When I feel lonesome:
"What Hurts the Most" by Rascal Flatts
"Safe and Sound" by Sheryl Crow
"Never Say Never" by The Fray
"Save Me" by Aimee Mann
"Secretly" by Skunk Anansie
"Trouble" by Coldplay
"The Fall Out" by O.A.R.
"When the Stars Go Blue" by The Corrs featuring Bono
"All Fall Down" by OneRepublic
"Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova with Marja Tuhkanen and Bertrand Galen
"Dreaming with a Broken Heart" by John Mayer
"Fix You" by Coldplay
Friday, March 6, 2009
Arts and Lectures Series
This past Monday I went to support the Arts and Lecture series by purchasing a ticket to the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour that was showing in Campbell Hall. I wasn't quite sure what the film festival was all about, but since it pertained to the outdoors I figured it would be a delightful evening. And it was a very delightful evening!
Check out the introduction video:
The first film was called "The Sharp End: Eastern Europe". This excerpt was about a group of american climbers who traveled to Germany and the Czech Republic to learn about climbing technique unique to the region. Instead of using traditional climbing methods the climbers in this area of the world use knots of varying sizes to tether themselves to the rock faces. It can be very harrowing and you just hope you have the right sized knot.
The second film was "The Cable Car". This was an animated short film from Switzerland. This film follows an old man loaded with a roll of tape and a perilous journey towards the top of a mountain. As an Athletic Trainer I could relate, because I know just how handy tape can be at times.
The third film was "Red Gold". This film is a documentary about the potential opening of the largest open copper and gold pit mine in the United States in the watershed area of the worlds largest wild salmon fishery system. The parts of the documentary shown at the film festival was fairly one sided, but what do you expect when they are showing this to a bunch of eco-lovers and tree huggers; I do include myself in that group. The documentary was very compelling and makes me want to move and live in Alaska even more. Now if only Sarah Palin wasn't the governor!
After a short intermission we watched our fourth film of the night. "The Red Helmet" was a short six to eight minute film where a group of adventures were given a camera and a challenge. The challenge was to show five outdoor sports in a film six to eight minutes in length. Well, they saw their challenge and countered it with showing eight outdoor sports while telling the story of a young boy overcoming his fears.
Check it out:
Next up was "Mountain Town: The Cowboy and the Park Goddess". This film was an excerpt from a documentary about the people who live in Aspen, CO. The subjects of this film was a snow patrol chief at Half basin and the park manager. Following "Mountain Town" was "Patagonian Winter". This film followed to Scottish climbers who were attempting to summit a rock formation in Paragonia in the winter time; a feat that had never been done. To say the least this film was mostly comical. Although they did not make it to the summit, they had an adventure all the same.
The final film of the night was "Crux": Imagine twelve solid minutes of this type of stuff!
By far the most insane thing was watching Ryan Leech ride his bike the distance of a driveway on a metal chain! I wish had that kind of balance! Shoot, I'm wishing I had a bicycle!
I had a ticket to go to the second night of the film festival as well, but didn't end up making it as I spent the evening in the Emergency Room with one of my athletes. I was fairly bummed about it too, because after Monday nights line up I was really looking forward to Tuesday nights. The film festival spanned two nights with a different line-up airing each evening. If the Banff Mountain Film festival world tour comes to your town don't walk but run and get your tickets, because it is purely amazing!
Check out the introduction video:
The first film was called "The Sharp End: Eastern Europe". This excerpt was about a group of american climbers who traveled to Germany and the Czech Republic to learn about climbing technique unique to the region. Instead of using traditional climbing methods the climbers in this area of the world use knots of varying sizes to tether themselves to the rock faces. It can be very harrowing and you just hope you have the right sized knot.
The second film was "The Cable Car". This was an animated short film from Switzerland. This film follows an old man loaded with a roll of tape and a perilous journey towards the top of a mountain. As an Athletic Trainer I could relate, because I know just how handy tape can be at times.
The third film was "Red Gold". This film is a documentary about the potential opening of the largest open copper and gold pit mine in the United States in the watershed area of the worlds largest wild salmon fishery system. The parts of the documentary shown at the film festival was fairly one sided, but what do you expect when they are showing this to a bunch of eco-lovers and tree huggers; I do include myself in that group. The documentary was very compelling and makes me want to move and live in Alaska even more. Now if only Sarah Palin wasn't the governor!
After a short intermission we watched our fourth film of the night. "The Red Helmet" was a short six to eight minute film where a group of adventures were given a camera and a challenge. The challenge was to show five outdoor sports in a film six to eight minutes in length. Well, they saw their challenge and countered it with showing eight outdoor sports while telling the story of a young boy overcoming his fears.
Check it out:
Next up was "Mountain Town: The Cowboy and the Park Goddess". This film was an excerpt from a documentary about the people who live in Aspen, CO. The subjects of this film was a snow patrol chief at Half basin and the park manager. Following "Mountain Town" was "Patagonian Winter". This film followed to Scottish climbers who were attempting to summit a rock formation in Paragonia in the winter time; a feat that had never been done. To say the least this film was mostly comical. Although they did not make it to the summit, they had an adventure all the same.
The final film of the night was "Crux": Imagine twelve solid minutes of this type of stuff!
By far the most insane thing was watching Ryan Leech ride his bike the distance of a driveway on a metal chain! I wish had that kind of balance! Shoot, I'm wishing I had a bicycle!
I had a ticket to go to the second night of the film festival as well, but didn't end up making it as I spent the evening in the Emergency Room with one of my athletes. I was fairly bummed about it too, because after Monday nights line up I was really looking forward to Tuesday nights. The film festival spanned two nights with a different line-up airing each evening. If the Banff Mountain Film festival world tour comes to your town don't walk but run and get your tickets, because it is purely amazing!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Netflix'n it!
This past week I sat down and enjoyed myself some Netflix.
The first movie I watched was "Lars and the Real Girl" staring Ryan Gosling. The synopsis of this movie says that it is an oddball comedy. Although there are plenty of comedic moments I thought the broader message of the film was that of a community coming together to help Lars and the journey of his character. The funniest moments in the film are the non-verbal reactions to Lars' delusion and at times the extent of Lars' lack of social skills. Ryan Gosling does a fine job of acting. His acting career has come a long way.
The second movie I watched was "The Visitor" staring Richard Jennings. I really enjoyed this movie. Although the ending was not what I had expected to happen the journey of Jennings character Walter was a delight to watch. The premise of the movie is that a widowed college professor finds an immigrant couple living in his New York apartment. Walter becomes immersed in their lives and learns how to live again. The movie also gives the audience a small glimpse on the treatment of illegal aliens and how they are treated in the United States. This one is definitely worth watching!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Socking folding and reflection?
What a weird night!
I found myself sitting on my bed matching up my socks and pondering about my life. Weird huh? Who knew socking folding would trigger a walk through memory lane and the self discussion of why I am the way am!
I was listening to the MGMT song "Time to Pretend"; the lead song in "21", on my ipod. This got me thinking how I should purchase this movie for my Mom and Dad as I think they would really enjoy it. That thought then snowballed into the memory of how my Dad sat my brother and me down in the kitchen one night when I was in elementary school and taught us how to play 21; aka blackjack. We would sit at the table and just play for hours. I'm pretty sure I begged my Dad on occasions to play blackjack with me. Come to think of it, I am fairly certain that I played blackjack by myself quite a bit. I used to deal out four hands and then I would take turns with each hand and deciding when to stay, fold, and hit. Then I discovered solitaire and my ability to entertain myself with a deck of cards for hours on end began!
It was with that memory that came the realization that my parents have instilled in me the ability to enjoy the simple things in life. Growing up as a kid we only went on one true vacation, and the only reason we went was because my uncle was going to convention and my mom and dad were a good babysitter option for my cousins and an extra driver on the way down and back. Other than that we went on short day trips to the zoo, air force museum, Indianapolis motor speedway, Grandma's house, Grandpa and Grandma's cabin, or a local park.
More times than not we would spend weekends doing lawn work, beginning and finishing household projects, or doing chores around the house. Of course I did a bunch of kid stuff as well. I used to shoot hoops in the driveway, play with dogs, kick the soccer ball in the backyard, explore the woods, and ride my bike around the neighborhood. In the spring and cool summer nights we used to sit around camp fires on the weekends and roast marshmallows, stare at the stars, swat at the mosquitoes flying around our ears, and just talking.
Sometimes the best things in life really are free.
Who knows maybe I've been sniffing too many dryer sheets tonight!
I found myself sitting on my bed matching up my socks and pondering about my life. Weird huh? Who knew socking folding would trigger a walk through memory lane and the self discussion of why I am the way am!
I was listening to the MGMT song "Time to Pretend"; the lead song in "21", on my ipod. This got me thinking how I should purchase this movie for my Mom and Dad as I think they would really enjoy it. That thought then snowballed into the memory of how my Dad sat my brother and me down in the kitchen one night when I was in elementary school and taught us how to play 21; aka blackjack. We would sit at the table and just play for hours. I'm pretty sure I begged my Dad on occasions to play blackjack with me. Come to think of it, I am fairly certain that I played blackjack by myself quite a bit. I used to deal out four hands and then I would take turns with each hand and deciding when to stay, fold, and hit. Then I discovered solitaire and my ability to entertain myself with a deck of cards for hours on end began!
It was with that memory that came the realization that my parents have instilled in me the ability to enjoy the simple things in life. Growing up as a kid we only went on one true vacation, and the only reason we went was because my uncle was going to convention and my mom and dad were a good babysitter option for my cousins and an extra driver on the way down and back. Other than that we went on short day trips to the zoo, air force museum, Indianapolis motor speedway, Grandma's house, Grandpa and Grandma's cabin, or a local park.
More times than not we would spend weekends doing lawn work, beginning and finishing household projects, or doing chores around the house. Of course I did a bunch of kid stuff as well. I used to shoot hoops in the driveway, play with dogs, kick the soccer ball in the backyard, explore the woods, and ride my bike around the neighborhood. In the spring and cool summer nights we used to sit around camp fires on the weekends and roast marshmallows, stare at the stars, swat at the mosquitoes flying around our ears, and just talking.
Sometimes the best things in life really are free.
Who knows maybe I've been sniffing too many dryer sheets tonight!
Friday, February 13, 2009
An Evening with Netflix
On Monday night I came to the realization that I can only watch every season of "The Office" and "Family Guy" so many times before they are merely background noise while I waste away my life chatting in front of my computer, so I signed up for Netflix; trade one idiot box for another right? I had been meaning to sign up for awhile now and finally made the plunge. I haven't bought any new movies to watch lately; what? the economy is bad and my mom taught me to be very financially responsible, so my home movie experience was quite bland and predictable.
I opted for the option where I get 3 movies at a time with an unlimited number of movies a month. What can I say I'm loser with few friends, so I spend nights and weekends at home amusing myself. On the plus side though, this will give me a great opportunity to have more consistent blog entries. I got my first three movies in the mail on Wednesday.
Tonight's feature was "Into the Wild" starring Emile Hirsch and directed by Sean Penn. This is the first movie since middle school that I actually read the book before I watched the movie. The book was great and I felt a connection with Christopher J. McCandless and what he was searching for and what he did. Although, I don't think I could live as a drifter. I have too much of an obsession with showering for that to happen, so no need to worry Mom. I would though love to camp and live in Alaska one day. Just the idea of waking up with breath taking views of the Yukon would be a life worth living. Kayaking down the Colorado river would be pretty awesome too. The only issue for me would be that I don't want to experience these things alone. I want to find someone to share them with. This was a lesson that Christopher learned the hard way.
Sean Penn did an amazing job with this story and with this film. He's come a long way since his days with Madonna. Each actor and actress played their role extremely well and the cinematography was amazing.
Movies to come:
"The Visitor", "Lars and the Real Girl", "Once", "Blindsight", and "Michael Clayton"
I opted for the option where I get 3 movies at a time with an unlimited number of movies a month. What can I say I'm loser with few friends, so I spend nights and weekends at home amusing myself. On the plus side though, this will give me a great opportunity to have more consistent blog entries. I got my first three movies in the mail on Wednesday.
Tonight's feature was "Into the Wild" starring Emile Hirsch and directed by Sean Penn. This is the first movie since middle school that I actually read the book before I watched the movie. The book was great and I felt a connection with Christopher J. McCandless and what he was searching for and what he did. Although, I don't think I could live as a drifter. I have too much of an obsession with showering for that to happen, so no need to worry Mom. I would though love to camp and live in Alaska one day. Just the idea of waking up with breath taking views of the Yukon would be a life worth living. Kayaking down the Colorado river would be pretty awesome too. The only issue for me would be that I don't want to experience these things alone. I want to find someone to share them with. This was a lesson that Christopher learned the hard way.Sean Penn did an amazing job with this story and with this film. He's come a long way since his days with Madonna. Each actor and actress played their role extremely well and the cinematography was amazing.
Movies to come:
"The Visitor", "Lars and the Real Girl", "Once", "Blindsight", and "Michael Clayton"
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