If you had a time machine, which year would you travel to and why?
Submitted by Michelle.
Oh there are so many possible answers. I could say a couple years ago to advise myself on what's coming, and maybe make some better decisions.
I could say Ancient Rome, because I would love to walk around Rome itself.
Some part of me would like to go back and see my parents when they were young. Maybe meet my grandparents, who I never really knew.
Go back and tell some airport security guards to hold a few people back.
Rome would be it, though, if I were to not want to alter things, or ignore my own past. Walk through ancient Rome, go see a gladiatorial challenge. That sort of thing.
Show us what makes you unique.
I'm not trying for a hand theme or anything. But it works for these last two Vox Hunts.
If you could perform alongside any artist (actor, dancer, musician, etc.), who would it be, and what would you perform?
Submitted by Kristin.
I'd sing Tripoli (assuming I could actually sing) with Matthew Good. It'd be a good duet, I think.
To all my LJ or Vox friends who knit, enjoy knitting, or enjoyed Veronica Mars - I think two to four of you fit that description, and you know who you are - watch Pushing Daisies. If you're not already. I think all of you will very much enjoy it.
Show us something you believe in.
Film & TV writers are on strike, which means everything except reality TV could halt production. Do you support the strike? Are any of your favorite shows in jeopardy?
I do support the strike, because I trust these people are doing what they need to. I love the Office, and everything I've ever read or seen by the writers/actors who are on strike leads me to believe they wouldn't be doing this if not for a good reason. They DID make good web content.
I very much hope the Office has a few eps in the pipeline. Steve Carrell isn't coming into work, so The Office won't be filming anymore eps. And I suppose more than a few shows will probably not be doing much more. Obviously they'll all eventually be affected.
So, in a few hours I'll be off to Europe. It still almost hasn't sunk in yet, and I'm still rather nervous about it. But I am trying to be bolder, and, well, this is pretty fricking bold, I'd say. I'm going on my own, knowing almost no one there, but with a tour group, so it should be good. I doubt I'll be posting here (Vox/LJ) in the next month, nor will I be reading much. I'll try and catch up as much as I can when I get back. You can leave me e-mails and messages, I'll be checking things every now and then, and pictures will go up on my flickr site (www.flickr.com/photos/tomhadley) whenever I need to unload my camera.
Wish me luck, and I'll see everyone around Halloween.
Tom.
What issues do you look forward to hearing about in the upcoming U.S. Presidential debates?
Family values. Or, rather, what people call family values. Which usually means a lot of Christians attempting to say "I just plain don't like gay people" in politically correct, Biblically informed ways. Is that harsh? I don't know. It just always seems to me that sometimes politicians have certain opinions, but they couch them in language that makes them sound like they love everybody. Except terrorists. When really, everyone hates SOMEONE. There are some practices that creep people out. That's okay. I don't know. I think that's the big one for me.
I like Bill Richardson so far. I don't know if he has much of a chance against Mit Romney (for some reason, I think he'll be the one) but I'm curious. I like him. He reminds me of a cross between Santos and Bartlett. Which, of course, appeals to me.
Well, it's been a busy last few days. Despite now being done work for the foreseeable future, I'm now in the midst of preparing for the more immediate future. Prepping for the Europe trip is big on the list, but also looking for what I'm doing in the Fall. I drove down to Niagara University to go to an info session about the teacher's college program they run out of Toronto. It was informative, I got a lot of questions answered. It's more competitive than I thought. But that's okay. HR is looking better, in ways. Less vacations, but more possibility of a dynamic career, maybe. Fewer angry kids. And there's also the practicality aspect. There are jobs in HR right now. Teaching? Not so much. But for much of my life I've worked very, very hard to ignore practicality. The romantic side (is there another side?) thinks practicality doesn't make a very good obituary. "In his 140 years, Thomas worked hard as an HR manager and made lots of money, some of which he donated to charity, some of which he spent on travel, but a lot of which he spent on neat electronic gadgets." I think I just have this vision of teaching and inspiring young people in a wonderful way for 10 months of the year, then traveling and whatnot for the rest of it. But of course that could only work for a little while, and would get damn expensive. Fulfilling, but expensive.
Anyway, this debate is one that's continuing constantly, but I'm going to try to put it on hold for now. Right now the third option I see is government. Try and work my way into a government job. Probably not working where I was, but maybe aiming a bit higher. Nothing against where I was. It wouldn't be a bad place to start, but I don't think it would be satisfying for me. I do think I need to work at developing my inner life a bit more. Trying to make sure my job is not my life. Maybe that's unavoidable, though.
Anyway, again, I had fun in the States. NU's campus is nice. Small, and very...stereotypically American. I could easily see an episode of Saved By The Bell: The College Years, or a later episode of Boy Meets World being filmed there. Not very visitor friendly, though. Not unfriendly. Just not too many services available. I mean, at Guelph, just about anyone could point a visitor to the Info Desk, or probably guess that Admissions is in the UC, and you could probably go there to get some help. Or really, in my experience, just about any desk clerk would do their best to help you out. Not that I didn't encounter helpful people. I did. But it almost seemed like the idea of a visitor's centre never occurred to them, or an info desk or something of the sort. Just a different attitude than what I'm used to, I guess. Fairly liberal parking philosophy, too.
A few other observations from my travels, though. Americans are slower, but more aggressive, drivers. At least I feel like they are. Might've been just the traffic, but I saw no one going 120, or faster, as you would on a Canadian highway. Of course, there wasn't much space to get up to speed most of the time. A lot of the highways are two lanes, with lots of twists, turns, on ramps, off ramps. Also, in the areas I drove through, not too many chain places. Maybe it was because it was mainly a small town, but I guess I just expected to see fewer Mom & Pop's and more chain stores. And once I got into Buffalo, it was...I don't know. It had an odd sense to it. I only really saw the one area, and it may just be that, but it seemed almost...stagnant. A lot of things seemed like they had been there for years, and no one had the money to upgrade them. Even the newish stuff, like in Walden Galleria (a large mall down in Buffalo) didn't look new, just the same old designs and architecture. Maybe I'm just used to the look of stuff built in Canadian malls. Maybe I'm just used to Square One and Sherway, or maybe it's just the unconscious, unspoken knowledge that it's DIFFERENT. That it is a different country, with a different feel.
One of my Profs once told me that you learn more about a country on the drive from the airport than you will in any class, and I feel like that's true. Here it's more like I learned more about the area of, you know, Upstate Western New York, since I don't feel I can generalize for all of America. But I feel like I learned a lot. Which was good.
I had something else I wanted to talk about tonight but it's escaping me. It's been a lovely, lazy day, which I am extremely happy about. Oh! I remember! I hope everyone has seen the trailer for Southland Tales. It's the new movie by Richard Kelly, the guy who did Donnie Darko. It may be extremely weird and hard to follow, but it just looks cool. And I love The Rock. I really don't know why. I never watched wrestling, and rather disliked it. I think I saw him in an interview once and he seemed like a nice, genuine, fun guy. He looks like it, doesn't he? He looks like the guy I'd hire as my smart aleck head bodyguard. You know. For my multimillion dollar HR corporation? Anyway, the movie looks confusing as all hell, and I'm not even really clear on what it's about. But I'm seeing it on November 9th. Midnight showing, if I can find it. If only for some of the hilarious lines in the trailer, Buffy, Mandy Moore, The Rock, Stifler and at least two SNL alums. The trailer sold me, and got me pumped about the movie. The only trailers that have done that in the last few years have been trailers for movies I was already super pumped about (usually cause, say, the show they were based on was canceled).
I think that's most of what I wanted to talk about. I'm going to go watch the trailer for Southland Tales again. See if Apple has it up in HD.
I find I tend to like the same music throughout a certain period. I
can still listen to some Blink songs (there's a wonderful instrumental
of What's My Age Again...in fact, most of their stuff would be kind of
good instrumental...). I tend to shift back and forth through phases.
Used to be Jimmy Eat World and U2, now more U2 and Matt Good. It had
been a while since I'd really enjoyed a Jimmy song. I don't hate them.
I still like their music, but in terms of...
I guess I really value music that makes me FEEL something. And that's been Matt Good, some U2, and a random smattering of other songs. Today, it's the new Jimmy song. I guess the lyrics get me. And the tone is hopeful. But still a little...off. But it's probably one of those cases where you hear what you want. So I think it works for me. It's my new song of the moment.
Jimmy Eat World - Big Casino
Stay
Before this world starts up again
It’s me and night
We wait for the sun
The kids and drunks head back inside
Well there’s lots of smart ideas
In books I never read
When the girls come talk to me
I wish to hell I had
Get up .. get up
Turn my ignition
Get up .. get up
Fight off the system
I play my little part in something big
I’ll accept with poise, with grace
When they draw my name from the lottery
And they’ll say all the salt in the world couldn’t melt that ice
I’m the one who gets away
I’m a New Jersey success story
And they’ll say:
“Lord give me the chance to shake that hand”
They’ll say…
Back when I was younger
I was someone you’d have liken
Got an old guitar I’ve had for years, I’d let you buy
And I’ll tell you something else
That you ain’t dying enough to know
There’s still some living left when your prime comes and goes
Get up .. get up
Dance on the ceiling
Get up.. get up
Boy you must be dreaming
Rock on young savior
Don’t give up your hopes
I’ll accept with poise, with grace
When they draw my name from the lottery
And they’ll say all the salt in the world couldn’t melt that ice
I’m the one who gets away
I’m a New Jersey success story
And they’ll say:
“Lord give me the chance to shake that hand”
I have one last wish
And it’s from my heart
Just let me down
Just let me down… easy
I’ll accept with poise, with grace
When they draw my name from the lottery
And they’ll say all the salt in the world couldn’t melt that ice
I’m the one who gets away
I’m a New Jersey success story
And they’ll say:
“Lord give me the chance to shake his hand”
They’ll say…
