Monday, February 28, 2005

Walk down the right back alley...

The new movie Sin City, based off of Frank Miller's comic of the same title, looks SOOOOO freakin' rad! Everytime I see the trailer, I want to build a time machine to just fast forward one month. Seriously, this could be the best comic book movie made ever.

And no, my excitement for the movie isn't just because of Jessica Alba. Go watch the TRAILER.

P.S. The cast for this movie is amazing!

Sunday, February 27, 2005

Eh.

Since I only saw one movie in the Best Picture race (Ray), I couldn't really judge who really should have won Best Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actor/Actress, Best Director, or even Best Picture. I do have to say that Ray was done very well, and I wouldn't be surprised of the Academy's decision to give him Best Actor was well-picked.

Good moments that I was happy about:

-Best Animated Feature Film went to The Incredibles, screw Shrek 2. (I do think it was a great movie, but not as good as The Incredibles.)

-Best Original Screenplay went to Eternal Sunshine. Hurrah!

-Seeing Dustin Hoffman a little loose on stage.

-Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz together on stage.

Happenings.

Matt flew in from Indiana Friday, so Jane and I went to pick him up at LAX. We then went to Biola because Jane wanted to see what the campus was like, plus she just wanted to get out of the house. That's totally understandable.

So Oli came and hung out with us for a while and gave the two a tour. They met a number of our MK friends, and one of them (Erik Floyd) knew of their friends they knew as missionaries from Peru. Small world, eh? All in all, the Biola visit was pretty laid back, but it was fun. We also went to Glendale to visit Jane's parents, which was enjoyable.

Yesterday I learned the skills and tactics from Super Smash Brothers from the N64 does NOT carry over into Super Smash Brothers Melee from the Ninendo Gamecube. Throwing people is really dumbed down, and jumping has really been sped up. At least for Starfox and Pikachu, you can't rely on throwing. It's all about smash moves now, and Link is freakin' strong. That made me sad. I still did pretty well with my friend as we teamed against level 9 computer enemies. I got the most KOs, but my friend thought he rocked because he got the "wreath" on his name at the victory screen sicne he had the most lives left. I guess that's a legitimate strategy, but they do have a name for that kind of player: Dishonorable wuss. Ha! Take that Daniel.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Finalize.

I was up till 5:30 am this morning working and finishing up my last paper and photo essay. Both are, honestly, works of crap, but that's what happens when you try to think critically at 3 in the morning. I love college life.

Then I woke up at 7:45 to go to class where we had our class debate on whether or not the media is responsible for the moral decline of American society. The teacher called it a draw in the end, which was suprising because I thought we totally got destroyed (we had to defend the media saying that they are not responsible). It's hard to take a side you don't believe in.

But there were some good points brought up like the responsibility of media control is strongly leaned on the parents. Parenting is a very important role in society, and bad parenting leads to destructive effects in the long run. I think that parents must keep in touch with their children and teach them the moral values and the difference between in what is presented on tv, played on the radio, and simulated in video games and how it really is in real life. Of course, it is an ideal situation to have perfectly raised children who will always see the wrong in media entertainment and never act upon them in real life. No doubt there have been situations where children have mimicked what they see on tv.

My teacher did ask a very good question: Since media has such a strong impact on society today (whether negative or positive), shouldn't the media take some responsibility in what they show? Clearly there is a lot of violence and sex on tv and in games. I believe that the media must take some responsibility in what they present to the open public in entertainment (news is a whole different issue), but it is also within the family to keep a steady and good upbringing of children. It is one thing to enter a fantasy world in a tv show where there is violence, but it is another thing to take it to heart and bring it into the real world. Besides, there are shows out there that do not glorify violence, yet depicts how wrong it is to resort to such things. Crime shows like CSI is a good example where homocide takes place and there is serious consequences for it. Shows like 24 fight terrorism for the preservation of innocents and maintain peace and order in our nation.

Anywho, this is really long. It was a hard debate, and there is a lot of research out there that proves media's negative effect on soceity. It was hard to find solid info on its positives. Except they brought up video games in their argument. I hate that because I love video games, but it's so hard to defend it in this context.

After class I went to sleep around 2:30 pm and didn't wake up until 7:30 pm. I woke up in the dark and really confused. I almost went back to sleep thinking I was waiting for the next morning.

Coolio.

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Yah.

Just finished watching Fargo, which is a pretty good movie. It's a little sick in that there is a lot senseless killing, but hey! it's a murder movie, what do you expect? Although it's done in a rather light-hearted way (it's written and directed by the Coen brothers), so I can see why people have a problem with the flick. To me, it was shot and written and acted very well, though the story is a bit depressing. I guess that's what they were aiming for as well.

I also found it funny that the movie really isn't based on a true story. The Coens just put the "based on a true story" message at the start for effect and to keep audiences in their seats, but the documentary on the film found on the dvd says it really isn't a true story. How funny is that!

One last thing: Hmmm...interesting...

Alright!

I discovered HoldTheButton.com on bubbs, and I decided to push myself to personal glory. I set the record to show how amazing I am at patience and finger strength. Give it a try, but you won't beat my time. I'm the best.

Update: Right after I posted this, I checked again to see if my time was still up there, but some CHUMP decided to work on this six days ago and ended his streak just now. Freaker.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Sound.

So the past weekend was pretty chill. I spent it at Tim and Todd's house playing Halo 2 late into Friday night. I ended up sleeping there and then hanging out all day on Saturday and then spending another night. I felt like a total bum.

But it was so rad because they set up all their electric guitars and bass and hooked up mics and we all jammed. I got to practice bass and learned how to keep a steady beat on the drums. I'm now a decently well-rounded musician. The girls cannot resist me now!

Of course, then I realized that I spent my whole weekend really not doing anything truly productive. Now I only have a week to do my final project that was assigned two months ago. I'm screwed.

I was sad to hear that Maroon 5 got best new artist at the Grammys. Catchy tunes, but man are they overplayed!

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

A new dynasty.

The 80's belongs to the 49ers, the 90's went to the Cowboys, and the first decade of 2000 belongs to the Patriots. However, I did root for the Eagles since they were the underdog. Much to my astonishment, they didn't play like the underdogs. The Superbowl this year was actually good to watch, and it beat out the commercials. I wasn't impressed with those very much, except maybe the ad for the remake of War of the Worlds, the Diet Pepsi truck, and the one with Brad Pitt running from the media.

Anyhow, it was a great game all the way down to the last minute as the Eagles desperately try to make a comeback. Good stuff. After that I watched Friday Night Lights again, which confirmed my previous thought of the movie being the best sports film of 2004. It was just football galore yesterday! Woo hoo!

Oh yeah, church was good too.

Saturday, February 05, 2005

I'm jobless...and they don't care!

One thing I don't like about Brooks (among a number of things) is that they throw a ton of work in our face. I wouldn't mind all the work if it let me commit to other things...like a part-time job. It seems that they don't factor in the time us students need to actually work, unless you work a night shift. I would love to get a job to get some extra cash, but I know I need to use that time shooting or finding things to shoot later. It's a lot of work, and when you're not actually working, you should be researching.

Okay, so I don't really do work nonstop, it's just getting a consistent job would be a huge obstacle if you want to shoot. I may have to find a late night part-time job if I want to actually get some extra money. Otherwise, I will completely live off loan money for the rest of my college education. That sucks.

Friday, February 04, 2005

Healthy -> Necessity

So this morning I went to Economics and watched Super Size Me. Wow. This documentary blows Moore out of the water. Well, to me it does. (Hi, David.) If you haven't seen this movie yet, you really should. It makes you think twice when eating fast food.

In response to this film, I took it upon myself to do exactly what everyone else didn't do after watching it. I drove straight to a McDonald's and ordered a Big Mac meal and enjoyed its "McDonald's goodness" at home while watching Clear and Present Danger. By the way, that was the first time I watched the whole thing all the way through, and that is an awesome movie. Ford is a much better Jack Ryan; Affleck can eat my droppings.

Anyhow, Super Size Me is filled with very useful information. It really does have a lot to do with the economy as well, so that's why we watched it. Obese people really need to get their act together. I don't care how hard it is or if you don't have time. Suck it up and run that mile, and make time you over-worked dum dum. Really, are you that busy?

What shocked me the most was the extra short on McDonald's french fries they put in the special features. Left out for ten weeks and it didn't mold or break down at all. It's so unhealthy and full of bad chemicals that even bacteria and microorganisms don't want to touch it. Oh, well. I still love fries, and I like fast food. We have to admit, eating it once in a while isn't bad. Fast food actually does taste good if you don't have it three times a day. Just make sure you exercise daily...which I'm not doing.

I'm going to run tomorrow.