I didn't think that I would have to write this post so soon. It's only been 5 months, and I'm so grateful for every view that I get, but all good things must come to an end. If at this point you're still wondering what's going on, this will be the last post of Joey's Raucous, Rude, and Really Funny Blog About Nothing In Particular. I'm retiring from this blog, with hopes of soon starting a new, possibly even better one.
I never really gave much thought to how I wanted this post to sound, as it never really occurred to me that I'd be doing this right now. But if I had to pick one word to possibly describe this, it's hopeful. I feel like at this point, after 66 posts, I'm just writing to write. Whereas through posts 1-50, I had messages and meanings behind everything I said, the last 15 have been almost painful for me to publish. I mean, how many times can I tell a First Friday story without it being boring and redundant. I wanted to end out on a high note, and I think this is what it is. I love this blog with all of my heart because I put 110% of me into it, and I never regret that first post, Blogging Is For Whiners. It opened up a new door for me. A door where I could connect with as many people as I wanted, and hopefully meet some new ones on the way. The people I've gotten the chance to interview have all been fascinating individuals with a story to tell, and that's the only message I've ever really tried to convey the whole time I've been writing. Everyone has a story to tell, so tell it. This blog is just one big memoir. That's all it ever was, and I hope that that's all it will ever be.
I'm thankful and loving of every reader I've ever had, regardless of a possibly negative relationship that we have in the real world. You guys, (yes, you!) are the reason I'm here right now, 66 posts later. There are so many people I'd like to thank at this point. But I'll keep the list concise for time sake. I apologize if your name isn't mentioned here. I'd like to thank:
Simon Gutkin, Alana Arcaro, Ned Vizzini, Henry Rodriguez, Melissa Rodriguez, Lola Valdez, Mark Zuckerberg, Justin Eugene Evans, Nicole Von Wiczur, Samantha Boscarino, Aubreya Barnwell, Willow Kanowsky, Piera Fries, Coreen Smith, Lucina Chavez, Tom Kukoly, Marcella Vitulli, Kevin Smith, Hunter Rand, Stephanie Fiello, Meghan Johnson, Melissa Lain, Coco Taylor, Andrew Hosley, Aryan Rojas, Matthew Huffman, Doni Smith, Larry Smith, Nikki Wedemeyer, Lizz Marshall, Max Beckman, Jason Noe, Ryan Leach, Ross Marquand, Sean Bonnette, Aya Wertheimer, Daniela Wertheimer, Rachel Rigali, Lucille Berk, Alicia Robles, Alex Watts, Quetzalli Enrique, Hannah Melchert, Krysta Jimenez, Marc Contreras, Dago Payan, Ben Goldman and many, many, many more. Now, I know that I'm not necessarily on the best terms with all of these people, but believe it or not, all of the people on this list have helped me improve in one way or another. It's weird how things like this happen.
Now, when one door closes another opens. I'm still working on many different projects that could surface soon. I'm open to a lot of new ideas. Collaborative works, guest writing, reviewing, anything you guys want me to do. I have only one condition; it doesn't touch this blog. I want to leave this as it is. I'm also looking into publishing the blog into a book if possible. That would be very cool. Regardless of publications, I'm going to print out every post I've ever done and save it somewhere, same goes for all of my Blog For Teens, which I will continue to write for if anyone's wondering. Maybe not as frequently as before, but I'll still be there.
That's all I've got to say for now. Look out for future projects, and more music from Gentlemanly Anonymous. Thanks for everything you guys have done, I'm forever grateful for everything and every view!
Thanks for reading (:
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Lightrail Stories
The Phoenix Metro lightrail is a very interesting place to be at the right time. I ride the lightrail almost everyday to meet my mom at her job, so I encounter some very interesting people on a daily basis. I'm just going to tell a couple of my favorite lightrail stories, because I definitely have a lot. Some are sweet, some are scary, and some are just kind of funny. Enjoy?
Don't Start With Me!-I was riding eastbound with a friend of mine, and we were talking. Loudly. There was an old (or presumably old) American-Indian bum taking up two seats, sleeping. She was snoring loudly, and was nothing short of a little crazy. Suddenly, she woke up, and yelled at my friend and I saying, "Hey! Don't start any sh!t with me I'll kill you both!" Immediately after saying that, she closed her eyes again, and we continued talking. The lady woke up again, sitting up this time, visibly angry. She said to us, "What did I say?! Huh?! I said don't start anything with me!!" The people around us looked at my friend and I, giving us somewhat reassuring looks, saying things like, "It's okay guys, you can keep talking, you're not bothering anyone here." Not wanting to be yelled at anymore by her, we got off the train a stop or two earlier and walked the rest of the way back.
No, No, That's Your Dollar-This one happened to me just yesterday, and I think it's a pretty sweet story to be honest. I was rushing for the lightrail to make it on time to meet my mom (in the end she was late, but that's completely beside the point.) The dollar that I was feeding into the machine kept getting spit back out, probably because it was too wrinkled or crumpled up. A homeless man walked up to me, and said, "Hold on a second, I've got a dollar you can have." We traded dollars, his worked, I thanked him very graciously, and I got on the train and left. The reason that I even decided to tell this story was because things like that, the kindness of the human heart, are hard to come by sometimes. I can name 20 people off the top of my head that would never even think of doing something like that, then there's this man that I've never seen before in my life, and out of the goodness in his heart, decides to help me. I'm probably making a huge deal out of nearly nothing here, but whatever, I'm a softy at heart believe it or not.
Hey Man! I Didn't Do Nothing!-This one isn't really a lightrail story, but I want to tell it anyway. I was in the park side of the library with Lola shooting a Gentlemanly Anonymous video (that we never finished because of this story), when all of a sudden, we see a really angry black guy in a red shirt and loose jeans. All of a sudden, he grabs a homeless man, and starts beating the hell out of him. The man starts to run, yelling, "I didn't do anything! I swear I didn't do anything," but he didn't believe the man and kept beating on him. Finally, he stopped, as the homeless man ran away. The black guy yelled at him, "That's right you better run old man! That's right!" Other homeless people in the vicinity of the beating (this little park is where a lot of them live), were yelling at the black guy, "You best get outta here! Cops are coming! I can hear the sirens already!" After hearing that, he slowly but surely got out of there, disappearing behind the bridge. A couple of security guards ran out and questioned two girls sitting near us, but that was it. No cops, no nothing. It's probably just a daily occurrence around there.
Mexican Vs. Puerto Rican-My final, and favorite, story of the day. I was riding the lightrail with Piera and I had my iPod on shuffle. We were sharing earphones and a Puerto Rican salsa song came on. To my surprise, she actually liked it (Piera's pretty white), and asked what kind of Mexican music it was. That's when it all went downhill. I looked at her and said, "No! This is Puerto Rican music. God you are so white. You should know the difference between a Mexican and a Puerto Rican by now!" The lady in front of us started laughing, turned around, and started agreeing with me. Piera's face got all flustered, and I have to admit it was pretty funny.
Thanks for reading today. Sorry I haven't posted in the past week or so, it's been more than hectic, and a lot of stuff (bad stuff) has happened this week so far, so I'm just waiting for First Friday and my garage sale on Saturday. I promise now that I'm on Spring Break I'll be posting a lot more!
Don't Start With Me!-I was riding eastbound with a friend of mine, and we were talking. Loudly. There was an old (or presumably old) American-Indian bum taking up two seats, sleeping. She was snoring loudly, and was nothing short of a little crazy. Suddenly, she woke up, and yelled at my friend and I saying, "Hey! Don't start any sh!t with me I'll kill you both!" Immediately after saying that, she closed her eyes again, and we continued talking. The lady woke up again, sitting up this time, visibly angry. She said to us, "What did I say?! Huh?! I said don't start anything with me!!" The people around us looked at my friend and I, giving us somewhat reassuring looks, saying things like, "It's okay guys, you can keep talking, you're not bothering anyone here." Not wanting to be yelled at anymore by her, we got off the train a stop or two earlier and walked the rest of the way back.
No, No, That's Your Dollar-This one happened to me just yesterday, and I think it's a pretty sweet story to be honest. I was rushing for the lightrail to make it on time to meet my mom (in the end she was late, but that's completely beside the point.) The dollar that I was feeding into the machine kept getting spit back out, probably because it was too wrinkled or crumpled up. A homeless man walked up to me, and said, "Hold on a second, I've got a dollar you can have." We traded dollars, his worked, I thanked him very graciously, and I got on the train and left. The reason that I even decided to tell this story was because things like that, the kindness of the human heart, are hard to come by sometimes. I can name 20 people off the top of my head that would never even think of doing something like that, then there's this man that I've never seen before in my life, and out of the goodness in his heart, decides to help me. I'm probably making a huge deal out of nearly nothing here, but whatever, I'm a softy at heart believe it or not.
Hey Man! I Didn't Do Nothing!-This one isn't really a lightrail story, but I want to tell it anyway. I was in the park side of the library with Lola shooting a Gentlemanly Anonymous video (that we never finished because of this story), when all of a sudden, we see a really angry black guy in a red shirt and loose jeans. All of a sudden, he grabs a homeless man, and starts beating the hell out of him. The man starts to run, yelling, "I didn't do anything! I swear I didn't do anything," but he didn't believe the man and kept beating on him. Finally, he stopped, as the homeless man ran away. The black guy yelled at him, "That's right you better run old man! That's right!" Other homeless people in the vicinity of the beating (this little park is where a lot of them live), were yelling at the black guy, "You best get outta here! Cops are coming! I can hear the sirens already!" After hearing that, he slowly but surely got out of there, disappearing behind the bridge. A couple of security guards ran out and questioned two girls sitting near us, but that was it. No cops, no nothing. It's probably just a daily occurrence around there.
Mexican Vs. Puerto Rican-My final, and favorite, story of the day. I was riding the lightrail with Piera and I had my iPod on shuffle. We were sharing earphones and a Puerto Rican salsa song came on. To my surprise, she actually liked it (Piera's pretty white), and asked what kind of Mexican music it was. That's when it all went downhill. I looked at her and said, "No! This is Puerto Rican music. God you are so white. You should know the difference between a Mexican and a Puerto Rican by now!" The lady in front of us started laughing, turned around, and started agreeing with me. Piera's face got all flustered, and I have to admit it was pretty funny.
Thanks for reading today. Sorry I haven't posted in the past week or so, it's been more than hectic, and a lot of stuff (bad stuff) has happened this week so far, so I'm just waiting for First Friday and my garage sale on Saturday. I promise now that I'm on Spring Break I'll be posting a lot more!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The speech heard round the world..
Tonight was Oscar night, which can be either my favorite or least favorite night of the year. Tonight, I'd have to say it was my favorite. Almost everything that won (excluding Best Director and Best Documentary) were exactly as I had anticipated and hoped. Compared to the stink that was 2009 Oscars, almost anything could be better. The night started off with me thinking, "ughh, please end this now!" But, I found myself really getting into it as the time went on. James Franco and Anne Hathaway weren't necessarily exemplary hosts, and I felt that they got it because a.) James wasn't going to win and b.) Hathaway should've been nominated, so this was somewhat of a consolation prize. Their lines felt unrehearsed and sloppy, and to be honest, James Franco seemed a little drunk. Hathaway was trying very hard to do well, but she somehow fell flat. Almost all of the presenters were veterans, and it was really nothing new as far as the jokes went. Whatever though, I definitely don't watch the Oscars for the writing.
This year was very interesting for me because it's the first year I've had the opportunity to do a live tweet during it. And trust me, I took advantage of that. I did almost 100 tweets tonight, which is close to clinical insanity I think. I felt like such a nerd IM'ing on Facebook, tweeting constantly, and watching the show. I'm glad I wasn't the only one though. I felt like I was having a tweet-off with Patton Oswalt. The guy was seriously posting something new every 30 seconds. Also, James Franco kept posting little live tweets from backstage that were borderline annoying.
I'll just come out and say that The King's Speech won best picture. The reason I say this is because TKS is the reason I watched the Oscars this year. I posted by Speech story a while ago from when I first reviewed the film, but here's a little recapitulation for you. When I went and saw TKS, I wasn't quite sure what to expect out of it because I had seen Rocket Science, another movie about stuttering, and although I loved it, I felt like it didn't truly capture the essence and angst of being a stutterer. It was just a character trait of the lead protagonist. But, for TKS, it was the character, which is the case for most stutterers. The stutter becomes a part of who you are, it's no longer just something you do. When I walked into this film, that's exactly how I felt. I felt like the stuttering was being done to me, not something I was doing. I felt helpless, like there was nothing I could do to stop it. I also felt very alone in my pursuit, because very few people, if any at all, that I knew had a stutter as severe as mine. In short, I was feeling like there was nothing left I could do. 121 minutes later, I walked out of that theater crying my eyes out. Not because I was sad, no, that was the last thing I was at that point. I was saved, from myself if anything. There aren't words to explain the feeling I had, but I can try.
For the next 45 minutes, I was letting it all out. The built up anger, the regret, the tension, the hatred I had toward myself. It was all gone. I, at that very moment, felt like a completely different person. A person that can do things, a person that could change the world. I felt understood, and empathized with. Now, all the people who go and see that movie will understand the struggle that I go through everyday just to withstand a conversation with somebody. Why do you think I started this blog? So I could honestly express what I was feeling without being held back by my own speech. After seeing that film, I walked out a new man. I'd never felt so good, and yet so vulnerable in my life before. Colin Firth's unflinchingly true performance forever changed the way I look at not only him, but at acting itself. Performances like that come maybe once in a generation. Mr. Firth, you are a Godsend in all meanings of the word. You've brought hope to millions of people around the world who are held back by stuttering. And that is where I'll end this little story.
If you're interested in reading my admittedly raucous, rude, and really funny tweets about the Oscars, go to www.twitter.com/joey123mo, and don't forget to follow me! I want to wish everyone a happy March, and I hope you had a wonderful February.
This week's Tweet of the Week is:
An eye for an eye makes the whole world broke from all those lasik eye surgery bills.
Thanks for reading everyone! If you go on my twitter and read the rest of my tweets, you can send your opinions on your pick of Tweet of the Week to rudeandraucous@hotmail.com!
This year was very interesting for me because it's the first year I've had the opportunity to do a live tweet during it. And trust me, I took advantage of that. I did almost 100 tweets tonight, which is close to clinical insanity I think. I felt like such a nerd IM'ing on Facebook, tweeting constantly, and watching the show. I'm glad I wasn't the only one though. I felt like I was having a tweet-off with Patton Oswalt. The guy was seriously posting something new every 30 seconds. Also, James Franco kept posting little live tweets from backstage that were borderline annoying.
I'll just come out and say that The King's Speech won best picture. The reason I say this is because TKS is the reason I watched the Oscars this year. I posted by Speech story a while ago from when I first reviewed the film, but here's a little recapitulation for you. When I went and saw TKS, I wasn't quite sure what to expect out of it because I had seen Rocket Science, another movie about stuttering, and although I loved it, I felt like it didn't truly capture the essence and angst of being a stutterer. It was just a character trait of the lead protagonist. But, for TKS, it was the character, which is the case for most stutterers. The stutter becomes a part of who you are, it's no longer just something you do. When I walked into this film, that's exactly how I felt. I felt like the stuttering was being done to me, not something I was doing. I felt helpless, like there was nothing I could do to stop it. I also felt very alone in my pursuit, because very few people, if any at all, that I knew had a stutter as severe as mine. In short, I was feeling like there was nothing left I could do. 121 minutes later, I walked out of that theater crying my eyes out. Not because I was sad, no, that was the last thing I was at that point. I was saved, from myself if anything. There aren't words to explain the feeling I had, but I can try.
For the next 45 minutes, I was letting it all out. The built up anger, the regret, the tension, the hatred I had toward myself. It was all gone. I, at that very moment, felt like a completely different person. A person that can do things, a person that could change the world. I felt understood, and empathized with. Now, all the people who go and see that movie will understand the struggle that I go through everyday just to withstand a conversation with somebody. Why do you think I started this blog? So I could honestly express what I was feeling without being held back by my own speech. After seeing that film, I walked out a new man. I'd never felt so good, and yet so vulnerable in my life before. Colin Firth's unflinchingly true performance forever changed the way I look at not only him, but at acting itself. Performances like that come maybe once in a generation. Mr. Firth, you are a Godsend in all meanings of the word. You've brought hope to millions of people around the world who are held back by stuttering. And that is where I'll end this little story.
If you're interested in reading my admittedly raucous, rude, and really funny tweets about the Oscars, go to www.twitter.com/joey123mo, and don't forget to follow me! I want to wish everyone a happy March, and I hope you had a wonderful February.
This week's Tweet of the Week is:
An eye for an eye makes the whole world broke from all those lasik eye surgery bills.
Thanks for reading everyone! If you go on my twitter and read the rest of my tweets, you can send your opinions on your pick of Tweet of the Week to rudeandraucous@hotmail.com!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Forget Red Bull, fruit gives you wiiings..
Today in science class we were talking about our presentations and how we can effectively convey our message during the presentation. In groups we were each supposed to create a board representing what we thought could be classified as a "good presentation". Then, we were supposed to pick one person to go up and present our boards. Don't worry, I wasn't that guy, that's not where this story is going. Whenever a person went up, they explained what would be acceptable and unacceptable, etc. The odd thing was, whenever they got to the part where they explained how to present ourselves, most of them mentioned to not stutter. I don't necessarily have a problem with it, but it was definitely an awkward moment for me. Every time someone said the word stutter, no matter what context, I felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach, and I don't know why. In speech therapy, Mirla, my speech therapist, tells me that the word stutter is a very weighted word for me. I always agreed, but never truly noticed how much that word actually means to me, but with a negative connotation. Thinking about things like this over and over again, it makes me wonder if I can actually successfully do this presentation, because to be honest, I really don't think I can at this point. I've worked hard at it, but I really don't think I've got a 10 minute presentation and 10 minute Q&A session in me. I mean, I can anticipate all I want, but on March 11th at 8 AM, I'll know if all this work was actually worth it.
I've been more than thrilled with the positive reaction to "Keep You Alive". I just want to thank everyone who took the time out and spent 2 minutes and 8 seconds listening to a crappy recording of a Phoenix band. Lizz and I really appreciate it more than you know. We're working towards getting a drumset right now, so be on the lookout for that as well. If you're one of the unlucky souls who hasn't had the opportunity to hear the song, the link is everywhere. You can find it on my profile page, the previous blog post before this, my twitter page (www.twitter.com/joey123mo), as well as on my good friend Lola Valdez's page. She's Gentlemanly Anonymous' number one fan right now, and the video honestly wouldn't be possible without her. As for future releases from GA, look out for some new songs to be posted next week. I'm thinking that there's going to be about two covers as well as two originals. The two covers will be "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley and "Creep" by Radiohead. The two originals are called "You're Killing Me" and "Silent Shout". This number may increase between now and the next time we record, but I honestly don't know. As far as Lizz's music goes, she might be posting some stuff as well.
At ASA, we have a class called Life Skills. This quarter in Life Skills, we're doing a nutrition unit. For our quarter project, we're supposed to make a PSA (Public Service Announcement) on nutritious food. There wasn't much of a guideline as to what the PSA should entail, but my group decided on the topic of, "Fruit in correlation with strength". To illustrate this, we shot a one minute commercial. I honestly wrote, directed, and edited this thing, collectively, in less than 30 minutes, with no budget whatsoever. Please, don't be a judgmental snob. The reason I'm even bringing this up, is because for some reason, due to the positive reaction I got from it in my class, I decided to post it on YouTube. So, here is the link for our fruit commercial. Enjoy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG9L-P6Eljw
If you love it, great. If you hate, well then just go watch another Fellini movie and dump yourself into that Italian Neo-Realism that everyone just adores. Save the uneducated comedy for the rest of us.
Last night was my old school ACAA's Battle of the Bands. I really wanted to go, but I hadn't told my mom about it until we were passing Bell Road (where the school is). Through the grace of her heart, she let me go. I'm still in shock. Anyway, she let me go to the show, I get in, and I see a bunch of old friends from school. I suddenly feel at home. Also, I have to admit, as a stand-alone show, BOTB was great. All the bands were surprisingly good, and I admit I had a great time. Getting to see all my old friends, teachers, even enemies, it really did take me back. There's a band that emerged from ACAA called Saving Shea. Saving Shea has been around since I was in the 6th grade, where I first saw them play. Now, two years later, seeing them again, it really brought back the memories of my days there.
On a final note, the archive. I've been working on finding a place to put it where it's easy to reach, and you don't have to click a million and one links just to get there, so bear with me on that. Other than that, I've got nothing! Don't forget to follow me on twitter (link is above somewhere). Also, send all comments, questions, concerns, fan mail, and hate mail to rudeandraucous@hotmail.com! If you get a chance, don't forget to check out www.blogforteens.com!
Thanks for reading!
I've been more than thrilled with the positive reaction to "Keep You Alive". I just want to thank everyone who took the time out and spent 2 minutes and 8 seconds listening to a crappy recording of a Phoenix band. Lizz and I really appreciate it more than you know. We're working towards getting a drumset right now, so be on the lookout for that as well. If you're one of the unlucky souls who hasn't had the opportunity to hear the song, the link is everywhere. You can find it on my profile page, the previous blog post before this, my twitter page (www.twitter.com/joey123mo), as well as on my good friend Lola Valdez's page. She's Gentlemanly Anonymous' number one fan right now, and the video honestly wouldn't be possible without her. As for future releases from GA, look out for some new songs to be posted next week. I'm thinking that there's going to be about two covers as well as two originals. The two covers will be "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley and "Creep" by Radiohead. The two originals are called "You're Killing Me" and "Silent Shout". This number may increase between now and the next time we record, but I honestly don't know. As far as Lizz's music goes, she might be posting some stuff as well.
At ASA, we have a class called Life Skills. This quarter in Life Skills, we're doing a nutrition unit. For our quarter project, we're supposed to make a PSA (Public Service Announcement) on nutritious food. There wasn't much of a guideline as to what the PSA should entail, but my group decided on the topic of, "Fruit in correlation with strength". To illustrate this, we shot a one minute commercial. I honestly wrote, directed, and edited this thing, collectively, in less than 30 minutes, with no budget whatsoever. Please, don't be a judgmental snob. The reason I'm even bringing this up, is because for some reason, due to the positive reaction I got from it in my class, I decided to post it on YouTube. So, here is the link for our fruit commercial. Enjoy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG9L-P6Eljw
If you love it, great. If you hate, well then just go watch another Fellini movie and dump yourself into that Italian Neo-Realism that everyone just adores. Save the uneducated comedy for the rest of us.
Last night was my old school ACAA's Battle of the Bands. I really wanted to go, but I hadn't told my mom about it until we were passing Bell Road (where the school is). Through the grace of her heart, she let me go. I'm still in shock. Anyway, she let me go to the show, I get in, and I see a bunch of old friends from school. I suddenly feel at home. Also, I have to admit, as a stand-alone show, BOTB was great. All the bands were surprisingly good, and I admit I had a great time. Getting to see all my old friends, teachers, even enemies, it really did take me back. There's a band that emerged from ACAA called Saving Shea. Saving Shea has been around since I was in the 6th grade, where I first saw them play. Now, two years later, seeing them again, it really brought back the memories of my days there.
On a final note, the archive. I've been working on finding a place to put it where it's easy to reach, and you don't have to click a million and one links just to get there, so bear with me on that. Other than that, I've got nothing! Don't forget to follow me on twitter (link is above somewhere). Also, send all comments, questions, concerns, fan mail, and hate mail to rudeandraucous@hotmail.com! If you get a chance, don't forget to check out www.blogforteens.com!
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Lizz says hi..
I haven't written a new post in four days, and I didn't even realize that until last night at ten. This quarter at my school is the most hectic of them all, because it's known by all ASA'ers as presentation quarter. I've vaguely mentioned it before, but since it seems to be taking up 90% of my time, I might as well write about it. Presentation quarter consists of yes, a presentation, but also a lot of experiments, a lot of writing, and a lot of stress. I've never had to do anything quite this hard at any other school before, and I'm so glad it's basically over. But, in the last four days, a lot has happened, and I've got a lot to write about. Although February has been the month with the least amount of posts, I'm determined to make March better because I have almost half the month off from school, which will make for a lot of time and some good stories (hopefully).
Last weekend, I saw the movie Cedar Rapids with my family, and I wasn't expecting it to be as hilarious as it was. I can say with full confidence that it's possibly one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, if not the funniest. John C. Reilly and Ed Helms are a perfect pair, and Anne Heche is also hilarious. Read my full review of it at www.blogforteens.com!
Speaking of Blog For Teens, I've decided to make an archive of all my posts on said website. If the site were to ever shut down, or I were to ever leave/lose my position there, I still want to have proof that I wrote there, and the things that I did write. So, I'm going to keep an online archive of all the posts, as well as print them all out in case of a sudden shut-down of the internet (you never know when that could happen). When I get that done, I will definitely post a link for you guys to go see that, and read any of the older posts that you've never read, or even the new ones that you may have missed.
Yesterday morning, I went for my first 5 AM run. I made the decision, I don't even know why any more, but it seemed like it might be a good time. Basically, I get up at 4:30 to get ready, got dressed, and went outside. It was freezing. I almost had the sense to go back inside but I thought, "hey, I already got up and I'm outside, I'll just do it." I start running around the block, hoping that I don't catch pneumonia. I was really surprised about how many people were running at the same time. Then, of course, me being the lucky guy that I am, had a second encounter with a javelina in less than 5 months. The thing looked at me, and I thought, "my luck is up. I'm done. This thing is going to kill me." Thankfully, it kept walking, but at that point, I knew it was time to go home. I got back about 40 minutes later, hopped in the shower, got ready, and went to school. For it only being 6 AM, I was pretty much ready to go back to sleep.
That same day, at around 9:30, I was walking back to Science class from the bathroom, and I saw my friend Stefan. He was jumping on this ledge that connected to a roof that covers a space where there are 6 water fountains. I said hi to him and decided to try to jump on the ledge too. I jumped up, grabbed onto it, swung, let go by accident, and fell flat on my ass. I don't think I've ever been in that much pain before, and for the next day, moving became a BME Pain Olympic Sport.
In English, we read The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and now we're watching the movie, which I have to say, is absolutely horrible. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, so I thought that there was no way it could be bad. I was very wrong. But I think it's very interesting, that Arthur Miller wrote both the play and the screenplay, which is almost awkward because the film takes too much advantage of the fact that it's a movie, and switches all the scenes around, making the whole thing almost useless. The Crucible, in my opinion, while a very good and interesting play, is ultimately just a self-serving piece of literature. Miller was angry at McCarthy and the Red Scare, so he vented by writing what is hailed as the best play ever written, go figure. While I respect Miller as an author on many levels, I've always felt that The Crucible was too personal for it to have its own opinion. While this may be true for many novels, I feel like if the writer really wants to get recognition, they must put aside their own opinions, and really try to have a new voice. The characters, as a whole, are boring, and some, if not most of the dialogue, is far-fetched, even considering the time period. I do respect the play for what it did, and I really did enjoy it, but I have my opinions I guess.
To end this post, I want to share a link of mine and Lizz's new band Gentlemanly Anonymous. The song is more than a demo version, and it's in a loud place, so some of the quality isn't great. Thank you Piera for accidentally coming up with the awesome name. Here it is, enjoy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dk11mCW-jY
Thanks for reading guys. Oh and by the way, Willow won't let me publish this unless I say tits..sorry. So, yeah, tits. I'll probably just delete this later :)
Last weekend, I saw the movie Cedar Rapids with my family, and I wasn't expecting it to be as hilarious as it was. I can say with full confidence that it's possibly one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, if not the funniest. John C. Reilly and Ed Helms are a perfect pair, and Anne Heche is also hilarious. Read my full review of it at www.blogforteens.com!
Speaking of Blog For Teens, I've decided to make an archive of all my posts on said website. If the site were to ever shut down, or I were to ever leave/lose my position there, I still want to have proof that I wrote there, and the things that I did write. So, I'm going to keep an online archive of all the posts, as well as print them all out in case of a sudden shut-down of the internet (you never know when that could happen). When I get that done, I will definitely post a link for you guys to go see that, and read any of the older posts that you've never read, or even the new ones that you may have missed.
Yesterday morning, I went for my first 5 AM run. I made the decision, I don't even know why any more, but it seemed like it might be a good time. Basically, I get up at 4:30 to get ready, got dressed, and went outside. It was freezing. I almost had the sense to go back inside but I thought, "hey, I already got up and I'm outside, I'll just do it." I start running around the block, hoping that I don't catch pneumonia. I was really surprised about how many people were running at the same time. Then, of course, me being the lucky guy that I am, had a second encounter with a javelina in less than 5 months. The thing looked at me, and I thought, "my luck is up. I'm done. This thing is going to kill me." Thankfully, it kept walking, but at that point, I knew it was time to go home. I got back about 40 minutes later, hopped in the shower, got ready, and went to school. For it only being 6 AM, I was pretty much ready to go back to sleep.
That same day, at around 9:30, I was walking back to Science class from the bathroom, and I saw my friend Stefan. He was jumping on this ledge that connected to a roof that covers a space where there are 6 water fountains. I said hi to him and decided to try to jump on the ledge too. I jumped up, grabbed onto it, swung, let go by accident, and fell flat on my ass. I don't think I've ever been in that much pain before, and for the next day, moving became a BME Pain Olympic Sport.
In English, we read The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and now we're watching the movie, which I have to say, is absolutely horrible. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, so I thought that there was no way it could be bad. I was very wrong. But I think it's very interesting, that Arthur Miller wrote both the play and the screenplay, which is almost awkward because the film takes too much advantage of the fact that it's a movie, and switches all the scenes around, making the whole thing almost useless. The Crucible, in my opinion, while a very good and interesting play, is ultimately just a self-serving piece of literature. Miller was angry at McCarthy and the Red Scare, so he vented by writing what is hailed as the best play ever written, go figure. While I respect Miller as an author on many levels, I've always felt that The Crucible was too personal for it to have its own opinion. While this may be true for many novels, I feel like if the writer really wants to get recognition, they must put aside their own opinions, and really try to have a new voice. The characters, as a whole, are boring, and some, if not most of the dialogue, is far-fetched, even considering the time period. I do respect the play for what it did, and I really did enjoy it, but I have my opinions I guess.
To end this post, I want to share a link of mine and Lizz's new band Gentlemanly Anonymous. The song is more than a demo version, and it's in a loud place, so some of the quality isn't great. Thank you Piera for accidentally coming up with the awesome name. Here it is, enjoy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dk11mCW-jY
Thanks for reading guys. Oh and by the way, Willow won't let me publish this unless I say tits..sorry. So, yeah, tits. I'll probably just delete this later :)
Sunday, February 20, 2011
There are certain things in life that you just don't do..
Yesterday, I was getting Korean food with my family, and on the mandatory TV's that every restaurant has now, they were playing this type of Slam Dunk competition on TNT. Now usually, I would have no idea what was going on, and not even pay attention to it, but something about this particular competition that really struck me as odd. Maybe it's just the fact that I haven't actually sat down and watched a basketball game in almost 7 years, but everything seemed off. For one, they had this competition where the player would have to dunk the ball, and retrieve a teddy bear off the rim at the same time. He succeeded the first time, and they picked a small Asian boy from the stands to come get it as a prize. Now, that's pretty standard, but then, things got a little weird. The security for the game grabbed the boy by his arms for some reason, and dragged him away from the player as the player just walked back to his bench. At this point, I was just waiting for the product of what ever commercial this was to appear, but nothing happened. Did I really just see what I thought I saw? A small Asian boy being dragged away by 7 foot tall, 350 pound monsters enlisted to protect the life of another 7 foot tall, 350 pound monster (the basketball player)? Maybe I'm a little behind the times on what's considered good entertainment these days.
The next time I looked up at the TV to see what was going on, another player walked in with his wife (I think). The player was getting ready to do his dunks, but then the wife goes and starts kissing each of the judges on the cheeks. This isn't even the weird part. On the subtitles below (there isn't any sound emitting from the TV), it says something like, "Oh isn't that just nice, oh yeah. Oh yeah." Now, maybe I took it out of context, but...no, never mind, even if I did take it in or out of context, it's still creepy. Right? I mean, am I just so behind the times that I'm being weirded out by what Americans as a whole call good entertainment? Did I miss the "Sexual Exploitation of Women and Abuse of Children on TV" course or something? Maybe my standards are too high on what I consider to be "good" TV.
On Friday, I hung out with Coco, and we decided to see that Niam Leeson, I mean, Liam Neeson movie, Unknown. I'm going to skip writing a review on that one only because, well, it really sucked. Like, a lot. To the point where I may never look at Mr. Neeson the same way again. Or Diane Kruger for that matter. The basic and preposterous plot of this movie is this. Dude from Taken, not literally, just making a joke here people, don't get your panties in a rut, this movie is not a sequel to Taken, but it really feels like it. At 113 minutes, Unknown drags on exponentially, with almost no action. The characters are horribly developed, and the whole thing is plot hole after plot hole. Please, do us all a favor, and don't go see it. We need to send Mr. Neeson a message. Stop making bad movies!
I was talking to my old friend Alicia Robles, and we got on the subject of odd profile pictures that we've had in the past. She does what any logical person would do. She pulls out the profile picture I had a long time ago of some guy's bare ass. I meant it as a joke to everyone, and it worked. I'm not sure if anyone even remembers that at this point, but it did happen. Anyway, she pulled it up, and she says, "Well, you did have this." For me, that's a total cheap shot, but then she adds in, "But hey, you're the only person in the world who could have this as their profile picture and not have their motives questioned."
Another story about quirky friends. Last night, or morning depending on how look at it, at about 2 AM, I decided to IM my friend Lola Valdez. We got on the topic of movies, and we started talking about the movie Boogie Nights. She had never heard of it before, and says, "I bet it's about porn," just as I write, "It's about the porn industry." She had a total ZING! moment, and freaked out. Everything is funnier at 2 AM, I guess.
Thanks for reading guys! Don't forget to follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/joey123mo! This week's "Tweet of the Week" is:
"The world is a desolate place at 2:45 AM. Wish I could like, prevent a rape or something.."
The next time I looked up at the TV to see what was going on, another player walked in with his wife (I think). The player was getting ready to do his dunks, but then the wife goes and starts kissing each of the judges on the cheeks. This isn't even the weird part. On the subtitles below (there isn't any sound emitting from the TV), it says something like, "Oh isn't that just nice, oh yeah. Oh yeah." Now, maybe I took it out of context, but...no, never mind, even if I did take it in or out of context, it's still creepy. Right? I mean, am I just so behind the times that I'm being weirded out by what Americans as a whole call good entertainment? Did I miss the "Sexual Exploitation of Women and Abuse of Children on TV" course or something? Maybe my standards are too high on what I consider to be "good" TV.
On Friday, I hung out with Coco, and we decided to see that Niam Leeson, I mean, Liam Neeson movie, Unknown. I'm going to skip writing a review on that one only because, well, it really sucked. Like, a lot. To the point where I may never look at Mr. Neeson the same way again. Or Diane Kruger for that matter. The basic and preposterous plot of this movie is this. Dude from Taken, not literally, just making a joke here people, don't get your panties in a rut, this movie is not a sequel to Taken, but it really feels like it. At 113 minutes, Unknown drags on exponentially, with almost no action. The characters are horribly developed, and the whole thing is plot hole after plot hole. Please, do us all a favor, and don't go see it. We need to send Mr. Neeson a message. Stop making bad movies!
I was talking to my old friend Alicia Robles, and we got on the subject of odd profile pictures that we've had in the past. She does what any logical person would do. She pulls out the profile picture I had a long time ago of some guy's bare ass. I meant it as a joke to everyone, and it worked. I'm not sure if anyone even remembers that at this point, but it did happen. Anyway, she pulled it up, and she says, "Well, you did have this." For me, that's a total cheap shot, but then she adds in, "But hey, you're the only person in the world who could have this as their profile picture and not have their motives questioned."
Another story about quirky friends. Last night, or morning depending on how look at it, at about 2 AM, I decided to IM my friend Lola Valdez. We got on the topic of movies, and we started talking about the movie Boogie Nights. She had never heard of it before, and says, "I bet it's about porn," just as I write, "It's about the porn industry." She had a total ZING! moment, and freaked out. Everything is funnier at 2 AM, I guess.
Thanks for reading guys! Don't forget to follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/joey123mo! This week's "Tweet of the Week" is:
"The world is a desolate place at 2:45 AM. Wish I could like, prevent a rape or something.."
Friday, February 18, 2011
Blame Game
Today there isn't any school, which is definitely a blessing. Presentations, for lack of a better word, have been kicking my ass. I guess they started to feel bad for us. Rightfully so, too. I have this friend named Zola, who's a senior at ASA. She also plays trombone and she's in the top band, Wind Ensemble. I'm in the lowest band, Foundations 1. To give us a sneak preview of the band we'll probably be a part of in a few years, we're having this thing called a side-by-side concert on Tuesday, where we play with them on a few songs. It's been a really fun and cool experience and I've really enjoyed it. But yesterday, when I sat down next to Zola, she seemed really hysterical and hyper. I asked her what was wrong, and she just started laughing almost eerily, and says to me, "It's presentations! I'm losing my f%$*ing mind!" Part of me wanted to laugh, a large part of me actually, and the other part just wanted to put down the trombone and run as far away as I could from ASA. As much as I know that ASA will help me get into what ever college I want, I'm not totally sure I can handle that much stress. I mean, I don't necessarily want to be a senior losing my mind in front of an 8th grader, scaring them away from high school. I'm not sure I can handle that responsibility.
As I sit in the library, I could've sworn that a homeless Spike Lee just walked in with his kid. This dude had the eyes, the look, the walk, except he wasn't 4' 11" and 76 pounds. Not that I don't love every Spike Lee Joint ever, but I mean come on, does the dude only eat arugula and bean sprouts? Then again, after Bamboozled and She Hate Me, you can't really come back from that, even with Inside Man under your belt. And since when did he stop calling them Spike Lee Joints, and start calling them Spike Lee Films. Come on Spike, don't go too mainstream to the point where you can't go back.
Today is John Hughes' birthday, for those of you who didn't know that. The reason I bring that up, is because John Hughes is like, my other father. I love everything that that man has done. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, Home Alone, Beethoven, Sixteen Candles, and many more. Hughes tragically died 2 years ago in Manhattan of a heart attack. I think everyone should make some time to watch a John Hughes film this week.
I'm thinking of trying to get a new band together, and I'm wondering if there's anyone interested in contacting me about that. So if you are, shoot me an email at rudeandraucous@hotmail.com! Thanks! I'm interested in doing a lot of different genres, so let me know if you've got any ideas.
Recently, I've been utilizing my Twitter account more and more. I basically just post a bunch of one-liners that aren't on my facebook or anything, so if you want to see those, follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/joey123mo. I'm thinking of having a little segment called "Tweet Of The Week". Basically, I would just look back on my tweets from that week and post my favorite one on here. It might pan out, it might not, depending on how much I like my tweets. I have a disorder called Rudeness where I just speak my mind without really thinking about it. I think that makes for some good tweets once in a while.
That's all for now! Thanks for reading this somewhat lame post! I promise the next one will be better, I just had the urge to write, with nothing to write about. Go figure.
As I sit in the library, I could've sworn that a homeless Spike Lee just walked in with his kid. This dude had the eyes, the look, the walk, except he wasn't 4' 11" and 76 pounds. Not that I don't love every Spike Lee Joint ever, but I mean come on, does the dude only eat arugula and bean sprouts? Then again, after Bamboozled and She Hate Me, you can't really come back from that, even with Inside Man under your belt. And since when did he stop calling them Spike Lee Joints, and start calling them Spike Lee Films. Come on Spike, don't go too mainstream to the point where you can't go back.
Today is John Hughes' birthday, for those of you who didn't know that. The reason I bring that up, is because John Hughes is like, my other father. I love everything that that man has done. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, Home Alone, Beethoven, Sixteen Candles, and many more. Hughes tragically died 2 years ago in Manhattan of a heart attack. I think everyone should make some time to watch a John Hughes film this week.
I'm thinking of trying to get a new band together, and I'm wondering if there's anyone interested in contacting me about that. So if you are, shoot me an email at rudeandraucous@hotmail.com! Thanks! I'm interested in doing a lot of different genres, so let me know if you've got any ideas.
Recently, I've been utilizing my Twitter account more and more. I basically just post a bunch of one-liners that aren't on my facebook or anything, so if you want to see those, follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/joey123mo. I'm thinking of having a little segment called "Tweet Of The Week". Basically, I would just look back on my tweets from that week and post my favorite one on here. It might pan out, it might not, depending on how much I like my tweets. I have a disorder called Rudeness where I just speak my mind without really thinking about it. I think that makes for some good tweets once in a while.
That's all for now! Thanks for reading this somewhat lame post! I promise the next one will be better, I just had the urge to write, with nothing to write about. Go figure.
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