Tony Jaa Clip

This is a clip featuring Tony Jaa breaking probably 50 people's limbs. I don't know what it's from; it's not Ong Bak. Tony Jaa is the next Jet Li, with an upcoming movie, The Protector.

Correction: I just counted: 53 people's limbs.

Coming Soon...

I just got the Mt. Whitney pics. Here is a preview of what I'll be posting:

Honda Cog Commercial

Ho-Ly Shit.





ebaumsworld says: This is one of the most amazing ads I've ever seen, truly a thing of beauty. Fully two minutes long, it's a Honda commercial called "Cog," the most elaborate Rube Goldberg device you've ever seen set to film, all made entirely of car parts. It required 606 film takes to get right. It's so perfectly filmed, you can't imagine it, you've just got to see it.

I need ur help!

So listen, I'm writing a wiki (similar to Wikipedia, Lostpedia, and Wikiquote) and need your help in naming it. It will be a wiki of science fiction-based technology and inventions, especially in cyber-punk literature such as Neuromancer, Ghost in the Shell, and Blade Runner, etc. So im thinking some lame things so far, like Wikinvention, wikiFuture, technolopedia. I dunno, I need something good, it doesnt even need the "wiki" prefix or "pedia" suffix. Just a good name. Help!

The Fountain

Darren Aronofsky is back!

Ricky's Banner

Thought I'd throw it up. I mean to see them soon.

Some BAMF trailers

These look good:

Children of Men comes from Alfonso Cuarón, director of Y Tu Mamá También and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

The Fountain comes from one of my favorite directors Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream and π (Pi).

Also, Sunil and I shared our last hug as twenty-year-olds tonight. I cried. He held me...

Mt. Whitney | Prologue

So... I took a lot of pictures on our Mt. Whitney trip but the cable to my camera is in Tucson. So there's not so many pictures available at the present moment.

For now, here is a small description of Lone Pine, CA. This is the town just below Mt. Whitney and as such they are largely a tourist town. It's one of those towns whose main (almost only) road is the highway. The town runs a good half mile down US 395 in California. I counted the buildings (commercial, on the hwy):

10 restaurants (including 2 bars, 1 mcdonalds, 1 carls jr)
9 motels (motels)
10 tourist/hiking/fishing shops
5 vacant lots
22 other regular townish shops (3 realties, 3 mystical shops, 1 grocery story, 1 drug store, 2 banks, 1 general store, 1 florist, 1 teriyaki bowl stand, 2 gas stations, 1 auto parts, 1 film museum, 1 high school, and 1 car wash)

There was one coffee shop that was of particular interest to me: a little new-agey coffee shop / internet cafe in this small traditional town that served herbal teas, protien smoothies and Bobas! Holy shit. Bobas. They were delish. I had a Taro and a Plum. Supporting local business.

More later, maybe pics.

The Magic Schoolbus

OK, so being a preschool teacher 8 hours of the day, these are the things I think about. I hope you all enjoyed The Magic Schoolbus as much as I did, because it's amazing. This show is brilliant. Apparently, it's award-winning (I don't know what awards it could have won.) which it certainly deserves to be. Watching several episodes so far (because the kids love it), I have a few things to say about it.



I'm trying to give a basic analysis here. Listen, the kids are just as mesmorized by this show, as they are by Finding Nemo or Madagascar. I'm talking about 3 to 6 -year-olds being mesmorized by a show about middle-school children reading from science books. How could this possibly be? Let's take a look.

First there are some basic elements like the cast: First and foremost of course is Ms. Frizzle. Ms. Frizzle is the class's (perhaps the entire school's, the show never gives a larger scope than the < 15 character cast.) science teacher. She acts as a guide for the class on their field trips and as a "narrator." She gives them an initial direction, and often takes a back seat for the rest of the trip. She drives the bus perhaps to several locations, but her actions are not the drive of the show; instead, she often gets the class into some sort of mess that they have to get out of themselves. This provides exciting adventure for the show, as well as a form of Socratic Learning method for the show. Also, as a minor note, her dress and earrings change in each episode according to the topic; this provides a point of interest for older kids who notice such things.

Next is The Bus, and Liz, the lizzard (he he). These two act as Ms. Frizzle's cohorts, so that she does not appear to be just a strange teacher doing these trips by herself; these two aid in the direction of the field trip. Also, for a show with such fantastic adventures and events, the bus is really the only magical entity in the whole show. In this way, the show can be classified as themed with magical realism in the same form as Bless Me, Ultima and Like Water for Chocolate. One of the important students is D.A. . D.A. acts as a second narrator for the show; IE she spends most of an episode reading from a textbook, providing the boring but necessary science and fact. This is again for the older students who can understand what she is talking about. Arnold represents the scared student who doesn't particularly want to go on a field trip or learn anything new. Many students in an audience can relate to Arnold and they will tend to follow his path in each adventure. Carlos tells cheap jokes riddled with puns and word play that act as a slight comic relief (again, specifically for older students who can understand his jokes). I think there are other characters, but I'm not sure.

Another thing that makes the show successful is the consistencies in each episode:

• A field trip
• Arnold not wanting to go on the field trip
• D.A. carrying around a textbook
• Ralphie not caring at all, but still learning in the end
• D.A. saying "according to my research"
• The Friz saying "as I always say" (which she in facts never says again)

I dunno. I think that's all for this. I just think it's interesting that this show holds kids' attention just as well as massive-budget-non-educational Pixar movies.

Top 10 Comedies I Have

10. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
9. Toy Story 2
8. Back to the Future
7. A Christmas Story
6. The Incredibles
5. Finding Nemo
4. Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill
3. Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
2. Eddie Izzard: Definite Article
1. Eddie Izzard: Glorious





How about Comedy/Dramas:

10. Kikujiro (7.6)
9. Edward Scissorhands (7.8)
8. The Lion King (7.9)
7. Rain Man (7.9)
6. Adaptation (7.9)
5. Big Fish (8.0)
4. Garden State (8.0)
3. Brazil (8.0)
2. Finding Nemo (8.3)
1. Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (8.7)

How about Romantic Comedies:

10. Wedding Crashers (7.3)
9. 40-Year-Old Virgin (7.4)
8. The Naked Gun (7.5)
7. Corpse Bride (7.5)
6. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (7.5)
5. Edward Scissorhands (7.8)
4. Delicatessen (7.8)
3. Shaun of the Dead (7.9) (Hey, don't get angry with me. I get these genres from IMDb)
2. Garden State (8.0)
1. Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (8.7)

Top 10 Animated Movies I Have

Edit: Rebecca and Ian pointed out that The Incredibles, and Monsters Inc. are both Disney movies. I apologize, I thought Disney and Pixar split up after Finding Nemo. So... the lists are updated.

Here's the list: 10. Porco Rosso 9. Monsters Inc. 8. Howl's Moving Castle 7. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit 6. Toy Story 2 5. Grave of the Fireflies 4. Finding Nemo 3. Princess Mononoke 2. The Incredibles 1. Spirited Away	...Let's remove all the Disney: 10. The Nightmare Before Christmas 9. My Neighbor Totoro 8. Kiki's Delivery Service 7. The Family Guy Movie 6. Castle in the Sky 5. Porco Rosso 4. Howl's Moving Castle 3. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit 2. Grave of the Fireflies 1. Princess Mononoke
...Or alternatively, remove all the Hayao Miyazaki: 10. The Nightmare Before Christmas 9. The Lion King 8. The Family Guy Movie 7. Beauty and the Beast 6. Monsters Inc. 5. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit 4. Toy Story 2 3. Grave of the Fireflies 2. Finding Nemo 1. The Incredibles	...Let's remove both Disney and Miyazaki: 10. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust 9. Shrek 2 8. The Iron Giant 7. Akira 6. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children 5. Ninja Scroll 4. The Nightmare Before Christmas 3. The Family Guy Movie 2. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit 1. Grave of the Fireflies

The Only (ONLY) Asian at Ozzfest

Here he is. With my brother. Pretty PIMP.

Ozzfest

So my first Ozzfest. It was fun. I'll call it a learning experience (didn't bring enough water, food, or sunscreen). Wall of Jericho was pretty cool, as were Atreyu and Dragonforce. Holy shit Dragonforce.



(If you don't want to watch the whole video at least fast forward to the solo at 3:25)


So everyone likes to wear things with "Fuck" on it or something like that just to get a rise out of people. For instance there is the "I Heart Vagina" Clothing Company everywhere. But a few people were wearing things that actually disturbed me a little bit:

• Eat More Pussy (referring to the tour, I imagine) written in huge letters across this large man's bare chest. Needless to say, this didn't drive me to eat more pussy.
• Fuck Mexico (written on a Mexico baseball hat, with a red X over the flag)
• White Power
• If Jesus comes back, we'll kill him again. (The whole atmosphere of Ozzfest makes this hat disturbing rather than funny.)
• Fuck me. I'm fat. (You wouldn't believe the obesity at Ozzfest.)

Also, Ben, my brother, got a picture with the only (ONLY) Asian at the entire concert (plenty of white people, plenty of really white people, plenty of native americans, 3 black people, NO asians), who happens to be a guitarist in Dragonforce. I'll post that later.

Top 10 Musicals I Have

So I imagine "musical" is not so much a genre as an attribute (similar to animated or series). So all of these are certainly musicals and I need not separate out the "sort-of musicals."

10. Aladdin
9. The South Park Movie
8. Pinocchio
7. Mary Poppins
6. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
4. Jesus Christ Superstar
3. The Lion King
2. The Nightmare Before Christmas
1. Beauty and the Beast

Good God. Does 80% animated tell you something about how attractive the average professional singer is? Or maybe something else.

Top 10 War Movies I Have

10. The Great Raid
9. The English Patient
8. Black Hawk Down
7. Grave of the Fireflies
6. Braveheart
5. Rambo III
4. Jarhead
3. Downfall
2. Das Boot
1. Schindler's List

Top 10 Horror Movies I Have

Oh yeah, and let me clarify here. I'm using IMDb's ratings and genres. Their genres are more like the tags of Flickr or Gizmodo or Last.fm . Each movie can belong to several of them. Many of these were not listed as primarily a horror movie (especially including Predator, King Kong, and Aliens). They are still listed as horror movies though. And if they make the cut for best Action or Adventure or Sci-Fi movies, they'll be listed there too. In the second column, I only included movies that were listed primarily or secondarily as Horror.

Horror in General	Primarily or Secondarily Horror
10. Predator 9. Saw (Uncut Edition) 8. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust 7. Evil Dead II 6. Dawn of the Dead (1978) 5. Night of the Living Dead (Black & White) 4. Shaun of the Dead 3. King Kong (1933) 2. The Exorcist (Director's Cut) 1. Aliens	10. 28 Days Later 9. Ringu 8. Dawn of the Dead (2004) 7. The Omen (Special Edition) (1976) 6. Predator 5. Saw (Uncut Edition) 4. Night of the Living Dead (Black & White) 3. Shaun of the Dead 2. The Exorcist (Director's Cut) 1. Aliens

10 Oldest Movies I Have

Are...

10 Peter Pan (1953)
9 Alice in Wonderland (1951)
8 Stage Fright (1950)
7 Bambi (1942)
6 Dumbo (1941)
5 Pinocchio (1940)
4 Fantasia (1940)
3 Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)
2 King Kong (1933)
1 Metropolis (1927)

That is some old shit.