At This Velocity...

We'll Leave as Soon as You're Ready...Docking Bay 94

2008-05-24T23:33:00.001-07:00

So now I find myself not looking forward to weekends anymore, or even holidays. This is probably because my life is one giant weekend. Its also because when I feel motivated and apply to jobs I get really anxious and stress about hearing back from any of the companies I applied for. So shouldn't that mean that weekends and holidays should be less stressful because said company would be closed? Whats wrong with me?

On a side note, I think I have a giant magic bag of dark chocolate m&m's. I've been eating out of it for a week now and it shows no sign of letting up (this is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me). Its like one of those Chinese food take-out containers that's packed full of so much greasy awesomeness that it seems to last forever.

This is awesome. I can't name a lot of the movies, but the fact that someone took the time to do this is really cool.

Rainbows in Hartford?

2008-05-22T23:08:00.001-07:00

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

2008-05-21T23:37:00.000-07:00

I apologize if this post is all over the place, but you can blame the new Indiana Jones movie for that because I can't think too good after having just sat through it.

That being said, I'll start with what works in this movie...

Harrison Ford is still Indiana Jones. He may look a lot older, but he still has it. He can still throw a solid punch and he can still crack the whip. The majority of his lines are delivered well and he makes it feel like Indy has been through the three adventures in the previous films plus everything in between including that part of history called World War 2 (which is the movie I wanted to see, but I'll get to that later).

Karen Allen was great as Marion. The second I heard she was going to be in this movie I knew that her and Indy would get back together which is what every Indy fan wants deep down. I also knew I would sit through this movie to see that happen. I would have liked to see her do a little bit more but lets face it...she was only in this movie to help develop Mutt Williams, played by Shia LeBouf.

A lot of people have a problem with Shia. I think hes great and that he'll probably go on to do great things as an actor. He plays a greaser in this movie complete with the motorcycle and switchblade. He partly serves as comedic relief but also compliments Indy nicely as a partner.

Cate Blanchett was good but lets no kid anyone here, no one ever questioned whether or not she would be good. The other characters are rather forgettable.

There were a couple sections of the movie that I enjoyed very much. The whole part of the movie that takes place at Yale in New Haven, CT was very well done and was probably my favorite part of the movie. It had great action, humor and most importantly was done all with practical effects (see where I'm going here?).

I also enjoyed (for the most part) the jungle car chase which has been shown prominently in the trailers. Although there is a bunch of CG and its rather obvious it didn't really detract from the action at all. Seeing everyone fight vehicle to vehicle was rather awesome and it gave every character time to shine.

I enjoyed mostly all of the movie where there was character development happening between Indy, Mutt and Marion. There are some pretty good jokes and an excellent scene with Indy and a snake.

Now for the bad...

I said to a friend after I had watched Raiders a couple weeks ago "They don't make movies like that anymore." Even though I had no doubt about the truth in that statement it is even more firmly solidified by this movie. This is not an Indiana Jones movie. Its an effects showcase and a playground for George Lucas that happens to have Indy and some of his supporting cast in it.

When I heard how much Lucas was going to be involved in this movie I prepared for the worst. I didn't prepare enough. Without giving anything away I will these four things: nuclear refrigerator, Tarzan, giant ants, and the third waterfall. These four things made me want to leave the theater. Some of it was worse than a rocket powered R2D2 flying around in Episode 2. Mr. T has a great word for this: Absoluticris.

Usually I'm not a real stickler when it comes to CG in movies. Take Iron Man for example. That movie had a ton of CG in it, but it was done well and I totally ate it up. Same for transformers and even Pirates 3 which both had more CG than this movie. My complaints about the CG are generally directed toward the last act of the movie. It all just felt really unnecessary (much like the actual story which I'm getting to). The CG wasn't poorly done but it really just didn't need to be there. I know their argument for this is that they used the latest technology when filming the old movies so they were going to do the same for this movie. That's kinda bullshit and everyone knows it. Can I blame Lucas again?

Now for the story. When I heard that this movie was going to have some kind of alien theme going on I was optimistic. I'm not into religion (or as I like to call it "the great magic show") at all, but I still sunk my teeth right into the first and third Indy movies. There really is just no story here though. The main reason for the Russians doing their bad guy stuff is fairly weak and is pretty much made completely irrelevant by the end of the movie. The climax of the movie is also really bogus and just had me thinking "why?" or "I wonder how much time ILM wasted on that shot". I know there were a bunch of scripts for this movie that were ultimately combined together by the "great" David Koepp. This just has me thinking that when he was combining the scripts that he forgot a lot of important things. George Lucas is also credited with the story on imdb. That doesn't need any explaining.

In the beginning of the movie there is some talk of Indy doing some pretty heroic stuff for the OSS in World War 2. That is the movie I would have liked to have seen. Overall it is worth the money if your childhood was as invested in Indy as mine was. Seeing him and Marion on screen together again was great. The action sequence at Yale was one of the best I've ever seen as well. This movie does have redeeming qualities and depending on how much you care about unnecessary CG and a weak story you might actually enjoy yourself. But I can guarantee that you'll still hate George Lucas.

Redbelt (Spoilars!)

2008-05-19T22:52:00.000-07:00

Not having any plans tonight I decided to catch a late night showing of the film Redbelt. Being a huge David Mamet fan (director/writer of Spartan, Heist and Glengarry Glen Ross) I was very excited for his return to cinema after producing/writing/directing the CBS show The Unit (which I suffered through for its finer episodes) for so long.

I am 110% glad I caught this gem of a film before it left theaters (only one showing at the theater near my house FOR SHAME!). Redbelt stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mike Terry, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu dojo owner and master. He's complimented by Emily Mortimer, Tim Allen, and Max Martini. Mamet writes these characters very well and it shows because Tim Allen doesn't come off as being...well Tim Allen.

The story is basically about how one man can overcome all of the corruption, greed and general failure of modern society by living by a strict warriors code. Mike Terry has run into some bad luck money wise and through a random occurrence with movie star Chet Frank (Tim Allen) he seems to have turned that around. Little does he know that he is being used. After finding this out and having one of his star students commit suicide he is at an all time low and is forced to turn to competitive fighting to raise money for his dojo and his deceased students now widow. Right before he is up to fight he finds out his wife has betrayed him and that one of the star fighters of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is set to throw his match in the interest of making more money. Terry decides to take matters into his own hands and ultimately proves himself to the man he looks up to the most all while regaining his honor, shaming his wife and exposing everyone who used him.

Terry is a man you can't help but root for. This is one of the only movies where I wanted to cheer at the screen for the main character. The simple ending has been (for me) one of the most satisfying endings of any movie I've ever seen.

Mamet continues to make thrilling movies with incredibly smart dialog and I can't wait to see what subject he tackles next. I'm glad to see Ejiofor becoming more popular. I was first exposed to him in Serenity and saw him more recently in American Gangster. He is an excellent actor and really shines in this movie.

Return to Arms

2008-05-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

So here I am again. Not so sure why I posted about my blog formatting experiment but obviously I felt it was very important.

I'm still in CT deciding how deep I want to dig in...

I dont have much to say right now so I'll just post some things I'm looking forward to:

More climbing
Getting my car back
Rumney/Nova Scotia trip?
Getting a job
More concerts
Trying sushi????
Beach trips
More moutain bike racing
Catching up on missed movies + tv shows

Also the new new Mates of State album is incredible. Its called "Re-arrange Us". Mates of State is a Husband Wife indie rock band that bounce vocals off of each other. They're also living in CT. Wooooooooo! Despite the children of the corn album cover they're pretty rad.

Winmat

2008-05-15T17:21:00.001-07:00

OK i fixed it.

Failmat

2008-05-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

So I lost my sweet formatting at the top of this blog.....LAME

Rap was invented in new Zealand...Did you know that?

2008-05-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

Against the Grain

2008-02-17T19:19:00.000-08:00

The Banff mountain film festival was this weekend. It was pretty awesome. They show the kind of films that make you so envious of the people in them (most of the time). After finishing up the last night tonight I realized that I would be perfectly happy climbing rocks and racing mountain bikes for the rest of my life.

I mean, why should I have to go sit in a cubicle for the majority of my 20's and 30's? As I think about it more and more, I wonder if I can just throw my degree out the window and just adventure everywhere. It would be nice to contract durring the Winter and Spring then just kick back and have fun for the Summer and Fall.

I wouldn't necessarily be throwing away all of the money that was spent on college. If you could buy friends then I would consider the friends I've made here worth much more than all of my tuition at RIT.

amirite?

Nights are the worst

2008-02-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

I'm the kind of person who would choose where to live before choosing where to work. The problem with this is that all of the places I want to live don't have a lot of entry level jobs available.

Careerbuilder and Monster are decent at finding these kind of jobs, but most of the time they end up being helpdesk positions. Am I wrong in considering myself above those positions?

RIT's jobzone search is great at finding jobs in NY State/Rochester specifically. I'm more than half tempted to look around here. But do I really want to watch everyone leave all around me? And can I really stay here

I'm kind of at a loss for what to do, but I have a week to decide right?

Also, today is Valentines day. I hope everyone is doing something nice for their significant others right now because this time last year I was dumb and took my relationship for granted. Even though it won't change anything right now I still regret it it horribly. Hindsight is 20/20 and sometimes I wish it wasn't because it makes everything I did so obviously wrong.

Happy Valentines Day :\

2008-02-13T21:30:00.001-08:00

Arch Drive Goodbye

2008-02-12T21:12:00.000-08:00

Its been almost a year and a half since I last posted here. I am now graduating school and leaving Rochester. I am also leaving lots of relationships I have formed since my last post. Its funny how a major event of my life was left completely out of this blog by only a few days. It would have been nice to have kept posting and kept some kind of record of it but I doubt I will lose any of my memories of that time since a vast majority of them are wonderful.

Where I go from here I do not know. Time off would seems like the best option to me. Work leaves me exhausted most days and climbing has left one of my fingers injured and in need of healing.

I hope to make the most of these next 2 weeks in any way I can.

Here I Am

2008-02-11T21:23:00.000-08:00

I will be back and updating soon. Stay tuned.

New York City....3 months later

2006-11-03T17:14:00.000-08:00

Ya know when you discover a new band and you listen to it everyday for a while? You basically play the band out and after a few months they disappear from your play list completely. Well thats what I did when I was in NYC. And now, months later these bands are sneaking back onto my play list. And I enjoy them a lot more now.

Some bands I've come back to are Moneen, Trophy Scars, and Saves the Day. Between listening to these bands, and unreleased horrible web-rips of the latest Saosin songs, I made it through the sweltering mornings/afternoons in the NY subway system.

I've really started missing NYC lately. I guess its in part because I've resurrected this music from the summer. I miss climbing and running in central park, walking everywhere, union square, all the sweet comic book shops, stress free evenings + weekends, and soccer at Columbia.

Its fun here in Rochester, but not the same. Although, strangely it might be hard to leave here come next fall. I'm not looking forward to that. I'm back in physical therapy for my knee, and its going great. If its better when I finish school, then I'll take the plunge that will change my life for the better in my opinion, other peoples opinions may not be so favorable. For now I will continue what I'm doing, which is climbing, comics (Daredevil!!!!!!), fun on Wednesdays, and going to school.

Ok, I'm done.

" Don't leave me, don't leave me. The Bronx is my coffin
and you are my chocolate; put kisses in my pocket.
Alligator, alligators all covered in orange;
biting my fingernails while you dream of New Orleans.
Well, for kissing in taxi cabs, romance and restaurants;
for eating home-made dinners that took me too long;
for your dark hair, dark eyes, and all your surprises;
for the way that I run, and Clark Kent, I decided that
I want you to be happy with whatever you do.
And wherever you are, I'll be thinking of you.
I'm sorry, I'm an asshole, I said things I don't mean.
Thank you for everything I'll miss you Lizzy G.
And I do."

Edelweiss

2006-09-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I'm back at school. Its pretty fun. My schedule is working out fine. Somedays are crazy, other not so much.

Its great to be climbing back at the barn again. Between work and climbing I'm there 5 days a week. I'm also working at the crossroads hub. This is ok. I don't really like dealing with customers and I don't really know what I'm doing there yet. But it could get fun once I get to know all the people who just got hired. I still like Building 99 better.

Ok, so if I had a girlfriend this is totally something we'd do. I'm not sure about the whole video + internet thing, but building ridiculously huge lego things = awesome. This is probably why I'm single.

I've been slacking on comics latley again as well. I've kept up with Batman and started picking up a new series called "The Boys". Its about these guys who keep out of control superheroes in check but basically beating the shit out of them and or killing them. I guess its kinda messed up, but its well written and has amazing art.

I went to corning today with my roommate to our friends house to build a subwoofer box for our new home theatre system. We used a huge amount of power tools of which I can remember none of the names. They were all loud and extremely awesome though. The subwoofer will be loud an extremely awesome as well (sorry neighbors!).

This is me not being ready for my 8am class.

Young Machetes

2006-08-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

So Saosin was awesome....

Home on Tuesday, back to school a week after that!

Best movie theatre experience ever!

2006-08-18T00:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, thats a rubber snake, and yes people brought loads of them and threw them at key parts durring the movie. Amazing.

1, 2, 3, 4 Guitars

2006-08-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

So...I found clementines at the store yesterday...life is now complete.

My time in NYC is coming to a close. I had a good time here. This is a place I could see myself living one day. Everything is very convenient and this city misses absolutley nothing. All the bands I want to see play here and all the movies I'd normally miss play here.

Speaking of bands...SAOSIN is coming here this weekend. I've had my ticket for months and have started to froth at the mouth in anticipation. It doesn't help that they continue to release tracks from their upcoming album (which has the sweetest album cover ever.....fyi its a scarab beetle). So as I sit, bored at work twitching with excitement I'll sneak an earbud into my ear and play their latest track.

I had a pretty nuts weekend. It defitanley involved midnight beatbox guitar sessions in a mcdonalds in the middle of Brooklyn, seeing Ronaldinho score two goals...live, realllllllly expensive late night resturants, one of the best concerts I've ever been to and incredibly lazy sunday.

<---------This movie is a must see for anyone who wants to see one of the most stylized neo-noir revenge flicks ever created. I wont say much but I will say that this guy kicks all kinds of ass. IMDB couln't have said it better Another breathtaking revenge movie from South-Korea. Revenge movies are among my favorites. Oh and this movie is called "A Bittersweet Life". Go buy/download/rent/whatever it right now.

I think I'm going to get some new shorts for school...I'll go with a shark/Batman theme I think. That should do.

Other updates:
-my knee is now worse than ever for some reason
-I haven't found climbing shoes yet
-I'm 21 soon...as in 9 days soon

Hmmmmmm, yeah thats it. bye.

A Vespertine Haunting

2006-08-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

So I totally got Zidane’d yesterday whilst playing soccer. One of the members of the opposing teams head connected with my jaw. It was worth it though. I can still kinda chew so I guess everything is alright.

So two of my friends came down this weekend… We had a sweet time. Although, it was ridiculously hot outside. Some highlights were the lizards at the natural museum of history. I’m the biggest fan of lizards….and sharks. There were no live sharks here though so I had to make due with just lizards. This picture to the right is a bunch of lizards sunbathing on a rock. After that they'll probably feed and do pushups maybe.

Speaking of sharks...SHARK WEEK is this week on the discovery channel. Shark Week was a defining moment in my life when I was growning up. It greatly helped to shape the way I view all worldly matters and affected how I present myself to other people. Ok maybe not, but sharks are still pretty effin sweet.

I should be good for running this week. Now if I could just find the time.

My Grandfather died this week. It wasn't unexpected. In fact he kinda controlled how he went out. Hes been in bad shape for a while now and I guess he got sick of sitting medicated in bed all day, having zero energy and being hooked up to oxygen. I don't blame him. He made a concious decision to stop eating and drinking. I guess after about a week he passed. He didn't want a funeral so its just going to be the family getting together this weekend having a good time, which is how he would have wanted it. I don't think he understood me very well. My only regret is not having him see me enlist and serve my country. I think he would have liked that. I'm not too sad. He had a great life and I'm happy for him.

Ok, I'm done.

Traps and Tricks and Such...

2006-07-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

First off lets talk about Spiderman's new costume. It rocks hard. I guess it was designed by Ironman, so its got all these sweet bells and whistles. I saw it in action in Civil War 3 and it was crazy. Hes got these Doc Oc arms and new colors. The Civil War comics are pretty cool. Badically Ironman and the US want superheroes to register with the government. This means you have to release your identity and such. This splits all the heroes. So its basically Ironman and his crew -vs- Captain America and his crew. For those that know me you would think I'd be a huge Captain America fan. Well...I think I'm going to be. His British partner in crime "Union Jack" isn't too sahbby either. This has been my first entry into Marvel super heroes. We'll see if it goes well.

In other news in the real world...

My physical therapy is going very well. I played an intense couple hours of soccer on Monday and me knee felt fine. Its been great going up staris and lifting heavy things as well. I've been cut down to one day a week at therapy but I'll probably go in two other times durring the week to do strngth training on and around my knee. I should be doing some short runs early next week.

Everyone should go see Miami Vice this weekend. Michael Mann will surely deliver on this one. And Colin Farrel with a huge mustache....hahahaha. Whats not to like? Fast cars, speed boats, planes and guns.

Some friends are coming down to visit this weekend. Lots of good jokes will come out of this. We're going to maybe see the lizards and Darwin's tortoise's at the Natural History Museum or go see the USS Intrepid. We'll also do some touristy stuff and try to make the most out of little sleep and a cramped weekend.

My boss tried to get me to stay until December today. I couldn't take 5 more months of that place. This 7am business is NO FUN. Its 10pm right now and I should probably start thinking about sleep. I do have an 8am class fall quarter, but it's only twice a week and I counter it nicely with the other two days, where I only have one class and its at 4pm. Score.

I haven't been climbing a whole lot lately. Saturday was the last time. I think I'll go tomorrow. And I have plans to boulder in central park after work on Friday. Hopefully I can find a way to not get bored with the gym I go to. My new shoes should arrive by the end of the week or early next week. They should get me to go a lot more provided they are the right size.

Next month will be awesome. Two of my favorite bands are coming here (Circa Survive and Saosin), my birthday is the 23rd and I'll be heading back to school. Heres waiting until then and having fun in NYC.

Oh, hello there...

2006-07-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

Ok so I ditched Live journal.

We'll see how this goes. Now friendlies can post here and I can have last.fm and flickr stuff on here. I probably could on lj too but this is cooler.

My last lj post was roughly 1 million years ago. So since then I've moved to NYC for 6 months for an internship. This 6 months are almost up (I go back to school late august). The internship has been good. I've found out that corporat jobs are not for me, although I have made some excellent contacts. So in short i'm fairly bored with work, but not with this city.

Its awesome living here because everything is at your fingertips. Every single movie plays here, all the bands come here, and every company has a store here. Although the climbing scene is a little weak. The running scene on the other hand is aweosme. Too bad i'm in physical therapy with a hold on running [face_ultra_dissapointed]

Speaking of climbing, I went to this new rock gym up in New Rochelle yesterday and it was pretty amazing. Around 50 bleay stations, 4 bouldering caves. Fun times. I obviously haven't been bouldering enough since i'm missing 3 finger pads :
I'll hopefully be playing soccer tomorrow at Columbia with some friends. This the highlight of my Mondays. Please don't criticize me for calling is soccer and not football...the last thing I want is for someone to read this and think I'm playing american football, which is right up there with baseball as one of the most useless sports.

I've also gotten back into comics. Years and years ago i used to love the Aliens/Predator/Rogue Squadron comics. Well, 2 weeks ago I found myself wandering around the city and wound up in a comic store. The rest of this story can be told from the pile of recipts on my kitchen table. On series that is particulary notable is Fables. It takes all of our favorite fairly tale characters and throws them in NYC where they live in exile after being kicked out of their respecitve lands. Its very dark and very funny. Here is a cover shot from one of the latest issues. I'm playing catchup with most of the comics I'm reading right now which is nice because I can buy the trade paper backs (graphic novel like books which are cheaper in the long run to buy) and because i dont have to wait after every cliffhanger I read.

Ok, so I don't want to write anymore, I want to watch a movie or go read something. I may watch Le Cercle Rouge tonight. I hear its excellent and I guess it helps that I seem to love all of Melville's work.

New climbing shoes should be here this week. Heres me being excited. Until then...

Test

2006-07-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Ok does this work?