Mason's World by Mason | English, baby! Blogs

The other side of 30

Mason — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:49:52 GMT

The other side of 30

My 31st birthday was last week, and I have fully embraced being a boring old man. I didn't do anything outrageous--just had a nice dinner out with my family. My wife wanted to take me on a big weekend trip, but I told her it wasn't important enough to me to justify spending the money. And do you want to know what I asked for as a present? Dual flush toilets. That's right. For my birthday, I thought about being more water efficient.

As I've gotten older, I've embraced the idea that I don't need to do things to impress anybody. This often makes my wife crazy, because it means I'll easily say "no" to invitations for going out with friends or other social things if I'm not in the mood. But on the flip side, if there's something I do want to do, I pretty much do it. That makes me impossible to plan for and buy presents for, but in the long run, it's just what works out best for me.

There's nothing particularly special about turning 31 in the United States. I'm in a bit of a vaccuum until I hit 40. That, or have a kid. What are the big birthdays where you live?

Lord of the Rings - All At Once!

Mason — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:36:49 GMT

Lord of the Rings - All At Once!

Once a year, my friends and I all get together for a day to watch all three Lord of the Rings movies back-to-back. Not only do we watch these incredibly long movies - we watch the extended editions that weren't released in theaters. That's over 11 hours of awesomeness!

Now, you may think I'm crazy. But you're wrong. Think about it, and you'll realize there's no other way to possibly watch these movies. By going through this journey, you're actually mimicing the arduous path of the fellowship. It's not a fun romp in the woods. It's a friggin' slog to Mordor.

We've been doing this for 8 years now, and each year takes on a special flavor. The best thing that happened this year was during the first big battle in Moria. Our friend brought his two young boys, and the yougest was standing up and bellowing mighty battle cries at the screen, doing his part to help out the good guys. He's 3. He's amazing. I can only hope my future kids will be that epicly cool. I plan to start them early by putting headphones up to my wife's pregnant belly and playing the soundtrack. That'll work, right?

Magic

Mason — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:18:53 GMT

Magic

In my constant effort to become an even bigger nerd, I have now gotten into Magic: The Gathering.

It's a slippery slope.

I started playing because my group of friends who play Dungeons & Dragons together was having difficulty finding a time when we could all get together. So one of them lent me some of his Magic cards to start playing with. The thing about Magic vs D&D is that is much easier to find someone to play with - and a game can take as little as 10 minutes. That's the good part.

The bad part is you will spend more money on Magic.

First, I bought the video game. Which was pretty cheap and a lot of fun. Then I bought the upgrade to the video game. OK. Totally fair - it's got new decks and everything. No problem.

Then I went to a promotional event where the company gave away FREE cards to play with - and the players got to keep them. And that was what doomed me.

The reason this game is so successful is built of that fantastic combination of opening up a fresh pack of cards and not knowing what you're going to get inside. Reliving that feeling, I can understand again why I wasted so much money on collectible sports cards as a little kid.

Combine that feeling with the fact that they are always releasing new cards - and they officially remove cards from "legal" play (in professional matches and stuff - it doesn't matter if you're just playing at home) every 2 years or so.

That's an awesome and tricky business model. And I totally fell for it. What's the nerdiest thing you do?

Heat wave

Mason — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:06:49 GMT

Heat wave

Oregon is not known for it's hot weather - and to be honest, it hasn't been crazy hot lately. But I'm going to talk about it anyway. For the past 3-4 weeks, it's been between 80 and 90 degrees everyday. One thing to be thankful about is that we don't have any humidity - but being in a state that isn't used to high temperatures, NOBODY here has air conditioning.

As a new homeowner, that means my house is crazy hot right now. One or two days of heat is fine - it still gets cool enough at night that I can bring in enough cool air to combat the heat of the day. But three days in, I'm doomed. Now we're dealing with three weeks. Ack!

The best I can do is work out an elaborate arrangement of fans trying to circulate air through my house during the day - then switch up the arrangement and open all the windows at night to get the hot air out and cool air in.

At this point, you're probably thinking I'm a total wimp for complaining about temperatures under 100 degrees. And that's fair. But I'm a delicate, sensitive grape and this is my blog. ;)

Driving to work

Mason — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:12:13 GMT

Driving to work

I live in Portland, and we have fantastic public transportation. But I still choose to drive to work most days. I defend my choice for the following reasons:

- It rains a lot in Portland

- The busses stop too often - and so take too long to get places

- I'm lazy

But driving definitely has its down side. Like yesterday. I have to cross a river to get to work, and there are many bridges in Portland. As I approached one of the bridges on my usual route, there was a lot of traffic.

So I thought to myself "No problem. I'll just go over the next bridge. Maybe it will have less traffic."

Well... it didn't The next bridge was just as busy as the first. So I thought, "Well, nice try. I guess I'll just wait to get over this bridge."

It took my almost 20 minutes to get to the start of the bridge - which is usually the total amount of time it takes me to get to work - and that's when there was a sign saying the bridge was closed! Can you believe it?!?

In the end, I had to go an entirely different route to get to work - and it took me 4 times as long as usual. As a result, I missed my first meeting of the day.

Not a good way to start off the week.

Is there traffic where you live?

30

Mason — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:30:13 GMT

30

I recently had my 30th birthday, so I feel like I've got to hold on to my youth.

First off, my wife threw me a wonderful birthday party. We rented a coffee shop in our neighborhood and hired a karaoke company so all my friends could come sing. It's no secret that I love to rock the karaoke mic, so I had a blast.

The weekend after my birthday, there was a comedy festival in Portland with lots of comedians that my wife and I love. But the problem with the stand-up comedy world is that those shows go very late into the evening. Over the past few years, I've started acting like an old man, going to bed around 10pm every night.

So the comedy festival became an opportunity to show the world (and myself) that I can still party. I'm proud to say that I stayed out 'til 1 or 2 am every night. Did my body hate me for it the entire next week? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Taxes

Mason — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:44:31 GMT

Taxes

It's tax time in the United States. For me, it is a particularly confusing year. First off, I got married. I also bought a house. These are two things that greatly affect the taxes I will have to pay.

The cool thing is that I bought my home in time to take advantage of a big tax credit offered by the government. I will get some money back. But it is still very complicated. I use software to help simplify the process, but some people use special accountants to do the work for them.

I really have no idea what taxes are like in other countries. I know that Canada has a very high tax rate, but those taxes go to fund lots of free or cheap social services like health care or college. But what about where you live? What are taxes like there?

Honeymoon!

Mason — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:05:45 GMT

Honeymoon!

I missed the last month's video session because I was in Europe for my honeymoon. I know I asked you guys for advice a while ago on where we should go (Thanks, by the way). We ended up going to London, UK, and to a few places in southern Croatia

We were gone for a full 2 weeks - not including the days we had to fly. Of course, you can never have too much time on vacation, but it was a nice amount of time. We spent 4 days in London and the rest in Croatia. In London, we saw lots of the famous sights: Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, The Globe Theater and the British Museum. We also went to the National Library.

Now, I know it might not sound super fun to go hang out at a library (but it should), this library is more like a museum. They have some amazing historical things, like the Magna Carta, the original art woodcuts from "Alice in Wonderland," sheetmusic Mozart wrote... it just keeps going.

What's the coolest thing you've seen while travelling?

Married!

Mason — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:11:51 GMT

Married!

After months of planning, the wedding is finally over. There was a lot of panic in the last few weeks - mostly from my now wife. It's still weird to call her "wife" - that'll take a bit to get used to. You might remember her from her short roll on the Ebaby! soap opera as John's ex-girlfriend Kathy.

The wedding ceremony itself was fantastic. We didn't get married by a priest or a judge - instead we got married by our best friend. He got ordained by the Universal Life Church, so I guess he technically is a minister now. All I know is that the great state of Oregon recognizes it as legal, which is all I care about.

Because we did not do a traditional ceremony, our parents were originally concerned that we were turning the wedding into a joke. Well, we did laugh a lot at the wedding - but in a good way. Many of our friends came up to us during the reception party and said it was the most fun and beautiful wedding they had ever been to. And all our parents admitted they had nothing to worry about.

In your country, do parents usually plan the wedding or do the bride and groom plan it? How long does a wedding usually go (our ceremony was about 30 minutes)? What other traditions do you follow?

Hard Work

Mason — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:45:41 GMT

Hard Work

I've been working like crazy lately - at least by my definition. In advertising, it's not uncommon to work 50-60 hour weeks, but so far my experience has been a lot more relaxed (a normal 40 hour week seems to be just fine).

But the last few months, I've had some crazy hours. Part of me feels like I'm finally paying my dues - and that part of me is proud to know that when it's necessary, I can really focus and get the hard work done.

But the other part of me is struggling to deal with the stress - which is causing a lot of collateral damage. I've been having trouble sleeping (regularly waking up at 3am freaked out about something) and I don't have much energy to do anything else when I come home from work.

And the funny thing is, I have little right to complain. Plenty of people at my job work a lot harder than that - and have done so for a long time. And I'm sure work schedules are very different where you live. How much time do you devote to your job?

The American Dream

Mason — Thu, 13 May 2010 20:03:29 GMT

The American Dream

Tomorrow I close on the purchase of my new house. This is the first house I've ever bought, thus officially making me a part of The American Dream. I've been looking for a house for about three months - which, I suppose isn't a terribly long time - but it sure felt like it.

There are a lot of things to take into consideration when you're buying a house. What neighborhood it's in, what cool stuff is around it, what will your commute to work be like, if the house possibly needs a lot of work… the list goes on. In the end, I found a brand new house that I really like (and could actually afford).

One of the big reasons for getting the house now is that the US Government was offering an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers. In the scope of how much money I'll spend on owning a house for many years, $8,000 is a small portion. But it's still a lot of money and a tremendous gift.

What is home ownership like in your country? Does your family own a home or do you rent? Do people generally live in houses or apartments in your city?

Bachelor's Party

Mason — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 19:36:25 GMT

Bachelor's Party

So if you're new to my blog, I am getting married this summer. Seriously! Like in real life, not on the soap opera or something.

I just got back from my Bachelor Party. Contrary to what many people might think of a Bachelor's Party, mine was pretty calm. Five of my best friends and I spent the weekend at the beach hanging out, playing games, staying up late and drinking too much beer. It was a grown up slumber party.

And really, that's all I wanted. The stereotypical wild night out wasn't for me. No strippers. No clubbing.

I actually modeled my party after my friend Ryan's party. He got married about 4 years ago and we did the same thing – though we were at a house where we could smoke, so we had lots of cigars and pipe tobacco. Not my usual thing, but it was a nice indulgence.

All things are going full steam ahead with the wedding. A little over 3 months to go. Right now we’re getting things set with the catering. Buying food for 150 people is not easy (or cheap). We’ve found a few people we’re considering and we have to go try their stuff to see if we like it.

What engagement traditions do you have in your country? Do your friends throw you big parties? Do your parents do all the planning? Let me know.

The best song ever!!!

Mason — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:22:17 GMT

The best song ever!!!

For the next week or so (I'm accounting for my quickly changing tastes) my new favorite song is the Slap Chop rap. Before you read anything else, you should watch it RIGHT NOW.

So, why is this so great?

Before this was a song, it was a commercial. The guy who is selling the Slap Chop is famous (in a way) for being the salesman for the ShamWow! This original commercial went "viral" (which means it got watched and passed around by a lot of people) for how ridiculous it is.

But the Slap Chop takes things to new levels. A DJ got a hold of this new commercial because the salesman, Vince, gets a lot of attention. To make a name for himself, the DJ turned the new commercial into a song. And a damn good song at that! I can't get it out of my head.

The cherry on the top of this story is that I found out about this whole thing not from the Internet, but from TV. The makers of the Slap Chop found the song remix, loved it, and asked the DJ to make them a shorter version they could play on TV. They even changed their URL to SlapChopRap.com

Stop having a boring tuna. Stop having a boring life.

The Holiday Season

Mason — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:03:22 GMT

The Holiday Season

November and December is the holiday season in the US, and we're getting ready to kick it in to high gear with Thanksgiving this Thursday. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Thanksgiving, because it's a holiday that has basically devolved into being about eating HUGE quantities of food, which is something I'm neither inclined toward, nor good at.

Not only do I have to gorge myself, I have to do it three times. My fiance's parents are divorced and her mom, dad and my parents all live in the same town with us, so we have to do every holiday three times. That might sound like fun, but let me tell you, it's not. Not to me, anyway.

Honestly, I'm not super sure what Thanksgiving is celebrating. The elementary school line goes that the Pilgrims came to the "new world" and met the "Indians" (Native Americans) and we had a big feast - probably because the Pilgrims couldn't actually fend for themselves. There's a detailed discussion over on wikipedia if you want to form your own opinions (but be careful not to trust everything you read there).

The cool new web series you should watch: Fothing

Mason — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:09:59 GMT

The cool new web series you should watch: Fothing

(NOTE: Before you start reading this post, you should know that I'm speaking on behalf of myself - and NOT English, baby! That's true for every post I write here - but particularly true for this one. Uncle Mason says: BE GOOD, KIDS!"

So, I'm not the only web-celebrity that I know. My girlfriend is also an actor. Actually... way more of an actor than I am. She mostly does stage acting, but one the company that put on a really great play she was in over the summer called "Fall of the House" decided to make a Web series about what it's like to put on the show.

The result is fothing, and it's great (though, full disclosure: there's a lot of language that you DON'T want to pick up from the show. Be warned!)

Much like the English, baby! soaps, Fothing is a lot more exaggerated than real life. It's about the 7 people who try to keep their theater company together and put on a great show. Of course, there are lots of obstacles that get in the way - including the evil rival theater company: "Love and Death Theater LTD."

What's even crazier about the series is how fast their making it. We get together once a month here at English, baby! to do all the lessons for 4 weeks. They film one 20-minute episode in a weekend, edit it in a week (which, if you've never edited video, is CRAZY fast! They probably shoot at least 8hours of footage, that needs to be cut down to 20 minutes.) The episode finally goes live about 9 days after they finished filming it.

Anyway, I'm a HUGE fan of the series - and not only because I'm dating one of the actors. If you're of the appropriate age in your country to view content with some strong language and "colorful" topics, you should check it out.

Bowling tournament

Mason — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:37:19 GMT

Bowling tournament

Everybody has been working really hard at my company lately, and we finally launched a bunch of projects at the same time. To celebrate, we organized a bowling tournament.

One of the project managers went all out - we formed teams and organized brackets. There were 8 teams, so we had three rounds of competition.

Now, let me pause a minute to tell you a little about me a bowling. I'm a decent bowler. It's not often that I don't break 100. Usually, my score is somewhere between 110 and 130. It's not something I do that often - maybe 3 times a year - but thankfully its not the kind of sport that you need to keep up to maintain your skills. Not the way I play, anyway.

But back to the game - as it turns out, people from Idaho have nothing better to do than bowl all the time. My team's first opponent was Team Idaho (all the teammates grew up in Idaho). They blew us out of the water. Sad for me.

All in all, we came in 6th place. Not a shining moment. But quite a good time.

Planning for vacation: Mexico

Mason — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:41:47 GMT

Planning for vacation: Mexico

Every year for the last 10 years, my best friend and I have done something for New Year's Eve. More and more, that involves traveling somewhere away from home. This year, we're thinking about going to southern Mexico, so I'm in the planning stages of that.

Mexico has been on the list for a while. I've certainly been before, but just to some of the more tourist-y destinations like Puerto Vallarta and Tijauana (which barely even counts).

So we've got our sites set somewhere in the Yucatan. We'll probably fly into Mexico City or Cancun, and then head somewhere else from there. We'll be able to spend 5-8 days there, so I'll have plenty of time to check things out.

Has anyone been to this part of Mexico? Have any travel suggestions?

Roll for damage

Mason — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:16:30 GMT

Roll for damage

I finally caved and played D&D with my friend who has been trying to get me to play forever... and I loved it... which makes me a HUGE nerd.

But, it turns out I'm pretty OK with being a huge nerd.

Just so there's no confusion, D&D stands for Dungeons and Dragons - one of the oldest tabletop role playing games. I had friends who played RPGs back when we were in high school, but I was always snobbish about them.

There are lots of stereotypes about people who play these kinds of games. Old sweaty fat guys who still live with their moms. Shy, disconnected boys who don't have girlfriends... which is TOTALLY not me. I have a girlfriend. It says so on facebook.

Anyway.

I think the road was paved for my new D&D addiction by video games. You've got hit points, special attacks, weapon upgrades...it's all there. But the part that I was finally ready to embrace - and the part that's ultimately the most fun - is the ability to make up the actions on your own.

Every video game, at some time or another, is limited by the mechanical constraints. What if I want to swim across that river rather than run across the bridge with all the enemies on it? Nope. But in D&D - the only thing that would keep you from doing anything is the will of your Game Master and your lucky roll of a D20.

The other thing I've been surprised about is how many of my friends have come out of the woodwork - either people who are willing to give it a try, or people who used to play and are eager to get back in the game. Honestly, now that I don't have to stay in the rat race of making the rounds at the bars to pick up girls, it's one of the cheapest, funnest ways to spend a night.

But let me end by saying: If any of you see me walking around in a cape and/or brandishing some sort of wand, please... stage an intervention.

Why I won't see "Wolverine"

Mason — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:39:47 GMT

Why I won't see "Wolverine"

When I originally heard that they were making a movie just for Wolverine, I was super stoked. First:Hugh Jackman is a GREAT Wolverine. He's shown himself as a versatile actor on both stage and screen since he originated the role in the first X-Men film – and I really appreciate that he seems to have a soft spot for the adamantium-infused hero.

To go a little further into why I was so hopeful, the third X-Men film was an absolute piece of crap. Right up there with the third Matrix film. So I was looking for "Wolverine" to offer some redemption.

But as soon as I saw the trailer my brain basically shut off. It just looked too big. Too many characters (that there was NO way they could do justice to them), too much ground to cover and too many explosions.

Wolverine's real strength has always been his troubled past and his difficulty in remembering/coming to terms with it. It's a nuanced story that Marvel themselves didn't even tell in its full detail until 2001-2001. So to gloss over it in a film fit for Jerry Bruckheimer was the wrong thing for them to do.

How do you like that, bub?

Roller Skating

Mason — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:46:46 GMT

Roller Skating

So, I recently went and participated in the great American tradition of roller skating. Like, for reals roller skating. At a rink with an organ and everything. And here's my big takeaway: I do not understand roller skating.

I'm curious if there's a parallel in other countries. According to the almighty Wikipedia, the "sport" has been around since the early 1800s. When I was a little kid, we'd go from time to time to the same rink I was at last weekend. In my teenage years, I got caught up in the rollerblade craze - which was awesome... at the time.

But back to my weekend adventure. My main problem with roller skating is that the actual skates are heavy and awkward. Unlike inline skates, it's really hard to turn and maneuver with all four wheels on the ground. I'm proud to say I didn't fall once, but I came close a number of times.

The thing that really surprised me, though, was that there was a rich subculture of roller skating fanatics. They closed down the floor for a few songs for just the experts to skate, and they were amazing. They moved gracefully - some dancing, some skating in synchronized pairs, other doing tricks... I was totally shocked. 1: I couldn't understand who would want to spend their time doing that (then again, I'm sure plenty of people don't know why anyone would want to spend their time doing bar trivia - which I love). And, 2: I was impressed at their skill.

So, yeah. Roller skating. Who knew?

I'm getting an iPhone...

Mason — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:24:50 GMT

I'm getting an iPhone...

So, I've resolved to finally get an iPhone.

It's a decision I've put off for a long while, as I'm the kind of guy who likes to wait until the last minute to make any decision. And so, here I am, less than a month away from going to SXSW (which is a big interactive, music and film festival in Austin, Texas) and I need to be connected at all times.

I'm really curious how mobile phone carriers work overseas. What kind of phones do you have? What does it cost? I truly hate the fact that this industry has so many rules and divides about what you can do where. Did you know that companies offer different phones and plan depending on what state you're in? There is no reason that these divides should exist - but who can afford to buy an unlocked phone?

Anyway...enlighted consumer rant aside, it's been very interesting to watch the culture evolve as the iPhone has been adopted. Hobbyist application developers are making hundreds of thousands of dollars on applications that make fart noises. People are tying their friends from social networks like Facebook and Twitter to other applications like maps and games. Truly revolutionary stuff.

So here I step into the brave new world. My only problem will be remembering to look up from my phone once in a while to notice.

Hello!

Mason — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:22:58 GMT

Hello!

Man, how long have I been with English, baby! Over 2 years now. Crazy. We've had a good, solid cast for a long time and I'm a little more bummed about Amanda leaving than I have been with any of the other switch-ups. That said, I'm stoked to have Dale and Ame on board. And behind the scenes, Alexis has been doing great work. It's really cool seeing English, baby! grow the way it has (something I suppose I have all of you to thank) and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.

The thing I remain more curious about than anything is how you actually use English, baby!. It's weird to do something for so long, put it out there and have very little idea of the effect it's having.

So what's going on out there? And what do you want to see next?