Blask

Another Wednesday, another experience, another opportunity.  It's February, the month that is difficult to pronounce because of that sneaky "r" chillin' after the "b."  January was a breeze, a little spark that set the fire of 2011 ablaze.  January was an inkling of thought, just a wee little bit of a start of something, but didn't pick up and moved on after January didn't pull it off.  What am I talking about?  You have just about as much a clue as I do.

We started the 2011 Spring Semester this week, let me tell you, it's going to be a DOOZY.  Classes are intense and the work load is going to be nutty, but guess what? It's time to learn, that's what college is all about, and if that means cramming as much material into this little head of mine and learning how to manage time well, let's do this thing.  It's going to be a challenge, no doubt, but it's going to be one swell set of 16 weeks.



So last week, Mawwiage Films released our second wedding Moment for Chad and Rachel Glazener.  This wedding was a great experience, the ceremony and reception were absolutely beautiful and everybody involved were just top notch.  It was a good time and the video turned out really well, and now, for your enjoyment, it sits below, waiting for you to return January 8, 2011 and enjoy this moment.


Chad & Rachel from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.



Other than that, I don't have a whole lot to talk about.  I feel like something has changed with this blog.  It used to be that I would come up with topics to discuss, even if it is as amateur as watching paint dry (which is a brilliant experience by the way); either way, I used to discuss topics on this here blog, that hasn't really happened recently.  It's too bad, maybe I'm just not inspired.  Strange.  Maybe that will change soon.

I have some video for you though, maybe that will serve as the inspiration.



Scratch that, I have something to talk about albeit short.  Last Saturday, the final Saturday of the massive 6 week winter break, a group of guys and I headed down to San Deigo to hit up Soma to experience a concert.  The lineup? Underoath, Thursday, A Skylit Drive, and Animals As Leaders.  We had been looking forward to this jam of a time for quite a while and now it was here and we were ready to ROCK.  I'm not going to get super detailed, I'll just touch on a few things.  First, Animals As Leaders absolutely RIPPED.  3 dudes: a drummer and two guitarists, no vocalist, no bassist.  However, the 2 guitarists both jammed on 8 string guitars and the drummer was out of this world.  The guitarist's fingers could have beat a cheetah in a footrace and the drummer's polyrhymic power was overpowering.  These guys had talent flowing out of the ears and they rocked the place!  Soma just sat and watched in awe of these fellas and the music they were producing.  ASD and Thursday proceeded to play, which were good, but I just don't have time to write about them. Sorry.  Underoath came on next.  Underoath is one of the bands that I jam to that I've never seen live for whatever reason, don't know why, doesn't make sense.  So, that being said, I had been waiting years for this moment.  Let me tell you, UO does not disappoint, they put on a killer show, played old and new, had way legit video projections behind them (I think they were made by Daniel Davison, the drummer, and his production company Isthmus Studio. I may be wrong.  Either way, the video was straight up krill).  I still can't believe it happened, I had the time of my life.

Concerts in general are fun.  You get to get sweaty and run into people and listen to super loud music and go nuts and other things.  Concerts are rad.  I dig 'em.


So, NOW, there's some video for you.  Fun fun.



This first guy just get's me pumped.  It takes you back to childhood and then slams into adulthood for the ride of your life.  The ultimate slip 'n' slide, no preparation necessary.  Looks like a blast.  That'll serve for some inspiration.







This next one is set here for sole enjoyment.  I've never seen anything like this, it's nothing that special, but it when it comes down to it, you kinda just sit in curiosity to what is really going on.  Inspirational.

Click the anywhere in the box below to begin. 



So concludes.  Craziness craziness.




Enjoy your day today.  It's a good one.

.25

Ok, you're confused.  Yes, it is collared shirt Wednesday.  Yes, I'm not wearing a classic collared shirt; yes, I'm not wearing a tie.  Instead, I'm wearing a tank top.  You may say "What?"  I'm here to tell you there's a loop hole.  I'm here to tell you every shirt has a collar (except for maybe one that you cut with scissors).  I'm here to tell you that the tank top I wore on today, Wednesday January 26 of the 2011th year, had a collar that was .25 of an inch wide.  I'm here to tell you I did not forget.  I'm here to tell you I did this to stir it up a little bit.  I'm here to tell you that this was intentional, and I'm also here to tell you that the weather today was GORGEOUS.


I'm back at Biola, I'm back at the school I chose to go to a year and a half ago, I'm back at the school where the Spring semester will be starting up on Monday.  This last week was fun, went home, slept in, hung out, worked on video video video, now I'm back here for a few more days, and then, boom biggety bam, the semester hits full fledged.  I'm excited though, it's going to be quite the trip, time will have to be streched to fit everything in, and this is what I say to that: "Let's do it."  Gonna be OUT OF CONTROL, but if you think about it, are we in control of anything?

Speaking of the semester starting, a few buddies and myself are hitting the end of break hard by going to see Underoath, Thursday, and few other bands absolutely rock it on the Saturday before the Monday that school starts up, also known as this Saturday.  I'm pumped, their pumped, gonna be killer, gonna get our study on.


I don't have much to spefically talk about today, sorry about that; this may be due to the nature of the day, it may be due to the music I'm listening to, it may be due to the enormous wad of America's Original Dubble Bubble Original Flavor Bubble Gum that is working my jaw to the limit.  Whatever the reason, topics i.e. other are not coming to my mind.

So, in this situation, there is nothing better but some video, yeah?  Ye ye, it's time, time to get legit.


This first video, boy, this first video....I laughed MY HEAD OFF during this video, boy, this first video.  SO RANDOM, SO BEAUTIFUL. 





This video, boy, this next video just...my head fell off for this one too.  I don't know why.  I think it had to with the music and the nature of the stop, and reverse, and then, the kicker, when the music stops.  WHAT?!  Don't why so funny, just is, it may not be to you, whavetever.



Next has made it's rounds throughout the interwebs the last couple days.  Definitely made it's rounds.  Crazzzy putt-putt?  Fountain?



Unbelievable.  I like how pumped the dudes got.  I'd be that pumped too.


Lastly, check out this new Mattel Hot Wheels car.  It's got a built in video camera in the "hood" of the car and records video and audio.  It's also got a mount to mount it a skateboard, a bike, a helmet, etc. 30 fps and 60 fps?  So SICK.  I'd get this over a GoPro.










The conclusion.



Have a bright day today.  Say hello to someone you have already spoken to within the past half hour.  It will seem random, hopefully.

Blue's Clues

The year is winding down, wind wind winding down.  Registration for Fall 2010 was last week and after much pain and hassle, here is the schedule (subject to change, although unlikely):

4-D Design

TR

12:30 pm - 3:20 pm

Kleyn

NT History & Literature

MW

3:00 pm - 4:15 pm

Williams

Cinematography

T

3:30 pm - 5:20 pm

Schmidt Jr

Editing for Film & Television

R

3:30 pm - 5:20 pm

Schmidt Jr

The Nature of Mathmatics

MW

1:30 pm - 2:45 pm

Weathers

Beginning Lacrosse

M

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Agadoni

Survey of American Government

MW

10:30 am - 11:45 am

Peters

It will be an interesting semester.  I'm wary about Government, if only I passed the AP test....

I guess that's what I get, yeah?  I just have a hard time with history, I'm not sure why, I just don't feel it like most people do.  I guess that's why I do art, yeah?  I just have an easier time with art, I'm not sure why, I just feel it like most people don't.

So that's the semester.  I'm excited.  I can't believe it's already here.  I just started Fall 2009, let alone Fall 2010!  Keeps life interesting I guess...and fast.

In other news, Biola's own, Stewart Hall, held their annual Kilt Fest this last week.  A kilt run took place Thursday night and the Kilt Fest took place Friday.  The festivities were marvelous, the games were grandeur and fit for only the willing.  Raw chicken, raw fish, raw pig head, straight up raw.  It was simply excellent.  Enjoy the picture below:

Cleverly suprised me.



In other news, UNDERØATH has released who their new drummer, as of now, is.  You may recall that Aaron Gillespie, the drummer and clean singer of one of the most talented bands I have ever head, departed ways with UØ.  Read the post describing the event in detail here: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2010/04/grapevine.html Anyway, the new drummer is Daniel Davison, the old drummer of Norma Jean.  I am extremely excited to hear the music these guys come up with.  Funny: Underoath and Norma Jean were the first "hard" music I ever listened to and now, they figuratively join together.  If Underoath is still the Underoath I have grown to love, they are going to continue to blow minds.  P-U-M-P-E-D.



In other news, it's time for some video, video.

First, an incredible move by a freeway trucker.  This guy knows whats up, he takes matters into his own hands, and helps out fellow humanity.  Props to this guy, I hope if I got in this kind of situation, I'd do the same.



This next video is simply off the wall.  "Tea with Tyson" is brilliant, odd, deliberate, and many other adjectives.  I can't really explain it, you'll have to see for yourself.  It's weird, wild, and makes you relatively thirsty, and possibly craving a delightful cannoli.



Last night I had the pleasure of watching the movie Iron Man 2.  It was much better than I expected, I had thought it would be as bad or worse than Transformers 2, the worst movie, according to me, ever made, to I came out of the theater pleased and entertained.  All that is besides the point though.  Before Iron Man 2 came on, the trailers rolled, like they like to do, and a movie entitled Super 8 was advertised.  Immediately reminiscent of Cloverfield, JJ Abrams is ready to keep his world in suspense once again as he reveals absolutely nothing in this trailer.  I'm pumped, it's going to be good.  I have no idea if it's going to be good, I'm just assuming.  Check out the trailer:









In other news, something that I had been participating in, that is FORMSPRING.ME, has evolved into quite the little website. I have not answered a question for quite some time for two reasons: lack of questions and a certain level of unreasonableness.  This is what I wrote on February 24, 2010 (http://emliv.blogspot.com/2010/02/sports-coat.html):

Formspring is oddly compelling.  I'm not sure what it is.  Maybe it is the fact that the quality of the questions asked say a lot about 1. the person asking 2. what the person asking thinks about said person and 3. how the said person portrays him/herself.  I read a little blurb online that claimed that formspring.me will be the cause of many teenage suicides.  I think this is pessimistic, and although possible, unlikely.  If used correctly, formspring could be a beneficial and motivational tool to encourage, congratulate, and recognize others.  However, formspring could also be a discouraging and depressing tool that humiliates, embarrasses, and angers others.  We'll see how it goes.  This is the internet in 2010, the no mercy rule has been in place for a while now.  People are different online, saying stuff, doing stuff that they ("they" includes me) may not even think to say or do in person.  The internet, it's busy.

The latter reigns true.  Formspring outrages the negative side of people, questions are extremely crass, rude, derogatory and destructive towards anybody and everybody.  Formspring was HUGE for a while and I think it's in the process of dying; people just aren't into this "I am my own person, and even though I get SLAMMED and HUMILATED in front of the ENTIRE WORLD, I don't care because I am happy about who I have become." notion anymore.  It's only "fun" for so long.

It really is nutty.  There have even been a few suicides that formspring has influenced, one notably where someone wrote extremely vulgar and disastrous words, finishing off their spiel with "go ahead and kill yourself because when you die you'll leave the world a better place." to which the girl answered "I don't know who you are, but i will take your advice. I will kill myself because i am worthless like you said. but I hope you will carry this burden on your sholders for the rest of your life, knowing that you, YOU, killed somebody."


So incredibly sad.  I honestly don't know what to think about it.  Is this really what humans, as a whole, are about nowadays?








Sorry to end like this.  It really caught my attention and I figured I'd expand.  It just riles me up, man.


I hope you have a delightful day today.  Compliment someone.








Actually, I have something else.  This is totally something that chain emailers would email but here it is:


Dear friend,
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Treasure every moment that you have!
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present!



It's true.

Have a good day.

Grapevine

Today marks halfway through spring break; it is, after all, the middle day of the week, Wednesday. I am spending the day traveling back from visiting extended family in both Walnut Creek, CA and Bakersfield/Reedly area, CA for two reasons: to celebrate Christmas with my dad's side of the family because we had an emergency event conflict with our meeting in December and to celebrate my uncle's 50th birthday. Nutty. So now I'm on my way home, literally. I drive in my van, well my dad drives, and I'm sitting on my laptop (well sitting down, using my laptop), listening to some House music (Joker's Of The Scene). Technology is incredible. Whodathunk even 10 years ago that I, on April 7th, 2010, would be able to write a blog entry while cruising the Grapevine (a "scenic" mountain range the "scenic" 5 freeway in California). It's rather overwhelming.

In other news, break is nice; extremely fast, but nice. It's already Wednesday for cryin' out loud.

In other news, something big has happening in my music world and that is: my arguably favorite band, Underoath/UnderOATH/UØ, is experiencing a lineup change. Mr. Aaron Gillespie, an incredible drummer who plays rather unconventionally, creatively, and unlike any drummer I've ever heard, has decided to leave the band he has spent years and years jamming in.  Here is the statement Underoath released on April 5th, 2010:

We are taking this opportunity to sadly inform you the six of us have decided at the end of the current european tour, Aaron will no longer be playing in Underoath.  This was not a decision made in haste but a thought out and prayed upon group agreement.  It in no way effects any of the shows left on this tour.  They will still be our best efforts and enjoyable experiences for all.  For the future, Aaron will be pursuing other musical and ministry endeavors.  As for the rest of us we will continue to work hard on the new Underoath record.  We appreciate the love and support from everyone in the past and hope that all of us will continue to receive your support on our future paths. We love you guys. ....

.. ..

Tim, Grant, Aaron, James, Chris, and Spencer....

The split came as a big surprise to many people probably because Underoath is finishing up their tour in Europe and acknowledging that they are in the process of writing a new record. Not only was I so completely pumped for a new Underoath record, I was so completely pumped to see them live for the first time once they came back to the US (I had missed a PHATTY chance to see them last year).

I'm making it sound like Underoath is no longer existent=not true. They are still going at it, still going to tour, still going to put out a new record. Yes, it will not be the same without Aaron, but I trust the drummer they get will propel the band into sights unseen.  Every member of Underoath is so incredibly talented and unique that the departure of one member will not completely disarm them.  The new record will be absolutely incredible; different, but incredible.

One thing I want to say is that I am extremely grateful for the prayer and discernment about this decision. Obviously, I am not in the band, but through the statement and past issues Underoath has worked through, I know that this decision was a big ticket item and the outcome was the right path to take.  I am so pleased to see that Aaron posted on his blog, http://aaronrgillespie.tumblr.com, that there is no bad blood between the musicians and it is simply time for change. Underoath has put out some the best music I have ever heard and has redefined what music can sound like (Listen to "Lost in the Sound of Separation" and then listen to ANY other music and tell me what sounds beefier). I am so excited to see what Mr. Aaron Gillespie has tucked under his sleeve and also what the rest of the band has lurking behind the next corner. It will be rather interesting, but I am PUMPED.

via TWLOHA twitter

In other news, baseball season is under way. The San Francisco Giants are taking it this year, they are going to watch a 3-0 record turn into a 162-0 record, making them the first undefeated team in the history of baseball. I'm excited to watch them win the World Series this year.

Here's a video of something nutty that happened in a baseball game. Nutty is a good word for it.




In other news, I'm still in the car and my memory just hit the wall. I can't remember what I was going to write about, it could have been good, it could have been alright, it could have been straight up awful; fact is, I don't remember. So on that note, remember today because you won't have another Wednesday for another week. Have a great week fellow internet users.