I honestly couldn't think of a witty title for this post...ah well. I saw MIB3 recently, as it was on my list of things to see. I went with the girl I'm seeing right now, who is an awesome person and suggested that we see it in the first place, and we both greatly enjoyed it. I want to do one of my customary reviews, because why not, right? It's not as if a lot of people read my blog, but it's fun to do nonetheless, even if to get my own thoughts cleared up so I can explain them verbally to people later.
In any case, Men in Black 3. They don't shy away from the fact that Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) recruited Agent J (Will Smith) 14 years ago. In fact, 14 years ago in 'real life', it was 1998, and 1997 (which is what they were obviously going for) was the first year we ever saw Will Smith run down an alien to have him utter the words "N-Y-P-D. It means I will (k)nock your punk-ass down!". I love Will Smith, by the way. Indeed, MIB3 is the newest movie by Mr. Smith since 2008, when he last released both 'Seven Pounds' and 'Hancock'.
I went into this movie with fairly low expectations, because lets face it, MIB2 was absolute garbage. It was shameful, as far as movies go, and I don't know a single person who would say it was actually 'good'. I LOVE this series, and I wouldn't ever say that was a good movie (just like the Star Wars prequels, but hey). Having said that, this movie blew me away with how much it exceeded my expectations. I was readying myself for a 5 or 5.5 out of 10, and this movie is a solid 7.5 or 8/10. Will Smith reverted back to the playful, funny character he became famous for, and Tommy Lee Jones was solid again as the stoic, no humour, Agent K. The delight of the movie, though, was definitely Josh Brolin. As many have said, he absolutely nails the younger version of Agent K (as this movie involves time travel, where Agent J goes back and meets Agent K in 1969), via his delivery of dialogue and facial expressions. Even Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame is in this movie, as the bad guy (the aptly named Boris the Animal), and is near unrecognisable. There is also a character named Griffin, a being who can see all possible futures, all the time. It lends itself well to how the movie progresses, and provides some hilarious moments, too.
I don't really have much to say, I mean, the movie was simply solid. It had its funny moments, and after a slower-ish first half, the pacing picked up once the plot began to get underway. The events of the climax of the movie lead to a particularly poignant moment between Agent J and Agent K near the very end...it was a surprisingly soft touch for the kind of movie I expected it to be. Given how MIB1 ended, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but it was still extremely nice to see.
All in all, a solid, fun movie, especially for people of my generation who were 6-7 years of age when the first installment was released. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it!
8/10
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Earth's Mightiest Heroes
I haven't made a post (before that last one) in a while, but I forgot to mention the new way Blogspot lets you actually post things. It's quite streamlined, though call me old-fashioned, but I enjoyed the older way a little better. I was probably just used to that, though, so I'll probably get used to this one eventually too.
In any case, the REAL subject of this blog post...The Avengers! Before I actually type out my review of the film, let me just say that ever since Iron Man came out in 2008, and I waited (on opening night) for the post-credits scene, I have been excited for this movie. I never thought that Marvel would actually realize such an ambitious project, and yet four years later, here we are. The result is quite honestly nothing short of amazing; Joss Whedon definitely has the fanbase pegged, as the movie is rife with explosions, witty dialogue, amazing fight sequences, awesome CGI...pretty much everything a fanboy like me could want.
The movie itself is pretty formulaic, because after all, these are 'Earth's mightiest heroes'. They're not going to initially get along, and the movie spends a good chunk of time setting up how this dysfunctional group is actually going to, you know, save the world. One reviewer wrote that 'these super-powered people have super-sized egos to match', and it's definitely true. There's one scene in particular that has almost every single star in the movie, all participating in lightning fast dialogue, bantering back and forth...it's quite well written, for such a short scene. That is, in my opinion, where Joss Whedon (with Zak Penn) excel in this movie; they make the dialogue super entertaining. I mean, it's what Whedon is known for, with Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer under his belt. But, yes, formulaic. The group gets together, they argue, an enemy arrives, they fight it, they win, the world is saved, everyone is happy. There was no other real way for this movie to pan out, in that order, simply because this is still (at its core) an origin story. Perhaps not an origin story for each individual hero (gotta see their individual movies, for that), but definitely for the team as a whole...and what a story it is.
But, while the dialogue is awesome, the explosions and fights are even better. Every character only has so much screen time, but in the climactic battle scene (the one so often referenced in the trailers), the camera seamlessly cuts from character to character, all fighting and walloping this mysterious threat to Earth's freedom. Maria Hill, Agent Coulson and Nick Fury, all SHIELD agents, they're all pretty awesome as well...oh, and Loki? Nothing short of phenomenal. I love Tom Hiddleston, really. Finally, the end-credits tag sets up an AWESOME sequel. I mean, it had been announced previously that the character they show was going to be in the movie, but I had quite honestly forgotten until I saw the scene, and realized a split second before...and the theatre (midnight screening) went absolutely insane. There is also ANOTHER post credits scene, so wait until everything is done, and you'll get to see that extra little tidbit. It's, quite honestly, hilarious.
All in all, I loved this movie. Prior to this film, this was my order of the Marvel films:
Iron Man >> Thor > Captain America >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Iron Man 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hulk
With The Avengers (which I am definitely going to see again in theatres) in play now, my order definitely looks like this:
The Avengers >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Iron Man >> Thor > Captain America >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Iron Man 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hulk
It's THAT good. That's coming from someone who has read Iron Man since he was a little kid, and who LOVED the first movie (my dad has the original Iron Man comics, I got hooked on good ol' Mr. Stark from an early age =P), and it was that much better. I mean, it had Iron Man IN it, so it was definitely going to be awesome anyway. Regardless, the movie was just fantastic. Perhaps that's the fanboy in me talking, but...well, the movie was MADE for fanboys like me, so I think I'm justified in giving it the rating you see below. Avengers, assemble!
10/10
In any case, the REAL subject of this blog post...The Avengers! Before I actually type out my review of the film, let me just say that ever since Iron Man came out in 2008, and I waited (on opening night) for the post-credits scene, I have been excited for this movie. I never thought that Marvel would actually realize such an ambitious project, and yet four years later, here we are. The result is quite honestly nothing short of amazing; Joss Whedon definitely has the fanbase pegged, as the movie is rife with explosions, witty dialogue, amazing fight sequences, awesome CGI...pretty much everything a fanboy like me could want.
The movie itself is pretty formulaic, because after all, these are 'Earth's mightiest heroes'. They're not going to initially get along, and the movie spends a good chunk of time setting up how this dysfunctional group is actually going to, you know, save the world. One reviewer wrote that 'these super-powered people have super-sized egos to match', and it's definitely true. There's one scene in particular that has almost every single star in the movie, all participating in lightning fast dialogue, bantering back and forth...it's quite well written, for such a short scene. That is, in my opinion, where Joss Whedon (with Zak Penn) excel in this movie; they make the dialogue super entertaining. I mean, it's what Whedon is known for, with Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer under his belt. But, yes, formulaic. The group gets together, they argue, an enemy arrives, they fight it, they win, the world is saved, everyone is happy. There was no other real way for this movie to pan out, in that order, simply because this is still (at its core) an origin story. Perhaps not an origin story for each individual hero (gotta see their individual movies, for that), but definitely for the team as a whole...and what a story it is.
But, while the dialogue is awesome, the explosions and fights are even better. Every character only has so much screen time, but in the climactic battle scene (the one so often referenced in the trailers), the camera seamlessly cuts from character to character, all fighting and walloping this mysterious threat to Earth's freedom. Maria Hill, Agent Coulson and Nick Fury, all SHIELD agents, they're all pretty awesome as well...oh, and Loki? Nothing short of phenomenal. I love Tom Hiddleston, really. Finally, the end-credits tag sets up an AWESOME sequel. I mean, it had been announced previously that the character they show was going to be in the movie, but I had quite honestly forgotten until I saw the scene, and realized a split second before...and the theatre (midnight screening) went absolutely insane. There is also ANOTHER post credits scene, so wait until everything is done, and you'll get to see that extra little tidbit. It's, quite honestly, hilarious.
All in all, I loved this movie. Prior to this film, this was my order of the Marvel films:
Iron Man >> Thor > Captain America >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Iron Man 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hulk
With The Avengers (which I am definitely going to see again in theatres) in play now, my order definitely looks like this:
The Avengers >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Iron Man >> Thor > Captain America >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Iron Man 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hulk
It's THAT good. That's coming from someone who has read Iron Man since he was a little kid, and who LOVED the first movie (my dad has the original Iron Man comics, I got hooked on good ol' Mr. Stark from an early age =P), and it was that much better. I mean, it had Iron Man IN it, so it was definitely going to be awesome anyway. Regardless, the movie was just fantastic. Perhaps that's the fanboy in me talking, but...well, the movie was MADE for fanboys like me, so I think I'm justified in giving it the rating you see below. Avengers, assemble!
10/10
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Summer already?!
Well, it's been a whole semester since I last blogged; I dunno what happened. I used to blog so frequently, though, the year DID get a whole ton more crazy (cray?) as it progressed. Less video games, less internet-ing, less everything, really. On the plus side, I was elected VUSAC President, after an intense race against a worthy opponent. To be fair, however, I did win by a somewhat comfortable margin, so that was a little nice too. In any case, as a result of that, I am now mandated to hold office hours in the VUSAC office, so here I am. A minimum of 30 hrs a week spread out over a minimum of 4 days (wooo, Fridays and weekends off!), so not too bad. There are some other things to look forward to over the break, however, so that's fun too...time to look ahead!
McDonalds $1 drink thingy! Now that it's available again, I plan on measuring my consumption of these drinks. So far, I've only had one, but it IS the beginning of May. I have the entire rest of the summer to take advantage of this. The plan: rip the red square with the golden arches on it, and keep it in the first one, to avoid having hundreds of those cups at my place...that would just end up being kind of gross, I think, and would probably attract ants or something. In any case, that's the plan. Last year, when I worked at Jameson Bank, I probably had one a day for the entire summer. That was a matter of convenience, though, since it was in the same building, and I literally just had to take an elevator down to the food court in the basement. Now, I have to leave the Birge, lock up the office, and walk over to McDs. I dunno how much I'll end up drinking, but, I can still imagine it'll be a lot...fountain drinks are SO TASTY. It'll probably be an unhealthy amount, but still.
TCAF! Otherwise known as the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, it's being held this coming weekend at the Toronto Reference Library near Yonge and Bloor. I'm going to go see my favourite webcomic artists, namely, Christopher Hastings of Dr. McNinja, who I have literally missed every time he's come to Toronto. Along with Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content, it should be a fun time. Definitely buying some prints or something and hopefully will get them autographed!
The Avengers! It's literally TOMORROW NIGHT. Holy crap am I excited. I have literally been waiting to see this movie since Iron Man came out in 2008 and I saw the tag after the credits about the 'Avengers initative'. The crowd (which I was a part of) went nuts, and suddenly fast forward to 2012, and the movie is going to be a reality. I hear nothing but good things, AND I'm going to go see it with my awesome girlfriend, so...that's going to be pretty much nothing but awesome.
That was an appropriate segue into what I *really* wanted to talk about, i.e., the summer movies. The summer movie period is always my favourite part of the summer, because they have those high-octane movies that all the studios hope will be multi-million dollar blockbusters, and so they're all supposed to be crazy. I LOVE those movies, and so, I'm looking forward to them. Here are the ones I'm especially excited about:
The Avengers (obviously) (May 4th)
Men in Black III (May 25th)
Prometheus (June 8th)
Brave (June 22nd)
G.I.Joe: Retaliation (June 29th)
The Amazing Spider-Man (July 3rd)
The Dark Knight Rises (July 20th)
The Bourne Legacy (August 3rd)
The Campaign (August 10th)
The Expendables 2 (August 17th)
I have no doubt some of these movies will be down right terrible. In fact, I am hoping some of them will be...because that's part of the fun! Of course, I also expect that some of these movies will be awesome in every way. The Avengers, Prometheus, Brave, The Dark Knight Rises...I have so much hope that they will be amazing. For me at least, the jury is still out on the Amazing Spider-Man, though I'm definitely going to see it regardless. Really, I'm going to see all of these movies. I'm definitely going to see all the comic book ones at midnight, and maybe even Prometheus will be seen at midnight as well...that movie looks so cool, my god. As per usual, I'm going to post reviews of these movies when I see them, so...woo for that!
Anyway, time to go grab some food. Huzzah for more blogging this summer!
Friday, January 13, 2012
holiday movie roundup
A simple title, one that basically says what I'm going to talk about (for once). With my cousins and siblings, people who I love very very much, I got to see a fair amount of movies this winter break during my time off. It was pretty fun, I must say...and, before you judge me and tell me I'm a horrible person for letting my 13-year old brother see some of these movies, he only came to see two of them with us. ANYWAY, here we go!
The movies I saw this break were:
New Year's Eve
The Muppets
A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas in 3D
The Adventures of Tintin
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol
Yup, a fair amount. I will now proceed to rank them from the worst to the best (as if you reeeeally care. But still, let's do it up!):
6) A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas in 3D
Honestly, the only reason this movie is in the last place spot over the #5 spot is definitely the 3D. I have said many times before, but my god, 3D sucks. Even in this movie, the ONLY thing they used it for was blowing weed smoke in the audience's face when Harold and Kumar get super high. I mean, alright, like most guys, I enjoyed the gratuitous nudity (by only women, I might add), but....eh. It was just boring, although the crazy stuff Harold and Kumar get into are occasionally entertaining.
Final rating: 4/10
5) New Year's Eve
That shit does not happen in real life. I'm sorry, but, as someone who is perhaps jaded by the fact that I haven't met someone in FAR too long, meeting someone as magically as EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER did in that movie simply does not happen. It was a fun time at the theatre because I went with two of my favourite people, but still, the movie itself was awful.
Final rating: 4.5/10 (I can't bring myself to give this a 50% or more, I just can't, but at least it didn't have 3D)
4) Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol
Well, now that we have the CRAP movies out of the way, I really enjoyed all four of the remaining movies. Putting one over the other was actually somewhat hard, because they were THAT entertaining. MI4 was actually awesome, and perhaps the best in the entire series (yes, even over the first one). Some awesome shots, AND I got to see it in IMAX. They really had a good plot (even though the villain was a little dumb), and the action sequences were brilliant. Even the gadgets were sweet. It was directed by the dude who directed 'The Incredibles', and honestly, it showed. Things happened like they would in animated movies; there was a sweet chase through a sandstorm that Cruise partook in, and it was awesome. Honestly, a fantastic action movie, and they even set it up just in case Cruise doesn't want to return to the franchise in the future!
Final rating: 7/10
3) The Muppets
SO GOOD. I loved this movie, especially 'Life's a Happy Song'. I honestly am not one to enjoy such silly movies, but perhaps the nostalgia factor of the Muppets was too much for me to handle. Chris Cooper as the villain with his 'maniacal laugh', that was too awesome. Heck, all the guest stars in their cameo roles were awesome too; Jim Parsons was particularly well used, I think. It was a fun, light movie, and even the jokes that broke the 4th wall were great. Jack Black, who I'm not the BIGGEST fan of, even HE was awesome. I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys silly things like that, and of course, it has some good music along the way too (also, Amy Adams is super hot).
Final rating: 8/10
2) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Man, I really love Robert Downey Jr., and this movie made me love him even more. Jude Law was great as Watson again, and it was an amazing performance by Jared Harris. He really stole the scenes he was in, IMO. Anyway, I also found it hilarious that there was no real female character in this movie, as Irene Adler (played by the crazy attractive Rachel McAdams) was in the previous installment; it was literally a bro-fest between Holmes and Watson the whole time. I'm down with this, really, and apart from that, the movie was more super sleuthing/detecting from the first one. Stephen Fry also made a great turn as Holmes's older and smarter (but infinitely lazier) bro, Mycroft. Another good action movie, and a little sillier...but still entertaining.
Final rating: 8.5/10
1) The Adventures of Tintin
Yes, this is the best movie I saw over the break. Yes, this movie IS that good. The 3D (yes, it WAS in 3D, and yes, I DID go see it in 3D) was absolutely fantastic; it was animated, so it was a little less jarring, but the only movie I've ever seen with better 3D was Avatar. Everything was super cool, the voice acting was great, and the action sequences were absolutely ridiculous. There's one action sequence involving a motorcycle and a chase through a Middle Eastern-themed city, and it was probably one of the best action sequences I've ever seen. Granted, it was largely made possible by the fact that it was not real, because some unreal stuff happens during it, but...well, yeah, it was awesome. Go see it. Captain Haddock, one of the main characters, is played and motion captured by Andy Serkis, he of Gollum/Smeagol and Caesar (from 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes') fame, and again, he does not disappoint, in his body language and in his voice. Quite frankly, this is one of the best animated movies I've seen, ever (even when compared to some Pixar movies...SOME, though, not ALL), and definitely the best one I saw over the break.
Final rating: 9/10
Well, those are the movies I've seen this break. I didn't get to see 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', or 'The Darkest Hour', but I will see them eventually. I hope they're good!
P.S. I saw the trailer for 'Prometheus', the prequel to 'Alien'. Um...what? This movie looks AWESOME. I can't wait...2012 promises to be a good year for movies, outside of the anticipated comic book ones. woo!
The movies I saw this break were:
New Year's Eve
The Muppets
A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas in 3D
The Adventures of Tintin
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol
Yup, a fair amount. I will now proceed to rank them from the worst to the best (as if you reeeeally care. But still, let's do it up!):
6) A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas in 3D
Honestly, the only reason this movie is in the last place spot over the #5 spot is definitely the 3D. I have said many times before, but my god, 3D sucks. Even in this movie, the ONLY thing they used it for was blowing weed smoke in the audience's face when Harold and Kumar get super high. I mean, alright, like most guys, I enjoyed the gratuitous nudity (by only women, I might add), but....eh. It was just boring, although the crazy stuff Harold and Kumar get into are occasionally entertaining.
Final rating: 4/10
5) New Year's Eve
That shit does not happen in real life. I'm sorry, but, as someone who is perhaps jaded by the fact that I haven't met someone in FAR too long, meeting someone as magically as EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER did in that movie simply does not happen. It was a fun time at the theatre because I went with two of my favourite people, but still, the movie itself was awful.
Final rating: 4.5/10 (I can't bring myself to give this a 50% or more, I just can't, but at least it didn't have 3D)
4) Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol
Well, now that we have the CRAP movies out of the way, I really enjoyed all four of the remaining movies. Putting one over the other was actually somewhat hard, because they were THAT entertaining. MI4 was actually awesome, and perhaps the best in the entire series (yes, even over the first one). Some awesome shots, AND I got to see it in IMAX. They really had a good plot (even though the villain was a little dumb), and the action sequences were brilliant. Even the gadgets were sweet. It was directed by the dude who directed 'The Incredibles', and honestly, it showed. Things happened like they would in animated movies; there was a sweet chase through a sandstorm that Cruise partook in, and it was awesome. Honestly, a fantastic action movie, and they even set it up just in case Cruise doesn't want to return to the franchise in the future!
Final rating: 7/10
3) The Muppets
SO GOOD. I loved this movie, especially 'Life's a Happy Song'. I honestly am not one to enjoy such silly movies, but perhaps the nostalgia factor of the Muppets was too much for me to handle. Chris Cooper as the villain with his 'maniacal laugh', that was too awesome. Heck, all the guest stars in their cameo roles were awesome too; Jim Parsons was particularly well used, I think. It was a fun, light movie, and even the jokes that broke the 4th wall were great. Jack Black, who I'm not the BIGGEST fan of, even HE was awesome. I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys silly things like that, and of course, it has some good music along the way too (also, Amy Adams is super hot).
Final rating: 8/10
2) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Man, I really love Robert Downey Jr., and this movie made me love him even more. Jude Law was great as Watson again, and it was an amazing performance by Jared Harris. He really stole the scenes he was in, IMO. Anyway, I also found it hilarious that there was no real female character in this movie, as Irene Adler (played by the crazy attractive Rachel McAdams) was in the previous installment; it was literally a bro-fest between Holmes and Watson the whole time. I'm down with this, really, and apart from that, the movie was more super sleuthing/detecting from the first one. Stephen Fry also made a great turn as Holmes's older and smarter (but infinitely lazier) bro, Mycroft. Another good action movie, and a little sillier...but still entertaining.
Final rating: 8.5/10
1) The Adventures of Tintin
Yes, this is the best movie I saw over the break. Yes, this movie IS that good. The 3D (yes, it WAS in 3D, and yes, I DID go see it in 3D) was absolutely fantastic; it was animated, so it was a little less jarring, but the only movie I've ever seen with better 3D was Avatar. Everything was super cool, the voice acting was great, and the action sequences were absolutely ridiculous. There's one action sequence involving a motorcycle and a chase through a Middle Eastern-themed city, and it was probably one of the best action sequences I've ever seen. Granted, it was largely made possible by the fact that it was not real, because some unreal stuff happens during it, but...well, yeah, it was awesome. Go see it. Captain Haddock, one of the main characters, is played and motion captured by Andy Serkis, he of Gollum/Smeagol and Caesar (from 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes') fame, and again, he does not disappoint, in his body language and in his voice. Quite frankly, this is one of the best animated movies I've seen, ever (even when compared to some Pixar movies...SOME, though, not ALL), and definitely the best one I saw over the break.
Final rating: 9/10
Well, those are the movies I've seen this break. I didn't get to see 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', or 'The Darkest Hour', but I will see them eventually. I hope they're good!
P.S. I saw the trailer for 'Prometheus', the prequel to 'Alien'. Um...what? This movie looks AWESOME. I can't wait...2012 promises to be a good year for movies, outside of the anticipated comic book ones. woo!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
relationships
wooooo, blogging again! I've written three posts (counting this one right here) in the past few days...it's nice to write something like this that has NOTHING to do with school. I haven't done that in a really long time, and it's awesome. Of course, what better way than to delve back into things than with a heavy topic like relationships? I briefly touched upon it in a tumblr post, but like I have said previously...tumblr sucks for blogging. It excels at letting the user write mysterious little snippets of things that are intentionally ambiguous...but what the hell is the goddamned point of that?! There is none. ANYWAY, back to topics like this, which are CLEARLY better. /sarcasm
But seriously, relationships. Around this time of year, where everyone is cuddling all the time, holding hands, cooing at each other, using pet names, and all that other ridiculous crap that comes with relationships, it's almost unbearable. It's even MORE unbearable when all of your best friends are in on it too. As it stands, I think I am one of three people out of a group of seven or eight who does not have a significant other. It's...depressing, to say the least.
I feel as if I bring this issue up with my friends a lot, and they kind of just politely nod and me and shake their heads and make sympathetic noises in order to appease me, and then the moment I leave, they all shake their heads and go 'oh, Shoaib, he's so crazy. He'll get over it soon!'.
Honestly, I would never want my friends to break up with whomever it is they're seeing, because that's mean-spirited. It really is, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It's maddening, though, because there are so many annoying things that come with seeing your friends begin relationships or continue existing ones. For one thing, they're always on their phones. ALL the time. I, too, am guilty of this...but, for them, they're texting/BBM-ing their significant others. I look down at my own phone, because they're all busy talking in the virtual world, and what do *I* see? The score of the most recent New England Patriots game. That's not a bad thing, unless they lose (which happened twice in a row this year, ugh, the worst), but when all I have are scores which are ultimately meaningless (don't get me wrong, I love the Pats, but I have no bearing whatsoever on the outcomes of those games, obvs), and everyone else is having some sort of meaningful connection with their significant others...it's the worst. Ultimately, I just feel like I'm getting more and more isolated.
Hell, everyone is still continually saying how busy they are. Everyone's so ultra busy, too busy to make time to even give me the time of day, and yet they can make time to go to the movies with this 'other'. I mean, for heavens' sake, everyone is already making plans to hang out with their boyfriend/girlfriend/I-don't-know-what-this-relationship-is-yet-friend over the break...what am *I* doing over the break? Probably just playing Skyrim by myself some more, in all likelihood, because god knows everyone will be too busy to do anything, probably all hanging out with each other doing couple things, w/o inviting me >_>
Honestly, I'm excited for the break, because it means I will for SURE see all my non-university friends once again. I have my best friends who live in Montreal, and even my friends in Scarborough I see maybe once or twice a month, PROBABLY even less, thanks to living downtown. Anyway...it's 4:15am, so I should probably sleep. Full day of class ahead, not to mention a pretty big game for Vic's Co-ed Flag Football team. Laugh all you want, it's a fun time with some pretty fun people...Victoria College going up against the Faculty of Physical Education and Health. Here's to Vic!
But seriously, relationships. Around this time of year, where everyone is cuddling all the time, holding hands, cooing at each other, using pet names, and all that other ridiculous crap that comes with relationships, it's almost unbearable. It's even MORE unbearable when all of your best friends are in on it too. As it stands, I think I am one of three people out of a group of seven or eight who does not have a significant other. It's...depressing, to say the least.
I feel as if I bring this issue up with my friends a lot, and they kind of just politely nod and me and shake their heads and make sympathetic noises in order to appease me, and then the moment I leave, they all shake their heads and go 'oh, Shoaib, he's so crazy. He'll get over it soon!'.
Honestly, I would never want my friends to break up with whomever it is they're seeing, because that's mean-spirited. It really is, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It's maddening, though, because there are so many annoying things that come with seeing your friends begin relationships or continue existing ones. For one thing, they're always on their phones. ALL the time. I, too, am guilty of this...but, for them, they're texting/BBM-ing their significant others. I look down at my own phone, because they're all busy talking in the virtual world, and what do *I* see? The score of the most recent New England Patriots game. That's not a bad thing, unless they lose (which happened twice in a row this year, ugh, the worst), but when all I have are scores which are ultimately meaningless (don't get me wrong, I love the Pats, but I have no bearing whatsoever on the outcomes of those games, obvs), and everyone else is having some sort of meaningful connection with their significant others...it's the worst. Ultimately, I just feel like I'm getting more and more isolated.
Hell, everyone is still continually saying how busy they are. Everyone's so ultra busy, too busy to make time to even give me the time of day, and yet they can make time to go to the movies with this 'other'. I mean, for heavens' sake, everyone is already making plans to hang out with their boyfriend/girlfriend/I-don't-know-what-this-relationship-is-yet-friend over the break...what am *I* doing over the break? Probably just playing Skyrim by myself some more, in all likelihood, because god knows everyone will be too busy to do anything, probably all hanging out with each other doing couple things, w/o inviting me >_>
Honestly, I'm excited for the break, because it means I will for SURE see all my non-university friends once again. I have my best friends who live in Montreal, and even my friends in Scarborough I see maybe once or twice a month, PROBABLY even less, thanks to living downtown. Anyway...it's 4:15am, so I should probably sleep. Full day of class ahead, not to mention a pretty big game for Vic's Co-ed Flag Football team. Laugh all you want, it's a fun time with some pretty fun people...Victoria College going up against the Faculty of Physical Education and Health. Here's to Vic!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
looking back at O-Week 2011
I never really made a post (or any sort of comments, really) about Orientation Week 2011: To Victoria and Beyond, now that it's over and done with. In a few weeks, the new Orientation Co-Chairs will be picked, and that will be that; the 2011 Exec will officially be retired. I mean, we're basically done NOW, but technically the Exec aren't done as a team until the NEW team is in place, which starts with the new co-chair.
I guess a slight trip down a relatively fresh nostalgia lane is in order. As I just mentioned, O-Week starts and ends with the Co-Chair, in my opinion. I mean, yes, it's about the first years and always will be, but in terms of the planning, the Co-Chair is the person who starts the ball rolling. Evan, then, was the Co-Chair this year, and he was...well, great! Rachel, the Co-Chair before him in 2010 was also amazing, but Evan was awesome in a different way, I think, in the type of energy he brought to the table. Regardless, it was really great what he did for everyone. I do not agree with EVERYthing he did, of course, but I do think that he tried his best, and his best is pretty damn good, in my opinion.
I suppose that same kind of qualification can be extended towards the rest of the Exec team. I think they were all great, in their own ways, and everyone tried their best. I do not, of course, agree with everything that everyone did, as mistakes were made, as is want to happen in an operation as large as Orientation Week. Tempers sometimes flared, micromanaging occurred, and so did a host of other things. This did not make the week a bad one, not by any means. In any large group of opinionated individuals (myself being a part of this group), these things are bound to happen, and they did. What makes a group great is being able to deal with these changes on the fly, and being able to continue functioning happily and as a unit...and that's what everyone did. I truly believe that everyone tried as hard as they could, and that's what matters in the end. Of course, I have hindsight on my side, and I'm sure that less-than-charitable things were probably said about me (though, as the only person who had done Orientation Week as an Exec member before, other than Evan himself, I tried to be as helpful as possible) too, but the week was fun as an Exec.
The leaders were absolutely fantastic, and I've met people I will probably not soon forget, if ever. The week really does hinge on the enthusiasm and participation of the leaders, and they rose to that challenge beautifully. They were everything you could possibly ask for, and then they continued to excel as well, at literally anything you might have asked them to do. I honestly have nothing bad to say here, not even a little bit.
I'm not really looking for faults in this past Orientation experience, or at least, I'm not TRYING to. It's just that O-Week this past year was so awesome, I find it difficult to not just talk forever about all the awesome things that happened.
Now that I've done Exec twice, I suppose the only place to go from here is up - up to Co-Chair. I've wanted to do it for a while now, and within a few days, I'm hoping the applications for the upcoming year will be out. They've changed it, so that now there will be two student Co-Chairs, instead of just one. I've asked one of my best friends in the entire world to be my partner in this endeavour (really, there is only one other person I would ever ask to do this with me, who lives in North House [though...I guess she would rather move back home now, after we spoke a few days ago]. She wants to apply to be a residence don next year, and though she would be fantastic, I'm not sure if she's going to do that any more, haha), and I fully expect that we'll get it. I mean, not to sound arrogant, but I have two full years of Orientation Exec experience, almost three full years of VUSAC experience, not to mention the various clubs, associations and intramurals teams I've been a part of. My friend ALSO has Exec and VUSAC experience, has been a leader (a super leader, at that), and works for the Dean's Office. I don't REALLY think there's another pair that can beat us, but I suppose we'll see.
It's funny, I said back when I ran for VPE that I would not really care about anything else, if I won this position. It's true, I'm quite happy with my current position as VPE of VUSAC, it's pretty awesome. I still want this Orientation job, though...Evan said that I should only come back if I think I can change something or make something better than it was the previous year. I DO think there are minor things that can be changed in how the week functions, to make the experience more enjoyable for the leaders and for the first years, and that's why I want to do it. Oh, and it's a LOT of fun. w00t.
I guess a slight trip down a relatively fresh nostalgia lane is in order. As I just mentioned, O-Week starts and ends with the Co-Chair, in my opinion. I mean, yes, it's about the first years and always will be, but in terms of the planning, the Co-Chair is the person who starts the ball rolling. Evan, then, was the Co-Chair this year, and he was...well, great! Rachel, the Co-Chair before him in 2010 was also amazing, but Evan was awesome in a different way, I think, in the type of energy he brought to the table. Regardless, it was really great what he did for everyone. I do not agree with EVERYthing he did, of course, but I do think that he tried his best, and his best is pretty damn good, in my opinion.
I suppose that same kind of qualification can be extended towards the rest of the Exec team. I think they were all great, in their own ways, and everyone tried their best. I do not, of course, agree with everything that everyone did, as mistakes were made, as is want to happen in an operation as large as Orientation Week. Tempers sometimes flared, micromanaging occurred, and so did a host of other things. This did not make the week a bad one, not by any means. In any large group of opinionated individuals (myself being a part of this group), these things are bound to happen, and they did. What makes a group great is being able to deal with these changes on the fly, and being able to continue functioning happily and as a unit...and that's what everyone did. I truly believe that everyone tried as hard as they could, and that's what matters in the end. Of course, I have hindsight on my side, and I'm sure that less-than-charitable things were probably said about me (though, as the only person who had done Orientation Week as an Exec member before, other than Evan himself, I tried to be as helpful as possible) too, but the week was fun as an Exec.
The leaders were absolutely fantastic, and I've met people I will probably not soon forget, if ever. The week really does hinge on the enthusiasm and participation of the leaders, and they rose to that challenge beautifully. They were everything you could possibly ask for, and then they continued to excel as well, at literally anything you might have asked them to do. I honestly have nothing bad to say here, not even a little bit.
I'm not really looking for faults in this past Orientation experience, or at least, I'm not TRYING to. It's just that O-Week this past year was so awesome, I find it difficult to not just talk forever about all the awesome things that happened.
Now that I've done Exec twice, I suppose the only place to go from here is up - up to Co-Chair. I've wanted to do it for a while now, and within a few days, I'm hoping the applications for the upcoming year will be out. They've changed it, so that now there will be two student Co-Chairs, instead of just one. I've asked one of my best friends in the entire world to be my partner in this endeavour (really, there is only one other person I would ever ask to do this with me, who lives in North House [though...I guess she would rather move back home now, after we spoke a few days ago]. She wants to apply to be a residence don next year, and though she would be fantastic, I'm not sure if she's going to do that any more, haha), and I fully expect that we'll get it. I mean, not to sound arrogant, but I have two full years of Orientation Exec experience, almost three full years of VUSAC experience, not to mention the various clubs, associations and intramurals teams I've been a part of. My friend ALSO has Exec and VUSAC experience, has been a leader (a super leader, at that), and works for the Dean's Office. I don't REALLY think there's another pair that can beat us, but I suppose we'll see.
It's funny, I said back when I ran for VPE that I would not really care about anything else, if I won this position. It's true, I'm quite happy with my current position as VPE of VUSAC, it's pretty awesome. I still want this Orientation job, though...Evan said that I should only come back if I think I can change something or make something better than it was the previous year. I DO think there are minor things that can be changed in how the week functions, to make the experience more enjoyable for the leaders and for the first years, and that's why I want to do it. Oh, and it's a LOT of fun. w00t.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
tumblr?!
I was somewhat convinced to use Tumblr, and, as far as posting videos and funny pictures goes, I feel as if it's a better medium than blogspot is. As far as posting actual blog posts goes, however, I think blogspot is a far better tool. I was told that blog posts on Tumblr are better because then you somehow don't feel obligated to post long things. I never have really felt obligated to post something long, it just kind of turns out that I ramble, so...I suppose a better medium for me WOULD be blogspot. Anyway, Tumblr is just another little fun tool to share songs and what not, so...w00t. My Tumblr is timeforthesho.tumblr.com, by the way, if you are interested.
It's been a while since my last blog post; initially it was because we had no internet at our new place, so I couldn't update as regularly as I would have liked, but afterwards it became simply because I was insanely busy. I'm pretty sure I've been to more hours of meetings and extracurricular things this semester, than I have for anything else, class included. That's kind of terrible, hehe. Ah well, though. It's also weird, the last time I posted, my summer had just ended. Now, the first semester is almost done! I think I'm going to try and post a little bit more often (though not perhaps as often as I once did, especially during the summer), so I guess we'll see how that goes.
Not much going on here. 2:15am, I just got finished watching The Breakfast Club. All in all, I did not enjoy it as much as I expected to, considering its talked about so much. It just oozed teen angst, and perhaps that was the point, I grant, but it just did not make me care, really. Okay, yeah, I get it, teenagers face problems, and boohoo for them. I was a teenager once too, and I went through those same problems, and yet I just don't care about that movie. I don't know what else to say, really...it was just boring. It's funny, my roommate/best friend tried to get me to watch the TV show 'Treme', a show made by the makers of 'The Wire', which is about the survivors of Hurricane Katrina in the city of New Orleans. Treme is the name of the neighbourhood that all the characters are in, and its about their lives as they come back into the city or try and rebuild what they had. Granted, I only watched about 3/4 of the first episode, and yet I was just as bored as I was watching 'The Breakfast Club'. Honestly, in both cases...it was because the show/movie was about the characters. I don't watch things like that to absorb a character study, or a commentary on real life. I watch these things to be entertained. If it's not entertaining, why am I watching it? In the cases of that TV show, as well as this movie, they just weren't entertaining. It was just simply boring.
I came home (I live downtown now, woooo) tonight; one of my other roommates was having a party at our place, and so I just decided to go home, rather than take part in a party in which I know only one person. My other roommate/best friend decided to go spend the night at our other best friend's place...I wasn't invited to join them, haha, so I just decided to make the trek back to Scarborough (which, to be fair, was made far easier by the generosity of my other friend who was still downtown). I have to say, it's one goddamned long trek back so late at night, I had almost forgotten. Had those two invited me, I probably would have stayed downtown with them, which would have been nice, as now Friday night seemed to have ended in a titanically boring way, haha. Although, I CAN now go play video games, such as Madden 12 or Skyrim. I'm afraid of doing it, and then losing track of time, and playing for hours. Maybe tomorrow morning, instead! As for now, probably best to sleep. woo!
It's been a while since my last blog post; initially it was because we had no internet at our new place, so I couldn't update as regularly as I would have liked, but afterwards it became simply because I was insanely busy. I'm pretty sure I've been to more hours of meetings and extracurricular things this semester, than I have for anything else, class included. That's kind of terrible, hehe. Ah well, though. It's also weird, the last time I posted, my summer had just ended. Now, the first semester is almost done! I think I'm going to try and post a little bit more often (though not perhaps as often as I once did, especially during the summer), so I guess we'll see how that goes.
Not much going on here. 2:15am, I just got finished watching The Breakfast Club. All in all, I did not enjoy it as much as I expected to, considering its talked about so much. It just oozed teen angst, and perhaps that was the point, I grant, but it just did not make me care, really. Okay, yeah, I get it, teenagers face problems, and boohoo for them. I was a teenager once too, and I went through those same problems, and yet I just don't care about that movie. I don't know what else to say, really...it was just boring. It's funny, my roommate/best friend tried to get me to watch the TV show 'Treme', a show made by the makers of 'The Wire', which is about the survivors of Hurricane Katrina in the city of New Orleans. Treme is the name of the neighbourhood that all the characters are in, and its about their lives as they come back into the city or try and rebuild what they had. Granted, I only watched about 3/4 of the first episode, and yet I was just as bored as I was watching 'The Breakfast Club'. Honestly, in both cases...it was because the show/movie was about the characters. I don't watch things like that to absorb a character study, or a commentary on real life. I watch these things to be entertained. If it's not entertaining, why am I watching it? In the cases of that TV show, as well as this movie, they just weren't entertaining. It was just simply boring.
I came home (I live downtown now, woooo) tonight; one of my other roommates was having a party at our place, and so I just decided to go home, rather than take part in a party in which I know only one person. My other roommate/best friend decided to go spend the night at our other best friend's place...I wasn't invited to join them, haha, so I just decided to make the trek back to Scarborough (which, to be fair, was made far easier by the generosity of my other friend who was still downtown). I have to say, it's one goddamned long trek back so late at night, I had almost forgotten. Had those two invited me, I probably would have stayed downtown with them, which would have been nice, as now Friday night seemed to have ended in a titanically boring way, haha. Although, I CAN now go play video games, such as Madden 12 or Skyrim. I'm afraid of doing it, and then losing track of time, and playing for hours. Maybe tomorrow morning, instead! As for now, probably best to sleep. woo!
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