I can't take it anymore. Apathy has set in. As a result, I've been perusing the Netflix Instant Watch pretty hard lately.
Which brings me to my next point.
Scarface, while admittedly pretty badass with some nice Shakespearean tragedy tones to boot, really just isn't worth all of the hype it gets in my opinion. After another viewing of it recently, I've finally figured out what it is about it that makes it so meh for me.
I can't stand the 80s. All the disco/synth transition music and creepy fashions - that I'm sure will probably be back in style by my completion of this post - and big hair really just doesn't do it for me. Probably all the Blondie Mom had be listen to as a kid (Moment of honesty: My mom didn't make me listen to that much Blondie, but IMO any Blondie is too much Blondie, so that's that). Any time I hear, see, or smell (I'm looking at you, Jellies) anything reminiscent of the 80s, I feel like I've just been hit right on the tip of where it counts, and as any guy will tell you, the tip is where it hurts the worst.
So in conclusion, I'm blaming you, 1980-1989, for my disdain of the otherwise good film Scarface.
Glad I got that off my chest.
It's like they intentionally wanted to ruin this shot with 80s grossness.
when you don't wanna wake up everything is fucked everybody sucks
^^ From Mr. Durst's pen to my blog. Not that it's been a terrible day or anything, just one of those days. The good news is that I can definitively pinpoint quite a few things I learned today. Let's go chronologically:
8:37 AM - University of Dayton will come into your apartment when they damn well please. I was awoken at this hour by a middle aged bald guy unlocking and busting through our back door (which, incidentally, opens to my bedroom) to make sure the furnace wasn't going to burn the place down once it went on. I think he was probably the more shocked of the two of us, since three times already this year I have been awoken by the cable/AC/repair guys in the same fashion. Good thing I haven't been sleeping naked any of these times. This time I just said "Cool" and went back to sleep. He can figure out where the fuck the furnace is himself, then he can look at the thermostat and realize we've had the heat on already this year. Pwn'd.
11:30 AM - Fluid Mechanics is probably something that I should learn. Something about, oh I don't know, every field of engineering I'm interested in using it as the basis for pretty much everything. The good news is that I think this is possible.
4:20 PM - Phone interviews are pretty awkward. Given the choice between the two, I would definitely take face-to-face interviews from here on out if possible. I'm glad I got to experience one though, and even more glad that I think it went well. Not that I'm particularly antsy with my current situation, but options are always great to have. Especially if it means going out and seeing something new while I'm basically the most un-tied-down I'll ever be (.....I hope).
8:00 PM - I love decorating for Christmas. Early you say? It's never too early I respond. I'm still in the planning stages this year but I'm thinking a wrapping-paper wallpaper job would be classy. I also need to go get my mini-tree (aptly dubbed by my dad the Charlie Brown Tree) because that's all the apartment will hold. I kicked it off today though with a packet of those scented pine cones; it serves the dual purpose of being festive and getting the bacon smell out of our living room.
1:14 AM - I procrastinate like it's my job, but it's cool because IB English prepped me for this. Also, the keys on my new laptop (the old one died a couple weeks ago) squeak if not pressed perfectly straight down. This could be massively annoying in the coming years. Hopefully it's just a little bit of new car smell.
What change do I want to see in the world? Gillyweed is up there. My superpower of choice in dreamland, if you were curious, is water breathing. Whenever I have those self-aware holy shit dude you are dreaming go nuts nights, if I ever find myself in the presence of water, the first thing I like to do is levitate into said water, then swim around. It's mind blowing. Probably as close of a feeling as I'll ever get to doing LSD, and even more probably the closest I'll ever get to breathing with my own lungs an no other assistance underwater.
But I digress.
The more manageable change I want to see in the world is more blog posting. For me, addictinggames has kind of run it's course. I feel like I've discovered/conquered every physics game the Internets has to offer, and youtube only goes so long before I truly feel like a waste of life.
So I turn to the blogosphere. Not a very big one in my world, but one that has just about everything I want.
That is, when there is new stuff to read. I'm done bitching and moaning about it though (well, following this, obviously). I know how I get when more important things take hold so who am I to judge? Instead, I'm going to be the change I want to see in the world. I'm going to subject you, the loyal readers, to whatever the heck I have been doing lately in my admittedly random-as-fuck (pardon the language...i was trying to keep this post clean) life.
Today, mid-procrastination, I found a few things of note. 1.) I really like this painting:
I wouldn't consider myself an art critic by any means, but once in a blue moon I see something that strikes my fancy. Funny thing is, I vividly remember seeing this in our AP Euro book back in sophomore year when we were talking about Renaissance art. Damn you photographic memory... The badassness in this particular piece of art lies in two facts. First, a quick wikipedia search shows that all the guys in the picture are ones you read about in the science/history books all through school. There is something about putting a face/body (fictional though it may be) to Ptolemy and Pythagoras that blows my mind a little. That's the nerd in me though.
Also, this little anecdote I came across adds a little pizazz to the piece:
Technically, this painting is titled "Philosophy," and it's merely the most famous of a series of four.
Raphael was painting that while Michelangelo was working on the Sistine Chapel ceiling (which is just down the hall, literally). On his breaks, Raphael used to sneak over and poke his head into the Sistine Chapel to see what Michelangelo was working on. If Michelangelo noticed him, he'd starting shrieking curses and throwing crap at him. (He hated Raphael. He was just about the only one.)
Even if it is completely false, the thought of Raphael running down the hall to give Michelangelo a big FUCK YOU MANE while the two are in the process of creating timeless masterpieces cracks me up.
I have two final thoughts; First, I love semi-colons and even though it was a stretch to use it here, I'm happy I did. Also, I doubt Raphael ever thought about the translatability of "The School of Athens" into a desktop background, but it still makes a pretty damn good one.
2.) This girl is pretty damn good, but has a little too much of a country twag for my regular-listening tastes. Quite the looker though:
3.) I love the idea of having a tattoo, but can't commit to any one idea. One minute I want this, the next I want something Latin. The latest is something literary. Maybe some Frost, a few select lines from Eliot, hell, even Hornby. Point: I have commitment issues.
Maybe that should be my tat. Right across the front of my chest:
The American character since early in its history has been pulled in two directions and has been unable to commit itself to either. The first direction is toward the dream of the American sublime, to a virgin land and a life of peace, serenity and community. The second direction is the Faustian and rapacious, the desire for power, wealth, productivity and universal knowledge, the urge to dominate nature and remake the world. In many ways the American tragedy is that we want both these things and never seem to respect the contradiction between them.
Heavy stuff there. Very prescient though given the current state of society and that this was written about 40 years ago, before something was labeled as "green" even if it did not have a similar hue to a frog. Also interesting considering how the "duality" pops up even in my own interests, what with me wanting to enter a well-paying industry that pops out more pollution in a year than you could with your car in your lifetime, but at the same time not so much as taking a shit in a secluded forest without being concerned with where I'm going to put the TP.
I understand that pretty much everyone here also frequents a couple other blogs ("couple" being used in a very broad way...). There are only maybe one or two readers that I can think of that may just give sole homage to me. Those people are pretty stupid because honestly, this this is pretty boring on the scale of blogdom.
"The Correspondent writes a real letter and posts it each weekday. Bookmark the page and subscribe to the RSS feed to receive daily content. Please share the page with friends and family, so that they, too, may come to expect correspondence. If you have any comments or suggestions, both are welcome via the comment links below each letter."
My personal favorites, the letter to the first grade, Val Kilmer, and the Ice Mountain Water one (mainly good because, sometimes, the companies will reply back).
Lessons learned from this blog: write letters to companies, they usually give away free stuff. Also, a lot more people than I had imagined enjoy a personal letter from someone completely anonymous.
The crisp fall breeze is starting to show in the evenings and (sometimes) that downright cold winter chill wakes me up in the mornings. Kids are throwing footballs to their dads (and occasionally, hip moms) in backyards everywhere. Football (and with that, tailgating) season has arrived.
Just in time with that comes the homework. The papers. The projects. The tests.
Hurl.
Bare with me for a little while I spend most of my time on school work (sorry... priorities and such...), a little less time (for now) on this new thing called "co-op interviews," and a little less on my favorite season of the year (footbaw season).
No, this isn't a goodbye. It is not a "it's not me it's you..." type thing.
It's an "expect shorties like I have already been doing for a little while anyways," type of thing. I like those better anyways; I ramble too much on long posts.
Leaving on a bright note:
Ninja cat (its like an LOLcat, but a real, live, video...):
Talk about a "it's finals week and I don't want to write about music in films anymore" post... but anywho. A Behind the Music of sorts, if you don't mind...
Brand New (band name) rocks. No, they aren't new. No, they don't have a CD coming out anytime soon, though I did find some new singles/b-side tracks, one of which is youtube-d at the bottom. What they are though, is really good.
You want to talk about a band that reinvents itsself? How about one that gained popularity for its pop/punk single (Jude Law and a Semester Abroad) back in 2000, and has since come to a song called "Jesus Christ," about...well... who the hell knows what.
^^Listen to these two bad boys. Just the first 30 seconds even and you'll get the idea, even though both are solid in their own right.
Seriously, give them a chance. It kind of surprises me that they haven't had more wide spread popularity, maybe the "emo" tag wards them away from mainstream fame. Some of their songs are crap, sure, but not many. Especially as you progress forward, just check the allmusic reviews for each album, clearly one reviewer is sold.
Just to give you an idea of the evolution, I'm going to separate bits of each album into three separate seeqpods
Lots of stuff here...and I'm sure you will all for the most part be like "wow, this sucks ass" the first time you listen. Just give it some time if you are curious. A lot the draw is lyrical.
And yes, Your Favorite Weapon is a very average album, I know.
If anyone can tell me how news stations are able to declare one candidate or another the "winner" of a state with <10% of the votes in I would greatly appreciate it. Is it just a simple matter of meeting past trends (i.e. 95% of the time the leader after x% is the final winner) or is it a NASCAR type deal where the percentages only accounts for the "offical results" while the unofficial race results are available right after the checkered flag (or in this case, the voting is done)?
Sorry for the run-on. Maybe this will help:
Is it just a simple matter of meeting past trends (i.e. 95% of the time the leader after x% is the final winner)
or
is it a NASCAR type deal where the percentages only accounts for the "offical results" while the unofficial race results are available right after the checkered flag (or in this case, the voting is done)?
How did I celebrate you ask? I did not turn on the alarm for my morning calc class (granted, it was a review session over a test next week, but it still felt good).
Sleeping in does the body good.
Look at me! I'm festive!
(Seriously though.... Halloween is right up there with Valentines Day on the scale of stupid holidays for me. Yes, coming from someone in college.... think about what that means for a second.... still stupid.)
If that doesn't get your stomach a rumblin...
