Random Musings

As opposed to my last blog posting, today is a beautiful day. Slightly overcast, just waiting for the sun to come out and make it nice and warm. Kristina and I got a gas grill, so I have some ground turkey marinating in onions, garlic, garlic pepper and marinade. Yum! Turkey burgers for dinner.

I have been rather inspired by things from Europe and Britain as of late. The first is the new Coldplay album, "Viva La Vida." I have been a Coldplay fan for a couple of years, but their new album is definitely my favorite. Start to finish, it is the strongest and most interesting collection of songs that I have heard in a while. Next on the horizon is "Death Magnetic" by Metallica in September. I am one of those fans that has Mission: Metallica Platinum membership, so I have gotten to enjoy their random musings and promotions for the new album.

The second inspiration is a French film called "The City of Lost Children." Very fascinating look at the search for the cure of the aging process, cloning, amnesia, and kids forced to take care of themselves because the adults are too interested in other things.

I recently purchased Softimage XSI to work on some 3D animation projects, and with it came a training DVD called "The Artists Guide to XSI." My only experience with learning software has been tutorials, books and the classroom, so this DVD was my first step into learning software. I'm hooked, what a great way to learn something. Books are good, but when it comes to complex software and techniques, actually seeing what's going on and being able to follow along simultaneously is a definite advantage that really excites me.

Well, I think that is about it for this episode of random musings. Offspring's "Hammerhead" is on, and I am going to work on some modeling tutorials in XSI.

Greed, Lies and Propaganda

June 10th and it's pouring down rain, cold and dark. I grow tired of the presidential race. It's not really a race, considering it has gone on longer than it really needs to. I grow tired of sensational journalism, as if they are actually reporting anything new. I'm tired of greed preventing the truth from actually coming out. I'm tired of propaganda telling me what I need to believe so that I will continue feeding the machine that keeps the world running. I'm tired of lies. I want the truth. It is true that the truth hurts, but how many people must be hurt in order for the truth to remain hidden?

I am tired today, but life goes on. It always does, regardless of whether I think I can change that or not.