Manhattan Memories

I have just spent another day doing absolutely nothing. Isn't that sad? I bet you're wondering why I am blogging so much, and the reason is I have nothing else to do with my time.

All I do is go to eat with Matt and complain about the disgusting french onion soup I had at The Manhattan two days ago, which has somehow managed to make it to the foreground of an otherwise amazing picture. I guess it has its place somewhere, right? Do you like the picture of Matt? I took it with my phone believe it or not, and did some photoshopping, but otherwise it's an awesome picture. I don't think he even knew I took it, so that makes it even more awesome. I feel like it should be entered in a photo contest or something. Or not.

Today I will be going to the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which has my body tingling just writing about it. As most of you know, I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I am a nerd to the point that I actually Photoshopped my face on to the cover of the next book. I am going to post it on here in a few days, but if you're a curious little cat you can check it out right here for the next couple of days. Matt and I talked about Harry Potter at The Manhattan the other day but he just makes fun of me, and says "Yeah the only wizard I know is Dumbleydorf." Needless to say those conversations are short lived.

After lunch today, Matt and I hung out and then went to the Draft Zone with Jordan, Rachel, Shea, Mallory, Erin, Another Matt, and Jackie. I had heard nothing but good things about it but it was one of the lamest places I have been in a while. I mean given it was a Monday night, but I was still expecting a little more excitement. The food indeed was good, but I found myself looking for entertainment a little more than I was expecting.

After the Draft Zone, Matt and I went back to his place and watched 4 or 5 episodes of The Office. He loves it and I had never actually watched and entire episode. Turns out it's probably one of my favorite shows already! I really love it. 

As you can see this post is extremely early (or late) and it's all because of Matt. Since befriending him, I have been living a rather unhealthy lifestyle. I am compensating by eating better. Instead of cookies and milk like it had been for a while, I am eating tuna sandwiches (minus the bread that I left at Rachel's) and water. I actually can feel such a huge difference when I am actually eating well. I just have such a sweet tooth. Anyway, I need to get my ass to bed. I have a long day of doing nothing again. Peace out ya'll.

Like A Black Fly In Your Miller Lite

Isn't it ironic? Ugh, I hate that song but I'm not gonna lie I used to jam out to that song in like middle school. I just hate when people use lyrics as part of their vocabulary and stuff. It's kind of weird.

So anyway, Matt and I were sitting at The Manhattan this afternoon for lunch. Of course we were eating outside, because no Laguna Beach rip off would actually eat inside. We were just talking and of course Matt got a Miller Lite. He goes to drink it and there's a HUGE fly in it. I mean, this fly must have just eaten a baby or something because it was fat as hell. You can see it in the picture but the picture doesn't do it justice. 

On the other hand, the fly was iridescent, and somewhat beautiful...to the point that I wanted to like save it so it could go make fly rainbows or whatever.

Onwards, I went to Lyndsay's house last night for a mini-party. It was fun, and there should be pics up soon. After that, I went back to Dan's Rock to shoot off more fireworks with Matt and Lacy. Matt was shooting them at us, and it was really scary. Lacy said it felt like Vietnam because we were running and dodging huge shells. Nevertheless, it was great fun. I think Lacy took some video, so expect that in the near future as well. 

I didn't end up coming in until 6a.m. due to some unsaid situations, but I slept late, and did nothing today. I hate that. Anyway, peace out for now.

Roman Candles

Tonight was a fun night! I hung out with Johnny, Courtney and Cory for a while. We went to the Banana Leaf tonight for dinner, which is Thai food and it was delicious. Usually that kind of food makes my stomach hurt, but it was actually really good tonight.

After that, I came home and took a short nap, and then met up with Rachel and Kari at some ridiculously nice house full of young just-graduated Allegany High School people, that all act really awkward around me for some reason. Kari and I talked about people, and made fun of someone that pooped in a drain and then cried in a mini cooper, and then Rachel and I peaced the f*** out.

We ended up meeting Matt and a guy named Mr. Huffington at Appels, a somewhat sleezy bar here in Cumberland. It was full of middle aged women with bangs, and tight jeans, dancing through smoke to the likes of the Dixie Chicks, and Travis Tritt. Needless to say, we didn't stay there long. We ended up going to Matt's to get fireworks, and heading up to Dan's Rock to set them off.

So, we get there and there is a huge wind gust coming up over the mountain, so it was freezing cold. Mr. Huffington didn't come with us, so it was just Rachel, Matt and myself. Rachel and I huddled together as Matt set the first couple of bottle rockets off. The first one was set off in my car on the way up, but that doesn't count.

After a few bottle rockets, Matt pulls out a "Roman Candle." This firework shoots huge balls of fire every couple of seconds. Well Matt had it nice and situated on a rock, but the wind blew it down...right down below mine and Rachel's feet! So every couple of seconds there was a huge explosion near our feet and we had no where to go because we were in this little caged in area that spectators can stand. We screamed and I think I may have did No.2 at some point. But, in all it was fun! Matt was laughing his ass off at me freaking out. I mean the stupid firework was pointing basically right at me. Not to mention, they are very loud! 

They were cool effects, I would just appreciate it if they weren't pointing towards my face and such. As it is, I am sure we will be back there tomorrow night doing the same thing! :)

Spiders Transforming on the Fourth

So, I went to see Transformers today with Kate. It was basically an unbelievable movie. I'm not sure if it was just the fact that I saw Fantastic Four earlier this week and hated it, but I found myself VERY excited about this movie.

Before today I wasn't VERY excited about this movie. I knew it would be something I would want to see but not sure if the story line was going to be unique yet not cheesy. I have to admit the story line was actually really good, and kept me interested.

Again, the special effects are truly something to see in this film. I don't know if software has been updated in the movie world or what, but I'm having a hard time believing things are animated these days. Coming from someone that is obsessed with comic book movies, Harry Potter franchise and the like, that's definitely something to notice.

Even if you don't think you would like a movie based on talking robots from an alien planet, I would say give it a shot. Shia LaBeouf is also VERY good in this movie. He's come a long way since Even Stevens, that's all I have to say.

Did you know that he was homeless before he got on to Even Stevens, and that he used all of that money from the show to support his family? How amazing is he? I've always liked movies with Shia in them, but that really made me appreciate him even more.

The fourth of July was pretty eventful today. I rushed home from seeing Transformers and ate some cookout food with my grandparents and aunt. It was delicious as usual. Then I took a long nap which consisted of a nightmare about spiders wrapping baby squirrels in their webs and stuff. Ew it was disgusting, let's not talk about it. All I remember is waking up in a fiery sweat and breathing deeply. 

After that fiasco, I went to Brittney's house for a while, where her entire family was sitting around post-barbeque. We played with Photobooth and then tried to watch fireworks from Brittney's roof, but a swarm of bats were threatening me, so I had to get down. 

I had an awesome fourth of July, and I hope everyone else did too! ! !

Not So Fantastic Four

I just got back from seeing Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. While this movie had AMAZING, and I mean AMAZING special effects, the story line was really annoying.

15 minutes in to the movie, and I was tired of Susan bitching about the marriage. Does she not realize that her husband is one of the smartest people on the planet, and that they can't just quit saving the world? I mean considering she's part of the team, you would think she would understand this, and it just becomes really annoying for the audience.

Secondly, the surfer is introduced the minute the movie starts, but we don't figure out what the hell the point of him being there is, until the last 25 minutes of the movie. To me, it wasn't a big deal, because I know the story of the Silver Surfer, but to those who aren't as in to comic book movies, I would imagine this would be extremely annoying.

Susan Storm looks weird in this movie. She tries to be artsy with her black-wire-frame glasses, but it just isn't working. The weird skin tone with the platinum blonde hair just isn't working. And, I am pretty sure that she has weird colored contacts in too.

One thing I really liked was the development of Johnny Storm. He actually showed some emotion rather than just being the idiot with all the punch lines that looks good. Also, Reed's character is a lot less stoic as compared to the first movie. I really hated the writing from the first movie, but this movie is a HUGE improvement to the last as regards the development of the character.

In the end, I give this movie 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars. :)

Artsy Fartsy Writing In Coffee Shops

So Kate and I are being the most cliche people on earth right now. We're sitting in a coffee shop downtown, surrounded by eclectic artwork, with our Macs, talking about books, and having deep conversations about celestial bodies, and nazis.

It's a lot of fun to say the least!

But, seriously, did anyone watch Wimbledon today? Serena Williams, as usual, tore it up...and I don't mean her calf muscle.  At 5-5 in the second set her left calf was cramping, and she fell over on court, and was screaming. She lost the second set in a tie-breaker, but get this...she won the match! She won the match! 6-2, in the third to advance to the quarterfinals. Regardless of if you like tennis, or Serena Williams, you have to hand it to her for coming back and winning with 1 and a half legs. The incredible valor that this woman has towards her sport is unmatched, and is the reason I love her so much. She is such an inspiration for athletes anywhere!

In other news, I am starting to feel a LOT better, thank you very much for asking. My sinus pressure is about 90% gone, my voice is 95% back, and I am coughing a lot less. I'm slowly finding my way back on court. I am dawdling all over the court, but slowly finding my rhythm. 

Well, Kate and I need to have our daily Harry Potter talk so I have to go. Bye I love you.

My Uncle Is Listening

I am not usually one to post emotional things on my blog...I don't know why but it was just never my thing. I like the idea of talking about it and it being more personal, rather than exposing it to the world. But this instance deserves some publicity because I'm really nostalgic at the moment.

For those of you who don't know, my uncle Josh, pictured above, passed away on April 15, 2007. It came as a shock to all of us, and the most tragic part was that my cousin Aurora, also pictured, celebrated her 3rd birthday a week later without him. 

Throughout the past coupled of months I've often wished that there were a way I could just give him one last hug, before he passed - or have one last conversation about his new car - or help him carry Aurora to the car one last time, as she leaves for the weekend. 

Well tonight, I was taking a nap, and one of those feelings came true. Now, I haven't had many dreams about Josh since he passed away. In fact, I can only remember there being one other one. But, in both dreams, he was in my grandparents house, and we all knew that he had died, but were trying to keep the fact that he was back from my grandmother, because we didn't want to scare her. Both dreams, that was the underlying plot.

The first dream was brief. I was sitting in the living room looking at the dining room table, and there was a single light on Josh sitting where my grandmother usually sits when she drinks tea in the morning. He and I were talking, and I remember saying something along the lines of, "Wait, why are you here?" and then he smiled at me. That's all I can remember from that dream which happened a few months ago.

Today I was thinking about hugging him again, and how good it would feel to just be able to say goodbye. So tonight, when I was napping that very thing happened, and it was euphoric beyond words. I was in the bathroom, about to walk out, and my aunt Michelle (Josh's sister) was walking towards me with a big smile on her face. Closely following was Josh smiling at me as well. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and a hat on backward. He came in to the bathroom and I asked him, "Can I give you a hug!?" Of course, he looked at me weird at first, but then smiled and said yes. As I hugged him I sort of looked up at what would be the ceiling, suddenly we were spinning as if I were going somewhere. I had this constant idea that he was taking me somewhere. But the feeling of complete and utter fulfillment came over my body both in my dreams and in reality, as I was standing there in my uncle's embrace. 

I'm not usually one type my corny dreams on the internet but after thinking so much about how I wanted to hug him one last time, and then him listening to me closely enough to come to me in my dreams, was the most satisfying thing that could ever happen to me, after his death. 

Not long after he passed he came to Aurora's dreams as well. But, I will save that for another post, because this one is emotional as it is. Her detail of what she saw is absolutely amazing, and I think will have a lot of you readers in chills!

So, I dedicate this post to my late uncle Joshua Dean Thrasher, the older brother I never had. I love you so much, and I hope to see you again soon. 

Allergy Season Is Destroying My Respiratory System

For those of you that have allergies, I am sure you can relate in some way to the picture to the left. 

Man, I thought that this summer I was going to make it through without any sinus headaches, or any sneezing, and itching, but I guess I was being facetious.

Usually, every May I get really bad sinus problems/itching issues. Last May before I left to teach in Italy, I had a sinus headache literally for 3 weeks straight. I am not even being sarcastic. Literally when I woke up and when I fell asleep I would have a throbbing headache...for 3 straight weeks. Finally, right before I left for Italy, something snapped and it went away. But, I remember being so scared because I thought I was going to get on the plane and my head was going to explode. That's how it has felt the last couple of days too.

For those of you that are reading this and have serious sinus issues like I do, let me recommend a product that actually seemed to work. Now it could have just been that my sinuses were finally clearing up anyway because I had been dealing with them for about a week and a half now. But, yesterday I ran up to Wal Mart and I saw Benadryl Severe Allergy and Headache. I came home and took one pill and ate a sub from Subway and literally in like 3 hours I had NO sinus pressure in my head. It was amazing. I wish I would have known this last summer because I was literally crying every night because my head hurt soooo bad. 

Now, before this year, I was usually taking Allegra for my allergies/sinus issues, but it didn't really ever help. I think my body sort of built up a tolerance because it worked the first time I used it and then never again. Hopefully I have helped someone out by posting this. I would hope that I would run across a blog like this if I were up in the middle of the night with an excruciatingly painful headache to help me out too.

Also, for the record I think that Danny, Jackie, Kim, and I will be traveling to New York City near the end of July, so that is going to be fun. I hope that Kim reads Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by then because I am going to want to talk to someone about it. 

Anyway, if you are having allergy problems I wish you the best of luck. Maybe my advice will end up helping someone out! 

Peace the FUNK out ya'll!

My Thoughts On "The RG"

Well it has been a little over a week since I posted the first episode of "The RG" on YouTube, and so far it has been a raging success. As of this post there are only two episodes created, but if you're a fan, stay tuned because the last 3 episodes from this season are going to electrify your mind, and blow you away! ;)

As of this post, Episode 1 has received 145 hits in 1 week, and of my 17 videos on YouTube, is only 9 hits away from becoming the No.6 video. My No.1 video is of course "Chucky - Touch," which at this time has a choke hold on the No.1 position of my videos with 1,755 hits in the 11 months it has been on YouTube. Not far behind Episode 1 is Episode 2 which was added a day after Episode 1, and has 131 hits. 

Based on this I really think that "The RG" will end up being the top videos. They seem to hold everyone's interest a lot more than the Chucky video. That being said, look out for the next Chucky video in the coming days. Danny and I have a lot of REALLY amazing ideas to build on. The Chucky phenomenon has really been amazing. I've been out with Danny a few times and people have stopped and asked him if he is the one from the Chucky video. It's kind of insane really but it's so much fun to watch people laugh and be entertained by something that I absolutely love! 

I can't say much about the last 3 episodes of The RG. I have written out the storyboard for the last 3 episodes and not even the actors know what's going to happen. But, it will be really exciting, let me tell you that.

I've linked all of the media, throughout this post, so if you are wondering what the hell I am talking about just click on the links. 

Is it fair to call you all my fans!? I think I can.

So, to my fans...stay tuned because there's lots more in store! :)

-John

World Wide Developers Conference

So, as a Mac enthusiast, I feel that it is my duty to have an opinion about what will be happening at the upcoming World Wide Developers Conference on June 11. Below are some of my predictions about new things from Apple.

iMac - I think we're definitely overdue for an upgraded iMac. I think the price points will probably stay the same, but I expect a brand new industrial design. Macrumors.com and Appleinsider both have had tips on a new design, and what a better time than now to release a new model. I'm excited to see what it looks like.

MacBook Pro - Recently, Apple updated their MacBook line with larger hard drives, and faster processors. I expect that we will see a new 2.33 standard, and a 2.4 for the top MacBook Pros. Maybe we will see something new in the application department, but I doubt it.

iPod - In light of the new iPhone, everyone believes that the newest iPod will be a touch screen, wide screen display. I disagree. In the past Apple has gradually built up its products, instead of just throwing up the ABSOLUTELY newest technology...for instance the iPod photo that was out for like 5 months, and was upgraded to the iPod video. Because of this, I believe that we will see a new widescreen display iPod, but not with touch sensitive controls - probably at the 50, 80, and 100 GB models. I do, however, think we will see the touch sensitive displays by November, just in time for the holidays. Also, the fact that Apple has released iTunes Plus, seems like a new iPod would just make sense.

Leopard - Mr. Jobs has already said that the first Leopard Betas will be available at the WWDC, so I expect that there will be a lot of focus on this OS. I expect some new "top secret" apps to be at least mentioned, if not displayed. Because Steve has said that we won't be seeing Leopard until October, I really don't know what else he could mention or bring up as regards Leopard...but then again he's always full of surprises. Maybe he'll give us an early present, and say it's going to be released in July!? We'll see!

iPhone - As of today, the iPhone has been officially slated for June 29. This information is via the ads posted on Apple.com. That being said, I think we'll get some more info about 3rd party developing as well as other specifics that Jobs never really hit on during the Keynote introduction in January.

Apple TV - I'm not sure what could be left to talk about as regards Apple TV. A few days ago, a 160GB hard drive option was released, which makes me a little more excited about it. When they released the 40GB hard drive, I wondered exactly how serious they could be introducing a product that has less hard drive space than some iPods. I do expect new things in the regard of its future (upcoming apps that can be installed, accessories, etc.).

MacMini - I believe the end of MacMini is near, based solely on site rumors. The fact that they are still using Core Duo with much slower processor speeds, makes me think Apple is digging itself a hole as regards the Mac Mini. Compared to the idea of adding $400 and getting an iMac with brand new, up to the market specs, just makes me think the MacMini is either going to get severely upgraded, or discontinued. I guess we'll see.

iLife '07 - A few days before MacWorld was set to begin, Amazon.com had 4 pre-orders available, titled: "MacWorld Announcement Product No.1" through 4. Most people thought that it was iLife, iWork, and maybe some other stuff. However, neither of those products were released at MacWorld, and soon thereafter, the pre-orders were taken off of Amazon. I think that we'll see the intro of iLife '07, but I also believe that it will be named iLife Leopard. This just makes more sense to me. Maybe we'll also see iWork Leopard.

New Product! - At first I thought that maybe there would be a new product or something we have never seen, but I really doubt that now. There just seems to be too much going on at Apple, with the Apple TV, iPhone and Leopard all being launched within a 9 month period it just seems like adding something new to the mix is very unlikely. However, that being said, it IS Apple, and we are to expect the unexpected.

In closing, I just want to point out that Apple DID just upgrade their MacBooks with faster processors, and larger hard drives, and did the same thing last week with the Apple TV. Why would they do this so close to WWDC? My thought is that they have so much to talk about during the Keynote, that they wanted to get the little things out of the way! That's just me though. I'll post again after the Keynote on June 11, to analyze my thinking.

P.S. My MacBook Pro will be here tomorrow! WOOOOOO!