More stuff I found

Ugh, not a great day. Have a headache, been starting to get a bit of a cough again (blame the weather), and just feel depressed in general. I did get to drive to pick up my sister from sports camp (my dad drove back), and as long as I practice parking and driving on the highway and driving in general when on errands (and really step it up in the next couple of weeks), I should be able to get my driver's license before I go back to college. Which is a handful of weeks away, when you come to think about it -- like, 6 or 7. Great. :( Well, I kinda do prefer the winter anyway -- it's cold, it's not as lively, and you have to trudge through snow, but at least your mind is occupied then, and apparently that keeps you happy. :/ Fortunately, I have the Internet to make up for it. I guess. ^_^;

First off, the latest Iran posts at ontd_political:

July 14th (most recent)
July 13th

Next, I found this awesome video from Jay Smooth:

It's about Michael Jackson, but it's really more about the upsides and downsides of any sort of fame. This has all been said before, of course, but I don't think I've heard anyone say it better. And this made me think he's really on to something big here -- it's not just about connections through a camera, but through print media and online media as well, and he could very well be talking about BNFs and "Internet famous" people as well (to a much lesser extent, of course, but the overarching idea is still relevant). Advances in technology and the way we communicate has allowed this to happen.

(And actually, you guys should really check out his other videos here and here. I'm not big into hip-hop, but his videos are more intelligent social commentary than anything else. Especially his "How to Tell Someone They Sound Racist" one, which I'll probably include if I ever get around to doing a post on privilege.)

Next up, I watched a couple of trailers for District 9 (IMDB), and they really piqued my interest.

( Trailer #1 )

( Trailer #2 )

Well, this looks interesting.  Of course, I'm a sucker for this kind of faux-documentary style and the overall feel of the scenes we see here, which is like Babel or The Constant Gardener and other films about ~global issues~, and the "what would happen if aliens really did land on Earth" idea fascinates me for some reason.  I suspect this movie will have a bit of the heavy-handedness I complained about in my Watchmen review (it takes place in Johannesburg), and the plotline doesn't quite thrill me, but after seeing some of the viral marketing for this (I'd suggest starting here), and seeing the short film on which it's based, count me interested.  (This is also the third time this year where I've become interested in a movie on trailers alone, and I'm not normally like this.  I kinda hope this doesn't become a trend.  O_o)

That's about it for now.  I really need to stop writing these things at 2:30 in the morning.  :P