can you tell i’m not into blogging? new house stuff

May 24, 2009

Since I haven’t posted here in ages, I guess I don’t really have to state that ‘blogging’ isn’t my thing, at least not at the moment.

But this post is to confirm that I have a wordpress account and I still own markwiberg.com, until I change my name.

News: it looks the comedy at the Grange Hall in SLO, CA is done. Too bad, but it’s tough to schedule comedians, no matter where.

I moved to Paso Robles – thank you to the mortgage meltdown for bringing home prices down. I may post soon about buying a house, moving in, cleaning up, etc….but it’s been done, right? Who wants to read about this Home Improvement-type crap?  All I know is that despite all the debate and articles on ‘renting versus buying’, buying/owning) a house adds a different element to one’s life – more responsibility? Tremendous debt? Maybe. But, when I was renting I had debt, so what’s the diff? And repsonsibility? I’ll take that over trying to get your full security deposit back. Anyway, if you’re renting, you still have the responsibility to manage one’s money for the future, so keeping on top of your investments is key. If you buy a house, you have similar responsibility, but in a more ‘present’ or real way – your investment is there, everyday, waiting for you to fix this, or paint that. You are never guaranteed a return, but you know you have a house, and property – actual land, like in that movie Far and Away, without the horse race and phony Irish accents – and except for a few cases (eminent domain or sink hole), that property will be around for years. Depending upon your location, that property may increase in value, for whatever reason. It may decrease in value, but for how long. There is only so much property to be had.

I’m no expert in real estate, finances (believe me, I’m not), but having had the good fortune to pick up a relative bargain in an expensive county, I think the odds are in my favor (unless an earthquake hits, then I’m screwed), and I think pro-rent articles are sometimes too dismissive of home-buying.  We are human. There is something to be said for having your own place. I’m not opposed to renting for sure – I am the least handyman person I know, so I dig being able to call the landlord and say ‘fix it!’. But, too late now for me.  This will be my main investment for now -  I’m too lax on keeping up with 401k/investing stuff. The fact that I call it ’stuff’ tells you I am. And having rented rooms and apartments for the past 15 years, it’s a very cool feeling (and scary) to know that everything in the house and on the property is mine, good or bad. Besides, if it doesn’t go up in value, I’ll ask the government to cover the loss. j/k.

wiberg's new old house

Wiberg's new old house, built in 1918. Bought as a short sale - priced 30% lower than previous 2005 transaction. He's fortunate because there is a rental unit in back, which will help with the mortgage, and make him a Mr. Furley.

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Timmy! The Audacity of Timothy Geithner!

January 21, 2009

This Timothy Geithner (Timmy!) is a great money-man.  You can read all about it in his unpublished book:

Pay Shmay – An American’s Guide To Taxes.

In case you don’t know who Timothy Geithner is, he is one of the two below.  One knows his name and the other one uses off-the-shelf software to cheat on his taxes.

Money Expert

Money Expert

Money Expert

Money Expert

Lesson learned – If you can’t pay the IRS, get a job with them. And if you can beat them, well, run the IRS.

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SNL’s Ode to Tracking Number (the lyrics), and more on this American (parody) classic

January 18, 2009

Ode to a Tracking Number, by Ton and Tanya Peeples. I can’t get that song out of my head, perhaps because more often than I care to, I have to read off tracking numbers to UPS or FedEx.

Kristen Wiig and Paul Rudd singin' 'bout a tracking number!

Kristen Wiig and Paul Rudd singin' 'bout a tracking number!

It’s a parody, inspired by the classic Ode to Billie Joe’s story-telling ways, and is performed by actor Paul Rudd (Ton) and Kristen Wiig (Tanya, or is it Tonya?) on Saturday Night Live (see there, kids, that show doesn’t totally suck all the time!):

Here it is at videogum (since I can’t embed video, it appears, from non-youtube sites….and hulu doesn’t have it)

AND HERE ARE THE LYRICS (transcribed by me, who has too much time on his hands today  – I think I got it right but let me know if I missed a number or got the customer names wrong! I’m not sure why I put the quotes in.)

Ode to Tracking Number

It was morning just like any other morning in the Georgia hill   (wiig)

She heard a knocking at her door and up her spine she felt a tingly chill  (rudd)

And she stumbled to the door and said “hey who’s that on the other side?” (wiig)

“I gotta package here for Lester Carl and Eleanor Alisha Pride.” (rudd)

She said listen here those people that you’re talking about they live next door. (wiig)

And he said “Wait a second isn’t this 5407 Johnson Road?”  (rudd)

She said “Yes it is but this here is a duplex and they live in back.” (wiig)

Then he said “Let me call my manager so I can get this package tracked.” (rudd)

Then he said “Lady can I use your phone my cell ain’t got no signal that’s clear.”  (wiig)

And she said “Sure enough but careful there’s a lot of broken glass over here.”  (rudd)

And he tip-toed to the kitchen and he called his manager Jerome. (wiig)

He started reading off the tracking number right into her M & M phone. (rudd)

He said  “31256935673452″  (wiig)

Then he continued “TKX45201267Q.”   (rudd)

Then he looked at her real weird and said “the rest is covered by tape.”  (wiig)

And then he lifted up the tape and read “J712438.”  (rudd)

“57143577GLD5Q”  (wiig)

Then it continues with “BR476913AP2″  (rudd)

Which was followed by an “asterisk then PPDL dash Q dash.”  (wiig)

and then “a lower case ‘u’ hyphen 55732….”.  (rudd)


And, in enjoying this song, I revisited the inspiration for this song, Ode to Billie Joe, and the performances by the singer/songwriter Bobbie Gentry. Here are two videos that show how great she is:

Niki Hoeky:

Ode To Billie Joe:

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I went to a Presidential Inauguration once…

January 17, 2009

Barack Obama is going to become president and his inauguration is THE most important thing ever to happen, if you watch/listen the cable news anchors. 50 million people are going to show up in DC on January 20th and watch the inauguration.  Probably the planet will tilt off its axis because so many followers will converge onto that part of the globe for this occasion. But, guess what?

They’ll wish they stayed home.

Yes, it’s history. It’s a must see. But I went to an inauguration in 1996 for Clinton when I lived in Washington DC as a grad student, because how often does one get a chance to see an inauguration, right? Once was enough, I think. First, it was cold (I think mid-20s). Second, you had to arrive early if you wanted a good spot (that is, a ‘good spot’ in a bad location, a pre-assigned roped off section, indicated by your Inauguration card). So, there at 7:30 am in the morning, and you’re on your feet for the next 6 hours. Nearly everyone is positioned about 10 miles from the stage.  Unless you are Michelle Obama, Rahm Emanuel, or Rick Warren, that is, and have a ticket to row 1. Seriously, there’s a few ‘up close with seats’ sections and I wasn’t offered one of those seats – you gotta be somebody to be in that section (the only consolation is that those special people are just as cold as you).

It's, uh, gonna be cold.

It's, uh, gonna be cold.

I compare it to going to a professional football game. You get the wrong seats, and you don’t know what is going on at the game and you end up watching the jumbotron for 3 hours instead. Football is great on television, but lousy, sometimes, in person. Same goes for the Inauguration. When I was at Bill Clinton’s inauguration, I could barely make out Hillary Clinton, so that’s saying something, cuz I think she was wearing some ugly dress. And I have no idea what Bill Clinton said at that inauguration. Or anybody else, for that matter. Maya Angelou was there. I Know I Why the Caged Bird Froze to Death, I think was the name of her poem. I don’t know if Monica was in town at that time, but I bet she watched it on television.

So, I’m just saying: If you can’t make the inauguration – don’t feel too bad. Sleep in, make some breakfast, and watch it on television. Just know that the people down there will be excited to be there. And they will have serious nose-drip and watery eyes from the cold weather, and their feet will be freezing, and all the Starbucks coffee the world won’t make it any more comfortable.

And I didn’t go into the traffic nightmare!

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Update on my post about The River Why film – dispute resolved

January 12, 2009

Yesterday I posted a reaction to what I read on the internets about the film version of The River Why (based on the novel by David James Duncan). I had Googled here and there and didn’t see any mention about a settlement to a lawsuit that was brought between author and producers, so I wrote a bit about ironic that Sierra Club seemed to act a certain way in regards to the author’s property!

Well, thanks to the magic of the internet, a producer from the film, Tom Cohen, found my post and has provided a thorough comment on the original post, stating that the dispute was settled last November. (note to internet: why were you hiding this information?). Here’s some of what he wrote:

Mark:
I read your comments on The River Why film with particular interest because I am the guy that allegedly misappropriated the movie rights to the book. While I sincerely appreciate your interest in and comments on the subject, there are some facts you should be made aware of.
The lawsuit settled informally in August and formally in November 2008. …


The actors are more than aware of the subtle greatness of the novel. They are also aware that the producer, Kristi Denton Cohen, and the director, Matt Leutwyler, have devoted an inordinate amount of time and risked an absurd amount of money to make a film they are passionate about. I hope, when you see the film, that devotion will be apparent.
Your comments have made us rethink the tagline. It’s really difficult to come up with anything that summarizes the book or the film. We are open to suggestion—although ultimately the distributor will decide. Meanwhile, we are changing it to: “You can fish all your life without ever knowing it is not fish you are after.”
Please keep up the commentary.

Tom Cohen

So, if there are The River Why fans out there who read about this dispute and wonder what’s up with it, that’s your answer. I appreciate very much being provided an answer so quickly, when all I was doing was venting/reacting to a few different articles and documents about the filming of one of the best books I’ve read. I cannot say how the filmed version has turned out. Yes, I will probably see it. I am aware that books and film are entirely different mediums and that all one can hope for is that the spirit of the book, along with some of well-written characters, are conveyed. As Tom mentioned, many people, including those who worked on the film, are aware of the specialness of this book. Hopefully this translates to the film. If I think of a tagline, I’ll let them know.

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Mark’s Brilliant (short) Movie Review – Gran Torino

January 12, 2009

Gran Torino – saw it this evening. Theater was packed. A couple of thoughts:
Parts of the film were very good – some of the back and forth between the characters made the audience laugh (appropriately) but too often some of the acting and dialogue was stilted/awful. I understand some of the Asian actors were first-timers, and I thought they were relatively fine, but what about the actors portraying the Kowalski family, and the persistant Father Janovich? Several Clint Eastwood movies suffer from horrible, cringe-worthy supporting cast. Is it Eastwoods famously fast directing style – few takes, etc.?
The other movies that came to mind while watching this, and wondering what it is about some of these supporting characters:
-Bridges of Madison County (the kids of the Meryl Streep character – awful)
-True Crime (almost everyone)
-Million Dollar Baby (some of the boxers – including the hick character)

I don’t go to an Eastwood movie expecting everyone to be Laurence Olivier or Dakota Fanning (ha ha). Mystic River was just fine – over dramatic in some parts, but that fit the film, I suppose.

Gran Torino is stuffed with racial epithets – for dramatic and humorous effect because the main character is supposed to be a (likeable) racist. But in some cases, especially at the bbq Kowalski attends midway through the film, some of the dialogue and word choice came across as unnatural.

Several articles state that Eastwood insisted the script, by Nick Schenk, be left “as is’ except for a few minor tweaks to location. Too bad, because too many scenes suffered from poorly written dialogue, mostly involving the supporting characters telling the audience what the deal is with Kowalski.

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