Gods of Parkour (in embryo)

Winter break is upon us, which brings multitudes of free time. Therefore, Aldana and I shall train to become the american versions of Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle. And we will accomplish this feat in the 4 weeks we have in between semesters, because anything is possible with the human spirit...especially when you fuse it with the christmas spirit and the no-school-for-a-month spirit to form the Voltron of spirits.

Basics of Parkour

К черту??

Я хочу писать по-русски в этом блоге. Почему? Не знаю. Завтра будет плохо. Надо...экзамены...но, я хочу пинать с моими друзьями.

Awesome artistic tshirts

Its almost christmas!! Tank Theory provides some awesomely psychedelic pop tshirts to satisfy your christmas shopping needs!! If you know someone whos like me(artsy fartsy and into everything), then this is just the place to get that person a gift. *hint hint wink wink*

Music Videos of the Week - The Knife

Apparently I'm really into electronica music right now. I love this band, especially the Pass This On song.

The Knife - Pass This On
Yes, thats a man. The actual singer is the girl sitting at the table, better seen in the next video. And Olof is the first dancing guy, the other person in this 2 person group. I love the way this video was filmed. This video reminds me of the farewell dinner in Russia, when me and the Russian girl I loved began dancing, then everyone else slowly joined in. It was awesome. Dancing is awesome. Even if you suck.

The Knife - You Take My Breath Away

My short term goal(anytime before I go back to Russia) is to have a glam rock themed party. Basically everyone would have to dress similar to the people in this video. It would be awesome. Man, sometimes I really wish my parents didn't wait till they were friggin 40 to have me, so then I could've grown up in the late 70's and 80's, the greatest time period of history ever. Other times I'm glad they waited so long tho, because video games really sucked back then, and I would've been labeled a communist traitor for going to Russia, and then have to be on the run from Patrick Swayze and the Wolverines, his crack team of high school guerilla fighters....yeah I'm feel extremely nostalgic of russia tonight for some reason.



I'm from Barcelona - We're from Barcelona
I had to post this video, as it is awesome. This inspired my "ridiculously festive christmas sweater" themed party that I can hopefully get enough people to do over winter break. And I'd make everyone do family portrait style pictures at some point...I worked at Sears Portrait Studio back in high school, so I am a pro at this. One of my fondest memories of working there was placing the apathetic or pissed off kid in the back in such a way so that the light just barely missed him, making him look like the unwanted step child of the family. Ah, such good times.

Idle Hand's Are The Devil's Playthings

So, while I wait for my computer to render my 2 sec long animation, I've decided to post some random thoughts. I have no idea why the title popped into my head but in trying to remember exactly what the phrase was I stumbled upon two things. First off was the movie Idle Hands. Its about so guy whose right hand gets possessed by the devil and he kills his two best friends and his whole family, but his two best friends come back to life (i.e. zombies) in order to help him. This movie was memorable because Jessica Alba was in it for her first real role, which consisted of looking smoking hot and having a few insignificant lines. Second, there is a futurama episode where Fry trades hands with the robot devil...thats about all i remember about the episode except its title was The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings, which is a clever twist on the phrase. So rendering the animation full screen was a bad idea since its taken this whole time to do 7 out of the 36 frames. Anywho, so this animation is for my graphics class. Instead of a final we get to make a 10 sec animation, which sounds kind of daunting at first but this nifty little program called Blender makes it super easy and actually fun. The models I'm using for it can be seen in the last couple of posts. I'm really having fun with this animation and I'm going to work on it over the winter break to make it awesome. If I find some way to post it I will. In related news I'm going back home to Maryland for the first time in like 5 months, so I'm really excited. Though I will be leaving behind my sweet girlfriend whom I love dearly. I was deeply saddened when she told me she wasn't going to visit me over the winter break. Because, you see, last year she flew up to Maryland for a week in January before classes started again. It was lots of fun, especially taking her skiing, even if a certain bald, Mormon backed out on us **cough, Potter, cough**** Holy crap it's still not done....what else is there to write about. Oh a good site to go to for you frugal shoppers is Woot.com. It only sells one item a day, unless its a woot-off, but the item is at an extremely discounted price. Sometimes they have crap on there but sometimes they have some pretty nifty stuff. What should I put up as a banner picture....

Clash of the sabers

Poll: (Now) Which is better looking?

Be sure to click the thumbnail for the full size.

~Aldana

cheapified post secret

I am going to be so happy when finals are over. But until then, I've decided to start an mspaint version of post secret. We've already gotten a submission by an anonymous reader. Just send in your mspaint secrets to hannibalchew22@gmail.com





-Potter

Circles of Friends and a Life of Secrecy

Theres nothing more nerve-racking then being in an environment where your different circles of friends(CF for short), whom have never met each other before, are in close proximity. You go to each individual group discreetly, to explain a few things...like "those guys over there are like this n this and think this n this, and the group over there thinks I'm this n this"(I can't get specific here cause I tend to draw from personal experience, which would be unwise due to the Aldana and the readers of this blog not all being from the same circle). But, as an impersonal reference, the comedian Jim Gaffigan touched upon this issue once, saying in the same situation he'd explain to one group of friends "yeah, don't act surprised when I talk with a British accent and smoke a cigar around those guys over there"(not a word for word quote).

Usually in such a situation, it will be apparent to some that you are hiding something, which will either cause the various circles of friends to bond to you out of intrigue, or to converge with each other to conspire what your secrets are. The end result in both cases is to uncover your much beloved secrets and facets, but the latter outcome is generally the more desirable, as the other circle would dish out more dirt on you, than you would ever willingly dish out yourself, and because people are self-serving bastards. The effects of such a convergence are amplified in accordance to how secretive you are in nature. Do you stay in your basement for a good part of the day to play video games whilst avoiding phone calls from your friends, and the next time you see them you say you were out of town? Or when your out of town do you tell your friends you were just in the basement playing video games? If so, you are an extremely secretive person, and understand the bounds of joy it brings when used amongst circles of friends that deserve such treatment. Just study Christian Bale's character in The Prestige, to see how far ones obsession for secrecy can take a person.

The negative effects from a convergence of your different friends, can be minimized of course, if you simply be upfront and honest in all your dealings with your fellow man. But thats a higher level of existence than most people achieve in this life, and therefore steps must be taken to ensure your secrets are safeguarded. Here is a list of safeguards to help you maintain a life shrouded in secrecy.

1. Never lie. Lying, as we all know, requires too much memorization, which is far too much effort and dampens the fun factor. Effort is for people with false dreams of grandeur. Theres other methods far superior, which I don't think I will divulge right here. Bruce Lee once said "One must be free. Instead of complexity of form, there should be simplicity of expression...The easy way is also the right way". Straight up honesty is the easiest way obviously, but it sure ain't the funnest way.
   
2. The less people know of you, the better. The more people know about you, the more vulnerable you become. It has been said, that to be an adult, is to be vulnerable. I agree. However, you should always be acutely aware of your vulnerabilities, and never underestimate the cognitive reasoning or clairvoyant abilities of others, for they could easily bring down all your emotional barricades in an instant if you let them know one fact too many, or even let them too far inside for just a fleeting moment.
   
3. Have a secure outlet. This can be the hardest step to accomplish. This step involves having a select circle of friends or at least a single person, or just any other living person that you can tell absolutely everything to, your darkest secrets, most embarrassing moments, your craziest fantasies. Everything and anything, is safe to tell them. This not only requires a high level of emotional trust, but also a high level of respect, and dare I say it, love. I will refer to this attribute as "lumoure"(pronounced with a french accent) from now on, the combination of emotional trust, respect, and love to a high enough degree which allows for absolute openness in a friendship or relationship. For example, think of a friendship where there is a great amount of mutual material trust, you'd allow them to drive your car, know your passwords, and tell them secrets that are not too revealing of your inner-most self. But never something you feel is too personal. Why? Because there is an imbalance of mutual respect and emotional trust, you may not tell some things to the other because you don't respect them enough or you feel they don't respect you enough. A plague of many friendships is a feeling of superiority or inferiority to the other, usually the former.
   

Unless your James Bond, the every-man-an-island way of life won't work out. But don't go off exposing yourself(emotionally, you can expose yourself physically to me whenever you want ;)) to everyone. Theres nothing more insincere than someone who's totally "open" with everyone. It comes off as rehearsed, superficial, and just boring. Some things in your life, should be reserved to be shared with only a select few, not everyone you come in contact with should know through your mouth that crazy uncle Bubba touched you as a child or that you did questionable things during your trip to Mexico. Instead, if you want such things known by many people, you should find out who gossips the most, and let that person somehow come by the info of how crazy uncle Bubba treated you as a kid and what happened in Mexico. Its far better to have someone else talk about you, as it makes you seem modest and humble, and most importantly not an attention-whore that goes through life feeling like a victim 24/7.

To have that outlet where you can completely expose yourself, to be 100% vulnerable at any single given time, will give you the confidence in who you are and to not care what others think(on certain issues, some things are very important to care what others think, like if people think your acting like a douchebag then you should care and stop acting like a douchebag) and self-discipline over time to know when and what details to let any given person know about yourself. Live a full life, and you'll have plenty of unique "secrets" to tell to everyone you know, meaning you can tell Natasha from CF1 a secret that you'd only share with her while telling Jack from CF2 a totally different secret. And all the secrets are true, so no need for memorization!! So if CF1 were to converge with CF2, its probable they'd exchange the secrets you told each of them at one point or another, like trading cards, because when friends who are friends only through a mutual friend are together without the mutual friend, the only thing they'll have to talk about is you, the mutual friend. Which is bound to lead to a breech of the mutual trust between you and the friend, in order to build a bridge with each other, by confiding in each other secrets they know about you. No harm done though, as those secrets don't really matter, like the most common pokemon creatures. They may have breeched your outermost emotional barricade, but you allowed that to happen, as theres at least another two barricades to breech before reaching the vulnerable center of your emotional existence. But they will think they've accomplished something great, for in between barricades are pseudo-emo vaults of your true self that they will think they've finally uncovered, and you will play along with their "discovery" and act like you feel so vulnerable and weak in their presence, as they now know the "real" you. Depending on what kind of friends they are they will either make fun of you mercilessly or confide in you more, due to this break through in the friendship. The former is more common, due to the inherent bastardly nature of people.

Why live a life like this? Everyone has their reasons to live such a life. Some like the sense of power it gives them, the attention, to withhold information that only you hold, and to see as your friends repeatedly attempt to get at it. Some due to insecurities, not wanting to ever feel vulnerable by never opening themselves up to anyone at all. And yet others chose a life of secrecy because they are committed to something greater, something grand, that the common people cannot know about, as their simple minds would not understand it, and thus want to destroy it. This last group, known as Zhitel Neglasni's(Dwellers of Secrecy) are rarely known however, as they are highly coordinated and advanced in their ways, they have no desire for fame or attention and therefore never even give the slightest hint that they are hiding something incredible. They have a vast understanding of the grand scheme of things, and why certain things may not be made known unto the people, and how their secrecy promotes the progression of society. I've never read or watched The Da Vinci Code, but do not think that the catholic group depicted in the story would be an example of this elitist category of Zhitel Neglasni. They kept secret something that would destroy their foundation(right?), thus out of selfish desires, whereas a Neglasni keeps something secret for the true greater public good. These Neglasni's could be your Sam Fishers, Tyler Durdens, and Vasili Mitrokhins.

One final reason for a life of secrecy, is that if you are not vain and able to keep secret your undertakings, then you may reveal what you've been working on for so long at a time when everyone least suspects it, and therefore will be completely surprised by it. If you've recently taken up a new instrument or sport, don't tell anyone at all. Instead, just wait for the time to come when you can unveil your new talent in an inconspicuous way. Everyone will be flabbergasted. For anyone thats seen the great movie Groundhog's Day, think of the scene towards the end when Bill Murray bedazzles the girl with his incredible piano playing skills, his ice-sculpting abilities, and whatever else he learned to do, that the girl never knew he could do.

"The man who can keep a secret may be wise, but not half as wise as the man with no secrets to keep." Stupidest quote ever. The man with no secrets to keep is a boring man and a stupid man. Gandhi was a wise man, and he had a billion secrets that he kept to the grave. Even the greatest president in the history of man, David Palmer, had secrets. But, he was wise enough to know when to let the people know them. Jesus often spoke in parables(stories with a secret meaning...basically) so that only a select few would understand or seek out the true message. You know who doesn't have secrets? Paris Hilton. And everyone hates her. So rejoice in your life of secrecy. Once you establish a relationship with someone where theres sufficient lumoure, you may then one day rise to the ranks of the Zhitel Neglasni, and make the world a better place. And those those who do become Zhitel Neglasni need not a lumoure relationship, as they have transcended the need for such an outlet.

- Potter

Edit - I may repost this later, once I've added photos

Wasting Time

So I'm really bored and I don't feel like animating my epic lightsaber battle, so I am writing this post instead. I only want to mention a couple of things. First, its like 75 degrees outside...it's December 12 and its 75 degrees outside, nuff said. Second, a comment to our only commenter, Bu. You were pretty spot on with your remark about Potter being a fat nerd, but you clearly forgot balding. Just look at that picture in the sidebar, his hairline recedes at least a full two inches. Just thought I'd point that out to you. The banner pic of Marisa Miller is just for fun...what kind of fun, you decide.

~Aldana

Satisfaction

There is nothing quite as satisfying as going to take an 8:30 final and completely destroying it. And for this I decided on the classic Benny Benassi song. Obviously I picked this video for the power tools...obviously.





~Aldana

Nintendo Wii is Orgasmic

Close your eyes and listen to the audio on this video. I dare you to try to conjure up mental imagery that doesn't involve sex.





~Aldana

MS paint homemade lightsabers...and lightbattleaxes, lightwarhammers...

Yeah, so I got sick of studying in the library but can't leave my spot because I saw the asian girl looming around waiting for someone to get off a comp...so I made this, inspired by the Aldana's last post. Every weapon seen is powered by one of those star wars light saber crystals.

Homemade Lightsabers

Yup, I made those lightsabers.

~Aldana

Dreams Are Never What They Seem (Failure Should Be Welcomed With Open Arms)

After a heavily philosophical and ethical debate with a certain Mormon, who will be referred to as Sparky for privacy concerns, I came upon this realization. If you are going to shoot for the stars, you might as well just shoot yourself in the foot because, hey, stars are extremely far away and you could never reach one by shooting yourself out of a cannon. I mean even if you did make it out of the atmosphere you would just be lost in the infinite void of space...forever. Don't listen to those crapheads who say shoot for the moon and if you miss you'll end up among the stars. First off, what the hell is on the moon anyways? Rocks and craters...maybe a flag, not a very good place to be. Second, what do the stars get ya...lots of solar radiation, thats what. You are way better off just working at McDonald's, having huge orgies with the 50+ yr old managers in the freezer at 3am. Maybe if you are a real go-getter, you can work at some place thats not fast food...but don't get your hopes up. It's like I always say "Real dreams of failure are a lot more attainable than false dreams of grandeur." You keep on going to BYU Sparky and someday, if you are lucky, you will be a demi-god among the carny-folk for your funnel cake making abilities.

...Oh and a note to ChristyBu: Your comments are much appreciated; Potter and I felt lonely with nobody commenting. And I too realized your birthday was like 5 days before mine and that you too turned 20...so happy belated birthday.


~Aldana

Insanely crazy and creepy music videos

Komeda - It's Alright Baby
This band is good, get their other stuff.


Aphex Twin - Windowlicker
This an edited version of the music video, that is rather dark in color...the original is over 10 minutes long, with just a 5 minute intro of just the 2 guys in the convertible driving around forever.

This is one of those songs that I'll always associate with a time in my life, therefore it'll always have a place in my heart. That time being when I was in West Hollywood with the potential girl of my dreams running away from the hallucinating tranny homeless guy that lived by the library that smelled like trout. The only reason she was a potential girl of my dreams was because she loved a few key songs that I loved that hardly anyone else does...but alas, I don't think a girl exists that doesn't belong in an asylum that loves songs like "closer" by NIN, "overcome" by Tricky, "blind" by TV on the Radio, "Coma" by Pendulum and other such like songs. Her emotional instability best displayed the night we stayed at a friend's dorm and she randomly stabbed the walls with a sword that was in my trunk and then proceeded to fix the gouges in the wall with a TINY amount of paste she had made, which was a mixture of water and the white powdery substance she was apparently taking.