so thursday night i got my new tv for my dvd player. how'd i get it up the stairs? well, my friend ted, who's the drummer for watchers, was nice enough to come over and carry the darn thing up to my attic apartment. ted actually has a vested interest in my getting a tv. we have this agreement that since he's never seen the 1st lord of the rings, we're gonna watch it at my place on dvd and then immediately after, run out to the theatre to see the new one (two towers). so yeah, we got the tv up the stairs, hooked it up to the dvd, popped in iron monkey, hit play, and uh looked at static...well, we tried...we failed...after ted left, i actually read the manual and realized i hadn't pressed the tv/video button, and voila! iron monkey!
so after work friday, i went to facets multimedia to get a xmas present and some dvds...just a few meters shy of their front door, as i was crossing fullerton, i had an experience i've never had before...some car came out of nowhere at a high speed passing the stopped cars on the right and as it screeched to a halt, it knocked me to the ground...it all happened so fast, but in that last split second when i saw the car coming and i knew i was gonna get hit, it was the weirdest experience...i didn't really get hurt--skinned & bruised left knee is about it, thank goodness--but in that very moment just prior to getting hit, i didn't know that i would come out of that experience ok, and i had the sensation of imminent danger...it's amazing how your brain processes moments like that...it's not something i want to experience like ALL the time, but having gone through it, i can appreciate it. mainly just cuz it's like nothing i've experienced before.
so i get home and pop in one of the dvds i got, and it just so happened to be waking life, the animated film by the dude who did slackers and dazed & confused...i had no idea what this movie was about, and i was immediately drawn into it...it was all about the dream world...which was so weird because ted & i had spent so much time last week talking about that. it was an absolutely gorgeous movie...if you haven't seen it, go rent it right now...i'm gonna buy me a copy because i think i need to see it multiple times.
there was one part that really got to me...it's the part about the real moment being eternity, and God extending an invitation to us to be one w/ eternity, and how time is a manifestation of us saying no to that invitation...now i don't understand all the ramifications of that idea, but thinking about being one w/ eternity...that kinda hits me in the core of my being, ya know? i've been thinking about reality and perception and the physical dimensions of time and space and other realms of existence and just existence in general and why i exist and how it is that it wasn't my choice but i exist and how is that fair and what would it be like to NOT exist which i suppose such a state of being could not BE just based on the definition of nonexistence so basically there is nothing that isn't and everything is but why and why those things why humans why me and is there life on other planets is there life in other realities because this reality seems so limited and narrow to me and what really is the dreamworld why does it seem so real and how does time stop in dreams and how does time go at lightning speed in dreams and why can't the dreams in which i'm with my dad be real why do i have to wake from those dreams and how is it that i know things in dreams seemingly telepathically and do we sleep when we die and do we dream when we die and what is death really like and what is the essence of the soul and spirit and where do all these new souls come from for all these babies being born everywhere babies babies everywhere and how do i see beyond this world beyond the physical and how important is reality and what is the standard foundation of the knowledge of good and evil and is there any new thought to be thunk and how do i know when i've found truth how do i know it's true and is knowing as important as believing and what if i get it all wrong and just die without getting anything right what then and would it really matter in the end and would God really care if i said no to him and if i say no to God what am i saying yes to and what's worth saying yes to and what's worth anything and does it really matter?
as i watched this movie, i thought about ian and wished he were with me...i knew he could explain some of the headier stuff to me...and i don't know what caleb thinks about all this, but i'm sure he'll tell me when he comes to visit...i have to show this movie to ted so we can talk about it because i think he'd totally relate. he is one of the biggest dreamers i know.
oh, as a side note, one freaky thing about the movie is, and if you haven't seen the movie, skip this part, that at one point, the main character gets hit by a car! like that was FREAKY. to get hit by a car and come home and watch a movie in which the main dude gets hit by a car.
ok. this just in...i have finally finished the photo pages from my new york city trip from over a month ago. so for your viewing pleasure, go here which is the first of eight pages of photos. yeah, lots of photos for that trip. so the first page is basically of me, olarn, connolly & josh on our first 16 hours or so together. page 2 is photos i took w/ caleb, my good old buddy who lives in connecticut. there's cool midtown/time square shots in there. page 3 is stuff i took, mostly alone, while wandering around midtown manhattan, lost, dazed and confused cuz i was stupid. but i had fun taking pictures, so i guess it all worked out. page 4 is mostly group shots w/ connolly, olarn, josh and his fiance lielle @ the rockefeller and other places. page 5 is of the gang at a bar/restaurant and a famous local coffeeshop. page 6 has some of my favourite photos from the trip. a few may be my all-time favourite photos ever. it was a photoshoot i did in beacon, ny (where josh & lielle live) the morning of the day we were leaving. it was frickin' cold, i was kneeling on various cold surfaces for an hour, and i got a really bad cold from it...which seems to be coming back right now...page 7 is josh & lielle's very cute cats. i take good cat pictures, i think...page 8 is mostly reflection self-portraits and the last few shots driving to the airport...
ok. that's about it...
i am a human popsicle...my office is fuhREEEEZING...i think i'm getting sick again...
went to see the eternals @ the empty bottle last night. they're a derivative of the band trenchmouth, which was a big influence on assembly line people program, michael's band before watchers. i met ted (watchers' drummer) there, and we talked in the pool table room all through the opening band. i had started reading siddhartha by hermann hesse the day before & i had told ted that he reminded me of siddhartha. at first he thought that was an insult. i have no idea why. ted reminds me of my best friend josh. now that is a huge statement because there is no one on earth who up to this point came close to being anything like josh because he's one in a gazillion. ted comes pretty darn close though. like he knows how to fly planes, even though he doesn't have a license, and he loves flying. and he thinks so WAAAAAAY out of the box, the oval, the triangle, the octagon, the dodectohedron, the rhombus, just like josh. he & i can talk for hours about nothing much in particular, just like me & josh. it's kinda weird...
so siddhartha the book is really interesting...it's my first time reading it, and in two days i'm almost done w/ it...it's pretty short and really, really easy reading. it's basically about being on a spiritual journey, and i can really relate to a lot of what siddhartha went through...i think i should read it a couple more times...
don't forget--zapruder point this thursday @ the chase cafe at 7pm. cheap show.
been listening to--
let us garlands bring--early day miners
XO--elliott smith
s/t--hidari mae
via satellite--ian moore action company
100 broken windows--idlewild
get lost--magnetic fields
oddessy and oracle--the zombies
standing in line for jeff tweedy tickets was quite an experience. had a great conversation w/ a woman named rebekah who noticed my WLUW button. it's always cool talking to other music fans, esp. ones who are older than the usual 22 year olds i mainly run into. we both agree that WLUW is the only station worth listening to in chicago for music. while we were talking the guy behind me jumped into the conversation, and it turned out to be ed wang, whom i'd met through ian the week before. ed was a friend of gary, who ran ian's merch table at the schubas show. both of them went to see the wilco movie w/ me & ian. it was great to see ed again. he's a storehouse of musical knowledge, and y'all know how i feel about those kinds of people (hence my affinity for folks like michael & caleb). i happened to have a copy of the version of black-eyed dog that ian sent me, so i let ed listen to that. all in all, waiting in line for over an hour was a piece of cake when i was flanked on both sides by true blue music fans.
hung out w/ pete & amy this weekend. they came and had dinner w/ me at piece on north ave last night. turns out someone i went to high school w/ is the general manager over there. small world...then today i actually went down to hyde park for church. i had promised rand i'd see him sometime before christmas, so i made good on my promise. i walked in as the band played the last song like i always do...then sam, pete, amy & i went to medici's bakery for coffee (and apple croissant...yum...) and then to dave pantzer's apt for scrabble & pancakes & scrambled eggs. sam was leaving for l.a. today, so that was another reason i went to church. i hadn't seen him in weeks. i love hanging out w/ pete & amy & sam...they're my peeps, ya know?
so the holidays are closing in...the end of the year is at hand...and i'm too tired right now to think about all this...
been listening to--
ian's stuff
the rising tide--sunny day real estate
one beat--sleater-kinney
quiet--sheila chandra
boss disque--beatnik filmstars
wake up!--boo radleys
disintegration--the cure
badlands (a tribute to bruce springsteen's nebraska)--various artists
mutilate us--am/fm