Life In 2014

The new year is an interesting time. I feel that this time along with birthdays are the times that people become the most introspective. We reflect on what the hell we accomplished… or didn’t accomplish. But more importantly, we look forward and think about what we want to do, or what kind of person we want to be. I’m not sure if it’s just me but ringing in a new year seemed like a bigger deal when I was younger. Something about it was so great and if I’m being honest, I felt that I could actually reset the past and wash away my sins. It’s as if the previous year didn’t exist and all is forgiven. Now that I’m older I think I just pray to anyone who will listen that, that’s how I’ll feel when I know in my gut the changing of a year doesn’t mean shit, it’s just another day in the world of time. Thankfully I’m not time, I’m man, and I ignore logicality.

I fucking love new years, sure I may have some internal conflicts about what it really means to me. However, I am certain it does mean something and I love what that something feels like. The scary part is when it wears off. When we hit April or May and everyone is back in their swing again saying to each other, “Oh my god, I can’t believe it’s basically summer.” Reverting back to the tendencies you don’t like is never fun.

So how do you capture that something? How do you hold onto the optimism and clarity when going into a new year? Do we voice out our ambitions to other people? Write down our goals and constantly look at them? Have a friend hold us accountable? I guess it just depends on the type of person you are. Also, how do you account for the variables that seem to change our thinking? Of course, these are all rhetorical questions. The only right answer is what works for us individually.

If you figure out a way to maintain the feeling right around the new year and keep it steady for an entire year you have to let me know your secret. Or don’t. You’ve basically captured lighting in a bottle. I feel like I’m getting close to figuring it out. I always do… but then April or May hit and I look myself in the mirror and say, “Oh my god, I can’t believe it’s basically summer.”

London Adventure: Need Advice

http://youtu.be/Zgt3C9IT3mo If my blog post yesterday wasn't enough I went ahead and followed it up with a video. Heading to London, any advice on what to see would be appreciated. I also became "ask-for-help-on-Twitter-guy" in this post. Not something I'm totally proud out, but something I'm coming around to.

The Beauty Of Creation

Right off the bat we should establish that this is in no way a religious thing so lets not let the title of this post mislead you. I just let my mind drift as it normally does and I got to thinking about the creation of art, entertainment, stories, basically anything that has a human at the helm. It’s incredible for me to think that something doesn’t exist and then a person brings it into existence, possibly altering the mind of someone observing whatever it is. The impact that creation can have on someone is hard to comprehend. Many times we see a work of art or a quote, and it alters our thinking - Literally changing our lives. It makes me wonder about creations that exists in the world that I’ve never seen, or creations that almost never were.

I’m not sure if creation is as appreciated as it should be, especially now. We live in a time where we’re spoiled with information and content. We’re in a microwave attention span time-period so I feel that much of the things we see we take for granted simply because we’re trained to look and move on.

Also, we have access to the greatest site in the world, YouTube, and it allows us to watch an auteur create a five minute story that took him three months along with blood, sweat, and tears, but on the flip side you can also watch a cat jump on a hamster but was filmed by a ten year old in sixty seconds.  Does watching cat on hamster pull us from appreciation of good calculated creation? Also, who's to say what is “good” and what isn’t? But really, that’s the beauty of creation! We don’t know what’s good or bad until we see it. You may be reading this post and thinking it’s the biggest piece of shit of all time, you may be right, but it wasn’t in your life five minutes ago… so wrap your mind around that.

Shall we dig a little deeper and talk about the creation of human life? I don’t think that’s the best idea at this current moment. My mind is overloaded right now just thinking about this subject, when I pull back and try to relax I’m left with one solid conclusion: Creation is amazing, and what you create says more about you than what you’ve probably ever intended, but that’s the beauty of it. As long as people create then people will keep thinking of newer things to create… It’s essentially evolving the world.

Inevitable Wisconsin Reflection.

As I sit in my bed at my mom’s house in Greendale, Wisconsin I realize that I haven’t lived in this state for nearly ten years. I almost can’t comprehend that. Wow, time flies, it really does. People always told me things would go fast, I sort of believed it, but “sort of” is now 100% gone, there is no doubt. The reflection of how fast time moves opens up a waterfall of thought about how I should utilize time, how I should be living life, treating others, treating myself, if I’m living the right way, if I’m happy, and what kind of strides I’m making in my life.

Uh oh, the obvious life-reflection-when-I-come-home moment is in full force. Well, it’s necessary. Sometimes you need to take stock of your life and how you’re growing as a person…or not growing. On the flip, maybe it isn’t normal to reflect as much as I am? Sometimes too much reflection can lead to doubt, for me at least.  The ideal case is that reflection leads to growth, but that isn’t always the case.

The beauty of having a small town like Greendale is that it’s always a reminder of where I’m from. It’s a simple reminder of who I was, and to an even larger extent, how I got to be who I am. I wonder if that’s the case for everyone when they return to their hometown?

The things written above is a stream of thought that I’ve had many times in past. My personal conclusion inevitable. However, now I tell myself to get there faster. I try to avoid the rabbit hole of emotion that comes with reflection. Also, time is flying, life is short, lets just conclude…

Live often, and live fast but do it slowly because life is short. And to echo a mantra that isn’t mine: “seek and find.” 

Walking Entitlement

walking-silhouette-clip-art  

Where do I even begin? Lets begin in Los Angeles because what I’m about to jump into *mainly occurs in LA.

Imagine you come to an area (LA) with a dream and you don’t meet the dream in the time period you set for yourself. Now imagine being around tons of people who have the same dream, and those people seem to be multiplying and they’re not hitting their dream strides either. They’re getting frustrated, now you’re getting frustrated. You’re chasing after what you want and you’re being rejected… so are other people. Fuck, a bunch of people are getting really frustrated! You feel out of control. Bunches of people feel out of control. You need to take a walk and think about things, you need to feel in control.

Enter – Walking Entitlement.

I’ve never been around so many people who seem to be totally fucking clueless when walking across a street or on a sidewalk. But they’re not really clueless, they’re minding their own business, which of course is fine, but they’re not minding unspoken spatial laws of life. The law that may or may not state: Being aware is a priority when walking in a congested city with frustrated humans.

I believe that people feel so out of control in their jobs or pursuit of jobs that they relieve frustration by trying to show themselves and others they’re in control. One place to do this… when taking a walk. It sounds ridiculous but it’s true.

- People in LA just step into streets with a 30-mile per hour car 10 feet away and expect a full stop.

- People walk with dogs and occupy full sidewalk without worrying about others walking towards them.

- People walk in bunches on a sidewalk and don’t move when you’re walking by yourself.

I’ve heard people say “I’m going to sue you if you hit me” and walk in front of cars when they shouldn’t be walking… just because. What kind of asshole does that? People feel entitled while walking. Really, when they’re driving too, but that is a different story. It all breaks down to CONTROL. Which I get… but you don’t have to be an asshole.

I wish there were rules in stone that would allow people to do something to absentminded walkers without facing repercussions.

(Just drifted into a world that sees people getting “get out of jail free” digital cards to allow you to teach appropriate lesson without actually harming the person. In this world there is also specialized honking horns that directs attention at poor drivers).

Okay, I’m back.

Walking entitlement. I get that it’s everywhere, but it’s especially bad in LA. I’ve never seen anything like it. It boils down to being unaware of your surroundings and thinking you can just go. The danger of the unaware walker is that it’s a bigger risk for accident or problem to other people. Having said all of that…

I love LA.

(Cue: Randy Newman)

Sunday Ramble: General Interests

 

I’m thinking about having general interests in topics and how those interests sculpt who we are. I’m kind of envisioning a person that is completely put together like a puzzle, and each puzzle piece is a hobby, idea, feeling, or another sub interest. Does that make sense? I wish I had the capability to draw out a diagram but I don’t have it right now. I’m essentially wondering if there are two people out there who have the same exact interests.

Is it possible? I’m not talking about having 9 out of 10 of the same interests; I’m talking a solid 10 out of 10. For that to happen someone would have to have a similar upbringing, similar parents, similar everything really.

—2 minutes of critical thinking later—

As much as I want this to be a reality I just don’t think it’s possible, not now at least. We’re just a little too unique with too many options. Dammit, I started to write this in hope of talking myself into the belief of two of the same people. I was also going write a little bit on how we’re all unique in our own way and blah blah, but I have a feeling we already know that already.

I was about 30 seconds away from deleting this post and making sure it would not see the light of day, but fuck it, it’s Sunday and I’m rambling.

Here’s to one day finding two people cut from the same cloth…

Interconnectivity

From time to time I wake up with a very specific thought or idea that tends to keep me up for hours. It’s strange because this occurrence typically happens around 4:14am and it’s happening more frequently. Maybe it’s an age thing, I don’t know. This morning I woke up thinking about connection and why things happen the way they do. Specifically, I was thinking about people and why we’re connected to the people we’re connected too.

I think about people we meet in our lives that become great friends or people who change our typical day - a lot of times these people are met based off of random decisions. You meet your significant other because you took a random trip to Ikea, or you meet your new boss because you decide to have a beer at lunch. Are these events random? Are they supposed to be?

I was thinking about how I met two of my best friends. My one buddy I met when I was 9 years old. I stole his girlfriend (aka I took her out for ice cream) and he confronted me in what might be the greatest playground confrontation ever. But we didn’t become great friends until high school when we both happen to be in summer school together. Since summer school algebra, we’ve been like brothers.

This is where I note that I’m from a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin called Greendale where the population was roughly 150% white families. This guy I’m talking about is a black guy from Milwaukee. Fortunately for me he took the bus into Greendale. The point that I’m getting at is the odds weren’t in our favor but through random life happenings we were connected, not once, but twice. I should also note the other friend I mentioned is also a black dude. His girlfriend’s locker happened to be next to mine in high school.

The question is, were my friends and I connected and supposed to end up best friends? At this moment I don’t want to open up the can of worms of “is life pre determined” but I think when talking about connectivity you kind of have to walk that line. Do we have a connection to everyone around us? I think we do.

I like to think of moments of connection as explosions. When you interact with someone you’re either going to create a small explosion where your impact doesn’t affect those around you or a large explosion where your impact is so large that the radius starts to hit other people and change them.

So is it up to you to make the connection? Is the connection going to happen no matter what? I haven’t quite made up my mind on that part. But what I have made up my mind about is that connections and life moments go hand in hand. Whomever you connect with will set you in a path to change how your life is led, and on the flip side you have the power to change the life of another just by a moment.

There is a beauty in connection. It’s a bitch to wrap your head around once you start peeling the multiple layers, but those multiple layers are the best part about it.

Ultimately I think that you/me/we should never stop connecting or embracing the moments that connections create … I think it’s the best part about life. Whether it’s supposed to happen or not.

Writers and Online Video: The Merger

Image I just took a look at my blog and it took me a minute to register that it’s been a few days since I’ve posted anything. Let me take you through my train of thought so you know how I got to where I am right now…

After I realized that it’s been a while since I’ve had a post I digested how time flies and realized that I’m not getting any younger, then stopped thinking about this because this is an entire conversation in itself.

Then-

I asked myself why I haven’t put anything on my blog, what have I been doing? My blog is an extension of me. I feel like I need to post.

Then-

Asked myself why do I feel this way? Is it because I want people to read and look at the things I release? Yes. Truthfully, yes. I have this feeling that if I’m not being proactive in my posting than what’s the point of anyone ever coming back to read or look at what I have to say.

Then-

Asked myself the question I originally avoided: what have I been doing? That’s an easy answer; I’ve been occupying all of my writing time to writing a script I’m working on. I told myself that I wouldn’t work on anything else until I’m at a point where I feel good about my script. I suppose I feel that the Internet can force me to procrastinate more than I’d like. It’s like a magic spell and I’m occasionally too weak to fight it off. The best way to avoid procrastination is to stay away from the Internet.

Then-

I asked myself what else have I not been doing that I typically do? Specifically, I haven’t been working on a new video to post, which I know I should be doing. Side note: for those who don’t know, I also make videos at www.thebigshoe.tv side note 2: Shameless F-ing plug.

Then-

The real deep thought started to take place. I started to think about why I have this need to release content so often. Also, something that a guy said about one of my videos has been lingering in my head. In a video I released I stated that I was a writer and a guy made a sarcastic comment: “Writers are the opposite of kids, to be heard from, not seen.”

Well, let me state something I genuinely feel – this guy was trying to be clever and I could tear this comment to shreds if I was being a nit picky asshole (and stubborn). However, the truth is, the comment got under my skin. I started to think about videos and writing and how I’m currently trying to balance both worlds.

Which brings me to where I am now: Can the writing world and the video world co exist? I say yes. But we should clear a few things up and get them into the open.

A few stigmas are attached to writers – they’re introverts, loners, alcoholics, people who want to pull a Kerouac, and people who want to act as ninjas; silent while their words ripple through the world to make a difference. True? Yes.

Then we have the stigma of people who are on camera creating videos – loud, obnoxious, insecure, want attention, pull a Kerouac while filming it (shameless plug 2), and people who are saying LOOK AT MEEEEE. True? Yes.

You can see how there is a conflict of interest, right? Two different worlds are colliding and I don’t know if people want this, at least, writing purists don’t. Guy who wrote that comment above, he’s a purist.

The reason I think both worlds can exist is because I need them to exist, I’ll make them exist, and that’s the truth. I look at online video as somewhere that people (me) can compliment their writing and boost whatever they’re doing. Online video is an area to breed creativity and get instant feedback. And it’s also a way to stay sane in a writing world where you have to wait days/weeks/months for feedback.

We’ve reached the point where everything co exists and we’re constantly branding ourselves. Any interaction on facebook, twitter, tumblr, blogger, youtube, TV, newspaper… fucking anything, you’re branding yourself. The second you un-tag yourself, change your photo, or update your feed you’ve branded what you want people to think about you.

Of course there are people who don’t care and are actually on a social networking site to stay in touch with relatives but I’d wager that the majority of people are past that level.

The truth is, is that online and analog is crossing over when it comes to writing and video. In a way both can help you in whatever you’re pursuing. In my super perfect world I’d have the freedom to actively create video content while writing screenplays. In just my perfect world I’d be paid to write, and if that meant sacrificing online videos, so be it… but if I occasionally created videos it wouldn’t hurt. Why? It’s branding, that’s why. If a writer creates positive online videos and builds a following how does that hurt what they write?

Some novelists and screenwriters have blogs, some make videos, some are on twitter, some do all, and there is nothing wrong with that. We’re brands now. If you’re not established than what’s the harm?

I’m looking forward to the day (in my case) for video and writing to officially cross over each other and I’m making a successful living off of them. Anyone else who wants to do the same – don’t be afraid to do it, embrace it. That’s what content is all about.

I should probably note that since I sat down to write this I’ve polished off half a bottle of wine, sat in the corner, and have ignored everything my girlfriend has said to me… I’ve gone in writer mode… But it’s for my blog…

Thank God I’ve updated this blog. I needed content.

"Creative Block" ramble

At some point in the last few years I’ve adopted and stuck to the belief that when it comes to decisions there is nothing bigger than the small ones, and there is nothing more impactful than any decision you make. I’ve been trying to grasp how important they are, and for whatever reason a few years ago when I read “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho something clicked. There was a line that stated, “Whenever you make a decision you’re thrust in a different flow of life” (hope I didn’t fuck that up too much). What Paulo was saying is that the decision you make puts you in a stream that takes you somewhere, who knows where, but it’s somewhere. Paulo is right – when you decide something, you are then going to a new area of life.

I should stop now and mention that this kind of writing is typically saved for my personal journal but the truth is I don’t feel like writing by hand, I feel like typing, and this is my blog so screw it… I’m running forward with a little more of an expressive blog. Be prepared for a random stream of consciousness, I’m 197 words in and I don’t know where I’m going with this…

I’m experiencing some sort of creative block and I’m having a problem holding a thought… I’m having a problem making a decision. I’m always told, “writers, write.” So, I’m writing. I’m trying to figure out why I’m so scrambled and wondering if anyone else gets like this and I’m also curious if there really is a thing as “writers block” or a “creative block.”

Logic tells me that you can push through these things, I kind of feel that only the weak minded should settle for anything that’s associated with a “block” and I feel like there are ways around it – change of scenery, music, food, sleep, etc… But is that true, and why am I calling myself weak minded? I feel that writing this is somehow going to help me out and help me focus a bit, I just need a kick-start to my brain.

Getting back to decisions for a minute: Why are they so important? When dealing with myself, my issue at this moment in time is that I cannot make a decision. I cannot settle on exactly what I want to work on and there are many variables going into these lack of decisions. I haven’t really made a proactive decision in 2 days and in turn I ended up doing basically nothing, and I think that’s important because it’s clearly a mirror to something much bigger.

I always think about the small decisions in life and at times I’m obsessed with the origin of situations. When talking to my friends I’m always curious as to how someone got to the point they’re currently at because it’s always interesting to pinpoint those few decisions that made someone enter their specific world. Sometimes it’s scary to think about what would have been had you chose X over Z, but that’s life, and it’s something that I think is a tad bit underrated.

(If you’re still reading - congratulations… I’m almost done… I know this is all confusing but I hope it’s going somewhere… *hope)

The key to decisions is your confidence and if you truly made it. Did you get bullied or peer pressured into deciding something? Are you making a decision based off of social standards? Do you feel unsure of your decision? Someone should never feel unsure of his or her decision… right?

The more I digest all of this, aside from health, I think that decision and direction are the two most important things for anyone. Direction = What you want. Decision = How you’ll get it. Just be specific and confident and the rest will fall in place.

A wise man once said “I shall seek and I shall find” I find this to be incredibly important, those 7 words sum up everything that (I think) people should be about. Seeking and finding what they want… just make the right decisions getting there.

That’s it, no mas, now that I just attempted to ramble myself into working and making a decision I need to concentrate. I hope that somehow I related to at least one person, I would hate to think I’m in this sort of creative blocked journey on my own.

Enjoy whatever the next small decision is that you make… it may be the biggest thing of your life.

Mid Game Lakers VS Clippers Thoughts

Pre Season Game 2 in progress: -This preseason game look like it’s a regular season game post all star break.

-Ron Artest – You need to stop playing basketball. I haven’t quite grasped the amnesty clause yet but I think the Lakers need to ditch Artest yesterday. I’m avoiding calling him Metta World Peace right now.

Seriously, this guy is only good at making 33.3% of his layups, 9% of his shots, and he’s not stopping anyone. I’m sorry to say it… but … Ron Ron – your time is done, you don’t look like a good basketball player.

-The Clippers remind me of a better version of Oklahoma City. They have a ton of young talent that’s eager to prove themselves but more importantly they have Mo Williams and Chauncey to be vets of the team.

-The Lakers are in trouble. They look like they’re in a complete scramble mode hoping and praying someone steps up. Watching the Lakers I’m reminded why they were swept last season in the playoffs. This kills me to say this but they’re starting to take on the identity of the spurs over the last few years. My buddy Corey first mentioned this last year but I didn’t want to believe him… he was right.

The worst part about the Lakers is that they don’t have a young Kobe right now, they have a 1-2 years left Kobe. If anyone thinks he’s dropping 81 points this year they may be delusional.

MID GAME SWITCH

-Turned on the X Factor and its celebrity guest singer night. Avril Lavigne just sang and then R Kelly. Not sure how I feel, I can’t stop thinking that Nicole Scherzinger is crazy and the new Paula.

BACK TO THE GAME

-Ron Artest tried to shoot it but Andrew Bynum intercepted it in the air and he dunked it. Artest acted like it was a pass… it wasn’t.

-I’m trying to wrap my head around something. I’m trying to figure out when the Lakers had so many white guys on their team, and also so many potentially playing together at one time.

Check out this line up: Steve Blake at the point – Jason Kapono at shooting guard – Troy Murphy at forward – Josh McRoberts as the other forward – and Pau Gasol at center. This thought just blew my mind.

-I think only Utah could rival this lineup.

-Kobe Bryant’s injury scares me.

-Chauncey Billups won’t miss when open.

-LOB CITY. McRoberts just dunked. Andrew Bynum was having a good game but I was just reminded he’s good for only 1 half of basketball.

I’m scared that the Lakers.

A movie train-of-thought: Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

It’s 11:30pm and I just watched Jonah Hill’s new trailer “The Sitter.”

Wow, they really put a twist on Adventures in Babysitting. This trailer seemed like Seth from Superbad was grown up and now babysitting kids, but the marketing team behind that movie knows as well as I do that I’ll see it. Oh wow David Gordon Green directed it? Hmmm, I saw Your Highness and it was terrible, interesting because any stoner role is built for James Franco, well, that and any James Dean role.

I think about what I would have done differently with Your Highness for about 8 minutes. Then-

Oh! James Franco. Hmm let me check out his IMDB page-

Checking…

Ah yes, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

I just told my girlfriend that I wanted to see this and she was a bit skeptical. We read the reviews of the film and it’s currently around 80 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Wow, not so skeptical anymore. I go to arclight cinemas and purchase tickets that are 15 dollars each.

Holy shit! I really just paid 15 dollars for a movie ticket.

Not sure why this surprises me considering I’ve been going to the arclight for years now, I do anything I can to justify the ticket price.

Well I did just get arclight points, which means I’ll probably get free popcorn or something…right? Fuck it, the arclight is awesome. Lets not forget I’m seeing this movie in the Dome, what really compares to the Dome? Nothing. This is a capper to this summer, even though I thought Cowboys and Aliens was the capper, but this may be it… oh and 30 Minutes Or Less which is coming out next week, which may be the capper.

CLICK. I’m back on IMDB looking at random things about the Apes – The director, writer, and producer…

God, I hope these monkeys look real; you can be out of it in 2 minutes if the monkeys are on par to Ed starring Matt LeBlanc.

I laugh to myself.

Ed, that crazy movie about the baseball player monkey, what a interesting costume that monkey had, was there a midget inside that monkey costume? Who comes up with this?

For my own pleasure I was sure Ed had to be based off a comic book, because who would greenlight that movie? I typed in Ed and see that it isn’t based off of anything. I have to think that there was a moment in time when a conversation with Matt LeBlanc and Matt LeBlanc’s agent went a little something like this:

Matt: I want to get involved in movies, Friends is on of the biggest hits on NBC right now. Schwimmer is doing The Pallbearer with Gwyneth Paltrow, Perry is doing Fools Rush In with Selma Hayek… I want in.

Agent: You read my mind! But listen, they’re doing RomCom’s with leading ladies, what if I told you, fuck the leading lady, all I want to see is a leading man.

Matt: But, I’m not really a star, don’t I need a leading lady?

Agent: Monkeys.

Matt: Excuse me?

Agent: A fucking monkey. That’s your leading lady.

Matt: I like where this is going.

Agent: The same writer as Radio Flyer and The Sandlot just wrote a comedy about a baseball player named Jack ‘Deuce’ Cooper who gets stuck with a monkey and it’s actually a good pitcher, and through some problems, he makes you a better pitcher… And person!

Matt: You had me at Deuce.

6.2 million dollars later, Ed wasn’t a massive success.

Ed opened the can of worms into my monkey movie knowledge.

Can I think of monkey movies? Okay they don’t have to have the monkey in a starring role but it would at least feature a monkey. And here we go…

Ed: Tribianni as a ball player. See above.

Outbreak: Damn you little monkey that caused an airborne attack.

I’m convinced this monkey is the most successful primate in cinema history, seriously. There was a stretch when this little guy would pop up in anything that needed some really intelligent circus act or a quick laugh.

This movie by the way was pretty interesting and started the topic of conversation of “what if” – it’s basically a worse case scenario that nobody wants to deal with. Also, it’s interesting that this featured a solid cast – Hoffman, Freeman, Russo, Spacey, Gooding Jr., Sutherland, McSteamy I mean McDreamy I mean Patrick Dempsy.

Congo: RIP Michael Crichton. Like all books turned movie, the book was better, but that’s not saying much. I actually didn’t like either, and I really love MC.

This movie was essentially about a tribe of super monkeys living in… yes…. The Congo. A team heads out on an expedition to find another team and all hell breaks loose, monkeys go crazy and start killing humans, but in all fairness the humans intruded on their land.

12 Monkeys: Does this count? In all seriousness I don’t think so, but it’s a really cool movie.

In my opinion, this is one of Brad Pitt’s finer moments. He received an Academy Award nomination but truth be told it’s because he was snubbed by not getting a leading man nod for Se7en.

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls: Bumblebeetuna. Remember the plot to this? No, not many do. But there were silverback gorillas and Ace had his trusty little monkey with him, which was the “Outbreak” monkey.

Not even monkeys could save Jim Carrey’s overacting in this movie. In hindsight I’m really disappointed with this movie. I loved it at the time because Jim Carrey was a driving force for me to want to enter the entertainment industry, he made movies fun but… shit… you know what. I won’t do it. I won’t bash this movie. All I’ll say is that part 1 was better (and a classic).

Aladdin: Sure, it’s cartoon, but Apu was in it! Aladdin’s right hand man and comic relief, one might argue he made this movie. All I really remember from Apu is his little hat and his momentary jealousy of the magic carpet. This is the point and perfect use of monkeys in movies.

Monkey Trouble: I was a kid in the early 90’s and I wanted a monkey. Part of the reason was this Thora Burch movie and the trouble she got into with her pick pocketing monkey.

This plays into the Aladdin angle. Comic relief, had a funny hat, and was your friend. The catch with Monkey Trouble was that this monkey was a klepto and kept stealing from everyone, but just when Burch thinks it’s stole too much, the monkey redeems itself at the end.

I just looked at IMDB – how is this 12,186 on the IMDB meter?

Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull: Otherwise known as “The Indy movie made 20 years too late and should have never been made.”

You may not remember the monkeys in this movie but I do, and it’s one of the few times I actually hated them. In the final climactic 3rd act Indys son (which he didn’t know) Shia LaBeouf is caught in a bit of a pickle. He’s lost in the jungle without any escape plan.

Enter the monkeys and a very very bad case of CGI.

Little monkeys lead Shia out of the jungle to freedom assisting him by swinging on trees through the top of the jungle and right into freedom. Lets take a moment and think about the conversation between the writer, George Lucas, and director, Steven Spielberg, on just how they wanted this whole thing to play out:

Steve: George, I noticed that you had this scene with Shia swinging with monkeys in the jungle.

George: Who?

Steve: Huh?

George: What?

Steve: Shia, in the jungle. Do you really think he could swing out of the jungle like that?

George: Would Ewoks save him?

Steve: Lets have him swing out with monkeys.

I may have preferred the Ewoks.

King Kong: Too Easy. Big ol’ monkey. This reboot was 3 hours total and I vaguely remember Jack Black.

Mighty Joe Young: See King Kong. Minus Jack Black.

The Ape: The what? The Ape. Let me copy and paste a brief plot summary below:

Human resources drone and put-upon family man Harry imagines he could be the next Dostoyevsky if he could just get a little peace and quiet. When he moves into his own apartment to craft his masterpiece, his solitude is broken by an unexpected roommate-a foul-mouthed, Hawaiian shirt-wearing gorilla, eager to share his opinions on life, love, and animal magnetism.

Bullshit, right? Wrong. The above plot was a movie written, directed, and starring James Franco. I’m not sure what he was thinking when he made this movie but I give him credit for trying to make it. Maybe he knew that tossing a monkey in a movie would be a sure thing? But to Franco’s credit he does a lot in his career that people question and he just goes with the flow.

Although I haven’t seen The Ape, I hope Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes is better.

I stop thinking about monkey movies for a bit because my brain is a fried and I’m not sure how many more monkey movies I can tackle.

However, I don’t think Apes is a monkey movie, it seems like an origin story, and I love origin stories. How could a movie about Monkey’s taking over a planet go wrong? It just seems so right. I think the bigger question is why do I keep calling Gorillas, Apes, and Chimpanzees – monkeys? I’m that guy whose just bunching primates together. I should know more about the monkey species. Wait, my thought is getting off topic, I need to reserve my seats for the movie.

If this movie is good I may rent Ed and The Ape and watch them back-to-back.

Thinking.

I just saw a movie – I wonder who’s in it? Checking the Internet movie database, oh yes of course, that one guy from that one thing. Well, since I’m on the computer I mine as well click a few more links and browse a little bit to check out Actors. Oh, this guy is in that one Oscar Wilde adaptation? Cool. Well, since I’m here I should click on Oscar Wilde, nice; a few quotes of his just came up, here’s one that sticks out –

“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all”

Yeah, no shit, Wilde. Wait, something just caught my attention, a link to t-shirts with quotes on them, and not just any quotes, I can look at all sorts of T-shirt quotes – funny, famous, characters etc… God, I love the Internet. Sure, I’ll take a look.

CLICK.

Oh no way, a link to more graphic T’s, here’s a funny one with a Velociraptor doing a rubix cube that says “Clever Girl”. Wow this is indeed very clever and also a pretty great quote from an even greater movie, you know I think I should send this link to my friend.

Open G-mail, pull up “compose” and then I see it – an advertisement discussing low euro rail passes. Well, this is great because I’ve been looking for cheap tickets for a trip I’m going to be taking.

CLICK.

Looking and browsing and checking all of the prices on various dates… What the hell, the euro rail has a Facebook page?

CLICK.

Oh I have a new message. Cool! My friend has a film in a festival and needs people to vote so it can get a high rating at the fest.

CLICK. (Voted).

Interesting, there’s a banner for another film with a familiar guy. Who is this guy? Internet movie database time, I’m back to the database and headline is talking about Zoolander 2.

CLICK.

Wait, I need to focus here for a second. And then it hit me, as a wise man that I once heard of named Oscar Wilde said: “A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” Am, I thinking for myself right now? Or am I scattered from information overload that I can’t complete simple tasks? But here’s the catch – All of this information is my interests and essentially placed in their spots due to my search preferences. I need to read that quote again because I’m starting to fear my past thinking for myself doesn’t have me thinking in the present.

The quote seemed simple enough but I’m coming to realize that my thinking is becoming progressively scattered. I’m not sure if it’s my natural personality to lose focus so quickly or the fact that I have so much great information at my finger tips that I’m gluttonous with what I want to see and learn, maybe it’s both. But either way I’m reaffirmed on how important thinking is, and on the flip side thinking too much can be a hamper, which leads to over analyzing and lack of decision-making.

I’m trying to connect these dots here and I’m not to certain what I’m exactly getting at here but I can sense it’s something, and I just need to think about it a bit.

Nickname.

I just had a critical thinking session about nicknames and people that have them, I then dug a little deeper and thought of the origin of nicknames themselves. Then sat around for about 20 more minutes and thought why is it called a “nickname” or wait, is it “nicname” with no “K”? No, no, it’s with a K – the Internet told me so. And for the record when I finish reading this I’m going to head to Wikipedia and read all about the nickname origin.

I find this concept just awesome. People have a nickname like secret agents. The nickname is so personal simply because it defines you to individual groups as an extension of who you are. One moment you’re sitting in your office doing business then the next your buddy from college calls and says: “What’s up High Life” and the conversation goes on without missing a beat. (Note: My nickname is not High Life).

Also, you can have more than one nickname pending on what group of people you’re in. You could be “Killer” to Joe and Mike but you can also be “Smiley” to Sam and Todd.

Random mid thought note: Is the nickname just a guy thing? I don’t really think it is. I’ve known a few girls who call each other nicknames but for the most part they just call each other by their last name… I think. On that note I should say that calling someone by his or her last name doesn’t classify as a nickname.

Let’s take this one more notch because I feel as though I’m pigeonholing nicknames to people. Everything has nicknames: states (I’m from the Cheese State), towns (I live in the city of angels), sports teams, monuments, pictures… you get the point.

Basically, every human being should have a nickname. It’s an extension of you - it’s an alter ego to a certain extent. Your nickname is something to embrace, if you don’t have one I suggest you search deep and think about it. The nickname allows you to connect to those who know you have it… It’s your identity (yes, like Batman aka The Dark Knight).

For the record I’m fortunate enough to have a nickname. A few actually, friends who knew me had one for me and friends who know me have one, and like many nicknames it evolved as I did.

Sincerely,

Crazy Eyes.

Kidding! Not my nickname - I don’t have crazy eyes - I don’t think.

The Wikipedia Origin of Nicknames: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickname

Monday Thoughts: TIME!

A person’s personality can be determined by how they follow time. You’re always early, right on time, or perpetually late. If you’re the perpetually late person I think that your window of lateness should get a little smaller each time, the person you’re meeting with has the right to leave you at any moment after 11 minutes.

Time is around for a specific reason, and although it’s man made we still run our lives based off of the clock. The simple idea of time needs to be embraced a little more and we need to grasp our limitations in a certain time frame.

I think if you have a job and your workday requires you to work a specific set of hours you should have the option to sleep when you get tired. For Example: If it’s 12pm and you need a nap you can sleep for X amount of time, but that means you need to stay at work X amount of time longer.

If you wake up at 7am and go to sleep at 11pm you have been awake for a total of 16 hours. That’s not too many hours to be alive and awake per day – use the time wisely.

A looooong time ago people would refer to the time as: “12 of the clock” Which has evolved into using the phrase 12 o’ clock.

I’m convinced that in the future Time Travel has not yet been figured out. The moment time travel is figured out we’d be surrounded by Time Travelers, and we ourselves would be time traveling. This of course opens a time travel discussion and also if the future is happening now or if the future has already happened.

There is no way we can get around time; it’s inevitable no matter how you cut it. Until we simplify the Flux Compacitor we have no choice but to respect the framework of time. If you can’t respect time then you float and turn into David taking on a super Goliath.