Noggin Thought

Caffeine was definitely an English movie. The humor is different. It varies from very dry to right in your face. Don’t remember how I came across this on Netflix but I thought hey why not. It has a few actors I like, including Marsha Thomason and Katherine Heigl (not as much as before; maybe it’s the movies she’s done recently, or her character on Grey’s Anatomy). It had a few recognizable American faces as well (I know Katherine Heigl is not English). Breckin Meyer, whose only real claims to fame in my book are Road Trip and Clueless. And Mena Suvari, who does nice job portraying the I hate men girl with a decent English accent.

Not a bad one. Did have a few odd moments, maybe because I’m American.

Also had Callum Blue and Sonya Walger, 2 actors whose work I enjoy.

Check it out.

Just came across this article about milk and lactose intolerance and the first thing that came to mind is who funded it. It says that if you are lactose intolerant there is still hope. You can build up a tolerance by having milk products on a regular basis. This is particularly important for children and adolescents because “it’s very difficult for them to receive enough calcium and vitamin D if they avoid dairy completely”….It sounds quite narrow minded to me. And it’s probably a load of crap.

Salmon and shrimp are very good sources of vitamin D (better than milk). And spinach and greens (turnip, collard, etc.) are both better sources of calcium than milk. There are many different nutrient rich foods out there, so why the focus on milk? Why train our bodies to accept something that it may not want? And it does tell us when it doesn’t want something. You ever been in the car with someone who’s lactose intolerant after they just had a milkshake? That’s a bad road trip. And, they probably can’t make it very far before they need to stop again. Our bodies are trying to tell us something. Why aren’t we listening?

There’s nothing wrong with doctors at medical schools doing studies, and experiments, and testing the benefits of milk in our society. But somebody has to pay for all of this. Follow the money. I wouldn’t be surprised if the National Milk Producers Federation had something to do with it.

Listen to your bodies people!

Semi-rant begins [

Ever have one of those days that you can't get right. Today was one of those days. I screwed up the plumbing under the kitchen sink because I put too much stuff in the garbage disposal at one time. What's bad is that while I was doing it I was quietly asking myself should I be doing this?...I shouldn't have. In case you were wondering, too much melon in the disposal at once makes a melon slushy that probably won't drain correctly. So, that was a great start. Called the plumber. He showed up in less than an hour and took care of it without a problem. The actual clog was in the main line, he said about 15' to 20' down (I live on the top floor in my complex). Usually when that happens the HOA covers the cost, but in this case I knew it was my fault. I don't want other people to pay for my mistakes. And I'm sure I won't make this $90 mistake again.

I needed to send a package today and almost screwed that up. I guess in a way I still did because I ended up paying double what I could have paid if I wouldn't have been so honest. When you want to ship something Media Mail (for books, CDs, DVDs, etc.) through USPS you can't include a packing slip (or any extra papers). This seems like a very silly practice. But because I showed the person at the post office what was in the package before I sealed it, and she saw the packing slip (which is one piece of paper, that's all), I had to send it Parcel Post. Whatever, it's done now.

So, Ooh read my recent blog post about my single weekend. For some reason she didn't like it. I know, weird huh?. She asked me, was is so hard to say I missed her. It's not hard to say, that's just not what I wanted to say. I did say it felt weird not having her around...that's something. Now, what if I said it was great when she was gone, and I can't wait for her to leave again? 1) that wouldn't be true, and 2) that really wouldn't be good. That would be a cause for concern. So I guess the fact that I was affected by her absence wasn't enough...I'm not surprised. I just won't win this one...No, dammit I will win! It took something for me to write that! So what if I take small steps; that's just how I do things! I like small steps.

Also, I've noticed that the women that have read my post on respecting women, can't seem to get past the part about me hitting a woman that hit me first (some of the guys were shocked too). I did talk with Ooh about it, and one thing that wasn't in there was an explanation on the type of person I am and why I feel this way. I think I'll address that in a future post; it should explain some things. Also, If the people with feedback would use the feedback tool (comments), or if you have a blog, write a post referencing my post then we can actually start a dialog. Don't just be mad. Say something!

Yes, I'm annoyed today. Not at Ooh or any other women, or any other person for that matter. It's just this day. And I'm realizing, as I'm writing this, that my writing is not where I want it to be. I'm trying to practice writing so that I am understood. Not for you to agree or disagree, but for you to understand what I'm saying so that if you do agree or disagree, it's with my actual point. Disagreeing with something I didn't even say doesn't help anybody. So it's still a work in progress. But...if this shit keeps happenin', I can bet it's because people just don't like the truth. And I'm gonna tell you the truth. The truth ain't all good, and it ain't all bad, but it is what it is and it ain't nothin' else. (Yeah, I just said that. Again, it's one of those days)

Well, what else happened today?...nothing! That's the problem, after a fucked up morning that I caused, I just couldn't get on track. This day just doesn't count. That's it, I've decided today did not exist in my week.

] Semi-rant ends

Ooh was out of town this past weekend. She left on Wednesday evening (2/17) and came back on Sunday evening (2/21). Her friends flew her out of state. I bet half of you (the guys half) are thinking, great, 4 days to yourself and you didn’t have to pay for the plane ticket. And the other half (girls) are thinking, aww that’s sucks, you’re gonna be alone for 4 days; you’re probably gonna miss her. Well, neither one is exactly true.

Dropping her off at the airport is neutral because nothing changes yet. That’s something I don’t do often. For some this is where their joy or sadness begins. My experience starts when I get home from work. I’m used to her being home when I get home. Or knowing she’ll be home later. So, at first it’s, hey there’s no Ooh today. I can play my game early, or watch a movie, or be on my computer, or do nothing and it doesn’t matter; no one else is affected. Then it’s, huh, there’s no Ooh today. I can only talk to her on the phone. I can’t see her. So it was weird, but I managed.

Friday night I went out with friends to a restaurant (& lounge) in Santa Monica, CA called Ma’Kai. Decent place, with good atmosphere but started to approach sardine can status and that’s annoying. You know, when you have nice area to stand in, drink your drink, talk to your buddies, and then people start movin’ in on your space. And, they wonder why you don’t move to make room for them. That’s not cool. Go somewhere else, cause I ain’t movin’!

We were there for my man Arr’s friend Bee. It was Bee’s going away party for her promotion. She’s not really going away, more like upstairs in the same building. She seemed like a really nice good woman given the limited time I got to know her in a loud, crowded bar. Except for her trying to get me to do shots with her and her group (must be a young person thing, she’s 25). I could see Arr being happy with her. I don’t really know their history, but I think he should try it. So, while we’re there my buddy Cee was jokingly trying to get a woman to hit me to see what I would do. He wanted to know if my thoughts on respecting women were true. I’m glad he was joking, cause I didn’t feel like getting thrown out of a bar that night.

It was cool, we’ll have to do that again soon. Maybe 2 weeks from now. This week is Mammoth. Should be good times.

Year One was a fun movie but not for young ones. The language and implied sexual acts made sure of that. I must be getting old if I’m thinking about what’s appropriate for children that I don’t have. Maybe I’m getting soft. No I just need a balance. I’ll only be around kids at most 2 days out of the month; we’ll see how that goes.

It had Jack Black playing a typical Jack Black role and Michael Cera playing a typical Michael Cera role. For the most part it worked.

See it if you want an easy laugh and a fun take on ancient history.

I actually watched this weeks ago but haven’t had time to write the review. I do now.

It started off well. We’re thrown into the middle of an investigation and someone mysteriously dies. Turns out he was murdered. OK, fine, lots of movies start off that way. But that’s not a bad way to start. It sets the tone for a crime thriller. Also I thought the premise was promising: global financial institution may be involved with illegal activities around the world, and is probably protected by people in high levels of power…but they must be stopped. So then we start the journey down the rabbit hole.

But instead of keeping the focus on uncovering the mystery, it seemed to get too dramatic. One particular scene with the two main protagonists (I think that’s the word) played by Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, has the camera switching back and forth between closeups, without any dialogue, for dramatic effect. It was just unnecessary. Yes it was an emotional scene (sort of), yes it was a crossroads for the characters, but how about 2 closeups instead of 6. Keep it simple. Less is more. Either of those sayings can be applied.

Even with the unnecessary drama I wanted to see them topple the big bad bank. Sadly the ending did not seem to go with the whole movie that led up to it. I don’t want to spoil it for you, in case you still decide to rent it. Who knows, you might like it.

It’s rated R for a reason, some of the violence is quite bloody.

My recommendation: skip it.

I think I respect women more than most men. I think I may respect women more than some women respect themselves. Two bold statements I know, but I’m going to back them up.

While watching season clips of Jersey Shore (don’t worry, I’ll explain), I saw 2 instances of women getting in altercations with men. The first was because one of the female housemates (who was of course intoxicated) got angry at a male housemate (I can’t remember their names because I don’t watch the show) and hit him multiple times in the face. The second was because a female housemate (a different one, also intoxicated) got into some argument with a man at a bar/club, and he punched her. Briefly, an explanation: I don’t watch Jersey Shore. I will not watch season 2 of Jersey Shore. It exemplifies numerous things that are wrong with America’s youth today (and by youth I am including early to mid 20s), as well as the viewing public because we continue to watch this shit. But on this occasion my friends were constantly talking about the show and the events on it, so I wanted to see what it was all about.

Why these altercations matter is because my friend was surprised at my responses to them. I was shocked that the male housemate did nothing in response to getting hit multiple times by the intoxicated woman. And my response to the girl getting punched was that “she shouldn’t have been talkin’ shit”. Close your mouth…I’m not a wife beater. I love my wife and she knows this. In most circumstances between 2 people I don’t agree with violence. I do however value personal space, and feel that a person has the right to defend himself. Back to the story…my friend felt that we should treat women a little differently than men. That because they’re women they deserve more sympathy, or empathy, or understanding, or tolerance, or one of those damn words; I can’t figure out which one I’m looking for. Well I think that’s unfair to women. I’m not pro-feminist or anything like that. I definitely think that men do some things better than women and vice versa. But I try to be fair.

There are 2 groups of people that shouldn’t be held fully responsible for their choices and actions. Those are children and the mentally challenged. These 2 groups don’t always know the full consequences of their actions and understand the responsibilities associated with them. Now, adults with full mental capacity do know these things. That’s what happens when we grow up. So when a woman drinks and does something she wouldn’t do when sober, intoxication is not an excuse. It’s a choice. She wouldn’t be drunk if she didn’t choose to drink. Also when a sober woman chooses to disrespect another person, she should accept the consequences of her actions, whatever they may be.

So, what does this have to do with me respecting women more then men and women do. Well, when a women gets drunk and acts stupid, she’s not respecting herself and whoever deals with the stupidity. When a woman is sober and acts stupid, she’s ignoring the consequences of her actions and disrespecting the person(s) dealing with the stupidity. When a man makes allowances for a woman’s stupid behavior, he’s not holding her to the same standard of decency of any adult. In doing so he’s viewing her as less than an adult…more disrespect.

So, women, if you can’t respect yourselves how can I? And men, why would you treat women like lesser adults? Are they children that just don’t know any better?…No, they’re not. We are all adults. We should accept responsibility like adults. We should face consequences like adults. And we should respect and treat each other like adults.

…this post is woman-centric because of the events that inspired it, but I feel the same about everybody.

Women are just like men but with more fun parts.

Update: I did watch the full clip of Snooki getting punched. She didn’t deserve it. She got sucker punched. But, in accordance with my stance on the subject, the guy should’ve had his ass whooped.

Went to a friends house on Sunday (2/7) to watch the Superbowl and I was pleased with the game. I’m not a big Saints fan…probably a moderately sized one. I got to see some old aquaintances that I haven’t seen in about a year. And I met some new people that I’m not interested an seeing again.

When it comes to the Superbowl I want to see the game. I don’t care about the commercials or the halftime show. I wanna see gameplay. Some of the people there (women) just wanted to drink and be loud. And when you have an annoying voice (I know she didn’t think her voice was annoying, but it was!) it’s better to just be quiet. Just stop talking. I grew tired of hearing “Let’s do shots!!” over and over. She wanted to drink and have the attention on her, but she just couldn’t compete with the game…not even drunk. She must have known that deep down because she wanted everyone else to drink with her too. I wanted to tell her ’stop trying to get me to do something so that you can feel better about yourself’. But I didn’t. I don’t think it was my place. It was almost sad. Her boyfriend was there but he was busy watching the game. And having just typed that I see why he was always downstairs watching the game away from her…hmm, it all makes perfect sense now.

Is it because I’m getting older that I don’t think that’s attractive? Some would say that but I don’t think so. When I was younger I was around drunk girls more often. Probably could have ‘hooked up’ with some of them. Actually I know I could’ve but even then it seemed pointless. I don’t like sloppy or trashy.

Either way, it was a good game. I’m happy for the Saints; they deserved that win. Now I can start watching basketball again.

Went to Mammoth again this past weekend (1/29 – 1/31; I know the weekend is only two days, but sometimes mine starts on Friday, so there!). It was a good trip with a different crowd. The first group was younger, maybe a little wilder. They needed alcohol while they were riding. Supposedly it made them more relaxed and less apprehensive about trying difficult maneuvers. The relaxed part I could possible see, because alcohol is a depressant. But the “liquid courage” part I don’t agree with. The only effective way to be more confident about difficult terrain is by starting small and practicing until it’s no longer difficult. Maybe that’s to simple for people to understand. Plus alcohol dehydrates us; something I don’t want at 10000 feet and 30° with very low humidity. This week’s group was mostly veteran riders. They approached any difficult terrain with caution, made the adjustment, and continued on. And as for the newcomers (we had 2), they took their time and made it down the mountain at a decent pace. We had a lot of fun, as expected.

This time we chose to cook on Saturday night which would normally save money. But then the downside of veterans is they still drink alcohol, just not so much on the slopes…these are the ones I know. Veterans do their drinking back in the condo after riding. So the food (and drink) total was upwards of $160 for 7 people. It easily could’ve (should’ve) been half of that. Out of the 7 people only 3 drank the alcohol, so the other 4 contributed for nothing. I thought about this when the email went out with the totals. I could have been an ass and mentioned that I didn’t drink any of the alcohol, but I didn’t, it’s just money. Maybe next time I’ll state up front that I’m not drinking so that I’m excluded from that bill. We’ll see.

I find now that I don’t have the same need to ride all day that I did before. It’s easier to ride all day now because of CrossFit, but I find myself stopping a little early and relaxing. I think before I wanted to get the most of my purchase, now I want the best of my purchase. I guess I’m getting older.