Brendan Reeder's Digest

Momma's Day

2011-05-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day Momma!

One Cool Cat

2010-11-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

You might expect me to apologize for going more than a year without writing in my blog, well you'd be wrong. I've been busy, too busy to spend my time on blogs and twitter, barely enough time to make posts on Facebook! What kind of a social media user am I?
But now I'm ready to put myself in the spotlight again, just like the cat in this picture. So to the masses that follow my blog, yes all four of you, you can expect to start getting at least a weekly article in Brendan Reeder's Digest...more to come!

"One Short Day in the Mile High City"

2009-10-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

So this last week I was able to go on a little road trip with my family to Denver to go see the musical "Wicked". With my brother Justin got home a couple weeks ago, and the addition of my brother's wife and my aunt, there was no way we were going to all fit together, so rather than split up into different vehicles, we decided to rent a 15-passenger van for the trip. It was a great idea.
We drove through Spanish Fork Canyon on our way to I-70 to get to Denver. Let me just say that it's great to live in an age where you can have a mini-dvd player, ipods, air-conditioning, and so many other conveniences to make the time go by.
That is not to say that we didn't talk to one another or play some road games or try to wrestle in a big van or see how creatively mom could cheat while playing the "Alphabet" game on the road (she's pretty creative). It was nice to spend time with Justin since we haven't really seen him for 2 years, and by catch up, I mean tackle him and pick on him and all the other joys that come with being the youngest.
After driving through the sometimes snowy Rockies (yes, it snowed a couple times on the way there) we finally arrived at our destination in Denver around midnight at the Ramada Inn downtown and we all went to bed after our tiring day sitting in the car and eating...(well we were tired from it, what can I say?)
The next day we had some time to kill before the play that evening. We decided to go to a nearby park and ended up tossing a football around and feeding the ducks and squirrels (because I'm sure they don't get enough food at parks). It was nice to get out and move around and see Katy learn how to throw and catch a football.
We then went to downtown Denver and walked around their outside mall for a bit. The mall was basically like any other, but we did find a giant blue bear sculpture that was peering into a building...that was pretty weird.
Finally the showtime started and I was more than entertained with the musical. With the story, the music and the rarely seen talent of Broadway performers, it was a night to remember. The tunes will be stuck in my head for a couple of weeks as I "dance through life"...
We stayed another night in Denver and the next day we travelled home the "other" way through Cheyenne, where we stayed at the Little America Hotel and were treated to a nice dinner and breakfast buffet that was most enjoyable.
It was fun to be together with family for a sustained amount of time. All of our lives are so busy that we usually are only together for a few hours about every other Sunday.
So that's all I have to say about that.

"People will come Ray"...(just not for the home team)

2009-07-29T17:26:00.001-07:00

The picture is of me and my friend Bryan Allen at a Washington Nationals game in DC. (Bryan came out for a weekend of adventure, it was district-y and columbia-y).

I have to mention a quick story. During this game I had to use the facilities, oh heck I'll just say it, I had to pee, and it was the most entertaining visit to the men's room I've ever experienced. When I got in there, there were about 10 urinals and there was a line of about 6 or 7 people in front of each one, not too unusual for a sporting event and the line tends to move pretty quickly for men...anyways. While in line, some guys started saying something about the Cubs (the teams the Nationals were playing that day) and the guy who said it had on a Boston Red Sox hat, well, someone else started talking smack about his team and then someone else got into it about another team. So there were about 5 people in all, in a room full of people that were yelling back and forth at each other about their teams, all in good fun, but still competitive fun. I actually heard some good arguments for all sides. Some of the guys were hilarious and it kept going all up until they made it to the urinal, and then it was over, just like that.

So, that just goes to show you, just because you have to take a break from a game, it doesn't mean you have to stop being entertained.

Anyways, there's a baseball team out here, they were the Montreal Expos and nobody would go to their games, so they moved to DC. And still no one goes to their games, well, that's not entirely true.

Washington used to have a baseball team back in the day called the Senators, but they moved to Texas, so for the last 30-40 years there was no baseball team here and many of the locals switched their allegiance to the Baltimore Orioles, the next closest thing.

The Expos were a terrible team and the Nationals still are, seriously, last in the entire league. What's interesting though is to see that they can still pack a stadium.

It's not every game, but when they play other big city teams that have a widespread fan base, those fans will come and watch them play. There are so many people working in DC who aren't from DC or there are those that are visiting as tourists and such, that they can come to a great stadium for a decent price and watch their team usually clobber the Nat's.

I just thought that it was kind of funny. I root for the Nat's because I'm here and I like the underdogs but I think that if the Nationals ever became a good team, the fan base would be huge. There's a lot of would-be fans out here that are just waiting for an opportunity to cheer.

500 Days of Summer...I would watch 500 more.

2009-07-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

I watched a movie, which of course means that I will share my thoughts about it.

Having looked back at my last post, I think I took too long, so I'll try to be brief.

"500 Days of Summer" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

There is some narration involved in the movie and the narrator starts off by informing the audience that "this is not a 'love story', but a story about love". And that's kind of what it is.

The performances were good, the story was interesting and funny, but what I liked most of all was the direction.

It was directed by first-time director Marc Webb whose previous work includes mostly music videos, which I think helps a lot in this movie. The soundtrack is excellent and the director makes good use of it.

Webb also takes liberties to try some unconventional tactics in filmmaking for example in one scene, the screen splits and you see a version of what someone wanted to happen and what did happen, it was great.

Other films that come to mind with this movie are "Stranger Than Fiction", "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", "Garden State", and some of Woody Allen's stuff.

It might be the best movie I've seen in 2009 up there with "State of Play".

I would have to give this movie 3 and a half swigs of diet A&W Root Beer (out of 4)

Oops, my Patronus is showing!

2009-07-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hey, it's me again.

So, a new feature that will be added to my blog I've decided is a movie review. When I see a movie I will let you know what I thought about it and you can comment if you like to agree or disagree.

It was Pottermania this week as the 6th Harry Potter movie came out. I admittedly read the books and enjoyed them, but I'm not one to dress up and go to the movie at midnight the day it opens, I'm way too cool for that (I went the next night at 10:00 pm...in a polo shirt, no robe, no wand, no glasses...but I did brand a lightning bolt into my forehead...just kidding).

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and so that might have played into my enjoyment of watching the "Half Blood Prince", but I can't help but think that this latest installments was one of the better ones.

I thought that the previous Potter movie ("Order of the Phoenix") was one of the better ones as well and I think that we have to credit the director, David Yates, for that as he's directed the last two. (And he's directing the final two as well, which for me is good news)

Maybe because he's British, he can be more in touch with all that is Potter...ness. I just recently finished watching the BBC miniseries "State of Play" and enjoyed that immensely. (it recently was remade into and American movie starring Russel Crowe and Ben Affleck...one of the better films of 2009).

Another element that made HP6 enjoyable was the addition of Jim Broadbent as Horace...the new potions teacher.

There were many more humorous moments in this one, for example when Harry takes the luck serum.

I can understand if one hasn't read the books that they may have found this one a bit boring because it concentrated a bit more on the relationships, but I felt that they did as good a job as you can do when limited to a 2 hour movie.

To its fault, the Lavender character was a bit over the top, and some of the action at the end didn't make sense. But the special effects were decent, especially at the quidditch match, it looked pretty real.

So, overall, I give this movie 3 swigs of Diet A&W Root Beer (out of 4)

Hail to the princess Aurora!

2009-07-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

This is a stained glass window from the National Cathedral. The first thing I thought of when I saw it was Sleeping Beauty. (come on, you know that part where the fairies are bestowing their wishes on the baby Aurora?)

Michaelangelo would pee his pants!!! (the ninja turtle)...(well heck, the artist would too)

2009-07-14T17:56:00.000-07:00

This pizza is from Boli's Jumbo Slice Pizza. I think that any pizza slice that has to be set out on 2 plates and is bigger than my head, deserves my praise and some Blog exposure.

I kissed Angelina Jolie

2009-07-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I didn't really kiss Angelina Jolie. But how else am I supposed to get people to read my blog if not by deceiving the masses?

This picture was taken at the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery. And it was taken just before the security guard came in and told us that we were not supposed to take pictures of the...er...pictures.

If you ever find yourself in Washington DC I would recommend that you visit the portrait gallery, it is not on the national mall and thus not one of the more visited locations, but it's got a lot of cool stuff (I know what you're thinking, first he lies about kissing Jolie-Face and now he's giving free advertising to the Smithsonian...what is this?...You're right, back to the good stuff).

So over the weekend I went to the "Newseum". I spent about 5 hours there and I don't know if it was because I'm a journalism student, or because they just did a good job, but I was riveted. I probably could've stayed longer if it weren't for my eating condition. (The condition is that I like food...hmmm, spkeaking of which...mmm Sand(which)...

(10 minutes later...burp)

As I was saying, it was fascinating. It had a section dedicated to pulitzer prize winning photographs, some very recognizable, some not as much, but just as riveting. What made that section even better was the fact that the story of the photographer behind each photograph was next to each photo. A comment was made that a still image can often tell a greater and more detailed story than a video or film can.

If you think about it, it's true. Imagine a video of a big crowd at a parade...meh. But now picture an image of an older person with a little grandchild.

Maybe that's just in my head, but it is amazing the difference an image can make.

Anyways, the whole experience gave me a renewed appreciation for the first amendment and the freedom of speech and press, etc. There was a big map that showed just how "free" the press and speech was in all the countries around the world. It might surprise you to know that the U.S. ranks 18th in the entire world! Apparently Iceland and Norway are the freest. Interesting, if not a little alarming.

Anyway, for my final thought I'll leave you with some advice. The other night I went for a walk to the Jefferson Memorial (it's only about a 15-20 minute walk). It might not have been the best idea as I live somewhat close to Anacostia, not the greatest part of DC so I've heard. Plus it was dark.

Anyways, I was walking along and rather than go around a row of dumpsters in one section, I decided to go in between them. I was walking rather briskly and as I went to walk through I took a blow to the stomach. I wish I had some amazing story about how I was mugged and came out okay, but instead I tell you that walked right into a thick fence wire which close-lined me.

A family walked by trying not to laugh at the spectacle...I would have if I'd had any breath.

Anyways, when walking at night, watch out for sneaky fence rods.

Washington Monument on the evening of the 4th of July

2009-07-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

Never was there a story of such woe, than that of Brendan, and his blog...o

2009-07-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I gave in. It's not that I think people will read my blog, but sometimes I just have these thoughts or experiences and I decided that they should be written down, so that one day, someone can use them against me and send me to jail or something.

Okay, but seriously, it is a little weird if you think about.

The truth is that I'm out here doing an internship in Washington DC with National Geographic and I'm enjoying my life. And if I can enjoy my life, and someone out there isn't enjoying his or her life, they can live vicariously through mine.

So, without further ado, my first blog post..."ahem",

Today after I got off work I was waiting at the bus stop and this little Hispanic woman asked me if I could see the bus coming. I heroically told her that it was and the next thing she told me was, "it's scary, what's going on in North Korea right now huh?".

Huh was right, usually I like to start off my conversations with strangers with a "wow, it's humid out here today", or "so, the Nat's lost again last night huh?". But this little Guatemalan woman skipped the chit chat and got right down to the "meat of the situation". If I could tell her if her bus was coming, then I could handle the topic of North Korea.

She told me that she worried about the country turning into Sodom and Gomorrah, and that the U.S. needed to change. She talked a lot about how the founding fathers of this nation, founded it with God in mind and mentioned that you can find it everywhere, in the buildings, on our money. In her heavily Spanish-accented English she then said, "I love this country so much, because no other country was founded like that. God had to help them because they asked him for it".

She was actually very friendly and nice, and quite spiritual and we talked for the next 15 minutes on the bus. Not to get spiritual, but I was pretty touched, what she said actually was very true. Today we (society) don't like to include spiritual or religious things in our decisions. But the fact is that God was weighed heavily upon the great minds that shaped this country into what it is. And as I've been out here in our nation's capital for the last couple of months, I've learned a deeper respect for that.

So, the point I'm trying to make is simple, if little Hispanic ladies ever start talking to you about current affairs, listen.