Friday, December 28, 2007

GO!

Well, just as soon as it came, 2007 is about to leave.

Such a blur, such a dream.

If my calculations are correct, I'm officially past the "young and stupid" phase of the M.A.Y.A. development scheme and can still claim "student" status for the next seven years, but only on a forbearance basis only. Let's hope I don't have to do that.

I've spoken in other places about the completion of the stuff from the five-year wish list and other such things. Frankly, I've reached the limit of my development at this stage of my life. It's not that I'm running out of new things to say, it's that the ground has been covered and re-covered already. It's time to go.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Quarter is 25, right?

The new online show "Quarterlife" is now on MySpace TV. I've only seen the first episode and it look promising. There is talk that it'll be on NBC sometime next season because they are in dire need.
In either case, it'll be interesting to see how they genuinely resonate about issues of twentysomethings. It is by the same people that did "Thirtysomething," so they have a thing for generational stuff.

In other news, my brain is mush because I finished my first draft of my thesis yesterday, but I promise to start doing more next week.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

I'm investing in a good time instead of a good mutual fund...

Raise your hand if you freaked out about retirement in the past 24 hours.

If you're 35 and younger, I see that hand not raised.

Honestly, unless you're a heavy investor and are trying to catch up to Buffett and Gates, most M.A.Y.A.'s don't think about much about retirement, investing, or even savings.
A MSNBC article on slacker savings talks about the same things. Frankly, Gen Xers aren't saving much and consultants fret about not having clients with disposable income in 25 years. One company has created the GendeX Mutual Fund, an investment portfolio geared to the Gen X crowd. Only requiring $100 to enroll and a mutual fund package that includes investments in Apple and American Apparel. Not shabby, even if the fees are a bit expensive.
Investing doesn't have the same ring to it as it did for my parent's generation. Mostly, people want to buy a house (which I've already done, and let me tell you, be VERY CAREFUL) and enjoy life.

I'm sure there are various reasons, but in my opinion, the main issue is that framing the future isn't the same for this generation as it has been for previous generations. There is no set period to retire, as there is no set period to work. In that I mean that people will work in many different places and probably do a few different things. The initial plan of 401(k) and pensions were based upon compensation for staying with one company. As it is with health care, that simply isn't the case anymore.
Plus, what do you invest in? Mutual funds are quickly becoming a business with service products. Honestly, how many of your friends now sell some sort of insurance and investment plans?
Even fundamental, the growing gap in costs vs. salaries is beyond ridiculous and combined with a deficit philosophy, it's nearly a necessity that people borrow. While personal finance "gurus" can write column and column on how to live within your means and how not to eat sushi all the item to cut down on debt, it's disingenuous to those that have to be in debt to survive. That doesn't even get into loans for education...don't get me started on that.

If anyone wants to truly encourage saving and investment, it has to be in the rubric of values and realities that actually are values and realities. Mutual fund packages have to be smaller, creating more opportunity for diversity and long-term growth. More emphasis has to be on more choice in companies to invest in (yay sustainable investing!) and more options in alleviating and refinancing debt.

We aren't slackers, we're smarter than that and understand that the values of prosperity and livelihood has changed. Maybe Wall Street and MSNBC will get that someday.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Tribal rule 1: You do not talk about Fight Club...

Tonight, I saw tribalism at work.
Honestly, I would say that I've seen tribalism at work my entire life. It's not that hard to find.
In particular, social groups and friendship circles are tribalism in this day and age. More so, there is nothing more tribal than a church youth group that evolves into the church young adult group.
Growing up, I belonged to a church youth group. I use the word belonged loosely because I always felt like the outsider, but for the purposes of this, I belonged to the group. The church I spent most of my adolescence in was relatively small, but a close-knit bunch. The church branded itself a family church and that mentality permeated everything. I would say there was about 20-25 of us that were very close in the church context. We sat together, hung out together after services and ran the Sunday School. Mostly, we played volleyball. Frankly, it was akin to a cult ritual. Every Wednesday before youth service, every Thursday when we traveled to Huntington Beach and the high holy holiday, the Memorial Day Picnic, we played volleyball.
Yet outside of the church, we were complete strangers. We went to different high schools and while we might congregate at the Bible Club during the week (well, not at my high school), we didn't associate in the same peer groups and pretty much didn't acknowledge each other's existence.
It's an odd dichotomy. Outside the religious sphere, the same concept is prevalent. Most people in their 20s and 30s--maybe even their 40s--band together. It's almost like the new family, except that it isn't a family. There are family values, for sure. But the shared interests are in things to do, not things people are.
But the church youth group I grew up in was a tribe. And like tribes in the past, once you leave the tribe, it's near impossible to return. You're out, you are out.

I bring this up because much of the people that formed the tribe of the church group I grew up in have formed another tribe at another church. Because of school and such, I don't associate with most people from way back then. Every so often, I'll see them at social gatherings. Nevertheless, nothing has changed. Just like it was for me when I was younger, they hang out together, go to parties together, club together, then go to church on Thursday night together. Since they are older than 21, they really drink together. Really, really drink together. Tonight, many of them were in the back yard of a house, listening to bad 80s music before the cops came and cleared out the joint.

In a way, I feel sorry for them. I used to think they are stuck and combined with an environment that doesn't encourage growth, they have nothing to gain from growing up. Yet, I'm starting to understand it know as just another expression of something that is deeply rooted in all of us: the desire to belong. That transcends religious and secular.

With a tribe comes tribal rules. They are different for each tribe, but usually they go along these lines: Join the tribe, take on the values of the tribe, stay within the boundaries of the tribe and most important, don't join another tribe. Once the tribe is set, other members have to go through an initiation of some sort to join. Once you're in, you are in.

I wonder what is the difference between a tribe and a community. There are community values and expectations and roles that people play, just like a tribe, a group and a family. Those things are common, but what are the differences? Like I said, the instances where people said something was a community was really a tribe. My church upbringing was tribal in every sense of the word. APU's attempt at being a tribe and calling it community is laughable and yet quite sad.
So, what's a community? How does community work for those that are waiting to get married until later, having children until later and taking longer to ascertain identity and commitment? Is community worth sacrificing individual wants and desires?

NOTE: I often wonder if people reading this and other blogs are taking these as advice to stay the hell away from religion. I come from a religious viewpoint, yet it really has nothing to do with religion. What I trying to do in my quirky at 2 a.m. way is make sense of the dynamics in people being in groups and it becoming more than hanging out with friends on a Friday night. But I do caution anyone and everyone to never attend a church that says it's a "family church." Trust me.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Transcribing a paradox

It's almost midnight on Thursday and I find myself in a peculiar position.

Before I go on, I have to say that it is very peculiar to have to bless yourself after you sneeze. Try it sometime. It feels weird, trust me.

Anyways, I'm trying to motivate myself to further the transcription of the interviews for my thesis. I should be done with them by this weekend, which was the goal and I should be done with the first draft by November 15, which was the goal as well. However, I've hit that point that I knew I would hit when I first took this topic and idea on a few months back. I thought I had prepared myself for when this moment came, yet the moment has come and I'm truly not prepared.

My topic is religious identity and interfaith relations, specifically with this organization in Los Angeles. I wanted to observe an interfaith community and see how they deal with religious identity on a personal and collective level. So far, so good. The problem is that this topic doesn't lend itself to a nice, tidy thesis that such topics as "Why MySpace is factually the Anti-Christ" or "Branding cheese in the 21st Century" do. Not dissing anyone else studying cheese, but this was the decision I made.
By going through these interviews and meetings and examining the research and what is happening, it becomes obvious that this is just the starting point. It's not even the starting point, it's the point that one starts. There is a very long, robust, diverse documentation that needs to be done out there, much longer and better than this clunky thesis for a clunky masters.
Nevertheless, here it is. I refuse to give absolutes because there are no absolutes. I refuse to create theories because one theory works in one context and another theory works in another context. Plus, academia is for wimps.
Thus, what in God's name do I write about?

It really dovetails into my current state of mind at the moment. There is SO MUCH out there, SO MUCH to do, SO MUCH to see, SO MUCH to experience, SO MUCH to live. Where does one start with SO MUCH? Annie Lamott would say start where you're at. Right now, I start at a paradox: the urgency to make money because I'm about to run out of reserves and I want to leave L.A. and breathe new air (literally) and finally create a community and finally meet somebody and finally start a family; and the patience to wait for the hottest coal that's burning, the patience to wait for the right time, the right place, the right girl, the right (....).

That is the paradox of the bridge from kid to adult. At some point, values and priorities are going to line up and take their place. When the list solidifies, the moment comes when you wake up in the middle of the night or somehow stop cold in your tracks and you have to pay attention. You have to care.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Yep, the brakes work...

It has been a while since a last post.

I was driving on the 110 this morning for the last observation of the group I'm studying for my thesis. The meet starts at 7 and, with a quick stop at Starbucks, it takes about one hour to get there from home.
I know all about L.A. traffic. Sans San Angelo, I'm a L.A. boy. That might change soon, but sticking with the now, I'm a L.A. boy.
And yet, it seem amazes me how crappy the traffic is at 6 in the morning. Long stretches of breezy cruising, then, the sudden stop because they built the damn freeway goofy.
Hitting that sudden stop and going stop and go until I reach Exposition Blvd., I thought this was a great metaphor for life. It might be stops and starts for a while, then a long stretch of cruising, then the sudden stop to make sure you don't hit the person in front of you.
Of course, this is at 6 a.m., pre-coffee, mid-straining to finish my thesis and post-trying to figure out metaphors on how to live life.

I haven't decided if this past year and a half was a cruise, a slow crawl or just a turn on the surface streets. In any case, it is about to end all too soon. Or maybe it's all too late?
That I'm not sure of either.

Eh, no matter. Life moves forward, traffic continues to get better and worse and luckily, I won't have to be waking up at 5 a.m. for some time.
Until I get a job, that is.

In other matters, I'm making a concerted effort to keep the M.A.Y.A. Years going. Trying to engage the shift toward a standard that seems to always be changing.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Eye-catching evidence...

Here's a brief article on how red eyes are ruining your life.

  • Red eyes suck
  • Friday, June 29, 2007

    What's this I see?

    About a week and a half ago, I was walking into the parking garage of a building in the Westside after coming out of a very important meeting as to the direction of my life (more to come later), and as I finished saying goodbye to my friend/business partner, I briefly saw myself in the side window of my car.

    In that ever-so brief moment, I saw me in my charcoal suit, with my white shirt and dare I say, dashing red tie. I saw my hair slightly disheleved, but still intact, my face relatively clear and my possibilities beaming.

    In that moment, I saw a man staring back at me.

    I quickly jumped into my car and got the hell out of there.

    Wednesday, May 23, 2007

    M.A.Y.A. Music Addict

    I've been a music nut for as long as I can remember--even back to my early elementary school days when I had my own record player and a stack of records I'd borrowed from my parents. As the years went by, my music obsession grew and evolved. There was my rap phase, my hard rock phase, my angry chick phase, etc. Somewhere along the way, though, I became concerned that I might one day become too grown-up for good, cutting-edge music, that there would be a magic age when I had to listen to the lame-ass "lite rock" radio station they play in doctors' offices. A magic age when contemporary music became irrelevant to my life. Or too loud. Or too offensive. And I feared this age.

    I still believe that. I still believe there must be a point when everything changes, when I prefer the music of my youth to the music of "today," whenever that day is. I wonder when it will come?

    In the meantime, I'll keep obsessing. I'm currently in a music phase best described as "wildly eclectic." I bought three new CDs this week: Linkin Park, Amy Winehouse, and Maroon 5. I'm 27 years old, and I still have no problem blasting each in my car with my windows rolled down and the bass rattling my rear view mirror so badly I can't use it.

    Wednesday, May 16, 2007

    Two roads to odd greatness...

    Two things happened today that were of unusual importance to me.
    First, the Rev. Jerry Falwell passed away. Most celebrated this news with chinking of coffee mugs and statements of how the disenfranchised can rejoice and hope that Pat Robertson suffers the same fate in an expedited manner. In my opinion, it is the classic case of absolute power corrupting absolutely. The man lost his mind in the course of trying to change the American political landscape, which he did to a certain degree.

    My grandfather went to college with Falwell in Missouri and mentioned that he was a very nice and earnest man. This is no doubt about Falwell's earnestness and sincerity. In fact, it was his earnestness that prompted a life-changing moment for me. I was living at the Willmore in Long Beach and was watching Meet the Press before leaving for church. On this show, Russert has brought together Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist convention, Al Sharpton, Jim Wallis, head of Sojourners (and a big favorite of Linterella and me) and Falwell. They were to talk about the state of American religion. Did they ever. It took about, oh, three minutes before the shouting and hexing up to the other person's great-grandchildren was in full swing.

    What was unique about this conversation was the question Falwell asked Jim Wallis. "Who did you vote for?" Falwell inquired. Wallis answered that he voted for John Kerry, to which Falwell responded that he was in direct violation of Scripture and should resign from the pastorate immediately. Everyone was shocked and I was dumbfounded.
    And thus the conversation went. I contributed to the discussion by saying a few "holy profanities" at a pretty loud level and then huffed out. On the way to church, I wondered aloud how we as Christians got to this point and felt genuine compassion over those that might have legitimate questions about faith, hear these morons and get turned off. In the midst of my own whining, I was impressed with this simple statement: "Well, what are you going to do about all of this?"

    Tonight at All Saints, Paul Hawken was speaking and signing copies of his new book, "Blessed Unrest." Hawken wrote the book "The Ecology of Commerce," which has altered my thinking about the affairs of the world and life. His website is linked under "What are they thinking?" and I highly recommend checking out his stuff. It has completely slipped my mind that he was speaking until I saw his book in Borders yesterday and freaked out that it was last night. Luckily, it was tonight and I arrived just in time. (I hate L.A. traffic. Let me say that again. I hate L.A. traffic.)

    During the talk, Hawken spoke about how there is an inherent mystery and wonder to how life works. For example, the immune system is the most complex process of a person. We have an understanding of how it works and when it works, but there is still so much to be learned about WHY it works. That is still a mystery. The processes of time and energy allow for history to take shape and cycle in the ultimate hope of true, lasting progress. There is over a million organizations that operate to help improve life. Environmental, social justice, economical, religious, local, global...people are at work seeking to change the world by changing their world.

    Hawken's work really opened my eyes to a greater appreciation of the process, the journey. That was emphasized by this statement: You cannot change the world on your own, so stop trying. You cannot control results and outcomes, so stop the ways of control. The only thing that you can do is control your intention.
    As T.S. Eliot said, "All you have in life is the trying, the rest is none of your business."

    I have a greatness complex: I want to be great. I want to do great things. In the name of Christ, in the name of good, healthy Christianity. In the name of saving the world. In the name of saving myself. Our generation has a greatness complex. The powers that pee have deemed that we as M.A.Y.A.s have the access, the skills, the mindset and the opportunities to do things that have yet to be achieved. I think I have safely say that the pressure is overwhelming. That is why people get degrees they don't need, take jobs they don't want and make decisions that shouldn't be made. That is a fundamental reason why adolescence flows into the 30s and probably further and why no one is in a hurry to become an adult.

    So, you want to be great? Well, great in what? Working? Drinking? Finding the next big idea? Those answers are elusive, and that is because they don't exist. Moreover, greatness is found not in singularity, but rather community. Not fake, overpriced Christian college "chapel is the greatest thing in the world" community, but honest-to-God and honest-to-yourself community.

    Rev. Falwell knew this. The Moral Majority and the Religious Right wanted to be great. They were great because they were right, but it wasn't just the subtle satisfaction of being on the right fence of eternity that was the focal point. It was the quest to exude their sense of rightness from the top down, because if everyone saw how right and how great they were, then the world would be as it should be. Christ would make an encore appearance, and the universe is right as rain. It's not that it was a Christian idea, but that it was Jerry Falwell's Christian idea. In his eyes, the ACLU caused God to enact 9/11 and that anyone who is pro-choice is violating God's laws.

    I look at Jerry Falwell and look at Paul Hawken and the thousands of people that are working to make a difference and I see two paths which lead to greatness. Again, as I am a Christian, I don't view Rev. Falwell as a bad person. I just think he was part of the system that we wanted to change. I'm sure there was a time when that fire to bring forth the things that society needs was there, but like so many others, it gets lost in the quest for complete assimilation. And while I do disagree on Hawken on a few issues, he provides a viewpoint for a new systems theory in how we conduct business, engage in politics and commune with nature.

    I say both paths lead to greatness based on the definitions of greatness that are offered. Is one great based on adhering to tents of faith, even to the minutiae on how one votes for or not? Is one great on making small, seemingly insignificant decisions that lack short-term profitability? They both offer a sense of hope and more important, a vision. How can things be? How should things be?

    And that is the question I am asked. And that's the question we as M.A.Y.A.s are asked.

    Friday, April 06, 2007

    To believe in God or not to believe in God..that really isn't the question...

    Newsweek carried an intriguing debate between Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest and Sam Harris, a renowned atheiest who wrote the book, "A Letter to a Christian Nation," that I really want to read.
    These types of subjects come up around this time because of Easter and Passover and whatnot. I'm rather happy though that Newsweek especially does a pretty good job in being thorough about religious topics. The interview between Warren and Harris shows that, as does editor's Jon Meachem's great article.
    Here's the link here:
  • Warren/Harris debate


  • I do have to say that Rabbi Marc Gellman is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers. He has such a strong pragmatism that is rooted in rich spiritual ideals. He responds to the debate and the article with the concept that both are right. In the end, what you believe in God really is contingent about what you believe about life, the world and yourself.

    Here's his response:
  • Gellman's response


  • Have a great Easter and Passover, and no matter you're beliefs, have a good weekend.

    Monday, April 02, 2007

    Grades, grades, go away...

    I am now firmly convinced that graduate school shouldn't have grades. Here's why:
    There comes a point, at least I hope there comes a point, where people should be "graded" on true analysis and comprehension. A professor should be able to engage a student on any particular topic with feedback and commentary, but in the end, the end result shouldn't be some dumb letter.
    I understand the need of it for high school and maybe for undergrad. But this is grad school, you're here because you want to be here and you're paying a hell of a lot of money to learn. In the end, I'm here for the entire education, not for a piece of paper. Because of that, I want to feel like I can write how I feel I should write and engage the issues that need to be engaged...and not worry about the damn grade.
    For example, I wrote a 30-page paper for my corporate communication class. I'm not sure how well I did, but I can tell you that I and the rest of my classmates are worried like hell about the grade we're gonna get. That's too bad. I would rather the professor write all over my paper and dismiss my arguments and my rhetoric, then I can respond and have a discussion instead of write a paper, get a grade and that defines my standing in the class.

    It's almost as if there's the underlying idea that you're going to get graded on how well you did in life. It's not just a pass/fail, credit/no credit ideal, but somehow God/higher power/keeper of the Great Beyond is giving out a report card. You lived a B-plus life. How the hell can you live a B-plus life? Had the potential, but didn't make a full effort? You didn't answer the questions correctly or didn't format your M.A.Y.A. years right?

    Wouldn't be the worst: you get up to Heaven and God tells you that the content was good, but the formatting wasn't correct. I'm sure there an existential metaphor there somewhere...

    Friday, March 30, 2007

    Not the blast from the cinematic past I would want...

    Last week, a bunch of mutant reptiles knocked off half-naked Greeks from the box office perch. Only in America...
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or TMNT as they are now known, was the top movie last weekend, taking in $24.5 million. The turtles' reign won't last long because the new Will Ferrell movie comes in, which I'm seeing tonight and I'm pretty jazzed to check out.
    While it was a decent success in the general audience, Warner Bros. was banking on twenty-somethings to take a stroll down memory lane in seeing the movie. It has been about 16 years since the last TMNT movie came out, and that was when the comic book and TV show was in its heyday. Later on this summer, Optimus Prime and the rest of the Transformers will make its way to the big screen. Michael Bay is bringing his Armageddon barrage of pyrotechnic greatness, so you know some robot is going to blow up the world.
    I remember seeing the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle films. I even think I have a VHS copy somewhere in the garage. I wasn't much into Transformers: I was actually a big ThunderCats fan, so I'm hoping any studio that does that won't royally screw it up.
    In this post-9/11 era, people are clamoring for heroes. That's why 300 is so big. Harry Potter is a hero to both adults and kids. In real life, we try to find heroes whenever we can. Anyone remember Jessica Lynch? I last saw her on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition build a house for her friend who died in Iraq. But for that brief second, she was a hero, partially for propaganda purposes, but because citizens genuinely needed a good story.
    I find it intriguing that we are reach back into the not-so-distant pasts of our childhood to find more heroes. What heroes do we M.A.Y.A.s have? G.I. Joe, Masters of the Universe, TMNT, ThunderCats, Transformers, even Batman and the Justice League. Now with Captain America dead, it is the job of animated turtles to help reclaim that sense of serenity found on reading comic books with friends or watching Saturday morning television.
    Plus, the studio system doesn't come up with anything new anymore ... in a way, movie studios are the best example on how to properly recycle. It's quite tragic, I must say.

    Sunday, February 25, 2007

    Lint's Oscar Picks

    I'm running out of time, so I'll forgo the explanations...

    BEST PICTURE: Little Miss Sunshine
    ACTOR: Forest Whitaker
    ACTRESS: Helen Mirren
    SUP. ACTOR: Eddie Murphy
    SUP. ACTRESS: Jennifer Hudson
    ANIMATED FEATURE: Cars
    ART DIRECTION: Dreamgirls
    CINEMATOGRAPHY: Children of Men
    COSTUME DESIGN: Marie Antoinette
    DIRECTING: The Departed
    DOC FEATURE: An Inconvenient Truth
    DOC SHORT: Two Hands
    FILM EDITING: United 93
    FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Pan's Labyrinth
    MAKEUP: Pan's Labyrinth
    ORIGINAL SCORE: The Queen
    ORIGINAL SONG: "Love You I Do"
    SHORT ANIMATED: The Little Matchgirl
    SHORT LIVE ACTION: Eramos Pocos
    SOUND EDITING: Pirates
    SOUND MIXING: Apocalypto
    VISUAL EFFECTS: Pirates
    SCREENPLAY ADAPTED: The Departed
    SCREENPLAY ORIGINAL: Little Miss Sunshine

    Saturday, February 24, 2007

    the official M.A.Y.A. Years Oscar picks (well, at least my picks.)

    I am proud to say that I have won whatever Oscar pool I have been in five out of the past six years. The one year I didn't do so well was the year I put money on it. I learned my lesson.

    this year, the Oscars have snuck up on me. I FINALLY finished all the best picture films this week, so I feel set to make my official predictions. Come back tomorrow night, so I can gloat. Yay.
    Oh, I'm only going to put the major categories. I didn't get to see all the animated shorts. Sorry.

    Best Picture:
    Should win: Little Miss Sunshine. Truthfully, this wasn't that great of a year for movies. Of course, I saw some phenomenal stuff, but as a whole...eh. However, I saw Little Miss Sunshine up in Monterey during a spontaneous trip before school started. It was in this small theater with a bunch of old people. Oh man, it was AWESOME. I have never heard a more pleased group of geriatrics. It was great. This is a typical comedy format, but the writing and acting give it freshness and vitality.
    The other movies were good. I really liked Letters from Iwo Jima and it makes me want to see Flags of our Fathers. I dug The Queen...it was a lot different than what I expected. The Departed was a hoot, even though the film burnt out in the cheap-o theater I saw it in. I liked Babel, but wasn't that impressed, really.
    Will win: Most likely Babel, but I'm going to go on a limb and say that Little Miss Sunshine will pull off the upset. I think it might happen.
    The REAL best movie of the year: Pan's Labyrinth. Oh good lord was that amazing!!!!

    Best actor:
    Should win: I didn't see Venus, but I'm gonna say Peter O'Toole because it's a tragedy that he never won for Lawrence of Arabia.
    Will win: Forest Whitaker. Dude, he rocked it in Last King of Scotland. That movie would have been a shell of a story if it wasn't for his performance.

    Best Actress:
    Should win: Helen Mirren. She was Queen Elizabeth II. I saw the actual Queen when I was in England. Mirren had her down to a tee. On the other hand, Kate Winslet is the best actor/actress this side of 30. Little Children was unbelievably good...worthy of a best picture nod.
    Will win: Helen Mirren.

    Best Supporting Actor:
    Should win: Alan Arkin. He gave a level of depth that is very nuanced in this movie. A close second is Jackie Earle Haley who put in a haunting performance in Little Children. He's not only a feel-good story, he's really a great actor.
    Will win: Eddie Murphy. Honestly, his performance was good, but not great, but he'll win.

    Best Supporting Actress:
    Should win: Jennifer Hudson. The only lock in any of these categories. Aside from her, Dreamgirls was highly overrated.
    Will win: Jennifer Hudson.

    Best Director:
    Should win: Martin Scorsese. If he doesn't win, there is no justice in the world.
    Will win: Scorsese, or else the mob is putting a hit on all the Academy voters.

    Best Documentary:
    An Unconvenient Truth. I don't care if you agree with global warming or not, go see this movie.

    Best Foreign film:
    I would like to take this brief opportunity and thank Guerillmo Del Toro for sticking to his guns and creating one of the best freaking movies I have seen in quite a while. I would also like to thank the country of Mexico for allowing such great directors to come into being. And I would finally like to the thanks the parents of Maribel Verdu for having sex and creating her. (She plays a crucial role in Pan's Labyrinth. Also, if you've seen Y Tu Mama Tambien, which I highly recommend you do, then you'll understand.)
    Oh: Pan's Labyrinth better win this category.

    Best Adapted Screenplay:
    Should win: Borat. Borat should have also been nominated for best picture and Sasha Baron Cohen should have nominated for best actor. He would had won if that would had happened. Alas, this great movie only gets some due in this category.
    Will win: The Departed.

    Best Original Screenplay:
    This one is actually a toughie. All the screenplays were very cool and rather strong.
    Should win: Pan's Labyrinth.
    Will win: Probably Babel.


    OK, as a last bit: here's my picks for the top five movies of the year. Like I said, this wasn't that strong of a year, but there were some really good movies.

    1. Pan's Labyrinth. Just too good to be overlooked.
    2. Borat. The genius is not in the character, but in the mirror it shows America.
    3. The Fountain. I lot of people hated it. I loved it. I loved it for its purity and for its vision.
    4. Little Children. What made this so good was that this could really happen and does happen. Everywhere and anywhere.
    5. Little Miss Sunshine. Too good, too cute.

    Tuesday, February 06, 2007

    Neil Postman lives on and on and on...

    For those fans of the late philosopher Neil Postman, or those remembering Dr. Ganas's Senior Seminar, I found this article on The Disappearance of Childhood. I have not read that book and I wasn't a fan of Technopoly, but in my old age, I might reconsider.
    Enjoy.

    >Childhood

    Saturday, February 03, 2007

    Alicia's Story

    I stumbled across Alicia's Story yesterday. It's a series in the San Francisco Chronicle written by a M.A.Y.A. battling one of the rarest forms of cancer: alveolar soft part sarcoma. Alicia was first diagnosed almost two years ago, at age 23 (three years after her own mother died of breast cancer), and she chronicles every test and treatment and emotion along the way.

    At the end of chapter one, Alicia wrote: "If I get through this, this story will help me remember the important moments along the way, the details, the dizzying emotions. And, in the worst of all circumstances, if I go through this life-changing ordeal and my body just wears out and I die, I will die a writer. The one thing I've always wanted to be."

    Read it. You won't regret it.

  • Alicia's Story
  • Wednesday, January 24, 2007

    So, maybe the pre-historic people had the right idea...

    This article ran in Sunday's L.A. Times. It deals perfectly about the shift in marriage and relationships. This author makes the point that what we understand as the "proper" view of marriage may not be what is most effective for both males and females.
    Have a read:
  • here
  • Tuesday, January 16, 2007

    Is that wedding bells I hear...oh, just my ears ringing...

    I do have to say that it's quite ironic that there is no one but me and the owner in Cafe Young and Lazy.
    I personnally enjoy this place specificially for that reason. Faster Wi-Fi, good organic coffee and no reasons to slack off other than the ones I conjure up.

    The new semester is in full swing, thus the late start to 2007 for the M.A.Y.A. Years. These next four months will challenge me in ways I haven't been challenged before, so I'll apologize up front for the lack of frequency, but I promise to be as consistent as possible.

    A story spoke of how unmarried women now dominate the census landscape. There are now more unmarried people than married people. Either folks are getting married later in life, or choosing to live with a partner or partners.

    I might be completely off-base here, but I've always surmised that the cultural understanding is that women are in more of a pressing need to be married than men. The economical gap and the desire to have a two-parent household has always made this so.
    Of course, that isn't the case anymore, which is a great thing. However, the side effect of all of this is the shifting from a communal society to an individualistic society. In essence, the need of community and coupleship has altered in its definitions and forms. Community now comes with friends intead of spouses as the predominate factor. Self-reliance and actualization are tops in the life goals of people. I think of myself as an individual first, rather than a member of society first.

    What does this mean for marriage? I'm not sure. I can say that this means a lot for the M.A.Y.A. Years. The first focus isn't on getting a wife, but rather establishing your life. Then maybe you can get married...maybe. Folks are having sex at an earlier age and the quest for intimacy takes on a different variable.

    I do wonder...what is this doing to men? In my opinion, it is men who need to be married more than women. It is men who need a community more than women. Some would point to the presence of patriarchy as evidence. I think that is true to a point. But I feel the fundamental issue is the desire for connection for men, which I feel is different from women (of course, I speak this as a dude, so there you go.)
    Men have gained an identity from being the man of the house, the head of the household, the leader of most things. That desire is inherent in most men. But as society shifts to self first, couple maybe, I wonder how masculinity and manhood will adapt, if it will at all.

    I mean, God said, "It is not good that man should be alone." I think God was on to something.

    What do you think?