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Friday, June 30th, 2006
Perfect day weather wise, if there ever was one.
Having been fortunate enough to travel to Michigan on a couple occasions now, and more
importantly having clocked a solid couple decades as a Detroit Lions fan,
I feel inspired (and qualified) to comment on these lyrics about the once great city of Detroit.
Oh Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head
Once a great place. Now a prison.
All I can say. All I can do.
People Mover: Bad Decision.
From suburban. Now a prison.
All I can say. All I can do.
From the trembling walls. It's a great idea!
Everything you want. It's a great idea!
Once a great place. Now a prison.
All I can say. All I can do.
Henry Ford. Henry Ford.
Public Trans. Public Trans.
Pontiac. Pontiac.
Feed the poor. Feed the poor.
City Hall. City Hall.
Windsor Park. Windsor Park.
Saginaw. Saginaw.
After dark. After dark.
Tigers game. Tigers game.
Eighty-four. Eighty-four.
Industry. Industry.
Unemployed. Unemployed.
Gun control. Gun control.
Wolverine. Wolverine.
Iroquois. Iroquois.
Industry. Industry.
Public Trans. Public Trans.
Auto Cars. Auto Cars.
Jefferson. Jefferson.
Michigan. Michigan.
From the trembling walls. It's a great idea!
Everything you want. It's a great idea!
From the Renaissance. It's a great idea!
Everything you want. It's a great idea!
Throw them all away. It's a great idea!
From the Renaissance. It's a great idea!
Everything you want.
(Hesitate to burn the buildings)
~~
Sufjan Stevens
I fear that what is happening to our once-great cities (like Detroit)
is sadly happening across the country at large- and not just to its cities.
The slow creep from vigilance to caution, from caution to lenity, from lenity to negligence, from negligence to apathy, from apathy to
indulgence, and from indulgence to gluttony... And as gluttonous people we die amidst our own orgy.
How will we hold onto the past, while still maintaining growth and flexibility for the future? Let Steven's words be a warning.
No matter what we come up with, is it a great idea? Should we even hesitate to burn the buildings?
Here is the grand album from which the song comes.
Tuesday, June 27th, 2006
Stale, warm evening. Slightly dreary cooped up inside.
Here's some Missouri pics that I might not have shared yet:
I could go two months without driving... and still be sick of it after that drive to and from MO.
I miss the dog. I do.
Don't ask. You wouldn't understand.
Read this book. It's really fun and well written.
The ADVENTURES page has been updated. I've managed to put up some photos from what is now my third trip to Yosemite with Marco's family.
Monday, June 26th, 2006
I already miss it badly:
Sunday, June 25th, 2006
Just outside Needles, CA. I am Passenger in a car that is going about 75 mph, and yet it's still not fast enough
to get me out of this desert (and home)! We had the good fortune to get stuck in a traffic jam (of unexplained causes) that added a solid hour to our
trip home. But such things happen. We have made fairly good time, and we are still in one piece. So I'll try and not complain.
No pics to share this time (The drive from Albuquerque into San Bernardino isn't exactly scenic)...
Should be home before sundown, that's good news.
Saturday, June 24th, 2006
ROAD REVIEW: Pics in transit! (I've uploaded these as we are on the road)
Here again?
Deja Vu.
Here's a very common sight while driving through Missouri.
Truckers' eye-view.
One unlucky fella.
Ontus is now well stocked for the 4th (and our truck is now filled with contra-ban). Smugglers of the world unite and take over.
Currently we are making our way through Afton, Oklahoma.
Saturday, June 24th, 2006
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!!
...WE'RE COMING HOME...
Dinner at the ONLY thing going on in small-town Festus: Ruby Tuesday.
And...Just to have it, Ontus with fireworks (from a few nights ago):
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we journey the long road back home.
Friday, June 23rd, 2006
"While my mother waters plants, my father loads his gun..." ~~ Listening to Bright Eyes
at the moment. Great song, "At the Bottom of Everything" on an even greater album:
I'm Wide Awake and It's Morning.
Well, It's now about three days after I was supposed to be back home. Yet,
I am still in green and hilly Hillsboro, MO. Ontus and I are set to leave early tomorrow morning. (Yes, for real this time).
I didn't do a lot of construction work today. Ontus was just doing some finishing touches on things (I helped here
and there). Primarily, I was working on my applications for the program that shall (hopefully) be my employment for the next few years and possibly turn into a career.
The applications are going well. I have two letters of recommendation already on file, and I should be able to procure the required third and last letter
within a day or two of being back in southern California.
Tonight: going out with a bang. Last night in Missouri should be fun.
Thursday, June 22nd, 2006
Hot as Death Valley but with 99% percent humidity. Wait. Strike that. Down-pouring rain, thunder and wind gusts
powerful enough to blow over table umbrellas and turn the glassy lake into a mini-ocean. Wait. Light breeze as the massive clouds above hide the sun, and it feels almost like Fall. Wait. It's blazing hot again...
It has been said of Missouri weather: "If you don't like the weather wait a few minutes." I have witnessed the truth of these words each day here in Hillsboro. It makes for a fun and
dynamic experience, but I'm not sure how I'd fair if I had to live in weather so volatile.
Time to share some more pics from the trip.
This was taken from the deck of the house.
Ontus' father came down and showed us around St. Louis.
Famous Joey B's.
Yes, this is my hand holding Sally-Ann-Der.
It's been a lot of hard work and a lot of fun. But I can't deny that I miss my Wahoo's.
Tomorrow we begin our road-trip back home.
Tuesday, June 20th, 2006
Early morning hours after a long and arduous day of digging
a ninety-foot trench, eighteen inches deep, through tree roots
and limestone, only to cap the day off with a
late-night swim in the lake.
These swims have been one of the highlights of the trip. Imagine a serene lake
under the moonlight, and not one soul on the water, save you. The water is as still as glass
and as warm as any summer california pool. You dive in to the sound of frogs and toads chirping in the distant trees that surround the lake.
You swim and swim and no one else hears or sees a thing because it's pitch black out there... There's no way to tell if you're in ten feet of water, or fifty feet.
It's truly exhilerating.
Here's some more pics from the trip.
In case any of you were unsure what state I was in.
(photo by Ontus' father)
Here's proof that I have been working on this trip.
Some of the fun stuff we've found:
Another of the lake house:
Friday, June 16, 2006
Warm, Sunny yet not bright. Just returned from boating around lake Wauwanoka in beautiful, green, lush Missouri.
Ontus and I are doing a work trip, but so far have not found it in our hearts to begin working.
This is my
first trip to Missouri and I'm finding the experience quite enjoyable.
Here are a couple shots taken during the two-day drive from Orange County to Hillsborough, Missouri.
They were taken driving through "the Panhandle" of Texas, near sundown.
I was quite excited to see my mother. We were able to meet for lunch in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Ontus was not quite excited to still be driving...
The best news of all? I only received ONE speeding citation. (Damn those Texans!)
Here's the lake house:
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Casually warm, with a light breeze. Beautiful June day.
Returned late last night from Yosemite. Had a great time out camping
with the deer and pines. I will update the Adventures page when time allows.
Quickly turning around, re-packing, leaving for Missouri tonight.
Don't miss me too much.
Reading and enjoying: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanne Clarke.
and Whose Bible is it?, by Jeroslav Pelikan.
Listening often: Sufjan Stevens (primarily Seven Swans and Illinois but also making room for Songs from Michigan).
Also Iron & Wine (Everything).
Friday, April 28, 2006
Sunny warm, syncopated by an ocean breeze that is chilly but refreshing.
Quote of the moment: (I read this on a bumper sticker of all places)
"If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention"
I had the great blessing to once again join my friends on a trip to
Joshua Tree. Click
HERE
to check out some of the pics and videos. The weather has been superb on each
venture. However, there were not as many wild flowers as we had hoped to see.
Over the next three weeks we should be seeing them come into full bloom.
A choice selection:
A beautiful evening sky driving home from HB. (or as I like to think of it,
the shadow of Mordor creeping westward across the sky...)
Sally Ann let me pet the baby o'possum she found
My father asked me to fly the flag over the weekend.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Warm spring day, much like summer. The sun burns bright and hot, yet the night brings
a pleasant temperate perfection.
Quote of the moment:
"He wants to tell his story, not repeat theirs." ~~Mark Simpson
There is some beauty in Southern California:
Here's a true story:
In 1987, a distressed young man in Denver, Colorado, held his local radio station hostage, insisting,
at gunpoint, that it play nothing but
Smiths records. They did-- for four hours-- inflicting
Morrissey on the good Christian people of Colorado... Eventually, the police besieging the building
persuaded the unhappy young man to give himself up. (Taken from Mark Simpson's Saint Morrissey, p. 106)
Monday, April 10, 2006
Chilly early morning hours. The offshore breeze brings a frigid envelope that surrounds
all those out of doors in Huntington Beach.
Quote of the moment:
"I'm not sure what I'm looking for anymore.
I just know that I'm harder to console." ~~Martin Gore
Enjoyed a nice Sunday afternoon smoking a cigar with my father and Marco.
Thanks to Marco for the pics.
Sunday, April 9, 2006Last couple
hours of Saturday, really. cold and dry.
Quote of the moment: "You're just another person in the world
you're just another fool with radical views
you're just another who has maddening views
you want to turn it on its head
by staying in bed!"
I said: "I know I do" ~~Morrissey
Gram Parson died in Joshua Tree.
Thanks to Michael and Chris for these pics. Here's Gram playing guitar on the rocks:
Thursday, April 6, 2006
Cold and windy Thursday morning. I am proud of my Bruins for making it to the national championship game after
a year filled with so much adversity (injuries/youth). The future is again bright at Pauley.
Quote of the moment:
"I've seen this happen in other people's lives; and now it's happening in mine..." ~~Morrissey
Final examinations are just around the corner. They will (likely) prove to be the last post-graduate
exams I will have to take for many years to come. That thought brings both a smile to my face
and a pause in my step.
Never before this year have I felt the winds of change so palpably upon my face.
Monday, April 3, 2006
Nearly rainy Monday afternoon.
"I have to crawl to get anywhere at all...I'm
not as strong as I thought..." ~~ Bright Eyes.
Tonight my UCLA Bruins take a shot at history. Here's my
badge. Where's yours?
Friday, March 31, 2006
Bright Friday noontime. Sometimes we take life as it comes. Other times the
life that comes
is but the life we make. Leaving us, of course, wholely unable to blame
anybody or anything
(even that thing called 'life')
except ourselves.
Congratulations to Sufjan Stevens for winning the
New Pantheon Music Award.
The brilliant and often majestic album
Illinois is the current Steven's project being honored.
See also the album that will have you worshipping a banjo Seven Swans and the
groundbreaking Greetings from Michigan which delivers some of SS's most relevant lyrics.
In my book, Sufjan Stevens is among the greats our time: among the likes of Bright Eyes and Iron & Wine.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Overcast Sunday afternoon. I've made some updates recently-- so if you haven't
been here in a while take a look around, you're sure to find some stuff you haven't
yet seen. See especially my recent Adventures
update: Joshua Tree 06'.
Coming soon (hopefully): Review of the awesome KORN concert Michael and I
had the pleasure to rock. Updates to the Movies and Madness page (Ontus, I'm
working on it (I promise!)). More book report cards. Other nonsense that escapes my
mind at the moment.
Oh yeah, BRUINS make the Final Four!!!!
Sunday, March 12, 2006
I Had the great fortune to be a part of the audience at the House of Blues,
San Diego last night for the
Elefant
and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gig.
I was with the always funny and supreme sarcastic, Michael “The Main Man” Morris,
and his good friend, Chris—who proved quite capable of brining me to tears of
laughter as well.
We had a great time gallivanting around the chilly streets of
downtown SD, drinking adult beverages and eating fattening food before show time.
Elefant put on an energetic and inspiring show (having never heard them before I’m
eager to go out and purchase their music). The lead vocalist, “Diego” as he later
introduced himself to me, was at once altogether so handsome and charismatic that I
wasn’t sure if I loved him or hated him. The girls certainly loved him. I watched
their ecstatic undulations in the front row, doing all within their power to bring
him into their arms. I felt very small at the time—and it made me wish I was a rock
star. But, ohwell.
Black Rebel put on a comprehensive show, that included all
their catalogue of music except perhaps a couple songs. The guitarist and bassist
were thrilling to watch. Both are highly skilled at their instruments and most of
their music was interesting enough to make the overall show very enjoyable. I
found some of the BRMC songs to be mere adaptations of each other, such that a few
shined bright and brilliant, while others (a small few) seemed worn and overused.
I would have appreciated more vocal dynamics from the bassist
(who also functioned as a lead vocalist for half of the songs)—each
song he sang seemed to plateau near 70% of what the song seemed to call
for vocally. The ‘primary’ vocalist, Peter, has an exceptional voice.
My only other complaint about BRMC was the drummer. Each song had basically
the identical beat to the one before it. In a genre where it’s already
difficult to sound ‘fresh’ and ‘unique’, such bland beats really did a
disservice to the otherwise superb musical orchestration and composition.
In short, I really enjoyed most of the BRMC show—some of the songs truly
rising to fantastic—but I think the set would have been stronger if
more selective in song choice (and a willingness to experiment more in
the drum area).
Thanks to Michael for the tickets! I truly had a
great time, and I would love to do it again. Our quote of the weekend:
What happens in SD turns into an STD…
Friday, March 10, 2006
Some words on evil and the world:
“A small knowledge of history depresses one with the sense of the everlasting
mass and weight of human iniquity: old, dreary, endless, repetitive, unchanging,
incurable wickedness. All towns, all villages, all habitations of men—sink!
And at the same time one knows that there is always good: much more hidden, much
less clearly discerned, seldom breaking out into recognizable, visible,
beauties of word or deed or face—not even when in fact sanctity, far greater
than the visible advertised wickedness, is really there. But I fear that in
the individual lives of all but a few, the balance is debit—we do so little that
is positive good, even if we negatively avoid what is actively evil.”
~~ J.R.R. Tolkien
Or as Dostoyevsky wrote: It is not God that I cannot
accept, it is His world.
And of course, worst of all are those who parade
around in apparent virtue, those who house caverns of depravity behind the
thin veils of their
pretended lives.
Welcome to my web home. Here you
will find some of what makes me tick. You'll have an opportunity to check out
new music as well as be among the first to read some of the writings in which
I am engaged.
Most of all I hope that you have fun and you enjoy what you read and see.
Be sure to drop me an email. I'll be looking forward to hearing from you.
A quick word about the website. It is still under construction, and
as I'm doing the code from scratch it may take some time. But bear with me.
Web pages are like babies : creation involves a level of enthusiasm that
does not necessarily carry over into maintenance.
- Joe Chew
Content copyrighted by J.D. Stock, 2004, 2005, 2006.
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