This doesn't come as a surprise to me, since I've seen it happen to others and people who have experienced it have told me that you feel as if you've known someone your entire after a few hours of being their roommate, but nevertheless, this is still the first time I have actually experienced it for myself as a reality instead of just an idea. It's not the same as high school friendships. Heck, what is? The relationships I had in high school were built over the course of eight years, spannin
Last Friday on August 17 I attended a wedding for a second cousin I didn't know I had. She's of Swedish heritage, and the man she married was of Italian heritage. When I went to the reception, there was Swedish and Italian food. My favorite was the big blocks of cheese, which I cut several slices from over the course of the night. The coolest part was the wedding singer. I've always wanted to go to a reception with a wedding singer. For that matter, I also always wanted to attend an Itali
I moved into my dorm earlier today at Western Iowa Technical Community College (known colloquially as WIT). Due to cultural osmosis, it feels very natural, as if I've been here before, but I haven't. This is the first time I've ever been in this atmosphere. having college friends and classes in high school definitely prepared me, though, because I can't shake off the feeling that I should be suffering from some form of culture shock. Unpacking was very easy. With the exception of a few thi
In my entry yesterday I was initially going to say something completely different about music, but as I was writing the story "grew in the telling" and followed its own path about music through the ages. My original point got lost and I found no way to incorporate it into that personal essay. So I make my statement here instead. While listening to music in the car, the coolest album by far was Classic Queen. Their music was incredibly diverse, not only from song to song but even within the
I'm near the end of a long road trip from Rochester, Minnesota, to a distant Cleveland suburb. It's not the other side of the world, but the look and feel of Rochester is distinct from these other cities. If this was Europe I'd have cut through multiple language regions. Relatively large or small, the amount of time it took too complete the trip was quantifiable at around fifteen hours in the car. To make time fly, we took with us a stack of music albums to listen to. It made me glad that w
I have only seen The Bourne Identity out of the prior Bourne films, which was a while back. I might not have even been a teenager, so my memory is a bit foggy. So while watching this film, I had no choice but to view it as a standalone, as I suppose it was meant to be. I'm used to watching series installments as standalones, which in a sense I can do if I've already seen the other films because my mind fills in the blanks without realizing it. This time was different, as the film looked to b
Today on my birthday I decided to throw myself a bone and watch Terminator 2. Got, how I have missed you. To emphasize just how great this film is I have to go through a checklist in my head of all the ways it has become iconic. It has one of the greatest heroines of all time. It as some of the best death scenes of all time. It has the most famous and most realistic depiction of a nuclear explosion of all time. It is one of the greatest time travel films of all time. it is one of the gre
I will be watching the midnight premiere of The Bourne Legacy in a few hours and writing my review within a few days. This will be the first time that I ever watch a sequel or remake in the theatres without being completely caught up with the series. Of the preceding films, I have only seen The Bourne Identity once upon a time, not so long after it came out. Therefore, when I review the film, I will judge it by its merits as a standalone and draw no comparisons to the other instalments unless
Holy Jenner! They ran the race in under 41 seconds, and Jenner's reaction was priceless. She pulled off a Usain Bolt and celebrated before reaching the finish line because she knew they had not only broke but smashed the world record. It looked awesome when she was pointing at the sign, too, because it gave me a good look at her arms. She's an Amazon! Well duh, I mean, she's in the Olympics after all, but her arms are more muscular than most men. Meanwhile, I also just watched the 1500 me
Brazil is facing off against Italy in the men's indoor volleyball. I'm happy, because I want Brazil to win and they're in the lead. However, the Italians are more fun to watch. Why? Because when they get into their little group therapy sessions in the middle of the game, they're talking in their fast Italian accents, and it's so funny. I always thought that the stereotypical Italian accent was just that, a stereotype. You know, where all I have to do is shout fast and flowing but clipped g
This may seem cruel of me, but I always root for Argentina to get silver. That's why one day I hope that the Argentinians face off against Team USA in the final round instead of the semi-final round in basketball. Anyway, I hope they beat Spain and at least get bronze.
Congratulations to Aly Raisman for winning gold on the floor. She also won bronze on the balance beam thanks to a wonderful connection of pirouettes, but that was nothing compared to her floor routine. Right at the very beginning, it had the grace and the power necessary to win, and her execution was flawless. As they say in gymnastics, she stuck it. It's really nice to see a spotless performance without any noticeable flaws. Congratulations, Aly, you just delivered the greatest floor routi
The more I think about it, the more I realize that it's difficult to write a sequel to a story that was originally a fairytale with another fairytale. Neither can a fairytale have a second installment that flows more like a standard story. In order to write a sequel to be aesthetically pleasing, I've observed several methods that work: ----- 1. The Next Generation Peter Pan was a contemporary fairytale, and several sequels have been written for it, such as Hook. Hook was a good movie,
They're both raised in Kansas and lived on farms just outside of town, but they were also born in a faraway place that defies the mundane modern world. It seems that America's heartland bred incorruptible pure children, because these are two of the nicest people in all of cinema, and both quintessential characters in Americana. I ship it. Merida
I watched the original Total Recall when I was a year old. The next time I watched it I was older and ready for it at the uber-mature age of four or five. That was still a long time ago, so I don't recall much. All puns aside, there are still plenty of little snippets that I remember so that going into the theatre for the remake I could enjoy it both as something completely new but at the same time as a fan of the original. The first thing that struck me was that the only inhabitable place
Seriously, the one thing that I didn't get in 2008 was why no one exploited this incredibly obvious pun. People make any and every pun possible during election season. Merida
My favorite gymnast going in was Aly Reysman. Of course, I wanted Gabby Douglas to win the gold medal because she she was, after all, the best and she deserved it, but I payed more attention to Aly. To me she was more interesting because she exhibited this supreme air of confidence before ever routine. There was just this commanding, almost relaxed look on her face, with a slight smile as if the Olympics didn't pressure her one bit but was rather a way to show off. Then Gabby won gold in th
Congratulations, Michael! 21 Olympic medals, 17 Olympic gold medals, 2 threepeats, and many more world records later, I'm not done cheering for you. Now there's only one more race to go. Here's hoping that you tie the previous maximum medal count with your golds alone. It will be strange once you're gone, though. Your name has become synonymous with swimming, and there are still moments when your name comes up on screen and I think "Hey, that guy's name is 'fish'! Isn't that convenient?"
A special was on during the Olympics covering some of the behind-the-scenes history to the Magnificent Seven's success, with Kerri Strug being the narrative focus. My goodness, her journey and growth of spirit and all those complex emotions brewing underneath were breathtaking. And it's not melodrama because this was something that really happened, and we have a pretty good idea of how she was doing because her expressions, captured on live cameras broadcasting around the world, were so real.
I said in an earlier entry to view individuals as a people, not personalities. I was browsing through blogs and the below quote stood out to me as a significant way of illustrating what I was talking about. The subject matter was something called a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and this particular example was the lead female character in the romantic comedy/drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. *The other Manic Pixie Dream Girls mentioned by the author were Ramona Flowers (Scott Pilgrim v
In recent years, Superman has had a bit of a makeover. On one hand, there's the version I really like from the New 52, which is exactly how I think Superman's costume would look like. Heck, if I has Superman's powers I would actually wear the same costume while going off to save the world: What you can't see, of course, are the boots. They're there. The back of the cape also has a black S Shield on it, which is the only real issue I take with it, because it should either be yellow of
I must congratulate the Fab Five for their outstanding victory in team gymnastics. I have never seen anything like it. As far as I could remember, the American team has always been an underdog in the gymnastic arena and medaling has always been a miracle. Never have I seen the American team come in with such clear power and establish themselves as a juggernaut. I still remember the outstanding challenges of the Magnificent Seven back in 1996, Dominique Moceanu's floor routine, and Kerri Stru
The present is an illusion. Reality is in the mind, but I am only ever aware of whatever I was thinking moments before. Therefore, if I exist in the present, but the present does not exist, then I do not exist. That is disturbing, but the sad thing is that I am not disturbed, because I cannot truly say anything of myself in the persent tense. Merida
Congralutations to Missy Franklin for her first individual gold medal! The competition, I have to admit, was tough, but what made it truly outstanding was that she had only nine minutes to cool down from her last race. I'm really keeping an eye on her for these Olympics. Perhaps it's because the media is gobbling her up with love, but I think the reason is because this is the first time I've watched a Summer Olympics and seen competitors younger than me. It's so strange, because I'm used to
