I Am Dissappointed, New York

VERY disappointed.

Okay, I know I just put a new post on here, but I saw this and couldn't let it go untouched upon here.

Homeless good Samaritan left to die on NYC street

Did you read it? If not, please do.

How about now? Okay, I'll assume you did.

Poor guy. Tried to do something good and look how he got rewarded. To add insult to injury (no pun intended), a fair amount of people of passed by him, with some even taking the time to examine his wounds (apparently, one guy lifted his body before noticing a mysterious red liquid underneath him and fleeing the scene.)

Oh well, he probably didn't have his papers anyway. Jk, the little white supremacist inside me said that.

But yes, sad. Just sad.

Harold and Maude

*Yawn* Today was a busy day. Lots of walking back and forth for the Segerstrom Seminar Showdown. I must say, it was awesome, possibly ASB's finest hour. As if that weren't cool enough, we got a modified day! Although I had to go to an AP Econ review session after school,
so I actually got out near my regular dismissal time. I have no homework due tomorrow and the lack of anything to occupy myself with here grants me the opportunity to blog! Shout Glory! =D

OH! HEHllo! I AM tHe tErrRble triCCCCycle Trio! I lIke Two Eat all da cAKes and tHe cHeEpz arE alSO GOOod for der medErschnitZEL!........................................................................................................................................
GAHAGAHGAHAGAHAGAHAGHAGAHAGAHGAHAGAHAGAHAHAGAHAHAAAAAAAAAAGA
HAGahgahaGaHayagahgHAGAHAGAHGAHAGAfacismGAFAGAFAGFAGAFAGAFAGFAGAFAG
AFAGFAFredkelpsistheworstpeabnutbubbernunevar!lolzijkdlastfridayattheblockandicantstopda
laughsfrommakingdaoralknockingsGAHAGAHAGAHAGAHAGAHAGAHagaaaaghhhghgh.
(GASHGAHAGHAGHAHAGAHAGHAGAHAG)......
-this is a joke.
get it. If not.................................
AAALLLLL HHHHOOOPPPEEE IIISSS (-lost-).
P.S. this is not reggie.

Oh dear! It seems like my defective brother managed to infiltrate my blog!

Oh YesH! DASs Are me!

*Brother has been sacked.
Kay, anyhow, my siblings suggested we watch Harold and Maude last Friday. Good suggestion. Let's find out why!

*WARNING! This film has been flagged as PPP (Perverted Pedophile Propaganda!) jk. XD

Harold Chasen (played by Bud Cort) is a pale young man entering adulthood. He lives on a large estate with his wealthy mother and a troupe of servants. Despite his upper crust life, Harold feels the need to fake his own death by hanging himself. His mother witnesses the entire act without batting an eyelid. Apparently, she is accustomed to Harold's suicidal proclivities, a fact given credence by following scenes in which Harold carries out numerous methods of doing himself in while his mother carries about like it's everyday business. Harold is, as we learn when he tells his psychiatrist "I go to funerals" when asked what his favorite hobby is, obsessed with death. However, he discovers that an old woman named Maude (Ruth Gordon) also shares this curious habit. Harold is initially reluctant to open up to this eccentric woman, but after she hijacks both the local minister's Volkswagen Bug and Harold's hearse, he establishes a bond with her. As his mother searches for a girl worthy enough to become Harold's betrothed (none of whom Harold finds interesting in the slightest, driving him to resort to drastic measures to drive them away), he learns how to live under the free-spirited guidance of Maude, "rescuing" trees planted on the sidewalk and returning them to the forest, and learning how to play banjo and sing. Eventually, Harold falls in love with Maude, despite her old age. Although Maude reciprocates Harold's feelings, others, i.e. his mother, his uncle General Victor Ball, and etc., are not too keen on their romance...

Is love really timeless? Harold and Maude think so!

In case you couldn't tell from the description above, the movie is a black comedy. In case you're confused, "black comedy" refers to a morbid or dark sense of humor, not a style of humor that focuses on black people and culture. It is a very funny film, with Harold's faked suicides and Maude's unusual and even unorthodox actions testifying to this. *SPOILER ALERT! YOU HAVE BEEN FOREWARNED!!* All of the scenes in which Harold fakes suicide, whether it be by self-immolation, self-mutilation, and seppuku, to frighten prospective suitors made both my siblings and I laugh. *END OF SPOILER* Harold's mother is also a rather comedic character, thanks to her snobby attitude and passive acknowledgment of Harold's strange behavior.

The music selected for the film by Cat Stevens suited it well. I'm not a big Cat Stevens fan, but I really enjoyed "If You Wanna Sing Out, Sing Out", which acts as a primer to Maude's philosophy. This song, as well as many of the others, had a folksy, 1970's feel to them. At first, I wasn't too impressed, but now the songs are starting to grow on me. Although there were not as many as the Stevens' tracks, classical pieces were used effectively in some scenes, such as "The Blue Danube" in a scene where Harold and Maude waltz with each other.

Additionally, I thought the acting was excellent. Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon were very convincing as Harold and Maude. Cort's appearance and voice reminded me of Peter Lorre, but not in a way that detracted from the quality of the film. His performance was very deadpan, adding to the believability of his character, and making it convincing when his emotions finally burst out later in the film. Gordon, on the other hand, did a commendable job portraying Maude as part-burnt-out-revolutionary, part-little-old-lady-from-Pasadena. She made Maude wild without making her cartoony, a feat that not many actresses' pull of these days (although I guess this can be blamed on screenwriters for exaggerating the wackiness of the elderly in movies as much as the actors' or actresses themselves for hamming the roles up). The supporting actors' also deserve recognition; among them, G. Wood as Harold's psychiatrist, Eric Christmas as the priest, and Charles Tyner as General Victor Ball. Wood was my favorite of the aforementioned three, with his authoritative voice and attention-commanding demeanor.

During the movie, I kept thinking two things: 1) How much it reminded me of Being There (another film I plan to review when I get the chance to see it again) and 2) How similar it was to Wes Anderson films. As it turns out, the movie was directed by Hal Ashby, who also directed Being There. In regards to the similarities between Harold and Maude and Wes Anderson's films, I discovered that I'm not the only one. My sister and brother both agreed with me when I commented upon it while watching the movie, but I checked on IMDB and found some of the posters' on there think so as well! Here's the link.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067185/board/thread/142785324?d=142785324&p=1#142785324

Bizarre that we all thought so, and I don't even like Anderson's films too much. At least from what I've seen, but that's a topic for another day.

In summation, I would give Harold and Maude 10 stars out of 10. I honestly could not find any flaw in the film, at least upon this viewing. In fact, I feel this review fails to do the film justice! XD

I also would like to say that I think it warrants critical discussion more than written analysis, which is fortunate for me. Why, you may ask; I intend for these reviews to act more as a way of introducing movies to new audiences than to discuss the deeper meanings of themes in them, of which Harold and Maude contains several. To that end, dear reader, I hope my review left you yearning to watch the film.

Alternative Prom Themes

As May approaches, I keep reminding myself that Prom is at hand. My school doesn't start selling tickets until Monday (at the completely reasonable price of $85) and I have yet to acquire something to wear for the occasion. Which reminds me, I also have to get something to wear for Eris's anti-prom/end-of-AP testing party the day before prom too! It would be cataclysmic if I wore the same thing to prom AND anti-prom. I'll discuss what options I have at a later time, for right now, I have more pressing things to discuss.

My friend Daniel and I have been joking about awesome alternative prom themes, given the most imaginative of our school's possible themes is a Victorian/Holmesian theme (the other two are "Arabian Nights" which could be cool if I got to show up as the Ayatollah, but sadly that is not the case, and "Diamonds and Pearls", which is unbelievably tacky.) So we came up with our own themes!

"In The Trenches": Based on World War 1. Students come dressed as Allied or Central Power soldiers or even Red Cross Workers. Think Doughboy helmets and Pickelhauben. Trenches and land mines occupy random sections on the dance floor, posing a possible menace to dancers. Every few seconds, artillery barrages are fired and mustard gas is released. Staff members also dressed as wounded soldiers with missing limbs, screaming bloody murder and writhing on the dance floor. The good thing is, us seniors won't have to worry about forgetting that special night if this is our theme, thanks to the possibility of PTSD! XD

Imagine how awesome it would be to wear a pickelhaube to your prom!


"After The Bombs": Based on post-apocalyptic fiction and cinema. Think Mad Max, The Book of Eli, The Road, 28 Days Later, Planet of the Apes. Dress in NBC suits, gas masks, animal hides, rags. Students are given sepia-tinted sunglasses to accentuate the tone of desolation before entering. Also, inserting the phrase "after the bombs" in every other sentence would contribute to the feeling of a world recovering from devastation. Staff members could dress as cannibalistic mutants or zombies, randomly storming the dance floor and taking unlucky students captive.

If you want to go all out, you could get a sawed-off shotgun to complete your Mad Max costume.


"Rocky Horror Prom": Based on classic horror with nods to The Rocky Horror Show and other homages. Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, the Addams Family, The Munsters. Students could dress in gray suits, capes, toilet paper, platform shoes, wizards or witches robes, lab coats, even though Daniel and I think most of the girls will probably dress like goths/sluts. To rectify this, however, some men might choose to come as sweet transvestites from Transsexual Transylvania. I think it would be funny if somebody came in a hockey mask or strapped in an upright gurney and mask like Hannibal, even if neither quite fit in. At some point, everybody would have to do the Time Warp. No Twilight, please!

Ixnay on the ilight-tway!


"Gone With The Wind": Based on the Antebellum South. Girls could dress as Southern belles or debutantes. Boys could dress as plantation owners, Confederate officers, Klansmen, minstrels, Brer Rabbit/Fox/Bear. Actual black patrons would not be admitted or at least given trouble at the door. A miniature railroad set could be hidden underneath the ballroom. The dance floor could be littered with pictures of Abraham Lincoln and John Brown. Misbehaving students will be thrown in the Briar patch! I really like this one, although I'm not sure the NAACP will approve.

"The Happiest Place on Earth": Based on Disney movies. The cool thing about this theme is how much diversity if offers in way of dressing. That is, dress as your favorite Disney character. I myself would go dress as Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, partly because I like his costume, and partly because he's a relatively obscure villain. Decorations would be very colorful and bright, with a section of the ball room being dark for villains like me. Karaoke to Disney songs is a must.

"Class of 1984": Based on dystopian fiction. Might overlap with "After the Bombs". Think 1984, Brave New World, A Clockwork Orange, V For Vendetta, Brazil, Bioshock, Fahrenheit 451. Jumpsuits, bowler hats and eye markings, Guy Fawkes masks, secret police uniforms. Use a nauseating shade of gray for decorations, as well as dated equipment, like loud speakers instead of amplifiers for the music. Place posters praising the school all over the place, and fake TV screens reminding students they are under surveillance. The DJ can make random announcements also praising the school during or in between songs. For refreshments, provide mushy food and stale water. This theme is the perfect opportunity to play this song!



Please leave feedback when you comment. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them!

Short Circuit

Hey thar, didn't expect to have enough time to write on here. The senior class (which happens to include me) at Segerstrom High School is busy with some nonsensical vanity project called the "Senior Exit Portfolio", which is ostensibly to provide an opportunity for us seniors to reflect on our high school career. Of course, I think it's just another act of self-gratification on the school's part, but whatever, I'll live.

Plus, AP exams are bearing down upon us, so my AP teachers (with the notable exception of my AP English Lit teacher) are going nuts. This means lots of homework is due this week, but fortunately, I managed to finish mine early today! XD

Anyway, the point is, after finishing my homework, I got to watch the 80's classic, Short Circuit. I've always wanted to watch it, but I never actually got around to doing so until today, thanks to the netflix instant que on my brother's PS3.

The film is about Number (or later in the film, Johnny) 5, a robot developed by the Nova security company for consumption by the military. Although the beginning makes it clear Number 5 is just one of many similar robots (dubbed "Strategic Artificially Intelligent Nuclear Transports" or SAINTs') designed to destroy enemy tanks and trucks, his programming is rearranged when the generator he is connected to is struck by lightning, granting him sentience. He manages to escape the Nova facility, much to the ire of Newton Crosby, the inventor of the SAINT, and Howard Marner, the apparent CEO of Nova. As Crosby and his partner, a stereotypical Indian technician named Ben Jabituya (actually a white guy in brownface, if you'll believe it), try to capture Number 5 before the Nova security forces destroy him, Number 5 meets a hippy-dippy weather girl named Stephanie Speck (played by Ally Sheedy, the "basket case" from The Breakfast Club), and learns, among other things, how to talk and about death. The latter is done particularly well in that Number 5 accidentally kills a grasshopper, and brushes it off, believing it it will "reassemble" itself, like one of the SAINT robots. However, Stephanie explains to him that it can't reassemble itself since it's dead, and only then does Number 5 realize that when the Nova security men disassemble him, they will kill him, leaving him understandably shaken.

Despite the way I described the scene above, the movie as a whole is very light-hearted and surprisingly funny. Much of the humor comes from Ben, whose horribly mangled and gratuitous English makes the things he say that much funnier. In one scene, he pushes Stephanie several times on the ground to protect her from gunfire, and leaves her with the all-too-serious line "Bye bye, goofy woman. I enjoyed repeatedly throwing you to the ground". Not to say the other characters were not funny, as Number 5 and virtually every character in the movie provided comedy relief at some point. Somehow, it managed to do this in a pleasant manner, unlike last year's diaster, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which also presented every character as a form of comedy relief.

The music was okay, but then again, it's an 80's classic, up there with The Goonies and The Breakfast Club. The music is supposed to be silly! Power ballads and a synth score abound, with a particularly quirky march piece being played whenever military or Nova security forces are on-screen. The 1970's manages to invade the soundtrack when Number 5 watches parts of Saturday Night Fever at Stephanie's house before trying to dance.

The actor's all did an excellent job, with Fisher Steven's portrayal of Ben being my favorite. At times, Stephanie could feel overbearing, but that's more of an issue with the way the character was written than Sheedy's acting ability. Austin Pendleton did a great job conveying Marner's growing frustration with his men's inability to capture Number 5, and Steve Guttenberg did an equally great job displaying Crosby's gradual change from disbelief about 5's sentience to determination to save him from destruction.

Overall, I'd give Short Circuit 10 stars out of 10. The humor manages to balance with drama, with the movie never descending into idiotic shenanigans like those seen on The Disney Channel or pretentious existential discussion about Number 5's unique situation (which can be summed up in Stephanie's line "Life is NOT a malfunction!" I'm surprised us pro-lifers haven't picked that one up yet) . The worst thing about it is that it seemed too short. Oh well, at least I can watch the sequel some time.

My Bureaucracy Poem

Okay, so about a month ago, we had to write a poem or song about bureaucracy in my AP Government class. My partner, Rudy and I toiled day and night to prepare to present and with my good friend Cesar's help, we were able to record it. The end product lies before you.



For those of you who are Rocky Horror Picture Show literate, I hope you enjoyed the last bit. I changed the last "clap" to reference the dubious results of my school's "Mr. Segerstrom" competition, where the candidate a majority of the student body thought should have won did not.

I must say, although I'm happy my class really liked it, I was kind of disappointed in my performance. I feel like I sounded too much like myself, when I was going for a more British or at least deep voice, not unlike Christopher Lee or Charles Gray (Again, talking to RHPS fans). I'm not sure how many people understand what I was going for with the fancy clothes (I would have worn a smoking jacket if I had one and I would have brought a bubble pipe, but tobacco paraphernalia is prohibited at most schools, as you probably already know), but I guess what's important is they liked it.

I would like to thank Cesar and Rudy for helping with the video and presentation and a token thanks to my AP Gov teacher, Mr. Decker, since it's customary to thank an authority figure when you perform where I come from, even if they had nothing to do with the performance's execution (I'm not dissing you, Mr. Decker. I would never diss you, Mr. Decker. I just find that funny.)

It's Alive!

Hello there, dear reader.
My name is Reggie, but you can call me Naldo. If they had a baby, it would be named Reginaldo (which happens to be my full name). Here's some fun facts:
I'm a pretty average guy. I'm.... uhhh.... eccentric, but then again, everybody's eccentric in this day and age. Right?
I live in the humble town of Santa Ana, dwarfed by the infinitely more renown Los Angeles. It's not too bad, but I wouldn't mind living somewhere else. Berkeley seems nice. Maybe even London.
I laugh at conservatives and spit upon liberals. (Don't snicker, libertarians and others. You're fair game too).
I'm not an omniscient political scientist, nor an esteemed theologian, but I have my beliefs, and my loyalties.
I can be very effeminate. I prefer this to being a macho jerk-off.
I love animals, but I don't love PETA.
I'm concerned about the environment, and I'm concerned about the whole "green" subculture. Not the way I'm concerned about the environment, but concerned no less.
I'm a Christian, but I'm not an ignoramus.
I used to be a power-mad Christofascist, then I became a peace-loving hipster. Now I'm just me.
I used to hate people. Now I love them.
I know where you live.
Just kidding about the last part.
I know you're probably thinking "Boy, that was pretentious", but it's my blog, so GTFO! Just kidding (I kid a lot). Anyway, I made this blog at the insistence of my good friends Eris and Brenda. They originally wanted me to use a Japanese blogging service, but since I can't read Japanese, I opted to get an English blog. I've been considering getting a blog for some time, but felt I lacked the commitment to maintain one. However, thanks to Eris and Brenda, we're here! Hooray for me!
Why "Fun Fun Fun In The Sun Sun Sun!", you may ask. It's my mishearing of a song lyric by Noah and the Whale. Not that I am particularly fond of them, my sister just used to play it alot and it was catchy, so, there you go. No analysis required.