Here's a 'fun' follow-up to my previous post. In other news, I went to Florida and went deep-sea fishing with Dave last weekend. Pics coming soon.
Why the Jobs Situation Is Worse Than It Looks - US News and World Report
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Decline and Fall of the American Empire
"Above all, America must rediscover the qualities that originally made it great. That will not be easy."
- Larry Elliot, Decline and Fall of the American Empire, The Guardian, June 6, 2011
- Larry Elliot, Decline and Fall of the American Empire, The Guardian, June 6, 2011
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Back to the ISLAND - LOST
I loved the television show LOST. Over the 6 years it was on, I had dozens if not hundreds of conversations with people about the show. Usually these conversations formed one of two types:
One type concerned what was actually happening on the show - "What is the Smoke Monster?" , "Are they dead?", "I hate Ana Lucia."
The other type concerned why I liked the show - the characters, their relationships, their struggles, all while dealing with this crazy, "I'm on an island with no flip-flops" experience.
Of course, usually these questions were broken down almost exclusively by the type of person that was watching the show. Some people really did care that there were polar bears on the island and wanted a reason why, other people didn't care at all. I was in the second camp. Usually when someone would come up to me and start going off on the list of unanswered LOST questions, I'd actually feel bad for them. They wanted answers to something they weren't going to get answers.
It was like they didn't get it. The show's producers and writers weren't out to answer every question and make sure you understood exactly what the island was or did, or how some dude turned into the smoke monster. If you want answers to everything, there's this show called Mythbusters you should check out.
Now that I've complained about the complainers, I think there are some things that LOST could have done, particularly that final season, to not frustrate so many fans. The whole Daddy issue with Jack I felt could have been resolved better, and not so awkwardly at the very end of the very last episode. I really thought it was lame when Sayid and the Man-in-Black/Fake Locke were talking, and everything was explained to Sayid, but they skipped out on the conversation and all of a sudden Sayid's crazy. I thought Crazy Claire was a little too crazy.
But here's the thing, despite those changes I would have made, I loved it. I loved the relationships, I loved Sayid taking one for the team, and I really enjoyed seeing Sawyer and Miles play cops the final season. I loved Hurley being Hurley.
Obviously this write-up's been hanging around for awhile. At first, I didn't just want to be another person writing about the end of the show... and then life happened and I kinda forgot about it. But the 1 year mark hit last week and I got thinking about it again, and I'll tell ya - I loved waiting for the new episode every week. It was the only show this decade I've watched as it aired ('24' lasted a little while), and I question whether that will ever happen again.
One type concerned what was actually happening on the show - "What is the Smoke Monster?" , "Are they dead?", "I hate Ana Lucia."
The other type concerned why I liked the show - the characters, their relationships, their struggles, all while dealing with this crazy, "I'm on an island with no flip-flops" experience.
Of course, usually these questions were broken down almost exclusively by the type of person that was watching the show. Some people really did care that there were polar bears on the island and wanted a reason why, other people didn't care at all. I was in the second camp. Usually when someone would come up to me and start going off on the list of unanswered LOST questions, I'd actually feel bad for them. They wanted answers to something they weren't going to get answers.
It was like they didn't get it. The show's producers and writers weren't out to answer every question and make sure you understood exactly what the island was or did, or how some dude turned into the smoke monster. If you want answers to everything, there's this show called Mythbusters you should check out.
Now that I've complained about the complainers, I think there are some things that LOST could have done, particularly that final season, to not frustrate so many fans. The whole Daddy issue with Jack I felt could have been resolved better, and not so awkwardly at the very end of the very last episode. I really thought it was lame when Sayid and the Man-in-Black/Fake Locke were talking, and everything was explained to Sayid, but they skipped out on the conversation and all of a sudden Sayid's crazy. I thought Crazy Claire was a little too crazy.
But here's the thing, despite those changes I would have made, I loved it. I loved the relationships, I loved Sayid taking one for the team, and I really enjoyed seeing Sawyer and Miles play cops the final season. I loved Hurley being Hurley.
Obviously this write-up's been hanging around for awhile. At first, I didn't just want to be another person writing about the end of the show... and then life happened and I kinda forgot about it. But the 1 year mark hit last week and I got thinking about it again, and I'll tell ya - I loved waiting for the new episode every week. It was the only show this decade I've watched as it aired ('24' lasted a little while), and I question whether that will ever happen again.
Offroading in Duck
Last weekend I went down to Duck Beach, NC, for an annual gathering of East Coast single Mormons. Got in Friday night, spent all day Saturday on the Beach and then at parties, went to church on Sunday, took a nap in a hammock, and then I went offroading on the beach in my truck. After that, hung out with some friends, went to a party/crabbing on the beach, and the next day went paddleboarding before racing back to DC for dinner with my parents.
The weekend was good, and pretty much exactly what I expected - it felt like a 3 day long party, with moments of solitude interrupted by lots and lots of eating and conversation.
My favorite moments were 1) Offroading on the Beach and 2) Stand up Paddleboarding
When we went Offroading, we had 3 four-wheel drive trucks in case anyone got stuck, and sure enough, we got out on the beach, I slowed way down, and the truck behind me got stuck. Then we deflated our tires and were off to the races! I loved speeding around 30 mph on the beach, only a few feet away from the surf, listening to a little Johnny Cash.
We had been looking for wild horses, and didn't find any, but not for lack of trying!
Stand up paddleboarding was hard. A little nerve racking to be standing up on a board in the ocean with the waves bouncing you a little. Once you got out past the breakers it was pretty easy, but getting through the surf was a challenge. Really enjoyed it, and hope to do it more in the future.
A number of people have asked me what I thought of Duck, and the overall 'Mormon weekend' experience. For the most part, I thought it was exactly what I was expecting. I will say, I was way tired by the end, so maybe that idea of relaxing at the beach was totally off.
The weekend was good, and pretty much exactly what I expected - it felt like a 3 day long party, with moments of solitude interrupted by lots and lots of eating and conversation.
My favorite moments were 1) Offroading on the Beach and 2) Stand up Paddleboarding
When we went Offroading, we had 3 four-wheel drive trucks in case anyone got stuck, and sure enough, we got out on the beach, I slowed way down, and the truck behind me got stuck. Then we deflated our tires and were off to the races! I loved speeding around 30 mph on the beach, only a few feet away from the surf, listening to a little Johnny Cash.
We had been looking for wild horses, and didn't find any, but not for lack of trying!
Stand up paddleboarding was hard. A little nerve racking to be standing up on a board in the ocean with the waves bouncing you a little. Once you got out past the breakers it was pretty easy, but getting through the surf was a challenge. Really enjoyed it, and hope to do it more in the future.
A number of people have asked me what I thought of Duck, and the overall 'Mormon weekend' experience. For the most part, I thought it was exactly what I was expecting. I will say, I was way tired by the end, so maybe that idea of relaxing at the beach was totally off.
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