Wednesday, August 27, 2008

First day of Fall 2008 semester in the books.

Paige enjoyed her first day of school, but she is now suffering the aftermath of homework. This semester appears to look promising thus far.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

RADIOHEAD VACATION!

OK, here is a brief summary of my vacation with Paige. I wanted to go more in depth - and maybe I will at a later time - but I start my next semester tomorrow and have too much to do.

So, we left Utah on Saturday, August 16th. We drove 12 hours to Portland, OR. where we stayed (just) one night. We walked around the city for about an hour and got back on the road.

We then drove 3 hours up to Seattle (actually Kent), WA. Both Paige and I agree that, out of the place we were able to visit on our road trip, Seattle was by far the best. The people were nice. Everything seemed to click. It was my favorite city aesthetically and it just felt right. I would love to live there. We stayed in Washington for 4 nights before continuing on, but before leaving, we were able to see RADIOHEAD for the first time ever! And I must say, it was the best show I have ever seen in my life. It was amazing. I will spare details as I am strapped for time (there will probably be grammatical errors by the dozens), but I managed to list the setlist below.

On the 21st - the morning after RADIOHEAD - we drove 7 hours to Grants Pass, OR. This place was terrible. Maybe we just had a bad experience, and it was nothing on its own, but the people were odd, the town was boring, and, other than some nice sites, it wasn't worth the stay. The hotel wasn't anything to brag about, and we were a even a bit scared for our safety at times. We only stayed here one night.

On the 22nd, we drove 9 hours into San Francisco. Unfortunately, we weren't able to spend much time here, either. We had to get to LA for the second RADIOHEAD show. We stayed in a fancy hotel that we were able to get on discount (Paige forgot her pillow, whoops!) and we spent about 4 hours the following day site seeing (hopefully pictures for the entire vacation will follow soon - we took almost 400!).

But most importantly, before we got to San Francisco we drove through (and stopped at) The Redwoods in Northern California. We saw the "Avenue of the Giants". It is worth posting a picture here.


After 4 hours in San Fran, we drove 6 hours to Los Angeles: the down where spray paint/graffiti covers EVERYTHING! LA was pretty cool, and we saw RADIOHEAD once again. The show was amazing, of course, but the Washington show was better. I've listed the setlist for this show below as well. Before the show we visit the Elliott Smith memorial wall (it was on the cover of his album "Figure 8". It's worth a picture (I told you there is graffiti on EVERYTHING).



The next morning, Aug. 25th, we drove 9 hours home. Exhausted and ready to rest. But alas, there is no rest anytime soon, as today we had to prepare for school, which starts tomorrow!

Enjoy the RADIOHEAD setlists. I hope more pictures will follow.


RADIOHEAD setlist for Auburn, WA, August 20, 2008.

15 Steps
Reckoner
Optimistic
There There
All I Need
Pyramid Song
Talk Show Host
National Anthem
The Gloaming
Videotape
Lucky
Faust Arp
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Climbing Up The Walls
Dollars & Cents
Nude
Body Snatchers

(Encore 1)

How TO Disappear Completely
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Idioteque
In Limbo
Street Spirit (fade out)

(Encore 2)

You And Whose Army?
No Surprises
Everything In Its Right Place

--

RADIOHEAD setlist for Los Angeles, CA, August 24th, 2008.

15 Step
There There
Morning Bell
All I Need
Pyramid Song
Nude
Weird Fishes/Apreggi
The Gloaming
The National Anthem
Wolf At The Door
Faust Arp
Exit Music (for a Film)
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Idioteque
Climbing Up The Walls
Bodysnatchers
How To Disappear Completely

(Encore 1)

Videotape
Paranoid Android
Dollars & Cents
Street Spirit
Rechoner

(Encore 2)

House Of Cards
Lucky
Everything In Its Right Place

PS: At the Washington show Thom messed up and it was pretty funny. Here's a video for it (thanks Paige).

Saturday, August 23, 2008

RADIOHEAD ONCE AGAIN

Hello from San Francisco, CA. We're leaving the hotel in about 20 minutes to explore this city, then drive to Los Angeles a little later in the day - where we will see Radiohead for a second time this trip. I can't wait.

Anyway, Radiohead put a video up of them driving to the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation (where we saw Radiohead the first time on this trip) in Washingon (White River Amphitheater).

We drove this exact same route to get to the venue as well.


Find more videos like this on w.a.s.t.e. central

Thursday, August 21, 2008

QUICK BLURB

Really quick, because we're on the road (leaving Seattle to drive 7 hours to Grants Pass, OR)

This is Paige and I at the Radiohead show in Auburn, WA - going crazy.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Preparing for Euphoria

In less than a week Paige and I will see Radiohead for the first time ever. I don't know if I've ever been so excited for anything. This will be one of those life-changing events for sure.

So, for preparation, I will listen to no other music (by my own free will) until after the first show.


BATTLE IN SEATTLE

Here is a trailer for the new film entitled Battle in Seattle. It is about the 1999 protests of the World Trade Organization. It struck my curiosity. What do you think?

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Language

Beginning August 27th, I will embark on my new academic path with the Integrated Studies program at Utah Valley University. First and foremost on the itinerary, Scott Abbott and Alex Caldiero will be teaching the course: Language, Most Dangerous of Possessions. This will prove to be an amazing experience, I'm sure.



After that class I will have a Buddhist Philosophy course, which will specifically focus on the works from the Dalai Lama. This course will be taught by Wayne Hanewicz.

Then, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I will have Philosophy of Metaphysics with Chris Weigel and Intro to Psychology with James Cameron. These to courses will kickstart my integrated academic experience in philosophy of mind and psychology/physiology of the brain.

If anyone happens to be in these classes already (or interested in them), let me know.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Brothers Enjoying the Rain

These are two of our cats. They are brothers. It's just beginning to rain the lightest of sprinkles.

My Personality Type

Your Type is
INTJ
IntrovertedIntuitiveThinkingJudging
Strength of the preferences %
561008856

Qualitative analysis of your type formula

You are:
  • moderately expressed introvert
  • very expressed intuitive personality
  • very expressed thinking personality
  • moderately expressed judging personality
Other INTJs include:
Alan Greenspan, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ulysses S. Grant, Friedrich Nietzsche, Niels Bohr, Peter the Great, Stephen Hawking, John Maynard Keynes, Lise Meitner, Ayn Rand and Sir Isaac Newton are examples of Rational Masterminds.

To outsiders, INTJs may appear to project an aura of "definiteness", of self-confidence. This self-confidence, sometimes mistaken for simple arrogance by the less decisive, is actually of a very specific rather than a general nature; its source lies in the specialized knowledge systems that most INTJs start building at an early age. When it comes to their own areas of expertise -- and INTJs can have several -- they will be able to tell you almost immediately whether or not they can help you, and if so, how. INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more importantly, they know what they don't know.

INTJs are perfectionists, with a seemingly endless capacity for improving upon anything that takes their interest. What prevents them from becoming chronically bogged down in this pursuit of perfection is the pragmatism so characteristic of the type: INTJs apply (often ruthlessly) the criterion "Does it work?" to everything from their own research efforts to the prevailing social norms. This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake.

INTJs are known as the "Systems Builders" of the types, perhaps in part because they possess the unusual trait combination of imagination and reliability. Whatever system an INTJ happens to be working on is for them the equivalent of a moral cause to an INFJ; both perfectionism and disregard for authority may come into play, as INTJs can be unsparing of both themselves and the others on the project. Anyone considered to be "slacking," including superiors, will lose their respect -- and will generally be made aware of this; INTJs have also been known to take it upon themselves to implement critical decisions without consulting their supervisors or co-workers. On the other hand, they do tend to be scrupulous and even-handed about recognizing the individual contributions that have gone into a project, and have a gift for seizing opportunities which others might not even notice.

In the broadest terms, what INTJs "do" tends to be what they "know". Typical INTJ career choices are in the sciences and engineering, but they can be found wherever a combination of intellect and incisiveness are required (e.g., law, some areas of academia). INTJs can rise to management positions when they are willing to invest time in marketing their abilities as well as enhancing them, and (whether for the sake of ambition or the desire for privacy) many also find it useful to learn to simulate some degree of surface conformism in order to mask their inherent unconventionality.

Personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ's Achilles heel. While they are capable of caring deeply for others (usually a select few), and are willing to spend a great deal of time and effort on a relationship, the knowledge and self-confidence that make them so successful in other areas can suddenly abandon or mislead them in interpersonal situations.

This happens in part because many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals; for instance, they tend to have little patience and less understanding of such things as small talk and flirtation (which most types consider half the fun of a relationship). To complicate matters, INTJs are usually extremely private people, and can often be naturally impassive as well, which makes them easy to misread and misunderstand. Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense. :-) This sometimes results in a peculiar naivete', paralleling that of many Fs -- only instead of expecting inexhaustible affection and empathy from a romantic relationship, the INTJ will expect inexhaustible reasonability and directness.

Probably the strongest INTJ assets in the interpersonal area are their intuitive abilities and their willingness to "work at" a relationship. Although as Ts they do not always have the kind of natural empathy that many Fs do, the Intuitive function can often act as a good substitute by synthesizing the probable meanings behind such things as tone of voice, turn of phrase, and facial expression. This ability can then be honed and directed by consistent, repeated efforts to understand and support those they care about, and those relationships which ultimately do become established with an INTJ tend to be characterized by their robustness, stability, and good communications.


WHICH TYPE ARE YOU?

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

If you take (or retake) this test, post the results on your blog and give me a link to them. I'm very interested.