The Weepies - Can't Go Back Now

I am so into this band right now...they just make me smile

My blurry-ass pictures from my stupid camera...

I took a few pictures on this trip that I was happy with. My Olympus digital camera sucks only slightly less than the Kodak Disc camera I was when I was 12 so most of my snaps come out blurry which is very frustrating. Here are a couple that I was happy with...

Here is a link to the rest of the pics from my trip in case anyone is interested...

Never again...

Although there are many days when I question my career choice, I can say that working for Massive Dynamic (shout out to all you Fringe fans out there) has given me many opportunities that I don't know that I would have otherwise. Among these opportunities is the chance to travel a bit every once in a while. I actually enjoy travelling so the few trips I take a year are not bothersome and other than getting a bit homesick towards the end, I am usually glad for the opportunity to see and experience new places. Last week I had the chance to spend about 6 days in Germany and Austria. If you've never been I can't recommend it highly enough. It is breathtakingly beautiful country. I spent the majority of my time in a small village at the foot of the Austrian Alps called Jenbach. It was like stepping into a postcard. Everyone there was wonderfully kind and welcoming. They serve a fantastic Austrian beer called Zipfer (almost exclusively). Like when you order a beer, they don't ask "what kind would you like?" they just pour you a Zipfer. So I had a few of those...

Last Friday, my colleagues and I stayed in Munich, Germany and spent the evening with a fellow employee from Munich, a gentleman named Karl-Henz who showed us some local beer halls (are you noticing a trend here?) and an amazing Italian restaurant where we enjoyed dinner late into the evening.

On Saturday, we had the opportunity to spend a few hours at the Dachau concentration camp memorial. I can honestly say that this was one of the most profound experiences of my life. I don't know how you can really prepare yourself emotionally for something like this, but I was not. As you approach the camp you are met by an iron gate bearing the German phrase "Arbeit macht frei" which means "work will make you free".

As I walked through the gate to the camp I broke down and had to stop for a few moments to compose myself. It's literally as if you can feel the weight of everything that happened in that terrible place.

Gate to Dachau Camp

After viewing a brief film on the history of the Dachau camp and the atrocities that took place there, we walked the grounds and toured the prisoners barracks and bath house.

Prisoner bunk house

Prisoner toilet facilities

Guard Tower

There really aren't words to describe what it's like to be in a place like this. I was overwhelmed by feelings of sadness for the people who suffered and died there and simply for the human condition that allows people to hate so much and to commit such atrocities. In the midst of all of that sadness and despair however, there was a tiny flickering hope that maybe as a people we learned something from that dark period in our history and remain committed to ensuring that it never happens again.

Make 'Em Say Uhh...

So I'm playing (and I use that term loosely) in this basketball league at my church. It's an open league which apparently means that it is made up mostly of guys who are rehabbing a knee before they can return to the NBA or possibly sitting out a year due to academic reasons before they can transfer to Duke or North Carolina to finish their NCAA careers. I am the slowest, fattest, whitest guy within 10 miles of this gym and I am fully preparing myself to be humiliated every Monday for the next 8 weeks. We had the season opening Jamboree on Monday...it iterally looked like this (complete with the dude in the gorilla suit dunking from half court):



But I'm not going to quit...I signed up and I'm playing. At the very least, I should learn how to take an elbow to the solar plexus without vomiting. Wish me luck...

Colbert on the Origins of Evil

If you're a member of the Colbert Nation (like I am) then you've probably already heard this exchange between Stephen and Dr. Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University on Lucifer and the origin of evil. My favorite part of the clip:

Dr. Zimbardo: "You've obviously paid attention in Sunday School."
Colbert: "I TEACH Sunday School motherf****!"

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Philip Zimbardo
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

Subscribe to this blog...

If anyone is interested in subscribing to my blog you can do that here via Feedburner. If you don't already know why you would want to do this, then you probably don't need to. If you do know and haven't already, then go for it.

Where the Wild Things Are...

I know very little about this movie other than the fact that it is a film adaptation of the beloved childrens book by Maurice Sendak. That and the fact that it will be mind blowingly awesome. Here is a brief list of all the awesome things I spied (or heard) in the trailer:

1. Shadow of monster head (:14)
2. Glimpse of monster horn in sunlight (:21)
3. Monster's eye (:25)
4. Arcade Fire - Wake Up(:30)
5. Max's sweater (:39)
6. Max's rabbit costume (:52)
7. Catherine Keener (1:06)
8. By the Author Maurice Sendak (1:32)
9. From Director Spike Jonze (1:36)
10. Where the Wild Things Are (1:56)

And for the one thing that sucked about this trailer:

1. October 16 (2:06)

A brief moment of pause...

I didn't realize it until just now, but I just crossed the 200 post mark here in T-Bone's World. I've been at this since June '05...almost 4 years. That's about 50 posts a year. If I'm really being honest, I have to say I'm not too proud of the pace there but then again, I'm not a guy who's ever gonna hit a 4 minute mile. Quality over quantity baby...quality is job #1. So let me take a moment to say shalom and thank you to all of my friends in the interwebs. Thank you for taking a moment to read what I have to say, listen to what I recommend or watch what I think is funny or compelling. It means more to me than you know...

Such Great Heights...

Not that anybody really needs another reason to dig David Bazan but if you're looking for one here it is...him singing backup for Ben Gibbard on "Such Great Heights". I got to see this tour a couple of years ago and yes, it was amazing, thanks for asking. I've probably talked about this before because I've really only got like 3 or 4 cool stories that I just keep recycling. Me driving to Nashville to watch David Bazan open for Ben Gibbard is one of those stories. And yes, I am also aware that my blog has been a little Bazan heavy over the past week or so. Will I be changing that any time soon? I don't know...probably not as long as he continues to be the most awesome thing I have to write about. You've got your Jonas Brothers...I've got my David Bazan, mmmkay?

Slow and Steady Wins the Race...

So that David Bazan show I told you about the other day? Yeah, it was only about 1000 times more awesome than I even thought it would be. Here's a little taste. Oh and if you're not a fan after this, please follow the advice my brother Justin would give: Do the world a favor and go ahead and punch yourself in the face.