My class’s former class’s autobios are up, thanks to Greg on his website here. And I’m on top and center, because I’m special! You can view mine in particular here.
Mine is by far obviously the best one:
Monthly Archive for June, 2006
Yes, I know, I know - Madagascar is a kids movie. But who cares. It was on T.V. so I watched it. No, I won’t be analyzing the ethics of the film, and way the panning shots work, blah blah blah. I’ll just give the movie a fairly short review. I have to admit, when the movie first came out I really didn’t have much interest in seeing it. I mean - it looked like a fun and funny movie, but a little bit out of my genre, and I didn’t like the cartoonish 3D animation as opposed to realistic 3D animation. But it was on T.V. the other day, so I decided to watch it.
Madagascar is about a group of animals living the life in the Central Park Zoo, one that I have visited many, many times. They enjoy entertaining the people, getting fed, and getting back massages. Oh - and they can talk. That’s kind of what the whole movie is based on. But the zebra wants to go out to “The Wiiild” and enjoy the fresh air, he feels like his life is contained in a zoo. As he says in his own words: My life is half over and I don’t even know if I’m black with white stripes or white with black stripes! So eventually they get out… into the wiiiild. But unlike the trailers suggested, it happens in the first half hour. Most of the movie takes place WHILE at Madagascar A.K.A. The Wiiiiild. They have to adapt to the new territory and life, and not being fed every minute by park keepers, and of course the lion… starts seeing steak in places that he’s never seen it before - in his friends. Dun dun dun.
So the movie is really about 4 loveable characters (well… 3 - all the giraffe doess is look tall) who have to adapt to a new environment. It’s no Pixar film, and no Shrek either. But the characters are loveable, and very easy to relate to and they do have pretty complex relationships with each other that play out nicely, but always with comedy first.
The first half hour is very…. New Yorker-ish. They navigate the subways arguing in very New Yorker-ish terms. “No, I’m positive the C takes us to Canal street, so then we can get the N to 31st.” “Yeah, but the N is out of order so…” stuff like that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Also, the central park zoo looks very… central park zoo-ish which is nice, it’s a very nice movie for any new yorker.
At first I was unsure about the cartoon-ish look of the characters, but I really don’t mind it much any more - it’s not really needed for any reason, but hey - if that’s what they want to do it’s there movie, not mine.
So Madagascar is a sweet children’s computer animated film that kids will love and the parents will probably also laugh at a few jokes here and there. But as I said, it’s no Pixar or Shrek. But it’s almost up to bat with Monster’s Inc. and a little bit better than Finding Nemo. So I do recommend this movie, if you enjoy children’s movies.
7.5/10
Oh, also there is a Wihelm scream at one point of the movie - during the Grand Central Station scene. It’s a nice thing to put in.
Yay! I’m on a role! These two aren’t really that good, just quick things I whipped up, if you see it hi-res it’s pretty obvious that they’re fake - but they’re still pretty cool. The first one is just cropped a bit, and the guy is holding a bunch of roses! It’s just kinda funny because he’s dressed in a jersey. The second one I call “BOOSH!!!’ because some inexplainable wave just BOOSHED it out of the way of the water. This one is soooo obviously fake, but you’ve gotta give me SOME credit for at least adding a kinda refection of the wave in the water. (Original - well original photoshopped one - is here)
Also, for those of you that were wondering all of these pictures were taken from JB’s Fish Camp which has (as you can see) beautiful sunset views. I had fried alligator there. It’s was….. fried. And yes, the shirt that I wear that has an alligater on the back of it IS from this one and the same JB’s Fish Camp. And yes, I AM going to keep wearing it, even though I’m a New Yorker. That fried alligator was GOOD, and it gave me so much photo editing fun.
I am personally a large fan of the Spider-man movies. I think that they are very well done, balancing summer action, good acting, and a great story, along with solid special effects that aren’t over-used. I posted a few months ago when the teaser poster was released.
Ever since then I’ve been hoping for this trailer, and now it has been released!
Awwwwweeesssooommmee!!!
I just thought that I’d post about a few completely unrelated updates I’ve made to my Flickr account: First, I’ve been designing a new lineup of logos for Aaron and my podcast: The Teen Tech Buzz. (1,2,3) They look VERY shiny.
I’ve also took some pictures tonight out the window of the pretty colors outside. (1,2,3,4,5) Very nice.
And the last picture is one I just took of my parents where my mom looks completely weird and ugly.
As some of you may know, I recently reinstalled windows because I messed up my computer. Well, I think that most of you would be happy to know that there are no more problems and my computer is pretty much back to normal. I decided to stop using the web browser Flock which is based on the Firefox code, except that it has all sorts of Web 2.0-ish tools on it. Anyway, now I’m using Firefox because it has more extensions, is a little bit more compatible, and Google Web Accelerator works with it. (7.8 minutes saved so far!!!)
Anyway, pretty much the coolest thing about Firefox is it’s extensions they let you do anything from block pop-up ads to downloading all of the links on a page, to opening a page in Internet Explorer, but still in a firefox tab. And I had seriously thought that I had seen it all. But then I found StumbleUpon. The firefox extension StumbleUpon is basically a little toolbar that’s installed into firefox that allows you to discover new sites of interest. (Official site)
StumbleUpon may not seem like much from my description, but it is really a great tool. Once you install it into Firefox you can choose your interests from anything from dogs to graphic design. Then, when you click on the “Stumble!” button on the toolbar it takes you to a site of interest. You can then rate it, and even read other users reviews of it! These users can become your friends, and you can join groups! And the websites can also get tagged! How awesome is that???
I highly recommend that anybody who has firefox installs StumbleUpon, as it is a great way to find sites of interest, and be a part of a very great community. Also, anybody who gets bored alot, it’s as easy as pressing “Stumble!” and there’s a brand new site of interest right in front of you.
Here are just a few sites of interest to me that I have found in my last 24 hours or so of stumbling: (Many of them are games and flash animations because they are by far the coolest)
Helicopter Flash Game
Hilarious Flash Cartoon - hilarious!
An entire song made from those annoying windows sounds you hear all the time
And those are just a few! So come on, try it out and become become swruler9284’s (that’s me) friend on StumbleUpon.
Okay, I was bored so I decided to do something cool with photo editing.
I used the first two images to create the last image. You see, each was taken at a different time but at the same place, although one is zoomed in more. So for the boat one I lined up the background horizon with the one taken later, did some color changes, some fading, and extra lining up, and now I have something to post on my blog:
Here’s a short article that I wrote for TeenSpeak Online, and will probably be up soon on the main page. Enjoy!
Most public schools across the country don’t allow cell phones. Don’t allow iPods. Don’t allow PDAs. All they allow is textbooks, schoolbooks, notebooks, and reading books. Books, books, books. Now I know that school is school. We go there to learn, to get an education, and that cell phones distract kids, and get them in trouble. I understand that. But they allow cell phones in the workplace, don’t they? So what, we’re 10 or 20 years younger. Okay, yeah - we’re less mature, it’s pretty much a fact. But that doesn’t imply that we’re immature. So why do they allow it in the adult workplace, but not in schools? If teen are responsible by turning their phones off, puting their ipods in the backpacks, there shouldn’t be a problem.
And yet they continue to say that we don’t need them. Why have these electronics in schools when we never use them. We go to school to learn. But first, let’s state the obvious: The parents need them. This generation of teen parents have become addicted to the cell phone like they were addicted to drugs in the 60s. They need their cell phones to contact their children, make sure that they’re okay. That’s pretty much decided. But what about the ipods, PDAs, etc.
Although people claim teenagers don’t need their electronics when they go to school they do. Let’s compare it to the workplace again. If someone goes to work, they might take the subway. They may listen to an MP3 player on the subway. It’s the same with kids. If adults can do it, why can’t we? In addition, school isn’t our whole life! We have other stuff to do: Movies, family, social life, etc. Afer school, you may go over to a friend’s house to practice a dance routine for the talent show. The music is on the iPod. Teenagers can’t keep their ipods hidden in their backpacks until school is over where they then use it in a more appropiate manner? Is it so forbidden to carry one? People are treating these things like bombs or something!
I know there are a lot of points against this including camera phones and locker rooms, text messaging and cheating, etc. But still, if the kid gets caught, take the device. This seperates the good kids from the bad kids. The ones who are in the talent show, and the ones who aren’t. (No offense to those very smart people who aren’t talented in one particular subject)
Okay, I was trying to install Flyakite which kinda tweaks your windows settings to make it look like a mac. I know, I know I was kind of bored and it kind of only really installed halfway-ish, y’know? So my computer messed up.
Half the stuff didn’t work, so I backed up what I could and re-installed windows. Now I can’t get connected to the wireless router from my mom’s computer and boy do I hate computers. Sometimes I just want to……
That site (click the picture above) is so cool, and a great advertising campaign.
Now that Lost is over, I’ve been looking desperately for something to cure my withdrawal (Season 3 doesn’t start until next September, and the season 2 dvds are yet to be announced, probably in September also) from it, I’ve watched a few episodes of the T.V. show 24 and I have to say that it’s pretty good.
Let me just tell you what makes this show special: Each episode takes place in “real time” over the course of an hour (except for commercials - but I guess that’s when they go to the bathroom) and there are 24 episodes in each season (tv series standard). This makes each season just one day! Although it may SEEM like the show will be slow-moving, boring, etc. it’s really not. I mean - a lot happens, but it’s pretty cool.
I think that 24 can best be described as a political spy thriller. Jack Bauer works for CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit, a fictional creation of the show) and does all sorts of cool stuff with mystery, nuclear bombs, virus outbreaks, and as you would expect: Most of these problems are because of terrorists. It’s rated TV-14, it’s pretty violent but not to the extent where it de-sensitizes you like other shows that are out there.
Overall, it’s just a really fun ride that deals with conflicting emotions, fun action sequences, and overall just an enjoyable show with a cliffhanger at the end of every episode. The only thing is: Once I get the DVDs for each season I don’t have to wait weeks or months for the next one, it’s right there! 5 seasons are just WAITING to be watched!
So yeah, that’s what I’m replacing Lost with this summer, hopefully 5 days worth of video will keep me occupied, and stop me from over-analyzing how many toes ARE on Not-Henry-Gale’s feet??? Because some people think that there are 6…
Okay, okay you may have heard on the news: Bill Gates is leaving Microsoft! The founder of the company…. 30 years….. retirement…… focus on charity…. no day-to-day duties… blah blah…. blah. The media is making it seem like he just died or something. But get real. Here are some points:
- Bill Gates is ending his “Day-to-day” duties - he’s not quiting! He’s still the biggest guy there - yeah whatever - maye not in writing, but I mean come on. So he goes into work 2 or 3 days a week as opposed to 6 or 7.
- This isn’t even happening until 2008 which is 2 years from now
- Everyone’s thinking that Microsoft will change drastically, but seriously - I don’t think so. Bill Gates is the richest man in the world - he’s still in charge.
On another note: I’ve heard a *A* lot *A* of *R* people *O* call *N* Bill Gates evil, even compare him to the devil! But seriously: He gives SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much of his money to charity - he just gave up his day-to-day duties at Microsoft to SPEND his earned money and save thousands of lives!!! I mean come on, last time I checked the devil didn’t do that.
Also, I found this hilarious website about a fake assasination of Bill Gates.
That’s all I have to say. Next week’s R&R (Rant & Rave) is about how the U.S. looks in the eyes of the other countries of the world, and why they hate us!
I’ve just found an amazing website. It has free games. Downloadable free games. Hundreds of them. FREE… not trials, just plain freeware free games. Caiman.us has lots of great games from fight games to fligh simulators to 2D and 3D racing games to puzzles to RPGs to the great classics like pong. And they are all P-R-E-T-T-Y good. Now these aren’t official commercial games made by EA games, they mostly personal game developers, I think. But boy is each game a fun game. And they all have AMAZINGLY low file sizes. Enough of my rambling, if your a PC user, check it out: Caiman.us.
My personal favorite: AttacCar
Well, yesterday afternoon at 5:30 I graduated from 8th grade! Right now there are only a few pictures, taken by my mom, but I’ll add some still frames from video that my dad took soon. Don’t forget to roll over the pictures on Flickr to see my notes! I’ve also updated my about page and the profile at right —->
Today was our second-to-last day of school! Well - kind of. Tommorow is the last full day of school. Thursady we only have to go for a test at 12:00 and then graduation, and then we have to do the same thing (except graduation) on monday, tuesday and some other day next week.
So yeah, it’s basically over. And then camp starts. Yay.
On July 4th we go to Elo and Andrew’s which will be a lot of fun. We did that last year too (second one down.) Oh yeah, that’s the new movie page - the entire crusader series is up, the trip upstate, florida reunion, the gates, and I’m younger than that now. All for download in less that 10 MB versions in .wmv format.
Despite the title, this is actually a very exciting and engaging movie. “The Constant Gardener” starts out as a love story, and ends somewhat as a “spy movie” - a thriller but most of it takes place in Africa. It’s really a mix of genres…
Starring Ralph Fiennes as the main character Justin, and Rachel Weisz as his wife Tessa who (this isn’t really a plot spoiler because the whole movie is based around it) is killed at the beginning. The story is then told flashing back to Tessa before you died, how Justin and Tessa met, and of course - what they are doing in Africa. It’s unclear of Justin’s business, but Tessa’s has to do with researching a drug company that she and other suspect of “testing” their HIV patients in Africa - testing in a bad way that might involve death. Tessa couldn’t tell Justin much about any of this, top secret classifed things. Then she was killed. So the rest of the movie is Justin running around Africa, London and other places trying to find out who killed his wife, and prove that these companies are evil.
What’s amazing is it’s not Mission: Impossible spy-gadget-gear-jumping-off-buildings type of mystery-thriller - but much of it takes place in Africa and it’s almost like a documentary. It takes you into the heart of poor towns in Kenya, with the HIV and AIDS all around, innocent kids - very skinny kids. It’s a great view of Africa that makes you want to go there.
Ralph Fiennes does a pretty good job in his role, his coping with his wife’s death, etc. and Rachel Weisz is even better. Even though she’s dead about 30 seconds into the movie, she is the star of the first third of the movie through flashbacks, and she does a very good job. The other characters are fairly minor, but also very good actors.
What makes this movie so amazing is it’s way of blending numerous genres into one movie that just WORKS. Unlike “The New World” it’s interesting, and pretty fast moving. The story is engaging and keeps you watching. I have to admit though, it does drag on a little bit in the end at 2 hours and 9 minutes, which doesn’t seem like that much so I was probably just tired.
There’s not much more that I have to say about this except that it was very well directed by Fernando Meirelles and has style and is just an overall very good movie.
9/10
