THINGS THAT ARE COMING TOWARDS YOU APPEAR TO BE (red)DER

oh god its just as addicting on the internet

BUBBLEWRAP

I had to pop the whole thing about 3 times before I could close the screen.  

Manic mode was a nice treat, if I do say so myself.

Oftentimes, it is very difficult to decide what to share on this sort of thing and what not to share.
I'm more or less unaware of the number of people who have some sort of knowledge about this thing, so my target audience thus far has really been myself. Pretty selfish, eh? Heh, so that's that I suppose.
Over the past year or so since I discovered the ability to rip DVD's and burn them from my laptop, movie-watching has become a more and more prevalent hobby of mine, to the point where I am able to "own" roughly 3-4 new movies every week now. In the beginning of this venture of mine I became painfully aware of my own inability to really understand and appreciate the subtleties and nuances that go separate the "great" movies from the merely "good" or "bad" ones, and so on. Recently though, I have begun to find myself noticing certain patterns between actors/directors/styles that are able to pique my interest, and what about their qualities are able to interest me. I'm sure some of the following things are very elementary to many film students, and this is hardly any sort of comprehensive way to profile a movie, but these are the things that I have begun to look for in movies, and I feel as though the ability to recognize some of these aspects of a performance show at least some sort of evolution in my understanding of cinema? Who really knows. Anyway, next time you do watch a movie, and you're wondering why it is that you like or dislike it, maybe you can try and see if any of these things are noticeable in the movie.

1. The flow of the dialogue, and how you would really imagine it in real life. I've found that by watching a movie with a fair amount of nit-pickiness, I can determine for myself whether the actors seem to be simply reciting lines from a piece of paper, or if they have really gotten into the character and are trying to add things like emotion and facial expressions into their performance. Once again, this is really quite a simple thing I would imagine, and I'm sure all actors are taught to do this, but it is surprising how often it is noticeable that the actors aren't totally able to eliminate that sense of just reading their lines from their work.
2. Things like lighting and setting have been able to grab me and surprise me very much in a few films lately, and while it may only be an added bonus, movies are, at the end of the day, a primarily visual form of entertainment! If you are put into awe by a setting, or a character's makeup work, or the way a scene can truly be altered and enhanced by the scenery rather than the characters, then it is probably pretty safe to assume that the producers/directors have done a good job with their vision, and that a good deal of work has gone into it.
3. This is the most subjective aspect of "Harry Squires's Extremely Abridged Guide to Answering why you may Enjoy a Film". I find that if I am able to imagine a film being adapted into a live theater, and think of it that way, then it becomes a touch more enjoyable to me because it becomes that much more life-like. Essentially, it is easier for me to like it because I feel as if I'm truly viewing this up-close, as if, if I truly desired to, I could run up and touch the characters, the setting, and see the script. If I am able to imagine in my mind a script reading "Denzel Washington enter stage right" and then it happens, it improves the experience for me. If a character is behaving with the emotions that seem to fit the script, and I am able to imagine how a line in a book would describe the event (Angrily, Macbeth says...), I gain a bit more respect for the film, and the actor as well. This is more than likely something that I am in the minority on, but who knows!

Anyway, check some of those things out the next time you watch a movie! If it's boring, then at least this will give you something to focus on while you watch, and if you like it, then maybe this will be able to provide you with a blueprint for other movies you might enjoy! And if it doesn't help at all, then at least I gave you something to kill 5 minutes with by reading this little bit.

Donkey Rhubarb

I have returned to New Jersey, and have returned to reality after Bonnaroo.
It was cool, I would probably do it again, although I would approach it from a more prepared point of view. Arriving late and having to sleep in a tent in a Wal-mart parking lot wasn't really the best way to kick off the trip. Tennessee is also a weird place, but whatever, it was cool to see everyone and do copious amounts of damage to my body, most of which I will pay for some point later on in my life. C'est la vie.

A friend of mine showed me this, and while it's obviously edited, it kind of annoys me anyway.
I sincerely hope that at no point in time did my parents ever use me to express and represent their love of electronic music.
Also, I really hope they weren't that big fans of electronic music to begin with, cause c'mon, who would really hope for that anyway? I wonder what kind of music, if any, my parents would have liked to videotape me making funny faces to. These are the questions that need to be asked in my life.
An early Thanksgiving thank you: I am thankful that my parents are not technologically proficient/nerdy enough to want to make a Youtube video of me and put it on the internet. That is all.

Guys, I really love internet comics.
I don't know why the whole thing doesn't show up, so click on it to get the full effect.

The only Ten in sight

I leave for Tennessee in about an hour and a half. Still have a pretty significant amount of preparations to do, figuring out packing, what music/books to bring for the drive (14 hours is a long fuckin' time), clothes to wear and shit like that.
Bonnaroo will be a pretty sweet time I think, I don't think I've really ever been to this kind of area in the South though either, and I would imagine that to be the most novel part of the trip? w00t

and another...

Dude I bet this isn't really that hard even.

Dan Johnson

This video is probably one of my top 5 favorite videos I've seen on the internet.

Mostly because 1. I have an old as hell Volvo also, so boosting the street cred for my car is always a concern, and 2. the Oakland Athletics are probably my second favorite baseball team, behind the Yankees.  Oakland and all the Hyphy stuff is pretty hilarious, and generally, thats all this thing is good for anyway, the silly shit I find on the internet.

Went to Fulton this past weekend.  Upstate New York isn't nearly as terrible in the summer as in the winter...I have the image of just like the most terrible place in the world a lot of the time, because cities like Buffalo are failing pretty miserably.  Granted, its not Fairfax County or anything like that, but whatever, not everywhere can be grand ol' Caldwell, NJ.

Can you spot what's different?

unbelievable that a man with this kind of charisma didn't make it farther into the presidential election!

Witness

There is nothing that I would rather watch on television than this man.

I have discussed this on occasion with numerous people, and one of the things that I find myself being able to root for in an athlete/team, is the ability to make plays that I would never in my wildest dreams be able to make.  Lebron is a freak of nature, by far the most athletically gifted player in the NBA that I have ever seen in my 20 years.  He may not have the same killer instinct or the same supporting cast of a Michael Jordan or a Kobe Bryant, and as of right now he doesn't have the rings to back it up.  Despite all that, the fact that he could probably beat most players in the history of basketball in a game of one on one is pretty fuckin' impressive, right?  He can run a 4.4 forty, jump 44 inches vertically, and was still 6' 8" and 250 or so pounds.  Not even Bo Jackson, who was probably one of the most versatile athletes ever, had those gifts.  This is some shit to behold, people.  

Also, ballin' slogan Nike.  You are some lucky dudes to be able to market this guy.

no cure for the common birthday

all hype

hop up out the bed, turn my swag on

This is probably the sickest mashup mixtape I've heard ever before.  Thank you to Dan and Charley for showing me this while baking Charley's car out the other night.

Mashups are kind of a weird subject for me, I'm not exactly sure whether it warrants being called musical talent or whatever.  It's something that I certainly enjoy, and as far as music for partying goes, there probably isn't much better.  But whatever, it's a pretty moot point I guess. I suggest that everyone go download this, my personal favorite track is #4, the Soulja Boy, Lady Gaga and Killers combo.  Lady Gaga's pretty sweet, I'm not such a big fan of Poker Face, but Just Dance is super catchy and I can dig her general attitude about making music and being famous and all that.  I'd ride it for all it was worth too, and I think the fact that she's pretty unapologetic about totally exploiting herself for money and fame and exposure is, if nothing else, honest, so I can respect that.  Way to go, Lady Gaga.

So I went to make my deposit tonight for Bonnaroo, and much to my dismay, Paypal requires like some information on the bank statement before I can confirm that the debit card and bank account information that I gave them is valid.  This strikes me as pretty inefficient, especially in the days of instant online checking and all of that.  Why can't I just access the 4 digit code from an email or something?  The fact that I have to wait 2-3 days when I'm already pressed for time is really annoying and not helpful at all.  True, I probably should have planned ahead a little better, but I would never have imagined something like registering a debit card payment would have been so difficult.  Fuck you, Paypal.

New Jersey is a weird place, sometimes.

the boss!

I am very excited to be going to see this man for the first of two shows this summer tomorrow night.  Bruce Springsteen is a very New Jersey kind of guy, but unlike a musician like Bon Jovi, he has been able to transcend that sort of regional popularity and doesn't only sell out Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands.  I think there's something to be said for that, he clearly still loves playing concerts, and the Superbowl performance was a pretty good one, I though.  Definitely better than some of the more recent ones that I can remember.  Prince, for instance.  I am a big Prince fan, probably a bigger than I should be because I'm not sure what that says about me, but even as a fan, I couldn't get behind him playing the Superbowl halftime show.  Football is the masculinity of America, and the die-hard fans could rarely be described as individuals down with a metrosexual midget (I exaggerate), basically it was a recipe for disaster, in my eyes. THIS YEAR WAS COOL THOUGH. and I am very excited for tomorrow, and to be spending it with the Moryan family.  After that, it's off to the Sleaze for the rest of the holiday...I'd be very surprised if any other state takes this holiday and approaches it with the mindset and aggression that New Jersey does.  It certainly is a different breed.

pretty fucking cool

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.

Around 22 seconds this is pretty intense! Galactic Astronomy was definitely my favorite class so far, this has a lot to do with why.

star furs

This is more or less exactly what I imagine a planet full of Wookies to look like.  Chewbacca, is that you?

the right questions?

I got my grades today, and for the 2nd semester in a row I was a little underwhelmed, despite the expectations I had concerning my grades, going into finals at least.   I do well enough in school, and I'm in no danger of being in study hall or academic probation or anything like that, but still, it's a little disturbing to get some grades back that are significantly different than you expect.  I sent a couple of questions to my economics teacher because that is the only grade that really concerned/confused me.  It was also the only course that I took which really had a holistic and objective scoring policy, because it was all done with testing rather than papers and studies.  I don't have a very optimistic outlook on getting the grade changed, and maybe I did much poorer on the final than I thought I did?  If that's the case, then okay, but it bothers me if this is not the case because situations like this are exactly the reason I chose to be an Economics major, aside from my interest in the subject.  Oftentimes I don't see the validity in having my thoughts and opinions determined by a professor, who has a preconceived notion of intelligence a lot of the time, as intelligent/correct or not.  

In some ways, this might reflect a certain amount of insecurity on my part because maybe I'm just scared that my own opinions about my "cognitive abilities" are inflated.  It's certainly a possibility, but I'm not quite sure that's the case because I'm willing to participate in discussions with professors and friends in most sorts of subjects, and I try not to speak unless I have some inkling of knowledge about the subject being discussed.  In the end it doesn't matter because the difference between an A- and an A isn't that different I guess, but I am very interested in hearing the explanation for this grade.  I try not to usually complain about the grades that I get because I know I am far from the most diligent worker, but this would be the second time in a semester that there's been some discrepancy between the grade on the paper and the grade that my answers (according to the textbook and my notes) reflected. Oh well, dudes. We'll see.
IN THE MEANTIME, A SURPRISINGLY LEGITIMATE (AND ALSO RIDICULOUS) RAP VIDEO: 

ye ye

let's be real. i've done this a couple times before, and really only one or two of them have been successful.

it is summer, and i have far too much free time on my hands.

it was recently brought to my attention that a person who i used to (i dont really have any current contact with them) enjoy a lot has one of these, and after reading it i found it to be pretty interesting. so this is kind of what that has wrought. who knows.

i must say that i dont miss being in school, and while i do miss the people that are there, for the moment im enjoying the fact that i can relax on my own and know that i will see a lot of them later on in the summer, whether at bonnaroo or someplace else.  in the meantime, working at the club has filled most of my time, combined with swimming.

it is nice to be back working also, it seems like since other people have graduated high school it will be easier to get along with other guards there, perhaps the gap has been bridged.

in the meantime, funny new yorker article about bees on coke, enjoy