8-Bit Dr. Horrible

THIS MADE MY DAY!  ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!
FYI,  I have a feeling that this one might be viral.  It was posted yesterday and it's got over 1400 views.  If it doesn't go viral, it should.

Repo Men Trailer

I just saw the trailer for a movie called Repo Men.  Its about a world where a company sells mechanical organs to patients for organ transplants.  If they can't make the payments on their surgeries, Repo Men come and repossess those organs.  Now this sounds strangely familiar.  Maybe because it is essentially the same concept as the cult favorite, Repo: The Genetic Opera.  Probably somebody saw the potential in the movie and decided to take it a different way, the way of the action-thriller with a bigger budget, no songs, and more high profile actors.  Either way, anybody who has seen Repo will be comparing this new movie with the musical version (which was fabulous by the way).  


Here's the YouTube link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlZGQz3RSkw (I would post the video, but the trailer is restricted so I figured I better not post it here and just get you to follow the link instead.)

Windows vs. Apple: A Sonnet

I sit and stare out of thy cold window
Wondering what is my purpose for such
I am not pleased by the mid-winter snow
Such grief we already have received much


Behind me a friend bites a tasty fruit
An apple it is, looks with much allure
As if it were dressed with a tailored suit
"It tastes good as well" my friend does assure


My friend once sat at the window as well
Before he got fed up with the sorrow
"Windows suck," he cried. "By them I shan't dwell."
An apple he had grasped by tomorrow


Finally, I chose to get on my feet
Reaching my hand to the apple so sweet

December is Here!

When I woke up this morning (or this afternoon rather because I awoke at 1pm and missed lunch and class again, oops) I was greeted with a wonderful sight.  I was greeted with the sight of snow on the ground.  It has been getting colder lately and I feel like the cold feels more miserable when there isn’t a layer of snow on the ground to justify the cold.  Apart from that is my obscure principle that I shouldn’t wear a winter jacket until there is snow.  I just feel out of place if I do that.  So today was nice because although it was not that much colder today, I was warmer because I was wearing my winter jacket instead of just my sweater.

The snow of this morning felt appropriate because it was December 1^st.  December 1^st is a transitional day where people usually feel like they are officially allowed to get into the Christmas spirit (*cough* Jessica *cough*).  Sure, stores like people to get the idea of Christmas in their heads right after Remembrance Day or American Thanksgiving (Black Friday or Midnight Madness attests to that), but some people still don’t feel like it’s the Christmas season until December 1^st (even though Advent has started already).  One reason why this could be is possibly because Christmas Countdown Calendars (with the chocolates for every day) start on December 1^st.  I received one this year for the first time.  I got it as a gag gift from my girlfriend.  It’s a Hannah Montana calendar.  I was happy to receive it though because not only did I get a piece of chocolate first thing in the morning, but I also got to punch a hole in her knee.  (Needless to say, I am not at all a fan of Hannah Montana.) 

Happy December everyone!  I wish everyone quick fingers and great focus when doing their homework.  For those sick of school, hang on.  We’re almost there.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

Feliz Navidad!

My Weekend: Talking to a Computer

My weekend consisted of many things.  It consisted of a lot of stress as I had to memorize a 5 stanza poem and create an academic poster for a class project.  It also consisted of a loud and rowdy Grey Cup game with a plentiful audience in the Student Life Center.  I did not watch the game in great detail.  I was in the same room as a TV that was playing the Grey Cup.  I watched the game by judging audience reaction.  I rejoiced at the end of the game when the Montreal Alouettes won due to a technicality.  Not that I am an Alouettes fan of course.  I am a Winnipeg Blue Bombers fan, thus I can not bring myself to cheer for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The most significant part of my weekend that deserves a blog mention is the discovery of an AI avatar called Joan.  I spent at least a solid two hours in two sessions talking to this thing the past three days.  You can carry on a decent conversation with her.  Apparently, she formulates her responses based on context and past user responses.  Sometimes, she gives lame responses, but the majority of the time, her responses are intelligent and witty.  I even tried engaging in a debate with her about God and evolution.  She gave intelligent responses for a good amount of time before she started contradicting herself.  Of course, if you wish to engage in some cheap entertainment, you can start hitting on her as well.  Either way, it is almost addicting and quite entertaining either way.  I recommend you check it out.

Here is the link.  http://www.icogno.com/joan.html.

Biography of Aspiration

Jeremy Bergen, the man, the myth, the legend.  Just kidding, he’s just a regular guy with far-reaching aspirations, aspirations expanding into the creative realms of writing and filmmaking.  Throughout the years, he engaged with multiple story streams and concepts covering media all across the creative board, but mostly just novels, short stories, films, and, more recently, theatre. 

According to Bergen, his official start came back when he was 9 years old.  He wrote a short, uncomplicated mystery story starring 10 year old twins as the detectives, sort of like The Hardy Boys, The Boxcar Children, or The Bobbsey Twins.  Most of Bergen’s subsequent narratives were based on stories made up when he played as child.  (For instance, playing with cars on the roll-out carpet town would provide a scenario for a creative narrative.)  Using these ideas as a foundation, he would build and expand on the story and let it develop into something more substantial. 

There was a stint in his lifetime where he would have so many ideas and concepts for superheroes.  He used to draw them and explain their origins, supplementary characters, and, of course, superpowers.  Most of these ideas have been stashed away in a drawer somewhere with other childhood memories.  Only one of these ideas has survived the dust.  One of these ideas is currently under idle development in the form of a feature length, full-budget screenplay.  Bergen has stated that “this project is simply going to sit in his creative archives and hopefully someday get submitted professionally.” 

One of Bergen’s goals was to become a published writer by the age of 20.  Although the goal did not come true in a fashion that was as grand as he might have hoped, it did technically come true.  He submitted a Christmas story to a local newspaper at the age of 16 that got editor’s pick.  This past summer, he also submitted a short story for a contest run by a Canadian publisher.  The top 33% of all entries submitted would be placed in the anthology.  Bergen made the top third of submissions and is happy that his fiction has been released to the public. 

As far as filmmaking goes, he loves being in front of and behind the camera.  Although not as experienced with film (as much as he would like to be), he just cannot seem to get enough on the theatre stage, with a grand total of 10 characters portrayed on the main stage by the end of his third year here at Providence.  He is hoping that the acting experience will transfer well into film.

Aspirations that Jeremy Bergen holds for the future is completing a film for his Communications and Media Practicum, as well as possibly writing a play based on his short story, a fantasy novel, the superhero screenplay (as mentioned before), and an alien Conworld which will serve as a basis for a trilogy of novels.  Bergen asks everyone to “wish [him] luck!”

In addition, since I won't be writing about the play I saw last night now, I will post a link for it so that you can still learn about it if you are still curious.  http://bit.ly/6AyVq5

Hungry Man

Today was an interesting day.  It was not as super-de-duper like yesterday, but it was different as far as days go.  I cannot say it was a bad day because I did go to a play in the city in the evening.  However, I once again I did miss my 8:30 class for no other reason than a late night, a sleepy morning, and getting my butt out of be at 1 o’clock. (What can I say?  I was up until 5 writing madly my film script.)  As a result of this rather late evening, and late wake-up time, I missed out on lunch.  Not willing to miss out on food, I purchased a meal from the Bistro.  I then had the afternoon to finish an assignment that was due before I could leave for the play at 5:10.  As what usually happens, focus and concentration seemed to have eluded me and took me way to long to finish the assignment.  As a result, I also missed out on the supper.  Here is a list of what I ate and drank today (whether you care or not):

1)      sandwich from the Bistro

2)      500mL of chocolate milk

3)      a poppy seed muffin

4)      Arizona fruit punch

5)      a bag of Stacy’s pita chips

6)      Coffee Crisp

7)      can of Pepsi

8)      two Hershey’s Kisses

9)      two cherry candy canes

10)   half a bottle of Coca-Cola

The one sandwich is the closest thing I’ve had to a meal all day.  I am a man that likes having his meals.  I miss my meals.  Right now much stomach is telling me that it needs sustenance.  I could write about the play tonight, but I think the smarter idea right now would be to go to sleep and then the next meal would come that much faster.  (Plus, then I stand a better chance of making it to class tomorrow.)  I welcome breakfast with open arms.  (It didn’t help this evening that the cast was making bacon and eggs on stage, but I shall tell you about that some other time.)