Laundry Day

sleep lol

Alright, so technically laundry day was yesterday. This was my first attempt at laundry, and I've learned several important lessons:

- Bring lots of quarters

- Try to limit yourself to about 4 loads max

- I HAVE A LOT OF JEANS

- I MEAN REALLY, WAAAAAAY TOO MANY PAIRS OF JEANS

The only real good that came of laundry day (besides fresh, clean clothes) was that I was able to read more of Speaker For the Dead, the sequel to Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Phenomenal books, both of them, and I highly encourage that you read them, especially if you're going to be doing laundry for about 3 hours.

Anyway, exciting news! Two new movies on YouTube! Huzzah! Go see them NAO!

NOTE: I should really stop using this blog as my personal diary... I mean, I've been pretty good about it in the past, but anymore it just seems like I'm posting stupid shit as opposed to interesting shit. Must take that into consideration.

Red Line

Today, I was on the El. Taking the red line from Jackson to Fullerton, the only thing on my mind was lunch. Would I have a hot dog or a cheeseburger once I got to the student center? Or maybe chicken strips? The options seemed endless, an innumerable sum of burritos, pizza slices and combo meals stretching on into infinity. I could have stood there all day pondering my order if Daryl hadn't stepped onto the train.

At Monroe, a tall black man clumsily made his way onto the red line, the clacking of his white cane breaking through the silence. Since when was the El silent? I could have sworn people were talking. But the car was dead with the exception of Daryl's walking stick. It became clear that the man was blind: his eyes bulged from their sockets, looking nowhere in particular, as his cane tapped the floor and his cup jingled. Filled with nickels and pennies, Daryl began to beg. There are lots of homeless people in the city, and it only makes sense that some of them are blind, but before I could ignore him, he said something that I will never forget: "Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Daryl. Please, can I have your attention? I am blind. Please, if you have any change or food, drop it into my cup... please. Acknowledge me."

What an odd thing to say. "Acknowledge me, please" he repeated again and again.

I began to wonder how terrifying life must be for Daryl. His entire world, his perception of reality, is darkness. Nothing at all. He never had a choice, no say in the matter, his world is darkness, and he will never see the light. Daryl, a stranger to our reality, alone, has come to us begging not just for money or food, but to be recognized, to be given some kind of assurance that he isn't alone.

As he staggered from row to row, pleading to catch a fleeting glimpse of our light, I was sad that I had nothing to give poor Daryl. Not a cent, not a scrap of food. I wanted desperately to pat him on the back, reassure him, let him know that, although his world is dark, he isn't alone... instead, I held onto the rail and turned away.

On the opposite end of the train, a girl, roughly my age, was sitting in the back corner of the train. Her eyes were closed, and her ears were covered by a pair of monstrous, pink headphones. I bet they canceled out everything but the buzz of her iPod. She, too, lived in darkness, seeing her world through closed eyelids. She had given up on reality, imposing blindness and deafness on herself. She chose this path, forsaking the light and those who follow it, blurring the sights and sounds around her with synthetic noise.

As I stepped off the El platform, I was shaken by this revelation. With all of the privileges I've been given, all the opportunities I have, it is my responsibility to seek the light, to embrace the world and those who live in it and try to make a difference for those who can't... and for those who choose not to. To a degree, we are all blind to one another, incapable of seeing reality as others perceive it... but I feel like, if we make the effort to try and understand one another, we can overcome these differences and live together.

Or maybe I'm just stupid. Anyway, I got a hot dog. While I was making these observations, I accidentally squirted tabasco sauce on my bun instead of ketchup. Damn. Anyway, that's my thought of the day. Just wanted to share that.

Critical Thinking: "REPO! The Genetic Opera"

Click Me

Ok, let's do this:

I really enjoyed REPO, which, to my surprise, was actually a really good musical. It starts off with a series of comic book panels introducing the plot (the art direction is really brilliant: the vivid colors contrasted by chiaroscuro lighting techniques establish this corrupt, dystopian world of 2056) followed by a short introductory song explaining the Repo Man by a reoccurring character, the grave robber. The grave robber seems almost omnipresent, popping up at just the right times to narrate and add commentary to the plot, all the while remaining uninterested in the events unfolding around him, like a futuristic Puck... not to mention he gets some of the best songs! The singing all around is fabulous, the actors did a great job in that respect! The plot is interesting, and does a good job examining the relationships between all the different characters... although I really wish they could have elaborated on Mag a little bit more. Still, the father/daughter story, the CEO of GeneCo's dilemma, the quarrel between Rotti and Nathan over Marni's love and murder, and of course between Mag and Rotti all give the musical an almost Shakespearean feel to it. The formula feels familiar, what with all the intertwining, sometimes comedic interactions between characters all equating to the same theme, but the addition of futuristic special effects, a dark, sci-fi world and gruesome gore and makeup effects lend the film a fresh twist.

There isn't much more I can say about the movie except that I loved it! It was well done, held my attention, and made me really think about the future of mankind and the society that we've established (as any good sci-fi movie that isn't Star Wars should). And I normally hate musicals! There isn't much I didn't like, with the exception of the song "Seventeen" and its implementation in the film... it was just... gross. But it's easily skipped and non-essential, so the mistake isn't too bad!

All in all, I give it an A-

Now what are you waiting for? Go rent a copy, find a friend who has the DVD, look it up on YouTube, do anything to see it!

New Pet! Introducing... Doodle!

HEY EVERYBODY! I HAVE A NEW PET!



That's right! He's a cute little fishy named Doodle! He was a free gift from some Christian ministry group or something... there was an involvement fair type thing at the student center yesterday showing off all the different clubs at DePaul... which means lots of free handouts, so of course I was there! I never expected to see free fish, though. Very odd. Of course, I realized quickly that the little fella only had about 2 hours before it was curtains (I heard that's how long they last in the bag) so I pretty much ran to the nearest Petco. The nearest Petco was 3 miles away, not including the time spent getting lost, so I was pretty exhausted. After purchasing the necessary materials, I found the nearest El station, got back to my dorm, and, seeing that Doodle was still alive and well, established a permanent residence for my new pal.

He was a little shy and nervous at first (not to mention malnourished) but now he's swimming around and eating like a happy little fishy! I'm just glad I can give him a good home... I don't know what happened to all the other fish, but I can't imagine many of them fell into the right hands... and I'd rather not imagine what has become of the leftover fish. Maybe they got released into a pond or something to be eaten by local predators or die of starvation. But, I digress: Doodle is now safe and sound in his new tank, and it looks like he may have gained a little weight! (I overfed him yesterday, but it looks like he's doing fine now.)

Extra credit if you can figure out why I named him Doodle. Hint: "The Scarlet Ibis." Oh, and I got a Bible from the club, too. So far, the fish has proven more useful. I think I'm going to thumb through it and highlight the funny parts.

Doodle's new tank. Just thought you'd all like to know

Steampunk DnD in the Classroom

Pet Octopus... Bad Idea or Best Idea Ever?

So, I've been toying with the idea of a pet octopus. I can't keep him in the dorms, though... they are, in fact, poisonous. Never knew that before, but I guess an octopus bite is actually poisonous. They're smart animals, and I'd really love to keep one!

Anyway, on to the point: my ethics professor, a man by the name of Johnny Wilson, is going to be utilizing the unlimited, untapped potential of the tabeltop RPG as a means of education. The game we'll be using, Forgotten Futures, is a steampunk variation of the DnD formula (taking place in mid-19th century to early 20th century Victorian England) and also contains elements of alternative history science fiction depending on the DM and what you want history to be. It makes sense, since the game places an emphasis on non-combat solutions to problems and a realistic health system, complete with wounds, infections, and even broken bones taking a toll on your abilities. So it forces you to really think about the decisions you make in the game world.

I just think it's really interesting that the two media are being mixed to give the students-turned-roleplayers a better idea of how decisions are made and what role ethics or morality play not just in the game but in real life as well.

My character's name is Ilchymis Theodore Adlam, and he is basically an engineer/medic/scientist. He has some first aid abilities, can repair machines and use computers (or Babbage Engines), and has extensive knowledge on a variety of subjects that should come in handy. Plus he has a badass fuckin' weapon, the .40 LeMat handgun/shotgun. And he can use swords. Aw hell yeah. This may be an ethics class, but I'm too good at RPG's not to kick ass.

Oh, and I auditioned for the jazz band... didn't go so well. We'll see what happens.

Vertigo

Alright! I'm at DePaul now!! The quality of my life has increased at least tenfold, and I have college to thank! (Not to mention the hordes of awesome DePaul students at University Hall! Seriously, the two guitar guys on the second floor are fucking AWESOME!)

Anyway, down to business: I made a webcomic. This is just page one. More to come later. Enjoy the hell out of it.

Critical Thinking: "Versus"

Miyamoto's Bacon Number is 2

Hooray! Liquidation sale at the local Blockbuster! What does this mean? Well, it means several sorry individuals have lost their jobs and that the economy has claimed yet another video rental location... but it also means RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP DVD'S AND MOVIE POSTERS!!

Although disappointed that the Cowboy Bebop movie was nowhere to be found (damn... I was too late), I did stumble across a few interesting treasures: Neon Genesis Evangelion Death & Rebirth (the movie), season one of 30 Rock, and a rare Japanese movie called "Versus."

Of course, I was curious. Is "Versus" going to be any good? It looks like it has potential. For $3.99, why not? So, I took a risk, and here are the results. (Warning: spoilers.)

The movie, at first glance, seemed fairly typical. The director's choice not to name any of the characters or develop an overarching backstory beyond the protagonist's role as a prisoner serve to establish the characters as ideas rather than actual human beings. This significantly weakened the emotional impact of the plot for me right off the bat; however, the choice makes sense, especially considering the genre. Action movies are based heavily off of adrenaline and emotions easily triggered through camerawork and pacing rather than creating pathos for the characters or enveloping the audience in a complex plot. However, a plot progression and evolution of sorts is generally preferred by directors so that the tempest of emotions peaks during the climactic, awesome super-battle at the end. And that is exactly what Ryuhei Kitamura did here. The protagonist apparently evolves as he gets to know the female lead, who seems shockingly devoid of any kind of history. She acts as more of an object than a character, helping the protagonist to move along and giving the story some kind of direction. The characters (and the interplay between the characters) don't seem to matter that much, since many of them die in the first quarter of the movie anyway. The plot branches at times as characters come and go, join forces or separate (or simply die), but the branches go nowhere and, unfortunately, lead to death for all of the minor characters. Although much, if not all, of the humor in the film is derived from these tangents, they remain for the most part useless. The movie is also riddled with moments of incredibly cheesy acting and lame sound effects (i.e. the fight towards the end between the crazy Yakuza knife guy and the hero).

As typical action movies go, however, this one had some surprisingly well done fight sequences. Think "The Matrix" except with zombies. Oh yeah, and there are zombies. The makeup work is excellent throughout, kudos to the gore and special effects teams as well! The lighting and camerawork in other scenes made up for a lot of the disappointment elsewhere (the entire movie is filmed outdoors, so it must have been really difficult to set up the shots just right depending on the time of day), especially in some of the more intense fight scenes... and they start to get pretty crazy. Really, the only parts that disappointed were whenever the actors opened their mouths to do anything but spit blood. I feel like a more formalistic approach would have been much more effective in this sort of situation, and clearly the director is capable of pulling it off. This sieve-like, porous plot is often the result of an action movie wandering too close to drama. Also, it seemed like some of the fights took a little too much inspiration from anime... while a certain level of "that's impossible" is acceptable, I can only suspend reality for so long... especially when the cartoon physics are enough to make me groan.

I was enjoying the movie, and was ready to give it a B-/C+ when the hero and his gal defeated the evil dude (I think he was the protagonist's brother?) rode off into the tunnel on a motorcycle and the screen washed to white... and then the real ending happened. For those of you following along at home, I beg you to hit the "stop" button right now and pretend that the movie is just over, because what you're about to see dropped the movie a full letter grade.

The screen faded to black, and the words "99 Years Later" appeared on the screen. "Oh shit," I cried, realizing that the movie was now ruined. This gigantic jump, an entire century into the future, led into the first indoor shot in the entire film. The protagonist had his girlfriend hostage, and she was begging for the assistance of the bad guy. The hero declares that he has destroyed the world, and that he now wishes to possess the power that the bad guys had been seeking from the other side. The two dudes clash swords, and movie ends. I sob a little, dry my tears, and crack the DVD in half.

Okay, it's not that bad, but let's face it, the conclusion is a bit of a bust (I hear there's a sequel in the making... let us pray that the budget is higher). What really shocked me about this film is that apparently Hideo Kojima was an extra at some point... Kitamura and Kojima are friends, and Kojima later invited him to direct MGS: The Twin Snakes... WOAH. Talk about six fuckin' degrees of separation! I wonder if Kitamura ever met Kevin Bacon? By now, I wouldn't be shocked.

All in all, I would say that the film is a fun action flick with some intense, well-choreographed fight scenes and zombie action. The plot remains unintrusive for the most part. Don't walk in expecting a masterpiece of a script: if you're looking for a high-octane, hella fuckin' balls-to-the-walls awesome gun-toting, sword-swinging action adventure flick, then you've come to the right place. C+

Now get out of here before I change my mind. (I want to go watch Neon Genesis Evangelion now, while I'm still in the mood for Japanese.)