Of Miles Rausch

You’re bored. You need something to watch, most of which is work friendly (assuming watching any sort of internet video is “work friendly”), and you’ve always been a fan of the indomitable spirit and creativity of student filmakers. And, just maybe, you feel like watching a boyfriend, family member, co-worker, or aquaintance at the same time.

Boy. Do I have your number. I mean website.

You can watch Driven To Distraction. This site, Studenfilms.com, recently asked for films containing the theme of “the road”. Now, our film never ever centered around the road, but we managed to put it in. Some call it after-thought; others call it a genesis. In any case, you can watch all 16 films and see for yourself.

Anyone is allowed to comment / review the films on the site, so feel free to watch the other videos and to review as many as your heart desires. Go and give us stars. We need them to power our scooters or victory.

The film submitters will then submit our top 3 and suggest awards for Best Director, Best Screenwriter, etc…

So. Go waste time.

I hope you all got to see my less than spectacular 4th of July stylesheet. If you didn’t, and want to, and have Firefox, just go to “View > Page Style > 4th” to see it.

Also, I’ve been messing with the Google Maps API. What has it weilded? Well, just Awayken > Maps. It doesn’t really do anything. It’s all informational, but I hope to integrate Google Maps into other aspects of my site. We’ll see. I’m still playing around with it.

So, I had this weird dream last night.

Lorelai Gilmore was in a home for the mentally insane. She wasn’t insane, she was pretending in order to escape prosecution. But she keeps breaking character. At one point, she was in the car garage twirling a basketball on her finger, when it flew off and shattered a windshield.

The key to keeping people sure that she was insane (or at least to keeping her in the insane asylum) was a TV commercial. The point of the commercial was for Lorelai to convince people that Rob Corddry is an alien.

The biggest problem is that Lorelai doesn’t take it very seriously, and Rob is really grumpy, though the flesh-colored antennae that we put on his bald head does look pretty boss. I’m not sure if I was in the dream or not. I think I just looked on, but I might have been involved in the commercial production.

Weird. At least Rachel Ray wasn’t there. That would have made it a nightmare.

Ohhh, I’m sooo mad…

Today in Madison (SD) there was a group of 20-something year olds and they were going door to door selling magazine subscriptions from Atlantic Circulation, Inc. I decided to buy one for my dear mother. I was lerie at first because he was so persuasive and talked really fast. He claimed to be going on a trip to Europe and needed so many points to go by this weekend. He got so many points because I was a college student and that I was buying a gift (none of these points were typed, but handwritten on a card). He also mentioned he was going through 5 states in so many days. He was extremely friendly and asked to come into our house to write the order out. He seemed really hurried. I wrote out a check for $50 and he said something (which we couldn’t understand cuz he talked too fast) and hopped into a red minivan and left in a hurry.

After he left I had a sinking feeling in my gut that I had just been had.

I looked the company up online later and found a long list of complaints against them. Some of the complaints were not getting the full subscription, receiving them late, not being able to get the check returned after cancelling, etc.

I am in the process of cancelling my transaction as we speak.

Please DO NOT BUY ANYTHING from these people!!! They may be legit, but I’m going with my gut feeling. If you do buy and wish to cancel the order, make a copy of the slip before you send it off. I’m not taking chances (again).

Thanks for reading this. Send this to everyone you know.

Love,

Holly

Have you seen this? Have you heard about this? Apple has released iTunes 4.9. The biggest new feature to this release of iTunes is that it now supports podcasting.

A podcast is…

a method of publishing files to the internet, often allowing users to subscribe to a feed and receive new files automatically.

Now, I used to be a huge fan of Winamp. Then AOL got involved, cut the project (more or less), alienated all the talented programmers, and left us a with a floatsam project. So, I began looking for an alternative. iTunes has a lot of features that I really really like. I have way way way too many Smart Playlists. It’s like a database system of music. What I don’t like is how slow iTunes is in Windows.

Then I got into this podcasting thing. Basically, it’s free online radio shows that you download. I used to just download them on my own. Then I could mix them into my playlist on my iPod shuffle, putting nice musical breaks in between the radio shows.

Then iTunes added podcast support. You can go the iTunes Music Store and browse their podcast directory and get any number of podcasts listed there, for free. It’s great and you don’t even need an iPod to enjoy it. They play right in the player. I found all the ones that I was already listening to, plus I picked up some new ones. I put them on my iPod and got ready to listen.

Apparently, my shuffle just HATES to keep my playlist in order when podcasts are around. Clump all the podcasts together, and then play everything that is left over.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

That is what I wanted to avoid! Now, maybe I just have to figure it out, or maybe they’ll fix that, or maybe it’s only temporary, but I find it really really frustrating. Why would I want to listen to 4 Dateline shows in a row??? What kind of idiot is running this show??

I’m going to get burned out on The Dismemberment Plan – Ice of Boston. It is currently my top song. And, I just now read that the band has broken up. Great. If you haven’t, start listening to The Secret Handshake. Now.

So, today I’m a little irritated. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the shows I listen to, but I might have to just shuffle this stuff next time.

Last night I baked cookies. I didn’t realize how many cookies you can make in one of those packages. I guess I really didn’t need to purchase four of them. I made chocolate chip and peanut butter. The hardest part was gauging how long to bake them for. I undershot at first. The second hardest part was figuring out how big to make the little clumps. So, the chocolate chip cookies are a little undercooked and big. That’s what you get for going first, stupid!

Ok, that was harsh. I’m sorry.

So, it’s finally cooled off, eh? I can actually sleep at night.

Pay day!

Did you love X-Men (imdb) and X2: X-Men United (imdb)? Well, prepare to vomit all through X3. Why? Well, Brian Singer will not be directing it. Brett Ratner will be instead. From what I’ve read, this is entirely the wrong guy for this movie, and Fox is entirely the wrong studio for this movie. The management is a large reason why Singer left Fox studios, although this website paints a different story. And now there is a petition to stop Brett Ratner.

Road to Morocco

Bob Hope: Well, this is a much better than that other idea you had. I can’t believe you wanted to cut open a horse and put me inside. Imagine what I would look like inside a horse.
Bing Crosby and Bob Hope: About the same.

I’ve also started work on my own indie film. It’s called Grit. Right now it is in pre-production. I’ve set up a page on Backpack It! that I will try to keep updated regularly. I should, in the future, set up my own Awayken.com site for Grit and for other indie films that I’ve been in or been involved with. I don’t think I can go too far with hosting the files (we’ll see), but I can have screenshots and other things. There are a lot of things I want to eventually put up on my website. So little time…

Q: How many SS officers does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Ve are asking za questions here.

I built a cake for Megan’s birthday. Then I made brownies (with fudge swirls). My next endeavor: cookies. I’m trying this whole cooking thing. I finally have a nice assortment of kitchen utensils, pots, and pans allowing me to grab a nice range of recipes and crank out some food. I’ve been watching The Food Network. There’s a show on at 5:00pm weekdays called 30 Minute Meals. The plus side of this show is that she shows you how to make a great meal in only 30 minutes. The minus side of this show is that I find her so annoying that I have to watch it on mute. Next time, I’ll add Closed Captioning.

Tonight I made Lemon Chicken Stir Fry, which was really really good. I added celery, pea pods, water chesnuts, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots for veggies. It was a recipe on the back of one of those Kikkoman flavor packets. I did a tiny bit of ad libbing on the veggies, but it turned out great. Some I’ll be cooking real meals more and more often.

Paper or Plastic?

Grissom: Hey, Jim. Did you know that Charles Manson was only 5 foot 2?
Brass: Little guys tend to over-compensate.
Grissom: Do you remember that story about how the police found Manson at his ranch?
Brass (draws gun): Yeah. I, uh, always liked that story.
The two men pull back a tablecloth to reveal a little boy with blood on his head.
Grissom: We need a medic!

This week is devoted to finding an apartment. And, after I find one, I shall purchase it. Or, simply rent it. Then I have to move all my stuff over. *sigh* I hate moving.

We, John.com and I, rearranged our office today. And our air conditioner is fixed. And Tom informed us that we’ll be moving at some point and time. We rearranged after hearing our news of moving (which makes us look dumb), but there really is something to Feng Shui.

Space Conflict

Frylock: You guys couldn’t take over a damn bowl of jello.
Emery: Hey, is that, like, an important place or something?
Oglethorpe: Where is it?!

That’s classic. They don’t even know what jello is. Hell, four-year-olds know what jello is. And when we harness the power of their brains, so will we.

So will we.

Ready for a real relationship? Ditch the pretty boys and grab yourself a geek

By TRACEY LOMRANTZ

Christina Aguilera recently traded in piercings for petticoats, apparently making the usual Marilyn Monroe morph. But there’s more than meets the eye: Sure, she’s blond, buxom and sweet-voiced now, but she’s also emulating the classic bombshell in matters of the heart.

You see, Aguilera’s fiance, like Monroe’s husband, playwright Arthur Miller, is kind of a geek.

When Aguilera announced her engagement to smarty-pants music executive Jordan Bratman in February, the 24-year-old pop star demonstrated a tried-and-true dating trick. Geeks have got the goods. Bratman, with his scrawny frame and oversize ears, has mastered the music industry at just 26 and is Romeo enough to have stolen Aguilera’s heart (as well as inspired her new demure-coquette look).

“A nerd is an excellent provider and a guy who puts you first,” says E. Jean Carroll, Elle magazine’s love and sex advice columnist. “He’ll turn out to be a great father and a great husband.”

And, she insists that a woman who is willing to stick it out with a nerd and get past his quirks will be handsomely rewarded. “Don’t give up on him too fast,” she said. “If you stick with him, he’s going to turn out to be really great.”

If Hollywood is any indication, then yes, he will. This month, reality TV celebrates geek love with two shows: Ashton Kutcher’s “Beauty and the Geek,” which pairs braniacs with bimbos for a “social experiment,” and the latest installment of “Average Joe,” in which a pretty girl woos not-so-studly dudes (airing on June 22).

On Fox’s “The O.C.,” the nerdy Seth Cohen (played by Adam Brody) didn’t just land the adorable Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson) on TV – he managed to get the girl in real life, too. Bilson (and her character) managed to look past the slicked-down hair to find the witty guy beneath. Cohen’s obsession with comic books? Her character deems it sweet. Brody’s nasal drawl? Bilson doesn’t seem to mind.

How can a savvy girl land a geek of her own? Spencer Koppel, a self-proclaimed geek who attends crossword-puzzle tournaments on weekends, has made it easy for girls with their eye on the prize with his “Geek to Geek” dating service, www.gk2gk.com.

Members can meet and select a perfect mate (guys with screen names like “thinkspecs” and “ivygrad”) based on favorite board game and gadget instead of eye color, height and other categories the nerds might be lacking.

And according to Koppel, the pool is stocked with supreme sci-fi fans and accomplished intellects.

“I think geeks are more successful. They’re happier in the work they do,” Koppel said. “And they’re pretty faithful people, because they’re certainly grateful for anything they have.”

When it comes to the between-the-sheets aspect of the relationship, Carroll agreed that a girl couldn’t do much better than a less-than-perfect male specimen. “We’ve all been to bed with the guy who is worried about what he looks like, checking the mirror before he gets in bed,” she said. “The nerd, gloriously, stunningly, perfectly, is into the woman. That right there is very stirring, sexually.”

Tiger’s purr-fect

It seems to be enough for the likes of goddess models and Hollywood A-listers. Tiger Woods has a geek-like drive for a stodgy sport, a fat bank account and Swedish model Elin Nordegren on his arm. David Arquette may not have the body of a Greek god, but he managed to land sexy former Friend Courteney Cox with his goofy humor and mismatched wardrobe.

For Scott Dennis, a 34-year-old teacher from Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, “geek” and “good guy” are synonymous – and he is both. Although some aspects of his personality make him what he called a “quintessential babe magnet” (former jock, drummer in a rock band), the real qualities that helped him land his girlfriend are the geeky ones.

“Do I know the difference between a knight and a pawn? Certainly,” he says. “Am I familiar with the Four Move Checkmate? Well, maybe I am. … But the truth is I’m a decent guy with diverse interests who actually offers authenticity in his relationships.”

But to get to that authentic nerd, chic women have to be willing to embrace their own inner geek and accept the guy for who he is, chess trophies and all. The caveat to mating with a geek, as some dating experts see it, is coming to terms with his less-than-studly looks and less-than-suave demeanor. All thoughts of embarrassment have to go out the window.

Andrea Lavinthal, who co-authored (with Jessica Rozler) “The Hookup Handbook,” a young woman’s guide to navigating the waters of singlehood, says that being sure of your choice of guy is first and foremost.

“Girls tend to worry about what their friends are going to think,” she said, “and you have to get over it. You can’t always be making excuses and apologies. Give him the respect he deserves, and don’t always be assuming you’re better than him.”

She also said that not all girls are ready for a full-on geek relationship right from the start. Her book has a chapter devoted to “The Snufalufagus Hookup,” the one that every girl wishes her friends didn’t know about, and that she at first tries to deny happened. “In many ways, it’s the first foray into the nerdy guy thing,” Lavinthal said. “You’re attracted to him because he doesn’t screw around. Sure, it’s fun to make out with the hot bartender, but you’re not going to marry him.”

Not falling for the fakes

Koppel, however, warns that unserious girls who prowl his site looking for a breadwinner should use caution – his members may be geeky, but they sure aren’t stupid. “I think geeks are intelligent enough to be wary of the idea that an attractive woman is interested in them,” he said. “They aren’t as drawn to beauty as they are to intelligence, and wouldn’t just accept a ditz.”

It takes the right kind of girl to love a nerd. Kate Hammer, an NYU student, said she’s just that kind of girl. “I have been snagged by nerd charms,” she said.

“My ex and I bonded over ‘Star Trek,’ and on our first date at an amusement park, my current boyfriend impressed me with his intricate understanding of the physics of roller coasters. He’s a mechanical engineer.”

For a modern girl who is far from ditzy, the geek could be the mate who brings security and a load of eclectic interests to the relationship. Even the once-naughty Aguilera managed to find a guy who defines devotion and doesn’t compete to be the sexiest one in the relationship. Clearly, it’s what a girl wants.

Originally published on June 9, 2005 here.

Radiohead have broken the silence over their new album. Thom Yorke has told nme.com sessions for their new album remind him of working on “Kid A”. The band recently regrouped to start rehearsing and recording new songs for the follow-up to 2003’s “Hail To The Thief”.

The album, not due until next year, will be the band’s seventh. Thom said that early sessions had seen the band changing the way they work, reminding him of the change between 1997 LP “OK Computer” and “Kid A”. He said: “It’s going well. It’s a bit like “Kid A” – we’re going through a period of change. But that’s good. We’ll get there”. [thanks Ivan]

View the actual article on ateaseweb.

Raise your hand if you saw the season finale of CSI.

The typical CSI season ends at episode 23. This season, season 5, the producers decided to extend the season to 25 episodes. They then combined these two into one two-hour episode called “Grave Danger” which was guest directed by Quentin Tarantino.

This was a fantastic ending to a fantastic show and a fantastic season. Everyone outdid themselves with this production. Unfortunately, the finale aired as I was stuck in an airport in Houstan so, to watch it, I had to *eek* download it.

That same night was The O.C. season finale. Raise your hand if you watch The O.C. Now, this isn’t a show that ever thought I would get into. Megan is a huge fan of it, and all her friends are, too. So, she got me to watch a couple of episodes in exchange for her sitting through The West Wing. She doesn’t really have the attention span for West Wing, but I began to get interested in The O.C. One of the impressive things about the show is the spattering of indie music. The band Death Cab for Cutie has even made a few guest appearances as a favorite band of one of the main characters.

So, using the music as an indicator or quality television programming (see Real World versus Road Rules: The Inferno II) I gave the show a chance. I’ve come to enjoy it. So, naturally, since both Megan and I missed out on the season finale for CSI, I *eek* downloaded that season finale, too.

This one wasn’t two hours long or directed by a major screen legend, but it had plenty of emotion and turns. A major character has just died. There’s a funeral. There’s one of his daughters (a mom and wife) who is letting her drinking take over her life. There’s a father who wants to come back into his ex-wife and daughter’s life. There’s a brother who gets mixed up with a drug-dealing high school nympho and agrees to help her with a drug purchase at the bar where he works. There’s a brother who knows that something happened between his brother and his girlfriend but neither of them are talking, so he asks his brother to leave for good. There’s an intervention for the alcholic mom. There’s a confession from the girlfriend to her best friend who confesses to her boyfriend who is the brother’s adopted brother and friend who then tells the brother who then goes to confront his actual brother. That brother has a history of violence, and everyone knows this won’t go well.

Ryan (the violent brother) is driving to confront Trey (his biological brother who tried to rape Ryan’s girlfriend) because he knows about the attempted rape. Seth (Megan’s favorite character – the sarcastic, witty, funny, indie music lover (not unlike a certain Awayken.com writer)) calls Marissa (the girlfriend) in hopes that she can stop Ryan before he gets to Trey’s, since she lives closer. Seth tells Marissa that Summer (Seth’s girlfriend) told him what happened.

Ryan and Trey fight. Marissa shows up. Trey is beating Ryan to a pulp. The Marissa finds the gun that Trey had at the drug deal. Screaming at him, trying to save su amor she shoots Trey. It is too late, as Seth and Summer burst in. Trey collapses. Ryan lays there. The episode ends.

Now, that was a pretty intense ending to an already intense episode. So, how will the next season begin? One word – CSI. Someone has to investigate the crime scene, right? Obviously the entire Las Vegas team couldn’t show up, but maybe Grissom has family in the area. Cue: CSI spinoff in California. CSI: San Franscisco. They almost did it in the Eli episode where Brass drove down to there to save his daughter and find her friend. Why not? Sarah’s from San Fran.

Just think about the possibilities. Just think…

How’s this for random.

Yesterday, while conditioning my hair, I decided that my conditioner smells like lobster dipped in melted butter.

Today I decided that it was melted garlic butter.

I’ve been working on a little sub page. Right now you can find it at awayken.com/time. What is it? Well, using the current time in Madison, and the sunrise and sunset times, this page will move the little sun in an arc from left to right. And, the sky will change colors as it gets closer to sunset and further from sunrise. I hope to include the moon, too, but that math proves to be a bit trickier (stupid midnight).

I’m also working on a plugin for iTunes. Winamp5 debuted with a popup notifier telling you what current song is playing (in its modern skins). Most all chat programs have one, email clients have them, even some webpages have them. Now I want to give one to iTunes. There is a very cool program for the Mac called Growl which actually does a lot more than just iTunes notifying. My goal is to make it as pretty as Growl. We’ll see. I’ve made successive steps (and I’m learning C# as I go) and I have some good online resources to consult.

If you haven’t, check out the AIM Beta. And Yahoo! Messenger has a Beta out also. It’s not as impressive as the AIM beta, but it has some nice additions to it. Seriously, AIM Beta. Then, chat with someone, and smile. It’s awesome.

Hey Guys.

Ok. I’m back from Costa Rica. It was a rewarding experience where I learned a lot about the Spanish language, the Costa Rican culture, and how many insect bites my body can handle. I hope to see have a digitized version of my trip (and thoughts and pictures) online in the near future. Right now I have about 30 projects I’m trying to get going (for better or worse) and hopefully I’ll get them all done.

First off – washing the dishes.

Of course, the trip wasn’t without its costs. My bank account is reeling from my expenditures, and I’ll have to take these next months carefully. No Vegas gambling spree for me.

The site theme you are viewing is called La Nacion, which is a national newspaper in Costa Rica. You can view La Nacion Online, but I patterned this style off of the actual newspaper (not the web portal). It’s really simple – a huge change from the effects / graphics intense “Hillside” style that you just got down watching.

In any case, I just wanted to say “Hi” again, let you know that I’m not dead and that I haven’t forgotten you.