Rediscovering "Say Anything"

John Cusacks character Lloyd Dobler in "Say Anything" is one of my favorites of all time. I believe theres a Lloyd Dobler quote for everyone in the world..
Lloyd Dobler: "I gave her my heart she gave me a pen.."
Mike(me): "I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that. "
Men: "Cause I'm a guy. I have Pride."
Women: "The world is full of guys. Be a man. Don't be a guy."
Obama: "got it all figured out...if you start out depressed everything's a pleasant surprise"
America: "That was a mistake"

Dreamers or an Intergalatic Joke, A Christmas Irony

Imagine for a moment if our intergalatic friends dropped in for directions and saw us in our christmas disarray and asked, "Say bud whats this christmas thing all about?"
"Its the celebration of the birth of the savior of the world!" Replies the earthling
"Oh... and the reindeer?"

I love Christmas! And I love how far we ve come since 0 A.D! I love that the fat man in the red suit who rides around in a sleigh pulled by reindeer is the great symbol of this glorious time! It shows it all, faith evolved into fantasy. It may seem sad to the believers but for me it says alot to the dreamers. Whats life without dreams? The great candyman Willy Wonka tells us "There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be."

"Can the candyman really cover the sunrise with chocolate?" continues our intergalatic friends
"Hell yeah he can... in our world!"

Merry Christmas to my fellow earthlings and intergalatic dreamers!

My "Affection"

“Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.”
~C.S. Lewis
I have my nine right here... meet my nieces and nephews..

Yes I'm a very proud uncle!

The Long Goodbye

I remember watching the movie Braveheart with my dad, he seemed to really like the line "Every man dies, but not every man really lives." Whether it be a sudden or long goodbye, death comes to us all. On this day 11 years ago my father said his goodbye. I rarely visit his grave and I rarely leave flowers, I rarely even speak of him. I've always wanted to give him a proper tribute if not my greater respects. I just don't know how or what to do or even say. Its sad for me to not be able to talk about such a great man in my life. All I can say is I wish you all knew him.

A Little Bundle Of Contradictions

I've just finished a book called the "Imperial Life In the Emerald City" A book which the New York Times describes on the back cover as a "visceral-sometimes sickeniing-picture of how the administration and its handpicked crew bungled the first year in postwar Iraq." The author brings up some clear cut mistakes that were made that even in my mind can not be dismissed as simple ignorance or naive incompotence. I get it. In a haste war we made alot of haste decisions that were simply dumb. Maybe even the decision itself to go to war. But the book to me was more of a bitching and moaning fest about americans acting like... well americans in an arab country. On my king sized bed in my air-conditioned room with my HDTv I won't pretend I know much about war or what its like having never experienced anything like it. It all just seems so miserable.

I've currently been rereading "The Diary Of Anne Frank." Its been awhile and I forgot how funny she was even with all that was happenig in her world. "A truly Remarkable book" the New York Times will say about this one on the back of its cover. Everyone knows this tragic story of a young girl and her uncontrollable fate. She died just weeks before help could arrive. I dont know too many of us that can relate to such a life but I'm sure there are many out there today if given a voice they could tell very similar fates and circumstances. I'm reminded of a 15 yr old muslim girl from Kuwait I had a chace to talk to in Toronto. She was smoking a cigarrette sitting on a curb with her head wrapped in a shroud. She had a ghostly hollow expression on her face which never changed throughout our entire conversation. I asked if she ever wanted to quit smoking and she responded, "I want to quit everything." We got talking about what brought us both there, it turns out that her father was a general in the kuwaiti military when Iraq invaded her country. She was 6 at the time and watched her dad taken in the middle of the night never to see him again and her sister raped repeatedly having her uterus ripped out with a 3-prong used rocket propelled granade launcher which she was able to describe in horrorific detail. She watched in shock as her sister layed on the floor moaning for hours til she passed out never to awake again. She recounted all this as a matter of fact with callused emotion. It was truly tragic.

I feel like Anne Frank "a little bundle of contradictions" on the war we're involved with now. I cant imagine losing a daughter the way Anne Frank died and I cant imagine losing a father and sister like that of the Kuwaiti girl. How haste should we be in stopping and preventing such undeniable cruelty that exists? Many will argue thats not the reason we went to war or that there is other cruel dictators that we do nothing about or that we shouldn't police the world. Its easier to find an excuse then a reason but some things there is just no excuse for.

"I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains." ~Anne Frank.

To The Whores Of Metaphors.. An Awakening

This weekend I watched one of my favorite movies of all time Joe versus the Volcano. It had been awhile since I ve seen this great work of art and it reminded me how much I love symbolism and hidden meanings and how metaphors reach people on so many different levels. This movie to me is about waking up... about living and not leveling... about conquering your fears and exploring your curiosities... about believing in miracles and living for them. This movie is brilliant! And I want everyone to watch it... again!

Joe lives a life of misery "I'm losing my soul" he says when asked whats wrong, thinks its is almost over because of a brain cloud "so I'm not sick? except for this terminal disease?" thanks a nameless God for it "Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life," falls in love "I love you too! I've never been in love with anybody before either! It's great! I'm glad! But the timing stinks. I gotta go," takes a leap of faith "We'll take this leap, and we'll see. We'll jump, and we'll see. That's life, right?" and then...

"...almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know. Everybody you see. Everybody you talk to ...only a few people are awake and they live in a state of constant total amazement."


After the jazz big win on fridays chilly night me and my friend whiskey Jake decided to celebrate so we took the straight and narrow road to wendover. Its a road where songs are sung, stories are told, and the feeble try to conquer their thoughts on life all while fantasizing of winning the pot of gold that lays ahead at the roads end. Miracles can happen! Under a moonless sky, after a few Neil Diamond sing alongs and whiskey Jakes take on dating and sex and what should come first and why, we started talking about metaphors and deeper meanings and hidden truths. He explained the meaning of a line from one of his songs Butter for Burns, "Im your convenient floatation device disguised as a seat, you never think twice, if this plane goes down Im saving your life..." he explained that for him it meant taking your loved one for granted until you really need them.

After the jazz loss on sunday me and my friends Garrit and Rachel took a quick trip down the crooked road toward St. George, a place upon arriving that Garrit would affectionately describe as my "fortress of solitude." The sun was shining as we left and after a crash course on 80's music for Rachel and after I discovered that comic books actually have some pretty hot girls in them we arrived not knowing exactly what we were gonna do. After alot of food, alot of laughs and alot of sun we ended our trip up at the red rock cliffs over looking the city. Rachel tip toed towards the edge where I obnoxiously yelled "dont do it! Its not woth it! You have so much to live for!" she replied without looking back at me, "Im not jumping silly, Im just looking."

Using his expensive baggage as a floatation device as his woman sleeps in a coma, Joe awakes from his solitude...



Whether I be on the straight or crooked path, swelling in bright hot days or dwelling in cool dark nights, win or lose if this plane goes down I won't think twice... I want to live as tho I'm always awake even in a moonless shadow and forget the floatation device... I'm not looking I'm jumping! "Take me... to the Volcano!"





Other notable quotes:

Waponis Chief: We are the children of children and we live as we are shown.

Joe Banks: What's that? A teddy bear?
Waponi Chief: It's my soul.
Joe Banks: Oh, I hope you don't lose it.
Waponi Chief: Me too.

Luggage Salesman: This is our premier steamer trunk, it's all handmade, only the finest materials. It's even watertight, tight as a drum. If I had the need, and the wherewithal, Mr. Banks, this would be my trunk of choice.
Joe Banks: I'll take four of them.
Luggage Salesman: May you live to be a thousand years old, sir.

Roger Ebert: 'At night, in those corners of our minds we deny by day, magical things can happen in the moon shadows. And if they can't (a) they should, and (b) we should always, in any event, act as if they can.'


Jakes band The Devil Whale: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=6647855

Silly Songs for Silly Adventures

For Rachel and Garrit so that we may always remember our special day! We'll always have Park City in the springtime!