Tuesday, May 23, 2006
"24"
A somewhat lacking two-hour conclusion to the fifth season of Fox's "24". I mean, it was still good, but it just didn't hold together like a tight show should. Some of the developments were straightforward "the pieces are in motion and will soon converge" and some of them were unrealistically rapid, violating the show's usually-strong real-time principles. In fact, all season I found myself just yelling at the show's writers via the TV screen:
"That makes no sense! How could security be so low at CTU to allow multiple successful infiltrations by assassins in a single day?"
Or,
"How could Jack Bauer spend six hours, kill over a dozen people, watch several good people die, and hijack a plane, all in order to secure an indescribably vital object, and then, once he finally delivered it to CTU and it was about to be used to save the day, leave it almost completely unguarded for fifteen minutes?!"
Usually, the unexpected, improbable twists are what make "24" the exciting roller coaster ride that it is. But when it approaches the level of reverse-deus ex machina -- where the authors, rather than extricate the protagonists from difficult situations, just blatantly screw things over to create more conflict for them -- the ride becomes one of those uninspired dead drop/free-fall towers. I get it: we're supposed to be jerked around. But give me subtle twists and supple turns, not just an obnoxious lurch.
Still, a well-spent 24 hours.
My favorite moment of the finale was a Pulp Fiction-esque bit of dialogue. Jack Bauer's only chance is to direct a young Petty Officer Engineer Rooney over the phone to steathily stab a terrorist watchman. The nervous Rooney gathers his courage, creeps up slowly, and manages to cover the terrorist's mouth. The terrorist struggles, but finally Rooney lands the stab. Jack, hearing the fight, yells into the phone, "Rooney, what's your current status?" Rooney, slumping to the ground from shock, gulps, "My current status is... he's dead."
"That makes no sense! How could security be so low at CTU to allow multiple successful infiltrations by assassins in a single day?"
Or,
"How could Jack Bauer spend six hours, kill over a dozen people, watch several good people die, and hijack a plane, all in order to secure an indescribably vital object, and then, once he finally delivered it to CTU and it was about to be used to save the day, leave it almost completely unguarded for fifteen minutes?!"
Usually, the unexpected, improbable twists are what make "24" the exciting roller coaster ride that it is. But when it approaches the level of reverse-deus ex machina -- where the authors, rather than extricate the protagonists from difficult situations, just blatantly screw things over to create more conflict for them -- the ride becomes one of those uninspired dead drop/free-fall towers. I get it: we're supposed to be jerked around. But give me subtle twists and supple turns, not just an obnoxious lurch.
Still, a well-spent 24 hours.
My favorite moment of the finale was a Pulp Fiction-esque bit of dialogue. Jack Bauer's only chance is to direct a young Petty Officer Engineer Rooney over the phone to steathily stab a terrorist watchman. The nervous Rooney gathers his courage, creeps up slowly, and manages to cover the terrorist's mouth. The terrorist struggles, but finally Rooney lands the stab. Jack, hearing the fight, yells into the phone, "Rooney, what's your current status?" Rooney, slumping to the ground from shock, gulps, "My current status is... he's dead."
Monday, May 22, 2006
Same random content, fleshed out a bit, now with title
British slang is really cool. Especially when used by The Streets. (When you're out sharking for really fit girls, you might be able to pull a girl who's rude if you if you don't too pissed.) UrbanDictionary.com is useful for understanding it. It was fun to talk to some real live Brits at K's house (they were friends of K's birthday-celebrating sister).
Next year's Roble staff is a fantastic bunch, based largely on a bowling trip with about half of them last Thursday. (In the second game I bowled 106, narrowly beating my score from Spring Break.) I'm really looking forward to working with them.
My summer's looking decent, albeit lonely: after finals and tearful goodbyes, I'll be going home for a week. I turn 21 on June 25th, hopefully celebrating with some friends on the tail of their post-graduation celebration in Vegas. (Make no mistake; for these friends, that means a weeklong bridge tournament, not bars and strippers.) Ironically, K will be long-gone to the Russian Gulag in Vermont and thus unable to celebrate with me in her sketchy hometown. Anyway, the next day I'll return to Stanford to live with/next to old drawmate Robert, where I'll work on a groundbreaking (we hope) AI research project for ten weeks. Near the end, K will make her triumphant partial return to the English language and temporary return to the Greatest Farm on Earth. To finish off the summer, I have just a few days off between research and the staff bonding weekend, then a week of RCC training, then freshmen orientation, then classes start.
The Roble Musical was amazing as always. Guys and Dolls this year, with all the songs, a low-key five-person orchestra, and some funny anachronisms and inside jokes to maintain interest (Nathan Detroit tells Adelaide he meant to get her a diamond-encrusted iPod for their anniversary; Sky Masterson, suggesting that Sergeant Sarah Brown join him for dinner in Havana, Cuba, asks, "Where would you have us eat, Stern Late Night?"; during the Havaba dance number, Mark dressed as Swedish pop artist Gunther stops the music to deliver the lyric/catchphrase, "Tutti Frutti Summerlove"). Special praise to Hofmeister (a smooth-talking Sky Masterson) for bringing greater glory to the "Hof-" name. (Can you believe there's a Class of 2010 Jeremy Hoffman?! Oh you admissions officers, surely you realize that there can be only one!! My plastic swords are ready.)
Incidentally (has this word become too vapid?), happy 21st birthday to my friend, the conductor of the Roble Musical (who also pitched in on two of the six instruments played), one of the better RAs, and potentially a key player in my 21st birthday come June.
I'm still over a week behind in one of my classes, but I'm doing pretty well in the other two, so I should end up all right.
Next year's Roble staff is a fantastic bunch, based largely on a bowling trip with about half of them last Thursday. (In the second game I bowled 106, narrowly beating my score from Spring Break.) I'm really looking forward to working with them.
My summer's looking decent, albeit lonely: after finals and tearful goodbyes, I'll be going home for a week. I turn 21 on June 25th, hopefully celebrating with some friends on the tail of their post-graduation celebration in Vegas. (Make no mistake; for these friends, that means a weeklong bridge tournament, not bars and strippers.) Ironically, K will be long-gone to the Russian Gulag in Vermont and thus unable to celebrate with me in her sketchy hometown. Anyway, the next day I'll return to Stanford to live with/next to old drawmate Robert, where I'll work on a groundbreaking (we hope) AI research project for ten weeks. Near the end, K will make her triumphant partial return to the English language and temporary return to the Greatest Farm on Earth. To finish off the summer, I have just a few days off between research and the staff bonding weekend, then a week of RCC training, then freshmen orientation, then classes start.
The Roble Musical was amazing as always. Guys and Dolls this year, with all the songs, a low-key five-person orchestra, and some funny anachronisms and inside jokes to maintain interest (Nathan Detroit tells Adelaide he meant to get her a diamond-encrusted iPod for their anniversary; Sky Masterson, suggesting that Sergeant Sarah Brown join him for dinner in Havana, Cuba, asks, "Where would you have us eat, Stern Late Night?"; during the Havaba dance number, Mark dressed as Swedish pop artist Gunther stops the music to deliver the lyric/catchphrase, "Tutti Frutti Summerlove"). Special praise to Hofmeister (a smooth-talking Sky Masterson) for bringing greater glory to the "Hof-" name. (Can you believe there's a Class of 2010 Jeremy Hoffman?! Oh you admissions officers, surely you realize that there can be only one!! My plastic swords are ready.)
Incidentally (has this word become too vapid?), happy 21st birthday to my friend, the conductor of the Roble Musical (who also pitched in on two of the six instruments played), one of the better RAs, and potentially a key player in my 21st birthday come June.
I'm still over a week behind in one of my classes, but I'm doing pretty well in the other two, so I should end up all right.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Procrastination through busyness
The way I combine perfectionism and multitasking sometimes amazes me in how well it delays me in getting stuff done. Several times in the last few days, I have carefully composed an email, held off on sending it while I alt-tab to another application, use the bathroom, or go get food, then returned to pore over that same email, questioning every word choice and sentence phrasing. Even as I write this post, I have three half-written emails minimized in my taskbar, and I'm stopping to write this blog post. I think I need to work on shooting from the hip and moving on with my life.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Super Mario reenactment
It's kinda long and boring if you're not a Nintendo kid, but this makes me giddy like only someone who was five years old with a Nintendo can feel.
Oh Internet, have I told you lately that I love you?
Oh Internet, have I told you lately that I love you?
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Same Ol', Same Ol' -- just more of it
I've back to full health, which is wonderful. Just a bit of hay fever -- downright refreshing compared to my past sinus and stomach woes. I do have a nagging feeling of being a bit tired all the time. My sleep seems to cap at about 90% -- I just can't get that last 10% of restfulness.
I also got selected to be RCC (Resident Computer Consultant -- a dorm staff position specifically for helping students with their computers) in my beloved dorm, Roble. It should be a blast to be on staff next year.
Now I'm facing a seemingly insurmountable, um, mountain of work to catch up on EE 364, a class that was already hard before I stopped following it for two weeks.
Also there's the urgency of having only 5-6 more weeks before K goes to Middlebury and then Moscow. Losing two-plus of these short weeks to sickness was tragic; being well now but having the missed homeworks weighing me down is added depression.
The summer may still be a bit lonely, but at least I found a drawmate: ex-{3B,penthouse}-mate Robert and I have joined up.
So, yea... same old Stanford life right now... just trying to/being forced to pack more of it in to make up for lost time.
I also got selected to be RCC (Resident Computer Consultant -- a dorm staff position specifically for helping students with their computers) in my beloved dorm, Roble. It should be a blast to be on staff next year.
Now I'm facing a seemingly insurmountable, um, mountain of work to catch up on EE 364, a class that was already hard before I stopped following it for two weeks.
Also there's the urgency of having only 5-6 more weeks before K goes to Middlebury and then Moscow. Losing two-plus of these short weeks to sickness was tragic; being well now but having the missed homeworks weighing me down is added depression.
The summer may still be a bit lonely, but at least I found a drawmate: ex-{3B,penthouse}-mate Robert and I have joined up.
So, yea... same old Stanford life right now... just trying to/being forced to pack more of it in to make up for lost time.
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