The Good Word

I’ve been watching a lot movies lately, mostly checked out from the public library. In the last two weeks I’ve watched a BBC production of The Tempest, Master and Commander, Bruce Lee’s Enter The Dragon, Driving Lessons, Lars and The Real Girl, Word Wars (a Scrabble documentary), Grizzly Man, Spanglish, The Prestige and Stripes.*

My selection was so diverse/bizarre that the last time I checked out a handful of DVDs the librarian actually audibly chuckled as she read the titles.

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There will, however, be no DVD watching this week. It’s Shakespeare Week and the eighth grade’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is only 72 hours away.  But I’ve got good news, besties; it looks like I’m going to be headed to Hillsdale in early March to sit in on my school’s interview process for prospective teachers.

So, if you’re a Hillsdale student majoring in English, Classics, Biology, or Chemistry and are interested in making the move out to CSprings, let me know and I’ll put in the Good word for you.

Also, I’ll be in Michigan for most of June for my five-year high school reunion and a friend’s wedding, but when I head back west I’m willing to take on all passengers. I’ve wanted to extend this invitation for some time, but just haven’t gotten around to it.

So far Brad and Leroy are definitely on board. Brad will be riding with me, but Leroy, I think, will be taking his own vehicle.

Also, July is rent-free month at Hotel Good, so if you want to take the leap into living in CO and would like to live off my bounty for a time this summer, I sincerely would like you to do so.

There is honestly nothing I would like more than to help a Michigander or a Hillsdale grad get settled out here. We’ve already got a pretty solid community already, but the more the merrier.

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All that said, this is going to be a pretty crazy week from me. Hopefully my buddy Caleb will be guest-posting this week to give me some relief. Otherwise, I might have to take a blogatical (not my word).

If you’re contemplating a transition after the close of this school year, let me know how I can help.

Peace, love, and Cool Ranch Doritos to ya’ll. Plus a video of Mallory’s visit to Colorado last fall to give you a little taste of what you’re missing:

*Lars and The Real Girl was BY FAR the best of the bunch.

The idea is that you put in your full name and the name of another person and the site spits out a compatibility percentage. You can’t get a 0%, because the computer knows that any relationship can work, and you can’t get 100%, because the computer can never be totally sure.

With my middle school crush though, I got a 99%, and that pretty much made her a fixture in my mind.

So, if you’ve seen it before, take a trip down nostalgia lane and try the Love Calculator again. If you haven’t, give it a try; there’s nothing wrong with acting like a middle schooler. That’s kind of the definition of love right?

Well… Shakespeare thinks so at least:

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;

And therefore is wing’d Cupid painted blind.

Nor hath Love’s mind of any judgment taste;

Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste;

And therefore is Love said to be a child,

Because in choice he is so oft beguil’d.

As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,

So the boy Love is perjur’d everywhere…

-Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s

Love is a many splendored thing, love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love…

Five Good Reasons To Welcome Our New President

5. He’s a fan of Ok Go. Well… at least he told their bassist that he “liked his style.” In Tim’s own words:

4. According to The New York Times he’s an amateur poet. (HT: Davey Talbot)

3. He seems to like comic books. A lot. Io9 suggests he’ll be making the rounds in the Marvel-verse.

2. He’s honest (skip to 0:45): “I inhaled… frequently… that was the point.”

1. And the number one, most good reason to doff your hat to Obama?

He’s got THIS many people who are willing to endure a 400:1 people-to-porta-potty ratio for him. Yes, those are people.

"See Martin, see Malcolm
See Biggie, see Pac,
See success and its outcome
See Jesus, see Judas
See Caesar, see Brutus,
See success is like suicide
If you succeed,
Prepare to be crucified"
- Jay-Z (from Coldplay's "Lost", feat. Jay)

I have to ask: Do Jay-Z's typical fans even understand his lyrics? By far the best word-players in the industry right now are Barenaked Ladies, Relient K, and Motion City Soundtrack, but since no one listens to them the mantle falls to the rappers. Mantle falls? Did we even understand that allusion?

What about Kanye?:

"Dressed smart like a London bloke.
Before he speak his suit bespoke.
And you thought he was cute before.
Look at this P Coat, Tell me he's broke.
And I know you're not into all that.
And I'm feelin' like Mike at his baddest.
The Pips at they gladest."
- Kanye West (From Estelle's "American Boy")

Probably the most successful song of the year and it contains back-to-back references to Michael Jackson and Gladys Knight and The Pips. Right on.

English is the most versatile and extensive language on the planet, with the richest literary history, the most vocabulary, and fewest innate grammatical structures. It's a gold mine, and why more people aren't excited to search out Shakespeare, Melville, Poe, G.K. Chesterton, The Beatles, and pop music to find out just what our language is capable of is beyond me.

Even if it's just a fart joke in Moby Dick that I didn't get until the fourth time around, the greatest literature that mankind has ever written is worth taking time to understand and it pays dividends.

The fart joke:

"For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim)..."

And if you just need some visual stimulation, this is truly awesome (click to enlarge).

New laptop (courtesy of Mike and Maggie). New music (courtesy of torrentz.com, so sue me). New sense of disappointment and regret (courtesy of Kanye West's new album 808s and Heartbreaks).

This CD is probably the worst thing I've ever come across. I think it might be a prank. I'm pretty sure that either Kayne is singing (rather than rapping) the entire thing in a distorted voice that sounds exactly like Lil' Wayne, or that Lil' Wayne put the entire album together and released it in Kayne's name.

Either way the thing is a bad Usher CD. Please, oh please, if anyone out there has had the strength to listen to the whole album refer me to the track that will prove me wrong.

Also, it turns out I'm so culturally out of step these days that I didn't realize Viva La Hova wasn't an official album, and was angry when I couldn't buy it on iTunes. Turns out the only music I was willing to download legally today is the only music that is only available illegally.

Let's hope Jay-Z can bring me back from this state of utter musical/emotional impotence that Kayne's pseudo-R&B, sorry excuse for a Ne-yo CD has put me in.

Wow.