#blogify your life

[usernamesarehardstuff-blog1]

I’m in the wrong business

The sneaker re-selling game is massive, profitable, frustrating, and reflective of our world today. The now $1 billion dollar industry within an industry focuses on obtaining highly sought after shoes and reselling them on alternative markets. For example, if you wanted a pair of Yeezy 350 Boosts you could find a way to pay $200 at retail (good luck with that) or use a resale site like flightclub.com where you’re guaranteed a pair for the cool price of $1200. It’s important to remember that adidas, nike, asics, or any other major shoe manufacturer sees $0 of these sales. These companies don’t want to stop them though. Having a flagship shoe that sells out in seconds online or has people lining up for blocks to buy a raffle ticket for the opportunity to buy a pair creates a sense of wonder around a brand. If you sell 1,000,000 pairs of a shoe, its no longer exclusive or a collector’s item, it becomes just another shoe. Another point is that the hype surrounding these releases is one of the best forms of advertising possible. If someone is sitting on adidas.com in 15 different windows on their laptop, phone, desktop, friend’s computer, and Sega Dreamcast, this generates ad revenue. It also keeps people coming back to check for restock opportunities. This environment has created “sneaker dons” that can acquire the latest and greatest shoes, usually in high quantities. 

Like this guy:

Just to put the profitability of this picture into perspective, the total value of these shoes if sold today would be just a little under $62,000. Originally priced at $245 each, that’s nearly X 20 return on investment. This guy could trade these shoes for a 2016 Corvette and still have $7,000 to throw out the window as he drives off into the sunset.

[ca-n-ttouchthis]

DuckTales: Blogify Your Life

Do you want to know about something that I have a complicated relationship with? Reboots. I am a huge fan of television and movies, particularly of the animated variety, and recently there seems to be a trend on television networks where they are re-imaging old shows with a modern twist. Some of these include the likes of Teen Titans Go!, Ben 10, and The Powerpuff Girls on Cartoon Network. I loved each of these shows when they were being originally released, but the “updated” versions seem to be lacking some key aspects. This includes things like emotional depth, character development, and a sense of pride that restrains them from pandering to the lowest common denominator when it comes to viewership. Seriously, these shows can be extremely dumb at points, which is sad because kids (and the young-at-heart) can handle a lot more complicated stories than a lot of animated shows seems to give them currently. And, this brings me to the main purpose of this post: Disney Channel has recently released the first trailer for their new DuckTales show. As you may have guessed, this is a reboot for a show that I and my siblings really loved growing up, and I was worried at first because I was afraid that Disney would follow CN’s approach and add unnecessary things like memes and twerking and just plain randomness that makes no sense for even the show. But, thankfully, the trailer seems to hint at an honest attempt to maintain the adventurous attitude of the original material while actually updating the characters for a modern audience. You can now tell Huey, Dewey, and Louie apart, and Webigail already seems less annoying and more like a real person than she was in the first series. I guess I’ll have to wait and see if things do turn out well, but I dare to hope that if Disney does this properly, it could mean a shift in what audiences expect out of their future reboots.

[joshcplace-blog]

Spontaneous trip

The previous summer when I went back to my home country Malaysia, my friends and I gathered up and planned a trip to Pulau Redang, which is a beautiful island in Malaysia. Two days before the trip, few of my friends that have no regards to time decided to ditch on the trip giving ridiculous excuses and bare in mind that this happened one week before my flight back to the States. This incident was heartbreaking because of their their incapability of letting me know ahead of time and took away all the excitement I had in my mind in matter of seconds. I have a good friend name Denzyl was feeling the same way I did and we both decided to make a last-minute plan to bring our travelling plan back to life.

              We quickly look up the internet and for some reason we decided to travel overseas to Phuket Thailand and the flight is 11 hours after we booked the ticket. I gathered all the money I had and converted it to the Thailand Currency and next thing we know we are on a plane flying to Thailand. I had to lie to my parents that I was only travelling to the neighboring state. I never regretted my decision despite the lying because it was the best trip ever! We were in Thailand for 4 days and we flew back to Malaysia and 3 days later I was on another flight back to Lincoln, Nebraska.

[damnthetorpedoes4-blog]

Blogify Your Life 4

This week I finished the second season of Amazon’s Man in the High Castle. It is for sure one of the best TV shows I have seen if not the best! Man in the High Castle takes place in a world where the Nazis and Imperial Japan won World War II and occupied America. I won’t say any more than that, anyone seeing for the first time must go I with an open mind. The series is full of twists and turns and all sorts of mind games, rarely is there a low point.

This second season not only delves deeper into the lore of the series but also deeper into themes like family, hope, and destiny. The initial episodes start the series off fast but subsequent episodes slow the show down somewhat as they explore these themes and world. The finale was fantastic and very powerful, where all the evets of the series spiraled together to an ultimate conclusion. I cannot say enough about this series, and I cannot wait for the third season to debut later this year.

[awhitdigitalamerica-blog]

Blogify Your Life

The question we had about machine intelligence vs AI in class a couple of weeks ago was a perplexing one for me. Taking the question at a very base level I just assumed machine intelligence and artificial intelligence were two parts to the same equation instead of two wholly different schools of thought. I bring this up because I recently started watching the HBO series WestWorld. A brief summary of the plot would be a near future world where a theme park has managed to create robots (called Hosts) that physically are indistinguishable from real people and are so advanced at imitating human behavior that most would be unable to distinguish a person from robot in the theme park’s setting.  I am only half way through the series but the main story arc is focused on a  system update to the Hosts that allows them to access their previous memories, rather than living in a singular loop they can remember what had happened to them the day before, etc. This leads to several of the Hosts questioning their reality in the theme park. I haven’t watched enough to know the whole story, but the idea of these human dopplegangers transforming from machines that register specific outputs from specific inputs to somewhat abstract thinking beings has been entertaining. 

[k-2soalways-blog]

Multiverse

I am currently trying to write a script for a short film that I have an idea for called Multiverse. I figured if I put it into words somewhere, it might help me get the creative juices flowing. The plot of the film is about a Tony Stiles, people just call him Stiles, trying to find his friend, Danny, that he thinks was teleported to a different universe when their experiment, which is a device that can teleport things to different universes, when something went wrong and Danny got zapped. Everyone else thinks that Danny is dead, but Stiles believes he is still alive so he shuts out everyone in his life and dedicates it to perfecting this device so that he can teleport to the universe Danny got sent to so he can find him. After a year he finally finishes the device and he uses it, he pops up in a universe that looks just like our own and he is in awe that it worked. He is in the middle of a busy city with lots of people walking by him in all directions, he almost forgets about all his problems, but then he sees a couple of menacing looking men coming directly towards him. Suddenly someone grabs his arm, he freaks out, and the person says come with me if you want to live, and so he does. There is a chase scene and crazy stuff happens but they get away. To be continued in the next Blogify Your Life...

[rakhatouille-blog]

Blogify Your life

Recently my room mate and I watched American Beauty and found the concept to be very interesting yet mysterious. We have watched the movie at least three times but yet to discover what it really means. Even if we know the initial concept is about mid-life crisis we feel like there’s something more to it. The movie itself is hands down one of the best movie I’ve ever watched. It makes me think about it the more and more I watch it. My room mate and I find this a mystery because of the title of the movie which is American beauty. Both my room mate and I are not from the US and are foreign to some of the things depicted in the movie. So far all we concluded was that all the characters and their story are a depiction of what American life is basically is during the mid-life crisis. I feel like personally those are the types of things that will show up during this mid-life crisis concept. I will probably watch the movie again to see if I missed anything. This movie is out of the ordinary. The whole concept is a very unique and distinct story line compared to the other movies in the cinematography world. It’s an ambiguous yet simple concept. Enough with all the philosophical stuff though. If we have to talk about the movie like ordinary people then I’d have to say, Kevin Spacey’s performance was great in the movie. He acts as if it’s his own life not the just the characters life. My favorite thing about the movie is one of the song played towards the end of the movie. Ever since My room mate and I heard that song we’ve been playing it quite often. I can’t remember the name of it but what ever it is, it’s a pretty good song. All in all though, the movie was great and I recommend it to anyone who is feeling philosophical or feeling the need to question life.

[bodaciousllama-blog]

Blogify Your Life

So the other night I watched Good Will Hunting for the first time, and wow, that was a pretty moving movie; highly recommend if you haven’t seen it yet.  I thought Matt Damon did a great job being an angry, emotional young man who had been through hell.  At times I thought he was a complete asshole, but obviously for reasons behind that I will not say (trying not to spoil anything).  Robin Williams, of course, always is brilliant and did an outstanding job as Damon’s therapist.  How he sees things in life and makes Damon’s character know he’s worth something, it kind of spoke to me (not trying to be cheesy).  Even Ben Affleck’s small part in this was pretty good.  His talk with Damon towards the end was really powerful, especially for how his character acts.  I read a little bit more on the movie after I finished it, and found out that Damon and Affleck had actually written this story themselves, which I thought was amazing. I never knew they had been friends for so long or had written their own movie scripts.  Mel Gibson was apparently supposed to have directed it, but dropped out. I tried picturing how different it would’ve been, and if it would’ve been better or worse.  Either way, this movie was great and I think everyone should see it at least once in their lifetime.

[digitalgraves]

Cheer for me, for I have done my job.

It’s that time year again. People wait, full of anticipation for months for this time of year. The time when millions of people make the conscious decision to turn on the television, prepare some snacks, maybe make a bet or two, and watch a bunch of grown men do their jobs. Yes, I’m talking about the Super Bowl. These guys get paid to play a sport. Or coach a sport. Look, I like football. I’m from Nebraska, it’s basically illegal for me to not like football. But as a job? Why? How did it happen that an entire industry, and a highly lucrative industry at that, was created from a sport? Is it not weird that humans pay to go see other humans play a game and then cheer for them when they do their job? The receiver caught the ball! Which is what he was hired to do! Yaaaaay! Nobody cheers for me when I get my work done.

I can understand college football, to a point. People play sports for fun, sometimes they're good at it and want to play it in college, it makes the school money so the school wants to recruit good players and gives scholarships, etcetera, etcetera. It’s still a commoditized system, but its initial purpose isn't necessarily to make money, like the NFL. But, hey, I guess it makes people happy. So, go team.

[collegegirlseeking-blog1]

Blogify Your Life

Recently I watched a movie, one that was the highest rated comedy on IMDB for 2016. This movie was quite the experience, and was captivating from start to finish. The cast of characters was diverse and really invoked deep thoughts of human nature and how people react to stressful situations. The emotion of the characters was so raw and really inspired me as a viewer to feel those same emotions. I was very impressed with the quality of the end credits and the song selection to accompany the finale of this masterpiece. The dedication to creating an engaging and complete story was inspiring.

Overall, this movie was one that I would recommend because it is something everyone should get to see. It truly is an adventure that cannot be matched by any other film. This movie was called “Uno: The Movie.”  It was done by Rooster Teeth Productions and it is one movie I will never forget.  It was a harrowing adventure to 500 points that had many twists and turns. Not every character made it to the end, but the ones who did were changed forever, as was I.  I am a better person for seeing this film, and this has been a completely serious report (about as serious as the movie).

[awesomehistoryblog-blog]

Evolution (a great movie)

Last week, I went to see Evolution (2015) at The Ross.  It’s not playing there anymore, but you can rent it on Amazon, or possibly watch it some other way I’m not aware of, if you’re into surreal French horror.

Evolution takes place on a sparse, rocky island, where a small group of women and little boys live.  Our title character Nicholas is sick, and soon finds himself trapped in the island’s eerie hospital.  He befriends a nurse who helps him discover the truths behind the island’s strange inhabitants.

The movie is absolutely beautiful.  If you can handle some minor body horror (most of it takes place in a hospital, after all, with needles and surgeries), most of the scenes are ocean shots, lingering close ups, and colorless landscapes with a single bright scrap of red.  It’s a short movie, but moves slow, so don’t go into it expecting a fast paced string of deaths.  It takes its time building up to its disturbing conclusion.

But what I like most about this movie is the way it lulls you into a state of peaceful security.  The music is practically nonexistent.  Characters move slow, and they don’t talk too much.  The scariest part of the movie for me was realizing that I was accepting the plot without much horror at all.  It’s hard to explain without spoiling things, but the reveals are done so quietly, things that I knew I should have found gruesome seemed normal and completely okay, minus about two scenes.  The movie really earns its big moments.  I highly encourage you to see it if you’re at all into indie horror.

[ronnysstampede24]

Fantasy Football makes the NFL more entertaining

Have you ever wanted to assemble your favorite players in the NFL and blend them into one team? Fantasy football lets you do this and this is something I’ve found satisfying over the last couple of years. I’ve always enjoyed competition and the game of football. Fantasy football is a format where you choose a team of players from your favorite league and gain points every week or weekend depending on the player’s performance in real-life action. So when I heard that I could put a team together and play against my friends, it was an exciting dream come true. Mass media does an incredible job of portraying fantasy football and offering many web based resources to all those who engage in the sport.

To begin this adventure of formulating your own fantasy football team, there are many different types of mass of media you can choose from such as: ESPN.com, yahoo.com, and NFL.com. You can find most of the information on the websites or on TV networks such as ESPN, NFL Network, NFL Red Zone, etc. ESPN continuously has commercials and advertisements trying to get people to come play. The main reason they do this is because of the competition between the networks. NFL.com does the same thing so both of these networks are competing to try to encourage more people to join.

            The forms of mass media are plentiful regarding fantasy football and fantasy sports in general because you can find leagues across the entire Internet. Detailed information is never left out because football is one of the greatest known sports in the country. Fantasy football is valued by millions of people these days making the NFL a greater deal.

[damnthetorpedoes4-blog]

Blogify Your Life 3

Today I would like to talk about my new pet peeve, people calling anyone they do not like or agree with a ‘Nazi.’ I may not have been around in 1944 but I’d like to think I understand what Nazism was and what they did. Today in American culture the word Nazi has become synonymous with political disagreement not horrifying evil.

The problem with this phenomenon is that people want to brand either political side in this country as evil or lacking morals when really neither do. People are simply looking for the worst insult they can find to hurl at people. Being called a Nazi is one of the worst things that can be said about you, I fail to see where it has a place in political discourse. It is in my opinion no different than hurling obscenities or making personal attacks on somebody.

So let’s stop calling people something they are not. Let’s just agree to disagree and save the Nazi name calling for actual Nazis, and stop demonizing each other over every single thing that happens in this country.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” –Abraham Lincoln

[awhitdigitalamerica-blog]

Blogify Your Life

Technology is a crazy thing in that it can be simultaneously making your life harder and easier. In my job as a producer for the athletic department we work with lots of incredible technology and advanced equipment to broadcast the best picture possible for all of our Husker fans watching. For every sport we utilize cameras that have price tags in the tens of thousands of dollars, microphones that can pick up an angry Bo Pelini rant from across the room with nobody noticing, and have access to three of the largest video board set ups in college sports. So why oh why with all of this available to we give people Ipads? Some explanation is probably needed. My most important job at HuskerVision is producing content for the wrestling team. As on of the lead student producers I am responsible for all of our highlights, coaches interviews, player profiles, tunnel walks, etc. All video content for the wrestling team. In every other sport, the producers are allowed to travel with their teams to away meets to continue to produce high quality content away from home. But, for some inexplicable reason, wrestling is not among those. Our wrestling team is currently top ten and has been consistently top ten for almost a decade but the only resources we dedicate to away meets is an Ipad given to a team manager...and as you can imagine the quality is less than spectacular. This is well over 200 words now so I will end my rant here, but hopefully it gives perspective on where your athletic department decides to send its money. 

[generallygrace-blog1]

Blogify Your Life

The Oscar nominations recently came out and are much more diverse than the past year, which resulted in the trending hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. When the Tony Award nominations came out, being much more diverse in appearance, it caused another hashtag: #TonysSoDiverse. This past theater season brought some much needed attention to diversity within the arts. By now, many people have heard of Hamilton and their non-traditional casting, but it was not the only groundbreaking show on Broadway. Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones starred in the revival of The Gin Game, which is traditionally casted with two white actors, despite there being no allusion to their race in the play. Waitress was the first Broadway musical with a creative team made up fully by women. The revival of Spring Awakening featured a cast of both hearing and deaf actors, as well as the first actor on Broadway to be in a wheelchair. On Your Feet! was based on the life of Gloria Estefan. Allegiance told the story of a Japanese-American family in an internment camp. Eclipsed was the first Broadway show to have both a cast and creative team made up solely of black women.  Diversity in entertainment is such an important topic that is beginning to play a larger role in the discussion, but there is still a long way to go.

[chancedigital-blog]

I guess I could go on a short rant about this indecisive-gameplaying thing we call our weather. I want to wear shorts, t-shirts and chuck taylors. It’s not that I don’t like jeans and hoodies but STOP MAKING ME GO BACK AND FORTH EVERYOTHER DAY. Do you know what kind of hectic stress this puts on me and my closet? Nobody likes to play this games Nebraska. do you need a snickers bar? a nap maybe? because you’re not being yourself right now. do we need to take you to the doctor to get your bi-polarness looked at? whatever the case may be let’s go ahead and get that under control buddy. I like you you know? but this is a problem with me and I’m sure i’m not the only one.