Avian Flu Bet’s Off

Due to ethical considerations Marvin is calling off the avian flu bet mentioned in the previous post. Although he expressly reserved the right to donate the spoils to prevention effort, he still feels some kinda way about a bet where he wins if a certain number of people die.

Avian Flu Bet

The Bet:

If, in the next 10 years, less than 1750 human beings die of the avian flu (as it is currently defined), Lloyd is the winner.

If, however, 1750 human beings or more do die of the avian flu (as it is currently defined) in the next 10 years, Marvin is the winner. It should be noted that if Marvin wins, he retains the right to donate his spoils to an Avian Flu relief effort.

The Financials:

Lloyd and Marvin hereby agree to invest ~$12 in a company that relates in no way to either the medical or poultry industries. Both participants will contribute $12 to cover the cost of purchasing 2 shares of Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation (NYSE:CDE). On April 27th, 2016, the spoils of said investment will be available to the winner. The loser will cover any costs associated with delivering said spoils.

Goodnight

One night as I tucked my daughter in, she asked,

"Daddy, If God dies, does the world end?"

"That's the spirit, sweetie!," I said, "Now close your eyes and see."

I’m too afraid to ask for the gift you’re always dying to give.

C9H13NO3

Lloyd is Happy

The morning I created the last sentence in my last post "Happiness" I thought it was great. Those few words dawned on me with such power that I chose to present them immediately to the world of imaginary readers. But after that morning passed, I no longer remembered what was so great. So, in response to this personal unease as well as the puzzled looks of those who I've made read it, I'm going to explain Hapiness and Relief as I conceived of it for one morning.

What I had a feeling I meant by "And relief is when it does." was that when you're happy and proceeding with life there is usually a slight anxiousness that that happiness will end. Additionally, when you're happy, it's because you're at home in a view of the world that is working and making sense and going smoothly. This too is an inherently anxious position, because as everyone knows, no one outlook can hold for very long. So when something bad does happen, you're shaken out of it, and toward a new one. Your view of your life changes and that big burden being removed is relief.

Happiness

Happiness is when you're still unaware of the bad shit that's about to happen.

And relief is when it does.

The I’s That Bind

My favorite hobby is myself, which I take very seriously. Eskimos know all about snow, but I have 36 different words for "mine." I'm an old, old habit- and I need Your help kicking me.

So Don’t

If you fast forwarded through all the boring parts of your life, to the times when you said the smartest things, and the moments when your perspective completely changed, and the most emotionally trying times, then your life would only be two hours long.

And Ebert and Roeper would probably give it one thumb up.

And probably the same percentage of people who don't like you, would dislike the movie too.

School Lunch Menu

courtesy of human-dog.com

Stop Trying

Stop trying to capture Beauty on film, in books, on CDs. Why not try this instead: wait till your sweetheart falls asleep tonight, then steal her toes.

Look at papparazzi, they don't have any pretensions about creating anything, they just want you to believe in a big love affair when all they have is one secret embrace.

April 1st, 2006 @ Rickshaw Stop – Noise Pop 06 – Brothers Past, Hijack the Disco, Parker Street Cinema

The headliner, Brothers Past, was a four piece jam band with their own $10,000 light system and four roadies. We left during their second song.

Oakland based Hijack the Disco is good enough at imitating their genre to conceal the fact that they're not very good. The only thing that would save Hijack the Disco for me is if someone told me that the two frontmen were once a bored gay couple who decided, on a whim, to start an emo band. "Let's go EMO!" If this is not in fact the back story, then I'm afraid they're just a less polished facsimile of the state of contemporary pop-punk, which many people confuse as "emo". The band has three things going for them: (1) Their catchy dual vocal lines, harmonies and call and response parts are the only musically interesting thing about them. (2) Their drummer, by all outward appearances, is a machine, and (3) Their bassist has the most authentic sounding "emo" stage chatter I have ever witnessed. I thought Bright Eyes was actually in the building. And it forced me to think that maybe the bassist's way of speaking – part broken from deep anguish, part egotistically self-conscious, part hyper-affected drama kid – is so authentic that an entire band was created to support it. This bass player was a living breathing stage chatter archetype.
The less thrilling things about them are: (1) The guitarist does not appear to know how to play guitar. And he had one of the nicest guitar amps jangling out one of the worst guitar tones. (2) Oakland guys wearing the Official NY/LA all-black band uniform is like Andre 3000 asking Carson Daly for coolness tips. (3) Never ask the audience to dance. We're the ones who paid. You're the monkey. (4) There was a song where the chorus was something like "smoking cigarettes in the city" over and over again.

This was the best and tightest Parker Street Cinema I've seen. They seem to have run with the too common practice of playing soundscapes behind your instrumental band's instrumental music. Their new stuff is more about scoring the background sounds than just tossing them in after the fact. The samples and vocal clips are becoming more integrated into each song and therefore more integral to each piece.
Next, I may have been the only one who liked them yelling into the audience between songs instead of setting up a microphone for the sole purpose of not yelling into the audience between songs. Although a friend of mine was right in pointing out that this leaves them defenseless to would-be hecklers.
All that being said, their set was four songs too long for people standing stageside and probably just right for anyone who had the luxury to sit.

-smoking cigarettes in the city