Let's Paint TV, or What Inspires You?

Multitasking is something I am envious of. I can do it but most of the time after I finish whatever I was doing I just have to redo it. I can't ever spend enough brain power on one thing while multitasking to feel satisfied with the outcome. But that's just me. There are people who are masters. I am extremely envious of those people. One of which is John Kilduff. This guy is the host of the Let's Paint TV. I can't express how horrible I feel about my multitasking abilities after watching Mr. Kilduff. Watching him paint, exercise, and blend a drink at the same time is emasculating. 

John Kilduff started Let's Paint as a public access show in Los Angeles. But when the public access studies shut down in 2008 that didn't stop him from doing his show. He started to do make Let's Paint out of what I can only assume is his garage or living room. It's crazy. He is a painter and sells paintings at art fairs, but does this show because he wants to. He does this show because he wants to inspire people to be creative anyway they want to be. He tries to inspire others to be creative while painting, exercising, mixing a drink, playing ping-pong, carving a pumpkin, building a castle, or just about anything else you can think of he does it while running on a treadmill and painting.

John Kilduff is just, I don't know he's hard to describe. What he's doing makes absolutely no sense, but he keeps doing it because I think he likes it. He has to. He has to enjoy this or he would have stopped years ago. When he takes calls it is obvious people think he's joking around, they think he's trying to be funny. But when he has to basically thwart a gang war on his show it is clear how much he just wants to show people there are so many different ways to express yourself.

There is no point to Let's Paint. There's no reason he needs to be doing this, he just does it because he wants to. He does it because he loves it. Hopefully in my life I can just keep doing something because I love it. I like writing on this blog and I thank John Kilduff for reminding that it's important to express yourself. It's important to do something you want to do without worry of anyone else caring. So I thank you Mr. Kilduff. I thank you for your years of Let's Paint and for your willingness to show people they can do what they want.

Why is Blogger so Creepy?

Pictures usually need captions, but this one kind of says it all

A lot of people have probably read 1984 by George Orwell at some point in their life. They might have seen that movie that I've heard nothing good about or have had the story explained to them. So I think it is safe to say that everyone is at least familiar with the idea of "Big Brother." No not that TV on CBS that I've never seen (is that the TV adaptation of the book? That actually would be kind of interesting). This idea of a society completely under watch for every moment in their lives is something, to my knowledge, that Orwell introduced into literature. It's a device many writers in all mediums have used since.

I bring this up because I've noticed that Google watches every little blip anyway associated with this here blog. It gives me view counts for each post, which is relatively normal and not that creepy to me. Where it gets weird is when I can go into another section of the "stats" associated with the blog and see how many people are viewing on a Mac, Windows, Mobile, etc. Then it goes deeper and tells me what browser is being used most, Safari, Chrome, IE (who uses this? I thought that browser died), Opera (who uses this one?? Thought this went out with Littlefoot, Ducky and the gang?).

A useless item with a story
not worth sharing

I have a list of keywords that were searched on Google or another search engine that then brought someone to this here bloggity blog. There was a hit because someone Googled "cool useless things" but one of my favorite blips was probably for "ream of paper." Over time, seven people came to my blog because they searched for "ream of paper." I find that hilarious for some reason. This guy just wanted to learn about reams of paper. Maybe he just needed to know how many sheets are in one (Hey dude, if you're still out there the answer is 500 for printer paper). Maybe he wanted to know which ream of paper to buy for his printer (printer paper! Lined paper is for school!). There are at least 5 other reasons someone would search ream of paper and then be brought to my blog and that makes me smile. Before this post there wasn't any information about reams of paper, what was Google thinking?

Four people have come to this bloggity bloo because they wanted to know why Wanderlust was called Wanderlust. After Googling it myself (the blog was the second hit on the google search. Big time over here.) I couldn't find the answer either. Hopefully I didn't waste those people's time though. I didn't have the answer they were looking for. If any four of you are out there still reading this bloggernaut I am sorry I wasted your time (I guess if you are still reading I didn't waste it all that much). Oh and if you see the other three, (I know you guys have meet ups to talk about how much of your time I wasted. I just know it. Kills me inside, I am deeply sorry) tell them I'm sorry.

But hands down the best keyword search that led to this blog was "blogs are useless." Guy nailed it. Never have I Googled such a vague phrase and come across something that so perfectly proves my point. I don't think I have ever been as satisfied as I imagine the person who Googled "blogs are useless" and was led to this blurg. Yeah this blog is useless, yeah I don't take it seriously (what's to take seriously? Talking about dumb things I like? Come on, not worth the pain and stress to get worked up over it), but I get at least 5.78 laughs per posts so why not attempt to share this joy?

A useless item(s) that possibly have a story worth sharing

The world has a plethora of mean people saying mean things about people, or about things other people enjoy (I do this for sure), I think the world needs useless things. I find myself worrying about the versatility of things in my life. Sometimes I can come up with enough uses to justify having something, but there are still things I have that I couldn't tell you why I kept. I mean I could tell you but it will probably take to long to explain and the answer wouldn't even have been worth the time your brain spent processing it. But those dumb little things, those things that I can't explain their existence without sounding like a psychopath, are what make me smile. They remind me of a moment, or a person, or a place, that had a story worth remember (not necessarily worth sharing mind you). The item held a story that when I saw it I was reminded of something that brought joy to my life. Useless things do that for me, maybe they do the same for you?




(I feel bad for kind of picking on the person who searched "blogs are useless." I mean he isn't wrong in most cases [you're reading the best example of his claim], but he didn't deserve me picking on him without even having an option to rebut. Hey person who searched "blogs are useless," if you're reading let me know and we'll have a dialog regarding the subject. Could be fun? [You're not reading this.])

Moonrise Kingdom or I Really Want To Go To Camp

There he is! Sam! You rule buddy!

This is an especially great summer for fans of the smaller released movies. Against his normal doings of releasing his movies in the Fall and Winter, Mr. Anderson gave us a treat, Moonrise Kingdom came out in late May. Anderson has a loyal and large following so he could release a movie on March 32 and people would defy the laws of the Gregorian Calendar and see that movie.

A few weeks prior to this movie I decided to rewatch a few of Wes Anderson movies (secretly a reason to buy them all on Criterion). I got through everything except Bottle Rockets, Life Aquatic and Fantastic Mr. Fox. I was able to watch The Darjeeling Limited, Royal Tenenbaums, and Rushmore. Rushmore was the last one I watched and I noticed how much of the ascetic of that film basically defined what Anderson has done since (which is all of his movies except Bottle Rockets). With The Royal Tenenbaums I noticed the growth Anderson had in his dialog, which has only gotten stronger over the years. So after the quick refresher in Wes Anderson movies I was ready to see Moonrise Kingdom.

What I love about Wes Anderson movies are some of the things he is most known for. I love his scenes that pan the camera around an entire set. Moonrise Kingdom had a fantastic one that opened the film. We got to see the Bishop household like it was a dollhouse (reminded me of Life Aquatic and the shot were we get to see the inside of the boat).

Another one of my favorite Wes Anderson quirks are his tracking shots. He did something different in this film than I had not seen him do or could remember off hand. He did his normal tracking shots on yards of track, but there were a few times he did handy-cam shots. I don't remember him every doing a shot handy-cam before and it worked so well when he had the two main actors running through the forest. Seven movies in you'd think Wes Anderson would be falling into a rut of doing what he is known best for, which he did in this movie, but he also showed some growth and branched out. Many people do not care for his movies, but you have to give the guy credit for being able to grow as a director still.

A final quirk I noticed in this movie, as in all Anderson movies, was his attention to detail. I had read or heard somewhere that Anderson is kind of hard to work with. There are days where he would just go to thrift stores and find things for the set of Royal Tenenbaums. Not like important things that people notice right away, but books for the book shelf, and records, things most people don't notice. In Moonrise, Anderson was able to attend to detail in his own unique way even when a lot of the film takes place in the wilderness. From the pins on Sam Sukusky's Khaki Scout vest to the small, but important, amount of items Suzy brought with her on their journey, every item felt important in its own little way and had a story attached to it I was dying to hear.

Someone pointed out to me that it makes sense for Anderson to write for child actors. I could not agree more. One of the many things I noticed in his movies to date is most of the characters are stuck in a kind of arrested development. Not only are the characters childlike in his films, his films have a childhood whimsy to them on the outside but inside the story there are real personal issues the characters have to deal with. Whether they want to or not.

Moonrise took the child-like ascetic found in most of Anderson's movies and for once had children being the main characters in the story. Anderson movies to me have always felt like they take place in a bubble which gives the feeling that the characters in the movie are the only people in the world portrayed. Moonrise was no different. This feeling was enhanced by the fact that this movie took place on an island inhabited by Khaki Scouts, the Bishop family and Bruce Willis. Obviously this group of main characters weren't isolated, there were other smaller characters on the island who added little outlets of whimsy to the movie.

Now some might find faults in this movie. They might say that Sam Shakusky's character was not fleshed out to a satisfying degree. They might also say that at the height of the conflict, their suspension of disbelief got zapped to death. To these people I say, you are right. These were faults I found in the movie too, but they did not detract from what I enjoyed most.

What I enjoyed most about this movie was the whimsy. The love for life this movie had. Sam's desire, against all odds, to be with the one he loves. The adults thought they knew best, the adults thought they knew what was right for Sam and Suzy. Sam and Suzy did not agree, so they did what they wanted. They lived how they wanted. Granted they were 12 so they should have listened to their parents and guardians, but it's a movie. I have liked all of Wes Anderson's movies, but this is easily my favorite. I love movies that have strong child actors getting to be children while also showing some adult qualities.

As a guy who is seriously considering pulling a Peter Pan in the near future the transportation to the whimsical mind of a 12 year old was lovely. Being able to let my mind go from my quasi-adult "problems" for an hour and a half was a much needed break. I walked out of the theater and seriously considered turning around and just sitting in there waiting for the next showing. If you want to see a movie where you can just let your mind travel back to those pre-teen years when there was little care in the world, go see this. But if you already don't like Wes Anderson movies, or pre-teens, maybe that new Madea movie. 

The Avengers Motion Picture Experience That Changed My Life

Editor's Note (I know there isn't an editor, I just wanted to say that): Most of this write-up is me gushing over superheroes and their importance to me. Sure I talk about the Avengers movie, but I also talk about the comic book Avengers that were important to me. So if you don't care about that (why should you?) then this will just end up sounding like a fanboy getting too excited over some dumb movie. Actually, yeah that's what this write-up is, a 19 year old who channeled his 11 year old self and let him loose at the keyboard to get excited about the Avengers. Sorry. 


Editor's Note 2 (*giggle* it entertains me to say): This is pretty stream of consciousness. Sorry about that. This blog post specifically could have benefitted from an editor. 


Editor's Note 3 (come on now): Oh and if you haven't seen the movie yet I do talk about it so there are some spoilers. So read at your own risk.

The Avengers!!!!!

In March of 2004 something truly life altering happened. Marvel comics decided to do a promotional stunt and sell the newest issue of the Avengers for fifty cents. A lot of people probably saw through this promo stunt, but little 11 year-old Alex drank that Kool-Aid so fast. Little 11 year-old Alex had his father buy that issue of Avengers because it was fifty cents. Fifty cents! How cool is that? All the other comics cost three dollars. Some comic fans might know that this issue was written by Chuck Austen. In most comic circles it is pretty clear that he isn't the best writer, but I'll be honest, I don't remember what happened in the issue. I do remember that this issue caused me to put Avengers on my pull list and since that day I have read a new issue of Avengers every month.

Avengers #77, or the catalyst

Avengers #77 (or 492 depending on what numbering you want to go by... yeah it's stupid) caused me to follow the Avengers through a Disassembly, a New era, a House of M, a Civil War, when they turned Mighty, a Secret Invasion, a Dark Reign, when they turned Dark, a Siege, and when they split up again but came back the next month New and Adjectiveless. I still read the Avengers and until recently I thought from time to time what it would look like for these characters to be on the big screen. Then I remembered that no movie studio would be dumb enough to pump so much money into such a movie with little to no big name characters. Then early this month I was forced to eat my hat.

The Avengers I grew up with were not the Avengers seen in this movie. The Avengers I grew up with were a ragtag group of heroes who were always on the run. Captain America, Thor, and Hawkeye were dead, they were fighting Iron Man and his team of Mighty Avengers, and the Hulk was off in space somewhere. However I did read some older issues from before I started following the Avengers like I was getting paid for it. But those issues were not my Avengers. My Avengers would, and always will be, Luke Cage, Spider-man, Spider-Woman, Wolverine, Iron Fist and Doctor Strange; and whoever else showed up. I grew up with these characters and they grew as a team with me.

New Avengers #37, or my team

That isn't to say I did not enjoy this movie. Oh no, the complete opposite happened. I saw this movie three times in theaters. I could not get enough of this movie. I have loved these characters for my entire life and then seeing them on the big screen instead of being static drawings on a page was mind blowing. I used to act out comic books with my action figures, and as I grew older and realized how expensive movies were to make, I thought my little action figure creations would be the closest thing I ever got to a live action team-up movie. It feels like Joss Whedon and the rest of the crew on this movie somehow looked into my head, saw my dreams and said, "Oh, yeah. We can make that a reality. Come out on May 4th, 2012."

I had already seen Iron Man repulsor blast some bad guys, I had already seen Hulk SMASH, I had already seen Thor hurl his hammer, and I had already seen Captain America defy gravity with his shield in live action. I had seen all these characters before do what they do best, beat the bad guys. But what this movie did that none of the preceding movies had done was have it being done all at the same time under one roof. In this movie I not only saw Iron Man repulsor blast bad guys and Captain America defy gravity with his shield, I also saw Captain America ricochet Iron Man's repulsor blasts with his shield to defeat bad guys. I not only saw Thor hurl his hammer at bad guys and Hulk SMASH, I saw Thor hammer in a piece of alien worm armor that Hulk had just SMASHed into the alien worm's back.

If I was going into this movie with no knowledge of the characters or the universe they came from. I think I would still be excited. I'm almost positive that in all of movie history there has never been something like this done. Marvel Studios has been building to the Avengers since 2008's Iron Man. For 5 years Marvel Studios has been putting out movies for their different characters with the intent to have a movie where all these characters come together. That is so ballsy. The idea to spend millions of dollars producing these movies in hopes to produce another one that will cost even more millions of dollars is insane to me.

The Avengers were brought together Earth's mightiest heroes to defeat the foe that no single hero could. That foe was Loki and his army of alien known as the Chitarui (but I will just call them aliens or the aliens, or something to that degree because that word is dumb). Loki gets his hands on the Tesseract (another dumb word, but so is Cosmic Cube...) and starts to break everything. Loki has the power to control people's minds and takes control of Hawkeye and Erik Selvig who is the lead scientist for SHIELD in regards to the Tesseract. After getting away with the Tesseract Loki and his newly formed group start to build a gateway to bring the Aliens to earth. This forces the team of misfits to band together to save the earth.

Before the final battle started Tony Stark confronts Loki in his newly build Stark Tower. Loki has taken over the tower and is using it to house the device to open the portal to the aliens' world. Stark tells Loki that he isn't going to win, there is no way that he wins. Which is completely right. The good guys always win, the good guys always repulsor blast, or defy gravity with their shield, or hurl their hammer, or SMASH the bad guys. You knew the Avengers were going to come out on top. They were going to defeat Loki without question. When the Hulk defeated the first alien worm and Loki called the rest of the aliens in, it looked bleak, they might not win, then I remembered that they were the Avengers. They were the good guys and the good guys always win. Iron Man just told me!

The Avengers obviously win. Loki never stood a chance. The good guys always win. The bad guys might have the leg up, they might have all the space worms and aliens, but the good guys have the conviction. The good guys are fighting because the earth needs the protection. I knew going in the Avengers were going to win. I know going into any movie that the good guys are going to win, but that isn't the reason I saw this movie. I saw this movie because 11 year old Alex demanded we go see this movie. 11 year old Alex was bouncing off the walls to see all the repulsoring, throwing, hurling, and SMASHing he had only seen in the comics.

So did this movie deliver? Did they succeed in their experiment? Well if you look at the box office reports I think they did. This movie grossed a billion dollars quicker than any movie in history or something. I don't really care about how much money it made, I just want to see if this movie is creating a new generation of Avengers fans. Sitting in this movie my mind changed from the 19 year old college freshman to an 11 year old kid who just bought that fifty cent issue of Avengers. I wanted this movie to create more 11 year old kids who are going to sit in their room playing with their action figures reenacting their favorite scenes from this movie. I wanted this movie to create a new generation that fall in love with the repulsoring, shield throwing, hammer hurling, and SMASHing I saw in this movie.

This was the perfect superhero movie. This was the perfect team movie. This was the perfect movie for a 19 year old child hiding behind his beard. I saw this movie three times in theaters and each time I would get goosebumps when the Helicarrier lifted out of the water, I would get goosebumps when Captain America threw his shield at Iron Man and Thor to stop them from fighting, I would get goosebumps when Thor would hit Hulk across the jaw with his hammer, I would get goosebumps when Captain America and Iron Man fought aliens together, I got goosebumps when Thor and Hulk defeated a giant space worm together. I probably had goosebumps the entire time. But none more than when Hulk caught the falling Iron Man and then slowed himself down by sliding down a building in Manhattan.

Maybe not everyone liked this movie, some people probably hated it. That's their opinion and they are free to have it. Me on the other hand, I loved this movie. I loved the experience I had all three times in the theater. I love comic books and this movie got me excited to read comic books again. This movie showed me everything I liked about comic books and why they've been so important to me my entire life. This movie showed me why I can still get excited about repulsor blasting, shield throwing, hammer hurling, and SMASHing, because it's a getaway. It is a getaway from the trials and worries of life and gateway into a world of superheroes.

I love this movie so much.



I don't own those pictures

From my phone

I guess you can access your blogger on smart phones. Pretty nifty. So here's my first (and probably last because I don't like this) post from my phone.

Here's a picture for you troubles:

"King City" or "I Guess Cats Can Be Cool"

Joe and Earthling

I've never been a cat person. Cats always seemed like jerks to me. I never owned a cat but my Grandma had one and it was just flat out mean. Never let anyone pet it and it would hide most of the day. I always preferred dogs. They love to be pet and want to be around you; but then they slobber. I hate saliva from any animal (humans included).

But what if cats had the potential to be useful?! What if you could inject your cat with a syring of "cat juice" and it could do anything? It could be a parascope, a copy machine, a megaphone, a weapon, or anything else you need to pull of that heist. I would definitely consider adopting a cat.

In the Brandon Graham comic, King City, a cat can do all of those things and more. In this book there is a group of people known as "Cat Masters" who have harnessed the power and abilities of cats. They use them to counteract the powerful enemies of the universe. Awesome.

King City follows Joe who is a Cat Master with his cat "Earthling J.J. Cattingworth the Third." Together Joe and Earthling, (with some cat juice) work as a team to do small jobs as hired thieves. This world is so unique but somehow Brandon Graham keeps it so familiar and accessible. We're not all hired thieves and I'm positive in saying that no one uses their cat as an all-purpose tool. But I'm sure we've been able to relate to Joe in one way or another.

Joe used to live in King City. He had good friends, and a nice girl. But then they broke up and he left. He went to travel around the rest of California with no intent of going back to King City. He finds himself back in King City having to confront all the pain and memories he thought he could forget.


Anna, Joe's ex, gets a lot of time in this series to showing her life after Joe left. Drawing mustaches on billboards.  Not sure why that is her career, but it got a few laughs out of me. Anna's boyfriend, Max, had some intriguing points in this book and one of the more interesting back stories. (Fighting zombies in Korea and getting addicted to a drug that with prolonged use turns you into said drug.)


This series seemed unfocused but at the same time had a clear idea of where it was going and how it was going to end. It seemed unfocused in that it never really focused on a specific character for longer very long. I enjoyed the pacing and split between characters, but would have liked to see more Cat Master-ing.

I don't want to ruin the ending, but I think a lot of people (some other people who talked about this comic actually) won't enjoy the ending. It will feel like the Lost ending, Battlestar Galactica ending, or any other piece of fiction where everything does not get tied up in a nice bow. It is another series where the ending is an ending for this character, not the universe. I am fine with that, and sometimes prefer it.

A very entertaining part of this series were all the random little puns thrown into the background and foreground of the story. If you decide to read this book take your time. It is dense. Just about every billboard or tik tok stand has some little joke or turn of phrase that will get a smile.

This book was a break from everything else I have read lately. It was a nice break from the normal good guy beats up bad guy. The good guys beat up the bad guys, but not Joe isn't that good guy. He's just the guy who does things for the people he cares about. This book was entertaining and gave a lot to the reader, it didn't change my life, but it might change yours.

Cover to the trade collection

I don't own those pictures. (someone should tell me if I need to keep saying this)

The Triumphant Return!

The last time I wrote something here was on Easter. Been a while. Sorry to all my readers; who am I kidding, I'm the only who reads these. I guess I shouldn't be sorry, I should apologize to the internet for taking up more... internets? 

I guess with being on summer break now I will have more time to write or whatever you call this. I've been on summer break for about a week and a half now. That whole time I've tried to think of what I can do on this blog now. I basically already got bored writing reviews of things I've read or watched lately, and let's be honest how many reviews do people need to read? I still haven't really figured out what else I want to do on here, but I've got a few ideas for some write-ups. Who knows if I'll get around to them. (I probably will I have nothing else to do right now.)

I am planning on a post either later tonight or tomorrow morning about King City by Brandon Graham from Image Comics and Tokyopop. And I've seen Avengers twice already so I think I will write something about that eventually. Then there's always a grab-bag post about random stuff I read, watched, or listened to that day. 

I've got a lot of free time now and very little things I need to do so who knows what this blog will turn into. I'm excited to see what this thing transforms into, or if it transforms at all (I don't think it will, this will eternally be my musings on popculture and random thoughts I have). So I will take any suggestions on hobbies. 

You're still reading? Uhh, well... I'm more or less spent on the stream of consciousness thing at the moment. Well here's a finding that has changed my life for the better:

Cereal. It's a big deal in my life. I think my favorite cereal is Peanut Butter Captain Crunch but that changes often depending on what is available. But some mainstays in my cereal eating are definitely Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms. Both of those cereals were readily available at my house growing up because Costco sold them in those giant crates. Often they were both in the cupboard at the same time and it wasn't until this year, my first year of college, my first and last year of being 19, that my eyes were opened. 

In the cafeteria they always had 5 or 6 different types of cereal. Sometimes Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms were there at the same time. I'm not sure which one of my friends was the first to do it, I know it wasn't me; mixing cereals went against everything I believed in. However it wasn't against my friends' paradigms. So someone on purpose or by accident mixed Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I thought they were a madman and was reconsidering our friendship. But after I was coerced into trying it, everything changed. The oats part of the Lucky Charms were edible for once! The cinnamon that was taken off the Cinnamon Toast Crunch by the milk attached itself to the Lucky Charms oats pieces. 

I haven't thought about cereal the same since. Now instead of eating the cereal for enjoyment, I am eating the cereal for research to figure out which cereals might taste good together. I haven't stumbled upon any other earth shattering (like this discovery was? Come on) mixtures worth speaking of, but I will let you know when I do.

Essentially what I'm trying to say is don't be me. Don't just do the same thing over and over again and get in a rut that forces you to keep doing the same thing. Change and grow and learn new things. You'll thank me later.

Or not, you don't have to.

Really? You're still reading? Nothing better to do today? Neither did I, that's why I wrote a bunch of words about cereal. Well if you are interested here's a list of a few posts I am either working on or doing research for (by research I mean most likely watching more TV and eating more cereal):

• King City by Brandon Graham
• Marvel's the Avengers: The Motion Picture Experience That Changed My Life (I added that subtitle)
• The Vanilla Ice Project on the DIY Network
• The beach
• Puppies who like bubbles
• Puppies who like paper bowls

I think that's enough. Sorry if I wasted your time, I know I wasted mine. But I had fun so does it really matter?

Easter Breakfast is a pain, but I Love it

Easter morning. If your family was anything like mine growing up you'd wake up early to go to the Sonrise service at church. I always liked that service for whatever reason. I don't mind waking up early and they do the service outside at my church so that's pretty cool.

And another staple at my church has been the Pancake Breakfast done by the youth. The past two years I have made pancakes all morning, and this year was no different. The first two years I was a student so I was doing it as a fundraiser for events and whatnot. But now I'm a adult leader so I was just doing it because I like it and wanted to help maybe get some students to go on the houseboat trip this summer. But there were some times where I asked, "why?" Not just to myself, but to parents and members of the church.

The first "why?": Why did I sign up for this? It's 5:30, what am I doing? But then I thought about it, every year I have fun, and the rest of the year in the back of my head ask why we can't do it all the time. Waking up early? Not my favorite, but I'll do it. This is worth it. Just to see the kids cart around food, wash dishes, take the trash out; I wouldn't change it.

Another "why?": Why did you come? I get it you gave your donation, I can understand wanting your food. But do you need to walk back into the kitchen asking where the pancakes are when clearly we are running a bit behind? I mean sure people want their stuff, but none of us are trained cooks. Take a chill pill and remember that today isn't about your two damn pancakes, two damn sausage, and bowl of fruit. It's about Christ's resurrection, his sacrifice for you. He's risen! Just like these delicious buttermilk pancakes!

Another "why?": Why does pancake mix come in a 25 pound bag? It looked like cement mix. Hopefully Costco doesn't mess up and try to sell people giant bags of concrete as pancake mix. I don't know what to be more scared of, the fact that we used all 25 pounds, or that we almost finished off the other 25 pound bag. It was impressive to say the least. I didn't even think to count how many pancakes or how many people we fed today, there was maybe 3 hours I was coherent enough to even know what numbers are.

A final "why?": Why are these kids so awesome? This event was a fundraiser for the summer houseboat trip the jr high students are going on. Depending on how long they were there, they get a larger or smaller portion of funds to go to the cost of the trip. Some kids were there for an hour, some two, and one kid showed up at 6:30 and didn't leave until around 11 or 11:30. Depending on who you ask, he was helpful, or he wasn't, but that doesn't matter. He got things done when asked, granted he complained, but so did everyone. All the kids were ready to help wherever and it was awesome. Plating all the food, taking out the trash, whatever, it was great to see them helping out. They seemed to have fun, or at least tolerated it.

Some of you might be asking yourself, "why would he put himself through that?" or "why doesn't he check into a mental institute, surrounding himself with jr high kids all morning? That dude is cray cray." Well I'll be the first to tell you that I am a little crazy. But we all are in our own ways. I'm crazy about seeing Christ work in people; I'm crazy about watching these kids grow into the people God created them to be.

So when you ask, "Why did you wake up at 5:30 to go make pancakes with a bunch of snot nosed hooligans?" I'll just respond with a laugh and remind you that today wasn't about me, it wasn't about the 50 pounds of damn pancakes we made, it wasn't even about the kids, the money, or any of that stuff, it was a celebration of Christ's gift on the cross, his resurrection from the tomb and the wonderful gift of eternal life he gave us.


here's a pic by the wonderful Matt Fewel:

Actually, maybe some of today was the opportunity to use that pancake dispenser thing.

I Went to Disneyland for 5/24th of Their Leap Day Hell Day

I love Disney, I love Disney movies, I love Disney TV shows, but most of all I love going to Disneyland and feeling like a 6 year old again. Disneyland is the best theme park in the world. Where else can you meet the man himself, Mickey Mouse? Where else can you see Michael Jackson in arguably his best performance as Captain Eo? Where else in the world is it okay for anyone of any age to act like a kid for a day? No where. That's what makes Disneyland so much better than anywhere else in the world.

You know what makes Disneyland terrible? Obnoxious amounts of people. Disneyland more often than not has a lot of people at the park. But yesterday (and early this morning) was just ridiculous. I left my house around 8 PM and went to pick up a friend. It wasn't until an hour later that we were on Ball St. trying to enter the parking structure. That took 40 minutes. 40 minutes! I have never seen it so packed. I am okay with crowds to a point, this is that point. When there is so much traffic that I can't even get into the parking structure in a normal amount of time, that is when I am no longer ok with crowds.

We parked and everything was okay after that. We decided to walk to the park instead of taking the tram because it was packed. We even had a smarter idea of taking the Monorail in Downtown Disney that drops you off in Tomorrowland. It was closed. So we had to walk Downtown Disney to the entrance to the park. It isn't far but it would have been a lot quicker to take the walkway next to the tram. But that was our fault. There was a huge line of people at the security check, but after that we just walked through the turnstiles and made it into Disneyland!

Now I had read online that they were giving away special pins for this event ("One More Day of Disney"). Well when we got into the park at 10 PM they were already out. That took some wind out of my sails which were at that point being blown by an asthmatic.

Every line for every ride was too long so we just walked around the park taking in the atmosphere. We decide to get some Mickey Mouse shaped beignets. This is where I saw the first of many interesting things people would decide to do. The woman in front of us in line decided to wait for 20 minutes to get a large Coke. Why? I don't drink much soda anymore but when I did I didn't like it enough to wait 20 minutes to get a large Coke that is 45% ice. More power to her though.

As I said before Disneyland was out of the special day pins. But I saw people walking around with Captain Eo pins. I like Captain Eo, I like pins, so I decided to seek these pins out. So the first place I went was the Captain Eo theater. I should be a detective because I nailed it. That was the place they were handing the pins out at! So I got three. I feel kind of bad, but they just kept handing them to me and I didn't want to make them feel bad for not taking something from them. Then I didn't even go see Captain Eo because it wasn't going to start for another 10 minutes.

As I was walking out of the Captain Eo entryway, I heard a spattering of people doing a call and response with their best Michael Jackson impressions. That was good. I liked that.

Now there wasn't much to do because everything was so packed so we decided to ride the train around the park. We were waiting at the Main Street train station. You can see from the train station that they had stopped letting people into the park because they had hit capacity. Hit capacity?? Disneyland's capacity is 70,000 people. The best part? There was a line to get into the park that stretched all the way to the entrance of California Adventures and then wrapped all the way to the ticket stands on the other side of the entry way.

We decided after an hour and one and a half loops on the train track we decided to get off at the Toon Town station. I was falling asleep so I had to get off and walk around. It was 1 AM at Disneyland, how can you sleep!! We get off and walk away from Toon Town. To the left we see the line for It's a Small World. Or should I say we saw the railing that would house the people interested in riding It's a Small World. What I'm trying to say is there was no line for It's a Small World. so we rode it.

After we got off It's a Small World, we just kept walking around looking at all the people passed out on benches, overflowing the smoking section, and mobbing the dance party in Tomorrowland.

2 AM rolls around and for some reason everything is starting to close. All the stands for popcorn, cotton candy, ice cream, and anything else you can think of were turning people away because they had to close. Why? I didn't understand this. 2:30 AM rolls around and we decide to start riding the train again. I see the line to enter the park, and it still goes all the way to the entrance of California Adventures. What are these people do? I think the better question is what am I doing? I came to the park 4 and a half hours ago and all I've done was ride It's a Small World.

We get on the train and I rest my eyes, and wake up half an hour later realizing it is time to leave. I can't keep my eyes open and everything is closing and they ran out of special day pins. Time to go home.

Now this rant may make it sound like I did not enjoy my time at Disneyland last night and this morning, but I did. I just decided to point out the odd and aggravating parts of my time there. Disneyland is awesome and everyone should get to enjoy it for a day. I know I enjoyed my time there and would be interested to go back if they decided to do this again in four years.





So here are my random pictures and notes I took on my phone while I was at Disneyland:

This one is going right next to my 11/11/11 parking pass

Country Bear Jamboree, what basement did they drag these costumes out of?

To awesome. The gang in their pajamas. 

Yeah this picture sucks but you can kind of see the people lined up for the park if you squint

And here are all my notes verbatim so you can enjoy all my spelling and gramatical errors early in the morning:

Lady in like for 15 minutes for a large coke.
Longest line for corn dogs I have ever seen
People standing against the bars like prisoners
27 dollar shirt that they could have easily charged 29 for because it's the 29th.
Running out of special pins
Captain Eo pins
People bringing their iPhone charges and stealing Disneyland's power
Not riding any rides
Super elite midnight snack at santas village
Shitty forward facing train
Train conductor reminding us we're nearing tomorrow land station, but we can't get off. Good to know.
Donald's sister, was she drawn?
Small world line was short. Why not?
Rode the train for an hour
New seats in the boats, or entirely new boats? Which makes more sense and is cheaper?
People in their pajamas
It's 2 am. Why is everything closing?
It's 230 am and there is still a line all the way to ca adventures.
Subway open at 330.

It's Leap Year Day!

On this magical Leap Day I woke up like any other day of the year. 30 Rock steered me wrong. I thought there would be magic abound on this Leap Day but it was no different than any other day of the year. I should probably spent less time hoping for television sitcoms to come true.

So I got nothing really important to talk about (yeah because all your other posts broke mental grounds). So here are a few blurbs about a few things I did or saw today:

This morning started out pretty terrible. I decided to try these Peanut Butter Cheerios that I found in my house. They were not good. I love peanut butter and breakfast cereal is probably my favorite thing in this world. So the two together haven't done me wrong (Peanut Butter Captain Crunch or Reese's Puffs anyone?). But they did me wrong here. This cereal was not good. Could have been a lot better, but when you are putting a cereal up against the likes of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch or Reese's Puffs, those are hard shoes to fill. It was decent enough, I won't be eating it again that is for sure. I feel as the Cheerios company (General Mills or something) wanted to make one of their healthy type cereals but with a little flavor (cue Frosted Cheerios!). Well as with their other forays, they fell on their faces. You gotta commend them for trying though.

Here's what I had for lunch:

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is indeed beef brisket over macaroni and cheese covered in BBQ sauce. Recently a friend and I stumbled upon a food truck called Rancho A Go Go. They specialize in slow cooked meats. This was pretty delicious and if you ever find yourself near this food truck definitely give it a shot. Worth every penny.

Now the really important stuff. It's Wednesday and that means new comic books. I get my comics through an online distributor so I rarely find myself at a comic book store on Wednesdays. But today Ralph Wiggum's one-shot came out. I love the Simpsons and have since I can remember. They were the one thing my father, brother and myself could all agree on when it was time to watch something. Anyone who has seen the Simpsons most likely knows about the police chief's son, Ralph. He is a great little guy, a little slow, but you just have to love him. This issue is all Ralph all the time and it is great. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, it wasn't anything awe-inspiring, it was just Ralph. And I loved it.

I almost bought the new issue of Orc Stain but for some reason the paper smelled horrendous, so I put it back. The paper was nice, it was heavy and the already extremely vibrant comic lept off the pages, but it smelled so bad I just couldn't do it. Now Ralph Wiggum, that was some great paper. Nice, heavy stock, crisp and didn't flop so easily like all the comics from Marvel and DC. Plus it didn't make me want to throw up so that is always a plus!

I promise not to talk about the paper stock of comic books ever again. That is a level of nerdom I don't want people to know about.

(Orc Stain is an amazing comic drawn by an amazing artist, I buy that book in trade format, the only reason I brought it up was because I felt it necessary to talk about the paper because it smelled so funky. I love the book and wish it all the best, but damn, the paper smelled horrible.)


So that's it for today. Just about the most meaningless post I think the blogosphere has ever seen. I started with breakfast cereal then ended with talking about paper? Come on, there wasn't anything more interesting for you to talk about today Alex? Sorry everyone, no there wasn't.

I think I might be going to that 24 hour Disneyland business tonight so maybe I'll have something halfway interesting to talk about tomorrow.


I don't own those photos
Except the one with my hand in it and the one I took of a comic book page with my phone

The Artist, or the Greatest Dog Movie Ever Made

Now some of you might be asking yourself, "He surely ment to type 'Air Bud', or 'Lassie'. He just wasn't thinking when he put 'The Artist'". Well you would be wrong. Now sit there in your wrongness and read on!

So I saw The Artist today. Now all I've heard about this movie is how it is a love letter to cinema (eat your heart out Hugo!) and how amazing the acting is from everyone involved. I agree with all of that and feel that this movie deserved the Academy Awards it received. It truly is a window to the past when pop culture was just starting to become a part of culture. The silent films were the first attempts at creating new worlds for people to immerse themselves into. The introduction of the 'talkies' however was something many were against. This is where we find George Valentin as this movie begins.

George Valentin is one of the most beloved silent film actors, only rivaled by his dog Uggie. This movie is beautiful in that it gives us one of the most amazing performances in recent memory. Uggie is a powerhouse of talent. He can't be stopped. His performance in this movie is only opposed by his master George Valentin, played by Jean Dujardin. Jean's performance is deserved of his Academy Award without a doubt. His ability to express emotion with his face and minimalist mustache was astounding. Obviously it being a silent movie requires the actors to do most of the acting with their bodies. I believe that all the actors in this film were taught by none other than Uggie himself. As a dog he cannot talk (not sure if you knew that) and his experience as an actor who can't talk obviously was beneficial to the other actors in this film.

Sure this movie is about film history and how the introduction of the 'talkies' rocked the medium to its core. But what was more interesting to me were the characters and how they evolved in tandem with the evolution of the film medium. The two main characters' (George Valentin and Peppy Miller, played by Berenice Bejo) arcs mirrored each other. As one star rose another fell. It isn't a unique storyline by any stretch of the imagination, however the actors and their ability to show their emotion through their facial expressions was what set this movie apart. Even though the two main characters were awe inspiring, neither of them came close to the ability of Uggie. Uggie did not need a voice to express his feelings, nor did he need expressions to show his love, anger, determination, or any of the other countless emotions you feel from Uggie in this film.

George Valentin fell from stardom and spiraled into a self-loathing, depressed man. The joy he felt for life was quickly diminished when people started to look towards this new and intriguing style of film making. It became clear that he was not the everyman, collected person he portrayed in his films. He was rather the opposite. He was a needy, loveless man with a hole in his soul that no amount of idolization could fill. He pushes everyone in his life away, but he knows to keep his rock, the only person who truly loves him for who he is, close to him. He keeps Uggie and Uggie stays with George because he knows how much George needs him. While everyone in this film is changing themselves to be who the world wants them to be (for some it takes longer than others), one character stays true to who they have been and who they know everyone needs. Uggie is the cornerstone that holds this film together. He is the reason George is able to live.

The Artist is a film that many believe captures the essence of what makes a motion picture truly beautiful and captures a tumultuous time in film history. It is all these things but to me this movie is an example of what all humans go through. It is an example of life, of being thrust in a direction you do not expect nor even want sometimes. It is more than just a love letter to film it is a love letter to life and living for what you believe. It reminded me to recognize that things change, sometimes for the worse, sometimes for the better.



I don't own that picture


But I wouldn't mind owning that awesome dog

A Review of the Silent Film "The Artist"

Almost 100 views in a day?

I guess people like me. I have almost 100 views on this here blog. Well that is pretty neat. Not sure if I get a medal or anything for that, but it's cool to see that people actual are reading this rather than me just talking to myself.

I am about to go see the Artist so I might write a thing or two about that movie when I get back. But until then, here are a few things I've enjoyed this morning:

I just recently heard about the Belgium born musician Gotye. His record "Making Mirrors" is a unique collection of songs that don't feel like they would normally go together. Each song is a different style than the last but they all work really well together. He's gonna go far in this world. Here's my current favorite track off "Making Mirrors", "State of the Art":

The Best Show on WFMU podcast is a great couple of hours to have on in the background. If you have to listen to one episode check out the February 2nd 2012 episode. The last 20 minutes where the host, Tom Sharpling, tries to do 50 (terrible but hilarious) impressions is worth your time.

Then here are a few comics I've been reading this morning:

Thanks for read!

(I opened the edit menu to change that typo but I decided against it. Don't point it out, I know it's there)

I don't that video or the rights to those books

Once again I just feel like I need to say that

Wanderlust. Why was it called that?

So I got bored this evening and wanted to just walk around the book store and Byrne read a few things (Byrne reading is a term used by comic fans where you sit in the store and read the comic, it was coined by famous writer/artist John Byrne). Well I get there and decide to check my phone to see if there is a movie playing that I would like to see. I wasn't down and out enough to see Ghost Rider, nor was I interested in the Rock's nipples enough to see Journey 2. Everything else isn't even worth thinking of something witty to say.

I get to the bottom of the listing of movies and I see that the new David Wain movie Wanderlust was playing. I had heard David Wain on a recent episode of the amazingly funny Comedy Bang Bang podcast and he mentioned the film. He didn't give away any plot details and only mentioned members of the cast in passing. But having seen David Wain produced movies and TV shows in the past I had a rough understanding of who was going to be in it and what kind of feel the movie would have.

I knew Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston were going to star in this movie but the best part about recent comedy movies for me have been picking out the guest stars. David Wain has been producing comedies on the big and small screen for years so he has a few friends. It wasn't all that surprising to see Ken Marino (who also co-wrote the script), Joe Lo Truglio, Todd Barry, and Alan Alda.

The story was just okay. Young couple in New York try to buy an apartment but after their careers take a turn for the worst they go to live with Rudd's brother. They find themselves at a commune and begin to see themselves in this world. I don't want to give everything away so I will stop there. The story was fine but it wasn't very believable to me. There were many times where I needed to just go with it. That's not a bad thing but it happened frequently. I'm not nearly old to start worrying about owning a house or having a wife or wondering if I am stuck in a commune full of psychopaths.

Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, and even the writer/director David Wain could easily be right out of that stage in their lives. All three of them are into their 40s and from what I've seen people at that age have their lives more or less figured out. This movie seems like a way for David Wain, and in part the whole cast, to look back at the hard times in their lives and have a different perspective than when they were living them. I'm not trying to say that I know what any of the cast members have gone through in their lives, however I am saying it is plausible that this movie was a way for them to work through those hard times when they were first trying to make it in this world. Or they just wanted to make hippy jokes for three months.

Now you can go into each of the members of the commune and how they're quirks could possible equate to how they ended up where they do in this film. But this movie is a comedy. It is supposed to make people laugh. It did that in spades. I had a good time seeing this movie. I wasn't very invested in the story, it was entertaining but it fell short. What this movie had however was a lot of great comedians doing what they do best, making people laugh.

The theater wasn't packed by any stretch of the imagination. There were maybe 5 couples, myself, and this other guy who was there on his own, but there was a lot of laughs being had. This movie got people to laugh and I don't think you can ask for much more than that. Go see this movie, or don't, it's no skin off my back, but if you like to laugh and like Paul Rudd being awesome, this might be up your alley.




Here are a few pros and a single con:

Pros:

• Ken Marino as a stereotypical poohead older brother
• Doorless bedrooms, bathrooms, and every other -rooms
• Justin Theroux "fighting"
• Alan Alda suffering the residual effects of hallucinogens 
• David Wain, Michael Ian Black, and Michael Showalter as some of the funniest newscasters

Con:

• Too much of Joe Lo Truglio

I don't own that picture. 

I feel like I need to say that.

Initial thoughts on Blogs

So I've never done anything like this before. I wrote two articles for my high school newspaper and that's about the extent of my writings available to the public. A blog seemed like something I could do without much preparation (God knows many bloggers don't). After being a user of the internet for many years and reading many different blogs on many different topics, it became clear to me that literally anyone can write a blog about literally any topic.

There are countless blogs about any topic you can think of. I'm sure everyone and their mother knows someone with a blog devoted to movies, or a blog specifically about TV shows. There are most likely people out there who know of blogs centered around knitting cats little sweaters (if you find this hypothetical blog please tell me. I am sort of interested in that). I think that is a real testament to the beauty of the internet. The internet does a lot of terrible things to society but it also can do some great things. Where else in the world can anyone of any age or demographic share their thoughts on a topic they really care about? I believe that is something truly unique to this time in history. Some people might abuse the freedom to share their opinions that a blog allows, but at the same time there are the people writing about their cat sweaters.

There are a lot of terrible things that happen in this world. The good things in this world get over shadowed by the bad more often than not. It can be hard to find the things that bring you job. That's why I support blogs 100%. They're just people sharing what they love.  It's hard to find what you love, and it's even harder to share those things to a world so interested in the bad. What brings you joy? What reminds you that this world isn't all bad? Do you talk about that often? Do you share what you find awesome in this world with others?

The point of this blog isn't to convince you that certain things are better than others, it's just a way for me to share what I enjoy about this world. Whether it be comic books, movies, TV shows, crappy reality TV, music, or anything else that crosses my mind. I don't have any master plan behind what I want to talk about, I just want to share what makes me excited about the day. What has you excited this week? This month? This year?