Reeses Pieces

Who Wants to be a Rock Star?!

I was peering over my friend's shoulder the other day laughing to myself that he was looking at pictures of himself. How vain. But when I went to make my jab, he told me of a photo shoot his friend had where she made "rockstars" out of her closest friends. As I browsed the library of mug shots, I thought to myself. These would look great on the cover of Rolling Stone. And the rest is history...

The Secret of Carnivale

One of the reasons I love Carnivale is the endless speculation that ensues whenever Arin and I watch it. Every week we come up with or refine a previous week's hypothesis as to what the hell (no pun intended) this show is about, and what does it all mean? But this week, the following observation was made: Carnivale and Star Wars simply have too much in common. Consider the following...

Henry Scudder is Darth Vader
Since much of this is based upon a family tree that is slowly emerging, let's start by making the assumption that Henry Scudder is analogous to Darth Vader. And what can we base this on? Well, for starters they they are both incredibly evil. At least they appear to be. If this Star Wars theory holds water than I believe one day we will see that Scudder was simply corrupted, but will prove to be good at heart. Scudder of course, also used to belong to a rare and highly secretive group called the Knight Templars. The Knight Templars.

Ben Hawkins is Luke Skywalker
Unlike Scudder, he is good.  But more importantly, Ben Hawkins in Henry Scudder's son. He is also a young man coming into a incredible power bestowed upon because of exceptionally gifted father.

Sofie is Princess Leia
In one episode last season, we saw that Sofie's mother Apollonia was raped by Henry Scudder, thus making Ben Hawkins her brother. A half brother, yes, but a brother nonetheless. This helps to reinforce a rather weird chemistry between her and Ben, a relationship that at first seemed destined to be romantic, but as the story evolves is much deeper than that. She too has an incredible power, no doubt passed onto her by her father.

Clayton Jones is Han Solo
You get the sense that Sofie and Clayton are made for each other, the way Han and Leia were made for each other. They clearly care for one another, by both are simply too stubborn to say it. Second, he is a total cowboy who is genuine and kind, but doesn't like to play by the rules. Plus, Tim DeKay kind of looks like Harrison Ford. What more proof do you need?

Samson is Obi Wan
Don't be lured to think that just because Samson is a really weird short guy that he must therefore be Yoda. That would be too obvious; but I admit it, that was my first conclusion as well. But when you think about it, it starts to make sense, consider that Samson and Scudder used to work together, and they were arguably very close. Samson is also an important messenger, and teacher for Ben who is learning how to wield a special power for the first time. But Yoda was all of these things for Luke Skywalker as well, but to me, Samson does not appear to be the "master" that management seems to be. Which is why of course that...

Management is Yoda
Aside from being incredibly cryptic and the one who holds all the secrets to Ben's Family Tree, he is also the guardian of a very important prophecy. A prophecy about a battle between good and evil. He once played a part in this prophecy, but his time has passed, and it is time for the next generation to take over. Furthermore, by all appearances he is not one you might fear - assuming of course we ever do actually see him - given that he is apparently old and crippled. But underneath the surface is arguably one of the most powerful people on the show.

Varyln Stroud is Boba Fett
A bounty hunter of sorts looking to find a capture Ben Hawkins, preferably alive.

Of course, the analogy is not bullet proof. There are many holes in the theory, and many characters who don't fit into the parallel as well as I would like... take the following characters for example:

• Brother Justin Crowe
• Iris Crowe
• Stumpy and Rita Sue
• Libby
• Lodz - Darth Maul? After all he was killed by Samson/Obi-Wan
• Lila
• Ruthie and Gabriel

I am not purporting that Star Wars was the genesis of the motifs in Carnivale, certainly not; or that Carnivale was purposely made to parallel Star Wars. But being both stories about the battle between good and evil, they do seem to share a lot of similarities.

Or is my long time Star Wars bias simply clouding my judgment?

 

Cottonwood Institute Get Its Non-Profit Status

My cousin continues to impress me. But then again Ford has always impressed me and has been someone that I admire because he is an individual whom has always known what his passion is in life and over the years has managed to turn that passion into a profession and in the process has achieved by all appearances: genuine happiness.

And now a passion that led him to teach at the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, then to pursue a Masters in Outdoor Education, and then the creation of The Community Adventure Program based upon the thesis he wrote for school, has taken him yet one more step closer to his dream. Yesterday I learned that he was granted non-profit status for The Cottonwood Institute, an organization he founded to support a vision he has for how people, specifically young adults, can be taught not only to value the environment and their local communities, but also themselves as individuals through a series of simple outdoor educational programs and activities.

I particularly like Ford’s emphasis on local communities because I believe that the world will more quickly become the place we all want it to be when we all invest and care for the environment immediately around us. And I am not talking about the environment in terms of smog and planting trees, I am also talking about spending time with your neighbors, patronizing locally owned businesses, and getting involved in your children’s school and education. It’s the old axiom “think globally, act locally.”

And Ford is teaching those types of values to more and more children. And for that I feel that I am in his debt.

Thank you Ford.

Welcome to the Oaks

At the risk of sounding like someone with a problem, I will say that it finally happened. A silly little dream of mine came true yesterday as I played in my first poker tournament. I have always loved poker and would relish playing an occasional game with friends, but it wasn't until I caught a glimpse of the World Series of Poker on television that I ever even thought of playing in a tournament.

But ever since, I have been watching poker practically non-stop on television, reading books on the subject, watching DVDs, playing an occasional game on-line, trying to learn how to play with my chips properly at the table, and dreaming... yes, dreaming of playing in a tournament. But I did promise myself that I would not play until I had a job, and until I had money to safely lose. So two weeks ago when I saw that a local card club was hosting a No Limit Texas Hold'm Tournament with a $100 buy-in, I figured, why not? And so it began.

"That guy"

I thought it was bad when I walked into Peet's, ordered my usual, and instead of asking for my name they simply said, "Reese, right?" It gave me a warm feeling inside, like they knew me. But that feeling was dashed to the wall this morning.

"One medium, non-fat, cafe freddo, please," I said in my usual chipper tone.

The woman behind the counter almost began punching in my order, when she stopped, looked at me and said, "oh you're that guy..." She let her voice trail off as she said it.

Now I don't think I will be able to order my usual without feeling guilty, as if I am putting them out by ordering it. And I thought the time I heard someone behind the counter at the Peet's on Market and Battery remark to her co-worker, "man, I haaate making these damned things" was just the result of someone being grumpy. I guess not.

God save you if you are buying a home in the Bay Area

I had hoped that the bursting of the dot com bubble would have resulted in a much needed correction in Bay Area housing market. I hoped and I waited.

Surely with the huge down turn in the stock market people's buying power would be diminished. Nope. I waited some more.

Ok, ok, ok - the unemployment: that has got to have an effect on housing prices! I kept waiting.

And waiting. Home prices were plummeting every where else in the country, but why not the Bay Area for crying out loud.

And now what do I learn? That prices are going up and breaking new records. But what's worse is that while home prices are going up, fewer and fewer families can afford them because people are not earning any more money then they used to.

I have to admit, venturing out into the housing market is intimidating as hell. My wife and I enter these relatively average homes, in the better then average neighborhoods and have to push past the people crowding the doorways, and have to watch our step constantly so that we don't trample any of the millions of kids running around. We leave 99% of the homes wondering if we will ever be able to afford the home we want to raise a family in, in the neighborhood we want to raise them... and we already own a home. Meaning that we are already in a much better position to buy a home than the average person.

God help people wanting to get into the housing market for the first time in the Bay Area. You better have two very healthy incomes, have saved for a huge down payment, or be willing to live in and commute from Tracy, or you're screwed.

Memories from the playground...

When I was a child I remember kids taunting me with the joke, "what do you get when you put Byrne in a blender?!"

"Reeses Pieces!" <insert loud, rowdy gafaw here>

What fun.