Augmented reality is a tool/trend that allows images to pop up that don’t exist and interact in real time. Augmented reality has found a home in rudimentary commercials and in iPhone app demos. If you haven’t checked it out, do so asap because this technology is cheap and will be available to the masses, resulting in people creating magic tricks, ecommerce gimmicks and hair mimics.

In my opinion, it isn’t ready for the mass market. It looks great for iPhone apps, but as far as using it to virtually try things on, becoming a virtual furry and even 3-D book animating, it’s just not there. With choppy graphics and the lack of customization, augmented reality has too many kinks to be worked out. And like every tool, there is a time and place to be used. Right now, there’s a rush to jump on this band wagon, but with patience, the evolution of augmented reality will either step up to the plate and create great products and ads, or it will create a few “fails” and then sputter out.

Image Source: Przemion’s Flickr

As I type this, I am laying on my couch in a new apartment as I wait for the gas man to turn on our stove. So cooking, in general, is not an option. The unemployment also puts a damper on grocery shopping. This is where Super Cook comes in. For the site, you plug in what you have in your kitchen (for example: cereal, milk, bacon, and bread). Then it will spit out recipes you can make with those ingredients, and suggest other recipes requiring a missing item or two.

It’s a brilliant idea, except for one thing. The results are often unappetizing when you have such a short list of ingredients. I’m sure once I get a table to eat on, I’ll be more prone to cook more. Until then, it’s cereal and tuna salad all the way.

Image sources: SuperCook.com, ANVRecife’s Flickr.

Pt 2: Saturday: Played Dungeons and Dragons

Pt 3: Sunday: Scrolled through my old xanga. Redskins game and True Blood

Part one: Role Models.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqnvu5QC2fQ]Let me tell you. It was funny. I lol-ed a few times actually. I mean no lines particularly stick out. And there were a few lines that relied on stupid humor (the kind of humor you’d expect from Sean William Scott). You know, the “you’re a stupid face… no, you’re a stupid face” kind of dialogue. But besides the few lines to make the Long Island lame-faces happy, it was really good. There wasn’t much slapstick, there was a storyline that didn’t take away from the humor.

The storyline (briefly) were about these two guys (Scott and Rudd) who are sentenced to community service. They have to work at a program called “Sturdy Hands” which is a mentor program for children.

It reached past my expectations and is now something I am willing to see again. In fact, I like it so much, I’m going to refrain from reading any reviews in fear of it tainting my memory.

While on the surface Scott has cemented himself as the stupid asshole character once again, he breaks through that to show that he is indeed, as asshole on the surface but there is a conscious. It is rare in a comedy to have a character transform without the whole movie being bogged down.

And Paul Rudd. Paul Rudd. I’ve loved him ever since he played Josh in Clueless. Those blues eyes just melt my soul. But he, as it is repeated over and over again on screen, is a dick. He’s miserable, he hates his life. He hate fun. And while, some of you may think I’d relate to him, I actually learned a lesson from this character. No one likes a Debbie Downer.

Now about those kids? One played by McLovin’ aka Christopher Mintz-Plasse (aka no one cares) and another played by a Bobb’e J. Thompson (which it looks like to be a breakout role for this previously unknown little boy). McLovin has nailed himself as a nerd. And he continued this nerd role where he ultimately plays a nerd who realizes he likes being a nerd and people end up embrassing his nerdom… sound familiar? Think Superbad or Revenge of the Nerds. I just wonder if McLovin will ultimately be on the equivalent of Lizzie McGuire when he gets older, like Louis Skolnick. Bobb’e aka Ronnie was killer. It played with racism and ampliphied the same reason why I don’t like children and changed it to an understanding. All little Ronnie needed was some understanding.

Whatever. I don’t want to ruin it. But all the actors killed their roles (in the best way). I felt for the characters and at the climax of the film I thought i might even get choked up. Everyone understood themselves in relation to others and changed and transformed to make their worlds a better place. Director and writer David Wain did it again. Which isn’t at all surprising due to Wain’s impressive resume.

Overall rating: I’d give it a 8 or 9 out of 10

I’m enjoying my spring break at home. So come back next week for more reviews and other tidbits.

The only thing I think I can review fairly is HBO’s John Adams miniseries. Part 1 (Join Or Die) and Part 2 (Independence) aired this past Sunday on HBO. Basically, disappointing. I thought it would be more engaging, more about the relationships and the personal life of Mr. John Adams. Instead, I found it to be a summary of the revolution. Part one seemed to have covered the year of 1770. Apparently some how I missed the other 5 years because when Part 2 began, it continued by starting with 1775.

Where did those 5 years go? Everything seems generalized. Everything they showed were pretty well known as myths. For example, the Boston Massacre, only 5 people died, and the British soldiers were found not guilty. I knew that. I guess that thought that was news breaking. Another example, they argued about being Independent.

Overall, I thought it was boring, but with those big names, (I’m a huge Laura Linney fan, who played Abigail Adams) I had to watch the premiere on the first night. I’ll also probably finish watching the rest of the special. The biggest surprise was the fact that John Adams had such a large part in the American history. However: my philly home boi Ben Franklin still rocks, he was like the Jon Stewart of the 1770s. Holla.

Well, did anyone else watch it? Do you agree with the hype not matching the product? The latest HBO show that was wonderfully entertaining was the George Carlin. It’s strangely satisfying to be laughing out loud alone.

Here is the trailer, in case you really are lost about this whole “John Adams’ thing”[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnNPhb9rJM&hl=en]

Yes, yes it is true. I did not see that coming. These indie sweethearts finished off their set in Austin this year with Fugazi’s Waiting Room. They even seemed to mock Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto’s vocal stylings. Who would have thought a Brooklyn light-hearted indie band would ever listen to or cover a D.I.Y. post-hardcore band from D.C.?

Because my low faith of my demographic, I doubt very few people knew of Fugazi. But hopefully, they will at least google search them. Since this is a review of sorts. I did enjoy it. It’s really decent quality for being live. And it’s a bummer that the crowd isn’t really getting into it, as far as I can tell. It’s not a straight, I’m playing this song by another band. They added their own personality to the track. Hope you enjoy.

 Bishop Allen – Fugazi’s Waiting Room

Also, feel free to share any of your favorite Fugazi covers.

I saw the Mountain Goats just a few months ago in October at Studio B with a very good friend of mine, Caroline. It was a pretty great show. John Darnielle, the songwriter and lead vocals of the Mountain Goats entertained the crowd with his well-known banter and ended with an encore of “I Saw The Sign” by Ace of Base. Although, I thought the audience kinda sucked and reminded me of the same scene I’d imagine to be cheering on DMB, the music continued to speak for itself and I was glad I could go.

So what? This is old news. Wrong. They have a new album (Heretic Pride from 4AD) coming out. And in that show they played a new song called “Autoclave”. John told us that autoclave is that liquid stuff that nothing can live or survive in. Well, so they thought. Scientists found that yes; one creature can live there. And even though I was at a music show, I ended up attending a short science class. So point? Well, the new single has a line that says “my heart’s an autoclave” and it was inspired by this new scientific advancement.

“Autoclave” is obviously written well and shares their well known theme of loneliness. (Which isn’t that big of a surprise since their 2006 album was called “Get Lonely”.) The chorus is “I am this great, unstable mass of blood and foam; and no one in her right mind will make my home my home. My heart’s an autoclave.” It has a great hook along with instruments that will be probably be played live by near strangers (such as a keyboard, drums, and female vocals).

Without a doubt, if you like the Mountain Goats, this is a great song to get you excited for their album. If you are new to the Mountain Goats, “Seed Song” from Protein Source of the Future… Now! or “This Year” of The Sunset Tree will be best.

The Mountain Goats – Autoclave
Take a listen, tell me what you think. I like dialogue.

After about a year of hearing about it, it was finally released. Last night, I went to go see Be Kind, Rewind, the new Michel Gondry film. I was relieved that it wasn’t all fluffy clouds floating in the air (as in The Science of Sleep) or time confusing (like in Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind). But maybe, that is what I wanted?

Without a doubt this is his most commercial film yet. Without his unique post-production style, it left the whole film kind of boring. The beginning was slow, the end resolution, was quite unresolved. Overall, it was very family-friendly, thus being very commercial. Any director, even David Schwimmer (the Friend’s actor and director of “Run, Fat Boy, Run”), could have done it

Another issue I have is it also seemed the creators took out important or interesting content to make it easier to shoot or to avoid more plot holes. An example would be when Black’s character, Jerry, loses his magnetization as quickly as it came. The director now did not have to make sure Jerry would always have to react to metal. Another disappointing shortcut was the montage of all the movies they “sweded”. Although the montage was good, I was expecting to see more of the “sweded” movies than what was actually seen. That is why the making of Ghostbusters was the funniest part.

Another issue: Race. I thought they brought up the issue of race (when dealing with Driving Ms. Daisy, and when casting Fats Waller) with out resolving it or making it funny. Instead, it made that issue and intended commentary awkward and dry.

There are three positives. First, Mos Def. (period.) He was great, he had his laid back attitude, this innocence and brought a new character alive. When he was mad but didn’t want to be, you felt it and understood why. (Also a side-note, originally Dave Chappelle was cast to play that role.) Secondly, it was easy to watch and follow; on the flip side it was boring with no surprises. Lastly, it was a decent length movie. On the other hand, they cut out or shortened parts that could have made it more interesting, such as the aforementioned short-lived magnetization, the montage of the re-made movies, along with a potential love-interest.

So what bothered me the most??
It’s either:
A. Undeveloped subplots
B. Or, lack of depth/being so straightforward.