Eve 6 and Santa Fe

I went to the Eve 6 Concert last Friday at Santa Fe with people on on my floor. I really enjoyed it alot. I didn't think it was going to be that good becuase I always considered them a burnout 90's one hit wonder band. (I might have been a little harsh). It was the first concert I've been to since Virgin Fest, which was amazing, and I was pleasantly suprised how good it was. 

The opening band which I think is called Clayton Senne or somthing like that, was very good. I really liked the singers voice, his name was Clayton, was and the style of music they played. 

Eve 6 has aged alot over the 10 years. Which is understandable considering their 10 years older. But they sounded very good, almost exactly like the album, I had alot of fun and we were right at the front. I would definatly go again if I had the chance.

Mario Kart

Just thought I'd let all of you in on a very strange part of life here on the 8th Floor of Elkton. I have some friends down the hall who have Mario Kart down the hall. At first the game was exactly as it is, a game. The same people would always play and win, and people only showed up to have a quick "Kart Sesh." Slowly, the "Kart Sesh" has evolved into an extremely competitive league. Yeah, it may sound hilarious, but once you get blue-shelled right at the finish line, when you were in 1st place but now have dropped to 8th, only inches away from victory. Once you get hit with a red shell, get shrunk twice and then hit by bullet bill. You'll realize how addicting this game is. It is not uncommon to hear at the early hours of the morning, Rami or Peter screaming "FUCK, FUCK, FUUUUUUUUCK." You may think they're crazy, but when you start playing you understand their frustration. 

Recently, we put a ranking system up on the door just to make everything more chaotic. There are several tiers you can be placed in. Each tier has 3 people in it and there are around 5 tiers. This has only made the races even more competitive because there are long term effects to every race you participate in. Right now I'm in tier 2 but on any day I could move up or down depending on how I raced. I gotta go, got somekart to play.

The Fountain

The other night I saw a movie on a movie channel. The Fountain is a very different kind of movie. It was officially classified as a sci-fi movie but I considered it more of a drama. When I was looking up reviews of this movie after I saw it I got very mixed reviews. In fact almost exactly 1/2 the people who saw The Fountain hated it and the other 1/2 loved it. At first, I didn't understand the movie and didn't consider it a good movie. But, over and over I kept watching it whenever it was on TV. 

Visually The Fountain is a very beautiful movie. Every scene is intriguing to just watch and this is most likely what kept drawing me to the movie over and over. The plot involves the Hero (Hugh Jackmon) in 3 different time periods. It becomes more clear over the movie that the journey of these men are all identical. All 3 want to achieve immortality.

The difference between The Fountain and most other movies is in the plot development and the questions it creates. Most movies are meant for entertainment puposes and if they are meant to make you think, your thoughts are pushed towards a way of thinking through some direct way. However, The Fountain's plot development is more like a classic novel. Everything is very obscure and there is no obvious "eureka" moment at the end by the main character, which is evident to everyone viewing. This movie really forces you to interpret the meaning of the movie itself, and then raises some very interesting issues about life and death. 

Overall, The Fountain has grown on me. At first I thought it was a second rate movie that didn't achieve what it meant to. However, I have grown to love this movie and I enjoy watching a great amount. Allthough I can be certain I won't get any work done after watching it. 

Blogging Anxiety

Sometimes when I write my blog I feel the substantial pressure to please my potential viewers and my followers, all two of them. How will they respond to my questioning of controversial issues? Will they understand my jokes and my sarcasm? If I were to randomly find this blog stumbling through websites, would I be compelled to stay, or would I keep clicking until I found something with a "catchier" title?

But then I remember...I'm awesome.

Indiana Jones and the Sellout

The other day on iTunes I saw "The Best of 2008." It's a set of albums, movies, TV Shows, etc. That they put out at the end of every year. I was browsing through what they had and looked through the best Movies. I was shocked to see the listing. Most of the movies I couldn't argue with, after all it's a matter of opinion, I saw a good mix of new releases and classics. But then I saw listed under the best movies of 2008, Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. 

I didn't really see any basis for this being included in the "best of" any category other than the best way to end a great series in a horrible murderous way. I consider myself an Indian Jones fanatic and I was looking forward to the release of this movie for years. I own the DVD set of the original trilogy and went to the midnight opening of The Crystal Skull on a school night. If this movie was average I would probably have gone and seen it twice. Just to take it all in. But, from my point of view, the movie I saw that night wasn't even an Indiana Jones movie. As a stand-alone movie it was average at best. But when compared to the original movies, the true horror of how bad the movie is comes out. The special effects were a tragedy and were obviously computer generated. In the original series nearly all the stunts were live-action. The movie was so full of computer generation it almost qualifies as an Animated Movie. Maybe Pixar should have produced the movie. 

Overall, as a standalone movie I considered it subpar at best. But when compared to the Original Trilogy it's pretty much the worst movie ever made. iTunes what were you thinking. 

Centsports

Well sports fans, I've got something you're gonna love. Some people on my floor told me about centsports.com, a betting website. Advertisers are not only paying for their ad-space but their paying so that you can get a whopping 10 cents to bet on any sporting event. So little money has never had so much meaning. You can eventually cash out whatever money you win. I haven't gotten a chance to do that yet since I'm still under a dollar. Mostly because every week I put a majority of my money on the Packers and then they lose. The best part about the website is when you do lose all your money, you can just click for more, courtesy of advertisers. And you can even get a percentage bonus on top of your winnings courtesy of those same advertisers if you click on an ad or to. 

I told my parents all this and they smelled scam, I don't really blame them, but so far I haven't actually even looked at any advertisements and the spam I get to my e-mail address is still exactly the same as it was before, zero. Overall, I'd say its a good deal, one of my friends from my floor got to $10 before he lost it all. "Now I have to start all over," he said. At least he can take comfort in knowing that it wasn't actually his money anyway. 

Quantum of Solace

A few weekends ago I went and saw Quantum of Solace on opening night. Overall, the movie has received not so grand reviews. Rolling stone only gave it 2.5 stars and Roger Ebert only gave it 2 stars. But you know what I think, what do they know? 

I will say this...say goodbye to your old fashion bond movie full of fancy gadgets and throw away girls. The first 20 something Bond movies had no link at all, each was an independent movie with James Bond and a Martini "shaken not stirred" the only commonality. Quantum of Solace is basically the sequel to Casino Royale. You need to see it before you watch the newest installment or you will be lost through most of the plot. 

A change I found rather welcoming in Casino Royale, is the realization of the Director that James Bond is supposed to be a human, not a superhero. In previous movies Bond would dominate all fights and would come away as clean as he entered the fight. Daniel Craig's Bond actually bleeds, gets bruises and even has some emotional scares still given from the last movie. Overall, the movie is an extension of Casino Royale with more action. This is a welcome addition for those of you who are not poker fans. (You need to see the first movie to get that one). 

We've been introduced to a new James Bond, one who takes his occasional beatings and actually has emotions. And I have to say, I'm glad to meet the new James Bond, it's a pleasure.