The Hindu wedding we attended was an enriching experience.
(More detail another day. Click to enlarge)

I’m trying something different today — brief comments on What I’m Hearing, What I’m Reading, What I’m Seeing, and What I’m Doing, including sound clips and pictures.

What I’m Hearing

Lately I have been listening to a mix CD made by Moksha Gren (frequent commenter here). High points are artists Sufjan Smith Stephens, Death Cab for Cutie, Rilo Kiley, and The Hold Steady. While cruising home from work with the top down in Texas, I can’t get enough of the opening line, “They got to the part with the cattle and the creeping things,” on The Hold Steady’s “Cattle and the Creeping Things.”

Also, a Jedi with an identity crisis has been hanging around our house. I recorded a bit of my conversation with him.

What I’m Reading

I’m reading To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek, by Athena Andreada, Ph.D. Snatched up for $1 at a local library’s fundraising book sale, it has helped me remember how much I enjoy science. When not working as assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, Andreada is quite capable of debunking (or “bunking,” as the case may be) the “science” of the various ST series and movies. As a student at Harvard, she graduated magna cum laude in biochemistry and earned her Ph.D. in molecular biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, in case you aren’t used to seeing it spelled out). So far she’s established why humanoid species hybrids are impossible, and why silicon-based life is not.

What I’m Seeing

Over the past weekend we rented Horton Hears a Who and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, both on Blu-ray Disc (BD). The latter, a thought-provoking look at the last days of the James gang, is stated by many to be the most accurate filmed re-telling of that period of Jesse James’ life. The former is a colorful treat for the senses that perfectly demonstrates the deep, rich color reproduction on our 42″ plasma. I had to drag out our surround receiver, center channel, and subwoofer for the occasion. (Our son watched Horton and somehow slept soundly in his room while we watched Assassination at a very loud volume — the train rumbled the whole house!)

On Monday night Shannon and I watched my first purchased BD, bought used at Blockbuster when we rented the aforementioned flicks. The Dark Knight looked amazing in high definition, and Ledger fit brilliantly into the engaging story. It was several notches above other recent superhero flicks — Iron Man being the most notable exception.

U2 is playing on David Letterman’s show as I write this, and they sound great. Bono can sing just like he did 10 or 15 years ago. If you don’t usually watch Dave, record him as he features this supergroup every night this week.

What I’m Doing

My parents made the jaunt from Arkansas on Friday. Among other fun, we played a game of dominoes that found us learning the rules as we went. Dad and I each endured a hand in which we drew from the bone pile on every turn, never to lay one down on the double that started the round. Trust me when I say you’re not coming back from having 23 dominoes left (we drew 12 to start the hand). Brutal.

I returned the wall-hanging bracket for the television and with that credit I ordered the surround receiver that will fit in our new TV stand.

I’m taking vacation the week of Benjamin’s spring break so that we can relax, paint another room or two in the house, and maybe actually get away for a night or two on one of the adjacent weekends.

Now, have a good second half of your week.