Archive for December, 2004
Listening to
Friday, December 31st, 2004Emotion is Dead (part 2) by The Juliana Theory
Photos from Home
Thursday, December 30th, 2004
Movie Reviews
Wednesday, December 29th, 2004The Incredibles
How does Pixar keep one-upping itself?! I did not think that topping Finding Nemo was possible, yet The Incredibles is the best Pixar film yet. Clean and intelligent humor, original concept, and wildly creative embracing of the 3D animation technology make the Baby Jesus in all of us smile. The short was the best yet too.
Finding Neverland
If you take the innocence of childhood and mix in the uninhibited ability to imagine beyond reason while dealing with the death of your mother, you not only get my real life story, you also get Finding Neverland. I cried. This is the best movie that I have seen in 2004.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
I think I loved this movie because of this one scene:
Ron Burgundy: The Germans discovered it in 1904, and they called it “San Diego”, which in German means “whale’s vagina”.
Veronica Corningstone: No, I don’t think that is what it means. No, it doesn’t mean that.
Ron Burgundy: I don’t know. I was just trying to impress you. I don’t think anyone knows what it means anymore. The translation was lost hundreds of years ago.
Veronica Corningstone: Doesn’t it mean “Saint Diego”?
Ron Burgundy: …No. No, that isn’t it.
Veronica Corningstone: No, I’m pretty sure that’s what it means.
Ron Burgundy: Agree to disagree.
Pirates of Silicon Valley
I know that Pirates of the Silicon Valley is the geek movie, but I had not seen it until my recent illegal downloading of it via a P2P protocol that was recently attacked by the MPAA. The casting is amazing. The acting and script perfectly capture the personality and ethics of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The movie is not available on DVD because TBS is stupid.
NOTE: Due to the all Google referrals I get looking for this entry, I want to mention that there are no torrent files on my site
Amelie
Love is all about perspective. Amelie is an appreciated new and yet familiar story of love and the resiliency it can motivate. The cinematography made me appreciate the story even more.Ray
This marathon movie beautifully intertwines romanticized childhood experiences with an occasionally brutally honest story to unfold the life and music career of Ray Charles. Fantastic casting, acting, and directing make Ray a must-see film for 2004.Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
I didn’t actually see the first Bridget Jones. The follow up is a mediocre film with a British accent and inexcusably awkward placement of American pop songs for a soundtrack. The scene about “jellyfish” people is so true. And for the record, the only thing more wrong than Hugh Grant playing The Bad Guy is Hugh Grant shaving his chest.The Forgotten
Admittedly, I fell asleep for about twenty minutes during the beginning of The Forgotten only to awake at the same question from the trailer still being asked. The final moments of the movie provide a most logical explanation as to why people lost eight years of memories about their kids that died in a plane crash: the federal government runs experiments with aliens. Write this movie down on your Must See List in invisible ink so that you forget to see this modern day B-movie.Shaun of the Dead
One word: HYSTERICAL! Petty and short-sighted, yet strangely reflective of many peoples’ lives. Shaun of the Dead was the best movie I saw during my Movies 10 Marathon with Ryan over Christmas break. Just remember that if you’re one of us, you’ll moan and wander around in a trance looking to bite someone’s head off.The Terminal
Can Steven Spielberg + Tom Hanks ever not equal an amazing movie? The scenario of having your passport and visa revoked because your country’s government dissolved while you were in the sky lends itself to two great hours of humorous and charming ideas of ways to pass weeks of U.S. government bureaucracy.
Listening to
Monday, December 27th, 2004In Other Words by Ben Kweller
Disenchantment
Monday, December 27th, 2004My previous post expressing grief and hopeless pessimism regarding college and life most definitely warrants explanation. This past semester presented extraordinary roommate, financial, and extracurricular problems. I will not go into too much detail here, but these external issues made me realize how much of college is a waste.
I feel that I am wasting my time and money at college. I know that I have learned more, more rapidly, more cost effectively on my own than in classes. Emerson College is consistently ranked in the top three for new media studies in higher education. I know that if I were to transfer, the experience would not be any better and many of my credits would not transfer. Emerson’s high regard in Hollywood and New York City is truly unexplainable, but worth factoring into my equation of whether to stay or transfer.
The primary reason I stayed at Emerson (The EVVY Awards) attacked my integrity, unjustifiably attacked one of my very good friends who is easily one of the most talented people at Emerson, and caused the first and only argument between me and a significant someone. I guess my relationship with The EVVY Awards is now mostly healed, though the passion I once devoted to it is gone and will never return. The ordeal with the Executive Producers of The 24th Annual EVVY Awards just made me realize how petty and pointless the college experience is in the grand scheme of things.
I just want to get over with this portion of my life. I want to stop delaying my entrance into the real world. I want to make a real difference in the world. I don’t want to be killing myself from a consistent lack of sleep just to deal with insane and pointless workloads. I know that I am a dreamer. I know that there is a bit of idealism in my desires. But these let me know that there is something more to life than what I’m being offered right now. They keep me going. They are what prevent me from being truly pessimistic.
Pending approval by my grandparents, I am going to take a full class load over the summer to jump a semester ahead. I will repeat this again in the following summer, but with my internship and one class in Emerson’s Los Angeles program. This plan allows me to graduate a year early.
Quote
Sunday, December 26th, 2004“This is mean, but true. Women in their 20′s or older shouldn’t be obsessed with Disney Pooh characters. It oozes, ‘I love Hallmark cards, cheesy quotes, and I have the emotional mentality of a 12-year-old. I also hope to drive a mini-van, decorate my home with framed cross-stitching work, and wear sneakers with skirts.’ Shoot me for my honesty, but it’s true. Thanks for listening.” –Rianna
Merry CHRISTmas!
Saturday, December 25th, 2004Merry CHRISTmas* from JeremiahLee.com to your home!
*Christmas is a federal holiday. If you’re offended, get over yourself.
Web Cam
Friday, December 24th, 2004
iBook & iPod Cases
Thursday, December 23rd, 2004Protecting my Apple investment is obviously important. Besides Apple doing a horrid job of making its products aesthetically durable, I want to keep my iBook and iPod safe from more than surface scratches.
The Booq Vyper XS iBook case is made of a thick nylon material that provides great padding and non-scratching seams/zipper. The case holds the iBook snugly like a glove and protects the iBook well in a fast-paced college backpack lifestyle.
While my iPod may have been free, I still want to protect it the best I can.
Contour Design’s Showcase 4G provides two layers of protection: a shock-absorbing cushion and a hard protective shell. The easy access to ports and durable belt clip make this the best iPod case available.
UPDATE (2005-01-19): I have now had these cases for some time now. The Booq Vyper XS has successfully offered excellent protection of my iBook. The only thing that I wish it had a small handle, but this is negligible being that its primary purpose is just to allow my iBook to survive my backpack.
The Contour Design Showcase 4G is still the best iPod case in my opinion. However, the outer shell is highly susceptible to discoloration from contact with dirt or anything printed. The dirt stains come of easily, but not even elbow grease could fully remove the case’s encounter with the cover of Computer Arts magazine in my backpack.
Fall 2004 Courses
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2004The Good
Honors Seminar 4: Alan Hankin is the best professor that I have had at Emerson thus far. I was concerned about taking a biological evolution course when biology was the weakest of my science strengths in high school. My fear was unwarranted and the class was amazing. Alan Hankin made suffering through a liberal arts education worthwhile. This class was academically challenging and I learned so much and enjoyed the experience.
Computer Animation I: Basically, I know that I am not going to learn much, if anything, on the interactive side of new media from Emerson. The professors here are too much into artsy fartsy Flash crap than real world work (of which I have a good amount of experience). I am most interested in the visual effects side of new media. I know so little and am a sponge soaking up anything that I can on this topic. John Craig Freeman is another gem professor. He waived one pre-requisite for me to take his class and I am taking the successor to this course next semester. Prior to this class, my 3D experience was limited to some web graphics made in Micrografx Simply 3D (later bought and killed by Corel) and the horrid Eovia Cararra Studio 3. Now, I understand many of the basic concepts within Maya. I appreciate Craig’s use of Alias’s own educational resources to teach Maya and greatly anticipate his next class.
The Bad
Fundamentals of Speech Communication: Being that Emerson College was formed as an orator school in 1880, one might assume that the speech classes would actually not be a waste of time. especially when they are required courses for every major. especially when public speaking is important, especially today. I learned more in one introductory Dale Carnegy course than an entire semester of this class. The only thing that I particularly enjoyed was socializing with the 2008 class of honors students.
The Ugly
Civil Rights: Mike Brown is the worst professor at Emerson College. He is more concerned about the way in which you answer his trick questions than the actual content of your answer. Don’t think beyond his words either, because thinking critically on your own might lead you to a different conclusion than his left wing propaganda and that’s always the wrong answer on any exam. His assumptions that everyone at Emerson was there on their parents’ dime getting an easy ride in life pissed me off daily.
