Randy Pausch's Last Lecture - Let Us Never Forget

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
quote from this youtube link
"Uploaded on Dec 20, 2007
Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 - July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving presentation, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.
For more on Randy, visit: http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture
Learn how to support the Randy Pausch Memorial Bridge,
visit: http://www.cmu.edu/homepage/images/ex..."


My favorite quotes from his lecture:

"you've gotta get the fundamentals down because otherwise the fancy stuff isn't gonna work."

"when you are screwing up and nobody's saying anything to you anymore, that means they gave up. and that's a lesson that stuck with me my whole life, is that when you see yourself doing something badly and nobody's bothering to tell anymore, that's a very bad place to be. your critics are the ones telling you they still love you and care."

"experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted."

"the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough."

"wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you.  when you are pissed off at somebody and you are angry at them, you just haven't given them enough time."

[Virtual reality course] "it gave kids a sense of excitement of putting on a show for people who were then excited about it and i think that's one of the best things you can give somebody - the chance to show them what it feels like to make other people get excited and happy. i mean, that's a tremendous gift."

"sharing an office with don was really like sharing an office with a tornado, right? there was just so much energy and you never knew which trailer was next, but you knew something exciting was gonna happen!"

"head fake: the best way to teach somebody something, is to have them think they're learning something else. ...millions of kids having fun while learning something hard."

"mothers are people who love you, even when you pull their hair."

"president cohon, when i told him i was gonna do this talk, he said please tell them about having fun cause that's what i remember you for. i said i can do that, but it's kinda like a fish giving a talk about the importance of water. i mean, i dont know how to not have fun, right? i'm **dying** and i'm having fun. and i'm gonna keep having fun every day i have left. cause there's no other way to play it."

"it's kinda fun to do the impossible."

"when you do the right thing, good stuff has a way of happening."

"when people give you feedback, cherish it and use it."

"show gratitude. when i got tenure, i took all of my research team down to disneyworld for a week and one of the other professors at virginia said 'how can you do that?' and i said 'these people just busted their ass and got me the best job in the world for life - how could i not do that?"

"don't complain, just work harder."

"be good at something; it makes you valuable."

"find the best in everybody; no matter how you have to wait for them to show it."

"be prepared: 'luck' is where preparation meets opportunity."

"did you figure out the head fake? it's not about how to achieve your dreams, it's about how to lead your life. if you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you. have you figured out the second head fake? talk's not for you, it's for my kids."

Hard Times Quote

A friend shared this with me once so I wanted to post it here too:

So there's this quote I really like. I stumbled upon it when I was going through a tough time
“It's like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”   -E.L. Doctorow
This quote gave me hope when I needed it, which is why I thought it worth sharing. Hang in there--this will pass, I promise.

The Piano Guys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VqTwnAuHws

Movie Review: Mike Birbiglia's Sleepwalk With Me: Authentic

A+ for effort, passion, and quirky-ness.
A for style of filming.
A for the cast.
B for all around feeling and ending.
C for "plot" - fiction vs documentary vs biography.

In addition to Brian Regan, John Mulaney, and Jo Koy, among others, Mike Birbiglia has fast become one of my all time favorite comedians.  So much so that I bought all of his CDs, subsequently listened to them via my cell - even though I told myself I wouldn't yet.  My fiance and I will be traveling soon, and we plan on listening to various comedian's CDs along the way, so I was supposed to "save it" for the trip.  But I changed my mind.  Listened anyway and told my fiance I wouldn't mind listening to them again :).  I used up half my data feature allotment for the month already!  THAT is how much I enjoy his humor!

Alas, I digress.  Sleepwalk With Me.  A movie of Mike's creation.  There were some facts and names that were changed, but it was basically about his sleepwalking disorder and how he started out in the stand up comedy business.  It wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but then again I didn't really know what to expect.  I loved it over all, though.  I definitely appreciate its authenticity and how it touches on difficult life topics and things that make people feel uncomfortable.

Movie aside, Mike Birbiglia is quite impressive.  "I know!  I'm in the future too!"  True, authentic, hilarious, down-to-Earth humor that you just cannot resist.  He teaches us how to ultimately be honest with yourself and others, to follow your dreams, to take yourself seriously yet find humor in your experiences.  To be there for yourself and others on purpose!  His movie gets a 7; he gets a 10 :).

Gleenobly's rating: 7/10

Movie Review: Silver Linings Playbook: Deep

A+ for the cast and plot.
A for dealing with complicated, deep topics like depression and divorce.
A for quirky humor coupled with seriousness.
A for refreshing realism.
A for one liners/quotes.

Based on the novel by Matthew Quick, this movie is about a man who left a mental institution to clean himself up in an attempt to reconcile with his estranged wife.  Along the way he finds himself also stuck dealing with daddy issues, entangled intricacies of family and friends, and meeting an enigmatic, authentic girl.

This movie has a fantastic cast - Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence (I kept thinking where have I seen her before?  Then it hit me - Hunger Games and Xmen), and Robert De Niro to name a few.  I was even delighted to see Chris Tucker again - last time I recall seeing him was in Rush Hour and Fifth Element. 

With the right blend of humor and dose of reality, minus the cheesiness and overt predictability, Silver Linings Playbook teaches us that it's okay to laugh even when things aren't funny, to forgive when all you wanna do is forget without forgiving, and that we all have difficulties but we can make it, be happy, captain our own ships.  Make changes by walking the walk not just talking the talk.  Live life to the fullest and laugh the whole way through!

Gleenobly's rating: 10/10

Movie Review: Rid of Me: Troubling

A for dealing with adult bullying, divorce, and personality difficulties.
A for filmography and capturing of different angles/scenes.
B for the cast.
C for the plot.
F for overt negativity and passive aggressiveness.

Rid of Me is a very dark drama about a woman who goes through hell and back in the midsts of a divorce.  Interesting thing is, I saw this movie shortly after seeing Silver Linings Playbook, and while they deal with similar topics, there really is no comparison.  Silver Linings Playbook was way better.  That aside, Rid of Me had some of good things about it, but more not so good things, which is why I did not give it the highest rating.  Matter of fact, I am told I am being too generous!  Boo hiss, I still did like the movie, which is why I gave it above a 5.  The movie certainly is not for everyone.  There's some rough, sickening childishness and bullying that is tough to swallow.  What I loved about the movie, though, was that it made me really think about our behavior as people, how we treat others, impressions, making an impact, changing for the better.  Getting through the materialistic, shallow, terrible crap that life throws at you.  And I thoroughly enjoyed the filming structure - meaning the angles, the location - like a scene where the character was wearing 4 different outfits and it just blended well with that particular part of the plot.  To boot, this movie was filmed in my stomping grounds, Oregon.  :)

Gleenobly's rating: 6/10

Guy Love

Equally funny as my other post :)

Everything Comes Down To Poop

I am usually not into musicals or musical type of stories but this is pretty funny :)

Hotel Carpets

Why are they typically so ugly?  =P

Movie Review: The Odd Life of Timothy Green: Great Family Film

A for the cast
A for the filmography
A for the ending
B for the message and family friendly atmosphere
F for the cheesy scenes, squirmish-ness

This movie is about a husband and wife who are not able to have children and suddenly end up "adopting" a 10 year old boy.  Perhaps I am being too cynical?  But parts of this movie were way too cheesy for me.  That aside, it was a great family flick.  Leads me to ask - it is possible to make an awesome family movie that is not cheesy?  I would say yes but I really cannot think of one off the top of my head.

I will say that this movie was better than I thought it would be.  The whole idea of the underdog, being different, "Don't Worry Be Happy," be who you wanna be no matter what people think, overcoming challenges, don't need to keep up with the bragging Jones's - very appealing to me and I love it.  It's not always done in a concise, non cheesy fashion, but in this movie it mostly works out well.  I mean, I did get choked up in parts, and that means something.

I loved the cast.  It's nice to know that even if a movie has stupid parts, you can always fall back on the entertainment value of some of your favorite actors and actresses.  My favorite character was the ultra serious lady who played the Pencil Museum boss.

At least the ending did not stink.  Generally, if the movie is great but the ending is bad, I give it a 1 or 2 out of 10, possibly a 3.  Since this movie was so so and the ending was good, I give it a ...

gleenobly's rating 6/10

Don't Sweat It!

I remember hearing a very nice story once.  I don't recall who told it, but here it is:

There was a large family eating dinner at the table.  They had a few guests over, one of them I'll call James.  A little boy, I'll call him Adam, spilled his milk – as you can imagine, it went all over the table and everything.  The dad, Bob, got so upset.  He yelled at Adam, talked down to him, demeaned him.  People were scared and did not know what to do or think.  It was awkward to sit there and eat and watch this unfold.  Then suddenly James stood up.  Stared Bob straight in the eye.  Took his own glass of milk and proceeded to spill it on purpose all over the table.  Then asked Bob if he was gonna yell at him too?  Bob eventually got the hint and I am sure that everything worked out well.

Wow, what a powerful message!  Motto: don't sweat the small stuff!  Don't sweat the big stuff either!  “Don't Worry, Be Happy” as the song goes :).

Movie Review: Matchstick Men: Wait, Whoa, Wow!

A+ for plot structure.
A+ for the cast.
A+ for suspense.
A+ for quirky humor.

1, 2, 3 ... pygmies!  Enter Matchstick Men, a funny movie about 2 con men played by 2 of my favorite actors Nicolas Cage and Sam Rockwell.  By one of my favorite directors - Ridley Scott.  Based on the book Matchstick Men by Eric Garcia.  I won't write too much about this movie because nearly anything I say will spoil it and I don't do that.  I will just say that I loved it, hands down.  This is a plot that can be done so wrong -- well, they nailed it.  Tis a symphony orchestra, an intense chess game, a marvelous myriad of conflict, giggles, the ridiculous, and the right flavor of disappointment and happiness.  Kudos!

gleenobly's rating: 10/10