First off, I would like to confess to the world: I really suck at keeping an up-to-date blog. Are we clear on that? (pensive pause as the indifferent world answers with silence) Alright, moving on...
***
So while biking between work and home I noticed a couple of cars with stickers like "End War" or "War is not the Answer," and I felt sorry for my peace-loving brethren. Obviously their message still hasn't been effectively communicated to this battle-scarred world of ours. I think it's time they try a different tactic. Instead of displaying their pacifist sentiments here in the USA, a program should be established to transport all our peace-loving brethren to the Middle East. There they can use their bumper-sticker summations of wisdom, peace-sign t-shirts, and John Lennon music to turn the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and various other Islamist insurgents from their violently coercive ways. I'm sure that a simple multi-cultural dialogue between idealistic college students and bloodthirsty zealots is the missing ingredient we need to add to the hopes-and-dreams stew to finally bring about an age of planetary Kumbaya.
***
So during the superbowl (which, good Mormon as well as uninterested-in-sports-geek that I am, I did not watch) a veritable plethora of advertisements for new movies came out. I watched several of these half-minute montages of thrills, explosions, and stirring music on youtube. My thoughts:
Rango: LOVE THE MARIACHI OWLS! Looks beautifully animated, really original, and pretty dang funny. Love the bits of Johnny Depp's voice performance that you hear. Ever since I saw the first trailer towards the end of last year I've been really psyched for this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKbFcEHM4I0
Cowboys and Aliens: I have been very vocal about my excitement for this movie to my less enthused peers. Come on, it's Indiana Jones and James Bond in a cowboy movie, with FLIPPIN' ALIENS! This movie may have been #1 on my most-anticipated-for-2011 list, and now that I've seen the new sights from the super-bowl spot: I admit, I think it took my excitement down just a notch. Never fear, I shall stay faithful and fervent in my support for the film, but I kind of liked it better in the first trailer where I didn't see the space ships. It's true that the power of imagination almost always trumps the actual product. Still looks pretty awesome though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXNbpqc1gLE
Captain America: Looks pretty dang good and thrilling. They did a great job with the costume; it's the kind of thing that you wouldn't be sure of translating to the screen well, but the glimpses of it in action here all look glorious. I'm excited to see a superhero movie set in World War II, which hopefully should lend a distinctive spin and atmosphere to the superhero-origins genre that has become quite well-worn over the past decade. I just hope they don't water down Captain America's patriotic America-ness. The director's already made some comments that have rubbed me the wrong way; the trend in Hollywood now seems to be that America needs to act apologetic to the rest of world and that any suggestion of American exceptionalism must be wiped off the screen. But look, it's his name and his costume is the stars-and-stripes. I think it would make for a much more interesting chemistry-dynamic among the Avengers (basically Marvel comic's Justice League; Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Hulk are all gonna meet up in the same movie in 2012) if they let his character stay old-fashioned in his love of country, letting him bounce off the more jaded personalities of the modern-set superheroes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnE4uzT7sro
Kung Fu Panda 2: The du-du-clap! of We Will Rock You totally got stuck in my head after watching this. I loved the first one. Hopefully the sequel can maintain the breezy fun of the first one. For some reason now I keep feeling the urge to exclaim "Shashapooi!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ote5aOIPpJQ
Thor: Well, this movie does have Anthony Hopkins in it so that automatically gives it some entertainment cred. It could be a lot of fun; it's got some awesome visuals anyways. Thor's gonna be the trickiest character to work in with the more grounded (for comic books, anyways) super heroes who will make up the Avengers. I hope it all works well. I wonder if the super hero genre's gonna run completely out of steam in a few years; we've just been bombarded with so many superhero movies and even superhero parodies over the past decade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTTGL-OxzGY
Super 8: They're going the Inception route with their advertising for this one, showing you barely nothing of the plot but just quick glimpses in the trailers. The plot details that have been announced is that it's about these kids in the late 70s making an amateur zombie movie with their Super 8 camera (hence, the title) by some train tracks when a military train transporting an alien gets derailed. ET breaks loose and apparently some creepy shenanigans follow. I might actually be more psyched about this movie than any other coming out this year. This movie is produced by Spielberg, directed by the JJ Abrams (who, after directing Mission Impossible 3 and Star Trek, in my mind can claim the popcorn throne as Spielberg's heir), and the glimpses from the trailer (combined with the very John Williams-esque music) does give it the feel of a vintage Spielberg fantasy film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu5dLtRnaOY
***
Also, I just recently realized what would be the perfect, non-sinister application of memory-erasing technology should it ever be invented. Here's a real-life scenario: I watch a movie trailer and get really excited about the movie because the trailer is so awesome. As a devoted movie geek, I watch the trailer again and again. So, now I'm excited about the movie, but I've also now made myself very familiar with a lot of the "wow" moments and possibly even the plot points of the upcoming movie from its trailer. As such, my movie-going experience will be slightly-less-than-it-could-have-been as I ruined some of the element of surprise by watching the trailer. Now comes the sci-fi scenario answer: Thanks to memory-erasing technology I watch the trailer, get super-psyched for the movie, get my ticket for the movie, and then get mind-wiped just before I see it. I'll know, since I bought the ticket, that I was excited about this film, but I'll really have no idea what's about to come and thus can enjoy my first-time viewing experience to the fullest. Heck, I'd also use this stuff to keep wiping my mind before watching Star Wars movies (that way, when Vader drops the "I'm your father" line, I could really have my mind blown).
Friday, February 11, 2011
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Life is Strange and Wonderful
Honestly, I really should be working on some other stuff right now, but it's been a while since last I posted and I just felt like writing out some of my feelings (I haven't been doing so hot in the keeping-an-up-to-date-journal department either as of late). Basically, if you go back two posts you'll find me mentioning how I'd been in a depressed, lonely, heartbroken funk. As you may guess, this all had to do with a girl. A girl I'd had a crush on for two years and the only girl up to that point in my life (and she does still hold that position) that I'd ever started to have serious romantic feelings for, and the first and only one to break my heart (let's be clear here; she did nothing wrong; she just didn't return the feelings I had at the time).
Well, within an hour or two of me publishing that post mentioning my heartbroken state, the very same girl at the source of my emotional storms called me up and asked me if I wanted to do anything. We ended up going to the movies and having ice cream. Then we started dating again. Then we officially started going out, and our relationship's seemed to only keep progressing and getting better and better.
So, the past month and half or so has been one of the most surreal of my life. At times it felt like a movie screen-writer was in control of events. I've often wondered how the heck did any of this happen, but more and more I'm growing accustomed to it. It's strange to move from telling yourself over and over you need to get over a girl and blog-posting about great heart-break songs to then being able to whisper "I love you" in her ear without fear or awkwardness, and to see her smile.
I know for the most part my experience is not unique. Everybody falls in love; and a lot of relationships that start out feeling magical and joyful end up turning rocky or falling apart completely.
Which is why I think at times we keep ourselves so guarded about our feelings and try to avoid wearing our hearts on our sleeves in front of other people. We try to avoid being cheesy, because we know if things go sour then the memory of those cheesy things will only cause us greater embarrassment and loss of pride. But more and more I've come to appreciate that it's the cheesiness in life we live for. Being skeptical, cynical, and independent can seem safer emotionally, but it's just not as fun.
So I still don't know how things will end with regards to this girl, but more and more the voices of skepticism and doubt in my head are fading away. Life flows and feels so differently for me now, with a frequency of intense happiness over an extended period of time that I haven't experienced before.
I'm not sure why I feel the need to post this, as anybody who does read this blog already knows the details of the matter more explicitly than what I write here. I guess, considering my former posts have at times had a darker feel to them or focused on sadness or frustration, I wanted to mark a period of my life where, though there are still fears and problems to work through, I really am happy.
I love a girl. She loves me. Life is strange and wonderful.
Well, within an hour or two of me publishing that post mentioning my heartbroken state, the very same girl at the source of my emotional storms called me up and asked me if I wanted to do anything. We ended up going to the movies and having ice cream. Then we started dating again. Then we officially started going out, and our relationship's seemed to only keep progressing and getting better and better.
So, the past month and half or so has been one of the most surreal of my life. At times it felt like a movie screen-writer was in control of events. I've often wondered how the heck did any of this happen, but more and more I'm growing accustomed to it. It's strange to move from telling yourself over and over you need to get over a girl and blog-posting about great heart-break songs to then being able to whisper "I love you" in her ear without fear or awkwardness, and to see her smile.
I know for the most part my experience is not unique. Everybody falls in love; and a lot of relationships that start out feeling magical and joyful end up turning rocky or falling apart completely.
Which is why I think at times we keep ourselves so guarded about our feelings and try to avoid wearing our hearts on our sleeves in front of other people. We try to avoid being cheesy, because we know if things go sour then the memory of those cheesy things will only cause us greater embarrassment and loss of pride. But more and more I've come to appreciate that it's the cheesiness in life we live for. Being skeptical, cynical, and independent can seem safer emotionally, but it's just not as fun.
So I still don't know how things will end with regards to this girl, but more and more the voices of skepticism and doubt in my head are fading away. Life flows and feels so differently for me now, with a frequency of intense happiness over an extended period of time that I haven't experienced before.
I'm not sure why I feel the need to post this, as anybody who does read this blog already knows the details of the matter more explicitly than what I write here. I guess, considering my former posts have at times had a darker feel to them or focused on sadness or frustration, I wanted to mark a period of my life where, though there are still fears and problems to work through, I really am happy.
I love a girl. She loves me. Life is strange and wonderful.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
And now for something completely different....
Alright, friends and foes, it's time for a very random tale told by Devin Christensen. We'll call it "Devin's Brain Is On The Brink Of Melting Out His Ears and Nostrils After Being Subjected to Approximately Two Hours of Reading Assigned German-Jewish Writers Readings."
Actually, that title is a little too mundane and generic to me, so I'm going to make it a bit more epic-sounding: "Devin's Brain Is On The Brink Of Melting Out His Ears and Nostrils After Being Subjected to Approximately Two Hours of Reading Assigned German-Jewish Writers Readings ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!" Yeah, everything's more intense when you add the phrase ON FIRE in all caps.
Onto the tale: so once upon a time there was a lad named Morgan. Morgan was mild-mannerdly goofing off on his computer one day when suddenly his anti-virus update suddenly popped up to inform him that September 19th is National Talk Like a Pirate Day. Morgan said, "Why the heck is my anti-virus informing me about the timing of a pointless holiday," and the antivirus responded, "Because I'm AVAST antivirus, you yellow-bellied, turpentine guzzling guttersnipe. It's a humorous reference to our pirate-sounding name which we are now informing you about in order show you scalawags that even antivirus programmers have some sense of humor. ARRRGGHHH!" Morgan pondered on the response for a few seconds before suddenly flipping out and chucking his lab top across the room at the realization that his labtop had just responded to an audible question from him.
In horror he queried the fallen computer "WHAT ARE YOU!?" But there was no response, for the labtop had been thoroughly damaged by its sudden launch into the wall and so the secret of how the antivirus had actually responded to Morgan's vocal question would remain one of life's great mysteries.
Morgan's horror did not leave him, though, for he realized that he had just killed his one and only labtop and now would have to pony up several hundred dollars to purchase a new one. He was about to walk out the door to go to the store when he realized that it was the Sunday and, he being a good practicing Mormon, could not in good conscience go and purchase electronic goods.
So, now with no internet access with which to waste his time Morgan found himself sitting dejectedly and bored in his living room. "Gosh, I'm bored," he said to himself. Morgan talked to himself a lot. It was quite a frequent activity for him, as he often found himself alone and given plenty of time in which to develop strange quirky habits like said talking to oneself. "If only something exciting would happen to me," he said.
Well, fortunately for Morgan, something exciting did happen not two seconds after he uttered his phrase. A dragon suddenly crashed through the roof of his apartment landing right beside him. That's right, friends, a real-life dragon, it's eyes orange and aglow like two radiating topazes, its scales shining like thousands of ebony ovals layered upon one another, its tail dancing back and forth like a cobra, and its breath smelling like a twenty year old electric fan making its last spurt of activity before finally malfunctioning forever.
"Cheerio, good sir," said the friendly and delightfully stereotypically British dragon. "Do you know where a gentleman might be able to purchase some tube socks."
"Uh, there's a Target just a little ways from here on Oracle and Roger," Morgan said.
"Ah, that's splendid, old chap, just splendid," the mythical reptile said cheerfully. "I am most obliged for your assistance."
And with that the dragon left just as swiftly as he had crashlanded in a minute earlier.
"Wait a minute!" Morgan said, after the dragon had vanished. "What about my roof!?"
But there was no response, for the creature, while very British, could be quite thoughtless at times and had left without giving any recompense to poor Morgan, who was having an altogether very odd and disappointing day (though it was certainly no longer boring).
"Well, I guess the ox is in the mire," Morgan said, surrendering to the fact that he would probably have to engage in some non-Sabbath work and money-changing in order to fix his problems. He left his apartment, careful to lock the door despite the fact that now his apartment was quite exposed to any would-be-burglar as there was a gaping hole in the roof above his living room. He started heading for the manager's office, pondering on whether their insurance covered property damage caused by dragons.
But Morgan never made it to the manager's office, for before he could a mysterious flying cube the size of a well-fed cow appeared above his head and, with a flash of mauve light, suddenly teleported him to Hipsquali Land, a magical place where Morgan was able to eat all the bratwurst that you can imagine and watch glorious marathons of "Hey, Arnold!" and "Rocky and Bulwinkle" and have indulgent popculture conversations with centaurs. And he lived happily ever after.
The End
***
Yeah, I know this story was kind of meandering and pointless, but so was the assignment I just read. Good night, everybody.
Actually, that title is a little too mundane and generic to me, so I'm going to make it a bit more epic-sounding: "Devin's Brain Is On The Brink Of Melting Out His Ears and Nostrils After Being Subjected to Approximately Two Hours of Reading Assigned German-Jewish Writers Readings ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!" Yeah, everything's more intense when you add the phrase ON FIRE in all caps.
Onto the tale: so once upon a time there was a lad named Morgan. Morgan was mild-mannerdly goofing off on his computer one day when suddenly his anti-virus update suddenly popped up to inform him that September 19th is National Talk Like a Pirate Day. Morgan said, "Why the heck is my anti-virus informing me about the timing of a pointless holiday," and the antivirus responded, "Because I'm AVAST antivirus, you yellow-bellied, turpentine guzzling guttersnipe. It's a humorous reference to our pirate-sounding name which we are now informing you about in order show you scalawags that even antivirus programmers have some sense of humor. ARRRGGHHH!" Morgan pondered on the response for a few seconds before suddenly flipping out and chucking his lab top across the room at the realization that his labtop had just responded to an audible question from him.
In horror he queried the fallen computer "WHAT ARE YOU!?" But there was no response, for the labtop had been thoroughly damaged by its sudden launch into the wall and so the secret of how the antivirus had actually responded to Morgan's vocal question would remain one of life's great mysteries.
Morgan's horror did not leave him, though, for he realized that he had just killed his one and only labtop and now would have to pony up several hundred dollars to purchase a new one. He was about to walk out the door to go to the store when he realized that it was the Sunday and, he being a good practicing Mormon, could not in good conscience go and purchase electronic goods.
So, now with no internet access with which to waste his time Morgan found himself sitting dejectedly and bored in his living room. "Gosh, I'm bored," he said to himself. Morgan talked to himself a lot. It was quite a frequent activity for him, as he often found himself alone and given plenty of time in which to develop strange quirky habits like said talking to oneself. "If only something exciting would happen to me," he said.
Well, fortunately for Morgan, something exciting did happen not two seconds after he uttered his phrase. A dragon suddenly crashed through the roof of his apartment landing right beside him. That's right, friends, a real-life dragon, it's eyes orange and aglow like two radiating topazes, its scales shining like thousands of ebony ovals layered upon one another, its tail dancing back and forth like a cobra, and its breath smelling like a twenty year old electric fan making its last spurt of activity before finally malfunctioning forever.
"Cheerio, good sir," said the friendly and delightfully stereotypically British dragon. "Do you know where a gentleman might be able to purchase some tube socks."
"Uh, there's a Target just a little ways from here on Oracle and Roger," Morgan said.
"Ah, that's splendid, old chap, just splendid," the mythical reptile said cheerfully. "I am most obliged for your assistance."
And with that the dragon left just as swiftly as he had crashlanded in a minute earlier.
"Wait a minute!" Morgan said, after the dragon had vanished. "What about my roof!?"
But there was no response, for the creature, while very British, could be quite thoughtless at times and had left without giving any recompense to poor Morgan, who was having an altogether very odd and disappointing day (though it was certainly no longer boring).
"Well, I guess the ox is in the mire," Morgan said, surrendering to the fact that he would probably have to engage in some non-Sabbath work and money-changing in order to fix his problems. He left his apartment, careful to lock the door despite the fact that now his apartment was quite exposed to any would-be-burglar as there was a gaping hole in the roof above his living room. He started heading for the manager's office, pondering on whether their insurance covered property damage caused by dragons.
But Morgan never made it to the manager's office, for before he could a mysterious flying cube the size of a well-fed cow appeared above his head and, with a flash of mauve light, suddenly teleported him to Hipsquali Land, a magical place where Morgan was able to eat all the bratwurst that you can imagine and watch glorious marathons of "Hey, Arnold!" and "Rocky and Bulwinkle" and have indulgent popculture conversations with centaurs. And he lived happily ever after.
The End
***
Yeah, I know this story was kind of meandering and pointless, but so was the assignment I just read. Good night, everybody.
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