the movie/concert ketchup

kim is gone again. this time to upstate new york. she'll be back friday night i think. happy halloween. nothing going on. i've decided that they should change halloween to the last friday in october. who wants to trick or treat on a tuesday night? teachers don't want to deal with tired kids the next morning. also, classes can have their party at the end of the week. and i bet bars and clubs make more money for halloween when it falls on a weekend. it would probably take an act of congress so i won't bother trying to change it. i also have some beef with this whole daylight savings crap. seems like "they" pushed back the date this year, so when it finally changed this past weekend it was a pretty drastic change. when i get out of class at 4:45 in boulder the sun is already over the mountains. and i heard next year they want to push it back by another month. i guess that is fine. the only reason why i even keep talking about daylight savings is that i've just been used to living in utah for so long. we were in the same time zone as colorado, but were so far west, so our daylight would last longer i guess you could say. oh well.

The Prestige (2006): a dark movie about two rival magicians in late nineteenth century london (and colorado springs) who battle it out to one-up each other and steal their secrets. the intro is really good. a little confusing though. i kept thinking how all the magic was really cool to see, but then you realize it was all just movie special fx. oh well. it was difficult keeping up with all the flashbacks. hugh jackman did a great performance. really powerful. i thought the other guy was kind of weird though. and david bowie plays a very memorable nikola tesla. the pieces all fit pretty nicely by the end, but the sequence of events are still a little hazy for me. it's a twists and turns type of movie, but it's not too hard to be a few steps ahead of the story and get some of the twists figured out. there may be too many twists and turns though. too many in that for days to come you can still be thinking about it and trying to piece it all together, but still not actually have a really good understanding of it all. the one weird guy's big surprise at the end can be figured out an hour before they reveal it. jackman's surprise stuff though was really cool. batman v. wolvi: wolvi wins. it's really captivating, shows off scarlett johansson's rack (she's not really good for much else in the movie), and is definitely worth seeing.
good, B

The Departed (2006): two cops. one is a rat planted by the cops in jack nicholson's crew. the other is a rat in the police department and really working for jack. one against the other. and it's a big race for the rats to uncover who the other rat is, before the other rat finds out and kills a rat or something. spy vs. spy type stuff. it really kept me captive from the start. and like the prestige it was kind of hard to follow from the start. it was interesting seeing both storylines (dicaprio and damon) going on at the same time, but really having nothing to do with each other. then it slowly weaved together. pretty cool. and it was very fascinating how the main characters connected with one another. both damon and dicaprio are both cops (sort of) yet their personalities were on opposite spectrums. pretty complex and deep character stuff going on which i liked. it was hard to know who to be rooting for because everyone was a little shady. nice guys were bad and bad guys were likeable. jack nicholson did awesome by the way. i thought this was a really cool character for him. and actually, all of the actors were great except for the girl in the story. i didn't think too highly of her character and how she related to everything. she's also part of a really crappy love scene. and it's pretty violent of course. not the love scene, the movie. there were some characters, specifically wahlberg and sheen's top cop characters, who didn't seem real to me. personally i don't think top cops in real life police departments are acting the way they do in the movie. i'm not sure how i felt about the constant music playing in almost every scene. toward the end there is a cool shootout that nicholson is involved in and it reminded me a lot of the big shootout in heat. this was a really good movie, but i guess my problem is that these witty crime-mystery type movies are made fairly often now. just like lucky number slevin this year. and while they are still cool to watch, movies like snatch came out like six years ago. snatch was just the first to pop in my head, but i know there are plenty others. so in order for me to really think highly of a movie in this sub-genre, they would have to really go above and beyond and not just reinvent the wheel with different actors and a new twisting plot. so in that sense i was a little disappointed. i still might buy it because it's really fun, complex, and hey, it's scorsese. really worth seeing. decent plot and great characters.
memorable, B+

i have a load of crap to do this week. homework never ends. never talked about all those concerts a couple weeks back. yo la tengo was really, really cool. some songs i thought were better not live, but that was my only complaint. it was a fun time with great songs. we were able to get an awesome recording of the show too so you can't beat that. their opening band was really out there. they were called 'why' and played some really complex off the wall stuff. i probably wouldn't buy their album, but the experience of seeing them was pretty cool. oh, and joe got us crazy lost getting there and back. single file played in denver right after YLT, so kim and i and ryan and danielle and dustin and dawn and a few dozen old time standley lakers gathered for this little event. in all about 550+ people came, but there were three opening bands so i'm sure a lot of people came to see those guys too. single file did okay i thought. nothing great. they talked way too much on stage and didn't play nearly enough recognizable songs i thought from their earlier ep's. they don't seem to know how to rock out very well and lack a good stage presence. it's strange that they don't just rock out and jam together since they are all jazz guys in their previous lives. i'm still waiting to hear any kind of soloing from sloan. their songs are decent, but saves the day was doing this stuff 5 years ago. it was cool seeing a lot of people at the show, but i wonder if this will be their peak in popularity. they really need to get a new album released if they want to keep at this i think. popularity through myspace will only get you so far, but i guess is why they keep touring, but still. people want the songs. maybe they can't get signed which is why they can't get released. i don't know how all that works, but i hope they get better. i guess their crappy single about trash lids and zombies is still played on the radio here, but i can usually only stand to listen to that station for about 5 minutes at a time so it's hard to tell how they are doing as far as air play goes. but i'm glad to have gotten that out of the way. maybe in a few years if they move up and play at the ogden i will go see them again. the other shows i wanted to see were a no go. i didn't see the thermals because no one would go and i wasn't interested in the main band cursive. and the show was cancelled for ozma because of the snow. but i was all ready to go to that. there aren't any other bands down the pipeline that i know of. who do i want to see? right now led zeppelin 1972.

dc interns wear their sunglasses at night 

chelsey, ben, myself, and barry 

a year ago, i saw these people far too little 

sweet shot taken by my brutha 

mudhoney at larimer lounge 

the break b/t classes

oh we could slip away, wouldn't that be better. me with nothing to say, and you in your autumn sweater. that song is in my head. lots of snow last night and this morning. i left my house before 8:15 and got to class at 9:45. long commute. now i wait to take quiz 4 for econ. hurray. sarcasm. weekend is almost here so i can look forward to that i guess. kim and i finished season 2 of lost finally. while running on monday i got some crazy pain in my left knee which would leave me completely debilitated during the run. later i read about different types of knee injuries and if i read it right, this pain will just go away with time. i'm running about 12 miles a week which really isn't that much. it's as much as i can go and i will probably be going less depending on the weather i guess. but with colorado 30° one day and 70° the next, who knows. i wish my class would start already. there is such a long break between java and econ. usually tom is here but since he feels he has to commute from castle rock to boulder each day, which is an hour, and since there was a little snow on the ground, he decided not to show. ozma is tonight but i've seen them play three times now. it would be cool because i expect no one to be there and it's only ten bones. but the snow and cold. and the fact i'd probably end up going by myself. well it will either be ozma or a movie tonight.

Jackass: Number Two (2006): guys do crazy things for laughs and just for the hell of it. and to make a ton of cash and drive lamborghinis. basically, more of the same from the first one, if not crazier. i'm including lots of spoilers, but i've left some good stuff still for you to watch. also, in honor of jackass, this review is a tad more obscene than most. but if you are going to see this movie, this review is equivalent to a highlights magazine. initial observations: wee-man and preston's bodies are disgusting. and all these guys have the worst scarring i've ever seen all over themselves. best quotes: "there is a "f*cking throwing" machine." "go crawl back up your mother's ass." "was the dick hair necessary?" highlights: dildo up bam's ass. pain: branding a dick on bam's ass. fish hook through steve-o's cheek. beehive limo. shot with rubber balls. toro-totter. anaconda ball pit. leech on the eye ball. funny: preston and wee-man bungee. medicine ball dodgeball. fart mask. nasty: fart mask and too many to name. and best prank was the terrorist going to the airport. my only question is, why did they censor drinking the horse jizz? and also, why does dunn constantly get jacked by his homies? all i have to say is that the guys in this crew have the greatest lives ever. okay, not so much, but how fun would it be to live your life as part of this group? the places they go and things they do are amazing. lot of naked guys, swearing, blood, and really old lady boobs. good times. be warned. worth buying.
good, B

so new jersey's supreme court ruled that gay couples should have the same right to marry as heterosexual couples have. it's weird how some states are moving in that direction, and others completely opposite. colorado has a few issues like that on the ballot this year. one is to create a domestic partnership status in the state which i fully support. another is to define marriage as between male and female in the state constitution, which of course i'm totally against. at home are the rest of the ballot issues. when i get a chance i will talk about a few here before election day.

tom likes wearing flowers 

usha usha usha 

i never get tired of myself 

rehearsal dinners: free food 

and crazy dancing 

the high/low game

Employee of the Month (2006): a box boy at costco tries to do good at work to impress jessica simpson. the boss looks way too much like steve carell. there really is no beginning to this movie. it just kind of starts. the jorge character (napoleon's pedro) was really funny as the side kick, but most of the other supporting characters weren't that great. the plot is really weak. there were a lot of jokes that just weren't very funny at all. but jessica simpson looked really good, which usually made the movie a lot more interesting when she'd stand there and looked mental, but hot. cheesy acting and characters that were unbelievable. really cheesy and lame screenplay. it was still somewhat fun to see though. don't see.
disappointing, C-

when does the freaking time change already? i'm freaking sick of it getting dark at like six.

my last homework assignment for java included creating a program for a "high/low game". the program picks a number, you guess, and it tells you if you are high or low until you win or give up. pretty blah program, but i was stoked when i finally got it working for me. so stoked that i decided to share it. enjoy:

/*
* Main.java
*
* Created on October 14, 2006, 10:25 PM
*
* @author Ethan Chambers
*/

import staugIO.StaugIO; //IMPORT IO
import java.util.Random; //IMPORT RANDOM NUMBER UTIL


class HighLow
{
//VARIABLES AND OBJECTS
private int choice = 0; //IF USER WILL PLAY
private StaugIO io = new StaugIO(); //IO OBJECT
private Random generator = new Random(); //RANDOM NUMBER OBJECT
private int random = 0; //RANDOM NUMBER
private int guess = 0; //USER'S GUESS
private int count = 0; //NUMBER OF GUESSES

public HighLow() //CONSTRUCTOR METHOD
{

}//END CONSTRUCTOR METHOD

public void play() //play METHOD
{
choice = io.readInt("Would you like to play the High-Low game?" +
"\nEnter 1 to play or 2 to quit: ");


switch (choice)
{
case 1 : generateNumber();
highLowTest();
break;
case 2 : io.writeInfo("Game over.");
break;
default : io.writeInfo("Invalid entry.");
break;
}//END switch
}//END play() METHOD

public int choice(int a) //choice() METHOD
{
return choice;

}//END choice() METHOD

public void generateNumber() //generateNumber() METHOD
{
random = generator.nextInt(100) + 1;
System.out.println(random); //PRINTS RANDOM NUMBER
}//END generateNumber()

public void highLowTest() //highLowTest()
{
guess = io.readInt("Guess a number between 1 and 100." +
"\nNumber of guesses: " + count +
"\nEnter 0 to quit.");
++count;
System.out.println(count); //PRINTS OUT NUMBER OF GUESSES
if(guess == 0)
{
io.writeInfo("Loser. The number was: " + random);
count = 0;
}
else
if(guess > 100)
{
io.writeInfo("Invalid entry. Try again.");
highLowTest();
}
else
if(guess < 0)
{
io.writeInfo("Invalid entry. Try again.");
highLowTest();
}
else
if(guess > random)
{
io.writeInfo("Too high. Guess again");
highLowTest();
}
else
if(guess < random)
{
io.writeInfo("Too low. Guess again");
highLowTest();
}

else


{
io.writeInfo("Good job! You win." +
"\nNumber of guesses: " + count);
count = 0;
}

//END while

}//END highLowTest()

}//END HighLow CLASS

public class Main
{

public static void main(String[] args)
{
HighLow test = new HighLow(); //test OBJECT
int toPlay = 0; //PLAY OR QUIT PROGRAM


do
{
test.play();
toPlay = test.choice(toPlay);
System.out.println(toPlay);
}
while(toPlay != 2);

//EXIT PROGRAM
System.exit(0);

}// END main() METHOD
}//END MAIN class

cu scalper kim 

karen dumping out her drink before the game. the cop is to the left of the picture. 

jake, the amazing player for ralston v. 

find the ball from this sad field goal kick 

jake getting ran over by a fat kid 

the three day weekend

this town north of us called broomfield is so foul. i can’t stand to even look at it. and that city is currently home to the state’s worst traffic. who do they think they are? always one step behind the far superior city of westside. we don’t like you broomfield. i’m going to take a quiz now. i should be studying right now so i think i will. i need to know about decibels.

the week goes by fast. but the weeks go by slow. it feels like i’ve been in school again for so long now and like it should be the middle of the semester by now. but i’m pretty sure it’s not yet. it’s crazy though how quick thursday and friday come for me. it could have something to do with these great mondays off. we have some good weather going on right now. goin runnin fo sho. that was the stupidest sentence i’ve ever written.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006): a bunch of beautiful people all want what used to be in a dead man's thorax, but now resides buried in a dead man's box. really good and realistic special effects. and just like the last one, incredible production design with props and sets, etc. there are lots of funny and memorable moments, but by the end they all kind of mush together in my head. do they ever answer why the compass doesn't work for jack anymore? davy and his crew were so detailed and really well done. some of the action in the last act of the movie is really insane. although, i found it a little unbelievable that the hot chick could fight so well against davy's crew. knowing there will be a third movie, i really liked the ending and what happens to jack. yeah it's long, but there is a lot of story to tell. spoiler: so the hot chick basically gets jack killed, tells him to his face that she isn't sorry for it, but then five minutes later is all sad and says she would do anything to bring him back. didn't like that. worth seeing though.
good, B

a colton staple 

grandma's roses 

grandma's church, and my old 

grandpa's house 

grandpa's palms 

the emails

i am going on a spiderman 3 strike. not only will i boycott that stupid movie, but i won't even keep my eyes open whenever a stupid trailer or commercial comes on. why you ask. read on. down with that movie though. and i feel bad for sly because rocky is going to do really bad. rambo i'd see. another rocky is a waste of money.

Flyboys (2006): some guys during wwi are the first to use planes in battle, and cheesy crap in between. inspired by the true story usually means way off. i didn't like how one minute these random people decide to fight in the war and the next minute they are looking for where to report to duty. what happened to all of the characters meeting for the first time? there are lots of times like that where stuff just seems left out. there was this lion that was a pet of one of the pilots, and its special effects were really bad. cheesy moments, cheesy shots. the acting was mediocre except for the french chick that some guy falls for. she is one of the few good things about the movie. there was one scene where a guy is shot down in between the trenches, starts getting bombarded with shells, and some other pilot manages to land and drag the other guy out to save him in the middle of freaking trench warfare!! ridiculous. and by the way, he doesn't even get any commendations for it, however disobeying orders and stealing a plane later on to save some french refugees gets him some ribbon. ridiculous. there is not much to the story. someone probably heard a random wwi fighter pilot story and decided it would be a good movie. so they all sat around a table and said, now lets just think up every scenario possible for a wwi fighter pilot movie to fill in two hours. really cool effects in the air and some really big battle scenes. and the ground and trench perspectives from the air were really cool and believable. but the movie 'wings' did it without computers and 80 years ago. don't see.
C, mediocre

begin the emails:
unbelievable. if you were anyone else i'd call you a liar. unbelievable. i was in awe for a few days after i read your email. what was he thinking? if some little wants to be a hussy, then i can see that. but him in his and w/ kids and a wife is just too much. i can't even imagine how they would get away with that. and walking in on them is nuts. he's pretty easy going, but there is no way he would just let something like that go between them. they are both freaking adults. it's fine if they want to get it on, but you are right, be discreet. maybe they were hornier than me in high school, but i could at least keep my in my until i got home. so what exactly happened? found them and went to ? how did find out? as far her , i don't see that going anywhere. that does suck for though. what is he going to do now? what was he thinking?? wasn't his marriage already on the rocks? can't imagine it lasting much longer after all of this. i was talking to (not about this, don't worry, you are the only person i will talk to about it) and said that if he sticks around sooner or later he'll be . but with the shit that goes down there, i wouldn't wish that on anyone. freaking though. and those goofy looking . what a whore. like she didn't know that was married. is she retarded? don't answer that. and is a good guy and i always (for the most part) liked him, but i think it's time for him to take off. needs to someone else to do crap and then take over as . and dump and take over as . you know you want to.

so how is the ? all i have to say is that it's about damn time. and probably not worth all the hoopla we had to go through to finally get it. sorry this took so long to write you back. life is really busy. i hardly have time to write in my blog. =) but i'm still hanging in here (school that is), but just barely. i'm sure in a few months after they kick me out i will be back there asking for . gotta take a nap. talk to you soon.

ethan

...

hey . it's been sooooo long. i called you a while back but it seems you've changed your number. glad to see you and, um, your man are still doing really good and almost ready to seal the deal. i don't feel like waiting for the announcement, but when and where? i will really do my best to get out there for it, but no guarantees. school is just killer right now, but i really do hope i make it to see you guys. how have wedding planning been going? it's right? give me your number so i can call you some time and we'll catch up or whatever. and let me know a good time to call too. my address is:
10350 dover st. apt. k22
westminster, co 80021
i miss you a ton . like i said, been way too long. you are always in my thoughts and i wish you two the best. gotta eat and do some hw now. talk to you soon.

ethan

...

10350 dover st. apt. k22
westminster, co 80021
yeah, that is actually a good reminder for me to get crackin on our own xmas cards. i will probably just throw something together cuz i don't know where i'll find the time to really put any effort into them. what a hassle. is gettin hitched soon. not sure when or where, but she emailed me asking for my address. not sure if i will be able to go. most likely i can't, which is too bad, but what can you do. i will fill you in as i find out more about it. gotta run. actually, gotta sit. later.

...

i cease to amaze you? i had to think about that for a sec. i can't find on my blog where exactly you left that comment though, so not really sure what awesome opinion of mine you were referring to. i'm sure it was a just a comment about my blog in general. and of course i support hillary. like there is anyone else worth two cents. actually, i think either mccain or giuliani are shoe-ins for the repub nomination. if it's giuliani that gets the ticket, then easily my vote will go to hillary. mccain is a different story however. i've always really liked and respected him. he's moderate enough to bring both sides together like bush never has been able too (or cared to). and to get enough votes i think for the win. so that will be tough. what do you think about the bad korea setting off a nuke? i'm not really up on international laws so far as this subject goes, but is north korea breaking any law that they have agreed to in the past by developing and/or testing these weapons? i'm sure there is some convention or un resolution that prohibits countries from developing nukes, or maybe there is not. but why does the bad korea have to do what the un says? or anyone? maybe all of this is way over my head, but i just don't see the logic in us condemning them, when we have enough of these weapons to kill every human being not in a bunker a mile into the earth. or our buddies in israel. did we condemn india or pakistan? and granted they were less of a threat than n korea has been, but a nuke is a nuke, of course of course. it just seems inevitable that over time and as technology pushes along, if a country wants a nuke, they will get one. and as time goes on, nuclear annihilation seems more and more likely. i guess another cold war could go into affect involving numerous countries, but it's just prolonging what is just bound to happen. i can't see anyway to get rid of the problem. and we have no one to blame but ourselves. good job u.s. way to go germany and ussr. we set our destruction in motion over 60 years ago. now it's just a matter of time it seems. i'm just rambling now.

so yeah dood, any more news on your move here? i never got to talk to you about cost of living here. let's see, car washes are like $2 more than in utah. gas is more expensive. you will probably pay a couple hundred more dollars a month in rent than you would in utah county. we pay about a thousand a month for a two bedroom, but it's a nice two bedroom. the freeways are decent, but get busy like anywhere. really good public transportation though. top notch. lds temple in littleton area which is kind of southwest of denver. westminster was named the 24th most livable place in the nation for cities between 50,000 and 300,000 people i think, so i would definitely recommend moving there. and there are a ton of chipotles (burritos man), which is definitely a plus. what else do you want to know? that's all i can think of for now. are you still coming to check the place out? let me know if you are and i can see about meeting up with you. hope everything is good with you. tell your baby's mama hello for me. talk to you soon.

...

remember to breathe...and everything will be okay. that's what i tell myself. actually it's just a dashboard song that's on my ipod right now and so i thought i should respond to your email. do we know a ? sounds familiar. anyway, i have that thermals cd on my dining room table waiting to mail out. sometime soon. going to see yo la tengo tonight. they are this indie band that's been around for years. really good stuff. can't wait for that. and this friday i'm going w/ kim and ryan to see single file. they actually get radio play here in denver which is kind of weird/cool. tons of hw too. i have a couple quizzes this week and a midterm next tuesday. things are getting pretty real right now. but i still see no way that i can pass econ/finance. that class is just too ridiculous. . pretty excited about that as you can imagine. what else...got a new cell phone cuz my brother's dog chewed mine up. taking a vacation anytime soon? you should come to d-town. it's cold here though. currently it's 38 and overcast. saturday was totally sunny and hot out, and now this. oh well. . but i can graduate in dec of '08 at the earliest, which is so long to wait. so at the moment, are my best friend. my running is doing better and is less painful. i got new shoes so that really helps. and i make the time to stretch more before and after. now it's just getting too cold out for me to keep doing it. i went out yesterday and it was low 40s and was really hard. but two days ago i ran a little over 4 miles, nonstop in 37 minutes, so i was really happy about that. and don't say that about knee surgeries. that is terrible. i don't even want to imagine that. my knees are aching right now just thinking about it. boulder sometimes floods, but i haven't heard of it flooding since i've been here. haven't seen anything like that. kim is crazy worker lady. she just got back two days ago from a week long trip in slc. it gets lonely while she is gone and really boring, but i do seem to get a lot more done. but i think i bug my people more out here when she is gone, looking for things to do. sucks didn't get his $ back. i would be pissed too, but not so much at but at myself. what was he thinking?! i've glanced over the legal stuff going on with them and it seems like in the end they are going to try and split whatever funds are leftover to each investor. and it seems like it will be all split evenly, which is weird but maybe the only way the can do it. not getting my hopes up, but that would be pretty cool i think. good for people that lost like only $100, bad for peeps that lost like $30k. but honestly i'm not expecting anything. so you leave in two days for co. that's pretty sweet. get ready for cold weather. my mom took a trip to glenwood for a while and stayed at the hot springs place. said it was pretty cool and blah blah blah. her's required clothes so i guess it's not as cool as yours, but sounded like she still had fun. i got lots of econ to make up so i better go. . this thing just isn't the same without . lucky you, unlucky me. have a sweet ass day. also, what do you think yoga has done for you so far? that's all.

later,
mr. college grad, who is still in college.

tom after getting sent to the box 

tom after getting sent to the box for the second time 

tom right after getting knocked to the ground 

go cockies 

blurry kim