June/July 2007

June/July 2007

I needed to update sono in transito.  Decided to do it with a video.  Click on the box and enjoy.

Last burned C.D.

I hate having to use a flash.  But Milo is so darn dark!  Here he is on one of his favorite perches- throw-blankets above the sofa.  I think he is part cat.

So... I am planning to buy an IPod soon.  But I gotta tell you, I am sure going to miss burning CD's.  So I am burning one last CD.  The CD to end all CD's.  The quintessential Erick CD!!!  So what tracks will I use?  I haven't decided on the order but the following list is a list of songs that made the cut:

1.  The Police, Every Breath You Take.  The best love song that was really about a stalker.

2.  U2, Beautiful Day.  The best U2 song since Desire (just kidding Desire is a terrible song.  I would rather listen to a J. Geils track than Desire) since B.A.D.  I will forever associate that song with my trip to Europe.  It came out around the same time and parts were filmed at Charle De Gaulle Airport where I first set foot on that old continent. 

3.  The English Beat, I Confess.  There is a line in that song, "I know I am shouting and I LIKE TO SHOUT!".  I LOVE THAT LINE!!!

4.  New Order, Bizarre Love Triangle.  Can you use the same word twice in one blog entry?  The quintessential eighties song.  If you looked up the eighties in a mixed media Dictionary, that song would be playing.

5.  Depeche Mode, But Not Tonight.  Let's talk about the elephant in the room.  I came of age in the eighties and a lot of my favorite music came from that period.  Had I been born 10 years prior, you would see bands from the 70's on this list; Blue Oyster Cult, Boston, Yes, Genesis, ELO or Supertramp.  That is not the case and this song, this song I have a special memory associated with it:  Windy night, souped up japanese cars in an indoor parking lot in Westwood and my high school buddies waiting for a dance to begin in a hotel on Wilshire, I remember hearing this song that night and it brought to mind how special that moment was.  It still is.

6.  Peter Gabriel, Salisbury Hill.  No explanation needed.

7.  Psychadelic Furs, Heaven.  There are rules to burning a good mix C.D.  One of them is not to use the same artist twice.  If I could break this rule I would use Love My Way and Heaven by this group.  Heaven wins out because it is not as played out as Love My Way.  I can still remember the video with Richard Butler spinning in the rain.

8.  Gordon Lightfoot, If You Could Read My Mind.  Don't laugh, I am serious.  This is classic sadness, the kind you want to bottle so you can have it handy for those moments when you feel a need for catharsis.

9.  Doobie Brothers, What a Fool Believes.  This song always bring to mind that 'road not taken'.  And I wonder how she's doing.

10.  Simple Minds, Someone Somewhere in Summertime.  A perfect blend of nostalgia and drama.

11.  Earth Wind and Fire, Fantasy.  Ever listen to this song while driving at night on an empty freeway? :)

12.  The Killers, When You Were Young.  This song had the same appeal  as Beautiful Day by U2.  Inspirational?

13.  When In Rome, The Promise.  It is everything I ever wanted to say to a girl but didn't.

14.  Fleetwood Mac, Sarah.  Stevie Nicks has a hypnotic voice.  This song and Dreams capture best that talent.  I like Sarah for the lyrics, "if you build your house... then call me...home."

15.  Led Zeppelin, Going To California.  It is a song about resolve and starting over.  Don't you wish you could just resolve and start over?

16.  Led Zepellin,  Over the Hills and Far Away.  I always break the rule limiting one song to each artist. Both Plant and Page strut their stuff in this existential ballad, "I live for my dream and a pocket full of gold."

17.  Van Morrison, Into the Mystic.  If I use Roxio to burn my CD I will not be limitted to the 16 track ITunes allows me.  In a dictionary of mixed media the word "Sublime" would be defined by this song.

If you read this far, thank you!

 

Pictures of Griffith Park

Anyone else saddened by the fire 3 weeks ago?  I walk Milo by the wash.  Now the once lush hills of Griffith park are charred landscapes with little green to offer.

I missed the actual fire.  I was at work.  When I came home that night, the hillsides looked like lava was flowing down.  It was quite spectacular.  I found some pretty cool pictures on Flicker (click here) 

One of the things to note about such occurences is how the whole city becomes involved and worried about the possible loss.  No matter what strata you fulfill or think you fulfill, something is happening that you realize affects everyone, including you.  Like Jury Duty, catastrophes are good equalizers.

I have seen fires on the hills before.  The worst one I hear is one that occured in 1933.  The park usually recovers.  I hope it does so soon.  I miss the green. 

Have a good week.

editing sound

editing sound

I am working on a video with an actual story line.  This was an experiment in that direction.  Click on Alaina to see!  plus the bonus of seeing Milo sit.  BTW anyone got any tips on housetraining a chihuahua?  Number 2 is under control.  But we can spend an hour outside and nothing.  But as soon as we come in, it's straight to the carpet.  Frustrating it is.

Virginnia Tech Massacre

Sorry to bug. 

I left work on Monday afternoon at 2p.m.  Driving home I heard the news report on the Virginnia Tech massacre.  It, of course, made me sad and reflective.  During the course of the week it has been difficult to avoid the story both within and without myself.  Last night driving home from work I caught a newscast where the reporter was reading a letter written by the Seung-Hoi Cho's sister.  It expressed apologies to the victims.  I couldn't help feeling sorry for this family that has to take responsibity for the acts of its son and brother.  I thought of something that my good friend Ron said when we were kids: "Even Hitler had a mother."  I thought of the people I love and what I could and couldn't forgive of them.  That is a mind blowing exersise.

One hopes that in every tragedy we learn how to avoid or mitigate loss in the future.  How could we have stopped it?  Gun Control?  More Guns?  Those seem to be the first issues that come to mind.  Then you hear how deviant behavior should have been caught earlier and not allowed its fruition.  Many, many things to ponder.

I sat at home with these thoughts in the back of my head and the television in front of my face (soma-holiday, if you will) when this skit from Saturday Night Live comes on.  This is one link I think you should check out.  It aired two days before the massacre and had it been scheduled for this week, it would have been cut for being innapropriate.  I think SNL is funny and enjoy watching the show.  I will continue to do so.  But this skit brings to mind how unhallowed human life has become.  Is it funny when six individuals kill each other? 

Though I don't believe that senseless acts of cruelty are isolated to our current culture and times.  They've been around since Cain.  I do think that elements of our current media and taste have de-sensitized us to the glory involved in just being alive.  Everyday I go out and view this great thing that is man, I am humbled when I realize how fragile we really are.  End.

Superstition

My Odometer hit a very special landmark on Friday.

When I was in grade school I had an obligatory shower I took before bed at 7 pm.  I developed a ritual then.  I liked coming out of the shower and stepping into the bedroom when the digital display on the clock read 7:17.  If this was accomplished the next day would be a good day.  Does that sound like OCD to you?  If you hit the link, point 2 under compulsions makes the most sense in my case.  In a nutshell, the child-me was trying to assert some power over a world that could prove itself cruel and lacking in certainty.  I eventually outgrew the ritual but the number 17 remained a talisman foreshadowing good things.  From middle school and up until my early thirties my fixation with the number was dormant in the background of my psyche (mixed metaphor?).  In my early thirties the importance of 17 returned.  But instead of the clock display, license plates and odometer readings is where the number started to once again 'speak' to me.  This may be due to my increased time in traffic.  License plates that have 717 on them mean 'good day'.  Conversely, 313 means 'be careful' (this is an invention of my newly burgeoning psychosis).  The trip odometer reads 717 seventy one point seven miles after every trip to the gas station where it is reset.  The main odometer will only read 717 once.  And I didn't own the car when that happened. But the number in the picture, a pallindrome, will also only happen once.  I was exited about reaching this mileage point and took my camera with me to capture that magical moment which would transcend me into an era of good fortune.  Ironically, it occured on Friday the Thirteenth.  "Can't Win For Losing" as they say.

I was saddened to see that Kurt Vonnegut passed away this week.  I was never forced to read his work when I was in school so I had the opportunity to read it at my own leisure when I was older and could absorb it better.  Breakfast of Champions  is like The Little Princefor adults.  If you are ever allowed the opportunity, read it.

 

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Happy Birthday Blog!

The link above will direct you to my latest epic.  I thank God for blessing me with four special cherubs (unfortuneately Trevor had school this week and could not accompany us) who put up with a rather peculiar uncle.  Of all children's literature the title above has always struck me as uncontrivingly deep.  Enjoy if you can.

Well of all the subjects I thought about for today; Blog as offspring, how the blog has changed me, where the blog goes now or I blog therefore I am, none would have solely accounted for the pleasure I have derived from this endeavor.  It has helped me step outside of myself and act as a narrator to an otherwise random sequence of events.  That's nice.  But most importantly it has helped me keep in touch with you and there is nothing more special than that.

Other titles that meant a lot to me when I was a child:

The Giving Tree

Frog and Toad are Friends