Train of Thoughts

We're slowing to a stop in London, ON about two hours from Toronto. Ridin' dirty on this train brings back memories of Boston ten years ago. I lived in the Northend two blocks from P.Revere and his trusty steed. I used to walk to Haymarket station and take a series of trains 45 minutes out to Canton for work. I'd rock my Sony discman listening to Macy Gray, Mos Def, Rusted Root and Ben Folds. I'd get coffee at Dunkin Donuts with the same folks yet we never spoke. It was a commute with numerous steps and as I type I realize how much I miss it. I also realize how much has changed. I'm blogging on a device smaller than that discman. I'm playing my brother in chess (he's in Ohio), I'm reading about UC's football team (back then it would've been the basketball team when I got to work) I'm emailing an author I owe book cover to (Seeking forgiveness), and I'm doing all this next to my wife of five years. A lot has changed in ten years. Who knows what I'll be doing in 2019. Maybe riding trains to work with kids listening to Mos Def Jr. on their microscopic Internet machines.

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The Country

Animated poem written by Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001-2003.

Nat'l Geographic: Lion

This lion is native to Northwest Ohio, specifically Fremont experts believe. He is nature's protector. He protects his bear friend from hearing all that poisonous rap music the kids are listening to. This wild lion is also married, loves Jesus and Timex. And he hates shirts. "They're itchy," he says. Those who have seen him run say he is like a gazelle. A ferociously sexy gazelle. Remain alert, however. He's still 100% lion.

Ladykillers

Dating Montage
by smithy00101

Orbit

Download now or watch on posterous

IMG_0032.MOV (3445 KB)

Testing a video upload from phone.

Posted via email from Brad's posterous

Untitled

I'm blogging from my phone this morning. I'm still in beta mode with this process so bear with me. But I wanted to say two very important things. 1. I went to the Grand Canyon once. 2. I'm tired of all the footballers wearing pink. I hate breast cancer and love its survivors as much as the next guy. But as a diabetic I feel cheated. Why can't my people and I have a color? Why can't OchoCinco's chinstrap, gloves, neoprene sleeves, bandaids and towel be lime green for a month in support of my/our survival? Is my slow march to death (caused by my quitter of a pancreas) not flashy enough to deserve a pigment- takeover? Tell that to the lil orphans in big orphanages pricking their fingers and poking needles into their tiny orphan arms. We diabetics don't live in a colorblind world, we live in a colorforgotten world. And that stings red hot.

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What's in the box?

Mad Beats

Totally buying one of these if they're affordable.

Flipmation + Sketchmation

VIDEOGIOCO by Donato Sansone from Enrico Ascoli - Sound Design on Vimeo.

The FRAY - Heartless from IE HAGY on Vimeo.

SNL: James Carville

In my opinion, this little segment was the highlight of snl this weekend. And that's saying a lot because this weekend had Gilly. Not only was Hader's impression spot on, but the content was smart and funny. That's the trifecta in my book.

Do Something

Earlier this week I had a sushi lunch with a coworker where we talked about the creative process. Lots of good food and conversation but one part stood out. We were talking about how you go from having an idea to actually doing it. This coworker shared that often he'll have a great idea but then pretty quickly a voice in his head will explain why he could never pull it off. That's pretty common I think. But then he told me that lately he's realizing that this negative knee-jerk reaction to ideas/dreams/goals/etc. might be related to his early days. He grew up in a "That's great... but" family.

"Mom/Dad, I learned this new riff today, it's awesome. I think I wanna be a musician someday."

"Honey, that's great... but being a professional musician takes years and years of practice."

"Right. That's why I'm in lessons."

"Which is great... but it's more than just practice. Listen, all I'm saying is that it's always smart to have a plan B."

So now, as a "grown up," my coworker battles this negative knee-jerk mentality. He says that even though he doesn't want to he always finds the negative aspects of ideas/dreams/goals/etc.

I grew up in a "That's great" family. When I told my dad that I wanted to win the Heisman Trophy he said, "That's great. We should go play catch." My parents' knee-jerk reaction was to convince me that anything was possible. So when I say silly things like we're going to make enough money doing films that we're going to pay off the Healing Center.... I'm only half kidding. My inner demons are the opposite of my coworker's. The trick is in figuring out how to manage them. Believing you can do something/anything is great if and only if you act on those beliefs. Action is the key. And it works the other way. If your inner demons are constantly feeding you excuses and reasons you can't do something the only way to beat them down is thru action. You gotta do something.

Legacy

This is just about the most depressing thing ever.



Based on our history I fear this will never happen...

That's silly

This inspires me. When I have silly dreams and goals that are far fetched and statistically improbable, stories like this remind me to keep dreaming instead of thinking "rationally."

Prom

The Prom was exactly what I expected this past Friday- simply amazing. My highlight was dancing with a dude in a wheelchair. We're working on a video piece but until then, here's a piece the local news put together.

Giantfaces