2 things to check out that you may now know too much about

One book and one movie on two very different topics. But they are both enjoyable and give you lots of information on its given topic. The first is a book called Staley: The Fight for a New American Labor Movement. The second is a documentary movie called Scratch. The former gives you an in-depth look of a labor strike in the mid-90s from the workers' point of view. The latter gives you the history of the DJ in hip hop music.

I grade part time for the Labor Education dept at UIC. Staley is a new book published this past year by one of the professors, and is really an engaging story. Not only does it talk about the struggles the Staley workers faced, but also gives you a brief history of the company as well as some nuggets of labor history in general. I found myself very drawn into the story while reading the book, and was fortunate to go to a Q&A with the authors and a couple of the workers who were a part of that labor movement.

In a similar fashion, the documentary, Scratch, gives you an overview of how the DJ started hip hop music with some turntables. It is plenty enjoyable for those both familiar and newly initiated with the genre and lifestyle. A lot of rare interviews and performances from legends in hip hop including DJ Shadow, DJ Q-Bert, DJ Babu, and loads more. If you find a copy of either of these, I highly recommend checking it out.

Braveheart...and Collateral

The last time I watched Braveheart all the way through was a few years ago...until yesterday. I finally dusted it off my DVD rack. Strange since it was one of my favorite films of all time. Watching it again reminded me of why I love the movie so much in the first place. As Robert the Bruce's father says in one scene- "Uncompromising men are easy to admire." For all you Braveheart lovers out there, just a quick note that while it is based on a true story, many characters, events, and details where fictionalized or altered to fit the movie story better. Despite that, it's still obviously a great movie.

The action scenes are still exciting, from the first revenge battle sequence to the Battle of Stirling. The dramatic scenes still work amazingly well, particularly the ones with no words and filled with stares and looks. I was just reading through all the goofs on imdb and was surprised to see so many. I don't care though. It's still a great film. I'd probably watch it more often if it wasn't 3 hours long.

The last time I watched it in its entirety was really late at night with some friends during a visit to Iowa a few years ago. There's a girl I know there named Jaime who absolutely loves the film, even more than I do. She can pretty much quote the whole thing. I miss those Iowa friends. I haven't seem a lot of them in awhile, especially Jaime.

Another movie of note is Collateral. It's probably my favorite movie with Tom Cruise because his assassin character is so well developed and he sheds a lot of the personality that you see in most of his other films. It's also directed by Michael Mann, which almost automatically means that it's good.

totally not getting married

I know most of my friends don't agree with me, but this is something that I've considered for the past year or two now. I was just at my cousin's wedding in Detroit this past weekend. It was beautiful, from the rooftop ceremony to the non-conventional breakfast food reception "dinner" to the beautiful couple that is my cousin and his wife. With all the relatives around, of course it was prime time for them to ask me where my girlfriend or date was. Not seeing anyone, I respond. Well when are your aunts from Hawaii going to come back and visit then, they ask me. I don't know. Hopefully another occasion will come.

I have this friend named Jennifer. She's a friend from college. Didn't even hang out with her very much then, but now she's one of my favorite people here in Chicago. She's become a very good friend. I started to teach her guitar about a year ago. She's social enough that I could introduce her to other friends and she would carry on a conversation. I am very comfortable in my own skin when I hang out with her. Sometimes we would talk about relationships in general. She's asked me a couple of times what kind of girl that I go for. I would say the type of girl that I'm friends with and who I trust. Oh, and someone who plays guitar, too, but then she'd be onto me. I should mention that Jennifer met this wonderful man in Africa during her time in the Peace Corps who she is now engaged to. By no means would I get in the way of that. In fact, I'm very much looking forward to the day when I can meet him (he's still in Africa). But that still leads us back to the title.

In Blue Like Jazz, Don Miller says that if you like someone you should tell them. I never brought this up with Jennifer...yet. I will. Even though I have no intention of having a romantic relationship with her at all, I think it's still important to talk about stuff like that.

There really isn't anyone else in Chicago. I was just talking to my brother about this last night. I told him how I'd want to ask out someone who I started become friends with and who I trust. No one else really fits that criteria who is available. It's amazing that despite the number of people that I meet, hardly anyone takes the time to become friends and build some trust.

It was nice talking to my brother last night. We hadn't seen each other too much lately, but we got to have this nice, serious, but short, conversation on the ride home. He really put the whole "relatives bringing up girlfriends and other things every time you see them" into perspective for me. To be honest, it really started to bug me at my cousin's wedding. Don't get me wrong. I still enjoyed myself and was really happy for them, but I couldn't really reach out and be social too much while I was there.

I think I'll end here before I start branching out into a million other things...


blessings

reading

I was never into fiction before, but I totally dig spy novels now. I read Casino Royale and then went through all the Robert Ludlum Bourne books. Obviously the books are better even though I've devoured all the movies. But now I have no more spy novels and I can't decide what to read next. Therefore, I'm going back to read books I've already read. Stupid since I have atleast 117 books on my "to-read" list but I'm getting reminded of why I liked those books in the first place. Said books are Brennan Manning's Ragamuffin Gospel and Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz. I hadn't been into Christian spirituality books in awhile but as I said, I'm being reminded of why I like those books so much in the first place.

If you're not sure if you should go through those books or not I recommend a chapter in each of those books. I can't remember the exact chapter in Ragamuffin Gospel, but there's a powerful story about a time that Brennan Manning was attending an AA group retreat. In Blue Like Jazz, chapter 7 titled Grace (though almost all of the chapters are good to me) still sticks out the most.

I'l have to get back to you on that chapter in Ragamuffin. Until then, keep reading...

life update

Denver was awesome! Pics are up here. I got to see a bunch of people I wanted to see, including a band called the Autumn Film. I checked out some art in Boulder with Kim, met some cool people during a game night at my friends' Sara & Patrick's place, went to a couple bars, and watched the Oscars.

Checking out one of our DSLR cameras at work. Really need to learn more about these, especially since I want to own one in the future. So if you're around Chicago and want to help me learn more, please let me know. Otherwise, I'm sure there will be a lot of the city and my niece to shoot.

the most fun AND worst night in recent history

So I went to see Matt Wertz Friday night. It was a good show. It was with a couple friends plus a couple of their friends. You know how it is. The only problem was sitting back at the bar the whole time. I'm a fan of Matt Wertz but I don't know his songs well enough to where I would have enjoyed being down on the floor by the stage. And everyone back by the bar were talking louder than usual. I understand it's at the bar in the back and some talking. But there were some points where I was like- what are you doing at a live show at the House of Blues? A lot of people were not even paying attention at all to Matt Wertz and talking the whole time- rather loudly I might add. wtf. Why not go to a bar that is playing pre-recorded music?

Afterwards I went to a bar were my buddy Jimmy was performing with his band. That ended up turning out to be a lot of fun, but insane. The band was good and it was a good time, but ended up drinking too much alcohol and alcohol I shouldn't have had. I was in pretty bad shape and it took a whole day to recover but it was a fun just being with so many of the Sony guys outside of work.

25 Random Things (from facebook)

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)




1. I never do surveys, questions, etc., which is why this is a very rare occasion. I hardly ever update my status on facebook. But if Harper did it, in addition to a million others, I guess I'll do it too. And for Sarah Holcombe, and now Amber John, too, I will do it.

2. I played oboe for band and orchestra and electric bass for jazz band while in school. Sadly, my skills deteriorated throughout high school which is why I didn't play in college. Fortunately, I picked up acoustic guitar my last year of college, and for the most pat, taught myself.

3. I own way too many martial arts movies. I always have fight scenes in my head. And I have read Jackie Chan's autobiography.

4. Related to #3, Joey Arroyo made me do the hardest workouts ever for taekwondo, capoeira, and cardio kickboxing. The best ones where when my leg would give out the next few days when going up or down a staircase or just walking.

5. I have had Joker lines from the Dark Knight in my head for way too long a time now.

6. I don't have any sort of TV cable or channels at home as a way to not "waste time" but I do that anyway watching movies while I'm at home.

7. I am always excited to hear good stories, including ones in the form of documentaries. Some of the favorite ones I own now (that you should check out) are: Favela Rising, Beyond the Gates of Splendor, and Born into Brothels.

8. I always enjoy meeting new people and learning about them. I usually don't share about myself unless I have someone's complete attention.

9. I used to draw people. I have not drawn people in awhile but I would like to start again.

10. I used to perform with a juggling group in college. It's nerdy but a lot of fun. We did some crazy shows.

11. I lived with 2 of the main guys I juggled with for a few months. I had temporary return juggling doing a Jugglers of Death shows with them for Vaudeville Underground. That was probably the craziest show I've done with them.

12. I try to read when I can. I usually stay away from fiction but I've recently been reading book that were made into movies. Currently I'm reading Bourne Supremacy and High Fidelity.

13. The people I work with at Sony Style are probably the best group of people I have been able to work with at any job I have had.

14. My friends are more important to me than just about anything. That's why I try and travel just to see them.

15. I've recently started to take pictures a lot more. So you can always see what is going on with me at www.flickr.com/photos/cwilke

16. I haven't dated in a long time. I don't think I will get married despite what many of my friends think and tell me. I'm not ruling it out. It just seems unlikely at this point in my life.

17. I have a nephew in the 7th grade and a niece who is 7 months old. I love them both a whole lot.

18. I used to be addicted to video games. But it only got as far as Super Nintendo. After that, the addiction died down, much to the joy of my parents. But it would come back every now and then, playing Xbox with my old college roommate or my nephew.

19. I like going to live shows. Especially before artists get popular. I still boast, way too much I might add, over getting my friends into Mat Kearney before he got big.

20. I went to Europe on a family vacation when I was in jr high. During the trip, I got very sick with back pains and throwing up. Luckily, I got better by the time we stayed at our cousins' house for the last week.

21. I have been to Las Vegas only once for my brother's bachelor party. The common phrase "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" holds true for me. ;-)

22. I strongly believe that there is a purpose for everyone here on earth. Sometimes those purposes do not get realized. It should be something that each person is uniquely passionate about. It's hard to explain all I believe about this topic, but one other thing is that I believe it is never too late to start pursuing something that you are passionate about.

23. I think true beauty and true masculinity are found inside the person. Outward appearances should only be a reflection of what is inside.

24. I would like to have a house one day for homeless people to live in.

25. I would love to have the faith that Amber John and some of my other friends have. The type that she describes in #22 of her 25 random things. Strange that I feel this way since I have been a youth pastor, but I still feel like a toddler in my faith.

weird day at work

Yesterday I go out of the store to eat lunch at Subway. I'm walking back and I notice that Express is closed. I keep walking and there are more and more stores with their doors closed. Weird? This never happens. I get back to Sony Style and our doors are closed. Angelo lets me in and I'm just wondering, "what the hell is going on?"

Apparently there were a couple guys suspected of carrying guns in the mall. Here is one article about the incident.They tried to rob an armored car (I didn't find that out until today). All the stores were closed for a couple hours in the afternoon while mall security and a SWAT team searched for the suspects. I still had a bunch of work to do and everything, but weird day.

What was funny were the customers still around and one in particular that called the store. He was calling from the parking lot and wanted to know if we could bring him a GPS Navigation system to the mall entrance and pay cash at the door. Umm....no. Nice try, though. Yes, you may have driven far to get here, but the mall is locked down for a reason.

Needless to say, the mall was back to normal after a couple hours, probably with less people though. I wasn't around long to find out how empty it was that evening.

much awaited randomness

Wow- I really suck at blogging. So here I am sitting at a friend's house waiting to tutor, and I happen to have my computer also, so here we go! Perhaps I'll just post some random things that have happened the past few months:

1) Christmas was awesome! I got to spend part of it with said friend's house. Lunch on Christmas Day with my family was a lot of fun. Mom cooked an amazing meal as usual. I played some guitar, which has become a new tradition. Christian performed some comedy! He was great. He's been really influenced by Demetri Martin. He performed some of his jokes really well in addition to making up a couple of his own. My alternative Christmas gift worked out a lot better this year. Last year, I wanted my family to support a business owner or worker in a third world country by buying something from a World Vision gift catalog, or something to that effect. Well, turns out no one did it, and I was left leaving a lot of gifts at my parents' house. Well this year I just had everyone write about one of their favorite days of 2008 in a Christmas card. Obviously I was asking for a lot of repetition because Valentina was born in May, but I got a much better participation rate.

2) Working at Sony has lasted longer than I thought. Those first few months I was really feeling things out for awhile. Not sure if I would stay or not. Now, I just work hard and I love the people I work with. We all get along really well and clique with everyone, even if they are only working there temporarily. It has always been like that, from before I started working there.

3) I have made some great friends the past few months. Some are ones that I hope will build into strong friendships. Only time will tell at this point. You can see my recent flickr photos to see who I mean.

4) Although I haven't practiced in a few days, I am finally learning new songs again. This really hadn't happened for a couple years. But now I'm learning to play "Neon" by John Mayer, "This Love" by Maroon 5, "Whisper to Me" by Warren Barfield and a couple others. It's nice not playing the same stuff over and over again.

I guess that's enough randomness for now. Until later...


blessings