Stupid Studies

I found this absurd for many reasons:

"Research finds there's a common perception that men's IQs are higher."

Soak that in.

OK, apparently we needed research to find out that people think that men are smarter than women. Isn't our whole civilization founded on this premise? Isn't this why women are so far behind men in many areas.

Also:

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE!!?? Where is this research being conducted!?! Who in the world has been conducting these studies?!? Who the fuck is paying them money?! I mean seriously, doesn't everybody either secretly think this or know that people think this?! Do we need to conduct research in this field?

Whatever

--Luis A.

Random Notes

It appears that the strike might be coming to an end soon! Individual deals are being made left and right with different studios. Obviously, if the strike was still in full swing, no such deals would be made. I fully expect the strike to end before the Oscars.

Any who, not that it matters to anyone other than me, Radiohead, and all of their fans but the only reason the score for There Will Be Blood was not nominated was because of some stupid technicality. Apparently, the Oscars has this rule when you can only use so much music from previously released material, meaning that most of it has to be original. Oh well. I'm sure the director could care less about this since his use of Jonny Greenwood's music combined with classical music makes for an astounding visual and aural experience. Years from now this will be a huge, huge classic. If you can see this, do. It is not for everyone but it is a remarkable achievement in film making.

Oh yeah, the New Orleans Hornets are the number one team in the West!!! Who had them in that spot? Anyone?

That's it for today,
--Luis A.

There Will Be Blood

By the time There Will Be Blood was nominated, it had made a spectacular 8.4 million. I'm sure it'll end up with close to 100 million by the time it's done. Oh yeah, expect "I drink your milkshake, I drink it all up!!!" to become the next catchphrase. Much like "I wish I knew how to quit you", this line is quite powerful in context, but I fully expected to be miniaturized when converted in to a catchphrase. Believe me, nobody is saying it yet because of the box office, but I'm sure even the guys at Sportscenter will be saying something like, "Kobe just drank the Spurs milkshake!!!"

Sigh.

--Luis A.

Happy Free Lunch Wednesday!!!

Heath Ledger dead

I am truly devastated about this. He was found dead today in New York City. It really blows when someone this young, he was 28, passes. It is a true testament to his great performance in Brokeback Mountain that, although not a fan of his, I really do feel like crying right now. (Please, at least for this time, save the sarcastic comments.)

Rest In Peace, Heath,
--Luis A.

T-Minus 365

We are exactly a year away from Bush leaving the White House. I could bitch and moan but we all know what he has done. So onto more cheerful stuff:

I predicted Cloverfield would get $38 million and it made $41. Some might say that that is pretty good. In fact, some might even say that I won.

Lastly:
It is not Pats v. Cowboys, or Pats v. Packers (both of which would have netted the biggest ratings ever for anything), but instead Pats v. Giants. WTF?! This wasn't suppose to happen. Actually, I fully expected the Cowboys to make the Super Bowl not the Packers. I think it is going to be much closer than people think, with the Pats ultimately winning of course.

Oh well, we'll see.

--Luis A.

There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood is a film about the things that have enveloped American history, which are greed and religious fanaticism. It dissects these two issues, exposes them, and rubs what is inside all over your face. It is also a film most people would not enjoy, particularly for its length and its deliberate pace. If you are patient, the brutal criticism of the foundation of America is well worth it. It is essentially the anti-American Beauty: whereas that film believed that everything was right and beautiful with America, There Will Be Blood firmly states that everything is wretched.

This point is most clearly embodied by the misanthropic Daniel Plainview, played by Daniel Day Lewis. He repeatedly expresses his disdain for all humanity and his admiration for money. Some might think that his performance might be a bit over the top, but he is the archetypal villain, representing the pinnacle of evil, Satan. Therefore, his performance is not over the top, but instead is fitting for the character he is meant to play, Satan, in this great allegory about good and evil.

Paul Thomas Anderson, the director, never allows you to forget the horrible acts committed by a horrible person, regardless of how pedestrian those acts might seem. Of course, Anderson is only able to do this because of Radiohead's Johnny Greenwood's monumental score. The music sounds as if there is constant impending doom. This is most clear when Plainview goes to buy all the land to secure the massive amounts of oil found there and Greenwood's frantic, violent, and LOUD string music is playing in the background. Plainview's acts might seem innocuous but they are clearly not since Plainview's unrelenting capitalist mentality leads him to take advantage of anyone to only later discard them.

To me, the most interesting thing of There Will Be Blood is its utter humiliation of religion. Clearly Plainview represents Satan and Eli Sunday, ably played by Paul Dano, represents God, or at least the falsified version we've come to know through religious fanaticism. In this dichotomy, Sunday represents the religious aspect contrary to Plainview's atheism. The film uses Dano's character to reiterate that men are not to be trusted and are only looking after their own interests, even if it means using religion to advance them.

The final scene might turn off many people, but to me it is the only way this film could have ended. It represents the wretchedness of greed, and, as harsh as it may sound, of most people, and how this wretchedness has built America into the mighty country we know.

This is not only the best movie of 2007 but one of the best American movies ever.

"I'm finished."

--Luis A.

Western Conference
	W	L	PCT	GB	HM	RD	CONF	DIV	PF	PA	DIFF	STRK	L10
LA Lakers	26	11	.703	-	15-5	11-6	17-5	4-1	107.8	101.4	+6.4	Won 7	9-1
Phoenix	26	11	.703	-	13-4	13-7	12-9	6-3	110.3	105.1	+5.2	Won 1	7-3
San Antonio	25	11	.694	½	19-3	6-8	17-9	6-3	97.9	92.0	+6.0	Won 2	6-4
Portland	23	14	.622	3	17-3	6-11	16-7	8-2	97.3	95.5	+1.8	Won 1	8-2
Dallas	26	12	.684	½	17-3	9-9	17-6	6-2	101.2	96.2	+5.0	Lost 1	7-3
New Orleans	25	12	.676	1	10-7	15-5	18-8	5-2	97.4	93.4	+4.0	Won 2	8-2
Denver	22	14	.611	3 ½	15-5	7-9	13-10	5-2	107.2	104.1	+3.1	Lost 1	7-3
Golden State	22	16	.579	4 ½	11-7	11-9	14-10	4-2	108.4	107.0	+1.4	Won 2	6-4

I'm really not bragging I'm just proud of my team. For the first time since they made the Finals in 2004 (!), they had not been number 1 in the west.

Best of 2007

Top Ten Moments of 2007

What the hell I was going to do a random blog but eh I'll do my top ten moments. Last list, promise.

1. The summer of George: This is really not even close. It even tops coming out to my mother. I spent an entire summer with my entire family, including siblings, parents, and nephews/nieces. No husbands, which was the best part. What was best was all of us crammed into my room. Yes, all of us, minus our parents, of course. Over the whole summer we had a whole lot of fun together. What was best about this is that I really can't remember the last time we did this. It has to be since I was in middle school. I mean, it won't even happen during my graduation since one of my sisters won't make it. I will remember this summer fondly forever.
2. Coming out to my mother, of course. I share pretty much everything with her and this is a significant thing I needed to share with her.
3. December 28. Going with my mother to the movies. I love her deeply and going to the movies with her felt very much like going with my mommy when I was a child. I'm glad I still have a very, very close friend in my mother.
4. July 14-15. A two day birthday party unlike any other I've had. It started with dinner with a friend, movie, and then a club. All of them were really fun.
5. Letting my hair loose. Some would say I really slutted it up this year but I'm glad I was less prudish than years before. I went to more bars then ever before and made out with several cute guys. Timmy!!!
6. Losing 30lbs at the end of the year. I was feeling like shit before and I needed to get my shit together. Losing weight will not solve all of my problems but neither will overeating.
7. Getting on a fucking roller coaster! To top it off, I did this with the sister I truly do have the biggest connection with, in spite of me nicknaming her "cunty". It was a rush unlike any I've felt.
8. December 30. I had the first father-son adult conversation. It was really nice and I'm glad I am speaking to him.
9. December 31. Strippers day! I will be forever thankful to my friend (and only reader of this blog, really) for agreeing to do this. A truly selfless thing to do. Yes, the music was too loud but I really did have the time of my life, and I think you mostly did, too.
10. Not really a moment but just passing the 5 classes of the Spring semester with As when I seriously felt I was going to fail 2 or 3 of them. It was a lot of work but now I fondly remember staying up to 3 in the morning for about 2 straight months to finish 5 research papers. Aside from losing 100lbs way back when, this is the thing thing I'm most proud of.

--Luis A.

Best of 2007

Best Singles of 2007

1. MIA/Bamboo Banga-Awesome party! The song just keeps building and building when most songs just peter out. This is truly a great song.
2. Radiohead/Body Snatchers-This is the song that showed that Radiohead is back to its rock roots. It has an awesome riff that repeats and is augmented by Thom Yorke’s singing, minus the high pitch usual tone.
3. Rihanna/Umbrella-Rock, Pop, Hip Hop and Rap rolled into a great song. Who cares if the lyrics are mind numbingly stupid. I mean, really, does anybody even listen to lyrics of any song?
4. Arctic Monkeys/Brainstorm-The band and all its swagger is back! This album opened with this great single.
5. Beck/Timebomb-Only Beck would not include this in one of his albums. This is a single most people would highlight their albums with and not release it as a standalone single.
6. MIKA/Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)-A somewhat love letter to big girls. Yes the lyrics are dumb but this a damn good pop song. The comparisons to Freddy Mercury are well earned: catchy goodness with dumb lyrics.
7. Arcade Fire/No Cars Go-This is a song that just keeps building and building. It truly does like a suite.
8. Maritime/Guns of Navarone-That guitar riff is simply glorious. Almost, I repeat, almost as good as the one in Yellow from Coldplay.
9. The Fratellis/Chelsea Dagger-Another pint, mate?! This party is about to end and I really don’t want it to, especially not with this song blasting.
10. Calexico & Jim James/Goin’ to Acapulco-A Dylan song I only took noticed of after I heard Jim James singing it. He sings as if he has lost a love one. I imagine this is the way the song was originally suppose to sound.

--Luis A.

Best of 2007

Best Albums of 2007

1. LCD Soundsystem/Sound of Silver-What’s this? A dance album at the top of my best albums year’s list? Above Radiohead? Yeap! Simply the album I enjoyed and listened to the most. It is easy to play this album, hear all the tracks (all of them great) and simply smile. Best track: The love/hate letter to New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down
2. Radiohead/In Rainbows-Not that I didn’t like their previous three albums, but I just wanted old, rocking out Radiohead. Well, in this album they are back. This album is the rock Sound of Silver: all of the tracks are great. Best track: The crunchy goodness of Body Snatchers
3. MIA/Kala-The best party in an African jungle or at least it sounds that way. MIA makes efficient use of everything that has apparently influenced her, including rapping midges. Best track: No contest, the rave-out of Bamboo Banga.
4. Arctic Monkeys/Favourite Worst Nightmare-Upon their arrival, they were received with tremendous hype. Although they have not lived up to it in terms of sales in the States, the hype for their quality is more than deserved. In fact I would go as far as saying that they are better in this stage of their careers than the Beatles were at this point. Best track: The swagger of Old Yellow Bricks.
5. Arcade Fire/Neon Bible-A rock gospel album without the preaching. It is truly a glorious experience listening to this album. It sounds as if you are in the most kick ass rock concert given inside of a church by a band that is not a Christian band. Best track: The semi suite Keep the Car Running
6. Cafe Tacuba/Sino-This album would be much higher if the album was a few tracks shorter, especially the real clunkers. However, with that aside, the title as the Mexican Beatles is well deserved: they continue to push the boundaries of music as far as they can. Best track: The bouncy Y Es Que…
7. The Good, The Bad and The Queen/The Good, The Bad and the Queen-Damon Albarn is quickly becoming the next John Lennon or Brian Wilson. Man alive can this guy make good music. This is his third (!) band and he continues to deliver good music. Best track: The mournful A Soldier’s Tale
8. Various Artists/Hairspray Soundtrack-Yes, I really, really enjoyed the movie. However, it was mainly enjoyable because of the music. I mean this as a compliment: this is the best disposable music I’ve heard all year long. Best track: The, what else, fun Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)
9. Modest Mouse/We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank-In spite of their unexplained obsessions with boats and nautical terms, this is a damn good rock album. They will never break through big time but as long as they keep producing music this good, they’ll always be around. Best track: The epic 8 ½ minute long Spitting Venom
10. Kanye West/Graduation-I wanted to like this album more than I did, considering that his previous two albums had been great. I like it a lot, I don’t love it. The reason is that there is more goofiness and less political commentary than his previous two outings, particularly goofy and insipid is the unexplainable Drunk and Hot Girls. However, this is still one of the better albums I heard this year. Best track: The boastful The Glory

--Luis A.

Best of 2007

Best of TV 2007

1. Lost-The greatest series arc this side of The Sopranos continues. The show slowly expanded its vacuum sealed universe, with this season inching closer to their exit off the island. The death of Charlie played a vital role in this. As for the introduction of Jacob, well it blew all of my theories into pieces. Oh yeah, the flash forward finale is the most surprising thing for a show full of surprises. The best show of the year and definitely one of the best shows ever.
2. 30 Rock-After Arrested Development was canceled, I firmly believed that we would not see a show as funny as that show in about 5 years. Well, 30 Rock is not as funny, but it is damn funny and damn great. All of the characters are as mannered as Tobias, GOB, and Buster were. The two main draws of this show are clearly Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey. Any scene with the two of them in it is pure gold. Highlight of the year: Baldwin’s racist portrayal of Tracy Morgan’s family, with the Puerto Rican neighbor included just for kicks.
3. The Sopranos-The show was really about family, and this became more obvious in the last season. Tony hopelessly watched as his life fell apart and as desperately as he wanted to prevent it, his son would soon follow in his footsteps. The finale brilliantly dealt with both of these issues: AJ rapturously embraces Dylan and his hippie ode “It’s All Over Ma, I’m Only Bleeding” to then quickly return to his inept, useless ways, and Tony remains in purgatory in the final scene.
4. Ugly Betty-Considering how quickly shows fade, this show was suppose to suffer after its brilliant first season. Nope. It got better. It got funnier. It got faster-paced. This is a show that I watch and can’t believe how much I am enjoying. My favorite story line of the season was Justin’s hetero rebellion. Any other show would have milked this to the point were it became ridiculous but instead it was actually funny.
5. Friday Night Lights-I’m sure you’ve heard of it: this is not about football. It truly isn’t. Not since the days of Freaks and Geeks has a show captured the problems of teenage high school life so well. The show really peaked in the second half of its first season. Although the show has gone to the murder-as-ratings-ploy, it is still fantastic.
6. How I Met Your Mother-In its third (?) season, the show’s characters continue to grow and form even tighter connections not seen since Friends. The show is at its best when it focuses on the friendship of the five characters and not on Robin-Ted and/or the titular mother. Eventually we will find out who the mother is, until then, I will be entertain by more slap bets.
7. The Office-This show would be higher on the list, much higher, were it not for the hour long episodes that opened the season. Other than that the show is the Lost of comedy’s: all of the characters are engaging even the bit players. The show even made the Jim/Pam relationship unannoying and funny. Oh yeah, Save the Rabid!
8. Desperate Housewives-A show most people gave up on and I mostly kept watching mostly out of habit is back! Bree’s fake pregnancy in conjunction with the Dana Delaney character is the best thing to happen to this show in a long time. What also has made the show great again are the Housewives interacting as much as they were in the first year, even if they continue to play poker for the umpteenth time.
9. Chuck-Seth Cohen as a secret agent? Surely you’re joking. Oh you’re not? Count me in! This show is non-stop fun. It has the witty banter of The OC (first season and half of the second season) and the spy elements of Alias. In a TV season were Bionic Woman came in as the most heavily hyped new show and ended up being too serious, tedious and boring, Chuck stood up as the best.
10. Big Bang Theory-The characters in this show are as brainy as the characters in Frasier were pretentious. The back and forth dialogue between the characters is really fun and funny. If this show was in the era before 876 channels and when comedies were successful, this show would be a huge hit. As far as this season goes, I've enjoyed it more than Grey's Anatomy, seriously.

--Luis A.

Best of 2007

Best Films of 2007

(I have not seen Juno, There Will Be Blood, or Atonement, three movies that will be nominated for best picture. Therefore, these are, just to have some guidelines, the best movies I saw last year during 2007. Oh yeah, it took me a long time to write them so please read them. It won't take you that long.)

1. I’m Not There-Todd Haynes’s film is unabashedly enamored with the subject matter this film covers as his previous movie, Far From Heaven, was. The film explores the multiple phases of one of America’s greatest musician and definitely its greatest lyricist. In fact, the scope of the movie is so expansive that it briefly covers one of Dylan’s most traumatic experiences, his motorcycle accident. What truly makes this the best film of the year is a confluence of things: it is a biopic done in such an odd-ball way even David Lynch would be envious of it; it effortlessly moves from one phase to the next; it has great performances; lastly, it has a great soundtrack. Basically, it is everything Across the Universe was not, a true classic.
2. No Country for Old Men-This is one of those movies you leave the theater mostly enjoying it but you learn to appreciate the more you think about it. This is a modern day Western with the gore beginning in a horrific way at the start of the movie. The story is basically the same of A Simple Plan: a man unsatisfied with his life finds a bundle of money and then watches as everything goes horribly awry. What makes this movie stand out is Javier Bardem. He represents a powerful, omnipotent force of wind that will destroy anything and everything that stands in its path. The sheer pointlessness of the acts of violence Bardem inflicts on his victim and the hopelessness of both Josh Brolin’s character and Tommy Lee Jones’s character is the center conflict of the movie: left to their own devises, virtually existing in a lawless wasteland, men will inflict tremendous violence on each other for no particular reason.
3. Gone Baby Gone-Until recently this was my favorite movie of the year. It takes one of the main arguments that has shaped American history—the extent of government intervention—and runs with it. This is basically a sociologist’s wet dream: should seemingly worthless lives be able to have children, and should they be able to keep them if they have them? The outcome of the movie definitely makes the mind wonder about this.
4. American Gangster-It is truly surprising that this movie isn’t more liked by the critics. It is a fascinating story about the perils of drug dealing, while championing the “underdog” story of a drug dealing peon who went on to become a powerful drug lord. It has great performances by Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Josh Brolin and Dee Brown. It also has several highly stylized scenes that will remain burnt in your memory, such as the boxing scene that marks the decline of Washington’s character. Even if it continues to get the cold shoulder from most critics, this is a fun and engaging story.
5. Grindhouse-Sleazy, fun, brilliant! Perhaps you liked the perfect send up of zombie B movies or the exhilarating car chases, with witty girly talk in between, this movie was a blast. Oh yeah, I almost forgot the absolutely riotous fake previews for movies. One of those rare films that lives up to the hype.
6. Zodiac-I find serial killer’s obsessions interesting. Needless to say, I was captivated by this movie. The movie chronicles the Zodiac’s attacks with great precise detail. What makes the quality of the movie so incredible is that the Zodiac killed, comparatively speaking, few people. Yet the film makes the serial killer’s and the cartoonist obsession fascinating to watch, even if it has an inconclusive ending. All of this is scored with the vicious music of the late 60s, including Santana and Donovan.
7. Hairspray-I can still see Nikki Blonski’s chubby hips dancing all around the silver screen and can’t help but smile. This is truly pure joy. The only conflict of the movie is desegregation, and not even this gets in the way of the constant fun.
8. Knocked Up-Writer-director Judd Apatow has a formula for his projects: cram in as many dirty, funny, often related to pop culture, jokes as you can but then bringing it back with true poignancy. Most of the jokes are truly hilarious, such as the crowning scene, and the moments of growth are earned and not contrived at all.
9. Sweeney Todd-Johnny Depp! Tim Burton! Musical! What isn’t there to like?! This movie is exactly what I thought it was going to be: a dreary musical with Burton’s classic tone of quirk. It is more violent than I expected it to be, which is a good thing. The film’s twist ending is unexpected. The inverse Hamlet-like ending makes it abundantly clear that this movie is a reinterpretation of that play.
10. Michael Clayton-There are many reasons why I would dislike this movie: white collar crime, people exhibiting poor behavior, etc. However, it is absolutely engaging from the beginning of the movie. It is a cat and mouse game, with the ultra rich lawyer trying to bring down a corporation and its corporate greed.

--Luis A.

Brand New Day!

I'm back!

I could go on forever about the possible meaning of Obama's win on, when else, Thursday night but I'll save it until he has actually secure the nomination. As for now, well, I think Obama said it best when he said, "“We are choosing hope over fear, we are choosing unity over division and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America." A change is gonna come, although one more significant than the one Curtis Mayfield had in mind in the mid-60's.

I am truly excited about having him as a president. Obviously, having a minority as a president does not necessarily mean that he will be less racist than a white president, but the chances are that he will not be.

Good to be back,
--Luis A.