Danielmedley.com

Monday, October 13, 2008

Going John Galt

Here is an interesting take on the painfully partisan politics of our day in reference to Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

Perhaps the partisian politics we are dealing with now is really just a struggle between those of us who believe in productivity, personal responsibility, and keeping government interference to a minimum, and those who believe in the socialistic policies of taking from others, using the government as a watchdog, and rewarding those who overspend, underwork, or are just plain unproductive.

Of course it’s much more complicated than this, but, in general terms, it pretty much sums up what I believe to be the view of many.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Single With Howling Dispair

My wife is my absolute best friend, period. Somewhere, back in some sequestered section of my brain, I vaguely remember being single and--God forbid--dating. Oy, what a nightmarish thought. For those of you out there in the dating world I pity you.

“Don’t tell me that you and your wife have an arrangement’”; “Don’t hit on my friend(s) first. Yeah, I saw that”; “Don’t ever say to me, ‘Your breasts don’t look like the ones in my magazines’”; “Don’t lick my face - I get flashbacks from Silence of the Lambs”; “Don’t ask me if my friend might be interested in a threesome”; “Don’t try to guilt me into something - you are not my mother, and you don’t have her skills.”

Apparently we men must adhere:

...to impress, men need to be hugely successful, but pretend that they are not. And this is only one aspect of the almost impossible balance that needs to be struck. Men need to convey sexual desire without sexualising the person in front of them, need to be authoritative, opening doors, paying bills, deciding where to go and so on (recent research found that 60 per cent of women would consider it a bad first date if they paid), yet treat women as absolute equals. They need to flatter without seeming overly impressed, they need to care about their appearance (but not too much), and when it comes to chatting up, they need to take the initiative, and absorb any humiliation that comes their way, without seeming at all arrogant or pushy.

I can tell you right now that if I was still single, date night would consist of a six pack, a roll of duct tape, and my right hand. 

The Night Before The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life

Earlier, my wife and I watched a splendid film entitled Les Invasions Barbares--in English it translates to The Barbarian Invasions. If you don’t mind reading subtitles, I highly recommend it. One thing that struck me was the stinging indictment the writer/director delivered concerning Canada’s version of socialized health care. The film isn’t about Canada’s socialized health care system, to be sure. But I can’t decide if the filmmaker was indeed making a statement or if he was simply portraying a fact of life in a Canadian hospital; much of the film takes place in a hospital. You know, if you make a film, say, about a bunch of skiers in a mountain town in the Colorado Rockies, the film isn’t about the Colorado Rockies, but mountains will be present in the film as a simple matter of fact. If the film’s treatment of Canada’s health care is even remotely indicative of reality, I’m telling you right now that I want no part of it. Just saying.

Okay, moving on. Related to my previous post I direct you to this article. It touches on the notion that, basically, most American voters are probably not well enough educated on the political issues of the day to be voting. Well, to be honest, I may be throwing out a bit of hyperbole, but you get the drift.

Studies of this sort make it pretty clear that political ignorance ­matters—­not only for individual votes, but also for election outcomes.

Gee, ya think?

For example, a team of psychologists led by Alex Todorov established that candidates for governor, senator, or representative who are rated as “competent” by people judging them solely on the basis of photographs are considerably more likely to win ­real-­world elections than those who look less competent. Brief exposure to the ­photographs—­as little as one-tenth of a ­second—­is sufficient to produce a significant correlation with actual election outcomes. A ­follow-­up study showed that the electoral advantage of ­competent-­looking candidates is strongest among ­less ­informed voters and those most heavily exposed to political ­advertising.

It makes one wonder how the hell any democracy can work. Again, this all comes back to the above hyperbole. Should there be some kind of test to determine who should be able to vote? Should voting be relegated to those who have a vested interest, such as tax payers? I mean, it’s amazing to me how many people don’t even know who their representatives are, or can’t identify the three branches of Government. Granted, knowing the basics of how our country works does not guarantee political sophistication, but, at least, if someone is interested enough to give a damn, they may have a better chance of being able to cast a reasoned vote, right?

Alas, it all may be a valiant attempt at pissing up a rope:

For one thing, voters’ perceptions may be seriously skewed by partisan biases. For example, in a 1988 survey a majority of respondents who described themselves as strong Democrats said that inflation had “gotten worse” over the eight years of the Reagan administration; in fact, it had fallen from 13.5 percent in 1980 to 4.1 percent in 1988. Conversely, a majority of Republicans in a 1996 survey said that the federal budget deficit had increased under Bill Clinton; in fact, the deficit had shrunk from $255 billion to $22 billion. Surprisingly, misperceptions of this sort are often most prevalent among people who should know ­better—­those who are generally ­well ­informed about politics, at least as evidenced by their answers to factual questions about political figures, issues, and textbook civics. If close attention to elite political discourse mostly teaches people to believe what the partisan elites on “their” side would like to be true, the fundamental premise of books such as Rick ­Shenkman’s—­that a more attentive, politically engaged electorate would make for a healthier ­democracy—­may be ­groundless.

If the above is true--and I’m leaning towards it--than it does not bode well for the future of any democracy.

Let’s see, started out the post discussing a fine film and a question regarding it, then ended on this note.

Probably time for bed.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Politics, Obama, McCain, And The Economy

I am loath to talk about politics on this website for many reasons, one of which is the propensity of ideologues to “go off the deep end”. But, this is an election year and, like most election years, I’ve noticed a lot of people simply reacting to feelings, catch-phrases, talking points, and ill-informed rhetoric. If I hear one more Obama supporter who justifies their unwavering support on “We need change!” I can’t vouch for the appropriateness of my reaction. The same goes for McCain’s claim to fame being the word “Maverick”. If your political sophistication is only as deep as “change” and “maverick” you probably shouldn’t be voting.

Anyway, I digress. Choosing a candidate to vote for should be something that is well researched, thought out, and based on a fundamental understanding of history—globally, nationally, and on the individual candidate’s lives. Like when it comes to stories there is very little that is truly new and unique, the same can be said when it comes to politics and national/global policies. Trust me, all the change in the world has already been done or tried, and history is replete with mavericks.

I guess the point that I’m making is that if you are an Obama supporter/leaner who has enlightened yourself enough to actually research his proposals beyond “change” you should be be doing more than going to the Huffington Post simply to buttress your leanings. Likewise, if the “Maverick” is tickling your fancy, you’d do better than simply visiting Townhall to make yourself feel good. Instead, it would be wiser and much more sensible to research aspects relevant to issues of the day and then apply said research to—not the candidate’s stated positions—their actual histories and voting records. Granted, such an approach is not nearly as easy as reading a pro Obama/pro McCain—anti Obama/anti McCain website. Yeah, it’s a whole lot easier to turn on the TV and watch CNN, FOX, NBC, CBS, and watch a news person spew the news through a prism of personal bias, but by doing so, you’re not doing yourself or anyone else any favors.

For instance, the economy is the focus today. If you hear a blanket statement that the economic woes of today can be attributed to “Bush policies” run, don’t walk from that source. Likewise, if you hear that the tumbling credit markets are the sole responsibility of the Democratic Party. Both approaches are inanely simplistic and dangerous. The reality is that both Democrats and Republicans have been involved to some degree. You would be better served at researching the many root causes, following the chain of events, and seeing how various actions have effected the situation.

Start by Googling “Community Reinvestment Act”. This is a good starting point because from here you can jump to an almost endless source of information.

Next, with regards to a governmental reaction to the current economic downturn, I would suggest Googling “crash of 1929” and “crash of 1987”. Compare the causes and length of each downturn. Before determining what governmental fix you think you’d support, go here, here, and here. These are just examples. Don’t let it end at the links I’ve provided. Follow it through and then look for points of view that may differ. But don’t look at points of view that are not supported by facts and well-thought out discourse. When discussing politics or current events with your friends, ask them to explain and support their positions. Don’t settle for “feelings”, talking points, or banal gotcha tactics.

Above all, be intellectually honest and be open to having your mind changed regardless of what your heart says.

I’m just saying.

Oh, and right now it’s snowing. Damn, two days ago it was in the mid 70’s and now it fargin’ snowing.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

If Tom Petty Was Dead …

He’d be rolling over in his grave.

Some years ago when the Utah Jazz were good enough to make it to the finals, but not good enough to beat the officiating there were a number of people who were able to parlay the event into something larger. One of these was a guy who started making fan-boy Jazz rah rah songs fashioned after popular hits. He’d take a popular song and change the words into some tune about Karl Malone or John Stockton.  It was entertaining I suppose, but one couldn’t help but notice the fact that his singing and musicianship were verrrry marginal.

After the Jazz did what was expected and lost to the Bulls, this guy picked up a few gigs doing jingles for advertisers using the same formula.  To this day, while listening to the radio, I will hear this guy’s annoying voice butcher some tune pimping some local company’s wares. I’ve yet to remember the name of a single paying customer of his though.

Anyway, on the way home this evening I heard this guy’s verrry marginal singing and musicianship skills being put to use by anally raping Tom Petty’s Free Falling. It was way too much.

And we got freeeeeee, free toppings. Freeeee, free toppings …

Oy, obviously it was a jingle for a pizza place. I don’t remember who it was, but when I hear this abomination on the radio again I will make sure to catch who it is for the sole reason of making sure I never go to this place.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Disposable Moments

Autumn, often times, seems to bring about this mood that I can only describe as deeply poignant. For some reason I tend to recollect various moments from the many lives it seems I have lived. I feel almost overcome with a certain kind of nostalgia that drapes over me and puts me somewhere between melancholy and regret, with a small pinch of dread thrown in. Where the hell dread comes from, I don’t know.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the kind of nostalgia in which one longs for the past and wishes to somehow recapture it. No, there’s nothing about my past that I wish to recapture, not even the best moments. I love my life too much now.

This morning I woke up to weather that can only be described as typical early Fall in Utah. As a result I’ve found myself thinking of various people I’ve known over the last twenty five years or so. I remember some faces from my early twenties when I was deep in my “rock and roll band” life. These are people that I haven’t necessarily forgotten, but rather that I just haven’t thought about. Suddenly, someone will come to mind and it serves to remind me just how many substantial relationships I’ve let slip away over the years.

During that particular life I felt perhaps the most camaraderie among peers, friends, and acquaintances as I’ve ever felt. We were idealistic vagabonds living a tenuous existence. Though not aware of it at the time, we depended on each other far more deeply than we could have ever known.  I can’t tell you how many times one of us was literally saved by the others. Sometimes it was a losing cause, but all in all we took care of each other pretty well. As precarious as life was at that time, it was a simple, less complicated existence. 

I don’t long for the past, but I am curious about what some of these people are doing now. I know Danny Jo no longer on this earth. Neither are Gordy, Stevo, and a few others. Some I have no idea if they are alive are gone, but I have a good idea.

Some of the people I’m most curious about I don’t even remember their names. I remember their faces, though, and I remember their personalities.  Only a very small handful managed to keep a real presence in my current life from all those years ago.  I suppose the only regret that I have looking back is that I wish that I would not have lived life so quickly. I wish that I’d known that moments—no matter how small—are not disposable. I wish that I would have taken the time to stop, consider, take a breath, and take stock of what life was around me. 

But trust me, it’s never too late to start.

Friday, September 05, 2008

OK, Time To Come Back

Well, it's time to get my lazy ass to blogging again. Really, I'm going to do this. But, in the mean time, I'm just going to post a pic of me and my Spawn during our last vacation.

This was on the Snake River in the Hells Canyon.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Olberman Vs O’Reilly

This spat is being pumped up. Also, last week some people were all wet because Olberman beat O’Reilly for the first time in the ratings. Oh, wait, that’s not entirely true. Olberman edged out O’Reilly in the 25 to 54 year-old demographic. Overall, O’Reilly still had double the viewers that Olberman had. What this means is that within this much hyped feud, Olberman is pretty much screaming in an empty room compared to O’Reilly.

Now, don’t get your shit in a twist, I’m not pimping for O’Reilly, although if a gun were being held to my head and I was told to pick one to watch I’d certainly pick O’Reilly.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Word To Yahoo

STOP CHANGING YOUR SHIT AROUND!!!

Jesus. Nothing I HATE worse than people changing crap in an attempt to make it better. Yahoo has been doing this a lot lately. I use My Yahoo for an internet based mail client. I have the home page set up JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT! I like simplicity when it comes to my web browsing experience. I know right where my e-mail is. I know where everything is. That is until you CHANGE EVERYTHING AROUND!

Yahoo changes their shit and then I have to search for the link to change it back. No, Yahoo, you’re not improving my experience with you. You are pissing me off.

Stop it.

Stop it.

STOP IT!!!

I’d love to find the little geek responsible and pimp slap his/her ass so hard their great grand children feel it.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Two Hours?

Here’s a laugh for the day:

Today I went to the drugstore to get a prescription filled. The guy behind the counter informed me that it would take two hours.

Two hours???!!!

Christ. I asked the guy why the hell it takes two freakin’ hours to grab something off the shelf and stick it in a bag. His reply was some drivel about having a lot of scrips to fill. I told him that there were no circumstances under which it is acceptable to take two hours to fill a prescription. I told him I’d be back in an hour and if it wasn’t filled I’d take the prescription back and take it somewhere else.

When I returned it was filled.

Damn, people.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Pile Of Fecal Matter

I have a five-year-old son. He loves to watch movies; kind of like his old man. Some time ago we saw the trailer for Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium and thought that it might be a cool movie for the spawn. Oh, how wrong I was. I can’t stress this enough; for the love of all that is holy, for the betterment of all humanity, for the love of Christ, do not, I mean DO NOT go see this flick. The effort it takes to glance up at a poster pimping this horrible film while strolling along the sidewalk in front of the movie theater is a colossal waste of time and effort. Your time would be better spent walking across a multi-lane freeway dodging cars going 80 miles per hour to pick up a penny.

What the hell was Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman thinking? Did they share the same crack pipe when deciding to take part in this debacle? I can’t explain it. Word to Dustin and Natalie: Dustin, retire, go away. Take it to heart that you’ve left us with some wonderful films and fine examples of your acting ability. But after this ... Oy, find a niche that suits you at this juncture in your life, but don’t ever, ever, ever stoop this low again. Natalie, ah, Natalie, Natalie, Natalie. Being the babe you are and the fact that you are still young, I’ll forgive you for this ridiculous lack of taste and judgment. Move on, forget it ever happened, wipe the mud from your face, straighten your self out and move on with the forever quest of your life being to redeem yourself.

That’s all. 

Monday, November 26, 2007

As If My Plate Is Not Full Enough

One of the side effects of my recent career change from fairly active to a desk job has been the fact that I’ve quickly started to get out of shape even more than I was before. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not extremely over weight or a complete physical wreck. I’ve always been in decent shape, but over the past couple of months I’ve noticed the beginning of what could be a slippery slope.

So in response, I’ve taken up Krav Maga. Click on the link if you’ve never heard of it. Anyway, tonight was my first session and it literally kicked my ass. I swear, I was almost ready to step outside and hurl my guts out at one point. It was great. I couple nights each week of this and I should be in fine shape in a few months.

Oh yeah, I’ve dug out some of my writing related material and have started working on it again. It feels good to have life take on an even keel. Lets just hope it stays that way for a while.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Sweet Release

OK, so I’m sitting here at the kitchen table posting a blog entry for the first time since … August. Freakin’ August.

Man, what the hell have I been doing since August? Well, actually, a whole hell of a lot has happened. I hit a multi-million dollar lottery the last week of August and I’ve been chilling out ….

Nah, you idjit. I didn’t hit the lottery.

What I did was do a complete career change-over as a result of an unexpected opportunity from an old friend. Maybe someday I’ll go into it deeper, but I doubt it. Anyway, I quit my job that I’d been at for 18 years and started a new career in financial services. I won’t go into it too deeply other than to say that I’ll be helping people to avoid having to work as a WalMart greeter in their retirement years to make ends meet. In reality this isn’t something that’s completely out of the blue as I’ve been peripherally interested in this for some time.

So, I quit my old job which was beginning to suck in a big way (it’s amazing how new owners and new management can really screw things up). It was WAY past time for me to leave and aside from the usual anxiety that comes from jumping out of one’s comfort zone, it was a great feeling to walk out of the door. I was subjected to an hour and a half exit interview by HR in an attempt for them to find out just why they can’t seem to hire anyone or keep any of their key people. I laid it all out and told them exactly what the problems were. I doubt they’ll listen.

Anyway, new career, new challenges, new rewards. I did have to study for and take some exams put forth by such organizations as the NASD (now known as FINRA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the state of Utah. By the way, who the hell comes up with the verbiage on a series 6 exam?

In between the changeover, the studying, the working and everything else—called life—I haven’t had any time to do anything extracurricular. Now, however; I’m thinking that I’ll actually be able to get back to some writing, and other things that I love to do but haven’t been able to devote any time to. I guess that’s called prioritization. Gotta put bread on the table as it were.

Well, I’ll start working on regaining my paltry readership. Hell, to tell you the truth, I don’t give a shit if you read or not. I do this for me.

Ah, sweet release.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Tumbleweeds A Blowin’

It’s true. There are literally tumbleweeds blowing in, about, and through Danielmedley.com. This summer has been amazingly eventful for a relatively uneventful summer which has left very little time to do almost anything superfluous, including regular updates to this website.

Just when things started to get on an even keel something came up that sent everything askew once again. Now, I’m not bitching about this, I’m just voicing what’s going through my head. What sent my world reeling once again is not a negative thing; far from it. But it could potentially result in some serious changes in my life. I’m not going to get in to it extensively at the moment. All I will say is that I’m doing something that I’ve not done in years which is studying in a formal, regimental manner with a specific goal in mind. Anyway, enough about that.

Side note:

My wife and I watched The De Vinci Code last night. What a pathetic, banal, gut wrenchingly bad piece of cinematic dog poop that film is. The reasons that it was so bad are too numerous to even discuss.

Last week, we went over to Justin and Julee’s house and watched 300 on their big, fancy, schmancy 53 inch HD flat-panel. Now, that movie was so good that it gave me wood. The reasons that it was so good were as numerous as the reasons that The De Vinci Code was so bad.

Just perusing the net, I see that Owen Wilson may have tried to commit suicide. Don’t know if that’s true or not, but if it is my message to him would be to buck up, trooper. Not that he’s likely to stop by this website anytime soon to see what I have to say.

Speaking of famous people, what the hell is up with Amy Winehouse? Man, I was in to her latest album before it was even released in the states. If you haven’t done so yet, go out and buy it. It’s truly a great piece of work. It’s too bad she’s in a quick, downard, spiral. My advice to her would be to stop being an idiot and lay off of the heroin, crack, and cocaine immediately after she eats a couple of meals heavy in carbs and protein and a bit on the largish side. In fact I’ll be specific in advising her first step to recovery be that she jump on a plane to Vegas and take up residence at a 24 hour all-you-can-eat buffet and do nothing but eat for a couple of weeks.

I’m just saying.

Ok, I’ll stop with the juvenile mental meanderings concerning others and wrap this up so that I can go pick up my son from his first day of school this year. Hopefully the building is still standing.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Waiting For A Heartbeat

Yeah, yeah. It’s been a long time. I’ve been busy, though. Busy with summer crap. Actually, it’s been a pretty good summer. We went to Idaho, visited and had fun, and then a few weeks later we were off to Vegas with some friends. That was fun as well although I did get to experience up-sale techniques from a waiter in a French restaurant that would’ve made a used care salesman blanch. That’s a whole other story.

Man, I’m sitting here—typing of course—and I have Vh1 Classic playing in the background. Don Johnson has to wish that he could get his hands on every copy of Waiting for a Heartbeat and purge the earth and his life of that debacle.