Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Do the laws of retribution still apply.

I was thinking about this today after I accidentally did something that someone claimed was hurtful to them. Once they brought it to my attention, I said I was fine with them doing something of equal hurtfulness back. Which is is reasonable since they claimed I hurt them. As with every other time I have said this, they declined looking horrified that i would even suggest such a thing. It kind of seems like alot of people are taking the nice guy approach, whether it's genuine them having no desire to get even, or trying to send me on a guilt trip that in no way is going to happen.
The first (problem) I see with this, is that if someone did hurt me in a major way I would have no problem with doing something satisfactory back. The second point, about them genuinely not caring I believe. But the part of me that occasionally sees the worst in people can't help but think that they are trying to make me feel bad about them just taking it.

In the end it's not a big deal at all, but at the time it just seemed strange. Having not done anything terribly interesting aside from going to school, I thought this might make a good open discussion if there's any to be had.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

New banner background.

I tried my hand at making my own backdrop instead of the basic color scheme that I chose.
I don't really think it's all that great, but I like it a lot more than some basic text.
If you have any crazy thoughts on it, whatever it may be, just mention it.

Primer.

When I finished watching Primer, I couldn't even hope to understand what I had just saw. Being the typical person who wanted to understand it, I read it on wikipedia, and am watching it a second time while I write this now. The basis of this movie is that four guys make a box, it started out by growing enough bacteria of some sort in 5 days that professional labs can grow in 6 years. I'm not entirely sure how, but they learn that when they go into the box, a double of them leaves the box. Since they are in the box, they control the double. What they have done, is go back for a certain amount of time, and be the double to get a more desirable outcome then what originally happened.
 They've pretty much gone and done this a bunch of times, and as their understanding of the box grows, they venture out to change more.

That's really all I can think of saying without actually ruining anything. If anyone in the comments has more to add, feel free to do so.

That being said, I thought it was a very good movie despite my somewhat lack of understanding. The fact that it was made on an under 10,000 budget adds to this, and I do think anyone who hasn't yet should see it

Friday, August 26, 2011

Network (1986)

Network is about a seemingly prophetic news anchor who gets his own show because of the messages he is trying to send to the American people. The corporation he works for is really just milking his show for the money, while he stands up on stage and yells his ass off about the country's problems and how he's mad.
   There are some sub plots within it, but Howard Beale's rantings are a focal point. He makes a good point most of the time, and as the movie goes on his message is distorted by orders from the higher ups in this corporation. This shows how the networks can and will twist the concept of a show because one man is saying too much. It also shows how TV is all about the ratings, and the money.
  The movie starts with Howard saying on national television that he is going to kill himself on a broadcast. The day after, the ratings jumped tremendously and the network had an absurd amount of investors at the ready.
  I took this whole thing to be showing of how only one man cared for Howards rantings, every other executive only wanted him around long enough to make them money. I would say if you haven't seen it, go do it. There are a few great moments of Howard's ranting where he points out how the TV is everything to some people and how they should turn it off, and yet they still get more viewers. If you take anything out from it, take either Howard's message, or the ideas of the corporation to make money off of howard. Both are more or less negative, but one gives a better outlook on how to fix it.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Requiem for a Dream.

Having nothing to do with anyone who fits that junkie sort of persona depicted in the movie (that's what its about by the way), I actually found this really interesting. My understanding of the movie was just a well enough produced tale of 4 addicts with their own problems, and how their dreams were shattered. I see how the title more or less fits, but it seems a little ominous (good thing).
 Knowing very little of this lifestyle as I said before, I can't say anything about the accuracy or style of the story. I just found it not quite fun, but intriguing to watch. It seemed like a documentary almost, but without a voiceover by a famous voice actor. More controlled by the characters. So it's a movie that had that feel to it.
  If any of that made any sense to you, congratulations, you now have an insight on how I think. In a way that makes no sense. Though I will say you should probably watch this if you live that lifestyle or not. It was eye opening in a sense that most other movies have not had for me.

Monday, August 22, 2011

On the way home from Band camp.

For the last 5 days I was at a Jewish overnight camp for band camp. Why we go there I honestly have no idea, but it's fairly cheap and nine hours of rehearsal time gets ridiculous amounts done when you have nothing better to do in your free time than practice and hang around bandos.

On the ~3 hour ride home, I watched Food, Inc. It's pretty much a documentary about the meat industry. Somewhat comparable to The Jungle by Sinclair. It's some farmers and movie makers speaking out against what they do for a living and how major companies control meat, and all of the allegedly bad things that happen to said meat. I found it definently worth watching, but I had a lot of trouble eating anything for lunch, knowing full well what I was eating.

When I say it's worth watching, only do so if you really want to know. If you don't and you prefer to not know (I was this way for a while), that's perfectly fine. Most people would probably prefer not to know.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Airplane! (1980)

This morning I got around to watching Airplane like I said I might.  Considering this movie was in released in 1980, it has a different style of humor than a lot of newer movies might. I thought that this made it a better movie, but that just may be me.
   I found that it was just as fun to pay attention to the actions of some of the background characters that weren't speaking, as it was to listen and watch the speaker. I did like the story of the pilot from the war, how he was telling it to other passengers, and how it played a role in how the ending point was reached.
   Although some of the things on the plane seemed a little to convenient, it added to the comedic value how it didn't always help in the long run. The character's habits that have been dropped in the last week, that they take up from stress are insignificant. but got a little chuckle out of me.

I'm not quite sure if I am going to give a movie a number if I post about it, which I won't for this one. But at least for this movie, I've put some things that I thought be fun to look out for, or just what I thought worked well.  Although not a number, I will say for sure you should watch this movie if you're into old comedy movies.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

The First Post of (hopefully) Many.

By the big header above this post somewhere, it would say I watch movies and do band. In my school's band, I play trombone, which is nice, but it ends up being a fair amount of time practicing for 7 hours or more a week.
  I also watch movies when I have time, which is often enough since I procrastinate on doing work long enough to watch movies. Look out for posts about them.
 Often enough, I play Minecraft on a friend's server. If you have any good server suggestions just say so, even if its just for laughs. I like to think I actually play Starcraft II, but I am really bad at it in most cases, so I really only do single player.
  I used to play World of Warcraft, which I haven't for about 4-5 months, and soon enough I will end up getting back into it. Possibly. I played a Holy Paladin on the Zangarmarsh server, in a guild made by some of my friends. Great fun in that.

If you had not noticed, talking about myself isn't quite my strong point. If for some strange reason you have questions, go ahead and ask. I will answer them if I can. Going to watch Airplane soon, be looking out for a post about it.