Vacation Over

I'm back, and I hope to have some great photos and stories to share from Budapest, but for now, I've got some catching up to do...

This blog will be back in a week...

...as I will be in Hungary. Probably doing a lot of this:

Swing your hips from side to side...

I had originally intended to share with you how much I loved this show as a kid:

and how every Friday I would run home but somehow always miss this segment of it:

but the internet wants me to tell you that there are way too many musicians with no direction out there (except maybe these guys).

Tribute

I take great pleasure in identifying myself a New Yorker, but it is with greatest respect that today I defer to those who lived through such a horrible event in our history. My prayers are with those who have lost because of it.

The Darcy List: Baby Names

Editor's note: The views expressed in this post aren't necessarily mine, even though I wrote them. I was pretty tired.

I'm adding something to my Darcy List: silly baby names. Now, I realize that this might be something of a touchy subject. Let me assure you, I'm not talking about your baby's name. No no. Your baby's name is perfectly fine. It's all those other people who give weird baby names that I'm talking about. Anyway, now that we've got that cleared up...

I'm not a fan of the creative baby naming fad that seems to be so popular nowadays. Somehow I just can't bring myself to saddle a kid with a slap bracelet of a name. I could rant more, but this article does it better than I could, so I'll defer to it. I had planned on showing you some hard data about the rise of "creative" names, but I got lazy. You can go here and find all the data you want. It's actually a pretty fun tool to play with. Here's a small example though. I've always felt that us Mormons are especially susceptible to this phenomenon (c'mon, we've all met a Verl or a LaDean), so I'm going to hit you with some of the Utah 2007 highlights:

Boys:

• #7 Mason. Sorry, that's a surname.
• #28 Jaxon. x ≠ ck.
  
• #46 Jayden. Only if you're a girl.
• #51 Braxton. Another surname.
  
• #64 Gage. Sounds like rail thickness, but it's another doggone surname. Ugh.
• #74 Ryker. Was he born with a manly beard?
  
• #77 Boston. Lovely city, horrible name.
• #90 Bridger. Stop with the surnames!

Girls:

• #7 Brooklyn. Lovely borough, horrible name.
• #10 Madison. Lovely street... yeah, you got the pattern.
• #68 Aspen. Let's just chock that one up to bad memories.
• #69 Makayla. Nope.
• #70 Rylee. Nope.
  
• #81. Brinley. Nope.
  
• #85 Brynlee. Ditto.
  

Yeah, yeah. I guess I'm being a bit snarky. Now it's your turn to say snarky things about the names I like.

Boys:

• Jack
• Matthew
• James

Girls:

• Katharine (Kate)
• Margaret (Maggie)
• Caroline

And that's all there is folks, I'm going to bed.

Hitchcock sale!

Any Hitchcock fans out there? In an attempt to grown my collection of Hitch flicks in the cheapest possible manner, I've ended up with a few doubles that I'm looking to sell.  
 
The two movies in question are 1950's Stage Fright and 1954's Dial M for Murder. Chances are good that you know as much as I do about Stage Fright, which is to say, nothing. Don't worry, I'm not trying to pawn it off on anyone, it's just that someone goofed and put two copies in my box set (luckily I already own the missing title). I'm sure I'll have glowing reviews for you all soon enough. Dial M is another matter altogether. I can recommend it without reservation as a great movie, even amongst the canon of Hitchcock films. I'm not looking to make a profit off of these, so I'm selling them cheap. Here's the info:

Stage Fright.....................$5.50
Dial M for Murder...........$5.50

$5.50?! Well... not quite. If I can't hand deliver them to you, I will tack on the price of an envelope and postage, but still, pretty dang cheap. And if I can had deliver them to you, it's just $5.50. Contact me if you're interested.

Random bites

Two things:

#1: Last night I saw a man speaking in Japanese to his dog. My initial thought: "Silly man, dogs don't speak Japanese!" And the follow up, "Silly David, Japanese dogs speak Japanese." I am such an idiot.

#2: My mom (a lifelong Republican) has just informed me that my uncle (also a Republican) has found the genealogical line connecting their side of the family to Barak Obama. Not what he was looking for, I can assure you. I'm waiting for the data before I put my skepticism away on this one.

Seattle, part one

As promised, stories from Seattle. First up, the Pacific Science Center. One of my faves as a kid (I actually slept over here twice in elementary school), I think it's seen better days. But, it's still the coolest basic science themed attraction I've been to. And they've got 2 IMAX theaters! 2!
They've also got massive squirt guns that teach kids about the scientific definition of work. Much more satisfying than the explanation I got in physics class.
Magnetic tracks for getting ball bearings from point A to point B. They would have been fun, if the ball bearing would actually stay on. Still, we gave it a shot and had a pretty good time of it.
Apparently the worlds largest electric guitar, made appropriately enough by a company called Big Guitars. I don't know how they can back this claim up, though I don't think anyone is going to challenge it any time soon.
The Science Center also has a butterflyarium where regular joes can, for a moment, enter a magical world of lepidopterian delights. One even landed on my hat. The only bummer of the experience was the warning on the way in that we watch our step, as the butterflies like to land on the path, leaving me with images of crushed butterflies throughout the experience.

You haven't really experienced Tic-Tac-Toe until you've used a giant robotic arm to crush your opponent. Looks like these kids are headed toward a cat's game to me.
My nephew performing the famous gyrosopic bike wheel experiment (one of my faves).
I know, this was a fairly cruddy post. Maybe it's because the Science Center didn't live up to my expectation. Probably just nostalgia kicking in. More to follow.

Issues

Like a lot of people, I've been following the Presidential Race pretty closely for what seems like ages. It's almost hard not to, being part of a family where the almost constant political debate is fueled by the clear party lines that can be drawn between its members. So, yeah, I've got caught up in all of this. But I consider myself something of the political black sheep of the family in that I pride myself on the research I do. I'd like to think that I'm not as easily swayed by party rhetoric as the rest of them, that I can detect an ad hominem attack and dismiss it as petty campaigning. But to say that those things don't sway me would be a lie. Politics is a big machine, and sometimes it's much easier to treat it as a black box than to figure out how the cogs mesh. This is the urge I'm constantly trying to resist, which can get tiring. Thankfully, The Daily Show helps keep things real. For example, their take on one of the biggest questions that's been on my mind lately: why are Clinton backers so angry?



Seriously, who's passing out all the Hate-o-rade? I've been underimpressed with Clinton ever since she began asking for the votes in Michigan and Florida to be counted. I suppose there's little value for good sportsmanship when it comes to political battles (though I think there should be), so the way in which she handled her defeat is not surprising, if not personally distasteful. A recent comment on this blog expressed the view that Obama was dividing the Democratic Party. I respectfully disagree. But my question remains: what is at the heart of this division? My best guess is that this division has only a cursory relation to the issues of the election. Too bad issues rarely win elections.

Comments and criticizms are, as always, welcomed. Flamebait will be deleted.

Addendum: M has got me thinking a bit. I get so focused on what I'm looking for that I often don't know what others are looking for. I'd like to invite anyone who is willing to share their feelings on what their ideal candidate would be in the comments. I'm not asking for an explanation of why you like one candidate or the other, but rather I'm asking what your ideal candidate's stance on a particular issue would be (and why's are always appreciated). Might I serve as something of a political sommelier and suggest the issues of the economy, the war and one other issue of your choice?

Boring baseball trivia, with footnotes

I'm sure that I'll tell you more about this later, but while I was in Seattle I saw some baseball. I can't remember how I came across this map today, but I'm glad I did, since it is a fairly unique look at how baseball is laid out in the US and has got me thinking about how unique my beloved Mariners are.
Now, I'm sure that the boundaries are up for discussion. But that's not what I'm thinking about. You hear a lot (especially in Seattle) about East Coast bias, and though some of it is just West Coast Whining, some of it is justified - because most of the teams are in the East. St. Louis was for a long time the westernmost team in Baseball, so let's just draw a line of longitude through it (if you'd like, you can imagine me standing in front of the map, with a t-shirt over my button down, Picture Pages style). This leaves us with 12 teams. If we really want to talk about the West and use the Rocky Mountains as our line of demarcation, we're down to 8 teams. If we take the wayback machine to 1997, Arizona drops out, and turning the dial to 1992 removes the Rockies. In short, I can easily remember a time when there were 6 teams west of the Rockies, 5 of which were in California. Of those 6 teams, only 3 of them originated there, the Giants and Dodgers having arrived from New York in 1958 and the A's having passed through KC on their way from Philadelphia, finally arriving in 1968. Of those three native teams, the Mariners are the youngest (remember, we're back in 1992), arriving in the league in 1977*. Of those 3 teams, 2 were originally owned by entertainers - the Angels by army air force pilot and singing cowboy Gene Autry and the Mariners by the alleged homosexual, communist, draft dodger Danny Kaye**. It's probably why the Angels continue to kick our butts to this day.

*For those nitpickers out there, 1969 marked the arrival of the short-lived Seattle Pilots, who, after one solitary season of play, were moved to Milwaukee by none other than comissioner-to-be Bud Selig despite plenty of legal attempts to keep them there. For awhile it was unclear where the team would be for the 1970 season, and their gear was being held in Provo, oddly enough. Sound familar to other recent Seattle sports news? Problems with the Pilots stadium were even part of the problem. Let's just hope that ClayClay doesn't someday become the commisioner of the NBA, or else we're all screwed. Oops, might be too late (put this photo with this caption).

**Shocking, I know. I never accused him of anything.

Almost better than warm milk

Just back from Seattle and realizing that 5 days is just enough time to time warp my body 3 hours. Decided I'd try posting something since I can't stand warm milk. I suppose that I could give you the travel log, but I haven't passed the pics from the camera to the computer, so that will have to wait. What I can tell you is that I came home with a heavier bag than I left with, having stolen several things from my parents house and having been gifted others. And yes, I decided to steal from my parents' religious library and opted for Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I figured as long as I'm putting my soul in hock for this, I might as well make it worth it. See if you can figure that logic out. I'm afraid I can't.
I'm perhaps most excited about the fact that my parents lent me their copy of the HBO John Adams miniseries, which I have yet to see and which you all are welcome to join me in watching. I also received an antique harmonica, but I'm afraid that's not on the program. All in all, it was a good trip, that has left me with one of the queasiest stomachs that I've had in a long time and the inability to sleep. There goes that faulty logic again...

Deep questions

I'm heading home tomorrow for a few days, and I suddenly find myself embroiled in a philosophical debate: does stealing religious books from my parents collection have a net positive or negative effect? Or is it a wash? Or was this post just an excuse to impress you with my very average photoshop skills?

Pimping the Woo

In case you didn't know this (and you probably didn't), I have way more music on my computer than my hard drive will allow. How did I do this? Well... first I cannibalized my old laptop for it's hard drive, then I bought an external enclosure for it... following me? Basically, I carry around this little had drive with me wherever I go, and for being a little drive it sure is a big pain in the tookus. It does give me access to about 20GB of music without gobbling up that much space on my hard drive, but if I ever plug my iPod in to my computer without first plugging in my hard drive... look out. Error after error after error. So, it's a mixed blessing.

My buddy Woo has come up with a better solution, especially if you happen to have one of those iPhone thingies. Basically, he's written a bit of software called ooTunes that will let you access your entire music collection anywhere you can get an internet connection. Pretty cool, huh? I wouldn't have to pack around that silly hard drive anymore. And if that weren't enough, those of you cool enough to own an iPhone can use it on that as well. Did I mention that it will also play streamed radio on your iPhone (including Pandora, last.fm, etc.)?

Yes, of course I'm trying to sell you on the idea (so is he, by the way, for $19.99). I'm doing it for 2 great reasons: 1) Woo is a friend of mine, and 2) Woo is a friend of mine who wrote a great piece of software. Check it out. Seriously. If you have a computer at home and want to listen to your music at work, this is the way to go. Woo's a super nice guy, so if you've got any questions, I'm sure he'd be happy to help.

Charlize, Scarlett, Gwyneth or Grace? Does it matter?

I've been thinking an awful lot about Hitchcock movies lately. Staring at the Vertigo poster over my desk every day probably has something to do with it. Be that as it may, I can't quite remember how I came across this Vanity Fair piece, since I don't read Vanity Fair, I figured that since it's germane to my recent inner ramblings I'd share.My personal favorites? All the Grace Kelly recreations and Seth Rogan running from the plane. The Psycho shot is OK, too. The rest are just kind of meh, except for the Marnie shot which I really don't like. Blah, blah, blah. Look at me, I'm an art critic.

D's Hall of Fame Albums

Those of you who graduated high school in the 90s may remember the brief return to mainstream popularity that Mel Tormé enjoyed before his death. Or maybe you don't. Here's a refresher if you're in the latter camp:

Or maybe you'll remember this:


Whether you remember those or not, they made a large enough impression on me to do a music class report on Mr. Tormé. To help facilitate the report, my music teacher lent me an LP of his work entitled Mel Tormé and friends, Live at Marty's. I was lucky enough to find this on CD (after years of looking) despite it's limited pressing and have enjoyed it ever since. It's a great live set from a great performer with some great guests. So, as I'm sure you can guess, I think this disc is fantastic. My copy has been through plenty of wear, tear and restoration so I was glad to hear that the disc has been made available through iTunes and Amazon's MP3 service. It's worth checking out even if you haven't heard the "Velvet Fog" before. Recommended tracks are: "New York State of Mind," "Silly Habits," "Mountain Greenery," and "Love For Sale."

New Yorker, here I come!

I guess this is a result of Shark Week and testimony meeting down time.

Bibliomania!

This past week my little sister was in town. She'd been here once before in high school and managed to get some of the touristy things out of the way, and when she wasn't checking off the rest of the sights, I got to show her a few places that weren't on the list. By far her favorite was Strand (she's a history teacher and obsessed with books). While she was purchasing up quite a bit of the store, I discovered that they had all but one of the Ian Fleming James Bond novels for $4.95 a copy... so I filled in the holes in my collection. Actually, since I only owned From Russia With Love, my collection was mostly holes, but who could pass up a $8-$9 savings per book?
Looks like I've got some reading to do. The only one that they didn't have a t Strand was Moonraker (better the movie, I'm sure), so we headed over to Barnes and Noble to top off my collection, where my sister spotted what is now my favorite bag of all time:

Fantastic, right? If I carry my scriptures to church in it, will they be truthier than other people's?

The Darcy List

If you've never heard of a Darcy List before, don't worry. Not many have. I only coined the term about a year ago. A Darcy List is a place where you can put all of those things that you consider to be undeservingly popular. Now, this isn't supposed to be a list of things that you simply dislike - there are other lists for that. There must be some aspect of them that you find enjoyable, well done or otherwise good for them to be on the list. So basically, you think they're good, but you don't understand why everyone thinks they're "fantastic!" Am I making sense?

If you haven't guessed already, the list is named for Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, of Pride and Prejudice fame. For anyone who has spent any amount of time around the average Mormon female, you'll know that they have an unhealthy obsession with all things Darcy. I know, I'm generalizing here, but I cannot count the number of times that I've seen a girl go weak at the knees thinking of the man, claiming in some way or another that Mr. Darcy is the paragon of romanticism. Quite frankly, I just don't get it.

And it's not like I haven't tried. No, I haven't read the novel (Have you?). But I have seen the BBC version that seems to be the gateway to this obsession. And though I enjoyed it, I quite think that the appeal of Mr. Darcy lies somewhere between his £10,000/year income and Colin Firth's wet shirt. I know, I know. I'm going to hear about that one. I'm prepared. I've even tried pretending that I don't have a Y chromosome, but even then, I can't be sure why he resonates with so many girls I've met. The only things that I can be sure of are: 1) no matter what any female says, were I to act like Darcy, I'd be dropped faster than it would take to explain my good intentions and 2) with the wild popularity of all the versions of this story out there (the BBC adaptation, the 2005 adaptation, the LDS adaptation, pretty much Bridget Jones' Diary, etc.), I'm convinced that you could turn a profit on a version with 2 turds cast as the leads. And it's that conviction, misplaced as it may be, that is at the root of me creating this list.

So, what else is on the list? Here are a few items:

• Wicked - Saw it and enjoyed it. Thanks again Janelle. The final number of the first act was wonderful. But franky, I found the plot got a little preachy for me towards the end and lost me. It was good, but I've seen better. I find myself asking the question: if everyone had the same access to theater that New Yorkers do, would it be as popular as it is? I honestly think it wouldn't.
• Pinkberry - Oh boy. Here's a fun one. It's a nice idea, and the product is tasty, but not tasty enough to drop $6 on it. Also, I feel like a 14-year-old Asian teeny bopper when I walk in. Somehow I don't feel like that when I walk in to Beard Papa.
• Continuing on the dessert trend... cupcakes. Loved them as a kid. Still enjoy them. But I've never had a cupcake that "I'd die for." Probably never will. And I don't care if it's buttercream frosting or sour cream frosting or whatever other kind of frosting it is, I'm going to scrape 2/3 of it off, since they always put way to much of it on. Even though you might have heard me tell you that your favorite bakery's cupcake is "so good," I was lying. As long as they are moist and sweet I can't tell them apart.
• Should I complete the trifecta and mention Rice to Riches? Looks like I already did.
• Hiking the Y. Enjoyable the first time, and that was it.
• Michael Bublé. Talented guy. Nice voice. Sinatra was better.

That's all I got right now, and it's surprisingly dessert oriented. Odd. I'm sure that there will be more additions when it's not 2 A.M. and my mind is still thinking about the All Star game. In the spirit of hoping that this idea catches on, I'm recommending that you read Genevieve's blog where she created her own Darcy List. We coordinated that.

Fantastic Fourth

Well, I promised you a 4th of July report, but since I was lazy, I got beat to the punch. Actually, that's good, since now I get to share with you my favorite photos from the trip without all that boring narrative stuff. If you want really good reviews of what actually happened, you might try this post or perhaps this one. Both are very good.

Here's a few goofy still life's to start out with:
H for Hales, I guess?

And some good people shots:



And of course, fireworks. Wouldn't be the 4th without them.





Well, there it is. I'm too lazy to type, I'm sure you don't mind not reading, and I hope you all had a good break!

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Excellent 4th. Pictures to come!