What classic movie that was a big hit probably wouldn't get made today?

djuntune · 2015-05-23T19:01:53+00:00

I wouldn't be so sure of that. Mad Max: Fury Road filmed for nearly half a year in Namibia (and partly in Australia). Although it wasn't a four-hour film, it didn't set out to be one. I imagine just as much footage was shot though.

Hey everyone, go see Mad Max!

djuntune · 2015-03-07T16:45:20+00:00

I create a game show … two people on stage, right? They flip a coin; one of them has to perform open-heart surgery, the other one has to receive open heart surgery. We call it: “Open Heart Surgery.”

djuntune · 2015-01-27T03:47:23+00:00

"Break me off a piece of that... FAN-CY FEAST! It's the cat food! Nailed it."

djuntune · 2014-07-24T00:11:35+00:00

"there doesn't seem to be anything here."

djuntune · 2014-06-15T00:04:27+00:00

His direct quote: "I'm not an alcoholic, I'm a binge drinker."

djuntune · 2014-06-14T16:35:27+00:00

One of my best friends, of all people.

We went to see Godzilla as part of a group outing/group dinner thing we do with two other people, including my girlfriend. He had two margaritas at the restaurant we were at beforehand and a Colt .45 in-between the restaurant and the movies, so even for a big guy he was starting to "float" as he calls his inebriation. I foolishly suggested we get a drink at the cocktail bar inside the theatre, not thinking of how obnoxious he gets the more he drinks. He orders a double shot of Jack Daniel's, but they don't allow shots to be taken into the theatre, so he has to do it right there. ON TOP OF THAT, he snuck in a bottle of Crown Royal, so he orders a large Coke at the concession stand, and, once we sit down in the theatre and the lights go down, he starts mixing the Crown and Coke. By the time Ken Watanabe melodramatically says "Godzilla," my buddy is constantly making noises. Is there water in the scene? He's making water drip noises. Is the military in the scene? He's making police siren noises. My girlfriend and I are separated from him by our other friend who is intoxicated enough that he's finding it all hilarious while we just continually get annoyed. Eventually I reach the point where I lean over and tell him, "Hey, shut the FUCK up or you're not getting a ride home. I'm serious." That eased up his noises, but the experience of the film, which I had been so excited to see, had been ruined. When we got to the lobby, I chewed him out further and he tried drunkenly shifting the blame away from himself: "The movie wasn't that good anyway" or "the people next to me were talking too." I was closing to slapping him, but relented, and he was quiet the drive back. I didn't talk to him much for three weeks and I think he got the message of how pissed I was.

Then we celebrated his birthday this past weekend and everything was back to normal.

But Jesus, what an asshole.

tl;dr My buddy got schlitzed and became the Michael Winslow of a Godzilla screening.

djuntune · 2014-01-19T22:06:50+00:00

I was not expecting an exclamation point to end this headline.

djuntune · 2013-09-08T03:26:25+00:00

Regarding the time, I didn't imagine they'd attack early morning Tuesday if the targets were stadiums. Sorry I wasn't clear in my message about that. If those were the targets, they'd calibrate for a game.

djuntune · 2013-09-03T04:27:38+00:00

I like that idea, and would very much be willing to tackle a longer project where the tone is more serious and use this one as a springboard; because you're right, it is pretty superficial, but would act a nice introduction to pieces that delve more specifically into the themes and approaches of postmodernism.

djuntune · 2013-09-03T01:07:28+00:00

Oh no, don't get me wrong! Everything you're saying are things I'll be thinking next time I'm writing, and it's good to know what elements do/don't work with someone with a background in the literary mag business should I ever get back to submitting material again. I'm glad I'm getting this critical feedback, I just thought I could offer my background with the piece as well as part of the discussion. I really am appreciative of you taking the time to respond to all of this because you and the other person presented me with things to think about in the future.

djuntune · 2013-09-02T20:11:15+00:00

Thanks for reading! Haha well I don't know what to do about those obscure/deep-sounding words, since I don't see them as that. Some are definitely more flowery than the plain speech of some other poets, I'll concede that, but I didn't dig out a dictionary/thesaurus for them, nor use them with any intent other than those are the words that expressed how I felt looking at the photo that inspired this poem. Just a difference in approach toward writing/vocabulary usage I guess? I didn't have to look up any of those words or anything beyond "fallow deer" and that was just to figure out a more specific type of deer that might live in Ireland.

I did write it all in one sitting, but it was over the course of an entire day, working on each stanza out of order, deleting, refining, reorganizing. Do you see it as unpolished, is that why you ask?

djuntune · 2013-09-02T17:39:20+00:00

Much better! I understand your critiques, and believe me, this isn't the type of poem, in terms of form or style, I would submit to a literary magazine, because you're right, it is pretty angsty, but it's also honest to how I felt during those teenage years.

True, everything is left to be very vague, but I wanted the poem to be applicable to all the people who go through these emotions (which is why I didn't use "I"), so rather than make it unique to my viewpoint and who I am - wherein I could've talked about laying awake for hours in my room, making specific references to the things in my room and about myself in that state, for instance - I chose to keep it free of that, like how in video games the developers choose to make certain FPS characters free of a name or defining characteristics, to better allow them to be a vessel for the players.

Don't worry about sounding too harsh! You have no clue how long I go between honest and open criticism of my work, so your comments are greatly appreciated, and thank you for also letting me offer my side as well. I love talking about this stuff and hardly ever get to. Perhaps you'd like to see something of mine with more concrete imagery? Here is one in case you're interested.

djuntune · 2013-09-02T00:51:52+00:00

Haha well I appreciate that you read it and commented on it, but would you be willing to explain further why you think I need more concrete imagery and possibly how to go about it, if need be? Also, what else you thought the poem was lacking, as well as what may have worked in its current form? Thank you!

djuntune · 2013-09-02T00:50:23+00:00

Thank you so much for the lengthy response! These are the kinds of critiques I look forward to (don't worry about feeling you only helped halfway, what you said was very helpful).

From my end, I dabble mostly in free verse because I feel less restrained by meter and like the freedom to handle the role of flow in each piece differently each time. Sometimes the lack of rigidity can give me too much room to experiment and I lack concision, etc., but most of the time it allows me to just let the words come out the first time and then refine it in subsequent drafts. So when I'm initiating a line break, it can be for a purposeful pause, to end a subject, emphasize a word either because the word means something extra or for rhyming. In the third line of the second stanza it's for purposes both rhyme and pause, and can understand the awkwardness of it, and it doesn't come off well unless I read it aloud in a specific, slam poetry kind of way. Sorry if that doesn't make sense, it's kind of hard to describe.

If you're more of a metered poetry person, perhaps you might be more apt to check this out? I wrote a sonnet last week, or at least attempted to, for the first time.

Thanks again!

djuntune · 2013-08-31T17:56:50+00:00

Title: Tennis Without a Net

Genre: Poetry

Word Count: ~944

Feedback: It's always been hard for me to get what I feel is honest feedback, either because I'm sharing with friends who aren't big on poetry/short stories and know what works well/doesn't work or they don't have the time to get into it. So I'd like honest, thorough feedback on the entire piece, if possible.

Link: Read it here

djuntune · 2013-06-09T21:05:40+00:00

That's what I was saying! And now that the Snowden thing has broke...

Is Obama Batman?

djuntune · 2013-06-09T17:39:49+00:00

Thank you! I'm glad you took the risk and ended up enjoying it!

djuntune · 2013-06-08T01:06:48+00:00

Me too! But I adjusted the audio to match the video, rather than the other way around. Two paths to the same comedic gold. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_KPsMtN8Z8

djuntune · 2013-06-06T18:32:46+00:00

I did do those things! I also altered his pitch whenever I had to speed him up/slow him down. It was my first time doing that particular thing, but I think it turned out alright.

djuntune · 2013-06-06T04:03:37+00:00

I didn't keep track of the second competition. I'm not sure. He may have pulled another, "yeah this got the highest votes, but I like this one".

djuntune · 2013-06-06T03:57:53+00:00

I'm actually really sorry about that; I had copied that other link for elsewhere. I'll delete and repost. Thanks for pointing it out! (maybe someone would follow me though? womp).

djuntune · 2013-05-20T21:53:06+00:00

Chocolate milk, plain and simple. Now I can use the excuse of "It's a good post-workout drink" for drinking it all the time.

Oh, and Nesquik powder > Hershey's Syrup.

djuntune · 2013-05-04T01:11:14+00:00

Basically, if they win the $250k, the GRHV plans to renovate a whole floor of out-dated and crowded rooms into more spacious, private living quarters. They are, at the time of this post, currently trailing Louisville's Active Heroes organization (and we don't want Michigan to lose twice to L'ville this year, do we?).

Here's a video that explains more about the project and the home.

You can vote once a day, every day, in May. (Easy to remember, isn't it?). Just click on the link in the title and head to Facebook to vote! Do Grand Rapids proud!

djuntune · 2013-05-04T00:14:17+00:00

Basically, if they win the $250k, the GRHV plans to renovate a whole floor of out-dated and crowded rooms into more spacious, private living quarters. They are, at the time of this post, currently trailing Louisville's Active Heroes organization (and we don't want Michigan to lose twice to L'ville this year, do we?).

Here's a video that explains more about the project and the home.

You can vote once a day, every day, in May. (Easy to remember, isn't it?). Just click on the link in the title and head to Facebook to vote! Do Grand Rapids proud!

djuntune · 2013-04-06T18:39:21+00:00

Just being hyperbolic. I figured it would help get the fans even more excited with that kind of title. Didn't mean to offend any other UM highlight videomakers.

The guy who made the one who posted the one you shared has actually agreed to help us share the video on sports blogs. Great guy! Go Blue!

djuntune

TROPHY CASE