"It could be worse...!"

So I got a ticket over the weekend for "talking on a cell phone while driving."  

I apparently need to go to court(?) and pay some kind of fine.  (dunno how much) 

Needless to say, it put a big damper on my day.  

But when I got home, I saw this.....

A tree fell on this car!

...... and remembered that it's not the worst thing in the world.

Outsourced - the Movie!

Did you know that new show, “Outsourced” (premiering tonight), used to be a movie?

It starred Josh Hamilton as “Todd” & Ayesha Dharker as “Asha” and has the same essential premiset as the series: a Novelty Salesman who gets downsized & has to relocate to India to train his Call Center team which has been outsourced.

The movie is pretty much about Todd learning about Indian culture while trying to train his staff (which includes Asha) and encounters several work-related problems and becomes enchanted with their way of life after experiencing a few Traditional Indian Festivals (such as The Festival of Colors).

I imagine the new series will include all of this…probably all in the first 6 episodes.

Added to the movie (to make it more interesting) is Todd’s blooming romance with Asha….who’s already arranged to be married by her parents to another man.
 

Hmmm...sound familiar?

It wasn't a bad movie overall – but it’s probably gonna work better as a series….as long as they tone down the “enchantment with Indian Culture” thing.

Spoilers for how the movie ends below!

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At the end of the movie – the entire team in India gets outsourced to China (I guess labor there is even cheaper than in India?) and Todd returns to America. (without Asha – she stays with her arranged fiancée)

Why I go

My friend, Tessa, & I always try to go to the L.A. Comic & Sci-Fi Convention every month since we found out about it last year. It’s not as big as San Deigo’s Comicon, but we like it just the same.

It’s cheaper, for one thing (Only $8.00 admission!) For another, you get a really good deal on comics (sometimes).

And finally – you find things like this:

Barack the Barbarian - ISSUE #3!

I took a glance at this when I got home and it’s as cheesy as it looks:

THE STORY:  Up in the frozen North (Alaska?) an old man tells some kids the story of “Barack the Barbarian” and his companions, Manny, Bill, and Hilaria as they fight against Red Sarah & the evil Elephant Cultists (composed mainly of the elderly & easily confused villagers) for the treasure of the (Economic) Stimuli. 

Lost Skeleton of Cadaver

Much in the way that "Shaun of the Dead," "Hot Fuzz," "Black Dynamite" & "Machete" are homages to their respective genres, so is "Lost Skeleton" a love-letter to the 1950s science-fiction "B-movie."  A vendor at the Convention told me about this one, and judging from the imdb page - it's gonna be gold. 

The IT-Crow Season 4!

I didn't even know this show was still on the air!  BUT IT IS!  Thanks for letting me know, LA Comic & Sci-Fi Convention! 

Where else could you go to find such gems?

Speaking of movies....!

I'm sure movies like "The GodFather" and "Citizen Kane" are great......

.....but I just think someone is lying when they say a film like that is their *favorite* movie of all time.

Unless it’s “Star Wars” or something……then I believe them.

The Ferris Bueller Synopsis

You know what makes a good movie?

CONFLICT.

There are four basic kinds:

- Inner Conflict (Man vs. Self)
- Relational Conflict (Man vs. Other Man / Woman)
- Societal Conflict (Man vs. Society)
- Situational Conflict (Man vs. Obstacle)

In other words, the main character(s) in a movie should be struggling to overcome *something* that he / she is up against. Audiences should be able to identify this in every movie that they watch.

And yet – some movies don’t have them. In these, the audience just watches the main character(s) enjoy a conflict-free life for 90 minutes or more…..and it’s boring as hell.

I call this the “Ferris Bueller Synopsis” because it’s the first movie I can recall seeing where this happens.

Don’t get me wrong – I *liked* Ferris Bueller’s Day Off  when I first saw it. Hell, I’d probably still like it if I watched it today. But the premise of the entire movie is him and his friends having fun in the City.

That’s it.

He doesn’t overcome anything;
Or learn anything;
Or even really face any sort of enemy of any kind because everyone loves him.
(I *GUESS* his Principal / his sister count as ‘enemies,’ but they play such a minor role in the movie that I don’t really count them)

And yet, SOMEHOW, everyone (including me) loved this movie.

The only reason I can account for this is that it was the first of it’s kind? (Unlikely though) But since then, the movie industry has somehow gotten the idea that they should make more of these ‘feel nothing but good’ movies.

The most recent of these that I’ve seen heard of is Eat Pray Love:  that one where Julia Roberts basically travels around Europe, eating, praying and loving.

OTHER MOVIES GUILTY OF THE FERRIS BUELLER SYNOPSIS:
- Into the Wild
-The Lizzie McGuire movie
- I hope they serve beer in Hell
- Sex and the City 2
- The Darjeeling Limited
- Oceans 13
- Crocodile Dundee
- Outsourced (yes, it was a movie first!) 
...and countless other movies shot “on location” where ‘experiencing an exotic culture’ is an essential plot point.

CAN YOU ADD TO THIS LIST?

Keeping in Touch

I have a tendency to run into a lot people I used to know at one time or another.

The biggest category of people I meet are usually “old classmates from College.” And since I liked most of them, I usually stop and say hi so we can catch up. And sooner or later, they always ask the same question: 

“So, do you keep up with anyone

else from College?”

This always struck me as an odd question to ask because:  yeah, of course I do. 

It just seems to me that, if you go to a school in a city as big as Los Angeles, you’re going to have a few friends who decide to stick around. And these are the people who you’ll end up hanging out with while you’re there because hey - they’re still around.

These are also the people who will listen to you complain as you look for your first job; who will help you move into that first apartment when you’re too poor to afford to hire movers; who you can ask to be your roommate so you can both save money on rent; and who will even show up to that party you’re throwing over the weekend – with a case of beer in hand.

Also -  there’s really no excuse for you not to in this day and age of social media / free networking.

But I guess a lot of people don’t realize that as they go off to try and make it in the real world because I keep hearing that question.

I make it a point to keep in touch with the friends I’ve made over the years because friendship *is* something that gets easily taken for granted.  

- My friends from high school always get a call to let them know I’m coming back home.
- Saturday mornings are usually reserved for Coffee w/Carol.
- I comment on people’s blogs whenever they make a post.
- Facebook friends who live far away always receive “Happy Birthday” wall-post from me.

They do the same. And we stay connected. It’s simple, see?

In fact – staying in touch with Fred gave me a place to stay when I visited Japan!

What about you all?

Do you keep in touch with old friends?

Scientists Reveal!

(TAKEN FROM ROADLESSTAKEN'S XANGA)

So apparently, scientists have been working very hard to determine what makes someone “a good dancer.”

THIS IS WHAT THEY’VE COME UP WITH:

"GOOD DANCER"

BAD DANCER


LADIES - DID YOU SWOON? 

"Clothes make the Man...."

….which is why naked people are never taken seriously.” (Mark Twain)

I bought a long-sleeve shirt the other day……from the Gap. It looks something like this: 

I’m a little ashamed to admit I bought this, but I can’t quite put my finger on why.

• Am I worried about that shopping at The Gap makes me conformist?
• Am I worried that this is a sign I’m becoming more & more superficial?
• Or am I worried that I’m trying to be something that I’m not?

 (Probably all of the above)

Shopping at places like the Gap / Urban Outfitters / some thrift store comes with certain stigmas of being a preppie / poser / hipster type. I used to worry about this in college (not high school though; I just wore whatever my mom picked out for me back then) and stayed away from those places so that I wouldn’t be “labeled.” Instead, I bought all my shirts from online stores and various places that sold ‘specially made shirts’ in hopes of being thought of as ‘an individual.’ I noticed that these were the kinds of clothes that had designs on them which made me stand out, whereas “designer” clothing did not that made other people blend in with the crowd. (Weird, rite?)

So I think these are (for the most part) valid concerns because my appearance” is a very important part of I am; it’s the part that people see the most and, consequently, rely on to get an accurate judge of who the rest of “me” is. And since my wardrobe is one of the two things about my appearance I can actually control, (the other being ‘my hair.’) I think buying clothes from The Gap says the wrong thing about me (that I’m rich, vain, etc.)

But on the other hand, there’s really nothing wrong with buying shirts from the Gap. A lot of perfectly normal (& awesome) people do it too. True, people are going to make certain assumptions about me for shopping there, but aren’t I a little old to be worrying about what clique I fall under these days? And shouldn’t I *want* people to realize that I can now afford to shop at nice stores instead of where I used to go? (Target)

And for that matter, aren’t I a little old to be wearing shirts with funny designs on them? (Maybe)

……

………

………..

…………… this is an awful lot of thought to come out of me buying a shirt, isn’t it?

Sorry that this was another odd / boring(?) post. I just had to get this all out “on paper” and thought it would make a good blogpost at the time.   

Real Exciting, AmIrite?

Hey all – long time, no post!

Apologies about that – stuff’s been happening but not a lot of it’s “blog-worthy” y’know? Or…I guess it was AT THE TIME, but I was either AFK (away from my Keyboard) or just not in the mood to blog about it.

Plus, I still haven’t bought a new camera yet so I’ve got no pictures / video to go with some of the more “you had to be there” parts of the post.

So this’ll be just another mish-mash of “this is what I did” updates.

First off – I applied for another (higher-paying) position at my job……and didn’t get this one either. I was really surprised this time because I not only thought I did really well in the interview (which I didn’t feel last time) but pretty much everyone around me already assumed I got it before I even met with the Supervisor. But they ended up hiring someone from another branch (who, of course, had more experience) to fill the position.

After word got out about that, everyone came by to express their condolences / tell me not to ‘give up’ etc. But I was still kinda bummed. Just a note to anyone who’s trying to console someone in a similar situation: phrases like ‘cheer up’ is one of the last things people want to hear when they’re in a bad mood.

Moving on…..both Lauren & Warren came down for Labor Day weekend so OF COURSE we went to All Star Lanes for some bowling & Karaoke. The Karaoke Bar was pretty empty when we got there, so we were feeling pretty brave with out song choices. Have to thank Carol for daring me to sing Billy Idol’s “Dancing with Myself” – I think it turned out pretty good! (Or maybe that was a side-effect of the alcohol messing with my brain) 

Sometime over the next half of the 3-day weekend I got sick – some kind of fever / sore throat thing that I’m still not 100% over. That and Rob (my roommate) forgetting to pay our internet bill on time led to me being kinda bored the next couple of days. But I did manage to buy the Scott Pilgrimm vs. The World soundtrack. And don’t worry, all the good songs from the movie are on the CD. I had to think a bit about where to get the actual CD cuz all the record stores are pretty much extinct (ended up at Borders).

So yeah – that’s my past couple weeks in a nutshell. I’m planning on being more exciting next weekend, I promise.