Golf (pissed)

That's a pretty reasonable picture of the set of golf clubs I bought three weeks ago. This is how I feel about them now:



And not because I hate golf. No, no. In two weeks, I have snapped the heads off of both the driver and the hybrid. Fucking shit! Guess I figured out why the clubs were on sale. Then I come to find out that RAM has gone out of business. That's why they get the Middle Finger of the Apocalypse.

Bullshit.

Golf

4 hours. 122. Not bad for my second round ever.

Haters

So I got a call from my new boss (one of them, anyway (and yet again, and INTERIM)), telling me that the other teachers just weren't sure about what room I should be in to teach Beginning Band. She went on to tell me that elementary teachers are "very possessive" about their time, and so on and so on and so on...

I could go on. I could send out email after advocacy letter after you-name-it. No one reads them. My best revenge is to make 5th grade band so fucking awesome that finger painting and learning state capitals sucks balls by comparison. And I will. This is for the haters.



Also, my soon-to-be ex-lead-trumpet players calls me on Saturday to tell me he just "doesn't have time to do this one chart, and that if I don't do it, he's just gonna call [the boss] and tell him why it's not getting done." Fucking pussy passive-agressive bullshit. Then, he doesn't show up to load-in last night because the pathetic she-male "hurt his tendonitis in his foot while he was helping his mom weed the garden." Are you fucking kidding me? So, after some begging and pleading from the rest of the band, I knocked out the chart today. Took me 2 1/2 hours, and keep in mind, I stopped in the middle to take a few phone calls, answer an email or two, eat lunch, clean the cat-box, and READ HALF OF A FUCKING BOOK! This guy's only job is teaching trumpet lessons (and being a Jehovah's Witness, and I'm not knocking that, hey, if that's your preferred path to salvation, whatever, I'm not going to shit on anyone's religion BUT HE HAS NO OTHER JOB! Can one be a JW professionally? Does he edit the Watchtower?) and for some reason he doesn't have what should only take him (with his graduate degree and 20+ years of experience) 2 hours TOPS to complete?



This is him. Only, picture a trumpet up his ass.

Lately

Here's what's going on lately:



Why am I the only person who thinks this movie was awesome? As a kid, I always thought this was a better film than Top Gun, and for several reasons:
- No creepy (and pointless) beach volleyball scene, forcing one to confront questions only Stewie Griffin can answer.
- Chappy came home. Goose didn't. Who's would you rather be going into combat with?
- Iron Eagle actually had an antagonist (although they conveniently never say what country said antagonist is from). Top Gun basically had Tom Cruise against Val Kilmer's shark-like snapping teeth (has anyone figured out what that was about?)
- Sound track is way better. Everything you could want in 80's rock.

So, why does no one like this but me?

Next: Only two more weeks of LOTUS remain. I'm really looking forward to weekends off. Just bought myself a set of golf clubs, and played my first round last Friday. WAY more fun than hanging around with drunks in a bar. I've already been approached by other bands, but I'm just not interested. Being home with Gindo or out with her or out with friends is simply more appealing than Brick House.

Next: Got keys for the new job. The guy before me didn't get much end-of-year stuff done, so I've actually got quite a bit to do this summer. Just not quite motivated enough to start working yet. What is it, June 23? Yeah, probably not 'til, oh, say, July 6th. That feels about right.

Drama=Melodrama?

For your consideration: Here, you see Frank Sinatra and some guy name Laurence Harvey circa 1962 in the original version of "The Manchurian Candidate." It was on TCM the other night, so Gindo and I watched it. You know something? It was fucking great! I know there's that knee-jerk, "I had so much fun watching old movies with my girlfriend" cliché, but this movie was legitimately cool. It got nominated for an Academy Award that year (Angela Lansbury for Best Supporting Actress). Why not a bigger award? It was up against movies like "To Kill A Mocking Bird," "Lawrence of Arabia," "The Miracle Worker," & "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane." And before you make any of the Murder She Wrote jokes that I did, yes, Angela Lansbury has apparently always been old, but in this movie she was positively terrifying.

You know who else was good? Fucking Frank Sinatra! Like Ginny said, it's too bad that all these singers who want to be in the movies now can't act. I'm not saying Old Blue Eyes is the best actor in the movie, but he's not too bad. Unlike a few others in movies these days.

Now, here's what was most riveting about the movie. Go watch it, then I want you to go watch No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood. What do they have in common? Yes, they're all three dark dramas. Yes, they're all three well-acted, with interesting (if convoluted) plots. But here's what I liked best about them:

No soundtrack.

No radio symphony providing swelling emotional/musical cues. No studio-rock playing edgy guitars during chase scenes. No insipid pop-covers during montages. No, just fucking acting, drama, and suspense. Both of the latter two movies were a couple of the most compelling films I've seen in a while, and it took me a while to figure it out. But finally, it hit me: the director of the film wasn't trying to tell me how to feel about a certain character or situation through musical cues. Instead, I just got to watch the movie and make up my own mind.

Why can't more movies be like that?

Okay, I'LL post the pictures of plants

Mad plant skillz.

Back!

It's been a while since my last post, and the busy-busy has finally slowed down (at least for a little while). I turned in my keys at the old job yesterday and checked out. The only committments I have left are graduation and a faculty appreciation brunch. The day after that, I've got a faculty dinner for the fine arts department with my new job. Nothing like getting right back into it.

Next, I resigned from the band since my last post. I decided that 48 weekends a year for 10 years was more than enough time. I'm going to play up 'til the "big gig" on July 3rd, then pack it in. There's alot more stuff I want to do, and it will be nice to have a weekend off! Which is not to say that I won't miss it, 'cause I will. Thing is, I think I'm going to miss more what it WAS, not what it is.

I promised new pics of my horn:

It's fucking sweet, by the way.

Now, what else is going on? School's out, and it was a great year. Looking forward to next year at the new job. Resigned from the band, and am looking forward to having weekends off. Also, got both of parents married off in the last month. A bit surreal, but a good thing also. No pics here on the computer, but Gindo knows where they are, so I'll put up one or two of those soon.

Got the garden all planted. Now, I shall issue an edict to my paramour: POST PICTURES OF OUR PLANTS. They are truly impressive, thanks to her gardening skill. Now, I shall venture outside (out of the AC that I have turned on before June 1 for the first time in years) and see about some yardwork.