I wish there was a factory reset button for our bodies. With a computer if something catastrophic happens you can drop in a disk and return the machine back to the settings it had when it was fresh out of the box.
The human body needs that.
I'm saying this after having a medical issue that which really sucked and is leaving me with traces of pain. The proper term is post herpetic neuralgia. I had shingles. On my face. It felt like I was getting a facial tattoo 24/7. But after the outbreak on my face had scabbed over and healed, the pain remained. It's the nerves which were damaged by the shingles not going back to normal. I'm on meds, but it is taking a while for it to work. I hope it works soon.
So my wanting a reset is to get rid of the pain and have my face feel normal again. But in the reset scenario all the other damage to my body would be gone. The injuries from work and sports and other things I still carry. I think everyone has these traces of a life lived with them but you get used to the pain. And the amount of pain you can get used to is pretty amazing. It just settles in and becomes a new normal.
I don't want this nerve pain to be a long term new normal. I want to reset.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Ode to Neil
I was working a gig last week. Neil Degrasse Tyson was speaking at the event. It became my mission to be at the 2 meetings he spoke at.
The first meeting was a small one for some students. He did a Q&A instead of prepared remarks. I loved how intelligent he spoke off the cuff. He was articulate and engaging. There was one question a student asked I remember. "If there was a pill which would let you live forever would you take it?"
He thought for a moment and I'm going to paraphrase his answer. 'Because we have a finite period of time on the planet and we don't know how long that is, we have a drive to do things. If you knew you would live forever there is no urgency to get out of bed. There is always going to be tomorrow to do something. But I'd probably take the pill.'
Good answer. I don't know if I'd be aware that forever would make people stop striving to accomplish anything. I wouldn't take the pill because you'd have to work forever.
The second meeting he spoke at was in the lunch session. It was a speech I think he's given many times before. Probably since 2010. There was a slide he used that he hadn't updated since 2010. It was interesting. He pointed out how many Jews had won the Nobel Prize. It was over 20% of the prizes given out. He then commented how many Muslims had won a Nobel Prize in the sciences. 3. And that was because of an anti-curiousity which happened in Islam after the 12th century. Why does something happen? Allah's will. A number of the things he said were also integrated into the Cosmos series on FOX. A few things paralleled what was said in the series but stated more plainly. In a way that might offend people if they chose to take offense.
Then, later, as I was walking down one of the hallways in the hotel I saw a crowd of people. In the middle of the crowd was Tyson. He had been waylayed in the hallway by some people with questions. As I approached I heard him giving a master class.
There was a woman, white, 50's, who was trying to refute climate change. Her arguments were weak and conspiratorial. She was a watcher of right wing news and talk, and it came out later she was even further down the rabbit hole with conspiracy theories.
Tyson was a gentleman and never said she was stupid. He gently tried to tell truth to a mind like a closed fist. She said climate change was just so wealth could be redistributed. She pointed out that a TCP report changed data to match the desired finding. I thought TCP reports were in the movie Office Space.
Tyson told her where she was wrong but she insisted. She had one fact and that was going to disprove EVERYTHING. The crowd around her was rolling it's eyes. She was monopolizing his attention and hadn't seen she'd already lost. He told her if she didn't believe climate change then don't sell your beach front house.
He talked about Katrina and New Orleans. The same woman said "We can steer hurricanes." That stopped him. He looked directly at her. "No, we can't." Her reply was, "We've been able to control the weather since the 60's." His reply was the only hint of sarcasm he empoyed, "Oh, The Illuminati!" This got a laugh out of the crowd.
The woman asked him about elongated skulls that had been found in South America. "I don't know anything about that." He replied. Which was an interesting thing. He stated that he had no information about a subject. Which is probably the best thing to do rather than bullshit a subject you don't know anything about. The woman continued, "They did NASA testing and found there was alien DNA in the bone." Again he replied. "I haven't heard anything about that." I do recall seeing a program on some Discovery channel about elongated skulls. But it was Ancient Aliens, I think. If anything on that show had been proven true, it would be called SCIENCE. The woman, undaunted, pulled out her smart phone and, I think, started doing a web search for elongated skulls to prove to him something she said was not crazy. She didn't succeed.
One man in the crowd looked at her tag, and asked what company she was with. I think to find out what company hired the conspiracy loving nutcase and never do business with them.
Others asked questions. One was about evolution and man. The asker was saying "in 10,000 years..." Tyson said it isn't a case of 10,000 years but millions of years. Which is true. Evolution is a slow process.
It was fun to hear him speak extemporaneously on so many subjects while just in a hallway. I think I was there for 30 minutes. Then he did some pictures with people, some selfies with others. After that he went to get ice cream. Which is where he was headed when he got stopped by questions.
Truly a kind man, a brilliant man. And at no time did he talk down to people but made his point in language others could understand. I could tell there is a side to him that can be firm and immovable. I saw glimpses of it in my 3 encounters.
The first meeting was a small one for some students. He did a Q&A instead of prepared remarks. I loved how intelligent he spoke off the cuff. He was articulate and engaging. There was one question a student asked I remember. "If there was a pill which would let you live forever would you take it?"
He thought for a moment and I'm going to paraphrase his answer. 'Because we have a finite period of time on the planet and we don't know how long that is, we have a drive to do things. If you knew you would live forever there is no urgency to get out of bed. There is always going to be tomorrow to do something. But I'd probably take the pill.'
Good answer. I don't know if I'd be aware that forever would make people stop striving to accomplish anything. I wouldn't take the pill because you'd have to work forever.
The second meeting he spoke at was in the lunch session. It was a speech I think he's given many times before. Probably since 2010. There was a slide he used that he hadn't updated since 2010. It was interesting. He pointed out how many Jews had won the Nobel Prize. It was over 20% of the prizes given out. He then commented how many Muslims had won a Nobel Prize in the sciences. 3. And that was because of an anti-curiousity which happened in Islam after the 12th century. Why does something happen? Allah's will. A number of the things he said were also integrated into the Cosmos series on FOX. A few things paralleled what was said in the series but stated more plainly. In a way that might offend people if they chose to take offense.
Then, later, as I was walking down one of the hallways in the hotel I saw a crowd of people. In the middle of the crowd was Tyson. He had been waylayed in the hallway by some people with questions. As I approached I heard him giving a master class.
There was a woman, white, 50's, who was trying to refute climate change. Her arguments were weak and conspiratorial. She was a watcher of right wing news and talk, and it came out later she was even further down the rabbit hole with conspiracy theories.
Tyson was a gentleman and never said she was stupid. He gently tried to tell truth to a mind like a closed fist. She said climate change was just so wealth could be redistributed. She pointed out that a TCP report changed data to match the desired finding. I thought TCP reports were in the movie Office Space.
Tyson told her where she was wrong but she insisted. She had one fact and that was going to disprove EVERYTHING. The crowd around her was rolling it's eyes. She was monopolizing his attention and hadn't seen she'd already lost. He told her if she didn't believe climate change then don't sell your beach front house.
He talked about Katrina and New Orleans. The same woman said "We can steer hurricanes." That stopped him. He looked directly at her. "No, we can't." Her reply was, "We've been able to control the weather since the 60's." His reply was the only hint of sarcasm he empoyed, "Oh, The Illuminati!" This got a laugh out of the crowd.
The woman asked him about elongated skulls that had been found in South America. "I don't know anything about that." He replied. Which was an interesting thing. He stated that he had no information about a subject. Which is probably the best thing to do rather than bullshit a subject you don't know anything about. The woman continued, "They did NASA testing and found there was alien DNA in the bone." Again he replied. "I haven't heard anything about that." I do recall seeing a program on some Discovery channel about elongated skulls. But it was Ancient Aliens, I think. If anything on that show had been proven true, it would be called SCIENCE. The woman, undaunted, pulled out her smart phone and, I think, started doing a web search for elongated skulls to prove to him something she said was not crazy. She didn't succeed.
One man in the crowd looked at her tag, and asked what company she was with. I think to find out what company hired the conspiracy loving nutcase and never do business with them.
Others asked questions. One was about evolution and man. The asker was saying "in 10,000 years..." Tyson said it isn't a case of 10,000 years but millions of years. Which is true. Evolution is a slow process.
It was fun to hear him speak extemporaneously on so many subjects while just in a hallway. I think I was there for 30 minutes. Then he did some pictures with people, some selfies with others. After that he went to get ice cream. Which is where he was headed when he got stopped by questions.
Truly a kind man, a brilliant man. And at no time did he talk down to people but made his point in language others could understand. I could tell there is a side to him that can be firm and immovable. I saw glimpses of it in my 3 encounters.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Organized Lazy
I was working an overnight strike a few weeks back. Taking down a large truss structure by myself. I had some assistance from the AV guys who work for the hotel. When the next shift came in at 5 am things should have gone faster. It didn't. I was busy doing my job and one of the guys who was fresh and not up for 20+ hours didn't really help. He sort of organized the things they needed to do. Things they would do after I've left.
The thing that irked me is I needed help right then. I didn't need to know that they had to go get a lectrun, the clear one or that after that... Having a plan is great but it's tough to move onto the next things when the task at hand is not complete. And when you see someone struggling lend a hand.
But his organizational skills... Wow, kept him from hard work...
The thing that irked me is I needed help right then. I didn't need to know that they had to go get a lectrun, the clear one or that after that... Having a plan is great but it's tough to move onto the next things when the task at hand is not complete. And when you see someone struggling lend a hand.
But his organizational skills... Wow, kept him from hard work...
Work Gloves
Sometimes when I work I wear gloves to protect my hands. I have had a lot of gloves over the years. They end up looking like my gloves pictured below. This was a pair of gloves I had for a long time. I don't know how long. Not really. I would use them; lose them in the car or at home, and then find them again. It was kind of a theme. When it comes to losing gloves I generally misplace the right glove. I have a number of left hand gloves. I never know where the right hand gloves go. To the same place as socks in the dryer I imagine.
I had these glove for well over a year maybe longer. But as I was using them the other day I would stare at them when I had a moment. They were soaked with oil from motor chains. The fingers on one glove had multiple repairs done with gaff tape. At one point my hand looked like the Infinity Gauntlet from comic books because I had repaired the holes using brightly colored gaff tape. A different color on each finger.
As I was looking at them the other day I thought, "I want to burn these gloves." This became an easily obtainable goal because I was going to a party in 2 days that would have a bonfire. So I went out and bought a package of 3 work gloves to replace the soon to be ash gloves and put the gloves to be burned back in the car.
At the party I lit the bonfire and piles some wood on the duraflame log which was used to start the fire. When it was merrily burning I tossed on the left glove. I didn't make it a big deal, no reason to call attention to my pyromanical urge. The glove caught fire quickly like you would expect oil infused leather leather to do. What I didn't consider is how much it would smoke. Black smoke, like you see when an oil well is burning.
The fire quickly consumed the glove. It was reduced to ash in minutes. I tossed the other glove on. It went up fast but didn't belch out as much black smoke as the first one. It too was turned to ash.
I think I'll do this again in a few years when retiring the next set of gloves. When they are too damaged and covered in oil to be useful, I'll repeat the immolation. A Viking funeral, as it were...
Sunday, January 26, 2014
People Vex Me
I'll admit first up that I'm a dick.
I was working a gig with a bunch of technicians in my day job. We were setting up for an event. There was one guy I was working with who didn't impress me much. For a lot of reasons. And as I worked with him my dislike for him grew.
When working with people who swear every other word I start paying attention to the words I am using. FUCK is a very versatile word. Noun, verb, adverb, adjective, pronoun, dangling participle. This guy was using so many F bombs it made me wonder if he swears like that around his 4 kids. It made him sound uneducated. And I endeavored to curtail my cussing while there.
We were doing something and I said the word "evolution." This guy piped up and said, "that's a theory which hasn't been proven." I looked at him. He continued, "Like, fucking monkeys are still evolving?" I refrained from challenging him on this. I had already corrected him on something earlier and I think I made him feel stupid. It wasn't intentional on my part. He had said, "The Atlantic ocean is fuckin' 7000 miles across." Without thinking I said "3000." "No, it's 7000." "No. It's 3000." Another guy I was working with agreed that it was 3000. We lamely threw him a bone and said the Pacific is about 7000.
So when he said that thing about monkeys still evolving I turned away and went to work on another part of the project. Monkeys may still be evolving. They probably are. But to expect a quantum leap in evolution by next Tuesday makes me think you don't have a grasp on how evolution works. It takes hundreds of thousands to millions of years. I bet he was raised religious. So I didn't want to fuck with his world view which is filtered thru his religion. If he believes the earth is 6-10,000 years old because the bible tells him so, then me coming at him with facts won't change his view.
I think I get offended by people's proud ignorance. To feel superior because they are reveling in their own stupidity galls me. And his views were not just ignorant, but paranoid. He turned down the school district's offer to identify his kids. Take pictures and finger prints and DNA samples in case they are abducted. He thought they were going to use it for some nefarious purpose. We asked what if his kids get abducted. His reply was, "they aren't going to get anything from me because we have no money." What about the guy who had 3 girls in his basement for 10 years in Ohio? Was he out for money? No. He was raping them constantly because he was a monster. People don't abduct children for money. They are going to rape and kill them. I plan to have my children chipped like a dog.
He also turned down free dental care offered by the school. "They are just going to try to sell me something." It was inconceivable to him that a government agency might do something for the good of a child like free dental so the kid's teeth aren't shitty.
I avoided working with him when I could.
Like I said, I'm a dick.
I was working a gig with a bunch of technicians in my day job. We were setting up for an event. There was one guy I was working with who didn't impress me much. For a lot of reasons. And as I worked with him my dislike for him grew.
When working with people who swear every other word I start paying attention to the words I am using. FUCK is a very versatile word. Noun, verb, adverb, adjective, pronoun, dangling participle. This guy was using so many F bombs it made me wonder if he swears like that around his 4 kids. It made him sound uneducated. And I endeavored to curtail my cussing while there.
We were doing something and I said the word "evolution." This guy piped up and said, "that's a theory which hasn't been proven." I looked at him. He continued, "Like, fucking monkeys are still evolving?" I refrained from challenging him on this. I had already corrected him on something earlier and I think I made him feel stupid. It wasn't intentional on my part. He had said, "The Atlantic ocean is fuckin' 7000 miles across." Without thinking I said "3000." "No, it's 7000." "No. It's 3000." Another guy I was working with agreed that it was 3000. We lamely threw him a bone and said the Pacific is about 7000.
So when he said that thing about monkeys still evolving I turned away and went to work on another part of the project. Monkeys may still be evolving. They probably are. But to expect a quantum leap in evolution by next Tuesday makes me think you don't have a grasp on how evolution works. It takes hundreds of thousands to millions of years. I bet he was raised religious. So I didn't want to fuck with his world view which is filtered thru his religion. If he believes the earth is 6-10,000 years old because the bible tells him so, then me coming at him with facts won't change his view.
I think I get offended by people's proud ignorance. To feel superior because they are reveling in their own stupidity galls me. And his views were not just ignorant, but paranoid. He turned down the school district's offer to identify his kids. Take pictures and finger prints and DNA samples in case they are abducted. He thought they were going to use it for some nefarious purpose. We asked what if his kids get abducted. His reply was, "they aren't going to get anything from me because we have no money." What about the guy who had 3 girls in his basement for 10 years in Ohio? Was he out for money? No. He was raping them constantly because he was a monster. People don't abduct children for money. They are going to rape and kill them. I plan to have my children chipped like a dog.
He also turned down free dental care offered by the school. "They are just going to try to sell me something." It was inconceivable to him that a government agency might do something for the good of a child like free dental so the kid's teeth aren't shitty.
I avoided working with him when I could.
Like I said, I'm a dick.
Odd Jobs
I was working 6 days for a birthday party. For young kids. It was a lot of time and money spent for kids who won't remember it but will have videos and photos.
The parents are very wealthy. I mentioned the party to some people and described it. There were some comments about rich people and the extravagant things they did with the money which most people can't conceive of. In my mind the parents did nothing wrong.
What did they do?
Put hundreds of people to work. Florists, craftsmen, performers, lighting people, set people.
Pumped millions into the economy because they want to throw a great party for their kids.
Made it so I didn't have to fret about how rent for February gets paid.
In my mind, awesome.
I work for some very rich people during the year. Do they know me by name? Probably not. But it doesn't matter to me. I'm trying to survive, and they are paying me as a skilled laborer.
Sometimes you have to work for the rich guy. I'm okay with that.
The parents are very wealthy. I mentioned the party to some people and described it. There were some comments about rich people and the extravagant things they did with the money which most people can't conceive of. In my mind the parents did nothing wrong.
What did they do?
Put hundreds of people to work. Florists, craftsmen, performers, lighting people, set people.
Pumped millions into the economy because they want to throw a great party for their kids.
Made it so I didn't have to fret about how rent for February gets paid.
In my mind, awesome.
I work for some very rich people during the year. Do they know me by name? Probably not. But it doesn't matter to me. I'm trying to survive, and they are paying me as a skilled laborer.
Sometimes you have to work for the rich guy. I'm okay with that.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Snubs
Every award season the media talk about who got snubbed by some award nominating committee. Social media gets all upset that someone does their best work ever but didn't get the nod.
As an actor I don't feel bad for the 4 time nominated actor who has won twice, but didn't get the nomination this time. Does the world think that the only actors out here are in the movies or TV? There are a lot of actors who can do almost ever single role you see on any screen. Talent is not rare. Getting noticed, getting a team to represent you, getting the opportunity is rare.
I did an audition one time at ILM for a small film. The audition was in one of the studios with the camera and sound guys who worked at ILM. The director had called in favors to get some help. I did my audition, it was an emotional piece. The sound guy laying on the floor at my feet with a boom mic commented to me when there was a moment. He told me of an A list actor who did some scenes for a mega hit that were emotional. The star had to have the room cleared of everyone so he could concentrate and nail the scene. He thought I was as good as the movie star. This was surprising to me. I have done a great deal of live theatre. You can't clear the audience so you can nail a scene. They are the ones you are performing for.
There's a lot of talent out there. Actors putting in the time and the work for the love of it. The awards might be nice for the .005% of the actors who are nominated, but I'll still like a live audience for validation.
So don't feel sad for an actor in a mansion who didn't get a nomination. They will get the opportunity to act in a big movie again real soon.
As an actor I don't feel bad for the 4 time nominated actor who has won twice, but didn't get the nomination this time. Does the world think that the only actors out here are in the movies or TV? There are a lot of actors who can do almost ever single role you see on any screen. Talent is not rare. Getting noticed, getting a team to represent you, getting the opportunity is rare.
I did an audition one time at ILM for a small film. The audition was in one of the studios with the camera and sound guys who worked at ILM. The director had called in favors to get some help. I did my audition, it was an emotional piece. The sound guy laying on the floor at my feet with a boom mic commented to me when there was a moment. He told me of an A list actor who did some scenes for a mega hit that were emotional. The star had to have the room cleared of everyone so he could concentrate and nail the scene. He thought I was as good as the movie star. This was surprising to me. I have done a great deal of live theatre. You can't clear the audience so you can nail a scene. They are the ones you are performing for.
There's a lot of talent out there. Actors putting in the time and the work for the love of it. The awards might be nice for the .005% of the actors who are nominated, but I'll still like a live audience for validation.
So don't feel sad for an actor in a mansion who didn't get a nomination. They will get the opportunity to act in a big movie again real soon.
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