Alie Layus - Chick of the Week!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
My Song!
This is a song that I wrote the lyrics, wrote the music, played all the instruments, recorded and mixed.
Without further ado:
http://soundcloud.com/alex-ellington-1/tell-me-something-i-dont-know
Without further ado:
http://soundcloud.com/alex-ellington-1/tell-me-something-i-dont-know
Friday, July 6, 2012
100 Riffs (A Brief History of Rock & Roll)
You can consider my jaw dropped. A hundred seperate riffs of songs spanning the entire history of Rock & Roll without a single mistake? Amazing!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
A thing or two about Monologues.
And my top 3½ Max Payne Quotes
As you all are about to find out, I am a big fan of monologues (especially the nitty gritty noir ones). In a monologue, there is something quite powerful in setting the tone and atmosphere. One thing that a monologue does better than anything else, is personalize the character; and I believe that it is one of the most important things to do if you are writing a story. If you don't care about what the character is going through, the rest of the story doesn't even matter.
Sin City and Pulp Fiction are some examples of great movies with monologues and not to mention, some of my favorite movies. The endless despair, the revenge, the over the top violence, the clichéd story of love and doing whatever it takes to survive... Crime dramas are the best. But I will say, they aren't for the faint of heart.
Sin City
Pulp Fiction
For those who don't know what a monologue is, lets start with the dictionary definition:
mon·o·logue
[mon-uh-lawg, -log] Show IPA
noun
1. a form of dramatic entertainment, comedic solo, or the like by a single speaker: a comedian's monologue.
2. a prolonged talk or discourse by a single speaker, especially one dominating or monopolizing a conversation.
4. a part of a drama in which a single actor speaks alone; soliloquy.
All of these definitions work, but the best description is selection four. I really like narration, so in the case of a movie or an audio novel I like hearing what is going through the character's head. This is almost a sole conjuration to the crime drama\noir genre.
Among video games, I found that the Max Payne series is among my favorite. I was an avid fan patiently waiting for the release of the second game and especially the third since Rockstar (who made the Grand Theft Auto series purchased the intellectual property) took many years to complete it. I even had a Max Payne "a man with nothing to lose" mouse pad that came in the original box.The games have everything a noir story really needs: a perfect life taken away, a love that is lost, betrayal, revenge, redemption, and not to mention (in the first two Max Payne games) New York city and the blistering cold... That goes without saying, I still do believe that Max Payne 3 was completely worth the wait. The game was good in my opinion, however, it did not sell that well; which is a real shame. The PC version was a no knock-off port and plays much better with a keyboard and mouse than a controller [tesselation!]. However, most of my criticism focuses on the lack of comic panels that set the mood for the previous games. They replaced that with film editing techniques and filters... It works to a certain extent but it doesn't fully capture the 'noir' aspect of the first two games. That, and the fact that they basically ignored the tv shows that appeared throughout the first two games. Personally, I was hoping that they would do something with Address Unknown (which stars Sam Lake, the writer of Max Payne 1&2 and who Max is modeled after in the first game) but apparently it wasn't meant to be. All in all though, it fits into the Max Payne universe just fine.
So without further ado, I present to you my top 3(½ since it was tied between those two) Max Payne monologues:
#1
"So I guess I'd become what they wanted me to be. A killer. Some rent-a-clown with a gun who puts holes in other bad guys. Well, that's what they had paid for so in the end, that's what they got. Say what you want about Americans but we understand capitalism. You buy yourself a product and you get what you pay for. And these chumps had paid for some angry gringo without the sensibilities to know right from wrong. Here I was, about to execute this poor bastard like some dime store angel of death; and I realized they were correct. I wouldn't know right from wrong if one of them was helping the poor and the other was banging my sister."
-Max Payne 3
#2
"They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark on everything that had led to this point. I released my finger from the trigger, and it was over."
-Max Payne 1
-Max Payne 1
#3
"The things that I want' by Max Payne:
A smoke. A Whiskey. For the sun to shine.
I want to sleep, to forget. To change the past. My wife and baby girl back
Unlimited ammo and a licence to kill. Right then, more than anything, I wanted her."
-Max Payne 2
A smoke. A Whiskey. For the sun to shine.
I want to sleep, to forget. To change the past. My wife and baby girl back
Unlimited ammo and a licence to kill. Right then, more than anything, I wanted her."
-Max Payne 2
#3½
(Begins @ 2:53)
"The past is a gaping hole. You try to run from it, but the more you run, the deeper it grows behind you, its edges yawning at your heels. Your only chance is to turn around and face it. But it's like looking down into the grave of your love, or kissing the mouth of a gun, a bullet trembling in its dark nest, ready to blow your head off."
-Max Payne 2
...And that concludes my very favorite monologues from the Max Payne series.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
Sasifyingly annoying, if not downright clever.
You were warned.
Utterly pointless.
Colorful.
Too... Much... Jello?
Really annoying.
Seizure time!
Lava!
aMAZEing.
Here is the source website.
P.S. Look @ the top, there are many more.
Utterly pointless.
Colorful.
Too... Much... Jello?
Really annoying.
Seizure time!
Lava!
aMAZEing.
Here is the source website.
P.S. Look @ the top, there are many more.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
An amazing story via Reddit.
This is a response to someone asking advice who has only one more chance with someone originally posted by HF0162.
"Here is some advice I'll give you through an experience of my own.
In my sophomore year, I dated 2 girls. X, and Y. They knew each other, and didn't hate each other. I dated X first. X was the best person I ever met. Every single thing about her was perfect. She liked me for who I was, which is something hard to do. But then, I dumped her. I had gotten into drugs. I did LSD, cocaine, tried Heroin a few times, acid, and tried PCP once. I had smoked pot before, but only a few times. After I dumped her I would get plastered every day before school and would go behind the gym at lunch and blaze it up again. Then I met Y. Y was like me (at the time). She did more drugs than I did, and was sexually insane. I fucked her in a classroom once, during school, with people walking through the halls. All the while X had stayed by me, even though I ignored her and made fun of her when I talked to Y and her friends.
This went on until May of my sophomore year. By that time (~6 months) X wanted nothing to do with me. And it was because I was a monster. I was absolutely out of control.
Then I got into an argument with my mother. She knew I was into drugs, and disapproved. She said one thing that forever changed me.
"You are ruining my life." Plain and simple, then she walked away while I stood there dazed and contemplating what the fuck just happened.
You know what I did? I went to my room. I flushed all the drugs I had. I cleaned myself up. I apologized to my friends for what I had been doing and dumped Y. She didn't care, she was dating another guy two days later.
And then I talked to X. I still cared for her. I sat for days in my room, thinking of what I wanted to say to her. I talked to her in August. I had prepared and memorized a response to any question or comment she could ask/make. I knew exactly what I wanted to say. It wasn't what I felt.
I talked to her. She could see that what I was saying wasn't heartfelt. I had thought of it to get her to take me back, and I was saying what I thought, not what I felt.
She told me that I disgusted her, and she wanted me to leave. I left.
I went home and was dumbfounded. I had just screwed over the one chance I had to say what I felt to the girl that I loved.
First day of my Junior year. Got "Huzzahs all around, HF0162 is clean and on the straight and narrow!" from other students and teachers alike.
Guess who was in my homeroom? X. She wouldn't talk to me, no matter what I said. A few months go by. Its a week until christmas. Last day of school before Winter break, everyone is bumblefucking around not getting any work done and having a good time.
The day ends. I go back to my homeroom to pack my bag for winter break, and X is there. She is the only one there. And do you know what I said to her?
EXACTLY WHAT I FUCKING FELT.
"Im sorry" and do you know what?
I FUCKING CRIED. Yeah, I cried. In the middle of a classroom, with other students coming into the room. I cried for what felt like an eternity. I leaned against the wall and cried until I couldn't anymore.
I look up and everyone is gone. Except X. Shes standing in front of me and says 2 words.
"I know". She then gives me the best hug I've ever gotten, I'd never felt closer to someone than that moment right there and I probably never will.
I explained everything. I told her what had happened, why it happened, and how much I missed talking to her. Knowing that the one person who cared for me the most was ignoring me because I was too much of a coked-out asshole to notice had been killing me.
I dated her for the rest of my junior year and all of my senior year. I dated her through college.
I married her. I've been married for ten years and you know what? I think back every single day to the time when I said what I thought, not what I felt.
When you talk to her tomorrow, say what you feel. If you cry, you cry. If you don't, you don't. Who cares about beta vs. Alpha status? This isn't based purely on attraction. You care for her. If she is going to forgive you, then she will. If she isn't, then she won't.
tl;dr: Say what you feel. Its the only thing that matters. Don't expect her to forgive you immediately.
I wish you the absolute best of luck.
LPT: Bring tissues.
Edit: Fuck throwaways."
Amazing, eh?
The Story Source
"Here is some advice I'll give you through an experience of my own.
In my sophomore year, I dated 2 girls. X, and Y. They knew each other, and didn't hate each other. I dated X first. X was the best person I ever met. Every single thing about her was perfect. She liked me for who I was, which is something hard to do. But then, I dumped her. I had gotten into drugs. I did LSD, cocaine, tried Heroin a few times, acid, and tried PCP once. I had smoked pot before, but only a few times. After I dumped her I would get plastered every day before school and would go behind the gym at lunch and blaze it up again. Then I met Y. Y was like me (at the time). She did more drugs than I did, and was sexually insane. I fucked her in a classroom once, during school, with people walking through the halls. All the while X had stayed by me, even though I ignored her and made fun of her when I talked to Y and her friends.
This went on until May of my sophomore year. By that time (~6 months) X wanted nothing to do with me. And it was because I was a monster. I was absolutely out of control.
Then I got into an argument with my mother. She knew I was into drugs, and disapproved. She said one thing that forever changed me.
"You are ruining my life." Plain and simple, then she walked away while I stood there dazed and contemplating what the fuck just happened.
You know what I did? I went to my room. I flushed all the drugs I had. I cleaned myself up. I apologized to my friends for what I had been doing and dumped Y. She didn't care, she was dating another guy two days later.
And then I talked to X. I still cared for her. I sat for days in my room, thinking of what I wanted to say to her. I talked to her in August. I had prepared and memorized a response to any question or comment she could ask/make. I knew exactly what I wanted to say. It wasn't what I felt.
I talked to her. She could see that what I was saying wasn't heartfelt. I had thought of it to get her to take me back, and I was saying what I thought, not what I felt.
She told me that I disgusted her, and she wanted me to leave. I left.
I went home and was dumbfounded. I had just screwed over the one chance I had to say what I felt to the girl that I loved.
First day of my Junior year. Got "Huzzahs all around, HF0162 is clean and on the straight and narrow!" from other students and teachers alike.
Guess who was in my homeroom? X. She wouldn't talk to me, no matter what I said. A few months go by. Its a week until christmas. Last day of school before Winter break, everyone is bumblefucking around not getting any work done and having a good time.
The day ends. I go back to my homeroom to pack my bag for winter break, and X is there. She is the only one there. And do you know what I said to her?
EXACTLY WHAT I FUCKING FELT.
"Im sorry" and do you know what?
I FUCKING CRIED. Yeah, I cried. In the middle of a classroom, with other students coming into the room. I cried for what felt like an eternity. I leaned against the wall and cried until I couldn't anymore.
I look up and everyone is gone. Except X. Shes standing in front of me and says 2 words.
"I know". She then gives me the best hug I've ever gotten, I'd never felt closer to someone than that moment right there and I probably never will.
I explained everything. I told her what had happened, why it happened, and how much I missed talking to her. Knowing that the one person who cared for me the most was ignoring me because I was too much of a coked-out asshole to notice had been killing me.
I dated her for the rest of my junior year and all of my senior year. I dated her through college.
I married her. I've been married for ten years and you know what? I think back every single day to the time when I said what I thought, not what I felt.
When you talk to her tomorrow, say what you feel. If you cry, you cry. If you don't, you don't. Who cares about beta vs. Alpha status? This isn't based purely on attraction. You care for her. If she is going to forgive you, then she will. If she isn't, then she won't.
tl;dr: Say what you feel. Its the only thing that matters. Don't expect her to forgive you immediately.
I wish you the absolute best of luck.
LPT: Bring tissues.
Edit: Fuck throwaways."
Amazing, eh?
The Story Source
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Libertarian Demotivational Poster Round-up
I rounded up several clever Libertarian posters after someone on Facebook gave me the idea. Here goes:
So true!
lol.
Who says boobs can't sell ideas?!
And a random funny picture...
-Alex
So true!
lol.
Who says boobs can't sell ideas?!
And a random funny picture...
It had to be said somewhere.......
Ron Paul 2012
Carry on!-Alex
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
New Beginnings
Hello there,
I haven't had a blog since the rise and fall of Myspace and the beginnings of other social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. I have a lot to talk about so let me see if my experiment will bear fruition. First, I want to start off this new blog by explaining the meaning of the name that I chose.
Lets start by the words themselves (curdosy of dictionary.com):
Related forms
I had an amazing article I was going to share on the subject but it appears as though I lost the link, shame. I'll post it when I find it later.
The second thing that I wanted to explain about this blog is one of the most fundamental things that can be asked in life - why.
It is simple. To get my creativity out in an organized kind of way. I am going to put anything and everything on this blog that interests me be it music, philosophy, politics, poetry, videos, photography or art. I hope you enjoy the ride.
Sincerely,
Alex
I haven't had a blog since the rise and fall of Myspace and the beginnings of other social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. I have a lot to talk about so let me see if my experiment will bear fruition. First, I want to start off this new blog by explaining the meaning of the name that I chose.
Lets start by the words themselves (curdosy of dictionary.com):
jad·ed
[jey-did] Show IPA
adjective
1. dulled or satiated by overindulgence: a jaded appetite.
2. worn out or wearied, as by overwork or overuse.
3. dissipated: a jaded reprobate.
Related forms
jad·ed·ly, adverb
jad·ed·ness, noun
un·jad·ed, adjective
This word is pretty self explanatory on its own terms, the specific meaning that I am using in this case is the second selection. It means to be strung out in such a way that everything is dissatisfying, a tiresome bore; jaded.
E·den
[eed-n] Show IPA
noun
1. the place where Adam and Eve lived before the Fall. Gen. 2:8–24.
2. any delightful region or abode; paradise.
4. a town in North Carolina.
Also called Garden of Eden ( for defs. 1–3 ) .
Related forms
Also called Garden of Eden ( for defs. 1–3 ) .
Origin:
< Hebrew 'ēden delight, pleasure
< Hebrew 'ēden delight, pleasure
Related forms
Eden is the perfect garden that Adam and Eve lived in before the fall of man, but it is also a metaphor for a state of calm, happiness, delight.
Combine the words Jaded & Eden, and the phrase becomes an oxymoron. How can a paradise be tiresome? Maybe we outstayed our welcome. Paraphrasing the term, it is almost a state of being catiously optimistic. Some of you I'm sure know exactly what that means. My blog promotes this theme. Its almost one part cynic, yet one part optimist; a total clash that actually works because in the end it balances itself out. In order to live on this Earth one must become familiar with its evils but also remain optimistic to stay sane.
This picture provides a funny example of this:
Combine the words Jaded & Eden, and the phrase becomes an oxymoron. How can a paradise be tiresome? Maybe we outstayed our welcome. Paraphrasing the term, it is almost a state of being catiously optimistic. Some of you I'm sure know exactly what that means. My blog promotes this theme. Its almost one part cynic, yet one part optimist; a total clash that actually works because in the end it balances itself out. In order to live on this Earth one must become familiar with its evils but also remain optimistic to stay sane.
This picture provides a funny example of this:
The fox provides a smartass, sarcastic response to somone telling them that they are cynical. The character's shirt pointing to the Earth implies that the fox believes that everyone is stupid - the comic more or less points out that while there appears to be no hope for humanity, that its okay to laugh about it. Instead of having a totally depressed view on society, cynics can still be optimists (even if in shorter doses). But from what they undeniably retain in their jaded outlook on everything, they certainly make up for it in their humor.
The second thing that I wanted to explain about this blog is one of the most fundamental things that can be asked in life - why.
It is simple. To get my creativity out in an organized kind of way. I am going to put anything and everything on this blog that interests me be it music, philosophy, politics, poetry, videos, photography or art. I hope you enjoy the ride.
Sincerely,
Alex
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