Hulme? Hulu!

Hulu. A word that one year ago meant nothing, now it is a household name. What is it? Hulu is a site where anyone can legally watch full episodes of TV shows and some movies with limited  commercials without downloading anything or paying. It has everything from Lost to Doogie Howser M.D.  I think this is a fantastic site. I, unlike many of my friends, do not have a TV in my room, I find it to be too much of a distraction, however I can still be distracted by only my very favorite shows, like Psych and Family Guy. Hulu even has original content, message boards, and movie trailers. To pay for itself Hulu includes short commercial breaks but they are only twenty seconds to two minutes long.  It's even possible to get hulu on a internet accessible phone and watch it anywhere. Episodes of new tv shows tend to appear the day after they premiere on TV, but for less commercials, it is worth the wait. Unlike sites as Surfthechannel, Megavideo, or Youtube,  The owners of the video allow the video to be hosted on Hulu  so it is both high quality video and legal. Hulu has grown so much as a source of entertainment that they even host clips of the Olympics. Almost any TV show is available on Hulu and is only a click away. It even usually takes less time to buffer than youtube.  Even the most technology  impaired can watch their favorite shows by typing in four letters into their browser. However, what is this doing to television? Now that almost any show can be watched online without purchasing cable or a television set will the prices plummet? Will people stop buying new expensive electronics all together? Will this unravel the fabric of our economy? I don't think so, as simple and easy it is to watch a show relatively commercial free online,   it stil doesn't beat watching a show on a full-sized television screen. The only downside seem to be now I can never escape the distraction of new episodes of Burn Notice, which admitly, is the reason this post is so short.

Images of Sound.

Beautiful, isn't it? The perpetual spin of the disc, the slight scratch of the needle on the LP, ushering forth a titanic rush of sound... Or whatever. Music is cool. Vinyl is fun. The sound quality provides an interesting more organic contrast to the digital sound of CDs. Anyway check them out, I recommend it. But be warned it's pretty addictive.

Burnout!

Burnout is an intense game that as soon as you start playing, you will not want to stop. This version is for the PlayStation 2. The game is a car racing game, unlike any other because the competition is not a race to the finish line, there is no finish line, you get points by take downs! If you push your enemies of so that they crash, you get a point and you see how many take downs you can get with 4 lives. Every time you crash, your car gets more damaged until you run out of lives. But your lives are not important, what is, is taking out your enemies.
This is one of the most ridiculous games because of how unreal it is, but you will love it. It is kind of like Grand Theft Auto in the sense that you can drive in a way that hopefully nobody ever does, only even more ridiculous.
This game will not let you down with its crashes. When you push a car off the course, it can end up just on the side of the road or end up in the middle of the air. You can push cars into trucks, etc. All stuff that in real life, would be unimaginable but in the world of Burnout, you will love it! This is a great game to play with your friends as you watch yourself perform some of the most unimaginable and reckless driving ever! PLEASE KEEP THESE AMAZING DRIVING STRATEGIES TAUGHT THROUGHOUT THE GAME, IN THIS GAME! If you drive like this in real life, you are NOT getting your drivers license! As long as you keep this driving in the game, this will be one of your rare opportunities to make as much damage as humanly possible and get points for doing it. You will thank me later.
(These photos were taken with my camera at car speed. I did not take them from any other location, website, etc.)

Upcoming Concerts in the Boston Area in February

Upcoming Concerts in the Boston Area in February

John Mayer – Will be playing at the TD Garden on February 24^th, John Mayer will be most likely be playing songs from his new album which was released in fall of 2009 and his classic favorites.

Citizen Cope – Will be playing on the 25th and 26th of February at the Paradise Rock Club, They just released a new album on February 9^th and will most likely be playing many songs from there and their previous hits.

The Black Eyed Peas – Will be playing on the 26^th of February at the TD Garden, The Black Eyed Peas currently have 2 songs on the top 100 list on Billboard.com, and they will probably play songs off their album “The E.N.D.” which was released in 2009.

The New Lesley Gym!

Here is the New Lesley University Gym. It offers students a healthy way to spend their time. If you are planning on watching television or listening to your music, why not do that while working out at the same time? The new gym offers students a wide range of materials and equipment, and almost all of it is new equipment! If your in the mood to do some cardiovascular work, you can get on one of the many treadmills or cross trainers. If you want to lift some weights, there is a ton of equipment. The new gym has encouraged all students to workout and pursue a healthy lifestyle. This new gym is a real positive toward the Lesley University Campus. If you have an opportunity, I and the student body completely recommend that you check it out.

Let's take a trip to Shutter Island.

Well, not a real trip because it doesn't actually exist, sorry. So let's go see the movie that came out instead. I hope that's enough. Oh wait, it is, because this movie is great.

Shutter Island, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, is acclaimed director Martin Scorsese's first film after 2007's best picture winning The Departed. The film can be described as a psychological thriller, set at a mental institution on a fictional island. The plot follows US Marshal Teddy Daniels, naturally played by Leonardo DiCaprio (Martin Scorsese's next staple actor after the age of Robert DeNiro passed). He is sent to investigate an escaped patient on the titular Shutter Island. From there things spiral into a series of intriguing events. Conspiracy theories are thrown around like paper air planes on substitute teacher day in elementary school. The plot takes a great number of surprising twists, and as such I won't be going into any more detail, because spoiling this would be a crime.

So let's talk about it from a technical standpoint. First off, this movie is ridiculously good looking. The set pieces are so realistic looking. The help convey the immense atmosphere of this movie. An atmosphere of tension and undercut insanity. The atmosphere is one of the most appealing things about this movie. It's great and instantly recognizable. Several surreal dream sequences occur that are beautifully filmed. These to me are the highlight of the film. The shots are perfect.

The direction is, of course, incredible. There's a reason Martin Scorsese is so highly acclaimed: because he is really good at what he does. Naturally since this movie came from the director of such brilliant films as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and Gangs of New York, expectations are incredibly high. While Shutter Island does not quite measure up to those classics, it is still a very enjoyable film. This movie breaks away from the typical Scorsese New York Crime movie formula, and it really works. This is Scorsese trying his hand at a thriller, something he hasn't really done since 1991's remake of Cape Fear. Shutter Island works as a far better thriller than Scorsese's previous attempt. One complaint would be that the same "waking up from a dream by bolting upright in a sweaty shock" motion was used several times, but that is minor. Another would be that the music seems over dramatic at several points.

Having both read the book and seen the film, I can say with full honesty this is one of the most faithful adaptations of source material I have ever seen. No plot elements were altered. It is as if Dennis Lehane's words were lifted from the pagers and placed directly onto the screen. Though that would mean the words had to change into Leonardo DiCaprio, but whatever.

Anyway, I highly recommend this movie. If you haven't heard of it, check out the trailer, courtesy of the Internet Movie Database

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi616301849/

Being John Malkovich Review

Ever want to see the world from someone else's eyes? Who's eyes? What about John Malkovich? Well In Being John Malkovich, Craig Schwartz (played by John Cusack) is a out of luck and out of work puppeteer who finds a portal into the mind of John Malkovich at his new job as a filer on the 7 1/2th floor in Manhattan. There he also falls in love with a college, Maxine (played by Catherine Keene) even though he is married to the animal-obsessed Lotte (played by Cameron Diaz). Pretty soon everything goes haywire as Maxine wants to sell tickets to John Malkovich's mind, Lotte and Craig both want to use it to be with Maxine, John Malkovich finds out about the portal, and a group of people, lead by Craig's boss, who have found a way to live forever by using the portal want to portal to themselves. The movie is an interesting take on human life, on the desire to be someone else, and a dive into the subconscious. It's original concept makes for a great dark comedy, there is enough humor to keep the audience smiling, yet enough plot to keep them interested. Although released in 1999 it's style seems much older, it has the feel of a indie movie, not too overly produced and bright. I recently watched this movie for the first time and found it very interesting and enjoyable and would recomend it to anyone who likes thought-proving comedies. As Craig Schwartz says; "There is truth, and there are lies, and art always tells the truth. Even when it's lying."(Photo courtesy of IMDB.com)