I was hanging out in the men's room today when a man walked in and told a work buddy of his that "someone just told me they were playing devil's advocate, all that really means is that they wanted to say something but not be responsible for it." While I pretty much have come to the conclusion that he doens't mean that he is playing "Devil's advocate" from the movie with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves. And since the "advocate" refers to the Devil Al Pacino's son, played by Keanu Reeves, he means that he is taking the position of Keanu Reeves, who also played Neo in the Matrix and Ted, in Bill and Ted's blah blah Adventure or whatever. And by saying that he was Keanu Reeves he was also taking the position of Ted in those "bogus" movies, in which Ted rarely takes any responsibility for much of anything, therefore, he is playing "Keanu Reeves as the devil's advocate who also played Ted who never takes any responsbility, so I can say whaever I want."
To the contrary, I think the man in the men's room was actually referring to the fact that when you play the "devil's advocate," you are just making sure that the discussion includes a point of view which the advocate in question does not actually back up. But this naysayer believes that every time someone says that, they are actually just shirking all responsibilty just so they can get their point of view out there without actually having to fess up to all the negative impact that point of view might face. But is that always the case?
I think one could genuinely want to take a look at opposing view points even if that one did not support them. Part of a responsible decision making process should always include that aspect, shouldn't it? I suppose it's possible that it gets down to what your internal motivations are for taking any certain action. Do you actually compeltely not support something if you mention it, or is there a small part of you that supports that point of view?
I'm going to play the Devil's advocate here and say that you sure can play the Devil's advocate, and not support something, especially when you rock out on the air guitar anytime something cool happens, dude.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Broken lunch break
My lunch break, by Justin Roth
-Part I-
So I realized I left the large lunch I packed for myself at home in the refrigerator. So I took my lunch break going home to go get the lunch, rather than spend about $9 to purchase a comparable amount of food at the cafeteria here. So I get home open the fridge and pull out a nearly empty large ziplock baggie. All that's left is 2 yogurt cups and a protein powder bag.
I do some detective work (calling my mom) and found out she took the majority of the lunch I painstakingly put together the night before. I was kind to her on the phone, but I got off and yelled. I proceeded to take an orange out of the fridge to begin reassembling the lunch, but realized the last of my Grandmother's huckleberry jam was on the sandwich that was now in my mother's possesion. This revelation pushed me over the top and I pounded the orange with all my might. The orange dissasembled all over my shirt and pants and I began tearing into it with my mouth. I then dropped the orange into the sink, open side down, so I decided to chuck it into the garbage disposal with fervor. And what a chuck it was.
After this, I quickly assembled some tuna, a pb sandwich and a cup of yogurt to scarf down before I had to rush off back to work.
-Part II-
After putting down the calories needed to survive the rest of the work day, I headed back to work. On my way I thought about how much fun it would be to have some new, good music to listen to. I was currently listening to a bootleg live John Mayer show, so, I thought, why the heck not? I took a detour to Best Buy on the way to work to check out the John Mayer section, but much to my dismay, I didn't like the prices or the content, really. Until I came across his first CD, Inside Wants Out. Just a few tracks on there, but they are mostly all accoustic and it was only $10. But one CD? It just didn't feel right. I decided to browse the rest of the music to see if something popped out... Bob Dylan, not this time, although I really do need to catch up on the last 400 years of his stuff. Rolling Stones... no... but same story. I wanted something that I hadn't heard before. Something that was kinda catchy, but I wasn’t going to hear on KDWB, either original or sampled by Kanye. Then I saw The Derek Trucks Band, a prodigy out of the Almann Bros. family, I was introduced to some of his live stuff about a year ago. I loved what I had heard, and found out this CD had just come out this year... I was sold.
I ripped into it in the parking lot as some teeny girl and her oily haired boyfriend blasted Eminem next to me. Not that I hate the Slim Shady, but I couldn't wait to drown it out with some good, bluesy, soulful licks by Trucks. As soon as it entered the CD player, I was better. What orange? Who's sandwich? I had completely forgotten.
Moral of the story: Buy Derek Trucks music when you have a bad lunch break . . .
============
Confusing sub plot:
So I was checking out at Best Buy, and the girl looked at my ID and said "wow, you're young." I was dumbfounded. What the hell do you say to that? I was just like "ok..." And then she said "Well you look so (something something-can't remember relating to old)" and I was like "Well, that's what years of hard work and stress can do to you." She laughed. I said "well, I wouldn’t call it hard work, but you know." And she elevated her chuckle. That's all. Just funny. I didn't know what to make of someone calling me "young." Dissasemble that, fist.
-Part I-
So I realized I left the large lunch I packed for myself at home in the refrigerator. So I took my lunch break going home to go get the lunch, rather than spend about $9 to purchase a comparable amount of food at the cafeteria here. So I get home open the fridge and pull out a nearly empty large ziplock baggie. All that's left is 2 yogurt cups and a protein powder bag.
I do some detective work (calling my mom) and found out she took the majority of the lunch I painstakingly put together the night before. I was kind to her on the phone, but I got off and yelled. I proceeded to take an orange out of the fridge to begin reassembling the lunch, but realized the last of my Grandmother's huckleberry jam was on the sandwich that was now in my mother's possesion. This revelation pushed me over the top and I pounded the orange with all my might. The orange dissasembled all over my shirt and pants and I began tearing into it with my mouth. I then dropped the orange into the sink, open side down, so I decided to chuck it into the garbage disposal with fervor. And what a chuck it was.
After this, I quickly assembled some tuna, a pb sandwich and a cup of yogurt to scarf down before I had to rush off back to work.
-Part II-
After putting down the calories needed to survive the rest of the work day, I headed back to work. On my way I thought about how much fun it would be to have some new, good music to listen to. I was currently listening to a bootleg live John Mayer show, so, I thought, why the heck not? I took a detour to Best Buy on the way to work to check out the John Mayer section, but much to my dismay, I didn't like the prices or the content, really. Until I came across his first CD, Inside Wants Out. Just a few tracks on there, but they are mostly all accoustic and it was only $10. But one CD? It just didn't feel right. I decided to browse the rest of the music to see if something popped out... Bob Dylan, not this time, although I really do need to catch up on the last 400 years of his stuff. Rolling Stones... no... but same story. I wanted something that I hadn't heard before. Something that was kinda catchy, but I wasn’t going to hear on KDWB, either original or sampled by Kanye. Then I saw The Derek Trucks Band, a prodigy out of the Almann Bros. family, I was introduced to some of his live stuff about a year ago. I loved what I had heard, and found out this CD had just come out this year... I was sold.
I ripped into it in the parking lot as some teeny girl and her oily haired boyfriend blasted Eminem next to me. Not that I hate the Slim Shady, but I couldn't wait to drown it out with some good, bluesy, soulful licks by Trucks. As soon as it entered the CD player, I was better. What orange? Who's sandwich? I had completely forgotten.
Moral of the story: Buy Derek Trucks music when you have a bad lunch break . . .
============
Confusing sub plot:
So I was checking out at Best Buy, and the girl looked at my ID and said "wow, you're young." I was dumbfounded. What the hell do you say to that? I was just like "ok..." And then she said "Well you look so (something something-can't remember relating to old)" and I was like "Well, that's what years of hard work and stress can do to you." She laughed. I said "well, I wouldn’t call it hard work, but you know." And she elevated her chuckle. That's all. Just funny. I didn't know what to make of someone calling me "young." Dissasemble that, fist.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
i debate
Foriegn policy. The best movie of the season. What's the new black? The content changes, but there's always a debate surrounding these topics. Right now these topics are being discussed. Years down the road, people at large tables with expensive clothes on will still be talking about these topics. But right now there's a debate going on that is new to the social landscape. It is the debate of the decade: which I-pod is better? (or more generally, which .mp3 player is better?)
Everyone has an opinion. Even that weird looking kid on the corner whose pants are too tight. But I wouldn't listen to him. He doesn't even like hot dogs. And he's a kid. That's not natural. And his opinions are probably influenced by which one Sponge Bob has, anyways.
Of course your i-choice depends on the i-needs that you have for an i-mp3 player (apple adds the "i" to everything, why can't "i"?). Even though different players are right for different people, owners of a mini music box will defend their fav as the best against all competition. Someone who owns the 30 gig i pod video will defend the massive memory size to the death, while those who own a smaller more portable version will defend its specific benefits. It's actually pretty entertaining.
Just last night I heard a plethora of different reasons to get a certain kind instead of another. For instance, the shuffle makes it too hard to pick out a certain song you want to hear. But of course the huge i pod videos cost 3 car payments. The Zen Micro is the best choice, because... "something something blah something," ... can't remember. But you get the point. Everyone's got their iron-clad opinion.
I'm not going to lie. I own one, but I feel a draw towards the nano. Smaller and cheaper, but still holds a good stack of CDs. But the little monster on my shoulder says "no! - don't banish yourself to the deep throes of "can't-fit-my-whole-CD-collection-on-that-i-Pod" hell!!! Buy more gigabytes!" Then another monster, somewhat more intelligent and more consumer-reports informed metions "That i-pod doesn't even play .ogg files and .flac files. You have a ton of music in those formats." Where to turn as a .mp3-player virgin?
Maybe the real debate should be, how will I continue to listen to my music? I've been listening to CDs my whole life. Who need's an .mp3 player when you've got CD players everywhere? Yeah yeah yeah... I know, portablilty isn't a strong suit for the 3-foot wide stereo in my bedroom. Well another debate for another time . . .
Everyone has an opinion. Even that weird looking kid on the corner whose pants are too tight. But I wouldn't listen to him. He doesn't even like hot dogs. And he's a kid. That's not natural. And his opinions are probably influenced by which one Sponge Bob has, anyways.
Of course your i-choice depends on the i-needs that you have for an i-mp3 player (apple adds the "i" to everything, why can't "i"?). Even though different players are right for different people, owners of a mini music box will defend their fav as the best against all competition. Someone who owns the 30 gig i pod video will defend the massive memory size to the death, while those who own a smaller more portable version will defend its specific benefits. It's actually pretty entertaining.
Just last night I heard a plethora of different reasons to get a certain kind instead of another. For instance, the shuffle makes it too hard to pick out a certain song you want to hear. But of course the huge i pod videos cost 3 car payments. The Zen Micro is the best choice, because... "something something blah something," ... can't remember. But you get the point. Everyone's got their iron-clad opinion.
I'm not going to lie. I own one, but I feel a draw towards the nano. Smaller and cheaper, but still holds a good stack of CDs. But the little monster on my shoulder says "no! - don't banish yourself to the deep throes of "can't-fit-my-whole-CD-collection-on-that-i-Pod" hell!!! Buy more gigabytes!" Then another monster, somewhat more intelligent and more consumer-reports informed metions "That i-pod doesn't even play .ogg files and .flac files. You have a ton of music in those formats." Where to turn as a .mp3-player virgin?
Maybe the real debate should be, how will I continue to listen to my music? I've been listening to CDs my whole life. Who need's an .mp3 player when you've got CD players everywhere? Yeah yeah yeah... I know, portablilty isn't a strong suit for the 3-foot wide stereo in my bedroom. Well another debate for another time . . .
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