Yoda, Baby

Don't know why, but I've been coming up as Yoda in a lot of these Star Wars quizzes. Who could ask for anything more?

Summer Filmic Gorging, 2005, Week 1

Technically, the Summer movie season started a few weeks ago with the release of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but having missed that little film, let's skip ahead to the meaty stuff.

Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. There's not much else to say about it to begin with other than it's probably the most anticipated movie for most people this year. Really, I've anticipated it, but not as much as I'm looking forward to other films. Seeing that it's going to go down in movie history as one hell of an achievement, expectations were pretty high. The most critically acclaimed of the prequels (which isn't saying much), Sith promised to be the one all Star Wars fans had been waiting for: epic space battles, lightsaber duels, and the death of a million jedi all contained within one compact storyline. Well, compacted across three movies.

Before I get to the point, I'll mention what I loved, loved about this movie. The action, the effects, the villain, the settings, the design, the audacity of George Lucas to stretch his imagination across three films, and the sheer majesty of the opening trumpets. Oh, and one can't forget Yoda. He's the real reason we come to watch these movies anyway, right?

Acting-wise and dialogue-wise, Sith was a disappointment. There were no horribly scripted,"I hate sand." monologues to be found, but Hayden Christensen was not given much to work with. I particularly liked his scenes with Ian McDiarmid and Ewen McGregor, but for some reason whenever he was in a scene with Natalie Portman, it was like watching marionettes. No chemistry existed between these two, and if it weren't for the fact that they proclaimed their love to each other often, I'd never know they were supposed to have feelings for each other. Any one of those scenes really halted the momentum of the film, especially since there were so many short scenes to begin with. The longest extended sequences, thankfully, were action-packed and gripping from the get-go. Much of this rescued what could have been tedious and turned it into something stunning.

What made Sith most stunning compared to its forebearers were the effects. It wasn't the explosions or the fantastically designed ships that caught my eye, but the characters. General Grevious, Yoda, and even Obi-Wan's reptilian steed were incredible achievements of art and science. Honestly, I was disappointed the Grevious of Cartoon Network's presentation of The Clone Wars didn't show up, but the wheezing, hacking, and lurching half-creature, half-droid construct in the film was a compelling villain. Yoda's computer-generated counterpart never looked better to my eye and it's sad to know that we'll never see another lightsaber duel with our "little, green friend." All great visuals serve to further the reality of any movie and George Lucas finally found what he was no doubt imagining when the first film was print to film.

Unfortunately, there were glaring plot holes that wrack my mind now that I've had time to reflect. I can't discuss without ruining most of the movie, but if anyone wants to chat about it, you know where to reach me.

Overall, I was impressed and saddened. Knowing this movie is the last in the saga is depressing, but the achievement itself is something that all involved can be proud of. I enjoyed it while it lasted and only hope that some day, someone will take up the reins that George Lucas has set aside.

Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

I Find Your Lack of Faith.. Disturbing

Today's the day that was 28 years in the making. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith will be seen, blood will be shed, and tears will flow. Either that or I'll just be in awe of George Lucas' final statement in the Star Wars saga. Digital presentation has come so far and Mr. Lucas is a pioneer in the field.

I've been keeping track of the movie, I've been trying not to keep my hopes up, but the only thing I want to expect is: please don't disappoint me.

Was There Ever Any Doubt?

I try not to talk politics, but it's funny that this is somewhat accurate. Am I really that left leaning? Sometimes it's nice to believe that one can fall somewhere in the middle, but apparently I'm so far left I'm falling over. Crazy.

Your Political Profile

Overall: 20% Conservative, 80% Liberal

Social Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

Fried, Crushed, and Burned

Berry Good
Originally uploaded by kardinalsin.

It was a banner weekend in Southern California topped off with a heaping helping of home-grown Strawberries at the namesake festival in the city of Oxnard. If you've never been, it's imperative that you check it out, if nothing than to sample the sweetness that are fresh and in season strawberries.

Like most festivals, there was fried foods galore, beer by the yard, and festival rides aplenty. I didn't sample any of the rides for fear that I'd spew on the lawn, but I did manage to try some of the brewed strawberry beer that was for sale. A little sweet in taste, it wasn't too bad, but not as good as the strawberry smoothies that were for sale.

What did I miss that I wish I'd tried? Either the strawberry pizza (a kind of strawberry cream cheese dessert) or the chocoloate-covered ones that are so popular. We spent plenty of time walking around checking out what was available, drooling over the festival food (garlic fries anyone?), and trying to stay out of the burning sun that there's not enough time to really savor everything the festival had to offer. What I can say though, however non sequitorial it may seem, is that I can still monkey around with a trombone. Much fun.

What's With the Surveys

A lot of these surveys go around on the blogs. Snoopy ol' me likes to steal them for my own use :)

--- UNIQUE----
1. Nervous Habits: Tapping my foot, running my hands through my hair, clicking my pen, and perhaps the strangest of all, chewing my tongue. I have a lot of nervous habits.
2. Are you double jointed: No. My joints all do what they were made to do.
3. Can you roll your tongue: Yup.
4. Can you raise one eyebrow at a time: I can.
5. Can you blow spit bubbles: Nope. I know very few people who can do this at all.
6. Can you cross your eyes: Yessir.
7. Tattoos: Zero.
8. Piercings: Nada.
9. Do you make your bed daily: Never. But it does make the room look cleaner if you do.

-- CLOTHES --
10. Which shoe goes on first: Left.
11. Speaking of shoes, have you ever thrown one at anyone: In a jealous fit of rage? No.
12. On the average, how much money do you carry: $not telling$
13. What jewelry do you wear 24/7?: My watch.
14. Favorite piece of clothing: Hm... my hideously expensive jeans that I'll only buy on sale. Those and my Paul Frank T-shirts with their 'witty witty' prints.

-- FOOD --
15. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it: Twirl with a spoon baby.
16. Have you ever eaten Spam: Of course, spam and eggs, spam and green beans, spam musubi, spam omelet... it's a staple.

17. Favorite ice cream flavor: Chunky Monkey or Oatmeal Cookie Crunch.
18. How many cereals in your cabinet: One usually, until it's finished. It varies between Honey Bunches of Oats, Cheerios, and Special K.

19. What's your favorite beverage: Cream Soda
20. What's your favorite restaurant: Difficult question, for a casual but nice lunch or dinner, Houston's. If it's a super nice dinner, Morton's. If it was Mexican food, I'd have to say El Cholo. I could go on and on...
21. Do you cook: I just made a mammoth feast for numerous people this last weekend, do I cook? I burn myself, stain myself, and cut myself in the kitchen. And I enjoy it So yea, I cook.

-- GROOMING --
22. How often do you brush your teeth: Every day, morning and evening.
23. Hair drying method: Towel. My hair can get short enough to air dry, but I'd feel weird.
24. Have you ever colored / highlighted your hair: Nope.

--MANNERS --
25. Do you swear: In traffic, if drunk, and if with my friends. I need to clean up my act.
26. Do you ever spit: If I'm sick and congested, yes. Otherwise, nope.

--FAVORITE--
27. Animal: Hm, difficult question. When I was a kid, I liked pigs, but I think I like dogs now.
28. Food: Mexican. Was there ever any doubt?
29. Month: July.
30. Day: Of the week? Lazy Sundays are best.
31. Cartoon: Justice League followed close behind by Naruto and Cowboy Bebop.
32. Shoe Brand: I don't really care for any shoes as long as they look nice. For my sister, I'll say Skechers (bleh).
33. Subject in school: Didn't do much art in the upper levels, but it would have been. I really liked English and Design in college, and even thermodynamics. Why the heck am I an engineer?
34. Color: Red
35. Sport: Basketball and Hockey
36. Show: SCRUBS is el numero uno. Alias and Lost are close behind.
37. Thing to do in the spring: Fly Kites, if I had a kite. Go to someplace romantic and sunny with the girlfriend...
38. Thing to do in the summer: Go to the beach and barbecuing with friends.
39. Thing to do in the fall: Camping.
40. Things to do in the winter: Snowboarding.

-- IN AND AROUND -
41. In the CD player: Interpol, Turn on the Bright Lights.
42. Person you talk most on the phone with: Gracie
44. Do you regularly check yourself out in store windows and mirrors: I'm terribly narcissistic, what can I say.
45. What color is your bedroom: White walls with a beige carpet. How boring.

-- LA LA LAND --
48. What's your sleeping position: Left side, right side, on my back. I move a lot.
49. Even in hot weather do you use a blanket: Yes, I have many blankets on my bed.
50. Do you snore: Only when I'm congested.
51. Do you sleepwalk: Never have, probably never will.
52. Do you talk in your sleep: In a deep sleep, I think I've said a few things.
53. Do you sleep with stuffed animals: Not since I was a kid. Uh... yea...
54. How about with the light on: Ha. No.
55. Do you fall asleep with the TV or radio on: When I was living alone, I slept with the TV on because I stayed up much, much later than I do now.
56. Last interesting person you met: I can't think of anyone I've met recently who's made a significant impact with their first impression. I'm hard to get to know, initially, so maybe that's why? I think that I warm up enough to people over time that I find people more interesting once I get to know them.

Aftermath

This was an insane weekend. All I have to say is there was lots of Mexican food, lots of friends, and lots of Tequila.

Hoo-rah.

Baby Steps

step2
Originally uploaded by kardinalsin.

I found this image after Boing Boing had posted a link to a blog of sorts called Post Secret a few days ago. The idea is that people create their own post cards using their deepest, darkest secrets as inspiration. They range from grippingly mundane to numbingly shocking. In particular, when you find one that can be identified as your secret, it's more jarring.

This isn't that much of a secret to begin with, but I know it's something I've been mulling about in the wheels of my piddly brain since sometime last year. "I'm afraid to take the next step" could mean so many things to different people, but for me it's mainly, am I willing to make a drastic change in lifestyle to be happy? Am I willing to sacrifice a comfortable position with ample compensation for something I know I love doing, but don't know if I'll be successful at, or if I'll even enjoy in a scholastic or professional environment?

There have been steps taken, recently, to kickstart myself in the right direction. Are these my first steps, are they tip-toes, or am I making leaps? Hard to say at the moment, but I'm overwhelmed by the positive response so far and there's no doubt there are people willing to push themselves to help me out, and it's inspiring. My hope is I can create some plenty inspirational and professional-level artwork to reciprocate. It's both anxiety-inducing and exciting at the same time, but manageable.

Honestly, it took quite a bit for me to take this step. Anxiety is something I battle with from time to time and it crippled me this time around. What scares me most isn't how people would react to a specific request, but failure. Failure in the short-term sense of the word and the long-term sense. I've dealt with it since high school, since college, since I graduated, but failure is something I loathe, detest, despise, and revile so much, that running away from it becomes much easier than challenging it. A horrible reality, but that's what it is.

Well, I think there are many things that have kept me from being entirely afraid and have pushed me to take whatever steps are necessary. Classes, inspiration, and love. I count myself fortunate I'm able to enjoy all of these things for if I hadn't, there's no way I'd be where I am today.

Lucky me.

Blazing Saturday

Oowee what a weekend. Friday was spent preparing, packing, and sleeping before the big trip out to the southern California desert for the Coachella Music and Arts Festival. I can't quite relate the full experience in words, but there's no doubt I can at least try as much right here on the ol' blog. In order of appearance, here's how the show ran:

First up on the main stage were the Raveonettes. A female lead singer, some intensely reverberating guitar, and a decently enthusiastic crowd made for a good opening act to catch, but I wasn't too inspired. I'd like to check out more of their music to form an overall opinion. Seeing as I caught the first minute of their performance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and then skipped it, you could say I'm not rushing to buy their CD anytime soon.

K-os was our next stop at the Gobi tent. A politically energized underground hip-hop artist, he's got some good flow and a great live backing crew. At one point, he forgot his lyrics but freestyled so well, I didn't realize it until someone told me. I'm not much for buying the hip-hop, but I enjoyed what I saw, even if it was brief.

Perry Ferrel nee DJ Peretz started off pretty chill, which is something to be expected when it's almost 90 degrees outside. The Sahara Tent is something I wanted to check out last year (when Paul Van Dyk was there), so I caught the first few songs out of him. He dropped some good beats, but didn't start really breaking it down until we got up to leave. Meh.

A French band by the name of M83 caught our ears on the way by the Mojave tent. These guys are Air with less lyrics and more rock than electronica. Instrumental, emotional, and gripping, they were pretty darn good. I definitely want to check out more of their music in the future if I can find it.

After a slight food break and listening to some bands in the distance, we traveled back to the Mojave Tent to see the rock duet called The Kills. These two intensely energetic performers convulsed onstage with an animal passion I don't think I've ever seen in a live performance by a rock band before. Screw the supposed "sister/brother" or "ex-wife/ex-husband" relationship of The White Stripes, The Kills displayed some raw tension unmatched all day. Riffs galore, they ripped the crowds ear drums apart with their brand of Rock. Great stuff and another to add to my must-listen list. I wish I would have stayed to see their full set because...

We wandered off to see Razorlight at the Outdoor Theater. Now, I just recently got their debut album on the strong recording of their first track, but something was missing from their performance. Granted, the lead singer was into it, trying to whip the band up into a Stooges like frenzy, but I left briefly after their few initial songs feeling empty. I don't know, maybe it's lack of experience, nervousness or something, but I expected much more.

Another little break and then we ran to the Outdoor theater again to not only see Rilo Kiley, but to also see Alex from "The OC" standing not even 2 feet behind us. Rilo was great, but almost moreso because she was there, haha. Despite being a little distracted, I got enough of a listen that I was impressed by the local band. The lead singer has sort of a Shirley Manson meets Lisa Loeb thing going on, which makes her pretty darn unique and makes the band enjoyable. Fantastic.

We then saw the last little bit of Wilco's set on the main stage. I'm not much of a fan, so we didn't stick around for long. No opinion to form here. Mostly we stuck around to see...

Weezer! I've seen them before so not much was new, but I can also say I've seen them better. Their performance was decent and I still like their music, but Rivers Cuomo was a little static and not too talkative (which is actually expected) so I didn't get into it as much. Their new music left me thinking "Huh?" which is a bad thing seeing as I really wanted to get their new album. I might end up evaluating it more later on, but I liked their more difficult music and most of the new songs seem quite pop. Good for the masses and bad for die-hard fans? Who knows.

We ended up taking off for the Mojave Tent again and caught The Secret Machines last few songs. I've seen them before, with Interpol, and I have their album. It's really different kind of stuff with an interesting set-up. This time around they were more polished, more energetic, and much, much louder. This made their set even better than I remembered it and makes me believe that they'll get even bigger as time goes on. Maybe I'll see them at a venue larger than the Wiltern next time?

We were really at the Mojave to catch Bloc Party, the warm up to the main event. Bloc Party had quite a crowd brewing when they finally took to the stage a few minutes later than expected. It surprised me a lot, really, since their album isn't that old at all. They didn't disappoint. From the opening number, there was an energy carried over from the Secret Machines set that barrelled from song to song so incredibly that many people who probably went to check out the buzz probably left as fans. I already knew I liked them, but seeing them live made me like them even more. I wish I had caught them a couple months ago when they were in LA, but now I'll have to wait for the second go-round. This brings us to...

Coldplay! Seeing them could never get old. I love, love, love this band so much for reasons inexplicable. People call them bland, people call them the poor man's Radiohead, people think Chris Martin thinks he's Bono, but I don't care, I loved their show, I loved their new music, and I want to see them as soon as their tickets go on sale. Inspirational to the point that they'll need a new post when the new album goes on sale, there can't be enough said about how great their set was and how awesome it was they were headlining. I've heard someone say more people were there to see Radiohead last year, but how long has Radiohead been around and how long has Coldplay been so huge? I'm impressed there were 40-50,000 people there in the first place and believe they deserve all the success they've gotten. June 7th cannot be here any faster.

In all, I had a great time, as you might be able to tell. I caught some new acts I had never heard until Saturday and am planning on going again next year. Coachella is hot, it's sticky, it's dusty, but I love every minute of it. Masochism aside, it's an experience not duplicated anywhere else by some Radio station's fuax-festival. Half-hour sets cannot replace hourlongs and the creativity, talent, and diversity is well-represented by the diverse group of people I see there every year. Maybe more people will join me in the journey, but for now, I'm content that I'm able to go at all.

Cheers to Coachella!

Total Sensory Overload

Got back from the madness that is Coachella earlier today. It was hot, it was crowded, but it was also amazing. An incredible day if I do say so myself. Need to decompress for a while, but will post a full disclosure later.