BillyStyle

While listening to the television in the other room, I just heard a saying that amuses me.

Without (situation, person, major change in life, etc.), I don’t know where I’d be.

My thinking is that nobody really knows where they would be if anything of medium significance in their life was different. This particular case was a guy stating how his wife has changed his life for the better, and he didn’t know where he would be right now if it weren’t for her. Now, being a single guy, it would sound a bit odd for me to say that I’m so glad I’m single and I don’t know where I’d be without my solitude, although to me, this seems every bit as appropriate.

I realize that most who say this are giving credit to a person or life change that gave them some sort of direction. People seem to have a way of being less descriptive and clinging to cliche statements like that. I try to avoid them because they seem to have a dulling effect on what we are really trying to express.

That’s all for now.

The concert was the best I’ve attended in roughly two years. It had been a while since going to a large-venue hard-rocking concert – that was just what I needed. I quickly located myself near the mosh pit roughly 40 feet from the stage. The mosh pit is a great area from which to watch a concert. It’s close, but you can still get fresh air, when all the other people close to you are packed like sardines breathing in the fumes of the back sweat from the person in front of them.

I’m a decent sized guy, about 6’3″ and 190 lbs, so I like to do a little moshing. I got in there and had some fun. This was a good mosh pit, not great, but good. I got a good sweat going and then some nearby girls decided to make the surroundings much more enjoyable to look upon by removing some clothing. This I hadn’t considered happening, and was a total bonus to an already near perfect concert.

About halfway into the show, Nine Inch Nails played Wish, which I’ve realized within the past year is possibly the greatest song of all time for a mosh pit. I was rather excited, and stayed in the pit for the entire song, it was incredible.

During the physical contact in the pit, I took some good shots to the face. The first was an elbow from a shorter robust girl – that got the adrenaline flowing. I took a number of good injury-free hits. Toward the end, my mouth got a pretty good head or elbow or something and I bit into my lip enough to bruise it and tear it open a bit. All in all, a great pit experience.

The performance itself was amazing. Nine Inch Nails has been around long enough to really understand the aspects of a quality show. They had a simple set up on stage that was very intriguing. During about one third of the songs, the stage was draped with a mostly transparent curtain that was used for video projection. Lighting was used behind the curtain to bring the band into sight through the curtain. It was a great visual and audio experience. The great cap to the show was that there was no encore trickery. I don’t mind encores from time to time (Eels do them the best), but I respect a band who feels the need to respect the audience by avoiding the cat-and-mouse game of encores. I highly suggest attending a NIN concert.

Tuesday night at 7:30 pm I will be at the E Center in Salt Lake City for the Nine Inch Nails concert. I will drive 4½ hours straight to the concert, go eat at The Pie, an awesome pizza parlor, then drive another 4½ hours back for a couple hour nap before going to work at 7 am. Should be lots of fun!

So I went to Google just now and threw in my first and last name. I love the results. The #1 result happens to be a web page about the lake at which I grew up recreating. I learned to kneeboard and wakeboard there, and searching my name will take you there, it just doesn’t get much more awesome than that on the INTERNET.

See here: Google search for Billy Park – Result is Lake Billy Chinook.

I’m a regular viewer of SpikeTV’s Ultimate Fighter, now in its second season. Tonight’s show was the best yet. Jorge, who I picked to win the Welterweight class, finally fought. He fought the loose cannon of the show, Jason. Well, at first he was a loose cannon, since he showed up though, he’s really mellowed out.

Jason impressed me with his honesty before the fight. He admitted he was very nervous, excited, and had no idea how he was going to beat Jorge. The first round belonged to Jorge, but Jason wasn’t backing down. In the next two rounds, Jason did just what he needed to get the advantage. Jorge did all he could, but in the end, Jason put up the better fight. Very impressive.

Jason fights freestyle and has glimpses of last year’s Light Heavyweight champ, Forrest Griffin. Both fighters tonight have tons of heart, and I expect to see both of them in UFC fights when the show is over. Jorge will get surgery on his knee, then he can fight at full strength again.

Great show!

The creator of two quality movies, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch has made another film titled Revolver. I first saw Ritchie’s work when I rented Snatch a few years back. I remember watching it all by myself initially and I couldn’t wait to tell people I knew about the movie. Great cinematography, music, wit, and acting. Shortly after that, I rented Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and enjoyed it – not at the same level, but I found it entertaining.

So I don’t know much of what Revolver is about, but it looks to have potential. Jason Statham will once again star in the movie. I like his look in this one, very grizzled.

The trailer can be seen here:
Revolver trailer

It hits theaters tomorrow, Sept 22, 2005. Living in St. George, Utah means that I’m pretty sure I won’t have the chance to see the movie unless I drive to Vegas. Movies with any sense of style generally skip the theaters here. I had to wait to see I Heart Huckabees on DVD, and I think it may be the same with this movie.

This is my first wakeboarding post on here. I am obsessed with wakeboarding. Over the past two summers, I have had a hard time getting on schedule with people who have boats. 2003 was the last great year I had of riding.

Anyway, tonight we had an activity with the youth of my ward in church up at the lake. We loaded my friend Danny’s 210 Air Nautique with around a dozen people and rode for a couple hours until it was too dark to see. I took two quick runs to show how it is done (none of the kids had even tried wakeboarding before). It felt good to get back on the water. The last time I rode was around 5 weeks ago and I tweaked my knee a bit. I tried a crow mobe tonight and didn’t come too close, kinda hurt the knee, but I think it did no more damage, which is a great sign.

So there you have it, the first of many wakeboard related posts on BillyStyle.com.