/art

I missed something on my list last week.

You may have seen this couch gag from The Simpsons:

It was the first time I heard of Banksy. I shrugged, thought it was clever and subversive and went about my business. Then a couple of months ago I watched this movie (it was available for free on Hulu, but now you need Hulu Plus or Netflix):

It was nominated for an Oscar, was about Banksy and because of the couch gag (and liking to be able to say that I watched an Oscar nominated documentary), I spent my lunch break watching it.

I'm hooked. The main reason being the "Obey" images that popped up everywhere, and Shepard Fairey being covered in the film. (Seriously, I had been wondering about it since I first some them about 20 years ago). There's also the eccentric Frenchman, Mr. Brainwash, who may or may not be a creation of Banksy. (And I am, after all, a reluctant francophile).

Like most people, I'm a fan of Monet, Dali, Picasso, Rembrandt... the big names in art. I go to the museum to see lily pads and landscapes, melted clocks and cubist interpretations. In high school, I went to another kind of art museum. We'd go into the flash flood tunnels underneath I-15 and the Strip, mainly to scare and be scared, but there was also lots and lots of graffiti, and much of it could be qualified as "street art," and not only doors to hell (of which there was one).

There's also a grand gallery here in St. Louis on the backside of the flood walls which includes, among other things, a large Spaceman Spiff comic.

To be clear, a lot of graffiti is crap (arguably most of it), but there is some that transcends it's stereotype and becomes art.

In addition to its aesthetic, I'm also a fan of a lot of the commentary of the art. We need subversives and revolutionaries. I may not agree with all of the opinions but it's always important to question where we're at.

When we stop questioning, we stop growing. When we stop growing, we die. It might be a bit dramatic but I believe it, (and it's also how nature works. Viola atrophy).

/Like

So, I figured it's about time for a list. Here are some things that I like:

Cardboard.

Yes, Cardboard starts off my list. You might as well call it the perfect disposable toy. And the great thing about it is that it's never limited to just being a box, as everyone parent knows well. As Calvin and Hobbes demonstrated over and over it can be a time machine, a duplicating machine and, of course, a transmogrifier.

The bonus is that it is easy to become inundated with it, thanks to online shopping. I have made toilet paper/ paper towel rockets, a cereal box marble run, and most recently a dog house. I suppose I should tack on duct tape, especially the blue kind we have at our place.

Archer and Justified

I was worried that Hulu wouldn't be carrying this seasons episodes after I'd gotten hooked on them. Both are on FX, and we don't have cable. Archer is an incredibly irreverent spy cartoon (very Adult Swim-ish) and Justified is the best cop show since The Shield. I highly suggest it. (I would highly suggest Archer, but it pushes the limit sometimes, and I don't want to be yelled at).

I still enjoy NBC's Thursday shows, but these are the ones I get excited for.

MLS

As you should know, I'm now 100% behind Real Salt Lake, but I decided that I really needed to get into the MLS this season, so I did something I've never done before, I joined a fantasy league. I suppose it's not one in the classic sense, but I didn't have to worry about the obnoxious draft, and got Nick Rimando and Tim Ream as my defense. and that makes me happy.

Normally, I'm not a fan of fantasy leagues because I feel that somehow, you betray your real team by hoping other players do well, but I really want the MLS to succeed and this is a way for me to put my money where my mouth is.

Family

I've got a cute wife, an awesome son and a baby girl that will soon be here. They have been an anchor in my life the past couple of years and I feel Emily has had to put up with a lot. I'm lucky to have them.

So there you go, not a huge list, but a list nonetheless. Also, I wanted you all to know that I do try and comment on comments, so if you do comment, check back.

/revolt

Revolutions seem to be fashionable at the moment, and not just in Northern Africa and the Middle East. I'd say we're rather close to one here in the U.S., not quite as major as in Egypt, but revolution nonetheless. But before I dip into that, I want to comment on the craziness overseas.

I love this picture. What do I love about it? The fact that he's flashing a peace sign (or victory, but I prefer peace). I have to say that I'm proud of Egyptians. Standing up to tyranny is not easy task (just ask Libya), but they did it in a way that, I think, blew a lot of people minds. There was a little bit of violence (you can't hurt the handsome off of Anderson Cooper), but for the most part it was a big sit in. I know that the future will have to play out, and nothing is certain after a revolution, but the way it was handled by the protesters has to be applauded.

But...

I think a huge part of the success was because the military refused to turn on their people. If they hadn't, I think we'd be seeing similar scenes as to what is going on in Libya. And you never now what will happen when military leaders step in (both Mubarak and Gaddafi were military men).

Now, allow me to step back a bit.

There's a rather good photo essay that briefly goes over the history of major revolutions, and one point, to me, sticks out rather nicely. How do the people who come into power view themselves? In the U.S., there was plenty of bickering (and an eventual civil war) but, I would say, the transition from English Colony to the country we now has been pretty fluid (except, once again, The Civil War. "But there wasn't anything civil about it!" Shut up Virginia.). I'd say England shift to a Constitutional Monarchy was also not too shabby.

In contrast, in France (and Russia, and Cuba, etc.) the people who came into power still considered themselves revolutionaries! So what did they do? Kill anyone that wasn't one. In France, you had La Terror, and all the fun the Guillotine could handle (which, by the way, was used until 19770). Killing was also a favorite past time of Lenin and Stalin. In short, you don't want a "Revolutionary Government."

I my mind that is a more likely result in Libya, or maybe even something similar to the breakup of Yugoslavia, with different tribes breaking the country up.

So, all that said, what about revolutions going on right now...

Protesters taking over a capital building. Politicians leaving their states. If this isn't revolt, I don't know what is.

/shiver

I'm a little ticked. I was promised a storm of ice and snow that would've made it difficult to open the door without letting a pile of snow in. Instead, I was promised fewer and fewer inches of snow until the weather people finally realized they they were, once again, incredibly wrong. I'm not going to go into how I'm a better weatherman than people with professional degrees, but I am.

That little rant aside, trees covered in ice look awesome.

Being from the desert, I think I approach snowstorms with a slightly different mental approach than some. In fact, you could replace the word "snowstorms" with "weather" and it would still ring true. I love it when crazy weather happens.

Here's the forecast for Las Vegas until the end of the world: Summer: hot and breezy, Winter: cold and windy, and it might or might not kinda rain for a week.

Here's the forecast for St. Louis for the next 5 minutes: WTF.

Crazy weather is fun (okay, okay...as long as you have good house insurance).

/cheer

Last night, I posted this update on facebook: "Really wish StL had an MLS team. I can't bring myself to like Kansas City or Chicago. Oddly enough, I'm torn between RSL and RBNY." And much to my surprise, it got a rather good response. (Spoiler Alert: Soccer geek-out coming. Yes, I will get to the point. Eventually.)

I played soccer regularly until my junior year in high school when choir took over. Believe it or not, this was in a world before even AOL had any real traction. The hard thing about liking soccer while growing up is that it wasn't anywhere. Some people had training videos, and there was this strange competition called the World Cup. That was pretty much what soccer was like growing up. When the MLS started up, I wanted to follow it, but TV coverage was awful and porn sites were only beginning to offer streaming video let alone an upstart league. For the most part I'd get glimpses, and that was it.

France '98. In case you missed it (which wouldn't be a surprise) the U.S. actually had an expectation at this World Cup (I'd say expectations, but... really? One was enough.) And they failed to live up to it. Steve Sampson vs. Alexi Lalas was all I really noticed until Netherlands vs. Argentina. (Flashback to high school soccer: our training videos comprised primarily of 3 things Maradona being awesome, Manchester United's history, and the Netherland's Total Football. I hate Maradona, and I despise ManU in large part because of what happened in the aformentioned game.) A good portion of the game was spent trash talking my little brother's friend over the phone, hating on Argentina's machismo, and reveling in the beauty of one player. My loving wife knows his name because he's my favorite player of all time: Dennis Bergkamp.

Here's the moment that changed my soccer fandom:

The game was tied 1-1 and in the final minute Bergkamp wins it. Without knowing it, at that moment, I was a Gooner.

Now, to get to the point, which is my facebook posting. (I'm skipping over my mission, which influenced me greatly when it comes to soccer.) I can't root for Sporting KC nor the Chicago Fire because there just seems to be a natural rivalry between those two cities and StL. I'm drawn to the Red Bulls for two reasons: 1) Thierry Henry is an Arsenal legend, and I can't root against him, I just can't. Even during the awesome French meltdown during the recent World Cup, I could laugh at everyone, but not him 2) It may sound ridiculous, but RBNY winning an MLS title would be very good for soccer. The main reason for not being a fan? My reasons are relatively short term reasons.

Real Salt Lake used to be the butt of all MLS jokes. They sucked, to put it nicely. However they now have more MLS Cup titles than RBNY (sure it's only one, but still.) I was born there. My first ever live professional soccer game was at Rio Tinto (3-0 RSL over D.C. United) They play attractive soccer. They're very fiscally sound. Have a good youth development program. In short, they're basically Arsenal here in the U.S. Which leads me to the team not mentioned in the facebook post.

The Colorado Rapids are Arsenal's official MLS partner. They're the current MLS Champions and owned by a large stakeholder of Arsenal and is from Missouri, Stan Kroenke. Oddly enough, I just don't care for them. When I think of them, all that goes through my mind is, "Meh."

So, in the end this is my solution is that RSL is my MLS team (unless StL ever gets one) and I hope for a draw if Thierry Henry is playing against them.

/buhstruction

What is buhstruction, you ask? Well, it would appear, from what I can tell, to be me making something so Noah can destroy it. I figure this is pretty much the life on any 3yr old. And I'm not complaining at all either. Often it's a race against time to see how ornate or tall I can get something before he gets to it. Sometimes, it's about how sneaky he can be about knocking it down. However, it's always about sitting on the ground with Noah, and to be honest, it doesn't matter what we're doing.

Some of Noah's favorite buhstruction materials are as follows:

- Moon Sand

- Cardboard Bricks

- Pop-Onz (although not that specific set)

- Anything block or even block-esque (although he doesn't normally tear apart his wooden trainset)

- Duplo

- No Legos quite yet. Em got me some Legos for Christmas, and we played a bit with them, but as much as I want to bust the horde out, the time has not yet come... which brings me to something else.

Among Noah's likes is robots, and one night while in the midst of random acts of buhstruction, I decided it was time to introduce him to the awesome that is Transformers. Cars + Robots = Overly excited 3yr old. I recommend it.

I'll abruptly leave it there.

/sewing

I'd like to try and get in a post a week. I'm not sure if I'll be able to hit that mark, but it's always a good idea to have some sort of goal to aim for. Moving on.

If I could, I'd learn woodworking. There's something about creating something out of raw materials that appeals to me. Unfortunately, I'm not in a place where woodworking is a real possibility.

As you may know, I'm married to a rather crafty woman, and a little while ago she bought this book. She made classic sock monkeys and also some monsters inspired by the book.

Flash forward to Noah's birthday this year. As luck would have it, my good friend Matt is also married to a crafty woman, and she made this for Noah:

Well, I asked Em if she would be up for making something for Matt and Nicole's kids, and she suggested that I do it.

Behold my creations:

Since these original 3, I've gone on to make 6 more plus a rabbit that isn't quite done yet. Rabbit? Yes, a rabbit. For Christmas she got me this book. So, on top of monsters, I'm making cute little animals. This is turning into a problem.

Well, not really. It's more or less awesome.

Creating is manly regardless of what the raw materials are or what the end product is. For the moment it's socks, felt, thread and buttons, and who knows what else.

/zippo

I got my degree in French this past spring, and the title of the blog reflects that a bit. Studying French breaks down into a couple of different subjects: grammar, history, culture and literature. Literature, as it turns out, is my favorite part. I like how literature intertwines itself with history and can be a mirror on society and make us face things that we may be unaware of or otherwise ignore. That is why this disgusts me.

Last night I read this article, after maybe hearing or seeing something about it earlier in the day.

In short, a "Mark Twain scholar" has decided to take the N-word out of Huckleberry Finn. In his own words he states his reason, "Both novels can be enjoyed deeply and authentically without those continual encounters with the hundreds of now-indefensible racial slurs." His name is Alan Gribben and is a member of the English faculty at Auburn.

How he can claim that Mark Twain's work could be enjoyed "authentically" without the use of the word is baffling. I'm sure Michelangelo's David could be enjoyed authentically as well while wearing a muumuu. The use of the N-word is more about casting light on the ugliness of racial attitudes of the time and making the reader question the harm the word brings, as opposed to just the casual use of the word by the author. It was meant to offend and shame the people that use it without thinking. Maybe, just maybe, that by keeping it in, and teaching what it means, there would be less use of it now.

Allow me for one moment to go a step further than what was said in the CNN article. I like science fiction (stay with me here) especially Fahrenheit 451. Why is there censorship and book burnings in Ray Bradbury's vision of the future? People might be offended, or hurt by what they read. Removing the N-word (and several other slurs like "injun") from Mark Twain's novel is a step toward this future. I joke about "seashells" becoming ever more common and "Parlor Walls" being one CES away, but white washing works of fiction for commercial gain (let's admit it that's what this is about, selling the book to people who use the word and don't want to see themselves in the characters) is one step closer to Montag hiding books in his vent.

Update: Apparently this doesn't just apply to Mark Twain

/greet

Howdy! I initially thought I'd start off by introducing myself, but then I decided that that was too hard, and let's face it, probably a bit unnecessary. If you're reading this, you probably know me in some capacity be it through daily life or random friending on facebook. If you don't currently know me, or perhaps you're a random facebook friend who thinks, "Who IS that guy," follow the blog and join in the madness.

However, I suppose I should set a couple things straight here at the beginning of things. Firstly, I am not, in fact, a mime. Secondly, my writing can at times be somewhat disjointed. Hopefully less so, now that I have an actual degree and all, but I imagine I'll be putting down some unfiltered nonsense now and again.

So there it is. Enjoy.

(Also at the time of this posting, the blog's look is a little rough around the edges.)