It's the last week of the summer months and while I hope there's still several weeks of nice/warm weather ahead, I thought it'd be fun to recount what has probably been one of the most physically active spring/summers I have ever had.
April 25 - I started the Zombies, Run! 5k training and haven't looked back since. This one change has drastically impacted my fitness level and paved the way to doing so much more without feeling like I want to die. Who knew running 3 times a week would make such a difference?
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
August 27, 2013
Summer Recap
May 3, 2013
Importantness of Sleep?
I have been getting less sleep than usual this week. Two late nights of movies, both of which were pretty great and wildly different (Upstream Color vs. Iron Man 3). Work has been pretty relaxed this week, which was good. As a result, I spent some time adding things to my Amazon Wish List.
If you read this blog and like it, vote by
buying me something off of my wish list
OR
donating to my Be the Match 5k run.
The Bear That Would Not Sleep
All throughout the life of Bearkins Beary Bear, sleep was the lowest priority. The urge to claw every moment out of life was strong with this one. Then one day, BBB was shot by a zoo keeper. The shot knocked BBB out and when BBB awoke, iron bars surrounded a bare, concrete room that the world had shrunken to.
Railing day and night did nothing and the drugged periods of unconsciousness that served as deeply resented "sleep" only served to fuel the rage and determination.
BBB was so intent on escaping from the zoo keeper's prison that one day, thought became action, and action became reality. Eyes closed, BBB took a final leap at the unyielding iron bars and with a breath of every ounce of soul, phased into and through the bars and escaped.
If you read this blog and like it, vote by
buying me something off of my wish list
OR
donating to my Be the Match 5k run.
The Bear That Would Not Sleep
All throughout the life of Bearkins Beary Bear, sleep was the lowest priority. The urge to claw every moment out of life was strong with this one. Then one day, BBB was shot by a zoo keeper. The shot knocked BBB out and when BBB awoke, iron bars surrounded a bare, concrete room that the world had shrunken to.
Railing day and night did nothing and the drugged periods of unconsciousness that served as deeply resented "sleep" only served to fuel the rage and determination.
BBB was so intent on escaping from the zoo keeper's prison that one day, thought became action, and action became reality. Eyes closed, BBB took a final leap at the unyielding iron bars and with a breath of every ounce of soul, phased into and through the bars and escaped.
January 13, 2013
Filled Weekend
I really didn't expect this weekend to be as full as it was. Immensely enjoyable and productive, but hardly any sitting around.
Friday
Went to Echo Base to screen Primer, which was incredibly confusing but after talking for half an hour or so after the movie with everyone else, most of whom had seen it more than once, things started to become at least a little clearer. Reading the Wiki page on the movie is still on my list of To Do's.
Saturday
Spent the morning catching up on email and writing a bit of the write-up for the A Penny For my Thoughts that I had played on Thursday. Then drove down to Seattle Center where I got signed up for Snow Day, had a bacon cheeseburger with sweet potato fries at Quincy's in the Armory, and then helped out the Emerald City Comic Con with their snow fort for an hour and a half. Snow Day was completely not what I expected. I didn't stay very long at all, about two hours total, including eating, but it was a very satisfying experience. It's been a while since I've been part of an organized work group, and the physical exertion of shoveling snow and working together with strangers made me feel really good. I wore way too much for it though. Even though I wore a fairly light jacket, a thin long sleeve shirt and a thin sweater, I shouldn't have worn my warm waterproof boots, nor the long johns with snowboarding pants. That was overkill. I don't know why I expected to be crawling around on the snow or something. It did make me want to go snowboarding though to actually put the pants to use.
Afterwards, I went to the grocery store to buy supplies to make food for the Important Person Dinner that night at C's house. I made three dishes. The food was good, I had fun chatting about TV shows and movies and games with some of the people there and getting to hang out with C and meeting her brother and sister-in-law. There was also some lovely singing and singalongs and dancing.
Since Z didn't come with me, I had the option of going also to my friend K's place where they had just finished watching Hackers and we ended up watching the pilot episode of Adventure Time and Johnny Mnemonic. Both were entertaining and it was fun seeing K's place and the other three people that were there were very easy to get along with and it was super relaxed.
Sunday
Went to Toulouse Petit for brunch and it was delicious as usual and it was great to hang out and chat with R, T, and S. Then afterwards, Z and I killed some time by getting his hair cut and then hanging out at Starbucks, where P met us and we went to see Holy Motors, which was a fantastic film. I really enjoyed it. It was fabulously weird and thought-provoking in a "I see what you did there"-type of way. Z did not like it. He thought it was esoteric and that there was a bunch of weird to be weird things. Which is exactly how I feel about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, though maybe I should rewatch it and try not to see it from such a jaded perception since so many people liked it.
When I got home, I put together dinner for myself and lunch for Monday and Tuesday, and did the rest of the dishes from cooking on Saturday. Z, A, and I figured out how I'll be using my 15 days of vacation for the year and solidified some travel/vacation plans:
April 8-12 - Antigua
May 16-17 - St. Louis
Aug 31 - PAX Prime
Dec 26 - Day after Christmas
1 Day for Shi Shi Beach Backpack Camping
5 Days for Japan
I finished the write-up for A Penny for My Thoughts and once I'm done with this blog post, I'm going to play some Walking Dead.
I'm really looking forward to next week. Even though I have something planned every night of the week, I don't feel like I'm overly busy. What I feel is filled and enriched.
September 27, 2011
The Hedgehog
Why is it that when you write down events that are odd, but really still ordinary, they are imbued with deep, artsy, significant meaning and symbolism? It's a nice power of putting words down, that they make the ordinary seem extraordinary, but sometimes things just happen, they happen to you, to me, and we're just there.
So I went to see The Hedgehog tonight. I've been trying to see it for weeks but haven't been able to because of my crazy schedule. I decided to go to the 9:35 PM showing because I needed to make dark chocolate covered bacon first and I also didn't think I could go home, take out the puppies, get some thing to eat and then get down to the Egyptian for the 7:10 PM showing. So really it was the only logical choice. I was planning on going by myself, but my friend R, whom I haven't seen in a year or more, agreed to go with me when I offhandedly mentioned it to her in an email. So we went. And we both really liked it. And maybe it was seeing an artsy, foreign film in the middle of the night on a weekday, or just the fact that it's something far enough removed from routine, but the drive back home was beautiful. The roads are still wet from the constant raining during the day and the streetlamps make it look like a cross between ice and an oil slick.
And though I'll probably be completely exhausted tomorrow and miserable with wanting to crawl under my desk and sleep, I hope I'll still think it was worth it to step outside the bounds and remember how easy it is to change and do weird things because it's interesting and not think about how crazy it would sound written down.
So I went to see The Hedgehog tonight. I've been trying to see it for weeks but haven't been able to because of my crazy schedule. I decided to go to the 9:35 PM showing because I needed to make dark chocolate covered bacon first and I also didn't think I could go home, take out the puppies, get some thing to eat and then get down to the Egyptian for the 7:10 PM showing. So really it was the only logical choice. I was planning on going by myself, but my friend R, whom I haven't seen in a year or more, agreed to go with me when I offhandedly mentioned it to her in an email. So we went. And we both really liked it. And maybe it was seeing an artsy, foreign film in the middle of the night on a weekday, or just the fact that it's something far enough removed from routine, but the drive back home was beautiful. The roads are still wet from the constant raining during the day and the streetlamps make it look like a cross between ice and an oil slick.
And though I'll probably be completely exhausted tomorrow and miserable with wanting to crawl under my desk and sleep, I hope I'll still think it was worth it to step outside the bounds and remember how easy it is to change and do weird things because it's interesting and not think about how crazy it would sound written down.
June 8, 2010
SIFF 2010
So we watched 4 movies during SIFF 2010. Friday night was a midnight showing of Fight Club, the next day, Leaves of Grass, the day after that, Utopia in Four Movements, then the day after that The Wild Hunt.
Utopia was the only movie that wasn't filled with beating/deaths. Funnily enough, Fight Club was the least death-ridden. Only one death, and his name was Robert Paulson. Leaves of Grass had the most deaths, with about 5 deaths, and The Wild Hunt ended up being very violent for people with foam swords etc. and had at least three deaths.
What do I take away from watching four movies in four days?
(1) I do not want to get beaten up or shot.
(2) It is hard to be optimistic when human beings have such a high potential for really fucking shit up. Especially when things get crazy.
(3) [insert cliché redeeming human quality and/or witty funny].
Seriously though, my first SIFF was pretty cool and seeing Edward Norton was pretty awesome. Fight Club is still one of my most favorite movies ever and I've probably seen it more times than any other movie (though maybe not my Disney movies when I was a kid (i.e. Bambi, Beauty & the Beast, the Little Mermaid)). Anyway, I'm looking forward to next year's gluttony of movies.
Utopia was the only movie that wasn't filled with beating/deaths. Funnily enough, Fight Club was the least death-ridden. Only one death, and his name was Robert Paulson. Leaves of Grass had the most deaths, with about 5 deaths, and The Wild Hunt ended up being very violent for people with foam swords etc. and had at least three deaths.
What do I take away from watching four movies in four days?
(1) I do not want to get beaten up or shot.
(2) It is hard to be optimistic when human beings have such a high potential for really fucking shit up. Especially when things get crazy.
(3) [insert cliché redeeming human quality and/or witty funny].
Seriously though, my first SIFF was pretty cool and seeing Edward Norton was pretty awesome. Fight Club is still one of my most favorite movies ever and I've probably seen it more times than any other movie (though maybe not my Disney movies when I was a kid (i.e. Bambi, Beauty & the Beast, the Little Mermaid)). Anyway, I'm looking forward to next year's gluttony of movies.
June 5, 2010
I Want to Have Your Abortion
Just finished watching Fight Club on the big screen with hundreds of other people. I've probably seen the movie about a dozen times now. One of the few movies that I've seen all the way through on commentary.
This time it was different. I'm no longer as reckless or restless as I used to be. It used to be that after watching the movie, it would alter the way I viewed the world and acted and I would have all this pent-up aggression and energy. The last time I watched it was in college and I ended up running laps around the UW fountain in the middle of the night. Now I guess I just feel like blogging.
Slicing my finger open and going through the excruciating pain that was getting "numbed" and getting three stitches in my flesh has reawakened my sense of frailty as a human, awe at the amazing ability of the body to heal, and OMG WE CAN FUCK OURSELVES UP SO EASILY. It is a goddamned miracle that the majority of us manage to go through life with all ten fingers and toes, and die of old age.
The movie certainly doesn't answer what should be the purpose and goal of life but it does give you the freedom to realize that you do have a choice. YOU are making all of the decisions here and at least you're probably more aware of it than Jack/Tyler.
November 30, 2008
Movie Review #30-31
11/24 Les Poupees Russes (The Russian Dolls) = Sequel to The Spanish Apartment, 30 yrs later.
This was a fun movie, I liked how realistic it was in going over the issues that people have to deal with, such as how do I find someone who will tolerate me and whom I can tolerate to love? The whole "needle in a haystack" -ness of it all is definitely super depressing and makes someone seem incredibly unlikely. And there are SO many people out there to shift through. You definitely need to know what you're looking for and have enough will power not to waste your time on someone that you know isn't suited just because you're bored.
This was a fun movie, I liked how realistic it was in going over the issues that people have to deal with, such as how do I find someone who will tolerate me and whom I can tolerate to love? The whole "needle in a haystack" -ness of it all is definitely super depressing and makes someone seem incredibly unlikely. And there are SO many people out there to shift through. You definitely need to know what you're looking for and have enough will power not to waste your time on someone that you know isn't suited just because you're bored.
11/17 Lust, Caution = A group of students decide to help the war by trying to kill an important figure.
I loved the fact that there was Shanghainese in the movie. In a lot of ways it reminded me of Crouching Tiger, mostly for the fact that it was typical (an unhappy ending) and shockingly untypical (graphic sex) in terms of Asian movies. I've always maintained that the majority of Asian dramas and movies are overwhelmingly depressing and horrible horrible things happen to the main characters because it makes Asians feel better about their lives. It was a good movie though and it's amazing what make-up can do for a person.
October 29, 2008
Movie Review #28-30
11/8 Constantine = About a man who rids the world of demons that have meddled in human affairs too much.
Pretty scary at parts but a really interesting plot and concept. Kind of reminds me of Stigmata which also dealt with religious stuff and was pretty scary at times but at the end it was refreshing and deeply invigorating. Surprisingly, I've actually seen Stigmata several times, at least three times I think, and I wouldn't mind seeing it again. Even though there are some super scary and creepy parts, I think it's the fact that the concept is so cool that makes me interested in it.
10/28 L'auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment) = About this guy who lives in Barcelona for a year to learn Spanish for his future finance job.
I got the sequel, Russian Dolls, from the library today so I'll be watching that within the next two weeks. It was a pretty good movie, just about the random dealings and sex lives of this group of extremely diverse people from various countries all placed in a foreign country trying to cope and learn something. Most of the movie is either in French or Spanish.
10/29 Forgetting Sarah Marshall = About a guy who composes the soundtrack to a CSI-like TV show, is dating the lead actress, but then she dumps him and he can't cope.
About as funny as Heartbreak Kid, maybe a bit more. The women in it are quite beautiful and most of it is in Hawaii so it's pretty too but definitely has more of the "omg this is so painful and embarrassing to watch that it's funny" type of humor.
Pretty scary at parts but a really interesting plot and concept. Kind of reminds me of Stigmata which also dealt with religious stuff and was pretty scary at times but at the end it was refreshing and deeply invigorating. Surprisingly, I've actually seen Stigmata several times, at least three times I think, and I wouldn't mind seeing it again. Even though there are some super scary and creepy parts, I think it's the fact that the concept is so cool that makes me interested in it.
10/28 L'auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment) = About this guy who lives in Barcelona for a year to learn Spanish for his future finance job.
I got the sequel, Russian Dolls, from the library today so I'll be watching that within the next two weeks. It was a pretty good movie, just about the random dealings and sex lives of this group of extremely diverse people from various countries all placed in a foreign country trying to cope and learn something. Most of the movie is either in French or Spanish.
10/29 Forgetting Sarah Marshall = About a guy who composes the soundtrack to a CSI-like TV show, is dating the lead actress, but then she dumps him and he can't cope.
About as funny as Heartbreak Kid, maybe a bit more. The women in it are quite beautiful and most of it is in Hawaii so it's pretty too but definitely has more of the "omg this is so painful and embarrassing to watch that it's funny" type of humor.
October 21, 2008
Movie Review #27: Transformers
10/20 Transformers = Alien machines on Earth.The special effects made up for the nerdy silliness of the movie.
October 14, 2008
Movie Reviews #22-26
Okay yes, I have been neglecting the blog for a while now again. Movies have suddenly been piling up and while I HATE HATE HATE inconsistency and not adhering to standards, the blog will not be able to continue unless I make it a little easier to catch up. I hope I didn't forget any or else this count will be inaccurate (another annoyance).
9/25 Tremors = Small town gets terrorized and many die.
10/4 Starship Troopers = Futuristic movie with soliders fighting alien bugs.
10/9 Stardust = Everyone's chasing after a fallen star but for different reasons.
10/12 Hellboy = During WWII Hitler's soliders open a portal and things come out of it.
10/14 I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With = About a fat actor guy.
Stardust was by far the best out of the bunch. It was beautiful, the characters were interesting and funny and the "oh noes...I know something that you don't and bad things are going to happen" moments weren't too bad. I usually don't like those moments because I don't like suspense. Hellboy was pretty good too, there was a bunch of interesting magic features that were cool.
I've been unmotivated to write for a while, but I've recently been on a reading binge. Soooo...instead of writing some more, I'm going to read.
9/25 Tremors = Small town gets terrorized and many die.
10/4 Starship Troopers = Futuristic movie with soliders fighting alien bugs.
10/9 Stardust = Everyone's chasing after a fallen star but for different reasons.
10/12 Hellboy = During WWII Hitler's soliders open a portal and things come out of it.
10/14 I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With = About a fat actor guy.
Stardust was by far the best out of the bunch. It was beautiful, the characters were interesting and funny and the "oh noes...I know something that you don't and bad things are going to happen" moments weren't too bad. I usually don't like those moments because I don't like suspense. Hellboy was pretty good too, there was a bunch of interesting magic features that were cool.
I've been unmotivated to write for a while, but I've recently been on a reading binge. Soooo...instead of writing some more, I'm going to read.
September 30, 2008
Movie Review #21: Cashback
9/29 Cashback = Boy gets dumped and ends up becoming an insomniac. He takes a night shift job at a supermarket to pass the time.One of the weirder movies I've seen recently. Kind of meanders around, shows a lot of skin and has a weird creepy scene in the middle that made almost no sense. Almost all of the characters are good-looking though so it makes up for a lot of the unanswered questions. It had some funny parts in it but the only reason I'd see it again would be for the skin.
September 27, 2008
Movie Review #20: Tremors
9/25 Tremors = Two handymen from the town of Perfection try to save the town's inhabitants from something that is killing them.
A bunch of my friends got together to watch this with me, seeing as I was the only one there that hadn't seen it. It was...silly. The acting during the 80's and early 90's really kind of annoys me. Pretty much any fist pumping, thumbs-upness makes me feel embarrassed for the actors. As for the movie's lvl of scariness, okay, it wasn't really that bad. Any of the Aliens movies are much scarier.
However, I feel like as I've gotten older that I'm more jumpy than I used to be. Not sure why...maybe my tolerance has decreased and so my guard is down and my instinct to yelp takes over. Screaming actually makes watching scary stuff a little more tolerable. I'm not sure I enjoy the feeling of being totally freaked out and super tense though. As I look back on some of the scary movies that I've watched, it's more the amusement and reminiscing that comes after surviving something horrible that wasn't particularly enjoyable at the time. Several such things come to mind: The Camping Trip, trying out for high school soccer, losing my big toe nail, and my high school graduation ceremony. These were all horrible horrible experiences at the time, but now that I've successfully survived them, they're now somewhat funny stories. Character builders I suppose. I also used to read a lot of scary thriller books back as a teen. A lot of Stephen King books as well as Anne Rice and even collections of short ghost stories. Of course, I was always super paranoid after reading them but I guess that period of my life when I was actively seeking out scary stuff was just a phase. This leads me to believe that no, I do not enjoy watching scary movies, they are something to endure so that I can "Character Build". I'm not sure though, if I've regressed somehow in my fear factor and if that's a bad thing. Maybe I'm really more comfortable in my skin that I can feel free to let my emotions out instead of bottling them up. I like to think that if something truly horrible happened in real life (such as a zombie apocalypse) I would be able to reign in the terror and be useful instead of a liability. It'd probably take a little effort and time in the beginning though. I'm sorry if it causes anyone to have their brains eaten. Maybe this is one area I need to undergo some training in preparation...though I think Left4Dead will be good enough.
A bunch of my friends got together to watch this with me, seeing as I was the only one there that hadn't seen it. It was...silly. The acting during the 80's and early 90's really kind of annoys me. Pretty much any fist pumping, thumbs-upness makes me feel embarrassed for the actors. As for the movie's lvl of scariness, okay, it wasn't really that bad. Any of the Aliens movies are much scarier.
However, I feel like as I've gotten older that I'm more jumpy than I used to be. Not sure why...maybe my tolerance has decreased and so my guard is down and my instinct to yelp takes over. Screaming actually makes watching scary stuff a little more tolerable. I'm not sure I enjoy the feeling of being totally freaked out and super tense though. As I look back on some of the scary movies that I've watched, it's more the amusement and reminiscing that comes after surviving something horrible that wasn't particularly enjoyable at the time. Several such things come to mind: The Camping Trip, trying out for high school soccer, losing my big toe nail, and my high school graduation ceremony. These were all horrible horrible experiences at the time, but now that I've successfully survived them, they're now somewhat funny stories. Character builders I suppose. I also used to read a lot of scary thriller books back as a teen. A lot of Stephen King books as well as Anne Rice and even collections of short ghost stories. Of course, I was always super paranoid after reading them but I guess that period of my life when I was actively seeking out scary stuff was just a phase. This leads me to believe that no, I do not enjoy watching scary movies, they are something to endure so that I can "Character Build". I'm not sure though, if I've regressed somehow in my fear factor and if that's a bad thing. Maybe I'm really more comfortable in my skin that I can feel free to let my emotions out instead of bottling them up. I like to think that if something truly horrible happened in real life (such as a zombie apocalypse) I would be able to reign in the terror and be useful instead of a liability. It'd probably take a little effort and time in the beginning though. I'm sorry if it causes anyone to have their brains eaten. Maybe this is one area I need to undergo some training in preparation...though I think Left4Dead will be good enough.
Movie Review #19: Definitely Maybe
9/22 Definitely Maybe = Dad tells his daughter about how he met her mother because she wants to know why they're getting a divorce.It was kind of Princess Bride-ish, in terms of it's a story being told to a kid and the kid sometimes interrupts. It was really cute though and it's always interesting to follow people's lives and see where they're at and how they got there 10 years later. It's not super typical in terms of plot devices for RomComs, the ending bit is fairly original and I didn't expect it. Also, I shed a few tears...it was more of a awwww, sweet father-daughter thing than anything super sad. It was a pretty good movie overall I'd have to say :) And everyone in it is super pretty.
September 20, 2008
Movie Review #18: Raise the Red Lantern
9/20 Raise the Red Lantern = Follows the inner politics of a household with four wives. Focuses on the 4th wife and her struggle to survive.I'm still not sure if I've seen this movie before or not. While the movie was good, I still felt like they could have focused more on the women and what it was about them that made the Master marry them in the first place. I can't imagine what they did all day, cooped up in their little "houses", every night wondering if they're going to get the chance to maybe produce a son, which is the only way to better their position in the household and thus in their small world.
Would being a kept woman be super great? Or would you feel tied down to the guy and like a pampered slave? I would think the issue of being bored and useless could be easily solved by going out and getting involved in something of value. Reading to little kids at the library seems like it'd be fun. Or volunteering to help create stage sets for high schools or other theaters. There must be plenty of things that are worth doing without needing monetary compensation. I for one, love accomplishing tasks. I am extremely goal-oriented and, at least in games, will more than likely do plenty of grinding if I like what I'll get in the end. Having lots of little tasks with loose deadlines that I can accomplish easily would be my ideal volunteer work. I mean, my current job is pretty task oriented and I feel like I'm fairly happy in it. Now, if I did the exact same stuff in a cooler, more relaxed and fun-loving company that paid me at least $15k more, I'd be super content. I might even be happier doing it than I would be if I stayed home all day and tried to write. Writing is multitudes scarier and a foggy, undefined task. While I don't particularly want my tasks to be detailed out, I need at least a base level of detail to feel confident in my abilities to successfully accomplish it.
...this is kind of feeling like a boring post. No one is ever interested in hearing about work. I really need to meditate or do something that brings out the muse. Though, I guess this is what this is supposed to be for, practicing the writing so I can get inspired and be creative and re-find my "voice". Okay, now it's going to sound like I'm complaining, but I don't like my current "voice". It's too logical, not theoretical enough, not spontaneous enough. Hmmm. Maybe I should start an episodic short story. No plot, no themes, nothing to start off with. I'll try not to think about it at all and just spend fifteen minutes on each episode. I'm always up for experiments.
September 9, 2008
Movie Review #17: Enchanted
9/8 Enchanted = A Disney flick that starts off as a typical Snow White-que fairytale. There's an added step inbetween the poisioned apple that makes up most of the interesting part of the movie, that they somehow get thrown into the Real World.This was a cute movie. Even Zach agrees. The animation in the beginning and end are really well done and the chipmunk is SO F-ING CUTE. SO CUTE!11!!1!1!! Some of the plot twists weren't very original but some of them were. Bit of hitting, bit of missing. The singing was pretty epic though.
September 1, 2008
Movie Review #16: Tsotsi
8/31 Tsotsi = A thug shoots a woman and steals her car, only to find out that her baby is still in the backseat.I thought it was very realistic and gritty and reminded me of City of God/City of Men with the frank and random violence and the casualness in death. The mortality of humans is aptly portrayed, as well as the conflict between doing the right thing and being decent. I enjoyed it and liked hearing some South African. Foreign films are great. Usually pretty weird and totally non-mainstream like Hollywood flicks, but each is a little gem. Babies are so cute! They're evil like that, making your head spin and not letting you think rationally and in your best interest.
August 27, 2008
Movie Review #15: Sex Drive
8/27 Sex Drive = Guy meets hot chick on the internet and decides to drive 9 hours to go see her and lose his virginity.
It was pretty funny, but mostly in a OMG, he did not just do that supremely embarrassing thing, OMG OMG. Several times I had to duck my head in shame for the dude, it was a little bit too much on the horribly tragic things that can happen when you're young and stupid. Much like how SuperBad was, but I think this one had much hotter chicks and more action. Less of the deadline feeling. Zach says he liked it and would see it again with everyone, though some pottery might be involved. Also it had amish people in it AND Seth Green AND Seth Green as an amish guy. Seth Green is the shit. I dunno what it is about him, but as celebrities go, he's on my to do list.
How to Entice a Nerd
Having a nerdy boyfriend is becoming more popular these days and not just because of the potential financial gain, but because the nerd of this day and age is no longer merely a programmer, he is the handyman of all things computer-related and most importantly, can quickly self-educate on anything else you need. Most nerds are loyal but have issues with self-esteem and being social (think of it as a challenge).
Now, it is extremely easy to attract a nerd's interest, but to truly develop a lasting relationship, you need to do your homework. If this comes naturally to you, congrats! All you need to do is go out there and drop some references. If not, use the lists and suggestions below to find at least one or two nerdy things that you feel you can get into. Remember, it has to be genuine interest! Nerds are smart, they'll eventually see through you if you feign interest in a nerdy activity. For the good-looking ones, it'll be a big bonus if you are at least down-to-earth pretty. It's been my experience that most nerds like girls that don't spend an inordinate amount of time looking good every day (it also intimidates them). This means minimal to no makeup day-to-day, but feel free to glam up for special occasions.
Required Reading List:
Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (for extra credit, read the entire series)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Recommended: Snowcrash, 1984, Dune, A Brave New World, The Name of the Wind, Harry Potter series
Required Watching List:
Star Wars (original)
At Least 5 episodes of Star Trek (The Next Generation version)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (for extra credit, watch the other Monty Python offerings)
Office Space
Evangelion
Firefly TV series
2001: Space Odyssey
The Simpsons TV series
Recommended: Futurama TV series, South Park TV series, The 5th Element, Ghost Busters
Websites:
Slashdot - News
Digg - News
IGN - Gaming News
Wikipedia - Information about everything
xkcd - Comic
Penny Arcade - Gaming Comic
Homestar Runner - Animated Web Comic
Bonus: research Internet Memes, such as All Your Base Are Belong to Us
Basic Terminology:
Monitor - the screen that you are looking at. Is connected to the
Computer - the box that holds the various parts that allow you to do stuff, like access the
Internet - a network of cables throughout the world that allow your computer to be connected to servers and millions of other computers, not to be confused with
Internet Browsers - programs that display the content of the Internet such as Internet Explorer (IE), Mozilla Firefox, Opera, etc.
Motherboard - core piece of your computer that determines how much RAM your computer can handle and the other types of pieces that your computer can use.
Random Access Memory (RAM) - the part in your computer that controls how many items you can have open at a time and running. Not to be confused with
Hard Drive Space - what your computer uses to store files and programs.
Sound Card - is considered to be "on board" if the motherboard comes with one. Used to produce sound. Can be bought as a separate piece from the motherboard.
Video Card - same as sound card except for video/motion, especially important for computer games because their graphics are more intense.
Ping Time - the amount of time it takes your computer to access a game server or website.
Lag - used to describe what happens when you have a high ping time. For example, games tend to look like they're moving in slow motion and websites take a really long time to refresh.
Framerate - used in games to describe how quickly the screen refreshes. Measured in seconds, framerate per second or FPS, which is not to be confused with
First Person Shooter (FPS) - a genre of games where you are the person shooting things. Examples would be Halo, Quake, Doom, or HalfLife/CounterStrike.
Leet (written as 1337) - elite or cool.
Über - a german word meaning super or extreme.
Fail or Epic Fail - when you or someone has messed up.
w00t or woot - exclaimation of pride and accomplishment.
Pwn or Pwned - to win against someone or to say that someone has been beaten. For example, "I pwned you!" would be equivalent to saying "I beat you!".
Bonus:
Frag - to kill someone in a first person shooter game.
Modem - Short for modulator-demodulator. Enables a computer to transmit data over telephone or cable lines. Computer information is stored digitally but information sent over telephone lines is in the form of analog waves. A modem converts between these two forms.
Router - directs Internet information.
Games:
*Note* - Games can be pretty expensive and it is not necessary that you have actually played the game. An interest in playing a game is just as good and is a ready-made date idea. For any of the titles below, you can look up information from various websites (IGN).
Computer (also known as PC) games - Spore, Quake/Doom/Half-Life/CounterStrike, World of Warcraft (WoW), Diablo, StarCraft, Portal, Fallout, Might and Magic, Warhammer 40k Dawn of War
Console (an extra piece of equipment you need to buy to play the game) games - Halo, Gears of War, Guitar Hero, RockBand (extra credit if you can play the drums), Burnout, Final Fantasy
Different types of consoles:
XBox 360 - made by Microsoft
Wii - made by Nintendo
Playstation 3 (PS3) - made by Sony
Bonus: read up on Jack Thompson and listen to a few Jonathan Coltan's songs (Still Alive (though it's the end song to the game Portal), Code Monkey, Re: Your Brains).
Now, it is extremely easy to attract a nerd's interest, but to truly develop a lasting relationship, you need to do your homework. If this comes naturally to you, congrats! All you need to do is go out there and drop some references. If not, use the lists and suggestions below to find at least one or two nerdy things that you feel you can get into. Remember, it has to be genuine interest! Nerds are smart, they'll eventually see through you if you feign interest in a nerdy activity. For the good-looking ones, it'll be a big bonus if you are at least down-to-earth pretty. It's been my experience that most nerds like girls that don't spend an inordinate amount of time looking good every day (it also intimidates them). This means minimal to no makeup day-to-day, but feel free to glam up for special occasions.
Required Reading List:
Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (for extra credit, read the entire series)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Recommended: Snowcrash, 1984, Dune, A Brave New World, The Name of the Wind, Harry Potter series
Required Watching List:
Star Wars (original)
At Least 5 episodes of Star Trek (The Next Generation version)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (for extra credit, watch the other Monty Python offerings)
Office Space
Evangelion
Firefly TV series
2001: Space Odyssey
The Simpsons TV series
Recommended: Futurama TV series, South Park TV series, The 5th Element, Ghost Busters
Websites:
Slashdot - News
Digg - News
IGN - Gaming News
Wikipedia - Information about everything
xkcd - Comic
Penny Arcade - Gaming Comic
Homestar Runner - Animated Web Comic
Bonus: research Internet Memes, such as All Your Base Are Belong to Us
Basic Terminology:
Monitor - the screen that you are looking at. Is connected to the
Computer - the box that holds the various parts that allow you to do stuff, like access the
Internet - a network of cables throughout the world that allow your computer to be connected to servers and millions of other computers, not to be confused with
Internet Browsers - programs that display the content of the Internet such as Internet Explorer (IE), Mozilla Firefox, Opera, etc.
Motherboard - core piece of your computer that determines how much RAM your computer can handle and the other types of pieces that your computer can use.
Random Access Memory (RAM) - the part in your computer that controls how many items you can have open at a time and running. Not to be confused with
Hard Drive Space - what your computer uses to store files and programs.
Sound Card - is considered to be "on board" if the motherboard comes with one. Used to produce sound. Can be bought as a separate piece from the motherboard.
Video Card - same as sound card except for video/motion, especially important for computer games because their graphics are more intense.
Ping Time - the amount of time it takes your computer to access a game server or website.
Lag - used to describe what happens when you have a high ping time. For example, games tend to look like they're moving in slow motion and websites take a really long time to refresh.
Framerate - used in games to describe how quickly the screen refreshes. Measured in seconds, framerate per second or FPS, which is not to be confused with
First Person Shooter (FPS) - a genre of games where you are the person shooting things. Examples would be Halo, Quake, Doom, or HalfLife/CounterStrike.
Leet (written as 1337) - elite or cool.
Über - a german word meaning super or extreme.
Fail or Epic Fail - when you or someone has messed up.
w00t or woot - exclaimation of pride and accomplishment.
Pwn or Pwned - to win against someone or to say that someone has been beaten. For example, "I pwned you!" would be equivalent to saying "I beat you!".
Bonus:
Frag - to kill someone in a first person shooter game.
Modem - Short for modulator-demodulator. Enables a computer to transmit data over telephone or cable lines. Computer information is stored digitally but information sent over telephone lines is in the form of analog waves. A modem converts between these two forms.
Router - directs Internet information.
Games:
*Note* - Games can be pretty expensive and it is not necessary that you have actually played the game. An interest in playing a game is just as good and is a ready-made date idea. For any of the titles below, you can look up information from various websites (IGN).
Computer (also known as PC) games - Spore, Quake/Doom/Half-Life/CounterStrike, World of Warcraft (WoW), Diablo, StarCraft, Portal, Fallout, Might and Magic, Warhammer 40k Dawn of War
Console (an extra piece of equipment you need to buy to play the game) games - Halo, Gears of War, Guitar Hero, RockBand (extra credit if you can play the drums), Burnout, Final Fantasy
Different types of consoles:
XBox 360 - made by Microsoft
Wii - made by Nintendo
Playstation 3 (PS3) - made by Sony
Bonus: read up on Jack Thompson and listen to a few Jonathan Coltan's songs (Still Alive (though it's the end song to the game Portal), Code Monkey, Re: Your Brains).
August 26, 2008
Movie Review #14: Van Wilder
8/23 Van Wilder = College the way it was meant to be.Ahhh, this is such a classic movie. I'm not sure when I first watched it, but I know I watched it at an Honors Croquet screening of it since there's a scene where the douchbag boyfriend is playing croquet using the frosh as wickets. Most of National Lampoon's movies are great and pretty funny. You'll never look at twinkies the same way again...
August 24, 2008
Movie Review #13: Better Than Chocolate
8/23 Better Than Chocolate = A lesbian who's in the closet to her mom has to deal while her mom (who's in the midst of a divorce) and her brother stay with her and her new girlfriend.A fair amount of sex in the movie, tastefully done though and it didn't quite feel like a pron so that was also good. The plot wasn't very straightforward and jumped around a bit but overall it was enjoyable. I can definitely see why this is a favorite movie of lesbians.
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