tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-291745272024-02-28T06:25:24.683-08:00Bruce Call: Conceptual ArtistBrucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-47231267809991966342009-09-07T13:40:00.000-07:002009-09-07T13:55:00.187-07:00Snapshot of a Turkish PrisonDarrell knew his time was limited. There were four sealed envelopes laying on the table in front of him, and one would unlock his future. He took the first one in the palm of this hand. He slide the letter opener through the top left corner as a bead of sticky high salt content sweat landed on his knuckle. He'd been waiting for this moment since his first encounter with his Turkish prison cellmate twenty years ago that September. There had been rumors among the prisoners that Darrel was in the joint for smuggling office supplies into Uzbekistan out of fear that the Uzbeks might learn to read and write with Bic mechanical pencils and Ampad notebooks. This was of course a decoy by his boss "Mr. Cameron" who had arranged for his incarceration as a chance to finish writing his book called "Treatise on the theorems of Leo Strauss". The book would actually be collection of Baha'i poetry posing as a book about Leo Strauss. Darrel's roommate, Simon, was in prison for knocking his nephew's house down with a backhoe, but had recently resorted to establishing an organization for retired fighting dog's in Eastern Europe. Simon's day consisted of waking up at 6:00 to go work out in the gym, followed by a fruit smoothie at 7:00. After that he reviewed show times at the local cinemark 14 in Izmir.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com114tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-32612803370948684582009-09-07T13:34:00.000-07:002009-09-07T13:56:21.951-07:00Crazy employee and customer relationsSo, a couple of days ago, I was at Wendy's eating a sour cream and chive potato when the lady cleaning tables walked up to me and said "My fiance couldn't recognize my voice on the phone". I didn't know what to say so I just turned to her and smiled saying "oh...that's great". She responded with "he said I'm becoming a big girl now. hahahahahahahaha."<br /><br />It was after this that I thought about what I'd have done if I was in her situation. If my job was to clean tables all day long, I'd totally switch things up and say stuff to people like that just to keep myself from screaming out of boredom.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-68521399609671288262008-04-13T17:55:00.000-07:002008-04-13T18:02:57.816-07:00Bruce's miraculous recovery from MonoSo I have finally overcome my illness which has made me forget about posting anything on here for awhile. I started going to school again a few weeks ago and eventually got back into the swing of things to suddenly realize that I was almost done with the semester and that my trip to Jordan is about to commence. So it's time to start up the Bruce in Jordan blog again. You should go over to bruce-in-jordan.blogspot.com to: a) read about his last trip to Jordan in 2006, and b) read up on his forthcoming journey. I say that because I don't have much else to say.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-55449353575161587442008-03-08T14:27:00.000-08:002008-03-08T14:45:13.249-08:00Why Mono SucksSo I've had Mono for over a month now and it is probably one of the most annoying things to ever happen to me. It isn't that bad, just really annoying. At random times I will just happen to get really tired out of nowhere and be really upset about it because it means I will just be getting farther and farther behind in school. Besides the occasional fevers, sore throats, and coughs, the worst part of mono though is trying to figure out how sick you really are. I'm never really quite sure because you keep going in and out of felling good and bad. It doesn't help though when you keep getting all sorts of conflicting advice about Mono. For example, I went to the doctor last week because I thought I was getting an ear infection. I didn't have an ear infection, but the doctor told me "I'm surprised you still have mono symptoms. Usually you would be doing a lot better by now as it would be going into remission". Then on the other hand, I'm being told stuff like "you should probably drop out of school for the semester because it takes months to get over". Just the other day, Trevor told me that it takes a year to get over mono. My mom, who also had mono in college, says the same kinds of things. I did some research on the internet and also got conflict results. So I'm not really sure what is going to happen.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-39049497307317846382008-03-06T10:33:00.000-08:002008-03-07T10:45:31.081-08:00Klaus NomiI keep wishing I had been alive to be part of 80's Pop culture. This longing was renewed recently by the discovery of the 80's new wave sensation Klaus Nomi. Klaus, a classically trained opera singer from Germany, moved to New York right around the time when New Wave was taking off. His music spanned the genres of Pop, Disco, New Wave, Performance Art, and Cabaret. So pretty much he comes on to the scene in the late 80's, his music isn't excepted very well in the United States, so he moves to Europe where they love him, and he dies like a year later from AIDS (he was one of the first celebrities to die of AIDS or as it was called at the time, "Gay Cancer"). He was kind of forgotten until recently when a documentary called "the Nomi Song" was made about his life. I got the documentary off of Netflix and have been totally infatuated with him since. <br /><br />I think the thing about Klaus Nomi that I find so intriguing is that since his career was so short and obscure, nobody else has really copied his style. Although it is 25 years old, it is still unique. <br /><br />Here is a sampling:<br /><br /><br />Klaus Nomi- Simple Man<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gFaZyHxQGYQ"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gFaZyHxQGYQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><br />Klaus Nomi- The Nomi Song<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EJuq6KLSdTs"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EJuq6KLSdTs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><br />Klaus Nomi- Lightning Strikes<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gma5IUNMTn0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gma5IUNMTn0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />Klaus Nomi- Total Eclipse<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yuSrsGzhD9U"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yuSrsGzhD9U" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />After the Fall<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sTLzQP9J-n8"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sTLzQP9J-n8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />The Cold Song<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C_A6IR58Htg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C_A6IR58Htg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-27947015646880137162008-02-13T21:30:00.000-08:002008-02-13T21:45:14.981-08:00Pornography Awareness Week!So I was invited to celebrate Pornography Awareness week on Facebook. I was disappointed to learn that it is "be aware of pornography because its bad" instead of a "be aware of all the different varieties of porn you can download off the internt" kind of thing: (http://www.strengthenthefamily.net/white_ribbon_week.php). So I'm all for keeping pornography away from kids, but who ever planned this did such a detestable job that it will probably make kids want to go out and look at pornography more. Check out some of the awesome activites for schools:<br /><br /><br /><br />How can I (or my school) celebrate Pornography Awareness Week?<br /><br />Here are some suggestions:<br />Elementary Schools:<br /><br /> * Magician show: Brad Barton, 801-791-9017, brad@bradbartonspeaks.com, BradBartonSpeaks.com; Brad's research-based programs equip youth to make positive choices. Brad will use his magic tricks to demonstrate how pornography is not "the real thing" -- you have to be in charge of what you allow in your head.<br /> * Brite Music has a tape and music, "Protect Their Minds." The Sing-Along Activity Book has pictures that, with permission, could be duplicated and colored. Call 1-800-458-2748<br /> * Assembly: Utilize the object lesson ideas found in "Guarding What Goes Into Our Children's Minds"<br /> * Distribute the "Crash and Tell" Sheet<br /> * Have a coloring contest. Download our White Ribbon Week coloring page.<br /> * Take Safety information to parents i.e. "Don't talk to strangers" - tie into Internet safety<br /> * Borrow grocery shopping bags. Guide children to decorate them or label them "PORN NO", "KEEP MINDS CLEAN" or appropriate pictures. Return the bags to the grocery store to use as they bag groceries.<br /> * Send "Prevention Plan: A Parent's Guide" home.<br /> * Send "20 Internet Safety Tips" home.<br /> * Display posters in classrooms, or send copies home to parents.<br /> <br /><br /><br />Junior High and High Schools:<br /><br /> * Have something the students can do each day of the week, i.e.<br /> o Have a headband day (white head bands) "Band against Pornography"<br /> o Tie day (everyone wears weird ties) - Don't let bad pictures tie you up.<br /> o Sock porn - (Students wear mismatched socks) - "Sock" (hit) pornography.<br /> o Sneakers day - Don't let porn sneak up on you.<br /> o Bandaids - Cover those things that will hurt you.<br /> o Caution Headbands - wear headbands with yellow caution signs on them<br /> o Airhead Candy - "Don't be an airhead - Stay away from porn"<br /> o On Garbage cans put signs: "We CAN keep our minds clean" or the "Garbage In-Garbage Out" sign.<br /> o Yell competition at lunchtime!<br /> * Magician show: Brad Barton, 801-791-9017, brad@bradbartonspeaks.com, BradBartonSpeaks.com; Brad's research-based programs equip youth to make positive choices. Brad will use his magic tricks to demonstrate how pornography is not "the real thing" -- you have to be in charge of what you allow in your head.<br /> * Paper Bag decoration - Return the paper bags to the store. Theme: "Keeping our community clean."<br /> * Create a puzzle out of poster board: "We each need to do our part in keeping our Community clean."<br /> * Have a "White Ribbon School of the Year"<br /> * "Crash & Tell" - Tailgate party - crash the car White Ribbon Run for Fun.<br /> * Have a White Ribbon Run for Fun<br /> * "Slam Dunk - Don't look at that junk." Basketball contest at a game.<br /> * Work with businesses - give customers wearing white ribbons a soda or discount.<br /> * Poster contest: "Take flight - Remember white"<br /> * Utilize health classes to get out information from the book To Strengthen the Family by JoAnn Hamilton<br /> * Take the "Did You Know" sheet to every student in every homeroom class. At lunch sign a poster as a pledge to stay away from pornography.<br /> * Have a question and answer session about pornography at the cafeteria during lunch.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-2543242492906981562008-02-13T16:50:00.000-08:002008-02-13T16:56:09.259-08:00Poetry from 10th grade BruceI found this poem that I wrote in 10th grade today. I was really into Allen Ginsberg at the time and you can tell that my poem is heavly influenced by the poem "Howl". I was also really mad at a lot of different things at the time, most notably people putting up giant letters on the side of mountains to represent schools' sport teams. It needs a lot of revision, but here is the original form:<br /><br /> <br /><br />A letter to a mountain<br />by Bruce Call<br /><br />Dear pure mother earth mountain,<br /><br /> Why is your peak tattooed by the mark of the foul creators of capitalism and greed that where once feared by the supernatural hipster groveling for a chance to kiss at the opiate of the masses while contemplating minimalism in which all were conformed by an explosion of uranium and hydrogen sucked in by a pleasures wink of the eye at the great Iranian leaders who looked skyward at neptune thru the beating glare of my mother in the Idaho state mental institution where she is reading people magazine and sipping watered down gruel that was specially made to blind the mentally unfit out of existence. <br /> They smothered their large tattoo's of collegiate athletic warfare on your skin like a traditionalist in a crude form of effigy smoothers cold red paint upon the robes of the false priesthood in disagreement of telling a joke about two peanuts that walk into a bar and were assaulted. <br /> Selfish are the great grandmothers of Milwaukee when cheering for an end to the satanic wars of american big business claiming that the tradition of democracy must be forced upon everyone to ensure international tranquility while this is only a temporary cover used as a shadow of their lust from which their desires including being possessed with the curse of worldly possessions silently devours their soul like carbon monoxide quietly kills the unsuspecting. <br /> Selfless the tradition of the mighty ax that goes against animals who have been desecrated and domesticated as slaves to the human race’s intestines from which their fleshes are still torn about by the juices of the stomach and from which an animals flesh was devoured before to create those juices and brake up the flesh to feed the human machine of the mind which feeds knowledge of things that were not conceivable to the great grand mothers of Milwaukee unless the animal flesh had been cut by the mighty ax as the human race has continued this ritual of carnivorous feasting as they have since the creation of man. <br /> Behold a pale horse that looks at a great ball of fire in the sky which is followed by the devout followers of a cult conceived by a japanese corporation to hold a grudge against daily focus skills alliterated by the supreme court janitor who owns a computer hacking franchise which was latter purchased by a commune of metrosexual fascist’s who like to bake pies and contemplate how to dominate the pure mother earth by decorating it in velvet and satan. I can’t comprehend that! I just can’t comprehend that! <br /> Fine, lash out against the opponents of Mtv who disagree with showing images of pornographic priestess’s and pimp daddies soaking them self's in sin and being advertised as a common practice for the the vulnerable youth to grasp and defile them self's in consumer lust from which Madness and revenge that will then be seen as an alternative to kissing a stone which was used to sacrifice the Ho Chi Minh of bigamy to the greatly feared gods of an ancient religion which only twenty three people in uganda still practice after thousands of years since visitors from neptune came and turned them into thinking, breathing, living, cheating, lying, and urinating humans who came from ignorant primates that were filled with the knowledge of technology, science, and intellect by paranormal beings which later made in possible for a Belorussian man named kozar mezin to write a persuasive letter to a lady in Virginia named miss ann claiming that he was the son of a prince in nigeria who was assassinated and left twelve million dollars that the prince wanted to deposit into miss ann’s american bank account which convinced miss ann to give kozar her social security, bank account, and credit card numbers while greedily contemplating how much of the 12 million she was going to take in were in the contrary Kozar transferred all her money into a swiss bank account that somehow was latter wired to a Cuban Military official who used the money to pay for the lawsuit against his son who is a pop sensation in Brazil named Guppy the magic boy! <br /> Bigoted mother earth haters pivoted against Jehovah’s witness’s and others, proclaiming that they are the only ones who know how tap into the fictitious problems of man and use them to turn these problems into a tool of consumer lust which led MTV to defile the youth of the nation into a generation of fornicating, drinking, tweaking, Tylenol popping whanna be hard core EMO wrist sliters who pretend to act “themsevle” to try to fit in to the crowds consumed in the masses. <br /> Filthy the tummy tum tree in wamp-le-vile that radiates a rear form of cancer that only people who drink an obscure uzbek tea get due to the highly toxic leafs used from a farm which was once once irrigated by the dried up aral sea which was then used as a nuclear testing ground by the soviets over 50 years ago which now contaminates villagers who are filling up with chemicals that will effect their DNA and get passed down through their genetics for generation after generation while ultra right wing political commentator ann coulter is still encouraging ignorant white trash americans to pollute, rape, and disembowel the pure mother earth to the pits of hell because “god gave this earth to us and we can do what ever the devil we want with it because we have the freedom to make all the money we can and no one’s gonna tell us what to bloody do with our earth”. <br /> Clean the boy begging for money next to the market next to the chemists next to the baker next to the car park next to the slaughter house next to the evil brutal corporate sponsor next to viscous lies of communication and the paramilitary girl scouts of america who were ripped of by jingles the talking hamster whose owner is addicted to infedamines who he buys from his brother who didn’t like the george forman grill that was sent as an arbor day present by you! I can’t comprehend that! I just can’t comprehend that!<br /><br /> Sincerely,<br /> ME<br /><br />P.S. Sorry about the postage. First class was just to expensive. And Second class didn’t work because I needed five cents to buy a thrifty nickel. I hope you weren’t offended by third class.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-22358729629945888202008-02-13T16:37:00.000-08:002008-02-13T16:50:04.579-08:00I have MonoSo my life has sucked a lot lately. I've been really tired and getting behind in school. So I went to the doctor last week where they did some blood tests. On Monday, they called me around 4:30 and left a message that said "call us back. So I call back at 5:00 and they're are closed. I didn't worry much about it and even went to a tumbling gym which was pretty awesome that night. Afterwards I went to a friends house and watched the Bourne Ultimatum and Arrested Development episodes until 3 am. I wake up the next morning and feel awful. I call the doctors office back and they inform me that I have Mono. That therefore means that I made myself much worse of by going to the gym and staying up that late. In fact it could have been life threatening because the spleen can rupture when you have mono and are too physically active. So I'm not sure what to do with my life right now. I'm way behind in school and need to take time off to rest and get better so that I can be over Mono before I leave for Jordan in April.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-20671902474685916432008-01-24T20:30:00.001-08:002008-01-24T20:47:11.828-08:00Jan TerriSo I came across a bunch of music videos by a lady named Jan Terry. She was a limo driver in Chicago who was trying to jump start her singing career by handing out VHS copies of these videos. If you want the whole story read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Terri<br /><br /><br />"Get Down Goblin"<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uGOk-2V9Vt4&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uGOk-2V9Vt4&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />"Journey to Mars!"<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_uOwVg2B79E&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_uOwVg2B79E&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />"Losing You Tonight"<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dZ94vnmvPrw&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dZ94vnmvPrw&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />"Rock and Roll Santa"<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OcAVheZAxDU&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OcAVheZAxDU&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />"Little Brother"<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bFlHdHv-VvI&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bFlHdHv-VvI&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />"Baby Blues"<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WRpcwACAFsw&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WRpcwACAFsw&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-22960095375589513742008-01-22T20:20:00.001-08:002008-01-22T20:24:01.302-08:00I haven't written for the last few daysAs the title probably told you, I've been out of commission for the last couple of days. I'm getting sick and have had some traumatic moments as well. My new apartment situation has kind of turned into a disaster and I'm already behind in school. So that is that.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-42711445934914717072008-01-20T22:16:00.000-08:002008-01-20T22:30:13.357-08:00I hate Park CitySo I went up to Park City, Utah yesterday. As you may know, Park City is the sight of the Sundance Film Festival which is currently being held. I was expecting to have a really good time up there with that whole atmosphere. Well, it was the most traumatic experience I've had in a long time. There were thousands of angry and annoying people there. Even today, the next day, my nerves are still on edge. It turns out that if you don't have "festival credentials", there isn't much to do besides see films. I walked into this place that I though was some kind of demonstration for Microsoft, I was turned away at the door. In fact there were three different kinds of people up there. The first kind were the important people who had "festival credentials". The second kind were the people who were there just to see celebrates. There was one place where a whole crowd of people were gathered around a door. Apparently U2 was eating dinner inside before they went to the premiere of a film about them. The third kind were the people who were the people from PETA to protest against fur coats. What a day.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-13231606470461454132008-01-18T12:19:00.000-08:002008-01-18T12:34:28.129-08:00Politics 2Ever see the movie "Wag the Dog"?. If you haven't, it is about how a bunch of Washington "spin doctors" get together to take the media's attention away from a presidential sex scandal and focus it on a fake war in Albanian. (ironically, the Monica Lewinsky scandal came out a month after the film was released.) Anyways, its a fantastic movie that every American who is pessimistic about the government should see.<br /><br />So I'm watching CNN last night and they're talking about Hilary Clinton's comeback in the polls since that stunt on TV where she started to finally show her feminine side by crying. They also mentioned that her strategy since then has been to seem more sensitive, emotional, and more like a real women. The first thing that went off in my mind when I saw that was "Its Wag the Dog all over again". Of course there have been multiple "wag the dog" style media stunts before (remember the 'Mission Accomplished' speech?), but for it to occur again in the same family? I really hope she doesn't win the democratic nomination because I might have to vote for her (unless Ron Paul won the Republican Nomination).Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-12496214298711619392008-01-17T13:13:00.000-08:002008-01-17T13:25:07.354-08:00Things people don't know about HinduismDid you know that Hinduism is monotheistic? I didn't either. Well it is...at its core beliefs. Your probably thinking something like, "but what about all those Gods like Vishnu, Shiva, Rama, Krishna, and Ganesha?". IT actually turns out that all of these deities are representations of the different attributes of God. Hindus believe that even though you may worship one God, and your neighbors are worshiping a different one, you are all really worshiping the same thing. This is because Hindus believe that God presents itself to different people in different forms. In fact, in Hindu thought, God is a force that is so big and dynamic that the human mind cannot even begin to understand it. Therefore, the different Gods and stories that go along with them are meant as a way to describe the many dynamic qualities of God. I found this all out from reading "The Complete Idiots Guide to Hinduism".Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-71025823181423245322008-01-15T23:59:00.000-08:002008-01-16T00:42:35.655-08:00Random Memory from Bruce's Life 1So I was just talking to someone about being an extra in a movie when I remembered the time that I pretended to play the clarinet in a poka band for some kind of commercial. I say "some kind of a commercial" because we never figured out exactly what it was for as we were given different answers each time. It was either a Sausage commercial, a Beer commercial, or a promotional advertisement for an Oktoberfest in Denver. Maybe all three. Anyways, I was in sixth grade at the time and my dad had a poka band that played every year at Snowbird's Oktoberfest. He was contracted to put together a similar band to be part of this commercial. He got all the other players together but couldn't find a clarinet player to do it. He therefore asked me to go with him and pretend like I was playing with the band. The music was already prerecorded so it didn't matter that much. (now that I think about it, why didn't they just hire all extras to hold the instruments and pretend like they were playing them?). The commercial was filmed in Midway, Utah which is famous for its Swiss theme as the people who founded the town were immigrants from Switzerland. The building it was filmed in was the community center and looked like a German beer hall. This went really well with the Oktobefest theme of the commercial. In the commercial, the camera showed a bunch of people sitting at a table drinking beer in old fashioned Bavarian beer drinking garb, and than went through a curtain into a German dance hall where there were people dancing around a man yelling in German. There were about fifty people standing around them cheering them on while drinking beer. The band was standing on a stage near the back of the room. The whole commercial itself only lasted about thirty seconds but we were there for about eight hours (child labor laws in the state of Utah prevent children from working more than 8 hours a day on weekends so they had to stop filming our part even though there was more work to be done). One of the things that fascinated me the most about the whole experience was that the crew did all the work and the director just sat around. I now understand that this is how the business works. The director had supposedly done some episodes of "Touched by an Angel", but you would have never have guessed by looking at him. He was shaggy and wore tattered clothes therefore making him look semi-homeless. He also seemed way out of it and really pissed off at everything. I also now understand that that is probably just what comes with being a director who probably isn't very passionate about what he is doing (I'd be pissed too if I had to make a crappy beer commercial after "Touched by an Angel"). The band was some how more important than the rest of the actors and extras, so when lunch time came around we got to eat with the crew at one of those catering trucks instead of whatever everyone else had to do. There were lots of other kids there as extras and so I think that the beer may have been non-alcoholic...I'm not sure though. I remeber that one of the kids came up to me during one of the breaks and asked me it I could play "All Star" by Smashmouth on the clarinet. When we had finished and went outside of the building, we were surprised that the sun had gone down because it seemed like the afternoon inside. They had taken those big stadium light and pressed them up against the windows to make it seem like the middle of the day inside. I got payed $200 for the whole day, which is pretty good for a twelve year old. I've tried looking for a copy of the commercial all over the internet, but without success.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-10755833566701075552008-01-15T20:54:00.000-08:002008-01-15T20:58:09.280-08:00I don't speak Arabic apparentlySo I just moved into this place a week ago where you are supposed to speak Arabic all of the time in order to get fluent. There are two native speakers that are supposed to help you out too. I thought that after four semesters of Arabic I would totally be able to do it...but I can't understand anything that the native speakers say. I think it is probably just part of the whole language learning process though, and after four months of it I'll most likely get quite good.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-82140799383573128732008-01-14T15:15:00.000-08:002008-01-14T16:18:44.436-08:00Theory of Religous Circularity (another name needs to be made up for this theory)So it occurred to me today that there is a common pattern among most world religions. First, a person breaks away from the main oppressive religious establishment to teach radical new doctrine. The teachings are also aimed at reforming society for the better. After awhile, the religious teachings from into a religion that then begins taking on converts. After this though, the original religion eventually becomes corrupted and becomes an oppressive establishment sometimes worse than what the original religion was turning away from in the first place.<br /><br />For Example:<br /><br />-From the Jewish standpoint-<br /><br />Abraham, the father of monotheism, broke away from the polytheistic religions of the Ancient Near East to follow one God, the only living God according to him. This in itself was a radical move because there had been a tradition of polytheism since thousands of years before Abraham. Over the course of several thousand years, Jewish Prophets such as Moses establish law which is said to have come to God in a way that would civilize their people. For example, the ten commandments offered a revolutionary change to the way society worked. Unfortunately, as time went on the religious establishments set up in Israel began to take the law too seriously. By the time Jesus at come to the scene, he began teaching against the hypocritical Jewish establishments of the day such as the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the Pharisees. <br /><br />-From the Christian standpoint-<br /><br />As noted before, Jesus' teachings broke away from the orthodox Judaic practices of the day. Because Jews believe that they are God's chosen people, Judaism had taken on an extremely racist tone in the day of Jesus (this is noted in the story of the 'Good Samaritan'). Jesus broke away from this racist view to say that we shouldn't look at people's religion or ethnicity, we are all human brothers and sisters. Jesus also taught against the Jewish law of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" to say that we should just for forget what others have done to you. This, again, was radically different than what the Jewish establishment taught.<br /><br />After his death, the Christian religion existed as an underground organization that was mostly concerned with spiritual affairs. As the teachings of Jesus became more and more popular throughout the Roman Empire, the emperor Constantine decided to replace the Roman Religion with Christianity in order to prevent a rebellion. Now the oppressive religious establishment that Jesus had taught against now existed in the form of the Roman Catholic Church. <br /><br />As history went on in Europe, people began to get fed up with the Catholic Church and decided that they would brake away in order to get back to the original meaning of Christianity. This was the beginning of the Protestant Religions. Again, they became the oppressive religious establishment in parts of Europe. In America, people became fed up with the Protestant Churches, and thus began the many evangelical movements. In some ways, the evangelical movements have not become oppressive as much as say the Catholic Church. But, their power in American politics is growing all of the time.<br /><br />-From the Islamic point of view-<br /><br />The Prophet Muhammad came out of a society mixed with Judaic, Christian, and nomadic religions. His message was that of unifying everyone into one community so that everyone, especially the poor and orphans, could be taken care of (he himself was an orphan). Eventually he and his followers had to resort to military operations as they were being attacked by the Meccans who hated Islam because it threatened their Economy. (Mecca was the site of a famous pagan shrine which the Meccans made a lot of money off of. If Islam took hold, the Meccans would loose money from pilgrims). After Muhammad's death, Islam split into many different factions. Some of these factions have over time turned into organizations like the Taliban and the Iranian Government.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is my thesis and it needs a lot of work. Any suggestions would be nice (even though only about three people are reading this blog right now).Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-71528407973730944552008-01-13T16:43:00.000-08:002008-01-13T16:46:28.269-08:00"Anyone remeber this?" 1<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/u80sgjj4oIo&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/u80sgjj4oIo&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-27630982350746033352008-01-12T12:29:00.002-08:002008-01-12T12:32:50.524-08:00My Sleeping ProblemI have a sleeping problem. I sleep too long everyday, but when I try to wake up earlier, I am not awake enough to be active and I'm a real jerk when I'm tired.<br /><br />For example, I only woke up like thirty minutes ago. I went to bed at 2 a.m.. That is almost twelve hours of sleep!<br /><br />Anyone got any ideas?Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-84247434187554834872008-01-12T12:23:00.000-08:002008-01-12T12:28:01.663-08:00Poem 1Fresh Ice<br />Glazing Eyes<br /><br />Seek me for the moon<br />You will not reap a spoon<br /><br />It is the notion that we live<br />It is the potion that we gargle<br /><br />Oh what is that stirs my soul so that the night will never come<br />Drinking tea is fine<br /><br /><br />Before embarking on a journey<br /><br /><br />Cat hair can be toxic -Swordfish<br /><br /><br />Hail the cook...He controls our life.<br />That is right. OUR LIFE. <br /><br />We are the same being.<br />Caught up in a cyclone of spiritual being. <br /><br />Sit and listen.<br /><br />We will all be gone shortly.<br /><br />-Bruce Call 2008Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-62327895742576845372008-01-10T19:58:00.000-08:002008-01-10T20:03:47.022-08:00Ten Things I am ashamed of1. Telling a girl that I was gay so she would leave me alone.<br /><br />2. Telling my 3rd grade teacher that the Bulgarian Kid said something offensive in order to cover for myself.<br /><br />3. Quoting Wikipedia in a research paper.<br /><br />4. Wanting George W. Bush to win the 2000 election.<br /><br />5. Wearing girl pants in 10th grade.<br /><br />6. Being too young to see Sigur Ros when they came to Salt Lake City two years ago.<br /><br />7. Leaving a girl on a date so that I could go bowling with my friends.<br /><br />8. Not buying a book that I really wanted at progressive discount book sale because I though no one else would want it and it would be really cheap by the last day.<br /><br />9. Not liking Citizen Kane.<br /><br />10. Not paying anything for the new Radiohead album.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-52250944710168852782008-01-09T14:16:00.000-08:002008-01-09T14:26:02.385-08:00Joke 1I laughed so much at this when I first heard it...but now I don't know why I thought it was so funny:<br /><br /><br />So the presidents of the United States, France, and Egypt are taking an around the world plane ride. <br /><br />When the plane is over the United States, George W. Bush puts his hand out the window and says, "Yes, this is America. I Know because I can touch the top of the Empire State Building". <br /><br />When the plane is over France, Nicolas Sarkozy puts his hand out the window and says, "Yes, this is France. I know because I can touch the top of the Eiffel Tower".<br /><br />When the plane is over Egypt, Mohammed Mubarak puts his hand out the window and says, "Yes, this is Egypt."<br /><br />"How can you tell?" both Bush and Sarkozy ask.<br /><br />Mubarak responds, "I know because somebody stole my watch".Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-71899220042660267472008-01-08T19:15:00.000-08:002008-01-08T19:52:17.030-08:00Good Manners in 'Howl's Moving Castle'I recently saw the film 'How's Moving Castle' by the well know Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. One thing the I found interesting in the film was that the characters were all so nice to each other...a little too nice. For example, consider the following situation:<br /><br /><br />-Situation 1-<br /><br />Lettie: Someone just told me that you flew onto our balcony.<br /><br />Sophie: So that did happen.<br /><br />Random Man: Excuse me Miss., but would you like to use my room?<br /><br />Lettie: Thanks, but I'm okay. (Lettie, waves here hand, the man tilts his hat and shows off a big grin).<br /><br /><br />-Situation 2-<br /><br />Lettie: (to Sophie) I bet it was Howl.<br /><br />Worker: (carrying a bag of flour into the mill) Hi Lettie.<br /><br />Lettie: (speaking to the worker) Nice to see you. (to Sophie) It must have been Howl. He was trying to steal your heart.<br /><br />Sophie: Howl only tries to steal the heart's of beautiful girls.<br /><br />Lettie: Stop that. You are beautiful. <br /><br />Worker: (walking out of the mill) See ya Lettie!<br /><br />Lettie: (to the worker) It was great to see you again.<br /><br /><br />-Situation 3-<br /><br />(Old Sophie walks over a bridge, and needs to descend a set of stairs)<br /><br />Young Boy: Excuse me Ms., do you need any help?<br /><br />Sophie: No, I can get by. Thanks for asking though. That was really kind.<br /><br /><br /><br />I have to hypothesis about why we see such much politeness in this film: <br /><br />First of all, people might actually just talk like that in Japanese. In some cultures, greetings and politeness are an important part of daily interaction.<br /><br />Second, he might be trying to instill good manners into the children watching the film. This is possible too.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-21745332417899382462008-01-07T14:55:00.000-08:002008-01-07T15:03:58.342-08:00Politics 1I was watching one of the presidential debates last night on CNN. I have decided that running for president must split your soul in half. Mitt Romney and Huckabee were seated right next to each other, and they couldn't go even a minute without verbally attacking each other. I thought it was going to turn into a fist fight. The problem is that these people were probably at one time all friendly with each other, but now that thy are opponents, they therefore need to bash each other in order to come out on top. I hope I never convince myself to go into politics.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-11080750942773316772008-01-06T16:05:00.000-08:002008-01-06T16:23:06.032-08:00Religion 1It always puzzles me that people always like to put down other people's religions in order to make themselves fell good about their own religion. For example, today a guy at church said that one day he was on his way to church and saw that only two cars were parked outside of a protestant church while his LDS church had a full parking lot. According to his reasoning, this made him feel as though his church was truer because his church had more people attending. That is just scratching the surface in terms of what kind of stuff like this is out there. For example, my dad went to a church meeting where they were discussing the recently published memoirs of Mother Teresa. In her memoirs, Mother Teresa talked about how she had doubted the existence of God at certain times in her life...a rather common thing for MOST people. The people at the meeting used this to say that the reason Mother Teresa doubted doubted the existence of God was because she did not have a "knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ". Instead of reflecting on and learn from the trials of one of the most Christ-like people in modern history, they turned the story on its head and used it as propaganda.Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29174527.post-18246987313073094712008-01-06T16:01:00.000-08:002008-01-06T16:04:23.189-08:00My New AppartmentI moved into a new apartment. They call it "the Foreign Language Students Residence" and it is a place where you can only speak a certain language while you are at home. I moved into the Arabic house yesterday, and we haven't even spoken any Arabic yet.<br />-the endBrucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147837881346299540noreply@blogger.com0