"WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY"

That is the comment made to me several days ago. I have finally acquired an iPod, given to me as an early birthday present. I cannot express, in words, how much this gift means to me. I have mentioned in earlier blogs that music has always been a savior for me. I enjoy it no matter what mood I'm in and have thought many times about what a 'soundtrack' of my life would contain. Having this iPod means that I can now enjoy music no matter where I am.
Another big moment happened this past Thursday. I celebrated my first year in Cali. I have to say that I am loving it here. Sure I get the blues still and work is becoming more and more of a bitch to handle, but I have noticed that it is difficult to stay in a funk for any length of time. Let's face it, when 'partly cloudy' means there will be fog until 11am you really can't be gloomy for the rest of the day.
I will blog more about my last 360-some days in a few days. I'm busy putting some favorite pics online to link to this blog. This year has been quite a big one. Lot's places I've gone, things I've seen and learned. Will give a better retrospective later. Peace out.

YET ANOTHER GREAT MOVIE...

I can gripe all I want about how much I don't like my position at work, but the one good thing that has come of it is the discovery of amazing film making that otherwise would go unnoticed. Case in point, a rare gem I found several months ago that was featured on one of our displays. This particular display picks different films each month from the Criterion Collection. This distribution company packages both foreign and domestic films from big studio releases to independent productions, from well-known, award-winning films to the obscure, but equally excellent finds. The film I discovered is Clean, Shaven. I cannot rave about this film enough. It tells the story of Peter Winter, a newly released schizophrenic, who is searching for his daughter. The film has absolutely mesmerizing performances by relatively unknown actors. Peter Greene, who portrays Peter Winter, is best-known as Zed from Pulp Fiction. His is performance is amazing and sadly overlooked. Equally great is the actress who plays his mother, shown as an exhausted, bitter, and crushed soul having dealt with his mental illness for so long.

As wonderful as the acting is, what makes this movie so incredible is the soundtrack. The director uses no music as background. Instead, the audience is subjected to the torment that is Peter's world: voices that may be from his past, maddening buzzing from power lines, and many other sounds that are unidentifiable, yet ever present. What these unnerving noises do is open your eyes to what it may be like to suffer from insanity. What this film did for me was open my eyes to the many people I have witnessed in my everyday life who, in my perfect little world, were just plain weird and somewhat scary. I now see that their world is more terrifying than I could ever comprehend.

Before I recommend this movie, I must warn this reader. This movie does not hold back. There are several extremely disturbing scenes. If you are at all faint at heart, think hard before watching this movie. I believe this is a very important film to watch, so turn your head if you have to. I did. That's why, despite it's brutal honesty, I am telling everyone about it. This movie needs to be watched.

OMEGA

So I've been looking online for film schools and I've found a few in the area that sound interesting. But I'm thinking...is this what I want? What do I want? And should I continue to waste my time trying to find that one thing that I "want to do" when I may just be missing that beautiful sunset? Then I remembered that I had heard a song the other night and wanted to find the lyrics for it. To say it's a 'song' isn't a proper description. It's just a rant, but I thought that it was a damn good one. See what you think...

What a skeletal wreck of man this is.
Translucent flesh and feeble bones,
the kind of temple where the whores and villains try to tempt the holistic domes.
Running rampid with free thought to free form, and the free and clear.
When the matters at hand are shelled out like lint at a
laundry mat to sift and focus on the bigger, better, now.
We all have a little sin that needs venting,
virtues for the rending and laws and systems and stems are ripped
from the branches of office, do you know where your post entails?
Do you serve a purpose, or purposely serve?
When in doubt inside your atavistic allure, the value of a summer spent, and a winter earned.
For the rest of us, there is always Sunday.
The day of the week the reeks of rest, but all we do is catch our breath,
so we can wade naked in the bloody pool, and place our hand on the big, black book.
To watch the knives zigzag between our aching fingers.
A vacation is a countdown, T minus your life and
counting, time to drag your tongue across the sugar cube,
and hope you get a taste.
WHAT THE FUCK IS ALL THIS FOR?
WHAT THE HELL�S GOING ON? SHUT UP!
I can go on and on but lets move on, shall we?

Say, your me, and I�m you, and they all watch the things we do,
and like a smack of spite they threw me down the stairs,
haven�t felt like this in years.
The great magnet of malicious magnanimous refuse, let me go,
and punch me into the dead spout again.
That�s where you go when there�s no one else around,
it�s just you, and there was never anyone to begin with, now was there?
Sanctimonious pretentious dastardly bastards with their thumb on the pulse,
and a finger on the trigger.
CLASSIFIED MY ASS! THAT�S A FUCKING SECRET, AND YOU KNOW IT!
Government is another way to say better�than�you.
It�s like ice but no pick, a murder charge that won�t stick,
it�s like a whole other world where you can smell the food,
but you can�t touch the silverware.
Huh, what luck. Fascism you can vote for.
Humph, isn�t that sweet?
And we�re all gonna die some day, because that�s the American way,
and I�ve drunk too much, and said too little,
when your gaffer taped in the
middle, say a prayer, say a face, get your self together and see what�s happening.
SHUT UP! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!
I�m sorry, I could go on and on but
their times to move on so, remember: you�re a wreck, an accident.
Forget the freak, your just nature.
Keep the gun oiled, and the temple cleaned shit snort,
and blaspheme, let the heads cool, and the engine run.
Because in the end, everything we do, is just everything we�ve done.

Stone Sour

I was going to get rid of the question marks, but I like 'em. As far as school's concerned, I don't really know yet what I'll do. I just know I'm going to watch as many sunsets I can!

A LITTLE SYMPATHY, PLEASE

I'm blogging some more song lyrics. I love lyrics that tell a story and this song is really cool.

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long long year stolen many man's soul and faith
I was around when Jesus Christ had His moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate washed his hands and sealed His fate

Pleased to meet you hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game

Stuck around St. Petersburg when I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the Tzar and his ministers, Anastasia screamed in vain
I rode a tank held a gen'rals rank when the blitzkriegraged and the bodies stank

Pleased to meet you hope you guess my name. Oh yeah
Ah what's puzzling you is the nature of my game. Oh yeah

I watched the glee while your kings and queens fought for
ten decades for the Gods they made
I shouted out "Who killed the Kennedy's?" when after all
it was you and me
Let me please intruduce myself I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I lay traps for troubadors who get killed before they reach Bombay

Pleased to meet you hope you guess my name. Oh yeah
But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game. Oh yeah
Pleased to meet you hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game

Just as every cop is a criminal and all the sinners, Saints
as heads is tails, just call me Lucifer 'cause I'm in need
of some restraint
So if you meet me, have some courtesy have some sympathy
and some taste
Use all your well learned politesse or I'll lay your soul to waste

Pleased to meet you hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game

The Rolling Stones

WHAT IF?

I watched an amazing movie the other day that posed that very question. Death of a President is about exactly that. It is a mockumentary about the assassination of President Bush. Using actual footage of the president, the story unfolds using 'interviews' of key people from Bush's speech writer to one of the secret service officers. What really interested me was the film maker's ability to weave real images with ones created for the film. I have found criticism over the acting; however, I felt that everyone (virtually all unknown actors) did very well. The only point I would have to concede to is that the woman who plays the speech writer is a little too devoted to the prez, to the point of being fanatical. Perhaps my disbelief evolves from the idea that anyone could like him that much.
The main reason why I'm such a fan of this movie is because of the superb editing and the fact that, as you watch it, there's only a few moments where you can notice that anything was altered. I'm sure if I went back and watched it again I could find more examples, but the story was so well delivered that I was too hypnotized to pay attention.
Do yourself a favor and check it out, no matter what your feelings are toward the president. The director/writer does a good job of not getting up on a soapbox about the obvious issues. Like a real documentary, he presents the events from a neutral perspective.