Even though I enjoy checking Facebook every half hour when I'm supposed to be writing, I don't think I'm quite there, yet.

Yet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7253493.stm

Publication Design!

It's a class that I'm enjoying a lot this semester. Heck, who knows? I might become a layout designer instead of journalist.

Anyway, check out my first project. I had to design a magazine department (or a feature that appears regularly in the magazine). The rules were I had include the following:
1. The name of the department, "Voices"
2. An image of a celebrity. The prof chose several, and I chose one.'
3. "In honor of Black History Month, celebrities pay tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr."
4. A small block of text with the celebrity saying something about Martin Luther King, Jr.

Atonement

Atonement won the Golden Globe for Best Picture, which leaves me wondering what I'm missing and/or not understanding.

I saw the movie this past weekend. Throughout the movie's two hour duration, I found myself shifting uncomfortably and trying to read my watch in a darkened theater. When I walked out of the theater, I just thought to myself, "What the hell just happened?"

For one thing, I didn't know whose story it was. The first half focused entirely on Briony (Saoirse Ronan) and her writing. As for the love story,I understood that Cecila (Keira Knightly) and Robbie (James McAvoy) shared affections toward one another, but I didn't think they loved each other. Sure he writes a letter and they make love in the library for three minutes, but so what? There wasn't enough time spent on their relationship, so everything that proceeded Briony's lie, I didn't care about.

Speaking of Briony's lie, what was her motivation for it? The movie didn't portray her as evil and jealous until after she told the lie (accusing Robbie of a crime he did not commit). Did she love Robbie? Did she believe she was right? Did she just feel like it? I don't know.

And then, there was all these flashbacks and scenes that didn't make any sense (like the school girl massacre scene. Unless that was just saying how awful war is).

Yeah, the cinematography was gorgeous. But just looking good does not make a good movie.

Say what you want, but a good story does not leave the audience scratching their heads at the end. Anyone who reads this like the movie and get it? What am I missing?

Free Wizard Rock Album!!!

And it's for a good cause.

http://www.stopbigmedia.com/potterwatch/

Merry Christmas, Readers of my Blog.

With all our latest advances in technoloy, why on Earth hasn't anyone invented email retrieval? Why must things be convienently sent with a push of a button? Like, you sort of have letter retrieval. If you didn't mean to send a letter, you can always try to stick your head in the mailbox and reach for it. Or be like Homer Simpson and shove a hose down the mailbox, though I think that may be against the law. Actually, it's really hard to accidentally mail a letter because you have to seal the envelope and buy a stamp and walk to the mailbox.

But email?! It's easy to absent-mindedly hit "Send," when you meant "Delete." Too easy. Like you realized your boss made a mistake on your schedule, so you sent her an email reminding her, but you thought it sounded too snotty, so you decided to not send the email and call her, but you accidentally hit "Send," so you sent her another email apologizing, so to prevent yourself from sounding like a total asshole, you offered to find a sub yourself for every stinking shift she scheduled you on that you told her previously you can't work. Damn it. I mean, that's just hypothetically speaking. Not saying that actually happened. Yeah, moving on...

I mean, mySpace has the option where you can delete messages you sent...

So my latest music obsession?

It's called Wizard Rock. It all started with Harry and the Potters, but now it's grown into this massive, insanely awesome new genre. My personal fave is Dobby and the House Elves, but Draco and the Malfoys and The Parselmouths are pretty damn cool, too. You see, I love indie rock and I love Harry Potter. It's the perfect combination.

So, thank you everyone that has made Wizard Rock possible. And thank you for making a whole bunch of your songs free on mySpace. That rules even more.

Also, if you want to hear the best remixes I've heard in a long time, check out the Illuminoids. They mash up a bunch of different songs to create something really unique. The best is "Boy Bomb," a mix of M.I.A.'s "Boys" and Beck's "Timebomb."

Kris the Action Star

I apologize for not writing anything. College students everywhere know the pain and frustration of mid-to-end semester work load.

And what better time to blog when a paper's due? Exactly.

For some most amazing cinema, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uregN5qWsWU

Alright, back to work.