Steve: Thoughts on Love, Life and Pizza.

2011-10-25T08:10:00.001-07:00

2011-09-08T00:56:00.001-07:00

This isn't the Philip Glass version but it's very similar. "Mad Rush" is so moving and beautiful.

Piano is my favorite instrument.

Buy this track and listen to it in the right circumstances but here's the video for a taste...

Email me if you have any recommendations for piano music. I want more but don't know where to start! stevenhuffaker@gmail.com

2011-09-07T23:53:00.000-07:00

Watch, I will start another phase of blogging for 2 days then not post anything for another year...

I always over analyze when I write blogs or tweets or anything & it makes it so that I have a scarce output. It must be an insecurity thing, thinking that everyone is as judgmental as I am. But even if they are, who cares?

We are our own impediment to enlightenment. Being wise or foolish is the same thing, both those labels are for our egos. True inspiration for Namo Amida Butsu only requires being without the need for “wisdom” of “foolishness.” For me –don’t take this all too seriously, it doesn’t need to be complicated or philosophical. I don’t need to be any thing but “as is.”

--Linda Clark

I appreciate people who are comfortable with who they are and not guarded. I guess it's essential to have a guard though. What do you think?

Did you see this? This's interesting...
http://www.jimcarreytrulife.com/video-post/jim-carreys-message-to-emma-stone

Lately I've been in a down-time phase. I can feel it in my body.

Connecting thoughts is what takes the hard work in writing. I would really enjoy screenwriting if I could just come up with characters and put them into entertaining situations with no real story.

Here's the guys from South Park talking about why that's bad:

I've been listening to this interesting album a lot. I recommend it.

http://www.mp3total.com/jurgen-muller-science-of-the-sea-lp-2011/

(don't click on one of the fake DL links on that site)

"The way Science of the Sea subtly shifts in theme, from then-current meditations on the ocean to quixotic impressions about its unexplored expanses, is its masterstroke. It feels like you're on a journey alongside Müller, carefully mapping out the thoughts and fears the murky depths have come to represent, all laid out in a way that your brain would naturally process if you were immersed in that world. The closing "Lonely Voyage" even feels like a warning of sorts, with its foreboding timbre suggesting that you can plunge a little too deeply into yourself if you spend too much time down there. That's where this album disconnects from anything that could perfunctorily be tagged as "new age." This isn't simple relaxation music, although much of it could easily perform that function. Instead the beautifully uncomplicated surface structures are used to prize open a boundless amount of feelings that are every bit as complex and unfathomable as the ocean itself." From Pitchfork

I was watching Larry David clips today while I was procrastinating...

& I was reading about this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/14/gov-rick-perry-cameron-to_n_321710.html

Who knows what the truth is but either way, I don't like how he handled that. That's just what we need, more "certitude". I think it might be good news for us if this guy ends up getting the nomination. He looks foolish... but who knows what this country is into. I actually am trying to avoid Politics lately so I'll stop now before it's too late.

I love these guys. I like their acting in this one.

Michael & Michael Have Issues: Sweatpants by wiredset

2011-05-14T15:48:00.001-07:00

During my entrance interview for UCLA's Directing grad program, I was asked which five films I would take to a desert island. I quickly named four favorites, then there was a long awkward pause. I started to stutter and repeat "Du...du..du..." before cutting myself off. Surely mentioning Dumb and Dumber would have me quickly lose all credibility and get my name on the black list for ever getting into UCLA. I saved myself by mentioning an obscure Almodovar film. I felt like a sellout though. Dumb and Dumber is one of my favorite films of all time and I've probably seen it more than any other film in my lifetime.

The first time I saw it was on my brother's 13th birthday. I was 11. My mom picked us up after school and the three of us went to the multiplex in Corona, CA. We got the birthday treatment with popcorn and junk food. Answering favorite movies questions are always tough for me because mine are so subjective and so connected to experiences. If I'm watching a movie on a long plane ride, it's not going to be my favorite movie but a weeknight PG-13 comedy with my mom and brother is destined to be a classic.

I was unexplainably seduced by Dumb and Dumber. It could have been because I was really dumb at the time and the film was working on that level for me... but after repeat viewings I think the film holds up better than a lot of my other childhood favorites. Even though the film falls squarely in the wacky "Airplane!"-style category, I think it works so well because it has a heart. The writers did well in keeping the characters' impulses very real and relatable: love and friendship. Their actions never fall into the irrational or completely unrealistic. Even at 11, I could really identify with Jim Carrey's hopeless romantic fantasies. The scene where he's fantasizing about entertaining his crush's family at their Winter home, everyone in Christmas sweaters, is brilliant comedically in its fresh take on a very human impulse. Jim Carrey's attention to detail in his performance, how he puts every part of his body to comic use with deft little flourishes, amazed and inspired me in my own videos.

Jeff Daniels' brings a heart to the film and a genuine interpersonal chemistry with Jim Carrey's character that make it rise beyond forgettable gag movies.

Soon after seeing it in the theater, I bought a VHS copy from the previously viewed movies bin at Blockbuster with my allowance. I brought it to family gatherings and after several years, won over even my Dad who would always scoff at Jim Carrey movies. We ended up watching it for many Thanksgivings with my extended family. I remember my Grandpa chuckling with his deep Egyptian voice at the scene where the duo pick up some Mexican hitchhikers and they are all singing "Mocking Bird" in Spanish.

I bought the soundtrack and the early 90's non-threatening college rock still conjures up this profound nostalgia for that time, my family and our shared experiences. Dumb and Dumber was one of the first clues I had that I was obsessed with comedy films and so next time I'm going to put it on my list of 5 movies I'd bring to a desert island.

2010-06-01T00:47:00.000-07:00

About Jesus:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/05/24/100524crat_atlarge_gopnik

Sex and the City 2:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=4132715

You know what's funny? I call my girlfriend "baby" without a trace of irony. I never would've thought that I'd be someone who says that completely seriously. Strangely compulsive. Some weird psychology behind that if you ask me.

I was looking over the old dreams that I wrote down and I came across this:

Steve's Dream #13: I'm at a piano recital wearing a turtleneck playing the Jurassic Park theme song.... big dinasours come into the hall, Jeff Goldblum is in the audience clapping.

Man, I wish I remembered that one.

2010-04-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

I think that science could be used to influence morality, though I'm not really convinced of it's awesome
potential to solve complex ethical issues. He doesn't go into detail.

He shows his ethnocentrism with how he talks about the covering of women.

I agree with his idea that we are allowed to make moral judgments
about other cultures. I just think that something very important
developed with the rise of pluralism and that when we do make
judgments, we should have some humility and be self-reflective and
careful. He's right about the Taliban but he isn't very careful in
the way he talks about the veil and at the end of the lecture, shows
that he really isn't open to adjusting his opinion if he was to learn
more about how the veil functions. I'm afraid this may be the same
old re-affirming-my-cultures-superiority idea, especially considering
he ignores American violent crime/rape and seems to have little,
direct experience with Arab culture.

2010-01-11T00:48:00.000-08:00

2010-01-10T23:32:00.000-08:00

Do not try to become anything.
Do not make yourself into anything.
Do not be a meditator.
Do not become enlightened.
When you sit, let it be.
What you walk, let it be.
Grasp at nothing.
Resist nothing.
Ajhan Chah