Answer to Three Questions in Video Form – Update 1

Now I’m part of “this thing”

Updated for Awesome! (below)

I’m not happy with this. Let’s look more closely. In realizing the full potential of my camera I’ve made a video of myself answering three questions that Gus posed to me. Now, in writing about it, I think I’ve become very self referential and irritating. Who cares what I think? I don’t care what other people who post all manners of videos on YouTube think, especially when they’re posting their personal thoughts on other videos. I even feel annoyed that I had to use the word “YouTube” in a post on this blog. Now I’ve used the work “blog”! Augh! This is snowballing out of control.

The video itself is alright, there’s an unpleasant hum throughout, but that seems to be the standard for small digital camera videos. Visual quality is okay. I’m also irritated that just like everyone else out there, I did this at my desk. It does offer a window into the marvels of my desk, however. The fact that I have teeth strewn about it is worrisome.

I’m a little sad that (even now) I’m not talking about ideas as much as I’d like, and instead talk about events as they reflect on me. This is not how I want to write most of the time, and I try to stay away from it. Although this is a journal of sorts, and the video itself appends the journal, I would rather have at least some depth. To write inspired by daily events, but not actually reference myself, or perhaps only in passing to allow the reader to imagine the process of my day to day life. The video does not help this, it’s a depiction OF my life, although not an accurate one because while it was ad-libbed I was still acting.

Anyway, enjoy, hope you find it amusing!

CONCEPT: 3/5 – Not so bad, seemed like a good idea at the time!

INNOVATION: 2/5 – Everyone and their dog AND their dog’s dog are making these things it seems like.

SATISFACTION: 5/5 – Out of all categories I’m probably least ’satisfied’.

EXECUTION: 3/5 – Very little work was actually done. I chose to leave my hand reaching out to turn off the camera in because it was easier.

FUN FACTOR: 3/5 – It was fun!

OVERALL: 7/10 – I’m too hard on myself, it was pretty fun to make.

Bonus illustration of situations discussed herein by Miss S. Blakey!

Weekend Warzone #8 – Rashomon, Being Paralyzed by Choice, Kitties

Rashomon

In the theme of reviewing a Kurosawa film on the weekend comes this weeks chapter, Rashomon. Rashomon is the story of a murder that takes place in a forest glen told from the perspective of four people; a bandit, a dead man, the dead man’s wife, and an outside observer, a man hiding in the trees. The movie explores the themes or justice, morality, good and evil.

Some of you will be happy to know the movie only runs 88 minutes, as opposed to Seven Samurai which actually takes several years to complete.

I found the film very interesting. It’s got the theme that’s done to death in every single police/crime drama on television; that of multiple veiwpoints of the same crime. In those shows, however, there’s a conclusion. A point where the viewer is succored by the director, and everyone can cry “I knew it!” Rashomon offers nothing clean cut. Like the line between Good and Evil, the truth and lies of each story become blurred so that no retelling can be the entire truth, but none are entirely untrue.

CONCEPT: 4/5 – The concept is solid, and allows for a lot of probing of deeply rooted human nature.

INNOVATION: 5/5 – This was pretty original for it’s time, I’m sure. Too bad CSI decided to make an entire show about the concept alone.

SATISFACTION: 3/5 -Leaves the audience with an odd feeling of discontent, because we never find out what really happened. But as a film, it’s very satisfying.

EXECUTION: 4/5 – The DVD transfer I watched had bad sound, which shouldn’t be an issue in a movie with subtitles, right? Well, it would have been nice. The cinematography is top notch, however.

FUN FACTOR: 2/5 – Unless you find debating morals fun

OVERALL: 8/10 – It’s Kurasawa, and I like ‘em.

Being Paralyzed by Choice

Occasionally there’s times in life when there’s so many possible options for action, it’s nearly impossible to decide on one, and instead nothing gets accomplished. There must be a term for this. Have you ever noticed that the more choices there are on a menu the longer it takes to select what food you want? Not including the time it takes to read all the possible selections, of course. This is a toss up, because in theory wouldn’t you be happier with more choice? On a menu there’s a greater chance they would have your favourite dish, for instance. However, this also facilitates for a greater anxiety, the customer is left wondering if they wouldn’t have enjoyed a different dish more.

A good example of this is trying to buy a digital camera. If you’re like me and you like doing as much research as possible into price, quality, review scores, company history, before making a choice, you’ll soon find that the farther you dig the more and more variables there are to consider and weigh in on the selection. I almost envy those able to walk into an electronics store, tell the salesperson “I want a camera that does this this this,” and be sold on something.

CONCEPT: 4/5 – The idea behind having as much choice as possible for everything is well meant. After all, isn’t that what living in a free country is all about?

INNOVATION: 5/5 – Never in history have so many possibilities been offered to the consumer. Not to mention the overwhelming feeling created by the first page of search results from your favourite search engine. 1,900,000 results for Earl Grey?

SATISFACTION: 2/5 – Contrary to the reasoning behind choice, people are often less satisfied with more choice due to the stress and questions that arise.

EXECUTION: 2/5 – It’s never really that paralyzing, but it can be much more complicated than need be.

FUN FACTOR: 2/5 – Not a barrel of laughs.

OVERALL: 5/10 – It’s a debate between too much choice and too little choice. Just take solace that there’s few completely wrong choices.

Kitties

Kitties are cute and fuzzy. Some are sleek, and some are fluffy. They come in all colours and shapes, and are pretty much the best animal. I know some people would argue that cows are the best animal (milk+hamburgers) or some jokester will say that humans are the best animal. Come on, we’re not animals, God made us PEOPLE. Don’t be silly. Kitties are the best animal because you can hug them, and they might make a little noise.

CONCEPT: 4/5 – Warm kitties.

INNOVATION: 4/5 – Because no matter what, I never get tired of looking at pictures of kitties.

SATISFACTION: 4/5 – Nothing like a hot kitty on a cold day.

EXECUTION: 0/5 – Don’t execute kitties.

FUN FACTOR: 4/5 – Fun for years, a kitty is a good investment.

OVERALL: 9/10 – Maowr.

Verdict – Kitties! My only regret is that I may one day be paralyzed between choosing from a bunch of cute kitties.

Weekend Warzone #4 – Dance Party, Crazy Times, Awesome Town

Dance Party

I’m not sure I’m familiar with this concept. I assume it’s a party in which dancing is mandatory, or at least encouraged. I’ve never known anyone who’s thrown a party where they explicitly state that people must dance. In fact, most of the parties I go to very little dancing occurs. There’s always those parts where a song you like starts playing, and you dance for a few seconds to celebrate, but I’ve never danced to and entire song.

There are, however, Those Girls. Those Girls are the two girls who may or may not be drunk, but begin dancing with each other in an area of the party. Those Girls don’t always go to parties, and sometimes one goes and is just That Girl, but without someone to dance with That Girl she usually stops much sooner than Those Girls would. Those Girls can dance just forever. They don’t need to have people watching them, but they will dance out of your way if you need to get by. They never miss a beat either. Later they go home and sleep together.

I think a dance party might be fun. You’d have to prepare with water and things, and wear dancable clothing. Clear a space on the floor as well, or people will trip on the shoes by the entry way and fall onto the coffee table covered in beer cans. That’s a mess no one wants to watch. Except it makes a great YouTube.

CONCEPT: 4/5 – Good idea guys! I hope people come and actually dance, because otherwise it sort of ruins the concept.

INNOVATION: 2/5 – People been dancin’ since before your daddy’s daddy. If you can get everyone to dance though, you’re a master of innovation.

SATISFACTION: 2/5 – Often people break the rules and don’t dance enough. A fully satisfying dance party would have NON. STOP. DANCING.

EXECUTION: 3/5 – A party is a party, and a party is good, no matter the outcome. Unless someone loses an eye. Then it’s not a party, it’s Your Funeral.

FUN FACTOR: 5/5 – Always.

OVERALL: 8/10 – Let’s have one!

Crazy Times

There’s bound to be some arguement over crazy times. Some people like them, and some people hate them. The nature of the craziness and the time is what can make them good or bad. The times I’m talking about here are the times so crazy with your friends, you start having a dance party… in [insert crazy area]!!! This can be something like your mouth, a beach, a hot tub, a car, the highway, a sushi bar, or an entire summer. Crazy times are flexible.

Everyone’s just balls to the wall happy, and they’re not afraid to say it. Crazy times!

CONCEPT: 5/5 – It’s awesome town to have crazy times.

INNOVATION: 4/5 – Crazy times are always different, because by definition they must be spontaneous.

SATISFACTION: 4/5 – Extremely so. The only bad thing is when they end or you have to go to bed. Then you might be a little upset.

EXECUTION: 3/5 – Usually pretty good, but sometimes they can end prematurely, or turn sour when that guy no one likes shows up.

FUN FACTOR: 5/5 – Pretty much the best. These are times you talk about years down the road. “Remember that crazy time?” Yes, everyone does.

OVERALL: 9/10 – Wheee!

Awesome Town

A pitch for a TV show made by the guys from The Lonely Island, Awesome Town is a comedy. While they started out slowly, making videos for fun, Andy/Ardy, Jorma (YORMA), and Akiva/Kiv, are now starring on and writing SNL, and are responsible for most of the entertaining skits. Actually, that was last year, I’m not sure if they’re still around on there. But they probably are.

Awesome Town is the last bastion of hope for humanity against poverty, disease, and war. It’s a pretty funny place too. Anything I could try to say about it won’t have the same effect as just watching it. If there’s a chance you missed it in the last, oh, five years on the internet, take 20-15 minutes and laugh a bit. The shorter cut is the funnier one, I think, and doesn’t have the painful studio audience bits to grit your teeth through. It does have one brief scene of mild pornography used comedically, but that could be either an attraction or a deterant depending on your tastes.

CONCEPT: 4/5 – These guys are creative and funny. Awesome town would be a place I’d like to visit every week if I could. Instead we get this one shining episode.

INNOVATION: 3/5 – The comedy is unpredictable, and they got good chops.

SATISFACTION: 3/5 – I’m sorry there’s not more episodes is all. Left me wanting more.

EXECUTION: 4/5 – A surprisingly high level of production.

FUN FACTOR: 5/5 -Fun all the way!

OVERALL: 7/10 – Well executed. I’m glad they’re in the media moreso now.

Verdict - Crazy Times! These times last a lifetime of memories, and in the end that’s all that’s important.

Heroes 5th Episode – “Hiros”

Heroes airs Mondays on NBC at 9

I was afraid I was going to have to give up on this show, and maybe I will after all, but the fifth episode was (finally) a satisfying watch.

Every previous episode was dragged down by molasseses pacing, unsympathetic characters, wooden acting, and virtually none of the titular subject; heroes. Hell, it took like two episodes to see anything out of the ordinary happen, and then the next episode the characters all deny that anything took place. The audience is left betrayed as the character who can fly denies his ability to his brother, the girl who can heal very quickly denies saving a man from a burning train, and the man who can travel through time has his power treated as an idle daydream. PHOOEY.

This episode laid it all out though. Hiro, the Japanese time traveler, appears from the future to let the dopey young doctor character, Peter, know where to go to get the plot rolling. Peter’s brother, Nathan, actually uses his power of flight to escape from men from an unknown organization trying to steal his brain. The psychic druggie paints the future, and finally shows someone who knows what his pictures mean. Without revealing too much, it was much more exciting, and actually had people doing things in it! Plots progressed! People talked to each other about meaningful things instead of hiding them! It’s a goddamn miracle.

I really want this show to be good. I want to watch a show on prime time that deals with nerdy questions I’ve been wondering about my whole life, like “if I could fly, what would I do?” (the answer is: run for office in New York) One of the things that still bothers me about the show is that all the people who aren’t completely evil, or at least manipulative jerks, are complete idiots. Yes, all the people with moral fiber are depicted as naive, plodding, emotional wrecks with no direction. Who gave these people powers?

All in all, an exciting FIFTH episode. What took so long? I hope I don’t drag on watching this show longer than I need to. I refuse to accept it because “I enjoy the concept.”

CONCEPT: 4/5 – I enjoy the concept.

INNOVATION: 3/5 – Superheroes are nothing new, but a prime time TV show with Heroes treated with respect? Well, it’s not that creative, but it’s been a long time coming.

SATISFACTION: 4/5 – This episode was particularly satisfying, lots of action and some actual foreshadowing that didn’t make me go AW, COME ON.

EXECUTION: 3/5 -Even the cinematography seemed a bit better this go around, and the special effects aren’t bad. But I expect better from a high profile show. Maybe it’s not high profile yet. All I can hope for is better effects than Buffy I suppose.

FUN FACTOR: 4/5 – Fwoosh! Zooo! I’m a Superhero!

OVERALL: 8/10 – Not disappointing like I was made to believe I would always be with this show.