Title Origins and Friends from the South

It occurred to me that I didn't include an origin of my blog title in my first post. I think it's important, seeing as how only myself and one other person know of its significance...

When I was in middle school, I had two very good friends, who I remained good friends with through high school. The three of us talked regularly and had known each other since elementary school. One of these friends had a habit for telling stories that the other two of us found... a bit hard to believe. They weren't completely far-fetched, like the kid who told me he had the Boardwalk piece in the McDonald's Monopoly game (remember that?) or the kid who said he'd seen every Bugs Bunny cartoon ever made. You could tell those guys were lying right off. For my friend, though, it seemed as if these things could have actually happened, but the fact that so many of them happened to him in such rapid succession seemed all too unlikely.

I mentioned this to my other friend, launching he and I into a conversation about the dubious nature of his claims. "You know," I said, chuckling to myself, "talking to him is like a bunch of unlikely fantasies and improbable realities." We laughed. A lot, actually. In fact, we thought that little phrase was so funny that we decided, should we ever write a book - together or separately - we should name it Unlikely Fantasies & Improbable Realities. In fact, until very recently, I had a plan to publish a book of short fiction entitled just that. (Who knows? I might still do just that, but I really haven't had much time for writing any more than the occasional blog post lately.)

Upon starting this blog, I wracked my brain for a good title, to no avail. Should I use a line from a song? A rewording of one of my favorite quotes? A phrase in some foreign language that carries deep and significant meaning for me? I couldn't quite find anything that fit... until I remembered the above story and how amusing it had been at the time. 'What better name,' I thought, 'to describe my life than one that seems simultaneously absurd and deep... like me?'

So, there it is... the origin of my blog title.

"And now for something completely different..."

My friend Ben came up yesterday from Tennessee, where he lives with his wife Amanda. Ben and I have been good friends since kindergarten, which makes him my best and oldest friends. Being so far apart is difficult, to be sure, but it's always good to get together and get a chance to catch up, reminisce, and just chat it up. Ben is on his way out to the Ukraine even as I type to spend some time with his father (a professor at Indiana Wesleyan University). On his way up, he swung by and hung out for a bit last night, which was a lot of fun.

We talked for a good long time, something we both always enjoy. Then we went to the grocery store and made some purchases (I needed some food in my apartment... BADLY!) and then headed to Red Lobster for dinner. After starting out with some steamed oysters and some of their AWESOME Cheddar Bay Biscuits, we both tried (and enjoyed) the Georgia Peach-Bourbon Shrimp and Scallops, which featured awesome grilled shrimp and scallops (with a peach bourbon glaze) on a bed of wild rice pilaf and a side of seasoned broccoli. It's one of the current menu specials Red Lobster is running and was extremely good!

After dinner, we swung by my apartment and had some Starbucks Organic Sumatra-Peru blend coffee in my new French Press (which my mom and dad got me for my birthday - thanks, guys!) while listening to The Swell Season and Sam & Ruby - which is to say, a great brew and great tunes with a great friend! After a while, our good friend Ian showed up and we chilled and chatted a while longer. Emilee (my kid sister) also hung out for a bit. After she left, the guys decided to head over to the Greenwood Barnes & Noble. I picked up the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly (which featured an article about the upcoming Watchmen movie - based on one of my all-time favorite graphic novels) and a literary magazine called Third Coast. I've often thought about submitting a story to a literary magazine, but have yet to actually do so. So, I'm looking at this one in hopes that it might be someplace I can send a story. Who knows? Maybe I can get published before next year is out?

Pray for Ben, if you think about it. He'll be in Ukraine for about ten days with little to no contact with his friends and family in America. Also pray for his wife - this is the longest they've ever been apart from one another since they've been married. Mostly, though, pray that God's will is done in their work in Kiev (pronounced, as I discovered yesterday, Keev.) Thanks!

Ciao!

Friday's Top Five - Bob Dylan Songs

In an effort to build up my posting efforts, I think it's a good idea to add a couple of regular features to the blog. That having been said, on Fridays, I hope to post a list of my Top Five... somethings. Could be anything really. TV shows, comedies, movies, actors, songs... or, in today's case, Bob Dylan songs.


Throughout the past school year, I've been getting more and more into the music of Bob Dylan. While many find his vocals jarring, his gift for songwriting and lyricism (is it a word? I don't know) are unparalleled by anyone before or since. In becoming a fan of Dylan, it's difficult for songs NOT to resonate with you as you listen to them. The following are among my favorites:

5. "Ballad of a Thin Man"
Dylan's wordplay here is dizzying and his melody haunting as he mockingly taunts the titular "thin man," Mr. Jones. "Something is happening," he muses, "but you don't know what it is... do you, Mr. Jones?" All this is to say nothing of his startling imagery - from a circus geek handing over a chicken bone to a one-eyed midget calling Jones a cow - which really solidifies this ballad as a Dylan classic.

4. "All Along the Watchtower"
In my humble opinion, this song needs to be named the official anthem of the apocalypse. Among the shorter of Dylan's compositions, with a running time of only 2:32, "Watchtower" tells the story of a joker and a thief, trapped in an unknown prison at what appears to be the end of the world. The brevity and the awesome rhythm make this song masterful, but it is Dylan's refusal to give the song a concrete ending - other than "Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl/Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl" - that make this song truly haunting. (Also, this song was used to masterful effect on the Season Three finale of "Battlestar Galactica" as covered by BT4.)

3. "Just Like a Woman"
There are a lot of questions as to who this song was actually written about and Dylan, to his credit, has yet to reveal anything (and, quite frankly, I'd be upset if he ever did). This is a beautiful song about a woman - her simultaneous frailty and callous. The constant refrain of "she takes just like a woman/she makes love just like a woman/she aches just like a woman/but she breaks like a little girl" reminds the audience of this porcelain interior hidden beneath a tougher exterior. At the end, Dylan calls it quits... and when he sings it, his vocals convey all of that raw emotion.

2. "Visions of Johanna"
Another perfect blending of Dylan's poetic lyrics and beautiful melodies. "Visions" paints another picture of heartbreak - a couple who have fallen out of whatever love they once shared... and his inability to forget it. The final line, "and these visions of Johanna are now all that remain," haunt the listener as only something sung by Dylan truly can. While originally released on Dylan's 1966 album "Blonde on Blonde," in my mind, a more perfect version can be found on his live album "The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: The 'Royal Albert Hall' Concert 1966". Just Dylan, his harmonica, and his guitar. Far better than the studio version, IMHO.

1. "Like a Rolling Stone"
Some things just need to be the way they are. Perhaps the best known of all of Dylan's songs, this one - about a girl abandoned and alone - has been named the best rock song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. The name taken from a Muddy Waters tune, Dylan turned the line into something memorable. Again, a perfect version of this song exists as the closing track of Dylan's "Royal Albert Hall" Concert in '66. Done in an electrical style that seemed to enrage his audience, Dylan's almost wheezing tone mocked them as he sang out, "How does it feeeel?!" In my mind, you almost can't discuss Dylan without this song. In many ways, it epitomizes his impact on both music and the music industry in a profound way.

Honorable mentions: "Desolation Row," "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere," "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again," "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," "It Ain't Me Babe," "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," and "The Hurricane"

What are some of your favorite Dylan songs?

"Getting to know you..."

It's been awhile since I blogged. And there are reasons, I suppose, to the singular lack of blogging in my life. On the one hand, this past year has been incredibly hectic and busy - what with starting a new job, getting my own place, and the like. On the other hand, no matter how huge these things are, I rarely want to take the time and effort necessary to write about them to the "world at large" (i.e. - you). So, I'm thinking now's the time to rectify that. Start new. Fresh.

I used to blog on Xanga for several years - most of the way through college, in fact - but seeing as how I'm wanting a fresh start, I figured I'd pick up a new blog as well. Which has led me here, to Blogger. Here's hoping the stay is memorable (for all of us, really).

A few things about me (and, by association, some of the things this blog will likely contain):

• I am a born-again Christian associated with the Church of the Nazarene, a holiness denomination in the tradition of the Wesleyan movement. I graduated from a Nazarene college, Olivet Nazarene University, in May of 2005 with a degree in Religion and Philosophy. I currently teach freshman Bible at Covenant Christian High School, my high school alma mater. I also work part-time with my youth group, The Shore, at Indianapolis First Church of the Nazarene. That having been said, the Bible and its precepts are big parts of my life and thought. Count on that having some play here.
• I'm an entertainment junkie. Not the kind that reads the smutty tabloids and has to know who's shacking up with whom this week, but I love movies, TV, books, comics, music, theatre... the WORKS! I've been known to write reviews of various things that I see and read, so if the mood strikes, there will be some of that here as well. (My "Heroes" and "Lost" commentaries were a HUGE part of my last blog, so those might reappear when those series come back on the air.)
• I love to write. For a while, I fancied myself a sort of author, but these days I'm really too busy to write much, but occasionally, I'll feel inspired to crank out a short story. My Xanga was a catch-all for a lot of that stuff, and I'd love to subject all of you to it as well.
• Sometimes, this will just be a "day-in-the-life" kinda blog. Hope you're up for that. I'll try to make my days and thoughts seem as entertaining as possible, but I can't really promise anything. You'll just have to wait and see, I guess.
• I'm something of a foodie. I love to eat and prepare good food for myself and my friends. Both of my parents are great cooks and my paternal grandfather was as well... so you might say I've been spoiled with good cooks for so long that good food is just a part of who I am. I'm on the diet now, which limits me some, but still gives me a lot of room to be creative.

Well, I think that's mostly everything that I can think of at present. Check back, as I plan to update this one more regularly than Xanga (at least until the novelty wears off, anyway). Ciao!