Bucket List (courtesy of 2012)

Never before have I really thought about making a bucket list. You know, like in the movie, a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket. I kind of thought it was morbid, and possibly just egging on fate to end your life before you can finish the list. But as I listen right now to Adam Lambert singing the theme to 2012 and I realize that the world will be ending in three short years, it seems an appropriate time to make a list of things I'd like to accomplish in tghe next three years, before the earth turms itself upside down and swallows us whole. So I will post my top ten items, and then keep you all updated as I accomplih them. A lot of these involve celebrities, but I'm sure, once they realize that the world is ending, they'll be willing to help me out....although if any of you have contact with any of them, you might ask them to check out this blog. These are in no particular order.

Steve's Bucket List:

1} Finish writing my novel and get it published. This is a long-time goal, and now the end of the world is just giving me motivation to work faster.

2}Take a guitar lesson from Orianthi. She is the amazing guitarist from the Michael Jackson THIS IS IT movie, and to just spend an hour learning from her would be amazing.

3} Spend a month traveling in England and Ireland. I figure it would take at least a month to find all the historical, but not touristy spots.

4} Star in, or direct a movie with Zooey Deshanel. Maybe my friend Beau could produce it. She is one of my favorite actresses, and I'd love to work with her.

5} Spend a day at the park with just my kids and my parents. Sounds easy enough, but if you understood my family situation, you'd know this is probably the wildest thing on my list.

6} Write a song with Taylor Swift. I'd let her sing it, since my voice would make people pray for the end of the world. plus with her singing it would be a sure hit.

7} Get together and hang out for at least part of a day catching up with as many of my Facebook friends as I can. Since my Toyota friends I can see any time, I won't count those, sorry. So far my total is 1, and another coming next month.

8} Have lunch or dinner with Ashley Greene (from Twilight). Her character is so sweet, and from what I hear, she is too.

9} Spend a month on tour with U2. Maybe get invited up onstage by Bono.

10} Take a dance lesson from one of my favorite Dancing with the Stars pros, either Lacey Schwimmer, Chelsie Hightower, or Julianne Hough.

OOPS I have a #11 too} To see a sunrise and sunset on every continent. Well, could probably skip Antarctica. I'm all set on North America. Lets work on the rest.

So there's the list. Keep watching this sight for updates.

Calling out @dizzyfeet

Ok, normally I don't aim my blog at just one person, but this is directed to Nigel Lithgoe of So You Think You Can Dance (the rest of you can read it to though).

Nigel, first of let me say, I love your show, and I am not here to question your judgements, as you have been doing this for 6 seasons, and I've only been watching for 2. I am however a bit confused by some of the things you said last night on the result show, and then by one of your elimination choices. I hope you might take the time to respond to this blog to help me understand.

You made a comment during the show that the fans were supposed to vote for America's Favorite Dancer, not just for America's Favorite. Pointing out that the show was to be a contest for dance talent, and not just a popularity contest. I agree totally with this.

But where I have my problem is in the eliminaiton of Channing Cooke. You told Channing that she was excellent in the technique, but missing out on personality. Or, to phrase it another way, she was an excellent Dancer but might not have the personality to be a Favorite. But I thought this was a Dance contest, not a personality contest. You told Channing she you wanted her to grow into an excelent dancer, and not just become a dance teacher, and yet you cut her off from the growing, nurturing environment of SYTYCD at just the point where a weak person might go off, and settle on becoming a dance teacher. Now from what I've seen of Channing on the show, I don't think this will happen, I'm sure she will end up dancing professionally. But how much more could she have grown if you would have kept her in at least two more weeks, so she could have been in the top ten, and part of the tour, where she would have to learn to bring out her personality; where she could be drawn out of her cage, as you put it, by the excellent choreographers from your show. I understand that she does need to work on her personality, but by eliminating her over a slightly less skilled dancer with more personality, you are turning the show into the popularity contest you warned against.

Not to try and tell the judges their jobs...ok, maybe a little...I think that since after it becomes the top ten, its all up to America's votes, if you want it to be about the favorite Dancer. It should fall on the judges to send the best Dancers through, not the best personalities.

Okay, I said my part, and would be really honored if you read and respond to this. I love your show!! Thanks for your time.

-Steve

Driving instructions

Lately i have been noticing that there are a lot of drivers out there who seem to need some basic driving instructions. If you find yourself noticing the same thing, please direct them here to my blog where today I will give instruction on two pieces of the cars mechanics that people seem to have forgotten how to use.

First of all there is the gas pedal. If you are a driver, the gas pedal is the long skinny pedal on the right on the floorboard of the driver's seat. It is located next the brake pedal, which you all seem to be very familiar with. The gas pedal is used to make your car move forward at an increasing rate of speed. What you do, is you press down on the gas pedal, this allows gas to flow to the engine and move the car ahead. When you want to get somewhere, this is the pedal to use. When a dark gry Matrix is behind you, and the man in the driver's seat is looking quite irritated, us of this pedal will increase the gap between you and the Matrix, and relieve the irritation of the man in the driver's seat.

The second piece of equipment is located on the steering column directly above the gas pedal, and to the right of the steering wheel. This is the turn signal switch. This device is used to turn on your turn signals. It is quite simple if you are planning to turn left at an upcoming intersection you lift the lever up until it clicks into place. You will notice a small flashing arrow on your dash board pointing left. This arrow corresponds to small lights on the front and back of your car which will flash telling people around you that you are planning a left turn. If you are planning to turn right, you push the lever down until it clicks, this will produce a flashing arrow pointing right, along with the corresponding lights on your car... Do you get the concept? And don't worry, once you make your turn, the flashing arrow and lights will stop, and the lever will magically click back into the neutral position. And there is a secondary function of this lever and these lights. If you are driving on the freeway, and wish to change lanes, you merry lift the lever if you wish to move to our left, or hold it down if you wish to move right. This will signal drivers around you of your intention to change lanes. Once you have moved over simply let go of the lever and the flashing lights will stop. And one final use of the lever: if you are parked on the side of the road and ready to enter traffic, raise the lever up, as in making a left turn, and then, before entering traffic, check your rear view and side view mirrors and look for other cars. What was that, you don't know about the mirrors, I guess that will be a lesson for another blog post.

Not Easily impresed, and bulding customer Loyalty

Today I give you two posts in one, because somehow they run together, and my brain is producing blog post faster than I can post. I want to start by saying that in general, I'm not easily impressed anymore. Blame it on a cynical nature that I have gained as I age.

Now last Sunday the U2 show impressed me, but I expected to be impressed. The band paid big bucks to build a huge stage designed to impress, and it did its job. And the music impressed me, but I have always loved their music, so no surprise there. That is why I'm not going to talk about the U2 show anymore in this post (read my last two posts if you want more on the U2 show.

Instead I'm going to start by talking about 6 things that impressed me this past Friday. Six things is a lot to be impressed by, but here goes. 1) I went and saw THIS IS IT on Friday. If you are not in tune to media outlets at all, let me tell you what THIS IS IT is-- it is a film that documents the rehearsal process for what was supposed to be Michael Jackson's England tour. I was very impressed by Michal in this film. I have never been a huge MJ fan, but this film really brought me around...sadly a bit late. He was such a professional and such an amazing performer. Even in rehearsals he gave 110%. 2) The second thing that impressed my on Friday was also in the movie. It was the young woman MJ chose as his lead guitar player for the tour, her name is Orianthi (yes that's her in the picture). All I can say is AMAZING!!

Moving on from the movie, (sort of) traveling briefly back in time to last Wednesday evening at around 9:30. I went to Amazon.com and ordered Orianthi's CD. I am an amazon prime customer, so I got two day shipping. They told me it would arrive Monday (today). Back now to last Friday, I got a call a little after noon from the Postal Connection where I have a box for getting packages. They said I had a package from UPS. This of course had to be the Orianthi CD. 3) I was very impressed by how quickly Amazon had gotten my order out. 4) I was impressed that UPS had delivered in less than the 2 day time frame and 5) I was impressed that Postal connection took the time to notify that I had a package...this is an example of building customer loyalty, which will be discussed in the last part of this post.

Before I move on to customer loyalty let me tell you the last thing that impressed me. 6) Orianthi again. The same guitarist who rocked the Michael Jackson movie delivered again on her CD BELIEVE. Edgy rock music, not super heavy on profound lyrics, but fun music and great guitar work that comes to a head with the instrumental number Highly Strung, a duet with Steve Vai. a truly great album..get it.

Now on to customer loyalty. Besides my great experience with postal connection, today I wen into a vacuum shop in San Bernardino where my father-in-law had called in a payment on some vacuum bags that I was to pick up. I picked them up, but realized they were for our old vacuum, not our new one. I went back in and the right bags were three dollars more than the ones that had been paid for. I offered to pay the owner the difference, he told not to worry about it, just take the bags I needed. That builds customer loyalty. That is also how I try to work at Domino's when I answer the phone. I will give customers deals even if they don't have coupons. This drive my manager nuts, but I don't care because I know a happy customer is more likely to a) tip and b) become a return customer. Tell me I'm wrong, I dare you.

U2 concert: celebrating the Light

In my last post I told about the 5% of my U2 concert experience that was negative. Now it is time to celebrate the remarkable, amazing day/evening I had. I got to Pasadena relatively early, park in old town, and went out for a walk around. I was hoping to meet up with my friend Beau from my Wheaton College days. We had reconnected on facebook, and decided in the crowd of 96,000 U2 fans, to try and find each other. Beau had sent me a text that he was eating in Old Town before getting on the shuttle to the concert. I looked around Old Town a bit, but didn't find him, so I headed back over to the shuttle loading area and figured I'd see him getting on the shuttle if I just waited there. After waiting a while, I decided I was going to shuttle over, just to see what was going on at the Rose Bowl. I was literally 3 people away from getting on the shuttle when my hip started singing. It was a text from Beau that he and his friend had finished eating, and they were on their way to the shuttle. So I went back to my waiting spot, and waited for them to shuttle over together. We got to the Rose Bowl and found some more friends of Beau who had a spot on the golf course parking and were picnicing before the show. We hung out there for a while and relaxed. It was great hanging out with an old friend I had not seen in over 20 years.

After a bit, we headed in to the stadium. We tried to stick together once inside, but the general flow of the crowd and the pull of the concession stand separated us. So I found my way to my seat and settled in for the show (full story on seating in last post). Black eyed Peas opened up. They are not really my style, but I have to admit, they put on quite a show. The highlight of this part of the show for me was when Slash (not from one of my favorite bands) joined the Peas for a performance of "Sweet Child of Mine" (a very good song, which I like).

Then was an intermission, and close to nine o'clock the show was starting again. It opened to the strains of David Bowie's Space Oddity (another Song I Love) then the band came out on stage I don't have the song list in front of me now, but It was amazing. My previous experience seeing U2 in concert was spent mostly watching the heads of the 35 rows of people in front of me. This time was so much better for 2 reasons. First, I was in an arena, and part way up the side, the people closer than me were also lower than me, and not in the way. But beside that the large screen above center stage brought all the performance highlight into your lap. It was a really amazing show. Bono is so charged, so on fire. I have never before seen a perform who I feel so passionately embraces what he believes in (and that is saying a lot since I worked for several years in the Christian Music industry, where you would expect the performers to passionately embrace there beliefs). Bono spoke about the attrocities during the Irian election, the need for more money to deal with AIDS in Africa, and the plight of an imprisoned Burmese democracy leader. Each of these causes were close to his heart. The power of the music and message was undeniable. The high tech effects made for a great show, but the lyrics, and the power with which Bono delivered them ae what madethis a night I'll never forget. I'm sure there will be more on Bono and U2 in future post, I find them an amazing group, who move me every time I listen.

U2 concert: a brief exploration of the dark side.

Let me start this post by saying that the U2 concert Sunday was fantastic, and a 95% positive experience. Today's post is about the 5% that was not positive. It will be the last I speak of these things (with the possible exception of repeating them in a letter to Rose Bowl events staff). After venting here I will wipe these negatives from my mind and remember only the great music, and message that was presented. So here comes the venting...

Whoever designed the seating sections at the Rose bowl obviously expected the people acting as ushers to have an IQ. Those at Sunday's concert failed this test. When I came in to my section (section 21), I approached the Yellow Shirt dude who was the usher for that section. He looked at the ticket and pointed me up and to my right, which actually coincided with what the sign on the wall of the section said. I found the proper row, and after the girl in the row behind me showed me where to look for a seat number, I found seat 15. I sat there as the black-eyed Peas sang. As the black eyed peas finished, I was tapped by one of the other Yellow Shirt dudes. He told me I was in a another man's seat. I tried to explain that I was in the right seat, and the other Yellow shirt Dude had showed me how to find it. he insisted I was in the wrong seat and had to follow him out, and he would show me to the right seat. When we got to the aisle he started to point me to section 20. I showed him my ticket and said I was in section 21. At this point he said, "well I don't know where your seat is, but you can sit here if you want, pointing to the front row of the section. After a quick look I realized these seats were represented by the people in te row of wheel chairs at the rail, and if I were to sit there, the wheel chaired fans would be blocking my view.

At this point I proceeded to find another Yellow shirt Dude, who looked at my ticket, and pointed my to the left, I said "Why did the first guy send me right then?" He responded with , "I don't have time to help you find your seat, I need to help the other people." I was not sure what other people he meant. Probably it was the crowds of people who knew where there seats were who were going to the restroom like I should have been during the intermission. I wanted to scream, "Don't you know it's My Birthday!!" I wanted to volunteer to go stand in the (red) Zone if they couldn't find my seat. I finally gave up on the Yellow Shirt dudes, and found a blue jacket guy who had on a radio with a headset (usually a sign of leadership, if not intelligence). I should him my ticket, and he began to show me to my seat. Amazingly enough he took me straight back to where I had been and removed the other gentleman from the seat, explaining to him that seat 15 (my seat was the end of section 21 and seat 115( the seat next to me) was the beginning of section 20. It is beyond me why the two section merge in one row, and how 115 can ever follow 15. this goes back to those great minds who designed the seating...(i am going to try to post a seating chart wit this blog). So after wasting 25 minutes of the intermission (prime bathroom time) I found myself enjoying the concert in the seat I started in. Was this whole fiasco warranted? No! Could it have been avoided with a little more training/intelligence on the part of the Yellow Shirt dudes ? Probably.

Okay, enough on that. One final negative on the concert. The parking/unparking was a nightmare. I parked in remote parking and shuttled in. Nice and relaxing, no nightmare of getting near the arena. Trouble was, everyone who parked there and shuttled in throughout the day all wanted to go back at the same time. So after the concert got out around 11:20, it took till 12:35 to get on the shuttle, then till 12:55 to get to remote parking past all the pedestrian traffic. Then another 20 to 25 minutes to get out of parking garage... I have no solution for this problem, but there must be a better way.

But enough GOM (Grumpy Old Man) talk In my next post I'll tell you everything I Loved about the concert. Thanks for letting me vent!!

Two Movie Allegories

Dictionary.com defines Allegory as "The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form."
Today's blog is going to talk about two movies that I saw today that seem to fit this category. One you will I'm sure quickly see as an allegory, the other may seem a stretch to you.

Before we begin...SPOILER ALERT FOR WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE & COUPLES RETREAT...

We will start with the more obvious Allegory of Where the Wild Things Are. This classic children's book was written to years before I was born. And with this new movie adaptation, it shows that it is aging Wildly and with quite a lot of style. Director Spike Jonze decided against using high tech CGI creatures, but went instead with what looks like upgraded versions of the Sid & Marty Kroftt saturday morning creations of my childhood (HR Puffinstiff, Land of The Lost). In this story Max gets in trouble for his wild behavior and runs off (in the book he's sent to his room, in the movie he runs away). He finds himself in a wild forest with The Wild Things. Here is where the Allegory kicks in. Each of the Wild things seems to represent different pieces of Max, or any child's personality. Carol is the selfishness and anger of acting out, Judith is distrust of others, paired with Ira who is low self esteem, Alexander is the feeling that grown ups never listen. You get it? each Character is part of Max, and in becoming King of the Wild things, he has to try to bring all these parts of him together, and bring them all under his control. Or maybe I'm reading to much into it, and its just the story of a rowdy kid and his wild imagination...

Anyway, moving on to Couples Retreat. I'm sure most people go into this movie just looking for rowdy laughs and a good time, and you can definitely come away with that. But I found in it an allegory, with each couple displaying a different problem one might encounter in their marriage. We see the man who's wife has left him, and he is trying to fill the void with any young thing he can find, though really still in love with his wife. We see the couple who has been together since high school, each with a wandering eye, not realizing they just need to look at each other with a fresh eye. There is the couple who are striving so he=ard to keep everything on track and on a schedule, that they don't realize they are losing the love that brought them together. And we have the couple that are each so busy with their own thing, they totally miss the fact that they are leading seperate lives together. I challenge you to go see this movie with your mate, and go into it not just looking for the cheap laugh, but looking for something to bring you closer. It's no FIREPROOF, but it might be the funny romantic kick your relationship needs...A Couples Retreat if you would.