A late Christmas entry for all two of you who might actually read this thing still. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures this year of party or family which is pretty sad to tell the truth, but here's a picture I hope will remain true every year on Christmas, the tree. In particular, this tree was given to me by my grandparents as a nice reminder of family over the holidays. They picked out every ornament and decorated this tree for me in a way that makes it highly personal, and although it's fake, it is the only tree that I need to have in my apartment every year.
This Christmas was extremely satisfying. Not because I got lovely presents from everyone, but because I was able to spend it in good spirits with the people that are important to me. Seeing everyone in such a good mood to me is what the holidays are really about. We forget our personal differences, all that's made us bitter and selfish during the year, and are able to spend it together and remember what it is that made us friends in the first place.
My one regret this year, was not being able to get presents for every one of my friends. Usually, I relish being able to find that one special thing to light the eyes, but we made more of an effort to be frugal this year, and part of me dislikes that fact. Although incredibly convenient, and ultimately fun, I missed the personal impression an individual gift can make.
The holidays aren't quite over just yet, but if the early promise of a successful Christmas is any indication, New Year's promises to be fulfilling and special as well. Merry Christmas everyone!
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Little Howie Hughes
What better way to spend a day off than with some relaxation, errands, and finishing it up with a good old fashioned Hollywood Biopic?
Well, some may beg to differ, but I think that's a pretty nice way to end the day. Specifically, I caught a viewing of The Aviator appropriately enough at The Bridge in the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center. If you don't know what this movie is, and you don't know who Howard Hughes you'll have to check it out, especially if you're enamored with planes, technology, and flight. This movie will knock your socks off.
Truthfully, I went in with high expectations. Perhaps in the minority, I enjoyed Martin Scorsese's last effort, Gangs of New York and was looking forward to this one immensely. Not just because I'm an engineer, or because Mr. Scorsese has a love for cinema, but because Howard Hughes himself led a conflicted and unfortunate existence. As famous and ingenious as he was, he could not escape the affliction of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and it's ultimately what consumed him.
Leonardo DiCaprio took to task the lead role as the eccentric test pilot and millionaire in what has to be his greatest role to date. The early promise of a stellar career has to be realized here, and it's no surprise to me that he was nominated for a Golden Globe recently. For one, he doesn't shy away from depicting the absolute prison of Mr. Hughes' OCD while at the same time maintaining an unbridled and passionate energy for what he loves. It's an emotional performance that I was impressed by, and no doubt impressed the Hollywood Foreign Press.
Supporting the lead, Cate Blanchett proves once again why she is one of the most talented actresses at the moment. Her honest portrayal of Katherine Hepburn plays less as imitation and more as personification. Most other roles in this film are secondary to hers and Mr. Dicaprio's and with good reason, every moment they're on the screen together, it's cinema gold.
What most impressed me about this movie were how devoted Mr. Scorsese is to film itself. He shares with Mr. Hughes an obsession of all things film, and especially a devotion to realism. It's apparent that both directors want the audience to experience the pain, the joy, the fear, and the love their characters emote. There's parallels in the high flying antics of Mr. Hughes' first film Hell's Angels to this film's own scenes of flight. One could also argue that the early on-screen violence of Scarface and the similar gangland brutality of Goodfellas hold much in common that both directors wanted realism and not beauty.
With all of this praise, you would think I really loved this film, but in actuality, I left feeling somewhat empty. Maybe it was the knowledge of Mr. Hughes' life after the events of the film and how it ultimately was bittersweet. What Mr. Scorsese did accomplish was helping us remember how great the accomplishments of this one innovator really were. We as young people do not even know of a time when flight was inaccessible to the general public, but we should all have Mr. Hughes to thank for it. Coupled with the majesty of flight, it's an impressive film, but perhaps one that feels just like the legacy of Howard Hughes: incomplete.
Overall Score: 3 out of 5 stars
Well, some may beg to differ, but I think that's a pretty nice way to end the day. Specifically, I caught a viewing of The Aviator appropriately enough at The Bridge in the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center. If you don't know what this movie is, and you don't know who Howard Hughes you'll have to check it out, especially if you're enamored with planes, technology, and flight. This movie will knock your socks off.
Truthfully, I went in with high expectations. Perhaps in the minority, I enjoyed Martin Scorsese's last effort, Gangs of New York and was looking forward to this one immensely. Not just because I'm an engineer, or because Mr. Scorsese has a love for cinema, but because Howard Hughes himself led a conflicted and unfortunate existence. As famous and ingenious as he was, he could not escape the affliction of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and it's ultimately what consumed him.
Leonardo DiCaprio took to task the lead role as the eccentric test pilot and millionaire in what has to be his greatest role to date. The early promise of a stellar career has to be realized here, and it's no surprise to me that he was nominated for a Golden Globe recently. For one, he doesn't shy away from depicting the absolute prison of Mr. Hughes' OCD while at the same time maintaining an unbridled and passionate energy for what he loves. It's an emotional performance that I was impressed by, and no doubt impressed the Hollywood Foreign Press.
Supporting the lead, Cate Blanchett proves once again why she is one of the most talented actresses at the moment. Her honest portrayal of Katherine Hepburn plays less as imitation and more as personification. Most other roles in this film are secondary to hers and Mr. Dicaprio's and with good reason, every moment they're on the screen together, it's cinema gold.
What most impressed me about this movie were how devoted Mr. Scorsese is to film itself. He shares with Mr. Hughes an obsession of all things film, and especially a devotion to realism. It's apparent that both directors want the audience to experience the pain, the joy, the fear, and the love their characters emote. There's parallels in the high flying antics of Mr. Hughes' first film Hell's Angels to this film's own scenes of flight. One could also argue that the early on-screen violence of Scarface and the similar gangland brutality of Goodfellas hold much in common that both directors wanted realism and not beauty.
With all of this praise, you would think I really loved this film, but in actuality, I left feeling somewhat empty. Maybe it was the knowledge of Mr. Hughes' life after the events of the film and how it ultimately was bittersweet. What Mr. Scorsese did accomplish was helping us remember how great the accomplishments of this one innovator really were. We as young people do not even know of a time when flight was inaccessible to the general public, but we should all have Mr. Hughes to thank for it. Coupled with the majesty of flight, it's an impressive film, but perhaps one that feels just like the legacy of Howard Hughes: incomplete.
Overall Score: 3 out of 5 stars
Monday, December 20, 2004
Painfully Board
Or quite the opposite if you will. Mammoth was quite the success, and now I've been infected with the snowboarding bug. To say the least, you know it's been a good weekend when Monday's meant for recovery from lack of sleep, excess of physical exertion, and horrible, horrible pain. Oh yes, the pain.
Seriously though, it's not as bad as I make it sound. Mammoth is always a good time as long as you're not crashing to the snow every ten feet. Here's a picture I snapped at the very, very top of the mountain, home to a mess of double black and single black diamond runs and also one single blue square. After taking a gander at our surroundings for a grand total of two minutes (freezing up there!) I'm amazed at how incredibly steep it gets at the top. Scary steep.
This trip though, made me all the more excited for our future trip to Whistler for New Year's Eve. There's a real hope that I'll remember all the good things we learned this weekend, but I do know that no matter what, it will be fun. Awesome.
Seriously though, it's not as bad as I make it sound. Mammoth is always a good time as long as you're not crashing to the snow every ten feet. Here's a picture I snapped at the very, very top of the mountain, home to a mess of double black and single black diamond runs and also one single blue square. After taking a gander at our surroundings for a grand total of two minutes (freezing up there!) I'm amazed at how incredibly steep it gets at the top. Scary steep.
This trip though, made me all the more excited for our future trip to Whistler for New Year's Eve. There's a real hope that I'll remember all the good things we learned this weekend, but I do know that no matter what, it will be fun. Awesome.
Friday, December 17, 2004
Board Sick
This weekend, we shall be here having much fun and hopefully suffering no injuries. More to come....
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Jingle All the Way
Look what I've figured out to do! I've known about Flickr for a while now, but I only just got the camphone recently, so what the heck, why not try my hand at moblogging. Check out this recent blurry photo I snapped while doing some shopping out at South Coast. There's a few more where that came from, but the tree is what is most significant to me about the mall during the holidays. You can have Santa, you can have the huge crowds, but the tree is always the centerpiece. Mostly, I just remember looking up at the thing and marvelling at how huge it was, and who the madman was that got to top off the tree with a star or an angel. If you ever get a chance, check out the tree at Fashion Island as well, which is probably twice as tall and just as decorated.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
What Are You?!
15 years ago (fifteen?) during the Summer, a friend and I took the day off from school and spent the morning at the movie theaters watching what we thought to be the ultimate movie, Batman. Little did we know, but big were our hopes, that the movie itself would spawn sequel after sequel, the succeeding one less impressive than the preceding. At the time, we were in awe of what is actually a very enjoyable movie, Jack Nicholson hams it up as the maniacal Joker while the controversially cast Michael Keaton puts on a brilliant performance as both Batman and Bruce Wayne, and both mark what was missing in later sequels, the reliance less on acting and more on stunt casting. The final straw would have to be Alicia Silverstone as the least compelling batgirl, ever, and the Governator as a muscled-up and dumbed-down Mr. Freeze.
The recent spate of modern superhero films have much that can be attributed to Batman. In particular, Marvel has been trying to follow the formula of finding a studio willing to accept the licensor's input and also by hiring a director with a compatible vision. One could argue that Tim Burton has a lot in common genre-wise with Sam Raimi in their skewed views, but it's what they have in common with their respective properties that drives each film. Inherent darkness in the Batman franchise and the science-fiction madness of Spider-man are blueprints for success in that it retains loyalty to source, yet at the same time speaks to the intelligence of the audience.
Why talk about this now? Well one needs to watch the new Batman Begins trailer to understand the evolution of these films. Batman led to Spider-man, which led to X-men, which in turn leads back to Batman yet again. After watching the clip, I have newfound faith that Christopher Nolan has taken the modern philosophy of humanity and realism to heart and can deliver an entertaining movie. Doesn't hurt that the budget has to be twice as large as the original either.
Watch it, love it, maybe hate it a little, but know that it's coming and it can't be stopped.
The recent spate of modern superhero films have much that can be attributed to Batman. In particular, Marvel has been trying to follow the formula of finding a studio willing to accept the licensor's input and also by hiring a director with a compatible vision. One could argue that Tim Burton has a lot in common genre-wise with Sam Raimi in their skewed views, but it's what they have in common with their respective properties that drives each film. Inherent darkness in the Batman franchise and the science-fiction madness of Spider-man are blueprints for success in that it retains loyalty to source, yet at the same time speaks to the intelligence of the audience.
Why talk about this now? Well one needs to watch the new Batman Begins trailer to understand the evolution of these films. Batman led to Spider-man, which led to X-men, which in turn leads back to Batman yet again. After watching the clip, I have newfound faith that Christopher Nolan has taken the modern philosophy of humanity and realism to heart and can deliver an entertaining movie. Doesn't hurt that the budget has to be twice as large as the original either.
Watch it, love it, maybe hate it a little, but know that it's coming and it can't be stopped.
Monday, December 13, 2004
Welcome to the Kub
Follow up to my last post: I've registered for my class at fabulous Otis and will be in the beginning stages of designing toys come February. As with my last class, I hope this one will be fulfilling in the right-brained aspect of my life that I've been missing during my everyday job. One can only take so much left-brained madness before succumbing to computer-induced coma.
***
Here's a couple of random notes while I'm at it. If you wax nostalgic for your old NES, you can now listen to the musical stylings of a Japanese band who've created the mad fantasy of the 8-bit instrument.
If that doesn't fit your fancy, then perhaps the age-old idea of walking a labyrinth will. Unlike a maze, the labyrinth functions more as a meditative device than a conundrum of locational proportions. Might I add that a reputable northern California institution has just acquired one for use. It has many uses they say, but I still find the actual application somewhat fascinating.
Hm, 8-bit music vs. ages old contemplating device, how in the world do these relate to each other?
They don't! Have a good week!
Here's a couple of random notes while I'm at it. If you wax nostalgic for your old NES, you can now listen to the musical stylings of a Japanese band who've created the mad fantasy of the 8-bit instrument.
If that doesn't fit your fancy, then perhaps the age-old idea of walking a labyrinth will. Unlike a maze, the labyrinth functions more as a meditative device than a conundrum of locational proportions. Might I add that a reputable northern California institution has just acquired one for use. It has many uses they say, but I still find the actual application somewhat fascinating.
Hm, 8-bit music vs. ages old contemplating device, how in the world do these relate to each other?
They don't! Have a good week!
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Designer Fun
Recently, I've come across what's becoming somewhat of a subculture trend: collecting designer toys. Those who know me, know that I've been obsessed with Kubricks for a while now, but lately, I've started to keep my eye on these guys as well. I'm not sure what it is about them that I find so appealing, but if you look closely, you can tell there's an insane amount of design that goes into each one to get just the right look for each of them.
Piggybacking this notion, I recently became aware (via BoingBoing) of a new set of collector's items at Neo Kaiju. The most recognizable name out of these designer is Gary Baseman, who some might recognize from the Disney toon Teacher's Pet. I've only recently become acquainted with the work of Tim Biskup too, but these little Neo Kaiju dudes look interesting. Not sure if I'd pick any up, but the idea that artists are into this kind of thing is neat.
Which reminds me, that I'm now planning on taking an Intro to Toy Design class at Otis this coming quarter. Sound like fun?
Piggybacking this notion, I recently became aware (via BoingBoing) of a new set of collector's items at Neo Kaiju. The most recognizable name out of these designer is Gary Baseman, who some might recognize from the Disney toon Teacher's Pet. I've only recently become acquainted with the work of Tim Biskup too, but these little Neo Kaiju dudes look interesting. Not sure if I'd pick any up, but the idea that artists are into this kind of thing is neat.
Which reminds me, that I'm now planning on taking an Intro to Toy Design class at Otis this coming quarter. Sound like fun?
Friday, December 03, 2004
Kevin Smith Hosts Greatness
I have experienced nerd nirvana.
Yesterday, through notice of his blog, Jim Lee and a cadre of artists descended upon Westwood for a signing in commemoration of their new book, The Intimates. Never in my life had I ever done something such as this, and although a little harrying in the beginning, it was totally worth it if only to get a sketch from the man himself but also to get a sketch from a one Mr. Ale Garza. Mr. Lee is perhaps my favorite comic book artist, really, and although it may not seem like high art, I appreciate it for all it's worth. I would like to see him experiment a lot more, just like he did for his run on Deathblow. His style, when coupled with more elaborate material than just pen and ink goes from merely amazing, to complete jaw-droppingly, life-alteringly phenomenal.
Now the line at The Secret Stash was a tad long, it took me about an hour and a half to make it all the way to the front, but it was totally worth it to get what are actually my first sketches ever. I really appreciated the fact they were able to do so, since I know they took time out of their busy schedules to see their fans and promote their work. Perhaps another highlight was how much joy Joe Casey took in my proclamation that his action sequence in an issue of WildCATS was one of the best I'd ever seen.
Really, I've always wanted to get a sketch from an artist, and maybe these will be the first of a few. What I will take away from this though, is the fact that I got to meet a childhood icon of mine, and not a disappointment was had.
Yesterday, through notice of his blog, Jim Lee and a cadre of artists descended upon Westwood for a signing in commemoration of their new book, The Intimates. Never in my life had I ever done something such as this, and although a little harrying in the beginning, it was totally worth it if only to get a sketch from the man himself but also to get a sketch from a one Mr. Ale Garza. Mr. Lee is perhaps my favorite comic book artist, really, and although it may not seem like high art, I appreciate it for all it's worth. I would like to see him experiment a lot more, just like he did for his run on Deathblow. His style, when coupled with more elaborate material than just pen and ink goes from merely amazing, to complete jaw-droppingly, life-alteringly phenomenal.
Now the line at The Secret Stash was a tad long, it took me about an hour and a half to make it all the way to the front, but it was totally worth it to get what are actually my first sketches ever. I really appreciated the fact they were able to do so, since I know they took time out of their busy schedules to see their fans and promote their work. Perhaps another highlight was how much joy Joe Casey took in my proclamation that his action sequence in an issue of WildCATS was one of the best I'd ever seen.
Really, I've always wanted to get a sketch from an artist, and maybe these will be the first of a few. What I will take away from this though, is the fact that I got to meet a childhood icon of mine, and not a disappointment was had.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
Spaced Out
Microsoft has jumped in horribly late to the game with their new MSN Spaces. In a desperate move to capitalize on the latest cross-over internet fad, they've made blogging accessible to millions who have no idea what Blogspot or Xanga are. God forbid people actually are able to have minds of their own, their Terms of Use read as such:
I reserve the right to refuse their service thank you very much.
For materials you post or otherwise provide to Microsoft related to the MSN Web Sites (a "Submission"), you grant Microsoft permission to (1) use, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, modify, translate and reformat your Submission, each in connection with the MSN Web Sites, and (2) sublicense these rights, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. Microsoft will not pay you for your Submission."
I reserve the right to refuse their service thank you very much.
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Wha.. Huh?
I have no idea what to make of this:
There's nothing more inevitable than the cold grip of death. And taxes I guess. I shudder at the thought...
VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22): Don't fight the inevitable. Don't resist it and bitch about it and curse it. On the other hand, don't just lie down and let it roll over you, relinquishing your will and losing your spunk. Instead, Virgo, have fun with the inevitable. Tease it and question it. Influence it through the ingenuity of your playfulness. Develop a relationship with it that allows you to be true to yourself even as you learn to love it.
There's nothing more inevitable than the cold grip of death. And taxes I guess. I shudder at the thought...
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