Third weekend in July

Friday

On Friday afternoon, Google treated me to The Dark Knight, the new Batman movie. I’m not a huge comic fan (I’ve never read comics but I do end up seeing most of the movies), but I really enjoyed it. As other people have already noted, the Joker was a great character. One small issue I had with the movie was that the cell phone thing stuck out too much as it appeared squeezed in as a political statement about privacy. If they had built a story around Fox’s objection it could have been okay, but they didn’t.

That night, a few of us saw a Coldplay concert in San Jose. We arrived about 30 minutes after the doors opened, as part of the crowd known as “people who don’t go to concerts very often,” because as you probably know, the real band doesn’t come out until a couple hours later. The first group on the stage was some local band that had entered a contest to get to play before the show. They weren’t incredible, but I couldn’t have done any better. The next act had a more professional sound, but it wasn’t my kind of music. Jenny didn’t find it terribly exciting either. I think the last song was okay.

Coldplay of course finally did come out, and as Koklynn, Reid, and Charlene have already said, they did, as expected, put on a good show. I felt a little bad for Koklynn, who was stuck next to me and Nelson. While I am a fan of Coldplay and was really enjoying the show, it may not have been completely obvious that I was having a good time, because like Nelson, I was just sitting still (not even standing) and watching/listening. That’s just how I am at concerts and sporting events. I don’t yell, I don’t move to the beat, and I certainly don’t sing along. I do clap politely at the end of each song. It’s just how I am.

In addition to the music, I still can’t help but take notice of the technical aspects* of any show. While certainly not the most advanced rig out there, the subtle lighting for this show was still nice. My favorite non-musical part of the event was the laser show during Clocks. When I’m an eccentric billionaire, please be assured that my house will feature extensive use of fiber optics and lasers.

Saturday

Saturday started at about 3:00 for me with an afternoon of croquet at Stanford. I was proud of myself for attending such a high-class event, and even dressed up for the occasion. My dad later informed me that I didn’t really go all-out however, as a true croquet player would have worn all white.

After croquet, we ate dinner at Korea House in Santa Clara. The food was a little out of my league, but I did enjoy trying some new things and finding out that I liked them. Maybe I’m just too used to growing up with “American” restaurants, but is there some sort of water shortage in Santa Clara? The water glasses were tiny, and our table of six was given a single pitcher of water to fight over containing mostly ice. I’m more accustomed to the kinds of restaurants where you have to fend the waiters off with a fork in order to keep them from refilling your water after every sip. The experience reminded me of trying to eat breakfast in a restaurant where they bring you microscopic portions of orange juice, which never fails to frustrate me. But overall I enjoyed the experience, even though I felt a little weird that night. Maybe it was the sun. Maybe it was the food.

Sunday

My sister has informed me that today is National Ice Cream Day. I’m gonna go get some before midnight. I hope I can find some here in California that isn’t some organic yogurt or made from avocados.

And P.S. about this site: My advice form has seen very little action recently, so if you have a question, I encourage you to ask.

*Photo by Andrea Owens