Matthew, Isabelle, and Theo.

>junpei
>feeling sick, watching the dreamers
---

As my AFK status implied, I'm feeling sick to the point where I could vomit, and I watched The Dreamers.

I discovered this movie about 4 months ago on the Independent Film Channel, or IFC. I was up in Ann Arbor partying for the weekend with friends, and when we turned in for the night and turned on the TV we happened to stumble upon the particular scene where Isabelle takes off Matthew's boxers in the kitchen. We had no idea what the movie was, or what the IFC was for that matter, so we just figured "Ooh! Implied sex scene on late at night R-rated movie". Once they started having sex on the floor, we were corrected. Now, this scene is about halfway through the movie, I was really drunk and tired, and it had actually been a long day, so I fell asleep maybe 30 minutes later.

Of course, this film intrigued me to no end after that point. It was so perplexing with it's talks of revolution in France, overt sexuality, and the fact that I came in watching it part of the way through which just shrouded it deeper in mystery. Naturally the first thing I did when I got home was research the IFC. Then once I had the title of the movie (The Dreamers), I researched that. Finally, a quick order off Amazon.

Now that I finally got my lazy self around to sitting down and watching it, I'm thoroughly happy with my purchase. This movie was beautiful to me in many ways. The weird, tense, sexual, interactions between the characters makes for something not seen in everyday entertainment, the frequent talks between the characters about cinema, music, and revolution, are intriguing subjects themselves, and I really liked the cinematography throughout the film, especially the use of mirrors.

For some reason, the films use of mirrors entertained me extensively. People seem to avoid mirrors, for good reason, but their presence in many of the indoor shots added an extra depth to the scene, mostly due to them being used to show the characters not directly in the shot. Maybe not on par with the mirror scene in Contact, but the entire bathtub segment is brilliant in that all 3 characters are visible throughout it through the use of the mirrors on the side of the wall. It's a strange way to see the action, but I found it oddly enjoyable.

I really liked The Dreamers, and I suggest people go out and see/buy/rent it if they can. It's definitely not the deepest, most revolutionary, or mind blowing film out there, but it conveys themes not found in other movies, and because of this, makes it something very special.

Oh, the Slump!

>REGULATORS! Mount up!
>it was a clear black night, a clear white moon
---

So, I'm on my "school's" "spring break" this week. Let's define the terms used first, and then see what's wrong.

I used the term "school" because I guess that the University of Michigan Dearborn would be considered a school of sorts. I don't consider it one however. This place fucking fails at everything possibly conceivable. The people are twats, the campus is small and boring, there isn't ever anything legitimately interesting ever going on around campus, and it's in Dearborn, one of the most boring places on earth for us underage peoples. Sure I could go to the bar and stuff if I went to the right places, but it's expensive, and I should have other choices besides destructive drinking every weekend of my life.

Why is this "spring break"? Because while it's labeled "spring break", we are not even remotely in the spring season (hence the 5 inches of snow on the ground and bitter cold days and nights). Most other colleges have theirs either next week, which is a little better, or in 2 weeks. I don't understand why ours is so early.

Yeah, so my break is kind of sucking. It's not just because of the total lack of things to do where I live, but also because without anything to actually do, I get really lazy. I get home at 1 a.m., which for me is pretty damned early, and I will sleep until 1:30 p.m. By the time I wake up and realize I've slept through the "me time" part of the day (ie- playing Pikmin 2 and Team Fortress 2) and there's just enough time to shower, eat, check my internet stuff, and be off to work. The vicious cycle has been going on the past couple days, which with only a week long break equates to most of my time off.

So, tomorrow, or I guess technically today, I will wake up, eat breakfast, do some stretches, and stay awake for the duration of my normal day without sleeping for a completely unnecessary 5 extra hours. I may need an energy drink, but I'll do it damnit!

Lists of things that keep me awake

>just kickin some ass
---
A list of the random shit that goes through my head

-I don't understand Kid Rock. His image is pretty much being a badass of sorts, and a lot of his music pretty much goes with it. However, on his latests album Rock and Roll Jesus he's got songs like "Amen" and "All Summer Long" which are loaded full of sentimental, religious bullshit. Totally not Kid Rock there. Besides, his next songs, "So Hott" and "Sugar" are loaded with lines like:

SO HOT I wanna get you alone
SO HOT I wanna get you stoned
SO HOT I dont wanna be your friend
I wanna fuck you like I'm never gonna see you again

or these excerpts from Sugar:

And I fuck hot pussy until it's cold
You can kiss my Anglo-Saxon ass
I'm the illest mutha fucker on the God damn planet

(Now keep in mind, the lyrics right there are from 2 songs directly after the sentimental religious shit I mentioned earlier.)

Now that's the shit I like to see! This is the Kid Rock we all love/loathe. I don't think anyone wants to pay money to have him talk about sending his kids to church or some girlfriend he had back in the day. We want the real Kid Rock. The 40 oz. malt liquor chugging, swear up a storm, donkey punch your wife Kid Rock. Now we're talking!


-Have you ever had to take a massive shit? Of course you have. However, when you sit, have you ever had a really difficult time gettin' that little fucker out? Like, it's almost too big for your asshole to process? It's usually really hard too. Like someone put a baseball sized rock in your rectum. Well, after the horrifying experience is over, don't you ever feel like your asshole is "spaced out"? It feels larger than before, like you forced something so big through it that it stretched it.

Let me say this: I had one so bad the other day, that after I left, it felt like I had been at a goddamned porno shoot for hours. It felt that large. Yeah, I know that's fucked up.

-What would it be like to write scripts for pornos? Like the cheesy ass dialogue. I really want to know how they do it for stuff like Big Sausage Pizza, First Fat Chick, and anything that picks up "random girls" on the street.

Deadly Nuerotoxin

>keep 'em guessing
>i loved you more, than the week i did before i discovered alcohol.
---
So, like I said, I beat Portal.

It was awesome. Really awesome.

I don't get hyped for very many games very easily, and it's really rare for me to love anything I play, but this exceeded expectations by a long shot. I had been following it for a while and had watched my brothers play through the game a number of times, but always said I'd wait for my own copy to play it so that I wouldn't spoil the fun, and it was totally worth it.

Everything about it is done so fantastic and fits so well that you can't complain about anything. Tight control, wonderful music (especially "Still Alive"), GLaDOS - the best character ever, ingenious level design, and a great length to the story. Although I knew the game was short, I couldn't believe it was literally "beat it in one sitting" short, well, until I beat it in one sitting. Really though, it helped the game sort of "contain" itself by keeping it close to its central theme instead of branching off in all sorts of ways. I liked that, just like Cloverfield.

I don't think I need to go into all the stuff about the portal gun and the weighted companion cube and all, but one thing that a lot of people fail to mention is how awesome the developer commentary is. Really. Maybe all the people that wrote about the game a few months ago when it came out knew everything there is to know about the way Portal was engineered and designed (yeah right...), but I for one didn't, and the sheer amount of complexity and precision this game was pulled off with is staggering. I have an even greater respect for game designers now, especially the minds behind Portal. I'm applauding you right now.

If the pictures still not clear or you want the "tl;dr" version, Portal is one of the most original, ass kicking, hilarious, ingenious, brilliant, clever, smart, and interesting games you'll ever play. And to top it all off, you'll be begging for more afterwards. Instant classic in my book.

Sounds Like Work

>sleep-o-tron
>fuck
>PANIK
---
Regina Spektor played over the radio at work today. Needless to say, I was oddly overjoyed to hear it whilst in the dismal clutches of my job.

I noticed that they play a lot of Fall Out Boy too. A lot. Like, as in I'll hear at least 3 different songs on any given shift. I like them, but it's just kind of odd how much I hear them.

Besides them, the only other thing you'll hear when working is A) me singing "The Black Parade" aloud, B) me repeatedly singing the line "Born to be wi-ild", C) constant screaming of "YOUUUUU!" from that fucking Soulja Boy song (we all hate it, but it helps the time pass to piss everyone else off), or D) some other random ass song that I feel needs to be a part of the communal work time experience. For example, today me and Terry did a performance of "Regulators" by Warren G and Nate Dogg. Truly awesome indeed.

I beat both Portal and Bioshock, so now I'm off to conquer the looming beast that is Half Life 2. I'll get back to you on my thoughts on all three.