These Are The Things I Think About

Have you ever noticed that the majority of Americans from the past few generations find most opera music incredibly funny? I have never been somewhere except in an opera house where at least a few people didn’t give a chuckle when opera music was played for whatever reason. Classical opera music is one of the most difficult types of music to sing, if not the most difficult. It takes years and years of vocal training to be able to sing it correctly and a very special type of voice, certainly nothing directly funny about the music like a punch line to a joke or a man slipping on a banana peal. So why does your average joe get a tickle from hearing such an impressive piece of music?

I’m sure many of you are aware of the experiment conducted by Ivan Pavlov in the 1890’s with the salivating dog. In this experiment, Pavlov would ring a bell right before he would feed a dog. The dog began to associate this bell with food and would salivate when he heard the bell regardless of whether or not food was actually present. This is called classical conditioning. The dog was conditioned to think of food subconsciously when he heard the bell. Wait? What does this have to do with opera music? Everything. Everything.

My generation as well as one or two others were made up of children raised on cartoons like the Loony Tunes. When I was young I watched many of the same cartoons my parents did, as I’m sure the majority of you all did too. All too familiar are scenes with Bugs Bunny performing as a character of popular operas or Wile E. Coyote’s contraptions backfiring while we watch him be blown to smithereens to the tune of an Italian opera. Another common occurrence was Tom chasing Jerry with an opera back track. 

What I am getting at here is that we associate opera music with the funny emotions we got from watching cartoons. It is a case of classical conditioning in it’s finest light. Pavlov’s dog drools when he hears a bell because he subconsciously thinks of food. We laugh when we hear opera because we subconsciously think of Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Tom and Jerry, or whatever cartoons you were found of.

Hey-ho Sparky!

It’s 9:30am in the morning and the local fire department has just finished with the ‘wax on, wax off Danielson’ on Engine #2. The appropriate tire shine has been applied, no water spots to be found, and the wheels are shining brighter than Lil’ Jon’s pimp cup at the grammy’s after-party on Jesus’ 2nd birthday! Looking good. But now that Engine #2 is looking so good what should they do with it? I know! They drive it to go get breakfast. Excellent. They drive it to go get a quick lunch at subway. Sweet. They go pick up Lou’s kid from Delinquent to Distinguished Daycare and while they are out Joe’s wife calls and ask him to pick up Spot from the Woof Wash dog cleaners. Nice. At 4pm a few of the guys just feel like cruising the city as they wait for a call and after driving around for a few hours they decided to get dinner at Itchy’s Italian Cuisine. Splended.

Now I don’t know if you have noticed but fire trucks are very large vehicles with very large engines. Very large vehicles with very large engines require a very large amount of fuel to move them from point A to point B and this costs money. Where does this money come from? Donations? Not much of it. The fire fighter’s pockets? Most definitely not. Sponsorships? I don’t think so, but Budweiser is always suprising me. How about the tax payers? Yes, yes, I do think I am correct!

While I really appreciate what the fire fighter’s of the United States do for us I do think they throw an incredible amount of money away just cruising around in their fire engines. I have had this conversation with my dad a lot over the years and it has both of us baffled as to why they feel they need to do this rather than investing in a smaller vehicle like the fire chief or inspector usually drive. They have no business parading around town in a vehicle that gets well under 10 miles to the gallon when they already complain about being under funded and it is not their money to begin with. I see a lot of these kinds of decisions being made every day in government funded programs and they might as well just put a big pile of the tax payer’s money in the center of town and let us all shoot flaming arrows at it. At least that would be more entertaining.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button… Curious…..

This afternoon I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the movies and thought it was a very good film overall. I was very happy when I realized that the underlying themes of the movie were exactly the things I have been writing about the past few months in this blog. Not to worry if you have not seen this film, what I write in this blog will not spoil any parts of the movie, however, I recommend anyone who has yet to see the movie to do so.  I thought it was very interesting to see that there are people out there on the same wave-length as myself.

There was one part in the movie about three-quarters of the way through that was dead on with a post I wrote November 20th called “Potential”. Here Benjamin looks at a serious of events that take place that would have completely changed the outcome of one larger event if any single person had made a different choice and states that our lives are simply the intertwined collective decisions made by a whole. If you have seen the movie, go back and read my post ‘Potential’ and compare what I wrote to the part right after Daisey’s dance rehearsal and she waits for her friend who is fixing her shoe.

Another theme of this movie that has also been a theme of this blog regards to our ability to control our distiny.  Benjamin says, “It’s never too late, or in my case, too early, to be whatever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of.  If not, I hope you have the strengthto start all over again.” Towards the end of the movie, Daisey’s daughter tells her mother “I’m sorry if I have disappointed you. I know I don’t have much to show.” This not only states that it’s never to late to change but it also says that we are in control over our lives and if we are not happy then we must have the strength to become who we want to be.

The final theme I will address is one that I have not written about in my blog but it is one that I have discussed with friends and family members for a very long time. When we are born, we require someone to take care of us until we grow old enough to become self sufficient. Eventually, those who took care of us will become too old and frail to care for themselves and require the once cared for to become the care takers. The cycle repeats itself over and over so really we enter the world the same way we leave the world; Dependent.

RGM

Let’s Get This Show On The Road

I am very happy to say that the trip to Europe this summer that I have mentioned a few times is a definite go. I have already been able to put aside a good portion of the money and have a plan to acquire the rest of the necessary funds. I’ve been working on a rough itinerary for a few weeks now as well as getting quotes on airline/eurorail fares. 

Currently,the cheapest flight I have been able to put together to allow me to travel through the areas of Western Europe that I’ve planned to see is to fly out of Charlotte, NC to Amsterdam and then a month later out of Madrid, Spain. This certainly could change with further research, especially the area I’ll be flying back home from, but I like the looks of it so far. I will post my general itinerary later when it is more developed but I am really trying to make a point of not having too concrete of a plan that will require me to be in such a place on Monday and another on Wednesday, I just want to go where ever I feel inclined to. If I fly into Amsterdam I intend to spend about 5 days in The Netherlands, about a week and a half in Germany, about the same in France as well as Spain. I will leave as soon as I finish up my outdoor track season at UNC Charlotte, which will probably be mid-May and spend roughly a month by my self staying in hostels and camping through Europe.

Thinking about things globally rather than just locally has really altered my outlook on many things. Thoughts of travel as well as a natural progression to even more open-mindedness has gotten me interested in pursuing things outside of my normal and mundane culture.  I have always been somewhat interested in becoming fluent in at least one other language but recently I have had a much stronger desire to pursue this. Not only does it allow you to communicate with a much larger group of individuals and expands your circle of influence but it also opens up brilliant new forms of art and culture such as literature, poetry, music, etc. The majority of the world’s best gems in literature and poetry are not written in English and while most are usually translated, it is simply not the same as reading the original in it’s designated tongue. For example, all the words Shakespeare has created as well as rhyme schemes are simply not fully translatable and are lost within that translation.

I have also been listening to a lot of music in other languages. This first started out partly as amusement because my ipod is currently being serviced, most of my CDs are not with me at school, and I am sick to death of the new music they put on the radio these days. So a solution to this, I started listening to a Hispanic station on the radio since I could understand  good deal of what they are saying, thanks to working a ton of hours this past summer on a golf course alongside an almost exclusively non-English speaking Hispanic crew. The radio station is definitely a change from your everyday Akon and Tpain, that’s for sure! After some occasional listeing to this station, Ciento Cinco Punto Siete, I began thinking about people I have heard of who do not speak one word of English, yet can sing every verse of all these American songs. Since music is all about emotion, we really don’t need to be able to understand the lyrics to understand emotion because emotion is universal. With this I began to research some music from other countries and found some very, very good music. But I’m a music guy, it’s what I do and what I always have done, so I’m always searching outside of my known areas to discover new things.

For those of you who are interested in stepping outside of the box and finding new good music, youtube MC Solaar. I bought his album Fifth: Ace on amazon recently and have been listening to it a lot. MC Solaar is a French rapper that I have really began to appreciate and those with an openmind and taste for music will too, however I understand many others must be able to understand the most topical aspect of the music, lyrics, to enjoy it.  To each his own.

RGM

A Few Things I Have Learned From Running

The past year and a half has been a HUGE learning experience for me and much of it has come from running on a collegiate cross country and track team. I could write a book with just part of the things I have learned about myself from running but for now I will just list a select few I feel appropriate. Many of these things I had learned before I got to college but they all become so much more apparent at this level of competition and training. A good portion of these things over lap and are in no particular order:

• Confidence is crucial. It is very simple, if you expect to be disappointed you will be. Be confident and trust yourself at all times. Don’t lose sight of what you want just because others tell you you can’t do it or because they can’t do it themselves.
• Pain molds you. Nothing I know of allows a person to grow as well as a series of painful experiences if you choose to see the positive side of things. By putting myself through pain on a daily basis I have learned who I am and who I am not. Pain also creates an extremely powerful bond between those who share it.
• Humble yourself. As much as most runners will hate to admit it, no matter how good you are someone can and will eventually beat you. There is a big difference between the majority of endurance athletes and other athletes that is evident in many interviews after a big win of some sort. When a distance runner wins an Olympic gold medal they will usually say “I was the best today,” where as almost every interview after the Superbowl or NBA championship you will here these athletes claim that they are “the best in the world” period. There will always be someone to do what you do better so never allow yourself to get too full of yourself.
• Discipline and hardwork pay dividends. With a lot of discipline and hardwork you can achieve practically anything you set your mind to. If you want something badly enough and you are willing to work, you will achieve it.
• Importance of friendship. I have always been close to my friends but I really learned the importance of this one a few months ago. There was a period of time not long ago when I felt as though I was in a downward spiral and really got into a negative state of mind. To be perfectly honest training at this level can get pretty dark at times and it’s easy to question what your doing and easy to doubt yourself. I was frustrated as well as down on myself for quite some time, which if you know me, is not like me at all. At this time I needed a friend more than ever and the ones that I consider my brothers really helped me pull out of this state. Keep your friends close and don’t ever neglect them.
• Time management. This is a absolutely vital aspect to being a college athlete and must be learned early on. Due to the extremely time consuming nature of college sports I had to set my priorities and do whats important first and worry about other things later. Manage your time to excel.
• True respect. I have learned what it really means to respect someone and the merits that makes a person deserving of respect. I see many people throwing respect at people who simply don’t deserve it as well as not giving respect to those who do. Think about who you look up to and ask yourself why you do so. If they truly deem respected then implement their good qualities into your own life.
• Stay positive. This one is probably the most important thing in anything you do and also goes hand in hand with confidence. Have you ever noticed how if you start to have a bad day early on things often tend to get worse and if you start having a good day the oposite happens? This is because you attract people and things to you with your mind set. I know being negative is one of the biggest performance inhibitors I’ve ever seen happen to me or my team mates. I can not say enough how important this one is!
• The Origin of Fear. 9 times out of 10 our fears are completely irrational and are generated by silly things. Through running I’ve learned to face fears of not only the feeling of complete physical hell but also the fear of what people think of me, of failing myself, and of failing others. We can’t let our fears prevent us from doing what we please.
• Talk is cheap. There are so many people that like to tell me “Oh, I can do this” or “Yeah, next year I will do that” but the fact of the matter is is that words mean nothing. We must speak with our actions because anyone can talk but true character only shows in action.
• Never forget where you came from. Sometimes when I get frustrated with a race or a workout I have to look back a year ago and remember watching these guys race at the Charlotte Invitational and how bad I wanted to be them. Often times I think we get too caught up in what others are doing and forget our own successes.
• Stay hungry. It is vital to stay motivated and hungry for more. Always try to find motivation and inspiration for the things you do.
• “Keep that head up!”. When in a race or workout and you start looking down you will immediately hear someone shout for you to keep your head up. One reason for this is to focus on what’s infront of you and don’t forget that you are out there fighting. I think it is important that we keep our heads up in our daily lives and don’t let small distractions keep us from our goals.
• Everyone wants to be a champion. Everyone and their Uncle Joey wants to be a champion but nobody wants to put in the work. Nobody wants to be running the workout with the boys as the sun is rising or be the person by your side during a rainy, Sunday 20 mile run. It is like my coach says from time to time “everyone loves the glory and beauty of the race but few people see what goes on where the real races are won.” If you just allow yourself to accept the challenge of going after what you want you are already ahead of the majority of people who are afraid to get their hands dirty.
• Relax! In races it is easy to panic when someone takes the pace out hard or things don’t go according to plan. However, if you just take a moment to relax and scope out the situation you will come out much better than if you act on pure impulse. Don’t let yourself get overly excited when unexpected situations arise in your life, simply relax and think for a second, then act.  
• Yesterday means nothing. The things we have done in the past really don’t matter but we often use that as an excuse for our choices. The only control we have over our lives is what we do right now, so we need to do what we want today and stop thinking about yesterday.

Something Of An Art

This is possibly the most well planned prank I have ever seen. Many of you may have already seen this video as it has been around for quite some time, but if you haven’t, watch it! How they got this many people involved is absolutely amazing. Check out Drinking Time! Oh, and you will probably want to skip the first minute of the video because it is incredibly stupid.

RGM

Reality Check

I consider myself to be a very open-minded person as well as tolerant to just about anything as long as it doesn’t interfere with other’s lives. However, one thing I do not and will not tolerate is blatant ignorance and I’m not talking about being ignorant because of lack of opportunity or education, I mean when someone chooses to be ignorant. To be specific I am referring to citizens of the United States of America pretending to know what real hardship is in this day and age.

We all have problems. Some problems are larger than others and are definitely tough situations but very rarely are they life threatening ones. I became very irritated with the reactions of millions of Americans when Obama was elected as president. You would honestly think the world had ended with everybody jumping around screaming this and that about socialism and how our life savings were going to be lost. I can assure you it will not. Some policies may be placed on the economy that you don’t care for but so what? Go back to your climate controlled house with heat and air conditioner, cable television, and a refrigerator full of food and chill out for four years. After four years vote someone new into office. It’s really that simple. Many people don’t have this luxury, the leaders in many places are there for life. It’s a beautiful thing but we are such a spoiled nation we don’t understand what we have. Wake up.

Did you know that 80% of the global population lives on less than $10 a day? $10 a day, that’s not only just for food, but housing, and every other expense imaginable. Entertainment? What’s that? How many of you think you could live on less than $10 a day? I don’t know hardly any Americans who can even have a place to live for $300 a month. And what about eating? What about getting to work? Most of these people in impoverished nations are holding some kind of job, one that very few people I know would be willing to do for 10x the wage. What happens when you are living on less than $10 a day and a family member falls ill or gets injured. How will you afford medical bills at a poor excuse hospital(if you are lucky!)?. Wake up.

Allow me to ask you a few more question that you can ponder yourself: When you awoke this morning did you find yourself in a bed, couch, or something soft? Billions of people don’t know the luxury of what we call a bed. Do you have access to tap water? People, do you not understand what kind of luxury this is?! When is the last time you had to walk five miles and haul water from a creek back to your home? Or worry about your water supply drying up? Or even worry about drinking the tap water? America is one of the few countries in the world where hunger is not a life threatening issue to the average population. Most of us only have to concern ourselves with what we will eat and not if we will eat. Many times we get upset if we don’t get to eat exactly what we want. I could go on for days on these issues. Wake up.

The purpose of those post is not me trying to convince everyone to donate half their incomes to those less fortunate (although if you’d like to, go for it). The point I want to get across is that we have absolutely no clue how good we have it. Typically the majority of us compare ourselves to a select few developed countries, ones that I could count on one hand, when comparing ourselves internationally. However, the select developed countries makes up a tiny portion of the world and all should consider themselves so lucky. People of America, wake up!