Ahhhhh Spring...

So it seems as though spring is finally here (though knowing Michigan it will snow 8 inches tonight just to spite me). If in fact it does stay nice, I decided that I would keep a list of the cool things that I am going to be doing and the cool things I have done this spring, so next winter I can look back and see that I did not waste the 65 degree weather with the sun bathing me in yellow warmth.

So far it has been uneventful. I went to the Pistons game on Tuesday, which was probably one of the best games of the season. Other than that, today was the first really nice day of spring. I walked a little, got some ice cream, ate lunch outside (at Chipotle which is better than Pancheros or Qdoba any day of the week but still not as good as Tios (in Ann Arbor) or Taco Bell). Tonight I am going to grill and probably drink some beer in the yard. The one thing I am going to miss more than anything when I move to NY is nature. Here I wake up on a warm sunny day and go fishing followed by some disc golf and a bbq all without any hassel. NY is the city of mile-high concrete with a few trees in the middle. I will be hard pressed to find a place other than central park where I can roll down a hill or just sit and cool out and not feel like I am surrounded by sky scrapers. Anyways, nature is a pretty cool thing and it is much more of most people's everyday lives than they realize.

Anyways, this blog is turning sad in a flash and there is still a few precious hours of a warm spring day that is calling. I'm out and as always, keep your feet on the ground but keep reaching for the stars.

Carpe Diem bitches...
-Marty

oh ps - you know how sometimes when you are ordering some food, such as ice cream, and instead of going with something you know you love, such as 'mint cookies and cream', you decide you are going to branch out and try something new, such as 'strawberry shortcake serenade' (pictured above), and it ends up not being as good as what you usually get. That sucks donkey balls. I should have just stuck with my regular...

You Tube...

I am amazed at how long I lived my life before You Tube. It is awesome. You have to check out this clip, it's awesome.




Anyways, thats all for now and remember to keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.
Out
-Marty

oh ps - my trailer for broken sword has been viewed 70 times. I should have put a warning about how ridiculous it was. Anyways look for me to upload an old short soon.

Snakes on a Plane!!!

That is the title of a new movie that Samuel L. Jackson is doing. I know what you're thinking, "So, he's in a lot of terrible movies that sound like that?" But the best part is the reason why he wants to be part of this movie. I read an article a while ago (which I meant to blog about but forgot) where he was quoted saying he agreed to do the movie without even reading the script. All he heard was the title and thought it was such a good title that he needed to be part of it. Snakes on a Plane. Anyways the movie has been getting a lot of buzz around the movie world and imdb nerds are loving everything they hear about it so I guess even though the filming was done they decided to go back and shoot some more...

"Among the reported additions to the film is a foul-mouthed rant from Jackson in which his agent character bellows, "I want these motherf**king snakes off the motherf**king plane!" The line is expected to take on cult status. The film-makers have reportedly added more gore, more deaths, more nudity and more snakes to the finished product. "

Are you kidding me?? While I have no doubt that the line will take on cult status, I still cannot help but wonder what the fuck is wrong with the world. Undoubtedly this movie will be an abomination and will barely break even yet movies like this are made all the time. I mean what person actually wants to be part of a movie like that. I can understand starving actors and directors and anyone who doesn't have any other jobs on the horizon, but in order to make a movie it needs to be funded. That means that people who have money are looking at this script or storyboard or whatever and saying, "Hell yes, please let me throw away some money!"

Anyways, I suppose I am just jealous. After all when I get to Hollywood,I plan on making some terrible movies that only my old roommates, and a couple other like Chaz, Dax and Kris would enjoy. I guess pretty much anyone who would go see a movie like Doom or Underworld: Evolution or Reign of Fire on opening night. Anyways, as always keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.
I'm out like a rocket
-Marty

oh ps - Sorry about your boys at U Conn, Rip.

The Bad Boys are Back...

Ever since we played the Miami Heat on Feb. 12, we have been lacking something. D-Wade dropping 17 points in a row on us including the winning shot with 2 second left, took the wind out of our sails. Miami took something from us that night, and last night at the Palace we took it back. I am not sure what it was but I have not seen my boys play the way they did in the second half since before that dreadful day in February. It was almost as if Wade had ripped out our heart a la Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and we needed to drink from the holy grail to get it back (yes I realize I just referred to a scene from a different Indy movie).

My point is that just before the game I had written an email saying we hadn't been playing well lately, and that we were lacking something. I attributed that, however, to the departure of the young padawan Darko, and that somehow he had become a good luck charm for the Pistons. Alas, my fears were put to rest last night as the boys in blue showed me the path I could not see. I had almost doubted whether or not we would win (well not really but I considered the possibility of thinking that we might possibly not win in 4 games) the championship again. Now, I will rest easy and so can all of you, because when it comes down to it we win. As Rip always says after a big game when people ask about people doubting the ever-confident Stones, "This is what we do." That is indeed what they do.

As always, keep your feet on the ground but keep reaching for the stars.
I'm out
-Marty

oh ps - I still somehow have all 4 of my final four teams alive, I'll keep you posted as to my progress in the pools I am in. Currently I am not doing so hot...

pps - Shout-out and thanks to my girl Maria Tocco for sending me this hilarious pic of Sheed a couple years ago (although it is certainly applicable now, as it is the face he makes after every single foul called and as he leads the league in techs).

I Tube...

I decided that you all will want to see my work as I am going to be a major filmmaker one day, so I signed up for an account with youtube.com so now I can post stuff. I will start you all off small with a preview I made for a movie that I was going to make a couple years ago but it never quite happened... Anyways, here it is; as always keep your feet on the ground but keep reaching for the stars.



I'm out
-Marty

oh ps - sorry for the quality of the clip, I shot it on a 10 year old sony handycam, then uploaded it (non-digitally) to my computer.

2007 Ferrari 599 GTB
my next car...

V for Fucking Awesome...

So last night I went and saw 'V for Vendetta'. I must admit that while I was really excited to watch the movie, I was afraid it might not be as good as it looked. After the first 5 minutes my worries were put to rest and I realized I was about to be amazed. The movie was ridiculously good. I haven't left a movie feeling like that in a long time. Now don't get me wrong I am not saying it is for everyone, or even that it brings up serious current social issues (which some think it does (I mean it does, but I don't think it's some politically charged movie with social commentary spewed all over it)). It is a very good action movie. If you liked the Matrix (same writers in case you were unaware) then you will like this. I promise. It has a few of the same elements but do not worry it is nothing like the Matrix. It is the Matrix without the silly Neo-Trinity-Morpheus-Cypher love orgy, and also without a lot of the action. The plot is actually what drives the movie and at times is more of a police detective type movie. Maybe even a little 'Patriot Games' meets the Matrix. Anyways I wont talk about it yet, I'll give you all a couple weeks to see it before I start talking about it in depth. But really, you need to see it.
_________________________________________________________


So State lost. No surprise there. We have consistently lost anytime there was even an ounce of pressure. My boy Shawn and I decided that MSU basketball is the same as U of M football; both teams are always over-rated. No matter how many losses or lackluster performances we have, we always seem to be in the top 25, just like Michigan football. At one point we had lost 5 of 7 games and were still ranked 21. It took us until the very last week of the season to fall out of the top 25 even though we had lost to almost everybody in the Big Ten. U of M could have a 5-3 record and still somehow be ranked #3 in the country even though there could be a zillion other teams that are undefeated. Somehow though, like Michigan football, we will end up being pre-ranked something absurd like 8 or 9, because of some 'unbelieveable recruiting class' that is clearly not going to pan out and they will all be a bust. We can only hope that Shannon Brown doesn't think he's nearly as good as people must tell him he is (in my head, I picture him to be one of those guys who looks in the mirror and tells himself how awesome he is).

__________________________________________________________

Anyways the Lions also are making more terrible off season moves. We signed a younger version of Joey Harrington in Josh McCown. He has about half the starts and almost exactly half the same stats. He is pretty much the exact same as Joey only with less experience and for some reason Millen (the lions pres.) thinks he is going to be our savior, either him or John Kitna who is approximately 80 years old. Joey wasn't as bad as he was made out to be. We have the worst offensive line in football and if I knew it was a forgone conclusion that my o-line sucked and couldn't block a fly, I would probably throw some passes away so I wouldn't be dead after every game. Also, maybe if our recievers weren't whiny babies who get hurt every time someone looks at them, he would have a much higher QB rating.

__________________________________________________________

On a happier note, I recently heard the funniest phone call I have ever heard in my entire life. At work all our incoming phone calls are recorded by a service so we can go back over game tape and see what we need to work on. Anyways, Bill was telling me this story about how this crazy girl called him and sure enough we found the recording of it. Before you listen, here are a few things to listen for: Bill laughing after she almost dies, the incredibly loud horn, the way Bill says "are you okay?", the way the wind dies down when Bill says "it's pretty windy" and of course the girl being completely lost. Anyways it's over 4 minutes long but you really gotta listen to the whole thing to appreciate it. It's hilarious.
listen to this...

Anyways, that's all for now. As always, keep your feet on the ground but keep reaching for the stars.
i'm out bitches
-Marty

oh ps - kelsey, thanks for leaving your jelly beans here. do you want me to mail them to you or just eat them all (i already ate them so i'm just being facetious).

So Very Bored at Work...

First of all, Happy belated Pi Day! I forgot until Bill reminded me, but this is actually my favorite holiday. I remeber when I won the Pi day competition back in '99. Good stuff. Math Club ruled. It also happens to be Billy Crystal's and Einstein's birthday, so happy birthday to them.


This is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing ever. I was bored so I tried to make this crazy asian doll to resemble me but it didn't turn out right so I decided to throw in some animals and a basketball. The background is just plain silly. Anyways I realized the doll would look nothing like me when they didn't have the color brown. So this is what I would look like if I was asian. And no I'm not asian, India is the sub-continent.

There is very little to do here at work. I am at an 'office' at one of our apartments that is actually just a 1 bedroom apt. that has a table and some other stuff in it. All I do for 5 hours is watch movies and do my homework. It is pretty fun except for the fact that I am afraid to sit on any of the couches or lay on the bed in case on of my bosses walks in and fires me, so I am forced to sit at a dining table in a chair with no armrests.
Yesterday while I was driving I saw an Oldsmobile Intrigue with a vanity license plate that said "STYLIN." First of all the 'S' in stylin, was from an MSU license plate that uses the big green msu 'S' before all the numbers and letters. Secondly, if you recall my earlier blog in which I ranked all my cars, the Intrigue came in dead last. In fact, Oldsmobile went out of business. That dude is definitely not stylin.

I was reading somewhere that the average household watches something like 57.5 hours of tv per week. That is over 8 hours a day. That is absurd. Who has 8 hours a day to sit and watch tv. I can see that happeneinh on a rainy cold weekend in the winter when you don't feel like doing anything else, or perhaps this week as March Madness takes over or even during the Masters; but seriously 8 hours a day? That means that the kids get home at 3 or whenever and watch tv until the go to bed around 9 or 10 (assuming they don't do any homework or do it all in front of the tv) and then the parents continue to watch tv until 11 or 12. Now it may seem ridiculous, but I can't think of any other possible way that people watch 57 hours of tv a week. That's an average so that means that some people watch more. Now, sometimes I get into a groove where I watch a lot of tv, but even that tops out at maybe 4 or 5 hours a day and most of that is the Pistons. Just the other day I was wondering if it was possible to only get 4 or 5 channels because all I really need is the Pistons and Grey's Anatomy, but they don't have plans like that. The same article said that the average household recieves over 95 channels! When Muki and I were growing up we had to study all the time. We didn't have time to watch tv, not to mention that we didn't even have a tv from 1991-1999. Anyways, my point is that America is the laziest nation in the world and it's no wonder we are one of the most conservative cultures, everything people learn is from tv and tv is pretty ridiculously conservative.

Anyways I think I am going to watch a movie now, only 3 hours to go. And remember to keep your feet on the ground but keep reaching for the stars.
I'm out
-Marty

oh ps - i put in some oldschool Soundgarden yesterday (Superunknown). That cd rocks as much as it did when I was in 7th grade.

Springtime, for Hitler, in Germany...

(so you all don't think i'm a neo nazi, that title is a song in 'the producers') Well it seems as though Michigan is just being Michigan again. It is going to be 60 degrees today and again tomorrow and then of course on Tuesday it is going to snow. Mama always said spring is like a box of chocolates... Anyways I see that I haven't blogged in a while so we have a little bit to catch up on.

First up is the Oscars. I thought my boy, J. Stew, did a pretty good job though his funniest stuff was clearly off-script. I'm glad Three Six Mafia finally got their oscar. Crash was a very good movie but I didn't see Brokeback so I'm not sure if it deserved to win or not. While we're on the subject, I don't see how these movies are pushing the envelope of current issues. 'Crash' had some racist people in it but it didn't point out some underlying truth in society, everybody knows there is still racism and especially in a city as divided as LA. Nothing about it was new or particularly captivating. I guess Brokeback should have won for originality (even though it was based on a book) but even that is just a story about a couple of gay dudes. Nothing shocking about a couple of guys making out, it happens - watch mtv for a day and you'll get more shocking truths about gays than Brokeback will give you. I guess it was such a big issue because it was about gay cowboys and maybe all the rednecks out west got mad because their president (G.W.B.) is a 'cowboy' and probably gay, and because they all pretty much voted to ban gays from having any rights.

________________________________________________________

When things work out they seem to work out for everyone. If you follow this blog then you are aware that I got into the film school I wanted to go to and that NY is on the horizon. But things seem to be falling into place for everyone. Kelsey got into the nursing program she wanted to go to, Jordon got into the theatre program she auditioned for, the Pistons seem to have regained some of their composure and Michigan State is finally playing some good basketball.

Anyways it's a weird thing to be on a path to accomplishing something. If you really think about it, it seems like what we do from day to day is just going through the motions until one day we accomplish some ultimate task. We go to school until we graduate, but essentially we haven't done anything really to prepare us for what it is that we want to do in life. So then we go to grad school or wherever to learn about something we may actually want to do. Then we get a job, and hopefully it's a job we want to do, otherwise it's still going through the motions. The point of my rambling is to figure out when we stop going through the motions and actually feel accomplished? When do we see our potential and hard work and hopes and dreams actually realized? Does someone actually physically have to give us an award or a certificate that says "hey, good job. you made it!?" Or is it possible to one day wake up, while you are just going through the motions, and realize that this is our life and we should live it for today and not the future.

Not to try and delve too deep into the philosophies of life but a friend of mine recently "awoke" and found himself living his life for today and not tomorrow. In his blog he talks about grabbing life by the horns and carpe diem and all that good stuff. It's a very good entry that you should read. It, along with grey's anatomy, got me wondering if I am going through the motions or actually living life. One time Forrest Gump said to me, hey Marty, "I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floatin' around accidental-like on a breeze. But I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time." I suppose that's where I stand. I think most of us are in the same boat. We go through the motions and follow the road where it takes us until we find something that wakes us up. I was going through the motions until I took my first film class and now I know what it is I want to do. I actually have a clear direction and a goal that, while it may be lofty, isn't just some pipe dream; and that is more than I can say for a lot of people I know.

"There's only us, only tonight. We must let go - to know what's right" Thats a quote from 'Rent" that may apply or not. Anyways I didn't mean to get into all that but I guess I will leave you all wondering about your life or perhaps just wondering why you waste time reading my blog. As always, keep your feet on the ground but keep reaching for the stars.

I'm out homies
-Marty

oh ps - if anyone is going to be in East Lansing for St. Patty's day let me know, it's gonna be a hoot. Is it just me or does green beer make everyone else's stomach hurt. I think it's the food coloring, though it may be the copius amounts of alcohol at 7 in the morning. Anyways keep on truckin. Later.

The Real World and other thoughts...

So last night was the premiere of the new season of the Real World. I have yet to see a good season since they started doing two a year. The last great one (and best season ever) was Return to New York, with The Miz, Malik and my girl Lori. I thought I would offer my two cents on this new cast (i'll go from left to right in the pic). Janelle seems a bit moody and has issues with being mulato (she's half black half white). Look for some very unreasonable arguments stemming from her insecurities about it. John seems like your run of the mill douchebag. He is much too cocky to be of any use, reminds me of Ace (from paris) only not as nice or funny. Jose is my boy, he seems like a cool Jaquise (san diego) type of guy who wont cause many problems and therefore not be in much of the season. Zach seems okay thus far, I have yet to make any judgements about him. Paula seems like an underrated drama queen, you have to feel sorry for her and her eating disorder but at the same time stop crying. I mean she cried the first two times they went out and started hyperventilating the last time. She may be a little too crazy for me to keep liking her. Svetlana is clearly looking to cheat on her boyfriend. She practically sent Zach and John invites to grab her russian boobies. Tyler is tied with Jose as my favorite. He does seem kind of bratty but he knows whats up and tells it like it is and is still funny about it. All in all I am much happier about this cast than the last 4 or 5 which is a good sign. Hopefully there can be some good times like there was in New York. I'm looking forward to the day Svetlana's boyfriend comes down (if he lasts long enough to visit) and gets in a fight with her and everyone else because he realizes his girlfriend is a dirty slut.

______________________________________________________________

Playing Halo 2 online has not only captured my time over the last year or so but it has also destroyed any scruples I once possessed. It used to be that I never used the word 'faggot' because it is pretty much one of the few words that are used with pure enimty. Halo changed all of that though. While I would never use it outside of playing Halo, it can be found spewing from my mouth every ten seconds or so while I'm playing. It is the most common word that you will hear while playing Halo online. Not only is it okay to use that word but it is the only setting in a public forum where it is only natural for an 8 year old to say something to the effect of, "You fucking suck worse than my little sister." As odd as that may be what is more ridiculous is that people my age are allowed to say whatever we want to this 8 year old and there is not a single person who thinks it's wrong. Can you imagine what would happen if someone saw me in the street telling some little 8 year old kid that after Bill and I tag-team his mom we are going to cut his nuts off? I would go to jail. Anyways, it's a crazy world we live in.

______________________________________________________________

Lastly I would like to talk about an adventure my friend Jason and I had a few years ago. One day we were wondering what to do for lunch on some Saturday afternoon. We decided on fast food but could not decide which one to go to. We had it down to the big four, Wendy's, McDonalds, Burger King and Taco Bell. After discarding taco bell (it gave Jason a ridiculously bad case of the runs) and much arguing about which one was best we decided to hit the big 3. We were going to craft our own value meal out of the best selection at each place. I believe my meal consisted of a Chicken Sandwhich at BK, McD's fries and Wendy's nuggets. Though the best sandwhich bar none is a spicy chicken at Wendy's, the only thing at BK that I would get is a chicken sandwhich. Anyways to make a long story short, we both had ridiculous cramps and gas for the next 24 hours. I'm not quite sure why since it all seems equally bad for you and I dont understand why mixing the three would be so bad but take my word for it, if you ever want to hit up 2 or more fast food joints: don't. Anyways the genius that came up with that Mr. T ad needs to be elected for president or something because if that doesn't make you want (have) to get a whopper than I don't know what does.

Anyways thats all for today, as always keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

I'm out

-Marty

oh ps -things not to get at the following places:

BK - chicken fingers and fries are disgusting there

Wendy's - it used to be the chili (as far as health codes go) but now I think it's okay

McD's - it's all pretty much equally stomach pain inducing