Saturday, August 30, 2008

More Like This

Don't know if I have talked about this yet, but I . . . LOVE . . . ZOMBIES. I'm really not sure why, but I watch every zombie movie that I can. They are horrible, and I love them.

Well, I thought claymation was dead, but oh man, you gotta see this:

Chainsaw Maid



Was that not awesome?!?!

Why aren't there more stories in which the protagonist is a maid? Look, after "Maid in Manhattan" and "Maid to Order", you'd think there would be more maid movies.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Another week, Another hike

Today we went with my cousin Jen (if you are reading this then you know who Jen is, because you, Jen, are the only one the reads my blog) to hike up Mount Aire. This hike was supposed to be a little more difficult than last weeks hike, Alexander Basin. It was actually a little easier, but it was a decent work out, all the same. Here are some pics.






Next week I think we are going to try Mount Olympus. We aren't ready yet to complete such a hike, but I think we will go as far as we can, and turn back. It will be a good warm up and give us an idea of how close we are to being able to do it. (I actually think that we could do all now it if we were determined, but, oh, how we would pay for such hubris afterwords.)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Is Michael Phelps a jerk?!?


Phelps is a sore winner - Watch more free videos

To many, Michael Phelps embodies what it means to be a true Olympian and American hero, but could there be a dark side to our national swimming champion?

Phelps, who took home 8 gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, beating the previous most won gold medals in a single Olympics record, has brought glory to his country and is being celebrated as a national hero.

However, in this newly uncovered footage he is clearly behaving in an unsportsmanlike manner. Seen here splashing, flipping the bird, choking and even nipple twisting his disappointed competition, some are outraged that an American athlete would behave in such an unseemly manner.

Is this the image of the United States that Americans wish to portray to the world. Especially in these politically sensitive times, such an act of aggression could, in fact, have implications in foreign relations.

What do you think?

Monday, August 25, 2008

Garrison Keillor


Traci took me to the Garrison Keillor "Rhubarb Tour" at the Red Butte Gardens the other night. I really enjoy, "A Prairie Home Companion." He is simultaneously silly and profound. It was a great night. If you're not familiar with Garrison Keillor, here are some quotes from his radio show.

"Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose. "

"Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known. "

"They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad that I'm going to miss mine by just a few days. "

A fictitious ad for Powdermilk Biscuits, "the biscuits that give shy persons the strength to get up and do what needs to be done."

And his famous tag line, "That's the news from Lake Woebegone, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."
A few weeks ago I asked Traci if she had ever hiked Mt Olympus. When she said that she hadn't, I realized that it was time that we got in shape to do it. I did Mt. Olympus a couple of times, the first time was in high school. I hiked it with my neighbor, Jason Park. One day he showed up and said, "I want to hike Mt. Olympus, will you do it with me?" I foolishly said yes, not knowing the level of intensity the hike required. So he and I did it. It was really difficult. At the time is was the most physically demanding thing I had ever done. But, it was worth it when we reached the top. I did it again a few years later, it was still hard, but I was in better shape that second time.

Anyway, we are going to be hiking each week end. Two weeks ago we did a short hike in Park City and this last week end we did Alexander's Basin. Alexander's basin is about a 2 hour hike. It's 1.5 miles each way and you gain about 1300 feet. Here are some pictures from the basin.





We need suggestions for this weekend. We need something just slightly more intense than Alexander's Basin. So if any of you are hiking folks, chime in and let us know where our next summit lies. We would like to build up to doing Mt. Olympus in 6 weeks or so. So we need maybe a 2 1/2 to 3 hour, moderate intensity hike.

Friday, August 22, 2008

"Where is the man that is free from vanity?" - Joseph Smith

I have always liked this quote. As I grow older and hopefully wiser, I seem to see vanity more and more. I see it more in others, and more in myself.

I would like to tell you a story. When I was a missionary in France I served in a small area called Rodez. Rodez had a small branch with 10 or 20 active members. The Branch President and the Elders Quorum President kept the small congregation together.

This was perhaps the most difficult area of the mission (for me, certainly). We were alone, the closest missionary peers were an hour away by train. The Mission President rarely visited. The membership struggled. We were on our own. I used to joke that, like the earth being the farthest planetary body from the home of God and therefore receiving little light (is this true or Mormon myth?), Rodez was far from the mission home and likewise was almost forsaken.

Anyways, the Branch President, explained to me once I became the senior companion, that every year the missionaries performed a skit or play for the members at Halloween and Christmas. I am not much of an actor and neither was my companion, so I suggested we play some sort of game. Oh no, said he, "it's tradition, you will do a skit."

I tried to talk him out of this several times, but he was determined that we would perform a skit. I put off the responsibility as long as I could, because I had no idea where to even start with such an assignment. I tried to discuss it with my companion, he didn't really care, wasn't worried, wasn't going to put any thought into it. I felt that I had to deliver something, so I became more and more nervous about this.

Let me give you some background about me, I don't act. It makes me uncomfortable, really, really uncomfortable. I remember church functions where we were required to perform skits, I would freeze when it was my turn to perform some funny thing. I was really terrified. I could barely utter sound, usually it would come out in grunts or I would bury my face in my hands or some other physical shrinking from the task.

Finally, we were about a week or two before Christmas and it was time to start doing something, or it would be too late, we would show up, the Branch President would announce a skit performed by the missionaries and we would have nothing. I asked if we could perform the story, "A Christmas Carol", by Charles Dickens. Turns out that the French don't know this story. This was a relief because I felt that it was a story worth telling. So, I had an idea that I liked, this gave me the confidence (misguided perhaps) to get to working on the play. First, I had to translate the story. This was not easy, but ultimately I came up with a simple translation.

Then we had to assign parts, create costumes and sets, and rehearse the play. The Branch President had made it clear that this would be quite a production. Guess who got the part of Scrooge . . . that's right, it was me. I was the star performer. Mercifully, I couldn't fret about it too much because I was too busy putting everything together. We got some missionaries from the town an hour away to come and help us, but there are too many characters and too many parts in Christmas Carol to pull it off with just 4 missionaries, so we recruited some of the members and eliminated some of the parts. Can you guess where this is headed?

One of our recruitees was a member named 'Gaby.' Gaby was beloved by all who knew him, and he was mentally handicapped. He loved to perform. He was a very large man, larger than me, for a Frenchman that's big. He played the Ghost of Christmas Present. My companion played somebody, I don't remember now, Jacob Marley or Bob Cratchet, maybe. The other missionaries played the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Future. I don't remember who played Tiny Tim, and I think we had eliminated all the other characters.

Our costumes were random selections from some elderly woman's chest of drawers. We bought some streamers or something to satisfy the decoration requirement that we were given. My translated and adapted script abridged the story such that it fit into about 15 minutes of stage time. Again, I am not a drama person, and I guess part of me wishes that I was because of all the scenarios into which I could be forced, this is perhaps the most threatening to my ego.

Can you guess what happened? This is not movie, remember, it's real life. Most of this was put together in "pure survival, we need anything as a costume, anything as a set, and we should probably eliminate Scrooge's family back story because we don't have enough actors to play them" mode.

It was exactly the disaster you would expect from such a set up. The story was lost in the translation, the acting, and the abridgments to the script. Four missionaries and a mentally challenged behemoth dressed in old lady's clothes didn't help either, I'm guessing. It was just a random collection of poorly translated french phrases strung together and spat out in monotone, barely comprehensible, American-accented French. Probably the worst part was that it made no sense. The beauty of the story was lost.



However, at the time, I didn't think the worst part was that the message was obscured, to me the worst part was that I was being forced to present myself to others in a way that made me feel squirrely, insecure, incompetent, and idiotic. I didn't want to portray Scrooge, and being forced into it, made me more anxious and more sensitive to criticism about my performance. It was, actually, the most humiliating experience of my life. You may think I am exaggerating. After all, who cares what 20 french people, that I will likely not see again, think about me? It didn't really matter, though. Whether is was 200 of my closest friends, or 20 complete strangers, it was being forced to face my own ineptitude that humiliated me. For the most part, I just recited my lines, but towards the end, it was my responsibility to emote the pain of a damned soul, one who is brought to face his own actions, recognize that he had squandered his life in the pursuit of material things. Then, in an instant, Scrooge wakes to find that he still has time, I had to portray the elation of a second chance, an opportunity to act better in light of real knowledge. I had to act, and I hated it. I failed completely, and that to me was excruciating. I had gotten into the habit of avoiding such scenarios, those that threatened my vanity. Now I was thrust into it, to face myself, and my utter failure.

Well, when the play (travesty) was finished I emotionally froze up for a few hours, not daring to reflect upon my performance. I couldn't handle the self-condemnation that would inevitably follow my failure. However, after I got over this initial shock, something strange happened. I realized that I sucked that night, that everyone knew it, and that . . . it was OK. I was OK. I didn't have to be a good actor to be valuable, didn't have to impress people to have a right to interact with them, didn't have to be good at things to be good. For a couple of hours, I let go of my ego. I was amazed. I had never even considered the idea that I didn't have to be awesome in order to have a right to be a part of the social strata.

This didn't change my life, it just opened my eyes. My ego came back, my fears and my vanity. But, I learned something that hopefully will change me.

Why do I share this now? Well, humiliation is my daily bread, or so it feels. I realized that I am having to face myself now, as I try to convince other people I'm worth hiring. I hate that. I don't like to present myself to those that are antagonistic to me, to sell myself to the unconvinced. I avoid it, almost always. But, why do I avoid it? What's at stake? My ego is all.

How many opportunities lost in order to protect that fragile dominatrix? How much experience forfeit, to avoid a bruised ego? How much life unlived, for something that when it's really examined reveals itself to be of no worth? I included the quote by Joseph Smith at the beginning because I am not the only one with an ego. I find comfort in this, but I shouldn't. I should just lay down my monkey, and live.

Monday, August 18, 2008

"These are my principles. And if you don't like them, I have others." Groucho Marx



















This was on Digg today. I have to say, I agree wholly with this sentiment, we need to protect the animals. We can't have them getting sick. Animals have rights, when will we learn to respect this fact?

Saturday, August 16, 2008

You have been weighed in the scales and found wanting . . .

I haven't posted for a while, the main reason being for the last few weeks I have had the wind knocked out of me.

I have been looking for a job here in Utah since I graduated from Indiana University. I graduated back in December, so that makes . . . 8 months now. I started a little slowly, but we moved in April and since then I have been hitting it pretty hard. For a long time I wasn't worried about it, thinking, "It'll work out, what's the use worrying?" A couple of weeks ago it caught up to me.

I have now sent literally hundreds of resumes to companies here in Utah. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the companies to which I have sent resumes, some in Utah, some outside of Utah.

In Utah:
Interpace Industries, Inc
Anderson Development Services
Permier Mentoring
ISI
Encover
Tomax
406 Partners
Raylia Designs
Novell
Select Portfolio Servicing
Infopia
Ivory Homes
Ken Garff Automotive Group
The Modellers, LLC
GE Motor Credit
WorldStrides
First American Corporation
Overstock.com
Comcast
LexisNexis
XO Communications
Intuit
Omniture
U of U
Utah Retirement Systems
Zions Bancorporation
eBay
L-3 Communications
General Growth Properties
LDS Church
American Express
UnitedHealth Group
George S. May
CB Richard Ellis
ITT Industries
Sirsi Dynix
REMX IT Staffing
HealthPort
Investools, Inc
Cambridge Financial Center
Robert Half Finance and Accounting
Marketstar
Select Portfolio Servicing
Harman Music Group
The Generations Network
Wells Fargo
MonaVie
Anderson Development
City of Salt Lake
Rio Tinto
Attensity
Skullcandy
Wasatch Advisors
Avalanche Software
Cambridge Financial Center
Maden Technologies
HCA Physician Services
Myriad
CR England
StoryRock
Morgan Stanley
Goldman Sachs

Not in SLC:
Countrywide
Deloitte
D & B
Cisco
Google
Apple
Omniture
Microsoft
Nordstrom
Amazon
HP
Dell
Nvidia
ATI
Ocean Tomo
Disney
EA Games
Motorola
Broadcom
Logitech
Nordstrom

There are many more, these are some of the more commonly known companies. You can see that many of them are tech companies, I like tech.

Of all these I have only been invited to interview twice, TWICE! I'm not really sure what it is about my resume that won't get me in the door. I have a couple of ideas, but they are just speculation.

I have applied for mostly business analyst, financial analyst, db analyst positions. What one does when you work in these positions is take information, numbers mostly, analyze them using all kinds of statistical techniques, and gain insights into how the company is performing. Sometimes this process results in profound insights that can help a company get a real advantage, usually it simply results in a small, but significant improvement in profitability. I am good with numbers and this is the kind of thing I like doing.

I have tried to avoid going into the practice of law, it just doesn't fit my nature. But, it is one area that is untapped. I haven't applied to any law firms yet, and I think that I will have more success if I do. So, I am going to apply to take the bar in February and if I haven't found anything else soon, that's the direction I will be going.

This is me, failing, and giving up. I am accepting that I cannot go in the direction that I have wanted to go, and so I am taking a job that I can get, but that I don't want. I am exchanging happiness for pragmatic, responsible misery. I am ashamed and embarrassed. Hopefully it's only temporary, but how do these things usually go?

Thursday, August 07, 2008

More Memes! More Memes!

I don't know how many of you have been following Andy Samberg's stuff on SNL, but a lot of it shows up on the dipity time line of memes I posted last time. "Lazy Sunday", "Laser Cats", and "Andy Punches" are especially funny. (Notice the Zombies in the Andy Punches video, we'll talk more about zombies later, I promise!)

In his latest post, Samberg talks about "Dear Sister." A sketch that pokes fun at the OC. If you haven't seen this yet, you are in for a treat. Here's the original clip from the OC.



This is the SNL Digital Short, "Dear Sister":



Of Samberg's stuff, "Dear Sister" has become the most spoofed meme of the internet community. There are over 1,000 recreations of this joke, including "Dear Matrix", "Dear Boromir", and my favorite, "Dear Duck Hunt":



Samberg got his job at SNL by creating internet videos. He and his friends Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone created a group and website called "The lonely Island". The exposure their material got from the website led to their creating (among other things) a pilot for Fox and ultimately they were all three hired on at SNL. Schaffer, Taccone and Samberg are responsible for the SNL digital shorts (Schaffer and Taccone write/direct/contribute music).

The first big hit was "Lazy Sunday." It was created in mid December in 2006 and by February when NBC requested that Youtube remove it from the site, it had been viewed 5,000,000 times. Some say that it reinvigorated SNL (I know it did for me).

I can't hear that Imogen Heap song, "Hide and Seek" any more without seeing Shia Labeouf lying shot on the ground. So tonight when Katee chose it for her solo (on "So You Think You Can Dance"), I had to laugh.

Sunday, August 03, 2008

I found this interesting time line about internet memes when I was doing research it includes everything from the dancing baby to Numa Numa to LoLcats. Check it out. As you zoom in more events will appear.