Trailer: True Grit

New trailer for The Coen Bros. new film, True Grit.

So I have a boner, I usually hate westerns, there are about 12 done well or great, the other 9000 aren't weren't even getting into, and there is so much Academy Award business happening that I couldn't help myself. Plus this new Hailee Steinfeild is holding her own next to some heavy hitters, no wonder it took the lovably odd Director brothers a while to find her.

Well, I for one, am looking very forward to this.

Your thoughts?

*note I made mentions of a boner and a young girl in the same paragraph, it honestly wasn't connected.

A strange warm fuzzy feeling

I woke up one morning after spending the night at my parents house and walked into the living room. Since I was barely awake and the world was terribly bright, I wasn't really paying attention to much through my squinty bloodshot eyes. I grabbed a spot on the couch next to my little brother who was watching the regular saturday morning cartoons and we just zoned out for a while. A few shows in, the original Bugs Bunny and Tweety show came on and it opened with a skit that was the Big dog and little dog in the construction yard having a conversation; I was immediately overcome with a warm fuzzy feeling that lingered on childhood memories. It puzzled me because I never really watched these shows as a child, until I suddenly realized what it was that triggered these feelings;

The dog was smoking.

It seems so easy to overlook, or ignore, or even misunderstand this small detail until i pose this question: How many cartoons for kids today have characters that smoke? I don't mean are literally smoking, but have a cigar or a cigarette. It just isn't done anymore because its considered a positive reenforcement of smoking since the child's hero(es) are doing it so openly but I never noticed the small shifts towards this point until this "old school" cartoon came on and evoked this response.

At first I was thinking maybe asian characters don't smoke (since more and more of north american cartoons are done through a foreign influence because of the "anime" influence) then dismissed this as silly because quite of a few of the popular characters in asian comics and shows smoke; it is just our culture as a whole, apparently. We seem to slowly be evolving to a place where we want the kids to be kids, but safe and responsible as adults as well. This is just one of many things I've started to notice that change without bringing any attention to itself as the people in charge make decisions they deem to be the best for todays youth, our children and younger siblings, without any consideration of what it is we want or think.

Its terrible when you stop and think that a cartoon dog smoking is what gave me a sense of connection to my childhood happiness because stuff today is so far removed from what we enjoyed as children and young adults. Violence, Media Desensitization, Drugs and Alcohol... nothing is the same as it once was and I don't know if I'm totally okay with this. I think the part that actually upsets me over this whole thing is that nobody noticed this change, nobody fights the change, and nobody realizes this change is a subtle form of censorship and controlling the media.

Just to spite them I'm giving my kids cigarettes and Jager-bombs.

Things 1

-Groove Sucka Groove

Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind: A Review

As a writer myself I have a great admiration for Eternal Sunshine's screenwriter Charlie Kauffman, a man who has yet to produce anything less than stellar. He seems to have an erie understanding of internal conflicts with our emotions and in Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind, Kauffman nails it the best.

Our story really starts when Joel Barrish, played wonderfully by an unusually quiet and reserved Jim Carrey, finds out his girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has erased him from her memory. Joel, both confused and angry, goes to Lacuna the company who offers this proceedure so that he himself can also have the procedure done. During which Joel realizes while he is mad, he still cherishes the memories he shares with Clementine and he does everything he can to keep them.

Jim Carrey turns in a beautiful and quiet preformance that is truly key for making this film work. As we progress through the film we see more and more of Joel and Clementine's relationship and when Joel starts to fight to keep these memories we fully understand why.
When Joel cries we feel it, when he struggles we feel it, when he's frustrated we feel it. Perfect job by Jim.

Kate Winslet is the other piece of the puzzle as the lovable although abraisive girlfriend who often fears closeness and when she meets someone she loves, she often pushes them away with brutal personal attacks. One would think this person would not be worth fighting for, but when seen through Joel's eyes she is beautiful and ultimately his balance. Kate Winslet as always has another preformance of a lifetime.

The supporting cast is very strong with Mark Ruffalo & Elijah Wood as two technitions doing the "erasing" of Joel's memories. Kirsten Dunst as a charming receptionist and Ruffalo's love interest, but has her own love for Tom Wilkinson's character, who is there boss. And of course the film is so wonderful because of this supporting cast as they all have a wonderfully messed up life too.

In conclusion you can erase what your mind thinks, but you can't erase what the heart feels.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a near perfect film and truly earns it's
4 1/2 out 5

- Loving his memories

Thing 2

Random facts with Jesse

RANDOM FACT:

Urinating on a Jellyfish sting doesn't stop the burn.

Infact, most Jellyfish stings only cause pain and numbness. The BOX JELLYFISH is the most venomous of all stinging marine life. About 20% of those stung by the box jellyfish will die.

ANYWAYS, peeing on the sting is silly because as well all know, urine, ammonia and alcohol cause pain receptors to fire, which means if you are stung and your asshole friends pisses on it, it'll make it worse.

So keep the pee to a minimum.

Random Facts with Jesse

To make up for never updating this sucker I'm going to stay on top of it by displaying a random fact or two everyday.

RANDOM FACT:

The two-foot long bird called a Kea that lives in New Zealand likes to eat the strips of rubber around car windows!...what a bastard.

What If?

In recent days I've done some minor emotional “spring cleaning” and I feel better because of it. I was explaining this "spring cleaning" to a friend, her retort was kind and understanding and then she followed it with something that made me feel a little awkward. she expressed her "wanting" of me. I played it off as nicely as I could telling her that while she was a "nice and charming girl but (you’ve got to love the “but” comments), I'm beyond happy with someone else" this only prompted her response of "Haven't you ever said ‘what if we were together?’". I answered truthfully and told her "no, I don't care about what if, I'm beyond happy with what IS" this caused her to be taken back a bit and told me that who I was with was the "luckiest girl". While I disagree with the luckiest girl comment (because I'm not without flaws), but her previous "what if" statement prompted a thought in my head.

Is “what if?” a legitimate thing to even say?As people we are the same at the core, we all feel, we all react, we all have emotion, but it is in the things that MAKE us feel, react that make us individuals.

Hear me out, The lovely girl I’m with now makes me feel incredible. I’m inspired, I’m happy and I feel wonderful just thinking and typing about her. She evokes thoughts of the future and the steps I want to take to get there. That is “what IS” I don’t second guess it because that truly is what is. The friend on the other hand, doesn’t evoke or cause these sort of reactions or feelings…that is also what IS.

See. There isn’t what if, only what is.

In conclusion, I know I can’t say “what if” with conviction because I already have my “what is”, I implore you to do the same, go out and search for your “what is”. You’ll wake up with that smile on your face, that warmth in your chest and that drive to be the best possible version of yourself.

Forever adoring what is
Thing 2

Changes

For better or for worse a person, a place, a memory and even a feeling can change. Now there is no way for us to know when or IF something or someone will ever change, but that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about how to deal with a change, sudden or gradual, big or small and how we can take our own steps in changing ourselves.

For many years, more than I care to remember, I walked down the same path over and over again. It was a path of the same type of relationship, the same boring job, the same situations and the same boring results. And a few months ago after a emotional breakdown I came together, and took the steps onto a new path that I had to change myself.

See while I couldn't see it myself for the longest time, I eventually found that we can't just glide along this life, we need to change it for ourselves, or at least push ourselves until we can't push no more. Otherwise what's the point? Where do we really end up if we don't head somewhere ourselves? I'm not asking you to rush through life but I'm saying that you need to know who you want, what you want and where you want to be and then you act accordingly.

I found all of those things, I'm 20 years old, I'm still young, I have time to make this happen, and I intend to take each step down this path with a determination and fight that won't be matched. I say let us all do the same.

Forever Thoughtful
Thing 2