Go Team!


Over the past few years, I've become a much bigger sports fan. I started to think about why that's so because only recently, I've realized how much more of a sports I am now than before. There are several obvious moments that come to mind. The more and more time I spend away from home (Boston), whatever feelings I have for homesickness may get sublimated in increasing excitement for anything that relates to Boston - clam chowdah, lobstah and of course, Boston sports teams. Also, the teams I've been routing for have been tremendously successful culminating in the 04-05 season when the Patriots won 2 Superbowls, the Red Sox ended the curse and Illinois almost won a national championship. Now, I've realized that there's a deeper reason: politics.

Up until recently, I was a news junkie - reading daily newspapers starting with the Times, then Boston Globe and then reading about whatever city I am currently living in. For commentary and analysis of current affairs, I kept up with what the New Yorker, the Economist, Esquire and Playboy had to say. Ever since Dubya took office and especially after the invasion of Iraq, I've become increasingly disillusioned with what's going on in the world let alone this country. It depresses me to read the news. I end up expending too much energy worrying and arguing about what's going on in the world.

It's not getting any better and I find myself reading the aforementioned publications less and less. Where has my attention been shifted to? Sports, the arts, fashion, food and wine. Out of all these, sports seems to be the one area most insulated from the political bullshit that pisses me off. There are exceptions like the Tillman scandal and the steroids bullshit.

So here's what I'm reading these days. I still read the Times by skimming the headlines and then moving immediately to the Food and Wine section and then the Arts section with rare forays into other sections. The Arts section of the Times has become embarassingly bad. For music, I rely on Alex Ross's blog, therestisnoise.com, for Classical music, postings on my friend's Livejournal at http://stufsocker.livejournal.com/ for popular music, and I've found that myspace does a surprisingly good job of filling in the blanks between the two genres. For the magazines listed above, I try to skip over all the political stuff unless I know I'm going into a situation where I will inevitably have to argue my position. In these instances, the New Yorker and the Economist are great for unique insights on matters at hand and Playboy is perfect for concise factoids that serve my argument. Esquire seems to be moving toward the right more, unfortunately so that magazine's only good for articles on fashion, electronics and celebrity interviews these days.

I also got satellite radio over a year ago. I was excited about all the talk radio possibilities but I find that I pretty much stick with NFL radio and Raw Dog comedy stations. NPR just gets me depressed unless they're doing an arts review or telling me which Chassagne-Montrachet is the best bang for the buck.

So instead of worrying about the Middle East, the Bush administration laying off half the IRS lawyers in order to help their rich friends and such, I can't wait until preseason football and the MLB playoffs to get rolling.

Go Patriots! Go Red Sox!

Films, films, films!

1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? They're both full of shit. They should concentrate on making good movies not on spouting philosophical bullshit about their medium.

2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings: Jude Law, Joaquin Phoenix.

3) Favorite special effects moment: Final scene of Boogie Nights....

4) Matt Damon or George Clooney? Too close to call. Probably Clooney.

5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other? Tampopo, 8 1/2, Flirting with Disaster.

6) Favorite film of 1934: Don't care for any of them really. It Happened One Night would be my choice even though I can't stand Clark Gable. Had I seen Ukigusa monogatari, that would be my favorite.

7) Your favorite movie theater: The Senator Theatre in Baltimore.

8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne? Jean Arthur

9) Favorite film made for children: Piocchio, ET

10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie: Raging Bull

11) Favorite film about children: Radio Days

12) Favorite film of 1954: Tough one! Seven Samurai.

13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays: Empire of the Sun by Tom Stoppard, Crash by J.G. Ballard

14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon? Jack Lemmon

15) Favorite character name: Dirk Diggler.

16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else: Godfather and Amadeus - both movies are better than the book, believe it or not.

17) Favorite film of 1974: Chinatown.

18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed? Joan Severance.

19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no? not interested.

20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie:

21) First R-rated movie you ever saw: Police Academy?

22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography): Midnight Cowboy - I can't think of any other serious movie that got an X rating.

23) Best film of 1994: Wow! Tough call! Shawshank Redemption, Trois Couleurs, Eat Drink Man Woman.

24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep: In Schindler's List when Schindler asks the former rabbi working in his factory why he's not observing the Sabbath - the expression on the rabbi's face, then cut to an impromptu Sabbath service led by the same rabbi.

25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner? McGregor.

26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year: You fuck my wife? - Raging Bull

27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it? Talking babies or animals, stupid animal jokes, Chris O'Donnell, Matthew McConaughey, Joel Schumacher directing, a bad film score, a lame sequel, a cheap copy of another movie, Sarah Jessica Parker, I could go on.

28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie: Brazil. Although I haven't seen all of it yet.

29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts? Jean Smart

30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
It hasn't been the greatest indicator of love or the success of a relationship for me.

Advanced Global Personality Test Results Extraversion |||||||||||||| 60% Stability |||||||||||| 46% Orderliness |||||| 30% Accommodation |||||||||||| 50% Interdependence |||||||||| 36% Intellectual |||||||||||||||||| 76% Mystical |||||||||| 36% Artistic |||||||||||||||||||| 83% Religious |||||||||||| 50% Hedonism |||||||||||||||| 63% Materialism |||||||||||||||| 70% Narcissism |||||||||||||| 56% Adventurousness |||||||||||||||| 70% Work ethic |||||||||||||||| 63% Self absorbed |||||||||| 36% Conflict seeking |||||||||||| 43% Need to dominate |||||||||||| 43% Romantic |||||||||| 36% Avoidant || 10% Anti-authority |||||||||||||||| 63% Wealth |||||||||| 36% Dependency |||||||||||| 43% Change averse |||||||||| 36% Cautiousness |||||||||||||| 56% Individuality |||||||||||||||||| 76% Sexuality |||||||||||||||| 70% Peter pan complex |||||||||||| 50% Physical security |||||||||| 36% Physical Fitness |||||| 30% Histrionic |||||||||||||||| 63% Paranoia |||||||||| 36% Vanity |||||||||||| 43% Hypersensitivity |||||||||||| 50% Female cliche |||||| 23%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

You are a Social Liberal (73% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (15% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

What happened to Part II?

Well, I got busy and by the time I wanted to finish writing about my trip to California, I wasn't up for it. It was in the past. Basically, I did my best conducting to date at this workshop. The three teachers there, all of whom have a strong influence on the hiring of new conductors in the country, felt that I had great knowledge of the score, strong musical instincts, great potential.....and horrible technique. They had me work on technique the whole time. A lot of what I heard was different than what I'm used to. I've had three conducting teachers in my life. Two of them are disciples of the other one - I've pretty much have had one perspective. This gave me a lot to think about.

I made some great friends there. They were a lot more like the friends I have back at home rather than the ones I made in Illinois. We felt more comfortable about talking about anything - there were little or no worries about offending others or crossing lines and also, people were well versed culturally and could talk about anything we wanted especially when we got sick of talking about music.

In the end, I got invited back to the workshop for next year and I got a new reference that I can use. After doing some research, I've realized that this new reference can open some doors for me. I'm looking forward to the possibilities this may open up for me. So right now, it's all about finding a job.