Tiki & Beer (or vice versa)

Today, after work, I went to the grocery and felt compelled to buy even more beer (Maritime Pacific's Nightwatch Dark Ale and Full Sail's Wreck the Halls). Of course that meant finishing a beer or two when I arrived home, in order to have space for the new six-pack of ale, since the other was a single holiday-size bottle. If there was ever a time to test my new Tiki (from Hawaii) bottle opener, this was it, and by golly, it worked. To my slight dismay at my thoughtlessness, I did not use it on the best beer in the house, but it worked just fine on the 2 Below.

No Camus today (yet), though I did finish a fun series on chocolate where a blogger decides to explore the sources of an upscale Dallas Chocolatier who seems to prefer to be thought of as a chocolate maker instead. It seemed well researched, but I don't really see it as a story of anything other than a couple of people deciding to exploit this culture's desire to pay for exclusivity and the latest things. Did PT Barnum say "There's one born every minute"? If so, it still holds true, and quite humorously, many of them have money.

Journalism (and 'blogs?)

I don't take this blogging business seriously. I don't really see it as a hobby, and I think I am less inclined to document facts of my life online than I am in a journal. Since this is most definitely not a journal, nor a serious effort at much of anything, what is it? Why do I spend my time typing things here? Also, why are these questions important?

Last question first, as with any written effort, it is best to have an idea of why you are writing it. Is a journal a document of life? If not that, just a repository of ideas? Perhaps, a collection of quotes or poetry that one likes? Journals don't have a specified form, just like blogs don't, but you don't go to the bookstore and buy just any magazine, normally if you are buying a journal of that nature, it is focused, which is what makes it interesting, because something in its focus is of interest to you as a reader.

Like too many things, I don't have much to really through in here, because I don't believe my generation was taught to have hobbies. The esoteric hobby concepts like stamp collecting just didn't take off to a generation with a television around, especially when everyone was all excited about Atari or Dungeons & Dragons. Sports never struck me as a hobby, and still don't, though how past-times differ from hobbies is a difference I don't quite feel like parsing right now.

So what is this 'blog about? Still, I don't know, but I do recall that I mention interesting ideas I come across in my reading (a past-time, really, not a hobby, though I think rare book collecting qualifies as a hobby), and earlier today, prior to a phone conversation with Dave, I was reading Camus (Camus at Combat), and ran across an article on the nature of journalism in which he defines a journalist as a "historian of the moment." The article was one written shortly after the liberation of Paris when Camus was seemingly disgusted with the direction of the newly free press. The direction, "any news is fit to print provided it appears to be a scoop," seems to be one the press has yet to break, though bloggers tend to be more persistent regarding asides(side-stories) they see as important to the greater picture. Bloggers also seem more inclined to delve into the dark places mainstream avoids, since mainstream doesn't like to shit where they eat. Perhaps this last is the root of the problem. It seems that as long as moneyed interests control the press, and what are stock-holders but moneyed interests, the press is shackled by concerns for profit. This concern does likely effect decisions, though most media would deny it.

Hmmm... the way this has rambled really makes me appreciate a bit of good form, and also calls to mind something I recall reading which was said by Gunter Grass regarding computer composition. Basically it was to the effect that he could always tell when something had been composed on a computer because the style wasn't as tight and edited as something written first in longhand, which leads me to think if I am going to keep this up, then I should try to do a better job on the composition side.

Quickly, or perhaps not, I do think I write here for a purpose, but I don't really know if the purpose is to edify anyone or provide a living example of what not to do with a blog. I sometimes enjoy throwing things out, not knowing if they ever land anywhere, or if they will just be discovered accidentally 5 yrs out, when I have ceased adding to this. Maybe, like Atari, it is because of the newness and hipness of it that I am doing something here, but more likely it is because I have time to do something, and would rather do something here than with a television. Should I list more possibilities?

The perfect soundtrack for a blog-based movie?

At the encouragement and after the example of Dave, here is the musical list, though in advance I will tell you holiday tunes were skipped, since normally they don't receive play in shuffle.

Opening Credits--Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair (Nina Simone)... if nothing else, it starts things on an interesting note.

Waking Up--The Charleston (Spike Jones)... You better wake up it this is playing.

First Day at School--Forty Days and Forty Nights (Muddy Waters)... most likely a reference to how long it seemed.

Falling in Love--Peach Plum Pear (Joanna Newsome)... this is labeled "Harpsichord Pop" in the genre field. Not a common pop instrument, for something that hasn't been all that common for me.

Fight Song--The American Patrol (The Glenn Miller Orchestra)... I wasn't ever in the armed forces.

Breaking Up--The Moon and I (Ron Goodwin)... Nothing like an exotica instrumental for those difficult times of life.

I am actually doing this as I type, Prom being next truly concerns me considering how things have been going.

Prom--Hairshirt (R.E.M.)... how appropriate, just what wearing that prom tuxedo felt like.

Life--Explode and Make Up (Sugar)... stress relief

Breakdown--Jungle Safari (Nocabouts)... genre coded as rock, but more like exotica, with pseudo tribal moans, or some such thing, mostly instrumental, like any good breakdown should be.

Driving--Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush)... perhaps a hint that I should slow down my driving?

Flashback--Belfast (Sasha vs The Light Remix) (Obital)... a song that begins with ominous words on "the Mobius, a twist in the fabric of space where time become a loop" and so it goes.

Getting Back Together--Pressure Face (Sunbrain)... a song from a sampler that I don't play often, and now it is gone

Getting Back Together (Now that Pressure Face is no longer on my Ipod)... Chick on my Tip (Sublime), which of course being gay makes for an interesting choice.

Wedding--Meftuh' (Rachid Taha)... it is in arabic. Am I going to convert prior to have a gay islamic wedding?

Birth of a Child--A Whisper (Coldplay)... always thought they came in with a wail.

Final Battle--Cheops and Nefertiti (Francesco De Gemini)... somehow appropriate if you listen to it, but it is film music after all.

Funeral Song--Bama Lama Bama Loo (Elvis Costello)... so it will be a rockin' funeral.

End Credits--Ace of Spades (Link Wray)... just continuing our previous theme, though with an instrumental.

I found it odd that somehow, with almost the complete ouvre of David Bowie in my library, somehow he was missed--maybe I will try this again. By the way, I only skipped one Christmas tune, and it show up after I had to delete that track by Sunbrain.

Last Day Off

Christmas came and went with little exciting to report. On the eve, I made myself a dinner, then surfed the web for a bit. Yesterday, I made coffee, enjoyed the traditional Christmas breakfast of home-made cookies (supplied by Mom), and then opened the handful of gifts I had here, calling family (or receiving calls) along the way. I visited with Kip, Heidi, & Dominick, as well as going over to my old room-mates' place for dinner, and a gift exchange. Sometime after Kevin's birthday (in November) they decided to go off to Thailand, and it sounds as if a good time was had by all.

Tomorrow I return to work for the remaining three days of the year, and right now, I can't say that I am excited about it. I haven't done much the last several days, and now, I am doing laundry while I compose this. Perhaps because it is so close to the end of the year, and it seems another has gone by in which I didn't accomplish nearly so much as I desired, that I am feeling a bit of the end of the year depression. This is not to say that I feel the need to produce a list of resolutions, but rather I need to again focus on where I want to be and what it is that I would like to be doing. Since winning the lottery isn't likely to be in my cards, I should figure out some way to combine those things I enjoy with those things that are required.

Winter Brews

While I would hardly consider myself expert on winter and holiday beer, I do know that I enjoy it. It is unfortunate that I can't get Tuborg's Christmas Ale here, as I really liked it. So far this year, I have had Jolly Roger Christmas Ale, Full Sail Wassail, 2 Below Ale, Delirium Noel, and Jubilale. Likely there has been another, but these come to mind. My favorites would be the Full Sail Wassail and the Delirium Noel, while my least favorite would be the 2 Below. I don't exactly know what they mean by "tawny-roasted malts," but it tastes like they over-roasted them.

Miscellany of the day

At Thanksgiving I visited San Francisco for the first time, and in wandering down Market Street toward the Bay, found this festive scene. It was in the 50's or 60's that day, so the cooling machinery was working overtime.

Anymore I can never walk by a Macy's without a total lack of desire to go inside. It may be because it swallowed so many locally hallowed names (The Bon Marche, Marshall Field's, etc.), but it is also because the stores that now carry its name are no longer special, or at least I don't perceive them as such. Frango mints are a distinctly Marshall Fieldsian treat, but are now a Macy's exclusive, but why would I want to buy them as a treat for someone when they can head down to the local former Lazarus (now Macy's) and get their own. In my mind, there is no great reason to go Christmas shopping at the local department store (now that it isn't "local"), and I did enjoy shopping at Field's at Christmas in Chicago, and still have my well-worn, in need of replacement front pocket wallet/money clip purchased at Field's in Chicago, but I haven't had the same desire to go to Macy's here in Seattle. I can understand their branding logic, as with everything Macy's, you only have one set of in-store brands as well. Personally, I hope Macy's loses their battle to put a sign up on the State Street store, for no other reason than in the digital mock-ups it looks tacky and out of place. As it is, Macy's plasters their name everywhere on/in their premises, to such a degree that I am constantly being reminded that this isn't really "Macy's" but someplace that has been relabeled. I am sure the management there has heard it all before, and quite honestly I also know I am not a customer they desire, being someone who would shop at Field's for the holidays or for special occasions. I rather miss having a "special" place to go where I know there is a good chance I can find something interesting, but now I am out roaming a multitude of small shops, not always near malls, but also guaranteed to provide me with something interesting, though I might have to spend a bit more time looking.

4 more work days

Not too long ago, Dave (whose blog is linked in the sidebar), sent me these lovely postcards. I think my favorite is the chicks as breasts, but pouty with the puppies is also just beyond comment.

The boss is on vacation, so now several of the other managers at work have decided to tell me how to do my job--actually, not only me, but most of those in my department. I have a feeling none of them would like it if John did the same when they were gone, but it is what it is. To me, it is an ideal time to check the job listings at idealist.org.

It has been a bit blust'ry here, with schools closed today due to widespread power outages. I understand that it is threatening snow, but I don't really know if it is falling out in the 'burbs, which have a higher elevation.

Now I understand a bit why I stopped adding to this 'blog as there seemed to be a lack of ideas and activities to report, since I have been living such a lack-luster sort of life out here. My weekend has a few potential Christmas parties, but that is it.

Winter stuff

I keep trying to remember to scan a winter picture for my desktop at work. I am sure I could look into flickr for pictures tagged winter & Romania and find something interesting, but I rather like my picture of Sibiu, probably taken from a room in the Continental Hotel, during a Peace Corps conference of some sort, no doubt.

Christmastime is here, and I still haven't watched the Peanuts' special, though I did watch the Chuck Jones' Grinch last night, and thought about tonight doing something along the lines of Rankin/Bass' "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," though it may be "Frosty" instead. Such are the evils of Christmastime necessity.

I don't know if I will actually keep this up any better than I have in the last few weeks, but I scanned a picture today, so I decided to share it. :)