Where's the Bar?

Not that kind of bar, silly - I always know where that bar is. I'm talking about the metaphorical bar we set for our expectations of human kindness.

I was driving through a heavily congested part of town the other day as seemingly all of southern California's drivers were being forced to merge into one lane in a very short distance. I was attempting to make a pretty tricky left turn out of a shopping complex, across several flowing lanes of traffic, and into this particularly garbled construction zone. There was an easier, more circuitous route, but of course I was only interested in the direct route.

So there I was, sitting hunched over my steering wheel, squinting into the sun, music turned way down low for concentration, waiting for my big chance. It wasn't coming. One light cycle, two, three, four. As soon as I would get a break in on-coming traffic, there was nobody willing to lose three car lengths of time to wave me in on the other side. As my frustration grew, I began to think less about the task at hand and more about the math on the number of additional minutes that aforementioned circuitous route would have taken me vs. the number of stupid minutes I'd been sitting here at this increasingly bad decision. And then it happened: a angel in human form saw what I was trying to do - he saw that I had a break in on-coming traffic stayed back to wave me in when it was finally his chance to advance through the intersection. I was in! On my way! I waved through my windshield as I was pulling in, smiled a big smile, and continued to wave through my rearview once I was in line.

The point of this post is this: Is the bar for human kindness so low that the simple gesture of being let into traffic could genuinely brighten my day and restore a little faith in the goodness of people? 

Do other people feel the same sense of moderate-to-significant elation at being let into traffic by a kind stranger? Or have I, personally, set my bar too low? I'd hate to raise the bar and potentially live in repeated disappointment, but I also don't want to be the cynic who thinks she's living in an unfriendly world. Just words for thought...

Scandinavia is the Future

It seems more and more these days that when news stories arise of new technologies, social progressiveness, environmental innovations and any other aspect of modern society, that the countries of Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden, Norway and technically Finland) are front and center of the forward movement. Here are a just a few instances of their success:

• Recycling

• Elder Care

• Education

• Crime

• Renewable Energy 

(The Netherlands, but still)

Mood Music

The sun is growing stronger with each new dawn; the flowers are stretching taller with each gentle rain; and the once icy waters are melting into inviting, sparking retreats. Summer is creeping into our lives once again. As if unsure of her welcomeness, mother nature isn't barging into the party, but rather peeking her head in the door and slowly making her way around the room - retreating to the walls at the slightest spook. 

As those of us in the northern climates clamor its presence, we grasp at the slightest sign just to shed our winter ways. For me this means a change in my music listening habits. While Sigur Rós, The XX and Bon Iver calm and warm me through the depths of winter, summer begs me to roll down the windows, feel the sun on my face, and crank up the volume.

Currently amping up my mood are Barcelona and Future Islands. Both bands have a really awesome back catalog of songs, but off their most recent releases, specific recommendations include:

Artist: Future Islands

Album: Singles

Song: Back in the Tall Grass

Artist: Barcelona
Album: Love Me -EP
Song: Background

Sunday's Thoughts

I get my news from The Daily Show and Reddit.
Rachel Dratch is funny and underrated.
The Kroll Show is very funny and hosts the best Canadian spoof out there.
Parks and Rec is very funny and it's mostly because it's so close to truth.
The complexity of an eye ball is astounding, let alone how it communicates with the rest of the body.
I do not like my coffee black.
I am rarely the one to discover new music before my friends.
Lately I've been pushing off new "technology" as I find it creates superfluous noise.

Come On, NBC!

Let me preface this rant with some facts about me: I love the Olympics. I'm an Olympic junkie and if I could, I would quit life for 2 weeks to watch everything I could.

There are 15 sports at the Winter Olympic Games. Each sport, including ski jumping for the first time, has a mens and women's competition. Almost every sport has multiple events within its umbrella category and each of those events often times feature qualifying rounds, semi-final rounds, and medal rounds. On top of all this, there are 89 countries represented at the Sochi games - more than ever before. This means there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of combinations and permutations of airable sport over the 17 days of the games. I'm not sure NBC is aware of this.

• Alpine Skiing: 5 events
• Biathlon: 6 events
• Bobsleigh: 3 events
• Cross Country: 6 events
• Curling: 1 event
• Figure Skating: 9 events (maybe more, I can't tell)
• Freestyle Skiing: 5 events
• Ice Hockey: 1 event
• Luge: 3 events
• Nordic Combined: 3 events
• Short Track: 4 events
• Skeleton: 1 event
• Ski Jumping: 3 events
• Snowboard: 5 events
• Speed Skating: 6 events

This is the one time of the year where the world comes together peacefully to celebrate athleticism and patriotism. I am an American. I have a Canadian mother and an English father and a greek grandmother and a Belgian grandfather. I have traveled through most of Europe and hope to see more of the world in my lifetime. I love that there are so many countries participating in the games and I love each is especially good in one area. I love the tiny countries like the British Virgin Islands or Bermuda that send 3 athletes. I love learning new facts about the various countries and boning up on my geography skills. I even love the "people watching" and observing how different an elite athletes body can look depending on their sport - these people are finely tuned machines!

I love the Olympics and I hate NBC's coverage of them. I didn't want to be force fed stories attempting to build up an "American Hero" where there isn't one - point and case that girl figure skater...something Gold: it was "Gold going Gold" every bloody night and at the end of the day she fizzled out. Not to say she isn't an incredibly talented skater, but she's not (and never was) a contender for gold medals and stop trying to make it so.

After having lived in Canada for the 2010 games - a Games hosted by that country for Pete's sake - I saw what is possible for Olympic coverage and I miss it dearly this time around. Sure Canada's medal count and athletes led the broadcast, but I'll be damned if they didn't show almost all sports (in prime time) and mention at least 5-10 other countries throughout.

OH! and one last thing: did you see a single medal ceremony where USA wasn't at the top of the podium? No? Good, I thought I just missed them. I guess either America won all the gold medals or the other countries don't have anthems so they don't get medal ceremonies when they win gold. Surely it couldn't be that if USA didn't get gold (or heaven forbid, medal at all) that NBC just didn't air it? Could it? Naaaaah.

Moving to Canada for 2016!

So Much Music

Because I'm not a good Tweeterer, I present a rolling, train-of-thought post on the events of this evening's Grammy Awards:

Red Carpet:
I have only CityTV's hokey coverage to go from, but thank goodness I decided to tune in as I now have time to Google who the hell all these singer, songwriter, bands are! I know nobody. Here's what I learned:

• Kendrick Lamar: Never heard of the guy. I only just learned that he was in fact a he. I also learned he is up for lots of nominations - like, the most.
• Taylor Swift: Major Bitchy Resting Face.
• Steven Tyler: currently trying to place who/what he resembles with this mustache thingy.
• David Grohl: who is this? I think I like him. Juuuust kidding; he's fucking awesome! 
• Sara Bareilles: Never heard her name before, but when I iTunes'd her I realized she is the singer of that god-awful song from the Microsoft commercials. Bleck!

The Show:

• Beyonce - now that's how a grown woman shakes it. Miley, you just a little girl.
• Beyonce and Jay Z - so. much. power. and good looks, and talent, and style.
• Grammy Director - don't fucking show Taylor Swift dancing every seven seconds. Nobody wants that.
• LL Cool J - your cred is doing just fine. No need to remind us you used to rap. You can host things now; it's cool, LL.
• Lorde - I get it, it's solid. But I don't love it. I definitely wanted to dress like her when I was 14 though; grownup gothic chíc.
• Hunter Hayes - I think I saw something about him last week. He looks familiar. This song is kinda boring but I'm not gonna hate too much cause the message is a good one.
• Daft Punk and Pharrell - I think Pharrell may regret his hat choice; the Robots look amazing!
• Katy Perry - I don't dislike her at all, but the weather needs to be warm for me to rock out to her tunes. It's sub-arctic right now so she's currently hibernating in my library. I do not like the witch broom stripper poles.
• Chicago - it's what a Saturday in the park should feel like. Robin compliments them nicely.
• Keith Urban - he literally looks like Nicole Kidman's brother. Weird. I happen to have a soft spot for country from my college days, but I'd rather hoedown to some serious twang if I'm gonna listen to it at all. Pass.
• John Legend - Smooth like warm butter. But I'm getting a little sleepy with all these slow songs; can we take it up a notch please? Also, does he not age?
• Taylor Swift - so much slow. Yeeks! I hope she didn't strain a muscle with those contortions; they did not look good.
• Pink - She's still swinging around on ropes, eh? Cool.
• Nate Ruess - congratulations on finding full length pants and on growing a mustache to differentiate yourself from that one guy in One Direction who I only recently learned wasn't you.
• Ringo Starr - Yeah right, like I'm gonna even comment on a Beatle's performance. I'm mean, for god's sake, he's 73 years old; he can wear all the orthopedic sneakers he desires. 

General note - and this goes for all award shows: For the love of all the talent in the room at these things, write better presenter banter. 

• Imagine Dragons & Kendrick Lamar - Taylor Swift has no rhythm and looks very awkward dancing to this song. Beyonce and Jay Z (and even Robin Thicke and Paula Patton) look cool as cucumbers. So much intensity on that performance!
• Kacey Muscraves - sucks to have to follow that one. Song's not terrible but following the rock/rap (with the light up cowboy boots and tacky restaurant glow cactus')  it feels even more schticky than I think they intended.
• Julia Roberts - and the award for out-of-left-field appearance goes to...

Had to make dinner. Encompassing comments - Paul and Ringo not as awesome as I was hoping; good on Bruno Mars, his music makes me groove (but enough of that Nissan commercial, puleeeze) love Willie Nelson, don't like Blake Shelton; yay girl who isn't Taylor for winning that award.

• Daft Punk - First observation is that we're a minute and a half in and yet to see that French duo themselves. Second observation: Pharrell looks like an old retired man running charter boat tours in the Bahamas. 3rd: Yoko Ono looks so cute dancing with her peace signs.  
• Cindy Lauper - introducing Carole King: perfect! This Sara Bareilles chick must be shitting herself getting to play with Carole King. Yep, happy dance from her. Also, Carole King and Glenn Close look like twins. 
• Metallica - I loves me some Kirk Hammett guitar! The piano is a really cool add. These guys kill it! WOW!
• Steven Tyler - off script. weirdo.
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis & Madonna & Queen Latifa - too much flailing during the rapping. I thought Madonna's cane was for swagger, but based on how she's using it, I think she may need it. Hey, at least it's taking the attentions off her face. The marriage thing was a really cool idea but I don't like how it was executed; it seemed like it became an afterthought, but I don't think that's how it was intended.
• Lang Lang - makes me wish I stayed with took piano lessons.
• The Dead Guys - too fast. too many per page. can't tell who the music playing belongs to. too fast. too fast!
• Miranda Lambert & Billie Joe - too much Miranda.Yucky combo. Do they each have ties to the Everly Brothers? Why?
• Album of the Year - HAHA! Taylor though she won when they said "Raa...ndom Access Memories." No, nobody said, Red. Stay seated. Lovely speech though.
• NIN & Queens of the Stone Age & Buckingham & David Grohl - old Lindsey fits right in. Oh come on, you can't cut off the closing performance for promos! Not cool at all!

Goodnight.

Small Victory Wednesday

I've been away awhile, but... "I'm back, baby!" (read as either Joey Tribianni or George Costanza)

I retuned home tonight after a particularly draining day at work. It was good draining though; we were shooting a scene for a pilot series in a big, busting live location. I got home home from work and went back to work. I fell asleep in the middle of an email, but a 12 minute snooze was just what I needed to reenergize for more work and to remind myself that I was starving. What to cook, what to cook?

When in production, the contents of my fridge dwindle to only items kept on the door. I had half-and-half, balsamic dressing, questionable pickles and (mercifully) a few beers. I closed the door only partially defeated (I did find beer after all) and moved on to the freezer. Contents: some lunch meat I had moved from the fridge to the freezer when it started growing it's own lunch meat and I didn't have time to take out the trash; some feta cheese that suffered the same ill-fate as the poor lunch meat; and a bag of peas I forgot to seal closed which now resembled a mogul covered ski hill in early spring. But wait! What's that hiding behind the vodka? Is it a frozen fish fillet (properly sealed) and a bag of frozen french fries? You betcha! Preheat the oven, it's dinner time!

I have now brought you to the reason for this blog entry: cooking instructions. Fish is to be cooked at 425º for 10 minutes, turned over, and cooked for another 10 minutes. Chips are to be cooked at 425º for 18-22 minutes and turned half-way through. Yeah, that's right, I can cook fish and chips on the same pan, at the same temperature, for the same amount of time and with the same amount of attentiveness. I can then remove from said oven, a complete dinner, evenly cooked, hot and ready to eat.

Small victory Wednesday, everyone.