Thursday, May 29, 2008

DUUMB DUMB DUMB DUUUMB, DUMB DUMB DUUUUMB


I saw the new Indy yesterday. I had my fingers crossed that the movie would rise to expectations, especially since I was intrigued from reading more of the backstory to Indy's life previously. I was encouraged that Ford was playing the appropriately aged character which would introduce a new facet (possibly realism) to Indy's exploits. I was wrong. Speilberg and Lucas have continued to push me into being a grumpy old man. This comment from a review of the movie I read today sums up this feeling, "... for those of you that feel that the new Star Wars Movies robbed your childhood, expect some molestations from Uncles' George and Steven..."
The story, the acting, the effects...all completely over the top and plastic. There was no character in the characters, including Indy. It was completely cheap gags and mindless action without tension. In the other movies, events and artifacts were there for reasons and it felt as if you were solving the riddles with Indy. In this one, you are lead by a leash through the plot with an occasional unexplained event (i.e. scary little blowgun fighters at a gravesite, which are there just for action and have no explained context).
What I always liked about the Indy movies is that they SEEMED epic in scope. The vision was wide and were able to take you to new places, even Temple of Doom. This installment had a cloistered feel to it, like you felt you were on the soundstage with the actors.
Finally, even with the supernatural overtones in the previous movies, I could suspend my disbelief and indulge in the story. I just watch all of the previous three in the last week and still had this feeling and even picked up on little things that I never noticed previously that added more realism (i.e. Indy and Marcus briefly discussing international agreements on artifact recovery in the beginning of Raiders). This movie along with its forced story never allowed my disbelief to be harnessed because the BANG was intentionally or unintentionally delivered in the beginning of the movie. SPOILER - the crystal skulls are of aliens! I don't have an issue with this, but done very poorly in a franchise that thrived on suspense, mystery, and tension.
Overall, this movie had great potential with everything that it contained, but its orchestration completely short in becoming more than the sum of its parts. Not the worst movie, that is still Troll 2, but disappointing.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Thematic



What's the term for when you type out sounds of stuff?
I want to say onomotapeia, but that's just because I like that word.
It's not the right word.

Anyway, I'm going to type out a word version of a theme song. In the comments, guess the song, then type out your own.

Dun du dun Daaaaaaah
dundu duuuh
Dun du dun DAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!
dundu dun dun dun duuuh.

Labels:

Thursday, May 15, 2008

and those 7 were all me



birdflag
(s30birdflag)

-- Site Summary ---
Visits

Total ........................ 4,788
Average per Day .................. 5
Average Visit Length .......... 2:28
This Week ....................... 7

Page Views

Total ........................ 8,106
Average per Day ................. 10
Average per Visit .............. 2.0
This Week ....................... 7

http://s30.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s30birdflag


--- Visits this Week ---
Day
Hour 5/11 5/12 5/13 5/14 5/15 5/16 5/17 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 7
13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
0 0 7 0 0 0 0 7

Labels:

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The Give and Take



They say that strong communication skills are the backbone of any relationship. I agree.
This applies to the relationship I have with my bank teller, as well as the relationship I have with my girlfriend. With my bank teller it is important that I don’t communicate how I feel that if she lost a few pounds she’d be cuter. With my girlfriend it’s important that I communicate how much I will enjoy watching Dancing with the Stars even if I’m lying.
Communication isn’t just about talking things over in a conversation. Sometimes it’s about Telling Facts.
It is always important to firmly and decisively inform your domestic partner of any ultimatums you happen to come up with. For example:

We recently got a cat.
It’s a fully formed adult cat that our friend could no longer take care of. Being older, it came with an attached name; “Oscar”. Now, I have a nephew that goes by that same name. I also have a pre-existing condition where I think that sleeping with your pets is stupid. Sleeping is for sleeping, I heartily enjoy laying down at night and getting uninterrupted sleep. I don’t get up and pee (unless I’m drunk), I don’t toss and turn, I don’t check on things, I don’t get up to jot things down, and I don’t snack.
Taking these issues into account, I offered up only three ultimatums about getting a pet.

1-My nephew is Oscar, so the cat gets a new name.
2-The cat does not sleep in our room because the cat is not allowed in the room in the first place.
3-under no circumstances will there ever be more than 2 cats allowed in our house at one time. 3 cats or more is scientifically proven to make you mumble to your self and become a spinster.

I think it was important to talk over these ultimatums and prove that we have good communication skills with each other.

Labels:

Friday, May 02, 2008

dreams are the thoughts of kings


Last night I had a dream where I was watching America's Funniest Home Videos. The winning video was of a man with the Downs. He had become a policeman and was conducting a raid on a home. He ran down the porch with one of those hand held battering rams, and swung at the door but missed. He ran smack dab into the door and the door knob hit him right in the crotch. The camera then showed reaction shots of the audience.

Labels: