Ringside

On Jimmy Kimmel Live, I saw Ringside perform "Tired of Being Sorry" and "Strongerman" (?). Impression: clean, tight, catchy, minimalist, pop appeal. First time heard of the group though their album came out Feb. 5, 2005. The band is made up of: singer/guitarist Scott Thomas, drummer Balthazar Getty, a synth/keyboardist, (and maybe a 4th person, on piano?). Thomas's vocals are sufficient and fitting. The guitar body was worn down perhaps on purpose ... or has it already seen years of use? Anyways the guitar playing showed great control and practice was evident. Drummer - recognizable comfortable beats. Synth - on the verge of 80's sound.

In summary, for those who haven't heard, Ringside is a polished band performing music containing hints of the old to make them readily familiar. If you like The Killers, you will like Ringside. They're going somewhere, assuming the right marketing (Flawless/Geffen). For me they may just be a radar blip, considering my being outside the pop scene.

Roomates

In a conversation with a friend:

It is interesting that well meaning people who room together sometimes end up being more strangers to each other than before. To room with someone; one still needs to be intentional about spending time together, just as with all those people they don't live with. Once we take people we live with for granted, the relationship suffers.

I read a decent novel called When I Whistle by Shusaku Endo -- one of Japan's premier fiction writers. Whistle is one of Endo's more poetic novels. It reflects a sense of beauty in sadness. Which reminds me, I am of the opinion that it is harder to make a movie with a happy ending that impacts you in a manner that resonates... as opposed to one that ends in loss. That's not to say unhappy movies usually resonate. For example most horror movies or senseless movies like Pitch Black have great casualties but do nothing for the heart.

Quote as translated from Japanese:

The hospital rose before him like a wall. Most of the lights in the
windows were out. Work went on only in the nurses' stations on each
floor. This place is where life is brought forth, and where
life dies out. People often wonder when they will die, but they
never wonder where they will die. (p 231)

Isn't it true that we don't imagine our last breath will be taken in a hospital? Yet that is so often the case which makes sense in a place where the people strive to save lives, cure diseases, alleviate suffering, and delay death; sometimes they inevitably fail. Perhaps we don't think at all (or much) about where we will die because it doesn't matter much. What matters is how we live our lives; how we spend the time given to us; if our life has significance; where we go after.