That Kind of Night

From Vangelis's 1995 album Voices, with vocals by Stina Nordenstam, here is "Ask the Mountains":

One is Bliss

Making an unwise choice because you don't know better can be chalked up to ignorance.  Making an unwise choice when you do know better is being stupid.  I think I saved myself from making a stupid choice today.  I just hope I can keep myself from still making that stupid choice.

Unrelated, heard a song today I thought I'd share.  Here's "Mine to Remember", by WAZ.  I've never heard of WAZ before, but I intend to hear more.

Best Face Forward

Whenever I get in the mood to change my photo on my various social networking sites, I can never find one I like enough to use.  This has led me to discover that my apartment is not an interesting place to take self-portrait photos.  Which means I need to work on obtaining a good new photo.  Maybe I'll do something at work which has a couple of interesting spots, or use a friend or such to get something done.  I don't even like the photos of me from events, because I'm either making some weird goofy face or it's me and at least one other person in the photo.

If you haven't heard the band Blind Pilot, you need to.  If you have, then you will enjoy hearing them again.  I give you "One Red Thread".

Where I Am Free

do you want to see it?
the place where i am free
'cause in my mind i've been there
and there's no one here but me

In a tweet today, Wil Wheaton wished his followers a wonderful weekend and closed with "don't sacrifice the journey for the destination."  I'll get there, someday, and I'll enjoy the process.

Augustana - Twenty Years:

Written By

A couple of weeks ago, or maybe it was only a week ago, my coworker asked me why I wasn't working towards my desire to be a writer by writing for a small project our company is working for.  Not having a good answer, I approached my boss about it, and she was optimistic.  Today the producer running the project shot me an email with a script to re-write.  That's sort of what this project entails for now, rewriting previous segments.  So I'm excited about this, and nervous at the same time as it's something different and challenging.  But, I'm confident that I can do a good job so long as I have proper guidance to start.  I'm not gonna get it right the first time all on my own, and that's quite alright with me.

Pandora keeps introducing me to awesome music.  Seabird is a recent discovery thanks to it, although the band isn't really that new.  They're Christian alternative, according to Wikipedia, but so far I haven't heard anything that screams Jesus.  Here's an interesting song that's appropriately titled "Apparitions".

Outside Looking In

Sometimes your friends tell you things about yourself that jolt you.  Your first instinct is to defend yourself, because in a way, you're under attack.  Then you think about it a bit more, and you realize they aren't really attacking you, they're just pointing out something they see, and you start to see it in and for yourself.  Then you resolve to do something about it, and hope you can accomplish your own resolution.  Thank you, friend(s).

The Beatles - With A Little Help From My Friends

Hittin' It

I'm starting something new today.  Something I plan to stick with and see what happens.  What is it?  Can't say.  Sorry!  But you'll know soon enough I hope, assuming I stick with the project.  I'm sure I'll be showing it off soon enough if all goes well.  So here's to me!

Joshua Radin's new album, "The Rock and the Tide" came out today.  I like it, but then, I like pretty much all of his stuff, so I'm biased.  Off his record, here's "Streetlight", because I love streetlights, and I like this song.  Now go buy his album!

Another Life

If I were to move to Vancouver, and were to pick a non-film/tv career, I'd want to be a seaplane pilot for one of the shuttle services that flies to Vancouver, Nanaimo, and the Gulf Islands.  I don't know why I'd want to do that, but I would.  Or maybe just drive the little boats to/from Granville Island.  Something where I'd meet people, see regulars, and have a routine I guess.  Maybe when I retire...

I was recently informed of Jason Lytle.  I've only heard two of his songs so far, but I'm really liking the sound.  He was a member of the indie band Grandaddy, but has his own album out, "Yours Truly, The Commuter".  If I hadn't looked him up, I wouldn't have known he was 41 from his sound.

Jason Lytle - Brand New Sun:

I Could Be Dreaming

"If you had such a dream, would you get up and do the thing you believe in?"

Like most people, I have dreams, both while awake, and while asleep.  Sometimes I wake up and wish that I could live the life I was having in my dream.  Those dreams are usually ones in which I have something I desire in my 'real' life, whether it's a specific person, situation, job, etc.  Then I reflect upon these dreams, comparing what I had in the dream to what I want from life, and contemplating how I can make the dream come true, and then I move on.

One thing I'm very bad at is pursuing my dreams.  I've always been somewhat of a "satisfactant", in that if I'm neither happy nor unhappy, I am satisfied and don't need to change things.  I often take the stance that it is I that needs to be happier with what I have, rather than change what I have to be happier.  I guess this works sometimes, but not to the level that I take it.

No, no, I need to pursue those dreams.  I also need to stop talking about doing it, and just get out there and do it.

Today one of my friends from middle school, who I still keep in contact with, got engaged.  I'm excited for him and his fiance, who I've only met once, but she seemed nice and they seemed like a good match.  I'm only slightly surprised he beat my other middle school friend to the punch, as the newly engaged couple has not been dating as long as the non-engaged couple.  I've been wondering when my non-engaged friend would pop the question, but I think this new development will actually delay it a bit, as he's not the type to copy the actions of others.  Anyway, my friend is engaged, and that's awesome.

So, in honor of my friend's engagement, I give you Alanis Morrisette's cover of Cole Porter's "Let's Do It":

Soldier On A Field

A few coworkers and I got together for happy hour at the bar up the street after work today.  One of my coworkers left about 20 minutes before the rest of us, and another coworker mentioned we should head over, as we couldn't let a soldier out on the field by himself.  I immediately thought of "Home" by Live.

3 If By Train

I remember as a youngster learning the infamous poem of "Paul Revere's Ride", and will always recall "One if by land, and two if by sea".  I, however, would like to choose option three, which I have designated as "if by train".

For a long time I've wanted to take a long train adventure.  I've never really thought of an international train trip like the Orient Express so much as just a slow trip across country.  Sort of like a cruise on land.  I discovered today that it'd be relatively inexpensive to take a train from Burbank to Seattle, and then a bus up to Vancouver.  I'm tempted.  Very, very tempted.

I really like Joe Purdy's music.  It's even better on rainy days like today.  "Make It Up" starts with the lyric "When a train comes, I don't know what to do / I'm leavin' town, but I ain't leavin' you".  That's how I feel about that train trip I mentioned.  I want to do it, but I don't think I'd want to come back when I do.  When I finally leave town, it'll be by train I think.  Going somewhere without a car would really cement the deal.

Anyway, "Make It Up", but Joe Purdy:

A decade

Some days it's hard to remember that the choices we made have helped us become who we are.  This coming weekend is the ten year reunion for my class at the boarding school I attended in high school.  I left after my junior year, and while sometimes I wish I'd stayed, I would miss some of the friends I made as a result of transferring.  Interestingly, none of the those friends are from the school I transferred to, but rather from other circumstances of living at home that year, such as former coworkers I still keep in contact with and see on a rare occurrence, but talk to often.

Back in those days, I was really into Jars of Clay.  I still like them, but not to at the same level as I did then.  However, their latest album, "The Shelter" came out today.  I don't know how I feel about it yet.  It's a different sound, and that's fine, as bands need to progress, but it's just not hitting me the way their previous albums have.  It feels tired on the first listen, and that's a bummer.  I suppose that since all but one song feature another artist, and it's actual title is "Jars of Clay Presents The Shelter", I can only think of it as more a compilation album, and that their next "real" album will bring back all that I've come to know and love about their music.

"Shelter", of the album "The Shelter", contains the lyric "In the shelter of each other, we will live", which are old Irish words that inspired this album.  The album jacket states, "These songs are meant to celebrate and inspire small communities of people to care for one another and embody the love, peace and hope promised by God in the life of Jesus."  Thus, it is the song of the day.

Moving Forward

Today I took a step toward the future.  I asked my boss about the possibility of writing some of the short scripts for a very low budget project we're working on.  She said the chances were good, and we'd talk to the writer/producer about it when he starts, which is still to be determined.  So that's exciting.

I feel productive.  Maybe my couple of short vacations have refreshed me, even though I'm still feeling a bit under the weather from the cold I've been battling.  Maybe it was the constant not-quite-rain we had today that's rejuvenated me.  Friends of mine proclaim themselves creatures of the sun; I am a creature of the rain.  I was a bit annoyed with people who were complaining about the rain, as if we had to deal with it so often.  C'mon people, enjoy the changes life brings us once in a while!

Heard a new song today that I liked a lot.  "My Own" by The Perishers was appropriate today.  Why?  Watch/listen, and see:

The Calm Before the Storm?

The past few weeks and weekends have been hectic.  Things will be quiet for a while.  No trips planned until Christmas, although there's a potential Thanksgiving trip that could be interesting, and to somewhere I've never been and never anticipated going.  A year ago I did say that I wanted 2010 to be my year of travel, and it seems to be coming to fruition rather well.

Today's song is Muse - Unintended.  I've apparently heard it before, as it was rated in iTunes, but I heard it again tonight while walking to Starbucks after the long drive from Vegas, and really found myself loving it.  Quiet, melodic, lyrical, and great.  It comes off their 1999 debut album, Showbiz, and is well worth a listen.  It doesn't even sound like it's 11 years old.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9LOFXwPwC4

Never The Same

When I worked at Disneyland, I was always asked if being behind the scenes 'ruined the magic'.  It never really did, as I always looked for what made things work the way they do.  I'd look for the controls, the electronics, etc that made the rides go.  So it didn't really ruin the magic for me so much as amplify it.

A week ago today I was touring the sets of Smallville, a show I watch week after week with anticipation.  It's in it's tenth and final season, and in a couple of weeks we'll be treated to watching the 200th episode.  Monumental, really.  Beginning last week, and continuing with this weeks episode, I'm no longer able to watch Smallville the same way.  I've BEEN there, stood where they're standing.  I now see the 'bigger picture' of what's around them.  Is the magic ruined?  Nope.  It's again amplified, because now I get to see how they do it.  How they create the various looks from things that can be so non-descript.

Such a cool, cool experience.  Someday I'll give others that same extended vantage.

I'm off to Vegas for the weekend, and so I COULD leave you with the ever cliche "Viva Las Vegas" by Elvis for today's song.  Don't pretend like you don't love it, because you do, and we both know it.  But I won't do that.  Instead, I'll leave you with "Geraldine" by Glasvegas.

God bless social workers.