Harvard Commencement Speech

So i was going through some paperwork and came accross a print out of the Conan O’ Brien commencement speech, so i thought i would look it up on you tube.

It is very funny, so i thought i would share

PART 1

PART 2

Enjoy

Movie Reviews

Here is to catch you up on what i’ve seen and what i thought.

First up is “THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL”

To start off i had never seen the original, so i had nothing to campare it to. And i rarely like Keanu Reeves in movies where he actually has to act, and luckily this film wasn’t one of those. He just needed to play an alien inhabiting a human body and was devoid of all emotion, so i thought i was good. But i was wrong, He couldn’t even pull that off, so Keanu’s bad performance there was many really cool things about this film, unfortunately the plot wasn’t one of them. The effects were really good and some of the scenes were really intense, but the plot and the ending ended up making it an overall lame movie.

Second up is “Tales of Despereaux”

While in Reno I took the niece and nephew to this while their father got to go see Seven Pounds, which is on my list to see but havent seen it yet. So this movie is the tale of a mouse that doesn’t quite fit in with his own kind. It was a good movie, a little darker than i had expected and the rats were darker and meaner than i think the kids were expecting, but they got through it and enjoyed it. So for the adults i would say that there are plenty of other good films to see than this one, maybe get it on DVD.

Third film is “MARLEY AND ME”

This one i also saw in Reno. I had also not read or even heard of the book. So i went in without an preconceptions. It started off very funny, Basically the Owen Wilson character and the Jennifer Aniston character get a dog. So Marley turns out to be a complete nightmare, and causes this couple and soon to be family way more stress than any dog should. So basically the story is funny for the first act, slow in the second and tear jerky in the third. I enjoyed this movie, although one issue that i have with it is that they never show any of the dogs good qualities in the beginning.  And my brother in law and i agreed that we would have gotten rid of the dog a long time ago. So i would wait for dvd.

The Fourth Film is GRAN TORINO

I really wanted to like this movie, and did really like the story and the Clint character but i had issues with the two other main characters. The main girl and boy, i’m not sure if their characters were suppose to seem like bad actors, if thats the case then they were both really good, but i have a feeling it wasn’t meant to be that way. The girl was good half the time and bad half the time, and the boy was just bad the whole time. And even with that i still thought that clint overcame a lot of it. So i enjoyed it, but was frustrated about how good it could of been So if you see it please let me know your thoughts.

The final film is “THE SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE”

This was far and away the best of the five films. This is one of the films that is expected to be up for an Oscar for best film. The premise is the main character goes on “Who wants to be a millionaire” in India. He gets farther that anyone has be for and gets the the final question, The 20 Million Rupee question, and the show ends and you have to come back the next night to find out if he wins, so inbetween the two shows he is arrested for cheating. So the show actually starts with him in the police station and the cop is interrogating him on how he cheated, “when doctors and scientists can’t get that far in the game how can a slumdog do it?” So the movie is intercut between the past and present and they basically go through each of the questions and the kid has a story for each of the questions on how he knew the answer. Its a very original movie and i enjoyed it very much. You could most definitely wait for DVD but definitely see it if you get the chance.

Well thats it, i will be seeing atleast 2 more this weekend so stay tuned.

New place for my photos.

I take a buch of photos and never seem to put them up anywhere for my friends to see. I have 2 flickr sites, one is a family site, and one is supposed to be for my good photos but i never seem to update that flickr site, so i am going to start posting to the new me.com photo section.

the link is http://gallery.me.com/ryanturner, it can also be founf in the links section to the right.

So check back i will try to post new photos there.

Ryan

Texting while driving in 2009

So i’m sticking to my word so far and trying to blog more. Just to catch you up on recent events. In June of 2008 California passed a law prohibiting the act of holding a cell phone to your ear while speaking on it. This was a good law, except for one thing, it didn’t say anything about Text Messaging which apparently was still legal to do. So instead of holding the phone to your ear and having your eyes on the road you now have many people looking away from the road to text people. Which in my opinion is way more dangerous. Well happily as of jan 1, 2009. Text messaging while driving is now illegal. Good for us. oh and “GO DOLPHINS”

The Holiday Post

Well i am in reno for the holidays and visiting my sister and her family. I am starting my new years resolution early, writing to my blog more often. I see plenty of movies and listen to new music and just plain experience lots of stuff, so i will be reporting all that is worth reporting.

So i am in reno, i am still trying to get over a cold, hopefully i will be all better by christmas and new year. I am hear till the first. I am looking forward to the new year. Work should be pretty busy, and i have a few really fun trips planned for 2009.

So look forward to many new posts, there will be one or two more before the new years and then more frequently in the new year.

thanks for tuning in.

ryan

Only by the night.

So on tuesday a new album arrived by what is becoming one of my favorite bands. That band is Kings of Leon, the album is great, i was especially drawn to track one, “Closer” its haunting and a bit dark, and has some really great and visual lyrics. So i thought i would go to their website and see if they were going to be in LA anytime soon and i was interested to see what these lads look like now. When i first started listening to them 5 years ago they were a southern band that had an unusual childhood which i think is what made there music so great, they weren’t overly influenced by any of the current bands. they had grown up in the rural south as the children of a preacher and had a very southern look about them. Well here, here’s a photo.

So this is how they looked when they entered the music scene, so i was expecting something similar, but what i got was a complete make over. as seen below.

Their music is still great, i just think its interesting to see how the industry will conform anyone to fit its needs. As long as there music doesn’t conform its all good.

So if you haven’t heard of them or gotten this new album i highly recommend it.

thanks for stopping by.

ryan

Dodgers vs. Padres

Dodgers vs padres. It’s the 6th inning and we’re up 8 to 0. Not only has it been a good game but we got a foul ball. It bounced off of the upper deck bounced back just over us and then hit a chair and bounced back to our seat. It was pretty cool. David got the ball and gave it to his friend and then he gave it to a kid sitting next to us.

LETS GO DODGERS!!!

Just a short note from the dodger game. It’s the dodgers vs giants. In the 4th inning we got down 7 – 0. We pretty much thought it was over at that point. Then the 5th inning happened. The dodgers rallied with 5 runs. So here we are chillin at the game.

UPDATE:
So we are in the 8th inning. Dodgers still down by one but Blake was tossed for yelling at the ump. Then joe torre was tossed. Then a fan jumped into the giants dugout. So it’s Been an exciting game if we can come away with a victory.

First Iphone Post

Alright I have been very busy with work recently which is why I haven’t posted much lately. Just some quick note.

REVIEWS:
MOVIES:
Hellboy II, Loved it.
Dark knight: Loved it more. Heath Ledger is great as the joker. I am trying to see it again, as soon as I find the time.

IPHONE APPS:
Shazam: supercool : free
MotionX Poker: superfun : 4.99
OmniFocus : superuseful : more

More to come but those are the highlights.

Ryan

Syd Mead, Art Center Grad

Here is a cool interview with syd mead, who has designed some really cool stuff in his lifetime, and graduated from Art Center. Just click on the image above and enjoy, i couldn’t embed the video like below, so you will be navigated away from my site.

Here is another video that talks more about syd. And this one is embedded.

enjoy.

ryan