Happy new year, everyone! May 2009 surpass your wildest expectations and may health, happiness and success accompany you wherever life takes you!
I wish everyone the best and promise Washington pictures soon!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Thursday, December 18, 2008
I wish I was on the highway back to Olympia...
Hello friends. Here is something of an update as to what I've been up to.
First off, semester number one of graduate school is over and I'd have to say it was a success. Granted, my back injury prohibited me from participating in a lot of the more physical activities that were assigned which has resulted in me talking an Incomplete in my Movement class, but the work will be made up and the grade will not hinder my progress in the program. As has been the case throught the semester, my professors have been very understanding.
As some of you know, Erin spent a solid month and a half in Tempe with me during which time she worked at Starbucks and as a personal assistant to a guy who runs a promotional material company out of his home. Yesterday morning my roommate Zac loaded us into his car, drove us to pick my classmate Adam and dropped us off at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. After a quick cup of joe with Adam, Erin and I headed off to our gate and boarded our plane to Seattle, WA.
We were greeted at the airport by Erin's mom, Julie, Erin's sister, Megan and Megan's 9 month-old daughter, Carmela. Erin was so amped to see her family! We then drove to Erin's parents' home in Olympia, WA where they were experiencing the worst snowfall they had had in ages. Nearly a foot had fallen in some areas on the outskirts of the city where the house is. The locals were amazed. I probably would have been too if I hadn't lived in upstate New York for the last three years where snowfall like that is the norm. Still, fresh snow is gorgeous. Pictures will follow.
So that's what's happening. I'll be here for two weeks before going to Florida to hang out with the folks and take a drive to Orlando to visit Niko and Aunt Fran and Uncle Bob.
More news from the trip and pictures galore coming soon!
First off, semester number one of graduate school is over and I'd have to say it was a success. Granted, my back injury prohibited me from participating in a lot of the more physical activities that were assigned which has resulted in me talking an Incomplete in my Movement class, but the work will be made up and the grade will not hinder my progress in the program. As has been the case throught the semester, my professors have been very understanding.
As some of you know, Erin spent a solid month and a half in Tempe with me during which time she worked at Starbucks and as a personal assistant to a guy who runs a promotional material company out of his home. Yesterday morning my roommate Zac loaded us into his car, drove us to pick my classmate Adam and dropped us off at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. After a quick cup of joe with Adam, Erin and I headed off to our gate and boarded our plane to Seattle, WA.
We were greeted at the airport by Erin's mom, Julie, Erin's sister, Megan and Megan's 9 month-old daughter, Carmela. Erin was so amped to see her family! We then drove to Erin's parents' home in Olympia, WA where they were experiencing the worst snowfall they had had in ages. Nearly a foot had fallen in some areas on the outskirts of the city where the house is. The locals were amazed. I probably would have been too if I hadn't lived in upstate New York for the last three years where snowfall like that is the norm. Still, fresh snow is gorgeous. Pictures will follow.
So that's what's happening. I'll be here for two weeks before going to Florida to hang out with the folks and take a drive to Orlando to visit Niko and Aunt Fran and Uncle Bob.
More news from the trip and pictures galore coming soon!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Milk
THIS IS A WARNING THAT THE FOLLOWING BLOG POST CONTAINS SOME MINOR SPOILERS FOR THE NEW FOCUS FEATURE, MILK.
Erin and I took the short drive up to Scottsdale this evening to see Gus Van Sant's latest project, Milk. The film stars Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch and Josh Brolin and follows the political career of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be voted into a major public office in the United States. Van Sant weaves through Dustin Lance Black's beautiful script with the same purpose and conviction that drove the politician in question. The film, however, is less about the man and more about the movement he brought to the forefront, a movement that is very prevalent today given the recent passing of laws in several states restricting the rights of homosexuals to adopt children and/or be married. By piecing together archived news footage with newly shot material, Van Sant makes it easy to see similarities between the frenzy cooked up by folks like Anita Baker in the late 70s and some of today's conservative leaders. I should add that Danny Elfman provides an excellent (and may I add very un-Elfmanlike) score.
Sean Penn delivers an outstanding performance that has Oscar written all over it. Generally speaking, Hollywood loves to see a leading man go through some incredible transformation and a very straight Sean Penn playing a very gay Harvey Milk seems to fit that bill, but it isn't just that simple. Penn possesses incredible honesty, strength, vulnerability and charm throughout the film. He is simply mesmerizing.
The timing of this film's release could hardly be more appropriate. With gay rights again on the political forefront and a new President-Elect promising change, the message of the film's message is resounding. As Penn emphatically says as Milk towards the middle of the film, "You've got to give the people hope."
Erin and I took the short drive up to Scottsdale this evening to see Gus Van Sant's latest project, Milk. The film stars Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch and Josh Brolin and follows the political career of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be voted into a major public office in the United States. Van Sant weaves through Dustin Lance Black's beautiful script with the same purpose and conviction that drove the politician in question. The film, however, is less about the man and more about the movement he brought to the forefront, a movement that is very prevalent today given the recent passing of laws in several states restricting the rights of homosexuals to adopt children and/or be married. By piecing together archived news footage with newly shot material, Van Sant makes it easy to see similarities between the frenzy cooked up by folks like Anita Baker in the late 70s and some of today's conservative leaders. I should add that Danny Elfman provides an excellent (and may I add very un-Elfmanlike) score.
Sean Penn delivers an outstanding performance that has Oscar written all over it. Generally speaking, Hollywood loves to see a leading man go through some incredible transformation and a very straight Sean Penn playing a very gay Harvey Milk seems to fit that bill, but it isn't just that simple. Penn possesses incredible honesty, strength, vulnerability and charm throughout the film. He is simply mesmerizing.
The timing of this film's release could hardly be more appropriate. With gay rights again on the political forefront and a new President-Elect promising change, the message of the film's message is resounding. As Penn emphatically says as Milk towards the middle of the film, "You've got to give the people hope."
Monday, November 24, 2008
Genesis
This is my new beginning. My cup runneth over with opinions and random thoughts. Music, theatre, sport, politics, love...these are but a few of the seemingly endless supply of stimuli that keep my world tilted on its axis and tumbling aimlessly through spce. I welcome your feedback and your opinions, whether they are the same as mine or different. Just know that this blog is less for you than it is for me to release whatever physical or psychological tension I am harbouring. I post here because I have the same voyeuristic tendencies as the rest of you and feel that if I am going to creep through cyberspace silently reading the thoughts of others, I should offer an opportunity for said others to reciprocate.
Thus, I begin to blog...
Thus, I begin to blog...
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