Super-Awsome Find of the Week, installment 5

My apologies to those who have seen this before, but if you haven't, be warned: it is awesome.

Super-awesome, even.

Sundance Stories, part 2

My sincerest apologies to everyone who was expecting a post last Thursday. As happens, Sundance has been quite hectic and I haven't had a chance to tell some stories. Sadly, I shall probably miss this Thursday's as well—and for that, let me give you a preemptive "sorry". In the interim, allow me to share with you more (fake) pictures of my interactions with (real) famous people.

Robert "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" Duvall

Bill "You may be on B-Squad, but you're the B-Squad leader" Murray

Joel "Falling Down was pretty durn awesome" Schumacher

Super-Awsome Find of the Week, installment 4

As I haven't had much time to find something cool on the World Wide Series-of-Tubes, this week's find comes in the form of something I saw yesterday while looking to the west. I took the following picture:

Now, granted, that doesn't look like much... until you look at the next picture.

That's right: I have photographic proof that Falkor the Luck Dragon exists.

Rrrraaaaarrrhhhhhh!!!

Sundance Stories, part 1

For the past three years—Thursday starts year four—I have spent the latter portion of each January at the Sundance Film Festival. More specifically, I have spent the latter portion of each January driving filmmakers and celebrities to venues around the Sundance Film Festival. Is it a fun experience? Yup. Is it hard work? Surprisingly yes. Is it one step away from wearing a suit and being referred to as "James" or "Jeeves"? Pretty much.

Yeah, it's kindof like that.

Due to the nature of shuttling people around (i.e. meeting a variety of people and it usually taking a fairly long car ride to wherever we are going), I often get to meet some cool people and have some really neat conversations. Like the time when I met Nathan Fillion at the airport. I was holding a sign that read "N. Fillion", and when I saw him approach, I went to meet him. "Hi," he said. "I'm N. Fillion." (For those who know who Nathan Fillion is, you know that a joke like that is exactly his kind of thing.) We then talked about a variety of things, and the whole time it took everything I had not to completely geek out on him. Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me (nor have I ever had one there), so any evidence you see of me with famous people is completely (and probably poorly) Photoshopped by me.

Men of Greatness

If I am lucky enough, something during our time together will escalate and I'll have a story to tell afterward. Like the time I was driving Matthew Lillard, for example. When I first met Matt, I thought he was pretty cool, as the first question he had for me was if we could go to the Red Iguana on our way up to Park City. The more we talked, however, the more I realized that he was kind of a... well, let's say jerk. He asked me about my (at the time) fiance, and when I told him our story, he instantly berated me, telling me I was "too young" and that I was being "pressured by [my] family and [my] religion" to get married. He also told me that I should wait years before marrying my wife, because that's how long it takes to get to know someone. Thinking on my feet, I then attempted to turn the conversation around. It went something like this:
  Adam – "Wait, how long did you know your wife until you got engaged."
  Matt – "Six weeks."
  A – "Six weeks!? And you're saying I'm getting married too quickly?"
  M – "No, see, the difference is, I was in my thirties when I got married. You're in your early twenties. When I was your age, I didn't know my [bum] from a hole in the ground."
Now, I don’t get offended easily, and I'm not going to go so far as to say that this comment did it. I did, however, realize how big of a logical fallacy he was touting—just because he didn't know his [bum] from a hole in the ground at my age certainly doesn't mean that I didn't.

Not pictured: my [bum]

When mine and Matt's time drew to a close, I picked him and his wife up from their hotel in Park City. They told me that their plane was flying out of "the smaller airport". Naturally, I assumed this to be the Salt Lake Municipal Airport. So, after helping them and their stuff into my car, I headed down I-80 towards Salt Lake. A half hour later, as I was merging from I-80 W to I-15 N, Mrs. Lillard suddenly piped up. "Wait. You're going to the Heber Airport, right?" A look of shock fell over my face as I explained to her that we were nowhere near Heber nor its airport. After a quick phone call to his agent, Matt informed me of the dilemma: the Heber Airport was over an hour's drive away, and the plane had to leave in 40 minutes, or they wouldn't be able to take off until the next day.

Men of Greatness

Realizing the severity of the situation (and not wanting to have to deal with a handful of pissed-off-Hollywood-types), I spun the car around and headed back up the canyon. With it being right at the peak of rush hour, navigation was not easy. Matt kept asking me if we were going to make it, as the plane couldn't take off after a certain hour, because there was no tower at the airport. Each time he would ask me, I would look at the speedometer, then the clock, then the GPS, and then reply, "I certainly hope so."

I was making fairly good time when I merged onto Highway 40 towards Heber. Those who know the road know that there is a decent stretch that is relatively straight and flat. It was during this stretch that I pushed my little Passat as fast as it could go. As we crested a hill, I saw the absolute worst thing I could see in the situation: a police officer, sitting in his car, with his radar gun pointed in my direction. I instantly looked at the speedometer, which read "135 MPH".

Star Wars jokes, anyone?

At that moment, the world slowed. A million thoughts rushed through my head, not the least of which was how incredibly busted I was. As I passed the cop, he and I made eye contact for a solid three or four seconds. After passing him, I came a conclusion that, in retrospect, I realize took a look of chutzpah: "If he wants to pull me over, he'll have to catch up with me first." The world sped up again and I continued my race towards Heber. I kept a constant eye on my rear-view mirror, expecting the dreaded red and blue lights to show up at any moment.

But they didn't. I kept speeding towards Heber and was not interrupted by any sort of law enforcement official. That being the case, I made it to Heber with about seven minutes to spare, and the Lillards made their flight.

I don't think I'll ever know why that cop chose not to pull me over. Perhaps he was too lazy to catch up with me. Perhaps he saw Shaggy in my back seat and was a fan. Perhaps he saw the Sundance sticker on the side of my car and assumed I had a connection with Robert Redford himself, and he didn't want to inconvenience the man. Whatever the case is, due to my driving and that cop not pulling me over, I made it from the 13th South I-15 exit to the Heber Airport in 33 minutes. Flat.

Men of Greatness

And so, as was mentioned before, Thursday marks the beginning of my fourth year at Sundance. What stories will I walk away with this year? Only time—and my next few entries—shall tell.

Super-Awsome Find of the Week, installment 3

Much like last week's super-awesome find, this week's find has something to do with William "My Friends Call Me Bill" Shakespeare. Allow me to direct you to Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 1.

my well-read copy of Hamlet

Now, some of you may be familiar with this scene, as it is here where Hamlet delivers his ever-so-famous-but-yet-oft-times-misinterpreted "To be or not to be" monologue. I, however, would like to call your attention to this scene for a different reason. Take a look at line 259:

Did you catch that? (If not, perhaps you are not caught up in your nerd-lingo.)

Though there are many theories as to the origin of the word "woot", I think it is pretty cut and dry here—clearly, Shakespeare invented it 410 years ago.

w00t indeed, Bill.

Guess That Gun, the results

Alrighty, kids. Guess That Gun has now officially drawn to a close. We had some awesome players with some creative guesses, and I would like to thank everyone for playing. (If you still want to play, there won't be any prizes, but feel free to check out Round 1, Round 2, and Round 3.) Before I announce the winners, here is a recap of every screenshot, with every guess listed below it (and the correct answer in bold caps):

THE BIG LEBOWSKI, Kingpin

Pulp Fiction, Beverly Hills Cop, AMERICAN BEAUTY, The Mummy, Absolute Power, Layer Cake

Cocoon, HOLES, Alien

INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

ARMY OF DARKNESS, Rambo

CASINO ROYALE, Scarface, Quantum of Solace

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Pulp Fiction, The Godfather, Clue, Johnny Dangerous... The correct answer is MOULIN ROUGE!, people. Come on!

MAVERICK, Sherlock Holmes, Shanghai Noon, Assassin's Creed 2, Three Musketeers

SAINTS AND SOLDIERS, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, Road to Perdition, Enemy at the Gates, Unforgiven

The Patriot, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

HOT FUZZ, The Fifth Element, The Usual Suspects, A History of Violence, Fargo

The Punisher, V for Vendetta, The Dark Knight, Sin City, EQUILIBRIUM

THE FIFTH ELEMENT

Stand By Me, American History X, BRICK, The Shawshank Redemption

Gone in 60 Seconds, Terminator 2, DEJA VU, The Bourne Identity

THE DARK KNIGHT

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Waterworld, Treasure Island, CUTTHROAT ISLAND

O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?, Public Enemies, 3:10 to Yuma, The Untouchables, Bonnie and Clyde

The Matrix, Die Hard, Jaws, A Clockwork Orange, SPACEBALLS

ROMEO + JULIET, Ace Ventura, Miami Vice, True Romance

LEON (THE PROFESSIONAL), The Boondock Saints

Thelma and Louise, Copycat, SAVED!

SERENITY, The Terminator, Shoot 'Em Up

HOOK, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

The Matrix, Cobra, STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?

Wanted, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, The Boondock Saints, The Fugitive

Silence of the Lambs, Hollywood Homicide, THE BOONDOCK SAINTS, Lethal Weapon

DIE HARD, American History X

The Boondock Saints, DESPERADO, Once Upon a Time in Mexico

A few statistics:
  -The most correctly-guessed gun: The Dark Knight (9 right)
  -The most incorrectly-guessed gun: Moulin Rouge! (0 right)
  -The most different guesses for one gun: American Beauty, Saints and Soldiers, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?(6)
  -The guns with only correct guesses: The Fifth Element, The Dark Knight, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1)
  -Shame on all those who missed: Star Wars - A New Hope, Hook
  -Double-shame on those who think that I would own: Wanted, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  -Props to those who got: Brick, Saved!, American Beauty
  -Double-props to those who correctly labeled: Ash's "Boomstick", the "+" in Romeo + Juliet

And now for the winners:
  3rd - In third place, with 16.5 points (out of 30), is "joe". For your prize, I will let you keep my copy of Three Amigos. (That's right, I just called you out.)
  2nd - In second place, with 17.5 points, is "TheOne", my newly-found friend from India. Since the logistics of getting a prize to you would be crazy, for your prize I will do a blog entry about any India/Bollywood/etc.-related topic of your choice.
  1st - And in first place, with a mighty 20.5 points, is "--jeff *". For your prize, I have a brand new DVD of Dr. Seuss's The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (including the Emmy-nominated The Hoober-Bloob Highway). Congratulations, gentlemen.

--jeff * wins!

The rest of the rankings are as follows:
  TheFormer786 - 16
  Becca - 12.5
  cwils33 - 7.5
  RedSteve - 6.5
  Melinda - 5
  Katie - 4.5
  Tiff - 4
  Rachel - 2
  Tracy - 1

Incidentally, none of you should feel bad for not getting many: two of the three winners were/are film students.*

*Yeah, those guys.

Thanks again to all who played. And if there is enough interest, there will be another similar game coming soon—feel free to leave any suggestions in comments.

Guess That Gun, Part 3

As it stands, here are the current rankings of Guess That Gun:

  TheFormer786 – 11
  RedSteve – 6.5
  Rachel – 2
  Tiff – 4
  Katie – 4.5
  Melinda – 3
  Becca – 9.5
  TheOne (I need to know who you actually are) – 11.5
  cwils33 – 7.5
  Tracy – 1

If you have been playing the previous two rounds of Guess That Gun (located here and here), you no doubt have realized that some of them are fairly easy, while others are a bit more difficult. This has never been truer, as there are some on today's list that nobody should miss, and others that I'd be surprised if more than a few people got. The rules will remain the same, with two additions:
  1) Though the name of the game implies that you should guess which gun is being shown, you only need to say which movie the gun is from. (After all, "Guess Which Movie That Gun Comes From" doesn't have as nice a ring to it.)
  2) Anyone/everyone can enter until 8am, Thursday, January 14th. At that time, I will collect the guesses, show the correct answers, and announce the winners.
Good luck to all in this, the final round.

Guess That Gun
Round 3

One (1)

Two (2)

Three (3)

Four (4)

Five (5)

Six (6)

Seven (7)

Eight (8)

Nine (9)

Ten (10)