Darius Goes West was brought to my attention by my sister-in-law, Allison (yes, the pretty red-headed girl making silly faces with Viv a few posts ago). Allison is also one of the film editors (hey I think that makes two family members now with IMDb pages - here’s some other guy). I haven’t watched the film as of yet, but I came up with an idea this morning (seriously, like 5 minutes ago).
September 19th will be the first time since I’ve been alive that I will not be singing happy birthday to my father. If you have come to my blog recently - he passed away this past April. 9/19 will be a hard day for my family. I’ve mentioned this before, but whenever the clock struck 9:19, my father would sing happy birthday to himself. 9/19 is deeply ingrained in my noggin. So to remember my father, I’ve decided to have a screening party and I want you to come to my house and watch this film with me. I’m going to invite my family and friends. What better way to find some healing with friends than to do it whilst watching a film with such a valuable lesson? If you are in the Philly/South Jersey area (or where ever for that matter), email me and let me know you are interested.
I was at the library, getting ready to pay my inter-library loan fee (that’s because the Burlington County Library didn’t have a copy of Office Space on DVD) of $1 and lo and behold, what did I see…
One of the many things I got done yesterday was putting up all of Viv and Van’s artwork they made this past summer in the playroom…
I watched John McCain’s speech last night and I think his speech was fine. It’s really unfair to judge the guy against some of the better speakers, but at least he can actually talk (as opposed to W - but Jesus H. Christ, where the fuck is Warshington?). I have been trying to find information on who those folks were that in the auditorium in protest, but to no avail. Doug stopped by for a beer and we debated if McCain’s wife or Sarah Palin is hotter (he’s leaning towards Palin, I’m for Cindy). Couple of observations…
McCain is Skeletor (see below)
McCain’s speech although not dynamic, did have some decent platforms. But did not touch our record national debt.
I don’t understand folks that have gone from supporting Hillary to suddenly supporting McCain after the naming of Palin as VP. Policy-wise, they couldn’t be further apart.
McCain should stop pointing during public appearances, it’s not his fault (it’s from that improperly healed broken arm as a POW) - he looks like Frankenstein.
I’m convinced the USA chants were to drown out the protestors in the crowd.
McCain’s mom is a sweetheart.
I am honestly undecided on which way I will be voting.
I have been trying to do so much research to prepare for my newest guitar student, C.J. (yep, the same C.J. from the birthday party that Van and Viv attended this past summer). See, he’s 5. Every guitar teacher forum post I read about young kids spoke about how teaching a little guy that age basically turns into babysitting, not any kind of form of nurturing the next musical prodigy. After reading all this advice to not teach someone this young, it steeled me to do the opposite. Maybe C.J. won’t be site-reading Villa-Lobos Etude 1 and such, but if I can foster an interest, include ideas around counting and reading (that support what he’s learning in kindergarten), I might just open up music to this little guy’s mind.
C.J.’s Mom dropped him off and we talked about parts of the guitar, we tuned his guitar, and then we did some counting/rhythm exercises. We went over these a few times, we took breaks and played the piano and organ (he said he needs a piano and organ now). Afterwards, Meredith (his Mom) arrived and we had a couple of Stella’s and talked about C.J.’s first day of kindergarten (which is today). So C.J. had a good time (he was apparently very relaxed, at least that’s how I’m going to interpret all the farting he did) and it probably helped take his mind off a big day for a bit.
I was going to post a link to a blog that posted about Sarah Palin’s near book banning while she was mayor, but after doing a little reading - the information behind it is a bit flimsy. The banned book list was actually from a listing of all books banned at various times in the US. For those interested, here’s an article in the Anchorage Daily News. Now, book banning is a sensitive subject for me - see, I read to my kids. I make DVDs of me reading stories, so they can have Daddy read them a story if they so choose. My experience (and I know this is a generalization) is that the majority of those behind book bannings have never read Faulkner, Twain, or Shakespeare. I want my children to think for themselves, that’s why I read to them. I want them to take an interest in literature. I know firsthand how valuable that can be. BUT, this story has a lot of holes in it and I hope before folks in the blogosphere that are looking forward to a change in the white house (as I am), do your research before spreading these stories. Spreading rumors and half-truths will only strengthen the other side.
