Tuesday, November 29, 2005

I am not the only one... (no pun intended)

I'm not sure if I even mentioned this when I was posting about my trip to India, but there was one morning I woke up and looked like this:

I know what you are thinking: Wow, what a hottie!

I had first realized what happened in the middle of the night when I woke up with my eye in pain. I wasn't sure what was going on, and had just suspected I had something under my eyelid, like a fleck of dust or something small. However, when I woke my bunk mate Matt up to look at it for me, his reaction told me it was something worse. I was tired and hadn't slept much the previous nights, so I took a Benadryl and went back to bed. I tossed and turned a bit; I am sure you all know what its like trying to sleep when you are in pain. Needless to say, I woke up in the morning with a swollen eye. After racking our brains over ideas of what might have happened, and not coming up with a solid answer, I asked our contact. Based on her life in India, she quickly diagnosed it as multiple ant bites. I took some more Benadryl and put some cream on it throughout the day and it was back to a somewhat normal size by the end of the day. Sure enough, there were several small red bumps (not visible for obvious reasons when it was swollen), indicative of ant bites.

This didn't bother me too much, but certainly made that day more interesting for me (and many more for my team mates who still bring it up). However, after reading this story (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/india_ants_dc), I realize possibly how bad it could have been. So, apparently, eye-eating ants are big in India.

Monday, November 21, 2005

the Original Superman

Well, this weekend I realized that I didn't add one of the most important things about the preview of the trailer to the new Superman movie in the post about it.
In the original Superman movie, Marlon Brando played the role or Jor-El, who is the father of Kal-El (Clark Kent's birth name on the planet Krypton). It appears, even though he passed away last year, he will once again play the role of Jor-El. (That is another topic all together though.) What I wanted to point out was the monologue from the father to his son in the preview:
Even though you have been raised as a human being, you are not one of them. They could be a great people Kal-El if they wish to be; they only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all their capacity for good I have sent them you, my only son.
Now, for most of you, this might sound similar to another story we heard so much in our lives. Do you know what I am talking about? The story of the Original Superman, Jesus Christ.

Friday, November 18, 2005

... just keeps getting better

Weeks ago my brother-in-law, someone who shares my deep respect (read: obsession) for the Man of Steel and all things Kryptonian, told me that the trailer for the new Superman movie, Superman Returns, would be showing during previews for the new Harry Potter movie. While I have been excited for the upcoming Superman saga, I didn't want to be one of those nerds who buys a movie ticket strictly for one preview; I hear there were tons of people that did that for the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies. That's just not me. Yeah I am excited, but I'm not going to blow $8 on a couple minutes of something I will see later for free.

Well, while watching Smallville last night, much to my delight, they showed a preview of the trailer that would be coming out soon. Yes, you read that right ... a preview ... of a preview ... of a movie coming out next summer. While I also think this is a big crazy, I must admit I enjoyed it and got excited about the new movie.

If you want to check it out, simply click here and select your favorite viewing preferences.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

I just couldn't wait

I love Christmas. Everything that has to do with it is great: giving, candy, family, friends, snow, and second to most of all, Christmas music. (If you don’t know what the first most of all great thing about Christmas is, read the Gospel of Luke chapter 2 verses 1-20.) I don’t know what it is about the Christmas music that I love so much, but I can throw together a few ideas:
  1. We only listen to it for 2 months out of the year. This is then representing the idea of supply and demand, and things done in moderation hold a lot of appeal.
  2. It is uplifting and encouraging. Save for Grandma got run over by a Reindeer, all the Christmas music I own/listen to is fun and upbeat and life giving.
  3. It reminds us of being kids. I don’t know exactly why, but I would be suprised to hear from someone who didn’t feel just a bit more like a kid around the holidays.

With all that thoroughly philosophized by me for all of 10 minutes, we have a real issue to discuss. When do you start listening to Christmas music? Or when is the appropriate time to start listening to it?

I think in the past I have been pretty notorious for starting early; too early some would say. If my memory serves me right, last year, and years prior, I have started listening to music around my birthday (mid-November). I vividly remember friends giving me grief about this, saying “It’s not even Thanksgiving!” to which I wittily replied “Agreed, but until there is Thanksgiving music, I think I can use the next holiday’s music without offending this holiday.” This year I started even earlier – November 1st. This gives me a solid 2 months of Christmas music. I don’t mean “solid” in the sense of listening to only Christmas music, but solid in the sense of not listening to it any other time of year. I hear rumors that some radio stations have started the 24/7 all-day every-day Christmas music playing – that, I think, is a bit much right now and probably shouldn’t even start until the week before Christmas. Once again, moderation is key right now because you will certainly be inundated with the carols playing over every department store speaker as you rush to do your shopping, very soon.

Before I get into a bit more specifics about what I will be listening to this year, I would be curious to know everyone else’s thoughts on when Christmas music should start.

  • In high school, I feel in love with the music from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and every year since, have listened to them religiously. If you have not heard their music, you are missing out; stop what you are doing right now and click here and listen to "Christmas Eve Sarajevo," one of my favorite pieces. I would love to go to one of their concerts some day.
  • Another staple of the holiday season is the music from A Charlie Brown Christmas. I will only excuse you for not having heard it if did not grow up in America.
  • From there, there are a plethora of other wonderful artists who have done incredible things with holiday cheer. Harry Connick Jr., Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Amy Grant, Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole, Mariah Carey and yes I even enjoy some of the short lived pop star’s Christmas mixes.
  • This year I made two purchases so far of Christmas music, one of them being Diana Krall “Christmas Songs.” A friend a few years back introduced me to her music and it has been a great expansion to my cornucopia of genres that grace my ears. I suppose she would be classified under jazz, similar to Norah Jones. Maybe, maybe not. I am not so much a knowledgeable person when it comes to music and being able to tell you what a G note sounds like (is there a G note?) or even really know if someone is singing flat or sharp, but I know good music when I hear it. Diana Krall is good music.

So, let me know when you think the best time to start turning those Christmas CDs (or loading the mp3s onto your iPod), and what your favorites are.

Merry Christmas!

About me

  • I'm supermn
  • From Colorado, United States
  • I am a Colorado native. For my entire life I have lived in this state. Born in Fort Collins, grew up in Colorado Springs, college in Fort Collins, and currently in Colorado Springs.
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