Queens of the Stone Age - The Vampire of Time and Memory

I was watching Ray Donovan's Season 3 finale on Sunday. They played this song after the last major scene in the episode. The music just resonated so much with Ray Donovan's character and I just fell in love with this song.

Spoiler:

...

In Season 3, there's a catholic priest that wants Ray to confess for killing the priest who molested him and his younger brother when they were kids. This other priest knows about what happened and all he really want is for Ray to confess so he can absolve him. Earlier in the season, they were confronted by the priest and Ray beat up the priest for knowing too much about what happened to him. The priest performed an excommunication prayer for Ray and his brothers.

In the season finale, Ray's older brother was shot and in a coma. Him and his father went to the Armenian mob for revenge. They won the gun fight, but he was also shot. With a heavy heart, Ray went to the priest to confess. He didn't really care about what would happen to him, but he just wanted his brother to be back in God's graces and to be alive. Ray confessed to killing their former family priest who molested him. When asked why he did it, he was hesitant at first until he finally broke down. The priest told him he was special and that he could be anything. He bought him gifts and took him to watch movies or the carnival. Nobody ever did anything like that for him when he was little. So when the family priest started doing those awful things to him, he knew it was bad, but he just let him. He cared for the priest. Now that he's older, he doesn't know what to feel. He's all messed up inside. He sees these pictures in his head when he hugs his kids. It tears him up inside.

The priest in the confessional absolved him of his sins. He collapsed inside the church due to the gunshot. The scene shifts with the other priest driving and Ray on the passenger seat, heading back to Los Angeles and probably find a doctor. That's when "The Vampyre of Time and Memory" starts playing.

The beginning lyrics:

I want God to come and take me home
'Cause I'm all alone in this crowd
Who are you to me?
Who am I supposed to be?
Not exactly sure anymore



There are two versions of this song with Queens of the Stone Age and their guest singer, Ms. Dolly Byrd.

I'm done.

A few things (2015-09-27)

1. The last movie I watched in theaters was Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation last month (August). I've watched three movies from last year on TV: Dracula Untold, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Michael Bay Edition), and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. Dracula Untold was more action than horror. I think Universal is trying to piece together all their movies to bring back the Monster Squad... or at least plan on it. It started with I Am Frankenstein and now Dracula Untold. Maybe the werewolf and the mummy will join. TMNT was probably a let down. If I didn't know about the original, this is probably an okay movie. It's just very Michael Bay-ish. The last Night at the Museum was not as good as the other movies, but it's still a fun family movie. The plot was literally fixing the tablet and all they had to do was go to London and ask questions. Robin William's last scene as Teddy Roosevelt actually made me tear up.
2. Still on the job search. One recruiter actually seems to be showing some promise. The client likes me and they're opening a spot for the same position. I should hear back from them on Monday.
3. My laptop has been slowing down for the past two months. I've tried every thing in the books, online and what I know from past experience, trying to gain back performance even though I already know the reason why it's slowing down. Then it finally happened Saturday afternoon: harddrive failure is detected. It's still working right now, but the the harddrive will give out any time soon. I have most of my important files backed up. It's still a pain, though. Good thing I have a rainy day fund. I'm going back to desktops for now. Just enough for me to edit my photos/videos and do some work.

I'm done.

A father plays poker with his drinking buddies after a long 60-hour work week. A college student goes on an impromptu road trip with his friends on Memorial day weekend. A mother takes her kids to the movies and the park on Saturday. A thirty-something professional goes clubbing on a Friday night. These are a few of many scenarios that people do to keep themselves sane and from getting overwhelmed with work, school, anxiety... life.

This is what we do. This is our getaway from stress. We go on vacations. We go to conventions. We go to parties. We attend concerts. Book readings. Autographs. Premieres. Sports. And more often than not, we take a picture of these precious moments. We want to capture that which made us happy... that which made us forget, even for an instant, the problems in our lives... that which made us remember that this is all worth it, as illusory as that statement may or may not be. We're all in the same boat. Everyone is fighting a battle we know nothing about. So it baffles me when people "rain on others' parade" for their happiness, or perceived "perfect" life.

There's an article being passed around to various outlets stating that Instagram photos are not what they seem. A Thai photographer published a series of photos showing the whole picture of a cropped photo on Instagram. One picture depicts a perfect yoga pose in the cropped out image. The whole picture shows a friend holding the woman to keep her balanced.

Another picture shows a book under a plate of vegetables and rice. The whole picture shows a bowl of ramen noodles and other items on the table.

I understood the point of these pictures and the exaggerated nature of cropping and filtering the images. However, people are using this to justify their disdain on others. They don't like someone because of the pictures they take with their friends or of themselves. They don't like (hate, even) people's vacation photos. Essentially, they don't like pictures of people having fun. For them, these are bragging and fake. These people are quick to deflect evidence of jealousy. But it might as well be... sort of.

People have control on how they should feel about certain things.

Events. Situations. Objects. Pictures.

Your negative feelings towards a person depends on the situation. If they really did do something to warrant your disdain and/or resentment, that's a different issue. If you don't like someone who you barely talk to because of their pictures, how happy they seem to be in said pictures or their captions in said pictures, then these feelings are negative projections from within that you've attached on someone else. It's not jealousy. It's envy.

This is what photography is about: a captured moment in life taken out of context. You set the frame and the shot. The audience projects their own experience to the photo.

If you're one of these people, I guess what I'm trying to say is...

It's not somebody else's fault that you're not happy with your current situation. Everyone has their demons. Just don't lash out, passive-aggressively or otherwise, to others that have something you don't.

I'm done.

Nanoblock - Taj Mahal

I got this last Christmas from my sister. I just got around to building it. It captures the basic look of the original Taj Mahal, but not all of it's details. The LEGO version was huge and contains over 5900 LEGO pieces, the largest LEGO set they've ever released.

The Taj Mahal is considered one of the most significant and beautiful buildings in the world. Taj Mahal has a very romantic love story behind its construction. It was built by the fifth Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan in the memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan (his original name was Khurram) married Mumtaz Mahal (her original name was Arjumand Banu Begum) in 1612 after five years of love story. He was the son of the fourth Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, and she was a Muslim Persian Princess. When Shah Jahan ascended the throne in 1628, he bestowed his wife with the title Mumtaz Mahal (Jewel of the Palace). After 19 years of happy life, Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631 when she was giving birth to her 14th child. Shah Jahan was very brokenhearted and his court grieved for two years. Few years later, Shah Jahan decided to build Taj Mahal, in the memory of Mumtaz Mahal, which became one of the most outstanding monuments of Mughal and world architecture. (source)

I'm done.

WTF Fridays - Hell's Club

There is a place where all fictional characters meet. Outside of time, Outside of all logic, This place is known as HELL'S CLUB, But this club is not safe.

TERMINATOR vs TONY MONTANA vs TOM CRUISE vs CARLITO BRIGANTE vs BLADE vs JOHN TRAVOLTA vs AL PACINO vs PINEAD vs THE MASK vs ROBOCOP vs DARTH VADER vs MICHAEL JACKSON...

I'm done.

Movies I've Seen - July/August 2015

1. Dragon Ball Z - Battle of the Gods (2014) - I was excited when they announced this movie last year. The creator of the series greenlit the movie and the plans for a new series, continuing the story after Dragonball Z (DBZ). This also brought back the argument of whether Dragonball GT (GT) was canon or not. This movie and the new series (Dragonball Super) put the discussion to an end: GT is not canon. It's an alternate storyline.

Battle of the Gods takes place four years after the end of the Buu Saga in DBZ. Lord Beerus, the God of Destruction, has woken up. He had a dream about a Super Saiyan God and is set on finding out if such a person exists. The only Saiyans left are on Earth. He finds Goku, the main character and the rest of the gang on Earth.

This movie is for the fans. It's lighthearted and comedic.

2. Minions - Based on the Despicable Me movies, the Minions got their own movie. It's about where they came from and how they always followed someone as a boss. Most of the time it's their fault when their boss bites the dust and they go with another boss. It's a kids movie for adults.

3. The Breakup Playlist - Our local theater sometimes show foreign films every week or so. They started showing Filipino movies last year. This is the first one I saw. The story goes back in fort in the present and the past of two lovers who are in a band together and had a falling out. It boils down to the guy feeling like his girlfriend and the band's lead singer taking the spotlight and he is jealous of her. They break up. Then several years later, they are asked to do a reunion for the band. The guy was already remorseful, but the girl was wouldn't take it. She was hurt so bad by what he did. Then they make up before the movie ends. I guess it's a teen drama. Movie was longer than I expected (almost two hours).

4. Ant-Man - Marvel can't fail. At all. This is the first origin story of Ant-Man and it worked as a heist superhero movie.

5. The Maze Runner (2014) - I think it's pretty common now for popular books in a trilogy to have a movie and their trilogy and two-parter for the third book. The Maze Runner is about a group of kids who are sent in the middle of a maze. They don't know what happened before. All they know is their name. Nobody knows what happens in the maze. All they know is that it closes when the sun sets and opens back up early in the morning. Then one day a girl was brought up to the surface and knows the main character's name. I think it's a dystopian, apocalyptic movie. I liked it.

6. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - the 5th film in the series. It's Tom Cruise in the gang doing impossible missions again. This time, he finds damning evidence that an anti-IMF (Impossible Missions Force) called Rogue Nation exists. It is up to him to clear his name and put a stop this group.

7. The Last Holiday (2008) - I was browsing through TV and found this movie from 2008. It's Queen Latifah. Her character was diagnosed with terminal cancer. With the knowledge that she only have a few months left, she withdrew all her money and went on an expensive vacation in Europe. I actually enjoyed this movie. Not all movies have to be serious all the time. This was the right kind of feel good movie. Queen Latifah played her character right. She didn't overact or anything.

8. Birdman (2014) - I read that this movie was an anti-comic book movie. I didn't really get that vibe from it. It's about a washout superhero movie actor who is writing, directing and acting in his own play many years after his Birdman character. The movie is played out as if there were no cuts to the scenes and everything continuous to the next. The acting is really good. It's raw and at some points almost like they are calling out all actors who feel like they don't matter anymore and trying to do something serious to feel like they matter.

9. Dragon Ball Z - Resurrection of F - The second DBZ movie comes after Battle of the Gods. This time, Frieza is resurrected and learns some new powers. Too bad Goku and Vegeta have learned something of their own, too.

I'm done.