Shreading Down Memory Lane

After passing Transworld Snowboarding's 200th issue, for the third time in as many places, I picked it up. It was quite a walk (board) down memory lane (which I believe is also a black diamond run at Waterville Valley, NH). So many memories came back from when I first started snowboarding in 1989.

B.E.A.N. Police 2 - Update

A bit behind schedule, but keeping at it.

The Pie Who Loved Me (2006)

Collective Subconscious Production's entry into the 2006 Boston 48-hour Film Festival, on which I was script supervisor.

The Fixers (2007)

Collective Subconscious Production's entry into the 2007 Boston 48-hour Film Festival, on which I was co-screenwriter.

The Golden Years (2008)

"The Golden Years,", Collective Subconscious Production's entry into the 2008 Boston 48-hour Film Festival, on which I was script consultant.

Captain Cray's Treasure Hunt (2009)

"Captain Cray's Treasure Hunt", Collective Subconscious Production's entry into the 2009 Boston 48-hour Film Festival, on which I was head writer.

The Perfect Daisy (2010)

"The Perfect Daisy", Collective Subconscious Production's entry into the 2010 Boston 48-hour Film Festival, on which I was head writer.

B.E.A.N. Police (2002)

B.E.A.N. Police, online at Amazon or Barnes and Nobles.

Motion Picture and the Nigerian Image (2006)

Motion Picture and the Nigerian Image (2006). An essay.

Lost in Assimilation (2006)

Lost in Assimilation. My short story entry for the 2006 Oladuah Equiano Prize for Fiction.

The Crossover (2009)

The Crossover (2009) A B.E.A.N. Police short-story.

The Third Heaven (2005-2006)

"The Third Heaven" (2005-2006). Its purpose: "to encourage people of all beliefs to explore how their desires can lead them to something beyond themselves."

B.E.A.N. Police 2.0 - 83 Days

It's a race to the finish line for publication. Less than three weeks to go.
Hopefully, the editor won't toss me any curve balls.

Renewals

Sometimes for reasons unknown, life gives one a clean slate. It may be in a relationship, a job, or whatever. One choice is to be pissed about losing what one had, and focusing on that.
The other choice is to realize that maybe life was just helping one give up stuff that one
had outgrown, and focusing on that.

Changes

I kind let go of topeoluwole.com and have decided not to renew it. So have at it all you Tope Oluwoles out there. Welcome to my new Web shingle.

Ta-Ta For Now

I will be taking some time off, while I prepare for a new stage in my life. Take care.

If You're Waiting For Inspiration

Inspiration is great. Although at some point, you have to s@#$ or get off the pot.

Good Food

When was the last time you had really good food?
Was it at a restaurant? In a home? On vacation?
Does the company you keep influence how you feel about food?

Why I Love Football (Soccer) Commentators

As an American I'm used to hearing a lot of analysis (paralysis) from sports commentators from all major sports during the game. I believe a lot of words are wasted on minutiae such as non-game related drama, and stats ad-nauseum, that unless one is The Fan, one might tune out.

Football, particularly the World Cup, is a true global competition. Because of location and scheduling, one might hear games more often than watch them outside developed area. Because of this, the commentators most of the time are brief, descriptive, and wisk through the mundane.

Don't be confused by hearing something like, "Johnson to Beatty...Beatty to Sun...Sun...Sun...There's a chance...Sun to Patrick...Patrick...PATRICK!!!...He shoots......GOAL!...GOOOOOOOOOL!!!"

Happy 30th Pacman

The only video game that I will confidently challenge any teenager to best me.

Why Are Some People Afraid of God?

I have been there. Not so much the fear of God directly, but the fear of church and all of its inferred baggage. Is this place really a cult? Are they trying to recruit me into their sect? Are these folks being real, or is it just a farce covered up with plastic smiles that never seem to drop? Will they succeed in some how brainwashing me?

All questions that crossed my mind early in the walk. In the end, it wasn't the years of church, or Sunday school, or living in a overtly religious environment. No, it was that personal experience of God. Not a cerebral understanding, but a true experience that left an indelible mark. After that I didn't have the old fear of not knowing, but the understanding of the difference between knowing the Scriptures as words on the page, and experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit.

Why Now?

I've heard people often ask, "why now?" when things aren't going so great.
I say, why not now? If not now, then when? It's gonna happen anyway, right?

Less Than Two Month Until World Cup 2010

I just finished watching a soccer match in the Spanish league and during the half-time saw an ad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

It's like a month long vacation for me. This year it will be from June 11 through July 12. Also, this will be the first time Africa is the host continent. South Africa probably
won't win the whole thing, but I don't think that is the point. The fact that
South Africa is hosting I think is prize enough for them and all Africans.

Although, it wouldn't hurt to make it to the Round of 16.

Being Afraid of God

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Whether you believe in Him or not.

Ooh La La iPad

Ok, so my cousin just got the iPad and I thought to take it for a spin.
Well it does live up to the hype. It's very slick to view and intelligent as well.
It's smart enough to anticipate and transition for text to symbols to text
when typing it's for example.

The typing takes a bit to get used to but you have to approach it
"drunken style". Just imagine typing with the first three or four fingers on each hand.

Until the next time. Oh, did I mention spell check on the fly?

Another Civil War?

Over the last couple of weeks I've listened to news reports, podcasts, etc. about how the passage of the health care bill has pushed political discourse to the edge of chaos.

The Left blames the Right. The Right blames the Left, and the Middle blames the media. There is a real danger of the fringe, with the proper combination of accelerants (rhetoric, hyperbole, and vitriol), becoming the mob.

The last civil war caused much of the social as well as economic fabric of the United States to be utterly destoyed. I pray our elected leaders consider how they might together heal the bruise before it becomes a sore.

When It's Time To Get Out Of The Way

When your boss is younger than you, you're no longer in charge.
When your president is younger than you, your generation is no longer in charge.

The Easy Solution To The Health Care Debate

For those in Congress who don't want health insurance reform now; they should give up their health insurance, now, to someone who doesn't have health insurance now.

Thank God For The Internet

Celebrating ten years since my first trip to Brazil, I decided to post on Facebook, ten YouTube music videos of significance to commemorate those ten years. Well, I got to ten and still felt some videos deserved to make the cut.

So I decided to go for a baker's dozen. I was about to add one song to the list, when I remembered an intoxicating reggae groove I heard back in the Summer of 2001 in Sao Paulo, while relaxing on my cousin's easy chair on a breezy afternoon. I know very little Portuguese, and knew even less then. All I remembered was the refrain from the chorus, "liberdade pra dentro da cabeça". During the next week, It seemed I heard the song everywhere I went. I tried several music stores in the city, and even asked my cousin and family, but no one seemed to know the song (from my explanation) nor the group who sang it. A tune lost to me forever...until today.

I decided to see what would happened if I typed the only words of the song I remembered into the YouTube search field. Well, it felt like meeting a long lost love, by accident, after an unexpected departure. Freedom for inside the head.

Three Things Most People Don't Mind Giving

1. Their opinions.
2. Their reasons.
3. Their advice.
   

If Toyota Were A Software Company...

1) It would be a laughing matter.
2) Aficionados would just wait for the patch to be released.
3) A bunch of us would just wait 9 months, and upgrade to a 2011 model.
4) A few purist would get a Toyota 2000.
5) Early adopters would just wait for the lastest ooh-aah from Honda at the next auto show.
6) There would be blogs, and forums littered with workarounds already.
7) Instead of the proverbial...well ah-well ah-well ah, Toyota customer service would simply say, "oh yeah...that's a bug."
8) Disabling the Prius' alarm system might resolve the issue,
9) A thread dump of the ECM unit would be quite revealing.
10) Turning the key to the off position, putting the car in neutral, and stepping on the brake, would mysteriously resolve the problem.

The Difference Between Knowing and Appreciating Something

A woman knows that kicking a guy in the family jewels will hurt.
A man appreciates that fact.

You Meet The Friendliest People Near Motorcycles

Today a buddy and I went to the New England Motorcycle Show in New York City. An easy day trip from Boston. We hadn't gone to a proper bike show in years, and never one as far and as big as this one in New York.

There would be no proper riding for us until at least April, so this was an nice opportunity to see all the new motorcycle weapondry, accessories, and the motorcyclists they draw. While the motorcycles were very intriguing, it was the people and the stories they brought that enhanced the experienced.

From the guy with the Christian Motorcyclist Association, who matted a stick-shift transmission to a Norton motorcycle almost as old as myself, to the woman who had as many tattoos on her arms as there are days in a month, to the kid who streched his four-foot frame, with glee, across a 1098cc Ducati sportsbike, to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor who gave us a idea of what to expect in an advance course, while we all sampled Nolan motorcycle helmets.

In all these stories of trips, bike, modification, and anecdotes of adventures gone by; meeting for one winter Sunday afternoon, never to meet again, but better for the exchange.

Rebuilding Haiti

I have avoided looking at too many photos or videos of the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Port au Prince. I remember how I became a CNN fiend for the 22 hours (straight) after 9/11, and how it gave me nightmares for a day or two. This time, I'm not worried about the nightmare, but the despair that can come about after such devastation.

We cannot bring the dead back. What we can do is find out (ask, seek, knock) how we can be of service to the living. Today, I donated via church. However, this time. I will approach such giving how I approached campaign donations in the last presidential election. Like the Busy Bunnies in my daughters' bedtime story, I will sow seeds, "a little here, a little there."

Where Does The Terror (List) End?

So, what gets a country on another country's list of terrorist states? I know that's not an official term, but that's what it is ultimately thought of as.

If a criterion is the nationality of the terror suspect, then what happens when a country ends up on its own list.

Knowing and Acting Like It's All Going To End

I ran across a quote I had saved on my phone, a few months back, from D. H. Lawrence: "Every man unknowingly, lives through every year, the day that will eventually be the anniversary of his death."

A chill ran over me, once I gave it some thought. We always see death, barring a terminal accident or disease, as something (hopefully) in the far future. However, the day of everyone's death, boils down to a particular day within a year. A day, if one is more than a year old, that would have been lived through at least once.