The Committee for Creative Enactments 2007 Reunion

I'm back from Boston, where I had a good time hanging out with my friend Brian, and attending the CCE Reunion.

While not *quite* a founding member of the theactrical improv group from Boston College, my first year at BC was the first full year the club was in existence, so for the later membership, I was pretty close... There were about 50 people at the reunion, ranging in date of graduation from 1993 (me) to students who were still at BC. Most attendees were from the 1999-2007 timeframe, with a few late 90's folks, and my friend Derek, who was class of 1995.

I got up and said a few words, to talk about the start of the club from my point of view, and to give some context for the day. I've done a lot of public speaking in my day, but I have to say that I was the most nervous I've been in awhile, talking to the group for my 5 minutes up on the stairs of O'Connell House. I think because this group really meant something to me.

I spoke of starting at BC as a student 1989, and not really remembering a time when the CCE was not part of my BC experience. It allowed me to be a "performer," to be interacting with other people of creativity and fun, and to do something that was different from the norm. I gave due respect to Dave Foucher and Dawn Bishop, as the two founders of the club, without whom none of us would have been standing in that room on Saturday evening. I gave respect to everyone in that room at the time, because without them, there would be no club. I had heard before, when I met some students in the summer of 2005 from the club, that some people would have probably transferred out of BC if it hadn't been for the CCE. Afterwards, I was surprised how many people came up to me and said the same thing, that the CCE had given them a reason to stay at BC. It's not like saving someone from jumping off a bridge, but it showed me that this club has had a *huge* impact on people's lives, without us really even intending it.

I took some questions at the end, and one of the recent graduates asked, "Without as many long standing traditions, what did you guys have to argue about?" My response: "Name it, and we argued about it." There was a lot of passion in the group, a lot of thoughts about right and wrong. We didn't really know what we were doing, so we played a lot of it by ear.

Throughout the night, I was continually surprised that people came up to me, to thank me for getting this club off the ground, telling me how much the CCE has meant to them, and the people in the group. It was a bit overwhelming, really. I mean, let's be honest, I'm all for having my ego stroked, but this was more than I really thought would be happening. It does, to me, show the power of an idea, and that idea giving people something to work towards, to have a goal and be able to accomplish it. I asked a present student, who had helped write the last show, if she would have ever thought that she'd write a production that others would perform. That wasn't in her plan for BC, she said. Which is as it should be, the CCE was able to push people outside of their areas of expertise, and get the members to be more than they thought they could be.

I'll be reflecting on this day for awhile. I mentioned to some of the newer graduates that when they come back in 10 years, and meet some of the present members, they may feel similar to myself, because people will be coming up to them to thank them for keeping the club going. They'll be hearing stories of students who were given a real taste of theater through the club, and how the club is one of the main things they'll remember from BC.

All because some people decided to try to put on a murdery mystery in Spring 1989, and then said, "Hey, why don't we do another???"

Some photos from the weekend....

My host Brian, at home... We watched a lot of the show "Spaced" on Friday night... Great stuff....

You know, he *is* a dick!

Brian and I hit The Border Cafe in Harvard Square after seeing the movie "Bug," (not bad, but not good). My favorite restaurant in, well, pretty much anywhere...

Shaw House, where I lived my Freshman/Sophomore years at BC, and where the CCE started up.

The Shaw House lounge piano. The same piano that was there when I lived there. I hope it's been tuned....

It's a bit dark, but the stairs of O'Connell House, where many intro and other scenes during CCE events were staged. Can you hear the voices? I can.

Me and some later members of the club. More and more people kept getting added to the photo. If you're in this photo, feel free to let me know! I'm horrible with names, otherwise I'd say who everyone was...

Just a room shot, showing people hanging out in O'Connell House on Upper Campus at BC.

Derek and I hanging out at the Union Street Restaurant, after the O'Connell House event. It was good to be able to sit and talk to him for a good chunk of time, although the band playing at the bar was a wee bit loud. Reminds me of why I don't like going out to bars... That, and my scratchy voice today, from yelling to be heard in the room.

I'm very glad I went to the reunion, after being ambivalent about it for awhile. It's great to see what the "new folks" have made of the club, and the sheer enjoyment that everyone obviously gets from each other's company. I talked to one of the organizers, and we were saying that the next reunion will probably be in 2009, to mark the 20 year anniversary of the club. So, there's more to come...

NP: King Crimson - Larks Tongues in Aspic II (13 Oct 1972)

Heading to Boston!

This weekend, I'll be heading up to Boston to attend a reunion for the Committee for Creative Enactments, a group I was part of (and *almost* a founder of) when I was in college at BC. We would write, produce, and act in our own murdery mysteries, once a semester. I believe I have the link to the group's website on my links on the right hand side.

I wasn't going to go up to this reunion, but then I realized that I may be one of the oldest members of the group to attend, and I like to represent the aged portion of the group. I can tell the stories about how we did show when we were young, without all this new fangled "talking" and "plot devices" that I hear the kids talk about nowadays.

Also, it's fun to be the representative of history. I was also the 3rd or 4th President of the group, so there's that going for me too....

So, it should be a good time. I'm staying with Brian while in the city, and was going to try to see Joe, but he'll be busy on Sunday, so unfortunately, no Joe this trip. Brian and I will probably see a movie on Saturday, before this big shindig starts up at 6pm. If it's nice, I may try to get to campus early, to take some photos, and just wander around a bit.

I'll be back with regular computer access on Sunday, so I'll update you all then on how it went....

NP: Frank Zappa - The Downtown Talent Scout

Memorial Day weekend

Today was the first day of the Memorial Day weekend. I stayed in bed till about 10:30am, and spent most of the day realizing that it felt like the first day of Summer Vacation when I was a kid. I mentioned this to Sue, and she felt the same way. It was just one of those great lazy days where I had nothing of real consequence to do, so here's what I did...

1. Watched "Being John Malkovich" with Sue on DVD. Good movie, although none of the characters are people I'd like to know in real life.

2. Went to Hoboken. The mission was to go to the Ben & Jerry's store there to find the Stephen Colbert flavor, Americone Dreams. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! It's quite tasty too, with vanilla ice cream, bits of chocolate covered waffle cone, and caramel swirled through it. I also stopped at the Barnes & Nobles, and got $50 work of book. The third book in a trilogy by Alastair Reynolds, a new book on the Revolutionary War, and a collection of scientific essays by Neil Degrasse Tyson. Should all be good reads...

3. Came home, ate the ice cream. Watched the SCTV DVD's that I've been going through, and took a nap on the couch.

4. Finished watching the netflix DVD's of the British version of "The Office" that we started watching last night. Great show, there's something about the uncomfortable human interaction in these comedies that just works for me. People should know better, but they don't, and it makes for great comedy. And, there's some great personal stories running through the show, such as the Dawn/Tim relationship. Great fun to watch.

5. Tucked Sue into bed, she's an early sleeper. Now, I'll just fart around here for a bit, maybe read, who knows....

NP: Anglagard - Sista Somrar

Hello little buddy!

Here's a cute photo for y'all!



This is from a few weeks ago, I was visiting a cemetery in Hoboken, as part of my genealogy research, and there were a lot of groundhog holes in the place. I caught this little guy peeking his head out of a hole near a headstone that wasn't relevant to my research.

Doesn't he look just adorable???

I've really been lax in my genealogy research recently. I need to figure out a few good things to focus on looking for, and give a real effort to search out those items. Maybe I'll take this weekend to do that...

NP: Brian Eno - The Big Ship

Boat Trip!

On Thursday of last week, I went on a harbor cruise for work, I was chaperoning students. A pretty easy gig, but it was fun to be on the boat. Here are my photos of the event...

At the dock of South Street Seaport in NYC, looking towards the boat, the white structure in the distance... Looking east towards Brooklyn.

Again, from the dock, with the Brooklyn Bridge visible.

Now, on board ship, taken from the top open air deck, looking at the dock.

Top deck again, looking up the East River at the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a nice evening, temp in the high 50's, I wore a sweatshirt to keep warm.

Passing under the Brooklyn Bridge. Pretty cool photo...

I like this view looking south, downtown, with the buildings and the sky... Pretty.

I thought this was a neat photo, because the current, from looking at the buoy, is actually moving against the current of the river. The tide must have been coming in, and the Hudson River/Harbor is one big estuary, affected dramatically by tides. This was an interesting view of the tidal effects in the harbor/river. Interesting to me at least...

About as far as we went upriver, we could see the UN Builiding in the distance. I'd like to go on the Circle Line sometime again, to go around the entire island... That would be fun, to me... Maybe during the summer it could be a fun thing to do.

Ruins on the Brooklyn side of the river. Cool.

Domino Sugar! Watch the teeth rot!

We then headed into New York Harbor proper, and here's the restored Staten Island Ferry building. They've been working on it for quite a long time. It appears to be almost done.

Ellis Island. Hello, Immigrant Ancestors!

And we'll end with the Statue of Liberty.... Thank you, France!

NP: King Crimson - Dangerous Curves (14 Nov 2003)

Visit from friends!

I just took pictures off of my digital camera, and here's one of my friend Joe!

He and his girlfriend Sally came down to visit friends in the NYC area a few weekends ago, so we met for dinner the Friday they were here. I've been lazy, and hadn't taken any of the photos off my camera. So, here he is! Sorry ladies, he's taken!

My car wouldn't start today. I *think* the battery is dead, I'll have to try to jump it tomorrow, and see what happens. The car is 10 years old, and I believe it's still the original battery, so it's about time for it to go.

If it's not the battery, it *may* be the alternator. If not that, then I've reached the limit of my guessing.

NP: King Crimson - Indiscipline (27 Aug 1982)

A Lazy Poster....

I've been incredibly lazy with this blog recently, I need to make more of an effort to post here. Work has been busy, we're closing the residence halls tomorrow, and graduation is on Sunday, so that's been taking up a lot of time and energy.

And, I don't *really* like posting much about work on here, and since work has been taking up most of my time, you can see the dilemma I'm under.

I did get a book in the mail from Amazon today, it's the new Tolkien book, Children of Hurin. I'll read it after I finish my present book, about the designing/building of the Apollo Lunar Lander.

The Larry Sanders Show

Today, I finished watching the DVD's I just got of "The Larry Sanders Show," which was originally aired on HBO from 1992-1998. In this show, Garry Shandling played talk show host Larry Sanders, as a "behind the scenes" look at the making of a talk show.

However, the show was much more about character than just a mockumentary style comedy. It really set the stage for later shows, like Arrested Development, that took the documentary style shooting and ran with it. Also, the characters in Larry Sanders (Larry, his producer Artie, played by Rip Torn, and sidekick Hank, played by Jeffrey Tambor) were just fantastic to watch, because they were human, expressed emotions, and were "real."

So, if you're looking for some good laughs, and some surprising glimpses of emotion that are usually unexpected, then take a look at this show.

I'm on duty this weekend, so there's nothing really big going on in my life, besides watching tv and writing blogs. This Thursday, I'll be going on a harbor cruise in NYC, as a chaperone for a Senior Week trip, which should be fun. I'll be sure to bring a camera for some photos to post here.

All non-graduating students have to be out of the residence halls here by Wednesday at noon, so it'll be pretty quiet soon. It's quiet now, with exams happening, but I'm looking forward to the quiet of no one else in the building...

NP: Frank Zappa - No Not Now

An old wedding...

On May 10, 1851, my great-great-great-grandparents, John Lord and Jane Lang, were married in Newark, New Jersey. They had immigrated to the US the year before, on the same ship. I'm not sure if they knew each other in Ireland, or if they met on the ship coming over, and stayed close in the interim between immigration and marriage.

That's the thing about genealogy, sometimes you learn something from documents, but have no real clue as to what actually went on. There's no old Lord Bible, or papers from a diary, to tell what the real story was.

Personally, I think they knew each other in Ireland, but that's just a guess.

Then, on May 10, 1890, the same John Lord passed away in East Newark, NJ. When you do genealogy for awhile, you're used to seeing coincidences of dates, they're more common than you'd think.

Jane Lord, wife of the aforementioned John Lord, died on March 16, 1912. That was exactly 59 years before I was born. Another date coincidence.

So, if John and Jane hadn't been married on this date, one hundred and fifty six years ago, I might not be sitting here right now, typing to you. That goes for any of my ancestors, on either side of the family. If just one thing had shifted, someone else (like me, but not *exactly* me) might be here, writing about their ancestors John and Jane being married on May 11th, or May 9th.

Kind of Twilight Zone-y, when you think about it....

If I have any photos of John or Jane, I'd put them up here, but I got nothing!

A funny environmental comment...

The other day, in just random conversation, Sue said to me, "I can't wait until we have a house."

As the comment was apropos of nothing that we had been talking about, I said, "Why?"

Her reply: "We'll have a clothes dryer, and I can toast my pajamas before bed..."

"I don't know if that would be terribly energy efficient," I said.

And then the classic response: "True, it really wouldn't reduce the footprint much, would it?"

I thought it was a really funny, quick retort...

NP: The Police - Peanuts (Live)

Egging on!

Louie's egging me on to apply for the Director job, as he mentions in his comment on yesterday's blog. I'm still up in the air about it. Here are some factors I'm considering, just so that people know what's going through my head:

• Responsibility. Yes, it's more, which is good. The Director title and responsibility will look good on my resume, and I'll build more skills in those areas. On the other side of the coin, I'll be gaining a lot of the same experiences over the summer, as I learn what I'll need to know to help out the new director, so I could get the knowledge, without the parts of the job that may be personally draining. So, it's a toss up now, which needs more reflection on my part.
• Money. Yes, it would be more, but not a huge amount more. We'd also have to move into the Director's house, which is nice, but it's still another move less than a year after we moved here. Both Sue and I value stability, so a physical move so soon could be rough. Not enough to rule it out, but it's part of the calculus.
• Presidential search. The College is undergoing a presidential search right now, and while this won't have a big impact on my process, I am interested to see the outcome, before I start planning my continued move up the ladder of responsibility. Who the President is can truly determine the direction of the College, so I'd like a bit more knowledge on who is going to be sitting in the big chair before throwing my hat into the ring.
• Longevity. If I apply to this job, how long does it commit me to being in the position? I don't know. I need to think about that, and see how long we'd like to be in the area. Sue will be looking at possible degree programs at the college where she works, so stability could be really good now. More info needed.
• Job description. I still haven't even seen a job description for the Director position yet. Once I see it, I'll have a better idea of what I could be in for with the work.

So, those are some random thoughts. A lot of it is "more input necessary." I can truly say that I haven't really come to any conclusion yet, as I want to see what pans out over the next few weeks, with the actual position posting, and the possible conclusion of the Presidential search. There's also an Academic Dean position that has opened up at the College, that could be interesting to look at, again, depending on the job description.

More to come!

NP: Jon Anderson - Animation

Long Time Gone

Sorry for the delay in writing, I've just been busy with life, and not sitting at the computer a lot...

Happy May Day everyone! Let the revolution begin!

What's been going on recently? Well, my supervisor is leaving her job at the end of the summer, so one of the things on my plate is reflecting on whether or not it would be worthwhile to apply for the Director job. A number of people at work have asked if I am, and have been semi-encouraging about it, but I'm still thinking about it, with no real decision made one way or another... Watch this space for further updates.

We're in the home stretch of the semester, with the Finals period ending on May 15th, and students having to vacate their residence hall rooms by noon on May 16th. Graduation is May 20th, at the Garden State Arts Center, and I'll be working the event. Then, the glorious summer months begin, which will be very nice. I'm looking forward to getting a lot of work done, and having Friday's off starting in the middle of June.

We've had candidates in for the Resident Coordinator position open for this coming year. Good candidates, we have a plethora of riches in this search. That's been keeping me busy at work since Thursday. Soon, I'll get to start reference checks on people, which is always interesting to see what gets said (or not) during these conversations.

Sue and I saw "Hot Fuzz" over the weekend, and I have to say, it's the best comedy I've seen in the movies this year so far, or actually in quite awhile, even back into last year. Simon Pegg and his co-writer/director are great at making a parody, while also not getting caught up in trying to be PARODY, if that makes sense. I'll put it this way, the films stand up on their own as story/comedy, without even knowing all the details of the parody. A great comedy, go see it!

NP: The Moody Blues - Isn't Life Strange

Ah, music...

"Even with good friends, it's easy to feel alone at times. That's when music steps in."

I wrote this last night, in response to some postings on the Genesis message boards.

I've been a bit of a music nerd recently, posting *a lot* on those message boards. So much so, that I've been the #1 poster for awhile. I've recently dropped to #2 or #3, but that's okay. I have no need to be #1 all the time.

I was writing about my personal relationship to music. I have many people I consider friends, but unfortunately, a lot of them are far away, not within easy, just hang out distance. So, the phone, e-mail, carrier pidgeons, whatever communication venue works usually substitutes.

But, there are times when it's nice to have someone right there. Of course, I'm married to a wonderful Sue, and she's always there for me. However, sometimes you just need to be alone, or need some non-interactive consolation. For me, that's when I truly turn to music.

So, now you know a little more about me. Yay!

NP: Genesis - Duchess

Spring? What Spring?

Today, here in New Jersey, we leaped straight into summer...

I was going to say "lept," but when I saw it, I wasn't sure if it was a real word...

I think it hit at least 85F today, which was nice after the unseasonably cool weather we had for the past week or two. On Saturday, Sue and I went out to the movies (saw Blades of Glory, good stupid fun), but beforehand, discovered a little scenic area in Bayonne (who knew?), where we could see the Statue of Liberty and the NYC skyline. It was a nice area, but needed a good trash pick up.

Litter is one of my big pet peeves. Mainly because there's absolutely no reason for it. If you have trash, wait till you see a garbage can.

There was a garbage can at this scenic area, but it was way out of the way. You have to be motivated to use it. If I were in charge (and really, why aren't I?), I would move it closer to where people actually stand.

NP: Silence

Thursday the 19th

It's just as rare as a Friday the 13th, maybe I should get spooked about this...

This video is hitting everyone on the web, so if you haven't seen it, you should...

Comedy Click Here!

Very funny stuff... Some people, from the comments below it, don't quite realize that Will Ferrell isn't actually yelling at the kid... Editing can be your friend...

Today, I attended a day long workshop/conference on alcohol education at colleges. Quite interesting stuff, got to meet some cool people, and I got a free book out of it, so it can't be that bad!

I have to mention that after I said that my birthday was done, I got one more gift from Mr. Paik, the first season of Ricky Gervais's show Extras, which is shown on the BBC and HBO. It's a riot, very well done! I'll have to pick up the BBC "The Office," which I've only seen bits of on DVD at other people's places.

Patrick Stewart: You've seen Star Trek, haven't you?

Ricky Gervais: No, haven't caught it.

Patrick Stewart: Ah, you're married.

Ricky Gervais: No... Not married.

Patrick Stewart: Ah, okay, you have a girlfriend!

Ricky Gervais: No, no girlfriend.

Patrick Stewart: You're not married, you don't have a girlfriend, and you've never seen Star Trek?

Ricky Gervais: No, can't say I have...

Patrick Stewart: Good Lord.

Funny stuff, much funnier in delivery than I can put into words here... Find it and watch it, if you can!

NP: Jon & Vangelis - The Arms of Love

The joy of presales...

This morning, I found out that there's going to be a Genesis concert at Madison Square Garden on September 25th, on top of the Giants Stadium show I already have tickets for on September 27th.

The Genesis website fanclub presale was this morning at 10am, so I limbered up my fingers, and got tickets in Section 102. Groovy!

This evening, we had our second Group Process interview for Resident Assistant positions here at the college. It was a good time, I always enjoy watching the candidates interact in groups. Then tomorrow and Thursday, they'll do individual interviews, and then we decide who to hire...

That's all for now, just a quick update...

T.O.O.L. - All Along the Watchtower

Tires!

So, this weekend, I went and got new tires for my car. My old ones, I got in about the year 2000, and it was time for a change. They were also snow tires, from when I lived up north. They may have contributed to my transmission issues back in October 2006, as the snow tires cause more drag/resistance between the car and the road, so that was another reason to change the tires.

I always knew the snow tires made more of a sound, because of their bigger treads. Now, with the new tires, my car is riding very quietly! It's amazing, I didn't expect it to be that big of a difference, but the sound is much less in my car now.

Late last week, Sue and I made our reservations for our summer vacation on Martha's Vineyard. We'll be staying in Oak Bluffs, in a little hotel there. We'll have to share a bathroom with 3 other rooms, but that's fine, as the rooms are about $80 cheaper per night compared to other places. I'll be sure to post a full review after we get back in July.

NP: King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man (6 May 1969)

The official conclusion...

...of my birthday season arrived today, when I received a gift in the mail from my friend Brian. It's two graphic novels, of one series, called "The Walking Dead." More zombie literature to fry my brain! Thanks Brian!

I finished the novel "The Historian" yesterday. It was a good read, I enjoyed it, but the book is 675 pages long, and I think it could have been tightened up a good 100 pages or so. The story is about the search for the living Dracula, in semi-modern times, told through a "modern" story, but also through a series of letters, written by the protaginist's father, and an assortment of other characters.

The book kept me interested enough to finish it, but my main critique, as I said, was the pace of it. With that being said, I wouldn't not read other work by the author.

NP: Frank Zappa - Freak Out Drum Track w/timpani

Recap of the week!

Sorry for not blogging recently, I've just been tied up with, well, just relaxing. It's nice to be able to just take it easy for a few days, with no real responsibilities besides hanging with my wonderful Sue, and having fun with her.

On Saturday, we went into NYC to the Lincoln Center movie theater, to see Pan's Labyrnth, which was an excellent movie. I'm always into subtitles, and this was a very fantastical story, about a girl growing up during WWII/Spanish Civil War, and how she deals with it. You never really know if the story is in the girl's head, or if it's real, but that's part of the charm/wistfulness of the film. I recommend it highly...

Today, I had the exciting delivery in the mail of the Genesis 1976-1982 5.1 surround sound box set, which includes the albums A Trick of the Tail, Wind and Wuthering, And Then There Were Three, Duke, Abacab, and a sixth disc of b-sides (also mixed in 5.1). So far, I've listened to Trick, and a song or two off of Abacab (Dodo and Whodunnit, for those of you who are wondering...). The new mixes in surround sound are quite good, it really opens up the music to hear detail that was only hinted at before. I'm looking forward to digesting the rest of the music over the next week, and afterwards...

Each album also comes with an accompaning DVD, with about 15 minutes of band interviews about the album, the associated videos, and any other items of interest, like live concert clips, tv appearances, etc. Very cool stuff, especially since it's all really just a bonus. I've only watched the Abacab interviews so far, and they're actually worth having... Which is nice, for a freebie.

In regards to the conference I attended, I have to give Al Gore kudos for his global warming/Inconvenient Truth keynote speech. What's interesting is that he asks the stage lights to be dimmed, so that you can't really see him talking, but because of that, you focus on the details of his presentation. Which is quite compelling, I have to say. Global warming is real, and many countries are taking steps to reign in the threat. However, the US is reacting slowly, while being one of the major contributors to the problem. I need to buy a hybrid car NOW! And vote for candidates who actually plan on addressing this issue.

I'm not going to go over what Gore says, you can rent the DVD of An Inconvenient Truth easily enough. Watch it, and be educated. Get past whatever political issues you may have with Al Gore, and just listen to the information.

NP: Lenny Bruce - Our Governors (1959)

The Baltarian Dialogues (Part One?)

The Baltarian Dialogues

Brian and I engaged in an e-mail dissection of the Battlestar Galactica season finale, and since there's no real point in just copying/pasting it here, I give you the link to his blog entry above...

NP: Fonya - Fleabitten Cat

The return from Orlando...

I returned last night from the ACPA/NASPA conference down in Orlando. The flight was fine, except that it left 3 hours later than it was supposed to, so I got home to Jersey City around 2:30am in the morning. No fun there! But, the flight was uneventful, so that's okay...

Here's a photolog of my experiences...

The line for registration. It looks long, and it was, but it actually moved pretty quickly...

Daniel and Brian, two friends from my work years at Dartmouth, we went out with Fu and Krista (pictured below) on Friday, the first night there...

We went to eat at a place in Downtown Celebration, a town that's been built to house Disney workers, from what I was told...

Fu really doesn't have buck teeth, although this photo may lead to to believe that...

I was actually down there to work, not just to eat with friends. Here's the table we had for Saint Peter's, where I (and my Director) interview prospective candidates to work in Residence Life at the college. It was a good area, very comfortable for interviewing...

I didn't really expect to see livestock outside of my hotel window, but life is full of surprises...

I thought this was a pretty evening sky.

The stage for Al Gore's presentation, from my seat, which Fu and Krista kindly saved for me...

The happy couple!

And to prove I was there, here I am, looking semi-professional! And more hairless than I actually am!

Al Gore, on the video screen right in front of us. If you haven't seen "An Inconvenient Truth" yet, you should! I haven't, but now that I saw Gore's presentation, I know all the relevant information. Watch it, and be educated...

On the phone, talking to Sue... See, there is hair up there!

A crowd from Dartmouth at the social...

That's where I'll leave this for now. Over the weekend, I'll write up more about the content and actual stuff I did at the conference.

NP: Mike Keneally - Bober

Heading to Orlando

I'm heading to Orlando for a conference. I'll be gone till Wednesday. Most likely no blog posts till then...

Enjoy the break from the world of Mike...

NP: Playing? It's too early!

Sunday ramblings...

Okay, I'm going to blather on a bit here about Battlestar Galactica, so if you don't want to be *spoiled,* look away now!

Now, I say!

Okay, I just finished watching the season 3 finale, and my quick thoughts are that it was very good, with a very stupid part at the end.

The doofy part is the All Along the Watchtower quotes, although I did like the Indian influenced music at the end...

Now, are Tighe, Sam, the Chief, and the President's aid really Cylons. Methinks not. Why would an Earth song trigger their Cylon pieces to come alive?

Could it be that they're plants from Earth itself, infiltrating the Colonies? That could be interesting, if "humanity" on Earth has Cylons of their own, or if these people are just real people, planted with some psychological trigger to reanimate their memories.

Although, it's just a song, and it brought them all together. It doesn't appear to have triggered any real mission in them, although the Chief did seem like the one most willing to accept his Cylon-nature.

But, wouldn't that make his kid special? Like Hera?

And, there were only four of them called to that room. There's still one Cylon model missing, if they really are Cylons. Who could it be? The Pres? Baltar? Starbuck? That lawyer guy? This stuff did all start when he had that cane, and he left it behind on the ship, showing that it was just a prop all along...

It's interesting seeing the Baltar groupies make their reappearance. He'll have friends to keep him alive now. It was great to see his character not change one whit from what he went through. Still the same self involved Baltar. Everyone loves Baltar!

More thoughts on this as I have them...

NP: Jane's Addiction - Mountain Song

Lazy Saturday...

Didn't really do much today, as I was on the aforementioned duty... Got up around 10am-ish, showered, watched some TV, read a bit, updated some genealogy on the Scots side of the family, ordered some Chinese food, watched two old Richard Jeni specials I have on VHS tape, and did dishes.

A very nice Saturday. And, it felt like Sunday all day to me, so I think tomorrow will feel like a bonus weekend day, always good...

It was fun to dig out those two Richard Jeni specials. I think the CD I have of his comedy is a bit better than the tapes, but maybe that's just because we watched those shows so much while in college. I think if we were ever wanting for something to do to kill some time, once we got our work done, of course, we'd throw on those shows.

There's lots of little phrases that my roommates and I incorporated into our lingo from those specials. Some Minnesota accents, quick one liners (which of course I can't remember now!), and just general good jokes.

NP: Ensemble Modern - The Adventures of Greggery Peckery

I'm on Duty!

Ah yes, another work weekend, I'm the duty person for campus, so I get to stay around for the next few days and TCB (take care of business) here on campus.

This year has gone by amazingly fast, where we're less than two months to graduation. Maybe it's part of being at a school again where the academic year is more "normal" than working at Dartmouth. Here at Saint Peter's, graduation is on May 20th. At Dartmouth, graduation was usually around June 10th. So, this year, it feels like I'm ending much earlier.

At this time next week, I'll be in Orlando, Florida, for the Joint ACPA/NASPA conference. I'll be there from Friday until Wednesday. It's really much more like work than a vacation, but work in Florida can't really be bad when you're not used to it. Can it?

It'll be a good trip, I believe. I'll meet up with old colleagues, and get to interview candidates for positions here. This will be the first conference since 2005 where I'm not looking for a job myself, which will be a nice relief.

I'll be doing some more updates over this weekend, as I'll be around... What are *your* weekend plans?

And Lou, I really liked the dream you posted... Weird, but, well, weird!

A dress?

Here's two pictures of me in a dress!

These are digital photos of real pictures, taken in late 1991-early 1992. Junior at Boston College. I was doing a scavenger hunt with a friend, and one of the items was a guy in a woman's dress. We found one of his female friends, whose dress I could just *barely* get into...

I also have shots of me in a dress from one of the CCE productions we did, where I played an 85 year old woman. I should dig those out...

NP: ELP - Pictures At An Exhibition (13 Aug 1972)

Not quite Platonian dialogues...

Brian and I just had an e-mail exchange about "THE HOST." Here it is for your enjoyment... '

In a message dated 3/20/2007 10:55:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Brian writes:

BRIAN: The first time I saw HARD BOILED was in college, senior year, with an animatrix friend. I think it was playing for several days in a row and I went back at least once more during that run. I *might* have dragged you to it then, but I suspect we must have seen it a year or so later, post-college.

MIKE: It feels more like post-college to me... I think that was when I saw my first HK cinema... I do remember really liking it, and I still have the Criterion DVD of it, I should break it out at some point soon...

BRIAN: Ah, THE HOST. I started to comment on your post about it, but felt that it would quickly get away from me, and bailed on commenting, figuring that I would do another write-up of my own on it... Alas, haven't gotten around to it. I've been having trouble settling down to write much of anything since getting back from Florida. Don't know quite why.

MIKE: It's the sun. It gets to you...

Feel free to hijack my blog anytime... I enjoy long comments.

BRIAN: The first time I saw it, I laughed at the family falling down in mourning/fighting. The second tme, I didn't laugh. Third time, I laughed. I really do feel that it's meant to be sad *and* funny. I think that goes for a decent chunk of the film.

MIKE: I laughed as it went on, but more of one of those, "My god" type of laughs... Not funny, but more of a reaction... Sad and funny, that makes sense to me.

BRIAN: It's amazing how that film can so smoothly switch gears in tone and style without breaking the continuity of it.

MIKE: It was pretty good with that. I thought at the end, with the brother dropping the Molotov Cocktail, was just perfect too... The music swelling, slo mo, etc. I thought he'd miss, or the monster would move. Didn't think about him just *dropping* it, which was so right...

BRIAN: Within a heartbeat, you get a laugh as the dopey father counts to himself how many shots he's fired with the shotgun, and then just the worst kind of sadness at the spiteful thrashing of the grandfather by the creature.

MIKE: And he doesn't even try to run, because he knows it's not possible to get away...

BRIAN: One scene that I love that gets some interesting audience reactions is when the family sits down for a seo-ri dinner in the abandoned foodstand, and out of nowhere, the daughter joins them. For me, that was incredibly touching and bittersweet. For others, it seemed to be a joke. For really annoying others, it was a puzzle, prompting one jerkass to repeat out loud several times, "Now I'm confused."

MIKE: I know I didn't laugh, but within a moment, it's pretty obvious it's a dream/imagination piece. I can't believe that someone didn't get it, who was intelligent enough to seek out a Korean monster movie!

But then again, I think of the reaction you talked about to Romeo & Juliet, where someone in the audience really didn't know that they both die at the end...

BRIAN: I love that nothing is wasted in the film. At the start, we see dad Gang-dul asleep in the food stand, and a little urchin of a kid attempts to steal a candy bar or something. Before he can manage it,he's whisked away by a big brother type, dressed in fatigues. These are the brothers who get snatched by the creature after seo-ri/robbing the locked up food stand later in the film.

MIKE: Ah, I'd have to see that again to catch it. Missed it the first time. And I thought they were father/son, not brothers...

BRIAN: The beer. The wanted poster. The bucket of change.

MIKE: "If you put a gun on the mantle in Act 1, it needs to be fired by Act 3." I think Chekhov (the playwright, not the starfleet officer) said that...

BRIAN: I like that what would be the subtext in a typical monster film is just plain text for the most part. The political stuff is political stuff, no metaphors. I'm eager to see how an American version of the film frames things, particularly the origin of the beasty, and the activist brother's character/motivation. Perhaps he's a dot-com refugee, overqualified yet unemployable.

MIKE: True, no Godzille=atom bomb here. Here, it's chemicals=chemicals. Is there actually going to be an american version? American movies tend to have no problem with the government being the bad guys. Or, it may be Industry/Capitalism, which works too...

BRIAN: I hope Sam Raimi's involved in bringing it over. He's had a hand in bringing over THE GRUDGE films and they've been solid.

MIKE: I haven't seen any of those. With Sue not being a real horror nut, my viewing of them has been cut down. At Dartmouth, there were a few people into horror, so I could go with them, but no people here are good movie buddies.

--------------

There you have it. A conversation for the ages... We'll have more dialogues on this blog in the future... It saves me the trouble of writing.

High School dream...

The other night, I had an odd high school dream. Of course, upon waking, dreams always fall apart, but what I could remember from this one was:

• It was graduation, but only about 30 people were in a small classroom for the ceremony. I was there, sitting next to one of my friends, Beth Lefsky. Her father (Mr. Lefsky) who was the head of the social studies department, was organizing the ceremony.
• There were three people sitting near us, who were there to pick up a diploma for a friend of theirs, who was actually a student staff member who I worked with at Dartmouth, but they got his name wrong. His name was Mike, but they called him Mark. They also got his last name wrong, but the way it was wrong, it was the same name of someone in my class.
• At one point, Beth and I left, to try to find more people. I *think* we found my friend Brian, but he didn't want to do the ceremony.
• I was curious why there weren't more people around, or people I recognized, but that's dreams for you.

I think there was more of a plot to this dream. It did all seem to hang together when I woke up from it, but time and daylight drive out the details, and make it all just gossimer on the winds...

I'm "on duty" at work this week, which means I'm the administrator on call for the evenings if anything happens on campus. We'll see how this week goes.

Does anyone else out there have any weird dreams of their past to share?

NP: Genesis - In The Cage (24 Jan 1975)

The Host

Sue and I went to see "The Host" today at Landmark Sunshine Theater on Houston Street in NYC today. A really enjoyable film, combination social satire, monster film, and family gathering. The basic idea is that a monster is created from some bad stuff poured down a drain in a morgue (authorized by an American doctor, adding to the politicial subtext of the film). The monster likes to swallow people, and then spit them up later in a bit of a holding pen in a sewer.

Most of the people swallowed die, but a few survive, and one of the survivors is a little girl, so her father and extended family try to save her.

The movie is from Korea, and from what I understand, it's the highest grossing movie in South Korea ever. Whether that includes films made outside of SK, I'm not sure.

There are some interesting parts to the movie, where I'm not sure if the comedy was supposed to be funny, or whether there are just some cultural differences to the approach to comedy or drama. However, it was a good movie, it surprised me in places, and worked on a number of levels.

Sue and I took the PATH trains from Journal Square to 9th Street in NYC, then walked to the theater. It was about a 35 minute walk in NYC, which wasn't bad, except for the slush/snow still on the ground.

NP: Magma - Kohntark (Part One)

Birthday!

Ah yes, today was my birtday, born in Neptune, NJ, at 6:51am, back in 1971. As my friend Brian points out, I'm now officially square, as 6x6=36.

Ah, math humor. I just realized we passed pi (March 14th) the other day, when it was mentioned on Stephen Colbert (that's why he was feeling so irrational).

Because of the crappy weather today, we actually had a half day of work. So, it was nice to get away from work early on my birthday. Yay for me.

Sue and I would have gone out to eat, but because of the aforementioned bad weather, we got a pizza from the place down the street. Personally, it hit the spot for me, so a good birthday was had by all. Sue got me a t-shirt that is "Stewart-Colbert '08," which I will wear with pride.

This weekend, dependent on the weather, we'll probably go into NYC to see "The Host," as I mentioned the other day on here.

That's about it... Happy birthday to me, and all that... :)

NP: Genesis - Firth of Fifth (28 Nov 1981)

The Host

I think I have to seek out this movie during this weekend at some point. It may only be playing in NYC, so it may be worth a trip in...

NP: Brian Eno - Back in Judy's Jungle

Eh...

I'm in one of *those*moods tonight... Just kind of bleah...

I've found that when I get like this, I just have to let it ride out. If I actively try to combat the mood, I end up annoying and depressing myself. But, if I just take life as it is, and try to relax, it generally does get better.

These things don't usually go on for more than a few hours, or a day. Sleeping usually helps. I may be subdued the next day, but it's not horrible. It's just getting through stuff.

I think one of the things that I'm thinking about is what I want to do with my life. I enjoy my work, but is it really what I want to be doing? Is it enough? If it is, that's great! But, I want to make sure that I'm doing the right work for the right reasons. I'm trying to keep my eyes open, and my brain open, to different possibilities out there. I'm certainly not actively looking for another job (I'll be here for at least another academic year), but it would be interesting to see what may be out there for someone with my work history.

I'm using this blog to think out loud right now. Don't take this all as me being in a horrible funk or that I hate my job. I simply want to feel like I'm doing what I should be doing with my time. I generally think that I am, but days where I get a bit down, it leads me to question a lot of this surface/work type things. At my core, I'm a generally happy person. I like my life, and I have a lot of good people around me. So, I analyze and question, to see where I am at, and where I might think about going.

If I come up with any ideas, I'll let you know.

NP: Genesis - The Cinema Show (1976)

In other news...

What else is going on in my life besides talking about comedy? Here's a quick lowdown:

I got tickets late last week to see Genesis at Giants Stadium in September. I wasn't happy that there wasn't going to be a show at Madison Square Garden, which I thought would have been a better venue, but I'm not scheduling the tour. So, I buy where the show is.

It should be a great tour. Our seats are in Section 110, so we'll be on the side, with a good angle for the whole stage. I've also been posting a lot on the new official Genesis message board, and have somehow made my way up to being the number one poster on the board (for now). I think this makes me king of the Genesis nerds, or something, a crown I will proudly wear, as a Genesis nerd myself...

Work is gearing up, I'm going to have busy evenings next week, I'll be on call, and have evening commitments I think almost every night of the week. That's fine though, I'd rather have those meetings when I have to be around anyway. The following week is our Housing process, I get to be a worker bee then. Tomorrow, Residence Life is attending a meeting of the Board of Trustees, so we get to answer whatever questions they have about Residence Life. Should be fun...

It was Sue's birthday this past Friday, which made everything we did this weekend special for her birthday. We have fun together, two geeky peas in a pod.

That's about it for now. More to come later!

NP: Catherine Wheel - Kill My Soul

Richard Jeni and the Art of Comedy

I wanted to write a bit more about Richard Jeni, and his comedy. A bit of background on me.

When I was in late elementary school, I discovered a few old Bob Newhart and Bill Cosby albums in the closet in my house. I recognized both of them from TV, and said to myself, "Wow, I wonder what's on these? TV shows?"

I played the albums, and was amazed to find people talking, telling funny stories, and getting laughs. I thought this was great! Here was something that I could listen to, and laugh over and over again! Comedy, on demand.

I remember one of my friends coming over, and I make him listen to one of the Bob Newhart albums. After finishing it, he left. We did remain friends, but the comedy album format didn't really do anything for him. I couldn't get it.

After listening to them once, some people would ask, "You know the jokes, why do you listen to them again? How can it be funny all over?" For me, the answer was about listening to the nuances, the timing, the rhythm of the words. The word choice. The way the jokes were intoned. Accents. Pauses. All in the art of comedy. What do you do, and what don't you do?

After those classics, I got into Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and really delved into comedy with meaning, with subtext, and with purpose. Did I get all this when I was in Junior High? Nope, but on repeated listenings, I got the ideas behind what they were saying.

This brings me to Richard Jeni, again. When I first saw him, probably on the Tonight Show, doing his Jaws bit, where he talks about watching Jaws 4 late at night, and his body revolting against him for watching such a dumb film, it got me. The imagery, the timing, the thought, and even the animals (in this case, the Shark, and his spinal column) in the story.

Jeni made the comedy look easy, as all the great performers did. But I was in amazement, as I *knew* that he had honed this bit to within an inch of its life, and it *worked!*

When I saw that first Showtime special, I was continually amazed, and delighted, by the amount of effort Richard put into his show. The wording, the phrasing, all showed signs of an intelligent guy, going for it. One thing that continually amused me in his routine was his use of animals. He would mention the indignancy of the lobster tank at "Fred Robster," and how, at the steak house, you guessed it, no cow tank!

In the bit, there was a little line where the cow, crying, says, "Why don't you try the lobster," and the lobster returns the quip, "Why don't you mind your own damn business..." It was a subtle thing, but he used animals often enough in his bits that I had to believe that there was something more to it. Something about us as people. Because, of course, the animals are just substitutes for us. Jeni wasn't as overtly subversive as a Bill Hicks or a George Carlin, but in his own way, he could turn the mirror on ourselves, and make us laugh a bit...

That's as maudlin as I'm going to get in this.

Jeni was also great at weaving his bits into each other, having little references come back from previous bits, culmunating in a big laugh at the end of the show. I saw him live at least twice, and perhaps a third time (those years living in Boston seem so long ago in a lot of ways), and he never disappointed. I regret not having made an effort to go to some of his shows more often, in those intervening years.

I deleted a comment from yesterday's post, saying that Richard Jeni was just a D-list celebrity who didn't make it, that the suicide was the biggest news that he had made in years. And I think that shows just what's wrong with the culture of celebrity. Jeni was a steadily working comedian, playing probably over 100 shows a year, and doing great material. I'm not in his head, so I don't know if he thought that he should have been a bigger "star," or had a better film career. All I know is that he did stand up great, and had a lot to be proud of with that. If this was suicide, and if it was caused by despondency over his career, I'm really sad to hear that, because I think that Richard Jeni had nothing to be ashamed about with his career in comedy. He was a true comedian.

Richard Jeni

I just read about an hour or so ago, on AOL News, that Richard Jeni, one of my favorite comedians of the past 17 years, died by an apparent suicide.

I first discovered Richard Jeni from 30 minute Showtime special from 1989. I still have it on tape somewhere. I showed that tape to so many people, making fans of him when I was in college. I think I was having some friends over to watch Evil Dead II in the summer of 1989, and while waiting for a few more people to show up, we caught this special on cable. We all laughed, but I really connected with his humor.

Later that summer, I taped it, thinking that it would be good to bring to college with me. It was, and the following summer, I taped his second 60 minute Showtime special, and those tapes became regular viewing in our room in Shaw House at Boston College.

I saw Jeni live at least once during college, and a few times while living in Boston before departing for grad school in 1996. I even have a tape of every episode of his short lived TV show on UPN, Platypus Man.

While in grad school, I picked up Jeni's CD, Greatest Bits. The tape I made of it is still in my car, and gets played often on long car rides.

I don't know what may have driven Jeni to suicide. Did he feel that he deserved bigger success? Did he have health issues? I don't know, and it almost doesn't matter, as we've lost a good comic voice.

So, Richard Jeni, I'll miss your comedy. And, I'll miss the potential that once was...

NP: Genesis - Behind the Lines

Ahh, Florida...

It's Wednesday, and we've been back from Florida since Monday, so it's time for a report!

I'm going to bullet this, to make it streamlined. Don't like it? Imagine there are paragraphs here...

Thursday:

• Flew out from Newark. Arrived in Jacksonville at about noonish. Got our rental car, a red Ford Mustang, convertable. Drove it out of the parking garage with the hood down. Drove for 5 minutes, it started raining. Hood goes up...
  
• Got to the hotel, got checked in, and got to our room on the 14th floor. Of course, it's actually the 13th floor, but that's an open secret.

• At around 5pm, Sue and I went to eat at The Landing, a collection of restaurants just a short walk from the hotel. Ate at a Mexican place, that was pretty good. Not outstanding, but a solid place to eat. We ate outside, where there were birds (sparrows and pidgeons) all around. I said to Sue, "If these were rats, we'd be disgusted, but since they're birds, we think they're cute."


• Back at the hotel. Rested. Brian, In, and Rowan came down to the Landing to eat, Sue was tired (and knitting, I believe) so she stayed in. We ended up going to the Mexican place again. I just had a coke since I had eaten. Had fun with the three of them, along with Rowan's sister (Maggie, if my memory serves me right). And, that was Thursday...

Friday:

• Breakfast with Brad, the groom. A good time. You can never really talk deeply with the bride and groom at their wedding, so it was good to have some time to talk with Brad before everything got nutty.


• Left for St. Augustine. Nice place, the oldest city in the US, settled by Spain in the late 1500's. Very quaint. Brian, In, Rowan, and Maggie met us there in the early afternoon, we ate at the White Lion Inn, which had nothing to do with the band. Good times...


• Toured an old fort. $6 to get in, which I felt okay about since it went to the upkeep of the fort. It was raining most of the day, but it got really heavy in the afternoon, and a bit cooler, so the fun slowly disappeared.



• Then, went to the rehearsal dinner at 7:30pm at The Chart House in Jacksonville. Good place, sat with In, Rowan, and Brian again, and a good time was had by all... Also talked to Tami, the bride, which was good, and saw Brad's brother Ryan who I hadn't seen since about 1990. He actually recognized me, which was impressive.

Saturday:

• Had breakfast with Don Lord and his family, Don's a cousin to my grandfather. I got in contact with him through my genealogy research. He was a talker, and fun to listen to. Sue talked with his wife and daughter, who were also at our table. A great guy, and it was a pleasure meeting him and his family.


• Then, for lunch, met up with my friend Kim and her husband Charles. Another good time had by all. It was actually the third time I had met Charles, but really the first time I was able to talk with him. A good guy. It was fun to talk with Kim again too, it's like one of those friendships that just picks up where it left off the last time you saw each other. Which, I think, was actually our wedding... Is that right? Thanks also to Kim & Charles for treating Sue and I to the meal!




• Then, the wedding at 4:30pm. Catholic ceremony, very nice, but you've seen one, you've seen them all, not a lot of creativity in those. But, it was all good. It's always nice to see friends be happy!



• Reception at The River Club, on the 35th storey of a building by the river. A good location. The reception was your standard fun, I enjoyed myself, talking to Sue, Brian, In, Rowan, and two others at our table, the husband was from Ocean Township, so there was that connection.
  
  
• Stayed at the reception till the end, then met up with others in the hotel bar till about 1:30am. Thanks to Rowan for my coke drink! Farscape was on the TV in the bar, which I thought was curious...

Sunday:

• Went to Jacksonville beach. Sue collected shells, was attacked by birds, saw jellyfish, and got some small shark's teeth. I lay on the beach, relaxing, getting sunburned. Fun!



• Wandered around the town, seeing some little shops, and enjoying being outside. It was a great day, so the top of the car came down. Very cool tooling around Jacksonville in a convertible. Worth the extra money.

• Back at the hotel, got room service for dinner. Was very tired, both of us were asleep by 10pm, I think...

Monday:

• Back on the plane, back here. Did laundry.

And that's our adventure! More little stories may come out over time, but it was great fun to be away with Sue, and to see so many friends all at once. It's not often that group stuff like this happens, so when it does, it's a good time.

NP: King Crimson - Groon (11 Feb 1972)

Return from the sun...

Back from Florida... I'll do more writing soon, but here are some photos...

Hotel Room, first day (Thursday)


St. Augustine (Friday): Me, Brian, In

Saturday, Sue and I. After lunch.

Brad and Tami, wedding...

A bunch of Jokers... Saturday Night....

Attacking seagulls... Sunday.

View out our hotel window, to the right. Sunday evening.

NP: David Sylvian/Robert Fripp - 20 Century Dreaming

Migrating...

Heading south tomorrow, to Florida for a wedding. We'll be back on Monday, so most likely no blogs till then (unless the hotel has some public computers.) We shall see.

Tally Ho!

Sandwich of confusion...

Today, I had a sandwich from the faux-Subway eatery on campus. I've worked here at SPC for 7 months, but I hadn't gotten a sub from this place yet. (I'd usually go to the real Subway right off campus if I had a hankering for subbish goodness.)

I was tempted today because they had a buffalo chicken sub, and I'm a sucker for buffalo chicken. I asked for no blue cheese, and they said, "We don't do blue cheese, we do ranch." No way to the rancho, I say! I'm not a big condiment person, so any gooey food product generally stays away from me.

So, I take my sub (with lettuce and green peppers) back to my table, and dig in. I then discover that there's bacon in the sandwich.

Buffalo chicken and bacon.

Interesting.

It actually was okay, I just didn't expect it. I'd order it again. Although I might actually ask them to hold the bacon, as I try to avoid a lot of heavy salted meat products. It's my way of being healthy...

In total other news, while in Florida, this Saturday, we're going to have a lunar eclipse! I hope there's good clear sky to see it...

I'm probably about 100 pages from finishing Cell, so Brian, you better get on the ball! It may be a plane finisher, but I can't see not being done with it by the time we reach sunny Florida. It's a good read, and just gut-wrenching in some spots, which I always like about King's writing. He really does know how to get to a reader emotionally, in very simple ways...

More about that once I'm done with the book.

NP: Adrian Belew - Hot Zoo

A New Start...

I'm beginning to get tired of my one word subject titles to these blogs, so, I begin again. If there's a relevant one word title, I'll be happy to use it. If not, then life moves forward.

I received my cell phone in the mail today. After a bit of a chore on ye olde landline getting the new doo-hickey activated, it is now working well. I've put some numbers in it already, and Sue and I were being adorable texting back and forth from our phones, as we sat next to each other on the couch.

I still think I'm going to keep it off most of the time, and use it for brief calls more than anything else, but we shall see how usage develops over time.

There's a Dana Gould bit out there, where he talks about the banality of most cell phone calls:

Guy In Store: Yes! It's amazing! I bought a comb! For two bucks! I didn't realize that they were so cheap. What was that? Yes, a comb, I'm NOT KIDDING!!!

Et cetera...

Is reading a comedy bit as interesting as listening to it? Discuss.

It's interesting seeing the comments on Cell. It's very readable right now, and I'm enjoying it. Although, I want to know what Tom did for a living. I don't think it's been mentioned yet. Or if it was, I missed it...

I agree with Queenie about King's endings sometimes falling flat. My friend Lou and I have discussed this. King likes to whip out a miraculous ending a bit more often than I'd like. I can take it in The Stand, as that's totally about Good vs. Evil, but in other places, it seems a bit rushed. I think his newer books don't suffer from that as much as his 80's-90's output did, but there are still aspects of that approach in his writing.

Although, he did get the ending of the Dark Tower series right, and that can make up for a lot in my book.

I managed to get tickets to The Police for Sue and myself this morning, for the Giants Stadium show. Granted, we're in nosebleed land in the upper tier, but there are really only two kinds of seats that matter, those inside of the venue, and those outside. And, we're in, baby!

The upper tier were also the cheapest seats, so that worked in my favor. If the middle tier pricing wasn't $90, I might have been willing to do the middle pricing, but $180 for two tickets to a rock show seems a little steep for me. The highest price was $250 for a single ticket, and that's just too much.

Genesis should be announcing their North American tour soon. I'm willing to pay a bit more for those tickets, as I'm a bigger Genesis fan than I am of The Police. Also, I'll be able to pre-order those tickets through the Genesis website/message boards, and not pay $100 to join, like The Police were asking for to join their fan club.

NP: Tony Banks - An Island In The Darkness

Books!

I finished the book I was reading, "The Ghost Map," by Steven Johnson. It's a book about a cholera epidemic in London in 1854, where it was finally discovered that cholera was transmitted through tainted water. Doesn't sound like much of a story, but Johnson does a good job of outlining the actual process of the individuals involved, which makes it a compelling story.

Like a lot of non-fiction books I read, I skimmed over the final chapter, as those chapters tend to be a lot of the author making modern relevance to the story told in the previous pages. What I read of the concluding chapter I enjoyed, but I can get the meat of it by picking and choosing what looks interesting to read.

So, I picked up the book that Brian mentioned in a previous blog post comment, Stephen King's "Cell." Starts right off with a bang, in Boston, and I'm already 100 pages into it. I like books where I actually know the locations the author is writing about. King sets the start of the book on Boyleston Street, right near the Boston Common. I thought, "Right near the Mister Softee ice cream truck," and what do you know, the truck gets a mention... Truth in writing, right there...

I may finish it before leaving for the Florida trip on Thursday, we shall see how quick of a read it is.

And it's snowing lightly outside, for you weather nerds out there...