Happy Hump Day!

It's Tuesday. Time To Party!

Me. This Morning.

Big announcement coming soon. Or... well... in a few weeks :)

In the meantime, here's a photoblog post of me trying to wake up this morning. I swear, if H. would've let me sleep for those extra 10 minutes, the day would've been so much better!

Today I'm working on a project for a local non-profit, then later tonight I'm going to make flash cards to study for Thursday's copy editing quiz. It feels like I have so much to do, and not enough time to do it!

Anyways... here I am, this morning, trying to wake up.

New Rammstein Video: Porn-tastic or CGI'ed?

Here's the new Rammstein video. Be warned, it's definitely not suitable for work.

H. woke me up this morning to explain the video to me. He said:

"they're, like, actually naked, and fucking these porn stars, and at the end they all come, and stuff shoots out, and..."

Granted, I was still asleep when he was telling me this, and shrugged it off. But when I got up, he'd left it open for me on the computer (thanks hun). So of course I watched it. And... wow. Okay. I can see the point making a video like this, especially if you're a metal band, because the target audience is teenage (and formerly teenage) boys. I've got no problems with that (well no, I DO, but I'll save those for another time). The issue for me is whether or not the band is actually having sex with these women, actually showing their dicks on camera. Because if they are, well, that's kinda gross. I can't believe that the band would be comfortable enough to actually have sex in a music video (how many people are? Oh, except this guy, I guess...), but more than that, I can't believe they think people want to WATCH that. Didn't we learn anything from the Gene Simmons sex tape, people?
So I'm of the belief they used prop dicks (and a couple of stunt men). And this is why:

1. The dicks look kinda... silicone-y.
   
2. The dicks were all proportioned. Come on people, we know that doesn't happen in real life.
   
3. None of them are wearing condoms. Irresponsible!
   

But what do you think? Is it real or fake?

This is the way fan videos should be done

Here's the video:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mishmashed/animated-fan-video-two-weeks-by-grizzly-bear-pku

And here's what the filmmaker, Gabe Askew, had to say about it: (from VRay):

"...over the years the industry in America, especially lately, has largely succumbed to impossibly small budgets that simply don't allow for work that one can be proud of (....) This has really drained me creatively and so early in this year I told myself, I have got to do something that is purely my own and is up to my standards. I chose the song "Two Weeks" by my favorite band Grizzly Bear because it inspired me."

I totally agree. In the beginning, music videos were an art form. They were beautiful and innovative and exciting. Now, it feels like music videos are nothing but extended commercials. And some songs (I'm not pointing any fingers here...) are not much more than commercials either. So when a song inspires an artist to create something beautiful, it's a moment to remember.

This guy deserves all the kudos we can give him. He did a fantastic job.... and he did it because, as an artist, he felt like he HAD to. This video is an inspiration.

Weddings, weddings, and more weddings

...actually, there's only one wedding, but it feels like three :)
So I'm not the type to apologize for a long absence (just ask my family - I don't talk to anyone on a regular basis), but I feel like you're owed an explanation. I've been away, but I'm working on stuff. Here's a list of what I'm doing, so you don't feel like I'm snubbing you:

• Like I say, people are getting married on Saturday. I made one of those "baby picture" videos for the bride and groom, I'm giving a speech, and.. on top of all that... I made a dress. I MADE A DRESS. It kind of looks like this one, although not exactly,
• School started last week, so I'm back wandering the grey, badly-painted halls of academia. I'm taking copy editing (to get over my fear of "grammar"), non fiction workshop (to make my writing more "transcendent"), and something called "Overcoming the Past in German Film". Don't know if I'll be staying in the last one.
  
• I'm working with a local non-profit group. I'm doing a research project on blogging and social marketing. It's very interesting... but takes a lot of time.
  

Soon, my pretties, I'll be back to my blogging self. And soon, hopefully, I'll have a(nother) new blog up and ready for your comments. I'm thinking something... musical. But that's all I'm gonna say right now.

...except that moths are awesome. Soon I'm going to write a big post about moths.

I've been gone a while

...we had guests from Sweden! H's uncle and uncle's common-law wife. In Sweden, a common-law spouse is called a Sambo. Just for the record.
So we were quite busy entertaining and being touristy, driving cars and eating restaurant food and walking. Walking till our feet bled. I didn't really have time to write.
No, that's a lie. I had time. I was just too tired.
And now, NOW I'm working on a wedding video for my friends, who are getting married in less than 3 weeks. AND I start a new project on Tuesday. AND I start school on Wednesday. AND I'm still looking for a job. There, okay, you're caught up on my life now :)

Here are some pics from Uncle and uncle's girlfriend's visit:

This is I. (uncle's sambo) on their second night in Victoria. She's tired, and probably sad that the restaurant we're at only serves burgers. At least they had a veggie burger, right? And we don't go there for the food, we go for the view!






This is uncle B. We had this joke about how, in every picture, we should do the "two thumbs up." I saw this little Asian tourist girl doing it at the museum, and I thought it was cool :) This is the only photo of B. actually doing the "two thumbs up", though. He's at the last Victoria Seals (baseball) game of the season, and those sunglasses he's wearing? Free with admission. Oh yeah.



This here? The best advice ever given by a sign at a tourist attraction. I WILL stay on path, sign. Thank you.







These are just some pretty flowers.








This one is awesome: B. trying to take a picture of I., who's sitting inside a totem pole, while (out of frame) this little boy watches and laughs. See, B. and I. borrowed a digital camera for the trip, and the camera's directions were in English, and they were confused. At one point, they accidentally switched the camera to "video" mode, and took a bunch of 3 second videos, thinking they were pictures :) Good times :)


...and that's about it :) It was a good visit! It was nice spending time with H's family, because I don't know them very well, and I want to :) They're all such nice people, just like H. I don't know what made Swedes so nice, but I hope it rubs off on me :)

To: A. Subject: WoW Hunters

oh, I see H. sent you a message from my FB account :)

Here's how you can tell a message is from H. and not me:

1) It contains good and useful information about WoW. He's good for that. Me? Not so much. I do a quest and forget about it. I can't even remember what weapon I have equipped.

2) He never actually finishes a sentence... instead he puts three periods and starts a new one... like this... when we were getting to know each other I thought it was romantic... a sign of a wistful mind or something... maybe it still is, I'm not quite sure...

3) there's no cute little anecdotes about myself or someone else (see above)

4) He doesn't write something then delete because it sounds wrong. He doesn't have to. Everything he writes is pure and good. I can count on one hand the number of times he's accidentally offended me - the last time being last night, when he referred to a happy rotund person on TV as a "Jolly Giant."

5) Unless he was upset about something, he'd never write a message this long. He's a guy, after all.