RyanHarne.com

Life is so different at home. School provides an endless resource of people to hang out with, talk to, and just generally interact with. That keeps you/me on your/my toes. At home, at least this town, I feel somewhat isolated from others and so less interaction, especially on a mass level, occurs leaving me feeling more bored. I guess that’s a natural tendency, though, when you live in such a town as this. Oh well.

Friday we went back to Blacksburg for my brother’s graduation. That was fun. The speeches were just as bland, tasteless, and void of heart as the Grinch in his midnight parade. But we cheered and took pictures when they called my brother’s name. Post-grad was Fuddruckers; some excitement indeed. I actually ate a burger. It was good.

It’s encouraging to see AOL, the world’s largest attempt at monopolization (remember AOL Time Warner [aka internet-magazine-news-movies-cable conglomerate]), team up with iTunes and Apple to bring music to needy listeners. It’s good to see AOL’s music service die off and have them embrace the sure-fire winner of digital music distribution. Although, it will be funny to watch the millions of AOL dial-up users sit in anticipation as their download of any given song takes 10 minutes +.

And more Apple points of interest. I have thus far seen two MP3 player advertisements (in written media) that directly challenge the iPod by name…and specs. The first one was by Creative Labs. Their 40GB model claims the same specs as the iPod except for dimensions and it’s apparently extravagant advancement over the iPod in that the iPod ‘doesn’t even play WMA format files.’ Now that is a vague warrant for the masses indeed. Anyone who still uses WMA format media is below the point of no return. I’m sorry. And the second ad I saw was for the Dell DJ. Admittedly they tried their best to match the style of the best-selling iPod (I can’t say I blame them), that was obvious. But both ads point out two things clearly. Of course the competitors have lower prices on their models, but would you rather buy a Kia or a Honda? a Volkswagen or an Audi? The difference is clear, the more you pay, the better quality you get. And in the case of the iPod, the more you pay reaps exponential benefits. The other things these ads point out is the size of their models versus the iPod. I’m surprised they even bring up that point because both models were significantly larger and heavier than the iPod. Oh well. This is a free market.

Also my father installed a new fan in a certain bathroom in our house. The intense rate and thunderous sound that it creates constantly assures me that it is reducing the risk of spontaneous asphyxiation for my valuable safety.

Tomorrow looks to be exciting just like the rest of the week. Exciting it is.

Much to summarize in just a few minutes. This shall be my summary.

After my chem final I plurged into the great remains of my dining plan to buy myself a steak lunch/dinner with some sides and a dessert and then a smoothie. That was one of the most well-received meals of all time for me. Exams are/were over. For this semester. So I enjoyed that much.

Next, a group of us went to the NRV mall theaters to watch Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King. I was very much anticipating this film as I should because the first two, in my humble opinion, were quite impressive. Although my humble opinion didn’t think the first two deserved the galactic success that they received, but they were still top-of-the-line films for the time being. Regardless, I couldn’t wait to see how this ended, because admittedly I have not read the books ::wound me please::. So as the opening music and myst began to settle I was very excited. By the end of the movie I was amazed. That can honestly be one of the best films I have ever seen. And I am very critical (aka ‘delightfully anal’) in my critique of movies and music. The cinematography was very nice, and the cg so much better than the first two. I’m glad they wrapped up every single plot instead of just the ‘getting-rid-of-the-ring’ plot. Very impressive. Everyone must see this movie….after having seen the first two. It’s worth it. Worth $6.75 to me.

Then I proceeded on home for break today. Exciting.

Tonight I hung out at BestBuy and B&N looking for potential Christmas presents. I did find some. ::sly grin::

I ran into Karl, Matt, and Conor at B&N as well. We talked for quite a while, the store ended up closing on us…and then we loitered for a short period. I could have easily connotated [see below] nearly all of our conversations as hilarity, but I only Clie’d a few lines of it. It was very nice to see these guys again and find out about college antics that I have not yet heard. Good times all around.

So as my connotations somewhat says below I have my brother’s graduation to attend yesterday…er..tomorrow, so I will get my bad self to bed. It’s good to be on break. It is good.

“Quick! Get in the car! There’s no time to explain.” - Matt Grach-man pulling up to Karl as we were leaving B&N

“I need to go because my brother’s graduation is yesterday.” - me explaining why I should get a move on tonight

Taking a quick break from over 3 hours of straight studying I thought it would be interesting to do a survey that I first noticed on Rianna’s blog. So thanks to Rianna for this one. It’s about music.

1. Favorite Album Cover Art? Abbey Road continues to amaze me, but I fervently enjoy the John Mayer Heavier Things lyric book

2. What albums(s) do you own in more than one format? DCTalk Nu Thang, I listened to it thousands of times as a kid and I decided to get it in digital as well

3. Analog or Digital? digital, but preferably m4p or mp3 because I only use cds when I listened to stuff through my hi-fi theater at home

5. What albums of your parents did you borrow or steal? absolutely nothing

6. Secret guilty pleasure album? I don’t have a guilty, per se, album although I do own the t.A.T.u. cd which some people think is weird…I dunno, I like it

7. Favorite movie soundtrack? I love the music in About A Boy and in O Brother, Where Art Thou?; great stuff

8. Favorite compilation album? Christmas compilations tend to be the best, but some soundtracks like Kill Bill Vol. 1 have a great mix as well, I can’t really say anything genuinely for this question

9. What do you drink when you listen to _____ ? coffee or Fresca - Norah Jones

10. Top 3 on your wishlist? Frank Sinatra complete works, Daniel Bedingfield (the actual cd), and probably Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me

11. Favorite place to buy music? Best Buy, Target, or the used cd thing at New Life Christian Bookstores because people get rid of the most amazing music and then I buy it for nothing change (like when I bought The Art and Craft of Popular Music: 1994-2002 by Joy Electric for $5 !!!)

12. First concert? word…DCTalk Jesus Freak Tour, that was super fun

13. Best concert ever? Steven Curtis Chapman Declaration Tour was great, I love easy listening concerts, although my second fav is likely Five Iron Frenzy at Creation 2002.

14. Favorite venue? never been to one, yes I am a horrible person

15. Farthest you’ve traveled for a show? 8 hours

16. Favorite crooner? ::had to look up the word:: definitely Sinatra and Norah Jones

17. Favorite musical decade? 50s-60s, hands down

18. Favorite label? Epic [The Juliana Theory]

19. You’re the DJ at a small party of close friends. What do you play? although my past dj-ing experiences included lots of rock that you can’t quite dance to, if I had a second chance and a second crowd I would go with good club/hall dance stuff and ska/swing

20. What do you listen to when you are getting ready to go out on the town? Daniel Bedingfield and Ben Kweller and Something Corporate

20 1/2. When you first wake up? Caedmon’s Call or The Beatles

21. Favorite cover song? DCTalk “Help” cover of The Beatles hit, I only found out it was a cover last year

24. Favorite box set? don’t actually have a box set, but I really enjoy that Joy Electric 2-disc set I mentioned earlier

25. How do you usually discover new music? friends, specifically Adam, Abigail, Jeremiah, and Rianna

26. Best road trip sing-along album? ironically enough All Star United’s International Anthems for the Human Race, if you sort the tracks correctly enough you start off with a great rock song and end with “Thank You, Goodnight”

Ok, I’m not linking any of that because I’m ridiculously not wanting to. Yeah.

Music is cool. the end.

I’m also working on a new design. Although this one may take a while. wOOt!

After having begun my great appreciation for The Beatles, I watched I Am Sam to enjoy a film heavily influenced by the group. Such an amazing film and worthy of wasting a box of tissues on. Plus the entire soundtrack (often heard lightly in the background accordingly) is completely composed of Beatles cover songs and there is Starbucks! The world is a great place with good music and conglomerate coffees.

In my readings for Comm, I have been looking over an essay written by Robin Andersen that exposes the contradicting nature of SUV advertising. She also details how this advertising easily allows us to justify our purchases of these inefficient and extraneous machines. The author points out that nearly all SUV advertisements include scenes of a wild and fresh nature with animals in abundance. Nissan and Jeep and Land Rover have all used the deserts or stampedes of Africa to set their commercials in. Showing an untouched and unscathed nature unconsciously allows a future consumer to find peace with their purchase. Then there is the fact that approximately 13% of SUV owners actually ever go off-road. Oh well, I’m not in the mood for a soapbox, but I thought I’d share a bit.

And we caught Saddam! Happy day. The efforts in Iraq are even more of a success. Good times.

Ok, now I must begin a long day of studying for Honors Vector Geo and Comm tomorrow. Really fun. Fun.

It is now post-my-first-two-exams. I am exhausted/winded/pooped. I had my EF and Integral Calculus finals tonight. I think I did rather well for EF but made at least one really stupid mistake and I’m happy with my performance with 1206. But right now my head hurts ::headache:: and I just don’t feel like doing anything.

That was the most intense 4 hours of my life. But I have 8 more, equally tiring hours ahead of me. And that’s not including studying.

I am definitely pooped. Time for some zoning out. awright.