Utopic

Spent the evening reading Utopia by Sir Thomas More. The word utopia in English means a perfect or ideal place. If you take the Latin word "Utopia" and translate it into English it literally means "no place". Thought that was kind of interesting.

Some of my favorite exerts...

..."What he fears is that his eyes will be deceived by a counterfeit. But if you consider the matter, why should a counterfeit give any less pleasure when your eyes cannot distinguish it from a gem? Both should be of equal value to you, as they would be, in fact, to a blind man."

[His thoughts on counterfeit jewelery]

..."Health itself, when distinguished by pain, gives pleasure, without any external excitement at all."

..."In choosing marriage partners, they solemnly and seriously follow a custom which seemed to us foolish and absurd in the extreme. Whether she is a widow or a virgin, the bride-to-be is shown naked to the groom by a responsible and respectable matron; and, similarly, some respectable man presents the groom naked to his future bride."

[On the subject of marriage in More's factitious land of Utopia]

Bill Cosby bought lobster for all the students at UMass. I wonder what is done with the leftovers. It would be a shame to kill all those lobsters just to throw them out. Especially when they are served full figured.

Speak easy,

Neil

Comic Art

I've got a project I am knee deep in but won't announce it until it is actually finished (using a relative sense of the word, you'll see what I mean). Anyway, it is something I have wanted to do since I was a little kid and I think now in my early 20's I am finally to the point where I can do it with some competence. I'll post as soon as I get more to say.

Mid term tomorrow in Comic Art class. Haven't studied but I am pretty confident in my abilities to write about Superman and La Familia Barron for 50 minutes.

I got a Lady Gaga poster at Walmart this weekend. It is hung above my desk. I am actually a big fan of some, but not all, of her work.

Speak easy,

Neil

Catfish (no spoilers)

Just got back from seeing Catfish. Yes, I went to see a movie by myself on a Saturday afternoon on alumni weekend. Would you except anything less? Anyway, the film is a documentary and not just a film shot in the cinema verte (i.e. Cloverfield, Blair Witch Project) style like I had originally thought. The editing was really what made the movie. The subject, 20 something New York hipster Nev Shulman, proves to be funny, brave and engaging throughout the entire film, even when things do not seem to be going his way. There are many twists and turns and I would love to talk about it and go on and on but there's not much I can say without taking away from the experience of the film. For those who are interested in seeing it, I'd say that you ought to go into the theater with an open mind. If you haven't seen the trailer yet, don't bother. Just go see the film without any sort of preconceptions (it will be an entirely different experience, trust me).

I would also like to note that it is an incredible coincidence that Catfish came out at the same time as The Social Network. They are two sides of the same coin. One gives a realistic account of the creation of Facebook, while the other gives some incite into what it is like to be a user of Facebook and the social significance of the website.

It will be very interesting to look back on Catfish in 10 years as some kind of technological time capsule, as I'm sure we will be in a very different place developmentally as far as social networking is concerned.

If you are interested in documentaries, definitely watch American Movie, and The Devil and Daniel Johnston. They are the bees knees.

Speak easy,

Neil

TWITTER

Just started a twitter account yesterday. You can find it here. I like the spontaneity of it. Pretty interesting technology.

My flatmate, the one I have been writing about, took a 4 and a half hour shower. Some people I do not understand.

Going to Boston tomorrow to hang out with a few friends. Won't be blogging but I'll be twittering so if you are super interested in how I am doing you can get an on the minute update. Until then, going to Starbucks to write about Wordsworth and Chaucer. Speaking of which, my friend Mike got Heath Ledger confused with Owen Wilson. When I corrected him he said "Whatever, same person."

Speak easy,

Neil

Couple Things

Saw The Social Network this weekend and loved it. Totally recommend it. Not sure if it is one that you absolutely must see in theaters but it does complete the experience. The film explores a lot of how this generation socializes and how far we have come just in the last few years. The script is incredibly tight and clever, the cinematography is great (directed by David Fincher of Fight Club, Seven and most recently The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), and the pace is incredibly fast (perfect for kids of the ADD generation).

Recently saw the trailer for Catfish. The Rolling Stone claimed that it is a documentary although I am pretty sceptical.

This segment from the Disney Channel is amazingly stupid and absolutely worth watching.

Speak easy,

Neil