WonderBlog

So, the college eddicated brother and the breaking-and-entering brother are thrown together in their mom’s house in Podunk southern california to fight over a screenplay and sibling rivalry.

One of the major things in this play is the question of what kind of story is true-to-life. In a lot of ways, the answer to that question depends on whose life you are talking about.

What is a Western anymore? Is the western dead? Or maybe westerns are not about horse chases and desert living.

Maybe they are more about trying to make it on freeways and in the office. But maybe they still involve horse chases.

It depends on your life. These guys are so funny. I think they are true to somebody’s life. The true west now might be a lot like that.

Or not. Hard to say. But this story was funny.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The philosophy of the Matrix is a half-step short of religion for some people.

I feel that I should be informed on pop-culture religions.

Plus, the cool outfits in the first movie made me want to see what came next.

So, I dragged my unwilling boyfriend down to the theater and we got into it. Since it's a movie, and you can go see it anytime you want, I'm not gonna tell you the whole plot.

I will give my impressions, however.

The movie was long, but it moved fast. I didn't feel bored or tired out by the length. So, that's pretty good.

Some parts seemed like there weren't enough explanation. It took conscious effort to suspend my disbelief. Not good.

But then, there were all kinds of hints at other unseen things happening. Lots of questions, the kinds of questions that give satisfying subject matter for endless after-viewing discussions.

Where did Zion really come from?
What are the motives of the Oracle?
Who is a program and who is not?
What change occurred in Agent Smith?

All good things, for those who give it importance, to talk over and ponder.

That is the sign of a good movie, for me. Interesting, discussable. I don't think I'll join the religion, but I'm waiting for the next one.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 11:38 PM | Permalink

It certainly does happen very often, so when the spirit moves me to bake, I go with it. It is hot here right now, and absolutely not the weather for such activities. More like smoothie weather.

But I wanted to bake bread.

And really, the only kind of bread worth baking is sourdough bread. Those of you who have not experienced REAL sourdough bread, I can only pity.

Sourdough is associated with gold rushes, and my home state of Alaska is associated with gold rushes too. During the Alaska gold rush, it was practically illegal to enter the state without sourdough. It kept you alive.

In fact, old-timers in Alaska are called "Sourdough." Well, old timers that know what they're doing. You can be an old-timer and still not have a clue. Those types would not be sourdoughs. Even though I was born in alaska, I would not be an old Sourdough.

Allman's book, Alaskan Sourdough, explains a lot of this. She gives some lore, and more importantly, she gives the right recipes for how to make and cook sourdough.

Let me tell you, that frenchbready stuff they sell in the store is NOT sourdough bread. It's more like sourdough flavored bread. And flavored wrong, actually. Real sourdough is not sour to the taste, it's a very unique kind of sweet.

Now that I think about it, the subtlety of the flavor reminds me of good wine.

Unfortunately, most peopleare unaware of the many OTHER uses of sourdough. In my opinion, the pinnacle of sourdough excellence is the sourdough waffle.

Fortunately, it is also the easiest recipe to make. Once you have the starter, the waffle recipe is hardly any more difficult to make than bisquick.

It is the lightest, fluffiest, tastiest waffle you will ever have. I have never met anyone outside of alaska that has even heard of this delicacy, let alone tasted it.

If anyone reading this is an adventurous cook, you really MUST try this stuff. It's the coolest thing in the world, and very worth the work.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I remember the first time I heard about the Scopes trial. My dad was talking about Pat Robertson running for President. He said it was good that Christians were getting involved in politics. He was a Christian and loved Political Science.

I was astounded at the idea of Robertson running for President. I thought, "Don't you have have some experience to do the job well?" I was worried he wouldn't know how to do it right.

But Dad was telling me that he didn't think Robertson would win, but that it was good for Christians to stop burying their heads in the sand and join the world of politics again.

"Why did they stop?"

"It was after the Scopes trial. Christians were so humliated that they just retreated from the public eye."

After listening to the dramatic re-enactment of the Scopes trial, I can understand why they were humiliated.

In 1925, the schoolteacher John Scopes volunteered to stand trial for teaching evolution in a public school. It was coming sooner or later, so he stepped up and made it sooner.

Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan came into the courtroom and battled out the sticky issue of church and state separation, and at the same time showcased the problem of fundamentalist thinking when it encounters new ideas.

Let me be clear:
every human being is a fundamentalist in some respect. We all have some belief or other which is untouchable.

That is not to say we are excused from honest ree-examination. But it's good to remember that we are all susceptible to being dogmatic at times.

Bryan, in this case, was the dogmatic. He was the one at the trial who was famous, and supposed to be the big gun.

But when he was cross-examined by Darrow, he ended up looking a fool. Well, in that particular case, he WAS a fool. He was 'standing by the word of the Almighty'. Right or wrong.

And he was wrong. He was wrong because he was not being intellectually honest and examining the fact.

I firmly believe in Truth. I believe that the truth, or true thing, were there before me, and will be there after me. It is not my job to change the truth, it is my job to adapt myself into acceptance and understanding of the truth.

Bryan was not adapting. THAT is what made him look like a fool.

He didn't learn his lesson, either. He was humiliated in the trial, but did not learn humble himself and try to be honest with the world in front of him.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 11:38 AM | Permalink

Some folks have been talking about music to drive to.

Here are a few that would make me happy:

You're the inspiration-Chicago
Walk like an Egyptian-The Bangles
Closer to Fine-Indigo Girls
Blister in the Sun-Violent Femmes
How Bizarre-OMC
Groove is in the Heart-Dee-Lite
What's on your mind-Information Society
Everything I do-Bryan Adams
Hand in my Pocket-Alanis Morrisette
Girls just wanna have fun-Cyndi Lauper

Posted by Murphy Horner at 03:03 PM | Permalink

First Newborn Bald Eagles in Years Seen in Southland

I grew up around Bald Eagles. THey ate the salmon in the river near my home in Alaska. The little Susitna River was fed by hot springs, and so it never froze all the way in the winter. The Eagles could have their eagle convention down there in the winter, with the river serving up the snacks.

I was surprised and horrified when I learned as a child that Bald Eagles were an endangered species. It seemed like a terrible thing, to have our national symbol die out.

They didn't seem endangered where I was. It made me proud of my home state.

Well, the eagles are apparently recovering from the DDT poisoning that California inflicted on them the last century. Some babies have been born near my near home in L.A.:

If the 9-week-old eaglets survive, federal and state wildlife officials say, they will have begun repopulating the southern end of their historical nesting range before bald eagles were all but wiped out in California by coastal development and the manufacture and use of the pesticide DDT.

Good luck to them!

Posted by Murphy Horner at 02:28 PM | Permalink

Jefferson was a young Luisiana black man in the 40s. He stood trial and was convicted of murder. He's in jail, about to get the death penalty, but his godmother takes the local schoolteacher to come talk with him. That's where the story begins.

It turns out that Emma, the godmother, wants the teacher to teach Jefferson how to die.

The Victorians were obsessesed with dying. They would think about how to do it right, author manuals about it. Some of them would create huge mausoleums. I guess we still do that today. Some of us do, anyway.

But in this case, this young man had to find a way to face the terrible injustice of prejudice with dignity. The whole community looked to him to be their representative.

Emma wanted the schoolteacher to teach Jefferson how to face death with courage. But Grant, the schoolteacher wanted nothing to do with it. Who would teach him how to face life with courage?

This is a very serious drama, about how a community interacts and relies on one another.

The power the women held in the story, the power of the preacher, and the lack of power of the sherrif were a very interesting juxtaposition.

Please god, let me never have to face such a terrible dilemma! But I would hope that i can remember to face my lesser trials with honor.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Once again, I am blown away by Train. These guys consistently put out albums that are good to the last drop.

I like Pat Monahan's vocals. They are textured enough to keep my interest, and very singalong-able.

The music is catchy, and there is a lot of range. Energetic songs, slow depressing songs, and things in between.

The lyrics have good hooks, but they are abstract and intelligent. Wow! I love that about them. Every song on this album is a collaboration, usually involving almost everybody in the writing process.

That's a sign of a tight band, they work together to create. I think that's a sign that they will probably not split off into separate acts. I sure hope not, because I love their sound.

Well, I could say things about this specific album. But I think I can suffice to say that it is consistenly good, like their other albums. It was not a disappointed at all, and I liked their other albums a lot.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There was a free concert at Griffith Park yesterday. Surf Music! And they had the surf music God:
Dick Dale.

I have wanted to hear this guy for a long time. I guess he is not quite as well known outside of california. I certainly hadn't heard of him til I moved here.

But he rips a guitar to shreds. He can play more notes in a shorter span of time than anyone I have ever heard. The energy! Wow!

So the concert was Free, all the more amazing. There were other acts, but I wanted to hear Dick Dale. Surprisingly, it was not too loud. I hate it when concerts are so loud that the sounds gets really distorted.

This was just the right amount of sound. He was great great great.

And he was getting old.

Many great rockers are.

Dale had the old rocker gray ponytail.

At first, he ripped through a lot of his classics. His backup band was also hugely energetic, and they bounced all over the stage.

He even was playing the guitar with drumsticks, with all the speed he had before. I couldn't tell you how, you would have had to see it.

Then, some things changed. Dick Dale brought a musical guest on stage:

Jimmy Dale.

That's right, Dick Dale's 11 year old son got on stage and played with his dad. They play exactly alike! And Daddy was so proud! I'm not sure if this was Jimmy's first concert or not, but he did better than most professional musicians I've seen.

An 11 year old kid! He ripped out his dad's songs just like his dad.

It was so great. Really! I felt like we were sitting in their living room, hearing the two jam.

I would watch for Jimmy Dale. He's already composing, even. I sure hope he gets a chance to make his mark. He deserves it.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 03:31 PM | Permalink

Lady can do music!

I picked up a copy of Dance for Me by Mary J. Blige, and every song is making me happy.

Technically, they are all dance mixes of her songs. I am a sucker for dance mixes, so this is just about right for me.

The mixers took a lot of different samples, so the music, even though it stays true to the throbbing beat of dance floor favorites, doesn't get boring.

It's bootylicious, alright.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 03:43 PM | Permalink

This play by Lillian Hellman traces the consequences of one schoolgirl's spreading rumors about her teachers. The two women who run a school for children have to bear the insinuations of this unpleasant child that they are in a lesbian relationship.

This story fits in very well with Lillian Hellman's experiences with the House Unamerican activities. Unproved rumors can be very unpleasant.

This story is surprising and very dramatic. Hellman gives a diverse portrait of different kinds of people's character. She also handles the subject of homosexuality with a frankness very uncommon in that time.

There was also a movie made with the script, starring Audrey Hepburn as one of the teachers. It was made in the 60s, so dealing with homosexuality was just a hair less scandalous. But the story was still pretty good.

There's a lot to think about in The Children's Hour

Posted by Murphy Horner at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's a familiar story: Boy grows up without dad, dad enters boy's life once more, boy must figure out what he thinks about it.

This time, though, the story is told by comics. Chris Ware takes nearly 400 pages to tell the story with comics. I'll be honest, this is really an exciting example of a new way to tell a story. Pictures can say things, repeat things, that words cannot do.

I mean, how many times can you write the word 'pathetic' in a story? Ware seems to write it all over every page, but without the redundancy. You can use the same image, when you can't use the same word. And this gives a weight to the story, the sadness of the little boy and the depths of his loserishness, that made it almost repellent.

Except, I wanted to flip the pages and see what the next page had.

In the same way that Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury was initially impenetrable, Jimmy Corrigan is hard to figure out.

'what?' i felt like asking. "what just happened here? Who's that?" It becomes more clear as the book progresses, but not so much that all my questions are answered.

I am really thinking, now, about how different mediums communicate different ways.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 02:49 PM | Permalink

Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and the President of the United states are lost in the woods. No, that's not the set for a joke. This is what happend in the play "Camping with Henry and Tom" by Mark St. Germain.

And it's based on an event that actually occurred. President Harding, Edison and Ford were really on a camping trip. The imaginative recreation of that event is pretty funny, and really sharp. No matter what changes, things remain the same.

Businessmen often get the urge to go in and clean up politics. Anybody remember Ross Perot? but politics is not the same as business. People are much more complicated.

The three men in the story are gigantically successful. But St. Germain brings out their human side in the very human circumstance of being lost in the woods. The story shows how people really do have pretty much the same things to deal with, wherever they are.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 02:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A perfectly healthy housewife discovers that she can't operate her legs anymore, drawing her husband and the doctor into a frightening examination of past and present feelings. Set in New York, right as the Nazi party is on the rise, these American Jewish people are forced by the paralysis to consider their relationship to the world and ultimately, themselves.

Miller is good at the kind of story that dredges up buried feelings. I like his way of taking a thing and turning it around to see the different sides of it.

In this story is good because, in a way, you pretty much know what's coming, but at the same time, you are surprised by the way it comes through.

It makes me think, which I appreciate.

And the actors were very good. The tension and the drama were very satisfying.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 01:15 PM | Permalink

CNN.com - Prostitute diary tops Iran Web hit - Jun. 16, 2003

Looks like Iran is enjoying the same freedoms blogging brings:

"An Internet boom has caught officials by surprise and prompted them to draw up rules for the largely unregulated sector. The number of users has jumped by 90 percent in the past year. Still, only about three million of Iran's population of 65 million -- half of them under 25 -- have access to the net. "

But they have the same problem we americans do. It's a small niche.

I'd like to find that prostitute's website, actually.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hiatt is what's called "alternative country," a category that pretty much means he sounds like country music but not quite. In my opinion, that means he doesn't go by the pre-fab hooks and cliched patterns that country music is known and hated for. He actually creates his own sound.

And it's a good sound. The first song on the album is "Memphis in the meantime," a great catchy dancey tune that makes me wish I knew how to line dance. I'll tell you, I'd never really felt that before.

The rest of the songs are intelligent and fun. One other song in particular I really love you may have heard from the love scene n Benny and Joon: "Have a little Faith in Me."

It's a great song, and it makes you think you've heard it before, as if it were written by one of the greats-BB King or somebody. It's so heartbreaking. Of course, I'm a sucker for piano songs, I'll admit.

My boyfriend loves "Lipstick Sunset." Maybe it's a guy thing, I'm not so fond of it because it's about a girl getting left. But the song itself is a good kind of mournful.

Hiatt really loves what he does, and it shows.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 11:38 PM | Permalink

Yes, it's John Cusack again! My only true movie star idol. But he's got some other great folks in there too, like Jack Black.

I watched this movie in the theater alone the first time, because I couldn't get anyone to committ to seeing it with me, and I really wanted to see it. I liked it a lot then.

But sometimes it makes a difference, to see a movie with someone and discuss it. This movie ended up being much better when I watched the DVD with a music nerd friend last night. It was AWESOME! we were poking one another to laugh at all the parts that were so true.

Who doesn't go over their relationships like Rob Gordon(played by Cusack)? His Xes were just classic, too. He hit so many classic relationship dynamics.

In the movie, the judge of a good movie would be how discussable it was afterwards. You know, how many things sprung to mind after you saw it. Things that just made you chuckle to yourself spontaneously. or things that made you turn and ask the person you're with a weird question.

I was going all that night and the next day with fuel on this movie.

Cusack didn't let me down on this one.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 10:15 PM | Permalink

Of course, Catcher in the Rye! Everyone has heard of Catcher in the Rye. A heckuva lot of people have read it. I decided i had to finally read it after Six Degrees of Separation. The con artist in that book does this whole discussion about how so many serial killers have this book.

Plus, it looked short. This was a nice diversion from the very long books I haven't been finishing lately.

Well. Having finished the books mere moments ago, and having read absolutely no criticsm of it, I can give my opinion.

Holden Caulfield is an incredibly annoying kid. I don't know why all the people in the story were so nice to him.

It's hell to be an adolescent. All dressed up and nowhere to go, basically. Holden is stuck in a very stuffy period in history, growing up in the very late 40s.

But I guess his main problem is that he can't find a way to get to where he wants to be. He is so caught up in all the details of his life, he doesn't know what he wants. He gets vague and foggy ideas from the books he reads and some snatches of moments. But in the end, all he comes up with is empty.

He seems so involved in his dissaticfaction with his life that I'm not even sure he wants to be satisfied. Once in a while, he seems to want to find something that makes him happy. But he can never grab onto it.

Is that how every kid felt in the 50s? Like Rebel without a Cause?

My dad was in high school then. He tells me he felt that way a lot. What is up with that?

Is that the sort of vague dissatisfaction the was the 50s? Is that what led to the sort of vague protest of the foggy "establishment" that was the 60s?

Maybe serial killers like this book because it is so vague. It lets them bank the fire that fuels the logicless reasoning for their actions.

I don't know. I've met some rather disassociated youth., and a lot of times I've felt like sitting them down and talking with them.

That's what Holden makes me feel like doing.

But with the fictional Holden, and with the real kids I've known, it's a little harder than a single convesation. The problems are not in their heads.

But the solution, at least the start of it is in the individual control. I do believe that.

But really. This book is also about more than just Holden's problems.

what i DID like about it was the way Salinger wrote it. He wrote in a way that would drive English teachers nuts. Repeating, and inarticulate sometimes.

But the book is from Holden's perspective, and the way Salinger writes takes the reader exactly into his head. He writes inarticulately because Holden is 16 and inarticulate.

I love the fact that this book is so "canon" while being so technically 'bad'. I mean, If I were peer-reviewing this book, I would have to redpen the crap out of it.

And I hate doing that. Because i don't like the arbitrary and inaccurate rules about what makes "good writing" in an English class.

So. I don't think that Catcher in the Rye changed my life, but it was worth the time to read it.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 03:14 PM | Permalink

Every once in a while, and all too seldom, I come across an book that takes me to a new vantage of understanding. Maybe it opens up a new field of knowledge I'd never discovered. Maybe it answers a question that I'd been unable to answer on my own. But these books are real gems, the sorts of things that I mull over and chew on because there are so many good and useful ideas inside.

Guns, Germs and Steel is one of those kind of books. In this case, it answered a question that I'd been wondering for a long time. I'd phrased it like this, "What is up with Africa?"

Africa seems to be perennially fucked. They seem to be cyclically starving to death, they seem to have massively corrupt and uncaring goverments. They always need water and medicine.

Other places don't seem to be starving to death all the time. Why Africa? What's the real roots of the problem?

GG&S deals with that. And they deal with an even bigger issue: why the peoples from some areas conquered other peoples in different areas.

THAT is another question I wonder about.

Why did some peoples colonize and others BE colonized?

GG&S breaks it down into some really practical and understandable elements. To generalize: some people were better fed. And they were better fed because they had better food around.

Some PLACES had better food available than others. As enticing as it is to consider the people group to which I belong as superior, there are actually circumstantial and incidental reasons having to do with LOCATION that makes one group successful over another.

That's a real, practical and effective argument against racism as well. Another advantage to reading this book!

It won a Pulitzer, as well it deserved. I would hope that this book would go on to be read by students and others for years and years to come.

To me, it was not hard to read. As technical as some of the subject matter became, the author made it very relevant to the reader.

Also, it gave me some new trains of thought about how to manage the future. We are all in this together, all of us humans from all over the world. We inter-relate a lot, and it would be best to understand the past so that we can make wise decisions about the future.

I can hardly stop talking about this book to all the people I know. It was very exciting to read it.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 10:07 PM | Permalink

It's tough when you are twelve. Nothing you liked to do when you were younger is interesting anymore, and you are not allowed to do anything else yet.

Frankie is dying to leave her town, longing to get out and do exciting adventurous things. Her brother is in the army, and she adores him for the adventurous life she is sure he is leading.

And when he comes home to introduce his new bride, that is only one more adventurous romantic thing that Frankie is dying to be a part of.

That's the main thrust of the story's action. But the relationships between the main characters (Frankie, Bernice, and John Henry) are more important than Frankie's delusions.

Bernice is the black cook. Her life, revealed in little peeks, has been far from dull. She cares very much about Frankie and her little cousin John Henry. She is very sympathetic to Frankie and tries to help her every way she can. John Henry gets the short end of the deal in the end.

It's funny, too, how they all end up acting like kids. That happens! Adults, like Bernice, get drawn into the logic of the children. If you spend that much time around kids, you do start to think like them.

Frankie is trying so hard to be the grown-up that she doesn't know how to be yet.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 02:10 PM | Permalink

Pink is pissed. But in a good way.

Her album reminds me a little bit of "Jagged Little Pill" by Alanis. She even has a song "Just like a pill." Homage? hard to say.

But where Alanis is introspective, Pink is in your face. Her songs say how she wants to have fun, and she does have fun. Songs like "Get the Party Started" really are lots of fun.

She's punky, and in-your-face. I dig her.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 09:46 PM | Permalink

Every day has some "stuff" in it. I mean, little thorns and snags of life. Things you would like to change, or wish you didn't have to deal with.

Sometimes they are not so little. Sometimes they feel, to you, like monumental struggles--rapids on the river of history.

This is why I like the X-Men. Boy, have they got problems. They are gifted, sure. But their gift is a curse.

And even if it were a true gift, they aren't sure how to deal with it. Because they are each absolutely unique in the universe, an undiscovered and uncharted force in nature's fabric.

Like me.

And like you.

You and I don't have the elemental force of weather at our command, like Storm. And it won't kill people if we touch them, like Rogue. I don't have claws that rip open my knuckles when I fight.

But I have my gifts. My powers, though not "super" are to be reckoned with.

I finally watched the XMEN movie last night. I love to see how these dramatic super heroes deal with their stuff and the stuff of those around them.

How does Rogue manage to be so sensitive to others, when she cannot ever reach out?

And how does Wolverine manage to be so brave in the face of all the pain he deal with?

How does Jean Grey stand up before congress and stay calm when pleading the cause of herself and her friends?

Theri problems are more exciting than mine, I have to say. But courage is courage. Self-control is self-control. Caring is caring. No matter who you are.

Xmen are so cool!

Posted by Murphy Horner at 07:30 PM | Permalink

America has never had a military coup--That we know of.

This story is about a "what might have been."

We see it in other countries all the time. Popular general-weak president.

The general sees fit to take over as president. After all, it seems to make a lot of sense.

I like this story because it had a lot of intrigue. You don't know what is going to happen, how things are going to work out even at the very end. The power play between such powerful figures is fascinating to me.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 09:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I got to work early today. There were some European time zones that had to be reckoned with.

But even so, I couldn't sleep very well because I was worried that I had killed one of my plants.

A favorite plant.

What can I say? Some things wake you up at 4 a.m. At that hour, it is hard to put things into perspective.

But honestly, I am still worried about my plant. I hope it makes it.

Anyway, I've been here since 6:45 and I'm running out of steam. I'm supposed to go replace a piece of equipment that is malfunctioning intermittently. I've been supposed to be replacing it for a couple weeks. It will be kind of hard to do.

But not that hard.

I am apparently fabulously lazy. It would probably worry me less just to take care of it.

But it would take effort.

And I don't want to make any efforts right now.

What I really want is to go over to the vending machine and buy that butterfinger that is in C34.

It's been waiting there all day.

But I'm trying to eat healthy.

Is it really impossible to go through my day without this butterfinger?
Perhaps I should go get it and be done with it.

Or perhaps I should go get the key to the storage room that had the equipment I need to swap out in it.

And be done with it.

Or maybe I should tell myself that I get to have the butterfinger as soon as I'm finished with the equipment.

But I don't really want to deal with the equipment.

I have a feeling that I'm not going anywhere.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 02:08 PM | Permalink

Right away back from Philadelphia, I had to go do a story about an artist for my off-line journalist gig.

Urartu cafe was having an opening for their new art installation.

As I was sitting outside, bopping to the excellent jazz combo, this guy asked me what if I was doing a story.

Why yes, I was.

He had heard of me. He reads the newspaper that I write for.

!!

Somehow, it had not actually dawned on me that people read this stuff. He knew my name! He knew my stories.

I am still astounded.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 02:53 PM | Permalink

So, I just got back from this cool wine-'em-and-dine-'em conventiony user group thingy for Video Conferencing.

I had a fun fun time! And YES, I was working. It was a lot about tech stuff and strategies.

But the people that work for this company are so young and fun. Plus, everyone is having babies...
But that's a different story.

I got back on Friday night, and the first thing that I took away from this conventiony thing was:
"I need new shoes. CUTE shoes."

'Cause those young fun females were all sporting their lacquered toes in hip little sandals. In PHILADELPHIA!
LA is even more of a naked toe environment.

I have been bashful to try these kinds of shoes. I admire them, and i do think I have attractive feet.

But I am of below average coordination.

FAR below average.

These ladies with their little teeny straps holding the shoe to their foot....I don't think so.

I like something FIRMLY attached to my foot. I tend to be very absent minded. I am very likely to leave my shoe behind if it is not fully fastened.

And if you add HEELS to the equation-well...i fear for my ankles.

But what is practicality in the face of cute?

I went shopping.

I got some GREAT shoes. Some super high boots, with the new thin but wide heel. Very sexy, in a art deco macintosh pattern.

But these are not the CUTE shoes I am looking for. They are very hip and sophisticated, but not CUTE.

Perhaps I fear cute. I want to be taken seriously. But I want to be surprising, too.

Cute shoes. I must persevere to the cute.

There were some incredibly cute sandals for sale. They had beaded staps, and a big gem flower between the toes.

But I couldn't decide which color. Hot pink? Electric Blue?

I chickened out.

Naked toes.

But there were some other sandals on sale. They were a comfortable black, but they were studded with red stones.

They were pretty.

But they only had one little piece of leather over my foot. And they were about 3 inches of heel.

scary.

I'm wearing them today. Cute feet at work. It's a little difficult, trolloping around in my strappy shoes, trying to remember to walk in such a way as to keep my feet in my shoes.

I'm catching myself, just as I slip off the edge of the shoes, or teeter on the verge of snapping off my ankle.

Beauty is hard. I wish I were a little more coordinated.

Maybe there's a class I can take.

But i still feel very cute.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 02:00 PM | Permalink

Heard this guy interviewed on a local college radio station. And of course, I heard him play some songs.

Amazing lyrics, wow. The music that I heard seemed to be non-intrusive, you know? mellow, sparse. But the lyrics broke through and stopped me. I had to really listen, once I started to listen.

He was saying some amazing things, about how he had been very successful with his band Juniper. He got really tired of what it meant to be a big musician star. He took some major steps back, and out...He left and remapped his path to his own creativity.

I have so much respect for that kind of introspective work. And I believe that his new album 'O' is reflective of his originality.

Check it out. I'm going to, as soon as it comes out.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Two kids went on the missionary trail-but with a camera.

They sold the rights of their trip to Trinity Broadcast Network, and there is a show on TV about how they did what they did. Travel The Road, they call it.

Actually, as I understand it, only the one guy was a Missionary. The cameraman wasn't even a believer when they started. He apparently converted partway through the trip.

I think this would be a good show. I'd like to check it out!

Posted by Murphy Horner at 09:28 AM | Permalink

I would like to take a moment and discuss the deliciousness of Jam.

What with all the new marketing campaigns and new products out there for everything anyone can think of, it's easy to lose site of old favorites. "to thine own self be true" as the bard wrote. Don't forget where you came from!

Jam has been around for centuries, and there is a good reason why. Berries and fruits are some of the most interesting and full flavors you can find. jam was a way that people preserved the berries for storage.

People would take those preserved fruits and make all kinds of yummy baked goods out of them: Pies, Cookies, Cakes with Jam fillings.

But who has time to do that anymore? Even those of us who do enjoy the process of cooking don't have the time!

But jam, even without the surrounding baked item crust, cookies, whatever) is really good! My friends in Russia (who DID make their own jam, store-bought wasn't an option) taught me to just stick in a spoons and chow down.

Yes, jam does have a lot of sugar. But other than that, it has a lot of good things in it's favor. No fat, no cholesterol, tons of vitamins and an incredible amount of flavor.

I'm tired of bland pre-packaged flavors. I am reviving the habit of spooning up jam in my life. I encourage you all to try it too!

Pick a flavor that you really like! Except grape jelly. That's nasty.

Personally, I like jams with some heft. Jellies are too smooth; I want to feel the berries pop in my mouth.

Raspberry and boysenberry have seeds with add interest. But if you don't like seeds, try the apricot or plum. These have incredible zing and still retain some texture in the chunks of fruit.

If you are worried about the sugar, you can get the 100% fruit spread that are everywhere now. I ate just a tablespoon last night with a hot cup of black tea, and I was extremely satisfied.

Check it out! See if you don't rediscover an old-fashioned delight.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 07:58 AM | Permalink

Detriech Bonhoeffer is a thoelogian who lived in Germany during the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. He's known for repeatedly attempting assasination of Hitler.

A Theologian who was a self-appointed assasin! Here is a man who is not satisfied with the abstract.

I actually had heard of him before, but only in the shallowest passing. I got to heat more about him on the radio today, because there is a new documentary about his life.

I am electrified! From the snippets I heard, he went through the fire of the mass delusion that was Nazi germany and hung on to the truth. And he found new facets of the truth, hard truths about themeaning of peace and the value and purpose of the church.

I wish i wish I could see this documentary. But it seems to be airing only in select churches. So I can't seem to find it.

But I can read his works. I am going to have to.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 05:15 PM | Permalink

I just heard on NPR this morning about a woman who was trying to save her sons from Saddam Hussien.

It's just like Anne Frank, really. Except the guys make it.

This mother of her two sons put on a huge act for the soldiers who came to her house to arrest her sons She would demand to know where they were.

Of course, she knew they were right upstairs. All the soldiers had to do was go look. But she acted so convincingly that the soldiers never did seach.

Eventually, she went down to THEIR station to demand to know where they were.

To get rid of her, they finally told her that the men had been executed.

For 20 years, these men did not leave their home's upstairs. Two decades.

What a mother~! She saved her sons.

NPR interviewed the sons and the mother. The mother told them it was difficult to act for the soldiers when she knew they could put her to death.

But she also said she was pretty good at acting.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 08:41 AM | Permalink