Month: October 2012

Petrichor

kirbyfullyloadedLeave a comment

“It means the smell of dust after rain.”

In freshman English, our teacher had us memorize a list of the “Hundred Most Beautiful Words in the English Language.”

I still use a lot of the words I learned from that list, in my writing.  But one word stuck with me more than the rest, and that is: petrichor.

In that list, it was defined as “the smell of earth after rain.”

Isn’t that just lovely?

Last weekend, I went home to San Diego for just over fifteen hours.  It was the shortest visit I’ve ever had, but it was beautiful.

It was drizzling when we hit Genesee Avenue, and raining when we got to Point Loma.  I stayed at my friends’ house and I could hear the rain pouring outside.

At about 12:30 am, I walked out into the warm, San Diego rain.

It was foggy, so the city lights turned the cloud layer soft sherbet orange.

It was so peaceful.  I just stood there and let the warm droplets collect on my eyelashes and make them heavy with rain.  The world looked gilded, as if embellished in tiny bluish crystals, tremulous and glittering.

French Meadows

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

When we lived in California, we had a yearly tradition of going camping. Same spot, same people, every year right after school let out for the summer. It was the highlight of my summer, and something I looked forward to throughout the year.

About a week after the beginning of summer vacation, my two brothers, my dad, and I would load up in the truck, along with more supplies than I could ever imagine anyone being able to use. Occasionally, my mom would come with us, but it wasn’t very often that she felt up to the drive.

I can remember being in the car for hours on end, listening to the same CD over and over again, wedged in between my two little brothers intent on landing a punch on the other. They got me instead.

Our car was so full of stuff, from pots and pans to bathing suits and shampoo. As soon as we arrived at our same campsite we had every year, we would unload and wait for everyone else. With three or four different families going, it was first come first served on the places for our tents, so we all tried to get to French Meadows as soon as possible.

Much to the disappointment of myself, and all the other kids, we were not allowed to go down to the beautiful lake until everything was set up and in order. But once that was done, we made a bee line for it.

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Influential Oldies

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

It’s safe to say I was born into the wrong decade.

If I could pick a time to grow up in, it would be the 1920s-30s.  My favorite music comes from around then.

The king of blues, and pretty much music, was around in the twenties and thirties. Robert Johnson, or the greatest and most influential guitar player to date recorded most of his music in 1936. When you hear him play, you hear just how ahead of his time he was. This is either because of how good he was, or because everyone has copied his style. Even Cream capitalized on his success. If you ask any successful guitar player who influenced them, you can trace it all the way back to Robert Johnson, because he started it all.

My other favorite blues guitar player from around then was Robert Johnson’s old friend Son House. Son House…was Son House. He kind of just recorded what he wanted when he wanted. Screw rhythm, Son House is playing. “Grinnin’ in your Face” is basically just him clapping around the beat and singing off key and tempo. But, it’s still a top twenty five song…ever. Death Letter Blues combines is stomping, clapping and singing with some slide guitar. How bad could that be?

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Weather, Our Foe

frog31 Comment

rt

If natural events had emotion…

Would a Volcano be angry and let loose a scream.

Would it be ignorant of the pain that it brings.

Would rain be kind or would it be cruel.

Would it know of its soothing power and cool.

Would snow be as aloof and cold as a winter’s day.

Would it know that its sends men into the fray.

Would a tornado be hyperactive ready to spin.

Would it know that it causes human chagrin .

Imagine if the seasons stood still.

Imagine if the Weather bent to humanity’s will.

Would humans care for the weathers pain.

Or would we think of its emotions as one big game.

At least things are the way they are now.

Humanity has an uncaring foe that will always be around.

Top Shot-Finally a show for the gunman in YOU!!!

backinphillyLeave a comment

A lot of people ask me what I’m interested in other than football and ranting about football. I like to follow literally everything about that sport. But there are other things that I love as well.

I also love firearms. I love weaponry, hunting, sniping, archery, anything that involves loading up a projectile and shooting it away.

My favorite type of weapons are pistols. I enjoy shooting for recreation on ranches outdoors, as well as going to indoor ranges and firing off a few clips.

A few times, my family and I have taken some friends and gone down to Waco, Texas where a friend of my father’s has a ranch full of animals and trap shooters, which fire clay pigeons into the air to practice shotgun aim. While I enjoy firing a long gun, I particularly have a certain fondness of the handguns.

I feel that a handgun allows you to become more personal with yourself and your firearm. A bond can be built between a man and his best gun.

I have not shot enough to build that kind of bond with any guy. However, I have shot a 45 magnum pistol, a colt 22 revolver and a 9mm “cop” gun. All are great guns, but I love the 45. That’s my favorite firearm to date.

Another thing similar to myself and these guns is the connection to the History channel show, “Top Shot”, which is a reality contest show where the contestants compete to be the best marksmen.

I love the show because I can learn about new guns, shooting techniques and get to watch some wild shooting talent such as trick shooting and sharp shooting. It’s an adrenaline rush. As I write this, I’m watching a guy try to shoot a bullet to make contact with the blade of an axe. Axe blades are VERY skinny.

The weirdest part about that shot is that one guy actually was able to split the bullet. He split a bullet in half by shooting onto an axe blade.

It’s completely wild. I love this stuff. Watching things explode and watching guys load up and fire away is just a rush.

Team Rest

callmemaybe32Leave a comment

This weekend was the first time since the start of the season that our team did not have a game.

This is not because one was not scheduled, but because simply we could not compete against Orcutt Academy’s team.

We are a team that defies odds, beginning a season with a mere 20 players in a collision sport.

Players are bound to get injured, and starting with a number that low doesn’t put us in the best position.

Regardless of size, we are a team who trains to compete, to show what we are made of, and even if we don’t always win, to show we will not go down without a fight.

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Moving

displacedlocalLeave a comment

I had lived in the same place my entire life.

Los Angeles was my home. All of my friends were there.

I had made countless memories from Brentwood to Santa Monica.

The Ghosts of these memories stay even though I am now in Ojai.

The fence on 18th street is still broken because I ran through it playing football with my friends.

I still have a time capsule in my Brentwood backyard from a decade ago.

There are panels missing in my friend’s garage from stray baseballs.

Footprints in cement from walking over it while it was still wet.

The memories I have formed have stayed as ghosts. living, but stuck in a state where they are both stuck in time and begging to be relived.

Whenever I visit I can feel them. The memories that have past. I want desperately to grab them and put them all in a backpack and take them with me.

Alas, one cannot store memories like one stores clothing and items.

The move has been a difficult journey, but I am happy here and excited to make new memories with new people.

OVS has become a new environment that was scary at first, but has become a place I call home.

Richard Dawkins

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

I have three heroes.

One of them, Julian Assange, I have already blogged about.

My second hero is Richard Dawkins.

Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist who has become the spearhead of the atheist and humanist movements. His best selling book, The God Delusion, states that not only is God not real, but a belief in a supernatural creator is a delusion.

As an evolutionary biologist, Dawkins has the job of explaining how it is that people made it in to existence. Because he does this in a logical and intelligent way, he gets hassled by some of my favorite people; religious people.

Dawkins has been featured on many shows, including Real Time with Bill Maher, defending his stance on religion. If there is one thing that Dawkins knows how to do, its deal with religious people.

Religion is one of my favorite topics. It baffles me that some (well, a lot) of people can believe in such nonsense. Dawkins does an extraordinary job of telling the truth. This is why he is my hero. Truth is the one thing that cannot be hidden forever, and Dawkins is merely one of the people showing the lies for what they are. All of this has been done by one old, badass, biologist.

dawk

The value of a sneaker

displacedlocalLeave a comment

There is a phenomenon going on in the sneaker world that absolutely disgusts me.

People are being mugged and killed for sneakers.

The Jordan 11 “Concord” single handedly caused riots

This is a basketball shoe causing riots where people are killed. At what point did these people start valuing human life at the price of a pair of sneakers.

This has gotten so excessive to the point that I no longer go out and buy limited sneakers at stores anymore. I do literally all my sneaker buying online.

Waiting in a line outside only for a riot to form or someone to mug you on your way to your car is way to much a risk. This hobby has become dangerous.

The Air Yeezy 2 was one of the biggest sneaker releases of the year.

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Mon Coeur Est à Travers l’Atlantique

kirbyfullyloadedLeave a comment

My heart is across the Atlantic

And yet, I am anchored here

Caught astride the blue and green

Between the far and near

To one I lost my head and heart 

In autumn hot and dry

But with you, chéri, my dreams are filled

And for you, my feelings fly 

Flickering like starlight

With eyes of emerald flame

I scarce could stand his searing touch

Or when he spoke my name 

But you, amour, I miss your laugh

That golden, sunny smile

Your piercing lapis lazuli gaze

Devoid of rage or guile

His hands are long and slender

With blue veins all showing through

The loveliest I’ve ever seen,

And yet, I think of you

Your lips so curved, like Cupid’s bow

Soft red with rosy tinge 

Perfect with unconscious grace

Lips, drawn and made for sin

Far across the dreaming sea,

In a city full of light

My love lives happy, fast and free

For you, I’m out of sight

But know, chéri, you’re in my heart

Still always on my mind

I won’t forget your face or touch

Though love is painted blind