The Wineman Wire 2: Electric Boogaloo

Helena is THE place...

2010-07-10T02:12:00.000-06:00

As I pack to prepare for my 2 weeks in Helena, I really have no idea what to think. This will be one of the most challenging and offsetting things I've done with my summer (maybe my life, but my memory is hazy as it is extremely late in the evening)

While I usually went to Helena to simply put on a show, this time I'm going in to do something I never really thought I was ever going to do, teach. I don't really consider myself a good educator, so it bothers me if I'll be adequate to keep two 6th grade and one 8th grade class occupied long enough to be considered a class. I keep my fingers crossed. Also have a workshop AND a showcase, but I think I'll manage.

I'll try to keep updated, but my capability of keeping up with this blog is less than reliable.

Cheers

Too Lazy to Do Lazy Things...

2010-06-04T01:35:00.000-06:00

Lately I've been avoiding doing things I do when I'm bored. This, from my understanding, is a sign of depression, which seeps in through the cracks on occasion. The problem is that I really find very few opportunities for getting out of it. Usually I'd just go find friends, bitch for 15 minutes and then go have fun, but it's become very noticeable how old I'm getting by how few friends are still coming back to Cut Bank. I've become very reliant on Facebook, MSN, and eBuddy (Which is Facebook AND MSN) to keep a somewhat social life. The most interaction I've had with people outside of work (which is full of people I'd avoid outside of the work place) was at Danielle's graduation party, and most of them were twice my age.

Anyways, I realy just get stuck in a rut and even if I try to watch a movie, read a book, or play video games, my mind just gets completely turned off by the idea. I'm hoping this blog will prove useful over the summer to help deal with this. I think this would go away faster if I even had one or two friends I could chat with on Facebook on a constant basis.

Should I Stay or Should I Upgrade?

2010-06-02T03:22:00.000-06:00

Can't get to sleep, so I figure I'll bore myself with another blog post.

What I'm wondering is if I should destroy the first half of this blog?

On one side, it shows how I've evolved (or devolved) as a writer. It's a great way to see maturity in my opinions and how life's ways have changed me.

On the other side, I really hate young Nick. He was pretentious, poorly educated, and really didn't know the world outside his tiny plane of reality. Starting new can put a real different take on this page, and really let it start from scratch.

Oh well. We'll figure it out. By we I mean those who read this, and by people who read this, I mean me.

10 Days Left on the Roller Coaster Known as April

2010-04-20T05:41:00.003-06:00

Here I am, just a few weeks of the one year anniversary of my last post on this blog.

I remember beginning and updating this blog so that I could procrastinate, display my thoughts and emotions, and give the illusion that I am "deep." I find it funny that I return with little to no change to those motives. As I type this, I have successfully kept from writing a Shakespeare paper for hours now. A combination of simple procrastination, a now confirmed yet undiagnosed case of ADD (seriously), and current events have been the main contributors.

Well I guess we can start with the classic idea of good news and bad news. I can now say I'm an award winning director, and although it wasn't in an event that I'd necessarily call important or distinguished, it felt good to win while taking my first classes as a director. I'm also a published poet. The college I'm at publishes a magazine with poetry once a year to appease the English majors, and one of my three entries made it. I laughed when I found out it was the one I hated. It's a mess of cliches and overused ideas, but it kept the english teacher happy, and I guess the publishers liked it too. So within one month, I feel I can safely be proud of my accomplishments lately. My sister also won Cut Bank's Junior Miss, and that really is something I'm proud of. It's never been my bag, but her and her older sis Danielle have been interested in this thing since my Mom resurrected the rotting corpse of Montana's Junior Miss from Missoula, so to hear of her success is uplifting.

Unfortunately, it seems the bad news bears down on the good news, suffocating its already meager existence. Like last year, finals are approaching, and those several assignments due beforehand are definitely not getting any easier. Halfway through this year I thought I had gotten a system down to avoid the last minute shuffle where I literally was typing three major papers at the same time, but it seems like my inability to focus has no intention of stopping.

Money has a been a real pain. I had been somewhat responsible recently, and a few weeks ago, a friend offered to take me out on the town (by town I mean Sioux Falls), and while there I spent a great amount of the tax refund I received this year. It seems that my expenses didn't expect that, as money for directing and life in general has been draining me lately. I'm really down to the last few dimes, even using money from my savings (which I held out for so long before using.)

My grandmother was hospitalized recently. While it did have me worried for a while, it does seem that she's doing better now. My dad and uncle came up/down to Pennsylvania to keep check on her, and I believe she should do just fine.

Finally, I hear that my dog, Amos, is not doing so well. In the past, he's survived possible cancer and miraculously recovered from an almost lethal case of anemia. However, he recently had a stroke which paralyzed the left side of this body. I've been told he cant even stand or walk properly, and that he isn't expected to make it through the week. It's rough hearing that on Sunday, knowing you have 7 days of holding your breath waiting for that call, and even if nothing new is reported, that every day after is just as unnerving, waiting for that inevitable ring from home.

It's always a unique experience when death is involved. I find an even more unique experience as so much of my experience has been with dogs. My first time was with my dog Natasha, who was suffering from waves of strokes that would randomly hit. Being young at the time, I am still quite unsure of the specifics, but from what my parents have told me, it seems it was going to happen sooner or later. She died relatively young. We then lost Max, a dog very close to the family, since we got him when I was only a few months old. One night his stomach ruptured very unexpectantly and died within hours. To this day I have no idea how that happened, but it was just as hard, if not harder, to deal with than it was with Natasha. Max died when I was in the 2nd Grade, if memory serves.

We got Amos just shortly after moving to Montana. I can't remember specific dates, but I can remember first meeting him, as he was an outside dog. That was important, because he was brough into a trailer where he threw himself at full speed onto the furniture and bounced off, running laps around area. Even before signing the papers, it became very apparent that he was attached the women, and clung to mom like he had known her his entire life. Despite being a ranch dog, Amos quickly found the inside of our house to be far more appealing. He'd eventually find his throne on an old brown recliner. I remember when mom told dad and me to get rid of that chair. She said it was a gross eyesore, but both of us were less than pleased, as we felt we taking Amos's favorite part of the house out the door. This dog is a survivor. Amongst the many things he's been through, the scariest was the anemia. He'd bleed freely from his gums after chewing on a bone, and his skin began to loosen up (I noticed it was getting harder to see his eyes as his lids and brows began to cover them.) Dad brought him to the vet, and later told me during Amos's stay he seemed to be getting worse. At one point, my dad's thought was "If nothing seems to be helping, we might have to put him down in the morning." That very morning, Amos inexplicably became better. Nothing was bothering him, and his bleeding problem was a thing of the past, and the only thing wrong was that he hadn't seen mom for so long, and greeted her with tremendous amount of love. He loved her more than anyone else. He had a habit early on of jumping the fence and walking around. One memorable day he got out, and walked straight into the school, traced my mom's cent, and snuck into her office, curling up under her desk as if to say "I was lonely, and if you let me stay here, I promise I won't make a fuss." Amos took it upon himself to bark at every person who entered the house, regardless of who or what they were. It annoyed a lot of us, but remember changing my perspective of his constant barking when my dad once wrote about how he enjoyed entering the house after being gone for so long, and Amos was eager to let you know he was there and he cared. His recognition of your existence was great way of being reminded that you were home. As my dad said, "It's great to know someone is glad you're home." Everyone one of our friends knows the dogs. Simba and Amos go synonymous with the Amanda, Kimberley, Alexis, and everyone else. You knew someone was used to visiting the Wineman house when they ceased to be surprised or scared of the large black beast charging down the stairs to greet you.

So here I am, with the phone closer to me, as it is my last gate to him. I am well aware that January 10th, 2009 is most likely the last time I'll ever see him. It'll be odd to cope with death from such a distance. I imagine my dad will be having an equally difficult time while in DC. I worry most for those at home, of course. What I fear, though, is what will happen when I return. Like any dog, Amos does a good job of leaving himself all over the place. the remnants of the rawhides on blankets and carpets, the few strands of hair the vacuum refuses to take, and even worse getting over the expectancies. I do not look forward to feeding time and remembering I only need to get one bowl, or saying good night to my mom and seeing the end of her bed not occupied, and getting used to entering the house without hearing those welcoming barks.

Well, I have to stop. I could probably write entire pages on the fella, but of course this was a procrastinating tool, and I cannot in fact turn this in as it has nothing to do with miscommunications of either Romeo & Juliet, Antony & Cleopatra, or King Lear.

I notice I had a habit of leaving a YouTube at the end of my posts, so I'll drop another. Give it a listen, as it kind of goes with the mood of most of this post.

Till next time, take care...

Finals.

2009-05-04T12:30:00.004-06:00

They are killing my soul. Afraid of failing classes. Haven't had a chance to start packing. Place is a mess.

Here's a funny video with Hugh Laurie.

I love you, believe it or not

2009-02-06T12:14:00.002-07:00

Believe it or not, I want to keep this alive, I just have pushed it to the back of my priorities list.
I find it funny that my blogging quit almost the same time North's did.

Anyways, I've really tricked out my macbook. With Firefox, I've added something that let's me make this post without having to actually log into the site. I can play my iTunes by just pressing some buttons on the browser rather than manage both. I also have Twitter, which is great for people who don't have time for Facebook (or people who can do both). Twitter.com is just a combo of the status updates of Facebook and blogging. You simply go one, leave an update on how you are doing and leave it at that. Your friends come on see how your doing and leave their two cents. It's conveniant to keep in touch with people who are hard to keep in contact (I'm lookin at you mom! Get a Twitter! It's perfect for you!)

Probably my favorite thing now is since my iPod can only be charged through my macbook, my sound system is hooked up to my macbook. I messed around with my iCalendar so that it is my new alarm clock. My favorite modification though is my celebration music. I'm a guy that loves a good happy energetic song after a long week, and my mac plays this song at the end of my Friday classes. Don't tell me you don't feel awesomely awesome after hearing this...

Getting ready for my big auditions. They're coming up. I can't find a ride to Midwest yet, but I haven't given up hope yet. Classes are HARD this semester, but I'm getting by. Also trying to get another message board going during my free time (which is miniscule), but the members don't seem that interested in keeping up to date on it. I don't know whether to get rid of it.

Now here's something I've been pondering. To increase my speech skills (they're good but could always use improvement) I wanted to start making Youtube speeches. Not annoying blog things where people go on and spend their precious camera time mumbling "uhh....like.....this happened and it was so cool....yeah" but rather make a short 1-3 minute comment on something relevant. My nerdy side wants to make some REALLY nerdy ones, and I might pursue that urge, but for every nerdy one, I want something I can use to challenge myself intellectually, though I don't have many ideas on what those may be. I can tell what my parents are thinking "maybe you should just focus on your studies instead" but I want to reiterate that this would be taking time out of things like watching tv and games and such, so I considered it justified.

I can't think of much else to talk about, unless I want to mention this recent Michael Phelps thing. All I'll say is REALLY? America, you are REALLY surprised this guy smokes reefer? REALLY? I knew from the first day I saw that stoner grin the guy was a total blazer. TONS of swimmers are (I would bet among most professional sports, swimming posseses the most potheads), I don't see why everyone is dropping their jaws. I kind of chuckled when I thought "If the guy wins 8 gold medal and smokes the greens, wouldn't that be more of an advertisement?" Evidentally Tony the Tiger doesn't think so.

:)
----------------
Now playing on iTunes: String Cheese Incident - Land's End
via FoxyTunes

Merry Be-Lated Christmas

2009-01-06T14:19:00.003-07:00

My Favorite show donated yet another christmas song I just got my hands on, so here's the possibly the last recording of the wonderful pairing of No. 21 and 24 and their wonderful music.

Here's the link to the song's page

Free Market Failed, Eh?

2008-12-11T15:07:00.002-07:00

I have an online subscription to the Ayn Rand Institute and I get constant updates every other day telling about thesis papers on the philosophy and such, occasional clips of advocates in the media, and this one was pretty interesting I thought. I've been fascinated by the recent crisis in Washington over the economy, but even more interested in the responses it has gotten. I keep reading reports that "free market has failed!" and similar gibberish, and have even heard Alan Greenspan, a friend of Ms. Rand, say it is flawed. This article made me scratch my brow and made me think. It was nice to hear someone with sense being interviewed about this case for once. Enjoy

I don't think I've ever laughed this hard.

2008-12-06T21:06:00.002-07:00

Every Saturday and Sunday @ 10, I stop what I'm doing and watch The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. I enjoy the suspense and the great noir feeling. It's one of my favorite shows. Right before every episode, Ol' Alfed comes out and bids everyone a "Good Evening" and starts a witty and hilarious monologue about something or other. Tonight's though, was funny than any other, and it wasn't even his fault. Watch the beginning and his little monologue then watch the video underneath it, and you too can experience the laugh I had.

Don't try to pretend like you didn't laugh!

Now go ahead and watch the rest of the episode...

The best Macy's Day Thanksgiving Day Parade EVER.....and I missed it

2008-11-29T16:21:00.002-07:00

So I missed the parade this thanksgiving. Yeah, it's a great tradition, but I didn't think anything particularly awesome would show up, but go figure I missed THE BEST parade ever, and it was all thanks to cartoons go figure...

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends has been a cartoon I have adamantly supported these past few years because it had everything modern children cartoons haven't had: ORIGINALITY, STYLE, and god forbid HUMOR. Though I believe the show has been canceled for a while, Good ol' Cartoon Network thought it would be good to give them their own float, and it turned out to be the best float in the history of floats. Why, you ask? Didn't you see it? well here's the clip in case you missed it.

Through our lives, we see wins, and on occasion there are epic wins, but on very rare occasions such as this the only title we use is GODLY WIN.

You like great music? You like CHEAP music?

2008-11-06T11:56:00.003-07:00

Any respectable person has at least a small amount of love for Queen. Recently, Queen came out with a new album, Rock the Cosmos, which was okay, by no means great, but not terrible. In celebration of the reuniting of Queen + Paul Rodgers, Amazon has (FOR A VERY LIMITED TIME) discounted one of Queen's best albums, News Of The World, for MP3 download for $1.99. THE ENTIRE ALBUM FOR TWO BUCKS! Please do music justice and GET THIS ALBUM. I have it already and is one of my favorite albums, and it's not because this is the album We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions were introduced (although I will admit "Sheer Heart Attack would've been better off without all the nails on chalkboard solos). So do music justice and get yourself some ROCK!

Good Ole' Craig Anton paints a picture of EXACTLY what's going to happen tomorrow!

2008-11-03T23:04:00.002-07:00

I usually don't post two posts in one day, but damn, Craig Anton sent me this and I had to keep from just busting my gut, and I don't think even he realizes why it's so funny to me. Well done sir, well done.

Before you go to the polls tomorrow...

2008-11-03T21:03:00.002-07:00

Since it's THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION since God vs. Satan before Time began, I want you to know what you're voting for. Remember, if the person you're supporting loses, this country is going to hell, and let this video be a reminder to you!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Here's the link again in case it sucks on the blog

Guess who's on Channel 54?

2008-10-22T18:30:00.003-06:00

My last acting teacher, Mr. Craig Anton will be appearing on Comedy Central on the hilarious, offensive, and odd absurdist comedy, The Sarah Silverman Show (he's the handsome devil playing the gray haired news reporter). WATCH IT!

The perfect answer

2008-10-09T14:35:00.002-06:00

I remember telling my mom that the last thing I could ever want in college is to be an RA. She responded, "Well I think you'd have a lot of fun with it" and I just tried to envision it for a second and shuddered. Why wouldn't I want to do something like this? Just take a look at this video, it captures every answer I can come up with.

Here's the link if you can't see the whole video

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

The day of the cowbell is over....

2008-10-02T14:30:00.002-06:00

I preach this way too much, but I think it's safe to say that old SNL can finally relax in that it has a valued successor. As funny as Christopher Walken yelling at Blue Oyster Cult to use more cowbell was, some of the stuff these days is really just as amazing, if not better. This is from last season, my favorite season ever, and I have to say this is my absolute favorite skit from the show ever (and yes the bias is completely noticeable). Having a bad day? please watch this, I can't watch this without nearly peeing myself. If anyone, this is for my pop, because if he doesn't howl in laughter from this, I don't know my own father. Enjoy

If you thought SNL was funny....

2008-09-27T14:41:00.002-06:00

I personally thought the debate yesterday was funnier than most of the modern comedies out there today (okay, maybe not as good as The Office, but close). Anyways, if you thought it was funny already, just check this. I promise, if I had any sort of drink, I would've been all over this, too funny

Video Games and it's Fans Conquer the Final Boss!!

2008-09-25T21:21:00.001-06:00

Jack Thompson, the ultimate bad guy in video game history (next to E.T., a joke for hardcore friends) has been defeated! Jack Thompson, leader of the extremists for the abolishing of video games has been forbidden to practice law in the state of Florida. It's like Mario sending Bowser to the fiery pit, Destroying all the Metal Gears, and destroying all the hopes of the cyber Hitlers in the Medal of Honor games. Good for us! To celebrate, I am calling for a holiday. October 20th should be the first day without Mr. Thompson in the legal department. Everyone, find your most violent game, from Hitman, to Doom, to Grand Theft Auto, to my personal favorite ridiculously violent game, God of War. In fact here's one of my favorite kills in the game. I hope Mr. Thompson doesn't mind.

A Penny For Your Thoughts?

2008-09-17T14:59:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone, nothing too new, but I wanted to hear your insight on this. Think of it as an experiment. Unlike most posts, where I don't care if you reply or not, the sole purpose of this one is to hear your thoughts. If you see this, please take a couple minutes just to type up a response. thank you.

This is an ad that showed up during "Law & Order"

Thanks for your voice

Dear Friend

2008-09-15T17:56:00.005-06:00

I have odd relationships with my friends, and I was watching one of my favorite cartoons, and it had this sketch that symbolized the friendship between me and one of my closest friends. The person knows who they are ;)

(note, the symbolism really ends at 1:10, enjoy)

After 2 Years....

2008-09-11T20:39:00.002-06:00

It's beaten up, the cover is covered smeared printing ink, the spine is held together with strips of duct tape, each side of the book is frayed and ready to let go, and each page shows the time each hand spent on it through the blurred letters and bent corners. I finally finished my favorite book. It took forever, crippled by time and my reading speed, but to say it was worth it would be an understatement.

Why My iTunes is the BEST iTunes EVER....

2008-09-09T21:45:00.003-06:00

With the new iTunes, which has significant additions and is just absolutely wonderful, I realized what made mine so amazing, and I think this new interface (which filters music by genres) shows my iTunes superiority. Can you see why?

Just another thing that made me crack a smile today :)

Facebook NEVER Fails On The Funny!

2008-09-09T16:31:00.003-06:00

So I go to Levi's page to type something on his wall, and I pass his Top Friends and just happen to see this, and laughed so hard, I forgot what I was going to tell him. It seems his best friends are all interested in Atlas Shrugged!

Hope I'm not the only one that finds this funny!

A typing hypocrite, perhaps?

2008-09-07T23:41:00.004-06:00

I have come to question the purpose of this blog.

At first, I was motivated to make this to express my thoughts and views on philosophy.

Before, I had hocked other for simple blogs that were online journals showing the rest of the world their daily schedule, and yet, here I am with the past few of my posts having absolutely nothing to do with thought or ways of life, but rather simple entrees barely fit for a diary.

So what now? I could write about my wonderful readings of Atlas Shrugged, but it would probably be more of a book review like some member of Oprah's Book Club rather than some analysis of the philosophic masterpiece.

I could use some advice on this issue.

Am I The Only One?

2008-09-04T20:54:00.002-06:00

I keep notes now on Facebook called "Am I the Only One?" where I make rants where I feel I'm the only one with that particular opinion. Here's my latest....

Okay, this time I'm a little more serious. Instead of bleeps, let's talk politics. Am I the only one who thinks we've got two overrated politicians? I mean both have good qualities, but in the end, the best compliment I can give them is that they're......mediocre.

Both candidates have made thousands of wonderful wonderful promises, but I don't believe either of them. I can't believe that either of them will bring "change" and as different as this election is, if you look beyond one's young age and different colored skin and the old fart with a hot vice, and look at principles and true determination, I don't see a single difference between this and nearly every other election.

Every year, I have been an avid advocate of one side or another (to be fair usually the conservative side) but this time around, I'm completely indifferent. Anybody agree?

"Is anybody there?................Does anybody care?" - John Adams, 1776: the Musical

In a world without the voice over king....

2008-09-02T20:46:00.003-06:00

Don LaFontaine
(aka. "Thunder Throat" "The Voice of God")
August 26, 1940 - September 1, 2008

A master of his craft, Don LaFontaine, has recently passed away. To the ignorant he was just a voice, but to people like me, even he could make any terrible movie entertaining for the 60 seconds he talked about it. As one from the acting industry, I appreciate him for the entertainer he was, and he will be missed. Never will there be one like him.

"Throughout history, man has marveled at the vast complexity of the universe. Without a single unified voice, humanity has been left searching for answers to the unknown. Now... one man has the power to change that... and to spread his voice across the Earth... for all of mankind to hear. One man... Me!"
- Don LaFontaine, from Don LaFontaine: The Voice

A funny thing happened on the way to the blog...

2008-08-31T17:41:00.002-06:00

Don't worry, I've got REAL stuff to talk about soon, but for now, here's some funny!

This was on nbc's clip of the day online today (I have approx. 12 channels here, so I watch stuff online now) and this clip had my favorite SNL writer with one of my favorite playwrights. This is just more proof that SNL is back, funnier than it has ever been, and hopefully here to stay.

I finally got around to watching my Muppet Show DVDs, and talk about GREAT first impressions, because this is the first skit of the first show, and it' hilarious.

And here's a clip from the second episode. Connie Stevens was the guest, but two more even more special guests showed up and were hilarious.

Hope I made ya smile!

Yeah I'm Slow, Wanna Fight About It?

2008-08-19T00:29:00.004-06:00

So it's been nearly a month since my last post. I hate to do this to ya, but this one ain't gonna be much of a thriller either. I know it seems like I've been sitting around doing nothing, but I've been really busy. Secret Garden was fantastic, and I thank all who came profusely. Been working down at Pizza Hut, losing weight, and packing for College.

I guess if I have to give you something, here's the USD theatre season for 08-09:

Fall: Voice on the Prarie

Winter: A Christmas Carol

Spring: All My Sons

Summer: Rocky Horror Show

Will try to start keeping you more updated when I get the chance.

-Wineman

A Grand Time I've Happened to Have...

2008-07-27T00:56:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been super duper busy.

Anyhoo, These past few weeks have been awesome, which is an understatement.

One of the first things I did during my stay with the Adam's family was to see the latest edition in the Pixar family, WALL-E. Despite some worries I had, I ended up comparing it to the Toy Storys, the two best animated movies ever. It was adorable, had a message, and was hilarious. It gets my SEAL of APPROVAL

My good friend Branden took a couple of us down to Bozeman (which was my first time down there) to see the Museum of the Rockies. Right now, they have an exhibit called OUT OF THIS WORLD which is a display of "Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television". It lived up to the hype, as we got to see a plethora of movie props. From Darth Vader's suit to Luke Skywalker's severed hand to Dan Ackroyd's Ghostbuster suit to George Clooney's Batsuit

(Bat Nipples included)

A couple days later, My sister and I hung out in line July 17th for about 6 hours adorned in joker makeup (my sister voluntarily put on Two Face makeup). And, as I had hoped, the movie turned out AMAZING!! It is most likely the most amazing movie I've ever seen. Please if you love yourself, treat yourself to the most pulse pounding scary awesome movie ever.

As much fun as all this stuff is, the most important is probably the show, The Secret Garden. The show premiered yesterday, and all I can say is wow. I didn't think much of the show, but that's only because I was only able to listen to the soundtrack. Once we learned the music, learned the dances, and saw the stage, I was convinced it was going to be good show. And it is, everyone that comes has been thoroughly satisfied and I think you will too, so come on down North, Sikes, Kimmet, LaRouqe, Hillestad, Pastor Mike, and anyone else who is in the area. You can come backstage afterwards if it persuades you further.

Would've posted this earlier but we spent what time we weren't at the theatre at the fair.

So this Helena palce, it's got stuff to do......

95% Digitally Superior

2008-07-08T22:18:00.001-06:00

In the past few days, my computer has been completely pimped out, and I'm pretty proud of it. Along with my awesome Firefox 3, I've installed a few of the add-ons. You see, you can put accessories on your Firefox to help you out. My favorite has to be ScribeFire, which allows me post blog posts (like this one) without EVER going to the blog website. I simply type press publish, and the next time I go to the blog, it's on. I also installed PicLens. It is an image search that REALLY quickly finds pictures, products, or movies from the site of your choice (check stuff out on Amazon, find images on Flickr or Google, or videos on YouTube. You're supposed to like it because it's very slick looking and nifty, but I lke it because it's the quickest way to find all those things, rather than going to the sites.

I also finally got my computer registered with .mac (which as of tomorrow will be known as "MobileMe") so now I have a new e-mail (thewineman@mac.com soon to be thewineman@me.com). I backed up some files on the web, and can publish a website for free! I intend to use the free hosting to post my early Acting Website, which, when I start, I promise to keep you updated.

I want to make it much more digitally awesome, but I'm missing a major component. You see, to get anything else new for my mac, I need the new Software, Leopard, and I'm in possession of it's predeccessor, Tiger. I don't mind right now, but I intend to improve on that in the future.

So yeah, it's nice to be moving at the speed of light on this computer!

The Super Secret Garden

2008-07-07T16:20:00.001-06:00

Hello again!

This blog has definitely suffered this summer. Not only have I not been on the computer nearly as much, but my parents' very inferior computer machine has been slowing me down, but it's ok now because I'm back on my mac, which is now installed with Firefox 3, the best browser ever. Not only does it provide me with useful applications aplenty, but the speed is just so unrivaled. I was browsing while it installed, and as soon as I finished, the internet (which was already fast) hit a speed I never thought possible!

I'm currently in Helena with my sister and surrogate brother, Mr. Selting, readying for "The Secret Garden". It's fun, but I'm not too interested in giving you the full story (I'm not THAT bored)

Not much else to tell. I'll keep ya updated.

One of the best "Which is Better?" questions in the movie biz....

2008-06-24T14:14:00.004-06:00

Which is the better movie? Every year at the Academy Awards, it's almost guaranteed you already know the winner is. On occasion, there's an upset (who seriously thought Crash would beat Brokeback Mountain?) but let's face it, Silence of the Lambs had no contest, Return of the King took everything, and many others were pretty predictable. Last years, however, turned out to be quit a brawl match. Many said that the reason for it was that there no "amazing" films to take the award. At first, I thought that was true too. I had heard about this film "There Will Be Blood" to be the probable victor, but right before the awards, I also began to hear about this "No Country For Old Men" which I kinds shrugged, because it looked like another Western movie (and recently, the western genre has come back with great abundance in both great and terrible movies). I shrugged both off, think that the year was pretty louzy. However, when the "almost obvious" winner lost to the western, my interest in both raised a little, and since I've done my best to try and see these movies. In the acting community, I have been hearing about both, hearing that both had superb acting, and interesting stories (both not very conforming to the usual ways of telling a tale). Finally, half way through 2008, I have finally seen both of the biggest movis from 2007, and they both lived up to the hype, but which was better?

In one corner, we have OIL!, a novel turned movie (There Will Be Blood) about the very compelling life of a man who becomes a huge oil businessman. At some points, Daniel Plainsman almost reminds me of Orson Welle's Kane, yet, however, turns more towards the ways of a villain, and the storyline turns a simple idea into a very interesting and addictive movie. The final scene of the movie is one of the best pieces of movie magic I've ever seen. Even if you don't like the movie, the last scene will have your undivided attention.

It's contender, despite being placed in the west, couldn't be more different. Instead of a corrupt Kane, we have the closest thing to a cowboy Hannibal there probably will ever be. No, he doesn't eat people but he's a ruthless killer, and like Hannibal, insanely kills people. Like Hannibal, he is easilyone of literature's and cinema's best villains.

I'll have my ruling soon, I gotta think about it, but both movies were better than Brokeback, Crash, Return of the King, and many other Academy winners. So much for a louzy year in movies.

Marvel is everything right with the movie industry...

2008-06-14T22:08:00.002-06:00

What does a comic company do when half of their biggest stars (Fantastic Four, DareDevil, Captain America, Hulk, etc) are given away to random film companies who don't see good opportunities for good movies, but rather quick ways of getting the quick buck? They say "Screw you, we're bringing them back home".

While Marvel has had it's fair share of super successes, like X-men and Spider-man, they really hated knowing that a lot their more amazing characters were not doing so well with these radom companies and directors doing whatever they wanted, and so Marvel packed up took all their characters, and opened their own studio. In collaboration with Universal Studios, they have gained back full possession of every last hero. Now when they make a movie, they make sure that each character is represented properly with no bullcrap added by people who nothing about the characters (Doctor Doom wearing a mask, Bullseye wearing a trenchcoat, Red Skull being Italian, Green Goblin being a f^$*$* power ranger, just for starters) and making sure that both movie fans and comic book geeks are properly entertained. And they have done just that, because as of right now, Marvel holds a 100% score with two AMAZING movies under their belt, and one of them especially had to pull through to make up for past mistakes.

First came Iron Man. How do you screw this up? change the suit, make Tony Stark and everyday Joe, make the bad guy some monster from the black lagoon, all of which could've happened under another studio, but Marvel's dedicated. They casted Robert Downey Jr. who is A. a really amazing actor, and B. happens to look just like Mr. Stark (take a look for yourself!)

Then, they keep true to the story. Granted, his original origins came from the Vietcong, and this is the Middle East, but if you think about it, he was created during the days of Vietnam, and now there is Iraq, so why not update it to help the commonfolk relate? They get a pretty engaging story, and do the two most important things you can do in a super hero movie:

A. Make it entertaining

B. Stay true to the hero

Another great thing Marvel does is cover their films with references. In Iron Man, Stark's ringtone is the theme song to the old Iron Man cartoon, and there's a scene where his black friend looks at a silver copy of the Iron Man suit and says "next time". Hardcore fans will remember an Iron Man spin off in the 80's called "War Machine" who was a black character in the army who fought in a silver Iron Man suit. what are the odds? Overall, it made for the best super hero movie since Batman Begins, which is quite impressive. Marvel's second attempt would prove to be even more difficult, however......

This time, with The Incredible Hulk, Marvel not only had to make a good movie but also had to make up for Hulk, a psychological look into the green guy's mind with mild action, most of which was kind of hard to watch, with nothing too extravegant. That's what the people want right? not quite, Mr. Ang Lee. Marvel wiped the slate clean, got a whole new cast (which sadly meant no Jennifer Conneley), a whole new hulk, and to top it off, they gave him a real bad guy to fight (his father turning into that crazy thing in Hulk never happened in the comics, which isn't a good thing). From there Marvel tacked on a pretty good storyline (pretty much as good as Iron Man) except they pushed the action to the very brink. cars ripped in twain, bodies flying, anything good about action movies happened in this one. And when it came time for giving to the fans, this movie topped them all. Along with the usual Stan Lee cameo, Lou Ferrignno and Bill Bixby both show up in the film, a scene shows the possible introduction of The Leader (Hulk's other super bad guy), Doc Samson is in the film a little bit, Tony Stark shows up, and the best part, one scene where Bruce is walking the streets with his backpack looking to hitchike is mixed with the exit music from the 70's tv show. Of course, the movie pointed at a possible sequel and the Avengers of course. Here's to hoping both go through.

So Marvel is well on it's way to legendary status, and they are not taking any breathers. They've already started working on Thor, Captain America, and Ant-Man and possibly Nick Fury (who's already shown up in one of the films). Easily the best part of all of these is since Marvel now has ccontrol of nearly all its characters, they can mix them into any of the movies they want. For instance, Iron Man shows up in the Hulk. Marvel wanted their movies to be like the comics, where instead of each hero in his own reality, they all live within one universe where they can all bump into each other at times.

So here's to Marvel, for putting the effort back into the action genre.

Slow and Steady ticks off your readers....

2008-06-07T12:02:00.002-06:00

yeah, sorry about me taking forever to post. A. Not much is going on B. I'm usually way to busy to update. Luckily, though, if everything works out, I'll be posting a lot more in July. Like last year, I'll be at Grandstreet, and if it works out like last time too, I'll have some time during lunch break to keep everyone informed.

Right now, however, I have just about enough time to post this. Lo siento

Monarch, I'm.....

2008-06-01T00:45:00.003-06:00

This is the current welcome page to Adult Swim, which doesn't help.less than 9 hours and it's still too much to bare. GAH!!!!

Say Hello to Goodbye Dr. Venture

2008-05-30T11:43:00.003-06:00

(50 points who can tell me who said that, another 50 points if you can tell me what episode)

Anyways, the time of jubilee hath come, and it comes in the form of the best television show ever, The Venture Bros. As usual, the show will premiere online first tomorrow, but as a die hard fan, I must watch the first episode on television (9:30 MST Sunday), at my party which everyone is invited to. I'm convinced this season will be the best yet.

And now, I'd like to offer you two GREAT gifts, you fellow fans of Venture.

First, here's a clip from the premiere, Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny. Hope this slakes enough of your lust to get you through to Sunday night.

You thought that was cool? Wait till you see this! Doc and Jackson are your best friends, because unlike your usual animators and directors, these guys love their fans, and have delivered on some awesome fan gear. WELCOME TO THE SHIRT OF THE WEEK CLUB!!!

Every week, Doc and Jackson will premiere a new episode of everyone's favorite adventure family, and along with each pemiere will come an epsiode specific T-Shirt.

Here's the shirt of Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny, and might I add, it's pretty pimp:

(Who doesn't want a Guild of Calamatous Intent Shirt!?)

The coolest part though, is once one episode premieres the shirt for the previous one will forever be discontinued. So the Shadowman 9 (The premiere episode) shirt will expire after The Doctor is Sin has been shown, so only you and your fellow fans will ever have the opportunity to own them.

HERE'S TO THE VENTURE FAMILY AND ALL THEIR SHENANIGANS!!

Nevada loses a few....

2008-05-20T02:00:00.002-06:00

Looking back on Nevada (while I'm still in it) I have to take some points away from my early review. First, I made the mistake of saying the salt flats were in Nevada, when they were in Utah (I slept on my way there and thought we already had crossed the border), but the biggest reason is because of its rural areas.

Meth is the biggest in Montana, but it's most noticeable in Nevada. You can spot junkies miles away and often. The rural towns are nasty and gross, I've come to notice. There are one or two that are ok (the one with the flat races reminded me of Lincoln, MT), but places like Ely are just terrible. I must admit my homestay is very nice. a young mormon family making an honest living, but by the sounds of it, we have the best family. some houses were evidentially too disgusting for the other singers. Our trailers were also paint balled too, which we definitely appreciate. And one thing I've noticed is that manners can be lacking here that are even common practice in the deepest of hick towns in Montana. After being served a meal at the Ely Methodist Church (which was delicious and we were grateful for) they requested that the church get 40 comp tickets to the show to pay back for the dinner. 40 tickets! first, While I respect we were served a free dinner, I've never known the people of the church to be so demanding and rude. They waited until after the dinner to do this as well, as if to pin us against the wall. We've been served dinners at churches before, and never had any of them even thought to ask such a ridiculous request (especially when we only had 120 seats). Patrick settled it by giving them 10, but the idea that the church did that still haunts my mind.

So I think Nevada needs to go down a few letter grades to a C+. beautiful state, Las Vegas is more than fun, but once you hit the rural towns and meet some locales, it's time to go home.

Nevada gets an A

2008-05-18T01:41:00.002-06:00

As I return to the desert, I must admit, I didn't expect much from the state. It sounded like a desert full of nothing but casinos and desert. However, it did impress.

I may have never seen any flat races, but they bring in some of the most awesome cars around, most notably being this one:
And that's just one of the dozens of cars ready to race (most of them were Vipers and Corvettes). I intend on returning one day to watch one of the races, Dr. Thompson always said they were better than the world series and the super bowl mixed together.

Trivia Question: What is this?
A) Salt
B) A Lake
C) Salt Lake

and the answer is......

A). that is nothing but pure solid salt for miles. You gotta wear sunglasses because it's so damn bright. It's one of the most amazing geologic structures I've ever seen. It's just so strange to stand on a bunch of salt. It's evidentially excellent for longboarding and skateboarding, since there are absolutely no obstacles. We spent a good half hour just running around the place and having a jolly good time.

Of course Vegas was amazing. While I can't do much here not being 21, I still got to a show, and not just any show:

Let me just avoid the attempt of trying to describe the show and say it's jaw-dropping. I gotta convince my parents to bring the family down here sometime and get my sisters to see the show. The only other thing to do here is explore since gambling is out of the question. However, exploring a city like this is never boring. Caesars Palace proved to be quite the place, as was the Venetian. Saw a few statues of from Madame Tussuad (or however you spell here name) Museum. This statue from the Venetian has to be my favorite, however, for obvious reasons:

I really do wanna continue the night, but I'm pretty sore from all this explorin and I can't spend much more. So I guess I'll conclude for now. Cheerio!

SNL's return to funny brings a revelation......

2008-05-15T01:39:00.004-06:00

Tina Fey, a little while ago, became the first woman to become the head writer for SNL, and in an instant SNL became funny all over again. My friends discovered this during a particular episode hosted by Ashton Kutcher. We weren't sure if it would deliver (because ever since the trauma of Jimmy Fallon, the show has limped on) but there were few times when we weren't crying from the gut busting laughter. From Aston dressed as a giant bar of chocolate committing random acts of mass murder, to a strip bar full of paraplegic strippers.

(Time to get a little off topic, but it will all make sense) A couple years ago, Gnarls Barkley delivered a pretty fun single "Crazy" with an insane inkblot music video, which was enjoyed by all, but were they a one time deal? Were they good enough to deliver something more pure, more soulful? Could they break out of the terrible mold of the modern musicians? Could they do something that hasn't been truly done since the 70's; putting soul into music? If anyone could, no one would think it could come from a one time deal like Gnarls Barkley, at least I thought so.....

but foolish me. foolish foolish me.

The music guest on that particular episode of SNL happened to be Gnarls, and I thought, "oh fun, they will play that Crazy song again, but live and slightly more amusing" and then proceeded to produce my favorite live show ever to grace the SNL stage.......ever. They weren't some rap gang or a rock band. they weren't just some group. In this show, they seem to say "WE ARE GNARLS BARKLEY AND WE'RE DIFFERENT!" Here's one of the songs (I had a more upbeat song up, but the guy who posted it deleted it, sadly):

Gnarls Barkley "Who's Gonna Save My Soul" (SNL)

This is their new album. Get it. Right now. I'm not even joking. Then tell all your friends. They don't deserve to stay behind the other artists of today, not with the sound and message they have. This is the new face of soul, and we need to preserve it.

On tour with the usual movie on the mind.

2008-05-12T01:03:00.002-06:00

So I officially started the tour today. I'm typing this from a tiny twin sized bed in Cheyenne. The tour shall take some interesting places, and as fun as I'm sure they all are, my mind is totally focused on Salt Lake and Vegas. We're trying to find an IMAX theatre to watch Speed Racer in Salt Lake, and I'm trying to find a way to get to see both the Blue Men Group and Penn & Teller. As soon as this is done though, my mind is on one thing. Despite my upcoming job, despite my favorite show premiering it's third season, and despite the sequel to my favorite game on what I hope to be my favorite console, I'm busy thinking about this:

In Vegas with nothing to do.......yet.....

2008-05-07T10:43:00.002-06:00

So I'm staying a night in Vegas on the 17th and I wanna go see a show. We got a discount for Stomp, but I kinda wanna see something bigger if I'm going to Vegas. So I went to Vegas's site, and these are the other shows going down that night that have peaked my interest, please send me your feedback soon!:

Blue Man Group ($79): Everyone knows these guys, and I know they won't disappoint
Spamalot ($75.90): I have yet to see this musical and I really wanna
Jay Leno ($100): Jay Leno's in town for a couple days, and Saturday isn't sold out, should I jump for the opportunity?
Terry Factor, that puppet guy from America's Got Talent ($48.85): He's not on the top of my list, but he's the cheap answer if I can't find something else.
Menopause, the Musical ($60.40): Parents said this was drop dead hilarious, and it must be if it's a regular in Vegas
Penn & Teller ($85.80): Like the Blue Men, another famous Vegas show.

These look like the best ones. Let me hear your opinions asap.

If I Was This Awesome I'd Promise 3rd Base Too!

2008-05-07T04:13:00.002-06:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, here is the OFFICIAL TRAILER to Venture Bros. Season 3. Prepare for.....the nozzle!

This one's a keeper.....

2008-04-19T13:47:00.002-06:00

I might've killed the Random Reviews, but had I kept them, this book would get easily a 95% or higher. One of the best books I've ever. To anyone who enjoys depth in politics, psychology, and the ideals of society, please read this book, PLLLEEEEAAAAASSSEEE!! Read Watchmen..
Written by Alan Moore, a comic genius. oh yeah, by the way, this is totally a Graphic Novel. No matter what my dad says (don't give me that graphic novel bullcrap it's a comic book) this book is extremely long, extremely captivating, and overall calling it a comic book would be an insult. It's set in a world between ours and the comic book world. It's a place where comic books inspired many to dawn their own costumes and become masked vigilantes, but set in a world similar to ours. To make it easier to understand, here is what Time magazine wrote when they named it one of the 100 BEST NOVELS EVER:

Watchmen is a graphic novel—a book-length comic book with ambitions above its station—starring a ragbag of bizarre, damaged, retired superheroes: the paunchy, melancholic Nite Owl; the raving doomsayer Rorschach; the blue, glowing, near-omnipotent, no-longer-human Doctor Manhattan. Though their heyday is past, these former crime-fighters are drawn back into action by the murder of a former teammate, The Comedian, which turns out to be the leading edge of a much wider, more disturbing conspiracy. Told with ruthless psychological realism, in fugal, overlapping plotlines and gorgeous, cinematic panels rich with repeating motifs, Watchmen is a heart-pounding, heartbreaking read and a watershed in the evolution of a young medium.—L.G.

I'd recommend reading it quickly. A movie's being made (luckily it's the same director that made 300) but once it comes out, everyone will no how this ends, so please, for yourself, read this piece of complete gold. I doubt you will be disappointed.

Dazed and Confused...

2008-04-11T22:28:00.003-06:00

Who knew that a term to describe drugs euporias could describe the feeling school leaves you? it's true, I've been dazed and confused off my rocker this past week, and it's nothing but school. GAH! life has recently so boring that I don't really have anything to update. Still doing the lame top 50 animated movie list, but that's not a real update. I guess I'll try and find something interesting to talk about later. Peace homies

Just who is Jon Halowell?

2008-04-04T22:01:00.002-06:00

I spent a whole thanksgiving with this good chap, met his family, and became a little bit of a surrogate brother, and is probably my closest friend from college, and yet, my parents haven't even met this dude, and since we did a duet in a talent show together, I thought I should finally let the people at home know what my good buddy looks like. Here's Jon playing the victim to my Dentist.

Oh, and here's another hilarious piece of wonder from the depths of Facebook:

(that chick on the far left is why I gave up on internet dating)

Some really quick updates....

2008-04-01T01:23:00.003-06:00

So I'm still busy (imagine that) but I thought I'd let you in on some stuff. I'll be like your own personal Genie and grant you three wishes. what's that? you wish for three major updates? Your wish is my command...

1. due to the fact that I'm more lost than my mother at a video game convention (love you, ma) and have no clue where I'll end up college-wise these next few years (right now, we can count on University of South Dakota) I changed the name of the nerdy blog, so feel free to visit me at http://allamericannerd.blogspot.com. Right now, I'm counting off my top 50 animated movies of all time, so feel free to come over and comment on how terrible my judgment is.

2. Finally got some free downloaders so I can download youtube movies in a .mov form. This will DEFINITELY help us with our movie making (when we have time to start doing that again). I don't intend on plagiarizing, but if a movie of ours just needs three seconds of Ahnold screaming "SHUUUUUT UUUUP" at little children, then we have that technology at our disposal.

3. I'm going back to sunny beaches of Helena this summer. I've been casted in their summer conservatory and will appearing in "The Secret Garden". It will be more than grand to finally get back into the grind of putting on a musical again. They have such a different preparation than plays, and there's just so much more energy.

A gift to my dearest fans....

2008-03-27T00:40:00.003-06:00

Finally got a program for our summer tour. Here's my bio. I'm posting it in case some can't make it.

Time goes by so slowly, yet I still never have any of it....

2008-03-26T09:57:00.002-06:00

I've been beyond busy recently. I'm being stretched in every direction. between my one act play, Singers, transfering schools, and a thousand other things, so I apologize for my lack of posts. I'll try and make up for it next week. I did however take a little free time to make my top 50 animated movies of all time. I'll post those on the Geek blog when I get the time.

My Earth away from Earth.....

2008-03-13T00:26:00.002-06:00

So there's a new site saying they'll promote blogs across the nation (and world and whatnot). VerveEarth is this interesting database that lets you browse blogs, but through a map instead of an average stupid search engine. Hopefully it will bring more traffic through this place (although it's not too unpopular if I do say so myself). Here's to new comers!

Anyways, as soon as I made the list of the top 12 movies of the year (and the two worst) IGN and Rotten Tomatoes went and made a list of their own. A list of the top 25 animated movies of all time. What a list indeed! everyone here (all the veteran fans at least) know how much of an animation buff I am, so I of course got excited! The movies were based on not only the animation but the story and the magic behind it. My sister will be ticked when she finds out there's no Cinderella. Here's the list:

25. Lady and the Tramp

24. A Bug's Life

23. The Cat Returns (Japan Movie)

22. The Lion King

21. Beauty & the Beast

20. My Neighbor Totoro (Japan again)

19. Princess Mononoke (Japan)

18. Persepolis (French, I believe)

17. Monsters, Inc.

16. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (British)

15. Ratatouille

14. Dumbo

13. A Hundred and One Dalmation

12. Fantasia

11. The Nightmare Before Christmas

10. The Iron Giant

9. The Incredibles

8. Finding Nemo

7. The Secret of NIMH

6. Kiki's Delivery Service (Japan)

5. Kirikou and the Sorceress (Japan)

4. Pinnochio

3. Snow White & The Seven Dwarves

2. Toy Story

1. Toy Story 2

what a list! I didn't agree with a lot of it, but I love that unlike other stupid lists, it doesn't just assume that the black and white "classics & firsts" have to take all the honors. Pixar is the new king of animation, and I'm glad it's being realized! I don't agree that Ratatouille was better than Beauty and the Beast, but overall I was impressed by the movies in it (the few Japanese movies I've seen on the list are indeed amazing, especially Princess Mononoke) However, I need a challenge and so I'm gonna make a list of the top 50 animated movies! Ha! take that Rotten Tomatoes! As for all my fans, please take the time to post your lists of the top 10 animated flicks you love. do it for America! $*%# yeah!

The Top 12 Movies of 2008

2008-03-12T12:51:00.003-06:00

If you read this thing, you'll remember me saying that i was going to make a countdown of the top 10 movies of 2007. Well, here's 12:

12.Okay so it wasn't perfect (and not nearly as amazing as Spiderman 2) however, it still delivered a recommended dose of action. It made Sandman cool (who wasn't before) it kept Venom cool (although we all got pretty tired of the face change to Eddie Brock ever five seconds), but the biggest problem was it made Spiderman less cool (especially EmoPeter). EmoPeter is responsible for being lower on the list. good job, EmoPeter

11.
Probably one of the best casts of the year (minus the disgustingly bad Martin Lawrence). Watching John Travolta, Tim Allen, and William Macy argue and laugh together was amazingly funny. Perfect movie to take your brother or father to. Sadly, again, please blame one person (Martin Lawrence) for bringing this movie down from its true potential.

10.
I did not have much faith in this movie, but it came through. Especially if you fortunate enough to see this movie in 3d IMAX. the effects were quite amazing. Anthony Hopkins, my second favorite actor of all time, does not dissapoint. The entire cast impresses, especially Angelina Jolie in all her near nudity. The CGI over live action was an interesting choice, but they made it work and an archaic poem into a full blown movie and didn't do a terrible job.

9.One of the best memories of Grandstreet was the movies. Trailers were almost better than the shows because everyone would do their own Ebert and Ropert thumbs up/down judgement on how the movie looked. While at Transformers, we sat through many trailers, most of which looked disappointing. I can admit that this movie didn't look too impressive until the final five seconds, where the world's most Spider Pig showed up. After all of us recovered from seeing that scene for the first time ever, we knew we had to see it, and it didn't disappoint. I think everyone was impressed by the intro to the next season where bart promised on the board that he wouldn't wait forever to release another movie.

8.
Will Ferrel and Jon Heder are pure magic and need to be the new Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller. Jon was finally able to get a role outside of the Napolean Dynamite typecast (thank god). Will Ferrel, although playing a role he's familiar with, perfected it. the movie is nothing but laughs, and does great to show that goofy movies can still impress the hell out of us. it was also a great opportunity to see some of the SNL cast escape from these declining seasons to do some really good work. Props all around

7.Michael Bay is never known for his story, but rather for his special effects and stunts. So what better project to tackle than the shallow world of bad robots good robots from our childhood memories? It was almost an amazing tribute to the nerd, as the story really revolved around a nerd (Shia LeBeouf, who for the first time ever, was good) who eventually saves the world. The robots, all voiced by their original voices, did amazing stunts and delivered on everything that matters. and lets face it, it starred the hottest damsel in distress since Fay Ray.

6.
Possibly the best straight to DVD movie ever. Matt Groening proved that he knows his stuff by boggling us with his time traveling mind trip. Starring the voices of Mark Hamil (traditionally as the bad guy) the entire original cast, and even Al Gore as himself, the story was easily the most impressive thing to come out of the Futurama Franchise. It was even better than it's predecessors movie, and stomped the Family Guy movie into the dirt.

5.
Pixar is the new king of animation. Even if they're owned by Disney completely now, they still rule supreme over everyone. This last classic definitely proved that they are nothing but good. I did not have much hope for them in this movie. to explain, Pixar always improves upon their abilities in every movie (Finding Nemo made amazing water effects, Incredible made awesome human figures, and Cars perfected metallics and scenery) and this movie didn't seem to necessarily do anything innovative. When I went to see it, I completely changed my mind. they took everything they had created and simply perfected it and made it into more of an art form (just looking at the form of the antagonist proves that). the humor definitely equalized the humor, from the rather adult humor of Incredibles to the kiddy humor of Finding Nemo, they found a nice balance between the two for this movie.

4.
While many claim the franchise fizzled after the first, those who enjoy a good complex story really enjoyed the twists and turns of the second movie, and being a HUGE Barbossa fan, you can imagine my excitement at the end of the second one. The third delivers the ultimate action and never really declines. Sadly as amazing this movie was, it, like #12 and 11, was weighed down by a character, the crazy hermit lady turned god. Her addition in the second movie was amazing, but the twist that make her important in the third one, really ticked me off (especially how it showed the true colors and philosophies of the pirates). But it was still one of the best movies to deliver, and I almost hope the series stops here on such a high note.

3.
Dear John Travolta, I forgive you for the disgrace that was Grease. This is the best Musical movie to date in my opinion. It's charming and kept me, a guy who enjoys his explosions, violence, and gratuitous sex scenes, entertained from beginning to end. Even Amanda Bynes, who I usually can't stand, was great. And of course, Christopher Walken finally makes an role that is in no way scary! An entire cast (including the amazing Zach Effron who somehow escaped the evil clutches of the Disney Channel). While a little campy at times, it deserves its spot over all these others.

2.
Watching the trailer, it looked like the only thing that could save what looked like your average drug bad guy movie was that it starred two of the best actors in hollywood. What we didn't know at the time was that it was the best performances of the Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe (minus Beatiful Mind). The Cinematography was some of the best all year. The story is so hard to believe it was true just because of how amazing it was. there was never a moment i wasn't completely engaged. Some people think the fact it ran for almost 3 hours was bad, but I personally was completely fine with it. Thank you to everyone involved with this project for making this perfect.

1.
OK, everyone knew this would be my favorite. good ole Frank Miller has 2 years under his belt as my movie of the year (the first being Sin City in 2005). The movie was not quite as spectacularly amazing as Sin City, but it still a great job capturing it's moments. instead of black and white occasional scenes, the movie slowed down at certain points that were captured in the graphic novel. The gore, the story, EVERYTHING was done perfectly. It's never been easier to hate the bad guys, and it was great to see a good guy be absolutely merciless. every time Leonidas shouted at the top of his lungs, Another priceless quote was made. Let's face it, the quote of the year is easily THIS IS SPARTA!!! nuff said.

Don't agree? well sucks to be you. what would be your movie list?

oh, and lowest two movies of the year? Saw IV and Enchanted. Both were so dissapointing I cringe when I see them at the store.

So yeah, I've been busy...

2008-03-11T00:40:00.003-06:00

Been really busy since ACTF. Let me bring you up to speed:

ACTF ended well. While the worst show was easily "the night Thoreau spent in jail". So so acting followed by terrible lighting and preaching against war really just turned my stomach upside down. We got tired of this show but luckily the show afterwards was worth it. Good ole' Rocky Horror really truly was amazing. it's a lot like an actual rock show; the album (the movie) is what always will be remembered, but the live show was even wilder. There's just something about doing all the shout outs to live actors who occasionally respond back. In the Irene Ryan competitions (the mother of all college acting competitions), UW's own Nick Linn, who is quite the actor let me tell you, is one of the two winners of the competition who will be going to the Kennedy Center to world. It was quite the week!

One Act auditions, the last great auditions, were recently held. I am cast as a choirmaster/butler/alien imaginary friend in a Steve Martin Play called WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant). It's a really weird show, it can get really funny but sometimes they can get dreadfully serious, and it can get awkward. but overall a show is a show.

Oh, and to conclude this summary of stuff, I'd like to take you back to 03/07/08, also known as the greatest day in the time of Laramie. Not only did we have ONE big thing, we had TWO big things!! First we had a Caucus for Barack Obama. Gates didn't open until 5:30, but I came and sat down 15th in line at about 1. Jon and I sat around for and eventually got in and got amazing floor seats about 10 feet away from the Ba-rock star himself (haha.....ha). The show was amazing (and as soon as I learn how to work my camera to the computer, I'll get you the best footage of the show). At the end the guy came down and shook many hands (including mine. AWESOME!). So how do you get over something like that? You're hearts pumpin and so you go to......an OK GO concert!!! and remember who has front row center seats? They were quite impressive, but their opening band "Get Back Loretta" turned out to be much better. Here's their Myspace. After the show, Centennial Singers got to help load up the bands. We hung out and got to chat with the bands shortly (talking's fine but in the end the group was paid to load up). It was a night to be remembered. I hope to have videos up, but until then, here's some videos from fellow wyoming-ans:

(OK GO at the Arts & Science Building)

(BARACK BA-ROCKIN LARAMIE)

Just FYI

2008-03-03T12:21:00.001-07:00

Currently have been REALLY busy lately, will make very belated update shortly

Eat/Sleep/Act/Party Ass Off/Eat/Sleep/Act/Party......

2008-02-20T00:55:00.002-07:00

So you caught me at a calm point in the midst of chaos. Let me take this time to get you all up to speed, cuz lord knows I'm not....

It's ACTF!!! A week of no classes whatsoever. I wake up (hopefully early enough) go eat and get to workshops hosted by a variety of professional actors/combat specialists/writers/you name it. We usually do this until about evening, when one of the selected plays performs, and so far they've been great. I've haven't been this active theatre-wise since Grandstreet! So far, i've been to a couple workshops, had an audition, been rehearsing for a skit competition, preparing for more auditions, meeting new people, and watching some awesome shows.....oh and yes, the partying has been quite wild.

I'll save you some time and cut right to the shows. The first night, Laramie showed off why we are one of the best acting schools around with "The M Word", easily my favorite play ever, written by William Missouri Downs, the playwright professor. The place didn't completely fill up, but despite the few empty seats, the crowd was wild, busting into 8-10 second long laughter intervals when one of the funnier lines were said (and there were easily more than ten moments this happened) and crying there hearts out in the end. They set the bar pretty high for the rest of the shows. This afternoon I attended a matinée of "Convention", a Dramedy (a drama and comedy mix, like M Word) that was very very abstract that I'd love to perform with a few friends (Hell, there's a perfect role for Levi) but it's too abstract for Cut Bank audiences (the show is about people working in office cubicals with no doors....oh, and there's a freakin minotaur that would give Rambo nightmares). It's strange as heck, but still a favorite show of mine. A few hours ago, I went to "Noh Telling" which were two one acts from Japan. the first act was good, a great representation of japanese storytelling, but it just wasn't as amazing as the last two shows. the second was a much better show, but everyone feels that it was more of a Saturday Night Live in Japan feeling. don't get me wrong, it was hilarious, but really showed the problems with some Japanese plays (i.e. "This is a difficult way to get Sake" "Indeed that is a difficult way to get Sake" "Indeed"). the show overall was good, but not as amazing as the last two. We have two or three shows left, one being "The Rocky Horror Show" so I'm pretty psyched.

When all this rolls over, though, theatre will be anything but over. I have singers dance practice on Saturday, followed by a VERY important audition on Sunday. It's the One Acts, all written by students here. While everyone involved is very talented, I'm pushing for a single script. My favorite writer, Mike Williams, left the school, but left one last script for a friend of his, who is the director of one of the shows. The man is famous among us for his masterpieces through the Relay Plays and Skits by Dicks. One of my goals ever since seeing the most amazing piece of script known as "Plated Salad Guy" is to be casted in a Mike Williams play, so I'm pretty sure this is my last shot. from the sounds of it, there are rumors that the show consists of people in old renaissance costumes and hilarious sex scenes. It's just a rumor, but I wouldn't put it behind Mr. Williams. I found a great audition piece for the occasion about a guy who hates Tinkerbell (all faeries actually, but mostly her in particular).

I could give you a lot more, but I think that is a satisfactory update. Hope that satisfies your lust of knowledge about the life and times of Nicholas. If not......oh well

The Greatest Video I've Put On Here............Ever.

2008-02-12T22:15:00.002-07:00

Now you know I love my online videos. Some are great indy movies completely funded by the people on the camera (people like......me!) but when the pros get together and do something like THIS, then you realize why the pros deserve their money over us crazy You Tubers. Here is my absolute favorite online video ever made. I'm sure the title and the picture have you confuzzled, but watch.........and enjoy.

A great way to make up for the past hellacious week....

2008-02-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

If you noticed my past funny posts last week, let me say that they were posted simply to keep me within sane-ness as last week was a literal hell. I could list all the problems (about 7 or 8 major ones that are good enough to ruin a week by themselves, let alone together) but it's all over and behind us, at least most of it is.

And I needed something to get my spirits up. And I remember seeing this:

(please excuse it being backwards)

So I totally got up this morning, got dressed early and went straight to the union. First in line, unwilling to give up my spot in line. and this is the fruit of my efforts....

the top ticket is for a trustworthy friend who promises to reimburse me for his ticket, the second is for if I get a potential date for the show (I got a month to find one), the yellow slip is a Dean's excuse so I get to miss out on all of my classes next week for the freakin' AMERICAN COLLEGE THEATRE FESTIVAL!! talk about choosing the right year to go to Wyoming!! I'm going to be competing in the Inge scenes (10 minute scene competition). I play the part of a anti-social gay guy who is upset about his partner trying to see women (it's hilarious). But I get to see a gagillion shows, do workshops all day long and it's awesome! the last ticket is for myself, and while it's hard to see the right of that ticket reads "Section: B Row: A Seat: 109" and for people unfamiliar with our auditorium, that reads...

FRONT ROW CENTER SEAT!!

I think I can put last week behind me finally. It just took the best seats for the biggest show in Laramie since Nick Swardson. that's all :)

Bigger than the Patriots/Raiders Tuck Rule Scandal? hmmmm.......

2008-02-10T21:59:00.000-07:00

Where the Patriots Robbed of a Super Bowl Win? This conspiracy theorist`s video proves that the referees gave the Giants extra time on the clock. He makes a point.

(turn the volume up, the sound sucks)
God Bless Troy Aikman for pointing this out (even if he is a blood sucking cowboy)

It's one thing if it's a bad call, but when it's a technical problem, it really gets your blood a goin'....... I deserve another hat....I don't care what the score says...

I blame technology......damn you technology......
(now if you excuse me, I'm gonna go play my ds)

Better Late Than Never......

2008-02-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

Saw this on facebook today

Took you guys long enough.....

Welcome to the stressful day of your life, Mr. Wineman..

2008-02-08T10:21:00.000-07:00

Today will be the craziest day so far if you couldn't tell from the title.

Today at 3, I will be in the Crane Studio performing 2 or 3 monologues and no songs (I just don't have any decent ones lined up. I was up till 4:30 last night memorizing my pieces, taking only one or two 10 minute breaks to grab a drink or relieve stress with Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (amazing game, but that's a different story). I think I've basically got both of my first 2 pieces memorized enough I can improvise in case of a mistake. I'm not sure if I'll do my third one though. it's a quick funny one were a stoned kid talks about being afraid to graduate, but I question if it's necessary. Wish me luck, because I'm nervous as hell

Then at 8, I'm heading over to the Arts & Science building to audition in front of a bunch of people for the Wyoming idol prize of 1,000 smackers! I'll be singing most of the beginning of "Out There" from the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

(and don't worry, as much as I enjoy singing Frollo's part, I will be partaking in Quasimodo's register, which happens to be my limit)

Not much in type form, but the stress hasn't gone down at all.
Actually, it feels a little like this right now....

Wish me luck

Unghh.......gah......

2008-02-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

Day: Whatever
Morale: Low
Sleep: Little to none

We join you live from Geology Class. Well live only in a figurative way. With all the crap I've had to do, and the little to know sleep lately, life is really getting exhausting.

To give an example, here's my to-do list:

Learn a Song on guitar for class
Practice for the upcoming Wyo Idol (Fri.)
Find a song for my scholarship audition (Fri.)
Memorize a new monologue for scholarship audition (Fri.)
Go to training for work (Wed.)
Work with Voice partner on project.
Memorize scene for single scene show
show up for ridiculous times to practice for one-scene show (Tues. Morning & Saturday Night)
Get ready for Centennial Singer show on Saturday

....there's more, but this is the biggest stuff. Yesterday was killer, especially after having to dry my clothes like 4 times because they wouldn't dry out.

Don't mean to whine & moan, but I need to keep typing to stay awake.

EDIT:
Sorry for being so depressing. Here's a trailer about the world's best feel good movie, The Shining:

Yeah, my life is pretty much awesome in a bag..

2008-02-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

So I'm going to my first concert in a couple weeks. you probably have never heard their music, but in case you want to find out here's a little music video the band did that seems to be pretty popular online.

Yeah, life's that good.

My Belated X-mas gift to my fans...

2008-02-04T23:19:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2008-01-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

Things are definitely changing here. I'm getting smarter, for one. I'm in classes where I actually learn something (except math, it's taught by a guy who can't add). Things are gonna be tough academic wise, but I think I'm up to the challenge. Taking up guitar lessons again, as well as a musical theatre voice class, which I think is going really well. I've got three song books for the class, two being volumes from the Singer's Musical Theatre's Anthology. That collection is amazing for vocal ranges (4 volumes per range). It contains great songs from various musicals solely for your range. I also grabbed the Frank Sinatra Anthology as well, cuz you can't go wrong with Franky (as Mr. Grinder would call him). Here's a photo of each:

Also I'm going to be applying for a new job. It sounds like I'll make it in, but of course, you can never be too sure. It's a job where a company does phone customer satisfaction calls for other companies. A trusted friend who works there has reassured me the pay is ridiculously good (and even better if I'm good at the telemarketing voice i.e. no "um" or stutters). That should help college economics considering the insane amount of money I had to pay for college stuff.

Uwyo Idol is coming up and I'm questioning whether or not to try out. It might just be a waste of my time, but the 3rd place winner gets like $300, 1st getting $1000. That kind of money never hurts. I think I'll break out some musicals, sing some Sinatra, maybe some Cash, and

Singers has made a drastic turn for the better. I feel Patrick is lookin out for me, despite a few occasions where I feel I get on his nerves. I think he sympathizes for me being surrounded by a plethora of ego-maniacs and premadonas (not to say everyone's like that; there are quite a few great people in the group that are just amazing) and I think he sees potential in me. I hope it's there or he's going to be REALLY ticked. Luckily, I can feel some major improvement in my voice and singing thanks to Patrick's musical theatre class.

Oh, I also got my Bike back!!! For all those clueless about this, my bike got hijacked back in mid-first semester. Josh and Jon found it a couple months later, with nuts that hold the front wheel gone, although the front stayed on (due to my awesome Kevlar lock). It was kinda rusty feeling due to the idea that it was probably ditched days earlier out in the rain and snow by the bike-jackers. I've been meaning to get down to the repair shop for months (even left it in my locker during break unrepaired) but I got it in, and it now it works like a charm! I forgot how awesome it is to ride that machine! pushing against a wind going max speed weaving through people while jamming out to "Feathers" or "Diamond Light Boogie" on my Ipod. It always does me well to remember how good life can be.

Finally, I want answer a non-inquired question: "Nick, why must you act? Why not do something more constructive with your life?" the answer to this question no one asked is "Why it is most certainly imperative that I act. I must stop things like this (pictured below) from happening"

(pictured here is an endorsement for a car company by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Beware, you will shudder with disgust!)

Well, it's true....

2008-01-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, what you watch shows what kind of person you are. thanks to Collegehumor.com, we have a better understanding on what some channels mean. And since I'm doing nothing but sitting on my duff waiting for laundry to end, I'll make a few of my own! I especially laugh at some of these because Josh enjoys Discovery Channel, Dad loves History Channel, and Mom watches CBS quite a bit

These come from College Humor:

And Here are a few I cooked up myself (can you guess them all):

A Plethora of Stuff......

2008-01-14T00:04:00.000-07:00

Literally. I have these small bits of news here and there that I need to just make an omnipost to get them all on here.

1. Break out the Champagne, because I now have the record for the most popular YouTube video to come out of Cut Bank. It took forever, but we beat the previous leader, Leah Gregg dancing to a song about Tarzan, by about 100 views thanks to the Grandstreet Theatre Conservatory slideshow Part 1 which is currently at 570 views.

Sadly we aren't number one in the county thanks to the Blackfeet Casino's Flying Elvis blunder.

2. We might have a new video up here soon, so huzzah! sadly it will just be another video blog. Hopefully it's as entertaining as our last.

3. GO TEAM VENTURE!

Season Three will be arriving in the summer, but Jackson Public loves us all enough to keep us updated on the show. While it's bad that they have lost the interest of Stephen Colbert (a valued guest star) the show has improved extremely animation-wise. The best piece of awesome they have supplied us with is their traditional new character collage. Here it is, and it looks particularly strange.

4. The Tour

The tour was great and here are some stolen photos from Facebook.

(Here are a few of the singers and a couple band members. The show is rockin. Make sure to see our summer tour!)

(the cost of a free lunch: eating elementary school lunch for the first time in years)

(A personal favorite scene; I'm in the corner with guy leaning on me)
(I'm the dorky cowboy in all blue. You should see my other cowboy suit. 100% denim)

(Super Acid Monkey On Crack: It's a real tap move, and it's a real pain in the....feet)

(We did a workshop with a Nebraskan HS Show Choir where we watched their stuff and then did some of our stuff. Trust me, I'm having a LOT more fun than it looks)

(Another favorite piece, although not I'm not pictured here, I'll learn to live on)

(THIS.....COSTUME.....CHANGE......SUCKS.........BALLS)

And to top it off, here's a clip of some backstage antics. Nothing out of the ordinary here. In this clip we see Burt a singer, and Caleb our stage manager having a little too much fun....or pain...I can't tell.

And So I Face My Final Curtain (This Season)....

2008-01-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

Tour is finally over, and it wasn't nearly as miserable as getting ready for it was. I kept focusing on the fact that we were doing shows and it took away all the frustrations. We had three shows (which is usually small) and for the most part they were pretty good. Our first show was in Scottsbluff, Nebraska which deserved a 6.5/10, an okay start but left plenty of room for improvement. Our next show was in Bayard, Nebraska. This show was nearly perfect and deserves 9/10! All of my costume changes worked out perfectly, even the five seconds one that goes from a biblical tunic to a four piece suit with nothing but a 30 second interlude in the between the songs. It was the most fun anyone in the group has had yet. Last night we were in Torrington Wyoming. It was better than our first show but had some major flub ups, earning a 7/10. Overall though, I was really proud of how we did and I can't wait for our California tour, which I never thought I'd say.

We'll hopefully have a clip from backstage that's absolutely hilarious AFV material.

In Other news, I'm back in the dorms and finally back to MY computer rather than my parents EXTREMELY slow internet. I'm awaiting for Josh to come back, and in a couple minutes I'm heading out to help the touring group go on and unpack our trailers. Then I'm gonna be unpacking until 6, when I'll be getting myself a good meal and sit down and watch the Pats game. So unless something catastrophic happens, today's gonna be a pretty sweet day!

Oh, and coming soon to the Cownerd is my top ten movies of 2007. It was a pretty good year, but definitely not perfect.

At this time there's not much else to bring up, but if something happens, I'll be on here again!

good to be back

The Office is closed....for about 2 more days...

2008-01-04T23:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't been typing a lot of posts lately for many reasons: The complete 1st Season of Spongebob on DVD, Batman: The Animated Series Volume 2 on DVD, Office Season One on DVD, The Mel Brooks collection DVD set featuring 8 of his biggest classics (basicaly everything but Spaceballs, which is fine by me) on DVD, Futurama's new movie on DVD. Some would say I've been watching a lot of TV lately, and I would throw something at them and say "shut up" because they're totally right. My eyes are like shriveled up prunes that burn thanks to 50'' Plasma screen TV.

Anyways, I won't be online soon. starting the sixth, I'll be heading back to Wyoming to go on tour with the Singers! look for me in various places in Wyoming and Nebraska! happy trails! I'll try and keep updated but don't count on it.

The Dark Knight RETURNS (To my blog...)

2007-12-20T23:18:00.001-07:00

FINALLY. The movie's getting ever so closer, and Nolan, the director, loves us all enough to give us more stuff to drool over. Here we have two AMAZINGLY disturbing movie posters that get me ever so riled up, while asking that ever so famous quote, "Why So Serious?"

But, of course, if that doesn't slake your Dark Knight obsession, here's a pirated copy of the IMAX trailer just released highlighting everyone's favorite Clown...

Wayward Son has Carried On...

2007-12-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

(worst title I've ever used)

I'll keep this short.

Well, I'm finally back. After a more than boring trip over (thankfully not dreadful thanks to my Boston friend Quincy), I arived and got into town just fine. Despite my assumptions, I've been more than busy. My first night I woke up extremely early to go to the Speech and Drama meet in Belt. It was wierd seeing my youngest sister excel at the sport of Speech, but then again she is a Wineman. My other sister did amazing in her duo piece but was beat out by a really sad interpretation of the bible. I'd go as far as to say she was robbed, but what can you do?

We've got a new car, the Aveo, known to the family as the Roach mobile! the thing comes up to my belly button and yet I've never had more leg room in a car before! Everything inside is manually worked (you have a crank to more the windows down, you gotta actually turn the head lights on) and it's great. The highlight of my vacation so far has been the trips from place to place with No World For Tomorrow blasting on the speakers. Levi came over and we got to catch up while playing a plethera of games on his amazing wii. It was good to be finally defeated at Street Fighter (although I wanna try it on the Ps2 next time around). All the grandparents have come over and we had a "butterworth" christmas where we indulged in exchanging gifts with my mother's side of the family (since they left this morning). That was fun, and they spoiled me rotten with a DVD copy of Citizen Kane and Casablanca and my aunt bought me the Mel Brooks collection (a series of his greatest videos, from Young Frankenstein to Blazing Saddles to Silent Movie and much much more!). Last night also concluded my finishing of Chrono Trigger (more on that on the CowNerd) and let's just say I am pleased about that.

So despite being really really busy, life's only getting better!

grumble

2007-12-14T05:53:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not folks, this is All-Nighter #4. I didn't want it to happen. I've been completely ready since 3 AM, but I spent two hours in my bed more restless than a cat trying to bury a turd under a marble floor. I feel tired, but @ 6:00 in the morning, with a wake up call at 7:30, and the way I sleep, I can't really take the risk. I'm too anxious to sleep. My body is tired but my eyes just won't stay shut, so I figure I might as well get up and do something that will ensure I don't accidentally fall asleep. Let give you an idea of how I feel right now:

Despite my physical pain of no slumber, my mind is on fire. I can't wait to get on a plane again, I get to go home, I get to see a butt load of people, and then I'm gonna go see a speech and drama meet the next day. Then the worst thing that can happen to me when I try to sleep totally happened, I had an idea. I have an idea that wouldn't take affect until the summer at least, but it's still an idea, and of course, when I'm happy as hell, it won't leave my brain. To top it all off, I've been getting grades back. I have about four classes I have been worried about with the semester ending. These were Intellectual Community, English, Stage Design, and Spanish. My first sigh of relief was Intel, because I somehow got an A in that class. Hated it, but never missed a single class, so I'm kinda proud about that. I'm still worried to heck about English, cuz I was doing awful at midterm, but I guess I'll learn around the 20th (though why I have to wait is beyond me). Stage Design has only had one bad assignment, but I'm really just kind of hoping I walk away with at least a B, though I felt I've worked enough for that class to get an A, but I'm sure anybody else who walked back to the dorms (center of town) from Laramie Wal-Mart (out of town) with Cut Bank wind (the only day it's been that bad, go figure) while holding onto over priced 20x30 foam board. But the BIG one was Spanish. Spanish here has been just as fun as it was CB, except of being the annoying kid that got death-threats from certain unnamed knuckleheads, I found myself to be a totally different person in that class. my goofiness shoots off the roof, and for some reason, every time I got like that, it was actually funny, not annoying "Nick, shut up" material. Well this is the ONLY class I had a final in. I knew I was riding a low B to a mid C, and the pursuit to ensure my GPA was safe really stressed the poo out of me. With only one final, my mind totally focused on it and all the possibilites. If I failed, I could be in some GPA trouble (with a scholarship on the line). So I was totally psyched out for this thing. Luckily, being the funny guy, I wasn't hated by anybody in the class, and a lot of people in our class were talking and trying to help each other relax. The test went by (covered in doodles of Meet the Robinsons, the movie we never finished in class, and ninjas) and of course, I was last out of the room. I sat there while she graded (and laughed through my sketches) and she layed it on straight. She told me it was most likely a C, which would make my total grade to a C. I expected that class to be a low grade (which is why I prayed for the other ones to help make up for that class) but the next day, on my WyoWeb page, Spanish 1010 sat there with a big fat B next to it. So it's been a great day, despite the incurable fatigue.

Well, my mind is spinning right now, so I suppose I will enjoy my emulators for the next few hours. Wish me luck at slaying dragons and whatnot.

Branching!

2007-12-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

I've got a demographic here. This demographic comes in to this site to read about my exploits, and maybe enjoy a funny movie (which they usually hope Josh and I made). What I notice is very few of these people enjoy my nerd talks (whether it be about Video Games, Movies, or anything else equally "nerdy") so I'm going to make a branch of the blog called CowNerd (since I'm a UW Cowboy as of right now). On that site, I'll rant and rave about everything from the greatest games on the Game Boy to how wonderful "Legends of the Hidden Temple" is, and all of the people who couldn't give two hoots about that crap can stay on this site and never be bothered. And don't worry, most of my Youtube posts will stay here.

It's snowing, I've got a X-mas hat, Sinatra is singing "Jingle Bells" on my Itunes...I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!

2007-12-07T01:44:00.000-07:00

The total "GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" part of college is DONE. D.O.N.E. Kaput, gone, and all other synonyms! I couldn't be happier right now. Esepcially after surviving last night. That's right folks, All Night #3 (all of them happening within a week). The first was awaiting the Last Firday morning at 5:30 call for out our first real Centennial Singers show (I wasn't really packed and knew I would sleep through my alarm). #2 was Monday night knocking out all my English, which is now 10000% complete. Last night was spent on our Scene Design class project, which proved to be a really good AND bad idea. the project turned out really well, I gotta see the sunrise from the fish bowl, but I kept dosing off in the class. I asked him earlier to go first so I could get mine out of the way. I asked because I knew the caffeine buzz from the disgusting coffee would make me crash soon. Sadly I crashed ten minutes earlier than predicted, and as he was trying to clue me in that it was my turn, I was in that "sleepy/awake" mode, and it was embarrassingly funny. My presentation was miserable, but he's focusing more on the actual board we made last night, which wasn't too bad. Let's pray he likes it. Now that it's behind me, I can scratch it off my list. It joins the ranks of English, Jazz, and Intellectual Community in the I never have to worry about it ever again!!! I have a monologue to do tomorrow for acting, and write a review for a show I'm going to see tomorrow ("The M Word" written by our own William Missouri Downs), get more hours in for Production Crew, and then my last assignment is my Spanish Final (my only one!!). that's it. I intend on studying and doing my best on these things, but now...I CAN FINALLY RELAX. no more all nighters!!!

College is extremely strenuous. It can even be maddening! but the experience overall, beyond all the huge negatives, still gives an amazing academic and social experience unparalleled by anything I've ever done before. I like how Ayn Rand put it (yes, Levi, Ayn Rand, and what's scary is that you might agree with her)

"To preserve one's mind intact through a modern college education is a test of courage and endurance, but the battle is worth it and the stakes are the highest possible to man"

Now that most of my work is out of the way, I haven't been home since early fall (I believe only Kelsey Filban and I can make that claim), it's snowing, and the semester is almost finished, I wonder what's on my mind? I'll give you a clue....

That's probably (scratch that "probably", it IS) my favorite picture of all time EVER. Christmas is driving me crazier than ever. I'm so happy that I get to not only return home to the family, but on the family holiday. I don't know for sure, but Santa better visit the bank again, and not before I get home! The season is driving frickin bonkers, and it better hurry up!

It's amazing how the memory works. I can specifically remember almost every Christmas I've lived through. One lately has stuck out in my head. Josh and I have treated ourselves to some emulators (computer programs that let you play old school video games from back in the day) and we have especially enjoyed our Sega Genesis games, since it was the first one for both of us (and you know what they say about you first). I remember that Christmas vividly. The tree was raised on the side of the dining room right next to the big window so that our the decorative display could be seen. It rained that morning and we all were pleased by it because it was truly the closest thing to a white christmas we would have in the nation's dryest desert that averages at 103 degrees a day, unless you counted the evening the week prior when our neighbors about seven houses down bought a gargantuan amount of shaved ice, which was the closest thing my mind could comprehend as snow, which lay on a fraction of their lawn. It was the first Christmas that the twins were really able to celebrate, and they had giant Winnie the Pooh and Tigger stuffed animals awaiting them. Danielle immediately found her gift from Santa, a Fischer-Price kitchen set. I remember Danielle had a fever that day, although she remained peppy due to the holiday spirit. The girls were sporting plaid red and green pajama gowns given to them from their grandparents the evening prior to the ecstatic morning. I remember running, after years of big colorful plastic toys, and was unable to point out where my big gift lay. There was a small point where I thought the kitchen might be mine. Eventually my parents directed their oblivious (and quickly growing upset) son to a black box. It wasn't wrapped, but I never had a gift from Santa in a box before, so I was still warming to the idea. Despite having Sonic very obviously scattered all over the box, it took my parents explaining to me what was in the box. When it finally clicked in my head, I was excited, because I remember playing video games over at the Smith's house (by playing I mean watching their kid, who I believe was named Michael, but that memory is hazy) when I wasn't watching "blue dinosaurs" (known by many as "The Land Before Time"). I felt like a real big boy for having that machine, although I remember having to ask my parents to change the cartridges so I could interchange between Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition. That was a good Christmas if I remember right. I remember one of my favorite memories is one night many months later walking out to see Dad with a Genesis controller in hand trying to shoot down dinosaurs on Jurassic Park. I think I always thought it was funny because it seemed he was sneaking out at night, after I had gone to bed to see him play with MY Santa toys, which I always perceived as for "big boys" like myself, not an old bald man (who now has plenty of these "toys" on his computer).

My dad absolutely loves goofy santa stuff (like a certain "santa exposed" poster from our last UW trip *he knows what I'm talking about*) so here are a few videos I think my dad would enjoy.

Merry Christmas!

(Here's one for Danielle)

All....Nighter.....#2.......GAHH!!

2007-12-04T03:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight marks another all-nighter. I could go to sleep, but this is truly my big chance at getting some major work done, so I have to take it. I'm gonna knock out all my English out tonight so tomorrow (the eve before my final portfolio is due in that class) and I can get some MAJOR sleep tomorrow (especially since the day afterwards is DAY OF THE NINJA!). I know what your saying, "Nick, if you spread it out, you can get some well needed sleep!" That's reasonable, but my problem is focus, and despite a few distractions, if I pull this all-nighter, it should be much easier to stay focused and type a better paper than getting the last second jitters. If I get done early, I'll be all over my Stage Design and maybe a little Spanish! I'm taking a procrastination break.

I'm hoping that this week wields the same results as the last (it got a lot accomplished and I got great scores on vital grades). Right now, the frustrating classes are Stage Design, English, and Jazz. Anybody that whines saying an acting major is an easy slide, make sure to gag them with a gym sock, for they deserve to pay for their ignorance. Even some of the higher intellectuals here are struggling. Stage Design I won't bother explaining, mainly because I don't understand it myself! English is not making any sense at all. Although I've been making more grammatical errors than I usually would, she critics some literary aspects of the essays. When I fix them, she says they aren't fixed. I'm trying to do everything she asks of me, but I never quite seem to get it right. After remembering last midterm's grade, I'm pretty freaked out how this might end. Jazz is impossible right now. We've been making slow steps forward throughout the class, which is good. Then the final, which has proven to be a near impossibility for anyone NOT a dance major, is far beyond everything we've learned. It's beyond an assessment, beyond a review, and more like testing on a chapter we haven't read yet, so that's difficult!

You know what the funny thing is? Grades are bothering me (not even close to as bad as they used to be, thanks to my pop), my room is a mess, I've been financially sloppy (possibly the biggest lesson I've learned), my social life here is truly a screwy mess, and yet I feel like it could be worse. I'm still enjoying life, even if just a little. Even though I'm up all night, I got to catch a late night cartoon I haven't seen in ages, I got to see the most amazing football game of the season, my late night munchies are shakeable teas and pop-tarts, and tomorrow (Wednesday) is day of the ninja, my favorite holiday. Like the mask?

Plus, I was pretty successful at the Dew Gallery. Earlier in the semester, a bunch of us went to the Fine Arts building and made Mountain Dew related stuff under three categories: Games, Art, and Gear. I was too slow to finish my art piece, but I was very proud of my creations. My Game entry got second (I'm assuming) but deserved to beat certain winners, but I lost fair and square. My Gear however, was the Univ. Wyoming Champion! That got me two hundred and fifty dineros! Yippee! Earlier today, I registered it for finals, where it will compete with a few other colleges' selections, and it could possibly win up to another $1,000! Nothing bad bout that! Here's some pics taken at the Creation Station:

(Here is my 6-in-1 game set with Dew-related games. I was more sure about this project than the other, but I guess some people just don't like 6 of the best games ever in one MD box. their loss. Pictured with this amazing creation is my assistant and one of my best friends, Ben Fairfield. He's about as much fun as he looks in this photo)

(Here's my awesome game set at the actual Dew gallery, where the voting happened. My opposition was a poorly painted DewLand *a much simpler version of candyland* a Hungry Hungry Hippo game with caps *the hippos couldn't even eat the caps* and the winner, the chess set on the opposite side of the table. the queen was three cans of dew not taped/glued to each other, and to make it even "better", the board was simply a checkerboard of the small posters that advertised the event, and the pawns are extremely tiny MD caps *read as: terrible looking project that took 2 seconds to make* but hey, if we lost to them, we lost. The pimp in the glowing white suit? Why, that's Mr. Ben Fairfield, just doing his thing, being awesome and whatnot)

(Here it is folks, the award winning suit! THE DEW SUIT! My model, Mr. Rutheford showed how awesome the suit looks. From the proper product placement to sexy italian pimp scarf, everything went right with this suit)

(well maybe not everything. that red stuff was a stencil I tried to spray on. It didn't really work, yet I didn't let that stop me. My favorite part of this suit has to be the cufflinks. I really like those for some reason. The tie was poorly made and was gonna be scrapped, but the genius that Mr. Fairfield is, turned into the first EVER cool pocket protetor *it protects the lower pockets on the jacket and looks snazzy*. Let's hope it rocks Pepsi Cola's socks off!)

Anyways, Day of the Ninja approaches. While I probably won't spend the whole day in my wonderful ninja outfit, I will definitely be sporting the appropriate attire for Spanish class. That day will be more of a relaxation day before the big final test. I'm gonna teach how to make ninja hood and possibly other great ninja arts and crafts. Hopefully, that will help the entire class relax at least for one day before the stress REALLY starts to get its grip on us. oh, and any non-filthy pirate that reads this should be preparing for this holiday (the only person who does not need to worry about this is father, who is Santa Clause, the deadliest of ninjas. Hopefully, I get down to CB fast enough to see him in action again (and be in better ninja gear than before).

So I will leave you with this, while my last set of munchies (my last bag of popcorn) pops. Josh can sleep through anything, even a microwave and loud popping.

MOVIE 1: Explanation of Day of the Ninja
MOVIE 2: (A much older Ask-A-Ninja) All About Santa Clause

Merry Manslaughter!

Now a member of my mafia-sized surrogate family, the Hallowells..

2007-11-23T01:51:00.000-07:00

So I think you suckers deserve an update.

If I had to describe my time in college lately, it would look something like this:

I like it, that's for sure, but the time it has allowed for anything beyond academic is beyond scarce. Thanksgiving couldn't have come at a better time.

My good friend, Jon Hallowell invites me over to his domain in the World of Colorado in awesome Denvertown.

So I come in, and his parents are so happy to see me like some child of theirs they hadn't seen in years, so to say the least it was very welcoming! I talked to his parents, met his little bro, and then got meet some of his posse. Turns out the coolest place in Colorado is the Batcave, this chillest place since Antartica! Went shopping at a REAL mall for the first time in years, and was treated to a few carts of Philidelphia brewed soda, courtesy of Mrs. Hallowell. It was an awesome gift and I promise to someday return the generous gift with a few 6-packs of Montana-brewed "Flathead Lake Monster!"

Well today being Turkey-Day and all, Jon 's did not fail to impress. A total of, I believe, 17 people show up for this and awesome chaos ensues. Got to talking with a few, and played a lot Guitar Hero III with the others. it was a memory not soon forgotten. The dinner, of course, was delectable. To conclude the night, Jon, his little bro, Jack, Jon's best friend Robert, and I went to American Gangster. That was a pretty good film if I do say so myself.

That's the current update, but there's more:

My Singing Group had it's first show this past week. It went MUCH better than planned. My solo was quite impressive compared to some of the previous times singing it. Everyone did just a little bit better than they usually do. It wasn't that great being in jewel-tones, but it could be much worse.

I could do more but I'm pretty freakin tired. I'll try to leave you with some serious followed by funny stuff.

Thanksgiving: The Producer's Holiday
Thursday, November 18, 2004
By: Gary Hull

This holiday is designed to celebrate, not faith and charity, but thought and production.

Thanksgiving celebrates man's ability to produce. The cornucopia filled with exotic flowers and delicious fruits, the savory turkey with aromatic trimmings, the mouth-watering pies, the colorful decorations--it's all a testament to the creation of wealth.

Click Here for the Rest
This is quite an interesting concept of one of America's greatest holidays.

Mom...Dad? Thanks SO MUCH for helping me get a Mac.

I think the message is quite clear...

2007-11-19T04:25:00.000-07:00

I think it's quite obvious who we need to vote for......

Chuck Norris.
That idiot with the subliminal socialistic views supports guns, but Chuck Norris has a FREAKIN fist underneath his chin and pushes the world down.

seriously, what else was that ad trying to support?

I could be deep but screw that...

2007-11-18T23:50:00.000-07:00

I could talk about my exhausting Centennial Singer show (and I probably will be eventually) but I'm too tired for that.

Here's a link of the TRUE Britney Spears, queen of pop. This is her voice when she lip syncs (it's too bad the person guilty of turning on the mike and recording this hasn't come forward).

David Bowie + Spongebob Squarepants + Big Blue Meanie + Tons and Tons of Pot = The GREATEST way to survive an all nighter.

2007-11-13T01:17:00.000-07:00

So I just turned in a last minute paper. Afterwards I had a last meeting with a research group before I began the powerpoint presentation for it, due the next day (which is expected to be 35 minutes). I have lines to memorize. Crap. I need something to make myself feel better, something so freakin weird, so terribly stupid, it will literally blow my mind with awesomeness. Something that's never made sense cranked to its ultimate level times infinity, but what's the odds of finding something like that on the most stressful day ever?

Cue Spongebob!

I recommend to my mother that if she even thinks she's catching this episode, Atlantis Squarepantis, that she run as far as she can. She can barely endure Sponge at its usual weirdness, but this! This is dangerous for the elderly, for it is stranger than anything seen by them in the childhood, or any other time (wierder than the Yellow Submarine, Pink Floyd, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show together). I never believed Steve Hillenburg, the creator of Spongebob, ever was the influence when he wrote the shows, but tis time it's pretty hard to deny that probably toked up a bit (or A LOT).

Yahoo informed me that the episode I had waited for months for came on tonight. I missed the first bit of it, but it wouldn't have mattered, because the story is just too hard to follow. The hilarity is shadowed by the abstractness of the episode. Spongebob and pals find the other half of the broken token of atlantis and they gain entrance to Atlantis. Evidentially, Atlantis is run by crazy round blue characters, the kind that resemble a cross between the big blue meanie and Dr. Robotnik. And who happens to be their leader? King Lord Royal Highness, voiced by the best singer still alive, David freakin Bowie. The guy's a fossil, I expect little, but out pops this annoying looking character, with a high voice slightly reminiscent of Bowie's ecstatic and exciting. It was hilarious to see his voice stuck on this little character, laughing, screaming, shouting, and even more.

The episode was actually geared more towards older kids. tons of references were too high class for the youngins. Squidward actually spends time in a Van Gough painting, while sandy is stuck in a machine. Her scene opens with her as a sprite (a 2-d figure Sandy much like old video games) with the title Squirrel Fighter: The Germ Warrior that looks identical to the logo used for Street Fighter: The World Warrior. I'm sure it was fun for little kids to watch a machine turn combs into ice cream, but this one seemed to be more of a treat for us more "sophisticated types".

I've commited quite a few of these myself I suppose.

2007-11-01T03:10:00.001-06:00

During the olden days, words had different meanings. Batman and his nemesis have my sympathies for having their words totally distorted by our wonderfully filthy filth minds. None of these are edited.

It's me..... Sugar Bumbs!

2007-11-01T01:35:00.000-06:00

The last set of photos you saw are of the makeup for Spanish class, since it was imperative that I dress for the class. That was water based makeup. that means, not only was irritating, but it dried up and crached and felt awful. I needed something better for the party. So I hit K-Mart (which is better than Laramie Wal-Mart) had some amazing oil white makeup. Here's some photos of the new face. It is more towards Jack Nicholson rather than the anmated series batman. Which is better?

Nick? Nick is dead my friend, but you may call me....

2007-10-31T15:27:00.000-06:00

And as you can see, I'm a lot happier!

wow......uh....wow

2007-10-28T22:53:00.000-06:00

This Stumble Machine I use to find the deepest parts of the internet has some of the funnies things ever. Enjoy:

WARNING: HILARIOUS BUT DARK DARK HUMOR

Also Click Here For some papers that I swore were written by me.

Click Here to see an internet discussion spoken out loud.

This is a great interpretation of the internet browsers.

Enjoy.

OH MAH GOODNESS!!!

2007-10-26T15:46:00.000-06:00

One of our amazing Friday Night Fevers had two pretty great Comedians, but I couldn't remember their names which means no Youtube to give my fans love.

But I stumbled on one of the best parts of the show (except this was filmed at Penn State). So here's the I hate Pacabela song.

March to the drumming, Show them your comming....

2007-10-26T12:12:00.000-06:00

Life is Coheed-rific right now. The new album is easily the best (I thought Keeping Secrets, their second album, might never be topped) the ticket is still here, and I've got a ride. You know all this but I felt like repeating myself.

Oh, and I did shave that mustache and my not so well noticed side burns (I will be growing those out though from now on).

In other news, my party is all set up. We'll be having it in our fish bowl (the lobby area on my floor). We've got snacks, a HUGE TV screen, The Batman movies, some board games, and hopefully some cameras to treasure the moment. I've got my make up, and I will rock out loud.

Also, the costume department had a free clothes giveaway. I finally have Law & Order jackets (brown trenchcoats). my favorite garment (which this picture doesn't do justice) is what we call my Lieutenant Salt uniform, because it's not quite Sgt. Pepper, but it's pretty close.
In other news, Rocky Horror is on tonight at the union ballroom. I know there'll be a good number of people going and it should be fun. To make it even better, there'll be a DewDIY contest tomorrow. We make a bunch of Dew paraphernalia and if any of your stuff wins one of the categories (gear, game/tech, art) you win $250. So what better use of a Saturday than free MD and Pizza, getting to make a bunch of stuff, and maybe win BIG bucks on it? This is gonna be a good weekend.

Here's my daily video. Not as good as last year's Xmas one but it's good.

Good Apollo: I'm Burning Star IV: Volume II: No World For Tomorrow

2007-10-19T02:29:00.001-06:00

Another time to procrastinate.

GET THIS COUNTDOWN | PREORDER THE ALBUM

So......Coheed is about to release their new CD (yes!). They released it on MySpace for a preview, and while I'm only half way into it, unless the next half bombs, it will EASILY be the best album to date! Each song could easily be their new single (although I gotta give props to Running Free and No World For Tomorrow). I was really sleepy, but after listening to the new array of songs I could jam all night long! I couldn't be happier that I have the freakin Golden Ticket (and a ride!) and the album pre-ordered.

In other useless news, I've been taking some time in a trial account on the World of Warcraft. The hype is definitely justified! I've played a lot of online games, and Blizzard (the makers of Starcraft, Diablo, and World of Warcraft) are the masters of it. While the other games were perfect for it, this game is the master. The game feels just perfect, addicting, yet not the I'll-be-here-for-the-rest-of-my-life addiction.

In this game you choose whether you're a good or bad guy (I almost always choose good) and then create a character that represents you in the world, with such races as elves, dwarves, gnomes, and humans. I have two characters right now, a human and a dwarf, both modeled after my pop. It's fun being a Dwarf version of Mike Wineman and smash a bunch of wolves and trolls heads with a mace (it's not gory, but full of good action).

Here's Cyber-Dad! (human one was only made to show off here, but I play as Dwarf-Dad, who's more decked out in gear)

(Sorry they're blurry, but my mac won't Screen Capture the game, so I took the pics through my phone)

It'd be great to get into it permantly (I got the full game free, but I can only play for free for 10 days, then it stops unless I pay $15 a month). I'd personally say it's worth the cost (maybe if they could knock the charge down a bit) cuz it would be great to play along with friends that have been out of my life for a while (like Charlie and Mr. Flaherty), but it's most likely a pipe dream.

While I doubt I'll be able to go, Denver has released announcements for new shows for December. The two biggest ones I noticed were Flogging Molly and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. TSO tickets are like 50 bucks for floor seats, but FG ones are 21 (they are at the same place Co&Ca will be playing). Like World of Warcraft, it's most likely a pipe dream, but if I save money who knows?

Now to comfort parents. Despite stories of concerts and awesome online games, I am working. I am working hard on school, but let's face it; I never blog about that cuz it's boring to talk about! That's why it's not here nearly as much as the stuff that doesn't matter nearly as much. But fear not, School is still keeping me busy.

As promised, here is my procrastination movie of the day. I don't support the man, but you gotta give him street cred, yo. (damn, I am so freakin white)

Oh, and I finished listening to the new album. Still the best album of their career.

To Counter Current Bad News..

2007-10-18T16:37:00.001-06:00

Sorry I deleted my last post fellas, but it turns out I wasn't supposed to be updating you guys on it. All I'll say is that it's gotten a lot better.

So to counter this bad stuff, here's a favorite movie of mine that always makes me feel better.

Video Log #2!

2007-10-13T01:22:00.000-06:00

And by this picture, I become the envy of about five or six of you...

2007-10-12T14:27:00.000-06:00

Life is good.

I'm kind of a big deal..

2007-10-12T01:50:00.000-06:00

I finally get to quote Anchorman for a title (yes!) anyways, I just thought I'd post another thought (much more positive than my last) about how much of a trend setter I've been this past year. If you notice on the right of the site I have a good number of blogs linked. About five or six of them were inspired by a certain someone's blog (who'll be reaching 150 posts here soon). I believe only Kelsey's and North's were the blogs that preceded mine. I forgot how influential I can be. awesome possum. It just made me feel good to realize that. That, and I'm totally procrastinating at 1:52 in the morning on a paper that's due tomorrow. Have fun.

I always believe I should back up my procrastination/short stupid posts with a video to entertain, so here's a classic I always partake in when I get bored.

Some People.....

2007-10-12T01:00:00.000-06:00

I'll admit that because of my long history in the Republican world, I have been able to put aside a lot that people on the party's side have said. Recently however, one of the "republican heroes" went so far, even FOX news couldn't help but show some discontent for her.

Slash-and-burn columnist Ann Coulter shocked a cable TV talk-show audience Monday when she declared that Jews need to be "perfected" by becoming Christians, and that America would be better off if everyone were Christian.

Click here for the rest of the article.

Now I'll admit (which will definitely make unpopular) that I used to follow Miss Coulter, and while this past year I've lost a lot of faith in her, I can say that if I hadn't already lost support for her, this obviously did it.

Now I'm not one to simply to post something in hopes of tarnishing their name (though she seems to have done that herself quite nicely). I don't understand what would truly cause someone to say something like this. Doesn't this sort of statement remind you of another certain influence in olden days (a certain man with a certain mustache, perhaps)? Where has the integrity of the party gone when characters like this are considered some it's top influences? How long do I have to wait before more respectable people take over? I guess that's why've I've grown support for Guiliani so much. He, to my knowledge, has not said anything nearly as heinous or stupid, his views seem to be right where mine are at, and he might be able to prove that not all of the right side is as idiotic as this one individual. I could be wrong (feel free to tell me otherwise). Josh has huge support for Ron Paul, though I' not completely brought up to speed on the character.

Anyways, on a more positive note, Centennial Singers had their first performance tonight. We were the first act at the Homecoming Sing, which Patrick informed us that it's just a get together of the frats and jocks where they arrive drunk as hell and compete for best song, but Centennial Singers (along with other acts) come in early to provide real entertainment.

COLLEGE TIP #12: College is NO place for seriousness....

2007-10-04T15:31:00.000-06:00

Unless you're some kind of boring accounting major, the classes that make you snooze really need an enema. You gotta make yourself laugh during them (to make yourself feel better, and to keep you awake). Not to brag, but I am the master of this. If you ever have a problem with boring classes, email me or respond to this with your problem. I'll give you a solution to good clean fun that'll have you laughing for the rest of the day. Here are some of my shenanigans....

My first presentation for Spanish class was on anything I could talk about in espanol, and I put all my effort blood sweat and tears into this....

Click it to enlarge.
It's an exquisite drawing of my family holding mexican food (from left to right: Me & a churro, Dad & a Taco, Mom & Burrito. 2nd Row: Alexis& salsa, Amanda & Guac, Danielle & Taquito, Charlie & Chimichanga, Amos & Simba, and on the far right I put Antonio Banderas with a quesadilla cuz I could). I got an A.

Doodling on your notes it a MAGNIFICENT way to stay awake. it not only keeps your blood pumpin, but sometimes you can get pretty creative. Take this for example.......

I was sketching this an hour before I opened my care package and finally got a copy of 300 (thanks mom)

Finally, if you're cool with the teach, have some fun with the classroom. This is usually a good idea BEFORE class starts. Following the theme today, I had to do this...

Can you guess which class this is for?

So there's some great advice for ya! Oh, and I finally got my dvd of the hypnotist that visited us our first night here. I'll try and YouTube my shining moment for ya (prepare to shield your eyes).

This is the Procrastination Station

2007-10-01T22:20:00.000-06:00

After watching the Patriots pull out another glorious win, I should've started on my homework. I did, but I need a break, and no I don't care if it's just 15 minutes after the game ended. I thought I should give you guys a true blue update.

Well Centennial Singers hit its pinnacle last week. Our choreographer, General, ran us rugged. This weekend alone was around 16 hours of solid choreography work. He taught us about four or five dances, and they were hard and long (although I was put on the sidelines ALOT because of my incapability to dance). As strenuous as it was, the dances are amazing. Songs are going okay, though there could definitely be some improvement. We start the show November 18th!

Pretty Exhausted right now, but I'm gettin by.

aright, I guess I'll go back to work now.......

then again........

You should see this video

One of the best groups in Facebook...

2007-10-01T16:06:00.000-06:00

I stumbled across this group on Facebook, and it had the GREATEST description. Us kids in the 90', we were the best.

THE GROUP:
I HATE When Kids Suck At Putting Together the Shrine of the Silver Monkey

DESCRIPTION:
Every 10 year-old dreamed of being on "Legends of the Hidden Temple," making it to the Temple Run and winning the coveted trip to Space Camp--even if it meant having a 17% chance of being called a purple parrot.

But how @#&% OFF did you get when kids--who are CLEARLY less worthy of Olmec's time than you--struggled for a large portion of the allotted three minutes trying to put together the Shrine of the Silver Monkey???

IT'S ONLY MADE UP OF THREE @#&% PIECES!!!! HOW UNINTELLIGENT, IGNORANT, AND SILLY ARE THESE KIDS???

I scream a lot at the television for various reasons—poor playcalls, bad moves by managers—but I have NEVER, EVER screamed as much as I do when those @#&% kids CANT PUT THE @#&% MONKEY TOGETHER!

It’s bad enough when the @#&% in the temple can’t climb ladders, jump, crawl, or do anything that involves athletic ability. Or when the guy is so retarded he gets stuck in the caves. But with a minute to go, somehow they still have a chance…then the kid gets to the shrine. It’s over. “uhhhh…what do I do? What do I do, Kirk?‿ WHAT THE @#&% DO YOU THINK YOU DO!! PUT THE @#&%ING MONKEY TOGETHER!

If you’ve ever suffered a coronary over this disgusting lack of coordination and intelligence, you know where I’m coming from.

Just a funny thing I'd show off.

Spread the "word"..

2007-09-30T11:29:00.000-06:00

COLLEGE TIPS #2...

2007-09-24T00:37:00.000-06:00

TIP #9: BE READY FOR ANY SUIT
You can't be like Batman and have one suit ready. Costume parties demand variety!!!! I suggest having many different colored shirts at your disposal, so that any theme is simple. I also suggest keeping leather gloves around. almost any theme has an option with leather gloves, and they are always awesome. I also must suggest having a few small sheets of fabric available for things you can't BS (like masks, or something of that sort). I'll have that some that next time I come back to college. Also, unless you're a dead give away, remember people are stupid. very few can identify your costume, so be ready to explain (especially if it's a super hero party and you the best dressed as the radio star, THE SHADOW).......man I wish I had a black cowboy hat.

TIP #10: LOCAL PAPER GOOOOOD!
No better way to keep up with local shinanigans of your home town than with your local paper. It's great to see last years juniors trying to top your shenanigans and realizng your shenanigans were the best shenanigans that ever were. I heart my Pioneer Press, even if it does seem to endorse those hideous murals (this year's possibly being the grossest one yet).

TIP #11: YOUTUBE FOR US COLLEGE PEOPLES
YouTube is really great. duh. I never thought there'd be something better, but there's a site just for us college kids. It's amazing! College kids make their stuff, and it gets posted. Think Youtube, without all the lame stuff to filter through . YouTube is great, but the cream of the crop videos can be found on college humor.

Just a few more tips. Feel free to send me any ideas. I'll gladly add them.

Well it was a-comming....

2007-09-23T19:31:00.000-06:00

Life can be just too perfect.

Yeah, today just sucked major wind. Woke up late, had a bunch of stuff to do, and laundry was a pain in the butt, but the worst was yet to come. Today was the dress rehearsals for Skits By Dicks. I was late. I couldn't find my Vagina Monologue, so I searched for almost an hour. I finally gave up and went to the rehearsal, only to find my book where we last practiced. To finalize the "greatness" of today, my director Mike called me over during one of the skits and told me the show ran to long and my show was the one that would suffer. So I was told that my show was cut, I gave back the book, and I walked home alone. yeah, life sucked today. But Patriots won today, so I guess it wasn't a total loss. 3 beautiful 38 point games. Well I guess that's all I've got right now. I'll have more College tips ready for the next post.

The poster is out....and many of you will wish it wasn't

2007-09-20T23:48:00.000-06:00

Skits By Dicks is getting closer as time passes, and they finally put the advertising up everywhere. here's the poster for the show.

Warned you....

The Long Halloween

2007-09-19T23:29:00.000-06:00

While it's a month away, my christmas this year is halloween. A bunch of friends and I are getting together dressed as various batman villains. We'll watch Batman movies, eat food and take plenty of pictures. We made a group on facebook. While this party is in Wyoming, we invite everyone else to partake in the dressing as Batman baddies this year. If you couldn't guess already, I'm going as the best villain ever, Joker. Josh says he'll totally go as Riddler, and a fellow centennial singer is going as Poison Ivy. I'm so excited it feels like it'll be tomorrow, even if it's a month away. Give me a heads up if you are gonna have a bat-tastic halloween.

Excelsior
-Nick

A taste of Wyoming life...

2007-09-18T19:01:00.001-06:00

Games are fun and all, but for some reason, this song seems to be one of the highlights. After hearing once, I really got into it. this is the Wyoming Beer Song Choir

Hope, it's all we can work off of right now. UPDATED

2007-09-17T19:37:00.000-06:00

As everyone knows, Batman Begins being the smash hit that it was, needed a sequel. But for Batfans, the groans could be heard from miles away as Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker (We're talking about taking a guy who was a gay cowboy into the greatest bad guy ever) and with time they only got worse. Personally, I'm more concerned for Two Face. He hasn't had a good showing since the old animated series (Tommy Lee Jones was a joke in that movie). Well, Christopher Nole, the director, loves to screw with our heads, and just gives us enough audio to almost wet ourselves. this is brutal cuz it makes me anxious all over.

There is a very very small chance this movie might compete with Jack Nicholson's movie. It'll be rough, but to do so, this joker is going to have to be really over the top, not just a typical mob boss. Two Face is gong to hafta blow us away (I really think they should try to make a more realistic version of the animated series one (becuase the purple will only remind me of Tommy Lee Jones, and please no striped suit. Scarecrow will be returning as well, and as long as he continues his greatness from the last movie, this could really be an amazing movie. We could be looking at 2008's movie of the year right here (but it will have to compete with Saw IV, Sin City 2, Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man). Is it possible? To even closely size up with the old Batman, it will have to.

Oh, by thw ay, I meant to get some pictures of Joker on here.
this is the most recent official picture. I happened to stumble upon a much better site that has a good number of pictures on set and are much better at making a judgement on Joker's look. What do you think? I not happy about the hair, and I wish the white was a little more fuller, but he does look psychotic. I like the interrogation picture the best, cuz the idea of trying to get info from Joker while he dinks around amuses me.

SECRET COLLEGE TIPS YOU'LL NEVER READ IN ANY BOOK!

2007-09-14T23:02:00.000-06:00

Kay, after a while here, I've come to learn that while those college books might be great and all, everyone needs to know those small facts that are essential to life. You guys better thank god that I'm here to keep you educated :)

TIP #1: NEVER SAY NO TO A STUDY DATE WITH A LADY FRIEND.
I already talked to the person this pertains to, but NEVER and I mean NEVER say no to an offer like that. It may be harmless asking, but study dates with the ladies are always more pleasurable. Guys can get either REALLY boring or REALLY distracted and off-topic. Girls can stay on task (and perhaps flirt a little *wink wink*.)

TIP #2: DITCH THE SODA, THERE'S BETTER STUFF.
It costs me about a dollar every night or so, but trust me, a Lipton Iced Tea is an amazing alternative to any sweet drink. Josh and I pull back one every night, and it's actually one of the few healthy ice teas that are still healthy for you (and still contain actual flavoring from tea leaves) I enjoy a small soda drink every other couple days or so for lunch, but the addiction has deffinitely gone down a lot thanks to Lipton.

TIP #3: MYSPACE IS FOR RAPISTS, FACEBOOK IS FOR COLLEGE!
I dunno the purpose of MySpace, but Facebook's amazing network system is a great way to eletronically connect with the rest of your campus. Join some of your college's themed groups (The Wyoming Beer Song Choir being a favorite of mine) and they will connect you with other people you might not have met through your major. It's the perfect tool to keep in touch with multiple people (since forwards truly suck).

TIP #4: JUST CUZ THE SCHOOL SPONSORS A SHOW, DOESN'T MEAN IT'LL SUCK!
I hear this WAY too often. People stay shut in and don't go to anything that the school holds (i.e. entertainers and such) because they did that stuff in high school and it was lame. Well I've done both, and the college stuff is 100X better. I just got back from watching a pretty good magician (who called me up to help him. I've got the big yellow wad of yarn t prove it). These days they've got magicians (and not like that one at graduation, good ones) bands, and all kinds of good stuff. I know going there reminds you of those dull high school events, but once you get there, it's a blast. In just the few weeks, I've earned back my 20 bucks back (thanks to the magician) and became UW's sexiest model (thanks to a magician). If you don't take this advice, at least don't try and tell me "there's nothing to do" cuz it's complete crap.

TIP #5: MAKE SURE TO PACK NOT ONLY YOUR MOVIES, BUT YOUR SHOWS!!
It's great to have a good number of movies (and make sure to pack a good variety of adventure, comedies, and wierd movies. they are the biggest hits in the dorms). However, when you don't have time for a movie, and you need to relax, get yourself some show DVD's. make sure you have at least your two most favorite shows (bonus if they don't show it anymore) and keep them close to you. They can be your best friend some times. When that late night paper is making you suffer voluntary insomnia, nothing helps more than a good episode of your favorite comedy. It will make your paper last a few minutes longer, but they are 1000000% more enjoyable than simply sitting there typing. All hail Venture Bros & Batman!

TIP #6: BORING DORM, BORING YOU.
I've been to quite a few dorm rooms here, and ours is easily the best. We've got decoration goin all over the place. not just for looks, but a lot of it evokes feeling. A blue fabric over the bulletin board definitely beats the heck out of corkboard. I've got a Patriot flag for Sundays (even though that's kinda iffy right now, that's all I'll say). Most of all, posters. Poster salespeople stop by campuses all the time, and those posters, though a little pricey for pieces of paper, are great for livening up a room (sorry North, if you're still reading this, but I didn't bring that painting you sent me. I was REALLY worried it might get messed up). Make sure that posters are not just because they're cute or something (I'd recommend NOT bringing ones from home. start off new). Me, for example, I have a mighty 300 poster that just by looking at it make anyone feel tough (it's the greatest movie poster ever) along with a stretch poster of the Beatles Abbey Road album, which always makes me want to jam to some old timey rock. We were told that every dorm needs an Einstein poster, so I picked one up (yet I doubt this what the person meant). While I don't suggest blowin cash, posters that you expect to keep up all year are a good buy, but try to make your max three.

TIP #7: LEAVE YOUR SINGLE PLAYER GAMES AT HOME.
You don't have time, gamers, to play those overdrawn story games (no matter how good they are). Bring them along, you might play them once a month or so, but if you play a game (board or video game) make sure it's multiplayer and not just something that only you'd like. A great example is Street Fighter games. many have played those, and many want to learn. Monopoly is always a good choice (just ask my homie-sister-friend, Josie), and I'm sure Levi would agree that the Wii is a perfect candidate. I can tell ya right now, don't waste money on Guitar Hero. There'll be someone three doors down that has every edition, eight different kinds of guitars, and the game will annoy the hell out of you. Fighting games, party games (DDR never grows old), and board games are perfect. Make sure you have them equipped before the college experience, for they will most likely cost more in the bigger places. Plus, if you can really get a thing going with a few friends (I've been playing a lot of Street Fighter with my neighbor Anthony) you'll grow to rock at it (I've already slimmed the win/lose ratio down to a 8:15) and wait till you play against your hometown homies on Christmas Vacation!

TIP #8: YOU'RE WEIRD ENOUGH. DON'T MAKE IT WORSE.
Don't take that the wrong way. Be yourself. The problem I see too often, however, is that people feel that it would be cooler to do outrageous stuff to seem like an outgoing person. There's not really a fine line between Being a fun person and complete Jerkface trying to put attention on themselves, but people like t dance on it anyways. A fun person gets on stage in front of a lot of kids and acts as an assistant to the magician (by the magician's request, mind you). A jerkface is a person who does something wierd and stupid to try and get attention. A great example is this girl in our acting class. Our assignment is to simly act out a scene of our daily life completely realistically to help our acting technique. Josh solved a rubix cube, I did the scene of me returning from a shower and getting ready for the day (I wore a bathtowel which I didn't think was that big of a deal since I had already done a show in my boxers). this one girl, however (we all call her the Onion Muncher, because she's the biggest PETA extremist and palest person Josh & I have ever met) did a piece of her life where she comes back to her dorm and cries her little heart out because she misses her dog and complains cuz she can't adapt to life outside her bubble. She cries and whines until she watches some shows on her computer. Afterwards, she seemed to take pride and tried to show off her scene, practically bragging about how she can't adapt and she cries about how she misses her dog. Although we were supposed to be real, can you honestly say you would be in your right mind and do the same show in front of everyone? even the acting teacher seemed unsatisfied. It's these sort of people that just feel they won't happy unless they are the wierdest or most unadaptable becauseit makes them feel special. Just be yourself. If your comming to college for attention, just screw it. You'll get enough without being a freak for the purpose of being a freak. Wear that goofy greek hat cuz it's you. don't be wearing tons of make up, mounds of jewelry, or astonishing clothes to turn people's eye. In college, it's REALLY easy to spot the fakes, and even easier to dislike them. Be yourself, and you're guarenteed friends. (if you look for them).

Well, I'll post a few more here and I hope you take my advice. You'll find it's all priceless (except that poster one. Those run about 6 to 10 bucks).

-Nick

PS- unofficial tip (just remembered it): Keep your mind open. Know your reservations and limits, but you're gonna be in a world totally different from your hometown. More varieties of people will appear. you'll make friends of people who'd fall into groups you'd never hang out with in High School. You learn a lot from the other people here that might change the way you think (has for me). Don't do anything you'll regret, but don't be afraid to lay back and become less uptight. Just don't do something stupid. thanks for reading

As if the Patriot scandal hurt my self-esteem enough, this doesn't help...

2007-09-14T08:11:00.000-06:00