dan recently let me borrow the movie, “MOON.” for those of you who don’t know, it’s a smaller, indpendent sci-fi film that stars sam rockwell. i won’t talk too much about the movie, so as not to ruin anything for folks that haven’t seen it, but i thoroughly enjoyed it and thought the concept behind it was excellent.. (1 through 10, i’d give the movie an 8) although not entirely new, there’s some interesting ideas as to where the future is headed.

it’s not too hard to figure out that dan and myself (and most folks we hang out with) are pretty into nerdy stuff… and as a result, some pretty nerdy conversations will happen. here’s some samplings of our recent nerd-speak:

• time-travel vs. teleportation. (which will come first and why?)

• does life on other planets exist, and if so to what extent? (big foot and the loch ness monster always seem to make their way into this topic)

• will we die before the cure for hair-loss is found?! (i’m most worried about that one…)

• will hover-cars remove the risk of road-kill, and provide an excellent safety feature of being able to pull up or down away from potential on-coming accidents? (the answer is yes… think about it..)

plus, our love for the latest technology is definitely related to our appreciation of the future. (which is why i bought and love my iPad… it makes me feel all future-y.) all this to say, we like thinking about the future and the inventions, breakthroughs, etc. that are sure to come!

would love to hear some inventions you’re most looking forward to… or any future related thoughts! comment below

love, ryan

Holy moley!  I’m getting married in almost two weeks.  I can’t believe it’s almost here.  For our honeymoon we’re heading up to Alaska.  I’m super excited.  Neither of us have ever been there so I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best things to do there. 

We’re planning on visiting Exit Glacier,

And then hiking up to the Harding Icefield

And of course spend some time in Denali National Park.

I’ve never heard anyone say that they visited Alaska and didn’t love it.  Have any of you ever been?  Any must see things to add to our list?  Have a great one.

Love,

dan

most people that know me, know that i like cartoons. and i just learned about this new one called “adventure time: with finn and jake” (and it’s appropriately on cartoon network.) it’s technically a “kids show” but honestly, i don’t know that i would love for my kids watching it, but as a grown-up kid myself, i love it. it’s not inappropriate or anything like that, it just feels like it has an older audience taste, somehow.. it’s super quirky and feels like it could be a part of “adult swim” on cartoon network, instead of the kids daytime shows.

the overall look/art of the show is great and i love how random everything in their world seems to be.

it’s such a weird and wonderful little show about a kid and his dog who enjoy adventuring and such. super silly and i’ve been enjoying it a bunch… 

it’s not allowed to embed clips of the show anywhere, but here’s an interview with the show’s creator and in the video, there’s a few funny clips of the show. enjoy!

FYI the jake’s (the dog) voice is done by the same gentleman that voices “bender” from futurama.

oh and here’s a small clip of a song that finn and jake sing in an episode… (again, this show is full of randomness. love it)

love, ryan

ps. just curious, have you guys seen Adventure Time on TV? what’d ya think? comment below, yo.

Yesterday marked the beginning of Roland Garros, also known as the French Open.  A few years back for some reason I really got into watching tennis.  I’m not normally much of a sports guy, but tennis for some reason I really enjoy.  I think what I like is that every match is do or die.  If you lose the match you’re out of the tournament.  Also I like that the players are out there on their own.  There are no coaches to talk them through strategies or give any help during the match.  It’s totally up to them.  It’s also such a mental game.  I’ve never noticed in any other sport so much of the direct correlation between a players mental state and their performance.  At the professional level I think there is probably very little that separates the players, skill wise.  It all comes down to the mental game.  Who can keep believing they can win through the most adversity.  One of my favorite players and one of the best is a perfect example of this, Rafael Nadal.  You will never see him out there with a bad attitude.  He plays every point like it’s champiohship point.  He’s also half of one of the best rivalries in sports with Roger Federer.  Roger is arguably the best player ever and the matches between Federer and Nadal have been epic. Enjoy the French Open everyone.

Love,

dan

Rafa

Roger

last week i heard the tom waits song “all the world is green” for the first time (or at least i noticed it for the first time) and on first listen, i knew i liked it… but it has literally been all i’ve listened to since.

it’s such an earnest, simple verse/chorus type of song that just swallows me up. i love that it’s simple structure encourages you to pay closer attention to it’s lyrics, which are absolutely brilliant. so much depth in each line. the lyric “pretend you owe me nothing, and all the world is green” is so sweet and beautiful… especially in the context of this song, which appears to be about a relationship hoping for healing. the word choices “owe” and “green” in that lyric has so much weight and meaning if you think about it.

this song just sounds so genuine, which is even more endearing beneath the gravel and roughness of tom’s voice and sound.

tom waits sound is definitely not for everyone. he has a very wide range in his music… he has a warm, gentle-giant kind of side, (which is my favorite; songs like “all the world is green,” “i’m still here,” etc.) and he has a very dark, unsettling and an often downright scary sounding side as well.

i love a lot of mr. wait’s work, and to me, this song is such a perfect example of sincerity being key to great music. it’s just such a beautifully, beautifully crafted song. i don’t enjoy listening to very many songs repeat, but every once in a while there’s a song that moves me enough to want to hear over and over. this song has been inspiring to spend time with this last week and it was a definite shoe-in on my “best music ever.” playlist!

here’s a video where you can listen… not sure what the video is for, but give ol’ tom a moment of your time.

love, ryan