Movies to see

Little Miss Sunshine – How often does a movie open with a 92%? Once every few years is how often.
Snakes on a Plane – I see no reason not to see it…

AD

This may be one of the funniest ads I have seen in a very long time. Please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

I’m high as the sky on these painkillers, by the way, so I’m a bit woozy.

Life is Troubling

I’m beginning to find life troubling. I look at the fake smiles and the wanted words, but all I can hear or see is disappointment because we can’t speak scripted lines that are perfect for each and every moment.

Maybe this is why we admire movies and music and books so much. Everything in them is exactly how we want them to be. There are no unintentional stumbles, no looks of disappointment when the realization hits that there was something infinitely better to say in that moment of time.

Maybe that’s my real attraction to music. I listen to the rhythms and the lyrics and am mystified by how profoundly they affect me. How they can convey such a deep sense of meaning? I want nothing more than to bask in its perfection. I could never duplicate my favorite song; it may sound exactly the same in every way, but it wouldn’t be the original. Or, at least, this is how I used to view much of the entertainment I enjoy.

Looking at more of the independent or alternative entertainments allow me to experience something that is clearly original, but is definitive because it can be reproduced. There is no mysticism about it, it feels natural and can be connected to.

But at the same time I look back and think to how I could still never duplicate, let alone attempt to sound like, some of the musicians I’ve heard in my life.

I’m stuck at a point where I can’t exactly tell what I’m supposed to follow. I don’t know exactly where my life will take me. I have some vague idea that I’ll be somewhere still alive, but it is neither here nor there.

Artists create masterpieces. But where does the inspiration come from? How does one sit down and create without stopping themselves and worrying that others will ruin the feeling that it evokes in the creator? All of my art has been wiped away because I was scared. Who knows who might have liked it, who knows whether I can even remember what it was. But it’s something I need to overcome because I know it will play an enormous role in my life.

I speak of this because my generation has become divided, much like generations before. There are the psuedo-thinkers and the outside-the-box thinkers. The pseudo-thinkers genuinely feel like they have something going on in their head, but nothing of any sense comes out. They stick together and feed off of each other’s knowledge, refusing to find out anything new for themselves. They alienate intentionally. They have their own… unique… tastes.

The outside-the-box thinkers are the revolution. They are the ones who look in between the cracks and discover something to keep for themselves. If their discovery gets out in the open, they leave it high and dry. They create, they move on. Nothing lasts for them. The little known ones are the ones to keep. “Weird for the sake of being weird” rather than “Weird for the sake of fashion.”

The dichotomy is not quite as clear until after the fact; maybe in a decade or so. But the side which draws to you is obvious. Why? Because you’re reading this blog.

I’m with you.

Update: I realize how this sounds, and yes, it was written at 3 am in a painkiller induced stupor.

Pens and Pencils

My pen and pencil collection from Japan, Italy, and the US.

I decided to start documenting my collections of… things. Call me what you will, but mess with my pens, all bets are off.

By the way, I’m pretty sure someone still has my Dr. Grip shaker pencil he borrowed for the English final.

Oh, and if you’re looking to ditch the dull old 10 for a dollar pencils (and you’re not prone to losing 5-8 dollar writing instruments), head over to JetPens and check out their stock. Looking for an awesome case for your pencils and pens? I have a short review posted on JetPens’ forums for the Kokuyo Kaddy Supply Tote, which has been indispensable in carrying all the pens and pencils in the above picture.

9 more hours until I go under the knife and my wisdom teeth are taken out.

Amazing Things

My Oddica package which I recently blogged about arrived in the mail today (ordered Sunday, arrived Tuesday, amazing):

Blackbird Migraine

Ghost Cameras

The poor quality of the pictures (of me, above) does not give justice to the amazing quality of the designs, but everything about them is astounding.

Second day of driving, it’s even easier today.

My music recommendation for today: Minus the Bear. Check out Highly Refined Pirates especially. Indie rock, pure and simple.

Bruin Woods ‘06

I had a great time last week with all my buddies that I see once a year for a week up in Lake Arrowhead.

Brian, Chelsea, Rachel, Riley, and I hangin’ out up in the treehouse at Bruin Woods in Lake Arrowhead.

Can’t wait to see you all next year (but hopefully sooner)!

In other news, it turns out I have four impacted wisdom teeth which require surgery under anesthesia to remove. This will happen Thursday (August 17, 2006) morning, so don’t expect much out of me for about 2-4 days afterwards.

I drove a car for the first time EVAR today. It was surprisingly easy… I’ll be having another lesson tomorrow morning, then another on Wednesday afternoon.

For anyone who has a mac and is a student:

Schoolhouse is possibly the most useful program for assignments I’ve ever laid eyes upon.

“With the ability to sort and organize your assignments, exams, and projects quickly and easily Schoolhouse is a must have for any student on-the-go. The power of smart groups allow you to interact with your work as simply as your iTunes library. Newly introduced in this version are Classcasts, the ability to publish your assignments to the web automatically for anyone to subscribe to. And with powerful automatic graphing of your grades and a GPA & Finals calculator you’ll never be in the dark at the end of the semester.”

It seems that this app can export assignments to iCal or even to an iPod. How sweet is that? And it’s free (although I’d gladly pay the developer for it).

To all you Windoze users out there… umm, well… good luck, I guess. I’m sure pen and paper will work fine to remember stuff.

My Sidekick 3 is working great; it has many much needed upgrades which the SK2 lacked (mainly the track ball and the size of the device, no longer does it have the dimensions of a bar of soap). My only complaint is that the battery becomes depleted after a very short amount of use compared to the SK2, but hopefully this will all be sorted out in the next OTA (Over-The-Air) update.

Check out Tapes ‘n Tapes, by the way. A link to a torrent of a music video of theirs is here. They’re awesome.

Just ordered a bag from Iron-on Resistance along with some shirts from Oddica, there’s a coupon right now for $7 off your order if you write in the code ‘tell’ so I figured I’d just go ahead and get Blackbird Migraine and Ghost Cameras printed on the ever so soft and communist American Apparel.

Still working on my summer work of second semester Honors World History (I’ve already finished second semester Honors World Literature) from 10th grade which I missed while in Italy and Japan. I have to finish this or they won’t let me into 12th grade. Damn Pali thinks I have a textbook delinquency too, so they won’t give me my schedule for next year (I turned in all my books for sure).

It’s All… Gonna Break!

Bloc Party and Broken Social Scene last night. Intense.

Today I was stuck with needles for the first time in my life. What an amazing experience; it won’t be the last time I do it. A needle right between the eyebrows relieves more stress than you might think.

I’ll be off to the mountains tomorrow for one week.

(Not me… but I took the picture.)

I felt like energy suddenly began to surge through me when I saw this at the beginning of the week. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is one of my very favorite bands, and after missing both Radiohead and The Flaming Lips last month, I feel a bit better knowing that CYHSY is coming to town. Tickets go on sale at 10 am tomorrow morning for October 14 and 15, Saturday and Sunday respectively, already have 3 people to buy tickets for…

Ha, he says that like he was forced to buy it for them.*

Thanks is due to those who thanks is due to… Thanks.

Oh, and please do take a look at these independently designed shirts by Oddica. Enter the coupon ‘tell’ and get 7 dollars off.

*The actual mind of Ben giving his honest opinion on the matter.