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June 30, 2004
Big News Update
With so many things going on right now, I thought it would be best if I just wrote up a large update, to inform the many masses that read my blog.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Today was the deadline for the new poster contest for the second "Resident Evil" movie. Sony Pictures gave anyone access to over 70 promotional shots and photos from the movie for you to design a movie poster. You could enter up to three designs for the contest, with judges selecting their top five. Once those are selected, the five are then voted on by the internet public. The winner from that vote has his/her poster become the actual movie poster. I was a big fan of the first movie, so I was very excited to enter this contest. My entries are below:
KC Downtown Stadium
Today the new redesign of kcdowntownstadiumnow.com was unveiled. I really believe in this effort and think it to be a vital part of KC's downtown rebuilding effort. Scott Murdock and I completed the design early this week, and hopefully it will give the effort the credibility that it deserves.
Tonight, Aaron and Bev's band played at The Brick. I didn't attend the show, but I know that their band is very super incredible, and that if you ever get the chance to see them play, you need to. Also in New Tragedies news, there's a nice article about Aaron online at rockkansas.com, go check it out.
Softball
We're 4-2 now, yay us! Tonight we blasted our opponent 24-5, or something like that. Highlight of the game for me, zero errors and gunning someone out at home. Heh, what a sucker.
"Mortal Kombat" the Movie
This is a very silly movie.
Posted by Seth at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2004
Gave Blood, Got Good News
On May 27, I gave blood during work to benefit a co-worker of mine's mother - who died from cancer the year before. Kansas City, much like many other cities in this country, is in constant need of blood and they just love it when I roll through. Being an O-Negative is nice and I'm glad that I can contribute.
When giving blood through the Community Blood Center, they screen your Chlesterol levels as well. When I gave blood the first time in 2000, my Cholesterol was 136. By January 2002, it had increased to 155. January of last year saw a slight decrease to 144. I figured that my figure from this year would be around the same number. I was surprised to find out today that it's lower. Substantially lower. 119, to be exact.
I'm a little less than shocked, but still happy. I don't know how it's this low, but on the form that the results came on, it says the following:
Many factors can affect your total cholesterol reading which can very as much as 15% daily...
Fair enough. But 15% of my highest (155) is only around 23.5 points, which puts me in the 130 range. So, I'm thinking that my average is around 130, give or take 20 points. I know little history of my family and heart problems and I'm very pleased to know that my cholesterol is a-okay.
Posted by Seth at 06:01 PM | Comments (0)
June 26, 2004
One Night Stand = Fun
Last year I sat and watched a one night stand happen. This year, I participated in one. On Saturday, June 19, me, Aaron, Bev, Matt, and Brett competed in the Kansas City Independent Film Chapter "One Night Stand." The premise, your team has 10 hours to write, film, and edit a five-minute (or less) film based on the provided theme and an object.
This year's theme was "when it rains, it pours," and the object was "valuable information." We met up on Friday night to brainstorm ideas for Saturday's competition, the only catch was we didn't know the theme until that next morning. Once we had the theme, we brainstormed for an extra hour and derived our film's idea.
We spent the rest of the day running around Kansas City filming our movie. When it was all said and done, we completely ran out of time and had much more footage than we could handle. At 7:00 we turned in our film and stuck around to watch the other teams' entries.
When the night was over, we didn't walk out with any prize, but we had a lot of fun. And soon, I'll put our film online so you can all enjoy it. I can't wait until my next One Night Stand.
Posted by Seth at 06:59 PM | Comments (0)
June 23, 2004
What Do YOU Think?
As of now, not only can you read and enjoy my posts, but you can also comment on them as well! That's right, down below the post, where the date and time are listed is now a link to the comments page. Click that link and leave me a comment on my latest post (or even some of the older ones). It'll ask you to sign in, but if you don't have a Blogger account, don't sweat it, you can post anonymously (just make sure to sign your name within the comment - so I know who it is). Feel free to say whatever, but also know that I can delete whatever you write... this is MY blog, after all.
Okay, that's all I got. Toodles!
Posted by Seth at 03:47 PM | Comments (3)
June 18, 2004
ATP = ATMe
More and more, as of late, I've been assigned to do Art Direction on certain projects. My most recent work was to provide a new design for the ATP web site - www.atptennis.com. I took the task, not quite sure why I was given this chance, but it sure did pay off!!!
Almost three weeks ago, I was informed that my design was chosen and will be the new look and feel of the ATP web site! I was very excited and thankful. I met the clients this week and officially turned the design over to their team for cutting up and made into an actual site.
Wow. Yay me!
If you want to see the work, go here and look at the most current Concept B images: http://winstage.vml.com/atp/tnaotp1000104/
Posted by Seth at 07:24 PM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2004
Third Time's a Charm?
Things come in threes, right? Three blind mice. Three Stooges. 311. And now the latest "three" is the Harry Potter movie franchise. Two weeks ago, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was released in theatres and quickly made tons and tons of money. Not only was it monetarily successful, but it garnered many positive reactions from movie critics.
I'm a BIG Harry Potter Fan, so needless to say, I was VERY excited about this movie. On Monday night, I decided to go ahead and see it. My reactions were mixed, as you can see below.
On the positive side:
- Effects
This movie has some of the best computer-generated effects I've ever seen. In the first two movies, there were many times when I was not impressed at all with what they were trying to accomplish. The hippogriff is by far one of the best creatures I've ever seen made into a movie and it's only going to get better from here. - Story
Of the three films/books, this is by far the best storyline yet. We're finally getting into the meat of Harry's past and setting up things to come. Very dark, very emotion-filled. - Actors
At one time I was worried about the aging of the kids, upset that they may age too quickly for the franchise. That's clearly not the case anymore. I think rumors were that they would replace the kids for the 5th, 6th, and 7th books, I think that would be a great mistake as you see 27 year-olds playing teenagers these days.
On the negative side:
- Casting
Why did Richard Harris, the original Dumbledore, have to pass away? Michael Gambon, the new Dumbledore, is no where near Harris'. They look and sound nothing alike, it was almost as if this were that weird season of "The Dukes of Hazzard" where the Duke cousins came to live at the farm. The new Dumbledore seems cocky, and rigid, not at all like the fatherly figure I've always imagined him to be. Emma Thompson also doesn't fit in well here, and quickly this franchise feels like the once-doomed "Batman" series - let's throw a bunch of famous people in and see what happens. No thanks. - Continuity
When did the Whomping Willow decide to move to a different part of the castle. And speaking of castle, when did they move to a different school? Also, why does Harry's scar seem to be on a different part of his forehead in nearly every scene? - Direction
From the very first of the movie, you could feel that this was a different film from the first two. It doesn't feel as grand nor as vast as Columbus' vision. Though Alfonso CuarPosted by Seth at 04:21 PM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2004
Lakers, One and D-O-N-E
It's over. The Detroit Pistons have won the NBA Championship over the Los Angeles Lakers. They weren't supposed to win this series. They probably weren't even supposed to get one win. In reality, it happened another way, and the Lakers were the team that barely got one win - and needed a miracle from Kobe to do it.
Everyone knows I like to see teams like the Lakers lose, it's just a shame that there has to be winners and subsequetnly, losers. I applaud Larry Brown for being the first coach to win a championship in both the NCAA and NBA. I also applaud my favorite ex-hog, Corliss Williamson, for accomplishing the same feat.
Go Detroit! Burn it down!
Posted by Seth at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2004
My Asteroids Hurt
I recently saw one of this summer's blockbuster movies, "The Day After Tommorow." It was an okay flick, rooting a majority of it's story on fact, while embellishing the details quite a bit. The acting in the movie was suspect at best, and the story - though filled with holes - was so-so, but the effects (minus the wolves) were spectacular. All, in all, not bad... but it was the marketing machine behind this movie that made it so much money. Ahhhh, the power of marketing.
Today, I was flipping channels on tv, and ran across a movie made in 1998 called "Ice." It's a Sci-Fi Channel Original, which means low budget. The story goes like this (taken from scifi.com):
Following a devastating natural disaster, Earth's northern hemisphere plunges into a new ice age that drops temperatures to 70 degrees below zero. As civilization breaks down and havoc erupts, a group of Los Angeles residents attempts to escape the city via ship in the hope of reaching warmth on the other side of the equator.
Sounds familiar. What's worse is a scene where people trapped inside a building are trying to stay warm. To do so, they decide to burn books. While grabbing a stack of books to burn, one man refuses to burn several of the books handed to him because of their meaning to civilization. Hmmmmm... Emmerich (director of "The Day After Tomorrow"), correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there a scene similar to this in YOUR movie? Nah, couldn't be.
And, as if there isn't enough doom and gloom on the Sci-Fi Channel, tonight a new Sci-Fi Original airs:
"POST IMPACT"
It's "The Day After Tomorrow" tonight! After an asteroid strike throws the entire northern hemisphere into a new ice age, a family man tries to use a top-secret, experimental satellite to locate his missing wife and daughter. Unfortunately, there are those more than willing to kill to keep the satellite's true nature to themselves.What is it with this whole "new ice age" concept that has movie makers drooling? Are we so fascinated with our past, and how we think it all occurred, that we must make movies depicting a "new" version in the current world? If that's the case, then I'm gonna be r-i-c-h. I present to you, my NEW movie idea:
"CHOAS CONFIRMED"
Directly after 133,000 asteroids fall to the Earth, crushing the entire country of Canada, the dinosaurs have returned, but quickly die from cold in North America's (specifically Iowa and New Hampshire) new ice age. While a group of boy scouts and a mime try to escape a mall full of flesh-craving zombies, John F. Kennedy is shot during a parade in Dallas, throwing what's left of America into utter chaos. Emmanuel Lewis ("Webster") stars along side the great magician, Teller ("Penn & Teller").Posted by Seth at 07:24 PM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2004
Lakegrrrrrrrrrrrrrs
I can't stand the Lakers. Just about as much as I can't stand the Yankees, or Duke men's basketball. I don't like these "dynasty" teams that pride themselves on throwing tons and tons of money at atheletes in order to win championships (minus Duke, of course, they're just damn good all the time). It's not fair to the smaller teams that don't have that kind of money and usually end up prey to the bigger guns.
That's why it's so great for a team like the Florida Marlins, or Anaheim Angels, to win the World Series. That's why it's so much fun to watch a team like the Detroit Pistons work over the Lakers like b-movie actors.
It's really funny though... that while the NBA finals are being played, if you watch any of the games between Detroit and LA, when they show the score at halftime, or when going to a commercial, the teams listed are Detroit and LA Lakers. One could make the argument that if they just put LA people might confuse them with the Clippers (who are also from LA). Riiiiiight, as if the Clips are anywhere close to making the playoffs, let alone the finals. It's not really fair to Detroit though, in my mind. So why not just say Pistons vs Lakers? I guess because cities have to get their props, too.
Posted by Seth at 07:24 PM | Comments (0)
June 08, 2004
You want more KC News???
Then look no further than KCSkyscrapers.com's Forums. Tons of great information out there from all over KC. Take a gander, if you're interested.
Posted by Seth at 03:18 PM | Comments (0)
June 07, 2004
Finally, a KC News Site Worth Reading
I uncovered a great resource for KC-based news the other day. I was so excited about the site, that I read quite a bit of its archives, just reading stuff that you don't hear from the local news in KC (since it's not a fire, or killing, it must not be newsworthy).
BlogKC.com is that site. I haven't dug around enough to figure out who runs it, but I'm lovin' it already. Check it out if you have time. The site posts all of its current news on the homepage, but it appears that each story has a sub-category as well, so once it's off the front page, it is filed away into different areas of the city (downtown, plaza, etc.)
Some of the things I read about that was awesome to hear... downtown is possibly getting TWO, not one, grocery stores - one in the River Market and one in the Crossroads. I found the new arena web site. I found the new baseball stadium web site (go sign the petition). And possibly the best news, the city may be changing all the roads downtown to be two-way, not one-way anymore.
Minor things? Yes. But I really like to know what's going on in my city besides the idiotic things the news stations seem to concentrate on. Nice job BlogKC!
Posted by Seth at 07:22 AM | Comments (0)
Seth Gunderson, Cable Thief?
It's been a while since I moved into my new place. January, in fact, was when I moved. By count, that's five months ago. When I relocated, I transferred all of my bills/utilities to my new place, since that's the right thing to do. The most important bill that I brought along with me was the cable bill. Not only does it contain all of my favorite television shows, but it also gives me my internet access.
For the short time that I've lived in my loft, I've received at least three cable bills. These bills were sent to my current address - since that's where I live. However, the past two cable bills, one of which I did NOT receive, were sent to my old address up North. So now, I'm delinquent on paying for cable.
Calling the cable company seemed to do me little good. First off my phone number wasn't listed in their system anymore, and secondly, they couldn't find a single instance where my address was listed as my old one. So something's not right, because on the bill, even though it was sent to my old address, it states on the bill that it's for service at my NEW place. Why on Earth would I want my bills sent to my old address? Maybe so I could pay late fees over and over again?
Like I said, the super informative people at the cable company could find nothing wrong in the system and told me that I should receive next month's bill at the correct address. To be continued...
Posted by Seth at 07:13 AM | Comments (0)