Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Go China
Finished what ended up being three articles for the newspaper. That Discovery Channel show ended up being pretty good, and now I want to go to China more than ever. I too can be a kung fu master!
And for the record: If China doesn't kick the collective @$$e$ of everyone else in the 2008 Olympic games, I'm going to be disappointed. They've been going crazy trying to get ready for it. Their gymnasts were chosen at the age of 2 to begin training. They live at their gym school and train 6-8 hours a day, 6 days a week. If their other athletes are the same way, don't be surprised if the rest of the world is downright embarassed come 2008.
A video of what I'll be doing in 5 days can be found here. Just in case you're wondering.
Continuing in my anti-religion mood, I think I'll post links to this and this. The latter contains an interview with Tony Campolo. Heck yes.
Random emotional rambling: I'm starting to realize that every action has consequences, and some mistakes cannot be remedied. If this means I have entered adulthood, I beg to remain a child.
Oh, and I'm going to Orlando with Souwa for Thanksgiving. Can't wait.
Quote of Da Moment:
"I think it goes back to the fact that the evangelical community often does not have a biblical vision of God."
--Tony Campolo
And for the record: If China doesn't kick the collective @$$e$ of everyone else in the 2008 Olympic games, I'm going to be disappointed. They've been going crazy trying to get ready for it. Their gymnasts were chosen at the age of 2 to begin training. They live at their gym school and train 6-8 hours a day, 6 days a week. If their other athletes are the same way, don't be surprised if the rest of the world is downright embarassed come 2008.
A video of what I'll be doing in 5 days can be found here. Just in case you're wondering.
Continuing in my anti-religion mood, I think I'll post links to this and this. The latter contains an interview with Tony Campolo. Heck yes.
Random emotional rambling: I'm starting to realize that every action has consequences, and some mistakes cannot be remedied. If this means I have entered adulthood, I beg to remain a child.
Oh, and I'm going to Orlando with Souwa for Thanksgiving. Can't wait.
Quote of Da Moment:
"I think it goes back to the fact that the evangelical community often does not have a biblical vision of God."
--Tony Campolo
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 9/27/2006 12:07:00 AM 
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Full Plate
Church was good today. Unfortunately, I procrastinated more than I should have. I've got so much to do this week it's crazy. Let's see...
1) Finish week's worth of job work.
2) Do homework for film class.
3) Do homework for Caldwell class.
4) Write one article and one review on School For Scoundrels by Wednesday night.
5) Interview directors/producers of the new Discovery Channel series, Discovery: Atlas, write a corresponding article, and review the first 1-2 episodes of the show. The first one's on China! Woohoo! Don't know when this is due.
6) Finish Season 2 of Battlestar Galactica and watch the webepisodes online before the first week of October. Try to remember that now that I own Season 2 on DVD, life isn't perfect. It's just better.
7) Continue watching movies if at all possible.
Furthermore: I bought a car. I should be getting my license and driving said car within the next two weeks, if all goes well.
Plus: I am jumping out of an airplane one week from today. I must prepare myself psychologically.
And: I have to remember to go to Vintage21 small group this week.
Moreover: Actually, that's pretty much it.
In terms of movies...X-Men 3 is pretty good, but not as good as the first two. Water is an amazing foreign film about widows in India. Real Genius is hilarious, and has some fantastic dialogue. The Proposition is a so-so Western.
Oh, and to anyone who still has doubts organized religion is probably the chief problem in the world today, watch this trailer now. I think I almost threw up. Early reviews say the film is fantastic and surprisingly objective and even-handed.
Andrew out.
Quote of Da Moment:
"This? This is ice. This is what happens to water when it gets too cold. This? This is Kent. This is what happens to people when they get too sexually frustrated."
--Real Genius
1) Finish week's worth of job work.
2) Do homework for film class.
3) Do homework for Caldwell class.
4) Write one article and one review on School For Scoundrels by Wednesday night.
5) Interview directors/producers of the new Discovery Channel series, Discovery: Atlas, write a corresponding article, and review the first 1-2 episodes of the show. The first one's on China! Woohoo! Don't know when this is due.
6) Finish Season 2 of Battlestar Galactica and watch the webepisodes online before the first week of October. Try to remember that now that I own Season 2 on DVD, life isn't perfect. It's just better.
7) Continue watching movies if at all possible.
Furthermore: I bought a car. I should be getting my license and driving said car within the next two weeks, if all goes well.
Plus: I am jumping out of an airplane one week from today. I must prepare myself psychologically.
And: I have to remember to go to Vintage21 small group this week.
Moreover: Actually, that's pretty much it.
In terms of movies...X-Men 3 is pretty good, but not as good as the first two. Water is an amazing foreign film about widows in India. Real Genius is hilarious, and has some fantastic dialogue. The Proposition is a so-so Western.
Oh, and to anyone who still has doubts organized religion is probably the chief problem in the world today, watch this trailer now. I think I almost threw up. Early reviews say the film is fantastic and surprisingly objective and even-handed.
Andrew out.
Quote of Da Moment:
"This? This is ice. This is what happens to water when it gets too cold. This? This is Kent. This is what happens to people when they get too sexually frustrated."
--Real Genius
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 9/24/2006 11:29:00 PM
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Newspaper Stuff & Movies
Forgot to mention last post that I went to a sneak preview of the new Billy Bob Thorton/Jon "Napoleon Dynamite" Heder movie School For Scoundrels last week.
Believe it or not, it was surprisingly funny. Jon Heder might manage to save his career after all, if that and the upcoming Blades of Glory do well at the box-office (though the latter one surely will, since it stars Will Ferrell). The only question is, if he does manage to continue working in Hollywood for a while, will he be able to branch out and do something new or will he always play the shy/geeky/unconfident social outcast? Time will tell.
I only bring this up because I got an email tonight from the paper asking if I'd write a feature on the film. The email contained a transcript of a college press conference call with Mr. Thorton and Mr. Heder themselves that I'd be able to use. A conference call that I of course didn't hear about until now. That's two conference calls I haven't been able to be in on for one reason or another - the previous one was with the director of some new Orlando Bloom movie called Haven. Hopefully next time one of these things happens I'll be able to get in on it. I want to talk with the celebrities, dang it!
Furthermore, the email asked if I'd be able to write it by tomorrow evening, since for whatever reason they've decided to only run Arts & Entertainment news on Thursdays. With the homework I have to do tonight and the classes I have tomorrow, it won't be happening. Come on - you'd think they could at least give me until Thursday night and run the piece on Friday. Isn't that when most other productions run movie news anyway?
So anyways, yeah. Hopefully I'll get some tickets to some screenings or something. I'd like to get on a decent pace and have an article or two published weekly.
Also: I just finished watching United 93. I'm not sure what I can say about it, though I can without a doubt say that I didn't exactly love it. In fact, I think I can safely say I didn't even much like it, and think it's one of the most overrated films of the past year. It just didn't do much for me. During some scenes I actually felt bored. While watching the scenes with air traffic control I was thinking, "Get back to the plane!" and by the end I was thinking, "What's going on with air traffic control?" I'm even trying to figure out if I can venture to call the film well-made or if it was the equivalent of emotional pornography. Though the same claims have been made by some people about The Passion of the Christ, at least that film was put together well and pretty (in its own gruesome way) to look at. I'm not sure I can say the same about United 93.
Maybe it was just because I already knew what was going to happen. I guess I'll have to watch World Trade Center and see how that goes, since I don't know anything about the guys it focuses on.
Believe it or not, it was surprisingly funny. Jon Heder might manage to save his career after all, if that and the upcoming Blades of Glory do well at the box-office (though the latter one surely will, since it stars Will Ferrell). The only question is, if he does manage to continue working in Hollywood for a while, will he be able to branch out and do something new or will he always play the shy/geeky/unconfident social outcast? Time will tell.
I only bring this up because I got an email tonight from the paper asking if I'd write a feature on the film. The email contained a transcript of a college press conference call with Mr. Thorton and Mr. Heder themselves that I'd be able to use. A conference call that I of course didn't hear about until now. That's two conference calls I haven't been able to be in on for one reason or another - the previous one was with the director of some new Orlando Bloom movie called Haven. Hopefully next time one of these things happens I'll be able to get in on it. I want to talk with the celebrities, dang it!
Furthermore, the email asked if I'd be able to write it by tomorrow evening, since for whatever reason they've decided to only run Arts & Entertainment news on Thursdays. With the homework I have to do tonight and the classes I have tomorrow, it won't be happening. Come on - you'd think they could at least give me until Thursday night and run the piece on Friday. Isn't that when most other productions run movie news anyway?
So anyways, yeah. Hopefully I'll get some tickets to some screenings or something. I'd like to get on a decent pace and have an article or two published weekly.
Also: I just finished watching United 93. I'm not sure what I can say about it, though I can without a doubt say that I didn't exactly love it. In fact, I think I can safely say I didn't even much like it, and think it's one of the most overrated films of the past year. It just didn't do much for me. During some scenes I actually felt bored. While watching the scenes with air traffic control I was thinking, "Get back to the plane!" and by the end I was thinking, "What's going on with air traffic control?" I'm even trying to figure out if I can venture to call the film well-made or if it was the equivalent of emotional pornography. Though the same claims have been made by some people about The Passion of the Christ, at least that film was put together well and pretty (in its own gruesome way) to look at. I'm not sure I can say the same about United 93.
Maybe it was just because I already knew what was going to happen. I guess I'll have to watch World Trade Center and see how that goes, since I don't know anything about the guys it focuses on.
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 9/19/2006 10:48:00 PM
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Same Old, Same Old
Yo yo yo. It was a busy week, hence the lack of updates. Last weekend I went to D.C. to surprise Souwa. That was fun. Then I came back only to find myself engulfed in homework and tests. Fun fun fun.
Anyways, I've pretty much just been relaxing whenever I'm not working, watching movies and playing GameCube. I got two new games - NBA Street 2 and Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within. Both are pretty sweet.
My brief thoughts on the movies I've seen recently:
Hollywoodland - Pretty good, though could have benefitted from the removal of an entire subplot.
Infernal Affairs - Pretty good little Asian flick. Makes me wonder how Martin Scorsese's gringo version (The Departed) is going to be.
Twist of Faith - A good but depressing documentary about the sexual abuse scandal that shook the Catholic church back in 2002. Down with organized religion!
Touch of Evil - Orson Welles' classic. It's good, even if it does have Charlton Heston cast as a Mexican. I still have to see Citizen Kane though...
Over the Hedge - The best CG-animated film I've seen that isn't put out by Pixar, with some surprisingly intelligent themes. Take that, Chicken Little!
The Illusionist - A good movie, but I'm not sure if I like the ending or not. Edward Norton is still awesome.
Dreadheads - An interesting but uneven documentary. My review is here, and my article about the director is here. He's a pretty cool guy.
At 8 AM on Sunday, October 1 I will be jumping out of an airplane.
Tomorrow I start three days worth of driving lessons. Agh!
Anyways, I've pretty much just been relaxing whenever I'm not working, watching movies and playing GameCube. I got two new games - NBA Street 2 and Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within. Both are pretty sweet.
My brief thoughts on the movies I've seen recently:
Hollywoodland - Pretty good, though could have benefitted from the removal of an entire subplot.
Infernal Affairs - Pretty good little Asian flick. Makes me wonder how Martin Scorsese's gringo version (The Departed) is going to be.
Twist of Faith - A good but depressing documentary about the sexual abuse scandal that shook the Catholic church back in 2002. Down with organized religion!
Touch of Evil - Orson Welles' classic. It's good, even if it does have Charlton Heston cast as a Mexican. I still have to see Citizen Kane though...
Over the Hedge - The best CG-animated film I've seen that isn't put out by Pixar, with some surprisingly intelligent themes. Take that, Chicken Little!
The Illusionist - A good movie, but I'm not sure if I like the ending or not. Edward Norton is still awesome.
Dreadheads - An interesting but uneven documentary. My review is here, and my article about the director is here. He's a pretty cool guy.
At 8 AM on Sunday, October 1 I will be jumping out of an airplane.
Tomorrow I start three days worth of driving lessons. Agh!
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 9/17/2006 10:08:00 PM
Friday, September 08, 2006
Ramblings
It's 12:30 and I've got another hour until my laundry dries. Yay!
The retreat was surprisingly fun. The Caldwells are a good group of people. The low ropes stuff was mainly just things I've done before (*coughempowermentdaycough*) but the high ropes was pretty cool. Oh, except I got up to the top to start the course and realized that certain situations involving heights scare me to death. I got through the course fairly quickly, but I think my heart was probably racing faster than a Nascar driver on a straightaway.
Interesting. Take me to the CN Tower, thousands of feet above the ground, and I'll fearlessly jump up and down on the glass floor. Put me on a rope a few dozen feet above the ground, and I nearly wet myself.
Conclusion: It's all about how much ground I have under my feet separating me from empty space.
I'm going skydiving with some Southwestern guys in a couple weeks. I think one of two things will happen:
1) I won't be standing on the edge of the doorway long enough to get scared.
2) I'll be standing there, strapped to some other guy, long enough for me to start fearing for my life and shaking uncontrollably (yet unnoticeably).
Either way, it's gonna be awesome.
I saw Crank. It's a big dumb fun action movie. Could have been better in some ways, but overall it was worth the money. It's surprisingly funny, and very politically incorrect. Pretty good for what's pretty much a movie that's like watching a video game.
I also saw Syriana. It was really good. Oh, except I had no idea about the details of what was going on and had to turn to Wikipedia to help me out. It's complicated, to say the least. But it's still good. Bad USA, bad!
In other news: part of me is considering starting a new blog in which I could place all my movie reviews and rants. That way when I decided to write about a movie I might be more likely to just go ahead and write a decent review of it instead of just quickly typing a couple sentences because I have other things to mention. I think that might be a good idea. Ponder this further I will.
Oh, and I just finished watching a documentary called Dreadheads that's gonna be playing on campus in a week. I got a press kit for it since I'm gonna review it for the newspaper before the screening. The director's gonna be here, too, so on Saturday I'm gonna call him up and interview him. Should be pretty cool.
I want to film a documentary. I just need to decide on a subject.
I'm currently addicted to a band called The Raconteurs (a.k.a. Jack White's other band) that was introduced to me by Christian Bova, one of the managers I was living with during the summer. Can't. Stop. Listening.
Find yourself a girl and settle down
Live a simple life in a quiet town
Steady as she goes (steady as she goes)
Steady as she goes (steady as she goes)
Quote of Da Moment:
"Corruption? Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulations. That's Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the streets. Corruption is why we win."
--Syriana
The retreat was surprisingly fun. The Caldwells are a good group of people. The low ropes stuff was mainly just things I've done before (*coughempowermentdaycough*) but the high ropes was pretty cool. Oh, except I got up to the top to start the course and realized that certain situations involving heights scare me to death. I got through the course fairly quickly, but I think my heart was probably racing faster than a Nascar driver on a straightaway.
Interesting. Take me to the CN Tower, thousands of feet above the ground, and I'll fearlessly jump up and down on the glass floor. Put me on a rope a few dozen feet above the ground, and I nearly wet myself.
Conclusion: It's all about how much ground I have under my feet separating me from empty space.
I'm going skydiving with some Southwestern guys in a couple weeks. I think one of two things will happen:
1) I won't be standing on the edge of the doorway long enough to get scared.
2) I'll be standing there, strapped to some other guy, long enough for me to start fearing for my life and shaking uncontrollably (yet unnoticeably).
Either way, it's gonna be awesome.
I saw Crank. It's a big dumb fun action movie. Could have been better in some ways, but overall it was worth the money. It's surprisingly funny, and very politically incorrect. Pretty good for what's pretty much a movie that's like watching a video game.
I also saw Syriana. It was really good. Oh, except I had no idea about the details of what was going on and had to turn to Wikipedia to help me out. It's complicated, to say the least. But it's still good. Bad USA, bad!
In other news: part of me is considering starting a new blog in which I could place all my movie reviews and rants. That way when I decided to write about a movie I might be more likely to just go ahead and write a decent review of it instead of just quickly typing a couple sentences because I have other things to mention. I think that might be a good idea. Ponder this further I will.
Oh, and I just finished watching a documentary called Dreadheads that's gonna be playing on campus in a week. I got a press kit for it since I'm gonna review it for the newspaper before the screening. The director's gonna be here, too, so on Saturday I'm gonna call him up and interview him. Should be pretty cool.
I want to film a documentary. I just need to decide on a subject.
I'm currently addicted to a band called The Raconteurs (a.k.a. Jack White's other band) that was introduced to me by Christian Bova, one of the managers I was living with during the summer. Can't. Stop. Listening.
Find yourself a girl and settle down
Live a simple life in a quiet town
Steady as she goes (steady as she goes)
Steady as she goes (steady as she goes)
Quote of Da Moment:
"Corruption? Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulations. That's Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the streets. Corruption is why we win."
--Syriana
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 9/08/2006 12:34:00 AM
