Confidence...

Confidence...This is something that I think the majority of people in the world struggle with.  What is confidence?  How do you get it?   Han Solo knows...

What is confidence:

  Confidence is believing in yourself whatever you are doing, no exceptions.  Confidence means if you are playing basketball against Michael Jordan you would be confident in your abilities (probably not enough abilities in the world to beat MJ though.)

  As a coach or a teacher one of the hardest things to do is to have confidence that your players or students are going to do what they have been taught.  Harder still is the moment when those players fail.  Many coaches get angry and take it out on the players or students.  Better coaches and teachers asses the situation and re-teach those things that just aren't being understood come crunch time.

How do you get confidence:

  Some people of born with it.  Most of use have to work at it.  Think about it, you wake up in the morning feeling like a million dollars and then the world has one hundred things that happen in a day to try and shake that confidence.  People are mean to you, your project for word sucks, your significant other is upset at you, etc.  It's no wonder that so many people have low confidence in themselves.

  I think one of the best things that can be done is the mirror test.  Look yourself in the mirror and convince yourself that you are great.  Everyone may think you aren't so great, but all that matters is the opinion of your loved ones and yourself.  That is a hard lesson to learn.  Especially in todays "Yes Man" society.

Thoughts from the outside...

  School is finished!  People who think that year round school is a good idea have never been in a school during May.  That's all I am going to say

  Had a conversation with a good friend of mine about a week ago that got me thinking.  We were talking about what it takes to be an adult and eventually what it takes to be a "MAN."  One thing that was brought up was the fact that as an adult you have to take no crap from anyone.  I disagree.  I think what is more important is how you react to said "crap."  Life is full of this crap and you have to rise above it.  A good rule of thumb is to think about what you do in a tough situation and see if you think it would make your parents/kids/spouse proud.  If so you did a good job.  If not, rethink it and see what you could do differently next time.  But please don't be one of those people who wallows in their self doubt and beats themselves up, you are an adult stop acting like a child.  Learn from your mistakes and make yourself better.

  Speaking of making yourself better I recently had a funny workout.  I was supposed to squat 225 lbs. once.  I decided to do it 10 times.  I did it, walked out of the garage and puked on the street.  Then proceeded to drive to the park and run 10 hill sprints.  Slept like a baby that night, but it made me better.  My neighbor has asked me if he could workout with me.  I told him he could.  After he saw this workout he told me he would probably be better off at the YMCA.  :)

In honor of the CDC putting out their "How to survive a zombie apocalypse" information, these are my top zombie movies.

1.  Shaun of the Dead-  rented it on a whim.  It has since become one of the best comedies ever and the distant son of Young Frankenstein.  It has everything from zombie action, hilarious bits and great characters, even romance.  Probably the best zombie movie I have seen.  How does a movie make me laugh to tears during the "Kill the Queen" scene and then make me cry when Shaun's stepdad is bitten?  Great movie.

2.  Night of the Living Dead (original)-  I know that the gore is all old pieces of meat from a butcher.  the butcher even appears as a zombie in the film.  I know that the ending is pretty stupid.  But i can't help but love this movie.  Equal parts terrifying for what it shows and what it hides.  I still get chills when the survivors go upstairs and plug in the radio and listen as the news anchor is speechless as to what is causing the "dead to rise from their grave."  The remake is more action packed and has a lot better special effects, but it lacks the mood of the original.

3.  Dawn of the Dead (remake)-  This is a zombie movie on steroids.  Amazing opening scene.  Crazy amounts of action.  The first 15 minutes of the movie is worth the price of admission alone.  I saw this in college with my wife.  We both liked it.  When we walked out of the theater we almost sprinted to the car we were so sure that zombies were going to come chasing us.  Best use of a bus ever in a movie.

4.  28 Days Later-  Danny Boyle has done some great movies (Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire) and even won a Oscar.  But my favorite movie of his is a very tense, realistic depiction of a zombie outbreak.  28 Days Later never got the popularity it deserved in theaters but It redefined horror movies.  It was shot using a handheld camera and it never gives you a great view of what the zombies (infected) look like.  That adds to the terror.  The opening scene of Cillian Murphy walking through an empty London is amazing.  A very emotional film.  Brilliant from start to finish.

  Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day weekend.

Awesome Band...The Antlers

  Been away for a bit...school is finishing up.  I haven't had a chance to post anything.  I did come across an awesome band, The Antlers.  Weird name, I know.

  I have a very eccentric taste in music.  At any one time my Ipod will have extreme metal, alternative rock, folk, rock, soundtrack,  anything that I like.  As I have said before, I think this stems from my playing the guitar.

Anyway, this band is awesome.  Very dark and depressing lyrics, but really unique.  They make me feel like I did the first time I heard "Funeral" by Arcade fire or the first time my uncle played "The Bends" by Radiohead for me.  I feel like this is going to be a special band for me.  The dual vocals (male and female) the intelligent songwriting (it really is weird, but catchy) and the instrumentation.

  I search all year for albums like this.  Albums that make me feel something.  I know that I am overexposed to music.  I listen to it constantly and dissect it (another affliction of being a musician).  This is not good, it sometimes prevents me from just enjoying the music.  But nonetheless, I think this is a really special band.  Check them out!

My favorite song so far...

Since I talked about them earlier here are two of my favorite Radiohead and Arcade Fire songs...

Remember when Radiohead used to rock?

Thoughts from the outside...

Got to see my sister this weekend!  She is graduating college and I am so incredibly proud of her.  It's hard to believe that everyone is growing up and doing well for themselves.  It makes me feel incredibly lucky to have friends and family who are achieving so much.  Great trip!

What is wrong with Albert Pujols?  It's killing me!  This Cardinal team is loaded with talent and Pujols should be the nucleus that holds them together, yet he is posting career lows in batting average, RBI's and Homers.  What gives?  30 million a year is slowly going out the window.  Makes me wonder about what my college roommate told me.  He had this theory that Albert was actually 5 years older than he said he was. He backed this up with the fact that his high school baseball coach claimed to have coached against him in the early 90's when Pujols what supposedly 18.  Don't know how true this is, but I may have to call him up and tell him he was on to something.

The wife and I are really excited to see Bridesmaids.  We both have been Kristen Wiig fans for a long time and this looks like her breakout role.  It's a shame that is comes out two weeks before Hangover 2, because that movie will destroy all the other films that are released or are already in theaters for the next month or so.

I have spent the better part of a year trying to fill the hole that the TV show Lost left when it aired its final episode last May.  I have been told that Prison Break and 24 are must watches.  Also Friday Night Lights (the TV show, not the movie).  I will post my thoughts as I watch this summer.

Around Christmas I dropped about 20 lbs.  This past week a colleague of mine at work asked me how I lost weight so easily.  I told her that I ate less and worked harder.  She looked at me with disbelief.  I wasn't sure what else she wanted to hear from me.  It is true though.  In my experience eat more and work harder will bulk you up, eat less and work harder will lean you out.  Try to eat clean.  And really try to do something as often as possible.  It could be something as tough as deadlifting 315 lbs. 12 times, running hill sprints or as easy as taking a brisk walk (no zoo walks though, you should work up a sweat!)  I should write that down and sell it for 29.99, look out Tony Little!

I leave you with two songs this...

I love a wide variety of music, alternative rock, bluegrass, country, folk, heavy metal, etc.  I know this stems from playing the guitar.  As I get older I really like the singer/songwriter, Neil Young inspired music.  I think this is an influence from my Mom's side.  Two great songs, one by Neil himself and the other by Ray LaMontagne.

As I get older, I get smaller. I see other parts of the world I didn't see before. Other points of view. I see outside myself more.-Neil Young

Cool Website of the Week...

http://www.todaysbigthing.com/

I get a lot of flack for how much time I look at idiotic videos online.  But in all honesty what else is the internet for?  Todays Big Thing is your one stop source for all of those great videos you get sent to you.  Ever wanted to know how people found out about "Double Dream Hands?"  Today's Big Thing was it's birth place.  Check it out.

Thoughts from the outside...

Why is it that the final two weeks of a school year the students all seem to become possessed?  Must be some neurological symptom.  I can't fathom how to make the rest of the year productive.  Well, this is what college prepares us for.  This is where you earn your B.S. degree :)

Inception is the best movie that I have seen in the past 5 years.  I encourage anyone who has seen it to check it out.  More than science fiction, more than action, more than romance, it is art in it's simplest form.  (Plus Hanz Zimmer has Johnny Marr formerly of the Smiths play the guitar on the soundtrack, how cool!)

I have really been into the NBA recently.  I watch the playoffs all the time, rooting for The Bulls.  I haven't watched the NBA in over 10 years.  I forgot how much I enjoyed professional basketball.  The NBA is very bittersweet to me.  A good friend and I shared a love for the NBA when we were children.  He passed away before high school.  That left me very angry and confused.  I pushed all things that reminded me of him away and I regret it.  Rediscovering this joy has been wonderful, especially with my amazing wife.

As I get older I realize how important good relationships are with a handful of people.  We are conditioned to think that if more people like you it is better.  The truth is, if you have a few people who you would die for and they would do the same then you have it made.  This could be friends, loved ones or neighbors.  I know this because there are a few people who I wouldn't think twice about giving my life for.  And I know they would do the same for me.  This must be the influence of all those Batman and Superman comics I read as a child, thanks Mom and Dad!

Cool video to leave you with...

Music from Inception...

Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.-John Wooden