I have decided to redo the layout for my blog. This means the website is going to be more like a construction site over the next few days/weeks. It will remain like this most of the time, but there will be some times were it will probably be, well, bad. Just a heads up- thanks for your patience. Later!
5/5- If you’ve seen the movie, the book is not blown for you. That being said, onto the review. I could say stuff like ‘the book takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotion and anarchy that keeps you guessing until the very end.’ and that would be true. But here is what I will say- the book is darker and more sadistic than the movie. Not that the movie was bad- and some things that were changed had to be or were changed to make a better movie. The book starts off the same- Tyler with a gun in [Narrator’s] mouth- and then flash back to meeting Tyler Durdan. The way the meet is different, but that doesn’t matter. So once our narrator meets Tyler, his whole world is rocked. Lives in a shit hole house, joins fight club, but still goes to the support groups he used to go to on occasion. And our narrator still doesn’t sleep. But the book gives us more insight into the creation of Project Mayhem and it’s inner workings. How Project Mayhem evolved from Fight Club. How once Tyler’s secret is blown, the Narrator’s life heads in a bigger downward spiral than the movie would show and how Fight Club/Project Mayhem turns against him, and then events leading to a different ending than the movie. The book also focuses more the Narrator’s and Marla’s relationship than the movie showed. The book is great- a masterpiece. Palanauk is a genius. Read the book. Even if you saw the movie. You won’t be disappointed. Later
The alarm clock goes off. 6:30AM. “Fuck. I don’t want to go to work.”
You get dressed, grab food, get in your car. Call mom when you get there.
Your on the highway now. 17- your comfort zone. Once you get off, you don’t really know where your going. It’s 7:15. You look ahead at the traffic. Someone hit their brakes. Now at the car just ahead of you. “O shit. Fuck. Fuck.”
You just slammed into a car. But it wasn’t your fault. You know that. But thats the way it looks. You get out of the car. The image of the airbags going off is engraved in your head now. Fuck- 4 cars. Is everyone ok? Yes. Thank God. You want to call you dad. You call 911 first. Your somewhere on the highway. By exit 129 going east. The cops are there in minutes. Then you call your dad. Your ok. “It wasn’t my fault. I remember what you said. I kept my distance. I wasn’t tailgating. I slammed on my breaks. It wasn’t my fault.”
First you think of everything worst that could have happened. Your still alive. Everyone is. Thank God. Thank God for your seat belt, for your airbags. Of all those moments you relax while you drive, this time you were driving upright. Hands at 10 and 2. Thank God.
Once the adrenaline rush is over, you think that it could be better. “Fuck. my car is totaled. Fuck. I’m the last car. But it wasn’t my fault. I had no time to react. I wasn’t tailgating. I wasn’t even speeding. Fuck.”
All you want to do is see you dad and tell him it wasn’t your fault. Its just a car he says. Thank god your all right. Its just a car. Fuck though. “It wasn’t my fault. Fuck…Thank God I’m alright…I wish I was at work right now.” Later.
3/5- It had its ups and downs. Another comic book movie, the fantastic 4 is about 5 people who go up into space to track a DNA cloud, the get caught in it, it alters their DNA to kind of fit their he 4 personality. The four good ones- Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben- the one bad- Victor Von Doom. One day, disaster strikes on a bridge, the 4 are there to help out, they get their name….The group argues as stress mounts- ben hates the fact that he is a (the) thing, johnny loves his powers and he attention, Reed and Sue are just into each other. Von Doom becomes evil after he looses everything- his company, his money, ‘his’ girl. Some things were well done- for instance- the 4 really worked well together- there was good chemistry there which made for a better movie. It is no Batman Begins by far, but it is fairly close to the Spiderman movies- similar qualities- and this movie has some pretty cool special effects. The plot was there, there was reasoning behind it, the characters grew and changed throughout the movie- Ben the most. From start to finish, they realized what Johnny already thought- their powers were a gift, not a curse. The final fight scene could have been better, though it did show how well the 4 worked together, and the real power Sue has. If you are into comic books, i tihnk you will enjoy the movie. Later
Well….this is an interesting story I saw on Digg about a man getting arrest for what many people I…know….do from time to time. I hope to keep track of this story and see how it unfolds. Later!
So I read an article on Engadget stating that a clinic in China just opened for the internet addicted. Symptoms include shakes, unwillingness to work with others and insomnia. Despite what people tell you, I am not that bad…..Later!
I just read This- it’s entitled “Why you should not buy a laptop for college. Ok so this post isn’t why you should, but I’d like to help shed some light on the situation. I have both a laptop and a desktop. I built my desktop. I’m a computer geek. However, I find my laptop incredible useful for school and otherwise. Let’s take this guy’s post point by point.
Price Issue: A laptop will cost considerably more then an equally matched desktop system… While this is true, most students should by laptops because they don’t need a really powerful machine. Something that can run MS Office (Word, Excel, etc.), AIM and a web browser (use FireFox) really should be sufficient. My laptop (Averatec Tablet PC) was $1300, is very small, and is currently running gAIM, Firefox, a notepad clone, Excel, Word, Windows Media Player and Adobe Photoshop as well as Gmail Notifier and Windows Updates. and it’s running fine. if your laptop breaks down you will nearly always have to send it to the manufacture to get repaired. That’s if you are still covered by the warranty… In my experience, the same thing will happen with a desktop. Most people are afraid of the inside of a computer and don’t want to deal with it. Depending on the damage, no matter what you have, you will b e sending it back. and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get the extended warranty. At best buy, it will extend it to 3 years.
Portability Hype: Not all locations on campus will support wifi… This is true, so you will have to find out if you school does, and where. My school does and is expanding it throughout campus. And if your school doesn’t offer it, chances are someone living just off campus did no configure their wireless router correctly, and you can mooch off them. Sitting in a parking lot on campus, i found 16 WiFi connections. Also forget about using your laptop as a notebook… This one he’s pretty right about. But it’s good for those times where you want to bring it to class for other reasons, because you are giving a presentation or something- I’m a programming major, so I find that bringing my laptop to class helps sometimes. But, what our friend didn’t mention is those times you go home for the weekend or breaks. The Laptop is definitely great for this. You aren’t going to lug your desktop home for a weekend. It would take to much time and effort and probably not pay off. Also, those longer breaks- laptop breakdown is much easier. Since I am often in need of My computer- because of certain resources- I find myself bringing my laptop all over the place. Plus, Laptops are great for commuters who often spend the whole day on campus because why drive back and forth in between classes.
Productivity Hype: Your going to be as productive as you want to me. He mentions online research and distractions- that is true. But you will be able to get the internet anywhere on campus. If you want to do online research at the library you can do it on their PCs, but it wouldn’t be a hassle to bring you laptop there and connect. Either way you will have those distractions, might as well be comfortable, web wise.
Durability & Security Issues : hey are more easily prone to getting nicks, dents and scratches and a bad fall could just spell the end. Also unlike desktops, laptops are more likely to getting stolen or lost…. This is where being a responsible adult comes in. Keep an eye on your laptop, get an nice case for it for when it’s not in use and you will be fine.
I hope this has been helpful and I would be happy to answer an questions on the issues for anyone. Just leave a comment or email me (Joe@Casabona.Org). Later!
So I think im pretty much done with uploading Pictures of Ireland. If you want to see more, you can view them from my friends’ webshots- here and here. If I find any more in the multitude I have, Ill post them. In a related story, Jen (the second link) got pictures developed from the Galic (GAA) game we went to. It was Dublin and Wexford in the Semi Finals. Dublin won. It was a Croke Park (same place as the U2 Concert) and teh atmosphere was incredible. 90,000 people going crazy, chanting and singing, and the sport is intense. It’s like a mix between Soccer (football) and Rugby, and some basketball. There are goal posts (1 point) and an actual goal (3 points). When Dublin scored a goal to put us ahead of wexford, teh crowed went wild. We were in Hill 16, the hill where the big Dublin fans go to cheer for their team. Its called Hill 16 because a battle against the British took place there and 16 Brits were killed. The game was a good time- I have never seen so much enery or so many blue jerseys being worn at the same time in my life. Later!
The culmination of 2 weeks of fun, excitment and some boozing. 12 days after I arrive in Dublin Int’l Airport, 11 days after our first night out, 8 days after Sean’s party, 3 days after I saw the most beautiful country side, after months of waiting, I saw U2. And it was incredible. The stage, the lights, the energy. Bono and the boys know how to put on a show. They came on at about 8:50pm- it was still light out. The opened with Vertigo. They played for about 2 and a half hours. They closed with Vertigo. The middle was a barrage of emotion and music coming both from the band and the audience. Durring Sometimes you can’t make it on your own Bono took his shades off, went off stage, and sang with every ounce of feeling he put into writing the song- everything the inspired him. The cameras focused on him the whole time. You could feel connected to him. He knows what he is doing and that is why U2 is arguably the greatest band in the world. The emotion Bono put into the performance is only comparable to the energy. Durring Sunday, Bloody Sunday and Where the Streets have no Name the crowd exploded in a burst of energy resonating from the stage and the whole place errupted and we sang along with Bono. Durring 2 parts of the show, Bono pulled audience members up on stage- one to give her a hug as he sang to her at the edge of the runway- and one so he could play guitar with them durring one of the songs. 90,000 people witnessed what was probably those people’s lives changing. I mean, how many people can say they jammed with Bono, or Bono sang to you. Only a handful. After the show I was left speechless and breathless- I have never been so exhausted after a show in my life. If you ever get the chance to see these guys live, do not pass it up. Later.
And there is a lot to talk about. The trip to Ireland was amazing, relaxing, and a lot of fun in general. It was a vacation as well as a retreat in some aspects. I had a good amount of time to myself to just think and clear my head. With no internet I wasn’t on the computer all that much- just to upload the 700 and something pictures we took. I created a Flickr account and will be adding more over the next few days. There we did the usual tourist stuff like take a tour of the town and country- which is beautiful- the rumors are true. The night life was nice- since we stayed with a friend, and some other guys showed us around to the good places. I found out reenforced what I thought already- I don’t like to drink all that much. Watching others and remembering is much more fun….most of the time. Sitting at the bar just talking was a good time- the clubs were ok- I look like a fool when I dance, and as a result don’t really like to dance. What I really enjoyed was going out to Wicklow County. There is one place- Guiness Lake- I could have stayed out there for days. Sitting on top of a hill over looking a lake and mountains with a nice refreshing breeze. I tried to recapture it in pictures, but they don’t even come close to being there. All in all it was a good trip and I’m sure ill probably post more on it some time.
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