Double Feature! Burn After Reading / The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I was interrupted in the middle of reviewing Burn After Reading to get a chance to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for free. Turns out a friend of a friend happens to be on the Academy and had a copy "for your consideration." Ain't that phrase too familiar, you pirates.

Halfway through it, I realized Brad Pitt and Tilda Swinton were in both, so I felt like lumping the two reviews in one. And I can summarize my thoughts of both with a quote from Burn After Reading:

"With all due respect, but what the fuck are you talking about?"

1) Burn After Reading

Barely 3 minutes in and John Malkovich hits a home run. This follows in the same vein of cult classic The Big Lebowski (a personal favorite), but BAR lacks the distinctive moments that made Lebowski completely memorable. I mean, he peed on the Dude's rug.

Not to say it was a terrible movie. It was very entertaining, particularly because of every single actor's complete transition into their character. This makes for some very awesome subtle humor, and it was mostly at those points I started cracking up, rather than the obviously jokey parts. Come to think of it, I don't remember if there were many obviously jokey parts. And that's the way I like it.

Thoughts: pretend it's an episode of the Office, except everyone's backstabbing each other.

2) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

First thoughts: holy crap, this movie felt long. The length looks to be its biggest bite in the ass, clocking in at 2hr40min. And it's not like the pace varies too much. It takes a painfully long time to set up the wrapper story (think: characters in the present reminiscing so that you can conveniently skip parts of the main character's story). Iseewhatyoudidthere, Mr. Fincher. It's supposed to make Benjamin Button seem all the more mystical. But goddamn if it doesn't take a long time getting there, because I don't really care about the hardly intelligible old lady or her daughter. I just wanna see a wrinkly old guy do childish things.

And I wasn't disappointed here. Makeup/costumes/set design/cinematography deserve all kinds of credit here for really selling the gradual un-aging of Benjamin Button and the look of each decade. Despite using several actors for the extreme ages, you gotta hand it to Makeup for making 40-odd-year-old Brad Pitt eventually look 20.

I don't wanna ruin/spoil too much, so here are my main thoughts: technically excellent, had a workable story and good characters (heyo, drunken Irish seacaptain), but the underwhelming ending feels like the past 3 hours was all for naught. So much for it being as "absorbing" as people praise it to be.

Recommend you watch Lola Rennt (German) + Big Fish + Forrest Gump if you can't sit through the first half hour.
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Brogger's Menu: Orange County Food Quest

I'm home in Orange County for the holidays and since I'm an active foodie I'm going to find all the best eats in the area. My goal is to hit up as many cuisines as I can in a month and hopefully find some favorites.

Here's my hitlist: Chinese, Coffee, Deli, Dessert, Fish Tacos (cuisine?), French, Greek, Indian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Taiwanese, Thai, Vietnamese.

American food is sorta bland around here, maybe save for Sage Restaurant, so I'm hitting up other places for good price and good food.

Some previews of some places I'm going to after the break.


I'm gonna tackle these in no particular order so here's some of the places I'm looking at.

Kean Coffee
I'm not really a coffee junkie (tea harro), but I can learn to appreciate a good cup of brew someday. I think I'm more into the aesthetics of baristas' ability to make cool designs... damn. I'll be bringing my coffee friend. She'll know.

Susie Cakes
So I kinda already went here to get these boutique cupcakes for a friend, but I actually never ate them. They look delicious though. I need a friend to come with me so I don't feel so guilty. Coincidentally, this place is right next to Kean Coffee. DOUBLE KILL?

Baja Fish Tacos
Mmmm I love a good Wahoo's fish taco sometimes, but these are supposed to better. Beer-battered Ensenada style tacos with plenty of slaw. I used to love taco tuesdays because I always go to these types of fish taco joints and get them for $1 each. Bad news bears for me.

Marche Moderne
Located in the notorious South Coast Plaza on the 3rd floor, this place probably demands a high elite class of citizen to dine at, but actually after looking at the prices it's not too shabby. There's a 3-course lunch for $20 which I think is a slammin' good deal for some refined French food in an upscale ambiance.

Whole Pita Greek Island Grill
Supposedly this is the most authentic place I can go to in Orange County and beyond. I'm fine of some good gyros, falafel, and hummus so I hope this place does not disappoint. Located in a strip mall near South Coast Plaza so maybe I can stop before I do some New Years Sale shopping...

PIGHTA shout-out to victor.

Naan and Kabob
We have Naan and Curry in Berkeley, so I guess I have Naan and Kabob in Orange County? Well, they have curry too, but I suppose I'm supposed to eat their kabobs first and foremost. I'm not a Chicken Tikka Masala guy (CTM), but I might be willing to give it a go to report back on how it tasted.

Fukada Restaurant
I frickin love Japanese food. Not just sushi and stuff, but everything in the cuisine. This place is supposed to be bomb for their donburis, udon, and soba so I'm super excited. To the right is a picture of their spicy tuna don.

Sorry kiyoshi, no good curry to be found here, but I will definitely try it if they have the option.





El Toro Bravo Tortilleria
Hell yeah, SoCal. Mexican food is the shit here, and I'm gonna find where the good places are in Costa Mesa/Santa Ana where all the tortillerias and taco shops are. These are the best places to get Mexican food because they make the tortillas fresh ,and the meat is made throughout the day. They're generous with the portions, and the prices are cheap to boot! My arteries are prepared for blockage.

Earthen Restaurant
I'm craving some Taiwanese food, and this place looks bomb for Garlic Chicken (pictured), Green Onion Pancakes, Beef Noodle Soup, and more. It's a little bit out there in Hacienda Heights (so more like near LA), but I'm pretty tempted to get some of this stuff. A&J Restaurant is supposed to be nearer to me, but this place just looks better. Taiwanese food is about the small plates with a huge variety.

Too bad I don't have the broggers here to come chow down with me.

Siam Taste of Asia
Orange County doesn't have alot of offerings for Thai, or really any at all. It sucks because I really like Thai food, and I've been trying my hand at cooking it. I can pretty much duplicate Pad Thai and Eggplant Basil Chicken now (so I'll never eat Thai Basil's). There's only two places that showed up for any sort of credit to try, and this one was recommended higher than the others on Yelp. Looks pretty good just from pix-or-it-didnt-happen point of view.

Well, there we go for my preview of some OC eateries. If I head to the LA area for some good eats I will mos-def be calling up efung and eleung to see if they want to join me for some shenanigans. Happy Holidays!

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Good Morning

It's 3:30pm on a Sunday afternoon. I just woke up. It's time to eat breakfast.

How's 3 sliders, hash browns, fried plantains, three pancakes, smothered with maple syrup sound for a first (and last) meal of the day?

It's winter break. I gotta be efficient with my time. Less (time spent) eating, more time for everything else.

P.S. This breakfast costs $19 in NYC wtfbbq Read More......

Currently Reading: Chuck

Since I have no outstanding plans for winter break, I'm going to be reading lots. I used to read a book per week back in elementary school, but once high school started that all went downhill. Time to get lost in literature!

I just finished reading Haruki Murakami's After Dark during finals (instead of studying I guess). It's a novel that takes place over the period of one night. Not bad. The first work I read by him was After the Quake, a collection of short stories which I highly recommend.

Here's my current reading list, and it's not all just a bunch of novels:

1. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
Told you I'm currently reading Chuck. I saw the movie version of Choke too, which I recommend as well. What's it about? Sex, choking (on food, eff you dirty dirty minds), dealing with addictions, mixed in with some American colonial flare.

2. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Anti-war WWII novel with time travel? COOL. Yeah I haven't read many classics so here's my chance to see what's up with Vonnegut.

3. Blind Woman, Sleeping Willow by Haruki Murakami

I'm at it again with Murakami and his collection of short stories. Reading short stories is enjoyable because I can finish one per reading session instead of working towards finishing a whole novel. I enjoyed After the Quake so hopefully this one has some good stories too.

BONUS BROGGER'S DIGEST INSIDER: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore
From the author of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Alan Moore brings his tale of Batman and The Joker. I just got this as a gift from my roommate so I'm psyched to read it. I'm kind of a comic geek for those of you who didn't know already.

Anyone else reading anything over the break or want to recommend some reading material? See ya in the comments.

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History repeats itself? No, life repeats itself

I just wanted to make the observation that regardless of the fact that I am now 20 (almost 21), I feel like a lot of people have the same mentality that drove most of us through high school and into top universities. I am not an exception, and I realized that I have the same work ethic I had in high school.

High school	University
Take AP/honors classes, get A's	Take hard classes (premed, engineering, math), try to get A's
Do extracurriculars, sports to be 'well-rounded'	Join a club, rise in the ranks
Join the National Honor Society, or something similar	Join a business frat/honors frat
Generally do everything possible to get into some baller $UNIVERSITY	Generally do everything possible to get into some baller $GRADPROGRAM

I don't know how many times I've had a conversation with someone in EECS or CS about WHY they do the tomfoolery that stresses them out and prevents them from enjoying the good things in life, such as loose women and drug abuse.

"Why did you write that paper?" "Grad school, man."
"Why did you take CS2xx, that's insane!" "Grad school, man"
"Why do you do so much research?" "Grad school, man"
"Why are you taking all those math classes? " "Grad school, man"
"Why'd you sleep with my girlfriend?" "Grad school, man"

Then again, I also have the EXACT same study habits as in high school. I will study as much as it takes to get A's, but I find all the other stuff (research, professional frats, etc.) to be BS that don't make a difference. In high school I didn't join clubs because I thought they were stupid and I still feel the same way....
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You + Me = Us

Anyone get that reference? YouTube it up!

As you can see, I am dutifully studying for my Math final in 3 hours, and what am I doing on my break? Loyally brogging about it of course! Not to mention I have the same history final as efung at 12:30pm, which I haven't even started studying for.

What I've eaten so far throughout the day/night:

4pm: zhongzhi (rice balls + homemade = yay)
5pm: Ghirardelli Intense Dark chocolate - 60% cacao with espresso
7:30pm: Chicken stir-fry (homemade of course)
9pm: chocolate again
12am: pumpkin gingerbread cake from Rockridge's Market Hall
1am: green tea
4am: tuna salad with avocado + whole wheat English muffins

I did this exact same thing back on Tuesday (with different food) for my two hardest finals, and I rocked them both. Hopefully I can do the same in a couple of hours. They say some people work better under pressure, but maybe I'm just completely screwed.

Let's just say I'm looking forward to 3:30pm.

UPDATE AFTER MATH FINAL - PWNED IT.

1.5 hours until History final
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The benefits of p/np

It's a good thing that breadth classes are still counted even if you take them pass/not pass. As it turns out, I can get a D on my history final and still be good to go.

On that note, I'm gonna sleep like a baby right...now.

[two to go] Read More......

Christmas is the season of giving (and receiving)

Take the title however you want, literally, metaphorically, it'll all come together by the end.

Christmas is a wonderful (subjective) season where people freeze their asses off, eat lots of yummy food, and buy gifts (oftentimes fruitcake) for their friends, family, and even acquaintances (remember how I said fruitcake?). Last week my friend asked me if we should get presents for each other. I had no clue what to get her, so I just asked her what she wanted. Since that yielded nothing, I turned to a fellow brogger who will remain nameless. Chuck gave me an idea of a "stuffed animal with a Christmas stocking and 'naughty kisses'."

I had to go to the post office today to ship my D300 that sold the other night, so I figured I'd stop by the local retailer to purchase some goods. I found everything except these 'naughty kisses'. Confused, I immediately texted Chuck who was probably just coming out of a final and was still very concentrated on the subject matter. Needless to say, I stood in the store for 5 minutes trying to figure out what the hell he said, because I can assure you, it had nothing to do with Hershey's Kisses.

I ended up buying several items that fit rather well together. At the risk of sounding gay, I can assure you that this is a cute present. I can't take all the credit though. Anyway, I hope she likes it, because it was pretty damn cold out today.

Now at this point, you're probably wondering how this could possibly relate to any possible metaphors about giving and receiving. I applaud your curiosity, because I have no fcking idea. I just wanted to lure you into reading this.

-NONSENSICAL STATEMENT INVOLVING PLANKTON-

I'm gonna go back to studying about BJT and MOSFET amplifiers now. kbai!

-update-

she loved it =P


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How-to: Not get pwned by a drifting girlfriend

I came across this wise-sounding tidbit on a message board I frequent...

Being a good boyfriend has nothing to do with buying her flowers and taking her to dinner. Those are things that a good boyfriend might do, but they could just as easily be done by someone that's sleeping with her sister. Don't associate doing them with having a healthy relationship. If you feel like you need to do them, then it's probably more likely they're a Band-Aid for a bad relationship.

Wow I never knew relationships could be so easy. It always sounds simple when older people talk about it. And then old old couples (30+ years) are just too endearing for words. I know I sound like a girl, I should be all YEAAA FUCK BITCHES DICK GO IN YO AZZZZ but I guess my testosterone levels are low at 4am. For whatever girls who may be reading this - you see? We think about this sappy shit. DON'T THINK I DON'T THINK ABOUT IT

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How-to: Pwn a math final

After much IRC discussion about MBTI personality types, I figured I would post my study habits which I believe fit my INTJ (aka Mastermind) personality to a T.

1. Read what the professor says he is going to test on


2. Speed-read relevant material from lecture notes or the textbook (my professor has a 187 page PDF of the book he is writing, he lectures pretty much exactly out of this PDF)


3. Copy down any theorems, definitions, and formulas that seem particularly important or interesting


4. When you are done (I have something like 10 pages of hand-written college-ruled notes front and back), skim over the notes and find the even MORE important parts, the kinds of properties and theorems that will allow you to derive everything else that you learned


5. Write down precise, perfect, definitions of those utterly important theorems/definitions, and memorize them. The auxiliary stuff is all the result of these central theorems, so you will either be able to remember them from your studying or derive them from the important theorems


6. Put your dick in the box


7. Pwnzor the final

Easy, right?
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P(rf)oductivity: have you had your daily dose of brog?

I'm sure a lot of you have at least heard of RSS. So two things: 1) isn't it awesome? and 2) why aren't you using it already? (Note: If you didn't understand any of that, you will in the next 3 minutes...)

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication", but who cares who it stands for. It's an excellent method that makes you aware of updates on a website. There was a time when the internet was just a wee series of tubes, and you had to actively click your bookmarks to see what's new with the site. Now, you can be updated when it gets updated. Neato torpedo.

Keep reading to learn how to keep the brog on your radar...

You'll need to decide on an RSS reader for this to work. Luckily for you, there's a ton out there to choose from, and even I haven't gone about and hunted around for the best one. So I'll introduce to you three methods: 1) Firefox bookmark, 2) Google Reader, 3) email client.

1) When you're using Firefox and you go to a site that has an RSS feed, you'll see the classic RSS icon in the right end of the location bar. It looks like orange radio waves. Go ahead and click it, then click "Subscribe to ______" Oh hay, it even lets you choose which app you want to subscribe with. If you use Firefox's Live Bookmark system, the bookmark itself will be a clickable menu that expands into the latest posts. Try it out.

2) Blogspot is integrated with Google Reader, so this route makes some sense. Assuming you have a Gmail account, you can go to reader.google.com and subscribe to the blog you're following. You'll need the feed url, which you can often find on a well-designed blog by looking for that orange radio icon. Here's ours:

http://brog-about-it.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
Because iGoogle is my homepage, Google Reader integrates well into my routine. Open Firefox, KEEEYAAAHHHHH, there's my news.

3) If you think about it, RSS feeds act a lot like emails. Emails like those classic Facebook notifications. But instead of seeing "[cute guy] has tagged you in [unflattering photos]", you can see "SPOTTED: efung brogs again!!". Anyway, alongside Google Reader, I use Mail.app that comes with OS X. File->Add RSS Feeds. What could be easier?

RSS is so widespread that everyone wants to jump on it, since it's compatible with Thunderbird or Outlook. And if you're using any other mail program, wtf mang. (Sorry, mutt users)



So there you have it. Show your support for the brog! Post more comments or become a royar forrower--check out the bar on the right. Or at the very least, you can still follow us in silence and anonymity. Stalker.

Feed URL: http://brog-about-it.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss Read More......

Brogger's Quarterly: Raw Denim

These jeans are all from the same French label APC. They are called the New Standard. Now, what's so special about them?

They're in a unique division of denim: raw.

Most of the mainstream are unaware of these raw jean shenanigans. However, to the fashion-conscious, raw denim has a cult following, especially in Japan, where a fine pair of Japanese jeans is the single most valuable item of clothing in a closet. Raw is also synonymous with "dry" for some brands.

You're probably familiar with the term washed denim because you see different "washes" whether it may be called "stone", "sunset", or whatever depending on the brand. So that's exactly it, actually. You already know half the story. Full denim nerd-erature ahead.

The normal jeans you see day-to-day are washed jeans. They come in a washed color, fit-true-to-size, and more or less never shrink. They made fade over time if you wash them 3-4 times a month but it's very slight in most cases. Also, they feel pretty normal as to how denim feels. Rugged, perhaps somewhat soft. Most commercial mainstream jeans are "distressed" to have a certain look, color, softness, and are pre-shrunk in the process.

Dark jeans gradually became the craze for going out at night or for a slim-fitting look. Back in the day (and I mean like probably within the last decade only) people did not used to wash their "dark wash" jeans was because it would gradually turn lighter and lighter, but due to engineering these days dark washes stay dark no matter how much you wash them. Awesome!

So what does this have to do with raw denim? Think opposites.

Raw jeans are made from raw denim - unwashed and untouched straight out of a loom. Denim, as it is manufactured, has a dark shade of indigo (dark blue dye) unless it's black denim.

The result of this is a very nice dark pair of jeans, but due to being unwashed it is very stiff. It's stiffer than you expect due to the starch and/or resin that was used to manufacture the material. On the plus side it gives it a sheen/shine that you don't see in washed denim. However, because it is also unwashed, the indigo will bleed off easily and lose color with washing.

By the way, they don't fit true to size either, completely. Most raw jeans are 100% cotton denim, meaning they will shrink in the waist and inseam when washed. Some brands have chosen to incorporate 2-3% spandex to help the fabric stretch and retain it's shape, but there is still some shrinking involved.

Raw denim jeans sounds pretty terrible by now, right? They're stiff and uncomfortable, don't fit true to size, shrink, and bleed color. Why would I even want these?

Take a look at the picture at the top again. I'm going tell you again they're the same model from the same brand.

What if I told you they're all actually the exact same jean?

The beauty of raw denim lies in the uniqueness of its wash - your own.

Because raw denim is unwashed, it will conform to your body shape and fade based on your body, how much you wear the jeans, what you do in them, and how often you wash them. The color and fading depends on you, and you can truly call them your own because no one else in the world will have the exact same wash.

This is probably expensive, right? Nope. It's actually cheaper than buying "premium" washed denim.

Brand Porn - Ready, Set, Go!

$30 - Levis 501 regular-rise straight leg STF's (Shrink-to-Fits) @ any department store
$35 - Uniqlo slim-fit raws except there's no Uniqlo on the west coast.
$40 - H&M Sliq slim-fit raws
$50 - BDG slim-fit raws @ Urban Outfitters
$60 - Cheap Monday slim-fit raws @ Urban Outfitters / department stores
$80 - Gap low-rise straight-leg 1969 model
$100+ - too many, but recommendations are APC, Nudies, and Levi's LVC if you want to keep within a reasonable price range. Japanese imports upwards of $150+

Denim Terminology and Nerd-erature

Selvage - Take a good look at this over-sized picture. Selvage denim is basically a special type of denim that has stitched edges on the outseam (so on the inside of the leg, confusing huh?) to prevent unraveling or ripping. Back in the day of clothes-making, fabrics would get moved around alot and the edges would get messed up. Selvage edge looms were made to prevent unraveling from the edges. Pretty cool. Selvage denim jeans usually denotes a higher quality of denim because they are cut from these vintage looms.
Hige - Pronounced "hee-gay." Hige or whiskering (you see why?) are lines of fading and also the fading that occurs around the crotch and thigh area. The picture above demonstrates it really well. These lines form by continual creasing of your legs moving when you walk, sit, cross your leg, etc. This is the area that will usually fade first.
Atari - Wait, the video game system? No, it's the lines and fading formed by the creasing of fabric due to pressure exerted on it. Above you can see cases of where atari can occur behind your knees where you bend your legs. It can also happen down near your legs if you are wearing a slim-fit jeans and extra fabric bundles up at the bottom.

Before & After Wash - The Wrap-up
Jean: Levi's LVC 1947 501's
Left: 5 months wear
Right: 20 minute soak in cold water

With only a soak in cold water, not even a wash, you can see a color difference. There's more defined fading in the thigh area and the jeans look lighter overall. If this had gone through a warm wash and a tumble dry in the dryer, you would see more drastic fading, but lose the dark color.

Still interested in being a denimhead? Head over to superfuture: superdenim where you can read up on all things denim and take a look more at the raw denim culture.

Give raw a try! It's not really a hassle if you think of them just as any other pair of jeans you wear, and it's neat making your own wash of jeans. Lot's of people get fed up with the whole maintenance and technicalities of taking care of them.

My advice? Wear them like any other pair of jeans. Don't treat them special in case you "mess them up" or anything. It'll give your raw jeans some character when you finally do soak or wash it. My current pair of raws is going 2 years with 4 washes.

Pictures are courtesy of superfuture:superdenim users.
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And sweatshops are a bad thing, why?

I'm in the market for a new guitar (continue my excessive spending), so I've been browsing review sites...This is one of the most hilarious reviews I've seen:

Bought in 05 from musicians friend for $89. Guitar is made in China with a Spruce top,Mahogany back, sides, and neck.Rosewood fretboard and Chrome hardware. Actually is a very beautiful guitar! I cant believe that its under $100 bucks!
And Sweatshops are a bad thing, why?
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P(rf)oductivity: Do More with Firefox

I was planning on doing homework in the office, but turns out I didn't bring what I needed. So instead, here's how my Firefox is set up across all the computers I use.

Add-ons:

• Adblock Plus: does what it says. Blocks ads by filtering blacklisted sites, so it's not like it blocks ALL windows that pop up. Yes, that's a good thing.
  
• Delicious Bookmarks: I use www.delicious.com to keep my bookmarks online so I can access them anywhere. This add-on allows me to bookmark just by right-clicking, as well as providing a toolbar to search/sort my bookmarks.
• FoxyProxy: slick management of proxy connections. If you don't know what proxies are, you don't have to use this add-on.
• Personal Menu: frees up valuable space to view pages by consolidating your menus into one button.
  
• Speed Dial: every blank tab I open now has my "speed dial" sites - 9 sites I want to access the most frequently. This includes my Google homepage, Delicious bookmarks, work internal site, Facebook, and of course the Brog. These 9 are also easily made accessible by keyboard shortcuts (Alt- or Cmd-#, depending on what OS I'm in)
• StumbleUpon: it's channel-surfing for the internet. Boredom spells are eliminated by stumbling on random websites. You can limit your stumbles by channels, basically categories of sites (like humor, online games, recipes, etc.)

Keyword Search:

I've mentioned this to many people, but here it is again: you can search sites straight from the address bar by typing a keyword, then your search item. For example:
Typing g brog about it in my address bar takes me right to Google's results for "brog about it". Very, VERY convenient.

How to set it up: right-click the search box you want to use and you'll see an option "Add a Keyword for this Search" [or "Add...in Delicious", if you want]. Name is self explanatory, keyword is what you type before what you're searching. And that's it.

What I've got:

• g: Google
• w: Wikipedia
• y: Youtube
  
• i: IMDB
• d: Dictionary.com
• r: Rotten Tomatoes

So easy. It'll change your life.


Share your special setups in the comments!
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Jacob's Ladder and the Silent Hill series (with samples!)

Film brogging continues as I switch to a whole new genre after covering action and sci-fi. Today, it's horror/thriller. This will be about Jacob's Ladder and more importantly, its influence on the Silent Hill video game series. And while we're here, fuck the Silent Hill movie adaptation. What a waste.

So about the movie itself: Tim Robbins plays a Vietnam vet (Jacob) who suffers from flashbacks and starts to believe that demons are following him. Perhaps the plot sounds a little generic, but one strength is that the focus is on Jacob's slipping grip on reality, rather than the demons themselves. So the scares come from a sense of claustrophobia and normal environments increasingly becoming demented. Overall, it wasn't completely bad, but it felt a little sloppy. They tried slapping in a Vietnam conspiracy ("I KNEW it." Yeah. That was a real line of dialogue.) and the blatant deus ex machina is laughable and does not satisfyingly resolve the movie.

Not all was lost, though. This clip (with Silent Hill music added for a MUCH better effect) shows the best scene of Jacob's Ladder, and it's a glorious 3.5 minutes of pant-shitting terror. SH owes it to Jacob's Ladder for introducing the "shaky head" effect and hellish hospital ambiance, both of which are in here. Take the dive:



Which takes us to the Silent Hill games themselves. Some people swear by them, claiming that they're some of the best horror games ever made. To whom I say, probably not. The controls are pretty effing bad, the camera swings all over the place, and the stories can be incoherent mindfucks (though that's part of the charm). However, the games do have 2 things going for them: the atmosphere and the sound.

This is a different kind of horror; it's not surprise!-zombies-mothafucka, but more like do-you-really-wanna-keep-walking-that-way. Whenever an enemy gets close, your pocket radio emits more static until you're looking for the thing just so that it can be quiet again. The city areas are usually covered in fog, so wherever you go, you feel a little more trapped. If you choose to run, the music--if you can even call it music--builds up and you feel more and more vulnerable as you get the sense that something might be sneaking up on you. If you choose to take it slow and fight, you spend a longer time in a place you really don't want to be in.

Enough talk, here's clips from Silent Hill 2 and 3. Remember, it's all about the sound and getting plunged into the visuals.


Goddamn.
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day after black friday shopping

so i finally had time today to go buy some clothes and other things i wanted:

from Gap:
-2 pairs of standard fit jeans
-black button up long sleeve shirt
*$117.17

from Sunglass Hut: pair of Versace sunglasses
*$238.15

not waiting in line at all
*Priceless

not sure how RF this makes me, but id say more ballin' than RF

gnight folks, i'll be back in berkeley in like 16 hours. Read More......

Brogger's Quarterly: 'Tis The Season

Winter is the season where you see certain patterns worn more than any other time of the year. It's not to say you can't wear these on a normal basis year-round, you definitely can. For some reason, certain patterns are more appropriate for the holiday season. I love it.

The colors of red, green, and everything in between really inspires the holiday spirit for me, and I figured I'd introduce the readers to some popular winter patterns and fabric as well as clarify some common terms.

What's the difference between plaid, flannel, and tartan? The answer, tips, and more - after the break.

Plaid VS Flannel VS Tartan

Can you tell the difference? Well, you shouldn't be able to, and I know I can't. Why?

The terms seem to be interchangeable due to etymology, pop-culture, and definition. Let's clear this up.

Here's a fabric/pattern lesson:

Plaid refers to the cloth itself, not the fabric. It's the actual piece of cloth you wear. The pattern just happens to be in the familiar check pattern because it's originally a Scottish term. A "full plaid" refers to the piece of cloth wrapped around the shoulder and fastened in front and worn with a kilt (bagpipes included).

Flannel is a soft woven fabric, spun from wool or cotton. We see it as a check pattern the most because it was made famous in the 90's by rock music. It was a hit with grunge and alternative rock musicians and listeners. Smells like teen spirit, right?

Tartan is the actual term used to refer to the criss-cross pattern you see in most plaid and flannel. It's woven horizontally and vertically with multiple colors. Tartan is most associated with Scotland because kilts usually use the pattern, but through some American English translation of tartan, most of us just call it plaid. So the term "plaid shirt" is correct in most cases because the shirt is made out of cloth, but if you wanted to describe the pattern tartan is more accurate. Meh, whatever.

So, technically, the picture above could be plaid or flannel, but they all have a tartan pattern.

Other Patterns

Argyle is a holiday favorite. To the eyes' illusion, it looks like a bunch of diamonds. If you tilt your head, you can actually see it's just a diagonal checkerboard.

Personally I like the size of the argyle you see the on the left. Sometimes I see patterns that are too small (so many diamonds) that it's too busy or too large (one or two huge diamonds) that look gaudy.

Argyle sweaters and vests are sure-shot winner.


Fair Isle is a little more obscure. You might have seen this eclectic design before, but not really know what to think of it. It seems a little too busy and random in the designs at first glance.

The Fair Isle design originates from... Fair Isle, a tiny island north of Scotland. Wah-wah-weh-wah!

It describes a technique in which you alternate weaving different colors together. Designs tend to repeat themselves in different lines down the pattern.

While it may look busy, it has an old-world traditional feeling to it. Kinda like how cardigans used to be grandpa-styled and now they're super fit-cut and cool for hip kids, Fair Isle designs can also be "cool" and "with it" okay?

Left to right: mini-gingham, gingham, tattersall

Gingham originally was woven as a stripe pattern, but since the English started making it, it's been woven into a check pattern. Something about those United Kingdom countries making lots of check patterns...

Tattersall is a check pattern of horizontal and vertical stripes of two colors on a lighter background. Makes for a good spring shirt too.


You can differentiate gingham and tartan because the check pattern of gingham is just around two or three colors. Tartan is multi-color with interweaving horizontal and vertical layer of color. See the difference even though the color scheme is similar?

How to pull it off

Keep it simple. Since wearing one of these patterns is already a statement in itself, keep your other clothes fairly simple and solid colored. We don't want to mix all these patterns together.

It's about the contrast. Pair a patterned shirt with jeans and a solid color scarf for a simple classic look. What if you only have solid color clothes? No problem, pick yourself a patterned scarf. That burst of color among your solid clothes will stand out.

Oh, and there's no reason why this all doesn't look good on women either.

Happy Thanksgiving, and cheers.
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picture perfect

what do beauty, fashion, and the environment have in common?

this is the answer
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The Day the Earth Stood Still

Some of you may have seen the trailer for the 2008 remake of the ancient-yet-classic The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). It came before Quantum of Solace for me. Isn't it exciting that awkward Keanu Reeves is gonna be back in action, this time as an alien come to give earth a very important message. I'm sure peeing my pants in anticipation.

Not really. Trailer Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_bNDv0-ZrU

I'd vaguely heard of the original The Day the Earth Stood Still, it being one of those titans of sci-fi, just like Blade Runner. But we all know how Blade Runner turned out. And if you don't know how Blade Runner turned out, I'm saying it sucked. Or at least, it was not very fun to watch. Regardless, this one felt like it had a different tone going for it, so I proceeded to delve a little further...

Turns out this was based off a 1940 short story by Harry Bates called "Farewell to the Master", in which an alien (Klaatu) and his robot (Gnut) come to earth, but the alien gets shot within seconds cause humans are so damn scared of the guy. The story then revolves around what happens with the robot, who apparently freezes in place when Klaatu dies.

Short Story Link: http://thenostalgialeague.com/olmag/bates.html

The film adaptation is just that, an adaptation. Same idea, different execution. I think this movie still has some flavor some 50 years later just cause of its philosophy, which is pretty interesting enough. The original raised issues of nuclear mutual assured destruction, while the upcoming one will be about global warming. In both cases, Klaatu represents the alien race that's wondering what the hell humans are up to.

Makes you wonder how big a bunch of assholes the whole human race can be.

About the movie itself: I have a hard time judging old movies. It feels like I have to use a totally different scale. So I'm just gonna say it was relatively entertaining and thought-provoking, aside from the dashingly good-looking alien acting a bit like he doesn't belong in society and acts the creeper and basically latching onto this mother and her son, who I'd like to have hit in the mouth for not shutting up at times. But hey, it was a different era of films.

Bottom line: check it out if you like sci-fi a little bit (the thinking kind, not the action kind), otherwise, you can live without seeing it. Same probably goes for lord Keanu Reeves' version come December 12. Except he'll probably shame the sci-fi fans, too. Oh well. At least there's The Matrix.
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test?

Chuck is a poopyhead

LOL JAY KAY
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i believe the term is "haute couture"

Lights:
Okay, so as an EECS person, I may not be the best judge of fashion, but I love the bi-annual FAST (http://fashion.berkeley.edu). That isn't to say all EECS majors are bad when it comes to fashion...look at kiyoshi! I'm here tonight to tell you about my experience at the show, and a few of my favorite outfits (and maybe even my favorite models!).

Several semesters ago, (3 to be exact), I e-mailed the show coordinator of FAST to see if I could go and photograph their show. For me, this all started in the Spring of 2007, moved to Fall 2007, with the Rock the Jade Hep B Free fashion show, and then my then-favorite, Character, presented in Spring of 2008. However, we have come a long way from Character. Helen, you did a fantastic job with this Fall show. You and your team worked very hard putting it together, and you deserve every bit of praise for it. Without a doubt, the shows get better and better each semester.

Camera:
On Sunday, I arrived several hours early to set up a small studio area, as well as the lighting gear that I'd use for the show. Thanks to a fellow co-worker, Dennis Mojado, I had everything I needed, and more, to make sure I could capture the show to the best of my abilities. Here's a quick list:

-Nikon D700 with MB-D10 battery grip
-Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR, Nikon 50mm f/1.4D
-4x Nikon SB-800 Speedlights (in possession, only 2 were used during the show)
-2x Quantum Turbo battery packs (faster flash recycle time)
-Bogen Manfrotto monopod (i've learned that my camera gets very heavy)
-6x 4GB Sandisk Extreme IV CompactFlash cards

My fellow photographers reading this probably already know how much I spend on camera gear. I advise those who don't already know NOT to look up the pricing on the above mentioned.

Fashion:
One of my favorite models. She's got the walk and the poses to knock your socks off.



This next girl is one of my new favorites. You can tell by looking in the gallery for the show, because I probably have more pictures of her than anyone else. She modeled at the Rock the Jade show, where I knew she'd have potential. Unfortunately I didn't see her at Character, but was glad to run into her on Sunday.



The next model was wearing an outfit that complimented her body rather well. Smooth and silky, I thought I was looking at an angel when she walked out to have her photo taken.




A quick gander at the BARE Magazine blog puts this outfit at the top of their showcase too. There's a good reason for that. While I'm no expert, I feel that this outfit catches people's attention because of the amount of volume hidden within the folds and frills of fabric. Aerodynamics were clearly not on the designers' minds, but curves and natural earth tones (similar to wrapping a wonton).



Well folks, thanks for reading. Keep an eye out for the link to my gallery for this show. Read More......

Brogger's Menu: Midnight Snack

Hungry @ midnight and little ingredients to work with.

What's around the kitchen: pasta, tomato sauce, tomatoes, bread, turkey sandwich meat, dried rice noodles, eggs, crowns of broccoli (omgwtf), carrots, frozen corn, frozen green beans

Psh, like I'm gonna do pasta and sauce.

Here's what I came up with: Bird's Nest with Citrus Soy Broccoli

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Pirates, and no, I don't mean the cute ones like Jack Sparrow

There seems to be some fascination in the news about pirates these days.

WSJ: Piracy v. Private Equity: A Comparison

WSJ: How to Deal With Pirates

Dealbreaker: Harvard Business School 9-197-3922 November 1, 2008

WSJ: Why Don't We Hang Pirates Anymore? Read More......

Asian people...God love 'em

For without Asian people, this sort of thing wouldn't happen:


[pictures taken at Vietnam Village] Read More......

Brogger's Menu: Four Alternatives to Turkey

As efung would say:

"Looks familiar."

You don't have to eat turkey just because it's some holiday marked as the day you must consume an unfortunately fat bird that can't fly. Comon now, it can barely stand up without looking like it takes some effort.

Damn fatty.

I don't know about you, but I've begun to feel really disillusioned by the taste of turkey every Thanksgiving. I've been having that crap in sandwiches for the better part of my life. I find having some sort of variety for Thanksgiving makes it all the better in my expectations of "OMGWTFBBQ THANKSGIVING!!!111oneoneoneoneo."

Let's eat:

Chicken

Well, duh. Everything tastes like chicken, right? So why chicken instead of turkey? Compared to a 10-20 pound abomination of a bird, try several 2-3 pound chickens, depending on how many people you're serving. Two feeds a family of four.
This way, you can ensure that meat is moist, the skin is crisp, and that everyone is satisfied instead of a sadface dry turkey. Plus, you won't be eating something that's been tagged, bagged, and dumped into a freezer kinda like a scene straight out of a mob movie.

Roast chicken is a staple American classic and it's easy to boot. Ram some herbs and butter into the skin of the bird, season generously, pre-heat the oven, and slam it in there.

Brogger's Recommendation: The Best Roast Chicken

Beef

Well, not just any beef. Dear sirs and madams, I shall recommend you step up the plate for this occasion and give yourself a treat for the feast: Filet Mignon.

Filet mignon sounds fancy, but it's just a cut from the tenderloin that's located along the spine. A porterhouse and a t-bone steak include the filet mignon: the filet is just part of the larger cut. It's a premium to get just the filet without any bone, but shit its tasty for it's pure beefiness. If you're going to block your arteries with anything, it's an effin' beef block.

Plus, doesn't wrapping anything in bacon make it instantly better?

Brogger's Recommendation: Filet Mignon with Balsamic Syrup and Goat Cheese

Lamb

Bah bah black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, marry have I,
Three bags full.

There's some more to it, but I don't care about the wool at all. I care about eating the sheep.

Some don't like the taste of lamb, but it happens to be one of my favorites. It's described as a "gamey" taste. I can only say its a very strong meat flavor. YEA PROTEIN.

Lamb seems like a luxury item, but it probably is about the same or less than the filet mignon. For me, it doesn't leave a lingering fullness of "I enjoyed every bite of that impending heart attack", but more of a "Yes, please pass me more food so I can get a heart attack."

Brogger's Recommendation: Lamb with Red Wine Vinaigrette

Seafood

Sorry, no Finding Nemo here. We're going under the sea and getting us some lobsters and crabs. ...Right.



Lobster,

Or crab?

I tend to go towards lobster for less hassle of eating delicious lobster meat.

However, for all you Asians out there, the ginger-scallion crabs on the right is a well-met contender if you're going the Asian Thanksgiving route.

You pay by the pound for the seafood. Again sorta like chicken, I tend towards smaller lobsters and crabs in more numbers because they taste better even if it is more to eat through. My family bakes lobsters and eat it straight up with melted butter and lemon. For crabs, we do similar or sometimes take the effort to make crab cakes.

Brogger's Recommendation: Baked Lobster with Garlic Butter Panko

Closing Thoughts

"Wait, Chuck. What about vegetarian/vegan options?"

Brogger's Recommendation: Eat meat or the potatoes.

"Okay, but I don't even cook Thanksgiving dinner."

Brogger's Recommendation: Tell your parents/chef/party planner/relative/favorite restaurant that you want something different unless it's a travesty of your family tradition and thou shalt not offend thine superiors.

"My family doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving." / "I'm Asian."

Brogger's Recommendation: See you at *Insert Favorite Chinese Restaurant Here*

Photos and recipes courtesy of Serious Eats, Food Network, and random Google searches. Read More......

let it be

I'm sitting in my chair listening to old Beatles songs right now. I wonder who the first guy was that put magnet, guitar, and amp together. Just goes to show that while us EECS nerds might sit around all day fiddling with code or circuits, we're also responsible for almost all of modern pop music...yeah, better recognize. clapton would be nothing without maxwell...james clerk maxwell. Read More......

Broggers Quarterly: The Fit Guide to Shirts

Any piece of clothing you are considering buying should fit you. Many people size up for the sake of comfort, but clothes can be comfortable and look good on you too. I always see shirts that are too big for a guy, but I don't think most people are going for the Urban gangster look on campus... Here's a quick-guide to how shirts should fit your body:

First, check the length of the shirt. A button-up dress shirt is cut longer than a casual button-up shirt so make sure what you're looking for is what you want. Here's the difference of what it looks like when you wear a dress shirt casually the wrong way and a casual button-up the right way.
Very good, gypsy. I will look at your treasures. In the first picture, you can see the shirt drops down to where the pants leg separate into two. This shirt is too long to be worn untucked. On the right side, you can see the length difference. An untucked button-up shirt should drop right past the waist to avoid a baggy or over-sized look.

If something feels too tight, do the "I'm an airplane" trick. Arms straight up. Arms side to side. Wave arms in circles. Whooooosh. I guess this might be a better example: If you can't fully extend any part of your body and move around comfortably enough to run around - it's too small. Although, if you have fabric bunching up at your arm, shoulders, and the shirt is poofing outwards when you tuck it in - it's too big. Everything should fit comfortably flush with your body so you can show it off.

Sleeves should reach your wrist bone and should have no excess fabric bunching up near it or on the sides. The shirt should run flush with your arm and hug your shoulders. No poofing either on the sides for tucked-in shirts. Walk around to see if it poofs with movement or with your arms raised. The picture on the left shows both excess sleeve material and poofiness from the sides. On the right, we can see how it's showing off his figure because of the right fit. Sexytime.

What about short sleeved shirts and polos? The same applies, but now you don't have any sleeves to worry about! Yay one less thing to consider.

When considering a button-up short sleeve, make sure it just fits your body. Before you even button-up the shirt, pull the two sides past each other - how much room is there? If you can pull one side of the shirt past the buttons, consider sizing down. It should reach flush with your body when buttoning up. Alternatively, you could button-up the shirt and see if you can fit a fist through your shirt from the top - it's too big if you have successfully Over-9000-Gundam-punched through it.

For polos, have it sit just past your waist. The sleeves should be right between your elbow and shoulder, so you can partially show off those guns of yours. You can see this in the two pictures above.

Next time I'll write about shirts in more detail, but for now, go find a shirt that fits you. (photos courtesy of GQ and JCrew) Read More......