I Love TV

I've been watching a couple new shows

(well, new to me seeing as how both are cancelled).

Pushing Daisies
Phil recommended this show to me last month. Then Megan was going on about how much she loved it. So I saw it in Walmart and decided to pick it up. Right from the beginning I fell in love. It's different, it's creative, it's cute, how could I resist?

And then in one episode there was this blatant reference to the Hitchcock movie, "The Birds". And then watching the special features they mentioned more Hitchcock references. I can't believe I didn't notice them before! Oh well, that was the whipped cream on top of the pie.

Freaks & Geeks
I had heard about this show before, but didn't know much about it. I finally started watching it this weekend and it's amazing! I thought it came out a few years ago, but it's like 9 years old now. Even though the show is set in 1980, it reminds me of my high school days.

The last episode I watched introduced a new character and he is played by none other than Joel Hodgson!!! Don't know who that is???

Why, he's the original mastermind and star of Mystery Science Theater 3000 of course. I love his mannerisms and the way he talks. I wish he was in more stuff. I hope he has more of a role in this show.

update - Shia LaBeouf is a little kid on this show!!!!!! I LOVE that guy, yet everytime I write about him I spell his last name wrong...

Today Was Long

I went to Missions Fest 09 and got a free t-shirt. It was great.

I Lost...

...many things that are important to me.

Like every one else, I tend to lose things from time to time. And wow, it really bothers me sometimes.


For awhile there I had lost 2 cds, A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar by Dashboard Confessional and Emotion is Dead by Juliana Theory. It would really get to me, cause I had no clue where they were and I missed them. Then over the course of a few weeks they magically reappeared!!! I hadn't seen them for years.

Well, now I am currently missing a few things:


My blue hoodie.

My last memory is wearing it to church. I sometimes will wear a jacket to church and then forget to put it back on when I go home. So then the next time I come to church I have to remember to bring two jackets home. Well, I don't remember if I brought it home, or what I did with it. It could be somewhere in the church or somewhere completely different. I have no idea, and it makes me sad to think about it. It's been missing for over a year.


My memory card and headphones.

These have been missing for a few weeks now. I need the memory card cause it has some youth photos on it, and I really liked those headphones. However, I'm pretty sure I'll find them when I clean up my place this weekend. Let's hope!


My Grandpa's ball-peen hammer.

I did something really really stupid a few years ago. You see, I used to collect things in boxes. Things that were important to me that reminded me of different events and people and such. Letters, ticket stubs, toys, etc.. Well, when I moved from my apartment to the basement suite I'm in now, I decided to throw a lot of that away. The stupid thing I did was use one of the same boxes as the throw-away box. I emptied one of the boxes on the floor and sifted through it, keeping only the good stuff and chucking the rest in the box. It took me a few days to go through it all, and one day I picked up the box and threw it in the dumpster. A few days passed and I went to get another box to sort through. It was then that I saw the box I had designated for garbage was still sitting there. I had inadvertently thrown away a box I had not sorted through yet. I have no clue what was in that box I threw away, but I am 99% certain it contained my Grandpa's ball-peen hammer.

At the age of 5 my grandpa died. There was a room with all his stuff in it and we went in one by one and took something that was meaningful to us. I chose the ball-peen hammer. I'm not sure why, but it was probably because I could use it as a miniature mallet to hit a bouncy ball around. I've kept it all these years, but now I'm afraid it's gone. That sucked when I realized I threw out the wrong box. I wonder what else I had in there.


My friend.

We used to talk all the time for hours. Now we don't. I really miss that.


A collection of pictures from Camp Luther.

Before the summer was over at camp one summer, I copied all my pictures onto a disc. That disc vanished along with some other documents on it that I wanted to keep as a resource. Dang it!


My class notes for Joshua/Judges

Technically I didn't lose these. The person I lent them to lost them. There was a lot of really good information there that I can't get back (unless maybe I could retrieve them from my memory using hypnosis).

So if you come across any of these items, I would greatly appreciate getting them back!

Everyone's Favourite Uncle

I think I'll write a book entitled, "Better Living with Uncle Jesus"


"Shoulder rides are the best, Uncle Jesus!"


"I'm an airplane!"


Uncle Jesus shows the proper way to hold your nephew.


That baby is HUGE!


"I'm the servant leader of the world!!!"


"Ahh Uncle Jesus, you're the best uncle EVER!"


Uncle Jesus for President.

I Forgot to Mention

The reason why I am suddenly so inspired in Hitchcock again is because of a new book I bought about him. When I was purchasing it I wondered to myself, "Why did I never finish the first Hitchcock book I have?" I then started reading this book and realized immediately why. Because in these books, the author, Donald Spoto, goes through all his movies, spoilers and all. And of course, if you know me well enough you know that I hate knowing even the plot of a story before I get into it.

So I need to watch all these movies so I can finally read the books I've been dying to read for some time. And I would like to invite you to join me, if you are interested. Here are a list of the 20 Hitchcock movies I will be watching in the next while. Let me know if any sound interesting to you. The hardest films to watch are marked with an *.

Silent Films

The Pleasure Garden
Downhill
The Ring
Easy Virtue
The Farmer's Wife
Champagne
The Manxman

Sound Films

Juno and the Paycock *
Murder! *
The Skin Game *
Number Seventeen *
Waltzes from Vienna *
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 version)
Secret Agent
Sabotage
Jamaica Inn *

More Professional Films

Rebecca
Lifeboat
The Paradine Case
Under Capricorn *

Hitchcock...Again!

So, yes, I love Alfred Hitchcock, but to my shame I have not seen all of his movies. You see, even though I like his films a lot, I have to admit most of them are pretty boring. So I've seen all the really good ones and now I'm sifting through the not-as-good ones.

Discounting the films that are lost, or where he only did partial work on them, Hitchcock has directed 52 films. I have seen 30 of them. Oh boy, I didn't realize I still have 22 movies to see. It's taken me about 10 yrs to watch 30!!! Well, I want to get this over with so I'm going to make a goal for myself. By March 15 I will watch the remaining 22 Hitchcock movies. That should be a challenge cause I don't know how I'll get my hands on a couple of them.


I watched the Lodger yesterday. It's a silent film. A few observations:


- The criminal of the story is a character who leaves a card with each victim that says "The Avenger" in a triangle. I also left secret messages calling myself the Dark Avenger. And when I formed the secret society known as the DDD club, the symbol was a triangle in a triangle.


- This was one of Hitchcock's first pictures and it's hard to believe that all the vehicles and the setting and everything was from that time period (1927). That was so long ago, but he was younger than me when he made it. Those cars seems like they're from the stone ages, but it really wasn't that long ago.

- The picture quality is horrible. I guess I should have expected that.


- I expected them to have dialogue boards pop up every time someone spoke, but I was amazed at how little they did this. Pretty much the whole movie people would be moving their lips and you would just have to assume what they were saying. I bet you could put all the dialogue shown on one page. When you think about it, you didn't even really need to hear what they were saying. Interesting, huh?


- I'm so used to watching TV and movies and such while also doing something else (like a puzzle or rubik's cube), but you can't do that with a silent film. You need to keep your eyes glued on the screen or you won't know what's going on.


- I thought the story was really incredible for its time. Not that I know much about movies from that time. I really liked the characters, the mood, the plot, and the acting. Well done Hitch!

Am I Lost?

I hope you get the amazing pop-cultural reference of my title. Season Five of Lost aired tonight and it blew my mind. When they started playing around with time travel, I was so worried, but they've got it, they know what they're doing.

But I'm not here to talk about Lost. I'm here to talk about my life. And how my life is like Lost, teehee. You see, at one point in the show the producers set up this little scenario. Everyone knew that 6 individuals would get off the island by the end of the season. But at the beginning of that last episode, the 6 people were scattered all over the place. How were they all going to unite and leave the island?!? Of course, we knew it was going to happen, but there's something in you that's like, but how are they going to pull that off?

It happens in movies all the time. You know something will be resolved, but you just have no understanding or perspective on how it will turn out that way. Then when it does happen, everyone gasps together, "Ohhhhh! I get it now!"

So I think God has told me something about my life. But honestly, I don't see how it's going to happen. I don't see myself in that situation in the future....but it's like everyday everything keeps pointing towards that one thing. Subtly of course, because all my common sense and practical wisdom tells me otherwise. That it is impossible. That it will never happen.

(Wait, I just noticed that the word "subtly" sounds like Suddle Tea, yet there's a silent B in there?!?)

So the big question is...

Do I believe what I sense God is telling me and plan my life accordingly?

or

Do I chalk this one up as another "Crazy Ranting of Dan" and live my life like a normal person would?

I can't wait to see how this turns out.

Numbers

When I think of numbers, they each have their own "personality".

For starters, there are male numbers and female numbers.

The male numbers are 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9

The female numbers are 1, 4, 7

I don't know why only three of them are female.

I associate a colour with each number.

1 is yellow.

2 is blue.

3 is green.

4 is red.

5 is brown.

6 is blue.

7 is yellow.

8 is brown (and sometimes purple).

9 is greyish blue.

And then to the specific personalities:

1 is the girl next door

2 and 6 are metrosexual or city dweller

3 is a farmer or gardner

4 is high maintenance

5 is a hick or cowboy

7 is hot

8 is a bigger fellow

9 is a factory worker or metalworker (maybe even plumbing or mechanic)

That is my number world.

Dreams

I had a disturbing dream last night. Well actually it was this morning. I woke up around 8 o'clock for some reason and then was in and out of sleep for about an hour. Well, in that light sleep I had this dream. And it was very real. And not very fun.

And the weirdest thing is I'm still carrying that dream in my soul as I'm getting ready for bed now. All day the experience of that dream has been weighing on me. It always amazes me how much power my dreams have to affect me.

I dream a lot, and I remember so much of my dreams. I never have recurring dreams in the traditional sense, but sometimes I revisit places that only exist in my dreams. The closest I get to recurring dreams are my Walmart dreams.

When I was fired from Walmart it was quite devastating for me. I really liked working there, and it was just gone in an instant. So then I started having these dreams. The setting is always different, and the people are always different, but the formula is almost exactly the same:

1. I find myself in Walmart either wearing the vest or someone is taking me to get a vest. It's never the same Walmart. Most of the time it's not even the same layout as any Walmart I've ever been in.

2. I think to myself, "I can't believe they've hired me back."

3. Someone shows me around the electronics department or the backroom.

4. I think to myself, "I'm going to have to learn where everything is again. Wait a minute!?!? Why did they hire me back and why did I even apply to work here???"

5. Someone else remarks, "Why did they hire you back after what you did??"

6. This is then usually followed with something about how I'm not allowed to have keys for anything or I'm not allowed to handle cash or use to the till.

7. Then I feel stupid for coming back to work here and I wake up.

So I used to have this dream all the time for a couple years after getting fired, but then they got more infrequent until they completely stopped.

Except I had the dream AGAIN a few days ago! What the heck??! Why won't this end, haha, it's so peculiar. Dreams! Uggh, I love them but they're ruthless. Maybe I should start trying to control my dreams again....

Albums for All Times

For the last year I've been putting my ipod on shuffle when I'm driving in the car. It's kinda nice to not know what's coming up next, however there is a downside. So many times a song will come on that I have no desire to listen to at that moment. Some songs repeatedly come up and I wonder, "Why do I even own this song?!?"

But then I discovered something. There are certain albums that I can listen to at anytime no matter what mood I'm in. Obviously, you won't have the same feeling about these albums, but for me, I don't know why, they just click with me on so many levels.


So I've been trying to think of what criteria would be used to judge whether an album fits into this unique collection of Albums for All Times. So far this is how it looks:

1. I don't have the urge to change songs when it starts.

2. I am instantly emotionally attached each time it plays.

3. I've had the album for at least 2 years.

4. I could listen to the album at anytime no matter what mood I'm in.

5. I don't doubt that it fits in this collection.

And here is the collection thus far:


The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
by Dashboard Confessional

okay, so there's a lot of dashboard albums on this list. which is quite remarkable when you realize the first time i listened to him i rejected it for months. yet, i still can't get enough of these albums.


The Swiss Army Romance
by Dashboard Confessional

mostly the same songs as the previously mentioned.


So Impossible EP
by Dashboard Confessional

so impossible could possibly be my favorite song of all time.


MTV Unplugged 2.0
by Dashboard Confessional

pretty much all the previous cds but live.


Winners Never Quit
by Pedro the Lion

when i listen to this album its like someone wrapping a tight cold fist strangling my soul.


The Everglow
by Mae

the thing i really like about this album and winners never quit is that there's a progression as if you're watching a film. love it.


Transatlanticism
by Death Cab for Cutie

this album makes me stop whatever i'm doing.


Photo Album
by Death Cab for Cutie

another excellent death cab album...

So that's the collection thus far. There are some serious contenders waiting in the wings, but I haven't owned them for at least 2 yrs yet. That time limit is so important because some albums i would have previously said for sure they would end up on the list (ie. Snow Patrol, City & Colour, Regina Spektor) but they just didn't hold up. I still really like them, but not all the time. You'll see the new albums in a few months.

the girl of my dreams - #13

13. pretty girly girl when it comes to flims though

flims??? hmm, flims...does anyone know what that word means? the closest word i could find is flimflam which means: deceptive nonsense (akin to Old Norse flim mockery). So, she will be pretty girly girl when it comes to deceptive nonsense or mockery?!? What other kind of deceptive nonsense is there? ho ho ho, i'm so funny!!!

okay okay i know megan means films...i can't help but give her a hard time.


i think megan is in fact trying to give me the hard truth with this last one. the previous 12 have all been pretty standard and pleasant, but this one she is trying to say, "but she won't be perfect, dan." cause everyone knows i'm a movie buff and the girl of my dreams will only be interested in a certain segment.

but the nice thing is, i like movies from every genre i think. it's really difficult to guess whether or not i will like a movie, because my tastes are so diverse. so it doesn't matter who you are, there will probably be at least a handful of favourite movies that we have in common. like for example, here are some of my fav girly girl movies (well, maybe they're not completely girly girl, you be the judge):


love actually


serendipity


pride and prejudice (bbc miniseries)


the red curtain trilogy


beauty and the beast


sleepless in seattle


50 first dates


casablanca


sound of music


while you were sleeping

and of course...

twilight!!!

so, even though she will have a strong preference for chick flicks, i think i can tolerate a couple now and then. who knows, maybe she will even inspire me to like gilmour girls *shudder*