...but I am officially switching over now. Let's hope I am not jumping the gun, cause I vow (for the sake of not pissing anyone off) to remain at Wordpress for at least a year. Longer than that would be nice though.
Goodbye blogger.
I'll be posting here from now on: http://redison.wordpress.com.
It was a pleasant then horrifying then pleasant finding neverland-esque adventure for kids and willingly enchanted "grown-ups" like me. (Emphasis on horrifying.)
And Zooey Deschanel (the chic from Hitchhiker's Guide) is in it. So charming, she is.
:: B-
Wordpress.
Well, not everybody. The herd is increasing, though. And since my sensitivity won't allow me to be even the slightest bit left out of anything, I must plunge in, if only for a little while.
I was hoping I'd never get sucked in and would just find some contentedness right where I am. But I can't (don't want to) help myself and have transferred everything over there. But don't fret! I haven't decided yet, and won't be making a decision for another few weeks, and will be mirror-posting everything until then.
The main thing that is attractive about Wordpress is the "pages" feature, something blogger lacks. Also it seems a bit more difficult to customize than blogger, which is a good thing for me because I waste too much of my time personalizing and thereby complicating things anyway.
A huge downer though: my youtube videos didn't transfer over. That's eight months of obssessive youtube posts that I'll have lost if I make it a permanent transition. That's alot. And therefore I will be musing over this for while, pondering it like a possible dramatic change in lifestyle.
Its a bit bland at the moment, but that should change soon.
www.redison.wordpress.com
p.s. continue to comment here for now.
"Now the proper good of a creature is to surrender itself to its Creator--to enact intellectually, volitionally, and emotionally, that relationship which is given in the mere fact of its being a creature."
"Everyone has noticed how hard it is to turn our thoughts to God when everything is going well with us. We 'have all we want' is a terrible saying when 'all' does not include God. We find God an interruption. As St. Augustine says somewhere, 'God wants to give is something, but cannot, because our hands are full--there's nowhere for Him to put it.' Or as a friend of mine said, 'We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; its there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it.'"
"We can rest contentedly in our sins and in our stupidities; and anyone who has watched gluttons shovelling down the most exquisite foods as if they did not know what they are eating, will admit that we can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
"Prostitutes are in no danger of finding their present life so satisfactory that they cannot turn to God: the proud, the avaricious, the self-righteous, are in that danger."
"If God were a Kantian, who would not have us till we came to Him from the purest and best motives, who could be saved?"
-- All from The Problem of Pain, by C.S. Lewis
"The operation of The Green Book and its kind is to produce what may be called Men without Chests. It is an outrage that they should be commonly spoken of as Intellectuals. This gives them the chance to say that he who attacks them attacks Intelligence. It is not so. They are not distinguished from other men by any unusual skill in finding truth nor any virginal ardour to pursue her. Indeed it would be strange if they were: a persevering devotion to truth, a nice sense of intellectual honour, cannot be long maintained without the aid of a sentiment which Gaius and Titius could debunk as easily as any other. It is not excess of thought but defect of fertile and generous emotion that marks them out. Their heads are no bigger than the ordinary: it is the atrophy of the chest beneath that makes them seem so.
"And all the time—such is the tragi-comedy of our situation—we continue to clamour for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more 'drive', or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or 'creativity'. In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful."
-- The Abolition of Man, by C.S. Lewis
http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=6906635
There has to be a better way to keep our kids in school.
This song is always nothing less than a spiritual experience for me, and it is ten-times fold in this underdog context. Enjoy.
--thanks to Tim Stevens of leadingsmart.com for the link.
Here is a link to the video of the sermon in which this youtube clip takes on more context and meaning. Its only available until Aug. 9th, so watch it now if you have time! It really is fascinating and helps explain why film, paintings, photos, music and other human creations can have such a powerful impact on a person if they allow it. They are glimpses of God; small and finite works of art that allow us to "reach out and touch His face" (Bob Laurent).
And just in case you want a bit more...
School starts on the 20th. Busyness is around the corner, but I am more excited than anxious. I need to meet with my adviser and schedule my classes for the semester. There's a possibility I may be adding the teaching credential program into my studies so I can teach if I so choose after I graduate, and I am also hoping to have the time to study abroad in Spain, Italy, or London. Much of this seems highly unlikely as I am already behind in my studies, and only have time for 9 units this semester as opposed to the 16 or 18 I should be taking. With work and the possibility of a rent expense coming (I'm thinking of moving out soon) my time is going to be extremely limited and my funds sparse if existent at all (another blow to the study abroad plan). Yay for school bills, car insurance, and that damned Walmart down the street.
But other than a few things on my mind, I'm good. I saw the Bourne Ultimatum over the weekend, read the first section of The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis (which you can find here if you don't have a copy), and went to the beach on Sunday. Ultimatum was excellent, Abolition was just as intriguing as it was 5 years ago, and the beach was a good time. I only have one gripe about the beach, though: it closes at 10pm. This wasn't really a problem on Sunday because I was with family and staying that late just doesn't happen. But when you're 22, in college, and have a fetish for bon-fires and cathartic star gazing, 10pm is entirely too early. Most events for the college-age crowd don't even begin until 11 or 12 anyway. Ten seems unreasonable to me. Even 12 is a bit early. Two in the morning is just about right. If I had more time and energy I'd write some long, elegant, and slightly arrogant letter to some big honcho in Huntington Beach about the ills of a 10pm curfew in one of the most famous beaches in the world. But I don't go often enough, and it wouldn't have done any good anyway. No one listens to 22-year-old know-it-alls. That's so not fair. Don't they understand the genius that I am? Gosh!
Anywho, I got burned again at the beach (yes, black people burn believe it or not, it just takes longer). I got burned for the first time in my life when I went fishing a few weeks ago, and then again this weekend. I know what you're thinking: "first time?? Why are you complaining?" I'm not really. In fact, I am more thankful because of it. It may hurt a bit, but I can sleep without the horror of turning pink in the sun like some of you crackers. Nevertheless, I spent much of Monday soothing my double-burned, peeling shoulders with some lotion. It has Aloe Vera in it. That makes it special.
P.S. (a run-on) I love (not really, but you know what I mean) how I can call white people "crackers", but if you so much as look at me cross-eyed I can sue you and your dog for everything you guys are worth and win, and then I can watch as you and your dog go to prison and get brutally raped by some distant cousin of mine over and over again whilst the officials turn a blind eye in fear of being sued themselves for "discrimination" and end up getting put behind bars and violated by the very person with the very crime that they timidly whispered and hinted about in a public address a few months earlier. Now that is messed up.
(I'd be lost without the words "and" and "but".)
I'm not friendly enough for PG, and I'm two f-bombs short of a happy meal. So what am I?
I'm ambiguous.
You just never know what is going to come down the pike.
Words cannot express enough how dumb (yet twistedly smart) I think this is...
Vegansexual? I can just see the painful circumstantial transition now...
"Sweety, let's have sex tonight."
"I'm sorry, didn't you have a hamburger for lunch?"
"Well....yes...but..."
"Ah, no fun tonight for you darling, my love, my husband/wife (c'mon, as if a real man would give up sex over a cow) of 25 years. Maybe next week when your body is rid of the flesh of the poor creature that was slain for your few moments of pitiful, selfish, lingua enjoyment I'll sacrifice myself for you. Until then, goodnight, sleep well, and keep your tongue inside the vegan cart at all times and enjoy the rest of your night here at Disneyland Veggyland, where cows reign and the black market smells of spoiled chicken breasts and In-N-Out." (If you get my meaning.)
What an incredibly powerful ploy to "convert" your significant other to a vegetarian diet. Mother was right: vegetables do make you smart. Maybe even cunning. A bit narcissistic to beat, as well.
When I received the last installment of the Harry Potter series in the mail last week I also received a few advertisements, which I barely noticed, if at all. In my eagerness to open the book, I flung the useless pieces of paper out of the box, over my shoulder (not really, but its more dramatic when its over the shoulder and not pathetically to the side), and onto the floor where they sat for over a week contributing to the process of entropy that seems to have a continual and foreboding hold on my bedroom. (I like to blame my laziness and apatheticism towards picking up after myself on a philosophical term. It makes the whole mess less grotesque and less my fault.)
But today when it became dangerous beyond adventuresome to get out of bed I decided I needed to do something about this "natural" process that has suppressed the force (choice) that could keep my miniature fortress tidy. And lo and behold, what should I run into during my all out war on "nature" but an interesting advertisement (yes, one of the "useless" ones from last week). It was so interesting it threw me off my guard, I immediately surrendered to "nature", let the mess be, and have since then plotted myself down here in my wooden chair to tell you all about the poignant, funny, and maybe even useful (and yet ultimately pointless in the same way that a microwave TV might be) message of this advertisement.
I almost hate to go on now for the fear that the headline may not be worthy of the above two-paragraph introduction, but humor me if you will and forgive my embellished way of saying "I found a piece of paper on the ground and here is what it said: 'When you leave your castle, take your life with you.'"
Ba-dum cha!
Ya, that's it. It's an advertisement for a Seagate external harddrive. You know, the little tiny box thing you hook up to your computer for more storage space. What I found interesting though (and maybe even convicting, you know, yada, yada, the usual), is that it references your computer as your castle, your life. Sadly, I know exactly what the advertisers are referring to. The feeling of dominance and royal-ishness that comes with owning a computer and abusing the privileges it provides is akin to the feeling (in as much as I can speculate) of owning a castle, a fortress that stands for my might and ability to conquer. Or, like Lord Farquaad's castle-complex from the first Shrek movie, it could merely be a compensation for something, which is more likely in my case.
Funny? No?
Oh well....I guess you had to be there. It was much more useful and humorous when I read it the first time. So much so I just couldn't help myself and had to get on my computer and spout about it. You know, conquer a bit of space on the web, create a tower, and a portable one at that.
I'm sure there is a philosophical concept/term I could find to blame for my propensity towards creating and depending (you should see me when the power goes out) on my electronic, intangible, but PORTABLE(!), fortress. The term escapes me at the moment, but I'm sure their is one. There has to be. My actions, surely, couldn't be my fault.
Damn the English language! I need a term!
...like a bubble getting read to POP and wither.
here
here
here
and here.
I feel a bit awkward even mentioning it because I haven't even seen any of his films (that I know of), but its all I have been hearing and reading about all day so its clear this guy has had an impact on many. He must have been onto something and I look forward to partaking in the apparently powerful food for thought he has left behind in his wake.
Thanks to Netflix, that's financially possible.
...lots of reading (wuthering heights, by emily bronte; a bit of the picture of dorian gray, by oscar wilde)
pleasant day at work on saturday (no death threats)
rescue dawn, again
1408
angels baseball game (can't beat a 13-4 win, now can we?)
church and in-n-out with friends.
I needed this weekend.
badly.
and I have tomorrow off of work.
hallelujah.
I am going to bed now.
early.
my slumber awaits, shut eye 'til dawn, a dream or two.
goodnight.
"A goal is a dream with a deadline." - unknown
Well if that doesn't ruffle some of my feathers, nothing will. I now wonder if my goals have anything to do with who I am, or if they have more to with who I think I should be. It is the question of the hour. The question of this day. This week, month, year...my life.
I sense a night of earnest contemplation ahead, where the weighings of what is and what isn't battle to fill the void of my future. Sleep can wait. I'm not enthusiastic with life at the moment, so let's hope tomorrow isn't just another day, but is a different day. Like a musical track on repeat, my life is becoming annoying and predictable. For me, and for others. Now we don't want that, now do we? I think its time I freak myself out and jump the plank off of this sail-less, rudder-less ship and join the rest of humanity in the shark invested waters of growth and opportunity.
"Conscience is a nuisance. A fly. A barking dog." - Captain Argall, The New World
Kill the fly. Kill the dog.
Its been a while since I have had a good healthy fix of YouTube (two days, actually). But here are a few videos I have weeded out of the murky halls of the cyber galaxy. Try not to watch them all at once...it might result in an overdose. If that happens, you're screwed. Like me. Don't do it man!
Arrested Development: one of the best (in the Top 10 somewhere) television shows ever. And yet, only three seasons. Booo!
---Escape from Iraq: Arrested Development Style
---Oh, Tobias.
---Here's the deal: Tobias "left" his wife and now wants to see his daughter, so he pulls a "Mrs. Doubtfire", but calls himself "Mrs. Featherbottom" and then shakes in a bit of "Marry Poppins'" umbrella floating...or tries.
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Besides the fact that this entire music video is one shot, there should be no (if I were healthy) other reasons why I should like it. And yet, there are many. Forgive me.
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Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: "Every Sperm Is Sacred"
It's Monty Python. You know the drill. A little bit of crassness here, a little vulgarity there, a butt-cheek or boob flash anywhere...but its OK...they're British.
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Michel Gondry: the director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (my favorite movie (ever), but for reasons I'm not yet sure of...)
Speaking of which:
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Judy Garland
---And you thought Frank Sinatra sang the best version of this song...
(For the record, I love Frank Sinatra. He got beat by a girl on this one though.)
---disclaimer---
....its over.
*sniff*
More on that later though.
Right now, I need sleep.
All this war and weeping has exhausted me.
Ran (1985)
You know, I really, really tried to get into this movie, but it just wasn't doing it for me. I'm either not patient enough at this time in my life, or I'm approaching it from the wrong perspective. :/ Maybe in a few years...
------
Ikiru (1952)
This was delightful surprise! I was scared going into this one after my failed attempt at "Ran". It only took a few minutes for me realize how much of a different movie it was going to be. It raises alot of questions about death and how many of us are just pulsing forms of it. I guess you could call Ikiru a "zombie movie". In reverse.
:: A
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Hairspray has 74 reviews on rottentomatoes.com and is at 95% freshness. This is really starting to scare me. Am I actually going to have to go and see this thing now? I quiver at the notion that I might enjoy several hours of a flaunting, bosomed Travolta in tights. Shudder!
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
THE GOOD:
helena bonham carter -- best twenty seconds of the movie...
THE BAD:
the length -- too short
THE UGLY:
the curtain -- poorly executed
--The scene with Dumbledor and Voldemort was intensely satisfying. And Harry's struggle with Voldemort in the end was heartbreaking. It was the first time I actually felt incredibly sad for Harry during one of the movies. That was unexpected.(save perhaps when he comes back with Cedric's body).
--Nicholas Hooper's score blended seamlessly with the movie, but it still isn't that great on CD (though its better now with context).
--Newspaper transitions. Niiice.
--I cannot say enough good things about Carter's performance as Bellatrix Lestrange. So good. It doesn't hurt that she's in that greasy, mangled hair either. Being evil is a bonus as well. I want to marry her. I don't know what she sees in that Burton guy. Passion? Bah! I've got passion!
--It was too short. Nearly 30 minutes too short. And the IMAX 3D was crap. Ironically it took me out of the movie instead of "immersing" me in it. The film is much better without the 3D.
--The death curtain was not developed enough. I knew what it was, I knew what was going to happen, but if I hadn't read the book I probably would have been confused.
--Most of what I could say about the film I am sure you have read elsewhere, so I won't say much more. It was good, not as good as Azkaban, but better than all the others. I like David Yates' direction and look forward to his next installment.
--Prediction one, confirmed. Two through six will have to wait until Monday morning. I'm going fishing this weekend and won't be back until late Sunday night, but I won't be back online until after I finish that book. Hopefully by Tuesday. Byyye.
::B+
Awww, we're so cute.
I gave up on myspace last year and just started Facebook in June. Myspace was more annoying than it was helpful with all the crazy colors and blasting music. It confused my simple brain. I thought Facebook was going to be the same, but I was wrong. Its clean and sophisticated...like me. Stop laughing.
(Speaking of clean and sophisticated...there's this b!*$%-slapping and sheep-throwing feature that's fun...)
Look me up. Heaven knows the only reason we aren't friends yet is because I haven't found you...*stalk, stalk*
I began reading C.S. Lewis's George MacDonald: An Anthology a few nights ago and I am nearly finished already! It has been a long while since I have been able to sit and finish a book in a reasonable amount of time, and it will be refreshing to reach the end of this book and be reminded again what such an accomplishment feels like. I have been sick (with a cold, but I'm mostly better now) for over a week now, so other than work and school I have otherwise spent most of my time at home filling waste baskets with goobered tissues and hawked spit wads of unspeakably nauseating phlegm. All with the book in my hand. (A bonus of being sick?)
This is the first stuff I have read of George MacDonald. And I like his stuff.
The short excerpts that Lewis has compiled from MacDonald's sermons and fantasy novels can be witty at one moment and violently piercing the next, but still a quenching well of truth in either circumstance. I quickly began to mark the excerpts that spoke to me the most, only to realize twenty pages in that I had marked off more than half of what I read, a mark (or two or three) on every page. So I stopped marking, and just accepted the fact that the entire book spoke to the each eager fiber of my being and it would be pointless to distract a future reader with a sleuth of black inkpen soaking every page.
"The care that is filling your mind at this moment, or but waiting till you lay the book aside to leap upon you--that need which is no need, is a demon sucking at the spring of your life. 'No; mine is a reasonable care--an unavoidable care, indeed.' Is it something you have to do this very moment? 'No.' Then you are allowing it to usurp the place of something that is required of you this moment. 'There is nothing required of me at this moment.' Nay but there is--the greatest thing that can be required of man. 'Pray, what is it?' Trust in the living God....'I do trust Him in spiritual matters.' Everything is an affair of the spirit." - from The Cause of Spiritual Stupidity, an unspoken sermon
"A man is in bondage to whatever he cannot part with that is less than himself." - from The Way, an unspoken sermon
"So long as we have nothing to say to God, nothing to do with Him, save the sunshine of the mind when we feel Him near us, we are poor creatures, willed upon, not willing....And how in such a condition do we generally act? Do we sit mourning over the loss of feeling? Or worse, make frantic efforts to rouse them?" - from The Eloi, an unspoken sermon
And to think...if it were possible to determine before birth whether or not someone is going to become autistic, many people would encourage abortion for the "benefit of the child".
Bull.
This kid just made my day and he wouldn't have been able to do that if he had his brains sucked out and his body disposed of.
"This is one hundred times better than Armageddon!" *insert the sound of an entire theater of filmgoers writhing and groaning simultaneously*
No, Michael Bay, Armageddon was better.
You fool.
:: B-
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Toys, bugs, monsters, fish, superheros, cars, rats, and next year...a cute little robot. How much you want to bet the dutiful, simple, little robot Wall-e will put Michael Bay's erratic, dyslexic, complicated, and comical (they crack jokes you know...) robots to shame?
I loved Ratatouille. It was awesome.
:: A+
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I just broke one of my own rules and listened to the soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before seeing the movie, and sadly I have to give it a huge thumbs down. Besides the first two tracks ("Fireworks" and "Professor Umbridge"), the rest of the album is muddled and hinged on reactionary cues, where the composer seemingly takes 10 seconds of film, scores it, and then goes on to the next 10 seconds, and scores it. The result is a literal musical translation of the film like that of the literal film translation of the first two books by Chris Columbus. It sounds like an hour of filler.
Of course, I am saying all of this without seeing the film, but from what I've heard on the soundtrack, the film is probably going to be held back by this rather unimpressive score. I love John Williams and I think Patrick Doyle did a superb job in the fourth film, but Nicholas Hooper had better brace himself. With the huge shoes he had to fill he was certainly going to be criticized by fans no matter how good a job he did, but now he is most definitely going to get venomously raked over the coals. And the venom will be all that much stronger considering he will probably be back to score the 6th film if his directing partner David Yates has anything to say about it (we don't want the breaking of a friendship, now do we?).
Bleh. Why can't they just make things simple and bring back successful directors (Cuaron) and composers (Williams) and stop making all of these huge quality risks on film-making and film-scoring newbies? It pains me to think of what the score would have been like with a composer like James Newton Howard, the recently successful John Powell, or the even the spunky, experimental Michael Giacchino. Heck, a generic and regurgitated James Horner rendition would have been more interesting than Hooper's utterly failed attempt at being interesting...
...here's to hoping I have spoken two days too soon, and that the score (still mediocre on disc) fits an excellent film like a glove...
I like this show. But am I the only one annoyed by being told at the beginning of every episode what is going to happen? It takes all the wind out of the suspenseful sails of classic gameshow television, and I just don't want to watch it anymore after that.
"Will Mr. Bob answer the 500,000 dollar question right? Wait around and find out!"
Thanks, now I'll just sit here for an hour in complete serenity knowing that the contestant is going to get every question right all the way up to 500,000 dollars.
Its like giving your friend the movie The Sixth Sense with a yellow post-it note on the case that gives away the ending.
Annoying.
(Yes, I know...its Sunday evening and I should have done this friday...but I haven't been home...)
http://www.helpmybabylive.com/
I'm curious. If this was proven legit, would you donate?
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-thanks to shelia west for pointing this out.
"Hey, I'm sorry."
And so begins one of the most satisfying third acts to a movie ever.
Loved it.
Schwartzman.
Murray.
Williams.
Cox.
Music.
Heaven & Hell.
Everything.
A
"I wish
that
I knew what I know now
when I was younger."
Without CHEATING, does anyone know what classical piece this is?
It has been my favorite piece of classical music for many, many years, ever since I was a wee geeky little lad.
So, what is it? Guess, guess, guess! Please.
"A 16-year-old Berlin student was so worried he would have to repeat a year at school because of poor marks he convinced two friends to storm his class and steal the report cards with his bad grades." - Reuters.com
Ya, steal the report cards. That'll do it.
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"An aggressive squirrel attacked and injured three people in a German town before a 72-year-old pensioner dispatched the rampaging animal with his crutch." - Reuters.com
Excellent. Go grandpa!
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The best Father's Day blog post I read last weekend.
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That's Christopher Walken on the left strutting his stuff in the remake of Hairspray. Pretty weird huh? Well that's nothing. Check out Madame Travolta on the right.
Don't believe me? Try this angle...
Still not seeing it? Here, try this one...
Yaaa, you see it noow, don't you?
Sleep well.
About a month ago I wrote a post about living effectively and how things do not "just happen." I had gotten to a point in my life where I decided that the fastest way out of guilt or responsibility was to shrug my shoulders and say "eh, things happen." But oh sweet contraire, that was not the case and it never has it been. My life is my responsibility, not the responsibility of some superstitious notion of luck. If I want something (at the time I was speaking of righteousness) I have to actually go out and get it. It won't just happen to me.
Anyhoo, the reason I bring this up again is because on friday night ABC's "20/20" ran a broadcast about luck and how some people just seem to have more of it than others. Very interesting stuff. The conclusion at the end of the broadcast: we all create our own luck.
They did numerous studies and observations and realized that the "lucky" people are the most persistent for and the most open to new opportunities. By lucky people, they mean financially and relationally successful. In short: those who are envied most often.
An example of one of their observations involved six people (three of which you'd consider lucky people, and the other three not-so-lucky). They placed money on the ground in each of their paths. The money was put in the same spot every time and therefore equally visible to the lucky and not-so-lucky individuals. All three of the lucky people saw the money and picked it up. The other three, the not so lucky ones...walked right on by, oblivious to what lay on the ground.
In another observation, they studied a few lucky people and a few not-so-lucky people in a small, cramped donut shop (or something similar, I can't remember). When a separate individual would come into the restaurant, they were more likely to sit near one of the lucky people as opposed to one of the not-so-lucky people. Why? Because the not-so-lucky person looked uninviting and detached. They were either frowning, had their arms crossed, or were so engrossed in their newspaper the outside world meant absolutely nothing to them. Who wants to sit by that? Nobody, including other not-so-lucky people (they just find their own corner to individualize and wallow in.) Who wants to invest their time (or money) into someone who appears apathetic to outside encounters? Nobody. So instead, the new customers gravitate towards the lucky guy. The guy with the smile (or at least not a frown), uncrossed arms, and an over all optimistic demeanor, both in dress and attitude.
This opens a huge door for this lucky guy. So what does his do? He starts talking to the person who sat next to him. Is he actually thinking "I wonder what this guy can do for me"? Probably not. It only comes natural for lucky people to see an opportunity and take it. This opportunity: a conversation with another human being. This instigation of converse could lead to something more than a simple ten minutes of stress relieving conversation. It could lead to a business deal, another person (even more possibilities there), or even a life long relationship.
You never know.
So you can see that the lucky people weren't lucky in the superstitious sense, but were given more chances of being lucky because they were always in search of a new opportunity. Even the small amount of opportunity of a few dollars on the ground or a short exchange of words with a stranger can change some of your decisions for that day, the week, or your life. In other words, the lucky people increase their chances of being lucky by taking more of the opportunities that might create that luck for them. They go and get the luck, it doesn't come to them. They go and get the success, it doesn't come to them. They go and they get what they want because they know it isn't going to come to them. They go. And they get.
Meanwhile, the not-so-lucky people are so busying watching and complaining about others getting lucky that they (dis)miss their own opportunities to be lucky. Instead of being proactive, they are reactive.
The only reason I bring this up is because it has been on my mind alot lately and the 20/20 show only sparked more thoughts for me to chew on. I don't think I would be where I am now if I had taken a more proactive role in my own life. Don't get me wrong, I am not in a terrible position. But I am still living at home when I would much rather be out on my own. It is only one of the annoying problems at the moment that would not otherwise have arisen if I had taken a more proactive role a long time ago.
Anyway, if you are reading this and find yourself often blaming other people, objects, and ideas (luck) for your own shortcomings...stop it. Eventually you'll run out of ideas, you'll run out of objects, and worst of all, you'll run out of people.
Your financial, physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual success all depend on your willingness to depend on others and the "luck" that they may be willing to offer you. Open your eyes, see an opportunity, and go after it. Don't listen to the naysayers...they are just bitterly unlucky. Ask them, they'll tell you.
Yep. Heeeeerre's Paul-y!
Can you handle it?
--Thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet for posting about this.--
This clip embodies the reason I watch "So You Think You Can Dance" whenever I have time. I have not stopped thinking about this routine since I saw it on television last night.
Jaw-dropping. (and extra BIG, just for you!)
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And just for the record...the lady judge in the middle...she irks.
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I promise, this will be the last youtube video...this week. (Now that its almost over...)
Just when you think
technology is peaking
and verily soon will plateau,
the boosters ignite
and we're zooming in flight(!)
and its off to "who-knows-where" we go...
-raymond
click here.
(don't you just hate it when they say "click here". As if we need more bosses in our lives...)
Seriously though...go click it.
Watch the trees closely for an unexpected but familiar face. I don't know, could it be?
"Put that finger away before somebody gets hurt!"
Lots of sensitive souls out there, I guess. I'm sensitive to women rubbing the bare bodies all over soapy cars, but that never stopped Carl's Jr. or the FCC...
I promote the violent game of finger shooting. Finger shooters unite!
I started cleaning my room about ten minutes ago (ya, this late/early) and what should I stumble upon but a bag of four glorious books that I splurged and bought at a Barnes and Noble in San Diego three weeks go. How very, very lame I feel at the moment for buying them and then tossing them in my closet with the refreshing socks and sparkling clean underwear. Lame, lame, lame.
The four:
Suffering and the Soverignty of God by John Piper
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
...and last, but definitely not least (this book would make tree-huggers wail)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
I'm not half as smart as any of these books seem to suggest. I'd almost call them "ego-purchases" except I actually do want to read them and don't want them looking pretty on my shelf (or in my closet in a bag with the sparkling clean underwear). But seeing as I am nearly if not slightly more busy now than I was during the semester, it may be a while before I finish one.
Here's some good news though! I am abandoning my room cleaning expedition right now and putting on my sophisticated spectacles and spontaneously hopping into bed with Mr. Piper! (his book, that is...)
Wish me luck.
Bill Gates.
Thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet for sharing his short, paradoxical experience.
Gates makes cheap, crappy venues and rich men look good. Both of which/whom should be thanking him at the moment. The crappy venues seem inviting all of a sudden and rich men don't seem quite a stereotypically snobbish and hog-like. Actually, I guess I should be thanking Gates, shouldn't I? Huh.
Dear Billy,
Thank you. You are the man!
-raymond, a humbled peasant.
I went to the Stanley Cup celebration at the Honda Center tonight for the Anaheim Ducks' victory. It was fun. More so than I was anticipating.
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Saw Knocked Up afterwards. Can't say enough good things about it. Hilarious and touching.
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Lord of the Rings (yes, I know, more Lord of the Rings stuff. Get used to it.): The Musical! So when I heard about this a few years ago, I started laughing uncontrollably. Then when it started touring last year it got amazing reviews. So I asked Tolkien and God for forgiveness and have been anticipating it coming to the states ever since. The "trailer" for the musical is a bit choppy...but the production looks very promising. Its not the films or the books, that's for sure. But if you have seen anything on a Broadway-like stage (or Broadway, for that matter), then you know how memorable and transporting an experience productions like these can be.
So I am too lazy to write much of anything on Pirates.
I liked the first one. I liked the second one. But the anticipated finale, At World's End, ends its own world (forgive me). It's nothing like the other two. I fell asleep the first time. I fell asleep the second time. I don't like paying ten bucks to sleep.
It wasn't all a snooze-fest, though. The boat tipping was fun, the music was beautiful, and the demise of the British "villian" is fascinating to look at.
But I say stay home. Your bed is more comfortable and DVD's can be fast-forwarded.
Curse of the Black Pearl [2003] :: B+
Dead Man's Chest [2006] :: B
At World's End [2007] :: C-
Mark my words: besides The Incredibles, Ratatouille will be the best Pixar movie to date.
So the commercials are wonderful. The old and outdated "PC" in his hospital robe showing his undesirables to a young, hip, and fresh "Apple" is funny stuff. They speak volumes about the creative force that has thrusted Apple Inc. into the gleaming limelight the past few years. But none of them comes close to seeing the actual big daddies of each tribe smirk, taunt, and bombast in front the entire world. Like the commercials, "Apple" is more charming, is wearing tennis shoes, and steals the show without even trying that hard. The "PC"--in a shirt, dress shoes and slacks--is at a bumbling loss for words more often than not.
But they are both incredibly intelligent. Watching these great minds cogitate and theorize is invigorating, and it puts the commercials (as great as they are) to shame. Enjoy.
Digital Conference 2007 Prologue:
Steve Jobs Interview (watch 'til the end, its worth it, trust me):
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Interview (1 of 10):
You can get the rest of them here.
-the year I was born
-the number of podcasts episodes I have that still need to be listened to...
This question has been poking and taunting Harry Potter fans for several years now. But here we are, a mere two months from the answer, and I am rather nervous about it to be perfectly frank. After the stunt Rowling pulled in Half-Blood Prince (anyone who has read the book knows what I'm talking about) anything is possible at the moment. But, for time-wasting's sake I present a prediction, or two...or three (maybe even ten).
-------July 13 2007:
(1) Order of the Phoenix turns out to be most satisfactory blockbuster/"sequel" among the botched bunch of 2007.
-------July 21 2007:
(2) Harry Potter dies.
(3) Neville dies.
(4) Ron and Hermione profess their love for each other, get married (during battle), explicitly consummate it (during battle) and then die. (ha, just kidding...........they live and she's pregnant and they vow to name their child Harry, boy or girl).
(5) Voldemort (bless his black soul) is a goner as well. But only after he confesses that he is Harry's real father. Harry starts to cry, Voldemort starts to cry, they hug, Harry chokes Voldemort, then Harry commits suicide by wand (see #2).
(6) The only person who lives (for sure) is Ginny. I mean, where's the drama without a damsel in distress left behind, huh? Last page of book:
"Hermione, I'm pregnant," said Ginny. "And I think its Harry's."
"You think its Harry's?" questions Hermione.
The end.
-------July 2010:
(7) J.K. Rowling publishes Harry Potter, Jr and the Philosopher's Boulder.
-------July 2021:
(8) Seven books/movies later: Harry Potter, Jr and the Horny Hallows:
Draco Malfoy to Harry Potter, Jr: "I am your father!"
Draco Malfoy to Harry Weasley (a girl): "I am your father!"
Ron to Hermione: "I knew it! Her and her white hair!"
Hermione to Ron: "It was an accident!"
Snape to Hermione: "I am your father!"
Harry Weasley to Harry Potter, Jr: "I'm pregnant."
The end.
-------July 2030:
(9) The workings of Harry Malfoy-Potter the First and the Philosopher's Planet are found charred and burning under the charred, burning, and assassinated body of J.K. Rowling in the tower of her Hogwart's Castle looming 2500 ft. over Oxfordshire, England.
-------July 3000:
(10) James Cameron (having found Jesus' Tomb, the Tree of Life, and Middle Earth) is still thriving physically and financially at 146 years. He finds Platform 9 and 3/4, but dies soon there after due to head trauma caused by constantly running into brick walls on the off chance that he'd make it through. His body is thrown into the ocean, but his heart goes on.
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You'll see. That is what is going to happen. All in due course, my friends. All in due course.
Yes, more Lord of the Rings stuff...in German! You can't understand what they are saying (which I think may be a good thing). I haven't finished it yet--I'm only about 7 minutes into it--but so far its pretty darn funny.
While I sit around and lazily avoid writing about Pirates, here is my "cheat" review of 28 Weeks Later:
Mark Kermode and his quick lips of fire!
"Next." - Mark
"That's just extraordinary this...its a work of genius." - Simon
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-And now, go listen to Sam and Adam argue about it (its always best when they argue) at the Filmspotting.net Podcast.
Poor Sam missed the boat...
2007 film chronicle - what I've been watching
film review archive - I don't have time to write about every film I see, so I'm setting this up so I can score them without writing much (if anything) on them. Since editing this, I have changed a few of my film scores in order to better fit into the developed ripped-off structure (thank you Jeffrey Overstreet).
music recommendations - I am a soundtrack whore. I'll update this whenever I go out and pay to get laid (by the music, of course) or happen to be getting the mentioned euphoric service from the soundtracks I already own.
book recommendations - This will rarely get updated because I rarely have time to read, but when I do read something that I like or remember having read something that I liked, I will put it in here. I rarely finish reading something I am not enjoying, so those that I put in here are recommendations, and any "must-reads" will be marked clearly.
I'm not sure if the theaters are trying to make my Pirates of the Caribbean experience actually feel more Piratey, but since when did it become legal to show a film before its release day? I treasure my midnight showings. The film could be a gawd-awfully smelly hunk of monkey crap, I never really care (although excellent films are an added bonus). It is the midnight showing experience that I actually go for. The communal buzz is infectious. It makes the film going experience more of a festival than an art gallery.
But now, to my horror, I have discovered that the theaters are showing 8:00, 8:15, 9:00, 9:45, and 10:00 o'clock showings before the midnight showing! This is...catastrophic! Sure, the buzz will still be there, but it won't be as strong and we won't be "the first" in our region. Not only that, but we'll hear all about the movie from the people walking out as we sit in line and wait to go in. Booooo!
*insert initial tremor of inspirational speech music here* The theaters have jumped our ship and stolen our treasure!!! Those filthy, greedy, piratey scumbags! We shall fight back! We shall fight to the death! *music swells* We shall stay our course *music swells some more* and not abandon our precious ship of ritual. Join me my fellow crazies and protest this monstrous and deceitful act. Grab your loins, laddies, let us hunt some theater managers!!! *insert "fields of pelennor" charge music here*
*grabs loins* Chaaarrge!!
***DISCLAIMER UPDATE***
It was 4 in the morning. Forgive me.
Absolutely mindless, disgusting, and crass...but brilliant.
I mean think about it. The entire movie is just a high-on-crack and caffeinated version of your typical American college guy's dormitory. How many college guys living in dorms are there in America? Alot. And how many middle-aged men are there in America wishing they were back in their college dormitories. Again, alot. There is a huge market for this type of sadistic buffoonery. Even women want in on the gag. Maybe not alot of women, but more than you might think. Most just don't want to admit their suppressed curiousity and scoff at our stupidity.
But is this form of "male-bonding" really stupid? Ya, most of it is. I can't think of anything more stupid than trying to tight-rope your way across alligator infested waters with meat stuffed in your underwear. And much of Jackass: The Movie is stupid stuff like that. But I enjoyed myself.
I won't try and justify it. Some of what these guys do is clearly unethical (terrorizing your family can only go so far) and yet the self-inflicted pain scenes are exhilarating. The intensity and discomfort of paper-cuts is brought to the screen full-throttle and the resulting feeling is a mixture of euphoria and horror. I laughed, I cried, I closed my eyes in discomfort several times, and I found immense pleasure in my pumped-and-revved-up state afterwards.
Like Rodriguez's Planet Terror, Jackass: The Movie is masochistic and gratuitous at times. But I enjoyed myself and actually wish I could have been a part of the empty glory. Determine from that what psychosis you will...
B-
one of the more "tame" scenes:
--One Tivo-less TV.
--One On-the-Lot premiere.
--And a grandmother addicted to Dancing With the Stars.
...all in the same house, all at the same time...
Frick!
The White Stripes have a new album coming out June 18! AHH! This is awesome schnizzle! The first White Stripes song I heard was Seven Nation Army nearly 4 years ago and I have been in love with them ever since. The husband and wife duo have a very unique style and avoid recording with modern technology, but interestingly this tactic doesn't make their music sound outdated, but refreshingly original. It just sounds very, very cool. They sound like a four or five person band, but its just the two of them bringing their grinding pieces to fruition.
Their promotional song for their new album is Icky Thump, a song that leans on their familiar thick marching beat. I put in the playlist (-->) so you can listen to it if your wittle heart so desires...
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I saw 28 Weeks Later this weekend (my "cheat" review is to come) and it reminded me how much I enjoyed John Murphy's soundtrack from 28 Days Later, its prequel. His "rock band" music is back again in 28 Weeks Later and is just as fitting as ever. The film's theme song "In the House - In a Heartbeat" is in the playlist (-->)...if your wittle heart so desires.
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more eclecticism:
Last year I heard that Sufjan Stevens was going on tour. So I went to find out where, and alas, he was coming to Los Angeles...but the bastard had already sold out all 3 of his shows. I didn't cry, 
yet, but I was thoroughly bummed. A few weeks after his show though I came across a video of one of his performances. I watched it, and that's when I cried (figuratively). I missed out on a song he presented for the first time during the tour. The song, Majesty Snowbird, is incredibly beautiful. The quality in the video isn't that great because it is from a portable camcorder, so it gets a bit shrilly and has the atmosphere of a failing high school talent show performance at times. But just wait until it comes out on disc in full fledged surround sound. Angels are anticipating the day.
"Get wisdom, get understanding;I am just now beginning to understand the power of being intentional about the things that I do. My life up until now has merely been a string of circumstances, some good, some not so good, but all of which "just happened". Instead of taking responsibility for my actions, I have made a habit of pulling the "God's will"-card whenever I feel like I have lost control of something. And I usually, conveniently "lose control" when things aren't going well. That way, I don't have to take responsibility for my part in the equation of life. I just hand all the power over to God and say "Oh well, Your will be done"--a passive shift of responsibility.
do not forget my words or swerve from them." - Proverbs 4:5
"The path of righteousness is like the first gleam of dawn,I have not been righteous. I stumble often. And that isn't an accident. That is what I have chosen. In Proverbs 4:5 Solomon writes, "Get wisdom, get knowledge." If I want wisdom, if I want knowledge, I have to actually to go and get it and not sit around hoping that maybe someday it will just fall in my lap: "Hello, I am wisdom!"
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
But the way of the wicked is like the deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble." - Proverbs 4:18-19
"The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred...unforeseen incidents, meetings, and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way."God's will doesn't "just happen". I have to choose it. The guy next to me has to choose it. Everyone on the planet has to choose it. And when just one person chooses to build their life according to the blueprints of God, beautiful things happen and his glory shines through, piercing the darkness like a new sun, a new day.
...5 years to save the world...
(I am going to be labeling all of my global warming posts "doomsday" from now on. I won't say much about whatever links, pictures, or quotes that I post because (1) I think they speak for themselves and (2) I'll start ranting insanely if I so much as begin to cogitate the evils of socialist-liberalism and its doom and gloom philosophies.)
What is it with Robert Rodriguez and testicles??
One of the main things that kept me from liking his Sin City was it's s-exploitability (particularly how women were portrayed). Sure, some of it was visually appealing and sometimes funny/disgusting during movie (who doesn't find some sort of satisfaction in seeing an evil, yellow creature get his manhood ripped from his body?) , but in the end you have to ask yourself, "Was that completely even minutely necessary?" It all really sums up to nothing but a crutch to appeal the juvenile in people like me. Although not nearly (as in miles away, but still there) as strongly as with Sin City, I felt similarly uneasy after Planet Terror, Rodriquez's first half installment in the double feature movie event Grindhouse.
I almost feel bad bringing up the negative first because I enjoyed the movie for the most part, but I feel worse because I cannot recommend the movie to very many people because of it's overtly twisted sexuality. If Sin City had been any good, I would have had the same problem recommending it, but it wasn't any good, so there was no problem there. But now we have Planet Terror: a good movie with a little bit of the same tendencies of Sin City that make you ponder the mental stability of the director. This makes it so much more difficult to talk positively about the film with that glaring discrepancy, but there were many positives amidst its few negatives, and therefore I am giving Rodriguez the benefit of the doubt this time because I had such a good time with his raucous, bloody concoction.
So with all that wishful "why testicles?" thinking aside, Planet Terror was an excellent, yet absolutely absurd, horror adventure. I wasn't expecting it to be quite as scary as it was. I jumped a few times, and held my breath in others. I probably found too much joy in the splatter festivities. When a prominent and gusto character unexpectedly gets blown to smithereens towards the end, I laughed harder than when Dory spoke whale in Disney's Finding Nemo four years ago...and that is saying alot. Rodriguez keeps t
he story moving forward so your mind never has a chance to wander. His film is a satisfying "on-purpose" blend of ridiculousness and seriousness that pays tribute to the "on-accident" blend of ridiculousness and seriousness characteristic of the first taboo, rebellious horror flicks of the twentieth century.
If you can handle a movie bloodier than anything you ever seen before, than I cautiously recommend it. It is a funny, often hilarious, over-the-top gritty film that packs enough punches to make a jock feel queasy and an emo-kid laugh. Otherwise, if you can't handle blood and the crushing, ripping, dropping, obliterating, eating, or cutting of body parts (some of which were never meant to see the light of day or roll across the wet asphalt of night) than avoid it with every fiber of your being. It is as bad as you can possibly imagine it to be, and it is as pointless and juvenile as that which it is paying homage.
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Quentin Tarantino. Death Proof. First of all, like before, let's get the negative out of the way. Tarantino needs a major mouth washing. I can deal with curse words. I use them sometimes, but seriously...the lip of some of the characters was exhausting, if not an all out verbal raping of my now not so virgin ears...
But...with that out of the way, Tarantino is a bloody genius. Where Planet Terror thrived off of the constant adrenaline rush of something happening, Death Proof thrives off the constant adrenaline of "nothing" happening. Like the calm before a storm, his film blows gusts of uneasiness our way, taunting us with the careful patience of the perpetrator just waiting to drop the giant rains and winds of chaos on an unexpecting town of commoners minding their own business.
I loved Death Proof.
The crackling dialogue and flowing cinematography had me giggling like a school girl. There is a scene in which the group of women are sitting in a diner talking, and the camera is continually moving around them. The technical challenge behind a scene like that dumbfounds me, and the result is simply enthralling. The car chase nearly made me crap my pants, both in the excitement of it all and the pure horror at the fact that what I was watching was for the most part actually happening. I wonder how many documents that girl had to sign that said "If you die, that's your fault, your family and/or dog cannot sue us." I'm glad she signed them, because her dramatic tango with death was great fun!
The ending of Death Proof was just too good to be true. I kept asking the person next to me if that actually just happened. He said it did, but I still don't believe him. Darn. Guess I have to go see it again...just to make sure...
Anyone?
Planet Terror: B
Death Proof: A-
P.S. There were fake trailers in between the two films, but the only one I remember specifically is Don't because it was funny.
