Just recently, I created a recruitment video for the World of Warcraft guild that I am in. I haven’t used Sony Vegas in a long time, so this was a great way for me to get back into video editing. Hopefully, I will be making more videos in the future (even non-gaming ones). Check the video below.

A while back, Hulu started advertising for a new project/web series called “If I Can Dream“. Created by Simon Fuller (American Idol), this project follows the lives of five young aspiring actors, singers, or models, as they continue their journey to becoming successful at their respective crafts. Here’s the kicker: Each of the artists live together in a house with over 60 cameras on them, live streaming 24/7.

With that being said, viewers are able to tune in to the so called “Dream House”, at any point, and watch each artist as they work to become a master at what they are doing. If you’re lucky, you might even catch a crazy party going on or famous celebrity visiting the house and answering questions. Not to mention that, each Tuesday, Hulu releases a brand new episode of the show that basically recaps the events and situations that occurred the previous week or so.

Most people tend to shy away from reality shows because of immature drama or maybe because of how fake things seem. However, IICD is the real deal. What you see is what you get. They don’t purposefully create drama or anything in order to get people to watch the show. It’s all about these people on their journey to make it big in Hollywood.

Why do I watch the show? Several reasons. For one, I love anything that has to do with movies or music. As a bit of a guitar player myself, it’s always cool to watch the musicians on the show (or even on the live stream) play some of their music, have lessons taught by professionals, or play at concerts/gigs. As a mover lover, it can also be interesting to watch the actors practice their monologues or plays while living in the house. Secondly, I always thought it was interesting to see the paths that these people take in order to make it big and become successful. With the show, you get to see a lot of “behind the scenes” type of stuff that you normally wouldn’t see with many actors, musicians, or models today. Additionally, another reason why I enjoy the IICD project, is that the artists on the show are constantly connected with their fans via Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace. Just about every day, the artists will take part in Twitter sessions and answer any questions that their fans tweet in. When famous celebrities (or just well-known people) visit the Dream House, they will also take part in a Twitter session. Not to mention that the artists will also do a live Skype video chat with their fans once a week. Finally, If I Can Dream is a show for just about anyone. If you think you have what it takes, you can even have a chance to be a part of the whole project. Myspace actually holds auditions for the show, so if you wanted, you could submit your own audition video and if the producers and fans like what you’ve brought to the table, you could be a part of it all.

So, if you’re into just about anything to do with entertainment (mostly music for me), then give the show a shot. Hulu has all of the episodes from the start.

It’s finally over. After six long and blissful seasons, ABC’s hit series “Lost” has come to an end, satisfying many while leaving others hungry for more. Many of us will probably still be twitching on Tuesday nights for not getting our Lost fixes.

If you haven’t seen the show or haven’t watched enough of it, please finish the series. Hulu has every episode since the beginning. If you absolutely don’t want to watch it, I suggest watching at least the first three seasons before you make a final decision.

SPOILERS BELOW

So, I’d like to take a minute just sit right there… and share my thoughts on the Lost finale and on the series as a whole.

First of all, Lost truly was an amazing series. The writers and producers of the show really knew how to keep fans hooked and guessing along the way, even from the very first episode. Not to mention they’ve had the ending planned out since the pilot episode. Although not everyone is into this show about a mysterious island and its castaways, I feel that just about anyone would be able to easily connect to the relationships among all characters. Sci-fi elements & theories aside, Lost focused mainly on the relationships and interactions of each character brought to the mysterious island; leading up to the series finale.

I don’t think that I could have asked for a better way to end this series. Having that sort of sideways purgatory world in which the characters didn’t crash on the island and had to connect with the ones who were the most important to them in their lives before being able to “move on” after death was most definitely a beautiful way to end the show. In addition, having all of the major characters being able to move on together in the church (heaven or whatever you make of it) was pure bliss. I’ll admit it — I cried. Maybe a bit more than I should have. But it goes to show how emotionally attached one can become to a show like this. I am glad that the writers decided to focus the series on the actual characters instead of solving all of the mysteries of the island. Sure, there are Lost fanatics out there who are probably nerd-raging because many of their questions about the island weren’t answered (Dharma supply drop, anyone? Walt being “special”?), but that is beside the point. Lost was only as enjoyable as you made it. If you fully embraced the show and became indulged in the lives/relationships of the characters, then it should have been an amazing series.

One of the writers for Lost made a post to sort of clarify the finale and the events leading up to it. In it, he stated:

The conceit that the writers created, basing it off these religious philosophies, was that as a group, the Lostaways subconsciously created this “sideways” world where they exist in purgatory until they are “awakened” and find one another. Once they all find one another, they can then move on and move forward. In essence, this is the show’s concept of the afterlife. According to the show, everyone creates their own “Sideways” purgatory with their “soulmates” throughout their lives and exist there until they all move on together. That’s a beautiful notion. Even if you aren’t religious or even spirtual, the idea that we live AND die together is deeply profound and moving.

It’s a really cool and spirtual concept that fits the whole tone and subtext the show has had from the beginning. These people were SUPPOSED to be together on that plane. They were supposed to live through these events — not JUST because of Jacob. But because that’s what the universe or God (depending on how religious you wish to get) wanted to happen. The show was always about science vs faith — and it ultimately came down on the side of faith. It answered THE core question of the series. The one question that has been at the root of every island mystery, every character backstory, every plot twist. That, by itself, is quite an accomplishment.

It truly was a beautiful notion.

So those are my final thoughts about the series. I haven’t made a blog post since November 2009, but that’s okay. I probably won’t do another one for a year again, but we’ll see. I’m out.

It has been quite a long time since I last updated my blog. Nothing much has been happening, other than the usual school, looking for jobs, and watching shows such as FlashForward, Modern Family, Community, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,  and True Blood. On a side note, I have been playing the new first-person shooter RPG called Borderlands.

As a FPS RPG, I must say that this game delivers. As IGN stated, think Halo 3 mixed with Diablo. The game has several elements that you might see in an MMORPG (such as experience points, plenty of different weapons/upgrades, and quests) while also maintaining a first-person shooter focus and open-world gameplay. Speaking of open-world, the game’s zones are HUGE. Thankfully, you and your friends (or just you) can spawn a vehicle to ride around in as you follow quest indicators, pointing you in the direction of each mission. With a level cap of 50, the game certainly does not feel like a grind. As you level up, you are always entertained by killing a variety of easy and difficult enemies, upgrading weapons and stats, completing quests, defeating difficult zone bosses, or mindlessly driving over enemies with your vehicle. Borderlands is definitely a great time-killer and an all-around enjoyable game.

The Good

- Online co-op (4 players max.)
- Great replay value
- Fantastic combination of RPG and FPS elements
- Huge zones
- Many different styles of play
- TONS of weapons

The Bad

- The loot system is completely random (a white-quality item may be better than a green or blue-quality item)
- Single player may be boring at times (difficulty increases as more players become grouped together)
- You basically have to play through the game twice to reach max. level, as there are two playthroughs.

Overall, I’d give the game an 8.5/10

I have been thinking about this topic here and there just recently. Haven’t dwelled too much on it, but it has been something in the back of my mind for a little while. Basically, I have been thinking about what happens when people die.

Before I share my thoughts on this, I would like you to know that, to put things quite honestly, I am a faithless person. By that, I mean I don’t really follow any sort of religion… I just sort of live life as it is and nothing more. Maybe there’s a religion that believes in that and I just don’t know it, but I digress.

Nevertheless, here are my thoughts:

What if, when we die, there isn’t any sort of afterlife? Maybe there is just life, and life only. For example, if a person were to die, then that would be it. They would just be dead, and nothing more. Their “soul” would not live on in some other world or life. The person’s brain would cease to function and, to that person, it would be as if they never existed. They would be nothing. Of course, their body would still be on the Earth, but if it were you, well, you would not be you. Do you remember life before you were born? Larry King actually came up with an interesting point on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. He mentioned to Conan that, once he dies, he would like to be cryogenically frozen so that if some sort of pill that cures heart disease were to ever be discovered, that pill could be placed in his body and, in essence, he could be brought back to life. Sure, it might seem a little far-fetched. However, you never know if something like that could happen, even if it is well over a thousand years from now.

I guess you could say that I am sort of dwelling on what I think is physically possible. Hell, maybe the reason the universe/earth/life exists today is simply just because it does exist. It was just always there. Maybe I am un-educated and just don’t realize that people have proven otherwise, but you never know.

If you have read this, feel free to post a comment and share your thoughts as well!

For the first time in a very, very long time I actually seem to enjoy taking a class. This class happens to be a college class for English II. I have always liked English classes, though. If I had to pick my favorite class out of any of the general “core” classes that you have throughout all of your educational years in school, I would definitely pick English. Some people hate English with a passion, but the reason why I am liking this specific class is because I find myself enjoying reading the stories or plays that we are assigned to read and then discussing them in class.

In the past, whenever a teacher assigned a story or novel for the whole class to read, it was usually something I wasn’t interested in. For example, Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. However, in this English II college course, I have really enjoyed reading the short stories Everyday Use and A Good Man is Hard to Find. Additionally, I have found that a play called The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, is also an interesting read.

So, there is hope for this English class. Maybe I have become more open-minded, which is why I feel I have enjoyed these sorts of stories. All I know is, this is the first college class I have taken in which I feel I am really getting my money’s worth so far.

After four or so years of playing World of Warcraft, I have finally canceled my account. There are a few reasons for this, but first, I would like to say that I definitely do NOT regret playing the game. Here’s why:

Back in 2004, I was heavily into online gaming, specifically with first-person shooters. I was into a game called America’s Army and I even competed in e-tournaments and matches with the fellows who I gamed with. However, many of the people from the “clan”, or team of gamers, I was in stopped playing. It was time for something new. One person that I knew from America’s Army was playing a lot of this game called World of Warcraft. Eventually, I asked him about it and he got me pretty interested. Thus begun my path to WoW.

But what really intrigued me about WoW was the fact that you could control your own personal character, gain levels, upgrade your armor, and play with a whole community of gamers who shared the same interests as you. So, over the years of playing WoW, I began to develop friendly relationships with people from my “guild” (the role-playing game term for “clan”). Of course, just like any situation in real life, there are also people out there who are complete jerks that you try to avoid. With that being said, WoW does have its times when drama unfolds and you have to deal with certain unsettling situations. However, WoW definitely did have its up-sides. I have met many nice and respectful people in the game, whom I would never have met, had I not played the game in the first place. I’m talking about the kinds of people you can chat with for hours on Ventrilo (voice communication software) late at night while playing WoW and just having an overall blast. Not to mention, I have had the opportunity to meet some of the people who I gamed with outside of the World of Warcraft and have had the chance to hang out with them in the real world.

A lot of people think that just because somebody plays or has played WoW, it means that they “have no life” or they do poorly in school and whatnot. I can totally prove that wrong. For starters, I have always maintained good grades throughout school and up to this point in college, regardless of what hobbies I was doing. During middle school, I used to race BMX and I still kept good grades. During high school, I played boys volleyball and still maintained good grades. On top of all that, I would fit in time for World of Warcraft as well. Even now in college, I’ve been getting good grades while having time for WoW. People also say that college is the perfect time to play WoW, but I personally don’t think it matters, as long as you can control yourself and not let WoW get in the way of the more important things in real life. Additionally, I’ve still been able to enjoy myself with friends and family. If the opportunity arose to hang out with my buddies, I would go for it over WoW any day. And sure, there are people out there who do absolutely nothing but play WoW (some even do it as their job) and let it get in the way of important real-life activites that should be taken care of beforehand. But people like those have not mastered the ability to control thier actions and have more than likely created a physical impediment to their health and overall well-being.

The main reason I have canceled my WoW account is simply because I have grown tired of the game and all of it felt like one big, repetitive “grind”. It’s in human nature to not do something forever, so now it is my time to look for something new and fresh to keep me busy. Whether it be another video game, some sort of real life activity (hopefully a job, but those are quite hard to get at the moment), or anything else. I’ve had this idea churning in the back of my head to become a pro gamer and compete  at local tournaments and whatnot, or even develop a new website that would hopefully become popular and well-known on the web. Maybe now is a good time to start those paths, but who knows?

Didn’t expect that I would write this much, but it gets the point across. To put it simply, I’ve become bored of World of Warcraft but I definitely do not regret playing it. The best thing for me to do right now is to just live in the moment and see what comes next.

-Shaun

Lens flares galore

I have re-created the new Star Trek movie!

Lens flares aside, the movie was really good. It had some nice classic moments and I guess the lens flares did add some uniqueness and glorification to the film. Considering I am a non-trekkie, I’d say the movie was still worth the $8.00 I spent on Cookie Dough and a Mr. Pibb. The movie does, however, make me want to find the old episodes and watch from the beginning. Maybe not every episode (considering there are so many), but it’d be cool to go back and learn some more of the story behind it all. Hulu seems to have some handy links to watch full episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series at cbs.com

After I finish season two of Life, I know what I’ll be doing next!

Haven’t you heard about the word? Everybody’s heard about the word!

I have been contemplating switching to WordPress for quite some time, and now I have finally made the move. So far, I’m enjoying it. It is definitely going to make sharing my thoughts a lot easier.

So, feel free to check back here every once in a while if you enjoy my random thoughts (mostly geeky stuff) and bear with me while I test out some different themes from time to time.