Tyler Hunt

There are all sorts of puns I could have used for the title of this post, but I’ll leave such headlines to the experts. I had decided some time ago that I would camp out to get a Wii on release day with some guys from work. Aside from a few coworkers dropping out of the plans, Daniel, Spawn, and I were fairly successful in securing a place in line at the Casselberry Wal-Mart. All was looking well, my place in line when I arrived was 43, but it had since been bumped up to 39 after a few people left. The store apparently had 32 in stock, and a truck was supposed to come with another 40 or so that day, putting the total around 70. Then Wal-Mart finally came out and informed us of the situation: the extra delivery would not be happening that night. Everyone after 32^nd place quickly dispersed to find a new camp site. The CFi contingent decided to call it quits (at my dismay).

Fortunately for me, Melissa had to go to PetSmart, and I had her check the line at Target while she was there. “There are only three people in line,” she informed me. I made the decision to give up on the possibility of a midnight release, and stick it out overnight outside Target. The time went more quickly than expected, and the cold wasn’t too overbearing. Dawn came, and someone from Target’s loss control division wearing black windbreaker pants and a white turtleneck (not your typical Target khaki’s and red shirt) came outside to disburse the magic tickets to the first 24 in line. I was number 5. Huzzah.

I picked up a Wii, an extra remote and nunchuck, and a copy of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. So far the experience has been not only fun, entertaining, and almost magical. It’s amazing how simply moving your limbs about a little can bring you so much closer into the game. Check out Opening the Wii for a close-up look at the system and accessories.

Now that only a week remains of the Chihuly exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art, today seemed like the best one to go see it. I saw a few pictures of some cool glass stuff here and there, but I didn’t really know what to expect. It was really an impressive exhibit, though, and worth the high entry fee. From the intricately detailed spiral patterns of nested vessels, to tall, slender mauve spires mounted on logs, there was quite a variety of pieces that showcased well the creativity and expertise of Chihuly.

The coolest pieces were the large room-sized presentations, with a multitude of spiny and spirally elements delicately arranged. The colors were vivid and wild, and the little lit them up with a sometimes eerie glow that appeared to be coming from within. Then there was a whole wall covered with abstract canvases, representative of the quick sketches used to give direction to the artisans crafting the glass works. It was really amazing to see what can be done with glass with a little creativity and ingenuity.

I remember a while back Tim talking about Les Triplettes de Belleville, so I picked it up tonight as my free rental for the week. I was expecting a lot out of this film after the nominations it received at this year’s Academy Awards, and it certainly lived up to those expectations. It’s one of the most fanciful movies I’ve seen in a while, although it may lead you to believe that the French eat only large bowls of strange gelatinous food substances and have asses the the size of their egos because of it.

The thought of Comcast buying out TechTV was never good. Folding the channel’s programming into the video game network G4 is sad considering some of the better content on TechTV. Then again, with programs like Robot Wars consuming more and more of the daily schedule, it’s no wonder that they’ve been bought out. Maybe G4 will be able to salvage the good shows. It will be especially sad to see Leo go. His role in both The Screensavers and Call for Help was probably the only thing holding TechTV together in the past year or so. It now seems that the entire staff of the San Francisco studio has been given 60 days notice. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next, and mourn the loss of television’s greatest nerd programming.

After putting it off for several weeks, Erin and I finally made it to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind last night. If it were true that putting off movies until a later time made them better, than this one was definitely worth the wait. Despite the unusual casting (Jim Carrey, Elijah Wood), Eternal Sunshine was the one of the best films I’ve seen in a while. The cinematography and special effects couldn’t have been more suitable to the story, and the story itself was beautifully crafted and always kept you guessing.

I was priveleged to be able to attend a presentation tonight by the Brothers Chaps and Missy, of Homestar Runner fame. One of many events on campus tonight, this was surely the best pick of them all. They showed a DVD full of unreleased material, rare music videos, and a bunch of live action stuff involving the Homestar Runner puppet. Some of the voices were even filled in with live performances where there were silent gaps in the video. They also gave lots of good insight into the production of their site, and hints on things to come, including a couple DVDs. It was truly not something you wanted to miss out on, and I’m now very envious of their jobs and their talent.

F, being the awesome boss that he is, gave me his pair of tickets to see Lord of the Dance tonight. Erin and I went and had a great time laughing at all the corniness. I was expecting it to be good, and parts of it were, but in some ways the whole thing just seemed like a really bad rip-off of Riverdance. But first, the things I liked: the music was good, and the dancing was good. I enjoyed some of the violin numbers, just because I tend to like folksy violin stuff. And that’s about it. For things I didn’t like: my biggest problem with the production was that all of the tapping was dubbed in. When everyone was on stage dancing at once, it wasn’t a big deal, but it was really apparent during the solos, and it bugged me a lot. The costumes weren’t all that great either, although Erin really enjoyed the the neon-costume black light number. There was also the huge, sequined belt that the Lord of Dance wore, and the duel between the Lord and Don Dorcha. When Don won, he took the belt and held it high like a true WWF champion.

The Little Spirit with her magic pixie gold dust and tiny silver flute made her appearence in just about every number, sneaking in from the side and hopping into the middle of the stage to play a few notes on the pipe. One of the best parts was when Don Dorcha’s warriors took the Little Spirit’s flute away and broke it in half. Then there was Erin the Goddess, who may have given someone a superiority complex.

So basically, there a lot of cheesy parts, but the music and dancing made up for some of it. The old people were crazy about it, though. It was good to be able to go and see something light tonight. I feel like we’ve been watching a lot of deep, artsy things lately, which I really enjoy, but this was a nice break from that.

I’m hesistant to write about the movie so soon after seeing it. It’s such an intense experience that I think it will take a while to digest. I don’t think I’m even capable of expressing in words how I felt afterwards. You know the message comes across the right way, though, when everyone who comes out of the theater has tears in their eyes. The Passion has the potential to impact a lot of people, and it will be exciting to see how God uses it.

I was talking to a some people today who had some negative things to say about the film before seeing it. One mentioned that Jesus must have had a really bad lawyer, because he lost in the worst way possible. Putting aside the fact that there was no right to a fair trial at that time, this is a really interesting perspective to contemplate, but this individual has completely missed the significance of Christ’s death. I also read a comment today from someone who had seen the film and thought that it was a shame that they hadn’t shown more of the love of Christ earlier in his life, and less of his death. The death of Jesus on the cross was the ultimate expression of love, and it seems that this is the one point that most people fail to grasp. In some ways it is unfortunate that this aspect wasn’t emphasized more in the film, but there’s still so much power behind it that it should really get people thinking. I know it will be on my mind for long time to come.

At one time, the largest and most popular network has now sunk to an all time low. After killing the Millionaire show the first time out of the gates, they are now so desparate for viewers that they have brought it back once again. A few minor differences, including more cash and two additional lifelines (Three Wise Men and Double Dip), have been added to the new ‘Super Millionaire,’ but is it really enough to set it apart from the previous series? The first time around I got sick of the show pretty quickly, because they seemed to drag out the questions for so long. That hasn’t changed in this new version, and on top of that, what was originally a weekly show has now become a nightly event. People got tired of seeing the show every time they turned on the TV. Apparently, this is the best that ABC has to offer right now. I’m opposed to the Disney sellout, but if it could do something for ABC I may reconsider.

The Lost in Translation trailer looked good, but the movie wasn’t quite what I thought it would be. I liked it though. It didn’t have a well-defined plot, or completely coherent scenes, but it was a good, relaxing movie with some interesting insight into Japanese society. Lost in Translation marks the third movie directed by Sofia Coppola, the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, who was the film’s executive producer. The fledgling career of Scarlett Johansson certainly benefitted from her role as the female lead in this movie, in addition to her recent role in Girl With A Pearl Earing.

What made this movie so different and enjoyable is not rushed by the need to fit in a series of plot points. It’s about a middle-aged celebrity, staying in Japan to film a whiskey commercial, and a recent college graduate and photographer’s wife, left alone while her husband is away on photo shoots. With a series of sleepless nights between them at the hotel bar, they begin spending time together and find solace in each other’s situation. It’s filmed in a way that makes you feel like you’re actually walking through the streets of Tokyo, and taking in the sights and sounds of Japanese nightlife.

After finding out yesterday that Erin had never seen Braveheart, that movie got added right to the top of her list. Daniel and I got our physics done earlier than usual tonight (not playing Zelda may have had something to do with that) so Erin and DTM came over to watch it. I had forgotten how good that movie really was. It covers such a wide range of emotions that it’s crazy.

Then a little brutality incident of our own occurred shortly after the movie. Dan and Erin were fighting on the couch when all of a sudden Erin’s hard head came flying at me and bashed into my nose. But it’s better now, and I couldn’t hold it against either of them for it happening. I’ll just be sure to keep my distance the next time limbs are flailing in the air anywhere near my head.

Tonight was fun. Of course, with school going the way that is, it doesn’t take much to make for a good weekend. Anyways, a bunch of us went over the Chris’s place and watched Amelie. I’ve been wanting to see it again for a while now, and tonight ended up being the perfect night to watch it. Kirby is also down to surprise Joyce on Valentine’s Day tomorrow, so he hung out with us tonight. It was good to have him around again; he always makes hanging out so much more merry.

My new favorite theater is the Enzian. It’s such a cool place to go see movies, and they show such wonderful ones. We finally got to go see Girl With A Pearl Earing tonight, and it was amazing. Good acting, good music, good cinematography, and yet Chris still found plenty to complaign about. The Enzian experience was great, though. They have nice, comfy chairs and tables spread throughout, and they serve some good food and desserts.

So this marks the end of the never-ending day with Erin and Lauren. It was fun hanging out with you guys, you’re the best.

While the plan of going to see Girl With A Pearl Earing didn’t work out tonight for reasons I won’t go into, we did end up renting American Splendor. I hadn’t really heard much about this movie before, but it turned out to be really good. It’s about a man who never quite fit in with society, and his struggle with loneliness. He finds inspiration in the comics of a friend, however, and begins his own comic based on the every day happenings in his own life. His work gains national popularity, which leads him to his second marriage and a slew of appearances on Letterman.

I may have already just spoiled a large part of the movie, so I’ll stop at that. I think one reason I liked this movie was because it’s about a guy who’s looking for a creative outlet from the boredom of his job working as a file-puller at the hospital. Envious of his friend’s successful career as an underground comic writer, he begins experimenting with his own strip. The whole reason he chose to write about his own life was because he never understood the American fascination with idealized fiction. Superheroes never cut it for him, so he made himself into his own superhero of sorts, only without any special powers, just a regular old life. The movie expressed that notion well, I think, without becoming idealized itself. It also had a really awesome nerd in it, too, which is probably the other half of why I liked it.

The Last Samurai. Go see it.

Honestly, while that line alone should be enough incentive go see the movie, I’ll give you a little more of a review before you go plop down your hard-earned cash for a ticket. I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed, moreso than I had thought I would be. The trailer looked appealing, but at the same time there were plenty of jeers from the audience at Tom Cruise playing the role of a Japanese warrior. The film provided a good depiction of the honorable tradition of the samurai as they rebel against the emperor’s quest to westernize Japan. It’s good, so again I will say: go see it.

While there have been lots of good war movies made over the last few years, in some ways this one brought to mind some thoughts that other movies haven’t. It wasn’t based on a true story, but the concept of honor amongst the samurai got me thinking about what it would be like to live in a society where honor and self-discipline were such a vital part of everyday life. Are there still elements of bushido present in modern day Japan?