Two weeks from today, Matisyahu comes to Kansas City for a show. If you haven’t heard of him yet, you probably will soon. He is a Hasidic Jew (this a conservative form of Judaism; he wears the long, uncut beard and will not perform on Friday evenings or Saturdays, out of respect for the Sabbath) who performs reggae. While this kitschy combination is a part of his appeal, his music is very enjoyable. Only recently has his popularity begun to surge. A song of his recently broke into the top ten at a lot of radio stations. (The irony of this is that the song just came on the radio as I wrote this.)
I plan on attending the concert on March 1, as I’ve heard his live show is rather exciting. I also hear, because of his Jewish background, that the crowd is an eclectic mix of the “normal” concert crowd, along with an older Jewish audience. This could be because the content of his music is very faith-based. A few others have expressed interest in attending, and I think it will be a fine concert experience.
I’ve been at my mechanical contracting job for about seven months now and it is still interesting. This bodes well thus far. I’m still learning new things everyday, but with the educational background I have (and the mechanical background that I lack—thank you very much, Environmental Systems I through III), this is the way that I will have to go about it. And I don’t take for granted the opportunity that was offered to me (a mechanical contracting firm hiring an architectural graduate; trust me, architects aren’t spoken too highly of in this office). Anyway, the head estimator has moved back by my office, and this was a beneficial development, I believe. I can walk in and see what he’s working on, and he stops in frequently to see how my practice is going. (I’m practicing on old jobs and then comparing my results to his original estimate.) In due time, the title on my business will change from “Estimating” to “Estimator.” Mark my words.
For the past few Thursdays, I’ve been going to play some pick-up basketball with a co-worker of mine (the estimator mentioned above, actually). Usually, ten or fifteen guys show up. I usually try my hardest when playing sports, be it during a practice or a championship game, so that counts for something in this case. Meaning, I’m probably one of the least talented, basketball-wise, on the court. I mean, I’ll dunk on someone’s ass every now and again, but I’m not fundamentally sound overall. Nevertheless, it’s been good exercise and I enjoy playing. In a way, it brings me back to the glory days of Team Scorch! basketball (if by “glory days” I mean the one season we played and ended up 0-5, being outscored an averaged of 35 points a game, including our inaugural game where we lost 107-31). Yet, I still enjoyed intramural basketball, even if it wasn’t our most successful of Scorch! teams.
And, I’ve recently received DVDs of the old Nickelodeon show, The Adventures of Pete and Pete. I got Season 2 for Christmas, and just received Season 1 for Valentine’s Day yesterday. I don’t know if anyone else used to be a fan, but this show takes me way back. The great thing is that I enjoyed the show when I was a kid because it was very strange and funny. But, now, as I watch these episodes again, I realize there’s really another level to the show that I had no idea was there the first time around. (I sort of equate it to Scrubs in that sense; a show with very goofy humor in general, but that has a serious message somewhere within each episode, no matter how strange it gets) Not to get overly analytical about a TV show, but there aren’t too many shows that just break the mold of your average 30-minute television show. Pete and Pete is one; My Name is Earl, Arrested Development, and Scrubs are a few others that come to mind. Good stuff. Here's one fansite: The Adventures of Pete and Pete
(As a quick and bitter aside, Gretchen and I watched the last four episodes of Arrested Development to be shown on Fox. They were on last Friday. And it really is a sad day when a show as great as this one is ended (at least on one network; there are rumors that a few others might pick up the re-runs or, optimally, new episodes), and crap like Wife Swap, American Idol, and Will and Grace is still on the air (personally, they aren’t worthy of the italics I normally give TV shows and movies). It’s a funny, intelligent show that I don’t think enough of the public gave a chance, nor did Fox extend any effort whatsoever in advertising and marketing it either. A sad situation that I hope turns out for the best. Here’s a fansite with some info about the show and its undecided future.
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