You know it's cold outside when your drinks start exploding. Last night, we were sitting at the dinner table when we heard this loud !pop! It turns out that one of the cans in a twelve pack of diet coke we had stored outside had frozen, expanded, and exploded. I said I would bring them in in the morning, and promptly forgot. The next morning, we heard a loud BOOM! and looked out the window. A two-liter of coke had now exploded, showering our little back yard in frozen coke. I had to sweep it up with a broom.
Off the seventh tee, Joe sliced his shot deep into a wooded ravine. He took his eight iron and clambered down the embankment in search of his lost ball.
After many long minutes of hacking at the underbrush, he spotted something glistening in the leaves. As he drew nearer, he discovered that it was an eight iron in the hands of a skeleton!
Joe immediately called out to his friend, "Jack, I've got trouble down here!"
"What's the matter?" Jack asked from the edge of the ravine.
"Bring me my wedge," Joe shouted. "You can't get out of here with an eight iron!"
When you Google your name, what comes up? Don't tell me you don't. Everyone does it; it's healthy. At least that is what I hear. Anyway, a few years ago, when I would Google my name i found other Dustin Dibbles. There is one that was a HS basketball star in Michigan, and now plays for UMKC. And from what I read, is pretty darn good. There is another one in Kansas (who is about my age) and another younger one that races motocross. About half of the first 10 hits were me. I felt pretty good about myself! Out of all the dustin dibbles, I was making something of myself!
And then came April 23, 2006. On that fateful night, one Dustin Dibble of New York City (heretofore unknown to the googleverse) got blitzed with his friends at the bar while watching hockey. After, he stumbled down to the subway (his BAC being more than twice the legal limit), and somehow fell onto the track. He was then struck by the train, and ended up having his leg amputated. So what did he do? The only American thing - He sued! And he won-- $2.3 million from the NYC transit system! As you can imagine, the internet was alive with angry taxpayers and tort reform activists, many of whom disparaged his funny name, as well as his dumb actions. Such was the vitriol directed at dustin, that on urban dictionary, a dibble is "A person that does stupid things without taking responsibility and blames those who have to pay for their consequences."
Now, when you Google "Dustin Dibble" the vast majority are news articles, legal blogs, and angry posts about that Dustin Dibble. So much for me making a name for myself in the Googleverse. So on behalf of Dustin Dibbles everywhere, thanks a lot Dustin. Thanks a lot.
After viewing the media circus surrounding the death of Micheal Jackson this last week, I kept thinking af a song by one of my favorite bands. "Godspeed" by Anberlin sums up what I was thinking quite nicely. Back when I worked for PCTV, I got the chance to interview the band and I asked them about this song. They said, (paraphrasing) "Imagine the great songs the were still floating around in Kurt Cobain's head when he died. What other musical jems could Elvis have given us? Jim Morrisson? Sid Vicious? All taken early beacuse of drugs and alcohol." I could not agree more. So much potential is lost becasue of substance abuse. I have seen it destroy the lives of memebers of my own family. Here's the video, and the lyrics are posted below- follow along for a great message:
Burning down neverland (scatter the ashes) White lines black tar the matches Is this another death by misadventure? Tell me what you got, what you really got Lexington cross your veins Sleepers can't just wake the dead When needles and lovers collapse on guilty beds
Fall asleep, don't fall asleep Don't fall asleep
(They lied when they said the good die young)
THEY LIED WHEN THEY SAID THE GOOD DIE YOUNG!
THEY LIED WHEN THEY SAID THE GOOD DIE YOUNG! stay with me, stay with me tonight
Burning down bridges now (scatter the ashes) Godspeed to all your after Is this a life left just to remember? Tell them who you were, who you really were Kill yourself slowly over time, fashion statement suicide She's still asleep in a Chelsea hotel Bad turns to worse, and the worst turns into hell
Fall asleep, don't fall asleep Don't fall asleep
(God save the eyes that dim tonight)
THEY LIED WHEN THEY SAID THE GOOD DIE YOUNG!
THEY LIED WHEN THEY SAID THE GOOD DIE YOUNG! Stay with me, stay with me tonight
As we move through the spring time, we draw to the end of the television season. This is a sad time for a lot of people, because we find out which of our favorite shows have been given the boot because of low ratings. I am really disappointed this year because a really good show is biting the dust, or will be soon--Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on FOX. TSCC had an OK run --ratings started out strong, but then the strike happened, and the viewers never came back. Then it got moved to friday nights--a death sentence for a drama series.
Which brings me to this rant-- Why can't people wise up? Why can't people enjoy quality programming? I cannot beleive the garbage that draws the ratings these days-- Dancing with the next top model, Who wants to marry my dog?, Are you smarter than the celebrity apprentice?--Why do they air this crap and cancel the good stuff?
Because not only is there an endless supply of foolish idiots willing to degrade themselves in front of a national audience, apparently they are willing to do it for very little money. Reality programming is cheap to make--around 100k to 200k an episode. In contrast, The West Wing, my all time favorite show, cost around $6 Million an episode--as much as a small feature film.
I am uspet because network execs wont even let a show find it's feet. Sienfeld, Friends--None of these shows would have made it today because they would have yanked them after 2 episodes.
TSCC is a brilliant show. You should check it out on DVD when it is released. The character development is nothing short of outstanding. The writers took a tired story about killer robots and turned it into a complicated and profound discussion about the meaning of humanity, religion and technology. It explored deep questions that kept me thinking long after it was over. Can a machine love? What is the nature of the soul? What is the meaning of good and evil? Why do we believe the things we do? I think the biggest problem with the series was it's name--people saw it and said--oh, I've heard that story. Trust me-- you haven't.
I saw this, and I had to post it. I was just thinking about this very dream I have at least every few months. Does everyone have the dream where you forgot about a class you had?
I've been meaning to post this forever, and at this point, it's probably too late. Since I don't listen to a wide variety of music, I can't really do a 10 best albums of 2008. I think I only listened to 10 albums in 08! I usually find 5 or 6 albums a year that I love, and I play them to death. So I think I'll do something more my style--the 5 best songs of 08, according to moi. All songs are in the player at the bottom of the page.
5. Spinning--Jack's Mannequin. Off the Glass Passenger album. Great beat, great lyrics, great feel. Very catchy--A very bright spot on an otherwise disappointing album.
4. Help Me-- Alkaline Trio. From Agony and Irony. I got turned on to this when I saw the video, which is so unlike me. I love the chorus- I have yet to see these guys live, but I look forward to the day.
3. Headfirst slide into Cooperstown on a bad bet --Fall Out Boy. From Folie a duex. I posted about this song earlier. Great stuff.
2. Retrace --Anberlin. From New Surrender. Incredible imagery. You can almost see the video in your head, even though there isn't one. Classic Anberlin
1. I Don't Care -- Fall Out Boy. again, from Folie a duex. This song may be overplayed, but I still can't get enough of it. The riff gets in your head and stays there. Love the "ow!"s as well. And with sarcastic lyrics, what else can you ask for ?
If any of you saw the Oscars last night, you may have missed this little gem by Will Smith:
When I saw it, I busted up! To those of you not in the know, "Boom goes the dynamite" came out of this wonderful video from a Ball State University News Production, and quickly became an internet sensation. Check it out: (The line comes in around 2:25)
This video is required viewing in most communication classes in college, or at least it should be, to teach the young kids that the teleprompter is your friend, but it could go down at any second, and when it does, you'd better have your scripts in order. Anyway, next time you are fumbling for the right phrase, you can't beat "annnnd boom goes the dynamite." (Said in a low, monotone voice)
I thought I'd comment on what I am reading now. I finally got a chance to read 1776 by David McCullough. I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but I thought I'd give this a try. I'm about halfway through, and I am really liking it. When you are young and in school, learning about the revolutionary war (or any history for that matter) can seem so static. "They won this battle, and then the troops went here, and then the British sailed there, and, oh yeah: "No taxation without representation!" And then it's time to close the books and study math. When you are young you don't realize that these are actual people and things are immensely more complicated. It's so interesting to read about the petty maneuvering, the prejudices, or the way Washington actually felt at certain times. Some of the lesser known moments are fascinating--like the story of Henry Knox dragging 59 cannons (weighing 60 tons) on ox-drawn sleds from Fort Ticonderoga to the siege at Boston. Anyway, If you like American History check it out.
Can I just say how much I love the X-Games? It's really exciting for me when they come around every six months. There is no doubt in my mind that ESPN is "the worldwide leader in sports" When I was in high school, my dream job was to work at the X-Games. Running camera, editing, directing, I didn't care, as long as I was involved. I think it's so cool that they they spend so much money and spare no expense in bringing extreme sports to the masses. Every year, they have some new and amazing video device to help bring us the action. I love the camera on the cable during the boarder-cross events, the follow cam in the halfpipes, and the myriad of graphics to help explain everything. This year's new toy is the "Mega-mo", like slow motion on steroids. They use a camera that shoots 300 frames a second! (Normal is 30 frames a second) So when they slow the tricks down, it just looks amazing. Being in television, and knowing what it would take to pull off an event such as this makes it even more amazing. To move from event to event to event so seamlessly, keeping everything so entertaining, all while battling the elements is truly neat-o.
So if you want to see some sick skiing and snowboarding, tune in tonight or tomorrow--great stuff.
I have a confession to make. It's one of my guiltiest pleasures. I like teenage girl music. That's right. I don't deny it. I like poppy punk rock. Now I know my musical tastes should have evolved past high school, But for some reason, their growth has been retarded. For example, right now I am totally digging the new album from Fall Out Boy. Very good stuff. Take for example, the track "Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown..." (it's on my playlist)-- it's part dance groove, part piano ballad, part driving rock, and with a horn section to boot! Combine that with Patrick Stump's soaring vocals, and you have one heck of a song!
Anyway, I always react with trepidation when people talk music, because I can't really talk about Vampire Weekend or The Arcade Fire or another "grownup" band that someone my age should like. Yes, these bands are good, and I do enjoy them on an ambient level. But for serious rocking out or singing along in the car, Give me my Anberlin or Jack's Mannequin any day.
