Welcome to the Jungle

It's been a while...

2009-05-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

Since I wrote on this damn thing. I'm going to write with minimal proofreading for fun, so bear with me please.

So today has been the first day in a long time I've had a boost of motivation despite the "hardships" I've been facing in the job search. Yes, since graduation I have been chasing various positions based on semi-scientific guesses as to what career would best suit me. The problem in Sacramento is, there just isn't anything to satiate the misguided. I am misguided, and soul-searching. It seemed like college was leading up to something of epic proportions, but alas, was a slap in the direction of the bleak outlook of the rest of my existence. I would now enter a world of bills, insurance, and creating a pile of numbers to add to my dwindling bank account. But I digress, for some reason today, I had an epiphany that almost all types of jobs offer rewards to their participants. I understood that most people respect a hard worker, no matter from any walk of life. This in itself is motivating, simply because no matter what I choose to do, if I become good at it will be fulfilling by nature.

Thus, I took action:

I decided that I need to have some kind of income to supplement my current position. I don't know if it was the Red Bull I had at about 1 o'clock or if it was one of those random days where you wake up and think you can tackle anything. And we have all had those days.

Today I walked in to a Nameless Company with my newly found fervor, and asked for an employment application. I was told to access the companies website for an online print-out to which I queried, "I did not see any applications on the website". The manager helping me winced at the computer screen for a moment, then spouted, "Yep, don't feel like your stupid, cause it's not on there." He then proceeded to tell me that they weren't actually hiring, and that I should come back next week. Hmmmm, not hiring yet come back I thought, this is trickery.

So hopefully this is a precursor to a newly found motivation that I have not had before. Or, perhaps I'm impatient and hoping to find things too quickly based on my current fleeting living situation.

-I'll keep the nobody that reads this posted

Christmas

2007-12-18T18:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year, as it is for many other people. Though, as you grow older, as with other holidays, it seems less and less important. I remember from the ages of 4 to 16 Christmas was something I looked forward to all year. I would relish in the idea of getting a new video game system, or a new bike. I could hardly fall asleep at night, knowing what was coming in the morning. I always hated the people the slept in, that you had to wait for to wake up, just so you can open your presents. Now I am the guy who sleeps in.

From ages 4 to 10 were by far the best, mostly due to the fact that I thought Santa was real. We would put the cookies out Christmas Eve, and low and behold they would be gone the next morning. Clearly there could be no other explanation for the disappearance.

It seemed like Christmas had some sort of spirit to it, with the whirlwind of food, family, presents and whatnought.

Today, I can rarely think of something I even really WANT for Christmas.

Giving people my wish list seems like a chore, and usually results in getting stuff I would usually pick up with my own paycheck.

The food and family are still there, which is probably the most important thing. I have begun to realize that Christmas is really about family, plain and simple. It is the time of year where people feel obligated to spend time with them, most feeling better about it than others.

It's funny that the only day where we seem forced to spend time with one another, happens to be on a day that we give each other presents.

Maybe I am just in a "limbo" so to speak, where I am detached from my family, and lacking a real family of my own. Maybe someday when I decide to have children, it might reignite the magic that Christmas used to have. But for now, I'll have to sit at home sipping on egg-nog watching the Harry Potter movies on ABC for the 15th time.

Religion and McDonald's

2007-12-03T16:04:00.000-08:00

When I was about six until about 13 years old I attended church almost every Sunday. I had a holy communion, went to religious study groups, and was a lot more involved in community affairs than I have ever been. I thought back to those times and wondered, what made me such a motivated and religious sprout back then? I thought it may have been for several reasons:

1. For some reason I always liked the part of Mass when people would say "Peace be with you" to one another, and shake each others hands. It seemed like everyone was so happy during that time for no reason - for something as stupid as shaking someones hand.

2. It was a great place to see a lot of my friends from school. Growing up in Folsom, before it became the large community it is now, was much smaller when I was young, and most of the kids I went to school with attended the same church. Often times we would hang out after Mass.

3. It gave me a sense of relief. In confession, I was able to admit all my wrongs in the eyes of God, and be forgiven, kind of like withdrawing money from an ATM. Usually it was about something stupid like cursing in front of my mom, or stealing the last candy bar from the cupboard and not telling anybody.

4. Finally, the king of all reasons: Almost every time we went to church on Sunday, we got the McDonald's breakfast! To me - this was the only real reason to wake up on Sunday at all. The Sausage McMuffin no egg, without a doubt, was the tastiest little devil ever, and paired with hash browns, they made an unstoppable pair.

To be honest, I wasn't that much of a McDonald's fanatic, and I almost never eat fast food now...But there was something about that McMuffin that made the three to four hour excursion more endurable.

Sure, I can be criticized my for lack of real commitment.

But I what I finally understood later in life is that, if I am forced to do something I absolutely no will of doing, there HAS to be some kind of incentive for me TO DO IT! This is the type of person that I have grown to be.

Of course I still help people all the time, most times not ever asking anything in return. I AM A GOOD PERSON!

I think that most people are like this.

Everyone has to be getting something out doing something they don't want to, and if they aren't, they are probably lying. Ironically I haven't had a McMuffin in almost a year now, and have found I have lost my need for them at all.

Maybe this wasn't the best reason to get me to do something, but overall I don't think it did much harm to me in the long run. If someday my children require McDonald's Breakfasts to get straight A's in school, I'll be the first one in the drive-through at 6:00am.

Want to buy a computer? (PC)

2007-11-27T10:51:00.000-08:00

The other day I was walking through a Best Buy, and started to browse their computer section out of curiosity. Having worked there for almost three years, I suddenly noticed something strange. The price to buy a laptop or desktop computer was a lot lower than I remembered it being, so I began to think about the last computer purchase I had made.

In 2004, I bought a near top of the line 15-inch Toshiba laptop for roughly 1,300 dollars with the extended warranty. Now, the most comparable laptop to the one I bought, costs half the price, brand new. Also, the average price for when I was shopping 3 years ago has dropped by almost 3 to 400 dollars, for equivalent specs for that time. Never had I seen such a drastic shift in price, than in these 3 years.

It seems that the price of computers, especially laptops, are dropping to rates in which most people with lower incomes, can afford them. Eliminating them as a luxury item slowly over time, makes me start to think that they are coming closer to the status of a household appliance, like a dishwasher or a telephone. Will computers be something that every home will have (though they pretty much do already), I think yes. But, is this a good thing?

Are the manufacturers cutting costs, and building the same reliable product? Or have materials and costs for production been lowered over these years? Nowadays, most manufacturers strongly recommend buying a kind of extended warranty with a new machine; (I know because I was forced to sell them) Are they doing this to help the consumer, cover a shoddy product, or instill false belief that warranties are alway necessary?

Was there once a time when you got what you paid for? Were warranties unnecessary? I think that lowering prices to make computers more affordable is probably a good thing, because having a computer is better than not having one at all...

Disc Golf...If you don't already know what it is...

2007-11-20T15:38:00.000-08:00

Disc golf is a sport very similar to standard golf, that started around the 70's and has since gained popularity. The game is played with a player or players that attempt to throw a disc into a large chain basket, trying to use the least number of throws possible. The basket is roughly 2 feet in diameter.

Each basket is placed far away from the "tee", and like golf, has a Par associated with it depending on the number of obstacles or distance from the "tee". Courses vary in structure, they can be anything from: forests, grassy fields, dry dirt paths. They sometimes contain man-made obstacles.

Generally your first throw will be your drive, second will be your approach or "upshot", and then however many approaches it takes you to get within putting distance.

The discs that are used are built for different purposes. Like golf clubs, each disc can be used for: high angle shots, distance drives, approaches, low angle shots, and putting. The leading manufacturer of these discs is currently the company Innova.

You can play on teams or by yourself, and most courses you play at are free. The game is simple to play, but surprisingly complex to master. Obstacles, wind patterns, and throw style are just some of the things you have to think about while playing disc golf.

Over the past few years my friends and I have played the game quite frequently and have been quickly improving.

We have played with veterans of the game, and you can tell that the experience they have is a huge advantage. They will use throws you have never seen before, that will seem to go exactly where they want them to. They are modern day Olympians.

Some consider the game is consider a "hippie" sport, I consider it the sport of kings.

The future of Disney's 2-D Animation?

2007-11-13T13:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was pondering about how there hasn't been good Disney cartoon in quite some time. I remember when I was young, in Disney's hayday they came out with classics like: Aladdin, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Since about the late 90's there hasn't been a Disney film that I have deemed worth seeing, and with the recent popularity of Pixar and 3-D animation, I'm now wondering if the genre is all but dead.

I think it would be quite ridiculous if it were, simply because of the fact that I think animation is art in all of its forms. I don't think one style of animation that "looks better" or is "more flashy" determines whether it needs to be seen or not. If I saw a trailer for a cartoon with stick figures that had a decent plot, characters, and dialogue I would go see it.

Though I do think that the new 3-D movies have transfered much of the essence of the 2-D ones, I just wish that they could coexist.

In the end, companies like Disney are just looking to make money, if something becomes less profitable then they will cut funding, or stop production all together.

I wonder if in the future my children will be able to experience movies like I did when I was younger, or if the Disney animated film is all but dead.

Why buying an IPOD is pointless...

2007-11-13T13:18:00.000-08:00

Every holiday season everyone is looking to get the best Christmas present. From past experience working in retail, the Ipod was by for the most requested product during the holidays. Best Buy's phones rang off the hook every day after Thanksgiving for people checking stock on them. To the point where employees stopped answering the phones, in place of an automated message.

Apple is all about advertising. And with every year apple has some flashy new commercial, and some hip new song to go along with yet another cosmetic update to the Ipod, putting the older models to shame.

My question is, what is the point of buying an Ipod, if your flashy new toy is outdated every year?

I think it is because the idea of owning an Ipod is so gimmicky, and gives the consumer a feeling of "needing" to have it. My advice is: if you are going to buy an mp3 player at all, you should probably find something that is going to suit your needs in the long run (i.e. storage, size, compatibility).

Apple focuses too much on aesthetics, rather than functionality. If you have ever owned an Ipod you would know that the product requires everything to work around the ITunes program, which is a huge hassle. Not to mention the number one product our repair center serviced at Best Buy, was the Ipod.

To quickly summarize, don't waste your time buying an Ipod, they are: overpriced, too gimmicky, not very resilient, and outdated too quickly.

My views on the TV series: LOST

2007-10-30T12:56:00.000-07:00

Most people have heard of the TV show LOST on ABC. It is about a group of plane crash survivors that become stranded, on what seems to be a deserted island. They find that there are many secrets that are found on both the island, and in their own lives.

Each episode continues the story of the survivors on this mysterious island, and shows flashbacks of various characters stranded there, prior to the crash.

Basically, in my opinion...the show is about character development. Each character, from the heroic Jack, mysterious John Locke, optimistic Hurley, and iron-jawed "Sawyer" has continued to change throughout the series.

I can't deny that the show does have a lot of plot holes from time to time. And on every episode you seem to be parched for some kind of resolution. However, the inspiring music, well-preformed cast makes up for this. I can admit that some characters flashbacks are less interesting than others (Jacks vs Hurley's), mostly because some characters seem less crucial to the overall plot. But they are usually entertaining nonetheless.

I can honestly say that the first season of LOST is by far the best. There is a certain feeling of "uncertainty" the show gives you. And character introductions, in epic stories like this, are always fun to watch. If you are a fan of the show, you would have to agree one of the best moments was when "Ethan" was found to be NOT one of the survivors of the crash, but one of the "others" from the island. Overall the quality of the production in a whole, for the first seasons feels very well thought out.

The second is season is probably my second favorite, but very close to the first. With the inception of the hatch, you were basically watching each episode to find out what the heck would happen if they didn't press that damn button, a brilliant idea from the LOST writing staff. As the plot thickened in the second season you became very comfortable with most of the survivors, and even had a special place for the ones you didn't like from the first season (i.e. Sawyer). Many interesting, yet believable plot twists occurred, and the main villain was introduced.

The third season seems to be where a lot LOST's criticism has derived. The never-ending plot twists and seemingly absurd stories seem to be wearing down on most viewers. Though I think this is my least favorite of the three seasons, I still think it is a great one. As I said before, I believe this show is more of a character study, and throughout this season, it has done a great job to make each character evolve into something you wouldn't have expected. A lot of the ambiguity was removed from this season, in place of episodes filling in a lot of the plot holes the show left behind in the earlier seasons. Overall, the last episode of this season is what interests me the most, with the first episode to introduce a FLASH FORWARD, we really don't have any clue where the show will take us. But I know I will go along for the ride.

Is it possible to make a good film based on a video game?

2007-10-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

Most would say no.

Over the years we have seen a plethora of movies come out based on their video game counterparts. From Super Mario Brothers to Lara Croft : Tomb Raider, each as horrendous as the next. My question is: Why are these movies so bad? And what could happen to produce a good one? Some other questions I'd like to ask are...

Is it the horrible plots?
Poor acting?
Budget related?

Or is it just the fact that the target audience, is only those who have played the actual game.

There have been some diamonds in the rough in my opinion, the Silent hill movie, for example. That movie took an almost direct adaptation from the game and gave us a pretty nice depiction of the game's plot line. Although the acting was quite terrible, the movie was overall pretty scary, and fun to watch.

But, this one movie does not make up for the box-office blunders these usually are.

I believe that like any other good story, most of these films have lacked good scripts, writing, and overall creativity. Most of the video games you can play nowadays are really quite good, and the scopes of their stories rival that of a J.R.R Tolkien, or George Lucas epics.

Take for example, the Legend of Zelda video game.

The game has created a cult following for almost three decades. The story is great, the characters are there...so why can't this be turned into a great film? My guess is that production for such a film would require a huge price tag. It also would NEED to be successful, for the sake of keeping the franchise prestigious. Boasting a star studded cast could also ruin the believability of the series.

To make this film successful it would need to be very similar to the structure of the Lord of the Rings films.

I believe examples such as The Legend of Zelda, are the reason why studios don't make good video game films. They are too nervous on investing so much money in something that could potentially flop, and will instead, produce a low-budget poorly structured film based, just to turn a small profit (The Resident Evil Movies).

I hope in the future we will see a good movie based on a video game, but for now I will just have to simply keep playing them.

Why don't people like Onions?

2007-10-16T16:45:00.000-07:00

Seriously, why don't people like them? I can understand that the smell may be a little pungent, and sticks with you...but that is the beauty of the onion!

The onion adds so much flavor to almost any dish, I could hardly imagine eating anything without it. Some people say that an onion gives people lackluster breath, and to this, I say: PSSHHAWW! Go chew some gum or have a mint afterwards!

The best foods including onions (in no particular order): Hamburgers, Potatoes, Stir Fry, Salads, Sandwiches, Soups, Pizza, Dips, Chicken, Tuna, Sausage, Meatloaf...just to name a few!

During the creation of these dishes you are greeted with the lovely smell of onion throughout the entire house! Who can deny that? Hey - If you don't like the smell, just cook those babies on the stove and they won't smell as much!

People who don't like onions, are picky eaters, and picky eaters are just LAME. Nobody likes having company over, and having them deny the food you offer them...it's just RUDE.

In conclusion, if you want to be a square, obnoxious, an overall jerk in life, hate the onion. And hate yourself while your at it!

Movie Review - 28 Weeks Later

2007-10-16T11:13:00.001-07:00

Last week I picked up this movie at the Blockbuster video after reading overall good reviews from most websites. I enjoyed the previous film 28 days later, and loved how it was directed by Danny Boyle (the director of Trainspotting).

This film takes the same approach as 28 Days Later did, only you are centered around how the devastation of outbreak effects a small family. WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD.

Basically the movie takes place 28 weeks (obviously) after the previous film, and focuses on a man in hideout with his wife and several other people. Soon after the film begins, the "infected" find them in hiding. The man and his wife flee from the infected until they are trapped. The man finds himself in the position to either save his wife, or run way. He runs away, and leaves his wife behind, with the infected. Eventually he is found, and meets up with his children (who were abroad at the time), and explains what happened to their mother (not exactly truthfully). Later they find his wife alive, infected, but not acting vicious. They find that she is a carrier, she herself is immune, but can pass on the infection to others. The man, thinking his wife was dead, goes to meet her and apologize. In a sad moment, he kisses her contracting her fatal affliction. He then becomes one of the infected, and the rest of the film is basically a huge zombie romp from the events after, as more and more people become infected by his attacks.

The acting by Robert Carlyle (also from Trainspotting) was excellent, and they did a great job at showing his point of view throughout the film. I was shocked to learn that most of the movie was film on such a small budget, having such realistic special effects.

The film was well cast, brutally violent, decent script, and good cinematography. I'd say it's definitely worth renting.

3.75/5

Hi!

2007-09-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

My name is Nathaniel Hayes, I'm a Junior/Senior COMS studies major at CSUS. I live in Sacramento, and grew up in Folsom. I am the middle child of three, and the only one with tan complexion.

I play guitar (somewhat), frisbee golf, work on computers, play video games, and am a avid movie/TV buff, like any other self respecting college student. I hope to work in movie/television production some day.

I like pretty much all music that is GOOD, so if you listen mainstream radio, 80% of what you listen to, I won't like.

Some of the stuff I like: The Mars Volta, At the Drive-In, Sparta, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Fire Theft, Thursday, Death Cab For Cutie, Modest Mouse, The Faint, Crime In Choir, Hella, The Advantage, Cursive, Incubus (old), Dredg, Less Than Jake, Glassjaw, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Queen, Aesop Rock, Cool Calm Pete, Blackalicious, Blockhead, Led Zepplin, The Doors, The Beatles, Oasis, Johnny Cash to name a few...

I would consider myself somewhat introverted, but overall, a straight-shooter among people I know well. I would also probably consider myself more on the right side of the political spectrum, but we'll see with the upcoming election. I'll keep you posted...