End Of The Decade Nostalgia

The end of 2009 is fast approaching and with it comes the end of this Decade, which I guess doesn't have a name yet. And because of this, the usual coundowns, top-ten lists, and reflections by important people are abundant in the media. I've been eating it all up. I love it. I'm a reflective person and I just can't get enough of it. I've been skipping the 2009 stuff for the most part - I'm all about looking at the decade as a whole.

It started when I read TIME's December 7th issue. It bashed the decade although it did have a small article titles something like "The Good Times from 00-09," which talked about mostly research breakthroughs.

After that, I kept going. Newsweek online had a TON of material, and it was in a cool looking layout, so I spent a good hour on that one day. There is list of most memorable quotes (like Cheney's "Go Fuck Yourself."), things that were unknown in 99, but standard now, most important cultural moments, and even predictions for 2010 (even though they have a whole section about the last decade called "Worst Predictions"). They also have essays - one describes how it would have been if Gore won.

And the other night Stephen Colbert interviewed Tom Brokaw, who called the decade the "Holy Shit" or the "Oh My God" Decade, "where everything was out of sync with what it had been before" and the old rules didn't apply. He also said that we took a lot for granted in the 90s, such as national security and financial negligence.

On a silly note, my friend sent me this list of "That Were Popular At The Beginning Of The Decade That Aren’t Popular Anymore." It's great.

And then if you haven't seen them, check out the 2009 JibJab Year in Review. They do one every year . I started looking at them in 2007 and I think that one is my favorite. But the 2008 one is worth checking out too.

I think I may be so interested in it, because I really came of age in the 00-09 years. Personally, my years as a 10-20 year old were more enjoyable and fullfilling than my years from brith to reaching double digits. But it's also wierd to look back and say that I developed my values, principles, and identity in a time of poor leadership, terrorism, war, partisanship, technology and information overload, and clashing cultural values.

And there is no use looking forward to the next decade, because the world is ending in 2012. (It's true, I saw it on the History Channel!)

Well, here's to living our last hours of 2009 to the fullest before closing that book for good. And here's to a fun New Years Eve! My good friend is throwing a party at his apartment downtown. The theme is "A Very Lumberjack New Years." It should be a slendid old time!

Final Project

Hi All,

Here is my final project for my first semester of film school. For those of you wondering how exactly our projects are graded, I took the liberty of attaching my professor's critique. As always, please let me know your thoughts.

David,

Here are my suggestions for improvements:

1. I would have made a big head trim in the black and white shot of the lifeguard running to save Jesse. It is so obviously the same guard, and this is implausible since the near drowning supposedly took place in the past, most likely somewhere else.
2. You should have stopped them from over acting. You did not need the performances to be this broad. It does not make it any funnier. It just makes it look obviously staged. Broad humor has to have some reality to it, otherwise it looks like bad acting.
3. After Jesse gets caught trying to wear a disguise and you show him back in the lockerroom, the shot is too short. Also it would have been better if you had changed the angle, because it too obvoiously is the same shot you used before.
4. Jesse’s pov coming up from behind the trash barrel is a confusing shot. Only at the end of the shot is it clear to the audience what they are looking at. Zemeckis taught me never to shoot a mystery pov shot especially if the camera was moving because you see the camera moving if you do not know whose pov it is. I think this would have been better if you had done a shot of Jesse from between the barrel and his eyes. Of course you would fake this by removing the barel.

The action of Jesse saving the guard was well shot. You did an excellent job of putting the camera in the right place to cover the action. In addition you shot enough coverage to keep it energetic and disguise the fact that it was staged.

Overall this is a very good assignment. Not great or exceptional. So I am going to give you a B plus for it.

Fighting cyber-crime one fraudulent credit card transaction at a time...

It's been a while since I've blogged. It's been a while since I've communicated with most of you. It's been a while...

Anyway, the last month has been pretty interesting. I flew to East Hampton, NY for Thanksgiving on Wednesday the 25th - as I passed through airport security I began a 3.5 month long distance relationship. I arrived in East Hampton tired and confused, but after a few days of excessive eating and drinking (split a liter of Jameson w/ my brother and drank to Ted Mullin numerous times...) things seemed alright.

The Monday after Thanksgiving I started my month-long temporary gig as a customer service representative and fraud detection specialist at an eGift Card issuer based in downtown Portland, ME. This job was actually fairly interesting. The company issues eGift Cards for a large national pharmacy chain, a large national home improvement store, and a number of national restaurants chains, among others.. A lot of people who steal credit cards like to buy gift cards because it's effectively a way to launder the money that they have access to on their credit cards. My job was to stop them during this busy holiday season. Basically, my fellow CS reps and I would review orders, do a lot of research on customers (more than you'd like to think...) and decide whether we could build enough of a legitimate profile for a real person to determine that their transaction was legit. Sometimes we uncovered somewhat elaborate fraud schemes by people using proxies in other countries, prepaid cell phones, etc. I know a lot more about how to "be a fraudster" at this point. Pretty cool stuff. Sometimes stupid customers would call in as well and ask dumb questions and I would get frustrated. A lot of the time I would be on Facebook.

So, that job ended the day after Christmas and now I'm sitting around for a few days before I head back to the Midwestern tundra that is Minnesota. When I do that, I'll be in full-on job search mode and hopefully be able to land something at least temporary as soon as possible. I'm also considering being a valet parking attendant on weekends.

A few random stories:

I went skiing on a day off a few weeks ago. I ended up somehow falling so that my left leg, just below my knee, fell onto the inside edge of my right ski. The edge cut my snow pants, cut my fleece pants, and cut my leg to the tune of five stitches. It was gruesome and bloody, and therefore I will share the picture that I took before the ski patrol lady bandaged it up so I could go back out:

My high school swim team had their alumni meet on the 26th. I got to swim a bit. Kelsey also brought Cancer Sucks caps, so my bro, sister, Kelsey, and I all wore them and took a picture. The cause is spreading.

Also, a slightly funny story: In preparation for my arrival back in Minnesota, I decided to pay my internet and gas bills today. I also realized I had yet to receive an electricity bill at my apartment - I assumed it had been sent after I left, so I called Xcel Energy just to ensure that my electricity would be on when I arrived on the 5th. Turns out they have not had a name/address to bill to since November 2008, and so electricity was cut on the 29th of November. I find it really funny that nobody paid a bill for a year, and they only just got around to turning off the electricity. I also am glad that I called because I really didn't want to have to deal with no electricity when I arrive late on the 5th.

Training Trip 2009: Northfield and Puerto Rico

So we got back from our training trip last Friday. As I explained before, it was a new format with one week in Northfield, one week in Puerto Rico and then 4 days after in Northfield again.
I thought I'd share about what it was like because it was a pretty different trip from the past two I've been on.

While we were in Northfield, the women's team and men's team practiced separately. While this was really good for Men's team bonding, it meant that we saw very little of the women in the pool. ALSO, since our practices would be after their practices (or vice versa), we never saw them for meals either. By the way, having like a floor to share a small burton kitchen sucks when everyone eats at the same time...

The captains put together some whole/gendered team events in the evenings like movies (Inglorious Bastards = Amazing), bowling night (HOLLER), ice cream sundays, etc. We also went to the house of a freshman who lives in Farmington. His mom cooked a metric-ass-ton of good food and their house had a pool table, sauna, hot tub, etc. It was awesome.

But I think the highlight of the evening activity line up was The Men's Team Vs. Women's Team Trivia Showdown. We all gathered in the 2nd Burton Lounge and battled it out in a game of trivia pursuit. Long story short... both teams got REALLY COMPETITIVE. During the last few turns, 2nd Burton was erupting in clapping, screaming, and laughing. The Men's team obviously dominated. Some girls took it poorly. (EX: One Junior girl, "Just remember which team is a Conference Champion...")

Other nights we just chilled in people's rooms or lounges, watching tv, eating and chillin out.

On the last night of the First Week, the night before we left for Puerto Rico. Some shit went down in terms of a select few who decided to drink. They were drinking because we had finished the Mac Meet earlier and we were leaving at 2:30am for the airport, which meant no morning practice. Well long story short, ResLife/ Security is a bitch and shut down a little gathering and took names of a few people. And that SHOULD have been the end of it. But it wasn't...

We get to Puerto Rico and are doing are thing down there, when in the middle of the week we get this email from Leon that he wrote to winter break athletes: (excerpt)

The party with the swimmers was broken up quickly and without incident. They weren’t so fortunate with the basketball party. Although the party itself was quickly disbursed, the building received considerable vandalism and damage (trash cans dumped all over the floors, broken window, a broken table, and food eaten out of the floor refrigerator). The RA on the floor and the resident who made the initial noise complaint also had harassing messages written on their doors.


The next morning at 5:30am, as we are meeting in the Lobby before heading to practice, Andy calls the people over and talks to them as everyone else heads to practice...

One way of looking at it: Andy wouldn't have known about it if we all hadn't gotten that email, and Leon wouldn't have sent the email if the BBallers didn't go crazy one night in Northfield.

Andy was pissed. We had a team meeting. Big talk about loss of trust and responsibility to each other. It was a damper on the day. There was some drama, because there were some people who were drinking, but somehow didn't get their names written down. Most eventually confessed to Andy. But afterwards, I was talking to Andy when everyone was clearly bummed and he goes "Aw common guys, I wasn't a perfect kid when I was in college either."

So there is still some fallout from that but for the majority of the team it's no big deal.

As for Puerto Rico, it was Puerto Rico. We stayed in a different area than from when the team was there 4 years ago. It was more touristy and there were no chickens anywhere. We didn't have kitchenettes, so we had to eat out everywhere which was expensive, but also fun. Eric Brenner and I (the thrifty bums we are) tried to not spend more than $100 dollars. But failed... BUT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GOD DAMN AIRPORTS! It was okay though because we got a Stipend from the athletic dept. for the days we were in Northfield, which I carried over in PR. Overall I think I broke even. Which is awesome.

We had a half day off. Some people went snorkling, other went up to the rainforest (check out my pics if ya want, it was friggin awesome at the top), some went to a really nice beach, others checked out the old fort and an ambitious group went to the bioluminecent swamp/forest thing.

Back in Northfield, everyone was tired and broken down. We only had one day out of the almost three weeks of no practice and it was the travel day when we were up for like 24 hours straight, so it wasn't exactly restful. On the last day, we did a Pentathlon for our last practice and we had another team dinner, but at Perkins (classy, I know).

Overall it was a blast. The set up was interesting and Andy wanted our feedback on it. I liked the training in Northfield, but not coming back to it after going somewhere warm and training there. And Puerto Rico is nice, but the set up and conveniences of Ft. L are pretty nice.

And I'll leave ya with this.

Harry Potter

Hey All,

Just posting a link to a facebook group. No need to join, just read the gist of it. It's funny.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=194107497693&ref=nf

The group is called:

The hilarity of Harry Potter quotes when changing "wand" to "willy"

Some examples are:

1. "There was a moment, in the graveyard, where Voldemort's willy and mine sort of... connected."
2. Draco whipped out his willy, but Harry was prepared and his willy was in his hand before Draco could react....
3. "Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius advanced on him, willies raised..."
4. "As you can see, we are holding our willies in the accepted combative position."

The whole list is hilarious

Just for you, Mark.

The whole powerpoint file is available if you email me. I can't figure out how to post a powerpoint.

Look what I found on a random flash drive.

As the title says, look what I found on a random flash drive filled with assignments from freshmen year. I must have not known yet that I could email things to myself. Anyways, as loud, obnoxious, and rhythmless as I am, you should really be watching Rick Frazel in this video. He has no idea what's going on. As I recall, he has no memory of this.

Old Moon (aka The Road)

Well, I just watched the film "The Road" and have some very mixed feelings about it, so I'm going to write a review here. For those who don't know, The Road just came out in theaters on Thanksgiving and stars Viggo Mortensen as an unnamed man. There are small appearances by Robert DuVall, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, and Michael K. Williams (from The Wire). It tells the story of a man and his son as they struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world after an unspecified disaster.

It's very difficult to not give spoilers, but I'll try. The reason for my difficulty assessing The Road is that its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness: its too real...

Okay, I'm done using the BK template for my review. Especially since I didn't specifically pay attention to the music or cinematography. One thing I can say however, is that the acting is incredible. You always get what you pay for with Viggo. Another thing I can say is that the film really reminded me of Fallout 3. Except there weren't any mutants or other fucked up looking people. And there also wasn't any form of organized government. BUT, there were plenty of Raider-like people. The movie was actually kind of an emotional rollercoaster. Especially if that rollercoaster consisted of two emotions: fear and sadness. Yes, I was scared for their lives, and yes I was crying like a bitch. The worst part about the movie was that it was depressing as shit. In a good way though. It has some nice messages about how there is hope for humanity...or at least human nature (1) (2) (3).

Overall, I'd give this movie a 3.5 out of 5, but I can see others giving it a 4.5. I attribute this to the fact that I had no idea that the movie was going to be so sad. To be honest, the worst part about this movie is that the trailers sucked. I guess that's what you get when you go to a movie that wins a shitload of awards at film festivals.

Also, while I'm writing a review, I should mention something. The show Bored to Death that I recommended a while back isn't that great. The episodes I reviewed, the first and second, were a lot better than the rest. On the other hand, the show Dexter is AMAZING. It's a showtime original series and you can watch it all on the web. I've only seen season 2 and I loved it. I've heard season 1 is better. The show is on its 4th season now. This show is about a serial killer who works for the police department and only kills murderers. The story is actually more complicated. I love this show. Honestly, I'd say its right up there with the Sopranos. Its hard for me to think of a better show. To put it into perspective for you, I'd choose Dexter over Jurassic Park.

New Moon

Well, I just watched the film "New Moon," and have some very mixed feelings about it, so I'm gonna write a review here. For those who don't know, New Moon just came out in theaters as the sequel to Twilight and the prequel to Eclipse. The film stars the incredibly attractive Kristen Stewart, the incredibly muscular Taylor Lautner, and the incredibly handsome Robert Pattinson, and is the sixth directoral project of fashion designer and novelist John Weitz' son, Chris Weitz. It tells the story of Bella, the resident of Forks, WA who is in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen. After an unspecified amount of time being in a relationship with Bella, Edward is forced to move away from Forks when his brother attempts to eat Bella's blood as a result of her getting a paper cut while opening a gift from the Cullen family on her birthday.

It's very difficult to not give spoilers, but I'll try. The reason for my difficulty assessing New Moon is that its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness: New Moon is vampire film. The vampire theme resonates strongly (but not too strongly) throughout this film - the mark of an intelligent and tasteful vampire-film-maker. However, the plot delves into the same questions that were asked by the vampire films of old (Twilight included), but does not shed any new light on where we have progressed since then. The beginning and end of the film are masterfully crafted; the story subtly creates the tension of true love (thanks largely to the unbelievable job that Robert Pattinson does in this film, I never knew he could act so well) and is intriguing. However, once the cat is out of the bag and the big "twist" is revealed, the film just trudges along in a predictable path to its conclusion. The film does feature a different take on the interaction between man and vampire within the film; I think this is one of the few times in vampire film history that the vampire isn't the bad guy. The cinematography is gorgeous and the music is by Thom Yorke (Twilight, Radiohead).

So, do I recommend the film? Absolutely. I'm definitely too picky about my vampire flicks, but at the same time the conclusion of the film felt very empty. The questions that the film raises are not only left unanswered, they are unacknowledged. This could be due, in part, to the fact that the film has a sequel and the saga has yet to be concluded! I don't mind when a film raises questions and in the end they can't be answered, but New Moon's plot diverges from those issues and does not address them (I see vampires and humans as a metaphor for broader race relations in our society, but the film doesn't explicitly acknowledge this). The deeper issues are lost; at the conclusion the plot controls the film rather than the themes, and this diverged from the feel of the beginning and the middle. All in all, 4 out of 5 stars, and I'm looking forward to Eclipse, the final film in the Twilight Saga.

Moon

Well, I just watched the film "Moon," and have some very mixed feelings about it, so I'm gonna write a review here. For those who don't know, Moon came out this year, stars Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey, and is the directoral debut of David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones. It tells the story of Sam Bell, the lone resident of a lunar mining colony who is finishing up his 3 year contract. After 3 years of complete isolation from humanity, Sam begins hallucinating and has an accident while gathering samples to send back to Earth.

It's very difficult to not give spoilers, but I'll try. The reason for my difficulty assessing Moon is that its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness: Moon quotes nearly every great scifi film ever made. Alien, Blade Runner, and 2001 resonate strongly throughout this film, which is the mark of an intelligent and tasteful filmmaker. However, the plot delves into the same questions that were asked by Blade Runner 27 years ago, but does not shed any new light on where we have progressed since then. The beginning and middle of the film are masterfully crafted; it subtly creates tension (thanks largely to the unbelievable job that Sam Rockwell does in this film, I never knew he could act so well) and is intriguing. However, once the cat is out of the bag and the big "twist" is revealed, the film just trudges along in a predictable path to its conclusion. The film does feature a different take on the interaction between man and AI within the film; I think this is one of the few times in film history that the computer isn't the bad guy. The cinematography is gorgeous and the music is by Clint Mansell (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain).

So, do I recommend the film? Absolutely. I'm definitely too picky about my scifi, but at the same time the conclusion of the film felt very empty. The questions that the film raises are not only left unanswered, they are unacknowledged. I don't mind when a film raises questions and in the end they can't be answered, but Moon's plot diverges from those issues and does not address them. The deeper issues are lost; at the conclusion the plot controls the film rather than the themes, and this diverged from the feel of the beginning and the middle. All in all, 4 out of 5 stars, and I'm looking forward to the next film from this director.