deal with it and move straight on to my comfort mechanisms...because, as we've established, I'm a tad narcissistic.
      Being a storyteller from an early age and a person infatuated with tall tales, urban legends, classic ghost stories, and narrative in general, when I'm having a bad day, I immerse myself in stories.  Television, film, written word; it all takes me away from my world and into another's imagined reality.
      Now, I know some people prefer to engage in some sort of physical activity during times of frustration, but for me, preoccupying my body leaves my mind free to wander, and wandering is much harder to do when the only thing it seems to gravitate towards are the things troubling you the most.  Thusly, I take my mind on a journey through works of fiction.
     And I'll be honest, while it's not the most healthy of habits, I tend to lose myself in these beautiful creations of fictional imaginaridom.

Don't Google that last word.  I made it up.

The characters I come across are easier to understand than real human beings, yet are always surprising me.  They help me get in touch with my own self, and fuel my creative juices even more.  By comparison, this physical world kinda blows.
     I'm not that different from the over-weight, Cheeto-loving, 30-somethings that live in their mothers' basement and spend most of their free time willingly drowning in the seas of online role playing.  I like the fictional world more than I like this one.
     I'm not saying this physical world in which I live totally leaves me without will to live.  I've got great friends, family, possessions...awesome, awesome possessions.  I'm just showing how much relief and freedom I get from burying my face in a good book or engaging my mind in an intriguing and original television series.  I may be addicted.  But it's sure better than heroine...I'm assuming.
     A healthy addiction that is helping me cope with the burdens that come with being poor, alone, and having a unisex first name.  I learn lessons and relish in realizations in the fictional narrative world that aide me in my constant quest of discovery in this physical realm. 

     There's more than ten boatloads of negativity in this world, and we all need a way to deal with it.  It's unhealthy to just pretend the bad stuff doesn't affect you because, let's face it, if you think you're too tough for the Universe in which you exist, you're an ass. 
     If you're curious in discovering the benefits of such an escape, here's a few pointers:
1.) Read a book
     NOT a textbook.  A novel.  Dive into someone else's imagination, and use your own to interpret the world you glean from the writing.  Believe it or not, your imagination didn't shrivel up die on your 13th birthday.  It's still there.  Create a world in your mind from a book.  And if you need a little help, try a pop-up book.  They're already in 3D.
2.) Actively watch television
     I've used the phrase "actively watch" before, although I can't remember where I've said it.  What I mean by "actively watch" is keeping your mind churning as you watch TV or a movie.  Don't just stare blankly at the screen and expect what's being projected to mindlessly entertain you.  Engage your mind.  Use your heart to connect with the characters.  And of course I'm talking about scripted television.  Not reality shows.  If you connect with Snooki, you're not doing yourself any favors.

I know it seems kind of pointless to have only two pointers, but hey, I'm tired.  Just take these two, and call me in the morning...

Oh, and as an attempt to engage you because apparently just reading this isn't enough, what are some ways in which you relieve stress or escape the negative burdens in your life?

"Love is like a red, red rose. And I am a little thorny."

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had two recurring questions proposed to me; 1.) "What happened to your face?" and 2.) "So are you dating anyone?"  Since I usually answer, "You should see the other guy," to the first question, let's move on to the second.

No.

Brief?  Yes.  But I'm not here to make a pity party out of my single status.  I'm writing this because we all have been in this place, and it's just a part of us maturing and coming to understand who we are as people...but I bet some people just say that to convince themselves that they won't die alone and unloved...

I have other single friends.  I also have friends that are married, dating, celibate, promiscuous, gay, straight, and sometimes like group activities.  For the most part, they're pretty happy with their current relationship status, and I'm sure there are a few who could be happier, but regardless of their level of content, everyone is still slowly advancing in the stages of discovering one's self.  Some people need to find a yin to realize that they are the yang, while some people need to go backpacking across Europe, and some people define themselves by their work and what they accomplish in life.  These are just examples of ways people continue to develop an understanding of what they have to offer the Universe and themselves.

Let's be honest, you have friends that are married, and sometimes you find yourself thinking, "Married?  Already?  Well, I guess their lives are over."  Of course when people get married, their lives change; I don't know if I would say they're "over" by any means, though.  They've just found a different route on their way to discovering themselves.  Like I inferred before, some individuals need to be a part of a whole to realize the role they play in the Universe.  Like a cog that says, "What up?  I'm a cog...what the fuck do I do?" can't find out that answer until its a part of something; "What up?  I'm a cog.  Yea, I make this clock work.  What's it to you?"  Our reactions of abhorrence towards our friends who get married is based partially on jealousy.  It's a subconscious jealousy, but a jealousy nonetheless.  We are secretly just mad that they may be further down the path of self discovery than we are.  We should not be angry.  It's entirely possible that we may have more to discover in life before we can define ourselves further with our love, and that could be because our destiny is more complex than those already partnered up in holy matrimony or civil union.

I'm not implying the existence of people who marry early in life is small, simple, and insignificant.  No single human being has a small existence in this World.  Every life affects every other life, which affects more lives, and so on and so forth.  Even if I consider you a douchebag or a "spacewaster," I'm confident in the fact that at some point in your life you made an impression on somebody that was for the benefit of society.  I'm simply stating we all have specific obstacles to overcome at specific and different points in our timeline that are organized randomly, at best.  And with each obstacle tackled, we become more and more self-knowledgeable and get closer to the final realization that sums up our life.

I consider myself to currently be in a stage of laissez-fair existence.  My goal isn't to be life's doormat or anything, but I do like to just let things happen, particularly, when it comes to a "love life."  I think of myself as a somewhat ambitious person.  I don't have the attitude of, "I'll slit anyone's throat who gets in the way of me and my dreams," but I do have drive and a passion for what I do.  In the past, my romantic relationships have never come out of me looking for someone or hoping that the right girl would walk by me in the hallway.  I've always become involved with someone just by chance.  You can't really expect stuff like this to happen whenever you wish, but just know that moments will come where you'll meet someone who will become very special to you. 

Okay.  So about five hours have passed since I typed that last sentence.  Now that I'm full of hoppy, malty goodness courtesy of the Flying Saucer, I'm ready to jot down some final thoughts.  I am one of those people that is not actively searching for love.  I feel my best bet at finding myself and discovering what I have to offer the rest of the World is to sail solo for a while until I find what the next step of my life is.  I know some people that are so fixated on becoming a part of a couple and are constantly on the search for love, and pushing life like that is not the answer.  Life is to be enjoyed, and if you spend too much time searching for something you want, you'll miss out on what life is giving you.

A priest, a rabbi, and a Tibeten monk walk into a blog...

I really need to stop blogging at intervals of a month and a half.  But whatever.

Lately, I have noticed a lot of people blogging or posting status updates or tweets or what-have-you about religion.  Well, not necessarily religion, but Christianity to be specific.  For those of you that know me, you know that I'm not a religious person by any means.  Some of you may even put a label on me like "atheist" or "agnostic."  But the truth is, I'm still searching for something bigger than myself to believe in.

I know people at both ends of the religious spectrum; those who are completely devout Christians who wear their beliefs on their sleeves and those people who deny the existence of God and think that people who believe in Him are complete idiots.  Without passing too much judgment, I believe there's not a single person in this world who knows what the hell is going on with the Universe, our existence, and what lies beyond the timeline of our physical being.  Don't get me wrong; I completely respect whatever belief you may have and your values because that's your right as a human being.  But to completely shut off your mind to any school of thought other than your own is a little bigoted.

Here's a quick synopsis of what I do believe in; parallel universes, aliens, mind over matter, and the fact that ice cream will always be delicious.  By just saying that last sentence, you probably already think I am crazy.  But think about it; can you think of anything, anything at all, that disputes the existence of my beliefs?  It's fine if you believe something different.  In fact if everybody believed the same thing, our society would become really, really dumb from a lack of intellectual challenges.  But if the only "reason" you can think of to call my beliefs bogus is "that's just silly," well you need to work on your debating skills, my friend.  The fact that people will dispute someone else's beliefs only based on their own ignorance is not acceptable; discriminatory even.

I'm not a hating person, but there are certain types of people on this Earth that I can not stand.  1.) People who wear two polos with the collars popped, 2.) Dudes who drive lifted pick-ups with obnoxiously loud exhausts, and 3.) Individuals who push their beliefs upon other people.  Now, I'm not stupid.  I realize that if people didn't push their beliefs upon others, America would probably be a whole different country right now, if it even existed at all.  You can post your Christian blog update on Facebook, or invite your friends to a Campus Crusade event, or even have some people over for a Hanukkah party, but to tell someone, "You're beliefs are wrong. You should believe in J.C. and His awesomeness," is ignorant, rude, and offensive.

Here's me dropping some knowledge: Religion and You.
Most Americans believe in their current religion because they had been exposed to said religion since their exodus from the vagina.  More often than not, the religion you practice is the religion with which your parents brought you up.  When you're that little, what is your thought process?  "I love my toy firetruck/Barbie doll, and Mommy and Daddy, and ice cream, and cartoons, and my stuffed animals, and..."  You love everything!  Granted, I do still love my parents, ice cream, and my stuffed Sonic I got when I was 4, but the point I'm trying to make is, you can't discern what makes sense from what doesn't.  You believe anything you're told.  So if you're raised on a particular religion, chances are that you still believe it, taking into consideration how intense your upbringing was.  Most people
don't really challenge themselves or their beliefs; they don't ask questions, and therefore do not get any wiser, and some people are fine with that, i.e. "ignorance is bliss."

When Europeans went to Africa, whether they snatched up people for slavery or just decided to colonize right then and there, we were told that they "taught the uneducated natives" about Jesus.  And since only the winners write the history books, few people really know the other side of the "teaching."  Just ask yourself, beyond the physical, how do you control a group of people into doing your bidding?  You manipulate their beliefs; their mentality.  Africans were forced by the Europeans into Christianity by threat of harm or death.  When a person receives threats like the ones issued, you'll believe anything they tell you just make life a little easier, although I don't think it helped judging by all the shit that actually happened around that time.  The primary reason African Americans believe in Christ is because that's the way they were brought up, and through the generations the fact that their ancestors were originally forced into believing it has lost is effect.

I'm not trying to belittle anyone's beliefs here.  I'm merely trying to get you to take a good look at what you believe, and after really thinking about where your spirituality stands, if you still end up Christian, or Jewish, or Muslim, that's great.  Do not invest in a faith just because the cool kids are doing it or you're too lazy to think for yourself because that's what leads to so much hatred and ignorance in this World. 

And please, people, have a sense of humor about your beliefs.  What does it matter if someone pokes fun at what you believe?  If you still believe it, no harm is done.  It's not like they're shattering your religion by making a little quip.  Relax!

Okay that was my one digression.  Have a nice day!

Hide ya kids. Hide ya wife. Cuz they hauntin' errybody up in here!

About this time last year I saw a movie that was nothing short of mind-blowing.  It is currently listed as the film with the highest return-on-investment ratio in the history of film, and is one of my favorite horror movies of all time.  I'm talking about Paranormal Activity.

I first saw the trailer for Paranormal Activity online in mid-2009.  I was immediately fascinated by the premise and the simplicity of the trailer.  Basically, here's an audience, here's some freaky stuff, and here's the audience screaming. 
 

Let's ignore the fact that I actually believe in the paranormal, i.e. ghosts, aliens, Bigfoot, etc.  I was so interested in this film purely from the standpoint of a film-nerd.  The film was shot entirely with a handheld camcorder, very similar in fact to the one I currently own.  Special effects were kept to an extreme minimum, the cast size was less than five people, and the camera was a part of the film.  The characters addressed it and it became the eye through which we viewed Micah's and Katie's collective experience.  This was the rawest and simplest a film could get.  One of the things that makes a film great is its ability to capture raw emotion.  Regardless of the fact that this movie is not a documentary, the camera brilliantly captures all the emotion and all the freakiness of the events that unfold.

Forget gore.  And startling the audience with sound is so played out and trite.  Suspense is where you scare the living daylights out of people.  The fear of not knowing is the fear that gets a hold of you the most and doesn't let go.  That's why Paranormal Activity had such a great scare factor.  Most of the scares were visual, and the only non-diegetic sound in the whole film was the low rumble one would hear right before something was going to happen, or not happen haha.  It played with your head, didn't always deliver, and thus putting you more on edge.  Adding to your edginess, the long takes that make up the film make you anxious and slightly hopeful that something crazy would happen next.  Our attention spans have shortened so much due to modern society, just staring at a 30 second segment of a stagnant bedroom makes us so comfortable, augmenting the film's effect on you.  I could break down each individual freaky event that happened throughout the film, but I don't feel like writing a novel today.

I love minimalist movies, especially when their done well.  Video as a medium, instead of film, provides a sense of realism that, I feel, film is often unable to do.  Films like Spike Lee's Bamboozled (2000), Cloverfield (2008), and what could be called the "predecessor" to PA and PA2, The Blair Witch Project (1999), are some of the most famous examples of the medium making the movie feel as real as possible, borderline documentary.  I could write a whole other post on The Blair Witch Project, but I won't go there.  The bottom line is, Paranormal Activity fascinated me so because of its realism or portrayal of realism.  The singular lens was the eye through which we witnessed and became involved in the lives of the characters, and got ourselves a little freaked out.

And now...for me to share my disappointment:  Paranormal Activity 2.  (SPOILERS)


I was so in love with the first film, when I heard a sequel was coming, I cringed.  I've never been a huge fan of sequels, and not many people are because they never seem to live up to the expectations established by the first installment.  I'm sure there are a few exceptions to this rule, but regardless I was not happy to find out there'd be PA2.  However, I consider myself an open minded person, so I figured I'd check out the trailer.  The original trailer (above) didn't pique my interest as much, although I admitted I wanted to see more.  More and more updated trailers came out, revealing more and more footage, and it didn't look too bad.  But after learning that Paramount was actually budgeting the money for the project, I was extremely hesitant.  What I loved about the first PA was its minimalism, lack of a professional Hollywood budget, thus my instinct was to not go and see this film.

But peer pressure's a bitch, so after being coerced into going to see it by the same people I saw the first movie with, I prepared myself mentally by wiping all expectations and hopes of what the film would  be so I could focus on what the film was.  And it was disappointing.

Now for the majority of the movie, I was into it.  There were some great funny parts, which is always appreciated to lighten the mood of an otherwise extremely dark film.  There are a few amazing paranormal happenings; bravo to whoever came up with the cabinets idea.  This film even tied into the first one, both taking place around the same time and having a common link with Kristi and Katie from the original PA being sisters.  And adding a dog and a toddler to the mix of characters was new and exciting.  But ultimately, it was lack of originality and a God-awful ending that made me glad I used a gift card to buy my ticket and didn't waste $10 at the box office.

As I mentioned before, I was with the movie for the entire ordeal, never shying away from the screen unless it was to shake the last delicious Junior Mint out of its prison box.  This sequel/prequel kept my attention which was good.  There's nothing I hate more than being bored in a movie theatre.  I jumped at a few noises, got excited over the dragging scene, and got uncomfortable during the nightvision basement fiasco, but when it was all over, I thought back to what I had just watched and realized, it really wasn't that great.  Basically, it was the original with significant financial backing.  PA2 was PA's richer cousin.  Since they were almost the same, I felt I could've gone without seeing this second installment.  I feel the same way about The Office and Parks & Recreation.  One is just like the other, so if I've seen one, I've seen them both.  So why would I watch both? 

PA2 had many of the same scares as the first one with a few additions that could've been done without.  The extended dragging scene was decent, but to lead to the basement was just unoriginal.  A horror story in the basement?  No way!  I know, but it's been done.  The whole nightvision gimmick had Hollywood's prints all over it.  It was one of a few moments in the film where you could see it coming.  Predictability is something that Hollywood horror needs to get away from, and is having a difficult time doing so.  I'll give credit to director Tod Williams, he catered well to America's collective short attention span and broke up the long takes between six different cameras rather than just one.  Smart for the masses, but it takes away from the original effect of the first installment.  But once again, I'll acknowledge my appreciation for the cabinet scene.  That was my favorite scene in the entire 90 minutes.  I challenge you not to jump or say "Holy shit."  However, the ending was lackluster and seemed like a desperate attempt on the writers' part to wrap it all up.  Way less intense and climactic than the original, and upon the final summarizing text, the audience let out a groan of disappointment.

I know not many people will agree with me on the fact that Paranormal Activity is the better of the two, but I stand by my decision.  Money doesn't make movies better.  It's the application of that money that will ultimately affect the quality of the production, and in this case, the Hollywood budget did not add too much to the scare factor of the picture.  The original film was shot on a $15,000 budget.  Micah and Katie were each paid $500 to act in the film.  Screw big budget movies and cheesy special effects.  Paranormal Activity grossed over $100 million dollars, setting the R.O.I. record with 434,000%.  If you stack the parent film against its offspring, in this instance the former surpasses the latter in terms of originality, tension, and affect on the audience.

"Where we're going, we don't need roads"

Let me go ahead and address the obvious time-gap between this post and the last: I know I've been slacking, but I'm not going to post something just for the hell of it.  If I write something, there's going to be a purpose behind it.  No meaningless dribble here.  I've just been searching for something worthwhile to post.  So there.  Bazinga.

I can very easily be struck ill with cabin fever.  And when I say "cabin fever," I'm not referring to the really bad horror movie made a few years ago about a bunch of hip youngsters being murdered in the forests of West Virginia, nor am I limiting the definition of the illness to just being stuck inside for a prolonged period of time.  I get cabin fever when I am bored for an extended amount of time, and up until this week, I would've been continuing this run for almost five months.  My cure for this mentally and physically debilitating psychological illness is being busy.  I try to get myself involved in so many tasks that I am unable to even think about how busy I am.  I just...go.

I'm at another time in my life where I have many things going on to keep me preoccupied, and it feels good.  I'm still doing the whole band thing, writing this garbage and contributing to another blog site, bartending, just started doing some part-time video work, and I've also begun working on some independent film/video projects.  Holla!  I love being busy and productive.  And for some reason, my internal clock didn't want me to sleep past 7:00am this morning, so I caught up on some of this season's Fall premieres, uploaded some footage to the ol' Macbook, and starting typing this nonsense.

Now to get to the point in all of this.  It is extremely important to take charge of your life because you are the only person who is responsible for your own successes, failures, gains, and losses in your existence.  However, somethings are, quite simply, beyond your control.  Now, I know what you're thinking; "That don't make no God damn sense!"  I know it's somewhat contradictory, but just hear me out.

Ultimately, we have very little control when it comes to determining where we all end up in life.  I'm not necessarily talking about predestination or anything like that, but we are given signs all throughout our lives that let us know if we are on the right track in life, or if we need to change directions.  This statement may seem vague, but honestly, it's meant to be that way.  A broad array of hints are given to us at different stages in our lives that guide our morals, goals, beliefs, ambitions, and many other aspects of our individual existence.  However, for this particular post, I'm concentrating on goals and ambitions.  Now, we've all heard of the old adage, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."  Well sometimes after a few more unsuccessful attempts, you should probably give up and move on to something else.  The Universe is most likely telling you that whatever you're trying to accomplish just wasn't meant to be.  Granted, a bunch of losers use that excuse after only trying once or never at all, but they're called "losers" for a reason.  It is not easy to recognize these signs I'm talking about, so more often than not it takes a while for one to really understand where they're being led in the grand scheme of things.  Hey, maybe you weren't meant to be a doctor...the world needs dentists and chiropractors.  The Universe has something laid out for every single one of us, but that's not to say we are all running on auto-pilot. 

We are solely responsible when it comes to how we live our lives; good or evil, awesome or lame, and everything in between.  The route we take in life has been set for us by The Universe's version of Google Maps, but we all know the most memorable things happen on the road trip rather than at the final destination.  We've got to learn to enjoy ourselves along the way.  Granted every once in a while we can't help but feel a little miserable and cranky because we run over those pesky potholes every now and again.  But overall, we've got to make sure that we've got the radio tuned to our favorite songs, plenty of Utz© Cheez Balls and Arizona© Green Tea (product plugs Wayne's World style), and our eyes on the road, keeping a lookout for those signs.

The phase of my life involving cabin fever and uncertainty is behind me; a mere overnight stay in a cheap motel during intense highway construction.  I've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and...wait...my name isn't Jake or Elwood...but REGARDLESS, I've got plenty going on in my life right now to keep me focused on the road ahead, and I plan to enjoy every curve along the way.

Random Reflections #1: Career, Destiny, and Sharks

Sometimes there's just so much going on in my head, I have to type all of my thoughts down.  And when my conscious vomits words onto the screen, they don't make sense the majority of the time.  However, I still feel it is important to find an outlet to uncork all of these bottled up thoughts because if all the crazy shit stayed in my head, I would go a little insane, and I'm already crazy enough.  So here's the skinny: this post isn't going to focus on one particular story, valuable life lesson, or soapbox rant.  This is just me writing what I think and what I feel.  Take it for what it's worth coming from a 23-year old waiter.

The past two days have blown, with regards to my neverending search for regular employment.  In two days, I've been turned down for two positions.  Now, to you, that may not seem that bad, but considering I've been out of school for over a year and had opportunity after opportunity end up going south, it's beyond frustrating, although it seems to have become the norm for me to have my hopes dashed.  Enough bullshit has happened to me since I've been out of school regarding my goal to have a career in media production that I'm starting to question whether I was even meant for this line of work.  Maybe the Universe is trying to tell me that I should be doing something else with this life.  But I've dedicated so much of my life to this field, that I really don't know how to do anything else.  I went to school for it, for Christ's sake. 

I know I can't possibly explain what I'm feeling without hopping in my TARDIS (nerd reference!), and showing you exactly what has happened to my dreams over the past 16 months without writing a freakin' novel, so you'll just have to trust my justification of this pessimistic outlook on my life at this moment.  I've basically exhausted every option and am now at a loss for what I should do next.  The only thing I can really think of doing if I want to pursue my television career goals, is to move.  But I still don't feel like I'm ready to leave Raleigh.  Also, I just signed a six month lease on a new apartment, so I can't really go anywhere for another half a year haha.  Plus, and you can call it a silly and trite ambition if you wish, but I still want to hang around Raleigh because of my band.  I really think we have the talent and drive to make something of ourselves.  However, the last thing I want to do is be that creepy 40-year-old guy living in his folks' basement still believing that "the band's gonna make it!"  That would just be dumb.

Now, I know I'm only 23, and I've got my whole life to figure everything out.  But here's the kicker: I could drop-dead tomorrow.  What a shitty time to die: no real job, no girlfriend, living off of inheritance money, and writing whiny, self-deprecating blogs that no one reads.  Of course, the best attitude to have in situations like these is to take control of my life and make changes for the better.  But the trouble is, I have no fucking clue how to do that.  I've always thought of myself as someone who would define himself by his career, but when there's no career insight, it's difficult to do any defining at all.

I'm perfectly fine with not knowing what I'm going to end up doing five or ten years down the road, but I expected by now that I would be doing something that would lead to a satisfying career in those five or ten years.  But I'm just a waiter barely making enough to survive.  I live on cereal and sandwiches.

If you believe in destiny or fate, or if you don't, that's fine.  Everyone's entitled to their opinion.  But there are certain times when everyone questions the existence of such intangible things.  As you can probably tell from my ravings this evening, I'm having trouble believing in them, and things even bigger than that...but even if reality doesn't go in my favor all the time, I still have the dreams in my head, and there's not a whole lot people can do to take those from me.  And the whole "questioning my career choice" problem has led me to revisit some of my ambitions that I unfortunately forget about from time to time.

When I was younger, 12 or 13, I wanted to be a marine biologist.  What?  Yup.  I loved the water and everything living in it, even those annoying jellyfish.  And I still hold that belief.  I even have thought about going back to school and getting a degree, but let's face it, with my financial situation and deteriorating patience, that may not be such a fantastic idea.  However, one goal that I still believe to be attainable is to combine my passion for video production with my love of the ocean and pursue a career in underwater videography.  It's kind of an "out there" possibility, but like I mentioned before, it's a dream.  It would be so cool to document the brilliant coral reefs of the Caribbean Sea or the Great Barrier Reef, the bio-luminescent critters roaming the deep ocean depths, or the packs of hammerhead sharks coming together near the Galapagos Islands.  All the crazy-awesome stuff you only see on Nat Geo or the Discovery Channel.

Speaking of the Discovery Channel, Shark Week is this week.  Although, at the moment Time Warner Cable is fucking up and not making the Discovery Channel available, I have watched it all this week.  This is the point in the post where there's a slightly uplifting tone to my writing.

Sharks are awesome.  It's a rather simplistic statement of their beauty and importance to the world's ecosystem, but it's so fucking true.  So it's easy to understand how upset I was when the first half of Shark Week programming this week were all shows about shark attacks.  Now, I'm no idiot.  I know sharks have attacked humans, and I know shows that talk about it generate high ratings, but when I was growing up, I saw programming that taught us about sharks.  We learned about all the different species, feeding and mating habits, their valued role in the ocean's food chain, and who can forget Air Jaws?  That shit was crazy!

But how can Discovery air PSAs taking about conservation and shark protection when the majority of Shark Week programs are about sharks running the train on some humans?  The Colbert Report pointed this out humorously during last year's Shark Week, but it was all too true.  I consider myself an educated person, so I know that shark's don't consider humans a dietary staple, but to a select few out there, they may think sharks are the Devil incarnate.  Because of all this violent and graphic programming, it was extremely refreshing to see Wednesday night's Shark Week show, "Shark Bites." 

Hosted by Craig Ferguson, the best late-night man in the biz, "Shark Bites" followed his journey to muster up the courage to dive with and feed sharks while referencing and intercutting footage from previous shows covering the potential viciousness of these marvels of evolution.  Without taking a whole other page to summarize the events of the program, Ferguson basically went from being afraid of these creatures, to being in awe of them as he hand fed Caribbean Reef sharks off the coast of Nassau.  The silky, silvery creatures swam about him and the rest of the dive crew, feeling extremely comfortable, and even stopping to be held by the divers who petted them like giant dogs with gills.  It almost brought tears to my eyes watching this because of what I know about the mass killings of sharks that take place everyday.  But the score may have had something to do with bringing out my emotions.  Watching this show brought back the wonderment I felt when I watched Shark Week as a kid.

It's a little past 2:00am, and I've been writing for a while, and, honestly, I'm tired of typing.  But I wanted to let you know why I'm so passionate about these animals, but I wanted to do so without typing too much more because all the information I have for you could take up several chapters in a sociology text book.  Just Google the term "shark finning" and check out the images, and if you can find it, rent or watch Sharkwater.  It's one of my favorite documentaries on the shark's struggle to survive in this age.

This post kind of jumped all over the place, but I just had to get these thoughts out before they made my head explode.  I'm all spent now, so I hope this didn't bore you too much.  G'night all.

Hanson? Really?

Something happened to me last week that I never dreamed or thought would ever happen to me.  I won tickets and meet-and-greet passes to a Hanson show.

Months ago I had entered my band, The Long Drive, in a competition in which the winning artist would be granted the opening slot for the Hanson show.  I did this not because I am a die-hard Hanson fan, but because they have a large following, so it would be great exposure for my band if we did in fact win.  After signing my band up on the website where the contest took place, I created an individual account so I could vote for my band as many times as I wanted.  But alas, my band did not win, and I thought that was the end of it.  However, last Wednesday I get a call from a representative from the website telling me that I had won the Fan Prize.  Having no clue what this was but not wanting to sound like a complete idiot, I said, "Oh.  Cool."

The Fan Prize was two tickets and meet-and-greet passes to the Hanson show on July 31st.  I wasn't terribly excited, but nevertheless getting free entry to a show is still pretty cool.  Especially when tickets normally cost $30.  The fact that I won two tickets and passes meant that I had to find somebody to go with me, and when I think "Hanson fan," I think of my friend CK.  So I called her and told her that Saturday she was going with me to the Hanson show to meet the band.  She flipped out.

CK very excited about that trashcan.

 "Are you shitting me?" she shouted over the phone.  It's been a lifelong dream of hers to meet Hanson, and the last show she went to was back in '98.  I figured taking her would score me some good karma.  So here's the details of the night of the show that was energetic, musical, and kind of ridiculous.