I’m not one to brag, but my teenage daughter gave me a hug yesterday in front of schoolmates. OK, it was my birthday, she was dripping wet, it was her water polo teammates who weren’t paying attention and who aren’t exactly her close friends, but that is still big news. Any father of a teenage daughter knows just how big. It’s the kind of moment that makes you want to let out a big Yeaaaghhhhhhh!!!!!.
Archive for category Me
Made My Day
Jan 26
Back In The Saddle Again
Aug 14
The Murphy Family has returned refreshed and renewed from the mountains. And with views like this one, how else could we have returned? It’s not like I had to endure 2 days of hearing the Fruit of the Murphy Loins cooped up in the van tell each other “Don’t touch me” a hundred times a day. OK, I did. But just look at the view. And when they went with “Don’t touch me in any way, shape, or form”, that almost made me smile. Almost.
\You can almost hear the wind whisper in the trees. I did.
Portrait of the Artist
Jun 26
This old picture is from my college days. I’m the dweeb on the right, Carla is on the left. This picture does more than bring back fond memories; it illustrates something important in photography, which is why I’m including it in this week’s Picture Envy. You can’t tell it, but I’m holding a couple of disgusting oil stained paper bags filled with left over pizza. I put one behind Carla’s back and I held my other arm out and the photographer framed the shot without it. If the photographer had centered us better, you’d have seen even less of my arm, but they did such a nice job with the greenery at the top of the frame I can’t complain. So the point is this – framing is important for both what is included as well as what’s not included.
I’m not anti-caffeine. But as I’ve said before, I think caffeine is too effective a drug to waste on recreational use. And that brings me to today’s complaint — why is it so hard to order a diet white (i.e un-caffeinated) soda in a restaurant? Is it really that poor of a seller? Since caffeine stimulates the appetite, you’d think people who are watching their weight (and that seems to be a majority of us these days) would want a no calorie, no caffeine yet tastes great solution to their beverage problem. I don’t want to sue, but desperate men do desperate things.
I’m driving to work this morning listening to the CD I made last night (have I mentioned how much I like iTunes?) and I’m struck by how much better diction musicians of today have than when I was a teen. In those days, you never knew what in the heck they were saying – mondegreens were rampant. I could make out every word Pink was singing in Get The Party Started. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to make out half the words Robert Plant has sung (for you youngsters, he’s the guy lamenting how long its been since he rock ‘n’ rolled or did the stroll in the Cadillac ads — at least that’s what I think he’s saying.). My initial thought was that the rock musicians of yesteryear were drunk and/or stoned most of them time, leading to the slurring, while today’s group are high on cocain, leading to the careful annunciation of every syllable.
But upon further reflection, as I enjoyed the cadences of Pink and Seal, I think it’s the influence of Rap that leads to the current clarity of singing. While I’m not a big fan of rap (I like Young MC, but then he’s hardly in the mainstream of rap), I do admire the vocal clarity and rhythm of rap. But then, rap is just poetry set to music — iambic pentameter of the modern age. A quick check of Google, and I discovered to my disappointment but not surprise that this thought was not original.
So that’s just one way my mind occupies itself during my commute.
We Keep Up
Feb 13
I’ve made some changes around here — more than the obvious cosmetic ones — I’ve switched to Movable Type from Greymatter and my brother will also be posting here. I hope you’ll still find the same wit and wisdom leavened with fun, only more so.
Me So Geek
Jan 21
A discussion has broken out about who the Rohirrim are supposed to be in the “real world,” the nexus of which is at this post at Impearls, which I discovered via Geitner Simmons. Well, they are forgetting that Tolkein rejected such allegory: “I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and have always done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence [emphasis mine]”. The Rohirrim are simply a group that sprang from Tolkein’s mind, with no doubt many an influence from history, but not a transposition of a real people from history.
Be sure to follow the links from site to site, or you’ll miss many a gem, including this great sendup of (biblical) literary source criticism by Mark Shea.
I have to note, the discussion starts innocently enough, with Michael McNeil contrasting who Peter Jackson and company modeled the Rohirrim on for the movie, and who in his opinion they should have modeled them on. Fun stuff, but it is easy to get carried away.
While you can argue endlessly about who is the best historical fit for the Riders of Rohan (and believe me, there is every indication that that is the proper length of the discussion), there is no denying that the honor culture that the Vikings had, and is common to warrior peoples such as the Vikings, Sarmatians, Samuri, Navaho, Aztecs etc., is most accessable to Americans today through the Vikings and especially Icelandic sagas. I’ve often had trouble understanding (or at least appreciating) the motivations of characters in Victorian writings (and the movies made from them) like Howard’s End, but I have no trouble understanding what motivates the characters of Njal’s Saga.
As long as we’re on the subject of Lord of the Rings and the Eorlingas, I have to say I think that the character of Theoden came through the best from the books into the movies, if only because he lost so little face time in the transition from one to the other. One of the nice things about Tolkein was that he didn’t put modern characters into previous times; Theoden could have been lifted straight out of an Icelandic saga, with his concern over his honor and desire for glory. While I prefer the books to the movies, it is undeniable that certain parts simply work better in the movie — even when taken straight from the book, and Theoden rallying the Rohirrim before their charge onto the Pellenor Fields is one of them and is one of my favorite parts of the movies. He also had the most detailed and believable growth in the movie, nosing out Sam.
As long as I’m talking about characterization in Lord of the Rings, one of the oddities of the books is that Frodo, ostensibly the main character (I do happen to agree with the analysis that in fact Sam is the protagonist – a reference to which I don’t have the time to track down at the moment) is in many ways the least likable or interesting. His main strength is simply enduring the unendurable. His most selfless single act is trying to leave Sam behind along with the rest of the Fellowship, which he both fails at and which feels more like cowardice than sacrifice. Jackson made his overall sacrifice clearer by having him note that while he saved the Shire, he didn’t save it for himself — he’s a tragic hero. Sam on the other hand gets to be a loyal and true friend, and he gets most of the good lines (both in the books and in the movie). Merry and Pippin go from baggage constantly needing rescuing to the fearless and competent leaders of the Scouring of the Shire (left out of the movie, and so Jackson made them into complete to bumpkins in the beginning to provide their growth) where they even scold Frodo for his lack of action. Faramir is just screwed in the movies, although the extended version of The Two Towers explains the relationship with his father better which doesn’t make him look as bad.
OK, enought Geek for one post.
All Quiet on the Blog Front
Jan 20
I have been busier at work lately (I don’t think I can get much busier at home); last week I was in Huntsville. So if you’re wondering why it’s been all quiet on the blog front, now you know. I spent too much time in meetings to see much of the town, but I did manage to go to a great little restaurant — eating out is about the only recompense for company travel IMHO. So if you’re ever near Huntsville Alabama, you have to go eat at The Chef’s Table and try their tappas style dinner – make sure you get dessert.
Coincidence or Fate?
Jan 8
OK, I’m mildly freaked out. If Lileks writes about going to the beach in Delaware anytime soon, I’ll be really freaked out. He just went to Scottsdale. Our vacation last year (not this past year – thus pre-dating the blog) was to Pheonix – which is adjacent to Scottsdale. We hooked up with friends (she – my junior year R.A., we had singles across the hall from each other; he – one of the thousands who were my brother’s housemates at 2101 Santa Cruz; both – maried to each other yet not introduced by my brother or I) who took us to the Sugerbowl. Before that, he went to Vegas. Well, I wrote about my recent trip to Vegas too.
I know what you’re thinking (besides the fact that Lileks writes much better than I) – he also goes on about his annual trips to New York. Well, I just found out today that I have to go to Newark, which is close enough to elevate my freak out level past orange.
Ugly and Proud!
Dec 9
I am a studmuffin of conservatism. Not just any, but the shirtless studmuffin. No, that’s not a sweater I’m wearing. J Bowen led me there, as he as led me so many other wonderful places. Not only I, but the whole internet community thanks you J. You can throw out your syrup of Ipecac, it’s no longer needed.
