Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Special Dish
I’ll admit it. I am inordinately attached to a specific bowl, which I prefer to use for cereal and ice cream. Try as she might, Cyndie has been unable to get me to give up the remaining pieces of our original (old) Midwinter Stonehenge Wild Oats pattern dishes from over 3-decades ago. What can I say? If I still had any of the Melmac dishes from when I was a kid, I’d probably be using those, too. I stick with what works for me.
That is, until I spun the big chair up in our loft, tipping the side table, knocking the last remaining bowl from that Wild Oats set crashing to the floor in pieces. It was heartbreaking. My last bowl. Gone.
Now, how silly is it to get so hung up on one specific bowl? I have used others. Since there had been only one Wild Oats bowl left, there were plenty of times when I would open the cupboard to find Cyndie had used it and it was in the dishwasher waiting for the next wash. I would give in, and take an alternative. All that would do for me was re-confirm that substitutes don’t cut it. That style of bowl has always been my one and only favorite.
But now the last one was gone.
As I was lamenting the sad occasion, Cyndie suggested I try one of the “green” bowls. It was sweet of her to offer, but those bowls are so not my bowl. They are way too wide, and therefore, the capacity is too much. Their shape, too gradual a slope. It’s like a plate, with the outside edges raised up to form the vague shape of a bowl.
One more time, Cyndie tried to help. She suggested I search online for the pattern.
“You can do that?” I said.
You sure can. God bless the internet. Replacements, Ltd. performs miracles. They “replace the irreplaceable.” Who’d a thunk it?
I will be eating breakfast this morning out of my “new” cereal bowl. It is the perfect shape. The perfect size. The perfect weight.
I’m no dummy. I ordered two.
It is interesting that the 2 bowls they sent have different appearances. They each have characteristics that appear to match our originals, but one of them looks much more like a copy. The print is nowhere near as crisp. But, they are the right shape and size, and that is most important of all. The pattern is secondary; soothing to my penchant for familiarity.
It’s like being in the year 1980, every morning! Bring on the Shredded Wheat!
Talking leTour
My favorite pastime in July is watching the television coverage of the Tour de France bike race. My days at work right now are long and very busy. I have been arriving home exhausted. Then, I turn on the prime-time re-broadcast of the day’s stage of the race and I watch guys whose work makes my exhaustion seem insignificant. Yikes, they have endurance!
Thomas Voeckler impresses the heck out of me, and makes funny faces while he is working hard on the pedals. He is demonstrating some amazing climbing and accomplished a couple of stage wins. Bravo! Stole the polka dot jersey yesterday.
Frank Schleck sited for a banned substance?! I’m amazed riders still do anything to risk disqualification. He denies doping.
Cadel Evans didn’t have the legs this year. It’s tough to watch the big competitors not being able to muster what it takes to stay on pace, let alone the pity when they can’t offer up a true threat of attack. He drops to 7th place, eight-some minutes back.
Bradley Wiggins seems to have a firm control of his lead. He’s bringing out a big number of British fans and Union Jack flags everywhere! Could be the first British rider to capture the Tour.
George Hincapie is still riding like he’s a young kid, though he’s not.
I like Frenchman, Thibaut Pinot, and Slovak, Peter Sagan, of the young riders putting in impressive performances this year.
Sagan has stolen some of the thunder from my previous favorite sprinter, Mark Cavendish, as Cav has been putting the success of Wiggins and team Sky ahead of personal ambitions. There is still hope for some excitement in the final day’s sprint in Paris, where Cavendish has won the last three years. He would sure like to make it 4 in a row. I’m confident he will have the full support of the team to get into position for a shot at that goal.
After an evening devouring the coverage of each day’s stage, I feel a lot less fatigued by the demands of my Tour de Day-Job.
I wish the coverage didn’t have to end, but this year, I’ll have the London Olympics to fill in the void that follows. No rest for the weary, don’tcha know.
Epic Story
Okay, I admit it, I was hooked by the History Channel‘s presentation of the miniseries, “Hatfields & McCoys.” I have always had a soft spot for stories from the 1800’s, and that alone was enough to entice me to check this out. I am also a fan of Kevin Costner, who seems to be at his best playing characters from that period. I don’t know anything factual about the events of the feud between the two named families, so I can’t judge the miniseries on total accuracy, but I think it did a respectable job of giving a sense of what life might have been like at the time.
I do know that the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys was common knowledge when I was a kid, even all the way up in Minnesota. The combination of names, and what they represented, was something that showed up often. I remember seeing it as subject matter in cartoons.
The History Channel production included music that appealed to me, as well. Check out the music video of “I Know These Hills,” by Kevin Costner & Modern West, (featuring, Sara Beck), with clips of scenes from the show.
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Latest Crush
I can struggle to not hear this song in my head, or I can give in and enjoy my latest music crush: Rufus Wainwright’s “Out Of The Game.”
Check it out. “Look at you, look at you, look at you Suckers!” What a fun chorus to listen to. Infectious. It works because of the way he sings, “Suckers.” You don’t immediately recognize it for that. It’s my earworm for today.
Songs Sung
I’m in a bit of a fog, buzzing still from last night’s broadcast of the 54th GRAMMY awards show. It had me staying up a bit late for a night before my morning soccer. That, and from all the tributes being offered in memory of Whitney Houston over the weekend. The Grammy’s had so many live performances, there hardly seemed but a handful of awards presented during the broadcast this year. I think I approve.
What caught my attention? Opening song by Bruce Springsteen and his band. Paul McCartney performing, (how come it looked like he had no idea what the beat was when he clapped along to other people’s performances?). Foo Fighters. Chris Brown’s dance number and the creative graphics projected on the set. I didn’t know Bruno Mars before last night, what a cool performance that was. The Beach Boys together again! Adele’s return to singing after throat surgery. The tribute to Glen Campbell. It was a good year.
Let’s hear it for recorded music, old and new!
International Indie
There is a risk in posting a referral that already has millions of views (was over 9 mil, now almost 24M!), that the reading audience will have already been there, done that. In my case, I’m taking the chance that at least a few of the usual visitors here at Relative Something have yet to experience this one.
Several times in the recent past, my ear has been grabbed by one particular song on my radio station, 89.3 The Current. The artist is a Belgian-born Australian named Wouter “Wally” De Backer who performs under the stage name of Gotye. The song is, Somebody That I Used To Know, and features New Zealand singer/songwriter Kimbra.
However, they aren’t the ones who finally connected me with this song. That honor belongs to a group of Canadians performing as Walk Off The Earth, who have recorded a cover version of the song, with all five members playing the same guitar simultaneously.
Watch the video on youtube.
Take some time to explore the variety of videos that Marshall & Gianni and friends have posted at the Walk Off The Earth (WOTE) site. They demonstrate a good playfulness and fine sense of humor, a bit reminiscent of the videosong art of the duo Pomplamoose that I was shouting about last year.
For Somebody
Yes, indeed, it is all a blinding struggle between the obvious, sublime clash between the simple solutions and the complex details. Everything is as it always was and always will be. Move through this life, kicking and thrashing about like a person who thinks they are drowning, or let yourself float and accept the crashing waves. What if I die before I wake? The universe doesn’t give a fuck, so stop wondering about it and dive in with all the gusto of the person who snowboards mountains at the risk of being buried in an avalanche.
Life splatters like the blood that paints the walls of every crime drama. It is understandable that a person can take only so much unpleasantness before they choose to act in their best interest, but directing that choice inward or outward is of utmost importance. What if it was possible to outsmart yourself and see through your own facade to the person you were spending so much energy trying not to be? Quick, someone call the authorities and demand an explanation. How does that make you feel? It’s not rocket science. Life leads to death. Get over it. Better yet, run right at it, full speed and smile. We are the circus, so enjoy the music. Elephants are not invisible, so don’t allow them to appear to be so. The mind is connected to the body, so it makes total sense to use them both equally to their fullest capacity. Grab the scissors before you go out for that next run and look in the eyes of every person you pass. See if it doesn’t make you want to smile.
Choose Love
Through the advances of modern technology, my son has been remotely controlling our computer at home to work out the kinks and chaos in our music and movie system. Last I was aware, we were experiencing some problem with lag, causing a movie to play jumpy, in fits and starts. Julian said he would try reloading the application next chance he had.
Days passed and I became distracted. During the week that Cyndie was in Arizona, training with horses, I decided to put on some music while working on a project. As I navigated the menu of the application, I discovered the lag problem appeared to be gone. Curious whether the video portion would also run smooth, I picked a random movie and clicked, “Play.”
It seemed okay. The longer I let the movie run as a test, the more engaged I found myself in the story I had launched. I ended up dropping any thought of my project and, unplanned, sat down and watched the whole movie. Throughout, I kept having the thought that Cyndie would have really enjoyed it. Last night, I got the chance to share the movie with her. I was right. She saw the very same things to like that had caught my attention.
The movie is, “Chaos Theory” (2008, Warner Bros.) with Ryan Reynolds and Emily Mortimer. Three things in particular that I liked: the choices made for casting this movie; the cinematography, for its use of scenery and timely artistic presentation of the subject for certain scenes; and the effective, and very likeable, soundtrack.
The overall story offers additional appeal for me, and I think is accessible enough to work well for a wide range of viewers. There is a twist of primary character that occurs right away that I appreciate, although it actually frustrated me at first. Ironically, I think that is part of the reason I ended up liking it later.
The main character has a bit of an average guy persona initially, then goes through some drama and angst, which speaks pretty universally to the trials and tribulations of any relationship. Ultimately, he finds a way to reconcile himself with his situation, and then offers a wonderfully profound lesson. I wish I had written this…
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…there are few things more chaotic than the beat of a human heart. Speeding up, slowing down, a pretty face, a flight of stairs… It’s always changing depending on what’s happening to us out there. It’s an erratic son of a bitch. But underneath all of that bump-a-ta-bump mess, there is, in fact, a pattern. A truth. And it’s love. The most important thing about love is that we choose to give it… and we choose to receive it. Making it the least random act in the entire universe. It transcends blood, it transcends betrayal, and all the dirt that makes us human.
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LOVE! We can choose to give it, and to receive it. One of the simplest choices amid life’s chaos that we should ever face.
Happy Monday
Some days are just Monday, but you never know when that Monday will appear on the same day as your birthday. Kind of like, this one! Happy Birthday, Judy! What a nice way to brighten the start of a week.
Oh, I’m sorry. You probably didn’t notice that it was a Monday today, since you are living the life of luxury! I hope that’s the case, anyway.
Hey, everyone, celebrate Judy’s birthday today! It’ll be fun!
I have to stop short here, because I’ve used up all the exclamation points in my computer.
Happy day to you.
Relative Something 