Nonsense, Drivel, and Balderdash

I haven't had any translation work this month. Which basically means, I haven't had any work this month. Not the kind that pays anyway. I know that more scripts are on the way, but I don't know exactly when. This is a bit of an unstable business. I may have to start looking in other places for translation work to supplement my screenplay stuff. However, it has been nice not to be pressed to translate hundreds of pages because I have been working on getting my drivers license. It is slightly amazing that I dont have it yet. Especially considering that I am technically american. Granted I have only lived in the US for the 3 years that I was at Gordon, but still, even three years would normally push someone living in the States to get their license. America is notoriously automobile based, being nearly impossible to get around without one. But I lived on a college campus and didn't have the need to leave all that often. I was quite enveloped by college life for the first c...

Top 4 Songs that it is awkward for me to sing along with (but that I do anyway): 6) A one man guy, Rufus Wainwright 5) I'm not a pretty girl, Ani DiFranco 4) I am superwoman, Alicia Keys 3) My Lady's Story, Antony and the Johnsons 2) You make me feel (like a natural woman), Carole King 1) I'm just a girl, No Doubt

I haven't been able to get to sleep earlier than 3 or 4 in the morning lately. It is America's fault, like most things these days, according to european news sources. Ever since I came back from the States I haven't been able to sleep at night. Maybe I'm haunted by its lingering memories, maybe enamored with its visions, or maybe I just haven't tried getting over jetlag. Because I don't work mornings, or at all lately, I can sleep in as long as I want... not the best motivator to get up early and get into a normal schedule. To be honest, it is only a bit of a nuisance because the rest of the world doesn't function like I do. But other than that, I am really enjoying my late nights. I am a night owl, though most of my life I haven't been able to indulge that facet of my personality. I like staying up late. I think I like the solitude of it, though I love a late night conversation. I am not so much a fan of late night group madness. To me, nighttime is loa...

I hate that feeling of frustration and despair that comes when you wake from a dream where nothing exciting has taken place. Where another night has been wasted filing imaginary papers, or mowing imaginary lawns, or dreaming things that give you no respite from your daily dullness at all. Sometimes it seems like I am trying to wake up from one of those dreams, only I realize that I'm not dreaming. The papers I am filing are real, the hamburger I'm cooking is the same one I ate last week, the routine is making my life fade into overlapping film slides where the images are blurring and mixing into nothing in particular.Do you ever get the feeling where you look around and realize that you life seems hazy ? One of those moments where you feel like you are waking out of a dream; where you realize that nothing really seems nitid and the image isn't sharp. I think we live most of our lives that way without realizing it. The depressing part comes when we arrive at that in between ...

I got a couple awesome christmas gifs: Boston Map Boxers Oscar Wilde Action Figure And several books on screenwriting!

This past christmas I was quite lucky. My sister, mother and I were "sponsored" by family members to take part in a bit of a family reunion. As if this weren't good enough on its own, the family reunion happened to take place on a Caribbean cruise. Yep thats right folks, eat your beating little hearts out, because I got to spend my winter in a wonderland covered in all the shades of blue and green. Evergreen and snow were replaced by Palm and sand, and I was quite happy to make the exchange. The cruise left from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and sailed to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. So I basically covered 3 places that I probably never would have gone to if I had never been given this trip. Let me say, if you have never been to the caribbean, it isn't overrated. It is simply stunning. Especially if you have grown up landlocked like me and if your experience in the ocean has been limited to fairly grimy spanish beaches and the cold north atlantic. No...

Hey folks, sorry for the absence. I was out and about for christmas. Maybe I'll tell you about it sometime. But for now, lets celebrate (or mourn) my return with these fantastically hilarious songs by Flight of the Conchords. Albi, the racist Dragon It's Business Time (thanks to Afshaan for pointing me to them)

A few things I have been thinking about lately: -My church here in madrid recently moved its services into a concert venue that is empty on sunday mornings. It is the well known Sala Galileo, where quite a few famous people have played (I saw kate rusby there last year). But because of this, I think we are probably the only church around that has a strawberry flavored condom machine in the bathroom - Where does the word "boil" come from? Is boiling water said to be boiling because it develops boils on the surface, or does our skin develop boils because it looks like it is boiling? - Why do we say, "I have a hunch" when we mean that we have an inclination towards a certain idea? Does a hunchback ever use that expression? - Are babies really cute? Women only think they are cute because they are hormonally predisposed to do so. If not they would chuck em. I think newborns are weird looking. Wrinkly, red, with squashed little faces. I mean, after a few months they get ...

In retrospect, I was looking at this list and noticed a few things. There is only one girl and one non white person. While I am sure that there are other actresses and ethnic actors I would like to see make it big, the reason I haven't noticed as many is probably due to the fact that they aren't as visible. Fact is, there are more serious acting roles for men than women out there. I can think of hundreds of movies where the guy does a decent acting job but the girl doesn't get a chance because her role is simply that of a pretty face with no room for development. And many of the strong roles are simply handed over to the same actresses over and over again. Which is why I can think of plenty of actresses I like, but not that many that are "breakthrough" or "underrated". Of course, this is not always true. I'm sure I could come up with some more if I thought about it more... The same goes for ethnic actors, most of whom are simply filling a stereotype ...

Every now and then I see a movie or television show and think... "Man! why don't you see *insert actor or actress' name* more often?" Because this is my blog, and most of what I write here is fairly inane anyway,Here is a list of actors and actresses that haven't gotten the recognition that they deserve yet. I would like to them with more leading roles: Sam Rockwell He has actually been around quite a bit, culminating, in my opinion in "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," where he was absolutely brilliant. He is a great actor with a comedic sensibility. It is perhaps that funny side of him that keeps him from getting more leading roles. Mary Louise Parker I first noticed her in the HBO version of Angels in America. She was so good. Then she disappeared from my radar for a while until the television show Weeds came out. Once again, I love her in Weeds. Lets hope she sticks around. Paul Bettany He has been in several blockbusters, but never quite managed to ...

I forgot two songs. One I am more or less ashamed of, and the other I am not. Oh Holy Night, by... *cough cough* NSYNC *cough* First of all, this is a nice song anyway. So before you judge, think of the song and agree with that part at least. Second of all, I am not sure how I ran across this song. I think I was downloading random a cappella songs, which I lamely have a a lot of. But that brings me to my second defense. It is an all vocal arrangement. And most of those guys can actually sing well, nasally, but well. And the arrangements aren't half bad. I rest my case. Judge me as needed. Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis, by Tom Waits Ah, Tom Waits. Your gravelly voice, your poetic lyrics, your old barroom musical style. What isn't to love? You are the beat poet of the music world, the Bukowski of the songwriting scene. Always a slant that makes me cringe or smile. And almost always a look at the grungy side of society. This song is just like that. The title is fairl...

Due to my new job, I have been spending a lot of time in public places writing. I can't do my translation/editing stuff at home very well because of a little thing they call the internet. It is way too distracting for me. I start working and then look up a word or verify a fact online and end up going from wikipedia entry to wikipedia entry with a couple stops at BBC news and a detour through a blog or two and never get anything done. So I leave my house and head over to the nearest Starbucks. I don't particularly like Starbucks. I used to hate it, but have come to begrudgingly accept it out of necessity. Madrid is sorely lacking in coffee shop type places. It needs some variety. A couple snooty tea rooms. A few dreadlocked coffee houses. Mix it up. However, recently my tenuous acceptance Starbucks has begun to wane. The problem is that it is the Christmas season, and Starbucks really likes Christmas. They have their seasonal blends, their special drinks and cookies, limited ...

A friend's blog brought to mind the issue of being deceived by your family. Not deceived in the sense of cheated out of the will, or not told that you are adopted, or any really negative thing like that. I mean deceived as in used as a child for personal entertainment. Being pranked or lied to by adults for their own amusement. My friend recounted one such tale, and it brought a couple of my own experiences as a child to mind. My dad used to mess with our mind from time to time when we were small. One time, when we were visiting America, we were driving up to the mall, but it looked like we were driving up to ToysRus. We didn't have massive toy stores like that in Spain when I was a child, in fact, we barely had malls until I was in high school, when they suddenly started popping up all over the place. So malls were quite a novelty when we came to america. Even more so were the superstores. Massive shops dedicated to one thing. Barns and Noble, Borders and BooksaMillion were a...

December is here. The air is cold and crisp. Chestnut vendors have appeared on street corners, with their steel barrels filled with hot coals, roasting the nuts and filling the air with a delicious aroma. And all over the city lights are starting to appear over the streets, in shop windows, even hanging awkwardly from some balconies. It would all be fantastic if it wasn't a herald for the christmas season. Yes. Christmas is coming, and I'm not very happy about it. I know, I know... "Ryan, you're a grinch." Well, maybe I am. Sue me. Nothing like a lawsuit to celebrate the season. I don't know when my "grinchness" started. When I was a child I loved christmas. I loved the lights, the repetitive songs, the presents, the family, the food. I loved decorating the tree and picking out presents. But sometime during my teen years it changed. I am not sure when. Perhaps it was the year my cousins moved away and suddenly christmas was a family-less affair. That...

I quit my teaching job a week ago. When I decided to stay in spain for another year, I did it with the idea that I would be teaching english part time, as a means to pay off my living expenses whilst I worked on my music. But over the past couple of months I have started to have throat problems. Slowly I have begun to lose my voice a bit. The doctor isn't quite sure what the deal is, though we both suspect acid reflux is burning away at my throat. Regardless of what it may be, teaching english wasn't helping. I spent quite a few hours a day talking, projecting my voice loudly, and it was becoming quite uncomfortable, bordering on painful. At the end of a day of teaching, I would get home disheartened and tired. I became quite despondent at the prospect that what was meant to be a means to an end was actually getting in the way of my goal. The job I depended on to live was preventing me from following my reason for living. But I was stuck. You can't just quit your job to pur...

Winter is almost here. You can never tell for sure at this time of the year. One day it is warm, the next it is cold. But for the past couple of weeks, the Fall has been wrestling, and losing, to Winter. The mornings start out very cold, and slowly the day starts to warm a bit as the sun comes out. But the Cold stands patiently in the shadows, hidden from the sun's warmth, waiting for you to walk into the shade of a building or tree to show you how cold the air really is and remind you to bring a scarf. Today was especially chilly. Even our apartment made me wrap up a little tighter. It also made me close some of the windows that we had wide open. Our whole building is heated with a giant coal furnace in the basement that tends to turn our humble abode into a living inferno. We balance this out by opening windows. It is a terrible waste of energy, but we have no control over the heating. I read that madrid still has over 2000 buildings running their heating off coal. It is terribly...

Some people are Assholes .

Sometimes you just have to pay respect where it is due. I have some pretty damn clever friends out there. Some of them have blogs. Miriam's blog always brings a wry smile to my face. Ed's is worth its weight it chuckles. Afshaan is a warm descriptive writer. Sradda's accounts of Nepal keep me going back. Daniel's blog engages the ear and the eye. Some of the blogs are give themselves to quoting better than others, but still. A few of these blogs have been linked-to on the right for a long time, others are elsewhere on the web (it is up to them if they wish to share their writings). So without further delay, here are some quotes from some of the blogs I frequent: ...The bad part about burns is that they keep hurting more and more. Other injuries, the initial pain tends to be worst and then it lessens. With burns you really have nothing to look forward to. It's like going to a really awful class on sanitation that will end in a career as a garbage man. Miriam Moser ...

So the stage was set. My friend, and flatmate, Dan thought that a Goth night sounded like fun. Then the word got out and a couple other's decided to join in. My first step was to prepare my Goth outfit. These vary more than you would think. You have the ones that are dressed like Victorian vampires, those that look like something from a Cure concert, and the cyber-Goths with their matrix-meets-a-rave look... and there are many more. But they all have some things in common: mostly, black, hair gel, and makeup. Now, I had quite a bit of black, but it was mostly of the formal variety: dress shirts, jackets and slacks. So I decided to go for the more "I just came from a funeral and I wasn't exactly a guest" look. Of course, I didn't have any makeup so I walked down the street to the nearest makeup store (there has got to be another name for those places) and checked it out. Now, the first thing I noticed is that I don't know the vaguest thing about makeup. Brands,...

And yet another reason why I love the king of spain . Lets face it, Hugo Chavez is probably one of the top 5 most irritating political figures of the past 25 years and sometimes I just wish someone would tell him to shut up. Here is the video