tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72711763218226622692024-02-20T04:24:31.049-08:00what i see, what i read, what i hear.hopefully this will help some lost soul.Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-22361979870732016142011-07-26T07:00:00.000-07:002011-07-26T07:00:49.046-07:00the past 6 monthsfor the past 6 months i have been living in Cusco, Peru volunteering at a non-profit cafe called, The Meeting Place. i have kept a list of everything i have read, watched, and listened to so i will share it:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Books I read in Peru:</b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Bible: Pentatuch (First 5 books of the Bible)</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jesus For President by Shane Claiborne</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Following the Equator by Mark Twain</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Movies I watched in Cusco:</b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">127 Hours</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">2001 A Space Odyssey</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">2001 A Space Odyssey The Making of a Myth</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A Hard Day's Night</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A Serious Man</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Addicted to Plastic</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Alone in the Wilderness</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Badlands</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Battle Royale</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Blade Runner</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Bottle Rocket</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Burn After Reading</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Carlos Pt. 1</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Carlos Pt. 2</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Carlos Pt. 3</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Catfish</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Che Pt. 1</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Che Pt. 2</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Close Encounters of the Third Kind</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Crumb</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Days of Heaven</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Drillbit Taylor</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Due Date</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dumb and Dumber</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Encounters at the End of the World</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Exit Through the Giftshop</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Garbage Warrior</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Gas Land</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Get Low</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Greenberg</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Hall Pass</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Prince</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Pt. 1</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Help!</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Hobo With A Shotgun</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Howl</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Human Planet Series</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I'm Still Here</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Illusionniste</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Inception & Special Features</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">An Idiot Abroad Series</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Inglorious Basterds</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Inland Empire</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In Bruges</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I'm Still Here</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jackass 1</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jackass 2.5</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jackass 2</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jackass 3</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Lebanon</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Little Fockers</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Lost in Translation</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Machete</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Magical Mystery Tour (The Beatles)</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Man Bites Dog</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Megamind</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mega Shark vs. Crocasaures </div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Micmacs</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Missing</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Monsters</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Monsters vs Aliens</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mr Nobody</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">October Sky</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Pineapple Express</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Rango</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Red Dawn</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Red Vs Blue (Seasons 1&2)</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Restrepo</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Rushmore</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Step Brothers</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Silent Running</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Simon of the Desert</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Somewhere</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Source Code</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Star Wars IV</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Star Wars V</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Star Wars VI (possibly)</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Sympathy for the Devil</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Adjustment Bureau</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The American</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Beatles Anthology (Episodes 1-8)</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Big Lebowski</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Conversation</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Darjeeling Limited</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Departed</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Fantastic Mr. Fox</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Fighter</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Good German</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Green Hornet</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Human Experience</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Informant</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Insider</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Kings Speech</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Life Aquatic</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The New World</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Pianist</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Royal Tenenbaums</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Social Network</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Squid and the Whale</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Ten Commandments</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Thin Red Line</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Troll Hunter</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Vanishing</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Tetro</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (5 Seasons)</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Traffic</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Troll 2</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Twin Peaks (2 seasons)</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Up In The Air</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Youth In Revolt</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Waiting for Superman</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Waking Sleeping Beauty</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Wildboyz (4 seasons)</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">X-Men Animated Series (5 Seasons)</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">X-Men First Class</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Young Mr. Lincoln</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Worst Movie: National Lampoon's TV: The Movie or Hobo with a Shotgun</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Best Movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Best Documentary: Catfish</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Favorite Documentaries: Alone in the Wilderness & Encounters at the End of the World</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Most Influential Film: Garbage Warrior</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Best TV Show: Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job!</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>New Music:</b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Akron/Family - Discography</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Aaron Giillespie - Anthem Song</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Animals - Best Of</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism, Four Thieves Gone, The Gleam, The Gleam II</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Beastie Boys - Ill Communication & Licensed to Ill</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Beatles - Complete Singles</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Bon Iver - Bon Iver</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Cake - Fashion Nugget</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Cars - Best Of</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Clash - London Calling</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Crosby Stills & Nash - Greatest Hits</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Crosby Stills Nash & Young - Deja Vu</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">David Bazan - Strange Negotiations</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Defeater - Empty Days & Sleepless Nights</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dogwood - Through Thick & Thin</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Doors - Best Of</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dovekins - Assemble the Aviary</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dr. Dog - Fate</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Elvis Presley - 30 #1 Hits</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Faces - Best Of</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">George Harrison - All Things Must Pass & Living in the Material World</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I Monster - Neveroddoreven</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jimi Hendrix - Experience Hendrix</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">John Coltrane - A Love Supreme</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature, Stay in the Shade, & Veneer</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Kinks - Best Of</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Led Zepplin - 4 & Mothership</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Lou Reed - Transformer</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mason Jennings - Blood of Man</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Miles Davis - Bitches Brew & Kind of Blue</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Neil Diamond - The Essential</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The O.C. Supertones - Supertones Strike Back</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Only Ones - Special View</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Paul McCartney - McCartney</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Psalters - Ch.7 Tour EP</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Relient K - Forget and Not Slow Down & Is For Karaoke EP</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Roger Miller - Best Of</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Rolling Stones - Greatest Hits</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness & Siamese Dream</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz & All Delighted People</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Underoath - Disambiguation</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Velvet Underground - Loaded & White Light/White Heat</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Verse - From Anger and Rage</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The W's - Fourth from the Last</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Wallace Collection - Laughing Cavalier & Serenade</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The White Stripes - Elephant, Icky Thump, White Blood Cells, The White Stripes</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Who - Ultimate Collection</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Woody Guthrie - Discography</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yann Tiersen - Dust Lane</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle & Greatest Hits</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Most Surprising Band: Akron/Family</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Favorite Album: Psalters Ch.7 Tour EP & Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Oldie but Goodie: Rolling Stones - Greatest Hits & Elvis Presley's 30 #1 Hits</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Most Disappointing: David Bazan - Strange Negotiations (needs more listening to)</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Most Listened to Band in the past 6 months: Fleet Foxes 475 listens</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Most Listened to Song in the past 6 months: Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues 106x</div>Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-90862820848049580532011-04-08T22:15:00.000-07:002011-04-08T22:15:59.118-07:00the thin red line (between heaven and hell)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/sites/default/files/The%20Thin%20Red%20Line%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/sites/default/files/The%20Thin%20Red%20Line%20cover.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><br />
this was the most beautiful and sad war movie i've ever seen. i haven't been moved like this by a movie in a long while. not only did it invoke a very touching and emotional story but it brought to mind key questions in a persons faith. last sunday i watched terrence malick's "days of heaven" and was impressed by the wonderful visuals but a little displeased with the story and editing; terrence took the same beauty and movement that he placed in "days of heaven" into "the thin red line" but this time he took a great story from james jones (writer of the novel, "the thin red line").<br />
<br />
the thing that really made this movie stand out from other war movies is how it didn't glorify war. so many movies show how great and powerful the american army is and how we persevered through extreme hardships to overcome "evil". it is usually glorified and applauded. both of my grandpa's served in wwii in the pacific; my grandpa leonard hackett ii was part of the squad that surveyed the destruction after we dropped the bomb on hiroshima and my grandpa dean burkhardt served in the navy. neither one ever talked about the war. war is not something that is to be reveled, it's a terrible event that people have had to endure.<br />
<br />
i can see where band of brothers came from with multiple characters that you grow attached too, learn to love and cry over when misfortune meets them. malick found a great balance of having many big named actors fill the scattered characters in this film. i honestly feel that each one was necessary to evoke the emotions, moral dilemmas, and character of the soldiers.<br />
<br />
saving private ryan came out the same year (1998) but you can see a stark difference in story and style between the two. i enjoy saving private ryan, a huge step in filmmaking but it is more for entertainment value than cognitive value (granted there are good things to learn and dwell about, such as with almost everything if you look hard enough). i'm not coming down on saving private ryan; they are two wwii films but on the opposite sides of the spectrums when it comes to filmmaking and storytelling.<br />
<br />
we are not immortal, we are very human. why do we hate our brothers and kill our fellow man? why do we let selfishness and greed consume our being and in some shape or form we attack others? what do we gain from this? God is love. we should be loving our neighbors as ourselves. we should be doing unto others like we would have them do unto us. more and more i flee from the thought that war is every good or needed. it's a tough subject but maybe if we start treating others like they are human beings and meeting our neighbors and extending a smile and a "hello" to a stranger on the street this anger/hate/jealousy/greediness/and sin would vanish from our beings and we can fill it with love. we need less of our ownselves and more goodness and love which comes from God.<br />
<br />
less of me and more of You.Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-10126459826528974052011-04-02T21:29:00.000-07:002011-04-02T21:29:51.592-07:00new musicaaron gillespie<br />
akron/family discography<br />
animal collective<br />
the animals<br />
beastie boys<br />
the cars<br />
cat power<br />
crosby, stills, & nash<br />
crosby, stills, nash, & young<br />
the doors<br />
elvis presley<br />
fleet foxes<br />
george harrison<br />
iron & wine<br />
john lennon<br />
johnny cash<br />
jose gonzalez<br />
local natives<br />
michael jackson<br />
miles davis<br />
neil diamond<br />
relient k<br />
roger miller<br />
sufjan stevens<br />
underoath<br />
the velvet underground<br />
woody guthrie discography<br />
yann tiersenAlex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-25503920831740368622011-03-25T07:18:00.000-07:002011-03-25T07:18:03.751-07:0025.03.11 ReviewsMovies: "The King's Speech", "The Fighter", "The Social Network", and "Garbage Warrior"<br />
<br />
Music: John Coltrane's "Love Supreme", Akron/Family's "Meek Warrior" and "P/T II: The Cosmic Birth & Journey of Shinju TNT"<br />
<br />
I am not going to talk too in depth about any of the movies except "Garbage Warrior" because you can find and read better reviews of the other movies. I just want to give some thoughts of my own to each.<br />
<br />
"The King's Speech" - By all means I do think that this movie deserved all the awards it won, especially Best Picture even though I really really enjoyed Aronofsky's "Black Swan". Right off the bat, Colin Firth did an amazing job bringing stuttering emotion into this film. The relationship between the king and the speech therapist displays many of the class issues that were prevalent during that time period which gave an outsider like myself (an American) more knowledge of the history of Great Britain. My favorite part of this movie is the wall in the speech therapist's office; not only is it just beautiful but there is so much texture and meaning in it. This is a gorgeous movie and the final speech brings goosebumps to me. It is such a powerful and much needed speech for the people of Great Britain and the insider's view of how Geoffrey Rush, the speech therapist, is right there practicing and mouthing the words is just wonderful.<br />
<br />
"The Fighter" - All I really want to say about this film is how great Christian Bale is, as usual. He plays Dicky, a once famous boxer who knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard and became a hometown hero but now his brother, Mark Wahlberg, is attempting to move up the rankings of the boxing world and Bale is his trainer but he is strung out on crack and there are other family issues with their mother who is their manager. I don't know how Bale does it but he continues to impress me with his various roles in movies: "American Psycho", "Batman" series (a bit of a stretch with that ultra deep voice), "I'm Not There", and "The Machinist". He is a talented actor and I enjoy how realistic he is in most of his roles. This is an entertaining movie but nothing great like the above mentioned movie.<br />
<br />
"The Social Network" - Two things impressed me with this movie and that is how great the editing is and how sad the story is. The way Fincher and Sorkin portrayed this story was amazing, just hopping back and forth from the college days of Zuckerberg while he creates Facebook and to the depositions is seamless and done very very well. Props to them as well as the editor. I say that the story is sad is because you see how much of the moral problems in today's society come out in each of the characters. Granted we all have our faults but it pains me to see good friends split because of conflict and how the pursuit of power and money consumes people. As much as we use Facebook (myself included), I don't want to help aid those issues and conflicts but I will have to admit that Zuckerberg is a very intelligent guy for creating this even if it wasn't his full idea but that is how things work sometimes.<br />
<br />
"Garbage Warrior" - This is the movie I want to talk the most about because it is more meaningful to myself and others, in my opinion. "Garbage Warrior" is the story of architect Michael Reynolds, creating sustainable houses in New Mexico. It is truly amazing how these unique structures can produce all the electricity you need (so no power line hookups or power company bills), catch all the rainwater and store it underneath your house so you don't need to drill a well or hook up to a cities water system, and rid your house of conventional air conditioner and heater with it's own heating and cooling system. You are completely off the grid of utility companies. These houses are constructed out of common goods we dispose of on a daily basis, glass bottles, cans, tires, and other materials. It is a creative and helpful way to own a home and have yourself be less dependent on utility companies as well as produce clean energy. Inside the houses they create greenhouse areas so you essentially don't have to leave your house because you have shelter, water, and food right there. So Reynolds has been creating these houses since the 70's and he was creating subdivisions where he would buy a plot of land and have a random drawing to see what plot of land people got and they just put down money for these houses and they all work on building each other's house creating a tight-knit community as well as showing each person what goes into their home. After some time, the government of New Mexico wasn't happy about these houses and decided to cause some trouble so Reynolds spend many years trying to pass a bill in New Mexico that would allow himself to build and sell sustainable houses to people under an experimental clause and after 2 failed attempts and countless hours of lobbying and revising the bill, it was passed! Between that time period, Reynolds and his crew went to some islands in India where the terrible earthquake and tsunami destroyed everything; all the wells were contaminated and people wanted something more safe, cheaper, and more sustainable so they built earth-ships there out of the above mentioned materials. They also went down to Mexico to build some of these houses too. There is a global problem with oil consumption, deforestation, too much waste, and just not using our resources wisely, so these sustainable houses are very helpful to help minimize these problems and if more people joined in we would put more money in our own pockets and be less dependent on utility companies and natural resources. I am going to look more into sustainable houses because I think this is a very smart and realistic option for homeowners. The whole documentary is available to watch on YouTube so please watch it.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/b1cUa4yWQp4" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
As for music, I just want to highlight how wonderful John Coltrane's "Love Supreme" album is. He is a gifted musician and the rhythm and flow is superb as well as its meaning behind the album. This is considered one of the best Jazz albums of all time and him and his band recorded this album all in one session. This album is in 4 parts - Acknowledgement, Resolution, Pursuance, and Psalm; it is a spiritual album representing the struggle with personal purity and how all the talents and gifts that one has is from our Creator. Take a listen to this album because it is very soothing.<br />
<br />
Also if you haven't listened to Akron/Family, you need to; their "Love is Simple" albums is my favorite but I just got a couple of their other albums and EVERY ONE is different, not kidding. They are very talented and are producing some really interesting and unique sounds.Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-69828716207152952372011-03-14T15:17:00.000-07:002011-03-14T15:17:07.798-07:00Great Documentariesi just finished watching two great documentaries: "Waiting for Superman" & "Exit Through the Gift Shop". i haven't seen the rest of the nominees for best documentary for the Oscars or even the one that won, but i would have to say that "Exit Through the Gift Shop" is unlike any documentary i've seen; with a glimpse of "I'm Still Here" i go back and forth on the validity of the film.<br />
<br />
to start with Banksy's "Exit Through the Gift Shop", i walked away feeling like a fool and murmuring to myself how big of an idiot thierry is, as well as how genius Banksy is. i thought it was going to be a documentary about Banksy which i was super excited for since, Banksy is amazingly talented; he decided to branch out and amaze us through a different medium. this film has such a huge statement on art and it's culture and it basically gives a big middle finger to all of them; to all the people who sell out and believe they are making art when they are using others to make art and/or just regurgitating previous works. what happened to originality? i struggle with this concept all the time, that is why i haven't made any films recently and struggle to breakout of my monotonous mold in photography. it's one thing to be inspired from others, but to blatantly rip off other people's work is lazy and lackluster. also if you make something, please think through and have a logical or at least an explanation that forms a cognitive sentence instead of "it is popular in culture" referencing thierry when he was interviewed about one of his art pieces. i am not sure if this is an adaptation off of mockumentary by staging a story and mocking the art community or if indeed this is a true story where thierry was in the right place at the right time and just got so consumed with fame and fortune that he decided to throw art out the window. i have had countless talks with friends about this movie and i keep coming back to Banksy and how he is a creative genius who loves to show you how stupid or meaningless aspects of life/culture/politics are. he got me, i'll be the first to admit it. this is a great film and continues to press the question onto the viewer, "is this art?"<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gsnX63KK2y0" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe> <br />
<br />
i finally got the chance to sit down and watch "Waiting for Superman" a documentary about our school system and the problems we have been facing and some examples of schools/students actually excelling. to start things off i want to admit that i'm not the best student, but a good one; i am not the smartest person out there and nor do i have the answers to fix the school system, political system, energy consumption issue, food industry, or any other large system/industry that has been tainted and causing our culture, country, world to spiral into a bad place. *side note* i hope that all of the viewers of these documentaries like "Waiting for Superman", "Food Inc.", "The Corporation", "No End in Sight", "No Impact Man", etc. don't just walk away from seeing these films and say i want to change something, then not do anything. i hope viewers are actually taking stake in these huge issues and taking them to heart, i know i am doing my part but need to be more involved. sorry for the rant. "Waiting for Superman" was really well made with good production value (unlike the scrappy camera work in "Exit Through the Gift Shop" but it shows you that you don't have to have a huge budget to have a great film, but a good story). you follow a handful of kids ranging in ages, financial status, and ethnic backgrounds in their current schools and where they are wanting/trying to get into due to a higher percentage of success in their education instead of funneling into a school with a nickname like "dropout factory". intermixed with the stories of these kids are two examples of schools that are thriving in their teaching and percentage of advancement of graduation and acceptance into colleges: Kipp L.A. Prep & Harlem Success Academy. it was said that lower income neighborhoods and schools were affecting each other to produce dumb kids, but this is not what Kipp L.A. Prep or Harlem Success Academy are showing us; they have started numerous schools in poor/crime filled/poor test score parts of cities and have shown that they are having success in teaching kids. the film brings up where the current school system is failing 1) guaranteeing teachers security through tenure even if they are poor teachers 2) the bureaucracy at a state/federal level as well as with the teachers' unions standing in the way of change 3) spending trillions of dollars on military and prisons when we should be spending it on equipping our youth with something useful and productive called knowledge. the things that make Kipp and Harlem schools a success are teachers actually qualified to teach, good pay to reward the teachers, longer school days, more specific tutoring for children, and college prep from day one. i really love Roger Ebert's closing statement about how to deal with the failure of our education system <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"</span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-size: 12px;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our nation is willing to spent trillions on war and billions to support the world's largest prison population rate. Here is my modest proposal: Spend less money on prisons and more money on education. Reduce our military burden and put that money into education. In 20 years, you would have more useful citizens, less crime and no less national security. It's so simple.</span></i></b></span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">" <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">go out and watch this documentary, share it with your friends and family, be invested and a part in your child's education, go to PTA meetings, meet with teachers, help your kid with homework, be a tutor, financially support a family wanting to put their kid in a better school, write your representatives to help change the education system. </span></span></i></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></span><br />
<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yFN0nf6Hqk0" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe></span></i></b>Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-51896456824048259032011-03-09T14:15:00.000-08:002011-03-09T14:15:14.780-08:0009.03.2011 reading. listening. watching. playing.reading: "finished jesus for president" by shane claiborne and starting "following the equator or more tramps abroad" by mark twain.<br />
<br />
listening: Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes, Fantastic Mr Fox OST, Akron Family Set Em Wild, Set Em Free, Refused "The Shape of Punk to Come", The Kinks "Ultimate Collection, Sufjan Steven's "All Delighted People" and "The Age of Adz", The Rolling Stones "Greatest Hits".<br />
<br />
watching: human planet series, have heart final show, continuing twin peaks. (on deck for movies: che pt.1 & pt. 2, kings speech, exit through the gift shop, and waiting for superman)<br />
<br />
playing: age of empires iii and sudoku<br />
<br />
it's been a long time since i updated this blog but hope to keep up with it. i will start off going backwards on my list. so recently i have been playing, in my free time, age of empires iii which has been a nice relaxing distraction at nights to just start building and conquering. i have also been enhancing my brain with countless sudoku games.<br />
<br />
i have started watching bbc's human planet series and have only watch the first two episodes and i have a few things to say about this series: 1) it has been difficult for me to get my brain around the fact that it is about people since as people, we relate the most with other people so seeing a series about people instead of nature or animals it's more of a personal connection. 2) going off of number one, it is weird to see these cultures all over the world wearing nike shirts, yankees hats, etc. just one of those things that i don't want to see, i want to see people wearing clothes that they traditionally wear or something non-american. 3) bbc is trying something new here in dealing with subtitles and i applaud their new direction but there are a couple parts that i don't enjoy about it when certain texts pulse out towards you to emphasize but i really enjoy the placements of them, more on the eye line than at the bottom of the screen. <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2HiUMlOz4UQ" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
I recently watched Have Heart's final show as a band on youtube which it is a 7 part video show and it is amazing! if you love hardcore music and you haven't heard of Have Heart, please please please check them out, they are great. I sadly never got to see them perform so this was quite the treat for me and it is made really well with good camera shots (even though the shots get a little repetitive at times but it's a hardcore show) and pretty decent audio. Just seeing and hearing the band play with smiles and talk about some of their songs and beliefs are awesome! it gave me goosebumps. *WARNING* may contain adult language. <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fXedxfqzC4I" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
when i finish twin peaks i will do a write up on it but i am close to finishing it. having my new laptop i am able to now watch movies so the movies on deck will be watched soon and talked about.<br />
<br />
as for music, i want to highlight just a couple. fleet foxes came out with a great album and ep and i have been really hesitant about their new album but their release of "helplessness blues" has reconfirmed to me how talented and wonderful they are with the gift of music. please take a listen on their facebook. i enjoy every soundtrack for wes anderson's movies and i finally got fantastic mr fox and yes i like it. the other new music i want to talk about is refused's "the shape of punk to come", i need to give it more of a listen but the title is very bold to say that this new album will change the shape of punk for the future is bold but spot on. they do a great job at taking punk hardcore to a new level. *warning* adult language. they know how to rock.<br />
<br />
i want to talk more about shane claiborne's "jesus for president" which i just finished reading. this is my first book i have read by mr claiborne and i really enjoy his presentation with lots of pictures, clippings, Bible verses, quotes, and what-not. he goes through the first section to talk about the old testament and explain a lot of the stories and traditions so common people like myself can understand what and why the israelites were doing the things they were doing. put a lot of good things into perspective. this book basically was to remind christians that we aren't not trying to make the government like jesus, but we ourselves need to be like jesus and live out the commands and practices of christ. my thoughts, after reading this, about pacifism and violence has changed drastically and i have been trying to put them into practice even with my competitive and aggressive personality. shane challenges us to be creative with our ways of rebelling against government or politics and to be involved not to just get in a thought process that nothing can be changed when we can help people who are hungry by giving them food, or people without clothes to clothe them. we need to get out mind out of the stagnant thinking that the government needs to be christian, granted it would be helpful but politics are a confusing, messy, and difficult place to participate in. christ wants us to be political! the book is broken up into sections and a section that i really enjoyed is entitled "when the empire got baptized", it goes all the way back to the early church and to the present. it shows just how messed up things get when politics and religion get mixed, granted in high school i learned that it was a great thing when constantine made christianity the official religion or when explorers came to the new world with "missionaries" using their "religion" to exploit people and their resources or use religion to start wars. christianity and christ's teachings call us to love one another and to turn the other cheek, looking back at history (and i use history loosely since we can even look back a few years) and see how we have declared wars in the name of God and christianity. it is truly sad. the last section is inspiring sharing stories of people who have and/or are living out the christian political imagination. we can start right now, in the town/cities we are in right now, with the jobs we have right now. we need to get creative. we need to keep following christ's example. we need to be active.Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-61633901458805664762010-03-30T23:57:00.000-07:002010-03-30T23:57:58.820-07:00Jonsi's new solo albumits been awhile as stained would say but i am posting this great player to listen to Jonsi's new album in full before it's released! it is pretty dang awesome. he is the front man for icelandic, sigur ros. give it a listen, you won't regret it. it is called "Go"<br />
<br />
<embed src="http://www.npr.org/v2/?i=125217376&m=125201900&t=audio" height="386" wmode="opaque" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" base="http://www.npr.org" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-51048257793810223292010-02-12T13:43:00.000-08:002010-02-12T13:43:42.920-08:00internet piracy, israeli animation, pond hockey and the doors meets phishMovie:<br />
"Steal This Film" -<br />
I just watched an interesting documentary on internet piracy the other day; as I mentioned in a previous post, Hulu has some real great documentaries. It is pro piracy and has a lot of interviews by the guys from Pirate Bay, Bittorrent, lawyers, and intellectual attorneys. Our American media has been portraying this piracy as super negative and something that needs to stop, BUT there have been a lot of other products in the past that the music, movie, and even book industries have been opposed of and have considered them just as illegal as internet piracy. Such examples are the VHS recorder, mobile printing presses, and mp3 players just to name a few! If you are interested you can find the film on hulu at <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/107001/steal-this-film">Steal This Film</a>.<br />
<br />
"Waltz with Bashir" - <br />
Last night a group of us watched "Waltz with Bashir" which is an Israeli animated documentary film about the 1982 Lebanon War. This film was gorgeous! It won a ton of awards including a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film. I didn't know much about the Lebanon War, but this was a really interesting and sad story of a soldier trying to remember the war so he was going around and interviewing his fellow soldiers to try and piece together what he encountered during the war. I recommend that you check out the trailer below.<br />
<br />
<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ylzO9vbEpPg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ylzO9vbEpPg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br />
<br />
"Pond Hockey" -<br />
Another documentary that I watched on Hulu was <a href="http://http://www.hulu.com/watch/118204/pond-hockey">Pond Hockey</a>. If you are interested in hockey, roller hockey, or ice hockey you should check this out. Its a fun film that is basically in 2 parts but intertwined: one part is about the history of pond hockey and how the youth of today aren't getting the real sense of the game by playing structured hockey in indoor rinks and how pond hockey really gives kids the freedom to try new moves and perfect their skills and the second part is about the 2005 U.S. Pond Hockey Championship in Minneapolis, Minnesota and they follow a couple of teams through the tournament. Just a fun and interesting documentary if you enjoy hockey. Please check it out. <br />
<br />
Music: <br />
I just started listening to Devendra Banhart's "Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon". Phil introduced it to me by having me listen to "Seahorse" which is my favorite song off that album. The whole album is great, a really nice and unique Venezuelan-esque sound. Devendra's voice is soothing and he sings both in Spanish and English which is a nice mix. Back to "Seahorse", they really jam hard in it and I love it so check it out please!<br />
<br />
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XWOczlJYVDs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XWOczlJYVDs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-49648061026270975602010-01-22T14:37:00.000-08:002010-01-22T14:37:13.056-08:00want to watch some documentaries?if you are interested in documentaries then you should check out <a href="http://www.hulu.com/documentaries">Hulu's</a> collection; i was really surprised that i never checked there.<br />
<br />
i watched one called "Lemonade" which was short, like 35 minutes, about advertisers, graphic designers, and other talented people who got laid off from different companies and made a realization that this was the time to do something they've always wanted to do. just a really neat and inspiring documentary that found the good amongst the negative. if life gives you lemons, make lemonade.<br />
<br />
some other docs that i have seen or am planning on watching from Hulu are: "Google Me" (a guy googles his name then goes and interviews the people with his same name and hangs out with them), "The Corporation" (previously talked about), "Future of Food", "Super Size Me", "Pond Hockey" (super excited to watch this one), "MacHeads" (which talks about Apple computers and their fan club), "Steal This Film" (another one i'm excited to see which is about piracy), and "Confessions of a Superhero".<br />
<br />
So check em out, they're FREE!Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-29437056130863931112010-01-20T22:33:00.000-08:002010-01-22T14:37:33.301-08:00a bit behindso i got real busy and haven't written about anything for awhile so here is a condensed post...<br />
<br />
Movies:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.tribute.ca/tribute_objects/images/movies/Up_in_the_Air/UpInTheAir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.tribute.ca/tribute_objects/images/movies/Up_in_the_Air/UpInTheAir.jpg" width="134" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I enjoyed this flick, some gorgeous aerial shots, a unique story, and George Clooney is superb. If you like Juno or Thank You for Smoking please go see this. It's pretty darn funny too. Sad to see this film so overlooked by crap like "Avatar".<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hellocoolstuff.com/prodimg/normal/152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.hellocoolstuff.com/prodimg/normal/152.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">This is a documentary on Burning Man and it was good since I knew nothing about it. It is definitely something I want to partake in once in my life. If you love craziness, check this out.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sangredesyringa.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/noend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://sangredesyringa.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/noend.jpg" width="131" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This documentary about how we got into the war in Iraq is great and sad. Sad to see how our government dropped the ball and how many have suffered from it. Please watch this, it's very well done.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Moon-Sam-Rockwell-movie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Moon-Sam-Rockwell-movie.jpg" width="135" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Awesome movie. I almost stopped right there but then thought it'd be a disservice to Sam Rockwell; he did a fantastic job. This is also the first film for director, Duncan Jones, he did a great job; interested to see what he comes up with next. A nice and unique story as well as simplistic. Basically about an astronaut who is harvesting moon rocks starts seeing himself around his moon base. <br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
Books:<br />
Life of Pi - This was a very fun to read book and something different from what I thought it'd be about, but I liked where it went. Basically an Indian boy gets in a shipwreck from India to Canada and is on a life boat with a tiger. Martel, the author, does a great job keeping the story interesting even though its just a boy and a tiger on a boat! come on people, this is good stuff. love the ending.<br />
<br />
The Stranger - Just started this short book by Alexander Camus; my friend Chris just handed it to me the other day and I'm already half way done. Different writing style than what I'm used to, a bit choppy, but it fits really well with the story. Basically its about a guy who winds up murdering someone, so we'll see what happens....<br />
<br />
Music:<br />
Have Heart "Songs to Scream at the Sun" - Just another great album by Have Heart. <span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">"Songs to Scream at the Sun is the coming of age story. It's about the growing process of a young kid shaking the chains of selfishness, but it's everything about what you lose and gain in that process of growing up." <span style="line-height: 12px;">—<cite style="font-size: 10px; font-style: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">Patrick Flynn (vocals for Have Heart) <span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">This says it all! "The Same Sun" is my fav, and the fav of so many others.</span></cite></span></span><br />
<br />
Defiance, Ohio "The Great Depression" - A band I heard from Evan. A peppy punk rock band who sings a lot about anti-capitalism. The first four songs on the album are really great check em out! you can download their music for FREE: <a href="http://defianceohio.terrorware.com/audio.php">Defiance, Ohio</a><br />
<br />
Pedro the Lion "Control" - David Bazan's former band. Just great songs, definitely one of his best albums. Please take a listen.Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-80770766886722435792010-01-04T11:04:00.000-08:002010-01-04T11:04:56.674-08:00IMAX Everest & Into Thin Air<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://doxxa.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/into-thin-air.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://doxxa.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/into-thin-air.jpg" width="221" /></a><br />
</div>A couple of months ago I read John Krakauer's book, <i>Into Thin Air</i>, which is the account of the worst disaster on Everest. I love Krakauer and I think he's a very talented writer; this was especially crazy because he was up there, not writing second hand like <i>Into the Wild</i> or his latest book, <i>Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. </i>This is a crazy book and such a tragic story about how 8 climbers were killed and a handful were trapped on the top of Everest because of a storm. Krakauer does a great job in connecting you with all the people and parties up on the mountain, there were several including an IMAX film crew. I believe he told the sequences of events in a very acceptable manner and in a riveting way; I didn't want to go to sleep because I wanted to keep reading. He really went into detail about their journey to the base camp of Everest and to the other three camps and what they had to pass through to get there. After reading this fantastic book, I wanted to see the film the IMAX crew shot up there wondering if it would have any footage of Rob Hall and his expedition; so I Netflixed it (funny that that is a word now) and watched it.<br />
<br />
I didn't expect much of the IMAX Everest film to be about the tragedy but I expected there to be much more than what it was. The film was only 44 minutes, granted it is an IMAX film so its not supposed to be a full feature film BUT still, I know they had tons of other footage they didn't put in to it because when I watched the special features on how they made the film (which is pretty awesome) they showed some shots not in the movie. The special features was 34 minutes long, with basically the same shots from the film, which was kinda too bad. Nonetheless the feat of hauling all that equipment and the camera and film etc. to the top of the world, is a tremendous accomplishment. I will say I wasn't shocked or had my jaw drop when I watched it, like I expected but it was still impressive but the commentary from the climbers was shoddy at best. I guess seeing it in the IMAX would've been better and maybe if I saw it in the mid-90's when it was made would've impressed me more. I think <i>Planet Earth</i> has spoiled us all. So if you read <i>Into Thin Air</i> and was wondering about the IMAX movie, don't, it's not much to watch.Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-39639031607734511972010-01-04T10:47:00.000-08:002010-01-04T10:47:41.611-08:00This Film is Not Yet Rated<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://kalafudra.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/this_film_is_not_yet_rated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://kalafudra.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/this_film_is_not_yet_rated.jpg" width="216" /></a><br />
</div>Finally watched this documentary which addresses the Motion Pictures Associations of America, basically the rating system for movies. It wasn't what I expected, but it was interesting. I don't feel like it did much good besides expose who is on the viewing committee and the appeals committee, which mainly helps filmmakers. It is interesting to kind of see what they rate movies on, but they aren't really specific about it which I can see how that would be frustrating. I will say that our ratings system is not at its best but I'm not sure how or what they should do to change it; I don't think you should be allowed to put whatever you want in a movie and expect an R rating, there needs to be guidelines and criteria for filmmakers. Its hard to not limit the filmmaker but we have to draw a line between what is acceptable. This documentary is rated a NC-17 so beware of that. It isn't necessary to watch but it is a bit interesting. So there's my two cents on that.Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-49187370185226860342009-12-31T10:24:00.000-08:002009-12-31T10:24:59.256-08:00Empty Heartfor the past 2 new years eve, i have listened to Josh Ritter's "Empty Heart" off his album "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter". it's main line is "don't let me into this year with an empty heart" and this is something i strive for every year. i hope to have a heart full of love to carry over into a new year; having an empty heart is just really sad. so i hope for this new year that you have a heart full of love to carry over into 2010; don't be afraid to share it with others. take a listen and if you want to follow along, here are the <a href="http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/j/josh_ritter/empty_hearts.html">lyrics</a>. (sorry i couldn't find a better video with good audio)<br />
<br />
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4z1g8oLm-48&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4z1g8oLm-48&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
<br />
if you haven't heard of josh ritter or listened to this album, please, please, please go out and buy it. he is amazing. one of my favorites. he's from moscow, idaho so that's pretty neat too.<br />
<br />
happy new year. hope this next year is full of love, peace, and patience.Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-19716845907603894212009-12-29T20:45:00.000-08:002009-12-29T20:45:21.150-08:00Thee Silver Mt. Zion and the Tra la la la Bandmy friend evan introduced me to Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra and the Tra la la la Band who are associated with another favorite band of mine, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, which is an instrumental band that incorporates various recordings into their songs i.e. speeches and train sounds. Silver Mt. Zion came about because Efrim Menuck, guitarist for Godspeed, wanted to learn music theory and how to score music. its a very similar sound to Godspeed but has its own unique flavor too; there is singing involved and the lyrics are very great. just some very different songs but i thoroughly enjoy them all off of their album, "Horses in the Sky". <br />
<br />
my favorite song is "God bless our dead marines" especially two parts, halfway through and the very end. very catchy tunes and lyrics that i just really enjoy. the lyrics that i really love are:<br />
<br />
"Lost a friend to cocaine <br />
Couple friends to smack <br />
Troubled hearts map deserts <br />
And they rarely do come back <br />
Lost a friend to oceans <br />
Lost a friend to hills <br />
Lost a friend to suicide <br />
Lost a friend to pills <br />
Lost a friend to monsters <br />
Lost a friend to shame <br />
Lost a friend to marriage <br />
Lost a friend to blame <br />
Lost a friend to worry and<br />
Lost a friend to wealth <br />
Lost a friend to stubborn pride <br />
And then i lost myself "<br />
<br />
the lyrics are so true. a lot of old friends of mine fit into those categories and some are in the military. i think this song speaks a lot about how messed up our world is with greed, corruption, war, dependence on oil, drugs, hate; basically sin. luckily there is hope in Jesus to save this crazy world. the round at the end is just beautiful. take a listen to this song and check out their albums. enjoy. <br />
<br />
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hq9Ug2GsGus&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hq9Ug2GsGus&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-51854573769012849532009-12-29T14:21:00.000-08:002009-12-29T14:21:43.657-08:00Who Killed the Electric Car?<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nsJAlrYjGz8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nsJAlrYjGz8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
<br />
today everyone seems to be thinking green but in the mid 90's there was already an electric car that could go a good distance in a day, run off battery power, produce no emissions, and still look like a fun car to drive so what happened to them...? in the documentary, "who killed the electric car?", they go through the events of the creation, test trials, and then destruction of these energy efficient cars. it was a very informative movie and done very well. its sad to see a great product get striped off the market because of big oil and the lack of actual power from the government. <br />
<br />
(this is a tangent) of course there is oil left in the middle east, northern alaska, probably the dakotas, canada, and south america, but does that mean we need to use it like we've been doing for a hundred or so years? now we have all this talk on green technology, eco-friendly this, and environmentally sound that, and now the products are rolling out; don't be deceived by the advertisements because now everybody and their dog wants to be on this bandwagon. ok back to the movie, sorry.<br />
<br />
its a good flick and i recommend it to all. check out the trailer and see what we could've been driving 15-20 years ago.Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-76647358739762921122009-12-28T10:30:00.000-08:002009-12-28T10:30:11.638-08:00Aesop's Fables<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/%7Emshell/fox%20and%20crow%20aesop.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/%7Emshell/fox%20and%20crow%20aesop.gif" width="320" /></a><br />
</div>over this christmas time, i got the opportunity to finally read a book that i've been wanting to read for a long time and finally got around to it. Aesop's Fables is something i think everyone needs to read; the lessons are applicable now, way back when, and will be into the future. these short short stories anthropomorphize animals, trees, the sun, the moon to reveal the life lessons we all need to be reminded of and/or learn about. i actually found this book online for free at the <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page">Gutenberg Project</a> and put it on my iphone and am going to keep trying to find short stories to put on their so i can read without bringing a book, but not planning on reading anything long on the phone. i recommend you check out that site, i think it might have audio books too for free; people record themselves reading books and put it up for free download, help with commuting or if you like to exercise and can't run reading a book! moving on....<br />
<br />
here are some lessons from Aesop's that i really liked:<br />
- Self-conceit may lead to self-destruction.<br />
- Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.<br />
- It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.<br />
- Destroy the seed of evil, or it will grow up to your ruin.<br />
- Gratitude and greed go not together.<br />
- Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.<br />
- Nothing escapes the master’s eye.<br />
- Men often applaud an imitation and hiss the real thing.Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-38089063339118165492009-12-21T18:38:00.000-08:002009-12-21T18:38:20.001-08:00The Road<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://thephoenix.com/blogs/blogs/outsidetheframe/the-road.jpgcart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://thephoenix.com/blogs/blogs/outsidetheframe/the-road.jpgcart.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
</div><br />
Cormac McCarthy's newest book adapted to movie is "The Road"; a post-apacolyptic journey of a father and son to the coast. i read the book sometime last year and have been very anxious to see the movie. just a great and unique way of portraying a relationship between a father and son. this was director, john hillcoat's, first big movie in my eyes and i thought he did a good job. the look of the movie was well done with just a couple of CG shots of destruction/abandonment but it was tastefully done. viggo mortensen did a great job physically and actorally (if that's even a word); his body was skinny and haggard. the little boy on the other hand could have been better, but he wasn't terrible. its hard for little kids to act in a serious role, especially if its a more main role. the movie stayed fairly close to the book, but this book was written in such a way that it couldn't have captured the same feeling in the movie; that was one of the main reasons why i wanted to watch it. the story is very vague in every aspect about what has happened to earth or america and who are these people and where they are actually going but i like the vagueness of it all. our minds are very powerful things and leaving ideas to float through our minds is better than telling us something to just fulfill our want of knowing. kinda confusing but most scary parts in movies are due to the unknowing because our minds can think of and give us a feeling that is more scary than what hollywood can conjure up; take m. night shyamalan<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: 13px;">'s</span></span> "signs" for example, it was a decently scary movie right up until they showed the alien and then it just got ridiculously lame. shouldn't have shown us that alien m. night. hopefully you learned your lesson. so if you're reading the book, go see the movie and if you haven't read the book, go read it.Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-86631102903488234482009-12-20T13:03:00.000-08:002009-12-20T13:04:45.923-08:00Food Inc.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/features/food/restaurants/blog/food-inc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/features/food/restaurants/blog/food-inc.jpg" width="216" /></a><br />
</div>i have been watching a lot of documentaries lately, not sure exactly why, but i am enjoying it. probably because they are about real events or issues that we need to know about. one that has been an issue for me lately is food; we need food to live and the food industry seems to be changing lately due to the fact that they want to portray being organic or homegrown. Food Inc. is an awesome doc about the meat industry; where our beef, chicken, and pork come from and how we are being deceived as consumers. there is also some interesting information about crop growing as well. the issues that this movie talks about mainly is factory farming; not the good ol fashioned farming we see on packaging and labels or what farming used to be like but massive factories that allow animals to wallow in their own waste and in unhealthy conditions to wait to be slaughtered. chickens are housed in a huge building where they are never allowed to see the sun and these enhanced chickens are pumped with so much growth hormones their bodies can't work properly; they can only take a few steps because their legs can't support themselves. foodborne illnesses are also a big concern in this movie, because of these factory farming practices and lots of people are getting sick and dying from these meats. it scares me to think that we are eating and drinking food from cloned animals too! i don't think we know the full scope on cloned animals and why in the world are we eating/drinking from them? just plain scary. these are some of the main issues talked about in Food Inc.<br />
<br />
its hard to eat healthy; its expensive; society doesn't want us to eat healthy, they want us to eat processed foods and fast foods because they can make more of a profit from it. i want to eat healthy and i know lots of other people do to but its just so hard financially. its so easy to go to mcdonalds and order off the dollar menu instead of buying fruits and vegetables and organic foods from the store; that all adds up! this is something that has been on my mind a lot and have been trying to figure out how i can change my eating habits to more healthy alternatives. i highly recommend this film and i hope that companies hear the consumers that we want healthy and cheap food; we control the food industries, if we don't buy foods, they won't make them, if we buy certain foods, they'll produce more of it. check out the trailer here:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; white-space: pre;"><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c2sgaO44_1c&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c2sgaO44_1c&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></span>Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-85128651187585857562009-12-20T12:43:00.000-08:002009-12-20T12:43:17.267-08:00The Cove<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img1.wantitall.co.za/images/ShowImage.aspx?ImageId=The-Cove%7C51WduJTJxWL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://img1.wantitall.co.za/images/ShowImage.aspx?ImageId=The-Cove%7C51WduJTJxWL.jpg" width="225" /></a><br />
</div>watched a very interesting and well done documentary called "The Cove" which is about this private cove in Japan that herds dolphins in and they select the "good" ones and they sell them to attractions such as Sea World, zoos, and other tourist opportunities then they take the rest of the dolphins and kill them. i never heard about this and didn't think that it sounded real bad until i watched this film. first off i will say that this is really well done, they definitely put some money into it. it was so crazy to see how secretive, rude, crazy this cove and the fisherman/etc. are. the area where they select the "good" dolphins is a public area but you are not allowed to take pictures or videos, there are police/fisherman people there at all times dressed as civilians to get in front of your cameras, to tell you to turn them off, and who blatantly yell in your face to not document it. then they take the bad dolphins to this secluded cove and just murder them. they say they sell the dolphin meat in Japan since it is a cultural food, but its not! and dolphin meat has high amounts of mercury in it, way more than health regulations allow! its something ridiculous like 5,000 times the safety amount of mercury, so they label the dolphin meat as whale meat which is something the Japanese eat. they are being lied to. its just sad to see these animals exploited and killed in such an inhumane way and how Japan doesn't see a problem with it. this isn't just about dolphins but about whales too, Japan has been paying off small economically hurting countries to have them help support their whaling and dolphin agendas.<br />
<br />
i am real concerned because we need to treat our animals and resources wisely and Japan isn't doing that, heck America isn't doing that, China isn't doing that, India isn't doing that. i am no activist or real green person but i know what is right and wrong and we need to start taking care of our resources. also, i don't like it that countries, political people, or people of authority lying and deceiving the general public to help their own selves. its sad to see people look after themselves rather than looking to help others. if you're interested in knowing more about the movie, check out their site: <a href="http://www.thecovemovie.com/home.htm">The Cove</a>Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-64599838901229767282009-12-19T13:12:00.000-08:002009-12-19T13:12:32.384-08:00Songs of Christmas<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; white-space: pre;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5gKzXlqsOeE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5gKzXlqsOeE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10px; white-space: pre;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10px; white-space: pre;">tis the season for Christmas music. we all love the classics like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Adam Sandler, and that guy who sings Feliz Navidad. but seriously, Sufjan Stevens came out with 5 Christmas albums entitled "Songs of Christmas". they are very delightful. Sufjan is a very talented young man and he has such a unique sound that will have you wanting more. i truly believe every family needs these albums and i already consider them Christmas classics. some favorite songs of mine are: "it's Christmas! let's be glad!", "come thou fount", "that was the worst Christmas ever", and "put the lights on the tree". all the other regular Christmas songs are on there too so don't you fret. give them a listen and please get them to complete this holiday season. </span></span>Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-43227880603816614432009-12-19T12:30:00.000-08:002009-12-19T12:30:06.417-08:00Helvetica<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://davidswanson.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/helvetica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://davidswanson.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/helvetica.jpg" width="217" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>today i watched a documentary on typefaces, in particular, Helvetica. it is used everywhere. we see it more so than we actually know. they talked about how the font came about, the Swiss, and compared it to other fonts. i don't know much about typefaces but its something i've always been interested in. at work choosing a good looking font is important in website designs and titles for videos. i am trying to further understand the usage and what to look for in a font. this doc was a little dry but what would you expect when its dealing with a font but it was still good to watch. if you are interested in graphic design, layout, typfaces, etc. you should check this out. <br />
<br />
if you are also interested in looking at other fonts we use two sites at work to look for fonts to use for projects: <a href="http://www.dafont.com/">DaFont</a> and <a href="http://www.urbanfonts.com/">UrbanFonts</a>Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-24864845280359134092009-12-19T12:03:00.000-08:002009-12-19T12:03:05.656-08:00It Might Get Loud<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://greatsouthernbrainfart.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/2009_it_might_get_loud_002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://greatsouthernbrainfart.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/2009_it_might_get_loud_002.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<br />
last night phil and joey came over and we were hanging out and phil was talking about this documentary called "It Might Get Loud". the doc gets together jimmy page from led zepplin, the edge from u2, and jack white from the white stripes and they talk about the guitar and their influences, how they got started, their technique and ideas about playing music. it is so awesome! i can't stress this enough; watching all three of these great musicians play together and share in their lives was truly enjoyable. the opening titles are very cool as well, that is one thing that caught my attention. to be honest i can't stand u2, i just don't enjoy their music and mainly i can't stand bono, but even if you are not into their music you have to recognize talent and the edge is very talented in getting the sound he has in his head to come out the way he wants. the edge focuses mainly on effects and pedals for his guitar playing while in contrast, jack white likes to keep the sound true. i am going to start listening to the white stripes after watching this because of how talented and gifted jack white is. he shared his favorite song ever which was on a vinyl of a blues musician clapping and singing, that's it. no guitar. no bass. no drums. was so simple and basic and that is something that jack has been striving to get across in his music. jimmy page is just great. there's not much i can say about him because his talent is just fantastic. he is kind of in the middle ground with effects and simple music in his playing. if you love music, enjoy any of these bands, play guitar, want to play the guitar, or just want to watch a sweet documentary then you should look it up on Netflix of on Youtube; Youtube has the movie broken down into 10 parts to watch. it won't let me embed the first part but follow the link if you are interested: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9gVfCQTQg8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9gVfCQTQg8</a><br />
<br />
*favorite part of the movie was the first time jimmy page played for jack and the edge. the smiles on both their faces were just classic; this was someone they grew up listening to and admiring and they were finally getting to see/hear him play. they looked like little kids seeing a childhood hero. so great!Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-15249977542219163472009-12-19T11:45:00.000-08:002009-12-19T11:45:20.807-08:00Lars and the Real Girl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thecinemasource.com/moviesdb/images/Lars_and_the_Real_Girl_DVD-Ryan_Gosling-Emily_Mortimer-Patricia_Clarkson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.thecinemasource.com/moviesdb/images/Lars_and_the_Real_Girl_DVD-Ryan_Gosling-Emily_Mortimer-Patricia_Clarkson.jpg" width="225" /></a><br />
</div><br />
one evening this week i finally got to watch "Lars and the Real Girl" which i have been wanting to watch for sometime now. the main thing i walked away feeling was how uncomfortable i was during the whole movie. made me cringe a lot of times because of how weird or ridiculous some of the situations Lars put people in with his doll, Bianca. i will say that Ryan Gosling did a great job acting in this; so hard for even actors/actresses to play off of other people, but carrying whole dramatic scenes with a doll is impressive. it had some funny parts too and it just reminded me more and more of a documentary that my friend, nate, showed me a couple years ago called "Guys and Dolls" which talks about people who have these dolls and how they treat them like real people. its a very interesting documentary with some real funny parts and just some plain sad parts too. crazy to see people who have gotten to the point where real people are hard to come in contact with so they have multiple dolls in their lives. if you are interested to watch the documentary, i have attached it here free from Google Videos.<br />
<br />
<embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-7277801797935788405&hl=en&fs=true" style="height: 326px; width: 400px;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-12776840000528588102009-12-19T11:37:00.000-08:002009-12-19T11:37:05.186-08:00Avatar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.daemonsmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/avatar_poster2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://media.daemonsmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/avatar_poster2.jpg" width="216" /></a><br />
</div>on friday for my company christmas party we went to a place called Tucanos, which is a brazillian all you can eat grill, its pretty awesome and then we went to go see James Cameron's new film, Avatar. people have asked me how it was and the only way i can describe it is by saying this, "its like watching george lucas recreate Star Wars Return of the Jedi in a Star Wars Episode II fashion. terrible dialogue, saturated with CG (some good but most was lame), and a story that just seemed to drag on." we watched it in 3D and the one thing i will say about that is that the use of depth and space was used very well. it certainly gave you that perception which i enjoyed. its sad to see a movie with such a large budget to have have a story that lacks anything interesting and then gets completely ridiculous in the end; also when sigourney weaver is your biggest name in that movie, you know you're in trouble. this movie will probably do well anyway because the majority of moviegoers are idiots, sad to say that, but its true. i will applaud Cameron of thinking up this story, because my mind doesn't think that crazily.Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271176321822662269.post-60377816256239091842009-12-17T16:46:00.000-08:002009-12-17T16:46:20.603-08:00Life of Pii am currently reading "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel; i am only 60 some pages into it but i am really enjoying it. this little boy named Pi, Piscine, is very interested in Muslim, Hindu, and Christianity and he is the son of a zookeeper. that is the gist of it right now, but i know he will be shipwrecked with some animals in the ocean. its very cool to hear Pi learn about these new religions. but this is what i am currently reading. here's a pic of the cover:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sd68.k12.il.us/schools/orchard/LMC/pi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.sd68.k12.il.us/schools/orchard/LMC/pi.jpg" width="216" /></a><br />
</div>Alex Hacketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12741452946363955869noreply@blogger.com0