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Gregory Parks

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Understanding [16 Apr 2009|12:52pm]
[ mood | pensive ]

The more I live and experience things, the more I find I can identify with Morrissey and songs like "Creep" and various other songs about heartbreak or feeling like total crap.

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Life at the Museum [10 Apr 2009|01:36pm]
[ mood | amused ]

While heading back down to the green room after a show at the Science Museum of Minnesota, I overheard a child:

"Stupid fossils! Stupid fossils!"

I wanted to warn the child:

"Hey. Do NOT speak that way to the fossils. They can hear you, they don't like being harassed and they are patient. They can wait for you to come back and they don't forget a face. Ever."

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A Dork Ashamed [10 Mar 2009|10:44am]
[ mood | complacent ]
[ music | The Price is Right showcase showdown ]

Oh yes, I have read Watchmen.

It was almost twenty years ago when I read it. I was a junior in high school and I thought it was cool. I didn't have any background on what made it "edgy" or "groundbreaking." My folks were the kind that thought comics were lowbrow reading material, so I didn't have anything to compare it to. I just knew it made for an interesting read and was different. In most circles, the fact that I read it before most other people did should make me cool.

Twenty years ago. I don't remember a damned thing and now there's a movie that is the first for which I have avoided any previews or anything. If I wanted to re-read it before seeing the movie, it'd be difficult. Try checking it out at a library; good luck. I'm not going to just waltz out and buy it; what if I don't like it enough to feel okay with now owning it? How am I supposed to be a good geek if I can't read it again before seeing the movie? It'll be a fresh experience, I won't have any memory to compare it to. I won't be able to intelligently compare and contrast. I'll be stupid and ignorant until I can re-read it. I won't be able to discuss it on any other merits than what was onscreen.


Bad dork. You lose credibility.

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Junk Yard Giant [07 Mar 2009|01:46pm]
[ mood | amused ]

Giant Greg was visit to junk yard. Was old style with shack surrounded by lots of deter. . .
detritt . . .
junk.



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Penn Says [20 Feb 2009|05:24pm]
[ mood | contemplative ]

I download the Penn Says podcast because I like him. I don't always agree withhim, but that's not necessary to like someone. Sometimes he challenges my ways of thought. Other times, he's just Penn and that's okay. It's one of the times I can appreciate that it takes all kinds to make a world.

He says now and then that he believes that one should do something that they don't do well, but do it anyway. I disagree.

I never. Ever. Ever. EVER want to do anything not well. I am not satisfied with just making it through. I don't want the only virtue of anything I do to be: "Well, at least you/he/I tried." That is as backhanded a compliment as they come.

I cannot agree with him on this.

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Letter Meme [02 Feb 2009|09:21pm]
[ mood | focused ]

Because I don't do enough of these:

Rules: Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real. . .nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.


1. What is your name: Gregory
2. A four Letter Word: gawk
3. A boy's Name: Grant
4. A girl's Name: Georgia
5. An occupation: general practitioner
6. A color: grey
7. Something you wear: garter
8. A food: gorgonzola
9. Something found in the bathroom: grout
10. A place: Geneva
11. A reason for being late: gas
12. Something you shout: GAH!
13. A movie title: Ghost Dog
14. Something you drink: Grand Marnier
15. A musical group: Gorillaz
16. An animal: giraffe
17. A street name: Grand Avenue
18. A type of car: Grand Marquis
19. A song title: Get Back
20. A verb: gambol

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Huge Time-Consuming Meme [20 Jan 2009|11:37pm]
[ mood | meh. ]

That I stole from Jill, because that's where I obtain about 75 - 85% of my memes

here we go! )

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One For Me! [15 Jan 2009|03:30pm]
[ mood | relieved ]

I found out yesterday that I don't have get my transmission replaced or buy a "new" car!

My dad suggested that I take the car in to our regular place to get a second opinion on such a huge fix/problem; he wasn't convinced about the diagnosis. I just accepted it because hell: these guys know a whole lot more about cars than I do. I took it in and went for a drive with the tech. Once Moby started doing the thing she's been doing at highway speeds, he said the very thing I thought when it first started happening:

"I think it's the engine misfiring." He added that it could be plug wires that need replacing.

FFtCHOWWW! I did have a more correct identification of the problem. We had a car that had that problem with misfiring once and it was just like that. I'm happy to be right. About $2000 - $8000 happier!

Still, that will total about $1200 that I've put into that car in under two months' time. The same thing happened four years ago when I left the circus. Moby will have to be retired, but it's not an immediate concern now. She'll still do the work!

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First Failure of 2009 [03 Jan 2009|07:01pm]
[ mood | frustrated ]

I attended an audition. I was excited. People thought I'd get it.

I didn't even make the cut before callbacks. I'm disappointed. In myself. I feel sorely undereducated in theater disciplines, but very capable. I sometimes feel I'm not taken seriously because I didn't "study" acting in a college or at a conservatory, or am concerned that I won't be.

So I signed up for the performance company's workshops in March. I'm fucking awesome. Nobody who can get me jobs knows it yet, except at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

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A Piece of The Puzzle? [22 Dec 2008|02:01pm]
[ mood | frustrated ]

I think I figured it out.

People tell me I'm such a great guy and that any woman would be really lucky to have me. I have determined that I scare women.

My generalization is that women as a group have fucked themselves over so much doing God knows what in other relationships that affects their senses and self-esteem and whatnot and that I scare women.

That's all: I scare women because I'm the type of guy that I am. They don't know what to do with themselves and they think something must be wrong. Or that they don't deserve me. Or they're too scared and go all non-starty because they're too freaked out that they'll mess things up and lose me forever. (That's a very Joss Whedon fragment; I've been watching "Angel" a lot)

So I continue making my way as the equivalent of Gay Friend except I'm not gay. I'm just untouchable straight friend.

All because I am what I am.

</rashgeneralizationsandtextbookkvetching>

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Samuel L. JacksYAWN [21 Dec 2008|12:45am]
[ mood | bored ]

I just saw a preview for The Spirit. I'm excited about this movie and know nothing about the comic. All I know is that it's directed by Frank Miller and it's shot in the same style as Sin City and 300.

All I want to know is if I'm the only person who has tired of Samuel L. Jackson's one-note acting? How long ago was The Red Violin or any other movie in which he didn't play some sort of bad ass or hard-scrabble person? It's no longer entertaining to me and it's no longer a stretch.

Vince Vaughn? Tired also. He's the Meg Ryan of schlubs.

But Samuel L? He has chops, but he doesn't use them. He just plays the same characters over and over. And over. And over.

Jim Carrey left for a while. Maybe he should as well.

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From the Files of Giant Greg [17 Dec 2008|03:45pm]
[ mood | annoyed ]

Once more I find self in gargantuan predik . . . perduck . . .

pickle. Please forgive speech. Me strive to repri . . . repo . . .

copy normal-sized erudition and elec . . . ello . . .

speech-stuff while in giant form.

In Dallas, Texas two knights tried hard to conquer me. I hold them off until friend Kelly explain things to them in a rashy . . .

rashim . . .

calm, smart way.








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Why, iTunes? Why? [04 Dec 2008|01:35pm]
[ mood | aggravated ]
[ music | 'She Don't Use Jelly" – Ben Folds Five ]

What happened with iTunes once Leopard came out? Aside from the Gracenote CD database being filled with misspellings and inaccurate track information (really? is it that hard to fact check?) iTunes really honestly keeps randomly resetting the EQ preference for entire albums. WTF? Has anyone else had this problem? Is the problem simply that I'm still using Tiger because I don't have a dual-core mac?

If so, this introduces Apple to a helping of scorn I once only reserved for Windows and its errors and crap. Really, Apple – MacOS used to be above this sort of thing. What's next? People will actually start writing viruses for Mac?

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Follow Up [03 Dec 2008|03:30pm]
[ mood | enchanted and entertained ]
[ music | "Sunny" – Leonard Nimoy ]

Just so you know, I bought it and it is divine! I hope someday to share it with you all.

Those confused, pleased refer to the previous post.

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Sweet Jeebus [01 Dec 2008|10:18pm]
[ mood | amused ]
[ music | sounded like Radiohead or at least Thom Yorke ]

Give me one good – and I mean REALLY good – reason why I shouldn't have this just for comedic value alone:

today's music marvel

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Star Trek: The Trailer [18 Nov 2008|06:42am]
[ mood | frustrated ]
[ music | the shower upstairs ]

Let's forget about J.J. Abrams being not as good or consistent as Joss Whedon.

I want to know why the hell they show the Enterprise being built planetside instead of in orbit? Are they doing a Marvel Comics-style continuity reset or something? Or are people in Hollywood so impressed by J.J. Abrams' [inconsistent] Midas Touch that no one has a problem with this? I am quite up to the task of willing suspension of disbelief, but how the hell to they get it into orbit if they're building the damned thing belly-on-the-ground?

if the dorks are going to be running Hollywood, they should at least get the shit right or have a good explanation. Well, Mr. Abrams, I do love "Lost," but what have to to say for yourself?

And yes, I will wait to see the movie like everyone else and I will see it at least once.

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No Way. It Doesn't Stop [03 Nov 2008|04:13pm]
[ mood | intrigued ]

I just bought the new Ingrid Michaelson on iTunes and then I read today's DailyOm.

I had no idea that there was room for more than me inside my head. They're both (all?) rooting around in there.

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Politics Brought to You. [03 Nov 2008|02:16pm]
[ mood | anxious ]

This is not an attack, this is an expression. I feel the expression succeeds in not impugning anyone's character – perhaps way of thinking, but not character.

It is a response that I typed after seeing a discussion that a friend was engaging about the two front running candidates for the presidency of the United States. If you like it, feel free to pass it along if you are so moved. Just attribute it. Here it is:

With this election, moreso than any in the past, I find that I am alarmed at how people allow party lines and panic and fear to "inform" decisions in what I try to assume to be an otherwise intelligent mind, regardless of party affiliation.

The quality of government on the whole is lacking. In the current climate of society and economics and ethics (or the lack thereof) as taught in American society, self regulation obviously does not work. Greed and speculation have caused and will repeatedly lead to the results we are witnessing currently. It happened last century as well, and to smaller degrees before, in between and since. Since our ethics as a system are lacking, then one way to fix things is to put in place intelligent leadership that exercises ethics, yes, even to the end of self-regulation, so as to not abuse the station to which they have been elected.

Such officials would ideally not be beholden to or swayed by:

1) corporate interests
2) the official way that one's party and its devotees are "supposed" to act, feel or vote
3) fear
4) what the other guy is going to do that would threaten some theoretical "master plan"
5) ego

For instance, Obama's "lack of experience" has been decried, most specifically to the point of his only have been a community organizer. Given the climate of the country and the world, what are the country and the world but gigantic communities? You don't shoot your neighbor when his dog craps on your lawn, do you? Such experience involves working with people of different origins and different walks of life instead of drawing lines and arguments about who is anti-Neighborhood and whether or not the even numbers on the other side of the street are living in the "real version" of the Neighborhood.

True: for some people, it may be about Obama making them feel good. How is that any less valid than supporting a candidate because you're afraid of what other countries are going to do to us? How is that any different than being afraid that "They" are going to take all of our money through taxes?

Any change in government is going to require money. Some can be refunneled, but the rest must come from somewhere. We're already insanely in debt and we have a paycheck coming in, so simple economics: are we going to use money from the check to pay for house repairs, or are we going to get shiny rims on our car? Furthermore, what good are taxes if people who make less money pay more percentage-wise than those who make more money? It's not so much about entitlement as it is the idea that everyone pay a fair and equal percentage: no breaks, no special outs. (Let's assume for this exercise that we all work equally hard and ethically for our money.) I don't mind being taxed if my money is used wisely and I can see and enjoy the results of my taxes.

For me, as for others, it's all about what makes sense. And honestly, the Republican line makes little sense. What is called for right now is the same thing that brought this country through the Great Depression: unity, cooperation and a sense of duty and responsibility to contribute to the greater good. Xenophobia and greed do not improve the country as a whole.

THAT is the primary change that people are seeking and of which people are speaking. If a Republican espoused these same ideas Obama has been listing, I would vote for that candidate. As it is I see fear, division, blind-devotion and bullying from that side, spearheaded by two people who I find it hard to trust in word or deed, let alone take seriously.

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Rush Limbaugh [21 Oct 2008|12:10am]
[ mood | aggravated ]

Hmmm . . . that's kind of funny saying that Colin Powell is supporting Obama because they're both black.

Now, please remind me how long white people have been voting for people just because they're white? Oh yeah! That's right: we've only had mostly white people to vote for. God forbid, he could possibly be endorsing him because he's actually smart or agrees with his ideas. (and to admittedly take it farther than logic or actual intent of the statement, just because I'm a goofball button-pusher and I can do it:) God forbid a black person should be allowed to exercise the right of free-thinking and choice to make a choice that's not popular with the bunch of white people who try to absorb him as their own personal Republican "See? We have black people, too!" token, even when he eschews some of their ideologies and diplomatically tells them they can screw themselves (in the most professional and gentlemanly manner, of course).

Not trying to be Angry Black Guy about it, but Limbaugh's only supporting McCain because they're both white. Or maybe it's frustrating him because both of them are black? That would be a pretty stupid allegation to make, now wouldn't it?

Wouldn't it?

Sorry, Rush: Powell is neither a token nor a sheep. Too bad it didn't exactly work they way you'd rather it would have gone this time.

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Debates [16 Oct 2008|01:49am]
[ mood | observant ]

I had a very incomplete debate experience. I watched them only with video, once I remembered they were on. This was after arrival at First Avenue. Instead of being able to hear things, a former co-worker and I analyzed body language.

McCain looked agitated. He was always fiddling with his pen. When listening to Obama, he sat rigidly and back in his chair as if to distance or simply await his turn to speak. When listening to Obama, he didn't even really face him, but rather kind of turned his head, keeping his body mostly facing the moderator. He blinked a lot, which as I understand isn't a very positive nonverbal cue, indicating being ill at ease or deceit. I'd buy "ill at ease"; I'm sure the man believes everything he says, and that is not biased sarcasm.

Obama looked poised, of course. His hands moved only to emphasize points. When listening to McCain, he turned his body to face him and leaned forward, as if giving him full attention.

Once I had audio, one thing stuck out about the language: McCain always addressed the audience – the American people – as you. Obama tended to speak of things in terms of "we." Most telling to me was in the closing remarks: McCain referenced " . . . Your children." Obama referenced " . . . Our children." Semantics? Yes. Am I an expert? No. I just know what I observed and that's all I'm sharing.

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