Cloverfield!

So for some reason people seem to not like Cloverfield. From limited conversations the only reasons I've come across are "Its not like a traditional monster movie" (aka It wasn't what I expected and therefore sucked) and "The camera made me feel sick" which is understandable since its shot purely from a hand-held camera but its no reason to say a movie is bad in my opinion. I would describe the movie as a monster movie in which you follow simply a group of people who have the destruction and chaos mostly happening around them rather than directly too them, but, of course, it still does intersect with them. So, do you see the monster? Yeah. Do you see the military fighting the monster? Yeah. Does the movie ever entirely focus on either of these? No, unlike every other monster movie. Also it doesn't have a source of the monster (Though some are proposed) or a cure for the monster (No extra-nerdy scientist saying "Silly military, you fight monsters with science." either). This is a very experimental type movie, as such some people are going to recoil from it and say "Bleh, this doesn't taste like what I expected!" Now I'm not saying this is the most amazing movie ever produced, but it is exciting, it is intense, it might even make you cry because its about people in a disaster and so people do die. So, as long as you don't get motion sick, I do recommend a theater viewing as the sound and visuals are pretty sweet.

Also, three very good previews: Hell Boy 2, which I really felt so-so about the original but this one looks awesome; Iron Man, with Iron Man playing through the preview, which made it more awesome; and a teaser trailer for the next Star Trek movie which is being done by the same guy who made Cloverfield and thus will probably be about 4 Ensigns who are new on the ship and there will be a battle with the Borg and.... Actually it isn't at all, its a return to the roots and starts with a younger Kirk and Spock and I don't think the Enterprise is even finished yet. So yeah, very different, kinda like Batman Begins for Star Trek.

Finally I just want to say I really like Rachel Yamagata, she's got some good songs for getting you through melancholic times.

Good enough for government work.

Or so the saying goes. I recently came to the harsh conslusion that while my drawing skillz are not bad, they aren't where I want them to be, so today I purchased two lovely books on the subjects of "Drawing Basics" and "Drawing Manga" since thats the style that I want to be proficient in. Now, something I found odd about both these books is they felt the need to print "Illustrated" on the cover. If its a book about drawing.... I mean, is there a version where they give verbal instructions like "Now, move your pencil in sort've a circular motion- No, thats wrong, circle CIRCLE!" Anyway, I'm planning to start doing the basic stuff and see how that all goes. Heck, less expensive than taking an Art class.

Oh, I promised this one would be more geeky didn't I? Ummm.... Oh, tomorrow I'm going to reserve tickets at the Kennedy Center. How is that geeky? Well, these happen to be tickets for anime screenings! Thats right, anime screenings at the Kennedy Center. First Video Games Live comes in, now anime? Soon it will become a degenerate outpouring of pop-sub-culture! But seriously, its part of the "Japan! Culture+Hyperculture" thing they have going on starting... soon. Check out the site for details.

First!

My Japanese book, which I have scarcely looked at, tells me I should greet you with "Oyasumi Nasai" as it is currently a little past midnight. Some would say I should therefore greet you with "Ohayo Gozaimasu" but I think they are silly because who, other than those few who I know, would seriously and politely greet someone with "Good Morning" at a little past midnight? (If you reply "Me" then you're one of the people I was talking about)

Now that the greeting is done, a process which surely took longer than necessary, I will here tell you that I hope to inform you of this... And that... And probably anything I feel like. Chances are a lot of those things will have to do with my exploits in the worlds of anime and gaming, but some will be interesting to normal people too! For example, as a first post special bonus I'm offering a relavent piece of news that any internet user should be able to use: Multitasking Makes you Slow and Stupid . Multitasking here isn't listening to the radio while you're doing dishes, its more like walking around the mall intently talking on the cell phone while also trying to make a serious decision on which CD you want to get and, oh by the way, watch out for the dumb heeley kid.

So there you have it. Don't worry, it will be geekier in the future.