Life

Trans-Siberian Orchestra, 2012 Winter Tour Review

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Yesterday afternoon the family went to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra. This is our fourth time seeing them in concert, and it’s always an enjoyable experience.

But this time was a lot more enjoyable — especially for Youngest.

Like all TSO shows, it’s a giant rock concert with loads of class, music blending classical and rock (hey, all the guys behind TSO are heavy metal guys), lights, lasers, smoke, pyrotechnics… just a great time. This year was different from years past in that their 3rd album, The Lost Christmas Eve, was the focus of the first half of the show. It was a great choice and welcome change. Still, the storytelling was awesome, and overall production top-notch, as always.

We did notice some differences, like the show was tighter. A little less banter and talk, a little less improv, and the second half “rock concert” didn’t have any noticeable covers or jams. But that’s all good because again, it made for a nice change in the show. We stopped going to see them for a little bit because it was “the same thing” over and over, which was OK but you know… you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it again, and why spend all that money again? So we really liked the change. We do hope as they put out more non-Christmas albums to try to catch them on one of their non-winter tours.

I am a member of the TSO Fan Club, and because of that I’m able to get early tickets and good seats at the shows. This was no exception, and I chose some nice floor seats. Not too close, not too far back, but close enough to really see everything yet far enough back to be able to take in the whole of the show. Well… I think because we had such good placement, we got a treat.

Before the show started, while we were just sitting and waiting, a member of the road crew came up to us and pointed at Youngest and asked if he’d like to come on stage at the end of the show and receive a present from the band. Whoa! Of course we said yes. He asked a few questions (e.g. first time seeing the band? no, fourth), we discussed the logistics, and that was settled. He would come over to us during the last song to get us, then walk us over to the end/side of the stage where there are steps, and then Youngest would go on stage with the band and receive a gift.

And so it happened.

Youngest, taking a bow with Trans-Siberian Orchestra… with his autographed guitar!

He came up on stage, they gave him a guitar, autographed by the band. They gave him a chance to say something, but he didn’t — he told us later he was just in shock and giddy from it all, had no idea what to say being up there with them in front of 5000 people. 🙂

But he really enjoyed it and it was such a cool moment for him and our family. I know it’s a moment we’ll never forget.

If you’ve never seen TSO live, you’re missing out on a great experience. Go see them if you get the chance.

I wept

/ hsoi

I wept (literally) on my drive to work yesterday.

I was listening to Bing Crosby & David Bowie’s beautiful duet “Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy ”

Like you, the large events of the past week have been going through my head… a lot.

And it’s been very heart-breaking to me, tho perhaps not for the obvious reason.

Every child must be made aware
Every child must be made to care
Care enough for his fellow man
To give all the love that he can

Care enough for his fellow man, to give all the love that he can.

If what I’m seeing right now is all the love that we can give, then we’re doomed.

Maybe it’s the recent spate of rudeness. Maybe it’s all the anger, the fear, the vitriol, the venom, the hate, the intolerance. Maybe it’s all the hypocrisy and double-standards. That no one wants to listen, they just want to be right, they just want their way.

There’s some lip service given to love, to compassion, to understanding… but you know… talk is cheap. I’m not seeing the actions reflecting it.

And I wept at the thought.

And I’m looking at what might lie ahead. Because the way the war drums are being beaten, in the media, in Washington… it’s only going to drive the wedge deeper, it’s only going to divide us further.

Everyone thinks recent events are extra sad because it’s Christmastime. But yet, I don’t see anyone acting in a Christmastime way. Selfishness, ugliness, taking and not giving. That giving can even be giving an ear, giving consideration to someone else’s point of view. Alas, it’s all back to “me me me”, gotta be right, gotta get my way.

It just breaks my heart. Truly.

I pray my wish will come true
For my child and your child too
He’ll see the day of glory
See the day when men of good will
Live in peace, live in peace again

 

Here’s “something” we all can do (even if you hate guns)

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Something bad happens and the cry goes out  to “do something” to prevent bad things from happening again.

Here’s something we can do (and it doesn’t involve guns).

Massad Ayoob made a very good point:

We don’t hear of mass deaths of children in school fires these days: fire drills have long since been commonplace, led by trained school staff, not to mention sprinkler systems and smoke alarms and strategically placed fire extinguishers that can nip a blaze in the bud while firefighters are en route.  In the past, if someone “dropped dead,” people would cry and wring their hands and wail, “When will the ambulance get here?” Today, almost every responsible adult knows CPR; most schools have easily-operated Automatic Electronic Defibrillators readily accessible; and a heart attack victim’s chance of surviving until the paramedics arrive to take over is now far greater.

Seat belts. It seems so common-place now to get into the car and buckle up, right? It’s just what you do, feels foreign and naked to not do it. It’s just what you do, right? Well, it wasn’t that way until recently. Mandatory seat-belt laws only started in the US in the mid-1980’s, which isn’t too long ago. But we cannot deny these safety tools save lives. But the mantra of “buckle-up” and reams of data show that seat belt use saves lives.

So consider these three cases, because they all have something in common: inevitable, inescapable. Fires happen. Heart attacks happen. Car accidents happen. We can’t use laws to eliminate them. We can’t pray them away. We can’t ban matches or cholesterol or physics and expect the problems to disappear. But what we HAVE done with these things is accept they can happen, they do happen, they will happen. So what we’ve done is prepare ourselves to handle their eventuality.

We must take this same acceptance of reality with active shooter or mass murder situations.

Yeah I know… that feels horrible and ugly to accept and some will refuse to accept it, as if accepting equates to condoning (it doesn’t). Life and the world can be ugly, folks, and denying the ugly doesn’t make it not so — it only puts you in a state of denial.

For a moment, consider that in the past 30 years, we really haven’t had any change in the rates of mass shootings. If anything has changed, it’s news coverage and instant media. In Mas’ above article, he mentions a school massacre from almost 250 years ago. Consider archeological evidence of Neanderthal violence over 36,000 years ago. Folks, violence is around, always has been, always will be… and yes, it always will be because violence is actually necessary for society to work (for laws to exist, to be able to be enforced; the proxy nature of police… the people you grant and delegate the authority to do violence on your behalf). You may not want to like violence, but that doesn’t make violence not exist, nor does it mean you won’t become victim to it.

So once we can accept violence happens, the next step we can take is how to survive it.

Here are two articles with some excellent advice.

The first is from Greg Ellifritz, “A Parent’s Guide to School Shootings“. Greg speaks from experience and deep study on the topic, and provides excellent and tangible advice for parents, school administrators, and students on how to be more aware, take better pro-active and better re-active steps in the context of school shootings (or any sort of mass murder event). But ultimately, his suggestions are only useful if people enact his suggestions. It requires parents to be engaged and yes, hard on the school administration. They must ask the tough questions, press for answers, press for action. Teachers — the people on the front line — must press up the chain of school administration to empower the teachers and other staff immediately within the school with the resources and support necessary. Parents and even other students can also take their own action to prepare themselves with plans (know escape routes, come up with your own plans to escape, to stay alive). So… you want something to do? Here’s something you can do, and it will affect change now. Read Greg’s article and put his suggestions into action.

The second is from Marc MacYoung, “What Do I Do When Someone IS Shooting at Me?” Marc’s article starts out with a brief discussion on psychology, which is critical for understanding violence and those partaking in it. Yes, if someone is attacking you, you are partaking in the violence and your brain will revert to monkey mode or lizard mode — it’s important to understand these things so you can better control your reactions. Marc then goes into things you can do, by assessing the situation you find yourself in. He also touches on some important matters like, what to do if you actually get shot. While Marc’s suggestions are more personal in nature (i.e. directly related to what YOU can do), consider that after reading his article you’ll have more knowledge about the matter. If you ever find yourself caught in such a situation, instead of freezing and trying to figure out what to do as precious seconds flitter away, now you can know what to do. It’s like CPR: we hope to never have to use the knowledge, but it’s sure handy to have when we find ourselves needing it. So this is something you can do, right now.

If nothing else, watch this 6 minute video called “Run, Hide, Fight”

If you don’t remember anything else, remember those 3 words. Teach your children those 3 words. Sure, a 5-year-old may not be able to fight, but they certainly can understand how to run and hide, and you can even distill Greg and Marc’s more specific takes on “run” and “hide” into a manner that a 5-year-old can understand. Again, we believe that 5-year-olds can learn how to escape in case of fire — the sort of teaching and learning involved here is no different.

If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.

– Gandhi

Yes, we should work to address larger problems. Yes, we should work to address the deeper issues involved. Those things will take time to sort out and enact. Meantime, the world spins on, and violence can still happen. We want to bring change to the world, but getting others to change is difficult. Changing ourselves should be easy. And changing ourselves is really the first step towards enacting greater change throughout the world. Start with yourself. Start by educating yourself about these situations and how you can stay alive. Educate your children. Pass this on to others. This is “something” we can do now.

on rudeness

/ hsoi / 9 Comments

I need to vent. I normally don’t post other things on Sundays, but I had to get this off my chest.

Today Youngest had his first piano recital. He did just fine, and I’m more proud of him for learning to deal with nervousness and performing under pressure than for the music itself (tho that’s still cool). The music school once again demonstrated they are a fine group of folks that run a good ship and care about their students. My beef isn’t with them.

It’s with the audience.

Or more specifically… the parents.

I was floored at the number of parents that left as soon as their child finished playing. By the time the recital was over, I looked back and saw the room was almost empty. That was sad and terrible. The students performing at the end of the recital deserved just as much respect and audience for their hard work and performance as did YOUR child at the start of the recital.

But no.

You came for your child, and didn’t care about anyone else. Oh sure, I wouldn’t have been there either if my child wasn’t performing, but my child wasn’t the only child performing. You could see on every child’s face, some more than others, how nervous they were. But you didn’t care. You didn’t think how the sight of you getting up and walking out as they started performing would impact the child. You didn’t think that sitting there and texting or Facebooking would matter… when instead showing these nervous children a smiling and supportive face could mean all the world to them. You didn’t think that as you stood in the lobby area, how loud your voices were and how much it disturbed, interrupted, and distracted the performing child.

No… you didn’t care. Your rudeness never occurred to you.

I came so close to jumping out of my seat and storming into the lobby area and scolding these inconsiderate individuals for their behavior. But I didn’t. First, if I did, they wouldn’t accept it; they’d just get defensive and consider me the rude asshole (can’t see past the log in their own eye). Second, if I got up, I knew the child performing would have no idea why I was getting up — I’d just be another adult getting up and leaving. I was not going to do that to any child.

After the recital was over, I expressed my disappointment to one of the school’s owners, and she agreed that it was rude (and said she’s going to change recital policy to say if you come, you stay, else don’t bother signing up at all… and I hope she does, and I hope she enforces it). She told me she asked some of them why they were leaving and they gave excuses like “it’s Christmas… we’re busy”. Busy? You’re too busy for a 2 hour recital? You’re too busy to give something of yourself to others? You’re too busy to be polite and considerate of others? And don’t even give me this “it’s Christmas” line, because the level of selfishness you displayed shows me you know fuck-all about what Christmas is about.

But, there’s always a teachable moment.

Before we left, I took my family aside and spoke with the Kiddos. We talked about what happened, and they agreed it was rude and they felt terrible for the kids performing. Even Youngest commented how he felt a little awkward that as he walked in to start, he saw all these people getting up and leaving. Kiddos also said how wonderful it was for them to have stayed. They saw many great performances, had many smiles and joyful moments, and just saw some really talented people perform. So they got to see something few did — and that was a precious thing. Others could have seen it too, but they chose not to. Maybe they had a legit reason, but they still didn’t have to be rude about it. So at least my Kiddos got to learn and grow in some unexpectedly welcome ways.

But the best part was Youngest… who can’t wait for the Spring recital and perform again. 🙂   Hopefully the parents will be better behaved by then.

 

Instructor – follow up

/ hsoi

My prior article on instructors was primarily aimed at those that wished to be instructors and the path to get there. However, in examining the path one might follow on the road to becoming an instructor, it sheds a lot of light for those that wish to be students — how can you pick a good instructor.

While the context might be different — weightlifting/physical training — the principles remain the same. Dave Tate lists 4 ways to tell if your coach has a clue:

  1. Who did they learn from?
  2. Who did they train with and/or under?
  3. What have they done?
  4. Who have they trained and have made better than themselves?

Doesn’t matter the context or the specific type of instructor. These pretty much hold for any instructor be it martial arts, lifting, cooking, painting, whatever.

 

A Product of Yourself

/ hsoi

Choice is Your Responsibility

Certain situations may greatly increase the difficulty of the choice, but the choice remains the same. The first thing a person must do is assume all responsibility for everything that has happened or has failed to happen to them. Once you adopt this as your primary philosophy for governing your life, you become empowered to see that you and you alone decide your future through the choices you make. Yes, bad things may happen to you that appear to be beyond your control (developing testicular cancer was one such occurrence for me), and you may not always be able to control those instances, but you can always control how you react to them. You can see them as learning experiences and grow from them to become something bigger and better, or you can use them as excuses that will ultimately hold you back from reaching your true potential and lead you down a path to mediocrity…or worse.

– Matt Kroczaleski

Full article.

Help save Sneeze!

/ hsoi

Remember Sneeze? He’s (one of the many) muscovy ducks we’ve rescued, presently residing with his buddy Squirt at the Crazy K Farm. He and many other rescued animals live there, but their situation appears to be in jeopardy.

I received the following letter from Tobi Kosanke:

Crazy K Farm Pet and Poultry Products
December 1st, 2012
Dear John,

The health and safety of the 200+ rescue animals at Crazy K Farm is threatened by the planned building of a dump in Hempstead, Texas, where Crazy K Farm is located.
Your signature on my petition can protect the environment of the Hempstead Texas area and the health of the people and animals who live there!
I’ve started the petition “TX Attorney General, Governor, State Representative: Stop the Highway 6 Landfill in Hempstead Texas” and need your help to get it off the ground.Will you take 30 seconds to sign it right now? Here’s the link:

http://www.change.org/petitions/scjc-governor-state-representative-stop-the-highway-6-landfill-in-hempstead-texas

Here’s why it’s important:

Our local officials are defying their constituents and supporting environmental racism in Waller County, Texas. We need your help to protect the health of our citizens and the economy of our county.
The demographics of Waller County and the economically underserved Hempstead area are ideal for a major corporation to build a controversial landfill: a relatively poor rural population is much less likely to mount and sustain a long and costly legal challenge.
Our local official are supporting this environmental racism and refusing to represent the wishes and best interests of their constituency by supporting the Highway 6 Landfill in the face of overwhelming evidence that it will have tremendous negative health, economic and environmental impacts on the area.
The Highway 6 Landfill is a proposed site in Hempstead-a rural and economically underserved area 45 miles northwest of Houston. The population is roughly 3,000. The land in question is a 723-acre piece of historic property with stagecoach roads and a family cemetery. It has two natural, spring-fed creeks and is the headwaters for Clear Creek, which runs to the Brazos. The water is used for drinking by cities and water districts downstream. It is municipal, agricultural, and used by federally protected wildlife.
The Highway 6 Landfill is unwanted by the residents of Waller County – and it would economically and environmentally destroy an area that’s already struggling for survival.
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
Tobi Kosanke
Crazy K Farm Pet and Poultry Products

I’ve signed the petition.

Please join us in keeping Sneeze, Squirt, and the other rescues safe.