Watching the Olympics always makes me think what it must be like to be at the top of something. To be literally the best person in the world at one thing and have a medal to back you up.
I've rarely been the best at anything and there are a lot of things that I'm not even very good at so it's pretty unfathomable for me to think of what it's like to be THE best.
But in watching these elite athletes and competitors, I don't think they're even thinking about that. Maybe that desire to be on top is what pushes them in training, but when I see them work and sweat and push in competition and collapse in elation at the end, it seems to me that they're more just proud of themselves and excited that all the hard work they put in paid off. And even those that don't finish first or second or third often look happy. Just to be able to compete in an event as great as the Olympics and represent your country is enough for them.
These athletes celebrate not just in their talent and victories but in achieving a goal and finishing what they set out to do. And for them that's enough. For them, it's not about a podium or a shiny medal, it's about the thrill of competition and the joy and satisfaction of a job well done. That's their pinnacle.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
It must be some kind of...Hot Tub Time Machine
I got to see a screening of Hot Tub Time Machine the other night. It was pretty neat since I'd never been to a movie screening before and also because it was a movie I wanted to see based on its previews.
Overall it was pretty much what I expected. Just some good old fun, sometimes raunchy, humor. Everything was just so ridiculous and random and randomly ridiculous that you couldn't help but to laugh.
The basic premise is that four guys go to a resort up in the mountains and get taken back in time by a mystical hot tub. They find themselves back in their past and have a chance to live their lives a different way.
Far be it from me to criticize the plot and logic of a movie like this. I know that it's just an out there comedy and that no one would really go see it for a dynamic, engaging storyline.
Still, that was actually my biggest problem with this movie. Most of the humor came from the fact that it was simply a set of funny, ridiculous situations and scenarios, and don't get me wrong, they were hilarious and had everyone cracking up. But at the same time there just didn't seem a reason or a method to the madness. So many times something funny would happen and I would just be like, "...why?"
What minor semblance of a storyline didn't really hold up throughout the movie. As with any movie dealing with time travel, there were some rules of going back to the past. Honestly, it doesn't matter to me what the rules are or if they make sense. The one thing that gets me though is that you gotta stick to what you establish. HTTM never really decided if it was going to go by the butterfly effect, in which any tiny deviance is catastrophic, or a more Lost-like "whatever happened happened" where the universe course corrects for any changes you make, or the idea that you can change anything and everything. In a silly comedy like this one it's really not a big deal except for the fact that these rules and laws had an effect on the story and the motivations of the characters.
In addition to that, there just weren't any real goals for any of the characters. They kind of make a mention of them, but then get so far off track that you don't even know why they're there to begin with. There just didn't seem to be an endgame of any sort. I don't care what the genre is, it's hard to be very into any kind of medium when you're not invested and/or don't even care what's happening.
Overall, HTTM was a fun movie full of great moments and hilarious lines that you'll remember and laugh about for days. Aside from that there's not a whole lot to offer, but it's still a good option for some cheap laughs.
Overall it was pretty much what I expected. Just some good old fun, sometimes raunchy, humor. Everything was just so ridiculous and random and randomly ridiculous that you couldn't help but to laugh.
The basic premise is that four guys go to a resort up in the mountains and get taken back in time by a mystical hot tub. They find themselves back in their past and have a chance to live their lives a different way.
Far be it from me to criticize the plot and logic of a movie like this. I know that it's just an out there comedy and that no one would really go see it for a dynamic, engaging storyline.
Still, that was actually my biggest problem with this movie. Most of the humor came from the fact that it was simply a set of funny, ridiculous situations and scenarios, and don't get me wrong, they were hilarious and had everyone cracking up. But at the same time there just didn't seem a reason or a method to the madness. So many times something funny would happen and I would just be like, "...why?"
What minor semblance of a storyline didn't really hold up throughout the movie. As with any movie dealing with time travel, there were some rules of going back to the past. Honestly, it doesn't matter to me what the rules are or if they make sense. The one thing that gets me though is that you gotta stick to what you establish. HTTM never really decided if it was going to go by the butterfly effect, in which any tiny deviance is catastrophic, or a more Lost-like "whatever happened happened" where the universe course corrects for any changes you make, or the idea that you can change anything and everything. In a silly comedy like this one it's really not a big deal except for the fact that these rules and laws had an effect on the story and the motivations of the characters.
In addition to that, there just weren't any real goals for any of the characters. They kind of make a mention of them, but then get so far off track that you don't even know why they're there to begin with. There just didn't seem to be an endgame of any sort. I don't care what the genre is, it's hard to be very into any kind of medium when you're not invested and/or don't even care what's happening.
Overall, HTTM was a fun movie full of great moments and hilarious lines that you'll remember and laugh about for days. Aside from that there's not a whole lot to offer, but it's still a good option for some cheap laughs.
Fantasy sports
As to not miss my blogs again, I'm just going to throw up something random.
This year I started playing fantasy sports again. This is something I haven't really done since probably middle school. And even back then I wasn't really playing so much as randomly autopicking a team and going with it for a season.
It's funny what it does to my sports watching experience. In both football and basketball I'd find myself yelling at the tv at guys I had no right knowing and/or caring about. Please Ryan Moats, just gain 10 more yards. Please Damien Wilkins, one more three pointer (but some steals would be nice too).
It totally changes the watching experience. It's also confusing when one of your players, especially a key one, is playing a team you like. Of course loyalty to your team comes first, but I'm not going to lie, at times I feel like I have more of a stake in my fantasy team, something I drafted and built up on my own.
Things can get heated, and of course it's all in good fun. If you like sports, or even if you don't but maybe have a thing for number crunching and/or stats, I'd definitely encourage you to try it out.
One more post for today. Coming up shortly.
This year I started playing fantasy sports again. This is something I haven't really done since probably middle school. And even back then I wasn't really playing so much as randomly autopicking a team and going with it for a season.
It's funny what it does to my sports watching experience. In both football and basketball I'd find myself yelling at the tv at guys I had no right knowing and/or caring about. Please Ryan Moats, just gain 10 more yards. Please Damien Wilkins, one more three pointer (but some steals would be nice too).
It totally changes the watching experience. It's also confusing when one of your players, especially a key one, is playing a team you like. Of course loyalty to your team comes first, but I'm not going to lie, at times I feel like I have more of a stake in my fantasy team, something I drafted and built up on my own.
Things can get heated, and of course it's all in good fun. If you like sports, or even if you don't but maybe have a thing for number crunching and/or stats, I'd definitely encourage you to try it out.
One more post for today. Coming up shortly.
2 Fails with one stone
So....you may or may not have noticed that a couple days ago I noted I was returning to a blog post a day. Clearly this has not happened as now two days have elapsed without a post.
The first night wasn't really my fault. I was planning on posting after watching Hot Tub Time Machine and then my roommate's intramural soccer game. Everything was done by 10 so I figured I could get it done.
Little did I know the internet in the entire Barrett complex would be down until a little after 2 AM, which was also the time I decided to stop waiting for it to come back and go to sleep.
And then yesterday...I just completely dropped the ball. No excuses there.
In thinking about how I would explain all of this though, I did have some interesting thoughts on accountability. It seems like it's almost a dirty word in modern society and to be held accountable is almost like being kept prisoner or something. I feel like more and more people don't want to be held accountable for anything, searching for ways to pass the bill to someone else.
I don't think it's blame that people are scared about but responsibility. It's easy to combine the two, but really they're different things.
For example in my scenario, I set a goal for myself to post a new blog post every day. I obviously failed on the very first day. Am I to blame for that? I don't believe so because of the circumstances outlined above. But am I responsible for not hitting my self-imposed deadline? Yes, completely. Had this been something actually important or of real significance, I could have made some efforts to get it up. So in that respect, it's on me.
I don't know, just some ramblings from me as usual. Look for 2 more over the course of the day for me to try to get myself back on track.
The first night wasn't really my fault. I was planning on posting after watching Hot Tub Time Machine and then my roommate's intramural soccer game. Everything was done by 10 so I figured I could get it done.
Little did I know the internet in the entire Barrett complex would be down until a little after 2 AM, which was also the time I decided to stop waiting for it to come back and go to sleep.
And then yesterday...I just completely dropped the ball. No excuses there.
In thinking about how I would explain all of this though, I did have some interesting thoughts on accountability. It seems like it's almost a dirty word in modern society and to be held accountable is almost like being kept prisoner or something. I feel like more and more people don't want to be held accountable for anything, searching for ways to pass the bill to someone else.
I don't think it's blame that people are scared about but responsibility. It's easy to combine the two, but really they're different things.
For example in my scenario, I set a goal for myself to post a new blog post every day. I obviously failed on the very first day. Am I to blame for that? I don't believe so because of the circumstances outlined above. But am I responsible for not hitting my self-imposed deadline? Yes, completely. Had this been something actually important or of real significance, I could have made some efforts to get it up. So in that respect, it's on me.
I don't know, just some ramblings from me as usual. Look for 2 more over the course of the day for me to try to get myself back on track.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Alright I've decided
That the post-a-day thing is coming back.
With only 13 credits this semester I do find that I've been having a pretty decent amount of free time. And really there have been a lot of times where I've felt like blogging and just kept putting it off. Hopefully this will kick me back into gear or something like that. Also there's been stuff going on as is usually the case when second semester rolls around. Everything just seems to move a little faster.
So anyway I apologize if anyone out there has been wanting to read something. I also apologize if you've been enjoying the dead silence on this blog because that's about to come to an end.
I will be back tomorrow.
With only 13 credits this semester I do find that I've been having a pretty decent amount of free time. And really there have been a lot of times where I've felt like blogging and just kept putting it off. Hopefully this will kick me back into gear or something like that. Also there's been stuff going on as is usually the case when second semester rolls around. Everything just seems to move a little faster.
So anyway I apologize if anyone out there has been wanting to read something. I also apologize if you've been enjoying the dead silence on this blog because that's about to come to an end.
I will be back tomorrow.
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