'Audition' and 'Walk the Line' A semireview

Audition...wow, it's not a happy story, I'll tell ya that, but that's not really spoiling anything at all. There's not really much I can say. The (Japanese) movie is about a man and his life with his son after his wife passed. They don't really go into much detail, but it's been seven years since her passing, and they're getting on by quite well. However, he's been single for quite some time, and his son (now somewhere in his early 20s I'm assuming) brings up a point that he's been single for so long, he should go out and find a girlfriend. They're a close pair, and so while it does shock him a bit, he honestly takes the idea to heart. He's the head of his own Casting Company (...yeah?), and his freind whom he works with discusses finding Ms. Right for him. "Why not hold an Audition?" he inqures. "..what?" Yeah, an audition. That's perfect. We have a script for a mediocre movie, that we can use as the basis for your Audition for Ms. Right.

Sounds simple right? Well, things aren't always what they seem. What starts out as a somewhat dramatic intro, then turns into a (seemingly) romantic comedy feel, then becomes a drama again... and soon becomes the horror film you've all been waiting to see. It's quite a mind-f*ck, and I can't really explain (nor do I want to) what kind of movie it is, but really, it's quite a sight. I don't know what to think about the movie... it hurts =*( But the experience was good *hugs Tasha* We watched this after Walk the Line, which, while we saw first, wasn't the first thing on my mind as I post this.

Walk the Line, the biography-of-sorts about Johnny Cash. It definately didn't follow through the way I expected, but was a good movie none-the-less (there's that funky term again). I think that it did a good job with it's pacing, following some key moments in his life, and does tel a lot of story in the short time it's given. It never feels rushed, and the music doesn't hurt at all either. If any of you've read my reviews before (omg, I hope some of you have *glares around*) then you know I don't really like to get into names and roles (mostly because I can't remember them, and are too lazy to look up the information), but ... there's a lot of key characters, and without giving out spoilers, it goes into details about his upbringing, and his introduction into music, the buisness, drugs, and more.

It was a fun movie, and he's got 0ne hell of a voice. I wish I could sing (omg I swear I typed seen at first, not sing *sigh*) as deep as him, but then again, I'm never satisfied with my range, it can always be better.

Oh, and I got some new clothes, and I do rather enjoy them. I've not gotten any new clothes in ... a long time, months, maybe a year? I can't recall for sure, it's been at least half a year. *looks around* what? No, she didn't join me in the changing room, if that's what you were all th... Ok, seriously, she wasn't. Don't look at me like that! *looks around* ... I can't take all the staring~ ahh~ *runs off* Hope you all enjoyed your weekend, I know I did. <3 ... don't stare at me with those judgemental eyes~ *runs off further*

Status: Good

Operation: omgplznothinggowrong is going according to plan. Yay~ I got here safe, and got my hotel, and everything's been fine. *nods* We're about to have breakfast... a late breakfast, but a breakfast none the less (is that how you spell that phrase? Or was it Never the Less? I forget). Anyways... uhh... Hi? Nothing really to say that ... I can say. But nothing really to say, that I can't say? Ambiguous... maybe. >_>: Either way, I'm having a good time, and althought it's almost 2 weeks, it's only day 2 and I'm already missing her. =*( <3

Hiatus... again?

Wow, everyone is going away for a bit. But I will not be without internet, have faith my ... faithful fans. I'll just not be on as often, as if you'd notice much anymore these days. I'll be gone for (estimated) 7 days? Maybe more, maybe less, I honestly can't say. But I will have access to the internet at my girlfriend's house while I'm gone, and then, after that week (or so), we'll be staying at her aunt's house which, while it has internet, my phone will probably get better speeds. Anyways, here's something to leave you with. I think I've said this before, but I cannot recall.
There are two types of people in this world: Those that need closure,

Tomorrow Departure, DS Lite

Gotta get some things today, water bottles, snacks for the road, and that's all I can think of right now. My mind is kind of blanking out. Stagefright, you know, butterflies, paranoia, fear, I gotta get over all of that. Fear of? You know, anything. Anything that can go wrong, I fear it will go wrong. Yeah, it's irrational, but that's how I function. Think of everything that can go wrong, all the problems, and when you've seen everything, you can figure out what to fix, and how to get around the problems. That way, when you believe in something, you have little to no doubt in it. Rather than give it my all, only to look back and see I was blinded by my zealous beliefs, and I didn't want to see the problems.

That would be horrible to me, not being able to think and percieve every situation logically. Sadly, this is a pro, and a con. In any situation, I get to thinkin', about everything. I think too much for my own good. While this has been the reason for my quick wit, like everything, double edged sword. I've got to commit character-suicide, and redefine who I am, or else things are only going to get worse ahehehe.

Whoa, that was heavy, let's talk about something else.

I got a Nintendo DS the day of launch in the States (11th), and got a White one (the only color we get.. so far), and Friday (23rd) Europe gets their launch (they get the white and black ones). I have to say, I'm in love with my Lite. Let me break down the major details. (Picture below for reference) And yes, I understand that a DS isn't for everyone, and many people who have a regular DS won't want to spend the money to get a DS Lite, that's fine, I understand.

1) Brighter Screen. How bright? They have light settings from 1~4, rather than on/off. The darkest setting (there is no more off), is brighter than the regular DS. Brightness 3 and 4, are drastically different. Colors look different because they're properly lit, and if you set it to 4... well I can't say how bright it is, but it is very bright.

2) "Brighter? You mean sucks up more batteries?" Yeah, that is what I said. But they have better battery life too, so that cancels it out... hopefully. So far, I've seen that the battery life seems more-or-less about the same, running it at brightness setting of 3.

3) Redesigned. Not just the outside (being sleek, and smaller), but the inside is different too. The top half is concave (curves in) so the screen and buttons don't colide and scratch into each other. The start and select is moved to be below the ABXY rather than above (and vertical rather than horizontal). The power button is now on the right side of the DS, and it's a slide up and hold, to turn on/off, so you won't accidentally turn it off... hopefully. Small rubber grips on the bottom allow you to rest it on a table without worry of it sliding away. Also, the stilus is also changed to slip out of the right side, rather than on top.

4) Stilus! It's bigger and hs more weight to it. I have big hands, so using the old stilus was a big pain, I was holding it with two fingers, but the new one I can hold more like a pencil, and the added weight (read: It has weight now) helps a lot.

5) GBA slot. There's a fake-cartridge that goes into the GBA slot, so it won't get dirty. Also, the GBA slot on a DS bends if you push down on it, and there's no game inside. This way, it won't risk that, espeically since the Lite material wasn't made to bend. It's solid and (read #6)

6) Sleek. It's got a layer of hard, smooth, and sexy plastic over it, so it looks like it's already in it's own protective case already. It just feels nicer too, not just texture either.

7) Oh, and this is kind of part of #3: The power on/off light (also, the charging light) has been moved to the top right, rather than the bottom right. It's on the flip open screen, so that even when it's closed, you can see it without any problems.

8) Small details: The d-pad and abxy don't have that little indention around it, whch made it a pain to clean. You can kind of see the bottom (touch) screen stands out a bit, as it is elevated. Mic is moved to the middle of the DS, which is a small, but big improvement. It's not oddly shaped like the original DS is. It's square/rectangular, and has rounded edges. The original DS had a slightly annoying shape, rounded to be somewhat oval. While it's something small, I feel it does mean a lot.

Yes, I love my DS Lite, and will probably give my DS to a freind... or let it sit around so when my other freinds with DS' come over, we can get an extra person on it to throw down on Tetris DS (multiplyer awesome) or New Super Mario, or Mario Kart... all are amazing on multiplayer <3

And in closing, I'll probably not be able to post much in the next week or so, but I'll make an effort of it, I really will. Farewell freinds, and hope to see you all again very soon. <3

Conflicts

See, 4 months ago, I was asked if I wished to go on a road trip ... oh, about right now. Sometime during this month. "Sure, I don't have any other plans" I said. And tis was true, I had nothing planned. But you know what, stuff happens.

1) My car, which I recently got through a deal with my mom's freind... has a major problem that'll take days to fix and cost $1400 usd, estmated. Now, having gotten ths GREAT deal through a freind, we figure, hey, what the f*ck? So when my mom returns (roughly next Saturday), they're going to have a good ... discussion. So much for getting great deals through your fellow church goers huh?

2) Girlfriend. Yeah, that happened. And I love it. Thing is, she was going to visit LA from the 23rd to the 5th of the next month. That plan has ... gone through some changes, but it's essentially the same. Except I'm going to visit her from the 22nd to the 30th or so, then we're going to stay at her aunt's house in LA for the rest of the trip. (Also, this plan is still just a plan. Her mom needs to OK me staying over, or I'll have to stay at a hotel for 7 nights, and that's not cheap, ouch).

3) I was not informed (at any point, whatsoever) that anyone, other than me, had any schedule or timeframe they needed to have things done by. So, having asked, they said it was pretty free form, and so I figured, ok, the road trip can (and we discussed this as a possibilty) go to San Fransisco, then stop by Las Vegas to pick her up, then go to LA and everything will be great!... except for the fact that, I was told on friday, that One friend needs to be in San Fransisco on the 24th. And that's not ... well, that conflicts.

Vegas 23rd... San Fransisco 24th. They're not planning to go to Vegas first, and we (Tasha and I) were not planning on this either. Also, it wasn't until Thursday, that I was given a green light from Tasha, that she could take time off of work, to visit. So THAT was all in the 'maybe' zone for a long time also. There were a lot of "maybe"s in the course of this plan... of course, nobody was really planning anything, and I expect that something this big (trip that would last to a week, give or take) would have SOME sort of planning other than "Lets go, and see what's on the way". Road trip, I can understand, but we're some kids without responsibilities. One had to be in San Fransisco the 24th, I needed to know that, in order to form a better schedule with others. I have a freind flying in from Alabama this week, I would like to meet her, if possible. I wasn't informed of any time frame this had to be completed, and yet I was expected to leave at any time.

Well, I do have responsibilities. I need to be more careful about money because fixing up my car is NOT going to be cheap. Also, having no JOB now and my next paycheck comes in ... oh, I don't know.. I really don't. The last project's final week's paycheck (about 3 weeks ago) has yet to make it's way to my pocket. And the project I just finished doesn't pay until 30 days after the final working day. So I've been a bit stressed lately, money issues, Anime Expo (July 1st~4th, Anaheim Convention Center).

I've not been neglecting the blog on purpose, but I felt that, blogging for days straight about the same problems (ie: waiting for the answer to appear) would be ... well, bad, and leaning towards emo. So I'd rather wait for a meaningful post, that wasn't just 3 lines long (and yes, I am a bit ashamed at my post quality as of late, *begs for forgiveness*).

Having said all this, I've been in a mixed mood, filled with happy and sad, worry and hope. It's got great potential, (the situation, that is), but also, could flop like mad. Hopefully it all turns out for the better, and that I could go on and post my fun little posts as usual. Having nearly come to a conclusive end to a verse in this chapter of my daily shenanagins, I'm feeling pretty good. All she needs to find out is if I can stay over at her house, and I need to find out if I can borrow my mom's car for a couple of days... And if she says no, well damn, I'm taking it anyways, She'll understand. I did just replace 2 of her tires that cost me $260 USD this morning. Oh, yeah, forgot to mention that, heh.

Very Yin and Yang these past few days.

On a side note, Wierd Al did his own rendition of "You're Beautiful", as "You're Pitiful". He was given the 'ok', but after he finished it, with the intention of releasing it on his new album (yes, a new one :D) they said "uhh...no, you can't release it." So, being the generous guy that he is, he said "Well fine then," and proceeded to upload it to a dozen or so sites, and gave it out for free.

Some Random News:
Baby Left in Car While Father Visits Strip Club
Skeletons Found at Site for New L.A. School
Bank Robber Leaves Birth Certificate Behind

Word of the Day: ????

Yesterday was my freind Lucas' birthday. We stayed up playing Hex•Hex with the small group that gathered (most people were unable to make it, having finals still, or work, etc. Tomorrow is the big party though. (Hex Hex, one of the greatest card games. It's very pick up and play, easy, fun, and great for 4~5 players, but can play with 3~6 players. Check it out <3)

Today we gotta pick another word huh? Let's see. Let's have a poll. What are YOUR words of the day? :D

Word of the Day 21 - Reminiscence

reminiscence
One entry found for reminiscence.
Main Entry: rem·i·nis·cence
Pronunciation: -'ni-s&n(t)s
Function: noun
1 : apprehension of a Platonic idea as if it had been known in a previous existence
2 a : recall to mind of a long-forgotten experience or fact b : the process or practice of thinking or telling about past experiences
3 a : a remembered experience b : an account of a memorable experience -- often used in plural
4 : something so like another as to be regarded as an unconscious repetition, imitation, or survival
synonym see MEMORY

"I remember word of the day!.. wow, I'm really behind! =("

The World's Fastest Indian - 2:09 Trailer

Random Image time!

ehehehehehehehehehehe

Crab Battle!

Darth Va...what?

Blogger can't take files too big, all those red numbers were readable too.
Was, 2245 x 3207 (1.74 mb), but blogger shrunk it down!

Pandas~! I am so jealous =(

Chibi Eva D:!

Sorry for the Delay, again ^_^;

Today is a special day. The most important thing, is it's our 2 month Aniversary. :D I called her at 11:55 pm last night and we talked and spent it together as much as we could. *le sigh* Moving on, because I know you're all sick of hearing me talk about her. (Ok, a little more. ^_^ I love you Tasha (less than)3)

Yesterday was my freinds James, and Loy's graduation, and had to get up early for that. Congratulations! (less than)3 wanted to do the Algorithm March with them, but not enough people knew it, and they didn't want to emberass themselves ^_^; (great dance to learn with your freinds when you're bored! It's from this show in Japan, Pitagora Suiichi. These are just clips from the show, it's a children's show, that's far more informative than anything I ever watched as a kid. Go japan! (lessthan)3) I've been busy, working a lot because it's only a 2 week temporary job, so I've been doing my part in promoting this great movie that comes out next Tuesday (at least in the US. I don't know about other countries. I was informed that it's been released New Zealand, and maybe Australia already). I don't like telling people to do things, but I do like suggesting things. I reccomend this movie, for anyone, of any age, who's not looking for sex or violence as the focus of the movie, but a character, a journey, and a story :D

I've got nothing much left to say, can't put images in the same text body as something with a (less than) throws off the whole thing off, eating up things I've written, and being a general pain. =( So, I'll leave you now, till I blog again :o

Movies and Games (etc?)

New Superman Trailer

It looks amazing, and the trailer before it was kinda cheesy, and was selling the movie more as a 'comedic' remake, or 'goofy homage' sort of thing. This new trailer, really sells it as an action movie that's really epic. That aside, now it's time for my little rant.

Movies are about telling a story. Games are about playing a game. Too often, are these two things forgotten. Movies with no plot, but a flashing of graphics and colors, lights and computer animation filling the screen. Games with beautiful scenery, excellent animation, and many cut scenes which look great.

However, I miss movies rich in story. Having recently watched Tamara and Vertigo (One's a horror movie a coworker's freind wrote, same writer as Final Destination 1 and 2. The other, is a classic Hitchcock film), I have to say, even though Tamara was very predictable, it did a lot of really nice things with the writing and story. Vertigo, though not up to today's standards of drama, had a really nice story and I enjoyed it greatly.

Combine these, and seeing The World's Fastest Indian the day before that, and I've seen a lot of movies that I've thoroughly enjoyed and that's a rare thing indeed. I had an argument with my freind recently, about the quality of Hollywood's movies. He said something along the lines of "All Hollywood does now is make crappy movies." and I agree wholeheartedly, that Hollywood likes to make a quick (reletively quick) buck these days, and would sacrifice quality at a drop of a hat (like lowering movie ratings to allow a larger audience to view the movie).

9/10, I'll step out of the theater dissatisfied. And now let's talk about games too. I'm super jaded I think, with everything. Games just don't really appeal to me anymore. Sure, I still get excited when I hear new information, but its the same excitement when I see good trailers. Potential, but it doesn't mean it'll ammount to much. Many people forget that games are about gameplay. Not graphics, not music, nothing but gameplay. Oh, I'm not saying everything else is UNimportant, but they're not the focus of the game. Games are meant to be fun. If you had a game that looked great, sounded great, but played like trash, would you consider it a good game? You may like it, I may like it, but I wouldn't consider it a good game. Sort of like, Rat Race. I enjoyed the movie, but I don't consider it a good movie. I may watch it more than once in my life, but I don't think it'll ever be close to my favorites list, even though I enjoyed it.

People are too caught up with 'fear' to actually enjoy themselves these days. It's not 'cool' to be fuel efficient, let's get a gas guzzling SUV, while living in the suburbs of LA who've probably never even seen a real tree. Let's not get a FUN portable gaming machine like a DS, let's get a PSP which can do everything BUT play good games. Nintendo is for kids, forget that. Let's watch a cool action movie, or a stupid comedy (note, there are good comedies, I'm only picking on stupid ones), rather than a well written or meaningful movie. etc. etc. the list goes on, but this is my perosonal beliefs. You can attack me as you wish. It's strange that after watching 3 good movies I rant about how bad things are, huh?

On the lighter side, the the Nintendo Wii looks great, Superman looks good, District B13 is out and I want to see that. (Ever heard of Ong Bak? Then you'll like district B13. Look it up, good stuff.) I'm in a good mood, and I think I'll probably post again, before the day is through... or not, if it's good/bad enough haha. Farewell freinds.

The Fastest Indian - :D

Don't watch expecting this to be about motorcycles, setting a speed record, or racing. This is a movie about a journey, that one man takes. This is about the life he lives. Sure, the plot may be about him trying to accomplish his task, but the important part isn't the end journey, it's about the road he walks, the path he takes.

This is a good movie for anyone, looking for a good story. Anthony Hopkins' character, Burt Munro, is from New Zealand, and he is an essentric and off-beat fellow, who's ways may throw off most, but his charisma and dedication is really something to be admired. He has a dream, and chases his dream at any cost.

I don't really want to say too much about it, but it's Anthony Hopkins you're watching, it's him you're watching. Everything else is just on the side. Everything else is GOOD though, but they're not enough to make this movie great, only with Hopkins superb acting and charcter does it all come together and sell.

You really believe he's this other person, Burt Monro, that he IS Burt. His accent, manerisms, everything. Great actor, and he's great in this movie too. I don't have much to say though. Every character he meets is rich with personality, (minus one not so nice Cab Driver), and the cast works well with Hopkins throughout the whole picture. Great movie. ^_^

World's Fastest Indian - New Assignment

World's Fastest Indian - IMDB

"In `60s New Zealand, at the bottom of the world, Burt Munro takes a 1920 Indian motorcycle and, delightfully without resources other than his own obsession and a Kiwi #8 wire mentality, spends his retirement rebuilding the bike and following his dream to go to Speed Week at Salt Lake in Utah. Under funded, without the support of a team and against all the odds he not only makes it to Bonneville, he sets a national land speed record, not once, but again and again." - IMDB

Starring Anthony Hopkins as Burt Munro, I really don't know much about this movie, but I've got a clean conscience, I'm only advertising in a good way. Nothing dirty about this project. The movie's already come out, and so, we're promoting the DVD release, June 13th. I never saw this movie and never heard of it, but as I did research on this movie, I was bombarded with a plethora of terms I did not understand. I don't know motorcycles well, so all the termonology used to explain why he was so great and important really just made me zone out.

I've got a copy, and I'll try to watch it today before the day is through, and hopefully will put up a posative review about it. I hope it's good, Anthony Hopkins, please don't dissapoint, I've heard nothing but good things about this movie, and you've never really let me down that I know of. *hopeful*

Friday is almost over!

Gotta try to get posting consistantly again! o_o! Anyways. Things are going well in my life so far, just after 2 weeks, I'll probably be taking another break, until Anime Expo is over ... well, if that happens, if not, I'll be taking a trip to Vegas I guess. >_>: ehehehe

Anyways, back to the random. I have 40 minutes to post this, because in that length of time, the day will be over, so I better make this quick and not let ADD lead me to look at all those shiny lights on the comptuer............................... omg back on track @_@

DAMMIT: 3rd try, making any sort of face (which I do a lot of) with the greater than or less than screws the HTML a LOT. My post was 3 times this length before, but I've already retyped it a 2nd time with my best efforts, but a 3rd time just won't do. It's late. To summarize, again, what I said in my first version of this post. I think I've become jaded when it comes to movies. I don't even want to watch the movies I was excited to see (Da Vinci Code, X3, for example).

Hopefull I'll want to watch THIS at least
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Half my brain is saying "Wow that is SO COOL, I wanna do that!"
The other half is saying "Wow I hope I am never that bored."
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Old Board Games scare me =(
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One of my favorite background images EVER.
Our favorite feline from Azumanga Daioh <3 style="font-style: italic;">click for larger image)

Interesting Day - RANDOM!

Finding out monday if Tasha can come to visit LA for Anime Expo. If she's able, she'll try to arrange it for the 23rd of June until the 5th July. That is if she's able to take time off work. Then she has to see if she can find a place to stay, because her mother is paranoid, and won't let her stay at my place. She's going to try to see if she can stay at her aunt's house in LA.

Anyways, I've been neglecting you all lately, and I feel really, really bad about it. I've just been doing a lot of thinking lately and haven't been in a posting mood. My former employer informs me of another temporary job, lasting 2 weeks starting Saturday, which I was glad to sign up for. Hope to turn over a few more coins before Anime Expo, and Tasha's visit... if she's able to. Hopefully, everything turns out ok, but if not, we'll deal with it. Anyways, time for my normal random bablings!

Board game Review - Shadows over Camelot - 8.5/10
Shadows over Camelot. Simple board game, but the social challenges are what makes it flourish. The gameplay mechanics are simple, but the fact that one of the players could be a traitor, makes it for a social challnge indeed! I won't go into details, but it's a game that involves a number of different challenges that the group must collectively complete all at the same time, while possibly one person is out to hurt the party. It's not heavy on rules, but your first game will be somewhat confusing. Once you learn how to play, you'll never need the rules again.

Taken from my office.
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Scary =(
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??? Exactly ???
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Warhammer 40k Marine + Gothic Lolita = "Oh? ^_^"
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