Music Minute #20

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I may have fallen WAY behind on my posts, but I can at least do another Music Minute. Enjoy.

- Christina Aguilera feat. Nicki Minaj - "Woohoo"
- Chuckie feat. Jermaine Dupri & Lil Jon - "Let the Bass Kick"
- Diddy-Dirty Money feat. T.I. - "Hello Good Morning"
- Dan Balan - "Chica Bomb"

Fail

I have failed. Simple as that. I had set out to post a blog entry everyday for a year, and I've failed. May was just too much for me to handle. This month has been crazy and drained me like never before. The combination of the classes I have this quarter, my new job, and other factors leave me exhausted and with no time to really devote to my blog.

So, what does this mean for my quest? Is it simply over, just like that? Not quite. My goal was to post an entry everyday, so I'd end up with 365 posts. Well, the first part of that goal wasn't met, but that doesn't mean I can't still finish the year with 365 posts.

New goal: 365 posts. I'll try my best to still write everyday, but ultimately I just want to end up with 365 posts. Of course, this means I'll have to double up posts a few days, but I have the rest of the year to catch up on missing posts.

I knew this was a huge undertaking when I started, and I knew it would be very difficult to achieve, but I went almost half a year, and I can live with that. Oh, well. Time for a new goal.

Highs and Lows

It's funny how a day can go through so many highs and lows.

Technically, it started with a low dealing with drama with a friend in the wee hours of the morning, which meant I got very little sleep. Work came next, which in itself is generally rather neutral. Luckily, today my school had a demonstration about motion capture technology, which was definitely a high and got me very excited.

Unfortunately, the day ended on a rather deep low once I got to my 3D Camera Techniques class. The instructor has been nothing but critical and judgmental about my group's project, and tonight it really got on my nerves. I was genuinely very excited walking into class, and within 15 minutes, I just wanted to get out of there.

Tomorrow is a new day, and hopefully with it comes new highs.

Music Minute #19

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Another Music Minute. Another set of songs. Enjoy.

- Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg - "California Gurls"
- Mickey Factz - "Alpha"
- Sade - "Soldier of Love"
- Uffie - "Robot Oeuf"
- Uffie feat. Pharrell Williams - "ADD SUV"

Rendering: The Next Chapter

New class. New assignment. Same epic struggle with my old foe, Rendering.

This time around it's for 3D Visual Effects, and although it isn't nearly as bad as my final for Materials & Lighting, it's a battle nonetheless. I've been rendering since about 6 PM and have 210 frames to show for it. I still have 715 to go.

If this is only the midterm, how bad will the final be?

Too Many Superheroes

It's no surprise that I'm a fan of comic books, but after seeing the trailers to the two following upcoming television series, I've decided that comic books/superheroes are saturating the media. What's more, it's not even good superheroes, but rather stupid obscure comic books that are being adapted. If the following shows aren't canceled before their first season is complete, I'll be surprised.

Take a look and decide for yourself.

Symbols

Who would've thought it would be so difficult coming up with symbols to represent the different majors at my school?

At work, my boss asked me to come up with designs for buttons that represent each of the departments at my school. It sounded like a fun assignment, so I immediately got to work. Some were actually very easy - like Culinary, Game Art & Design, Web Design, and Film - but others elusive no matter how much I thought about it. I ended up having to ask a few people around school for their ideas, and eventually we thought of symbols to represent Media Arts & Animation (my own major) and Interior Design. That left just Graphic Design; the most challenging of all. I asked multiple GD students what they felt would best represent them, and none could give me a good answer.

This has led me to believe that Graphic Design isn't a real course of study; it's more like a wannabe major, made up of bits and pieces of other majors. Think of Graphic Design like the English language: sure, I guess it's a language now, but at it's core it's just an amalgamation of a dozen other languages. Say any sentence, and you'll see influences/assimilation of German, Greek, Latin, Spanish, etc.

Good thing no Graphic Designers read this blog, otherwise they would be upset. Of course, I'm just kidding. Mostly. I'm currently trying to decide between three symbol ideas for Graphic Design, although none are screaming that they are they right choice. I guess I'll just have to keep tweaking the ideas until I get one right. Once I'm all done, I'll be sure to share what I came up with for all the majors.

Chica Bomb

My new favorite music video. (Not necessarily for the reasons you might think, although they certainly help.)

Hello, Sun

I'm not typically a fan of hot weather, but today's weather was perfect. If every day of Summer can be like today, it'll be a great season. Hell, I may even go outside every once and a while. No promises, though.

Jason Rico, Film Editor

I edited my first film tonight. OK, so maybe the term "film" is used loosely. It's only 45 seconds long, and it's by no means a masterpiece, but it still counts. Right?

Time

Oh, Time, where have you gone?

You and I used to be such good friends. Sure, we had our share of moments where we would go days as though we were strangers, but we would always find each other again soon. Now, however, I feel we are drifting apart. I barely see you. Please come back to me soon.

I miss you. I need you.

The Return of Solid Foods

It is so glorious to be able to eat solid foods again. Truth be told, I've been slowly reintroducing them into my diet since Sunday, but today was the first day I ate nothing but solid foods all day. It was more from circumstance than actual choice, but that's not important. Solid foods and I have been reunited, and it feels so good.

Of course, I still chew like a mouse, as to not get food stuck in the back of my mouth, but if looking silly while eating is the price I pay to eat real food again, I'll gladly pay it.

The only downside is that while I was on my diet of soup and other mushy foods, I managed to lose a few pounds. Now that I'm eating semi-normally again, I'll probably gain it all back. Oh well; guess I'll just have to hit the treadmill more regularly.

Music Minute #18

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Time for Music Minute. For your listening pleasure, I bestow upon thee these songs four. Enjoy.

- Alicia Keys - "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)"
- B.o.B. feat. Eminem & Hayley Williams of Paramore - "Airplanes, Part II"
- Christina Aguilera - "Not Myself Tonight"
- Drake - "Find Your Love"
- Steve Aoki feat. Zuper Blahq - "I'm in the House"

Movie Review: Iron Man 2

Last night, to celebrate my birthday, some friends and I went to watch Iron Man 2 at the IMAX Theater.

Now, without trying to give away any spoilers, I loved it. Overall, the first movie is better, but this is a solid sequel. With comic book movies, sequels should be made to build on the mythologies and expand the universe, and this movie definitely did that well. The introductions of Black Widow and War Machine were well-written and organic. Sometimes, when new characters are introduced, they can feel forced; almost like filmmakers felt they needed to introduce more characters just to keep the story going. Not the case with IM2.

As far as the story itself goes, there were a lot of cheesy, unbelievable moments - even for a superhero film. I'm wont go into details, but there were at least 3 moments where I thought to myself, "Really?!" That aside, the story was solid and the acting fantastic. I really did buy into the characters and felt the actors were those characters.

All in all, the film is great and a worthy sequel. I can't wait to see what comes next, both in future sequels and other Marvel Universe films (Thor, Captain America: First Avenger, and The Avengers). Speaking of which, make sure you stick around after the credits; especially if you're a fellow fanboy.

On This Day...

25 years ago, a child was born. This child is me, I am he, and today is our birthday.

It was definitely a unique birthday. Here are the main reasons why:

- First of all, I had to work. Not uncommon, but definitely not quite my first choice.
- Because of the condition of my mouth, my lunch still consisted of only soup. Not my first choice for a birthday meal.
- I'd love to say that after work, I was able to go out and celebrate, but alas no. I unfortunately had class after work.
- On the plus side, I did receive a steady stream of birthday wishes both through text messages and my Facebook Wall. That definitely made me feel loved.
- Once I was done with class and finally escaped school, I met up with some friends for Chinese food. Again, the condition of my mouth only allowed for soup, so my birthday dinner was Egg Flower Soup. How pathetic is that?
- However, no matter what may have come before, the main attraction of the day was going to see Iron Man 2 at IMAX. I had been looking forward to this ALL day, and it did not disappoint. It was great going to watch it with friends, and that alone made my birthday worthwhile.
- On my way home, once I thought all the birthday festivities were over, the universe had one final gift for me. While driving on the freeway, I saw a bright falling star. Not a shooting star; a falling star. This star was falling straight down. At first, I thought it was a flare, but it burned long enough for me to know that it was in fact a meteor. I've been lucky enough to see many meteors, but this was one of the brightest and longest burning meteors I've ever seen. Just one last gift before I turned in for the night.

All in all, the day didn't really feel like a birthday, but it was still a good birthday. Not quite sure how that can be, but I'm not complaining. It was a good day, and I'm definitely glad for that.

Post Cinco de Mayo Aftermath

I noticed a lot more people were missing from class today than usual.

Perhaps they are hungover somewhere after celebrating too much last night? I wonder...

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

Happy Mexican Independence Day!

Wait, Cinco de Mayo isn't Mexico's independence day? Oh, well it doesn't really matter to non-Mexicans. Whatever the significance of Cinco de Mayo, it's just another excuse for Americans to drink.

So, I hope you all have a fun and safe time tonight. Oh, and in case you are curious about the significance of Cinco de Mayo, it commemorates Mexico's victory over France at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. This is celebrated because Mexico was outnumbered by the better trained and better equipped French army, yet still managed a victory.

There you go. A little education before you have your margaritas and tequila. Enjoy.

Success!

Today, I tasted the sweet flavors of my first solid food since getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Actually, it was only bread, so it was exactly sweet. In fact, it was actually rather bland. And I made sure I soaked it in my soup until it was nice and soggy, so it wasn't exactly solid... but it still counts!


Today, bread; tomorrow, who knows?

Reconstructive Surgery

The pain where my lower wisdom teeth used to be is getting pretty intense, even with drugs. That would be fine, if it weren't for the fact that I still can't really eat. Pain AND an inability to eat?! I'm not having it!

So, I've decided to simply remove my lower jaw and replace it with one made of metal. Something similar to this:


Sure, it'd probably hurt, but I'd at least be able to eat solid foods. Oh, how I miss solid foods...

It Happened

The one thing I was dreading after getting my wisdom teeth pulled has happened: I have chipmunk cheeks! I look like a freak of nature and feel like the Elephant Man.

"I am not an animal! I am a human being! I am a man!"

I really hope this goes away by the end of tomorrow.

365 in 2010: April Completed

April started with a great trip to San Francisco, and ended with getting my wisdom teeth removed. Quite an interesting set of bookends.

April was definitely a very interesting month for me. I was sick multiple times, ended up finally making something happen with a girl I've been interested in for a while, began what is sure to be the quarter of hell, started a new job, started a very exciting (and stressful) filming project at school, and of course, ended with my wisdom teeth removed. All in all, a good month for blogging.

However, now that April is over and done with, now we can move on to my favorite month: May. This, of course, is partially due to my birthday, but May is also great because it is when all the great summer blockbusters kick off. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say about this in later posts.

Four months down, eight more to go.

Days Completed: 120
Days to Go: 245