Friday the 13th

Nov. Friday the 13th, 10:00 pm:

Begin to feel a little fever coming on.

12:00 am:

Really starting to feel a little dizzy and hot headed.

12:30 am:

Sat in the hot tub for an hour thinking it might help.

1:30 am:

Leave the hot tub feeling more of a fever and flu.

2:00 am:

Go to sleep.

7:00 am:

Get up to go puke in the bathroom.

9:00 am:

Wake up to Jon telling me that THIS happened:

- a note to those sticky fingers.

To whoever it is that broke in my car,

I know you reside not too far.

So just stay put,

I'll get to you by foot,

And then I'll break your kneecaps with a crowbar and then proceed to create a delicious lasagna with your face by the work of my bare hands!!!

This is Halloween

Ok, finally I will unveil to all of you my most wonderous costume of all and also a little about the party I hosted on Halloween Oct. 31st.

READY FOR IT??!!!!

Say Hello to Jareth the Goblin King. Just in case there are some uncultured unfortunate souls out there who knows not this man: it is David Bowie from the 1986 film Labyrinth. I took about a month to piece together this costume all from online. As you can see my nephew Phillip played a wonderful Toby.

The rest of the story goes something like this. At 9pm with the help of a Will Kindrick and Danielle Jackowiak, I hosted a party In Jon's backyard. My friend Will's sister's family owns many o' party gear so with their generosity we had a giant bounce house in the backyard along with a cotton candy machine. We had the regular Rock Band with lights and fog machine stuff going on most of the night with some dancing involved (of course) and we also heated the pool up to 90 and had the hot tub going for the last half of the party.

All in all it was a great party, too many sweets, not enough midgets, and way too much magic dancing. . . . . . . "well, laugh" (in David Bowie voice)

The past 6 weeks.

Ok everyone, time for an update. I have been away from the blog for a little while now as i have been working on a project for the past 6 weeks. But I'm in the process right now of writing up quite a few posts for the ol blogaroo so really this is just an introduction to them. Also check out the new music playlist I updated for fall time. For six weeks I was working as a double/stand-in for a Disney TV movie for this kid:

STERLING KNIGHT

Luckily I didn't take any pics of when I doubled for him because my hair straightened? wow!! I wanted to beat myself down. Anyway I was really really glad to get done with that job. The first assistant director was the sole reason for wanting to get off that!! This guy was . . . . (expletives) over and over again!! Really I wanted to harm this man. I won't go into detail but he made the set a living hell and he just is not a good human being. His name is John D. Pontrelli a.k.a. "Ponch". I give you his name so that whatever bad press I can give him, I give freely!! Anyway this TV movie for Disney, "Starstruck" is geared to be another type of High School Musical. Yay for that! Anyway here are some more pics from the set and then soon you'll be getting some more posts.

This is Hallie the other Stand-In for the main girl lead

This is the director, make-up, wardrobe, and hair just getting ready for the shot.

This is Sterling and the camera operators just setting up for a shot.

Thank Goodness for these statements!

In this second video Peter is talking about Brian getting neutered.

Brian & chocolate
by Damianlog

Another favorite!!

This has been a favorite of mine for a long time, so just in case you haven't seen this commercial enjoy!!!

20 Things.

20 things you might not know about Matt Heder.

1. I hate mushrooms & tomatoes
2. I love aquatic activities, such as: swimming, snorkeling, rock jumping, scuba diving, canoeing, kayaking and I really only like to camp when there is some type of body of water close by.
3. I have never broken a bone.
4. I always have and still want to build a replica of the swiss family robinson treehouse in my future backyard.
5. Apples are my favorite!! Whenever buying candy, any apple flavored item is my favorite. Apple sour rings, apple jolly ranchers, when starburst replaced the lemon with apple for a limited time I was ecstatic. Also any desserts that are apple related such as apple crisp, turnovers, strudel, pie, breads etc. Even apple juice and apple flavored soda, and also don't forget apple scented candles. May I also suggest Honeycrisp apples, they are the best!!
6. Different job titles I've held: Knife/sword/collectible salesman, YMCA Camp Counselor, Projectionist, house framer/concrete worker, Blockbuster C.S., Paralegal at Credit attorney, Flower delivery, Lawn aerator, Pest Control sales rep., Trash can cleaner, Cherry bottler, Window washer, actor, editor, camera assistant, extra, and Restaurant waiter!!
7. I never kissed a girl during High School. Yikes!!
8. I won a beat-boxing tournament at an assembly in High School.
9. My senior Year of High school I won the votes of student class vice president but couldn't receive the title because I didn't have good enough grades to enter the leadership class so the title went to the second place winner, Robin French.
10. I have a dream of owning a mexican food chain in Australia and New Zealand.
11. I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and mastered such weapons as the Bo, the kendo sticks and the Fan!
12. The first concert I ever went to was a Weird Al concert with Mark Mayeda at the washington state fair when we were 12 and we snuck to the front by jumping into the handicap orange taped area.
13. Growing up, the movie I always wanted to rent at "The Movie Shack" was Willow!!
14. I only like eating seafood when I'm by the ocean, then I love it!!
15. I took a couple months of gymnastics when i was younger with the idea that I could combine that with my martial arts and be a true Ninja!
16. I have a nose like a wolf. I once smelt a pack of gum unopened in the back pocket of my roommates pants and could identify that it was apple flavored gum!!!
17. I got kicked out of choir my junior year of high school, funny story ask me about it sometime.
18. I played the trumpet for one year in 5th grade.
19. The top 5 girls in my celebrity crushes have always been brunettes.
20. The huge scar near my elbow on my left arm is from falling after running away from cars that my friends and I were egg-ing.

On a Serious Note.

So this is an issue I have been wanting to write about for a long time and put my feelings on it for a while. Of course though I soon found a friend's friend's article that had taken the words right out of my mouth and did the work for me. My friend Nate Fackrell's brother Andrew wrote this back when this issue was being voted on but I still find myself trying to explain my feelings and my beliefs on the matter so this is still pertinent and will be forever.

You might be able to guess what the issue is if it's both political and religious. . . .? Yes it has stemmed from Prop 8 in California but goes deeper for me since I have always felt that I was sick of the negative publicity the church gets about it's stance on homosexuality and how many in the world view us as very rigid and black and white without very much understanding towards those who are homosexual. My belief is that the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is actually the most understanding towards everyone in the world when you truly know and understand our Heavenly Father's plan. He knows us personally and knows who we are and what we go through and if he is a perfect parent, which I believe he is, then he will treat his children perfectly as a loving father.

Anyway I'm just gonna lead you to this article, please read it because it really does express most of my feelings on this as a political message. Part 1 is more of the set-up and 2 is more of the meat.

PART 1

PART 2

Just to clarify in case I didn't make it clear and you're too lazy to read these articles, I do support Prop 8 and don't condone gay marriage, (if I must be black & white).

A good/difficult/creative/enjoyable/unenjoyable film.

So Yesterday I saw a film called 500 Days of Summer. I knew about this film back at the Sundance film festival but along with many other films I wanted to see up there, I didn't get to it. A couple friends recommended this movie to me and I knew I already wanted to see it so I finally got around to it yesterday. Now I have seen a bunch of other films recently in the theaters and on DVD but the reason I was compelled to write about this one could be answered by the title of this blog. This one hits too close to home and too recently close. There have been a few times that movies have had such impact in my life depending on the period in which I see them. Some of these films are from that list in the older post of my top films, some are not. I don't think this one would be one of my absolute favorites but it definitely will be one of the most memorable. If you don't know anything about this film here is the trailer.

- Make sure you select trailer on the screen and NOT clip.

I started writing a review for the film in very unattached way when I soon discovered that there was a critic that had written my words almost exactly the way I felt, seriously. I took the review and basically changed up a couple things or added a couple sentences, so yes that would be plagiarism but this is not a school project and I'm letting you know this so therefore it's not plagiarism. No Joke, other than certain wording, I wrote half a review that sounded exactly like this critic's review, he just says it better. Here you go:

By: Aaron Horwitz & Matt Heder ha ha.

Plot: Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon Leavitt) is your average twenty-something white dude with a good 9-5 job. Everything about his life is perfectly adequate, except for one thing: he has not yet met “The One”. So when a beautiful new co-worker named Summer (Zooey Deschanel) enters his life, Tom thinks he’s met his soul mate. But while Summer is definitely into Tom, she’s not so much into relationships…and she doesn’t believe in love.

Review: I Thank my lucky stars this film shows the other side of love. The not-so-rosy side of relationships. For showing that men don’t always dictate the pace. Men don’t always screw over women, men aren’t simply clamoring to get in bed with them. That’s right, despite what Hollywood seems to think, some of us men suffer too dangit, we got feelings too. That’s not to say that 500 Days of Summer is some whiny, emo, girl-power marathon- it’s not, at all. It’s just a realistic, witty, and most importantly extremely entertaining piece of filmmaking. It’s the “Rom-com rebuttal”. Sure, it’s still a comedy, and yes, at times it can be very romantic, but it sure ain’t sweet, and this baby ain’t even remotely formulaic.

As the title suggests, we follow the 500 days that Tom Hansen has Summer in his life. We don’t however follow this story in order. We jump from day 249 to day 1, to day 488, to day 44, etc. It can get a bit disorienting and tiresome at times, but it works better than your typical point A to point B narrative. This and several other elements of the film are very evocative of another of my favorites that rebel against the genre, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In both films we get a sensitive male lead and an elusive, cold female who serves as the object of the male’s every desire and the subject of their greatest fears. It’s a bold tactic in that romantic comedies are typically for the female audience, with characters they can sympathize with. 500 Days of Summer is decidedly told from the male’s perspective (though it appeals to both sexes), so here’s hoping a male audience can get over their preconceptions and give this film a go.

Gordon-Leavitt is great as always, playing an everyman who, bless him, just wants to meet the right girl and settle down. While he’s sure Summer is that girl, she’s not so sure he’s the right guy, or that there’s even such thing. Throughout their tumultuous relationship, the screenwriters built in some moments of rare realism, like that short, cryptic email us guys dread, the inevitable “friends” talk, the possible rekindling of romance, etc. It’s hard to describe without giving too much away, but I’d bet good money that anyone who sees this film will find at least one or two instances where they say “Wow, yeah, I can relate to that.”

That isn’t to say this film is one long break-up or downer. Not even close! It’s a comedy after all, and there are many happy times to be had by the couple. Music Video helmer Marc Webb directed this thing with great visual flair, providing everything from animation to a fantastic dance number that is easily one of the film’s great moments. Drawing on both classic 80’s hits and current hipster tunes, this film’s soundtrack is one that’ll probably be a big seller as well, and keeps the film upbeat.

Other than the somewhat disorienting narrative, there are a few other small hang-ups I had with this film. Despite smashing dozens of stereotypes, the pic does unfortunately succumb to several which standout all the more. These include the horny, crude best friend, and the for-some-reason-20-years-more-mature-than-she-should be younger sister. Oh that little girl bugs the heck out of me. Also, since the film wants to appeal to mass audiences as much as possible, it shies away from too many truly emotional moments,( Matt Heder doesn't agree with that last statement) and I wish there were a few more of those, but on the whole, this thing still packs way more emotional punch than 99% of the rom-coms out there today.

In fact, I don’t want to classify 500 Days as a rom-com at all. I can’t call it a tragicomedy either though, or a drama. The film really is unclassifiable, and that in my mind is the mark of something truly original.

I told my friend who has had a recent experience like me and comparable to the film that the film was comparable to Schindler's List in that I thought it was a great picture and was well made but man was it difficult for me and that it will be a long time till I can see it again.

P.S. More posts to come. Sorry about the long break.

"Never Can Say Goodbye"

Today hurts. A fond friend that never knew me passed away today. His story is one of success, and tragedy and it hurts that he left this earth with the latter part of his lifestyle sticking in most of our minds. He came from a background that was completely unique and different than anyone else and so for that we'll never know exactly why he chose to be the person he was at the end of his life.

We can remember though the inspiration in the entertainment industry he was. His music forced people to bust a move and his dancing forced jaws to drop.

As Michael said in one of his songs, "I'll be there, I'll be there". Certainly Michael you will always be here, in Matt Heder's heart. - miss you Mike

P.S. I've had a serious face this whole time as I've written this, seriously, so don't mess.

Compilation Michael Jackson
Uploaded by PLUH.

This is the best video I could find but it's not great.

I Like movies, they are my friends.

I love movies and obviously so do the guys who made this. It's awesome! It had to have taken forever to make so if your into films you'll love this, it's inspiring. I couldn't help but put this on my blog. Enjoy!!!

My Portfolio

Here is the newly edited version of my portfolio reel. Tell me your thoughts and if it makes sense to you because I can edit it again before I send it in the application. Sorry it's such a small video viewer but I don't really wanna post this to Youtube. Be patient because It might take a second to load. Enjoy!

P.S. remember to turn off the music on the player to your right before you play the video. 

And the nominees are. . . . . .

So I'm trying to finish up half of the BYU film school application right now and one of the assignments is to write up the 10 most significant books, films, television programs, music, etc. I created a list a while ago of the possible 10 favorite films and then added a second list incorporating the other things later and so far there are 29 nominees for the 10 most significant or influential to me. 

So I thought I'd just throw that list to you for fun. I'm having a very hard time trying to get it to 10. I got it to 11 and then I change my mind and there are 13 and then there are 8 for sure and then there are 15!!!! Ughhh! Laugh all you want at some of these because yes they are ridiculous but influential nonetheless. 

And the nominees are. . . . 

1. Treasure Island (Book)    17. Braveheart

2. Lost (TV) 18. Terminator 2

3. Saturday Night Live    19. The Fountain

4. The Simpsons    20. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

5. Coldplay    21. Cast Away

6. Legend Of Zelda 64    22. Original Star Wars Trilogy

7. Thriller (Michael Jackson Music Video)   23. Dumb & Dumber

8. Jamiroquai - "Synkronized"  (Album)   24. Moulin Rouge

9. "Over the Hills and Far Away" - Led Zeppelin (Song)   25. Edward Scissorhands 

10. Peter Pan (Book)                                   26. Goonies

11. Wallace & Gromit (Animated Shorts))    27. Labyrinth

12. Jurassic Park                    28. Dark Crystal

13. Mario 64                    29. Amelie

14. Nightmare Before X-mas

15. Raising Arizona

16. Lord of the Rings (Books and Movies)

  

By the way, the assignment says to exclude religous books or media out of the list, so if your wondering where those are, that's why.

Obviously there is no order to these and yes it appears sad that I don't have more books but remember I made a top ten movie list before I made the other list, this is all just combined. When I finish the whole application maybe I'll post some of the papers on here but until then you'll just have to wonder what the heck kinda weird kid picks these as his tops. 

The Bird Family

Alright, alright I'll keep the blog. You convinced me. It was hard wasn't it? 

So in response to the comments I will do my best to post on a regular basis, even if it's small posts I'll make it interesting. 

So I was reminded of this SNL skit the other day and it took me forever to find the only link online that has this video. It was impossible to find and I'm glad I I took that time because this is one of my favorite skits of all time!!!!!!!!!

I couldn't find the actual video source so that I could post this video on my blog so you'll have to go to the link which is someone else's blog to view it.I'm not gonna tell you what it's about because this one is all about the shock factor. Enjoy!!

http://www.thescanlons.net/weblog/index.php?/weblog/the_bird_family/

"Is anyone even listening to me"?

The title of this entry actually is a quote from an old lady on the movie "Billy Madison" who is giving a tour on a class' field trip and is giving a history of the place they're visiting and no one is listening obviously so in the background you can hear her say "Is anyone even listening to me"?

Anyway I title the entry that because I'm here to evaluate if I should continue this blog. I most likely will just for my own fun and records but since I was convinced by a sister in law to start this blog I'm convinced that her and maybe 5 others are the only ones who read this. Considering that I'm one of the only single guys who has a blog thats not a professional or career related blog on the web, thats why I'm placing this poll on the page. Your only allowed one vote and if I get more than 10-15 votes then I'll continue this blog, if not, then ??? We'll see. Does anyone other than Stacy read my observations on life on the side of my blog?? Does anyone care for the "albums I've listened to recently" section on the side. These are actually just rhetorical questions so no worries I'm not whining about these things I'm just saying. . . . 

BTW, the poll is on the right.

This is another quote from that same old lady on Billy Madison, enjoy!

Best of 2008

2008 has been over for a little while so I figure I've had enough time to evaluate a couple of my "top ten lists" or "Best Of" or whatever in the last year. To start off I'm gonna give you my favorite albums of the year. Now just to explain myself first the top ten albums I give you are determined on a couple things: Talent, revolutionary?, catchy?, skill?, development as a band, and of course - whatever is just plain sweet or great music in my opinion. I have a couple of Runner-ups that are after the top ten and they actually might be played just as much or maybe more than the top 10 but whether they are necessarily the best of the year. . . . . .  they are just pretty much ones I really enjoy and recommend. 

Top Ten Albums of 2008 ( Please play songs while reading)

1. Coldplay - "Viva la Vida"   - Amazing!! I got this album literally the second it was available because of my itunes pre-order. I listened to it that night and was speechless. They continue to become the best in the world with each new album, that's right I said it!

2. My Morning Jacket - "Evil Urges"   - Not as amazing as they're last album "Z" but has solid Rock tracks with a couple of touches that make me really jam out hardcore! This music is a perfect blend of good country with rock.

3. Cut Copy - "In Ghost Colours"  - The 80's are back, and this album came at perfect timing to convince everyone of it. Perfect tight dance grooves with some awesome funk electro wave beats. It's impossible not to feel like your dancing in a spaceship when you hear a couple of these tracks. 

4. Keane - " Perfect Symmetry"   - Another example of the 80's coming back. With influences from David Bowie this album isn't perfectly original but they still continue their very crisp sound and catchy tunes. 

5. Emiliana Torrini - "Me and Armini"  - Probably the most underrated album of the year, This woman I remind you sang the song at the end of Lord of the Rings:The Two Towers and in this album she really shows every type of music talent off. One second she's doing a sweet rock groove and then she does a really fun catchy pop tune, then she whips out some folk!!

6. Lykke Li - "Youth Novels"  - Another girl that when you first hear her you think "this girl is weird" but then you realize how awesome her very unique style is and your hooked. This music is very hard to classify (which usually makes albums very fun), but it would probably be electronic but it really has some very cool rock elements to it. 

7. Vampire Weekend - "Vampire Weekend"  - I've actually only had a couple of weeks of listening to this but i can understand why it's on a lot of other Top ten lists of the year. These guys have a completely unique sound to their name. They use a lot of instruments but the songs sound very clean and simple. It's new and it's good. 

8. M83 - "Saturdays = Youth"   - These guys actually have 3 other albums that have slowly done the whole "bring back the 80's" thing but in this album they have a little easier intro to a wider audience since most of their other stuff is very ambient electronic. Some tracks on here still do that but I love it and it's perfect for mood music.  But they do have a good balance of some "pop"-ier songs mixed with their old style stuff. Genius!

9. Raconteurs - "Consolers of the Lonely"  - Simply Put. . . . Country bluegrass Southern rock at it's best!! Every track pretty much has sweet rock solos but with heavy southern style!! 

10. Fleet Foxes - "Fleet Foxes"  - Actually first introduced to me by my mother, I was apprehensive since the main guy's voice sounds very similar to My Morning Jacket's, but I very quickly warmed up and then absolutely loved this album. A very Folk style music that's still got a little alternative style and The whole album is POIFICT for a foggy fall day!

Runner Ups:

Killers - "Day & Age"

Chairlift - "Does You Inspire You"

The Verve - "Forth"

Jamie Lidell - "JIM"

Ladytron - "Velocifero"

The Ting Tings - "We Started Nothing"

The Helio Sequence - "Keep Your Eyes Ahead"

The Black Ghosts - "The Black Ghosts"

Muse - "Haarp"