Across the Universe.

Should have stayed across the universe.

Why. Was this movie made. WHY.

As if the Beatles needed ANOTHER visit. ANOTHER reincarnation. ANOTHER rehashing.

This movie was deliberately made to suck younger and younger generations into loving "the greatest band of all time", as well as give the already unnecessarily HUGE pool of Beatles' fans something to chew on before the next special edition album collection featuring a song Paul wrote when he thought of something sad one day.

Jesus Christ.

The fact they made a movie that spools in songs...fucking 34 Beatles' songs... around a loosely contrived plot does nothing but show how far people will go to make some gaudy attempt at a movie/attempt at appreciation.

"But Kyle, you didn't see it yet!"

I did. Online. For the sole purpose of being able to say I watched it, and fucking hated it.

For one, most of the songs don't fucking make sense when inserted into the movie. Some are merely put in to emphasize a character's name: "Jude" and "Dr. Robert" are sung because they have characters in the movie named just that in order to put in the song.

See the dumb fucking circle here? Me want to put in song. Me found fun song. Me make some part of movie about fun song to put in fun song.

It's a collection of poorly contrived, albeit linear, music videos. With horrid, overly colorful graphics.

Now, it could be because I'm not a Beatles fan [and I definitely am not after THAT], but this movie did not need to be made. Beatles shit keeps coming. And won't stop. I get it; the were a great band from back in the day. Were. WERE. They're gone; no more. There are millions of bands out there who are FUCKING BETTER THAN THE BEATLES, yet aren't recognized as such because we can't let the fuck go. Let go. The Beatles are overrated. Vastly overrated. They're old news, man, and you're doing yourself and current artists and musicians a disservice by saying, "Fuck this new stuff, I'm popping in 'Abbey Road'."

It's the same reason I can't take kids my age seriously when they listen only to oldies and claim their favorite band is [insert band from the 60s-70s here]. Guess what? Nine times out of ten, they're all DEAD. They don't tour or make music anymore. It's fine to appreciate those bands, but come on. Do yourself a favor and check out current music, and I guarantee that if you look hard enough you'll find a band that will rock your socks off harder than the oldies do. If you can't find any, you're not looking hard enough. Just don't fall back on what you grew up with and what your parents listened to. Christ.

"You just don't get it, Kyle! The Beatles are [insert whatever argument I've heard before]!"

No. I do get it. They had hit songs, and legions of fans. Lots of bands do.

"But the symbolism!"

Yeah? Porcupine Tree has symbolism. So does Opeth and Katatonia and Pain of Salvation...but I bet you'd blow it off and say it was "hokey" or "dumb". Ahem Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ahem.

I get it. Beatles were good. Lots of bands today are good, yet they have to live in some fucking fan- and media-created shadow because the Beatles are the be-all and end-all of music. It's not like I didn't give them a chance; I grew up subjected to Beatles, and many of my friends are super Beatles' fans so of course I had to sit down and hear "just this one song" that would definitely change my opinion. My opinion? I respect them as artists, and I respect their impact on music at their time. What I don't respect, is having to watch some shitty movie-cal written solely to put in Beatles' songs. What I don't respect, is having people say they love music and refuse to listen to nothing but the oldies. That's why they're called oldies, man; they're old. You're young. Find new stuff.

Worthless movie. And god damn it, what am I going to have to do to escape the Beatles' inevitable and constant resurfacings?

School is hard.

Therapy is nice, but difficult to get only once a week.

Work sucks, seeing as how I'm STILL NOT A BARTENDER.

Did get a raise, though.

Would still like to be a bartender, though.

DeBono is awesome, though we've had a few rough patches.

Roommate is cool as hell.

I miss home.

I miss my friends.

I miss Em.

I miss my mom.
I think that's why I like Halloween so much and want to do everything Halloween-oriented...it was the one holiday we shared so much enthusiasm for. Decorations, costumes, hayrides, haunted houses, Fright Fest. Damn...I wish I had the money to deck out the apartment. This year, though, I'm definitely going to a haunted house. And hopefully scheduling a trip to Fright Fest.

It's times like this that I wish my mom was around to hang out with me...me as an adult.

Gah. The closer to winter it gets, the harder it gets.

All right. Time for bed.

I'll try and write a less downer-type entry later.

I need one break.

My Asian American History class is beating the shit out of me.

I mean, wow.

I guess I'm used to graphic design classes and art classes so much. You go in, you listen to the professor and learn the tricks and tools needed for the next assignment, and for the next two weeks you come to class and work on the assignment, using your professor and peers as a source of knowledge [and sometimes inspiration]. I just haven't taken a gen ed class in a while; my stint at Oakton shouldn't really count, because two classes were pretty easy and the other was interesting and involved light reading. This class...if you miss an article, you are in the dark, my friend. I almost went through one highliter already.

I have to say, it is one of the more interesting classes I've taken, because this history is something outside the normal scope of what usually gets taught. A lot of the history deals with oppression and racism, and triumph through dark times...which I have not been through and will never know. I'd suggest taking up the course...to those who read this and are still attending various schools.

My Stats class...well, it's stats. It's simple formulas and solutions. It's not that bad. Doogie teaches it with such gusto, and it shows a bit in my note-taking. The minute I start drawing smiley faces and dotting my i's with hearts, though...I will realize I'm TOO excited.

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Work is work. I figured out that I really just don't fit in with the crowd there, short of a few people. I thinkn everyone who works there came to college and found the party/bar scene...and just didn't progress. That is the epitome of college life, to them. So, when I ask them what they're doing, or if they want to hang out...when they DO invite me out, it's to pregame heavily at someone's place, and then go to the bars and drink an insane amount. I've hung out with three employees outside of a drinking environment, and that was to go see a movie. And then they wanted to drink afterward. Audible sigh. I don't mind; I hang out with the housemates and improv kids enough. My schedule is bogus enough to damper on that, though. And my sleep schedule...jeez. I'm getting better, but it's hard to tell myself not to nap after class and waste the evening away; then, I get up and I wonder where everybody else is, and they're sleeping.

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I find myself really excited about drawing again, and it is AWESOME. I've begun writing for what will be my comic, but I have yet to start storyboarding. I've redesigned all the characters, and I've begun scouting locations to half-assedly draw as background templates; it's hard, and I've never been good at keeping backgrounds consistent and simple. The new character designs are definitely more complex then the doodles on lined paper, but still have a very simple design to them, and the shading will reflect that, as well. It's the matter of keeping the background just as simple, as not to divert attention.

By the way, this will be long and drawn out, and more for myself, really. If you don't really care about the comic, you can stop reading.

This was a good day, sir.

Got up early, ran, and decided that my room was not exactly clean enough. Used the defunct vacuum from downstairs, and sucked my room free from any dust or crumbs. Well, to the best of my [and the vacuum's] abilities. After that, I sacrificed one of my lamp lights for the hallway upstairs...that way, I can see where I'm walking from the bathroom to my room.

Went to the pub early, and it was a good decision, seeing as how a monsoon appeared out of nowhere and flooded the sidewalks in two minutes. No joke. Spent a couple hours there, and fortunately the game wasn't cancelled. So, off we went.

The game ended 17-13, us. Whoo! We won! I myself was 3 for 4 at bats, with two doubles, one single, a pop fly, and three RBIs. I felt good leaving the game. Got across the plate three times, as well. Super fun.

I went to BDubs with some Murphy's folk; I think I'm starting to hit it off with a lot of the crowd I previously didn't hang with. It was a blast, but I got Murray to drive me home, and then went to Julia's to watch some Office and Scrubs. And pass out, haha.

Came back, got myself clean, and now I'm ready to hit the sack and go to school in the morn. I feel good about today.

Hopefully, tomorrow is just as good.