disney does golf

[left- francis = golfer/protagonist
right- father = casey jones from ninja turtles the movie]

ok, so i know what you're thinking... "oh great, another disney little-guy-triumphs-over-adversity-and-wins-the-sporting-event movie", because that's what i thought, and we were right. but let me tell you the tale of how i was privileged to see an advanced screening of this film tonight. my friend bill, who [like pedro's cousins] has all the sweet hook-ups, gave amanda and i tickets to go see it. we havent been to a movie in a month or more, and money is tight due to my recent vocational adjusments, so a free date started to look really nice. while this ended up being pretty good for one of those movies, i had read on the playbill that it was "from the makers of remember the titans, the rookie, & miracle". neither did it inspire my confidence that it was also directed by bill paxton. as a rule, i avoid this kind of movie in the same manner that i avoid having my head sewn to the carpet, but sometimes exceptions must be made. besides, the chubby kid seemed funny in the trailer, so i decided to keep an open mind. i won't spoil the fairly predictable plot, nor will i tell you whether the underdog wins, but one thing in particular caught me by surprise. i was fairly well fortified against any emotional investment/ reaction, even amidst sporadic applause from other theater goers [they can't hear you!]. but, right at the end of the movie, just when i thought i had ridden the storm out safely, the stubborn father character [pictured right above] made a final gut-wrenching overture that sent me reeling tearily from my okc harkin's bricktown dolby-digital-surround-sound-stadium-seat into the night. the crotchedy old man finally came around. damn you, casey jones, you get me every time...

more shinier

jöe rockin the outro via xylophone [photo stolen from jenn]

with all of the activity of the past couple of weeks, i have been remiss in my posting, as well as insufficient in my explanations... take spoons... for example; it was late & all i did was google search a photo of a spoon & type a brief comment. now, i know many have lost a great deal of sleep over this, so i would like to remedy it by expanding. some may remember shiny, the short-lived band made up of me, amanda, jenn, & ryan that i talked about briefly several months ago. well, eventually, after our debut, for many reasons, we decided to take a hiatus. recently, we have regrouped &, with the addition of cody, have embarked on a musical voyage that will likely change the course of history. to explain about spoons, that was the night of our first rehearsal, it was decided that cody would do guitar/vocals whilst i would do bgv's & miscellaneous non-traditional percussion. i currently have in my repertoire: the spoons [which i was born for], xylophone, guitar-case drum, tambourine, a deck of cards, the letter h, & much more to come. we are already nearing completion of our first original, as well as a couple of kick-ass covers [including a white stripes & possibly a wilco]. the band seems more balanced & complete now. jenn is still on bass primarily, ryan is on electric & acoustic guitar as he sees fit, & amanda has switched to keys. we had our third rehearsal tonight & things are moving right along. jenn took some pictures, which she has posted on her blog, & cody is in the process of setting up a myspace for shiny that will feature our works in progress. stay tuned for more.

the white stripes

npr continues their series of live concert streams with the white stripes. listen to the whole concert.

sunday sunday sunday

bigfoot, the 'granddaddy of 'em all' [photo by laura]

well, as i stated before, this was a weekend with many and varied activities. we [thankfully] wrapped class up early on saturday and decided to go to the monster truck show at the fair. we got to the fair with just enough time to grab some fair food, show off my mullet, which i had donned for the occasion, and head on into the arena. now i am a native oklahoman, and am not a stranger to trailer parks, small town folk, short cut-off jeans [the man kind], koozies, dirty mustaches, the joys of blowin stuff up just cuz, or any of the other staples of white trash culture [its in my blood]. but let me tell you, this was like a who's who, complete with confederate flags for sale, cheap beer, yellin at kids, and mindless pleasure watching giant trucks defy gravity. i expect a healthy dose of this anytime i venture toward the fairgrounds, but i was definitely taken off guard, maybe because all of these people were so concentrated in one spot. There were 4 different 'professional' monster trucks, a motocross guy, a fire-breathing-car hungry dragon, and about 15 or 20 amature 'tough truck' competitors. at one point, during the freestyle portion of the competition, one of the monster trucks plowed its way through a mobile home trailer [lengthwise], eventually getting stuck about 3/4 of the way through. i'm not sure who won that night, we didn't stick around to scream our heads off to help decide. but i did get to see bigfoot [or one of the 15 bigfoots that have been made throughout the last 30 years]. f*#kin A!

chillin

thanks to everyone for your concern and encouragement during this trying time... except for cody, that was the most jacked up thing i've ever heard of... anyway, my allergies [as i've decided they must be] have begun to subside, and things are slowing down. i started my new job on monday, and it is cake... i basically just make phone calls to senior citizens asking if they want home health care, and the productivity standards are so low that i can't even believe it! i guess the company must be making a killing, so they don't need to crack the whip. our shift met its quota today, which was lowered even from what it was initially set at, and we don't have to work on friday! sweet action. i'll be spending my day finishing homework for class this weekend, and then be in class friday night and all day saturday. amanda's [my] family will also be in town and we'll be with them saturday and sunday... so i guess things have not slowed down at all...

a quick story: i went over to some friends house this evening for a meeting, and arrived a few minutes early. i was met at the door by a strange man that i did not recognize, who i quickly realized was the father of one of my friends. he ushered me in and had me sit down on the couch. as far as i knew, neither of my friends were home [they recently had twins], and i assumed they would arrive shortly. as i settled in to wait, i heard my friend's mother knock on the bathroom door and say "ok honey, your time is up", the door slowly opened and i heard the sound of my friend's voice, as she stepped out into the hallway, i looked up just in time to see her holding breast-milk pumps in each hand, as her mother continued, "oh and joe is here". as you can imagine, this was not an ideal situation from either of our perspectives, but she quickly disappeared into the kitchen, only to emerge a moment later and say "hi joe, can i get you anything to drink? we've got tea, diet coke, pepsi..." i quickly said that a pepsi would be fine and apparently stopped her just short of offering me milk... we had a good laugh about it later, and no one was permanently traumatized.

good times.

spoons...

oh hell yes...

sleep/eat/listen

i have now successfully finished the final phase of sleeping for money. 3 nights, 1 day, and a couple of EKG's & bloodwork later, i arise a new and $850 richer man [actually, all it did was replace my non-existent income for the last 2 weeks, but even so...].
may those who follow be as lucky.

also, the iron & wine and sigur rós albums i have been badgering everyone about were both released on tuesday. both well worth the wait. give em a listen, & i promise i won't write about them again.

bootstraps

when life throws you lemons...

our icelandic allies

national public radio is running a series of live concert webcasts, & tonight's featured sigur rós live from bethesda, maryland. listen to the show and an interview.

in case you aren't completely sick of me putting sigur rós links up here [and i don't care if you are], i just found where you can listen to takk [album to be released on tues] in its entirety.

finally, go right now to the sigur rós website and watch the video for glósóli. you'll find images and sounds so profoundly woven together that they cannot be described with words. now go.

academia

things appear to be shaping up quite nicely. i have secured part-time employment & will start on the 19th [gives me time to keep looking]. nice schedule [9a-1p/ m-f], decent pay for the work [making phone calls], etc. not really enough to survive on by itself. just as i was looking to see what else to augment my income with [aside from research studies, of course], i got a call from the director of my graduate program asking me if i would be interested in a position as a graduate assistant! again not great pay, but a really good opportunity that ends up working very well with my new schedule. this will be a great foot in the door for future teaching aspirations should i have them [and i think i do]. my now flexible/part-time schedule will enable me to start taking new clients where i am doing my intership, so that when i graduate and can start getting paid as a therapist, i will already have enough of a caseload built up to begin amounting to an income. i was also just informed of a class being offered by the oklahoma society for psychoanalytic studies, specifically on psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy, that i could get in on at a great student rate. who would have thought that i would get ahead in my professional development by leaving the profession? more importantly, who would have EVER thought someone would be asking ME to be a graduate assistant? my how the tables have turned.

cogito ergo sum

nothing like unemployment to give you the freedom to put your feet up, think thoughts, unfurl your mullet, and let the good times roll. i regret nothing. i do, however, feel pangs of sorrow for those less fortunate. may your suffering end quickly if not mercifully.

by the way, i made $400 for sleeping all night, and napping all day. i have found my calling.

mountain goats

[photo stolen from the internets]

updated shows/ bands/ albums/ info

9.22.05 wilco cain's ballroom-tulsa, ok

10.8.05 headphones
the conservatory-okc [pedro the lion side band]

10.28.05 iron & wine
cain's ballroom-tulsa, ok [new album w/calexico fall 05]

10.30.05 john vanderslice
the opolis- norman, ok [new album pixel revolt just released]
[new and old tracks available for download @ barsuk records]

11.4.05 death cab for cutie
ridglea theater-ft. worth, tx [new album plans just released]

11.7.05 unwed sailor
the cavern-dallas, tx [w/bosque brown]

ester drang [new album/ tour-winter 05/06]

i know i mentioned the mountain goats before, but i have since come across a live music archive where you can download whole bootlegged shows [free], or even track by track. they have some really decent recordings on there. i stumbled upon it just last night, but i already found live recordings of several bands that i listen to, including a very recent MG show. take a look if you are so inclined.

my good friend cody has recorded a few of his many songs for your listening pleasure.

i undergo the first leg of the sleep study tonight, and all day tomorrow. outside contact is forbidden. wish me luck.

thundercats

i am now the proud owner of thundercats, season 1, volume 1 [dvd], thanks to amanda's generosity in helping me celebrate leaving hope. it includes 33 episodes of one of the formative narratives of my young life. this was my all-time favorite cartoon as a kid, and it has not lost its lustre. translation: i will be making very good use of my new-found [if temporary] abundance of free time.

also, i don't have much info yet, but i came across another study in the okc gazette. it asks for individuals with a parent who [either] did, or did not have an alcohol or drug problem. it is the ouhsc something for family pattern studies. i called and left a message last night. here's the # for any who are interested: 552-4303. it says that qualified participants will be compensated for their time.

for those who i have not already discussed it with, my goal for the next couple of months is to get a very non-engaging part-time job and then make up for the rest of my lost income by participating in paid research studies. if you hear of any, send them my way. have a good 3-day weekend.

exodus

new & improved logo by andy

tomorrow i will say goodbye, turn in my keys, and walk away from a job i have worked for a year and a half. it's a bittersweet ending, mostly bitter. in a nutshell i am burned out, have not the energy nor the desire to continue working in an atmosphere that ignores all contributions while focusing solely on deficits, and [most distressing to me] can no longer be who i need to be for the people i am there to help. they wring us out and toss us without remorse. for details scroll through my posts from the last couple of months, and keep an eye out, because andy has just begun to develop what will be a collaborative blog telling our work related stories, the amusing, the confusing, & the abusing.

tomorrow will be a good day, though my heart is heavy for what was & what might have been. i look forward to being paid for sleeping next week, & enjoying a little bit of free time before starting whatever i do next [which won't be community mental health]. most of all, i look forward to getting back to my old self.

on a lighter, more stalker-esque note; i have added a site-meter to this blog [note the number of visitors displayed at the bottom of this page]. it enables me not only to see how many visitors i have had, but where they are (geographically), what domain they are viewing from, how long they spent looking, and what kind of underwear they have on. which reminds me, i can also see if people found me through a google-type search and what keyword they used. so far, my manties post is responsible for at least 10 visits all by itself. that's as funny as it is disturbing.