rockstar ed.s update

i mean rockstar inxs update after the show on 8/30/05.

(sidenote: do you want to hear something funny? ask a girl why she doesn't like jennifer love hewitt. i had heard of this phenomenon, and asked my wife her feelings. it was a funny rant for about ten minutes. give it a try.)

i am starting to despise dave electra. maybe i'm seeing it wrong but it just sems like every comment out of his yap has this misogynistic undertone. (so of course he doesn't do it the rest of the night. now who's the jerk? it's me, it's me)

ty - you can't always get what you want - 'you get what you need, get what you need, get what you need' i noticed that little nod to inxs, my wife heather vocalized it though. ty sounded good, but could have probably pushed it more. the choir didn't seem to help him much. dave electra actually complimented ty! amazing.

jd - suspicious minds - this guy used to be an elvis impersonator. that's funny to me. not every song sounds good at a punk tempo guy. jd did sing pretty good, but this constant tinkering with people's songs is getting old.

(i am reallly excited for the start of the next season of survivor. dang, i just realized i have some other plans that night. will have to tape and postpone survivor kick off bash)

marty - wish you were here (pink floyd) - i included the group because i didn't recognize the song by just title, but knew the song. marty sings really well. never hurts either when the band sounds great on a song. he should definately get kudos for inxs for stepping outside his usual sound. i hated the crowd waving their arms about, but really enjoyed marty's performance.

brooke burke's hair is creeping me out.

jordis - imagine - very sweet sound. well done. it misses some of the sound/thing/it that she had going for her the first few weeks but still right on performance.

sidenote discussion: imagine is a song with a very radical message. is it softened and not heard for what it is saying by such a 'sweet' performance? does the meaning get neutered?

mig - live and let die - good that he's trying to stretch himself. didn't pull it off well at all.

suzie - bohemian rhapsody - why do people fight for those songs that are impossible to do? really, have you ever heard anyone other than Queen do a good performance of this song? like jordis last week with dream on. can anyone else but steve tyler do that one? if i were in this competition i'd stay away from these sort of songs like the plague. not surprisingly, suzie sounded bad. she postured foolishly on stage. she did the rockin part alright. welcom back, queen of the bottom three. dave electra said that what suzie did was spectacular, awesome. what?

my predictions for the bottom three: suzie, mig, jd.
early vote results: jd, ty, marty.

with only six left, i'm sure they may all spend time there tonight. i think jd or suzie is done.

congrats sunbird volleyball

my alma mater, fresno pacific, played D1 Fresno State in women's volleyball tonight night. Did i mention that we play in the lowly naia? we swept 'em. three straight. good job ladies.

who's house? run's house

hurricane katrina stinks

if you're out looting, i hope you find your house underwater when you return.
if you're trying to scam people as a charity, i hope you go bankrupt and are prosecuted
if you're trying to make political gain out of this natural tragedy, you disgust me.


(btw, it was air america that i heard trying to make political gains. but i'm sure the right is doing it as well.)

i spoke too soon

dang, it looks like things are getting worse down south. they're now expecting death tolls in the hundred due to the hurricane. thankfully, that's not tsunami bad, but it still stinks. read today that they're having to pull even more people out of N.O. because a levee broke. (terribly, i wrote that line and then the zeppelin song popped in my head).

my prayers go out to folks down there. i wonder what the international communities response will be?

monday monday

hurricane, hurricane, how you bluster.

i'm really thankful that the hurricane didn't hit as hard as it was predicted. it's unfortunate that anything bad has happened, and the deaths that have happened are regretable. hopefully it won't get worse before it's all said and done.

funny thing is, the news built the story up so big. it's the end of the world! the sky will fall! but what do they do when it wasn't the end? uh, well, here's our guy, he's standing in the wind. here's a picture of a building that crumbled. other than that, we don't have much. here's an interview with a guy from a hurricane fourty years ago. that hurricane was bad. we'll update you if anything else happens. saps, i tell ya, saps.

again, i'm thankful that they didn't have anything to report.

patty robertson keeps it coming

hey, he finally actually apologizes, although it's only been on his website and not to the masses on his tv show.

then he compares himself to bonhoeffer. that kills me. it's unfortunate the bonhoeffer was ever a part of a group that tried to assassinate hitler, because it's constantly brought out as a defense for someone's poor actions. "well, bonhoeffer did it, so it must be alright." never mind that bonhoeffer also considered his involvement in the plot a sin, and always struggled to justify this sin with his own life.

i also like that there's ads on the side for pat's age defying shakes, pancakes and antioxidents.

it's friday, have some art

these two photos are of my painting shades of love. they're done with different lighting and i included both here because i think each displays different aspects of the painting. the work is 36"x24" (or 3'x2' if you prefer). i'm currently asking $150, but i'm intending to have my friend adam make a frame for it, which would up the price.

btw, when you give dimensions on something 2D like a painting, what the proper order? it is height then width? is it just small one first?

fresno still loves to suck up

before reading this post, take time to read this from the la times and this from the fresno bee. it'll all make sense that way. also, i originally posted this rant on a comment on fresno famous.

earlier today i actually got on the fresno bee's website and read this story. it's about the first time a month that i read the media or print version. what a crap newspaper. they are the fresno magazine of newspapers. now, that i've insulted two groups, i will get to my point.

i was disappointed, but not surprised, that the issue was tabled. this city needs to get on the ball and do what is right. we have a mayor and council saying that they wish to be fair leaders and want to keep creative minds in fresno but for the most part they still cowtow to to developers. you want to keep creative people here? then don't sell every downtown property to the same developer. give more incentives for smaller developers or individuals to get into downtown.

i keep hearing clamore to turn 99 into a federal hwy. if you hadn't skimped on developer funds for the last several decades maybe there would be money in the bank for such a project. maybe friant road would have taken 37 lives over the last decade because it would've been widened. maybe parts of the west side would have paved streets in a reasonable amount of time. maybe pot holes would be fixed. maybe our fire dept would have enough trucks, staff, and locations. maybe you would have money for more cops and we wouldn't still be a mecca for car theives. but no, fresno "leaders" have led us to urban sprawl, underfunded road programs, and operation rezone. bleh.

rockstar inxs update 8/24/05

here's a recap of last night's show:
suzie got the encore performance from the band. she was very pleased, i was not.
the show is starting to add those annoying american idol suspense techniques. i'll tell you about it after this commercial.
well, it seems that everybody except suzie was in the bottom three at sometime the previous night.
first of the bottom three: ty. you can tell that he's pissed and emotional. and goes and gives a freaking great performance of "what you need". really, this guy should be the next lead singer of the band. just sounds excellent, he could do this nightly without a doubt. the statements to the band after the performance were a little much.
second of the bottom three: deanna. this performance of "elegantly wasted" was energetic but her voice just doesn't do the song justice. if you don't believe me, check out the recap on the rockstar.msn website. they called her singing dusky. dusky? the band really likes her, thinks she does a great job singing and performning. also, she got down on her knees after her performance as if to plead with the band to keep her. if i thought ty's remarks were over the top, this is just embarassing.
third of the bottom three (it's down to jordis, who stated earlier she would be disappointed if she wasn't there, and marty): marty does "don't change". i think it sounded really good, sorta killers-esque with a little iggy pop and inxs mixed in. nice job.

so, i won't keep you waiting. as i predicted after the show, if deanna is in the bottom three she's done. and she is. at this point, there's going to be tears, there are going to be difficult decisions. i think most of the singers brought in for the contest were deserving and so each week it's going to get harder. if i was suzie, queen of the bottom three, i might be packing my bags next wednesday afternoon.

liar, liar

here's text of the ap story. i admit, i have bolded some stuff. here's a link to the ap story (via the la times)

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson insisted Wednesday that he did not call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, despite comments broadcast on his program two days earlier.
"I didn't say 'assassination,'" Robertson said Wednesday on his Christian Broadcast Network show "The 700 Club" about remarks reported by The Associated Press and other media outlets.
"I said our special forces should 'take him out."Take him out' could be a number of things including kidnapping.
"There are a number of ways of taking out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP, but that happens all the time."
But a video of Monday's telecast shows that Robertson's exact words were: "You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war, and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."
He continued: "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

okay, you didn't say, "we should go assassinate him." you did say, "we really ought to go ahead and do it." and, "we have the ability to take him out, and i think the time has come that we exercise that ability." and finished with, "it's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

and pat, i like your defense, "take him out could mean kidnap him." good cover. the point that you're missing is this: the u.s. does not have the right to go and assassinate/kidnap/whatever foreign leaders just because they oppose us. should we have bumped off chirac because france was against our little mess in the mid east? should we bump off putin because they don't always agree with us? what about our neighbor to the north, paul martin? is he next? canada has socialized medicine, and is pretty lefty. do we "take him out?" which, of course, can happen through many ways other than assassination.

your apology rings much hollower than it already did when you added on that "defense".

rockstar diary 3

rockstar running diary.
brooke burke looks like she’s wearing a bikini. with a skirt attached to it.

this week’s deal: write and perform their own songs.

then i sorta stopped paying attention. there was some sort of deal about the songs, names out of a hat, and so on. at this point, i have no idea if they’re performing their own songs or someone else’s. we’ll see after the commercial.

okay, they’re doing other people’s songs. but two of them got to do their own songs.

suzie – start me Up by the rolling stones - she doesn’t want to be queen of the bottom three. ya gotta do better. and stop trying to expletive deleted the guitar player during the song. everyone come sing at the end of my song. and then I’ll stage dive. hey, work on singing instead of stupid gimmicks. dave electra’s first comment, “you look awesome”. inxs likes it. i have no idea what they like because i was feeling something much different.

jd – cold as ice by foreigner – he’s really being edited as the cocky jerk. Of course, it also seems like he’s helping that along as well. good performance, this guy may be working himself back into the top tier. but would the band want him around? worked the crowd well, good interaction with the house band.

deanna – original song called my truth- “i’ll make my hair look like locks, and maybe people will think I’m jordis and not get rid of me.” that skirt is really short. do girls think about this knowing that they’re going to be standing on a stage, above people? she pulled it down a bunch, but wouldn’t you think about that and not wear it? or at least cut out that little squat she does? but to the song, it actually was pretty good sounding. i don’t really know what it was about, but she performed it well. then you explained the song and I didn’t care.

ty – proud mary – he’s got the girls singing back up. why the heck would you help out your competition like that? soulful start. this guy can sing really well. the kicked up section of the song sounded good. this guy can sing really well. oh i already said that. dave electra starts out by giving props for the girls. then he made a weak joke, and said the girls were good again. he must be really threatened by ty. i definitely think ty could cover the whole inxs catalogue well, and be put out new good stuff too.

mig – original song called do or die – the song’s about his experiences in the house. the house band didn’t like it. words are very choppy. feels a lot like an 80’s power ballad. or nickelback or that ilk of crap rock. maybe it was inspired by the karate kid or over the top or some other fine movie you see on fox 26 on a saturday afternoon. and mig’s pants had a really awkward, distracting zebra stripe going up the crotch. but the guy did alright, sounded decent, and will continue on. dave electra makes what I think is a gay joke, although it was about himself.

marty – i alone by live – i must admit that i always liked this song. definitely one of live’s better tunes. but to marty’s performance: he’s got a sorta bizarre stage presence. didn’t sing well at times. sounded good at other points. a bit much screaming. dave electra likes him. the band liked him but commented on screaming, and if he fits with the band. that can’t help your voting.

before hearing jordis, i think the bottom three will be deanna, suzie and marty. suzie probably shouldn’t be here, but she’s there soooo much, I think the public doesn’t want her around.

jordis – dream on by aerosmith – don’t feel bad, nobody but steven tyler hits that note. And I’m not sure if he still can. Ooh, you’re missing the notes all over. and it seems like you know it and are giving up on the song. the band is looking at each other ‘this sucks’. but hey, they don’t do anything that’s going to make you sing like that. so, suck it up, and you’ll still be in it. the band accepts that you did bad, and you’re not going to get cut.

having said that, I think jordis knocks suzie out of the bottom three (my prediction)

those in trouble already at the end of show: deanna, ty, jordis. if that holds up, bye bye deanna.

inspired by you 3

just wanted to give a little art update, so i posted a piece i'm working on. it's entitled tenatively, inspired by you 3. it's 18x24. the photo on the right is with flash, the photo on the left is without. i think the content is all done, and i like the state of the green. i'll keep adding layers of black until i feel it's done.

pat robertson, you need to repent

i saw this early, but didn't post it until i saw it on websites on both sides of the political spectrum. so here it is:

On Monday, Robertson said on the Christian Broadcast Network's "The 700 Club": "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability."

"We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush, accusing the United States of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. U.S. officials have called the accusations ridiculous.

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

Rangel called Robertson "a man who seems to have quite a bit of influence in that country," adding sarcastically that his words were "very Christian."


what would jesus do...what would jesus do...what would jesus do? there is no doubt in my mind that jesus would never, ever call for the assassination of any person, let alone someone sharing a different political viewpoint. i think i remember a lot about loving enemies, about praying for those who persecute you, to forgive. as a Christian, pat robertson does not speak for me. in fact, he offends me. he shames my faith by making such a declaration on a "Christian" show. pat needs to fall down on his face before G*d and plead for forgiveness and then do the same before chavez. then he can go on tv and ask for the rest of the world to forgive his comment.

monday afternoon

ooh, did everyone hear, brad pitt and jennifer anniston's divorce papers were signed off on by a judge today. in other news, nobody freaking cares. i check a few websites regularly for the news: bbc & l.a. times. they're both pretty consistant, have a lot of stories, and especially the bbc, look at the bigger world picture. i also try and hit up some lefty news (indymedia) and right wingnutjob (drudgereport) just to see what the more extreme are saying. so, i was disappointed when the la times had that story on their front page.

i realize that i watch stupid shows like access hollywood or entertainment tonight sometimes, but really, are culture stinks. why should we obsess over these celebrities. i think brad pitt is a swell actor. i have watched some of his movies way too many times. but his personal life doesn't need to be mixed in with real stories on la times. if i want to know this garbage, i'll get it from dumb programs like e.t. alright, i'll stop.

speaking of indepedant media, they're attempting to organize a local chapter. it's an offshoot of the bay area indy media, and it's being spearheaded by chuck mc nally. our little chuck. he's also helping to (had to delete a word, i used it too many times in the paragraph) lead the copwatch effort in our fair city. i don't know about the whole movement, but i think it's good for people to know their rights, and to be willing to witness for the oppressed. i don't think we, in turn, need to harass the police. i am all for watching, witnessing and reporting. so, i think i'm going to try and attend the copwatch organizing meeting on saturday @ the hinton center.

also on saturday is the community clean up put on by the tower beautification committee. this is a great way to get involved in our community. i've attended once, but they've been at it for over a year, just cleaning up parts of the tower district. so, i'll be out there saturday morning, 8 am. it's funny, people think you've been given community service by the law or something. nope, just trying to help keep my neighborhood looking good.

finally, just wanted to make sure that all arrested development fans know the show has been moved to monday nights @ 8 on fox. i'm glad, mainly because i generally think that's one of the worst times for watching tv because nothing is on. finally, something i want to watch will be on. that is a great show, and we've had fun watching the dvd of season 1, plus the recent reruns of season 2.

i think that'll be all for now

on tap for monday

monday morning, 7:30 - golf @ javier's fresno west. it's my new monday ritual.
monday pm - call the seminary and see if i can get my student loan $.
- order some books online
- blog, hopefully about something important. maybe an art update


finally, i can't believe that one of the 49er's passed away after their game. that really is sad. i know people die and all, but it's still crazy to see someone pass away in the prime of their life.

tonight was part 2 of our essence series @ church. matt spoke on community. next week is the final part: missions. we are really trying to embrace many of the values of the missional church movement. shoot, i even recommend the book the missional church. you're all welcome to join us any sunday @ 5. we're supposed to be moving into our own building on sept 4. 1040 n fulton. yipee!

saturday nights all right for fighting

last night was pretty fun, played croquette in our back yard with friends. subtle little rule changes make things interesting.

but what to do tonight? do you do the same old thing? it's getting old. but options, and $, are limited. really, i'd be fine watching tv, even though there's nothing on. we'll see what happens.

i wanted to go see hustle & flow today. stupid me, i've waited too long and now it's not playing in fresno. freekin batman is still playing. hustle and flow is gone. i suppose the had to make way so they could show douche bigalow euroooopeeen gigglno.

today police found the remains of LaToyia Figuero. do you know who she is? do you know how long she was missing? do you know Lacy Peterson? do you know Chandra Levy? do you know Natalee Halloway? Latoyia actually broke a mold. she received some national attention despite being a person of color in america. why? basically because some aggressive bloggers started making a lot of noise, demanding that the networks talk about the missing woman who was five months pregnant.

which leads me to the question, how much does race still matter in america? cases like this seem to indicate something. but, there is also the economic factor. most of the well publisized cases are people of $. that's not their fault, and i don't wish demean any of their losses. but were they taken notice of because they have money? and aren't minority?

ed

men's natl team

forgot to mention: the men's national team plays mexico on sept 3 in columbus ohio. hopefully they will actually show the game on tv. it's a freaking saturday so hopefully somebody has it. probably one of the local spanish stations will carry it. if we win, first place in our group.

friday pm

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

i think my m button doesn't work sometimes. or maybe i just don't press it hard enough. so, i was pressing it a bunch.

i've been reading a lot of other blogs lately. some have been really good finds. i've book marked three. maybe eventually i'll let you know them too. some are very personal, not to me, but the author. i don't know if they know or care that anyone is reading. i haven't posted on these yet because they are so deep. i almost feel bad for reading them. not bad enough to stop reading them. but almost scared to post and ruin what they have going..

i watched closer this afternoon. good movie. very honest, almost brutally so. i don't know if i'd recommend this movie to anyone. but i'd love to chat with someone who's seen it. in person. i wouldn't recommend the movie because it's so inciteful, but yet so deceitful. and i think it probably can make you distrust every relationship you've ever had, no matter how good and right that relationship was/is. so, if you've only ever been alone, watch the movie and feel smuggly superior. otherwise, watch it with caution.

then i worked on 3 paintings. two of them got better, one got worse. it makes me just want to completely paint over that one.

i had fun chatting with lefty brown this morning about rockstar inxs. it's nice to chat about stupid things like tv, as if it matters. sometimes small talk is great. other times, it kills me.

so, what to do tonight? do we stay in? do we watch a flick? do we hit our local spot for drinks? ooh, kareoke might be nice. i wonder if they have any public enemy.


ed

bummer

so, today i wanted to accomplish a few things. i was up early, and figured i would take care of things at the start of the business day. here's how they went:
1. get a cubicle in the library for my thesis work - well, they're all taken. but i got on the waiting list.
2. talk to library staff about part time job - they're not sure yet, so i have to check back next week
3. talk to financial aid director @ mbbs about student loan (and why he hasn't returned my call) - not in.
4. talk to my one of my prof's about a directed study class - not in.

so, 0-4. good percentage.

(i'll post more later)
ed

hey, hey!

congrats to the mens national side! they beat trinidad & tobago yesterday evening 1-0. brian mcbride scored the lone goal with bobby convey getting the assist. this brings us one step closer to germany 06. currently, we're a point behind mexico, who we play on sept 3.

what i'm listening to right now: axis of justice radio. i downloaded all of the past shows the other day. don't know what axis of justice is? it's a group set up by tom morello (rage, audioslave) and serj tankarian (system of a down) to advocate for justice in the world, and stir up things. they do a weekly radio show in la, but have all the past shows archived on their website. axisofjustice.org the shows are a good mix of different music and interviews. just finished listening to the very first episode, featuring michael moore.

watched brat camp (taped it last night). 3 of the kids graduated. it was kinda funny to see several of the kids think they're getting out, when they really have no chance. these kids just think they're doing time rather than actually trying to change. i must admit, my interest in the show is waning.

anyhooo, peace out for now.
ed

last samuria review

sure, this movie came out quite some time ago, but we borrowed it from our friend becky (sanger girls volleyball...serving up fire water!). i watched it this afternoon.

here's my review:
Today I watched, Dances with Samurai, err, I mean, The Last Samurai
Parallels to Dances with wolves:
Loved the Indians, drew pictures in his journal
Woman (love interest) is wife of dead brother of main enemy. Okay, in dances with wolves it was the wife of his best friend.
The American faded off into the distance….
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
thoughts:
Really weak moment, tom fighting guy in the rain, won’t stay down. Very, very cliché. See, tom has honor too. Feel bad for tom. Win the respect of the people tom, win it.

Tom learns to clear his mind. Despite just having it handed to him on 3 and 5 moves, tom now beats sword instructor. earn respect tom, earn it.

Action: good. Sword fight scene with the ninjas was top notch. I even enjoyed tom kicking a table at some guy Jackie chan style.

“after living with those savages I can only imagine” &”what is it about your own people you hate so much?” – come on, you don’t even try to present the bad military guy as human. Just make him such a stereotype that no one will agree. Bad form.

see tom kill bad military guy in final battle. Fulfill cliché tom, fulfill.

See Japanese military guys feel bad for shooting. See them stop. See samurai die with honor.


Concluding thoughts:
Interesting parallels to today: the struggle of westernization and the rest of the world. Really, on many fronts this is what islam is struggling with within itself, as well as with the Western world.
Were we supposed to cheer when the emperor turned down the treaty? It seemed like it was set up as that sort of moment.
I’m glad tom never got with the love interest. Well, it’s sort of alluded to at the end, but at least we didn’t have to endure it. I really do think it would have been dishonoring.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie. It had it’s bad moments, but was generally enjoyable. The battle scenes were well done, and moving.

rockstar diary 2

Rockstar blog
Started by watching tommy lee goes to college. Not bad, but not really good either.

Review of clinic – ooh fighting among the contestants. At least jd realizes that “we’re not a band, we’re competing to be in a band.”

Jordis – knockin on heaven’s door – bob Dylan. I really thought that this wasn’t good. Performed well I guess, but didn’t do anything for me. of course, the band liked it. I think they just say that no matter what from this girl because they like her, know she has the talent, and shouldn’t get bumped off when there is still dead weight around.

Jessica – torn – Natalie imbruglia – speaking of dead weight still around. Yeah, this sucked.

Ty – Maggie may – rod stewart – “if it works out the way I hear it in my head it’s gonna be badass”. Ty, what the h are those pants brother? Song felt little too jazzy for me. don’t worry, they’ll keep you around under my jordis theory.

Suzie – bring it on home to me – sam cooke - I like the hair sorta pinned back all old style. Dang, what am I, dave electra? I actually think this was one of her better performances. Laid back. Sorta sultry but not my often bitched about ‘black velvet’ sound.

Marty - hit me baby one more time – Britney spears - alright. Well performed. I’ve heard others take on this song, didn’t do it all poppy, and it always sorta sounds the same. Not bad.

Deanna – I can’t make you love me – bonnie raitte – this girl really struggled with pitch, tone, tune, about everything. I sorta felt bad. And man, she looks pretty old. Of course, dave electra hit on her. She admitted that they picked a good song to challenge her and she didn’t feel that she did as good as the song deserved.

Jd – as tears go by – the rolling stones – “let us see you be real”. The hat looks stupid, at least with the black tank top and jeans. I thought it was a good performance. Sounded real nice. The band didn’t think he was very passionate but still liked the sound. Or, at least some of them did.

Mig – baby, I love your way – peter f’in Frampton – dainty little sound. Good, but didn’t seem to show too much. Flaunting the piano is a good touch, shows the band you got something else to contribute (not just singing or guitar). Dave electra said the song just made him think about how much he loves his wife. Maybe he should stop hitting on all the contestants. One of inxs said he was proud to be Australian right now. That’s got to help your chances, mate.

Earlier bottom three: Jessica, Deanna, ty



Thoughts on the night:
1. seems like the band picked songs to push the lower contestants out, and keep the favorites safe.
2. I think the bottom three are Jessica, Deanna, and…I think it will be jd.

We’ll see how it turns out tomorrow.
ed

hey, it's tuesday morning!

ah, tuesday. i'm currently listening to the jungle, starring jim rome. i love this show. it's sports talk, so i know it's not for everyone. i think rome does a great job with interview, insightful commentary, and is witty. he also gets a really good class of interviewies. one of the great things about this show is that it isn't about the callers. frankly, most callers to shows suck, and just ramble. rome makes the point of more of him and less of you. good idea. so, when you actually have a caller they usually do a good job. rome had trent dilfer on this morning, unfortunately i missed it.



remember the titans. ah, a good film. so, last night i came home and this movie was showing on abc. i think it was a directors cut or something, because there were several scenes that i don't remember. more on that in a second. this was a decent sports film, a good movie about the culture of the time, and had several good acting performances. there were also some that stunk. anyhow, the director & writer did some really good things. for instance, after the team wins the playoff game to send them to the state championship game, you feel the joy of the celebration. everyone's excited, the town seems to finally be behind the team. you can't help but smile. then the star player gets in a car wreck. i have seen the movie, knew it was coming, and yet i went from physically smiling and enjoying the movie to crying. like a switch was flipped. well done, well done.
my thoughts on the extra scenes - they were better off without them. really, most of them just seemed hokey and thrown in to show the backward towns people getting showed up by the snooty white kid or someone else on the team, and therefore they start gaining acceptance in the town. that isn't all that was deleted but this was definately a movie that was better off in its original format.
things that always bothered me about the movie: 1. the yoast's daughter. i don't care if this is inspired by a true story and everything that she did really happened. it was annoying. i have trouble believing that this little girl was a key part of the team's story, or that her own father would really listen to her about football or race relations. come on, the daughter comes down @ half time of the championship game, tells her dad that now isn't time to be proud, and he comes into the halftime speach and asks the head coach to basically take over the defense? uhh, doubt it.
2. the action of the football. parts were alright, and actually seemed like high school football. it was generally cut well enough, you could see a good portion of the field, it wasn't just all tight cut scenes were you only see one person at a time. what i hate about the modern sport movie, and this movie is guilty of it, is that every hit, every play seems like an espn highlight. in football, there's a hit called a decleater. basically, you hit your man hard enough that he's going to end up on his back, cleats in the air. almost every hit in this movie is a decleater. the skinny white qb lays about four of them down on the final play of the movie. just not realistic. in my four years of high school football, i don't think i ever put such a punishing hit on someone. we had some guys that we devastating hitters, and maybe i still only saw one or two real decleaters in 4 years. i guess alabama high school football is different, or that sports directors need to check themselves.

still, with a few problems, this was a well done movie. i would have liked to see a little more about really dealing with race issues at the time, but hey, disney made it. it had more than just the feel good disney feel. i'd give the movie a b+.


on yet another note, played golf out @ fresno west again on monday. i really like that place. they have a very well planned back 9. i think it's worth it for that. oh, that and the fact that it's $10 for cart & 18 holes of golf. still trying to have a little consistency in my game.

ed

sunday

the us men's team won the gold in 4x400m. congrats! they were anchored by jeremy wariner, winner of the 400m open. this guys is the real deal and will be a force in the world for several years to come. now if we could just get the stick around in the 4x100.

i'm spending my sunday finishing up a little prep work for my sermon tonight (637 e olive, 5pm) and watching the pga champs. pretty good golf. several guys up around the lead. lefty is currently leading by three after four holes. it's weird, i like many others, really like watching and routing for mickelson. why? he's only won one major. he's been erratic at times, and is stubborn about changing things when it wasn't going well. but, he's open, personable and even outspoken at times. frankly, it cracked me up a few years ago when he ripped tiger for playing with inferior equipment. really, he called out the number one player in the world saying that his sticks sucked. yeah, this guy routinely kicks all our butts but he could really be killing us if he didn't use those clubs? wha? i guess he just seems like a pretty nice guy, has great game, and gives good interviews. it's easy to like a guy like that.

ed

i've entitled this work night. it is 18"wide x 24"tall. i'm asking $120 for it.

ed

world champs update

hmmm, can i recomment www.iaaf.org?

here is a some highlights from this week at the world championships of track and field.
jeremy wariner won the 400m. he's from texas. (top pic)
dwight phillips won the long jump. (see him on his winning jump)
lauren williams anchored the womens 4x100 team to victory (crossing the finish line). (the mens team dropped the baton)
brian clay won the decathalon. he went to apu, and i competed against him in discus. the jay competed against him in shot put and discus. he's a pretty cool guy and still helps out @ apu.



it was a good week for usatf.
ed

name clarification

so, we were watching the rockstar and chatting with our friend adam. adam was a bit confused about something: dave electra.

i thought my witty rename of dave navarro was clear, but maybe i'm wrong. who is dave electra, well he is mr. carmen electra.

i also renamed him that because i have trouble remembering his last name at times, and usually what i come up with is dave...dave...electra. eventually i remember navarro, but i just think it's too funny to call him dave electra.

get your vote on in the back to school question at the bottom of the long rockstar post.

ed

rockstar running diary

okay, this actually starts before rockstar. i saw a spoof of the paris hilton carl's jr commercial. it features rob schneider. pretty funny spot, mainly because it aired last night right after i want to be a hilton ended. timing.

10 - rockstar credits. seperated at birth: kirk pengily & nole martin(pictured above) from america's next top model

10:01 - ummm, did anyone else see where brooke burke misplaced the skirt part of her mini?

now to the contestants:
suzie - doing "losing my religion" by rem. in her interview before, she said she might crash and burn...surprisingly she didn't! her sound was pretty good, although it was a bit no doubt-esque. the ending sucked. i just don't see her fronting this band. dave electra loved it though.

mig - "alright now" hmmm, a clapping song...a bit pitchy at times dog...performance was, alright now.

10:10 - my wife heather says "dave electra spends too much time in his wife's make up drawer."

jd - "crazy" by seal. well, somebody got a haircut. jd needs to stop trying to sound like billy joe from green day. the song was good at times, but his take also sounded a lot like without love by the doobies to me. i don't see him fronting the band.

heather says, "it was a good choice for ty not to sing the seal song."

jessica - "come as you are" by nirvana. uggh. terrible. did she think this song was supposed to sound like barracuda? it looked like she was thinking, 'i won't smile and they will think i am dark and brooding.' dave electra didn't like it, the band didn't like it, but dave electra said "this is the best you ever looked, stylistically." not a good point to hear after you allegedly gave an emotional performance.

jordis -"layla" sounded a bit motownish. it was interesting and cool. couple of flubs, not her best performance but she shouldn't worry.

brandon "it's all over now" by the rolling stones. i wonder if he wakes up every day and thinks, 'i wish i was chris robinson,'? sure seems like it. now brandon is making a pitty plea for votes. inxs doesn't think he's diverse or fits the band. straight up.

marty - "mr brightside" by the killers. when they played the clip before, sounded bad. announced acoustic version. wow. really liked it. the acoustic fit his voice much better than the synth version would have.

deanna "without love" the doobs. funny, i would have never thought that i would think somebody would sound like this song, then another person would perform it. i saw deanna and thought it was suzie. had to ask heather who it was. not a good sign when viewers that always watch the show don't know who you are by week 4. heather pointed out that she had on muffintop pants (which she admits taking from ralph on kroq). what are muffintop pants? well, that's when you gut is pushing out and over, like the top of a muffin does. in high school my football coach would say someone had donelaps, as in his gut donelaps over his belt. i think muffintop pants usually occur with the crotchduster pants.

of course, dave electra thinks she looks great.

on a side note, the show 'how i met your mother' could be funny. doogie howser, allison hannigan, etc. premise seems funny, but the commercial has way too many laugh tracks on it. that scares me, makes me think it'll be one of those shows that has a laugh track for every other line. i once heard someone say, 'show me the show that the laugh track is from, because it's funny.'

ty - "no woman no cry" by bob marley. this guy is wearing a bandolier made of beads. not a good look. he sounds pretty good, but seems to lack feeling. but, i think it's hard to do marley w/o sounding like a kareoke knock off and really put a lot of feeling. and ty, those vocal runs that you did at the end sucked.

so there it is folks, last night's episode of rockstar. if you watched it, let me know what you thought.

final thought/question: what is the best back to school commercial on right now? the options that i've seen are:
1. target - "i like backpacks and i can not lie..." to the tune of baby got back by sir mix a lot.
2. kmart - "we're the kids in america" whoa oh
3. jc penny - "you can get with this or you can get with that" by black sheep
4. gottschalks - some raver song, i don't know the name. seriously, when heather first saw this ad, she thought it would be for sears. i don't know what that says but...

get at me.
ed

tuesday - art, tv, and so on

this painting is called through the clouds. it's unfinished, as in i'm still working on it. it is 16 x 12. the price will depend on time, effort and pride that get tied up in it. i'm guessing around $100.

tv tonight
well, right now i'm blogging instead of watching tv. some people would say that's a good thing. i say it's because tuesday @ 8 is one of the worst tv hours of the week. there is nothing i am ever compelled to watch. i tried to watch Mr Mom last week or whatever that piece o' crap on nbc is. oh, i guess i've already tipped my hand as to what i thought of the show.

9 - season finale of so you want to be a skan... errr... hilton. i've actually enjoyed the show a bit, and i'm glad it'll be over now.

10 - rockstar inxs. lefty chris brown and i have commented on each others blogs about this show. i dig it. tomorrow i'll present some breakdown on the show.

earlier today i posted about the albequrque isotopes. then this evening the local repeat showed that episode. how serendipitous.

also tonight, i cut my thumb on a sardine can. i was pulling open the top as directed and pulled it directly into my thumb. i guess i mussed up that part of the directions. it made typing this awkward, and i've had to do a lot of deleting/retyping.

for those of you in fresno, i'm preaching @ my church this week. 5p sunday @ salon 637. you is invited.

ed

monday update

yesterday, i played golf with matt heinricy out at Javier's Fresno West. about a month ago, our friend Adrian put us onto the fact that they run a monday special: ten bucks for 18 and a cart! this is unbelievble. it's about a half hour drive from my place, which is about the same as going to pheasant run (chowchilla) or brighton crest. fresno west is a pretty good course. pretty open fairways lined with nice, mature trees. some water on the course, but unfortunately a lot of the hazard lakes are drained (i'm guessing $ & drought). it's not the prettiest or best course in the area, but for 10 dollars, i'm hooked.

i really enjoyed my time out there except for these things:
1. i played terrible. really, worse than usual
2. the tractor lawnmower that ran over my ball. i had a good tee shot, followed by a second approach shot that put me just off the green. we went over to hit matt's ball, and we basically watched the guy drive right over the area where i hit. when we got up to the green, the landscaper was like "did i run over your ball? i saw it hit and thought i was here." so we searched and searched for my ball, no luck. damn, that was a good hole, and now i have to drop a new ball and chip on from a random spot because i don't know the exact location of my old ball. not to mention the fact that this was the third whole that the guy was mowing while we were on or approaching the green. it seemed like he was following us. after running over my ball, he was near us a few holes later. he offered us a few balls that he had found while mowing, but i didn't take either because they weren't anything special.
3. i twisted my ankle. while searching for said lost ball, i stepped in a hole in the ground and got dropped like a sack of potatoes. seriously, this hole was hidden by grass growing out of it, cut level with all the surrounding grass. the hole was probably six inches deep, and about 12 x 6 wide. so, i'm looking around and step in this hole, and down i go. the rest of the day it was sore. by the time i got home and iced it, the ankle was really sore and stiff.


bad day for tv on monday. there wasn't jack of the regular shows i watch on. i think most networks didn't want to put anything up against pre-season MNF.

the fresno grizzlies are playing this week - the albequrque isotopes. granted, this team has been around for a while, but i laugh every time i hear the name. seriously, this name was lifted from a simpsons episode. (homer goes on a starvation diet when he finds out the team is being moved and renamed by the duff owner)


on a somber note, today is the anniversary of the us a-bombing of nagasaki. say a prayer of rememberance.

i'll get at ya later.
ed

mmmm, donuts

"i guess i forgot to put the foglights in"*


i love the simpsons. sure, there have been times when the episodes stunk. there have been classics in the recent systems as well. shoot, they've been at it longer than most shows. most shows don't even dream of running half as long as the simpsons has. we've grown up with the family and town of springfield. i even own simpsons monopoly.
which brings me to this: should they have stopped making the show earlier? show they stop now? or, should they keep on? was the the kergin in "highlander" right in saying, "it's better to burn out than fade away?" at least that's how i remember him saying it. so, add your two cents. should they have quit? if so, when? if you're in the keep going camp, for how long?

ed





*sung to the tune of "Can't get enough super golden crisp

a suggestion

if i may, let me suggest that you pop on over to www.iaaf.org

click on the championships info.

you probably don't realize it, but right now is the world freakin championships of track and field. on saturday, american adam nelson won in the shot put. today, american justin gatlin won the 100 by the largest margin ever in w.c. history. another american got 5th in the discus.

look, i'm used to very few people caring about track and field. but, it's something i do care about, so i figure that i'd pass on that info to you.

ed

this painting is called "tower". it measures 24 x 18 and is selling for $160. in painting this, i wanted to capture the light, action, movement and energy of my neighborhood. it's based on the light i see of the tower theater & me n' eds pizza @ olive and wishon from my living room window. it's oil paints, with several layers of polyurethane clear coat. i may add some more clear coats before it sells.

ed

fading away

this painting is titled "fading away" it measures 30" x 24" and is selling for $160. i've also put a detail photo, because some people miss it. sorry the detail is a bit dark.

ed

oh, isaiah

brat camp update - i mentioned before that i was watching brat camp. it's an interesting show, and i think i like it because it seems like the counselors are attempting to help these kids change. it gives me that sense of redemption that i believe in. obviously, i have not seen all the episodes and do not know what kids graduate from the program, what kids get kicked out, and so on. today, i was watching the noon news and they had a story about one of the kids on the show. isaiah, a young punk from california, was arrested by merced police. why? vandalism and hate crime. apparently, this kid got arrested with a friend for spray painting racial slurs on the street in front of a ladies house. way to go genius. looks like you really learned something at brat camp.


ed

wha?

for some reason this blog keeps cutting off my post. this will be the second time i've tried to rewrite about terrence trent d'arby and his sweet song "sign your name". i sound so sweet, that while i was busy listening to metallica and such, i had to buy the single.

my mom used to say "goodnight sweet prince" to us as we went to bed.
ed

good night, sweet prince

"the tupac of tv shows." - charlie murphy
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/08/03/tv.chappelle.sshow.ap/index.html

you burned so hot, so fast.


well, although it's still not official, apparently chappelle show is over. damn. that was a hi-lar-ious show.

http://www.ugoto.com/videos/go/thisisweirddogridingbike

my rockstar update: are you kidding me? how can ty be in the bottom three. recockulous. i am really glad to see tara go home. most of these girls, you can't see them fronting inxs. outside of jordis, they all have the some sound: sorta southern rocky girl. think "black velvet in that little boy's smile". not exactly the sound you associate with inxs.

so, here's who i think are the top 2 to win: ty & mig. ty has a super sweet voice, a lot of range. plus, after michael hutchinson's death, inxs was fronted by terrance trent d'arby. ty can give that same feel. mig, on the other hand, is australian. he sings and performs well. and, he sounds a bit like hutchinson.

tv tonight

i know, some of you sleep at night, but tonight you can catch INXS Rockstar on cbs at 10. pretty good show. i was reading a review of it, and the main criticism this guy had was that the talent was too good and so the show was a bit boring. so, without the trainwreck of american kareoke, you can't watch the first few weeks? that recockulus. if you haven't seen it yet, watch it tonight.

i want to be a hilton is nearing its end, i think they're down to six contestants.

unfortunately, the 8 o'clock time slot is a wash tonight. maybe i'll do the dishes, surf the net, anything but watch the crap that's on then. or, maybe i'll give the mr mom type show a try and report back.

the painting at the top is called orange crush. it's 24"x 30" and is retailing for $100

ed

untitled (inspired by you) x 2

the photo on the top is titled untitled (inspired by you). it's 30" x 40". i began this painting probably six or seven years ago. it was inspired by my then girlfriend, now wife, heather. it was originally blocks of basic colors. i have reworked this painting throughout our relationship, and it has evolved as i have as an artist. it has been in it's current state for around a year. this is probably the final time i'll work this painting over, but who knows, maybe it'll see a repaint sometime. i consider this painting not for sale, but for right offer...

the second painting (bottom) is titled inspired by you, too. it's 18" x 24" and was also inspired by heather. i consider them to be somewhat of a series. i've reworked this painting several times as well, and the latest was finished the day before i hung my july show. it was hanging wet. i'm very pleased with the direction that this painting has taken and love the colors, movement and repetition that it has. i'm asking $140 for this painting

thanks again to salon 637 for giving me a place to show. i recommend their stylists. i've gotten my hair cut there, dyed there, and so on. heather usually goes there, too.

ed

watch out now

friday was an eventful day. i was checking our bank account, trying to see if our paycheck had been deposited yet. what do i see there? 2 charges, made at a sprint pcs store in...overland, ks. what? where the heck is overland, ks.? (it's in the kansas city area). so, i call the bank, and start talking. we've never been there, we did authorize these charges, and so on. fortunately, the bank stopped the charges, canceled the card, and has issued a temporary credit. so, we had to write a letter to the bank, explaining the incident and asking them to take care of things. we took the letter to the bank, and turned it in. i happened to call the customer service back later to see if there was anything else i needed to do and the person i talked to then said i needed to fill out a different form. so, back to the bank. when we got there, the guy we talked to said the other person was wrong. he checked with a manager and another person, and they all seemed to agree that what we'd already done was enough and didn't need any other forms. but it's bizarre. how do these piece o' crap thieves get your number. according to the bank, it was an point of sale type transaction. so, our card got cloned or something. freakin pisses me off. my buddy jay put it in perspective though. it wasn't that much ($111 on 2 charges) and i caught it early. it could have been a lot worse. that only makes me feel a little better. last night i read an article on "white cards" on msn. basically, these are these cloned cards. this type of theft is taking off. watch yo'self.

the next post will actually include some artwork, one of the main purposes of this site.
ed

finally

today stunk, well, that is in the fact that i couldn't update my blog even though i tried a grip of times. finally, i downloaded a version of mozilla firefox because these cats don't seem to have very good support for safari...yet.

unfortunately, i'm tired, so i'm going to bed. but tomorrow, 2 aug 2005, i'll unleash a new post, one worthy of reading. i finished up the work for my summer class so i can actually spend more than a minute doing this without feeling guilty.

see you tomorrow
ed