Thursday, September 28, 2006

More news

I just got back from my SAT prep course which went outstandingly well, and I am now feeling much better about taking the PSATs in two weeks. Not only did I not get yelled at for a change, but I also got every single practice problem I did correct. Not bad for skipping out on the homework. My tutor was absolutely shocked. Hope its a good omen, because standardized tests seems to hate me.

Please don't cringe

I am sure it is rather blatant by now, but my computer skills are rather lacking. I have no problem with the actual blogging. But of course, blogging is just writing and I'm good at writing. It is the website design that I am really clueless about. Things such as html send waves of confusion through my brain. I see other blogs filled with creative graphics and template updates. At the aforementioned I am 100% useless. For now at least, I must sullenly admit that my blog will go on in its rather boring state, with only creative wording to keep things interesting. I really would like to learn but a) I have no time and b) I have no one to teach me. Oh well. Guess I'll have to find some other way to spice up my life.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Cool Art Tool

I recently received an email from a friend raving about a site she had found online. Although these are the type of mass emails I really hate to get, I warily followed the link and ended up discovering something really cool. jacksonpollock.org is a site that lets your mouse draw in drip form. It starts out in black and every time you click, the "brush" changes color. As trivial as it seems, this has allowed me to create some amazing pieces that I never would have been able to do with paper or on any other program that I know of. This strange tool is actually a great way to express creativity. It is impossible for me to accurately explain what I am talking about so my suggestion is that you just visit the site. So far I have not found a way to print any of my creations but I will update if I have any luck. Happy drawing!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

What I do in my (not so) free time

Because I enjoy procrastinating and not working on my schoolwork I have chosen my top ten favorite dumb laws in my state. Here's the list:

  1. Defacing a milk carton is punishable by a $10 fine.
  2. Bullets may not be used as currency.
  3. It is illegal to put tomatoes in clam chowder.
  4. It is unlawful to injure a football goal post. Doing so is punishable by $200 fine.
  5. Snoring is prohibited unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked.
  6. Mourners at a wake may not eat more than three sandwiches.
  7. All men must carry a rifle to church on Sunday.
  8. Quakers and witches are banned.
  9. All families must be given a hog from their town's mayor.
  10. No gorilla is allowed in the backseat of any car.

Friday, September 08, 2006

The God of Cookery

I recently watched a Chinese film called "The God of Cookery." The movie was originally shot in Cantonese but since I do not speak any Cantonese I switched the language to Mandarin. Since my Mandarin is not good enough for me to really understand what is being said I also turned on the English subtitles. This creates an interesting effect. I read the subtitles most of the time, keeping my eyes at the bottom of the screen. Then, every now and again, I look up to see the faces when I can understand the Chinese, but because the movie is dubbed over I get very disoriented looking at mouths that are not actually moving with the words. The whole thing generates a sort of language overflow that makes my brain hurt.

This alone would not make "The God of Cookery" anything special, as many mainstream Chinese movies, such as Shaolin Soccer, are formatted like this. This was one of those movies where it was so awful that it was actually funny. The movie is about this guy who is the God of Cookery but really he can't cook at all. One day his apprentice figures this out and steals his title from him. Now the former god cannot go anywhere in public safely. He ends up hanging out with a bunch of street vendors in an alley way of a rundown neighborhood. There he meets a women who owns a noodle cart, named Turkey. She is actually his biggest fan and they partner together to advertise a new product called, get this, pissing beef balls. Somehow things go wrong and the former god is forced to leave town. He ends up at a Shaolin monastery headed by a monk named "Wet Dream." I am not sure whether this is a direct translation from Chinese or not, but the movie would not be complete without this unneeded sexual reference. In the end he escaped from the monastery and uses the martial arts skills to reclaim his title as the God of Cookery.

Of course, this is all a little fuzzy because the icing on the cake is that the subtitles were not translated properly and they use improper English grammar and spelling. My final review: Although this was possibly the worst movie I have ever seen it would be a great thing to see on a rainy night with some friends. Make sure their is nothing hard that you could hit first, though, because there is the chance of falling off the couch laughing.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Cool T's




I would just like to share with everyone the amazing T-shirts on one of my favorite sites, Threadless. Here's what they say about themselves:
Threadless was created by Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart. They came up with the idea after Jake Nickell won the NMUF London tee shirt competition. It felt good to win a tee shirt competition and we thought it'd be cool to extend that to the level that Threadless has become.
This has basically resulted in a site that every week releases six new amazing T-shirts for the public to buy. The shirts are unlike anything that can be bought at a chain store and offer greater variety. The Threadless community, although somewhat cult-like, is full of amateur and professional designers who inspire each other to stay creative. Their T-shirts are great quality for the price and insure some unexpected reactions when walking down the street.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Summer's End

Driving on the highway yesterday I noticed for the first time that the leaves are beginning to change which is an ominous sign that autumn is on its way. School starts on Thursday. I have mixed feelings about going back to school because I want to see my friends but dread the return to long nights spent doing homework.

This summer ended up being quite amazing. I saw beautiful sights along the California coast, learned to speak Chinese and made the greatest friends at Sen Lin Hu, and then set out to save the world at Camp IF. Alas, the Summer must come to an end but I am looking forward to all that will happen in the fall.

The Walk for Diabetes is in October and again this year I will captain a team. Everyone should come. Email me for more info. Also, I am planning on producing a film for 48 hour film fest, which is in April. Again you can email me if you are interested in participating in any way.
More soon once school starts.

Hello and Welcome

As many of you know I spend more time than I should e-mailing with everyone and trying to stay up to date on things. To make things just a little easier for myself I have created a blog so you guys can keep track of what's doing in my life. I have appropriately named this blog "The Mixed-Up Files" after one of my favorite books, From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Koningsburg. Because my life, my style of thought, and my writing are all very random the title fits perfectly with what you will see on this page. Check back for more soon. (Up next, a recap of the summer.)