Christmas Songs by Jars of Clay

I've started this habit of buying one Christmas album a year. This year I went with an album by Jars of Clay. I just gave it a listen while I was cleaning up my living room. I'm not going to go into grave details about every song, because it was background music for me. I will say I loved their take on Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime." My first take from listening to the album is that it provides the listener with a setting for the birth of Christ. Their wonderful alternative folk rock sense makes this album worthy of a listen.

Notes from Vivace

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. St. Louis Rams

Okay, I didn't get to see this game, but 41-24? What is up with the Steel Curtain lately? That just seems like too many points to give up to a team that is now 3-12. And Willie Parker out for the season. That will hurt. Anyways, this is game one of the Steelers' attempt to get out of the hole they dug for themselves by losing to three teams that they should have beat.

Notes from Vivace

Not that I don't like Kids

I was helping with food preparation at an Angel Tree event. Angel Tree provides gifts to kids who have a parent in jail. So these two kids came over. They weren’t Angel Tree kids. They were there, because their parents were also helping out with the event – doing non-food related work. One kid had great enthusiasm about food. He seemed to know all about different types of cheese. He relayed his experiences with making garlic bread. He told us about his favorite desserts. And he kept on asking if we needed help. We told him we really didn’t need any help as everything was mostly done. He kept pressing, saying he felt guilty if he wasn’t able to help. The kid was getting on my nerves. He came across to me as a know-it-all. I didn’t want to be rude, but I did want to try and get across to him that we really didn’t need any help. I gave him my pseudo-psychology lesson, “You shouldn’t feel guilty about not helping people out. When you grow up, people will take advantage of you. They’ll know they’ll be able to guilt trip you into helping them out and you’ll end up being stretched too thin and up being burnt out and a stress case. So learn to not feel guilty about not being needed to do something.” That didn’t really work. He kept on hanging around, giving his opinions on food.

Notes from Vivace

Pittsburgh Steelers v. Jacksonville Jaguars

I didn't see the whole game. I headed out to catch brunch with some friends and the game was being televised so I happened to catch part of the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter. There were a lot of Steelers fans watching the game. You could hear the disappointment as the Jaguars went up 22 to 7. Then you could hear the joy at the Steelers tied up the game. And then the anguish.

It was a bad day, but it was fun hanging out with so many Steelers fans. I was just going on down for brunch with some friends and ended up surrounded by a number of Steeler fans (none being my friends, just other people eating brunch.)

Of course, this isn't an outrageous loss. The problem with the Steelers is that they lost to teams they shouldn't have lost to and now they're stuck in a tie with Cleveland for first place in the AFC North. In all honesty, the Steelers got themselves into this position. Let's see if they have the will to get themselves out of this self caused mess over the next two games.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots

Was there anything there to cheer about? The Steelers defense got burnt deep a couple times. Other than that it held up reasonably well until the fourth quarter when most defenses tire out. For awhile, it looks like the Steelers offense could keep up with the Patriots, but that was only during the first half. Actually, the Steelers offense wasn't that bad. They were able to move the ball -- even in the second half. The problem was they couldn't get the ball into the end zone. I loved the fact that in the first half the Steelers went for it on fourth down -- twice. It showed a willingness to go for broke. I will also say that I feel like this was the first lose that the Steelers took that was legit. Those other loses against teams like the Jets and Arizona, those were just sad loses. What else is there to say? I will say it didn't look like the Steelers ever gave up. And I'm sure that they want another chance (in the playoffs) at beating the Patriots.

Upcoming Pittsburgh Steelers v. New England Patriots

From the AP, "Steelers vs. Patriots: Tomlin says this isn't Appalachian State vs. Michigan," by Alan Robinson.

This game has been on the Pittsburgh Steelers' minds for weeks and, finally, they can talk about it. The Steelers (9-3) are convinced they can ruin New England's perfect season, and they were secretly rooting for the Patriots (12-0) to stay unbeaten so they would have a chance to do exactly that Sunday in Foxborough.

My comment: I don't think it was just the Steelers who secretly rooted for the Patriots to remain unbeaten -- up to this point. I think Steelers fans were also hoping for the same thing. I suspect, at least I feel this way, is that the Steelers don't necessarily have the greatest chance in the world to give the Patriots their poke in the eye, but we surely want to the chance at giving it to them.

Heroes Mini-Season Finale

Here's my thoughts:

Hiro doesn't kill Adam. Didn't Hiro say something about the fact that he should have killed off Adam in Japan? Then he doesn't do it. Instead he leaves Adam in a casket. (I wonder if this was a metal casket or a wood casket. Being that this was in Japan, I wonder if it was a wood casket.) That actually made sense to me, because Hiro doesn't come across as a killer even though he does carry a sword around. Sidenote: I would think one uses a sword to kill. I wonder if it would have made sense to send Adam into the future and let him do his damage in the future. Adam could destory the future, but wouldn't the future be erased as the present time marched forward?

Suresh trying to deal with Sylar on his own. Okay, so Suresh did take Sylar to the lab where he knew a camera was recording the events, but why didn't he outright inform people that Sylar was back. Is it possible that if the Company was informed they'd have taken more appropriate measures to deal with Sylar? I think this storyline was sort of stupid.

Clair, Noah, West. At the moment, a waste of a storyline. Maybe it'll develop into something interesting.

Niki. I wasn't sure how good her superpowers were anyways. Multiple personalities. Whatever. I'm happy she's gone.

Peter. He finally got the blinders off his eyes. He's no longer Stupid Peter -- I'd found myself calling him this --- but he needed his brother Nathan to straighten him out. I actually liked Nathan. I hope they find some Adam blood. Maybe Peter will contact Hiro somehow. Maybe Hiro will retrieve some of Adam's blood. Maybe this is a reason why Adam isn't being killed -- he can be used by the good guys, but then does that compromise the morality of the good guys?

I thought this final episode was up and down. It is too bad about this writers strike. We might get new episodes come early next year or we might not get any episodes until late September early October.

Notes from Vivace

New England Patriots win, YES!!!

The New England Patriots continued their winning ways against the Baltimore Ravens. I am happy. I was cheering for them all the way. Now it is time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to knock them off -- to be the heroes of the NFL, knocking off one of the most hated teams of any football season.

I have to admit that I was wanting New England to win for other reasons, as well. If Baltimore had won, I could just imagine the sort of vengeance the Patriots would have attempted to take out on the Steelers. It might have been a bit of a tough situation for the Steelers to face a Patriots team coming off of a loss.

Anyways, next Sunday, CBS better be showing this game in Los Angeles.

Pittsburgh Steelers v. Cincinnati Bangles

I heard John Madden saying that it looked like Pittsburgh was back to its old self after having difficulties with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. I don't know about that. The defense was great. The offense was not so great. The Steelers had two interceptions, admittedly one was tipped, and numerous fumbles, admittedly not all were official fumbles. I must say I was a bit disappointed. I am sure weather played a part, but the fumbles really got on my nerves. I didn't see the Cincinnati Bangles' running backs constantly fumbling the ball. The sports announcers suggested that Willie Parker should have removed his elbow pads. A win is a win, but the last three games have not put the Steelers in the best light, considering the competition. I'm rather concerned that they'll get blown out by the Patriots next Sunday. I know I am showing very little faith here, but the offense has to pick it up. The defense is looking good though. The problem is that the cornerbacks will need to deal with much better wide receivers than Cincinnati's. We will see. I hope for victory.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Miami Dolphins: Mud Bowl

That game had all the makings for another major embarrassment for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Losing to the New York Jets one week and then the next week losing to the Miami Dolphins, two of the worst teams in the league, would have made the Pittsburgh Steelers the laughing stalks of the NFL. My concern with the Steelers is that maybe they’re a team that can get pumped up for the big game, but loses interest when playing weaker teams. The problem with this is that it could hurt their seeding in the play-offs. Of the three teams that the Steelers lost to, none currently have a .500 record or better – though admittedly Arizona and Denver might get there by the end of the season, but it would have been much tougher for these teams to reach .500 if the Steelers had actual beat them. I’m not saying that the Steelers should have an 11-0 record, but if they’d won just one of those games, perhaps they’d control their own destiny in getting the number 2 play-off seed in the AFC. Anyways, the game was sort of fun and frustrating at the same time. Seeing a punted ball land on the turf and just stick there was sort of funny. It was sort of funny seeing the Dolphins unwilling to try a second field goal attempt after seeing how poorly the first one went off – even with the fact that time was winding down in the fourth quarter. It was sort of frustrating seeing the Steelers unable to score considering how often they were given a favorable field position. Oh well, up comes Cincinnati.

Duke Football

Another losing season at 1-11. Ted Roof, the coach, has a record of 6-45. An article on wral.com reports that Roof is done as coach.

I like it when there is some longevity in the coaching spot. I think one of the reasons I love the Pittsburgh Steelers is because they stick with their coaches. So should Roof be let go after going 6-45 over the course of 4 plus years or should the school stick with their coach. I have to say yes. I hope that Duke goes ahead and replaces him. I just don't see how you can stick with a coach that averages less than 2 wins a season. There is the argument that 2008 is really the year for Roof, because this is when his top recruits will be upperclassmen. I find that argument compelling, but I also find the 6-45 record compelling (with only 2 wins in the last 3 seasons), especially for a BSC conference team.

Sometimes you've just got to start over again . . . even though it seems like Duke has started over again many times already.

Notes from Vivace

Television: Heroes

Could Claire really build that rock sign asking saying "Sorry" so quickly? (I believe it read "Sorry," I could be wrong.) It surely looked like a lot of rocks. And where did she find those rocks, anyways?

A minor quibble.

I thought Heroes started out really slow this year, but these last two or three episodes have been rather good.

Here's my question: who is good and who is bad?

Mohinder Suresh. I read this article on either yahoo.com or msn.com that said people who do good in society often have ethical shortfalls, because they attempt to cut corners for the "better good". I wonder if this applies to Suresh. Has he turned to the dark side, because he's sees certain short-term benefits to solving the virus riddle?

West. I have major doubts about this guy. I don't think he's a very good guy. I think he has issues. I dare say he might be a psychopath.

Parkman. Is he another Suresh type, a good guy seduced into short term gains of unethical behavior? Pushing people to do what he wants seems a tad unethical. I know the Jedi did this, but they did this to their enemies, right? I'm not the guru of Star Wars mythology, but I would think that controlling people's minds would be frowned upon unless you were dealing with the enemy. Or maybe he's just playing with his new found powers?

And this brings up the whole X-Files tagline: Trust No One. From the previews, it looks like Hiro and Peter are going to meet up with each having opposing goals. That should be interesting.

Heroes TV ratings have dropped -- though I guess it is doing well in other ratings. I hope the writers strike doesn't kill this show. It is the fault of the producers of this show for allowing it to start out so slowly, but is does feel like they're getting back to where this show was at the beginning of last season. I hope the strike ends soon so that this momentum doesn't die and we end up seeing the last true season of Heroes.

Notes from Vivace

Gossip Girl, like watching Melrose Place

I watch Gossip Girl. I said it. I'm a 30-something year old guy and I watch Gossip Girl and like it. I feel like I'm in a Seinfeld episode admitting I watch Melrose Place. At work, I don't even mention the fact that I watch Gossip Girl. With my friends, I'm more open about it. I will admit I think it is a little over the top, especially the parent/teenager relationships. Can teens really be so wise in making suggestions to their parents? I doubt it. Forget that small qualm that on occasion does irritate me, because I can't help but find the Nate/Jenny friendship fascinating. I hope it grows and then I can't wait until Nate's parents figure it out. They'll flip, of course. I love the friendship between Blair and Serena. I'd love to learn a bit more of the background story of Serena. The early episodes seem to indicate that she was hoping to change her life. I assume this was more than just sleeping with Blair's boyfriend, Nate. What sort of nasty personality did she have before and will it start to come out again?

Back to the real world briefly, I hope that writers strike ends soon, because it would stink not to get a full season of Gossip Girl.

And another thing: Do people really live like this? I guess so, there is always the Paris Hilton's of the world.

Notes from Vivace

Homeless in an RV

I was heading to the Farmers Market and noticed this small, rundown RV parked on the side of the street. Someone had gone to the effort to level it out. Blocks were placed under the tires that were near the curb and the back of the RV was lifted up by a lift jack. I noticed that the windows to the RV were draped. It looked rather familiar and I am sure I've seen it at that same location on previous Sundays. I actually swear I once saw a man speaking through the window to someone in the RV.

So apparently a family is living in this RV in the streets of Los Angeles. I'm actually curious on how they're able to get away with it. I'd think that there are laws against people living on the side of the street. Of course, I think I read somewhere that people park their RVs in Wal-Mart parking lots while on vacation, so maybe there isn't any laws against this just as long as you obey the posted street signs. Either way, it is definitely better to live homeless in an RV versus living homeless on the streets.

Notes from Vivace

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns

I was so hoping this would be on television out on the West Coast. And so it was. The first half was depressing. I nearly turned off the television. First, Cleveland puts on a good opening drive. Then there is an impressive run back on a kick-off. Then a Big Ben interception. It was 21-9 at half time. I should learn that this team is a bit better than last season's and is able to make up these sort of deficits. The Steelers mounted their comeback and even after a touchdown by Cleveland's Cribbs I had gotten the feeling that the Steelers would win the game.

I'm not sure if the Steelers are good enough to beat the Patriots, but this is a solid team. I feel like this is a team that doesn't have to jump ahead and then play the ground game to win. This is actually a team that can fall behind and then rally behind Big Ben to get them back into the game. That is such a great feeling to have. I mean, this must be how it feels to be a Patriots or Colts fan, knowing that being down by a couple touchdowns early in the game doesn't indicate that the game is likely over.

Tamale Festival in Los Angeles

I headed down to the Tamale Festival at MacArthur Park. It was okay. I think there were only 4 stands selling tamales. Also, these four stands seemed to run out of tamales rather quickly. I showed up around 2 p.m. The lines for the food stands were long, like standing in a Disneyland line, but instead waiting for food instead of a ride. I think it took me about thirty minutes to get my one and only tamale. By the time I got to the front of one line, the stand had already run out of one type of tamale. I walked to another stand and it looked like they'd run out of about half of the various tamales. That stand had some fruit filled tamales, but those were gone so I didn't get anything from that stand. I suspect that either more tamales were coming later (since the ads said the tamale festival lasted till 9 p.m.) or a lot of people were going to be disappointed. I half suspect that more people came to the festival than were expected.

It was great weather, the perfect temperature.

I took the red line down. I love taking the metro, but on the way back I was a bit concerned about a couple of the characters on the subway. They were all talking about their gangs and such. I'm not sure if it was just a lot of talk or for real.

I was also approached about five times about buying a fake id. I was amused by this.

Notes from Vivace

Comparing myself to my MBA classmates

I got this e-mail from my MBA program, the Duke's Fuqua School of Business. Apparently, there was a salary survey sent out that I totally ignored, but now the data was published via the e-mail I read. So I took a glance through it -- I have to see how I compare to my peers. I am hardly one of the top paid graduates from my class -- that surely goes to the investment banking crowd; but I expected to be way below my peers in salary. I have an good job, but I figured most of my class would be paid much better. I was surprised that I'm only 15% below the average salary. I find this surprising, because when I graduated, I was likely 45% below the average salary. I am actually catching up to the average! Of course, I don't know how the survey was compiled. Perhaps some people who answered the survey have dropped out of the workforce and therefore are bringing down the average unfairly. Now when comparing to my class, the survey went across all the MBA programs, which includes those who went to Duke while working full time. If I just look at the salary of those who graduated from the daytime program (note: this was a survey done of reunion year alumni so this specific data point combines various years), I'm just 2% below the average salary.

I'm not sure if I'm bragging here or not. I'm rather shocked that I've caught up with my peers. It is possible that one of my classmates will come across this and they'll just think I'm a loser for just being average -- or more honestly just below average. I guess why I'm shocked by this is the fact that I always felt that my classmates were far superior to me. While at Duke, I always felt that I was likely in the bottom 25 percentile, that is 75 people were more qualified than me while 25 were less qualified. I guess the fact that on the surface of things I'm right in the middle of my class sort of gives me a pleasant surprise. I will say this; however, even now so many years after the fact I still think that 75% of my class was way smarter than me.

Pittsburgh Steelers v. New England Patriots

I've never liked the New England Patriots. It probably has something to do with the fact that I'm a Los Angeles Lakers fan and therefore have a problem with any team from Boston. But I found myself cheering for the New England Patriots on Sunday. Why? I want them to have a perfect record when they match up against the Steelers. Why? Because I want the Steelers to be the team that beats the New England Patriots. I think that based on this weekend, a good defense can keep the Patriots scoring machine down. I think that based on Monday and actually other games this year as well, the Steelers have a decent offense. I think the Steelers have a chance of taking down the Patriots. Maybe not as good of a chance as the Colts, but a better chance than other teams. Based on an Internet poll I saw on Foxsports.com, about 1/3 of the people thought the Steelers had the best chance while 1/3 felt that the Patriots would go undefeated. If both teams keep rolling along, Dec 9th is going to be the second biggest game of the season.

Notes from Vivace

A Dream

I’m talking to a co-worker who’s scheduled a meeting and I say something like, “You’ve got to stop setting up these constant meetings.” And where was this meeting? In Kansas. And where in Kansas? In the Kansas City Royals’ stadium. I doubt that in my dream I actually visualized the correct stadium, but for some reason it was the Royals’. I started walking through the stands and ran into a lady who said with disgust, “In the back, there are stores that cater to those beauty pageants for little kids. I just can’t believe it.” I walked out the doors of the stadium and ended up in front of a hospital and then started heading to the back to see this interested sight that the lady mentioned. I walked into the small passage and on each side of me was stores filled with tiaras and dresses and whatever else is needed for a pageant.

And then I woke up.

I have no clue what that all meant. I sort of understand my co-worker playing a role in this as he always likes to stop by to give updates, even when I’m eating lunch at my desk. But the Kansas City Royals, I haven’t a clue. I don’t even like baseball all that much any more. I only watched about 3 innings of the recent World Series. And the last time I really thought about KC was when George Brett was around (he was KC, right?) And the hospital, I don’t think I know any friends or family that are currently in a hospital. As for the pageant, I was looking through a magazine where the kid actor from Little Miss Sunshine was mentioned briefly so perhaps that is the connection there. It wasn’t necessarily one of those strange outrageous dreams, but it was different.

Notes from Vivace

Celebrity and inappropriate comments

Halle Berry recently made what was viewed as an inappropriate joke on the Tonight Show. She brought some computer distorted pictures of herself and said that one picture made her “look like my Jewish cousin.” The Tonight Show made sure the comments were editing out of the actual airing.

Duane Dog Chapman had his phone conversation released to the National Enquirer where he used the N-word. I haven’t heard the full tape, but from what I heard he used the N-word multiple times.

My commentary: I’m getting tired of these “gotcha” moments. (I will admit that Halle Berry’s comments are rather mild compared to Duane Dog Chapman’s.) The problem I have here is that we’re trying to hold celebrities up to this gold standard of behavior when we know that we’re not all that perfect when it comes to racial bias. I live in a city which has a large minority population. Whenever someone says “those drivers are crazy” everyone knows it is code word for the minority population. Yes, Chapman’s comments are offensive, but those comments were made in a private conversation and shouldn’t have ever been released. And yes, you can argue that what he said is what he truly believes. And based on those two issues, you can argue he should be punished in some manner. I think that our society needs to show more forgiveness and shouldn’t demand more from a celebrity when the very fact is that we’re almost all guilty of it.

Gas Stations and Pricing

Does anyone get a little suspicious at times regarding gas stations and their pricing policies? There is this corner where I live that has three gas stations within fifty yards of each other. Two are always within a penny of each other. The other (which admittedly is on the other side of the street) is anywhere from eight to ten cents higher at all times. Maybe there is something in its gas that deserves the higher price, but eight to ten cents more? I'm suspicious that this gas station is being used for other reasons other than making a profit for the owners -- like money laundering. I have no facts, but it always causes me to think.

Notes from Vivace

Blue Star Saturday Night - observation on bands' set lengths

I've gone to a number of local music venues and have the sense that sets are supposed to be thirty minutes. Saturday night I saw a band that did a 45 minute set -- if not a little bit longer. The band before and the band after both stuck with the 30 minute format. I checked out the band's myspace page and it isn't like they have 10,000 myspace friends and therefore have the fan base that wants to hear them play more than a 30 minute set. In fact, they have only about 2,400 myspace friends. I admit not every band I've seen sticks with the 30 minute set and often a club has someone who gives hints to a band that its time is up. (Another caveat to this is that the last band up tends to go on a little long, as well. I think this might be driven by the fact that they are the last band and also I guess people feel it is owed them since often times half the audience has left for the night by that point in time.) Who knows, maybe this band at Blue Star was coordinating the night and therefore felt like going longer than 30 minutes. I did get the sense that the next band up was getting a bit antsy about wanting to get on stage.

Notes from Vivace

Weather in late October

It is late October and by now I figure that when you're in the late afternoon the temperature should drop. Los Angeles is in a mini-heat wave (a couple days with the temperature in the 90s, luckily not in the 100s). For some reason, I found myself looking at weather.com during the afternoon. Come 5 p.m., the temperature was still at 90. I had a hard time believing this so I actually walked out of my office to check to see if weather.com was correct. I must say it felt like around 90 degrees. I could smell ash around me so I wonder if the afternoon temperature is being inflated by winds blowing heat into the city via the fires.

Notes from Vivace

The Kingdom -- The Movie

I saw The Kingdom a few days ago. While watching the movie, I was semi-disturbed. Is the Saudi Intelligence service really that incompetent? I would think they'd have a rather good Saudi version of the FBI considering that they're in the Middle East. Maybe I'm wrong. I also found the movie to be another one of those white men to the rescue type movies. Of course, Jamie Foxx is black so perhaps I should say it was one of those Americans coming to the rescue type movies. As another example of a movie that had this sort of underlying theme, The Last Samurai, which I like to call White Men Dancing with Samurai -- my take on Dancing with the Wolves. Maybe my memory is a little vague, but I do believe that both The Kingdom and The Last Samurai had that moment where the American gets to meet the royal family and immediately has some influence on future decisions -- give me a break. I've come to the point where I don't really like movies where Americans come to the rescue, because I really don't believe that other cultures need to be rescued or educated. Of course, I also hate movies where Americans are humbled -- such as The Day After Tomorrow. I guess I just hate implied storylines that deal with Americans being seen as overly helpful or overly in need of a lesson.

Over-all, The Kingdom wasn't a bad movie. It had some intense moments. I just had this sneaky suspicion that it was a movie that was trying to make the Saudi intelligence service look incompetent just to make the FBI look competent.

Notes from Vivace

Luxury Apartment Hunting in Hollywood

There's this luxury apartment complex called Sunset + Vine that I've driven and walked by for a couple years now. I've always wanted to check it out. So I was around the area during the apartment's office hours and decided to go on in and see what this place was all about. There was an apartment available in December, which would go for around $2,350. The sales lady took me to a demo one bedroom apartment that had a different layout, but would at least give me an idea of what a one bedroom looks like. My first thing was to try and compare it to the size of my current apartment. First, the living room was deeper than my current apartment and perhaps just as wide. The kitchen was perhaps about the same size as my current kitchen though my current kitchen is a bit more rectangular. The bathroom was about the same size, as well. Connected through the bathroom was a large walk-in closet. Even though it was rather large, I'd say the big different is that my current apartment has much more closet space.

So the size of the apartments are probably very similar; however, that's about where it all ends. Two big selling points to living at Sunset + Vine are: there is a laundry and dryer inside the apartment and there is central air. When you live in an apartment that has a community laundry room, there are those unfortunate Saturday/Sundays when one family has about four months of laundry to do and they start the process at noon, which locks everyone out of the laundry room until 10 p.m. When that happens, it really stinks. And as for central air, during those three or four weeks when the temperature is just outrageous, central air would so help improve my hours of sleep.

There were other nice things about the apartment. It has what I guess is currently in vogue, the polished concrete floors. There were Quartz countertops in the kitchen. The kitchen came with refrigerator, microwave and stovetop. There were lovely outdoor living areas with fireplaces. There was a 24 hour fitness facility (which honestly I'd probably seldom use.)

There were the negatives. The price is obviously steep. And while walking around, I only saw people in their early twenties. I couldn't help but think that these were kids with rich parents. After reading the details; however, I learned that 2 people are allowed into a studio, 3 people in a one bedroom and 5 people in a two bedroom. Three people in a one bedroom seems like a squeeze, but perhaps this is what is happening. If you fit 3 twenty year-old college kids into a 1 bedroom, each pays a reasonable $800 a month rent. For Los Angeles, that probably isn't outrageous. Either way, kids with rich parents or three students squeezed into a 1 bedroom doesn't exactly sound like a place I might want to live. I have nothing against college kids other than the fact that we have different sleeping patterns. To off-set this, I was told that the windows were sound proofed, but though the windows might be sound proofed the walls might not be -- thinking strong bass on the stereo playing a 1 a.m. on a Tuesday night; the college kids are studying for finals while I'm needing to wake up early to go to work in 6 hours. The other negative, and perhaps this is me being picky, if I'm paying $2,350 a month, shouldn't the complex throw in free cable and high speed Internet access for free?

Anyways, I tossed this idea of moving to Sunset + Vine to a couple of friends. Both think I'm crazy for entertaining the idea and think I should just continue saving for a house. Oh well, I'll probably check out a few more apartments over the course of the next few months and see what else is out there -- especially those with central air.

Note: If you live in Los Angeles and went through this recent (felt like 3 weeks) heat wave during late August/early September, you know why I'm focused in on central air.

Notes from Vivace

AIDS Walk Los Angeles

I did the AIDS Walk Los Angeles today. It was the first time in awhile. I was supposed to go with a friend, but in the end she didn't register. I decided to go anyways, since I'd signed up via my church group. Even though I hadn't gone for awhile, some things were still the same. I always find it amazing when the walk starts how there is this sea of people both in front and back. And then on La Cienaga there was the Christian group that is all into hell and brimstone. Somethings never change except this time a bus driver decided to drive his/her bus right in front of the protesters. I quickly left my church group behind as I wanted to speed walk through the 10K. It was a tough 10K to speed walk through. The prior two times I'd done the walk, it was overcast. This time around it was hot. It must have been around 80 degrees. Towards the end, I was feeling it. There was a photographer ahead of me. I caught up with her and passed her by. Then with about 100 yards left I looked up and there she was ahead of me. I was slowly down. Anyways, I did the walk in 1 hour and 45 minutes. Even now, I'm a bit dehydrated, but hopefully I'll be able to get my friend out next year so that we can speed walk through the AIDS Walk together.

A couple corporate t-shirts of note:

Hustler Staff. Relax. It's just sex.

Okay, someone doesn't need to even be into porn to know that Hustler is known for explicit images. I don't know about that t-shirt, especially with so many kids doing the AIDS walk.

Fresh and Easy. Coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

I know corporations do these sort of events to gain publicity, but this one just seemed over the top. I looked up their website and I know that this is their logo, but it seemed so much like an advertisement that it seemed contrary to the very reason why everyone was doing the AIDS Walk. To me, instead of emphasizing the desire to find a cure, the t-shirt was focused on drumming up profits for Fresh and Easy.

Notes from Vivace

Depeche Mode's Blasphemous Rumours

This might be blasphemous, but I've always found this song encouraging.

Girl of sixteen, whole life ahead of her
Slashed her wrists, bored with life
Didn't succeed, thank the Lord . . .

Girl of eighteen, fell in love with everything
Found new life in Jesus Christ
Hit by a car, ended up
On a life support machine . . .

I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's got a sick sense of humor
And when I die I expect to find Him laughing

I've read up a little on it before writing this blog, and learned that this song caused some controversy when it was released.

I believe lyrics/poems are left up to personal interpretation. The whole issue of attempted suicide out of despair and then finding God always touched me. Then the idea of the "sick sense of humor" always got me thinking that perhaps God gave this young girl a second chance. God wasn't responsible for her attempted suicide and God wasn't responsible for the car accident . . . but perhaps he intervened in her suicide attempt and when she got to Heaven he planned to tell her about it.

I'm sure that's a blasphemous interpretation.

I'm writing this post after hearing this song recently on the radio.

Notes from Vivace

In the Workplace: working the long hours

There are periods of time at work where working long hours are required. My definition of the long hours is starting work at 8 a.m. and ending at 10 p.m. or later. Now, currently, is one of those periods where I've needed to put in the long hours, working as late as 1 a.m. I can usually handle it for a few days, but after awhile my body asks for a rest. I can usually tell that my body wants a rest when I arrive home late and I start to bump into every furniture and doorway in my apartment. It is an amusing process, trying to get from the living room to the bedroom. Actually, sometimes it isn't amusing when your foot bangs against something a little too hard.

I occasionally read about CEO who put in 100 hours a week, week in and week out. I'm not sure how they do this, but congrats to them for having that ability. For me, I'm hoping the long hours end soon.

Notes from Vivace

In the Workplace: Air Conditioning

At my office, during the winter months, the air conditioner seems to work extra hard at blowing frigid air down on me, while during the summer months it doesn't seem to work at all. Luckily, I have an illegal space heater next to me that I am currently using. I don't know the mechanics behind the building's air conditioner, but I wish I did because I'd like to know why it suddenly just goes crazy during the winter months. Maybe I'm just more likely to notice the cold air during the winter months, but I do swear that I don't hear the draft as strongly during the summer months.

I will say this, last year I got seriously ill during the winter months and I blame it on the freezing office. Hopefully, this time around with the illegal space heater, I keep myself healthy.

Notes from Vivace

Perceptions of a Denny's

A group of us headed to a Denny's late tonight -- Friday night. When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was that none of the parking lights were working. Next, two homeless men came up asking for money. We entered the Denny's and it didn't have the feel of a Denny's. It looked more like Chucky Cheese's Pizza Restaurant than the Denny's that I've eaten at in the past. We huddled for a few moments, wondering if we should just walk out. Were our cars safe? One had two guitars in her back seat. I had a bunch of stuff in my back seat as well.

A number of us just got a bad vibe. Who knows, perhaps it also didn't help that it was raining, giving the night a depressed feel to it. In the end, we decided to stick around, but I suspect we might not be going back for awhile.

Notes from Vivace

Google Logo Tweak: Sputnik

So Google recently tweaked its logo to mark the 50th anniversary of the Sputnik launch. I had no clue about what this logo tweak meant until reading it in the Los Angeles Times today. I consider myself a libertarian -- not so much a conservative -- but I also have my strong patriotic streak. I agree with the critics who have an issue with Google changing its logo to mark the Sputnik launch. I understand that Google is a global corporation. Reading the article, I've learned that Google has recognized other world events/holidays. I don't see a problem with that, but recognizing Sputnik seems to be going a bit far considering that the USSR isn't seen in a very positive light. I'm not saying this simply because they were a communist regime, but because of their repressiveness. Sputnik was after Lenin and Stalin, but it was during that era when people couldn't travel freely and there was a Cold War going on. I'm sure if I knew my USSR history better, I could list even more nasty things about this regime.

I am blogging on a Google blog site, but I have to say I think Google was wrong.

Notes from Vivace

Pittsburgh Steelers Game 5 2007

I live out on the West Coast. I only see the Pittsburgh Steelers on television. I don't go to a local Steelers' bar and I don't have one of those all access sort of passes on television to watch all the games. So I only see the Steelers a few times a year. On Sunday, the Steelers were on television playing Seattle. Now I knew there were some issues. I knew that both Troy Polamalu and Casey Hampton were sidelined. I knew that Hines Ward was also sidelined. Then I found out that Santonio Holmes was sidelined because of a strained hamstring during pregame warm-ups. (I'm not the biggest expert on football, but that sounds a bit embarrassing.)

I have to admit I was thinking that I was going to be wasting three hours of my morning, because how could the Steelers win. I have such little faith. They won 21-0. It took awhile for the offense to get on track, but the defense held strong for the first half. I believe it was the first score in the second half that was just amazing. Two holding penalties and a sack, and yet Big Ben was able to overcome these setbacks and lead them to a touchdown. Big Ben's performance was so amazing that I just can't figure out how they lost last week to Arizona. I didn't catch that game -- wasn't televised here on the West Coast -- but I just can't see how they lost. How did Big Ben throw two interceptions? His performance against Seattle looked so smooth. He seemed to be in a zone -- even after being sacked, I believe, three times. I don't recall to whom he threw one particular pass -- probably Cedrick Wilson or Nate Washington -- but he just floated it out there twenty yards or so and it landed perfectly into the arms of the wide receiver.

Anyways, a great game to watch. Amazing defensive effort in the first half. Unbelievable ball control in the second half.

Notes from Vivace

Eagle Rock Music Festival

I headed out to the Eagle Rock Music Festival in Los Angeles. This is the second year I've gone. I'd say last year was better. Last year I saw Great Northern and Monsters Are Waiting. I liked Great Northern. I fell in love with Monsters Are Waiting. This year I caught The Mormons, The Pity Party, Black Shakespeare, Virginia City Revival and Under the Influence of Giants.

The Mormons and Virginia City Revival sort of perform in a world that makes comedy of religion. The Mormons is obvious. The band members dress as Mormons on bikes. They also take another shot at Mormons as there is a guy who just stands back, smoking. Virginia City Revival makes fun of Southern Revival meetings. Both are a little much for me. VCR does have some great costumes. One guitar player plays in drag. The lead singer like a Southern preacher. I guess you should give them props for that.

The Pity Party is an interesting two piece band. One plays drums and keyboard at times. The other is on guitar. I wasn't the most impressed with this group, but it was interesting. There was a guy in the audience who was yelling out, "You suck." I'm not sure why you'd say that to a local band that plays gigs for free. It just seems rude. A security guard starting walking over, but the guy moved on.

I saw Black Shakespeare while eating. Interesting world music band. Sort of funk. Sort of African.

Under the Influence of Giants was the main draw. They're sort of a mellow rock group. The instrumentals aren't out front like other bands. I don't believe the drummer ever had his moment. This isn't criticism. It is just how the band works. Amazon.com classifies them as a funk band. I'm not sure if this matches them well. I enjoyed the band. There was a bit of fun regarding a light saber. And the lead singer took a dual role on the drum set. It was an interesting sight seeing two people playing the drums. It was a cool band to end the night with.

Do Not Accept the New Dollar

So I got one of those chain e-mails from a friend that goes like this:

U.S. Government to release new dollar coins. [Picture of the coin.] You guess it 'In God We Trust' IS GONE!!! If ever there was a reason to boycott something, THIS IS IT!!! DO NOT ACCEPT THE NEW DOLLAR COINS AS CHANGE. Together we can force them out of circulation. Please send to all on your mail list!!!

My friend's father had e-mailed this to her and added that this was a sign of the prophetic fulfillment in the apostasy of the United States.

I do consider myself a Christian, so I obviously do not wish to attack his faith, but I researched this on snopes.com. Snopes.com is a website dedicated to looking into mass e-mail chains to see if these chains are urban legends or not. This one is an urban legend. (I didn't have one of those dollars coins handy at the time so I couldn't just look at the coin itself.) The 'In God We Trust' is inscribed on the edge of the coin instead of on the face due to space restrictions on the face of the coin.

I haven't e-mailed her back, because I don't want her father to think I'm some jerk for attacking his beliefs that the Second Coming is near. I obviously also believe that Jesus will come back some day, but the supposed lack of 'In God We Trust' on the new dollar coins isn't a sign of His soon return.

That second cousin and a job

My second cousin left me a phone message on Friday, Sept 14. "I'm looking for a job and I know you work for Company X. Can you help me in my job search." I did a little research via our job website and then contacted HR. I called him up on Tuesday, Sept 18, leaving a detailed message about contacting a specific person in HR. Then on Tuesday, Sept 25, I decided to call him up again between band set breaks at The Key Club. I hadn't heard anything from him so I decided to see what was up. He picked up the phone and told me he had just had an interview at Company X that day. I found this a tad irritating. Why wouldn't he tell me I'd gotten him an interview? So along comes Friday, Oct 5, and I get an e-mail from my mother, "Your aunt [his grandmother] would like to thank you for getting Cousin J a job at Company X." Hmm, I didn't get him a job, I only got him an interview. Why am I being sent a thank you e-mail? I decided to look up his name on the company e-mail database. There his name was.

I'm a bit irritated with my second cousin. We're not necessarily close, but we do know each other and see each other at family gatherings. I went to his high school graduation. I would have gone to his college graduation party except for the fact that it was mid-week and I had some work deadlines that day. So it isn't like he randomly called some distant relative for a job. Why wouldn't he tell me that he'd interviewed for a job? Why wouldn't he tell me that he got a job offer? Were we just going to randomly run into each other some day on the Company X complex? At the least, I'd think he'd have called me when he got the job offer? "Hey Notes from Vivace, I got a job offer. The offer is for $$ salary amount. Do you think that is fair? Have you heard of my new boss? Do you think I'll get along with him? Do you think the position has upward mobility?"

Oh well. I'm happy he got his first job out of college. For a lot of people, me included, finding that first job after graduating is a very stressful process. For him, it took him four months after graduating to find his first job. I hope he does well at Company X. He better say "hi" when we run into each other some day.

Notes from Vivace

The cat in the apartment window

When leaving for work, I walk past this apartment unit where there is a cat that sits on the window seal each morning looking at me while I walk past. This time, the cat was missing. I actually felt sad that I wasn't able to see the cat as I headed to work. I was leaving for work a few minutes later than I usually do. Maybe the cat has this routine of sitting on the window seal for only a few minutes a morning and then he/she is off to eating breakfast. Oh well, that cat better be back next week staring at me as I walk by.

Notes from Vivace

The Term Infamous

I've had the term infamous applied to me twice in the past few months. Just recently a myspace bulletin was sent out asking people to show up to an event, because I was going to make my infamous brownies. When using this word, I think the people meant it in a positive light. I believe they misinterpret the meaning of the word. I think when people see the word infamous they think it is another word for famous. But the term infamous means notoriously evil or disgraceful. I am sure I misuse words all the time so I can't get to critical of those misusing the word infamous. But just as an FYI to anyone who comes across this blog: infamous means evil not good.

Notes from Vivace

The Electric Bill

I live in Los Angeles and during late August/early September there was a serious heat wave that hit the city. I live in an apartment and only have a wall unit air conditioner in my living room so for a few nights I slept in the living room with the air conditioner on all night long.

I dreaded the upcoming bill. The bill arrived recently and it was high. It was at an all time high -- by $1. I was expecting it to come in at 20 to 30 percent higher considering that the air conditioner was on all night long. When I saw the bill, even though it was at an all time high, it was a very pleasant surprise.

Notes from Vivace