Fighting for rights

.. to party.

I've always been a bit of a closet Beastie Boys fan to say the least. The other day I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a short film made by the hip-hoppin' trio, entered into Sundance this year. It's fair to say this is no ordinary film, and the point that I was only made aware of it within the last week makes me feel a bit 'out of it'.

Why is it so extraordinary? Not only does it resurface our love for the group, by following up from their 1986 hit Fight for Your Right (the film was made in honour of the songs 25 year anniversary) but also has my favourite cast of any short film I have ever seen. That's saying something. 

I'll give you guys a link to the film at the bottom, and I'll try not to give anything away. I will give you a look at the cast though. Appearances by Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Seth Rogen, John C. Reilly, Susan Surandon, Elijah Wood, Stanley Tucci, Rashida Jones, Will Arnett, David Cross, Adam Scott, Rainn Wilson, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Amy Poehler, Alicia Silverstone, Laura Dern, Jason Schwartzman, Maya Rudolph, Kirsten Dunst, Orlando Bloom, Martin Starr and.. the actual Beastie Boys themselves are all made. Need I say more?

American Pie just started. The Jason Bateman movie rather than the Don McLean song of the same name.

Recommended viewing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBShN8qT4lk

Men

.. of many talents.

I've always thought pretty highly of myself. For good reason too. I'd like to think of myself as a multi-talented individual, someone who can keep your accounts then discuss the cultural importance of Justin Bieber. No frills office worker by day, super-hero by night. Individuals meeting these kind of 'jack-of-all-trade' type descriptions are known as polymaths, or more commonly as a Renaissance man. These are the people that I most admire.

James Franco could certainly be categorised in such a way. Man, I just want to be him. Coolest guy ever? I think so. Not only is he a ridiculously good actor - playing everything from Spiderman's best friend to James Dean and just about everything in between - he's also terrific at just about everything else. 

I'll give you the quick version. He was talented in high-school at mathematics and interned at aerospace company Lockheed and Martin. Using his natural charm, wit, intelligence and good looks he makes his way successfully in the film industry, becoming a star in his own right. Unhappy with being a one-trick-pony, he enrolled at UCLA in 2006 and finished his accelerated BA in English within 2 years with a GPA of 3.5 all while acting. He then moved to New York to simultaneously complete his MFA at Columbia University, attend NYU's school for filmmaking, Brooklyn College for fictional writing and Warren Wilson College for poetry. He received his MFA from Columbia in 2010 and enrolled at Yale University to study his Ph.D in English while also attending Rhode Island School of Design. As of the 15th of April this year, he was also accepted into the University of Houston's Ph.D program in literature and creative writing in 2012. While doing all this, he's also been teaching at NYU among several other colleges. To go with this, he's an accomplished painter with his first European exhibit being held in January, he released his first book (a collection of short stories) earlier this year, face of Gucci's men's fragrance line, presenting at the Academy Awards and voted Sexiest Man Living by Salon.com. Imagine what he could accomplish if he wasn't stoned out of his mind 50% of the time. I'll say it again. Coolest guy ever. EVER.

I was supposed to talk about Ben Stein as well.. but he can wait for another day. 

My life in motion

Why everything is better on the big screen..
.. and why your life sucks.


Movies almost always have a happy ending.
Regardless of plot-twists, if your life ends.. it's probably not a good thing.


Beautiful girls and guys running in slow motion.
Stupid dickheads who walk really slow when you're in a hurry.


The hard work the hero makes to get to the top.
The moment you realise that hard work is called 'hard' work for a reason.


Magic is real.
There's crazy people who believe in magic.


Great soundtrack to every pivotal moment in the plot.
Idiots who turn their terrible music up on their phones on trains.


Your best friend is Owen Wilson.
You punch your best friend's nose to make it resemble Owen Wilson's.

Busic for Ben

These are a few of my least favourite things.
I'm currently at Griffith University's library. I had no sleep last night studying for a silly economics exam that I just walked out of. Yeah, I did ok.. but I had the worst headache ever! Plus this guy kept on breathing really really heavily next to me. I literally felt like knocking the guy out. You know that episode of The Simpsons where Homer tries to become Ned Flanders' best friend? And Homer's breathing really heavily in church?? Yeah, like THAT.

Sore legs

Go away. Dying.

Pretty sure I'm sick of these exams/ essays/ presentations. I guess I should consider myself lucky before I start my accounting/ business law subjects over the next few semesters.

My legs are really sore. 

End times

Busy. Tidy. Organised. Boring?
I've reworked my degree. I'm now co-majoring in international business and accounting. I think my whole life I knew I was destined to do something that tested my creativity. Now the path that I'm following seems to be that of a number-crunching office guy.

Being a big-shot New York business executive has always appealed to me though, and I think if that's really what I want to do with my life.. the degree I'm doing is following down the same track.

Greed is good.

Being corrupt, ruthless and greedy isn't really my thing.. but will it be? Am I destined to be a real-life Gordon Gekko? It seems in the last few weeks it seems I've left my friends, social life and general enjoyment of life behind for something more. I'm yet to leave my teenage years and I've already started to plan my way to the top. The more I think about it, the more I want to be wearing expensive suits, drinking 5 cups of coffee a day, smoking Cuban cigars, driving my BMW and just all round living the high life.

Barney still has time to blog too.

I think the most important thing to realise is no matter how hard I try, how well I present myself, how naturally talented and intelligent I am.. I'm not going to walk into a place and be top-dog. Best way I go about it is probably getting a good job as an accountant upon graduation then working my way up the ranks.

Ah, to dream.

You have 0 friends

Facebook is without a doubt the biggest mover of information these days.
Sure, Google is great for research. But person to person. Facebook shits all over it.

Yesterday, I deleted my Facebook account.
Kinda makes me feel like a man, ya know? It's pretty much the same as throwing out your cellphone.
I think I've got a case of Man vs. Machine. So far it's Ben 1, Machine 0.

Man vs Machine... Jeopardy!-style

Speaking of machines, I bought a new printer this weekend just gone. It's pretty incredible, I must say. I can send it things to print away from home.. plus the photo printing quality is amazing. No more shotty document printing for me! Laser-jet printing all the way..

Times are a changin'

I wanted a new creative outlet.
So I got one in my new blog
http://guessthatsideboob.blogspot.com

Sure it's a little racy, but it's something different and new.

I'll still keep posting on here of course, but I guess that depends what kind of mood I'm in.