The Dark Knight is easily the best film I’ve seen since The Departed last year.  Heath Ledger gave the most convincing performance I’ve ever seen in an action film.  Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman’s role reprisals were top-notch as well.  I can’t wait to see this film again.

Tags: Film

GET IT. You won’t regret it.

Tags: Music

I’ve recently acquired The Alchemy Index, Vols. I-IV by Thrice, and I am amazed at the diversity of this collection (thanks to Jason and Zim for the recommendation). Each volume (they come in two sets of two EPs each) is themed according to one of the four basic alchemical elements: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. After listening to each one a few times (see my Last.fm chart from a couple weeks ago), I’ve picked out my four favorites – one from each volume:

Fire – “Burn the Fleet” – This song is just so evocative. The images which the lyrics produce vividly describe the true desperate spirit of battle and victory, and the consequences of failure.

Water – “Open Water” – This is a mellow song that has some seemingly theological implications. The way I interpret things, this song compares the ocean to God, because “it gives and takes away.” The accompanying music does an incredible job of providing the listener with a sense of depth – as though the song itself is being cast up from the bottom of the sea.

Air – “Daedalus” – This song revisits an older Thrice song (“The Melting Point of Wax”) and an even older story – the Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus. The song is heard from Daedalus’ point of view as Icarus’ father, and it brilliantly uncovers a parent’s inner hopes and desires for the life of his child.
(Honorable Mention – “A Song for Milly Michaelson”)

Earth – “Digging My Own Grave” – I love this song simply because it is so far away from what I normally would expect to hear from Thrice. This was one of the first songs I heard from the collection (during a random sampling), and it struck me as being wholly original and beautiful.

Even if you’ve never listened to or enjoyed Thrice before, you should still check out The Alchemy Index. The group truly pushed their limits making this collection: each volume has a distinctive style and each song fits its corresponding theme, but the entire collection can be viewed as a whole, with each element complementing the others. Each song in a volume achieves a different result than the last, and each EP displays a different aspect of the band’s technical prowess. They definitely played up the dichotomies between these four fundamental media – and the result is an amazing journey through pure audio bliss.

Tags: Music

These are some things that I am looking forward to: (in approximately chronological order)

• Eating dessert. (tonight)
• Sleeping. (always)
• Seeing Christine in a couple weeks. (hopefully)
• Playing Grand Theft Auto IV – comes out on April 29, and you know I’ll be in line at midnight to pick up my copy (for 360, of course).
• Moving to and setting up my new place. (May 22)
• Being done with one year of grad school. (June 18)
• Getting married (and everything that goes along with that). (July 26)
• Having Zim and Amy up here at UCI with me and Christine. (August sometime)

These are some things that I’m not looking forward to:

• Teaching class at 8:00 a.m. (tomorrow)
• Studying. (all the time)
• Grading midterms. (sometime next month)
• Taking finals. (Mid-June)
• Taking comprehensive exams, which are way worse than finals. (Late June)
• Death. (date unknown)

These are some things I don’t understand:

• Why I have to study analysis when I want to go into applied cryptography.
• Why similar linear operators have the same eigenvalues.
• Why you’d want to live here (in Los Angeles, that is).
• What becomes of me.

If you haven’t before, you should check out my links to friends websites, because there’s some good content on each of them.

Until next post, adios.

Tags: Life

In grad school, life happens in cycles…here is a breakdown of my week:

• Monday
  Analysis lecture, two hours in the tutoring center, Algebra lecture, two more hours in the tutoring center, meeting with Calc 2B prof. Most Monday nights are spent reading the previous week’s material.
• Tuesday
  Analysis discussion, one office hour, Algebra lecture, Calc 2B discussion (which I lead). I spend the evening attacking the week’s homework problems with a few friends.
• Wednesday
  Analysis lecture, Algebra lecture. Arguably my shortest day. In the evening I eat dinner with friends and do more homework.
• Thursday
  Early morning Calc 2B discussion (again led by me), Analysis discussion, one office hour, Algebra lecture. Thursday nights can be long, because homework is usually due the following day. I have pulled some long hours polishing my proofs in the office on Thursdays.
• Friday
  Analysis lecture, Algebra lecture, Faculty research seminar. When the day is done, I ride my bike back to my apartment and usually relax for the rest of the night.
• Saturday/Sunday
  Catch up on relaxation. Get ready for the upcoming week to repeat the whole process.

So as you can see, things can get pretty busy, but I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.

Tags: School

The second quarter is in full swing here at UCI, and life is just as chaotic as it was last quarter, if not more so, what with classes, TA duties, and wedding planning…but I’m loving it all.  School is challenging and exciting, and the people continue to be great.  My life may be considered stressful by some, but I like to think that I never really have a dull moment.

Expect more soon.

Tags: Life, School

…and listen to Greg Laswell!

Check out his myspace here:

And if you ever see him live, that’s professional Sideman Brandon Walters playing guitar with Mr. Laswell. If you don’t know about his life, he’s Greg’s top friend, so you can check him out too.

Tags: Music

School is keeping me very busy but it is going very well. Grad school is a lot more work than undergrad in general, but I actually enjoy the work a lot more (so far at least). I had a midterm this last week and I have one more tomorrow, but as of yet I haven’t had to do anything too crazy or beyond my level so I’m pretty proud of myself.

Welp, time to hit the books.

Tags: School

…is keeping me busy. more on that soon.

Tags: Life, School

I made a google map to show you a little bit of what UCI is like (from my perspective). I’ll probably add to it as the year goes on.

My UCI Map

Tags: Life, School