UPENN Stupidity

This story has absolutely blown up this week and is just hard to believe grown men in a position of power and leadership could be so fucking stupid.

Now all the facts aren’t out, the path of what happened in the passed 15 years (!) on this alleged creep, Jerry Sandusky, aren’t entirely known. It’s safe to say that the complete story is going to come out in the next few months and is going to be much worse and even more mindboggling.

This has nothing to do with football.

Without rambling on too much (there is a ton to this) and to get to my real point, how did this not stop at Mike Mcqueary’s shower sodomy discovery? There’s a hierarchy at that school and mental path that I can’t wrap my head around. From what I’ve read, Sandusky had the heat turned on him for some similar shady allegations in the late 90’s that ended up fizzling out with the authorities. It was about a year later that he retired. 3 years later is when Mcqueary caught him violating the boy. Mcqueary then calls his dad and LEAVES? He does nothing to help the kid? The next day he tells head coach JoePa (and I’m not sure what kind of detail he went into with Joe). Joe goes up a level in the school administration, which ends up going to the president of UPenn. At no time were the cops called. The “punishment” for Sandusky was that he could not bring kids on campus anymore. What? This monster was skipping around campus as of last week! Somewhere in that chain of events and executive decision some things really went wrong.

I absolutely agree that the men who did nothing to stomp this monster out of the public and into a jail cell should be shown the door. For some reason it looks like the media is focusing mostly on JoePa, which I don’t agree with. Let’s point the brunt of the burners on Sandusky (how the hell did this guy get BAIL? He’s not a risk to the public?!) Mcqueary is a dumb son of a bitch as far as I can tell. UPenn is suppossed to have the utmost pride and ethic code around, it’s insane this happened.

Why did Mcqueary think that his bosses were the authority on a heinous crime? Was he afraid of losing his job for outing a pedophile? At the very least couldn’t he have made an annomous 911 (or campus security) call to get the cops to come and investigate? How did he do NOTHING to help the boy? This just just makes him an accomplice along with the rest of the administration that was told and did nothing.

I don’t understand what the end game of their thinking was. How could not going to the cops and getting Sandusky locked up be bad? They thought this would never come out and be a million times worse? This is Freddy Krueger territory! There are 8 known victims as of now, possibly reaching into other states! They could easily have just oust Sandusky and say they had no clue what he was hiding for all these years. THAT is how you protect your industry, school, reputation, faculty, staff and students. We found out and acted immediately to one of the biggest crimes in society. He doesn’t represent the school, we cooperate with the cops to get all this under control etc. It becomes a story of one heinous individual who got caught and stopped by sane human beings and not a napalm bomb years later. Each on of the men with their heads on the chopping block would a)not be arrested and/or b) fired! JoePa could coach for as long as his heart desired and not have his legacy ruined in a trainwreck of national and world news coverage. Sandusky went on to hurt more kids!

What happened?

Fear and The Nervous System

Album Cover

Fear and The Nervous System is:

James “Munky” Shaffer- guitar/KoRn
Billy Gould- Bass/Faith No More
Brooks Wackerman- Drums/Bad Religon
Leopold Ross- guitar, programming
Steve Krolikowski- Vocals/Repeater
Zach Baird- keyboards/Korn

About 3 years since it’s inception, FATNS debut album is finally here. While Korn was recording Remember Who You Are in 2009, producer Ross Robinson introduced Munky to the singer he had been looking for. Krolikowski was the last piece to join the band, with the music all but finished, he gave the band its final voice.

The more I listen, the more I like this album. I’m having a hard time describing what they sound like. A Perfect Circle comes to mind first, Black Light Burns is another, with a little bit of Marilyn Manson. It’s alt rock, very different from Korns’ sound. It’s very moody, brooding and atmospheric, a touch of industrial in the mix. Krolikowski has a very distinct voice which I always look for in a singer, he really brings something out in the music. He’s a powerful singer and a great lyrisist. Even though he’s been in Repeater for some time, I think this is just the the start for him. He’s yet to make a name for himself, but FATNS could really put the spot light on any project he’s in if people hear him on this album. I’d really like to hear what he would do and had he been recording with FATNS as a complete band. I ‘ll have Repeaters newest CD this month I think, I like what I’ve heard there too.

I really just have to say you need to listen to it to get the sound they make. Out of 12 tracks, I’m all about 9 of them. The opening track, “Hell” is an intro that really doesn’t do anything for me. “Triggers” sounds like it wasn’t mixed right, there is so much layering and reverb that overlaps so much it’s almost impossible to make out the lyrics. “Dissolve” is the final track I don’t like, just one of those songs that don’t click with me. “Ambien” is abptly named, I seemed to go back and forth on how much I dig it. The rest is some really unique and powerful compositions. “No Secrets” is a perfect example of what the band is like. A catchy, simple riff that builds into a thumping vibration of energy. “Choking Victim” is the most standard rock like, it’s got a typical structure and thump to it. It’s the first song that was released and it made me really hopeful for the album. Turns out that it’s not even close to the best track. My top picks are, “Chosen Ones”, “No Secrets” and “Jaguar” running right behind. “Beautiful Side” is far and away my favorite, it just takes me over everytime I hear it. I actually wake up to it a lot in my head, it’s like it’s found a spot in my mind to hang out in. I

With no CD release, you can find Fear and The Nervous System on Amazon.com and itunes. With no label these guys just put it out there into the stream, so please check it out! Give it a listen, you may find a new sound you didn’t know you were missing.

In Time the Review

It’s always fun to see something new and with the way Hollywood has been working the passed few years, that’s getting harded to get these days. In Time presents us with a world where a life is the currency. Humans are genetically engineered to grow until age 25. At that birthday, your death clock (which is a bio-lumen clock on your left forearm) begins to tick down it’s final year. You can earn more time by working, gambling, taking loans and even stealing from others. It’s a very simple exchange, a slightly modified handshake motion and you can take and give from your own clock. In the case of banks, the time is held in a devise that looks a bit like a bar code reader. Hold it to your wrist and time is taken or given away. Now, once that timer hit zero, you drop dead (sickness and injuries are still a threat). It’s a constant fight for live for most, where “Many must die for a few to live forever,” is the motto of the rich.

In the current economical climate this premise seems all the more fitting. The “top 1%” that is constantly beratted in the headlines these days are well accounted for here. The main character, Will (played by Justin Timberlake) helps someone out who has a lot of time on his hands. He’s gifted more than a century of life, which immediately makes him a target. No one in the ghetto gets that much time with out stealing it, according to those who know “best.” The rest of the movie is an attempt at balancing the scales between the rich and the poor. There’s plenty of money to go around, the rich are just hoarding what they are ultimately stealing.

Timberlake does a fine job, it’s hard not to see him as anything but JT, but a lot of actors have that problem so I can’t really hold that against him. There’s a good cast around him too, I always like Cillian Murphy, Amanda Seyfried makes a great love interest and partner in crime. Very little is explained, no real geographic location is given, no year, how and why the life currency system began (it’s been in effect for around 100 years from what I could put together). That all works for me as the social ramifications are really what is on display here. The threat is always the clock so that made any chase scenes seem a little less daring. There are many times when Will could have and probably should have been shot and killed, but I guess the time he holds through the movie is worth more than a shot to the head.

I liked it for the most part. There’s some silly dialog here and there and the plight of the poor is always the most important. Some fleshing out of the world could have been a plus, but the movie works pretty well as is. I’d call it a good rental.

Thor the Review

When I was really into comic books, Thor never looked interesting so I never picked up any of his stories. So going into the movie, I arrived with zero expectations. It’s a fun, if slightly dull movie.

It does everything well. The cast is good, along with the acting. A simple story that gets through the origin of Thor over with quickly. In fact, the movie is really well paced. Thor is a bit of a blow hard at the start and when he’s banished to Earth for his over zealous antics, he goes on a personal transformation. When Earth is threatened by Thor’s own brother, Loki, Thor steps up as Earth’s protector. What action scenes there are, are all done well. Nothing that exciting though, for some reason that feeling stuck with me through the whole movie. I can’t really pin down why, I guess because I don’t really care for Thor. The movie actually made me thing more of him, so in that respect it worked. He’s a part of The Avengers movie that comes out next year, so this is good warm up (rental) to get on board next summer’s tentpole release. Until Batman shows up to embarrass all other super hero movies at least.

Missed A Month

I missed October completely, which I really didn’t want to do. Had a bunch of stuff lined up to write but then the Fall Storm of 2011 donkey punched a good portion of the Tri-state area. The most damage my town has ever seen in it’s history went down on the 29th. I left work at my normal 5:30pm time thinking the “storm” was going to be a load of “nothing” and I was completely “wrong.” An extra half hour to my commute and 2 near death experiences made for a interesting trip. Had power all Saturday as the wet stuff came down (I think we got about 6″ here), but branches and trees were snapping all over the place. Took out who knows how many power lines with many places still without power. We went Sunday from 1pm to 7am Monday in the dark. Then Monday from 1pm-630pm when it’s been back for good. It’s easy to kill an hour or so without electricity, but this was ridiculous. How did the pioneers do it? It’s so awful and boring! Freezing in the house, you can only really manage to find stuff to do when the sun is up, night is just depressing. We’re getting so soft with all the tech we rely on. Local restaurants made a fortune though, many had power while a lot of residents didn’t.

Now for a little entertainment catch up.

Peace out Summer

What a fast summer. September is also flying by, less than a week to go until October. The weather seems to be holding up though, been in or around the 70’s with some rain here and there.

The Begley Wedding went down last week, that was a long 10 month build up and it went so fast! It was a 21 hour day for me so it was a long day, but so much happened it’s all a blur now. Once the ceremony started at 11:30 or so, it was like running down hill. The weather was great, perfect actually and everything went really smoothly. Going to the hotel afterwards with 50 or so people was great too, it was a hell of a celebration. Lots of love around my friends, the have a great start together.

On Saturday I ran out of gas going to work. First time it’s happened and it really is just a stupid feeling. I always wondered how that happens to people and there I was sitting about 5 miles from work on the side of the road. The light came on the day before and I totally over estimated how much I had. I thought for sure I could make to work and fill up at work. Checked the odo and I was at 344 miles for the tank (I reset every fill up) and my calculations are for 350 miles tops. I certainty wasn’t driving to conserve gas that week (I actually got really far considering) so I would have saved myself some anguish had I checked my odo and taken a whopping 6 minutes to get some gas on the way to work. Put that one into the “never gonna happen again” pile.

Drive the Review

I’ve never really put much thought behind Ryan Gosling, but Drive has changed that. He’s awesome. I think the only other movie I’ve seen him in is Lars and the Real Girl which he was also really good in, but gad zooks. Mr. Gosling plays the Driver, a mysterious and stoic man that evokes some classic Clint Eastwood vibes.

“Driver” as he’s labeled in the credits is a Hollywood stunt driver that moon lights as a getaway driver. He’s got very simple rules: I’m only the driver. I don’t have a weapon, you tell me where to be and where you want to go and I give you 5 minutes from when I show up to get your business done. A second passed that and I’m gone. You make it into the car I’m with you until our trip is done.

With that set in place he becomes involved in a job with the boyfriend of his neighbor. It turns out to be a trap and Driver has to fight his way out of a contract that’s been put on his head. Gosling is just so good in this movie he carries this crazy world on his shoulders. Driver is one of my favorite characters in years. He’s really quite, he doesn’t look like much, but the confidence this guy has is just unnerving. He lives his life on a very narrow, but clear line. Anything that happens on that line is handled with zero hesitation. Very Dirty Harry, but without the gun.

Film nuts have to see this movie, it’s so well made it’s like a lesson in mise en scene. Insane care and thought was put into every frame that you see. Director Nicolas Winding Refn is one of my favorites after discovering his first movie, Pusher, about 5 years ago. He’s got the cinematic eye that crops up every couple of years. I really think he’s on the path to becoming a name like Tarantino, Scorsese and Kubrik. It’s shot in a very slow and methodical way, the composition and lighting carefully considered in every scene. The soundtrack is of Tarnatino quality, it all fits together perfectly. The ads make the movie look like an action flick, but it’s more of a drama. There’s a handful of action scenes and they’re pretty quick, but everyone of them is striking. The movie opens with Driver doing his night job and there is almost no dialog. You don’t know any of the characters or what they’re stealing, just that this driver is going to get them all out of hot water. The images are so clear and concise (major props to the editing as well) that just watching it all unfold in front of you is more story than dialog could convey in the scene. Sitting there I felt the tension of sneaking around the cops, avoiding both cars and helicopter pursuit. You never leave the car with Driver and his passengers, careful actions cut together with the responses of the passengers expressions work so well together it really made a mark on me. So much and yet so little of Driver is conveyed after this opening that it made my head spin.

The movie plays out like a roller coaster where you cruise through the valleys leading to long scenes that ratchet up the plot and tension. That leaves the apex of the scene to erupt in a torrent of violence that sends you rocketing down the other side. The violence is really intense, but it’s not gory for the sake of being shocking. It’s the punctuation of a scene that is so packed that it has to pop to move the plot forward. Drive takes place in a harsh world with people who don’t take no for an answer; it’s survival. The pacing is what makes this film not for everyone. The slower parts can feel like a drag, but there is so much to take in visually that I was totally engrossed through all of it. Driver’s awesome shiny jacket with the gold scorpion on the back is destined to be a icon. One of my favorite movies in quite some time.

Movie Review Rampage!

It happened again, I’ve watched a bunch of stuff without writing about it so now it’s time to clear the cache with a Review Rampage.

Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy is easily the best documentary on the Elm Street series. It’s 4 hours long and covers every movie to Freddy vs Jason and the short lived TV series. There are some comments about the 2010 remake on the bonus disc, but it’s pretty much ignored since a completely seperate team made that movie. As a fan this is a much watch, there’s some great behind the scenes info, inteviews from almost the entire cast of the films and it’s very honest. Has re-inspired me to write a new Nightmare movie.

Rango is such a odd movie. It’s beautiful and ugly at the same time. Animation and world design are fantastic but some of the characters are just straight up ugly animals. It’s a heartfelt movie though that slips into some really trippy and surreal scenes. Johnny Depp has such a great voice and delivery, Rango fits him perfectly. You hear Depp in every syllable but you forget it’s him through the animation of his character. I don’t think I’d recommend it for kids though, it gets pretty intense.

Megamind rules. Such a great idea. I’m a fan of Will Ferrel so that helps my enjoyment a lot, he’s so damn funny. Taking the super villains’ perspective is really refreshing and it’s handled really well. He turns a good guy bad (great work by Jonah Hill too), he gets into and out of trouble in creative ways and the movie is basically gorgeous. The final confrontation has one of the greatest character entrances ever, it’s some impressive stuff. One of Dreamworks best animated movies, they’ve really been stepping it up in the past 3 years or so.

Tangled is a retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale by Disney. One of the best animated movies they’re done in some time, this one is great for all ages. Touching, some fun songs and it looks pretty amazing. Quality Disney stuff.

I Am Number Four is the story of an alien who is hiding out on Earth from not so nice aliens. Moving around the globe with his guardian (played by Tim Olyphant who I’m a fan of), John Smith is discovered after 3 of his kinship have been hunted down and killed. He’s next on the list and he has to do whatever he can to survive. It’s a fun movie, but the first half could have used some trimming. It takes a while for the movie to really find it’s grove and most of the action (which is really good) is packed into the last act. Solid film making, I’d be interested in seeing a sequel.

Green Hornetis an average movie. I think that’s my problem with it. It’s not bad but it’s not that good either. I think the problem I had was that Seth Rogan’s character Britt Reid is really just too much of a douchebag for most of the movie that it’s hard to root for him. Some cool visuals and action scenes make it tolerable though.

127 Hoursrides on James Franco’s shoulders and he’s more than up to the task. An amazing tale of the human condition and spirit, Franco continues to star in great and unique movies that push his versatility while director Danny Boyle continues to cement his spot as one of the best filmmakers working today.

Skylineis a demo reel for an FX company. That’s all it is. Some impressive special effects work that were said to be done for really cheap that surrounds a terrible script. It’s alien invasion with characters you could not care less about. When things get dicey and intense there is just no emotional attachment. The finale tries to build up some intense moments between the main characters that might have worked if everything preceding it had any soul.

13 Assassins is a great flick in the spirit of the legendary Akira Kurosawa film, Seven Samurai. When a brutal lord is seen quickly ascending the political latter, his goals and methods are deemed to be too evil to be left to grow any longer. A group of 13 samurai band together t to assassinate him. Directed by Takashi Miike, who is best known for his ultra violent and graphic movies, pulls his reins back to take us through this Samurai tale. While this movie is violent, it’s nothing like Miike’s previous gore fests. We don’t see many movies like this and 13 Assassins hits all the right notes in this genre. Check it out.

Hobo With A Shotgunis grindhouse done today. It’s an over the top vigilante picture that’s really well made. The team making it really know the roots of this genre and it shows. It looks like a ’70s exploitation romp but with some modern film making techniques. It’s vulgar and extremely gory and violent so it’s not for everyone. If you are familiar and down with this genre, take it for a ride.

In Memory of My Aunt Patty

She lost her battle with cancer on August 6th and the loss is a great one. Our whole family mourns and she is missed greatly. I wrote the following for her Eulogy.

When my mom asked me to speak today, the first thought that came to mind was what is the best way to describe my Aunt. A list of her attributes came to mind but I quickly realized that Aunt Patty can’t be summed up with just a few adjectives. Her collective spirit is what defined her.

In her successful corporate career she excelled at dealing with and understanding people. Her professional drive to excel and succeed with the added challenge of being a woman in a dominantly male profession sculpted her into a sharp professional. Despite a high standing in the companies she worked with, she still managed to stay grounded. She had the ability to have that power and be respected and admired for it.

Patty was a brilliant communicator, in speech and in writing. Always ready and willing to lend an ear and offer sage like advice. No matter the time or the topic, a thoughtful and sincere answer could be found. It was always advice to help raise your life a little bit higher. Her generosity to her family and friends never had a limit. She led by example, she pushed the idea that if success is what you need, do what you like and do it honestly.

It’s the trying times like these that make us all think about what all of this is about. Why are we here, what’s our purpose? It’s a question long asked by mankind, but I think the answer is very a simple one. We all live this life together.

Aunt Patty had an energy that was impossible to ignore. When you walk into a room and people smile when they see you, you are doing something right. It’s the positive moments in life that people hold closest and dearest. No one can ever know how long they have here so you need to take today as the most important one. Helping and caring for others builds yourself as well as those immediately around you.

Some of us are fortunate enough to look no further than our own family to see a guiding light.

Instead of mourning her death we are here to celebrate her life. I’m thankful Aunt Patty was part of my life. I’m thankful she found her soul mate in Uncle Richie who walked triumphantly next to her from the moment they met. At this moment let’s all think back and remember how Patty touched our lives. She was a beautiful person and we will always cherish her in our hearts. Her time on Earth may have been too short but I can see no reason to claim that her life was anything but a resounding success.

Captain America: The First Avenger the Review

Marvel Studios keep opening the doors on their catalog every summer and Captain America is the latest to enter the spotlight. The movie matched the superhero himself: average at best.

Not to sound like a hater, but the draw of Cap himself isn’t really that strong. He’s really a B level guy in the superhero world as far as I can tell. Average man Steve Rogers tries to join the army during World War II and is turned away multiple times for his physical inadequacies. A chance meeting with Dr. Abraham Erskine gets Rogers into the Super Solider program where all of those nagging little physical inadequacies are erased. Enter Captain America to fight for the side of good.

The movie is really well made. It looks fantastic, the backdrop of the US circa 194x is well established and very believable. Great use of color, it’s well shot and staged and the FX are all done very well. The cast is great to, I think this is Chris Evan’s best work. He makes Steve Rogers a very likeable and loveable guy and he makes great moves in the action scenes (Caps’ fighting style is pretty unique, probably the best part of him). Everyone surrounding him is very good too, he has very good chemistry with Haley Atwell who plays Peggy Carter. They get most of the laughs together and Howard Stark (Iron Man’s father) role was much bigger (and better) than I thought it would be. Hugo Weaving as the villainous Red Skull (who is so hardcore he doesn’t think much of Hitler’s efforts) is great too, the effects for creating him are a particular stand out.

The movie has a very long lead in, there’s a lot of character development and set up with most of the action in the last half hour of the movie. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it does make the pacing feel off. It’s a bit of a drag to be honest. After some time the first action scene comes and it’s pretty short, then a bit later there is a rescue scene and then when the good guys go on the offensive, we get a montage of Cap and some troops taking out some enemy bases. While what is shown is good, there’s really no reference to where they are or what they’re doing. Feels too broad, like it’s just a generalization. That decision didn’t sit well with me. While it’s a good movie, I don’t feel any need to see it again.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 the Review

The end of an era. It sounds like a lot of pompous hot air, but it’s a true statement for millions of people around the world. 7 books written and 8 books made in 10 years, the Potter series has been a blitzkrieg of entertainment to say the least. Deathly Hallows part 2 is a fitting end to the series, we’ve been very lucky to get movie adaptations of this quality from start to finish.

Part 2 starts right where part 1 ends, Lord Voldermort has discovered where the Elder Wand is and has taken it by force, leaving Harry and his friends with the task of finding and destroying the remaining Horcrux’s which will make Voldermort mortal. Fail in this task and the results are catastrophic.

Thousands of words, miles of film and countless man hours led to this conclusion. Any new comer to the series can’t start with this film, there is no way they would understand what’s going on and why everything works the way it does. It’s actually a hard movie to write about because so much has led up to this. Let’s try to break this down to the essentials.

The whole series has been made with incredible care and detail. The entire cast is spot on and fantastic. Dan, Rupert and Emma have grown up on screen and completely embodied these main characters. I don’t think anyone can read the books and not see these three in their minds as they read. They’ve gotten better and better with every movie and it shows in the finale. They’ve worked with amazing actors (Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman) which helped them greatly. Matt Lewis as Neville Longbottom finally gets his time to shine. With such a fierce and large evil side on display, the brotherhood and love of the good side standing behind Harry is a sight to behold. Many major characters lose their life in the last book and that weight has made it onscreen large in part because of the actors.

There are some amazing special effects done here. The dragon sequence is particularly stunning and much of the final stand at Hogwarts is incredible too. A lot of background work was done so well in this movie, a lot of people won’t realize how much of the movie was actually digitally created. It feels like a real breathing world which is important for the characters to live in. While the time and extra money to convert the movie to 3D was made, it only worked well in a handful of scenes, hardly worth the extra cost to the viewer. It’s not very prevalent and it dims the brightness of the picture so I’d recommend sticking to 2d showings.

This movie is the shortest in the series thanks to careful pacing and editing. The movie hits the ground running from the start, but the finale doesn’t feel as rushed as the book did. There’s a lot of ground to cover in the movie, but everything is shot and cut to a fine point. The battles aren’t drawn out and desensitizing. While there is mass chaos on screen, it never feels disorienting. The quieter scenes aren’t marred to rush to the next set piece, but they don’t drag either. The characters are able to breath in each scene which kept me completely engaged. There’s a lot of big moments in the book and many of them were done perfectly. Harry’s Walk, The Kings Crossing and Epilogue sequences are all really great. In fact, I thought the Epilogue worked better here than in the book. While I don’t agree with all the changes and how some scenes were shot (Molly Weasley’s big line with Bellatrix) it seems kind of trite to complain about at this point. Most of the changes do work, just look at the last scene that Snape stars in, brilliantly done.

Part 2 works so well that it’s arguably the best in the series. The movies all work together as a whole and are faithful, if altered translations. If you want the complete story, the books are right there to read. At the credits I felt a pang of sadness. Even though the story finished with the last book 4 years ago, there is now no more Potter lore to look forward. It’s all done, finished, complete. It was a satisfying journey, one that may not be repeated for quite some time. I kept thinking about the movie days after I had watched it. A lasting impression, something only my favorite movie can give me. I guess the first step to avoid the withdrawal is to take out the books, something I realize I’m long over due in reading again.

I locked my keys in the car

For the first time in my 12 year driving history. I always do the same thing, take the keys out and put them in my left pocket and lock the car with the button door on my way out. I think I got distracted today after I paired my new phone (Droid 3! Really dig it) to my stereo. I realized I could send my music on my phone to the car wirelessly and it sounds amazing. I was so psyched I just left the keys in the ignition like a complete tool. Didn’t realize it till I was getting ready to leave work. Dad came by with the spare remote door open (gotta find the spare key!). Did some extra time at work so it wasn’t the complete disaster it could have been.