Last movie hop of 09

My sis and I ripped AMC off of a total of $30. :3

SHERLOCK HOLMES

Holmes would have been borderline to meh if it was not alleviated by Robert Downey Jr's impeccable acting- the slightly zany and extremely logical personality was perfectly embodied. Downey is your ideal modern Sherlock. Watson, his right-hand man, was excellent as well.

I am not aware of how reliable this film is to the original books, for my memory has disposed of mystery novels long ago, but as a movie, it passes my standards. Although a little tedious when Holmes analyzes the moves that he'll inflict on his enemy, the action/violence (LOL) is fair.

All in all this was a good movie, but nothing more.

AVATAR
...in my opinion, was disastrous.
First off, the movie was too long. I lost my interest halfway, and wanted to doze off near the finale. Please, don't ever make 2 hr 40 min movies unless they are pre-approved (BY KORPORATE KAT).
Secondly, the plot was too far-fetched. Before you flame me, I know this is a fantasy/scifi/whatever movie, and of course things will get a little irrational! On the contrary, my mind likes to function logically, and having a battle in which one party has hXc machine guns and explosives, and the other with bows and arrows and some colorful animals who actually WIN is not logical. (E.g. Native Americans vs. European settlers, GER vs. RUS in WWI, IMPERIALISM, etc.) Aiyaiyai.
Thirdly, the villain and the villain's goal was too cliche. It was disappointing.
On the bright side, if you're a fan of fantastic visuals, go for it. Pandora would be breath-taking if you lived in it (esp. by night!).

UP IN THE AIR

Although Up in the Air had superb actors/actresses and very thoughtful meanings/morals, drama on the whole does not appeal to me. I'm sorry, but I cannot stand drama. If I did though, this would be an excellent drama film. The plot is well-contructed and paced, the characters performed beautifully, and for a lot of us, the message of the story is a wake-up call. So yes, I would recommend this IF you like this genre.

In a pointless attempt to fill the increasingly empty "New Posts" position

So anyways, today, I gathered up all the games I ever felt "meh" about including:
-Prototype
-Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (never actually played it)
-A bunch of other games I never cracked open.

And got my brother to drive me to Gamestop to sell them off and get some new/interested in games.

So, being the Asian I am, I went directly to the used section and rifled through them to get a discount. I picked up a discounted Modern Warfare 2 and a used TES 4: Oblivion. I also noticed that there was a used Prototype in there that cost 44 dollars.

MW2; discount added: 50 dollars
TES4: Oblivion; used: 15 dollars
So, while I waited in that line listening to two 30-somethings, a man and a woman, obsess about L4D2, MW2, and Assasin's Creed 2 as if they were the gift of God to man on a golden chariot of kittens in front of me and two wangsters pretending to be hardcore computer engineers by day and l33t h4x0r5 by night ("I totally overclocked my 50 gigabyte RAM card and my GTX 9800 man, and when I was using assembler [wut] to do it, it was like totally hardcore mang.") behind me, I wondered why Gamestop had such a crappy reputation with everyone who's ever gone there. I mean, the line was ten minutes long and an employee actually came up to me and offered to carry my stuff and hold it for me until I got to the check-out counter without any attitude at all, and the enviroment was friendly enough. One other employee actually offered to dig out a display copy of MW2 and sell it to me at used price when they found out that the used disk was covered in some brown sticky goo.

Then, when it was my turn to buy the games, the manager came out and started processing everything, including the two gift cards, the store credit from all the sold games, and the discount I they were offering on MW2 from 12/26-12/28. He asked me for thirty dollars. I was confused, because the two games cost 65 dollars after all the discounts. The gift cards were ten dollars each too, so surely the five games I traded in covered the rest of the cost? I asked to see the transactions. He showed them to me, and I looked at it. Up at the top: "Store Credit from Resale Games: 14.68". Yes, the five games, including Prototype, which they were selling USED for 44 dollars got me fifteen dollars in store credit. I just sold them five games they valued an average of thirty five dollars a piece for three dollars each, and they nearly neglected to tell me.

Yes, thank you, I will come again. And I'll bring something else too. :D

On a lighter note:

Back! After Dying and Reincarnating Into a Reindeer Just in Time for the Holidays

I am sorry for the delay of this post. I put a lot of effort into this one, so hopefully that'll make it up. I'm also ditching math hw for this so APPRECIATE ME.

Also I may edit this later when I forget to mention something; I'm writing this off the top of my head. A lot happened to me so far!

..
October was crazy. The finals, most importantly, drove me into a fit when I realized I had to study for a final for a class that I just popped in two weeks prior. So that was the cause of most sleep deprivation. Along with that I had two auditions, two weeks within each other for chamber music programs armed with Bach and Sarasate. Both events fared pretty well; I pwned the finals and was accepted into both programs with plenty of benefits to reap...(Going to Carnegie Hall with my JCM group in April!)

I also attended my first (partial) football and second baseball game.

Actually, I went to AHS vs. BHS just for band's last field show (and my first), so I only saw a snippet of footballing, which was rather intriguing considering the fact that I have zip knowledge of ftbll besides "TOUCHDOWN". We were winning when I was there, but started losing when I left. Ha!

Baseball, it seems, is much more exciting live than on the telly...

The ear-splitting crowd and high expectations and tension is ambient throughout the stadium.

I went to the championships- Angels vs. Yankees (media pass woo!). It was literally packed- the massive parking lot was a sea of cars.

Angels was obviously getting creamed every single inning, but I enjoyed THE GAME nevertheless.

November didn't exactly start off with a bang. I entered a high level music competition and returned with nothing. Of course, my parents were disappointed and wanted push me more than they were. In the traditional Chinese way of thinking, to improve is to work harder. And the work harder is to invest more time into something. My dad brought up homeschooling again, and took me to a homeschooling expert to try to sway me. You guys know that I wouldn't succumb.

Thus, my dad created a schedule that I had to follow every weekday. Here's how it goes:

12:30-1:30: Get home from school; nom.

1:30-4:30: violin

4:30-5: practice ballet

5-6: more violin

6-7: nom, some "free time" that will actually be piano time

7-9: more violin more more more

9-10:30: homework

11: curfew- in bed, lights out.

The rigorous enforcement of this spartan lifestyle was far from what I wanted... But with threats of homeschooling, I could not refuse.

As of now, the schedule became a habit, and I am actually getting a lot more done.

However, I am sapped of energy practically everyday. Give me 5 hour energy for Christmas guys :v

Speaking of ballet, I started taking classes! It's more fun than it seems- after all, it is a dance correlating with MUSIC. I'm still a noob, but my awesome instructor is amazingly patient and helpful, so I'm catching up!

On a different note, I attended Lang Lang's recital in Walt Disney Concert Hall and it was breath-taking. Some people say that his playing is prodigal in terms of expression, but I believe that his dramatic interpretations should be the golden standard for not just pianists, but all musicians.

I also got an autograph and a picture with him later that evening... I'll put the picture up when I finally figure out how to get it from cell-> computer without a USB cord (no emails either!). Grabbing the opportunity, I asked Lang Lang, "What do you think makes you different from other musicians?" He responded, bewildered, "I don't know! I hope I knew!" /facepalm One question wasted arghhh!

The highlight of December so far for me, was my first opera @ Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in the LA Music Center. I saw the Barber of Seville by Rossini and it was very entertaining! Spongebob and popular media leads us to think that opera singers are composed of overweight ladies in queer costumes belting out industinguishable screams, but it is so much more than that.

The way I see it, opera is simply a musical play/story told with a lot of opera singing. It is not much different than the modern musical, besides the obvious. (Subtitles are needed b/c the opera is in Italian)

The Barber of Seville centers around a young, handsome count, "Lindoro", and his crush, the ward of evil Doctor Bartolo- "Rosina". Frenzied with love, Lindoro (Count Almaviva) is desperate to meet her, and finds a trusty friend to aid him- Figaro, the barber of Seville. Together, they plot to trespass the palace under surveillance by Bartolo to meet Rosina, which is highly amusing in the process (it involves Lindoro acting as a drunk soldier).

Upon viewing this, I was quite surprised how silly and hilarious 18th-century Italian operas were... In fact, I loved it! Take me to an opera anytime!

I highly recommend seeing this, even though it's quite expensive for a decent ticket. It's worth the experience down to every penny. The acting, music, and the beautiful stagecraft are just so win.

Speaking of plays, I went to the AHS "Noises Off!" by the ADD (Advanced Drama Department). Though the acting could've been more controlled- I am perpetually appalled at the high level of our arts department- first the superior performance by band, and now this.

Maybe the cause is low expectations from middle school, lawl.

I am so blessed to have participated in so many events. In fact, I am really lucky.

Life would be perfect if it weren't for the plagues of high standards from my parents and my diminishing progress in violin. My intonation is stuck in a rut and my fingers just don't seem to correlate.

Speaking of violin, I have to cut this post now and go practice.

In my next post, I'll detail the AKC dog show I visited on my bday and maybe some of my current repertoire, but it might be a while before that appears due to 2 v. lessons, 2 recitals, and 2 rehearsals coming up for me in the next 5 days.

Keep in touch (no matter how busy I am)! :3

In five minutes after Kathleen introduced me to Cleverbot, I got it to admit it was human.

Victory.

Happy Birthday to the only person who lets me fill the JazznKat with crap nobody likes

Okay guys, since we totally forgot about this, let's all wish Kathleen a happy birthday now and pretend nothing happened, kk?

What I think about before I sleep.

Look what I made after the Internet spat a template out at me.

Urge to kill yourself is normal.

Why Internet Gaming is Riddled with Jerkwagons

Because people are a load of crap.

Other human beings are basically unreliable. If you play with them online they're an unknown quantity: Internet connections can drop out at any time, hacks and exploits are always viable, and ragequit IS an option.

When you play online with someone, you're not a human being to them. You're just another little mewling voice in the magic box of secrets. If you're not in the same actual room, poised to punch them in the face, only their entertainment matters. You might as well just be an AI bot that swears. Surely playing against an actual AI bot might be preferable. They might get stuck in corners a lot, but at least they'll never ragequit when their entertainment starts to waver. "Oh, balls, I've just tried to kill the same person six times in a row and got my sore backside punted as a result, I think I'll do the logical thing and QQ about it for a couple of minutes, and then quit the game, while at the same time insinuating someone's sexuality." "Neither do I need to make any amount of SENSE on the internet, no, there isn't actually anyone trying to READ my comments on the other end of the tubular series."

I'm a believer of Penny Arcade's Greater Internet -censorinfearofgettingdeleted-wad Theory: "Ordinary person + audience + anonymity = -jerk-wad." I would suggest a few alterations, though, such as removing the "+ anonymity" part. And the "+ audience" part. The default state of all human beings is -douchewagon-, which is quelled by facing real life repercussions and just looking like an asshole. So -smileyface-s on the Internet aren't just jerkwagons, they're cowardly ones.
____
Written because the gap between posts is way too big for my liking. Not brought about by any recent events, though one of the ones I mentioned up there actually happened while I was playing a custom game on WC3. I should get back to my homework now.