2007 April | Addison Road

Monthly Archive for April, 2007

get a mac

Published

on 30 April 2007

. 12 Comments

You know those mac vs. pc commercials? Apple UK reshot them. It’s kind of creepy to see exactly the same script, redone with different actors.

Rude, Thoughtless Pigs

Published

Chad

on 29 April 2007

in art and culture and current events

. 37 Comments

Unless you’re on a media fast, you have most likely heard the story of Alec Baldwin’s voicemail rant against his daughter, Ireland. I’ve debated whether or not to post a link to the audio or not, given the content of what I want to say about it. I’ve decided that if you want to find it, it’s not difficult to do, and that you should google to your little heart’s content.

So, Alec and his estranged wife Kim Basinger have been engaged in an ongoing custody battle over their daughter for several years now, following their divorce. Apparantly, it hasn’t been going swimmingly. Funny… most divorces are so simple, and polite. Hollywood, man. Hollywood.

So, you’ve either heard the story you can google it and hear all the juicy details of the circumstances. Dad’s supposed to get some time on the phone to talk to daughter, daughter (for reasons not explained to the public) misses the phone call. Dad leaves angry, expletive-laden voicemail expressing his sentiments to her, concluding the message by calling her a rude, thoughtless pig. Since Mommy and Daddy are big time movie stars, someone leaked the audio and off we go.

Now, this is just me, but when I heard it, the first thing that came to my mind was sympathy for Baldwin. I know… I know. What he said was awful and inexcusable. There’s just something about the tone of his voice. He sounds desperate, hurt, and deeply frustrated. I don’t know why, but my heart went out to him. I realize this most likely puts me in the minority, but hear me out.

I have a big mouth, and I put my foot in it regularly. I also have a big heart, and I always feel like crap after a shoe-insertion. I am always overwhelmed with a desire to correct the things I’ve said that hurt someone, especially someone that I love. We’ve all done it. We say things every day that we would shudder to hear played back to us. Now, imagine that someone took your worst, most hyperbolic and vitriolic statement, your most unkind remark, your lowest parental moment, and plastered it on the internet. Imagine that there were people you’d never met blogging and speculating about your “Rage Issues.” (irony alert.)

Alec Baldwin will have drunk frat boys shouting “Rude, Thoughtless Pig,” at him for the rest of his life.

The Rest Of His Life.

So, yeah… I felt sorry for him.

The real villan in this is whomever leaked this to the media. There’s a 12 year old girl in question here who just had one of her father’s worst moment become a media frenzy. Whomever leaked this audio cares nothing for her. Whoever leaked this is cruel, and opportunistic at the expense of a child. Alec spoke in a fit of anger, and, who knows, perhaps he really is a boorish sociopathic potty mouth, but whomever made this public did so with cool calculation. Ireland deserves an apology from her father, there’s no question, but she really deserves an apology from whomever decided to use her for their own benefit, whether it be financial or relational.

It seems like the vultures of divorce have been circling around our friends lately. A good friend of Erica’s from college is in a marital crisis of epic proportions. My parents have friends who have been married 35 years and are in the process of splitting up, just as their first grandchild is being born. One of the pastors on staff at our church and his wife are managing a blended family. Both of their spouses were chronically unfaithful, and eventually both marriages dissolved. They’re doing their best to stay sane, but their four adolescent girls must navigate the waters of three separate households. It’s awful stuff.

The kids always lose. Always.
Lie in the bed you made.
Be grown ups.
Unless there were actually shotguns at your wedding, you weren’t forced into this. Youth is not a viable excuse.
Splitting up is not going to fix what’s wrong with your life.
Go kiss your spouse, dammit, and mean it.
The kids always lose.

you new favorite band

Published

michael lee

on 28 April 2007

in art and culture and asides

. 2 Comments

You have a new favorite band. They’re called The Cinematics, and they rocked the house opening for Mute Math. From Scotland, think early U2 meets David Bowie.

Place matters.

Published

aly hawkins

on 27 April 2007

in life

. 12 Comments

I hate moving. I’ll just get that out there so there’s no confusion. I’ve moved over 20 times in my young-ish life (not counting packing up every three months for three years at boarding school, or the come-and-go college thing) and that’s more than enough for anybody, even anybodies who like moving, which I’m pretty sure I was clear that I don’t.

On the other hand, there’s nothing quite as wonderful as finally moving out of [read: escaping] a place you don’t like living, especially if what’s waiting for you on the other end already feels like home. (Aside: Moving also doesn’t suck quite as much when you have good friends who help out — not just with the truck loading and whatnot, but also with the “Here, let me pack up your kitchen. That way you don’t have to evaluate whether or not you should keep the seven-eighths-empty container of chili powder that looks like an abandoned ant farm. I’ll decide, because I can evaluate the chili powder without sentiment or equivocation.” I’ve decided that the next time I move — God grant that it shall be far, far in the future — I’ll have friends pack up my whole house. There are enough pressing decisions to be made in the world without me having to agonize over near-empty spice bottles. Aside ends here.)

Ash and I bought a condo about three years ago, which seemed like an excellent idea at the time. They say that home ownership is the best investment you can make outside of an education, bloo-blee-bloo, and we took the plunge. Newsflash: Home ownership is the best investment you can make if you actually want to live where you buy a house. They neglected to mention this small (yet not insignificant) caveat, and we spent the last three years trying to make the best of living in a condo and a community that just never felt like home. In case you’re wondering, three years is a really, really long time to make the best of anything.

We sold our little place to a guy who seems genuinely excited about it (God bless him), and found a kick-ass little house to rent (God bless Craiglist) with a big back yard, hardwood floors, a separate space for Ash’s studio and Thai, Italian and Texas-style BBQ all within walking distance…not to mention terrific landlords, Marty and Eden, who live on a ranch in Santa Paula with four rodeo horses and 14 (yes, fourteen) rescue dogs.

When Ash and I came to take a look at this place three weeks ago, I walked through the side gate and thought, “Hey, it’s our home.” Being a third culture kid, I’ve maintained for a long time that “home” is people, not a place. But I’m starting to re-evaluate this position — I’m beginning to think that place matters.

This idea is still totally alien to me, but I think there’s something to it. What I’m thinking is that it’s not necessarily specific places — i.e., Wewoka, Oklahoma or Okefenokee, Georgia — it’s the vibe of a place that makes it matter. The values vibe. (Not speaking politically here.) Everybody has something that is really important to them, and if the place they’re livin’ doesn’t let them do that thing with some ease and regularity, it’s never gonna feel like “home.”

Before Ash & I got married, I lived on the Reisser Compound in what is still affectionately known as The Puppy Palace. Long ago, The Palace was Carrie’s playhouse, then a poolside changing area, then Zack’s House of Unspeakable Acts, then the birthplace of a litter of Chelsea the Wonder Dog’s (RIP) puppies, then a storage unit for stage costumes, then my apartment. (Now?? I don’t know. Maybe its original purpose has been revived for Ella.) But as booty as The Palace was, it was home — I could easily and regularly do the things that are important to me: hang out with friends in a beautiful place talking about and doing life, and be creative. And I haven’t had that since.

But…six years later (to the day), I find myself again, finally, “at home” in a place where I can do the things that are important to me — to recap: hang with friends, be creative — with ease and regularity. (And I don’t have to live in a former canine maternity ward to do so. Which is a plus.)

The point of this incredibly over-long post is that I’m grateful. God is good even when things are crap, and I’m glad to have experienced crap if only to recognize this important fact. But man, I’m a fan of blessings…and I can’t wait to share them with you. The side gate’s open. I’ve got fixin’s for s’mores. Bring a beverage. Make yourself at home.