My public weblog

In Which I Learn about Myself

2012-02-05T19:38:00.000-08:00

On self deception: I've spent several years now thinking I was a fairly transparent person, but the truth shatters that belief. Several people now have told me that I am a very closed-off person. My friends have told me that I remind them of characters in media that horde secrets for his own personal reasons while giving very little of himself to be discovered like Soma from Working!! or Petyr Baelish from Game of Thrones. I thought it was funny at first until this new girl at work started asking me what my first impressions of her were and then when I asked her what her's were of me she said that she thought I was reserved. She said something about thinking I played it close to the chest and kept a lot of secrets.

This is something I've been hearing a lot and I never thought it was true until it started coming from too many people I consider myself close to. Its kind of sad because I always thought I was transparent, but when I think about it, that couldn't be more untrue. I don't really trust people. Telling them when I feel bad or embarrassed or ashamed feels like weakness. Sharing stories about how I really feel or things I've done feel like weakness. The best way I can describe how I see it is from an article I read which said that honor means keeping your mouth shut. You don't say bad things about the people you care about to people who aren't that person. Telling about a time when someone you loved felt ashamed or embarrassed over something is a betrayal. I remember when I was little my mom would tell things I talked to her about to extended family in another state and I always felt embarrassed about it, so I stopped talking to her about things I didn't want getting around.

It seems that this has become a life long habit. It doesn't all stem from that but its a major part. I always thought I was kind of a weird person, and when I shared something I thought was normal and found out it wasn't normal I felt sick. It just became easier to keep everything inside. Don't tell anyone anything became my default behavior. There's this fear inside of me that says, "If you share what you really think or who you really are you are going to fuck up your life in irreparable ways. Just shut up and think about everything before you say it." I'm still trying to fight it, but I'm becoming okay with realizing that this is who I am.

In Which I Confide

2012-01-29T18:19:00.000-08:00

Its been a big week and a half. To start I finished Dollhouse after several marathon sessions and two consecutive shitty Sunday shifts at work and the arrival of the first good one of the new year along with some much needed new blood to spread out duties and take the burden from our backs.

On Dollhouse: Utterly amazing. I remember trying to get into this show when it first came out in 09 and making it 3 episodes before I gave up. My friend Eric has been talking about it for years though so I decided to take another stab at it and fell in love with so much of it. Truly amazing stuff and I should have seen it coming because I like a large amount of Whedon stuff.

On work: eh, drama drama drama seems to make up the day of the week where I'm in charge. First sunday two people thought we weren't pulling our weight and that caused some friction, and second sunday two people got into it that resulted in one taking a week off from work to get herself together. This sunday we got some new people and things are finally starting to feel okay. Those first two were so rough though that i started putting in resumes in other places. Part of it stems from the recent troubles but the other part comes from a desire to do something new. I feel like my life is at a pause and I want something to look forward to. Atleast with a new gig I'd have something going on. I don't really have anything worth mentioning to anyone lately.

On confiding: I don't really have anyone to confide in. There are a lot of things I think about and worry about and just stress over but I don't trust anyone to share that kind of thing with. part of me worries about it coming back to get me and the other part just feels like I can't trust anyone with how I really feel about the things that matter to me. Its always been an attempt to be self reliant and to push myself. I don't know. I'll keep thinking it over and try to come up with something.

In Which I become obsessed with Dollhouse

2012-01-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

For the last few days I've been flying through Dollhouse season 1 and I love it so much more than I did the first time I tried to get into it. I initially saw the first 3 episodes but got bored and left it where it was while it was airing. This time, my friend Eric got me into so I tried it again with an open mind and quickly fell under the Whedon spell once again. I kind of hate it thought because the episode Epitaph 1 makes me think terrible things lie ahead for some of my favorite characters. Seeing Topher broken like that just breaks me a bit. And seeing Boyd leave Dr. Saunders chokes me up. I've been a Boyd x Saunders shipper since they had this one moment half way through season 1.

Vampire Diaries

2010-10-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

Vampire Diaries > True Blood

Full review of True Blood Season 3 coming soon.

On Kesha

2010-10-14T16:12:00.001-07:00

That motherfucker has fun. I love her for it.

Getting Social

2010-09-25T22:12:00.001-07:00

Trying to hang out with someone who just doesn't have time for your friendship isn't that much different from constantly asking out a girl who shows interest in you but is already in a committed relationship. No matter how much you want it to happen, that shit isn't going anywhere. Better to pick yourself up and keep going.

Why Can't I Be The Doctor

2010-09-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

Seriously?

I admire how unapologeticlly weird and in your face he is about himself and the things he feels. When he's mad he yells, when he's sad you can tell. He will lie by omission and never feel bad about it. He is the perfect example of transparency.

I'm reminded of Grerps post on cultivating dignity which is no surprise because I've been thinking about it a lot, but The Doctor does something really great with that idea. He is himself to such a degree that the volume knob was ripped off and people tend to either like him or have nothing to do with him.

Is that so bad? This came about because I was thinking about myself today because I was talking to this girl before class and upon reflection I realized that if I had be more open and transparent on what I was thinking I would have been happier. I do this with almost everyone.

Of course, the major thing that works for The Doctor is that he has no small days because he skips them all and just has big days. Similarly how tv shows don't focus too much on the shitty things we have to do. Like sit in huge classrooms for a moderate amount of time. I can't imagine the Doctor doing that.

There's room for adjustment in this life.

Forget Rory Williams

2010-09-05T12:06:00.001-07:00

I hate Rory Williams of Doctor Who. To start things off, I never believed for a second his romantic relationship with Amy Pond. From the start where they were engaged, he felt like the loser friend who is hopelessly in love with his popular female friend in every high school movie you've ever seen.

So every time Amy reciprocated his romantic feelings I thought she was lying. And every time the writers had something that was supposed to melt my heart by saying that they were so sweet together as a couple I felt insulted.

Amy's Choice was bullshit. Bringing Rory along in the Tardis was a mistake so when they killed him in that episode I was so fucking happy. Just to be disappointed because it wasn't real. Then the writers answered my prayers and exceeded my every expectations by killing him off for real in the Cold Blooded episodes. Not only was he dead, but they made it so that no one even remembered that he ever lived! It was a fucking Christmas Miracle that lasted a few episodes.

His return as a Roman soldier was surprising but that quickly returned to the loathing I was so familiar with from his character. And when he decided to guard Amy in the Pandiroca, he cemented himself as a dumbass to me. Deciding to stay with her for a few thousand years instead of catching a ride with the Doctor was so stupid it still makes me laugh. That whole thing was written to impress me and make me see how much he loved Amy, but that was so fucking unnecessary! Why would I ever doubt that he loved that chick? What would have been better would have been to see her demonstrate some huge gesture of love for him because that’s what I never believed in from the start.

The River Song/Doctor romance had so much more working for it than Rory/Amy ever did. I haven't felt like there was such an epically bad pairing like this since Aang/Katara of Airbender.

Starting Over and Going With the Flow

2010-06-28T08:50:00.000-07:00

The easiest way for me to gain a sense of control when I feel overwhelmed by too many obligations is to just clear my plate. When my to do list is too long, I just chuck the whole damn list and start again. This has always worked for me in the past.

Does starting over undermine my progress in life?

“If you get up each morning with a clean slate, being open to whatever may happen that day, you will live a life of mediocrity. It is not the path of accomplishment, of excellence, of maximizing our impact and witness. The path of least resistance-just going where it seems easiest to go- creates very crooked streams and very frustrated Christians. The truly godly life is one of focused purpose, having like Paul, defined the goal and created a plan for its accomplishment.”
48 Days To The Work You Love by Dan Miller page 52

Answer: Success isn't a series of one-shot attempts. Success is the culmination of consistent effort of a specific campaign. Constantly wiping the slate clean is only useful for ambitions that no longer interest me. So as long as my primary objectives remain unaffected then nothing else matters. I guess that the key is to identify what matters and make sure that you never slack off in it. Everything else can burn but these goals are non-negotiable.

I'm still conflicted because the majority of life is better when you just kind of go with the flow because what you have control of in life is very limited. Plus, I've been thinking lately that mediocrity is a bullshit term.

“It was the same day I decided to be an artist and a writer and I didn't give a shit if I was mediocre and I didn't give a shit if I starved to death and I didn't give a shit if my whole damn high school turned and pointed and laughed in my face. I was finally awake, forever and ever.”
My Name Is Rachel Corrie

The first time I read that line something blew through me. It was the first time I had ever heard someone say that they didn't care if they were mediocre. It goes against every movie I've ever seen. Everyone wants to be special. But this girl looked at something she wanted and decided that she loved it. Even if it turned out that she was never going to be great it was something she still wanted to do.

I've decided to adopt that mindset.

What is Power

2010-06-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

“Oh, there are guys out there capable of kicking ass. They're called criminals. They're good at fighting because they have poor impulse control and anger management, and thus are constantly getting into fights. If you, on the other hand, are going to be civilized and successful parents and homeowners and taxpayers, the odds are overwhelming you will not ever be good at fighting. This fact is thus reflected in our curriculum.”

Read more:10 Things They Didn't Teach You In School

What is physical power and when is it important?

I remember watching the Mosley Mayweather fight and thinking to myself that it was nothing like Fight Night 4. I expected the game to be stylized, but I had no idea that it would barely resemble real life boxing.

Where Fight Night was clean, crisp and capitalized on every counter opportunity, the Mosley Mayweather fight was rough and messy. Instead of trying to power through each other's blows like the game, each boxer's main priority seemed to be to never take a clean hit. In the game, a boxer could take a clean hit and recover in two seconds where as in real life a clean hit could end the entire match. Real life boxing was way more cautious than I expected it to be. On the flip side, when they started tearing into each other the action occurred so quickly that I had no idea what had really occurred until the slowed down replay.

A few months ago I came across a list of 11 real life fights kids had in school and the thing that stood out to me the most was that they never lasted that long. The fights were one sided from the beginning and there was never too much back and forth like you see in every action movie. The first person to land a clean hit and stun the other person for any amount of time won because the other person never recovered.

This all came up again recently because Penn and Teller's Bullshit did a show on Martial Arts and it got me thinking that maybe self defense really is more about fear management than managing a dangerous situation. I believe the quote from cracked, its not in my lifestyle to be good at fighting. With any luck I won't get into any fights for the rest of my life, but I hope that I have the moral and inner strength to stand up for what's right if the situation ever arises, though I don't think that will ever happen.

Answer: Physical power is only important when you stand up for yourself to show others that you can't be pushed around. Other than that, society frowns upon violence. Have enough power to be able to help yourself when the times comes. Be able to run, jump, swim and lift heavy things in case you are ever in a situation where it is important. Being able to physically dominate another person is nice but thankfully not necessary in modern society.

What about power in society?

I've always had a fascination with power, but I'm starting to think that in today's world power is meaningless and nonexistent. What does it mean to be powerful? In my head, I've always aligned it with the ability to get what I want without having to depend on people. I've equated power with being self sufficient and also being able to stand up to anyone because they are not in a position to hurt me or my interests.

Answer: I think I've decided that power in our society means having more coming in than going out financially while living a sustainable life. If I can cover all of my necessary expenses while having enough left over each month to do things I enjoy while putting some cash aside to anticipate unexpected and unavoidable financial setbacks then I am doing okay.

Now, power in social and personal relationships is another thing entirely.

How to Maintain Friendships

2010-06-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

As far as maintaining current friendships, the one thing I struggle with is maintaining a positive outlook when I receive little to no consistent feedback.

Though I start off feeling okay with emailing, texting and calling half a dozen friends with barely a whisper of a reply, it eventually starts to wear me down mentally. Just when I think that I should stop putting in so much effort because the results no longer justify them, I will get a reply that proves all of my work was not in vain.

Just because someone doesn't reply to your pleas doesn't mean they don't care. They might have a lot going on, or just feel like replying to you can sit on the back-burner and before they know it a month has gone by. Hey, I've been there.

So, how do you maintain that drive to keep a friendship from falling apart just because someone doesn't put in anywhere near the level of work necessary? I guess the answer I'm coming down to is to keep sporadic contact with said individuals but ask them out to do some social activity every once in a while to let them know that you exist and want to hang with them at the soonest possible moment. I used to think that having to constantly hold up a friendship is bullshit because friendship is a two way street.

Internal Dialogue: “They can call me just as easily as I call them!”

But I've heard too many stories from family in which they stopped talking to really good friends of theirs because of pride or some similar shit.

I've personally been in that situation. I've had friendships fall to the wayside simply from a lack of communication. For some reason or another I stopped calling them and they stopped calling me. Just as easy as that, I've reconnected old friendships by picking up the goddamn phone and making plans. Seeing how simple it was to reconnect and also maintain relationships motivated me to keep at it.

Doing that consistently made making new friends far more natural. If I was calling a ton of people to talk with and hit with updates on things I think might interest them, I could easily fit another person into that rotation.

Question: How to stay motivated when reaching out to friends when you don't receive feedback consistently?

Answer: Remember that time moves very quickly for some people and they will forget that you reached out to them and imagine that you called yesterday when instead you called 3 weeks ago. Call them sporadically for awhile. Don't give anyone too much time like this though. People who matter will get back to you.

Caveat: this should only pertain to verified friends and not potential friends. If a new friend can't get back to you then they shouldn't be considered a friend. This is for great friends in which space has developed from a lack of communication.

Everyone's Got Their Thing

2010-02-14T15:56:00.000-08:00

I've been unfocused as of late. I didn't earn this weekend. There were no hefty obligations this week that required a considerable investment of my time, attention or energies.

I had the previous week planned out with an aggressive approach to studying, assignment completion, and a recreational breakdown. Nothing stuck.

When I hit my first planned activity after work, I put it off then decided to chuck the whole damn thing.

"Sometimes we have to chuck some things in this shit life." The Weatherman

I don't know what it was that made me not even try to reach any kind of success in any activity this week. I held back in exercise and diet, which is unusual for me. It was a very slow paced week in which I was just trying to exist from one moment to the next instead of actively enjoying it.

The thing is...I don't feel bad about it. In fact, it was an improvement in some aspects. Slowing down made things better. But I fear I may have slowed down so much that nothing matters.

When I step back and reevaluate my focus, I find that some things just don't seem as important as they once were.

This doesn't matter anymore so I won't bother with it.

I found my old motivation folder and it still has the same effect. It gets me pumped and makes my blood boil. It makes me want to do something physical. But I don't really know what.

As for classes, I'm very...unmotivated. My science class is passable with minimal work and my english class is intersting and fun but I don't have any good friends in it so its just something to pass the time. I fucking hate filling my day with things that are there to just pass the time with. People say that this is like work, but with work you get paid so it serves a purpose.

I don't know. I just feel very caught up in the flow of shit that doesn't mean much to me. I know that this will remain the case unless I either learn to love this same shit again or ditch it and pursue something that has meaning to me.

I've always been a fan of what Whedon said during the Firefly extra scenes. I don't know the exact wording but it was something like, I don't do things that I like, I only do things that I love.

I need to find something I love.

The Song Remains The Same

2010-02-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

In response to all the talk about Sam's reactions to meeting his mother in the episode The Song Remains the Same:

I have to take issue with the complaints about Sam's behavior when he first met Mary. It was his first time going to the past, but more importantly it was the first time he had any interaction with his mother. She died when he was 6 months old and so he has no memories of her what so ever. He might have a few pictures, but that doesn't even compare to meeting your mother. Throw in the fact that his life, the path that his entire family follows is built on what happened to his mother and its a pretty big deal.

Her death is the reason none of them are living a regular life, and he's never even met her. She's influenced everything about his life and he never knew her. I imagine the closest thing like it to be like being a devout Christian and meeting Jesus and acting like its no big deal.

Everything I do out of lifelong habit, I do for you and now you are in front of me. Give me a moment to lose my shit.

Media Consumption Recap

2009-12-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

Syfy's Alice

Caterina Scorsone is amazingly gorgeous. It just doesn't make sense how hot that chick is. It suddenly hit me that she looks just like Alison Brie from Community but in a blue dress. Crazy gorgeous.

Unfortunetly, this doesn't help the show. The short review:
Part One of Alice was infinetly more enjoyable than Tin Man. Tin Man was a fresh take on the old wizard of oz classic. But I never fell in love with anyone in the show but the wicked character who ended up being the crazy sister. I was always underwhelmed with Zooey Deschanel's portrayal of DG and the same could be said with every other character.

In Alice, I loved every character that they showed me. Sadly, part two felt rushed and lackluster. Not to mention it just didn't make any kind of sense. The Duchess who was in love with Jack didn't get as much screen time as I would have liked. How the hell was Jack going to ask Alice to be his Queen after the Duchess stepped up and saved him before his execution.

The guy ending up being Alice's father didn't shock me as much as it felt lazy. The only good acting is overacting where everything is transparent. That works and I believe it, but if it doesn't logically flow together then I have a problem enjoying it. So many things felt wrong about the conclusion that is soured the experience for me.

Watch the first part and get wrapped up in this creative and really cool world, just don't hope for any kind of sensible, easy to follow resolution.

Movie Reviews: Good Night, Hebrew Hammer, ect.

2009-07-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

Family Video just opened up in town. I love em, but if I keep burning through dvds at this rate, I might not be there long. They have a 2 for 1$ section that is the biggest section in the store. I fucking love it. After I'm done with that section, I'm going to start on the favorite dvd section which is only 1$ for 5 nights. Lets not forget that for the first 30 days of membership, you get half off all rentals.

My first foray into the store I picked up 4 dvds for 1$. Here is the breakdown.

The Good Night
It was okay, but nothing magnificent. The cinematography during the dream sequences were brilliant. I found the whole relationship between the two main characters to be depressing.

My favorite quotes from the movie came from Danny Devito:

"I used to really believe that everybody was at the center of their own universe. You know, like we're all suns being orbited by the people in our lives. But at some point, if things don't go your way, maybe its better to just pick someone or something great and just orbit that."

"The human default setting is loneliness."

Rewatch Value 2

Reno 911:Miami
I love the tv show, but this movie was terrible. A big part of what makes this show fantastic is the documentary style of following the deputies around. We get to witness the crazy antics of the people of Reno, and the deputies themselves. There wasn't enough time to focus on all the characters. And the characters are what makes the whole concept work.

Rewatch Value 1

Seeing Other People
I've been meaning to see this movie for the last couple of months. I first heard about it about 6 months ago but it popped back up on my radar last week when it was on tv. Unfortunately, I was never able to sit down and see the whole thing. I now have, and I love it. Its the best movie I picked up. In stark contrast to The Good Night, this relationship is positive and happy. These people seem to be in love and I love all of the characters.

One habit I have is to look up the wikipedia page on movies I've just watched. Recently, I've been getting tired of going to movies and not seeing any kind of plot outline. So I wrote one for Seeing Other People when I saw that there wasn't one up already. Its not incredible, but my thinking is that its easier to edit something already up than come up with something from scratch. I've changed things in wiki pages when they needed more information or were biased. I want to start doing this with all the good movies I come across.

Rewatch Value: 3

Hebrew Hammer
Terrible. Andy Dick was the only good thing about this movie.

Rewatch Value 1

Simple Pleasures

2009-07-01T05:43:00.000-07:00

Life is incredibly ordinary and unremarkable. Sometimes, the best thing to happen in a day or in a week can be one of the best things that no one ever talks about:

-Your roommate bought you a pack of vanilla coke without you asking

-A pleasant conversation with a sibling that makes you feel better about things

-A great flirt exchange with the person that makes your coffee drink

-Your significant other got you a card for no reason

-You met and old couple so in love it makes you feel great about the future

-You found a parking spot right in front of work/school/home

-You saw an episode of your favorite show you never saw before

-You had a meal you hadn't had in forever

-You run into an old friend or get a call from a friend out of the blue who just wanted to talk to you

-The refreshing taste of ice cold apple juice

-Hitting the bulls-eye in darts while passing time

-Getting all the green lights on the way home

-Getting all the red lights so you can finish a song on the radio before you get home

-Looking at a digital clock at just the right time that it displays your birthday

-A breeze rolls through and reminds you of something pleasant

-A walk on a nice day

-Eating out with friends

-Buying a new shirt

-Wearing new socks

-Renting a movie you're excited about

TV shows tend to focus on big important things like relationships, finding someone you want to spend time with and be intimate with. Families: raising kids to be able to navigate life safely and happily and dealing with parents and siblings. Work: navigating work life to make more money, enjoy what you do and keep doing those things. With that said, even though you spend a lot of time on those things, they aren't everything. They're important but so is everything you do between them.

See also: Daily Repetition

Six Twenty-Six Update

2009-06-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

Cool stuff I came across this week.

"Telling me about the 5 Environments and urging me to travel? That was advice. It wasn’t a lesson. Advice is everywhere in this world. Your friends, family, teachers and strangers are all happy to give it.

A lesson is yours and yours alone. Some of them take years to recognize and utilize."

Taken from Patton Oswalt's Speech to his old high school during a graduation ceremony.

"Think of the world as a big glass of water with some salt in it. You have a choice. You can try to pick out all the salt or you can keep pouring in more water so eventually it gets less bitter. As you begin your new journey, you can try to remove everything that you find distasteful in the world, or you can just pour in more love. It's the only thing that the more you give away, the more you have."

From a speech by Jerry Zucker. This sweet site has a ton of great advice and links to graduation speeches.

Started watching Boston Legal again and I am a huge fan. Alan Shore has an insanely charismatic personality. What I'm learning from him is that you can be immature, a rake and downright goofy if you also happen to be incredible.

Always Sunny in PA is coming back in September. I had forgotten how much I love this show. Actually, I've been checking out some of my old favorite shows like Family Guy, Seinfeld and Futurama. Even though I've probably seen each episode half a dozen times, I find myself falling in love with them all over again. Its like running into an old best friend that you used to hang out all the time, but you took a break because your lives went in different directions.

After all this time, you find that you still have so much in common and enjoy each other's company even more because of it.

I've also recently started getting into Friends. Its so much funnier and more relatable than I thought it would be.

Abomination Relates to Everything

2009-06-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Death Note
Death Note: When Light comes home, he realizes that he is under suspicion from a series of small security checks that make him aware of professionals going through his things. These security checks are known only to him and are covered by slightly more obvious privacy measures. Plans within plans.

Know when you've been compromised. Similar to Dune's Gom Jabbar, there always needs to be a test.

Alia will never pass a test of Abomination. -Dune

Your integrity must stand.

Allen Walker will be tried for Heresy.-D. Gray Man

We must be diligent in our pursuit to remain untarnished by outside forces.

Castiel has been dragged back to heaven.-Supernatural

Safeguard that you are uncorruptable. That you are and will be steadfast in the pursuit and maintenace of your ambitions.

Perimeter check-Burn Notice

All violence is a part of four things
advance;attack;defend;evade

The first step is to always be aware.

Top 5 Burn Notice Tips

2009-06-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

I love Burn Notice. I've been shotgunning it for the last two weeks and am almost current. Its fantastic because the main character shares tips about working as a spy. Not to mention that Bruce Campbell is in it and he improves everything he touches.

I have a doc with all of my favorite Burn Notice Lessons of all time, but many of them won't make sense to the outside observer without context. For this reason, I'm only going to share with you the best ones that don't need much context to be understood.

1. Dealing with an aggressive adversary isn't always about showing strength. Sometimes its best to show weakness. If they believe they can dominate you, they'll drop their guard. The downside is that you get...dominated.

You need to be the quintessential weak person. You can be quiet, you can be talkative, but your body language and reactions should come from a place of weakness.

2. It's expensive, but you don't want to skimp on bulletproof glass.

On the important things, money shouldn't be an issue because the alternative is not acceptable.

3. There are some fights you just can't win. A force can be so overwhelming that no tactical approach in a fight is going to lead to a victory worth having. When you can't win in a fight, sometimes you have to settle for making sure that if you lose, everyone loses. It works for nuclear weapons; it works for me.

I like this lesson because...in that situation, thats the only thing you can do when walking away is not an option.

4. When you're claiming to be someone you're not, the key is commitment. You've got to sell it like your life depends on it, because sometimes it does.

This works for jokes, this works for spies. A complimentary Burn Notice quote:

Inexperienced operatives abandon a cover ID under pressure. Experienced ones just play their roles harder.

5. A criminal cover ID isn't just about a new name and phone number; it's about fitting into a culture with its own rules and hierarchies. It's a world where bank robbers are the rock stars, con artists are the snobs, car thieves are the blue-collar guys, and safecrackers are the artists.

I love this quote because it holds true to every kind of subculture I've ever been a part of. No matter what the culture is, drama club, anime club, advertising, sales, even Mc Donald's; there is a hierarchy and there are certain roles that get you rock star, snobs, blue-collar and artists status.

Separate them up, find out where you'd like to fall. Then its just a matter of following the mold of that social ladder.

Battlestar Galactica

2009-06-11T20:37:00.001-07:00

OMG its sick! I just finished episode 1x08 "Flesh and Bone" and it just jumped into cathartic release fantasticness. It took a few episodes for me to warm up to the show, but by 1x06 "Litmus" I was feeling the love.

I love the fucking Cylons. They talk about three things:

Extermination, Love and God.

With all the tests, the puzzles, the mind games, extermination doesn't seem like their end game. Its too simple. With all the Cylons coming and going in the fleet, they could have wiped humanity out already.

"Please. My end game is a hell of a lot bigger than that." Azazel of Supernatural

At this point we know 4 of the 12 Cylon models:
Leoben Conoy- quickly elevated to baller status in Flesh and Bone episode.
Sharon Valerii- Chief's girlfriend or that marooned guy's girl depending on who you like.
Number Six- Cylon who scares and enthralls Gaius and completely drips sex anytime you see her.
Aaron Doral- The Cylon we know least about.

I can't wait to see where all this is going and try to guess at who the remaining Cylons are. The only thing I don't care for is the romantic relationship between the President's Secretary Billy Keikeya and Anastasia Dualia. Neither one of them gets any personalized screen time so I don't care about them as people.

Eight Cylons left to discover.

Emergency Revisited

2009-06-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

The blood seeps through my fingers and forms a small pool in the linoleum. The pool expands into a lake and is pleasantly offset by the shattered glass. Glass boulders. What a picturesque scene. I'd be impressed with it if I weren't fucking bleeding all over the place.

Oh dear... I think I might need a little help.
--------------------------------------------------
Finished!

Emergency Situation

2009-06-06T13:17:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of Dexter the first season and started writing the first thing to come to my mind. Writing exercise.
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My blood pumps through my fingers and stains the linoleum. It pools into a small lake and runs into the dip in the kitchen floor. Boulders of the broken glass cups create an interesting landscape, it would be worth photographing if I weren't bleeding all over the fucking place.

This isn't good. I need to find a way to signal for help before I start blacking out. As I fish for my cell phone in my back pocket I start to lose feeling in my left arm. Shit.

I fall over onto my face as I continue to tug at my jeans. Blood is flowing into my nose and I involuntarily cough as the blood pool cascades away from my mouth. Beautiful.

Cell phone's out. Just in time for my fingers to start going numb. There's blood on the keypad. God I hope this thing still works.
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Assignment: rewrite 10x. Best version due Monday June 8th, 2009

Top 3 Things I Learned from Bakuman

2009-06-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

I recently started reading the manga Bakuman. Here are some of the best lessons I walked away from it with.

1. 80% Of Your Ideas are Garbage
Not all ideas are equal.Some are just made of better stuff. Invest in only your best ideas.

2. Unrelenting Focus
"I've never been so into something I felt like I was wasting time doing other things. I've never been this serious about anything before."

There are grade school kids better than you because this is all they do. They breathe it.

"If it hadn't been for you, he wouldn't have a dream. His life would be aimless."

You need to find something that consumes all of your time, but you never feel the time slip away. That's how much you should love it.

3. Originality
"Stuff like "One Piece" and "Naruto", it wasn't just that the drawings good from the first chapters, it was the originality. Like you'd never mistake their drawings for anyone else's."

People need to look at what you do and for it to be so different and unique that it stands apart from everything else they've seen. Marketers call it branding.

Media Consumption Update

2009-05-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

Finales
I'm only going to bring up the ones I liked.

Lie To Me 113
Fantastic episode. Tons of drama and suspense. I missed the previous episode but that gives me something to look forward to in the middle of the summer. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the finale.

"Do you know what they call a place that breaks the law every time there's an emergency? Dictatorship."

"That's tomorrow's problem."
"Well how do you think we arrived here today?"

"You have a talent, but it comes with sacrifice believe me. And its time for you to realize that that talent, it doesn't belong to just you anymore."

The Mentalist 123
Twas excellent. The last couple of episodes felt soft, but this was a return to form. You could see how emotionally effected (affected?) Patrick Jane was as in any case involving Red John. Nice amount of drama and suspense.

Castle 110
Enjoyable and easy to watch. Looking forward to this show coming back in the fall.

Other shows

Survivors (BBC)
Premise: A flu epidemic turns out to be more devastating than previously anticipated and results in 99% of the world's population dying. We follow a group of survivors.

I liked this show even though I despised the leader of the survivors. They dealt with some heavy topics, but not the main topics that interested me. The problems they dealt with seemed superficial or philosophical instead of practical. They hole up in a huge house where everyone gets their own room. Only a few of the characters were likable to me. No running water, electricity or perishable meats, and yet no one looked like they were ruffing it. That scraps the credibility of "surviving". The leader of the crew was horribly inefficient.

In one episode she yells at the kid, "For God's sake! Grow up!" I was stunned. I couldn't help but yell at the screen, "Bitch, you grow up! Are you kidding me?! Who was about to let a building full of food and supplies go because she didn't want to feel like a "barbarian" for taking it from a little girl who had the stupid idea of selling stuff to get rich? Look around! If you don't sack up and become more ruthless and efficient, we're all going to die."

The Hollowmen
Goal: To appear progressive and efficient while striving to do absolutely nothing. Hollowmen is a show about image control for the Prime Minister of Australia.
I love the Hollow Men.

Rules for the show
1. Make the PM look good
2. Nothing is unnecessary that makes the PM look good.
3. If it helps the people, but makes the PM look bad, scrap it.
4. Appear progressive, even if its just words

Elaboration.
One: This is the golden rule in which everything flows from. Remember it.
Two: If it will help the PM's image to spend 2 billion dollars on something completely unnecessary, do it.
Three: If your making lasting substantial change for the general public, great. If any of it reflects negatively on the PM, scrap it. What were you thinking?
Four: This show is about image. People want to be moving towards fixing problems. Its the PM's job to appear to be doing that. Nothing really has to happen, it just needs to look like it is.

Uber fantastic

Kings
Premise: Kings is a modern retelling of the Bible's David and King Saul. Epic. It has a lot of layers. Themes of love, betrayal, power, control, revenge, and religion play out on this show.
I'm current on Kings and I like what I've been watching. My favorite character is the King's son Jack Benjamin. My favorite quotes always involve him.

"You push me to prove myself then cut me down when I aspire."

"The teeth behind the title. Teach you to exercise power without credit."

"I will not sit by and be plowed into obscurity by someone else's ambition. Not after all I've sacrificed."

The show has already been cancelled, but their going to burn off the last 6 episodes during the summer. I'll be watching to see what happens.

Merlin
Premise: A reinterpretation on the wizard in which he is the same age as Prince Arthur, son of King Uther Pendragon who has outlawed Magic. Uther has taken in Morgana, the daughter of one of his friends and Gwen is Morgana's servant. Morgana is not a bad person in this version and is the romantic interest of Arthur while Gwen is Merlin's.

Initially, I was looking for every reason to hate this show because of Robin Hood. Once I started judging Merlin on its own merits, I liked it immensely. Its not a heavy show. Its a family oriented program that makes for easy watching. Uther Pendragon, played by Anthony Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is great as a tyrant king. I also liked Gwen as Merlin's romantic interest even if didn't go anywhere. The comparison from this show to Smallville is apparent in that Merlin must constantly help people without being discovered.

Glee
I'm a fan. My God, I can't wait for this to start back up in the fall. I've alway said that music has power, and I was constantly reminded of that in the pilot. The comedy of the show is also sick. Its like Election but with real humor.

BBC's Survivors

2009-05-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

Survivors was watchable and started off with great promise, but I found myself hating them so much it was a problem at times to enjoy it. As one review I read said, "Its a zombie movie without zombies." What killed me was how this band of people, who are part of the only surviving 10% of the worlds population, survived so long. They basically find a pimped out house and just fucking coast. You could totally forget they struggled because everyone was so happy and optimistic with their faith in humanity, even after all the times people pulled guns on them. They were robbed, kidnapped and threatened throughout the show. How do you survive that long and it never occur to anybody to grab a few guns for protection against looters, rapists, and just bad ass groups?

I need a real post apocalyptic story.

Smallville Season 8 Review

2009-05-16T20:29:00.001-07:00

This being a review of the entire season, it will be riddled with spoilers. Read at your own risk.

If I had never seen the season finale for season 8, this would be a glowing review. The finale was so bad that it casts a dark cloud over everything that came before it.

I'm going to try to stay positive because I know I loved this season up until the last 3 episodes. First things first, one of the major things I complained about last season was the lack of direction. Direction was taken care of incredibly well with Clark stepping up (after 7 years) to start fulfilling the obligations you expect of Superman. Instead of only using his powers to help his friends and family when a problem arose, he decided to start hitting the streets and helping the entire city of Metropolis.

Clark started to become the man we expect him to be. What helped facilitate this change was the removal of his family and the long awaited conclusion of the Lana-Clark relationship. The Lana-Clark roller-coaster was an anchor around Smallville's throat. It just took too much energy and stole focus for the show to do anything else. In that same line, getting rid of his family meant that it was all on him. Its good to make him look more responsible, but I really miss the warmth and love and sense of sanctuary that the Kent Farm represented when his family was still on the show.

Because of those changes, Clark started to do bad ass things. He fought crime, got a real job and most importantly, he got a wardrobe budget. Clark became the suit wearing copy boy who flirted with Lois in the day time, and the police scanner listening red blue blur at night.

Chloe and Jimmy really rocked this season. In the early episodes, Chloe was getting a major upgrade because of the whole Braniac thing that happened at the end of last season. Because of this, we got to see an incredibly useful Chloe, and at times, a dark and manipulative Chloe. There is also some initial attraction between Chloe and Davis Bloome that will prove to complicate her relationship with everyone.

Jimmy really stood out this season. He's the only one with any sense. In one episode, he put the pieces together that Clark is the guy who's been constantly saving people since high school. A task that took his better half years to figure out. He was also the first person to figure out Doomsday's secret identity. One of my favorite scenes is the hospital scene between him and Chloe when he is being released after suffering injuries in episode 810 "The Bride". Freaking dramatic as hell. He was totally in the right as well.

Lois didn't do a terrible amount of things this season. (Fucking forget "Stiletto" ever happened.) Her chemistry with Clark was passable. Nothing over the top or impressive happened to make me root for this pairing, but the groundwork is there I guess.

Oliver was pretty much the rich guy who they could come to for a quick fix. I found his romantic relationship with Tess Mercer to be quite annoying and unnecessary later in the season. In the beginning it seemed like it was going somewhere, but after a while...just let it go dude. His whole "compromised morals" from killing Lex also seemed rather lame after awhile. Seriously? Everyone is going to try to play that card after Chloe goes and kills a guy who hasn't pulled half the things Lex has? Whatever.

Tess Mercer...I can't fault Tess Mercer, I can only fault the writers. This chick has balls. She deliberately sabotaged her plane to learn about Clark's powers. Mercer also put together a group of rag tag kryptonite kids and killed them off when they were no longer useful. She can lie with a straight face and not feel bad about it like Lex did because he was trying to preserve his humanity. At the same time, this is also a major drawback for her as a character. With Lex, I was emotionally invested in him to find his sense of humanity. Lex had personality that made him likeable. He had charm, humor, and ruthless ambition. Where as Mercer only has ruthless ambition. I find it hard to care for her as a character.

Clark's enemy this season, Doomsday, was sick. This dude should have been the most epic fight we've seen in all of Smallville, but that fight in the finale was worse than the final fight in the Heroes finale. I didn't think it was possible to be more letdown with a season finale than that, but Smallville pulls it out for the win! The Clark Kent-Doomsday fight was so god awful that I didn't realize it was over! Someone needs to rewrite that season finale. I am so utterly disappointed that I don't know if I could watch the ninth season.

Traditionally, Smallville finales are two parters in which everything thats been happening that season is brought to ahead for an insane battle that leaves everyone on the breaking point, badly injured, with friendships and aliances shattered, crossed, or in question.

This season finale just pisses you off. Nothing is explained, and the "cliff hanger"...you just don't care if it gets resolved because its lame.

Reboot

2009-05-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

A man needs goals to keep his mind busy and body active. Without them, time flows together from lack of significant moments. And his life is one ceaseless nothing.

And its coming closer.

Media Consumption Update

2009-05-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

American Edition

Pushing Daisies 211
This show is going to kill me. After this episode, I want to include the word "pickle" in my day to day affairs. I've got two more episodes left, but knowing that this is the end is making me put it off. We saw the return of David Arquette and how Ned would be in a normal relationship.

Gary Unmarried 101
This caught me by surprise. I didn't know what to expect, but I ended up laughing far more than I thought I would. I'm happy because the last time Jay Mohr was memorable to me on television was Fastlane. The first season is almost over so I got a lot of episodes to watch. Awesome.

British Edition

Apparitions 101
Hell yeah! Apparitions feels like a tv version of Stigmata with a dash of Da Vinci code drama. There is no stigmata going on, but we find a man of the cloth going up against a guy who is possessed. This is just a prelude of whats to come. Very interesting, very eerie. I love the splashes of drama in this. Looking forward to more.

The Hollowmen 101
That was awesome! I didn't know about this one going in, but it quickly became hilarious. I wonder if this has any truth in how public agencies work. I don't know how to describe it. Its placed in Australia, and shows us the inefficiency of government. How they institute superficial changes in which decisions are made on the whims of public opinion.

No Heroics 101
Lame. Tom should never have left Man Stroke Woman. Terrible. Not one likable character. Jokes fell flat.

The IT Crowd
I like all of these characters. It has a Black Books feel to it because I initially questioned if it was my type of comedy but was proved wrong.

Merlin 101

I like this but I've been tricked before, see Robin Hood. I'll reserve judgment for 3 more episodes.

Media Consumption Update

2009-04-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

30 Rock
I've watched all 3 seasons in an astonishing amount of time. I love this show. Season one seemed slow because there were some hilarious episodes interspersed with average episodes. Season two was sick pretty much all the way through, and season three(current season) is uber fucking fantastic. I finally get Tina Fey. Its the kind of show filled with so many small hilarious moments that it becomes hard to piece them all back together when you've just finished shot-gunning the entire series.

Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman
I was flipping through the book and the first couple of pages had me laughing in the middle of Hastings. I like this guy's writing style. Unfortunately, I can't find a library that has this specific book, and the books they do have by Klosterman are in high demand. I'd put it on hold, but that hasn't been working out for me lately. By the time I get the books I put on hold, I've lost interest in them altogether. It becomes a task I have to do instead of something I look eager to.

Kings Pilot
WTF...that was awesome. So many great things has been said about this show, all I can do is say that I'm a fan. Sadly, the news came down that the show will be cancelled, so there is no second season. However, the last 6 episodes will air this summer, so its something to look forward to. This show truly feels epic. It has the impactful already down.

"If you were my second son I wouldn't care. But for a King, its not possible. Not possible. We give up what we want when we want power! Believe me. Now you want to show me you have the heart to be king. Show me you can control it. Wrestle it to the ground, numb it with ice, but you cannot be what God made you, not if you mean to take my place."

King Silas

This show is just so sick that I couldn't predict with accuracy what would happen next. I'm familiar with the basic structure of the biblical story, but this portrayal focuses on the human elements of the story. God is a part of it, but a small part of it. They took the story I remember from sunday school and fleshed it out so that its more than just religion.

Other shows are nearing the points where they have to wrap things up. So far, everything I enjoyed is staying the course, bar a few exceptions(heroes and parks and recreation).

Harper's Point has also dragged me back in. I'm starting to get into the whole murder mystery. There's still no fear, but I'm warming up to the characters.

*shotgunning means to marathon through something. To consume all that is available of a specific thing.

Heroes Volume Four Fugitives Wrap-up

2009-04-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

My disappointment with the season finale of Heroes is because I felt no sense of anticipation or suspense. I didn't even realize we were nearing the end of the season, so when I see them say that Monday's episode was the season finale I felt let down.

As far as an episode goes, it was a great episode. But for a finale it was incredibly lacking. There were so many things that never got mentioned in the finale that should have been. A huge component of volume four fugitive was Rebel. Ever since we discovered who Rebel was, its like they threw him in the backseat. "Rebel? Oh, it got handled already." Umm, no it didn't. How can he go from helping everyone out in terrible situations, inspiring hope to everyone, to not even being mentioned in the season finale.

Then we have that black and white episode from what two weeks ago? Cool episode, but it had no effect on anything! Angela's sister never made another appearance. This episode would have been sweet in volume two or even three. But here it felt like an episode that should have happened anytime before the Company went up in flames. The only thing to come from that episode was the unification of Peter and Nathan.

Peter was a fucking ghost this season. Volumes 1-3, he was dealing with some big things. Learning more about himself and finding his place in the world, dealing with chicks, and coming to terms with his family. In this season, he started off strong but then fucking disappeared. His powers...it was like someone bent a fire-hose. We've seen him balling, and this season he just sat back mysteriously. WTF Petrelli? Where were you?

Sylar seemed off his game this season. He is always the number one baddie. Even when other villains rose throughout the volumes, he was always present as a person of interest who could seriously fuck everything up. He's gotten stronger every season, and yet more confused. I'm just lost on everything dealing with him.

Uggh...it might be time to just retire this show. Lets see how the next volume shapes up.

Brief Update: Smallville Slays

2009-04-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

Smallville season 8 is fucking killing it. I am so overwhelmed by how great this season is that I have to step back while writing my impression to make sure this is the same show. This season saw the exit of quite a few major characters which brings our total of original cast members down to what? 2?

Yes, its down to two original cast members and the rest of the crew is fleshed out by characters who payed their dues the last few seasons. The exit of Micheal Rosenbaum left a huge fucking hole because Lex was probably in every episode up to this point. This left room to fully engage so many of the other characters. With this, I finally feel the connection between Jimmy and Chloe. I can see how Clark might get with Lois, and even Tess Mercer, Lex's replacement is growing on me. A great move this season is to not overplay her.

Where as Lex would always find a way to be intricately involved in this major Kryptonian villain and every other evil doer in the show, Tess isn't always involved and isn't a sometime useful rich person to help out(Go Ollie!) She is also developing her own team of villains. Of course, there is no doubt that she will become acquainted with Clark's main opponent but it would have been weird to see her express the same level of obsession and involvement as Lex. She's definetly getting there. Now that Lex is gone, I miss him. With his absence, I can understand more his obsession with Clark, and how he would become who he is.

The fact that he isn't in this season but still mentioned makes me feel like they're portraying Lex as having stepped his game up. It doesn't feel realistic at all, but its nice to dream.

Clark's enemy this season seems the most epic thing ever. In the first time in a long time, I find myself freaking out with excitement as I watch each episode.

I decided to pause because I just finished episode 810, the episode that precedes the much anticipated "Legion" episode that I've been looking forward to so much. In all honesty, this episode can be so much less than I anticipated and I would still love it because the overall season has impressed me so much. I am in love with the characters again and I never anticipated that happening.

I don't know what public opinion is on this season among the fans, but I wouldn't be surprised if a ton of people hated it or outright love it as much as me because of it's incredible departure from all previous seasons.

After I get current(9 more episodes at the time of this writing) I'm going to do a side by side comparison of what I disliked about season 7 and how that compares with this season.

Smallville Season Seven Review

2009-04-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

Let's start with my issues with season seven of Smallville.

The castration of Lionel Luthor.

Lex’s broken record.

Clark’s utter uselessness.

There were some secondary problems but these are the main ones. It felt like the entire show added a few new characters and then went backwards story wise. Why was Lionel under so much suspicion after all the shit he’s done to help in the past. He was the last character to tie us to the older generation. When Clark’s parents left the show, Smallville lost a sense of warmth and direction. That sense of home was replaced with a house. Functionally, it’s the same. Emotionally, it’s a shell.

After them, the show just became incredibly dark. Lex became ruthless but in an incompetent way. He starts killing people like we breath air, but he killed a lot of people who were a minor convenience to him instead of the eye sores who plagued him since the start of the show.

As far as potential, this season showed an incredible amount that went nowhere. Kara was an opportunity that could have been so much more. She came out of nowhere and was supposed fill the void of family for Clark. Problem was that Clark couldn’t really compare to the level of patience, understanding and guidance that his parents provided through out the show. What made his parents such a strong foundation was their ability to put him before themselves and the fact that they had fully come into their own. Clark spent too much time focusing on him and Lana to strengthen the relationship with his cousin. Because of this, his relationship with Kara felt hollow and superficial.

Bizzaro Clark was a refreshing change of pace, I think he was a much better partner for Lana than moody condescending yet “don’t put me on a pedestal,” Clark. Lana said it herself. Bizzaro was more understanding than Clark. More affectionate. Normal Clark is distant and judgmental.

Chloe got way more screen time this season, but she seemed slow when ever someone came close to uncovering Clark’s secret. She was far too combative, when it would have been easier to go along with them and steer the topic to fruitless ends instead of outright canning anything strange.

When I think about it, Clark wasn’t too different this season than he has been in the past, but with his parents there you gave him the benefit of the doubt. He expressed his concerns and got guidance from people who he could truly be himself around. Without his parents around to put his behavior in context, his clumsiness, inefficiency with dealing with people, and slow to react behavior was *pulled out of the murky day to day we are use to seeing.

Clark seemed so completely incompetent that I couldn’t find any reason why Lex Luthor shouldn’t have wiped him off the scene with the new level of ruthlessness he displayed this season. Of course, to make things fair Lex was making a lot of stupid moves to give the good guys a shot.

Aww Lionel Luthor. They painted him as a nefarious character this season which is two seasons too late. His bad parenting and its influence on Lex should have been capitalized way back when Clark was still trying to see some good in Lex. At this point, it added some context to what makes Lex Lex, but it was too little too late. If you’re trying to see the good in an evil character and win him over to the fans, you should do that when we still care. After six seasons, and the shit he’s pulled, its like sprinkling a liter of water on a forest fire.

When I say the castration of Lionel Luthor, I mean the guy lost his bite. For the first several seasons, he was hardcore. He was tough, charismatic and a different kind of guiding hand to Lex. Then we hit his transformation from a villain to a sidekick to the hero. At first, he still retained his efficiency in getting shit done. He planned things out well, and worked in the shadows to improve things for good people.

At times, he did underhanded things, but we all need a character like that purely to balance out the power struggle between good and evil. Lionel’s last couple of scenes were a freaking embarrassment. He stumbled over words and was dismissed by mere children! This is a self-made billionaire! He kicks ass even when the world is ending because of ZOD!

Upon reflection, I can’t think of Lionel going out like that. Its so out of character! Lionel knows what moves a man, and how to predict the next step. There’s no way he would have fallen so easily. I’m a fan, so my opinion is clearly biased. Maybe that’s why I’m calling bullshit on the entire thing. Lionel didn’t seem like Lionel. It feels more like a convenient way of showing how ruthless Lex has become.

My overall impression is that they tried to do so much, but ended up doing very little of it well.

I don’t want to end this on all negativity, so what did I like?

I liked seeing Chloe. I liked how she got a life separate from Clark with Jimmy. Her meteor power also seems very interesting and dangerous. Unlike most, it doesn’t amp her aggression, and unlike most, it seems to have a limited number of times used.

I liked the Jimmy/Kara thing when it first started up. With all the stuff going on this season, it never got its fair shot, but it was something new and unexpected so I looked forward to it. When nothing came of it, I was disappointed, but okay because Jimmy grew on me.

I loved the scene with Braniac meeting his creator. It made me incredibly sad to see that happen. A person comes to another planet and makes it his home with a great family, only to be robbed of it by his past creation. It was a small moment, but it got me emotionally.

I liked Braniac as a villain and Bizzaro as the new Clark. They did their jobs well.

Despite all the things I've said, I will be watching the 8th season. I've invested a lot of time into this series, and I've heard that the creative team that created the show left for the upcoming season and its benefited by a new high. It was this trailer specifically that made me go, "God damn that looks sick. I'm going to have to catch up just to see this episode."

*Line used in Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips

Media Consumption Update

2009-04-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

Being Erica Season One
I enjoyed every episode. This show dealt with a lot of topics with such transparent honesty that it impressed itself upon me. The premise of the show is that she was allowed to go into the past and change some of her major regrets. Sometimes she changed things, sometimes she couldn’t, but she always ended up learning something that could help her today to make her life better. Better, doesn’t automatically mean easier. Sometimes it made her life more painful, but corrected a problem that had no easy answer to begin with.

I hope this show gets a second season because there is so much I want to know, but even if it doesn’t the first season can standalone as great television.

“The way we choose to see ourselves, it limits who we can be.” Being Erica

Incredible show worth your time.

Robin Hood
The setup for Robin Hood had all the makings for an epic story. An honest and strong man returns from the Holy Wars to find his home devastated by a tyrant. Instead of implied evil, we have front row seats to the suffering of the downtrodden.

There are many elements brought up that you can’t wait to learn more about.: a shell-shocked hero, a loyal servant, a missing father and husband and political intrigue. Unfortunately, none of these things get any kind of development. Everything in the show is rather shallow.

It’s disappointing.

Watch the first episode and then walk away.

Better Off Ted 101-104
This is a quiet love. I love everyone in this show. Portia De Rossi is back and I like her as a socially awkward but insanely confident businesswoman. She pulls it off. She doesn’t get a lot of things with people, but she puts herself so high above everyone that you buy into it.

“That’s because I’m different from most women Ted. And by different, I mean better.” Rossi

Ted is totally likeable and that’s all that matters.

The Mentalist 119
It was good while I was watching it, but when it came time to write about it, twas completely forgettable.

Lie To Me 109
I love this show. I was worried about how the last one ended, but it came back to its everyday tension rather nicely. The fallout from 108 still hasn’t been dealt with but I’m glad there are giving me some time to absorb it. Song at the end is by Finks- This is the thing. Love it.

The Unusuals 101
There’s a lot of people I like in this show. Not sure if I like it yet, but there were a few great moments in this show. The closing speech about passing on the badge alone makes this an episode worth watching.

Cupid 101-102
I like this. I don’t care about the psychatrist yet, but I like this show. Its easy to watch and makes you feel good.

Supernatural 417-418
Supernatural is always gold.

Top Heroes Badasses

2009-04-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

I’m on a Heroes high right now so I’m going to rank the top most badass people of the show.(Living only).

When I say top, I mean if you come across their sights, pack your fucking bags because it’s over. Prepare to be slaughtered. Game day does not agree with you. Don’t hope for a tie, your best bet is a merciful beat down.

In no particular order, lets begin.

Noah Bennett

To be completely powerless, this man has gotten the drop on damn near everyone. Give him a semi destructive ability and its done son. He has been in the game for 20 years and he knows the score. He goes in planned for everything, and has your routine down better than you can imagine. He’s an in demand player that everyone wants on their side or at the very least, a person they don’t want after them.

Sylar

He fights for himself. That puts him one up on everyone. He doesn’t place trust in anyone and this has made him strong. He pursues each goal to the ends of the earth. The hunger inside him pushes him forward, and he uses it to grow. In this show, he doesn’t give off the same childish evil that Lex Luthor displays as the villain in Smallville, he’s ruthless. In the small time where he was powerless, he still killed it.

Angela Petrelli

Mother Petrelli may not do anything too badass, but the fact remains that we rarely catch her with her pants around her ankles. Where everyone else is running around trying to figure out their place in the world, she sits on high and has the advantage of knowing the score years before you were born. As possibly the last founding member of the Company, the skeletons in her closet are so important that they’ve shared bread with everyone else’s unknown skeletons. She knows you. She knows your mother and father, and the things they did in the dark.

Anytime she gets cornered, she hits you psychologically hard enough for you to pull back and go “WTF?” See Matt Parkman. See Sylar. See everyone. She’s got everyone’s number.

Media Consumption Update:

2009-04-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

TV
Lie To Me 108 was so tense that just thinking about it makes me uncomfortable. Everything that happened seemed in character but improbable because I just didn’t want those things to happen.

Samantha Who is back on air, but its been so long since I’ve seen it that I’m finding it hard to care about what’s going on. If it had come back in January, I would be all over it. Unfortunately, now I have to warm up to the characters all over again. And with so much on my plate I might not even bother.

Robin Hood 101. Motherfucker. That was good. I didn’t know what to expect since it’s been atleast a year that I saw a small snippet of the show that impressed me, but I’m hooked. One episode and I’m hooked. What can one man do to overthow a tyrant? This takes that Disney movie with the foxes and pushes it to an adult level with real consequences. You feel for the downtrodden people because their lives are shit. This is making Robin Hood an actual human character you sympathize with. Just like Nolan did for the Batman series.

“Consolidate your position quietly.”

The Mentalist 118 I don’t think there’s been a bad Mentalist episode yet. I love this show, and NLP was involved in such a great way. I never saw this stuff coming. And finally, we see some progress on the whole unfulfilled love affair between the tall guy and the chick from Reunion. Quote that I loved:

“Self isn’t something you find, its something you create. The more action you take, the more progress you make.”

TV News
Diane Farr from Numb3rs and early Rescue Me seasons will be playing a grad student who digs David Duchovny in Californication. I am super excited to see her in this role because she is supposed to be a girly chick instead of her usual tom boyish chick who can fight with the guys. Up until this point, she’s been playing the same role, so I can finally see how good an actress she is.

Sadly, Andy Hallett passed away recently. When people said that he was a long standing cast member of Angel, I racked my brain and couldn’t come away with anything. Then I saw an icon with his face in the green makeup and my heart sank. He was 33. Terrible to hear that kind of thing.

Books
Twilight is ready for me to pick up at the library and I just checked out Fool by Christopher Moore and The Count of Monte Cristo. I hope I get to them, and I hope even more they enthrall me or I’m going to return them unread.

I am so behind on my regular programming. I have two, count em two, episodes of Supernatural on the backburner and all the last two weeks worth of shows. I’m nowhere even near current on Gossip Girl or Desperate. And progress on the last aired episodes of Pushing Daises is at a standstill.

Daily Repetition

2008-07-06T21:34:00.001-07:00

If I came up to you and said, “Hey, about tomorrow, well we’re going to repeat that day for the next six months.” What would you do? If you’re anything like me, you’d want that day to be as awesome as possible. Nuff said. If you’re going to be repeating this day for six months, you want it to be fucking sick with joy. Let your cup runneth over with good times because it’s going to happen again and again and again.

Guess what? Its true.

I saw Wanted the day it came out and its been on my mind ever since. There’s this song in the movie by Nine Inch Nails in which Trent says

I believe I can see the future,
Because I repeat the same routine.

There you have it folks! Life boiled down in two lines! I am willing to bet that you can predict what’s going to happen tomorrow with alarming accuracy. I know I can. Life is on repeat my friends. We are indeed living the same day over and over again like Bill Murray in Groundhog’s Day.

I can predict when I will wake up and what I will do then. I can predict what I will say when I see certain people. I can predict my actions, my thought patterns, and my emotional feelings through out the day. I know when I’ll eat lunch. I’ll know what I’ll most likely eat for lunch and dinner, and at what times. I know what sites I’ll visit, what roads I’ll take and probably what clothes I’ll pick out.

Its like my Mass Media Research teacher says about the news: It’s the same story with just an updated list of names places and dates. The content for tomorrow will change (tv shows, people talked to, weather, ect) but most things are already well established. Its just a matter of showing up to notice what’s changed.

It’s a little bit sad, but incredibly wonderful when you notice it. Since you know what’s going on, you can set up regular spike points (awesome things you enjoy) to ensure an incredible day.

Examples

1. Read one chapter of a book you love every night at 6 p.m.
2. Talk with a good friend at the same time every week.
3. Having a running game with a coworker once a week
4. Set time for yourself every day.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever read was that one really good enjoyable experience can really help you let go of a crappy day. I take this to the extreme and have tons of great things I enjoy because I want to cut that crappy day apart before it happens.

Steve Jobs said something awesome in his Stanford Commencement Speech. I don’t want to go look it up, so I’m going to hit you with my best memory of his speech.

“Every morning I look in the mirror and I ask myself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do?” And whenever the answer has been no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

Make sure that the well-established, consistent things in your day-to-day life are great things and you will have a great life. Because, well, we’re on repeat.

About Flood

2006-03-30T23:05:00.000-08:00

“Your handwriting, the way you walk, which pattern you chose. It’s all giving you away. Everything you do shows your hand. Everything is a self-portrait. Everything is a diary.”
Chuck Palanhuik

Keep reading. Watch me give myself away.

I love quotes, blogs, career advice, marketing blogs, relationship columns, new sites, design that ranges from interior to graphic. I love anime and manga. I love style and fashion. I love self-help websites. I love podcasts on improving your life whether they be from writing with obsession to getting to the first 100k users. I love tv, comics, and any medium that might give me my next great quote. I’m constantly looking into something that has peaked my interest.

This blog covers everything that comes to my mind. I write about things I can’t stop thinking about.

This is my piece of the Internet.

Blogs and Sites

2006-03-30T20:07:00.000-08:00

The sites I visit on the regular:

The Superficial
This is where I get all the celebrity gossip. I usually don't care about famous people, but the author(s) are so hilarious I visit them often.

Questionable Content
My favorite webcomic. After Erik stopped updating Loserz, I came across Jacques site and powered through his evolving art style and lovable characters in days. Go Hanners!

EZTV
Because of this site and mininova, I could live without cable. I now watch my favorite shows at my convience. I also check out new shows and popular shows through them.

Give Me My Remote
They do great recaps of shows without too much snark. They are also a great source of tv news.

The Rogue Indies
Bernerd, Fran, and Manny review everything from movies to tv shows. Their commentary is insightful, funny, and laced with personality. Plus they're using the same names as the beloved characters of Black Books. How can you not be a fan?

Media Consumption Master List

2006-03-30T13:38:00.000-08:00

I watch a lot. I read a lot. I love a lot. Here is the best stuff.

Top Shows
Supernatural- I watch an insane amount of television, but the only show to never disappoint me is Supernatural. This one's deep. There's a lot of great tv out there, but not too much of it is epic. This is superb storytelling. I originally got into because it was kind of freaky, then it got incredible. And every season has blown my mind.

Psych- Shawn and Gus have the best buddy relationship on television. They really complement each other well, and the vague references they make in each episode is rarely lost on me.

Being Erica-I enjoyed every episode. This show dealt with a lot of topics with such transparent honesty that it impressed itself upon me. The premise of the show is that she was allowed to go into the past and change some of her major regrets. Sometimes she changed things, sometimes she couldn’t, but she always ended up learning something that could help her today to make her life better.

Top Books 2009
Gods Behaving Badly by M.P.
The Graveyard Book by N.G.
The Shack by W.Y.
The Host by S.M.
The Count of Monte Cristo by A.D.

Top Music 2009
Lyfe Jennings
Safetysuit
Kings of Leon
Deathmøle
ZZ Top
Keri Hilson

Versatile Quotes

2006-03-30T10:42:00.000-08:00

More of my favorite quotes.

"A million demons all trying to make their mark."
Constantine: All His Engines

"It is only with some perspective that we can truly see our situations, our realities, as the malleable things that they actually are."
Mark Redman

"The fastest and most effective way to grow a part of your personality is to surround yourself with people who already have what you want."
Kinowear

"Whatever you talk about, you glorify."
Eric Davis

"Sometimes being totally fucked can be a liberating experience."
The Air I Breath

"Your handwriting, the way you walk, which pattern you chose. Its all giving you away. Everything you do shows your hand. Everything is a self-portrait. Everything is a diary."
Chuck Palanhuik

"You can never get enough of what you don't want."
Tynan

"When life gives you lemons, just say "fuck the lemons" and bail."
Forgetting Sarah Marshall

"You should try to stand out. You should have more passion."
Skip Beat 12

"Common Sense. Do what you r supposed to do, without someone having to tell you, despite your own personal discomfort or fear"
Rangers Handbook

"I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art."
Neil Gaiman