:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::
Thoughts, observations, and introspections from an
:: Sunday, August 31, 2003 ::
:: Monday, August 25, 2003 :::: The Hollywood Bowl :: Last night was my first trip to the Hollywood Bowl. I've heard a lot of things about it from friends who are more cultured than I but never had the opportunity until now. The performance was John William's "greatest hits". While I'm not the biggest fan of classical music I do have tremendous respect for it, and I consider a composer's ability to write a good film score almost as remarkable as a musician's ability to write a timeless rock album.
I wasn't sure what to expect other than that our seats were all the way up in the back. For some reason I though that we'd be situated in a grassy section of the bowl so we'd be watching while sitting on the ground. Apparently, all sections have benches, which for me, made the picnicking part of the evening a little awkward since we had to pass around all the food and drinks. At least the stuff being passed around was good. We had pigs in a blanket, hot wings (that were truly hot), sausage and crackers, and other typical picnic food. Wine was various pinots (people in this group seem to be fixated on pinots for some reason) and I sampled a little bit each bottle. I think they brought at least four different types. I don't know what any of them were called since I had trouble reading the labels due to the lack of lighting so I simply held out my glass whenever I was offered some wine.
The performance from the LA Philharmonic was excellent. The first half started off with a medley of William's best-known stuff, followed by songs from his latest works. Scores he composed for the movie "Catch me if you Can" and the upcoming "Harry Potter" film. He spoke between sets and was always very gracious and occasionally humorous, pointing out that our chance to listen to his music without "the film getting in the way."
After intermission, we moved up a few sections to an unoccupied section of the Bowl. We were still a good distance from the stage but the sound seemed a little crisper without all the extra bodies around to absorb the sound. That was good thing since the second half started of with songs from what’s probably his most famous score, "Star Wars." And the real treat was special guest narrator James Earl Jones, who received a standing ovation when his name was announced. That was cool, let me tell you. He narrated various parts of the story and the orchestra would play the music appropriate to that respective scene. It’s times like this when it's good to have an active imagination since every time a song played I could close my eyes and see the scene from the movie playing through in my head. That should tell you how something about how many times I've seen the films.
That went on for almost an hour and it was worthy of yet another standing ovation once it was finished. He stayed for a few encores and played the scores from "Superman" and "Indiana Jones" to cap off the evening. It was great. I'm gonna have to see about going back to the Hollywood Bowl again, maybe for a blues festival or something.
:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 1:06 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
.....
:: Tuesday, August 19, 2003 :::: Follow me. I'm gonna total this thing. :: I've been working rather frantically the last couple of weeks trying to get a portfolio together for admissions into art school. Exacting, anal-retentive perfectionist that I am when it comes to work that I have to show to others, it's probably taking me longer than it really should. But then it's always been like this for the last several years and thing usually work out well for me more often than not and for something as important as this, that isn't going to change.
Something as important as this. Geez. I haven't grappled with a decision of this magnitude since I bought my acoustic guitar. (Okay, maybe a little more serious than that.) And it's not just that the things I've done the last few weeks and will do in the next two days might affect the next two years (never mind the rest of my life). I'm not even vacillating on the where, when, or how. Or even why. It boils down to will it or won't it happen and it's clear to me that I'm at a point in my life that I know that this is something I absolutely have to do. It's something that’s crucial to my... maturation? Growth? Character? Soul (as cheesy as that sounds)? I can't even begin to try to explain it in a way that would make sense to anyone without carrying on and on for several paragraphs and if you actually read through my entire Vegas blog (August 10), you know that I tend to take the long way in storytelling.
Friends have asked me if I'm frightened of the possible change and I usually reply "yes" but not for the typical reasons. I couldn't really explaing it before because, frankly, I didn't know. Now that I've really had time to think about it what scares me isn't the possibility of change. What scares the hell out of me is if nothing changes. It wasn't very long ago that I never seriously considered living anywhere outside of Los Angeles but now, the only way I can see my existence continuing at all is to start again somewhere else. Of the three or four people I've tried to explain this to, only one seems to even remotely understand.
I used to wonder if a year from now, whether I'd be seeing a Tigers/Lions game or Marlins/Dolphins game. Good ol' American comfort food or Cuban cuisine? Two seasons or four? Affable, down-to-earth Midwestern women or passionate, exotic Latin women? It all seems so trivial now. I have a fairly decent idea of where I’ll be headed, when I’ll be heading there, and what I’ll be doing once I get there. I haven’t quite worked out the logistics of such a drastic move, other than that I’m taking my guitar with me =)
Pray for me. I’m about to jump off a cliff holding nothing but a cheap umbrella.
It just occured to me, I was going to write about something else but this blog just took a drastic turn after the first paragraph. You fellow bloggers might be able to relate to this: ever start writing and the words flowing from your fingers somehow take on a life of their own? Kinda like a bad rumor?
:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 1:38 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
.....
:: Saturday, August 16, 2003 :::: NewSong. Like no Other. :: It's not something I express enough, but I just love NewSong. And not necessarily for reasons you might imagine.
You watch Letterman or Conan O'Brian and during any given night they might be reciting an anecdote, sketch, or joke and mention some city outside of New York. Nine out of ten times, that random city will incite a flurry of applause and/or "wooo!!!" or "yeeaah!" from the audience. Well, a couple of weekends ago, AE was sharing a little story and just happened to mention something about the University of Illinois, Urbana. Upon mention of that school there was an enthusiastic "woohoo!" from a rather vocal girl in the congregation. (I know who it was but I'll refrain from mentioning her name here.) In a church. You gotta love it. A friend and I shared a good laugh over it. Only at NewSong.
I'm telling ya, if I ever have to leave this place, I'm gonna miss it dearly.
:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 9:19 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
.....
After having spent last weekend in Las Vegas, the first couple of days back was an interesting study in contrast in that one has to adjust to returning to a city that has... what’s the word I'm looking for... ah yes... laws. Not to say Vegas doesn't have laws but you wouldn't find laws specifying zoning ordinances regarding legalized prostitution in say, Brea. Speaking of which, in reference to the latest ads stating "what happens in Vegas staysin Vegas", how sad is it that I spent all that time there and yet, had all that stuff I actually could write about? How pathetic is that? I mean, all that alcohol (for me anyway) and I didn’t even get a buzz. Though I might have esperienced a contact high while walking around outside. Or maybe I was just getting light-headed from the heat. I dunno.:: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 ::
A friend of mine asked if I'm eager to go back soon after hearing about my weekend. I had to say "no" because as much fun as I had, that city is so busy with so much stuff going on all simultaneously that had I stayed any longer, it would have just result in sensory overload. Keep in mind that this is despite staying at a house in a residential area a good fifteen minutes away from the Strip. That and I just couldn’t shake the feeling of deliberate artificiality so intrinsic to Vegas. I realize I’m stating the obvious in saying it’s a completely manufactured city. It clearly doesn’t bother most people who go there, and it certainly didn’t bother me. I just couldn’t escape the constant thought that while entertaining, this city just isn’t… "natural." Something just isn’t right. It's different.
I know how to explain it. Las Vegas is analogous to a pair of fake breasts: nice to look at, fun to play with, can be entertaining for hours on end, and diligent, careful manipulation along with some investment of personal time and expense can potentially lead to magnificent rewards... but after a while, you just need to get back to something real. (Also, bear in mind that this explanation is based solely on the testimony of others.) One needs to return to reality, if you will.
Yeah, I enjoyed myself but I think I'm good for the next year or so.
:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 6:32 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
.....
It’s been a good ten years since my last trek out to Las Vegas and I was curious as to see how much it’s changed. Well, it’s brighter, flashier, and a bit more gaudy. And I enjoyed almost every minute I was there. (I’ll explain the “almost” later on.):: Friday, August 08, 2003 ::
Instead of a hotel I stayed at my friend’s parent’s house (who happened to be out of town that weekend). I’ve heard that the newer hotels are posh but this house was very nice. Big TV, comfy bed, A/C, a decent pool, and fridge stocked with sodas. We left Friday night and arrived about a half past midnight. After changing he took us to a place called “Palms.” A nice enough hotel/casino… actually they’re all hotel/casinos… that he likes since his luck is usually good there. He tried to explain craps to me but I just ended up watching him and making flirty eye contact with one of the girls working the chips at the table. He left on the plus side and we just walked around a little bit with our free beers. We ended up at another place eating an $8.99 prime rib dinner (which included a beer =)) at 3:30 in the morning. Only in Vegas would this feel normal. And only in Vegas would an $8.99 prime rib be pretty good.
We spent most of Saturday afternoon doing stupid touristy stuff, walking from hotel to hotel. Did I mention that it was 110 with 30% humidity the whole weekend? We visited Paris, Aladdin, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, and the Venetian, but not before placing bets on the day’s baseball games. Since I’m having some decent success with my fantasy baseball team, I thought I'd do ok here. We had lunch at the Venetian at this one Italian place. We started off with a salt cod dish of some sort, which was pretty good. I ate a proscuitto, basil, and mozzarella pizza, which was excellent. I probably liked that hotel the best since it houses some pretty good art work on the walls and ceiling in some parts of the shopping area. I don’t know how closely it approximates the paintings in Italy but I thought it was cool. Just before leaving he wanted to play the “Wheel of Fortune” slot machine. He’s had average luck with this machine in the past but I don’t know if it was just stupid beginner’s luck but he told me to spin a few times and guess what… we won. Big. I was having an excellent weekend, let me tell you. He dubbed me his new good luck charm.
We went back home to relax for a little bit before our big night out. I took a quick dip in the pool to try escape the heat. Our plans for that night was visiting his favorite steakhouse, heading out to the Hard Rock, and then visiting MGM Grand and New York-New York.
The steakhouse was called Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse. Remember what I wrote about Fleming’s Steakhouse a couple of weeks ago? Well, this place was slightly, yet noticeably better. The beefsteak tomato salad was good, the creamed spinach was scrumptious, and the Porterhouse Steak was absolutely divine. I ordered it charred rare, as I usually do and luxuriated in every bite, all 24 ounces worth. The quality of the steak was excellent, and the kitchen did a terrific job of cooking it up exactly the way it was ordered. A nice, crusty outside complementing the glowing red, juicy inside. You couldn’t ask for a better cut of beef. The wine was another California Cabernet, this time something called Plumpjack. It was a little fruitier tasting than the Trilogy we had last time and, befitting its price, it was quite good. About that price, he said to me “don’t make this a habit.” Nah. I’m still a beer guy.
We tried our luck at the Hard Rock but we weren’t able to duplicate our afternoon success. Fortunately we came back enough to leave almost even. The highlight of that place was seeing a display case of one of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s guitars. That was a very ethereal moment for me.
The MGM and New York were nice but luck wasn’t very nice there either. I didn’t play but my buddy tried his hand at craps and couldn't get anything going. It seemed the guys at that table were throwing nothing but sevens. Geez. About that “almost” part. I hated watching him lose money like that and there were several times I wanted to yell “g@#d da^^it, stop throwing sevens!!!” It’s ok though. He came back to even later that night at the black jack tables.
There was this nightclub called Tabu that he really wanted to visit. I was skeptical at first but he needed a lift after what happened so I agreed, though I didn’t think we get in since this place had an “upscale and trendy” dress code and I happen to be neither (I'm not necessarily referring to my clothes). We finally did get in, and I was kinda reminded of why I don’t go clubbing. Not that this was a bad place, if anything it was pretty classy. But I don’t usually care for rooms packed with people while being inundated with extremely loud, monotonous, bass-heavy dance music. I mostly stood around with my beer while he walked around and did his thing. After a while, I moved around a little bit to check things out (that and I wanted another beer). It occurred to me then that I really don’t have a clue as to what to do at these types of places. It was virtually impossible to talk, I can't dance, all the seats were taken, and I don’t know if it was couple’s night but all the good-looking chicks were there with their boyfriends. So I went to the bar and flirted a little bit with the bartender (an attractive blonde) while ordering an overpriced beer. Now, I don’t care if it’s from Belgium or that it’s flavored with raspberries. Twelve freakin’ dollars?!? Gawd. I think she was impressed that I ordered that particular bottle since it seemed the most popular drink there was Corona. Either that or she thought I was a high roller. (Nah.) She just seemed to be paying more attention to me than most other guys, even coming back a few times to ask me how my beer was. She even mentioned that it’s the only beer she can drink. Yes I’m fully aware that she could have simply been working me so I'd buy more drinks – meaning more tips for her – but two was enough for me and... frankly I don’t care =P
Afterward, he tried blackjack again and ended up ok. The funniest part of that session was that the dealer thought I was his bodyguard. He’s not a big guy and while I’m not huge, I’m a gorilla next to him. Not as hairy but almost as ugly. It didn’t help that he played along. I guess guys with a lot of money being escorted by a bodyguard isn’t unusual there. I got another laugh about that later. What happened was I got bored and walked over to the bar to watch SportsCenter. The dealer pointed out that his “bodyguard” was leaving and he replied “it’s ok. He has to feed.” I should point out, he gets really funny when he's had a few.
Sunday was relatively uneventful. We started off with another round of baseball parlays, which we both lost by one game. Last time I listen to him. We had a delicious Sunday brunch buffet that had all the standard breakfast fare as well as various meats, Mexican food, Chinese food, and seafood. I had a slice of their prime rib and let me tell you, no buffet this affordable has any right serving prime rib this good. Ironically, that was the only buffet I went to all weekend.
I walked around Caesar’s Palace afterwards debating whether or not to purchase some new sunglasses with my newfound riches but decided against it when I couldn’t find the Oakleys that I liked. Our last meal at Vegas was an Irish Pub that caters to Pittsburgh Steelers fans during the football season. Rumor has it that this pub was originally built in Dublin and was brought over and rebuilt brick by brick, panel by panel. True or not, I loved it. THAT is my kind of restaurant. Friendly, casual, and lively atmosphere, good food (my corned beef sandwich was very nice) and a very impressive number or Irish and British beers on tap. If there’s one place I’d want to come back to in Vegas, this is it.
Can I tell ya? I had a lot of fun. Vegas isn’t really my kind of town but I needed to get away for a little bit and it turned out to be a great weekend.
:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 12:31 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
.....
In about two two hours, I'm gonna be leaving for Las Vegas. Vegas baby Vegas!!! :):: Monday, August 04, 2003 ::
:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 5:59 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
.....
Most of you know I'm trying to get into art school. One of the schools requires an interview or, if the proximity to the campus is prohibitive, an interview video. They have a list of questions on their site for applicants to answer. Questions ranging from "which program are you applying for?" to "tell us your favorite movies/books/commercials and why." So last week a buddy of mine came over and helped me film this thing. I would have preferred to do the interview but I don't have the time to fly out to Miami. That and I tend to be rather camera shy. Be it still or video, I don't like to be filmed.:: Friday, August 01, 2003 ::
I have to tell you, having never seen myself on a video in a very long time, never mind that this one features me and only me, viewing interview was alternately funny, laughable, and cringe-inducing. I don't know if it was because I was nervous but I noticed that I twitch a lot. My eyebrows and my head tilt at odd angles, my lips twist into weird shapes, facial expressions are bizarre, and my hands are rubbing my face at odd intervals. Geez. My buddy filming the whole thing made a few observations at my expense, as friends are apt to do. Fortunately, that was just the rehearsal video and I think I tempered most of my twitching for the real thing but still... to my eyes it was just ugly. I'm starting to wonder if I'm like this in real life. Ugh.
:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 11:03 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
.....
Having just completed my latest book, Tom Clancy's "The Bear and the Dragon" - all 1137 pages worth - after going through a series of his books earilier in the year; "Debt of Honor," "Executive Order", and "Rainbow Six" I have to say, I'm really tired. It never occured to me that reading could be such a strenuous ordeal. Or maybe I'm just getting old and my brain is breaking down in a manner similar to that of my body after a rigorous day of sports.
Clancy has always been a favorite author but I took a break from reading his books for the last year and a half or so just because I wanted to see what else was out there. I read an excellent book called "Wild at Heart," some of Dennis Miller's "Rants" series, and reaquainted myself with Elmore Leonard. It was all great reading but I felt like I needed to get back to my old favorites and there were still a few books of Clancy's that I hadn't read yet so I started early May with "Debt of Honor" and it concluded recently with "B&D." Funny thing though, When I read the last sentence of that book, I closed it and let out a huge sigh, the likes which I usually only reserve for after a strenuous game of tennis or something. I purchased his latest book, "Red Rabbit" which is something of a prequel to his Jack Ryan series but at this moment I'm content with letting it gather dust on my bookcase. I'm just gonna go watch "Alias" or something, get my spy drama fix that way.
I am getting old ;)
:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 10:54 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
.....
