Dhish's Daily Dish (movie reviews and other essays)

my continually new "self"

2009-07-20T18:33:00.001-07:00

i have done some thinking, and maybe "the very notion that there are such things as selves—individuals who persist over time" is not so true. maybe i am who i am at one moment in time and what i believe is the cause of who i currently am (my past history) is only a perception rather than a reality.

this thought, though not beyond what reasonable people probably agree with without thinking of and not really that novel, perturbs me slightly. To help aid myself to have a more accurate perception of my past, i want to write in this blog more often. That way, I can come back and check up on things.

Anyways, things have been going pretty good. I have finally decided just to relax and enjoy summer, as opposed to trying to get a head start on my law studies. July 4th was a reunion of windsor peeps of sorts and it was really good times, props to dan and others for that.

Work has been going well, if a little tiring and laborious; and my sister came home last tuesday. Recently we have been playing large scale basketball games. It consists of two crews. My crew which usually is a rotating cast of characters: pat, alok, aakash, steve, nick, justin and jason berman, jerry and others. We face off against chris z, greg panos, the robesons, justin verrier, laruen dillon, sean elligers, and mike torf. as you can see, we have enough to have subs on both sides. the games have been pretty intense and very enjoyable.

My knees have recently started to hurt a lot, so i am going to try and dead all my cardiovascular activities besides these bball games which means an end to my running and biking. I have still been going to the gym with jerry on a semi regular basis and increasing my strength which has been cool. I have been eating pretty poorly as of recent though so as I cut back on cardiovascular exercise it's probably a good idea to curb my eating of carbs.

I have been doing a lot of reading this last couple weeks, just random online magazine reading. A lot of the reading has been about the intelligence level of animals, something i find very interesting. Even though one doesn't currently exist, the idea of a separate sentient species that humans could interact with, a whole different type of organism, fascinates me. An interesting (and possibly evolutionary impossible) hypothetical is what life would be like if the earth was mostly covered with water and did not really have land masses and sentient sea creatures evolved (like super advanced whales). What would their lives be like?

I also read some stuff about the genetics of religion and one idea that intrigued me was that a person who believes in the concept of "luck" or "karma" in the supernatural sense is a religious person, i had never thought of this before, and i find it a conceit that i can agree with.

Anyways, i think this may be enough for now.

Yesterday, which was a sunday, i went to the gym with jerry then later went over his place and watched a pool volleyball game, played some poker, then ate pizza and chilled, and after that went directly to ice cream place in the center of town to meet up with vicky. it was funny i was talking to chris p on the phone in the parking lot and all the sudden reed zacharias just biked up to me, apparently he was going for an evening ride, which is cool. Now that i think of it, i wonder who is taller, reed or kelton, i am going to guess reed. Anyways, after ice cream with vicky we went to the establishment across the street, the union street tavern, with pat mccooe. I proceeded to drink a lot, as i had not drank in awhile and wanted a good buzz (LOOOOL). i had 3 drinks, pat had 2, and vicky had 1. I had to rush the 3rd drink cuz the place was about to close and on the way back home i called chris p as i was driving and told him of my state and he made me end the call and call him when i got to my house, that good Samaritan he is haha.

that is all.

peaceee.

wait, some more things

things i really want to do:
visit DC

thing i am currently waiting to do:
watch the new harry potter in IMAX 3d.

PEACE

GOOD MORNING...WINDSOR!!!

2009-06-27T18:28:00.001-07:00

hey, long time no see. since my last blog post I started working, got some law school books, went to a crazy graduation party, went to a sick concert in NYC, got a posse of indian family together in suits, some buzzed and some torched and we beat some old school windsor peeps in some BBALL annnnd also its a close call, depending on what factors you decide to weigh the heaviest, but i may be in the best shape of my life.

anyyyways, for what i have been doing recently.

brett was home for the latter half of this week so i was hanging out with him. Pat, Brett, and I went to see TF2 which was pretty good times. saw some great fireflies in action over the bridge to loomis chaffee school with them and steve the other night also. work has been pretty good times, boss is pretty cool, other interns are cool. most of the time im doing some odd research but whenever i get to go to hearings it can def be entertaining. the best by far has to be the liquor hearing about Shay's Great American Bar and Grill which sounds like it would be a great place to hang out pre Aug 08 when it got busted hahaha.

Also got to meet and ask questions to a state supreme court judge which was really cool. while we were walking around the offices inside the building there was a office marked "Judge Ment." I don't know if this means there is a Judge somewhere whose last name is Ment, but if so, that is hilarious.

I've been playing a lot of basketball, and exercising in general, but don't let that fool you into thinking ive gone all health nut. Yesterday I had 2 full meals and then some and then at night proceeded to finish off an entire pizza, It was super good times, i heart eating tasty food.

I got some law books that i should get to reading, i will start reading them like its my job in july, at least thats the plan. we'll see how it goes, u know me, i studied probably 1/64th what i planned to for the LSAT, maybe less.

Michael Jackson died this last thursday. It's pretty crazy. I saw a snippet of something from byron crawford on twitter and then as i was driving to Uconn West Hartford to meet Alok and his friends to play bball both 103.1 and 93.7 were playing MJ and they dont normally do that. SO i hurriedly called Chris P and he told me that MJ had only reportedly gone to the hospital for cardiac arrest and hadn't died. But then while playing basketball he called me back and someone got a text saying he was dead, which was pretty shocking. It's weird because I've never met the guy, I havent really been an active fan in years, but it still kinda made me feel a strange sadness when I heard he died. I went home and I finally opened the 2nd (i opened and probably lost the 1st) MJ #1's cd I got for my 16th birthday party and ripped it to my mp3 player and have been listening to it on and off since then.

Tomorrow is the BET awards and there is def going to be a tribute to MJ of course. Rumors swirl that Chris Brown might do a tribute to him, which would help him get back on to rebuilding his image, I hope that does happen, just cuz i want to see what that would look like and see the effect it has on its image, but i have a feeling it wont.

So tomorrow my 3 things to do are, 1. mow the lawn, 2. go to the gym with jerry, and 3. watch the BET awards at Aakash's house.

next week Dan is having a 4th of july BBQ at his house, which i am looking forward to cuz i havent seen him or Sarah in awhile.

And i hope osmetime this July for one weekend i go visit all my peeps in DC!!! that would be great, and im almost positive it will happen.

as far as today, i was supposed to go to Veena's wedding but i didn't. I wish her all the happiness in the world though. But, I can't really remember her face and i'm pretty sure we have never had a conversation over 30 seconds in my life. It is rough because i used to be friends with these guys, but I havent seen them in years and the wedding is not the right place to rekindle those kinds of bonds I feel like, it's way too personal. I enjoy relaxing and taking things easy when I can. I wouldn't want to get formal and be all polite and have to talk to people in that kind of situation unless it was people I was really close with. I was glad my parents kind of understood where I was coming from and didn't hassle me too much about not going.

Anyways, today i just hung around, watched some tv, went to the gym with Jerry and Marlene, hung around some more and eventually went on a relaxing bike ride at dusk through some old school spots I Hadn't been through in awhile. and I rode through all the new construction that has come through, including all the duplex houses and the new ING building.

Anyways, im going to go relax, maybe watch some boondocks, maybe lie in bed and dream, then fall asleep lol. THIS HAS BEEN A HUGE UPDATE. I hope it doesn't take me as long to do another post as it has in the past, i want to update this blog fairly regularly.

HAYLO soldier, ur not ready for war. N-N-N too strong for ya'll

2009-05-21T14:13:00.001-07:00

what up, been graduated almost 5 days now.

just been relaxing at the house, eating way too much. got a hair cut. yayyy.

started trying to learn the piano. today I actually started reading music, bad news is the music is way too advanced for me, i have no idea how to keep time, and i dont know the basic setup of where my hands are supposed to be before i start playing ect ect. also the keyboard im using has only 33-35 keys instead of the usual 88, lol. so i clearly have to step my piano game up.

played bball with alok yesterday, got lost trying to get to west hartford univ of CT. parking lot court, lol.

aakash is in the hospital, his ulcer is acting up. So far he has stabilized, but he doesnt seem to be getting much better. I'm sure he will be fine though, hang in there big guy. I actually visited him today, he was chilling watching full house and sponge bob lol.

okay, i got a gym membership today so i am about to go run. I know i could run outside, but its hot and the road is uneven and bumpy lol. ppeaceeee

What Up World, Its The End of GWU For Me!

2009-05-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

Hey World. Well, I am about to graduate in 3 days. Maybe it is at times like this, moments of immense transition, that one is supposed to ruminate on how he has lived his life. In any case, it's probably the time that most of us do so anyways.

So, I am graduating with a double major in economics and statistics without a job prospect in sight. The half way good news though is that I decided to continue schooling myself in the ways of the world, this time shifting to the ways of law. Worst come to worst, I could have probably found a job, but it probably wouldn't have been the greatest one (read: pay well) and my law school decision could possibly end up being a better move in the long run. But, as my favorite quotation says: "In the long run, we are all dead."

LOL.

Anywho, This last 4 years has definitely been an enlightening experience filled with personal discovery and I hope...growth. It amazes me that in the past, whenever I have thought I have had it all figured out, a few years later I have a completely different philosophical standpoint. The lesson I've learned is that I should never assume I "get it," and for the last 2 years that has basically been my modus operandi. Another lesson: almost all of the things my parents warned me about or told me to do that I disagreed with turned out to be true. Or maybe I'm looking at the past subjectively. I still remember a phone call with my mom last semester where she basically ended the conversation by telling me not to leave my room after dark for the sake of my own safety, ROFFLE.

So, what have I learned about life? IDK. I know that there is so much out there that I have yet to experience, that I will probably never experience. I know I would like to, but at the same time I understand that life, as we know it, is essentially meaningless, in that the only point of life may be existence itself.

Anyways, I have also learned the value of personal investment. Invest in yourself through hard work and dedication, build your self up and you will be an asset to the world. Because of this, I want to be a hard worker, I want to be on my grind. I have a plan, I've always had plans. My only question is, when do the plans end. Will it always just be constant hard work. Maybe it will be, maybe i'll have the weekends to play. In any case, I think I can deal with it. Without any work to do, what would I have to do anyways?

Wow, this is getting pretty rambley.

Another lesson I've learned with is that your much better off laughing something off than making a big deal about it. Anger is so temporary, sometimes when it wears off you feel like you're waking up from a strange dream. But, on the other hand, actions are the basis for character, and you can't excuse every little indiscretion.

In the end, its all about the people you know. The relationships you have with the world outside your mind. I think the most important lesson I can think of right now that I should remember for the rest of life is that I could live a life of solitude if i wanted. But, for whatever physiological reason, it would make me a miserable person. I think that your connection to the outside world is probably the single most important aspect of my life, and I want it to grow.

In any case, another lesson i've learned is that its tough to fight your emotions. You can try and reason with them, but they are so visceral and primal, its tough to put them to bed, even if your higher consciousness wants to. Doesn't mean you shouldn't stop trying though. Except, I guess happiness is the one emotion that I want, even if it turns out to be irrational.

Sum Up:

goodbye GWU, I've had some great times, I've had some bad times, but hey: it coulda been a lot worse.

AND

hello NYU.

Lupe Fiasco - is he a solo artist?

2009-04-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

What up yo. Lupe Fiasco is a solo artist, but Matthew Santos is on half the hooks, damn that Santos has a great voice. Apparently he can't write though. I wonder if his solo material is any good, I do know that Lupe writes all the hooks that Santos sings on Lupes albums.

anyway, I can't wait to hear this song in full:

too bad he is saying "I thought I was down" instead of "I thought I was god"
"I thought I was god" would be a much more interesting chorus line than the bland and generic "I thought I was down"

if Lupe didn't delete his twitter account I would tell him that myself.

Oh well, guess its up to me to write the I thought I was god song. Too bad I have never thought that, I will try and channel chris p. OH SNAP!

I'm Such a Great "Mathlete!"

2009-04-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

On Monday I trudged my way through the thick rain with no umbrella (forgot it on Amtrak) from E street all the way to the to the crumbling, stale green basement of the GWU Stat department on Penn Ave.

Usually me and this other stat tutor chit chat while we switch over shifts. I noticed she was on a website custom designing a t-shirt. It was a bright green shirt with "Mathlete" emblazoned on the front. My first reaction was, "oh snap!" she must have been a mathlete too, or at least appreciates them, I must fill her in on my mathletic past!

So I asked her about the t-shirt and it actually had quite the backstory. Her roommate works for the Special Olympics headquarters in DC and is always telling her about how the staff there uses the word "athlete" interchangeably with the word "retard." For example: "That Jimmy, he is such a great athlete!" I know, how messed up is that? And these are the same people who got on Obama for the bowling comment, LOL.

Anyways, apparently her and her boyfriend have always joked about this unseemly reversal and even took it one step further. They decided that, along the same line of thinking: retard is to athlete as social retard is to mathlete. Thus, as a special inside joke she was making mathlete t-shirts as a birthday present for her boyfriend.

At this point I thanked my luck that I hadn't excitedly brought up my past exploits on the math team before she explained the story behind her t-shirt. Oh well, one day us mathletes will rise up and gain the respect we deserve.

elementary school redux pt.1

2009-04-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

I have realized that during my elementary school time white people probably differentiated themselves by the European country of their ancestors. The parents of Irish children probably told them of their proud Irish heritage and maybe some of them told them of some bad deeds the English may have done in the past. Italian families probably watched The Godfather and lamented the fall of Mussolini (JK.....he never fell, ask his grand daughter). Jewish parents probably taught their kids the dradel song. I wonder if any animosity or discomfort was brought upon by differences in "race" between children.

I had no such problems when I was in elementary school. They were all just white to me. It was only later that I learned of these things. Pat denies he's any part German, Dan hates the English, and I don't fancy any race or creed. down with the planet!

Al Franken vs. Norm Coleman....312 votes?

2009-04-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

According to today's edition of the New York Times, Al Franken is poised to win the 2nd senator seat in Minnesota by a wide margin of 312 votes. Of course, the Republican incumbent and seeming loser Norm Coleman has appealed the verdict so things are not completely settled, but it seems like eventually Franken will be named Senator.

You know what sucks about this situation? A lot. 312 votes is a incredibly slim margin in comparison to the 3 million votes cast. That means that 49.989% of voters did not want Franken as their senator. He definitely won't have any "political capital" and a lot of voters will be left with a sour taste in their mouth.

This is democracy at its dirtiest. It is not an ideal situation for a Senator going into his first term, but it is something Franken will have to live with. Honestly, I am guessing their is not much difference between Republicans and Democrats in Minnesota anyways. It's probably just a bunch of split hairs. Of course, some split hairs are over whether to fund a statue and others are over whether to fund an abortion clinic...

the manner in which i received my first driving infraction.

2009-04-13T21:16:00.001-07:00

what is up, cake cups.

i want to relate a story to you all.

hmmmmmmmm. what shall it be.

I got my first ticket in the year of two naught naught eight. After being stopped by three cops since getting my license and smooth talking my way out of a ticket each time (ask about me son) I was finally done in by a video camera?

It was at a beach in Rhode Island. My sister was on a visit during a med school break and her, me, and my cousins all decided to go on a little road trip and have some fun in the sun.

Parking was a hassle at this particular beach and we had a lot of stuff to bring with us. We decided that my sister and my cousin Swetha would unload near the entrance to the actual beach and go find a spot while the rest of us went to park. There were signs that said no loading/unloading but we did a really quick scramble and got them out without beach security yelling at us.

In any case, a month or so later my dad calls me up and tells me he had just received a ticket in the mail for 62 dollars. Dag, a video camera perched on a telephone pole (im guessing) had done me in.

that is really all there is to say. you can't smooth talk an automated system.

at least, not yet. i'm getting there...

Update on my life, last spring break of undergrad.

2009-03-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

I've decided there is no use for this blog being anything else than a journal of my life for me to reflect upon in the years to come. I mean, maybe once in awhile I've have some interesting point to make about the greater world, but not on anything close to a regular basis. Maybe tonight though, I really don't feel like working on my econ thesis. I hate my thesis.

This spring break was pretty bland. Playing basketball with mike p was a lot of fun, I had not played basketball in a long time. Plus I had been sick for like over a week and finally getting some movement into my life felt good. Also, it was a great day weather wise.

I wish I had been better prepared for my interview with the SEO on Wed the 18th. However, I was not for a variety of reasons that are mostly my fault. I filled out all my taxes instead of working on the SEO stuff which was dumb. It turns out that SEO was really hard, I didn't learn that until the day before the interview when I read on a message board that they conduct "stress" interviews. I didn't prepare my anwsers well enough before hand.

THe actual interview was hilarious. There were two women interviewing me, with one asking the majority of the questions. The majority quesiton asker would ask me questions then stare at her computer and type really loudly while I gave my anwser. I knew going into it that the interviewers would do stuff like that. However, I had not prepared my anwsers well enough and when I talk off the top of my head I really start to talk very fast because thoughts just pile up on each other and I think that really makes me sound pretty anxious, even if I'm not, although...I was very anxious haha.

Anywas, I'm sure ill do better next time. It was cool going on the NY subway all by myself. wow, that makes me sound lame because im 21 years old....

It was also cool when on the way back home the 4 train uptown had broken down and the subway operators had given a garbled message about how to go to some other train to get uptown but I could not understand it. So I basically walked in some direction that I thought may be correct, hoping to find another subway station more uptown that had a running 4 train. I was walking through NYC all by myself with really no idea where I was going...and happily it worked out well. Wow, i am lame.

NYC is dirtier than DC, but not really that bad. At least the area I was in. The streets were a little narrower, and the bulidings ALOT higher. This caused there to be some immense shadows making the whole place seem a little darker (NYC is definately more Gothom than DC, which is more metropolis in the sense that it is lit better...).

Today I helped my dad attach the dryer vent to the new dryer. that was good times, i felt like I had accomplished something with my hands...

I really have to get going on this thesis, i'll do it 2marrow....

Also, yesterday was the day of decadence for sure. well yesterday, and the night before yesterda when aakash slept over. It's over for me now though, it's time to become a healthy, normally functioning human being again. LETS DO THIS!

LifemcLifes

2009-03-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

Hey what up. I got an exam tomorrow. It will be splendid.

you know, this may be the exact wrong time to be writing in this blog.

Is there a time when the human brain is just incapable of original (or any serious) thought at all?
If so, this may be one of those times. I just feel like closing my eyes and thinking only easy thoughts, ones that just float at the top of my head. Ones that whisk to and fro randomly, coming and going but really having no consequence.

That is how I was feeling, but when I started thinking about this my mind has become more active. Although, there is a pulsing pain in the lower left side of the back of my skull which makes me think that all this thought is causing my brain some strain. This could all be the result of how cruddy I feel right now, although I feel like I have been slowly getting better, which is nice.

hey hey my my, rock and roll will never die. (COORY BOUKER AND THEE cOrruPTION FOs MAN)

2009-03-05T10:38:00.001-08:00

I am bored right now so I thought I would write in this blog.

write about what exactly? Well let us see. Recently I sawr a film called "Street Fight" which documented the 2002 mayoral race between incumbent Sharpe James and young newcomer and outsider Cory Booker.

Do some research on Cory Booker and you can definitely see he is a "choir boy" type candidate. Cory doesn't smoke or drink. He went to Stanford, then became a Rhodes Scholar, and topped it all off by getting his Juris Doctor from Yale. On top of all that, when he moved to Newark and got elected as a city councilmen he chose to live in one of the public housing projects he represented. He made 100 grand a year and still chose to live in a public housing project!

Examining all I have just mentioned, Cory obviously seems like quite the reputable, respectable individual. His opponent, incumbent Sharpe James seems like just the opposite. A lot of his staff members were indicted on corruption charges in the 1990s and he himself was an old school machine politician who spared no expense in dishing out dirty tricks against Booker in the 2002 campaign.

Now, I have grown so cynical of politicians, and even righteous moral leaders in general, that the case of Cory Booker perplexes me. I mean, even Martin Luther King jr. had dalliances with girls while married in hotel rooms when he was travelling around giving speechs. No one is perfect, are they? Does not everyone get corrupted?

You know how people get corrupted. Their desire to be "the man." To get everything that causes them pleasure, even if its at the expense of others own well being. People want to command the respect of the world, to have the good life: fine things, fats, salts, sweets, and of course: a lot of sex. This desire for pleasure is pretty strong, combine it with the seed of doubt that just maybe, just maybe, this is all there is, and we only have one life to live.

In addition, we may become corruput ecause we are just so self centered. We can't feel the hardships or pleasure of other people, not in the visceral, chemical sense we feel our own emotions. That lack of empathy could in fact breed the capacity for corruption within us. I know it already has for me, it definitely has. What I dont know, is if it has for Cory Booker.

Who is this Cory Booker? Does he actually care about helping other people? Maybe he does, Maybe he really does. Although, maybe he doesn't. I'll keep an eye on his career for the rest of my life, because I am really interested in his own morality.

If it turns out he truly has the self control and discipline to "Do The Right Thing," well then...I'll hate myself for not having the same strength.

untitled. pt.1

2009-03-04T07:40:00.000-08:00

my blood is not clotting
its not clotting!!!

come save me bernard.

loooool.

thats an excerpt from an extra hilarious bathroom opera i wrote in my head yesterday. too bad it will never get produced.

The National Ad Council and me not dying a fiery death

2009-02-17T11:24:00.000-08:00

I was watching an episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip instead of working on my Econ thesis, and I couldn't help but remember how I almost died (or received serious injury) on Interstate 91 this past summer.

I was coming back from watching The Dark Knight (for the third time! but that is another story lol) at the Enfield Mall Cinemas. Rolling with me was Steve, Jerry, Marlyn, and Justin. We were all riding in Justin's (his dads lol) ill fire red Mustang convertible. It was a pretty small car and I was packed into the back with Marlyn and Jerry. I can't exactly remember but I think we were all squeezed so tight that we didn't really bother with seatbelts. All I know is that on the way back home we were driving pretty fast and passing a lot of cars. Halfway home we ended up on the left (passing) lane, stuck behind a dark green van that must have been going 45 MPH. Well Justin started tailgating the van pretty badly and Jerry started vocally telling Justin to chill out. Next thing you know the green van switches lanes so Justin starts to speed up. Except, it turns out there was a car directly ahead of the green van which was blocked from our view. Justin had to veer into the shoulder lane to avoid hitting it. After that Jerry and Justin got into an argument over the lack of safe driving going on in the Mustang lol. I remember Marlyn whispering to me that she thought she thought we were all about to die.

Through all this time Steve and I had stayed relatively cool. We all just laughed off Justin's close call with car calamity. I remember thinking what is the big deal, there is a big difference between going to the edge of crashing a car to actually crossing that edge. Plus, Justin is a far better driver than I will ever be so who am I to attack his tactics. However, and now this goes back to the beginning of the story, while I was procrastinating and watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on Hulu, every commercial break turned out to be a 30 second ad from the National Ad Council. This particular set of ads featured reckless car drivers up front and one person in the back who is silently worried, but not saying anything. Then all of the sudden a slick TV spokesperson pops up and tells everyone (in the style of winning a prize on the price is right) how great a deal they are getting by winning the all new, all great "Slow Down" which will prevent them from dying. The ad ends with the message that there is no TV announcer to save you and that you have to say something to stave off death from reckless drivers.

Reflecting on these ads I started to think about that incident last summer and how I probably should have acted differently. I should have said something which did not incite anger but instead was a constructive criticism of Justin's driving at that one moment. Tailgating is never a good idea.

Now reflecting on me changing my mind, I've realized that the National Ad Council's public service advertisements have actually affected my own thoughts and ideas. This scares me, I don't really know why, but it does. I consider myself a savy consumer of advertisments, and most of the time I discard the messages (I percieve are) in advertisements. But not this one. Being polite is good, but it's a bad idea to die out of politness, lol. "Nandhish, well he was a good one, he was polite till the end. Politeness ended him." LOOOOL I am dumb. peace

2009 NBA Dunk Contest

2009-02-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

when: Saturday Feb 14th. 2009, 8-11 pm

Who:

Dwight Howard (2008 Champion, 2007 3rd place) - Orlando Magic
Nate Robinson (2006 Champion, 2008 Runner Up) - New York Knicks
J.R. Smith (2005 3rd place) - Denver Nuggets
Rudy Fernandez (Fan Vote Winner) - Portland Trailblazers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, for lame-0s like me who are doing nothing on Valentines day, we can look forward to the NBA dunk contest, I probably am more than most normal people. This years dunk contest has the potential to be pretty great, but it most probably wont be.

I can lay the blame square on two things: the infusion of props and gimmicks in the dunk contest in the last few years, and Rudy Fernandez.

Rudy Fernandez still makes me angry. Judging from YouTube videos he is extremely nonathletic, he barely gets his head to the net when he goes up for a dunk. He is only in the dunk contest because he won the fan vote. Of the three NBA players who were contestants in the fan vote contest, he was the least deserving candidate. Joe Alexander was clearly the best dunker out of the 3, he even hit his head on the rim in a video to try and drum up support. However, because europeans and other global NBA fans blindly went with the foriegn guy, we are stuck with sucky Fernadez.

Howard, even though he has the potential to be a great dunker, even though he sometimes relies on the gimmick. His last two dunk contests have been half gimmick, half awesome. Overall, he is a very good contestant.

JR Smith is a straight up balling contestant. The two televised dunk contests he has previousley participate in showed him as a creative, ungimmicky, high jumping dunk powerhouse. He was the first ever to do a behind the back dunk in an NBA dunk contest (2005) and he even tried to do a 360 behind the back in the 2004 Mcdonalds dunk contest. However, this guy is like 6'6" and he isnt the super highest jumping guy ever so I really don't know if he has what it takes to d something truly insane in the dunk contest, we will see.

Nate Robinson is incredibly short, but he doesnt really rely on gimmicks either. In the two dunk contest he has been in, he has really brought it. He tried to do dunk I never thought a short person would ever do. He missed an amazing off the back board 2 foot take off east bay in the 2006 contest. In addition, there is a YouTube video floating around of him doing a 2 foot take off east bay 180 from out out of bounds (although there is disagreement on whether the rim is 10 feet).

CONCLUSION:

Fernandez is almost certainly a write-off contestant in this years contest.

We can only hope that Robinson and Smith don't feel pressured by Howard's past success to do very gimmicky, overly showey dunks.

Here is hoping that this contest is awesome.

Rick Ross sucks

2009-02-03T11:32:00.001-08:00

He sucks.

Alternative Spring Breaks are Lame!

2009-01-28T14:25:00.001-08:00

Over the last few weeks, whenever I have approached the Foggy Bottom Metro here in DC, I've beden confronted with the chants, yells, and exclamations of overzealous, chirpy alternative spring breakers hitting up decent, hard working folk for money. "Alternative," meaning they are not going to be sucking jello shots off each others navels in Cancun. Instead, they'll be piously building homes for the less fortunate, cleaning up dirty parks, administering first aid, or teaching dirty little kids how to read...you get the picture. Because they have so generously decided to throw away their spring breaks and devote themselves to doing volunteer work they believe we should support their trip, because....damned if they'll spend any money on it.

Alternative spring breaks are a load of croc, they have no economic logic. If your goal is to make the world the best place it could possibly be, in the most efficient manner, you would never go on an alternative spring break. Just spending money on air fare to travel across the nation or to another country negates any benefit of your trip. Instead, you could do civic work locally, where there is no shortage of its need. In an case, it's alright to have a vacation guys and gals. People owe it to themselves to relax, unwind, and reflect. Further, I suspect, most alternative spring breaks aren't spent doing sanctimous civic construction 100% of the time. These trips are group activites, and friends probably spend their nights drinking or sight seeing. It's pretty lame to try and make yourself feel fulfilled by spending a quarter of your vacation inefficiently building a house at public sector pace, but it's even lamer to have used other people's money to do so.

Look, there are people who need help, and we should help them. But, even if this was 2005, going hundreds of miles to help rebuild homes after Hurricane Katrina for just a week is not worth it. If you want to be efficient, you have to totally dedicate yourself to that cause. You're not a carpenter or a construction worker. Building houses is not easy, it takes skilled labor. Going to New Orleans for a few days and doing some grunt work which someone else much closer to the area could do, maybe for a little money, makes no sense. You could instead become a part of, in whichever way is the most efficient, the overarching effort to rebuild New Orleans. Something like this would require taking a semester off from school, but invaluable experience would be gained, and it would be even better (and more efficient) if it somehow related to your educational and career goals.

Long story short, enjoy your one week reprieve from reading, quizzes, tests, and social drama. Don't feel like you're helping the world by putting up some vinyl siding, you're not. Be efficient, enjoy life, recharge.

Fear Of A Gay Man...

2009-01-26T12:42:00.001-08:00

So many young men (and older men, but I won't focus on them) claim to be "disgusted" or "repulsed" by the thought of homosexual acts between two males. These men are from a variety of geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Personally, I think its not all bullshit, but that men should get over themselves. I can understand the male uneasiness towards homosexuality, but not its total extent and severity. When I was a child the thought of kissing another man made me squirm. Why? I'm still not sure. Maybe it was because I had never seen such an act before or that homosexuality was not at all talked about by my immediate or extended family. One reason for sure, had to be my heterosexuality. I was not wired to be attracted to the male gender. But before long, as I became a teen, the idea of homosexual sex stopped bothering me at all. I accepted it as readily as I accepted the idea of heterosexual sex. I reasoned that the two acts were really not so different mechanically, even if they were different in application.

This is where me and many males seem to differ. While my uneasiness with homosexuality was purely based on my own heterosexuality, there seems to be an additional conditioning element with many young men. They have never let go of that uneasiness with homosexuality and they have added on top of that the idea that homosexual behavior is "unnatural," "perverse," and "disgusting."

Why? Are these men prudes? Surely not. Although most of the men I know are pretty sexually inexperienced, presented with all sorts of kinky suggestions from any attractive women I'm sure they would jump at the chance (at least in private).

What does that mean? I'm not completely sure. Many who I have talked to, when asked to actually expand upon their repulsion of homosexuality, are unable to do so in any thoughtful or articulate manner. Their usual and banal response (if i may articulate it for them) is only to reiterate that the thought of two men having sex makes them physically and mentally shudder and that gay sex is not natural because only a man and a women can have a child.

I believe that, in truth, their communities are the author of their own beliefs. They believe what they are supposed to believe. They live (or grew up) in closed off societies, where gay people are not openly out in public. They belong to a boys club where "manliness" is put on a pedestal and any signs of homosexuality (synonymous with weakness) is totally frowned upon.

How did these communities form these beliefs? The source was probably fear. A heterosexual man's fear of a gay man coming onto him or his offspring. Fear of the stories they had heard of the stereotypically flamboyant gay man. Fear of anything different than the current order. Fear of the gay man borne out of a mix of ignorance and conservatism. Because gay people are traditionally so few in number relative to straight people, it is easy to see how straight men (who like the way things are) would single them out as a potentially subversive element to the local order.

However, those who fear the gay man. You must change your ways, you cannot keep your beliefs! Just as many racists from the 1950s and 1960s were not able to hold onto their own racism or pass it on to their children, you and your seed will be forced to change because that is the power of the tide! As gay people unify to increase their strength and rallying power, they cannot be ignored for much longer.

Don't fear gay people! Sure they make life more complicated, less uniform. But, they are just like us in the most important of ways. They too can be some of the most intelligent of human beings. And they too can be some of the most petty, ignorant, and callous. They too can love and care and grow and raise. They may be sexually different, but tis "no worse, than what's goin on in your parents' bedrooms." We must accept them just as they in turn, accept us.

Basically, accept. Don't be a bitch. Man up, you heterosexual sissies.

Saigon: Album Was It's Own Prophecy?

2009-01-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

Saigon the rapper is most famous for acting as a fictionalized version of himself in the television show Entourage. But in the rap world he has probably had the most REAL buzz of any rapper in the last 3 years (although that buzz has died down considerably now).

Anyways, Saigon has released a new song called "trans-atlantic slave deal." The song details the trials and tribulations of attempting to release his album "The Greatest Story Never Told" on Atlantic Records before he was dropped from the label in May 2008. The song is in the format of a radio interview with the verses consisting of Saigon's answers to the questions posed. This is especially hilarious to me because I once heard a Hot 93.7 interview with Saigon (probably one of a hundred he has done) that was very similar to the format of this song (except without the answers being rapped).

No one can deny that Saigon has talent as a rapper, he is probably better than most who release records these days. However, his claims in this song seem pretty dubious. All of his forays into making "conscious music" like he claims his album is all about have been overly simple and pretty disastrous (see "Pain in My Life" and "Believe It"). Joe Budden just released a random diss track aimed at Saigon called "Letter to Saigon" where he brings up a lot of good points. Sidebar: Jay-Z on "Come On Baby" (Saigon's feature track) did a pretty classic verse. Saigon was not bad either...but Jay-Z made that song...actually they complemented each other pretty well but that song with just Saigon on it is not nearly on the same level. Also, Just Blaze (the producer) KILLED THAT TRACK.

http://www.imeem.com/people/8pppM_/music/uHOcBRWc/saigon_come_on_baby_remix_feat_swizz_beatz_jayz/

It seems to me that Saigon has hit upon a great idea. Put out a couple good mixtape tracks and just hype up your album saying its the best thing ever and then never release it and call yourself a victim of the game. You go down in history as one of the greatest rappers who never got a chance and people will always give you some modicum of respect. Saigon may even have been thinking of this plan from the start with his super ironic title "The Greatest Story Never Told" which has (will?) not (never?) be told.

Of course, Joe Budden (as far as I know) has no reason to go and diss Saigon other than to try and create some buzz for his new album. Joe Budden is a good rapper, he even makes some good existential rap but he just can't get any traction with mainstream audiences. Sucks for him. Really.

Both Saigon and Joe Budden ain't no Lupe Fiasco, so oh well for them.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Deal: http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=34250

Letter To Saigon: http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=34449

(Dicks and Christians) What The World Needs I Don't Know but Honey It Does Need Something Let Me Tell You So!

2008-11-02T19:49:00.000-08:00

This post is not about anything. ilove has fizzled out for the time being, it'll be back. I still have footage lock stock and loaded. Well, not loaded...but at least locked and stocked.

I've decided that I'm not sure about the point of anything anymore. Of course, I believe, everyone comes to that conclusion at least some of the time and accepts how nothing in life has meaning and just slogs on trying to be the "best" human being they can be (at least as they see it). Actually that's not true, there are two exceptions to this scenario: dicks and Christians.

Christians believe life is about serving god and dicks believe life is all about themselves.

LOL. that was an incredible over simplification. the line between being a dick and a normal person is not that thick. people who may not think life has no meaning may decide that they then should just become a yuppie. I mean, why not?

iLove - Handstand

2008-09-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

iLove - Handstand from Mahesh Attan on Vimeo.

Just a short episode today, but attached is one of a few trailers we have planned throughout this show's run to help our viewers understand what exactly we are aiming for with our videos.

iLove - Cupcake

2008-09-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

iLove - Cupcake from Mahesh Attan on Vimeo.

Great Fun! Bernard tried to hide his date, its time he learns he cant hide anything from me!

iLove - Redneck

2008-09-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

iLove - Redneck from Mahesh Attan on Vimeo.

First episode of a new, great series which will document the lives of 5 great friends who totally hang out all the time and do funny stuff while attending The George Washington University

What People Missed Out on, 1st Edition

2008-08-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

In my weird meandering stream of conscious explorations of the internet I found 3 and a half minutes of a 2006 pilot which was not picked up called "Mindy and Brenda," written by Office star/writer Mindy Kaling and her friend, a writer named Brenda. Previously the two starred in a play called "Matt and Ben," with the two girls playing the title parts. Greg Daniels viewing the play is what directly led to Mindy being hired for The Office.

he show definitely had promise, I wish it was picked up. While the show is clearly of the traditional sitcom variety, the writing is fresh and witty. I wish I had the rest of the pilot to see how the show develops across 22 minutes, 3 and a half is just too little. The two main characters remind of real people in the sense that they seem to be in touch with current trends/mannerisms etc etc. In addition, I would have liked this show because, unlike Greys Anatomy, it would have been a show that scored big with women but one that men (i.e. me) would also find very entertaining. I guess it is refreshing to see a comedy show where, in a television landscape where men are dominant and women are often an eye-candy afterthought, the focus is on the lives of two women, and we can see things from their perspective.

Anyways, what do I really know. Maybe the pilot wasn't picked up because the rest of the show sucked.

Radio Racism pt. 2 THE UPDATE

2008-07-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

pt.2 on CT's war on MASS is coming i guess, im lazy.

anyways i was driving home from work today and i heard a ACOUSTIC GUITAR RECREATION OF EAZY-E's BOYZ In DA HOOD! This was on Radio 104.1 the subject of the previous post.

I really enjoyed the cover, but at the same time I thought it was pretty ridiculous. I understand it is ironic and funny to have a rock version of one of the most HARDCORE GANGSTER RAP songs EVER but it just feels weird to me that white boys being derogatory and violent and misogynistic is alright and acceptable but not the rap music it is based on. Of course, it is completely justifiable that the radio station chose to play this cover song and not the original because it was MUCH MORE in tune with it's rock format. Still, it adds to the weirdness i feel in regards to station 104.1's treatment of rap music described in the post below.

Here is the cover version of the song: I'm sure you can find the real version on youtube too. Both are really good songs, I kind of enjoy this acoustic cover, all weirdness aside.

Connecticut Declares War on Mass. Pt.1

2008-07-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, I was going to make a big deal about this story but I really think I don't know enough about the people involved to risk embellishing it ways that make it untrue to what really happened.

Back in the 1980s, Hartford had still not fallen as far into the gutter as it is situated right now. It was a time when we were still the insurance capital of the world and not Gotham city without a Batman. These two guys were working at the DECD in Hartford: Stuart Fitzpatrick (who i work with now) and this guy Tim. They were both coming out of UCONN (Tim a year older than Stuart) and were in their mid twenties in mid level positions. The DECD basically works under the Governors office and for the State of CT so they were a part of the executive branch of CT's state government.

Anyways one Friday night in 1986 these guys went down to a bar and had a couple drinks, apparently they were not wasted just a little juiced. Tim convinced Stuart that they should go back into the DECD and pull pranks on their coworkers. Stuart was very reulctant but Tim refused to take no as an anwser. Apparently he had been doing such things by himself some Friday nights and wanted Stuart in on the action. Tim's previous forways were much more minor but tonight the plan was to switch the exact composition of desks so one persons desk would suddenly be on another persons desk. Pretty stupid right, I guess even back in the 80s CT wasn't the most poppingest place to get down tonight.

Anyways, what really changed everything that night was that Tim found (aka jimmy opened their bosses drawer) the Governor's Seal. With that seal (and things have been changed now) you could basically make any press release/policy memo/proclamation and it would be official policy as far as the executive branch is legally able to make such policy. Now the argument is still ongoing on who first proposed the idea of what to do with the seal, Stuart maintains it was Tim's idea because he felt Mass deserved it after what the Red Sox (aka Buckner) did and that he wanted no part in the Seal. They composed a executive order proclaiming war on Massachusetts, thinking it was hilarious while they were doing it. Tim stamped the Governor's Seal on it and Stuart when as far as to put it in an envelope and write the address of the Governors office in Boston, all in a friendly game of oneupmanship to see who could take this prank to the brink and who would pull back first. However, they weren't stupid enough to send it because they would have got fired real quick, they just left it on Stuart's desk, in a letter tray with the intent of showing it to everyone in the office on Monday.

However, the story doesn't end there.

Part 2 will be up soon, this is way too much writing. blog posts should not be this long.

Is This Radio Racism?

2008-07-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

104.1 is my new favorite radio station of the summer, along with hot 93.7 and the local NPR at 90.5 it is what i listen to when i'm driving too and from work or anywhere in between (take that you metro riding, hoof striding city dwellers!). It plays a variety of rockish music, mostly milder and alternative rock from the 80s, 90s, and of more recent times. Basically, most of the time, it plays good music.

Now this station is definitely a rock station but for some reason they play an abnormal amount of Beastie Boys, which is really the only rap they play. I know some people may think Beastie Boys are not strictly rap, but they mostly are. Almost all of their songs have hip hop drums even if some of their songs have electric guitar backing. I always thought it was weird that they played Beastie Boys, an all white rap group, and not Run DMC which is a very similar sounding all black rap group (if I was more educated on the subject and could confirm with fact my suspicions I would say that the Beastie Boys just straight up jacked Run DMC's style). However, I assuaged those fears by saying to myself that while the Beastie Boys were VERY similar to Run DMC they had a softer edge to their songs and more of a party attitude which could explain why they were played by 104.1 In addition, I had known the station to play one black artist in semi-regular rotation: Bob Marley. On top of that, I'm not positive but I think i remember them playing some Gorillaz songs WAYYY back a few months ago that included Obie Trice and De La Soul on feature spots. So no biggie right? This radio station is not racist....

That is until a couple nights ago when I heard them play "Jump Around" by House of Pain. This song is by an all white rap group from the early 1990s that definitley tries to mimic the hard edge, heavy bragging rhymes of other black rappers from the same period. The song, while catchy, can definitely get annoying and there are many songs from black hip hop artists that should be getting play on this station if "Jump Around" gets played. To be sure, the station doesn't play "Jump Around" or any rap all that often but still, if they think the style of rapping in "Jump Around" which is filled with anti cop and pro violence messages is okay to play and they play Beastie Boys all the time then they should definitley be playing Run DMC. I listen to the station constantly and I am totally disatisfied with their selection of hip hop.

I know this is a very minor disagreement, I still listen to 104.1 and enjoy their music but it's weird and selective choice of hip hop music does bug me. I always am bothered when they play the Beastie Boys, whose songs are usually good, because it reminds me that they give no spins to black rappers but white seems to be okay.

PEACEEE, NANNNDHISHHHhhhhhHH

MMMmmmm Soft Serve Ice Cream

2008-07-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

I always had an affinity for soft-serve ice cream. Soft Serve is just so creamy and cold and it feels good to slush around in your mouth before swallowing in a pleasurable gulp. As a kid, it was great fun choosing from the many different flavors and toppings and styles to create a perfect soft serve mix. I definitely enjoy soft serve more than its hard counterpart. Regular ice cream is a lot colder when it hits your mouth and it sucks when your ice cream gets freezer burned. Well, I guess regular ice cream has an advantage in that almost no one has the equipment to make soft serve at home. In anycase, soft serve is apparently surging as a fine cuisine treat or so the New York Times would have you believe. I found this article interesting. If you like reading about food while hungry at work, or want to learn more about everyone's favorite delicious summertime treat THEN CLICK HERE.

Also, the post about CT's war with MA in 1986 is coming up real soon, I talked to the guy who told me the story and got it in a lot more detail but I'm not really supposed to talk about it so I'll have to change some names and some inconsequential details.

WOOOOOOW

2008-07-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

wow, this may be the coolest thing ever. At last weeks DECD picnic this guy I work with told me an amazing story. In 1986 Connecticut actually declared war on Massachusetts. It seriousley is the most amazing story, it may take me a couple of posts to tell the whole thing though. stay tuned im too busy right now to delve deep. peaceeeeeeeee

What To Reveal While Marketing a Movie?

2008-07-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

Warning: while not a review, the below might contain many immediate and explicit spoilers for the movie "Batman: The Dark Knight"
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When I first watched the new movie "The Dark Knight" I had no idea that Harvey Dent would turn into Two-Face midway through. I mean, I had considered the possibility. But, because of the marketing for the movie I had seen, I thought it was more likely they were setting him up as the villain for the third film. It was then a thrilling surprise for me when his Two Face persona became an integral part of the movie and I agree with the film makers that he added a much needed character development arch to "The Dark Knight".

After watching the film I felt compelled to go back and watch all the trailers I had deliberately chosen not to watch. You see, as some people know, once I decide I am going to watch a film I usually choose to not learn anything new about it. I do this because I believe that a movie becomes more enjoyable as more of it is discovered organically and not known before hand. In this case, the very first trailer was enough for me to decide I would watch this movie and I tried to stop watching any of the newer trailers.

I was surprised to see in the new trailers a very revealing 2 second clip of Harvey Dent with half his face being soaked in flammable gasoline. This basically let everyone know that Harvey would become Two Face. If I had seen it, it really would have made the movie less enjoyable for me. My first impressions after watching the movie was that the movie studio had struck a great balance in the way it marketed the film. I believed by not showing too much of Harvey Dent and focusing on the joker they enticed everyone to see the movie with Heath Ledgers sadistic and twisted performance while not revealing too much of the story.

I bet many producers and movie studio executives have an enormous stake in the success of their 100 million plus budget summer movies. It is no secret that most of these movies make (or lose) the majority of their investment back during the opening weekend. In addition, a lot of other decisions about a movies future financial success is decided by the considerable buzz generated by an impressive opening weekend. This includes merchandising, future dvd orders and dvd rental figures.

In light of all this, I guess the movie producers didn't care that much about holding back what happened to Harvey Dent because they probably knew it wouldn't stop people from seeing the film. If anything, it might have made people more excited. In addition, the obsessively dedicated fans of Batman (I am not one of those people) might have discovered this by themselves. However, what made me excited was the mystery around Harvey Dent. I could not tell while watching the film if he could be trusted and what they were going to do regarding his eventual transformation into Two Face. By revealing it, the movie studio has shown, in my mind, that I am correct in trying to avoid information about a movie. Most of the time movie studios can't be trusted in making sure all the surprises and crucial plot turns are left out of trailers and advertisements. I'm happy that I didn't see any of the newer trailers for The Dark Knight, it made the film that much more epic and enjoyable.

Reader

2008-07-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight after dinner, I ate a piece of left over cake from my parents 25th anniversary party. It has left me feeling a little too full for any evening exercise. Instead I wish to stretch out my sore, contracted muscles whose state is courtesy of yesterdays basketballing. However, I feel like I also need to stimulate my mind, in fact, stretching would be incredibly boring without any kind of mental activity. Also, I can't be left to my own thoughts, they can't be trusted (see: pressure washer incident). What I really want to do is read this new article at NewYorker.com about Obama. However, I can't adequately stretch and read this article at the same time. What I really would need is someone to read the whole 15 page article out loud for me as I stretch. I realized when I thought this how ridiculous that would be, hiring someone to read articles out loud for you as you do other things. However, I really would like to both stretch and be read to at the same time. I guess being extremely rich or having a caring girlfriend/wife would really come in handy right now. I really would feel bad making someone do such a task anyways, unless they too were interested in reading said article. In any case, I have neither read nor stretched but instead have written this blog post to explain my feelings to you, whoever you are, now reading this.

QUAI-54 2008 Dunk Contest Review

2008-07-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

preface: the idea of dunking as a sport is still confusing to many people because dunking is unmistakably linked to the sport of basketball. Dunking must be completely delinked to basketball, it must be thought of as a show sport and must be linked instead with similar style athletics like figure skating, gymnastics, and skateboard/bmx/motox competitions.
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Guy Dupuy (first name pronounced Gee) has dominated French dunking for the last two years. He won the QUAI 54 dunk contest in 2006 and 2007 and in the same two years won France's most prestigous dunk contest: The French Professional League Allstar Dunk Contest (amateurs are allowed to enter the competition). He is a tall, lean 6'6" primarily 1 foot jumper who has amazed with many combinations of windmills, between the legs, and behind the backs done off lobs and while jumping over many people. Coming into this contest he had to be considered the favorite.

The other two participants included Marlon Jules and Kevin Kemp aka Golden Child. Marlon Jules is a veteran Slam Nation dunker who won Quai 54 in 2004. Since then, for whatever reason, he has not improved on his arsenal of dunks. In this years contest he did most of the dunks he was known for but must have been having a bad day because he missed some crucial dunks that would have given him a boost.

The last participant, Golden Child, is definitley a testament to the power of viral videos. He is an american brought in specifically for the Quai 54 dunk contest. Originally from Atlanta, he moved to the Washington State area and as a 16 year old starting taping for Bad Karma Streetball. His videos, posted on the internet, showed a small 6'1" man jumping so high his head was easily over the rim. This led to a trip to Romania to participate in the Stage 1 Streetball 3 on 3 tournament dunk contest and to Quai 54 2008. These happenings are interesting because they show that dunkers and dunking fans all over the world are becoming more aware of each other. Dunkers don't try and outdo the dunkers they meet in real life they now try and outdo the best dunks they see on the internet. This has led to more and more dunkers coming together across the globe for bigger dunk contest so the best of the best can meet each other in direct competition.

3 people for a dunk contest is a pitifully small number, but it doesn't matter because the real battle is just between Guy Dupuy and Golden Child, it is amazing to see two of the greatest talents come together on one court. Golden Child did end up winning the contest, unseating Guy as the reigning champion but it was an intense showdown. Guy did most of his most famous dunks with the exception of the lob behind the back, which he missed (not shown in the video). He floated through the air on his between the legs dunks, crushing them through the rim while still allowing for maximal extension and rotation. What may have stopped him from winning was his lack of new dunks. This almost seems too critical since Guy has already done so much innovation in regards to 1 foot dunking but his one new dunk this year, the off the back of the backboard between the legs was not so impressive because he caught the ball so low to the ground and got very little extension on it.

Golden Child was not perfect either, he needed several attemps to complete a lot of his dunks. However, he was in many ways a refreshing contrast to Guy's style. He is shorter at 6'1" and jumps off 2 feet instead of 1 so he shoots straight up in the air, and oh how does he shoot! The dunks he pulled out in the contest were both innovative and impressive in their difficulty. Had he manage to complete the 360 in between the legs dunk there is no doubt he would be the clear victor, but even missing it I give him the slight edge in this contest. He pulled out two new, amazing dunks: the between the legs over a person holding the ball in the air and the 360 behind the back. In addition, his 1 and 2 hand lob dunks where he caught the ball and smashed it into the ground with his body sky high in the air were incredible displays of athleticism.

Overall, this was a great contest between two great dunkers and I hope they meet again many times in the future.

Rooting for the Sponsors at Sporting Events

2008-07-07T09:14:00.000-07:00

Random Commentary on The Events of My Life (Through The Television)
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The grass is green and the sun is bright; on the court for his Wimbledon 2008 semifinal match is Rafael Nadal, the Spanish wunderkind of Tennis. After dominating the first set Nadal is struggling in the 2nd against opponent Rainer Shuttler (pronounced shitler) who manages to break his serve. Veteran commentator and former tennis great John McEnroe points out several times that Nadal's errors are caused by him slipping on the dry, worn out baseline grass of the Wimbledon center court. This is followed by several slow motion shots of Nadal's feet fumbling when running to make returns. Finally, while Nadal takes his traditional 3 hours before serving, NBC runs a close up sideshot on his sneakers. They are parted slightly with his front heel raised in the air as he puts slight pressure on his toes. The shot is reminiscent of many a shoe company advertisement and on the sneakers are two large, bold, emblazoned Nike Swooshes...

One can only imagine the Nike executives watching Breakfast at Wimbledon who spit out their morning coffee aghast at what has transpired. While nary a consumer bats an eye these executives have their whole morning ruined because of a 1 minute freeflowed segment needed to fill in the time between the end of one point and the start of the next. Who knows, but maybe Monday morning meetings are called over blackberries/iPhones/sidekicks to go over the terrible event and see if anything can be done to pressure NBC sports producers/broadcasters to stop similar future segments by threatening to move their advertisement dollars to more cooperative sporting events.

Several points afterwords Nadal's family, from the stands, threw him down another pair of sneakers and he went on to win the match. I'm sure Nike executives breathed a sigh of relief because Nadal was contractually obligated to strap on another pair of Nike's rather than the newest kicks off the Reebok line.

Review of "Hancock" starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron

2008-07-05T16:44:00.000-07:00

Review of "Hancock"
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I adore Will Smith almost to the point of homosexual love that's why it pains me to admit he is mortal and often his movies are not so good. As a child growing up watching Smith movies it was very easy to gloss over (or more likely, not even notice) the plot holes and other chicanery which I now so easily observe. "Hancock," which opened July 2nd, 2008 is a decidedly uneven film.

The movie offers a new and refreshing look at the superhero. Smith plays John Hancock a drunken, rude hero of the superman type who stops crime while creating an unbelievable amount of unnecessary property damage. The city he protects, Los Angeles, hates his drunken heroics and moreover the fact that no one can hold him accountable for his belligerent actions. Into this situation steps Jason Bateman playing Ray, a LA public relations man who can't get his idea to change the world off the ground. When Ray is saved from an oncoming train by Hancock he befriends the beleaguered superhero and offers him his services in an effort to boost his image. The rest of the movie, which stems from this initial setup begins well enough but then takes some crucial wrong turns.

It seems like this movie had a chance to develop into worthwhile fiction but something went terribly wrong in the Hollywood movie making machine. Traditionally, superhero films always have a villain that acts as a foil to the protagonist. In "Hancock" Smith, Bateman, and Theron are the main focus but they decided to tack on a villain anyways. However, they do it in such a stupid, absolutely nonsensical way that it totally derails the film. The villain, who has no superpowers except being termed a "criminal mastermind" and a "psychology major" is a one armed man (If Smith's old buddy Tommy Lee Jones had joined him in this picture it could have been Fugitive 3/US Marshalls 2) whose role in the movie seem so bogus its incredible.

Overall, the first half the movie presents an interesting character and situation; Hancock's destructive acts beg the viewer to consider how they would behave with godlike abilities and no one able to restrain them. Smith, Bateman, and Theron all perform wonderfully and that does help hold the movie together. Bateman especially gives Ray some real depth, traditionally in films PR men are looked upon in a negative light. However Bateman doesn't make Ray a vomit inducing do-gooder but rather plays him as a regular person, with good intentions, who sees Hancock as his opportunity to boost his career and maybe help him achieve his relateable desire to have some type of positive impact on the world.

The running time of the film is woefully short at 92 minutes and at the end of the first two acts the whole movie seems to be finished, with a resolution completely reached. This is where the film veers off in a weird and mystical direction in which we are told certain facts point blank and forced to accept them, the flow of the story is changed very quickly for the worse. Luckily, some good direction in the last sequences of the film makes it watchable but in the back of the mind you will always be thinking about how strange the story has become. The story in the 3rd act is just not that compelling, it felt stiff and the vague answers we are given to the mystery of Hancock's origin are incredibly unsatisfying. Maybe if the last act had more depth and there was more emotional interaction (i.e. dialogue not slow motion cries of anguish) between the 3 characters it could have worked better.

Lastly, it is a shame that even in 2008 a kiss between a white and black character has to be masked or hidden from the audience, I don't know why movie executives still feel mainstream America cannot handle such a ho hum occurrence. It either reflects badly on us or their perception of us. One final note, the epilogue of the film, which could have been sweet and touching is instead totally cornball and lame.

New Wesbite and Talk about Human Specialization

2008-07-04T06:05:00.000-07:00

You know, I wanted to create a website were people could view what I sometimes wrote down. Not a diary of my life but a place I could express my views and opinions and display my lame attempts at being witty. So I created "Kill Flanders" in the summer of 2007. From the top I wanted to design the site myself, I didn't want to have to bend to someone elses designs or become the user of someone elses service when I could do it myself. But my design sucked, it's not that I couldn't make a good design, I've created two professional websites before. However, a combination of laziness/lack of software made me not want to create anything actually appealing and instead left my little corner of cyberspace a plain, often badly formatted place that no one would want to visit, even myself.

It seems now that my focus has shifted, although not exclusively, to movie reviews (actually, my main focus is learning how to spell better lol) and I want to have a site where people would want to view my essays so now I'm at blogspot. I guess specialization can make us all better, sometimes. In this case, if I really cared about having a really cool looking, unique site than I would have/could have done it myself. Instead, I just want a place that is nicely formatted and makes viewing text easy so I have chosen to allow blogspot to host my posts. To be sure though, I am definitely going to create a back up of everything on my harddrive haha, far be it from me to completely trust them with my precious words.

Anyways, Instead of reposting every article I wrote in the past I will just link to the old site so if you want, you can peruse what i used to do.

www.geocities.com/nuchinab

2nd anyways, stick around true believers! In store for you if you come back will be irregular patterns of postings which would feature movie reviews, links/essays about things I find interesting, and almost assuredly: childish gossip.

PeACEEEeeeE,

Nandhish