This kind of thing really, really makes me sad.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sick, sick society.
It's a bad sign when you can't even trust the members of your own family. Stuff like this-- http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100125/od_nm/us_italy_stabbing --has been happening way too much. And it isn't just an American issue, as this article demonstrates. The pathetic thing is that this kid stabbed his dad over a VIDEO GAME, and not even a bad one like Grand Theft Auto. They were playing a soccer game, good clean fun, and the kid was getting out of control, so the dad turned it off. But what really makes this creepy is the way the kid washed the knife off in the sink afterwards. That's such a creepy and odd detail I would expect to find it in a Stephen King novel.
This kind of thing really, really makes me sad.
This kind of thing really, really makes me sad.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
TV illiteracy
Monday, January 11, 2010
Avatar II
This is ridiculous.
The people who are claiming that Avatar is a "racist" movie are more racist than the people they are accusing.
http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/some-see-racist-theme-alien-adventure-avatar-ap
The people who are claiming that Avatar is a "racist" movie are more racist than the people they are accusing.
http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/some-see-racist-theme-alien-adventure-avatar-ap
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Avatar = SUPER AWESOME!!!
I saw Avatar in the theaters on Saturday. It was easily the best movie that I've seen on the big screen since I saw The Fellowship of the Rings back in 2001 (of course I missed a lot of great movies while I was on my mission and living in Alaska, but that is beside the point). Basically, Avatar is the best movie that I have seen in a long time.
The reason that it is so good is because the world created and brought to life by James Cameron is full of rich detail. The plants, animals, ships, characters, cultures, etc. . . are all very well thought out. I'm a sucker for rich universes, that's why I like Tolkien and Robert Jordan.
What is really impressive though, is the seamless blend of live action and CG animation. Usually I hate CG in movies (very few movies actually make it feel authentic, LOTR was probably the last one that impressed me) but in Avatar, it sucked me in. It felt real. Even though 90% of the movie was in CG (I made up that number, but it feels right) it still felt authentic!
People have complained about "political" messages in the story, but I really didn't notice anything super blatant politically. I wasn't satisfied with the motivations of the main antagonists--all of their actions seemed to be made for the purpose of driving the story. In other words, all the villains are static characters who make unreasonably stupid choices (because that is what James Cameron wants them to do) because that is what will lead to the big confrontation in the end. But that's r
eally a negligible complaint, I'm just being a picky English major.I've said enough. Watch Avatar in the theater (yes you Alaskan people, go to Anchorage and watch it).
Friday, January 08, 2010
Somebody up there Likes Me
I think I already talked about how the current semester looked a little iffy as far as my graduation was concerned (because I couldn't get into the classes that I needed). Well things have worked out better than I ever imagined. Somebody is ready for me to graduate I think.
This all started last semester when BYU forgot to e-mail me to tell me when I could start registering for [this] semester. In short, by the time I remembered that registration was approaching, all of the classes that I needed were full. I was slightly worried that I wouldn't be able to add these classes, but I assumed that all the teachers would add students on a seniority basis--thus with my 7 years, I shouldn't have too much trouble.
Well I was wrong. When I went to my classes Monday and Tuesday, none of my teachers cared about how long I had been here (because everybody trying to add these classes was doing so for graduation). Basically, it looked as if I wasn't going to get ANY of the classes that I needed because I ended up very far down on the waiting lists. I was very sad. But I persisted by sending one of my teachers an e-mail that explained why I needed her class (basically I said I was awesome). She added me right away. Another class I was able to add on Thursday because it seems several people dropped (I'm assuming they dropped because A: The class will be hard. And B: The teacher seems boring), so I got in (I am afraid of neither pain or death).
But the third class was the kicker. Brandon Sanderson, author of Mistborn and the new Robert Jordan books, teaches one creative writing class per year at BYU, a creative writing class that caters to Fantasy and Science Fiction authors. Since his commercial success, the popularity of this class has exploded. When I showed up to add Thursday night I was expecting five to ten people who would want to add. There were almost 100. And he chose by drawing five names out of a hat. Mine was the last one drawn.
In short, at the beginning of this week I was as distraught as I have ever been, worried about my future, etc. . . . But by Thursday night everything was in the bag, I'm ok, and I'm going to graduate this semester.
Either I have been very, very lucky, or somebody up there likes me.
This all started last semester when BYU forgot to e-mail me to tell me when I could start registering for [this] semester. In short, by the time I remembered that registration was approaching, all of the classes that I needed were full. I was slightly worried that I wouldn't be able to add these classes, but I assumed that all the teachers would add students on a seniority basis--thus with my 7 years, I shouldn't have too much trouble.
Well I was wrong. When I went to my classes Monday and Tuesday, none of my teachers cared about how long I had been here (because everybody trying to add these classes was doing so for graduation). Basically, it looked as if I wasn't going to get ANY of the classes that I needed because I ended up very far down on the waiting lists. I was very sad. But I persisted by sending one of my teachers an e-mail that explained why I needed her class (basically I said I was awesome). She added me right away. Another class I was able to add on Thursday because it seems several people dropped (I'm assuming they dropped because A: The class will be hard. And B: The teacher seems boring), so I got in (I am afraid of neither pain or death).
But the third class was the kicker. Brandon Sanderson, author of Mistborn and the new Robert Jordan books, teaches one creative writing class per year at BYU, a creative writing class that caters to Fantasy and Science Fiction authors. Since his commercial success, the popularity of this class has exploded. When I showed up to add Thursday night I was expecting five to ten people who would want to add. There were almost 100. And he chose by drawing five names out of a hat. Mine was the last one drawn.
In short, at the beginning of this week I was as distraught as I have ever been, worried about my future, etc. . . . But by Thursday night everything was in the bag, I'm ok, and I'm going to graduate this semester.
Either I have been very, very lucky, or somebody up there likes me.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Out with the Old, in with the New
Once again I am writing out of a sense of obligation. It's hard maintaining a blog. It takes a great deal of effort to find relevant things to say, and once you do, you have to fight off all the other things that take up time to actually write about them. But, this isn't an impossible task, and I could be doing better than I have been. Still, I guess in the big picture I am not doing so bad. There are a good many bloggers (yes you!) who blog less than I do. So there!
Anyway, I know it's kind of late to do an end-of-year/beginning-of-year blog. But that's what I am going to do.
In short last year ended on a high note. The reason for this was because I think I actually started figuring things out with ladies. (A surprise as much to me as it is to you). The crazy thing is that for the last month or two of the semester I actually had a plethora of girls in my dating pool which has never before been the case. (Because I have been clueless, doh!). There's nothing like a couple of solid dates to put a positive spin on things*. On top of this strange phenomenon, I passed all of my classes and aced all of my finals even though I am the laziest student in the world! So that made me happy too.
My break was good as well. I admit, that at times it was boring and I lacked things to do. But spending more time with my niece and four nephews made everything worth it (and I guess my siblings were fun too, kind of). Plus I went on a couple more hot dates. Holy crap! I am turning into a dating machine!
For the new year I hope to continue this trend. Things are looking a little sketchy as far as classes go--I have to rely on the mercy of a few teachers to get into the classes that I need, which is never that safe--but other than that I expect this to be an awesome semester. It will be my last, possibly.
Since graduation is looming so close, one thing I really need to work on is finishing my book. In a happy scenario, I would finish before the end of the semester, edit it through the summer, and submit if for publication towards the end of the year. Then, of course, I will get offered a big contract, I'll get paid a lot of money, I'll buy a house, and then I shall live in it as a successful writer. Naturally I shall continue to produce marvelous blatherings in various subjects and genres. In my career I hope to become successful in these genres: fantasy, sci-fi, normal fiction, historical fiction, western, narrative, drama/film, and in the words of a friend, "real." With all that dreaming out of the way, I have committed to work on writing more. I think I shall take my laptop to campus a lot more this semster so I can force myself to write. The last time I did this I cruised through 150 pages in one semester. Good luck.
To put it succinctly here are the three things I am working on for this year: Dating, Writing, School. I don't know if they are in order or not. Probably so.
*Lest you should get the wrong idea, I went on six dates this semester. A personal record (triple my previous semester record), but some people do that in a week.
Anyway, I know it's kind of late to do an end-of-year/beginning-of-year blog. But that's what I am going to do.
In short last year ended on a high note. The reason for this was because I think I actually started figuring things out with ladies. (A surprise as much to me as it is to you). The crazy thing is that for the last month or two of the semester I actually had a plethora of girls in my dating pool which has never before been the case. (Because I have been clueless, doh!). There's nothing like a couple of solid dates to put a positive spin on things*. On top of this strange phenomenon, I passed all of my classes and aced all of my finals even though I am the laziest student in the world! So that made me happy too.
My break was good as well. I admit, that at times it was boring and I lacked things to do. But spending more time with my niece and four nephews made everything worth it (and I guess my siblings were fun too, kind of). Plus I went on a couple more hot dates. Holy crap! I am turning into a dating machine!
For the new year I hope to continue this trend. Things are looking a little sketchy as far as classes go--I have to rely on the mercy of a few teachers to get into the classes that I need, which is never that safe--but other than that I expect this to be an awesome semester. It will be my last, possibly.
Since graduation is looming so close, one thing I really need to work on is finishing my book. In a happy scenario, I would finish before the end of the semester, edit it through the summer, and submit if for publication towards the end of the year. Then, of course, I will get offered a big contract, I'll get paid a lot of money, I'll buy a house, and then I shall live in it as a successful writer. Naturally I shall continue to produce marvelous blatherings in various subjects and genres. In my career I hope to become successful in these genres: fantasy, sci-fi, normal fiction, historical fiction, western, narrative, drama/film, and in the words of a friend, "real." With all that dreaming out of the way, I have committed to work on writing more. I think I shall take my laptop to campus a lot more this semster so I can force myself to write. The last time I did this I cruised through 150 pages in one semester. Good luck.
To put it succinctly here are the three things I am working on for this year: Dating, Writing, School. I don't know if they are in order or not. Probably so.
*Lest you should get the wrong idea, I went on six dates this semester. A personal record (triple my previous semester record), but some people do that in a week.
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