hiverious' thingy of doom

Just because a movie is 16 years old doesn't mean you can rip sounds from it! AlsoSpoilers

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:07:02 GMT

Having said that, if you can't predict anything that happens in this movie, you are either not paying attention to the 'story' or are in some way challenged.

You may probably have guessed I am talking about Avatar. It is a horrible movie with amazing special effects (so it's kind of like every final fantasy game after FFVI in that respect. ~~early reports from Japan say that, unsurprisingly, FFXIII is another shit game in a long line of shit games that everyone seems to go out and buy~~).

So paraplegic marine Jake Sully (aka Jakesully) takes up his brother's position in a company as part of the research team conducting anthropological studies on the native 12 foot tall blue cat people called the Na'vi. His brother was killed, and he has an identical genome, being identical twins, so he and only he can pilot his brother's avatar (which is a remote controlled body created out of native and human DNA and grown in tanks. This is understandably very expensive, which is why the company dragged Jake to Pandora. I actually kind of enjoyed this part of the movie. Characters were being introduced, Jake had an understandable motivation to go - the job pays very well and he will be able to pay to get his legs back - and there's a touching moment when he looks at his avatar in the tank and says it looks like his brother, and is then corrected and told that it looks like him and is now his Avatar. Well, it's about as touching as the movie gets.

The rest of the movie can be described by paralleling it to Princess Mononoke.

Let us begin:

Both movies feature a protagonist who has an affliction going to a strange land in hopes of finding a cure.
Both movies feature humans in said strange land operating a mining industry that severely scars the natural beauty of the strange land
In both movies humanity and nature are at odds with each other
In both movies the protagonist falls in love with a high ranking female of the side opposing his species.
In both movies the protagonist is cured at the end by nature.

This is where similarities end.

Princess Mononoke presents a relatively even handed story in which humans are mining because it is the only way they can maintain their colony due to rival factions encroaching on their territory resulting in numerous small skirmishes. The citizens of iron town are all rather likable. Lady Iboshi is a strong willed, kind hearted woman who buys prostitutes and brings them to Iron Town so they can live normal and free lives. She takes in and cares for lepers when everyone else has cast them out. She basically cares about the livelihood of her people.

The forest gods, well they fight back because they are being harmed by the increasing industrialisation of Iron Town, and its subsequent expansion in the search of more resources.

Prince Ashitaka falls in love with San who is the "daughter" of the wolf goddess, and so now he feels invested in both his human side and the natural side. He is also cursed with a hatred fueled affliction. Basically he has to solve things without losing his temper as that will only end up destroying him, and then there will be no voice of reason to placate the two warring factions.

The movie presents two sides, both have their own motivations, neither are overtly evil, and there's one man in the middle of it all trying to get them to live in harmony so that neither side will be destroyed.

There is no black and white in the movie, and its theme permeates its entire run time.

Avatar on the other hand boils down to 2 hours of eye candy and 40 minutes of moralising shoved down your throat. The moralising isn't handled well and amounts to Humans are greedy and will kill any planet they come to. Nature is better than humanity. Yay for nature. If you were wondering about "In both movies the protagonist falls in love with a high ranking female of the side opposing his species." Jake Sulley falls in love with the chief's daughter in Avatar. In both movies, the daughter starts off resistant and hostile to the potential suitor, but eventually warm up to them. However, in Princess Mononoke, San is constantly second guessing herself as it goes against what she believes and it presents a true internal conflict that makes it more than a generic romantic sub plot. In Avatar it's cheesy and predictable. There is no internal conflict at all. It's not in the least interesting to see the two of them fall in love, really...

Well the movie is pretty, the acting isn't exactly very good. The digital performances are pretty damn good though.

The movie spends 2 hours trying to be a technology demo. It is a gorgeous movie. The environment of Pandora is beautifully rendered. The plant and animal life is genuinely fun to look at (in particular one bizarre lizard-like creature with a unique defense mechanism). It is light, amusing, visually stunning, and full of wonder and discovery. This is a problem as it pushes its concerns and its overall story to the background. However, it is actually enjoyable in this state as you're not assailed by the cheapness of the story as the visuals are really THAT DAMN GOOD. However, as soon as act 3 comes around, the mining company gets impatient, then they start to blow things up. Natives fight back. Somehow their weapons that were completely ineffective in the prior battle where their home tree was destroyed are capable of penetrating metal and bullet proof glass in the final battle. The dialogue was also pretty miserable. There were moments in the final battle that were so poorly handled that they were cringe worthy. The score was uninspired. The movie also got less visually captivating as time went on. The last truly beautiful scene was when Jakesully (Jake's Avatar persona) wakes up to find the home tree destroyed with embers falling from the sky. In 3D this was incredibly striking. After that however, it just turned into boring action scene after boring action scene. In fact, if not for the 3D the majority of the action in this movie was just dull. This is a problem as the 3D is virtually non-existent in certain sequences.

If you really want to be nit picky, the Na'vi did not have translucent skin, their teeth were too white, and some of the creature sounds were ripped right out of Jurassic Park (the big black tiger thing sounded like the T-Rex from time to time and the horses sounded like the Raptors). It's more the sound design quirk that irked me the most out of those cosmetic complaints. It ruined the immersion, and that was the movie's only saving grace.

James Cameron has done simple stories before. The problem with this movie is that it has no soul. Aliens had soul. Terminator 2 had soul. Avatar has no soul. Aliens was a story about a mother coming to terms with the loss of her family while she was lost in cryosleep drifting around in space after her entire crew was killed by an alien creature, only to be thrown back into the mix again, to then find a young girl who had also lost her family to the alien menace and forge a connection with her. So yes, the movie turned into a story about a mother who was doing what a mother does best, protecting her daughter.

Terminator 2 questioned what if anything made us better than thinking machines when a thinking machine can prove to be a better father than a human male.

Avatar is Princess Mononoke adapted for a western audience while completely missing the point of Princess Mononoke and presenting a poorly executed one sided argument. It's only saving grace are its visuals. It has no strong characters, has hardly any strong performances, and has poor dialogue. It also overstays its welcome, clocking in at well over 2 hours.

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:22:23 GMT

So I have an excuse to come out of hiding. By hiding I mean not knowing what to write but being too lazy to try to answer a writer's block.

Memes, they are like writers block, yet some sense of YOU COMMENTED ON MY JOURNAL WITH THE MAGICAL PHRASE SO YOU MUST DO IT sense of accountability always seems more compelling to me than: here is some stupid question for you to stupidly answer because your stupid life isn't compelling enough to write about. BTW, you're stupid.

If you must know what has been going on in my life, you'll be left wanting. I will not type up such stuff in this entry as it is past 4am and I should really sleep.

maggiebloome has tasked me with this!!!!!!

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions

1. What is your favourite delicious snack?

Pizza. Depending on how much I eat and how hungry I am, it can qualify as either a snack or a delicious and favourite meal. I like pizza... a lot. But if you must insist on a snack snack, that is a snack that is actually a snack, I will have to tell you that I shall get back to you when I think of an answer.

2. Which computer game do you think is most compatible with your personality and why?

... uh, compatible with my personality? I'll probably sound like a wanker for saying this but Shadow of the Colossus? As for the why, you spend the majority of the game alone (err, with the exception of your horse) and travel a ruined and barren landscape. If possible, I would love to just wander through such a place with one friend that I could rely on to help me surmount insurmountable odds, heh. And depending on what you read into the game, you could either be fighting to revive a friend or a lover, which I have kind of done in real life, so I guess that kind of fits.

Whatever it is, it's a beautiful game and I feel something awesome inside when playing it.

3. If you woke up one morning with Rock Star Hair, state a preference: which rock star?

Chris Vrenna.

4. What would your final message to the world be as an individual before you are Assimilated?

So now I get to know what being a normal human is like =D Get it? Because people are sheep? That's why horrible movies like transformers and Wolverine and New Moon make so much money?

5. Togas: your thoughts.

They seem pretty cool. They've done nothing wrong to me. Come to think of it, I haven't really had any experiences with Togas. I feel unqualified to answer this question. I will somehow figure out a way to work into this answer something about how my university degree was useless as it left me ill equipped to handle togas.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:50:03 GMT

Rules:
- Bold all of the following TV shows which you've ever seen 3 or more episodes of in your lifetime.
- Italicize a show if you're positive you've seen every episode of it.

24
7th Heaven
ALF
Alias
American Gothic
America's Next Top Model
Angel
Arrested Development
Babylon 5
Batman: The Animated Series
Battlestar Galactica (the old one)
Battlestar Galactica (the new one)
Baywatch
Beverly Hills 90210
Bewitched
Bonanza
Bones
Bosom Buddies
Boston Legal
Boy Meets World
Brothers And Sisters
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Californication
Chappelle's Show
Charlie's Angels
Charmed
Cheers
Chuck
Clarissa Explains it All
Columbo
Commander in Chief
Crossing Jordan
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dark Angel
Dark Skies
DaVinci's Inquest
Dawson's Creek
Dead Like Me
Deadwood
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Designing Women
Desperate Housewives
Dexter
Dharma & Greg
Different Strokes
Doctor Who
Dragnet
Due South
ER
Even Stevens
Everwood
Everybody Loves Raymond
Facts of Life
Family Guy
Farscape
Fawlty Towers
Felicity
Firefly
Frasier
Friends
Fringe
Futurama
Get Smart
Gilligan's Island
Gilmore Girls
Glee
Gossip Girl
Grey's Anatomy
Grange Hill
Growing Pains
Gunsmoke
Happy Days
Hercules: the Legendary Journeys
Heroes
Home Improvement
Homicide: Life on the Street
How I Met Your Mother
House
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
Invader Zim
Invasion
Hell's Kitchen
JAG
Jackass
Joey
Kim Possible
Knight Rider
Knight Rider: 2008
Kung Fu
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues
La Femme Nikita
LA Law
Laverne and Shirley
Law and Order: SVU
Leverage
Little House on the Prairie
Lizzie McGuire
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lost
Lost in Space
MASH
MacGyver
Malcolm in the Middle
Married... With Children
McLeods Daughters
Melrose Place
Miami Vice
Mission: Impossible
Mod Squad
Monk
Mork & Mindy
Murphy Brown
Mystery Science Theater 3000
My Life As A Dog
My Three Sons
My Two Dads
Mythbusters
NCIS
Ned Bigby's Declassified School Survival Guide
Nip/Tuck
Numb3rs
One Tree Hill
Oz
Perry Mason
Power Rangers
Press Gang
Prison Break
Private Practice
Privileged
Profiler
Project Runway
Psych
Pushing Daisies
Quantum Leap
Queer As Folk (US)
Queer as Folk (UK)
ReGenesis
Remington Steele
Rescue Me
Road Rules
ROME
Roseanne
Roswell
Sanctuary
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
Scrubs
Seaquest DSV
Seinfeld
Sex and the City
Six Feet Under
Slings and Arrows
Smallville
So Weird
South of Nowhere
South Park
Spongebob Squarepants
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Enterprise
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate SG-1
Starsky & Hutch
Superman
Supernatural
Surface
Survivor
Taxi
Teen Titans
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
That 70's Show
That's So Raven
The 4400
The Addams Family
The Amazing Race
The Andy Griffith Show
The A-Team
The Avengers
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Big Bang Theory
The Brady Bunch
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show
The Dead Zone
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Flintstones
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Golden Girls
The Honeymooners
The Jeffersons
The Jetsons
The Love Boat
The Magnificent Seven
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mentalist
The Monkees
The Munsters
The Office (US)
The Office (UK)
The Powerpuff Girls
The Pretender
The Real World
The Shield
The Simpsons
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Sopranos
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
The Twilight Zone
The Waltons
The West Wing
The Wonder Years
The X-Files
Third Watch
Three's Company
Twin Peaks
Twitch City
Unfabulous
Ugly Betty
Veronica Mars
Weeds
Whose Line is it Anyway? (US)
Whose Line is it Anyway? (UK)
Will and Grace
Wings
Xena: Warrior Princess
The L Word

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:04:36 GMT

Hey Hong, how's your team in D/P looking?

Thinking of getting back into it if you're still up for a game when I get up to scratch.

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:02:22 GMT

Watching subbed anime on TV feels so good.

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:39:48 GMT

I fucking hate my family and can't want to be away from them again. This is going to be a long 2 weeks.

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:16:15 GMT

So, Halloweeen

It has come and gone, yes.

I spent it on a Plane. Watching movies. Failing to sleep. Eating surprisingly good economy class food.

Went to the airport by train. It was an experience. Travelling light really helped with that. Yay for carrying a combined total of 17 Kg =) On the way to my platform, I was stopped by a girl who asked me to open her bottle for her, which I did and then felt really weirded out for a while.

Made it to the airport. Ate 2 double quarter pounders and regretted it. Waited for my plane to leave and started reading Heart of Darkness just as we were called to board.

On both flights I had no one sitting next to me. It was awesome =D

Watched 500 Days of Summer and enjoyed it very much. It was my favourite movie of the year. Then I watched The Hurt Locker, and I very much enjoyed it. It is now my favourite movie of the year and I highly recommend it.

So this is my second day in India.
First day was uneventful except for Facebook doing what it does best, pissing me off.

Today, I did nothing much. Started some writing and then was interrupted by a 45 minute long nose bleed. By the 7th blood soaked tissue I was hoping I'd just bleed out and die so I'd be done with it all, but that didn't happen and so 5 tissues and 2 ice packs later, I was whisked off to an ENT who told me that there was nothing wrong. That's comforting. On the way back, I had another nose bleed. I did, however, also get some interesting dress pants and shirts. All that's left to get are formal shoes and I'm set to go to events I'd rather stay away from.

Speaking of which, I found myself at one later that night.

I am finding two things particularly weird:
1) meeting people that haven't seen me since I was 3
2) The sky is blue.

Yeah, that was kinda weird.

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:49:03 GMT

Your result for The Chess Mess Test...

The Queen's Confidante

Congrats! Only 5-7% of the population score this!

The Queen's Confidante is the first to hear the beat of a different drum. Many plunge into the avant garde experience and generally set the trend for their friends. They are more in touch with reality using their senses but this makes them want to live for the ‘here and now’. The Confidante is full of charm and may flow with compliments even if it isn’t deserved. Rather than write a poem on the beauty of life – they would rather live out the written story of beauty.

The Queen’s Confidante is usually peaceful and easygoing in nature. They usually adopt a 'live and let live' approach to life. They take things at their own pace and live for the moment. They may be quiet but are pleasant, considerate and caring. They may not be inclined to debate or air their views, but of course their values are important to them. They will solve problems as they arise especially if it concerns people. Generally the Confidante is one who develops great team spirit through the promotion of cooperation. They will only repeat facts without placing too much spin or interpretation on them. Because of this they may be the best mediators.

The Confidante is sensitive to its environment, and much more perceiving than others with regards to the physical world. They can notice variations in behavior of others. They are highly conscious of companions and friends, but they prefer to let others direct. This ‘Pawn’ is rarer than others because they are emotionally well rounded with a great degree of empathy. Because of this empathy, they can be overly concerned with ‘feelings’. They may even sacrifice their ideals and not contribute enough, especially if they don’t wish to exercise criticism.

Check out my other tests!

Changeling Type | Mage Sorter

Take The Chess Mess Test at HelloQuizzy

And now off to get my neuropsych assessment

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:16:45 GMT

[00:10:33] shaun says:
toby
[00:10:36] shaun says:
your turn
[00:10:45] Toby says:
i like cheese
[00:11:03] shaun says:
and hate brain freeze
[00:11:19] LCF / might thesis tonight? says:
the wind is blowing in the muthafukin trees yo
[00:11:55] shaun says:
this line needs to rhyme with trees

I think I finally understand how frustrating "I wish I had a boyfriend like you" is

a title you shall not have. oh wait...

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:52:09 GMT

So yesterentry I brought you sock puppet death.

Today I bring you bandwagon jumping. It seems to being blue is the In thing, so why not join the fold? Does it count if I were in some part there already, and annoyed at myself?

FALCON PUNCH

Sergio Leone's films are works of brilliance. Mother's reign on familial spending has not stopped me from seeing at least 3 of his films at last. Take that careful spending!

It's good to know I can still enjoy things, even if in the end it still feels like it was all for naught. Mixing with other people, now that's another story.

So we had a party at work at my manager's house. A going away party of sorts. Well, it kind of was considering two of our co-workers have left. That aside, the food was good. And that's about it, really. I could have done just as well going home and sleeping.

But I don't really feel like going back to work again. For that matter, I don't feel like interacting with people a whole bunch either.

So the following conversation took place at work today:

Hey Shaun, do you have a girlfrie-
No!
... are you considering it?
*awkward silence*

when deactivating facebook there's an option for "I do not find facebook useful"

it then goes on to say stuff about how friend finder will make it more useful to keep in contact with people when you find them and add them

Never does it mention anything about there being an "I don't like most of my 'friends' on facebook, and most of the rest of them are retards when using it, and therefore I am deactivating my facebook because it's absolutely useless for me" option

I should probably do something about my irrational hatred of humanity and socialising. Rationalising it probably won't help. It makes me feel like there's something wrong with me.

Then again, so does everyone who has had experience with psychology in some way, shape or form asking me if I'm depressed.

still <3 you Joce and others (to a lesser extent maybe)

I think this entry took 3 days to make.

Edit:

[23:43:46] kiŋ mæk says:
university of queensland's ad
[23:43:48] kiŋ mæk says:
has a type
[23:43:54] kiŋ mæk says:
so much for higher education
[23:43:57] shaun says:
typo

this is it, the end.

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:44:26 GMT

So, I'm of the opinion that it would be a good idea to make sock puppets and wear them as socks so that you walk around with heads on your feet.

It would be more fun if you dress them up with gore so it looks like you ripped the head off of a fabric person, hollowed it out and used it to protect your feet.

There's an ad for "My Snoring Solutions" and it has a picture of a cat sleeping.

There is nothing good I can possibly write about, so I shall just write about the things that come to my head (within reason).

Napalm Death's new album is almost unlistenable because it actually sounds well produced. That is to say it's unlistenable because it's too easy on the ears.

There is a general consensus among the people at work that long books are evil. They are also of the opinion I have some kind of evil look about me when I'm not busy being innocent and helpful. No one there likes metal, the person who confessed to liking "rock" likes the foo fighters, and thinks they out class every other rock group on the face of the planet, and the only person there with a PS3 hasn't got it hooked up to the net and is transferring to another unit.

At least I've moved up from being told to make more noise to being called a Ninja.

I hate being simultaneously loving and utterly misanthropic. I wish I were one or the other instead of wanting to slit someone's throat slowly and bask in their terror, followed by hating myself for the thought and feeling enough dissonance to end up crying in a corner somewhere.

I think Xin will settle for me having cyclothymia.

Check My Brain sounds quite ok. I say this as someone with no prior Alice in Chains experience. Don't kill me, leave that to me.

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:41:27 GMT

[20:32:07] shaun says:
you know what is an awesome exercise in lol?
[20:33:21] Penny no mates says:
what is?
[20:33:25] Penny no mates says:
mmm delicious meat
[20:33:34] shaun says:
watching Cloverfield on blu-ray
[20:33:40] shaun says:
you know why?
[20:34:03] Penny no mates says:
whyyy?
[20:34:16] shaun says:
because it's mixed in high definition
[20:34:17] shaun says:
and so
[20:34:27] shaun says:
you can clearly tell what was recorded by the camera
[20:34:31] shaun says:
and what was mixed in later
[20:34:36] shaun says:
because it's not distorted
[20:34:37] shaun says:
XD
[20:34:45] shaun says:
so you hear people screaming at each other
[20:34:48] shaun says:
and it's distorted
[20:34:57] shaun says:
because it was filmed on location
[20:35:04] Penny no mates says:
hahaha
[20:35:07] shaun says:
but when the monster bursts through a building right in front of them
[20:35:09] Penny no mates says:
you snob ;)
[20:35:10] shaun says:
it's crystal clear

I Am A: Chaotic Neutral Human Wizard/Rogue (1st/1st Level)

Ability Scores:

Strength-9

Dexterity-11

Constitution-11

Intelligence-12

Wisdom-11

Charisma-12

Alignment:
Chaotic Neutral A chaotic neutral character follows his whims. He is an individualist first and last. He values his own liberty but doesn't strive to protect others' freedom. He avoids authority, resents restrictions, and challenges traditions. A chaotic neutral character does not intentionally disrupt organizations as part of a campaign of anarchy. To do so, he would have to be motivated either by good (and a desire to liberate others) or evil (and a desire to make those different from himself suffer). A chaotic neutral character may be unpredictable, but his behavior is not totally random. He is not as likely to jump off a bridge as to cross it. Chaotic neutral is the best alignment you can be because it represents true freedom from both society's restrictions and a do-gooder's zeal. However, chaotic neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it seeks to eliminate all authority, harmony, and order in society.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Primary Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

Secondary Class:
Rogues have little in common with each other. While some - maybe even the majority - are stealthy thieves, many serve as scouts, spies, investigators, diplomats, and simple thugs. Rogues are versatile, adaptable, and skilled at getting what others don't want them to get. While not equal to a fighter in combat, a rogue knows how to hit where it hurts, and a sneak attack can dish out a lot of damage. Rogues also seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to avoiding danger. Experienced rogues develop nearly magical powers and skills as they master the arts of stealth, evasion, and sneak attacks. In addition, while not capable of casting spells on their own, a rogue can sometimes 'fake it' well enough to cast spells from scrolls, activate wands, and use just about any other magic item.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

shameless plug

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:02:20 GMT

go here if you want to waste 10 minutes and hate me for it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RF-sQ4rPnw

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:05:38 GMT

Comment by Anonymous
03-08-2009 17:46 # Report

i want it but doesnt have ps3! T_T im just a poor boy

Comment by Anonymous
03-08-2009 17:56 # Report

I need no sympathy…

Comment by Anonymous
03-08-2009 19:02 # Report

Because I’m easy come, easy go…

Comment by Anonymous
03-08-2009 20:41 # Report

Little High, Little Low…

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:04:18 GMT

So last Friday I was looking for random work related things on google and what should my eyes wander upon but a JLA google doodle (sans superman).

This then led to the highlight of my work week.

Turns out it was for Comic con or something of that sort, which I wouldn't really be following much being outside if the United States and not being too huge a fan of cons. Though my aversion to cons is probably due to the substandard cons we have over here. Calling Animania a convention is like calling Mini Gigantour an epic metal festival. Though I'm sure the Australian public is grateful to all three bands that chose to bring Gigantour down under.

So in other news, my brother is angry that I don't subscribe to his, or anyone normal's definition of worth or significance. And apparently I'm meant to care about my family name. My parents and my brother seem to think I have it in my head that I think I come from a terrible family due to the actions of a few of my relatives. This is not true as I couldn't really give a damn about the family legacy. Also I'm meant to care about myself because my parents and my brother care about me.

The amusing thing is his through line was that I should check the source of the information I gather about myself. So should I trust an almost objective individual's appraisal, or should I trust that of people who see me through the distorted lens of familial love.

Either way, I suppose I should do something about this if I ever want to live a productive life. Not entirely sure there's a point to trying though. I won't even be around to see the sands of time etch away whatever I've struggled to achieve.

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:11:51 GMT

Run down of Transformers 1 and 2:

exposition from the past --> Big action scene featuring the military ---> boring humans and shit humour --> Fight Scene in which Optimus deprives a decepticon of its head --> Boring human stuff and stupid humour ---> half an hour battle ---> End

More than meets the eye?

EDIT:

Your result for The Director Who Films Your Life Test...

Sofia Coppola

Your film will be 54% romantic, 34% comedy, 27% complex plot, and a $ 26 million budget.

With few films under her belt (The Virgin Suicides, Lost In Translation, Marie Antoinette) as a writer/director, she's already highly respected and connected -- her dad, Francis, directed all The Godfather movies and Apocolypse Now. Sofia's good at making the romantic drama that is your life with poignant sullen moments of introspection. You saw how she stylishly handled Marie Antoinette's life, no? And who didn't have at least a lump in the throat at the end of Lost In Translation? She's already won one Academy Award for her writing, now she'll be the first woman to receive one for directing -- YOUR FILM!

Take The Director Who Films Your Life Test at HelloQuizzy

Click it

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:01:51 GMT

Highlight of Supanova

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:49:36 GMT

Yeah, so today was SUPANOVA

Kind of a let down.

But I did get pictures with Nurse Joker, Sonic, Naked Snake and Zero Suit Samus. I got a free Penpen much thanks to Aust!

Also bought myself an awesome old school batman shirt for $15 and The Bride with White Hair and Grizzly Man for $5 each. Then enjoyed the cosplay competitions.

And that was all the fun to be had really.

So that was the con.

Then there was nothingness.

And now I am spiraling into rage, so I quit.

Apparently not liking Transformers makes me an Indie movie snob rolls eyes

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:09:40 GMT

Terminator Salvation 33% Fresh
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 21% Fresh

Has McG won his bet? Most likely not because more retards will go watch Transformers than they will Terminator.

Why do people continue to watch and enjoy terrible movies? *cries*

good titles just aren't worth the effort.

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:51:51 GMT

I go to work and hear people complain, I come home and hear people complain, I go online and read people complain, and then I complain about it all.

Somewhere in Sydney, a man got his legs severed by a compactor at work, and was conscious, waiting for paramedics to assist. Cold Calling for jobs for other people is a depressing exercise what with companies losing contracts and HR departments hanging up on me without letting either party get a word in. People bitch about how hard their life is because they have to study for exams, and some of them are suffering more than most due to their procrastinating.

My parents can't seem to get along, try as they might. Dad is stuck in his old ways, try as me might to change. Mum plays the martyr all too often, and it gets sickening to see an otherwise normal conversation in any other household turn into a moment of bitter silence and resentment.

If anything, their care makes me wonder why I hadn't stepped in front of a car like I had almost done last week.

Humans just aren't worth the effort. Nor am I. The one thing keeping me interested in life is a girl with no interest in hers, and I keep telling myself that I've failed her. God bless disorted cognitions

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:29:58 GMT

maggiebloome was nice enough to do this thing and share it with the internet, so let's gooooo?

Go to urbandictionary.com and type in your answer to each question in the search box, then write the most amusing definition it gives you.

1. Your name: Shaun

Australian Slang For An Extremely Large Male Reproductive Organ
His Girlfriend Loved His Large Shaun.

2. Your age: 21

To '21' something is to quit it, to give up on something.

3. One of your friends: Matt

ancient greek translation for "eternal sex-god". It is beleived that anyone that holds this name has a great level of skill and ability to perform sexual acts for long periods of time. Men posessing this name are also well endowed.

4. What should you be doing? finishing this entry

Instead I bring you the definition of something completely different that showed up when I searched the answer:

stupid o'clock
Coined by a graduate student while pursuing her PhD and teaching a full load of courses:

The time of day roughly characterized as being between 2:00 am - 6:00 am (depending upon your personal nocturnal patterns and time zone). It is the time when 'normal' people are asleep, because they have to be up and about during working hours the next day. You are exhausted and want very much to be asleep, too. However, you are awake at stupid o'clock because:

(1) you are grouchily doing work to meet a deadline (perhaps because you waited until the last minute to finish it or have perfectionist tendencies),

(2) you haven't yet gone to bed because you are too foolish/lazy to stop goofing off (surfing the net, talking to friends, watching TV/movies, playing video games, reading a book, etc.),

(3) you have to wake up much earlier than your usual time for an important event (which may be an unwanted obligation or an event you desire to attend),

(4) you experience tremendous inspiration and simply cannot stop writing, painting, coding, constructing or otherwise working on your personal project, whatever it might be (a rare usage of the term).

5. Your favourite colour: Blue

The new red!!!!

(in counter to the Red that previously took the spot of my Blue)

6. Your birthplace: Mumbai

This.

7. Last person you talked to: Mum

A word americans don't know how to spell

(To counter the otherwise americacentric definitions)

8. Last thing you had to drink: Water

The most abundant substance on earth, yet it will cost you 14.99 if it's bottled in France. The secret is to get gay people to bottle it for you.

(Because that comment about gay people came out of no where)

9. Your nickname: Hive, Angry Man, That Guy.

Short for high five.

A person who is angry.

a term given to a person who is in fact there, yet not there in person. the kind of person who when you see you're all like: Wow, he's in this class? and when they leave, you don't notice their absence.

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:17:53 GMT

shaun says: (2:09:17 AM)
omg...
shaun says: (2:09:21 AM)
multiplayer super mario
 Ken. says: (2:11:25 AM)
:o
shaun says: (2:12:05 AM)
that's interesting
shaun says: (2:12:15 AM)
glad it's not a new Wii Fit or something
shaun says: (2:14:00 AM)
or maybe I spoke too soon
shaun says: (2:14:55 AM)
...
shaun says: (2:14:57 AM)
ok
shaun says: (2:15:01 AM)
just as I say that
 Ken. says: (2:15:04 AM)
not that good?
shaun says: (2:15:06 AM)
they announce a new Wii Fit

I don't care if your movie watching experience is spoilt by reading this, the movie wasn't good.

Sun, 31 May 2009 12:30:22 GMT

star trek > terminator salvation > wolverine.

The sad thing is the original end of terminator salvation was pretty damn awesome.

Terminator Salvation has a stupid end!

which do you like better?
*John Connor is killed during his assault on Skynet Central, and though victorious in this battle, the resistance needs a figurehead. With John dead, they have none. However, Marcus has proved that he is indeed capable of functioning as the human he was before he was turned into an infiltration terminator by skynet, so they rip off his skin and replace it with Connor's to keep up appearences while they struggle to continue

ooooooor

*John Connor gets stabbed through the heart, manages to survive being extracted from the massive skynet facility, manages to blow it up, manages to survive the night, only to be told that the hole is too big for them to close up... so Marcus decides to give John his heart, thus sacrificing himself for the sake of humanity (just like the end of T2, but worse) and they give John Marcus' heart without bothering to check for a tissue match and everyone is happier.

Well well, Terminator Salvation turned out to be more entertaining than Transformers, but will it be more entertaining than Revenge of the Fallen? We shall see.

In my opinion, Terminator 5 should start off with the resistance having no figurehead because Marcus is dead and Connor's body rejected the donor heart and he died too. However, this is the internet and I am an anonymous blogger who has only really worked on short films with budgets below $10 000, and that too as stuff like Boom handler or Foley, or utterly bizarre characters.

I suppose I undercut my own credibility when you take into consideration I was featured in a short about a racist uni contract killer who hunts down a random Indian (myself) because of the Bali bombings. This film, I am sure has a deeper message about the futility of vindictive action taken against minority groups in retaliation to actions that they personally have no part in, and its relative acceptance in modern society.

I forgot what else I was going to say. I guess I'll continue on by saying the script was messy in parts (probably due to Bale wanting to play Connor instead of Marcus, leading to rewrites extending Connor's role in the movie) and the fact they apparently reweote the entire 3rd act to accommodate an entirely new ending due to the fact the good one got leaked.

It gets a bit weird when I think the best thing to have done was write a fake new end, publicise the rewrite, have a section strategically leaked to keep up appearances, and then go with the original end because IT IS SO MUCH BETTER.

But, it entertained me in as much as some of the action scenes were good. Given today's standards for action sequences, that's not really saying much, but you could see most of what was going on, which is always a plus.

Though keep in mind that if a woman, dying of cancer, comes to you as a representative of Cyberdine and tells you you can donate your life to science for the greater good (err, for a noble cause.A Noble Cause. A very noble thing to be doing... and so on), don't believe her. In fact, don't believe anyone who says you can benefit future generations by donating your dead body to science. They just might make a crappy sci-fi flick about you, and change everything about it.

Also, if a Magnetic landmine happens to be attracted to your leg, then there's probably cause to worry. Also, if you somehow wake up after being killed, there's definitely cause to worry.

Damn you Kyri! You made me hungry by association D: Now I shall go feast on the flesh of the innocent, or maybe the processed flesh of the innocent. One or the other.

Sun, 24 May 2009 15:07:35 GMT

lol

I wonder if they'll pass off X-Men Origins as AU.

Sun, 10 May 2009 18:20:21 GMT

someone is going to kill someone you don't like.

do you
a) let him kill the guy you don't like; or
b) stop him from doing it and fight him, thus allowing your enemy to get away, because clearly the guy you're now fighting isn't on your side

This is just a typical binary decision a character in the latest crapfest to grace the silverscreen is presented with during the course of what hollywood dares to call a "movie".

Of course, this boils down to choose the smart option, or choose the character ruining stupid action that not even a 5 year old pumped full of testosterone would choose.

Here is a potential run down of what Gambit was thinking at the time:

Oh No, I don't like Sabertooth, I want to kill him for the things he did to me. OH SHIT, YOU HAVE DOG TAGS, you must instantly be a bad person and not be one of the thousands of other people who have dog tags that aren't bad, I will knock you out of the building with my cards.

Oh look! I can see you =) You are obiously fighting Sabertooth and you are about to cut his head off. Hmm. I want Sabertooth dead but you have dog tags... You must obviously be trying to help him somehow. I will stop you from killing Sabertooth and fight you allowing the person I know to be bad to get away in order to take you down because you have dog tags. Never mind the fact you were about to cut his head off, you have dog tags of DOOM!!!!!1!1!! I'm Gambit.

Of course, if Mr. Writer (yes, Mr. Writer, because no woman would be stupid enough to write a script this uninspired ~~here I am hoping that Skip Woods is a man while hating myself for adopting the writing style of Derrida.~~).

The movie was horrible to say the least. It offended me on the level of cinema goer. Not even on the level of someone who's read Wolverine's origin story, which itself messed with canon. It was just a bad film. It could have been about anything else, it could have been renamed Clawman: Revenge of the Clawman, and it would still be a horrible movie. That is of course unless it was made on a much smaller budget, which it looks like they could have given the poor quality of the CG in the film. It didn't even look like a $150 million movie.

Too be fair, it did look like it cost that much in another way. There was one scene in particular that struck me as odd. There was a 5 second scene of Silverfox driving in a car that was shot from a bird's eye view. What exactly was odd about this shot? It was a helicopter shot. They spent that much money preping a HELICOPTER to film 5 seconds worth of useable film, that's pathetic. It is pathetic and a waste of money. I don't care about no director's vision bullshit that anyone would throw at me in defence for that scene, it added nothing that couldn't have been done with a crane shot and quick cuts.

Ugh, so yes, they gave Wolverine bone claws, but then Origin also gave him bone claws so can we really fault a crap movie for retconning what has been retconned in the comics? But, why do they contradict some of the stuff in the actual film universe? How the hell does psyclops not remember him for example?

The movie wasn't really a movie. It was a series of people doing stupid things to advance to the next action sequence. That Gambit example is probably the most blatantly offensive of these moments. Let's keep the movie going by having Gambit do something stupid and let Sabertooth go free. That way we get Wolverine to go to the island of doom, free the mutants, find out spoilerish stuff, get shot in the head with an adamantium bullet, and forget everything and then run away.

Yes, an Adamantium bullet. One of many that they had in their possession before they sent the world's best shooter to his death. Seriously, it played out like this.

William: ZERO, GO KILL HIM.
Zero: OKAY!
Wolverine: FUCK! YOU KILLED OLD PEOPLE. DIE HELICOPTER DIE!

William's assistant: Zero didn't stand a chance, here is a box of bullets I kept from you and am presenting to you now so that Zero could die and not take Wolverine out back then allowing for the movie to move forward to the next stupid action scequence.

William: You had them all this time?

Assistant: Yes

William: I am too annoyed at Wolverine besting us to repremand anyone under my command for incompetence. Damn that Wolverine, he is obviously too good for us!

It would be fair to say that Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 told more compelling stories, and had more likeable characters (particularly hard, especially in Killzone 2's case) than this movie. These are two games that got slagged for having under developed stories in their campaign modes. Go figure. This movie plays out more like Resistance 2 Co-op does. A series of insignificant events leading up to the next big battle with no emotional resonance, no character development, no obvious motivation other than the difficult to place urge to move forward towards their pay cheques.

So yes, X-Men Origins: Wolverine can be summed up as a series of insignificant non-events leading up to equally uninspired sequences of action.

There is one saving grace however. Hugh Jackman does appear naked a couple of times, and topless another time, and not wearing much else in other moments.

Die Hard 4.0 had better characters. Transformers had better humour. Bubba Hotep had better special effects. Resistance 2 had a better developed story.

This will not stop anyone from seeing the movie, the pull of Jackman and the desire to follow trends like the sheep that you are will prevent you from free thought until it is too late. Either that, or you were curious as to how bad this film really was given it's drop from 100% fresh to 41% fresh in less than a day. Also it says something when a movie is apparently worse than its video game (which, by the way, looks like a fun rental).

If this film is any better than X-Men: The Last Stand, I'm so glad I didn't watch it when it came out or was on TV.