Hello everyone! I realize that I haven’t exactly posted in a while (okay, a long time). I suppose that I haven’t really been up for it… haven’t been in the mood… not really feeling it… etc.
But I feel that it’s time to return to my trustworthy blog and keep you up to date!
Where to begin… okay, well in case you didn’t know there is a new episode of SpinozaArt posted on youtube where we talk about elephants that paint and people that float and everything in between.
Or here it is, because I know that my readers are lazy:
Next up, remember that little film I told everyone about called Precious Moments? Well probably not… but this was a short film that I was in. We filmed it back in January. There was a screening of it on the 3rd of May and it was a huge box office hit, it made about $600 million in the first weekend and there have been amazing reviews of it worldwide.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that big… but it was fun nonetheless. If you want to see the short film, here it is on Nate Orloff’s youtube (aka the editor of the movie). It’s divided into two parts, because youtube is lame and doesn’t let you post more than 10 minutes unless you are special. Part I…
Part II…
Lastly, last night was a great one. I got to watch the season finale of the Office with Rainn Wilson. And when I say with Rainn… I mean actually with him. I got into this little event where he talked and talked and talked, and he decided to bring the Office season finale since we were all at the event and were going to miss it at home. He’s a great guy and everyone should like him.
And to finish off the night, I went to see the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian at midnight. Yes, it was awesome.
I will try to post more often, that’s if I have something interesting to say. :)
I have a new fetish: sound effects. I never realized how much I loved the sound of water. Water dripping, the ocean shore, a waterfall, or just the sound of a canoe paddling through a quiet river.
It all started with my search for royalty free music. Don’t mistake this with a free mp3 download of the latest Jonas Brothers album that hasn’t even been released yet. No, this is different. Of course, once I found free music, I found free sound effects as well. And then I remembered that iMovie has sound effects. So I went into the sound effects folder somewhere in Finder and uploaded them all onto iTunes.
It’s interesting that out of all of the times that I am surrounded by water daily, I did not realize how much I loved the sound until now. I wonder how many sounds in our every day life go undetected. Small and insignificant sounds. Like my father’s footsteps or the sound of duct tape.
What causes us to miss these tiny fractions of our lives? Is it because our ears are not sensitive enough to hear those little sounds amongst the bustle of every day commotion? Are we not paying attention?
If you know what your favorite kind of sound is then let me know because maybe I missed it. Here are two of the sound effects I was talking about earlier. I hope that you enjoy them even if water isn’t really your thing: Here!
Remember:
You can leave a comment or if you feel more comfortable email me at rominaespinosa [at] gmail [dot] com with your opinions or favorite sounds. :)
I have some movie reviews that I would like to share with you all, if I ever get to them! I am sorry that I haven’t updated. :(
Well, I have new pictures of myself with makeup on to look like a junkie. I’ve put them up on my flickr but if you’re too lazy to click on that… here is the picture for your viewing pleasure (discomfort):
Probably can’t see it that well because of it’s size… well you should have gone to flickr!
While dressed as an emaciated girl I met another young actress who is also Cuban. Her name is Lissette Schuster and well, it’s always great to find a fellow Caribbean mate.
In other news, I have started a youtube show alongside with my father, Spinoza, who is an artist. You can go to our channel: youtube.com/spinozaart. Or just stick around and watch our first episode embedded below:
King Peter “The iDog reacts to music from an external source, such as an MP3 player. It features seven flashing LED lights on its face and has the ability to ‘dance’ to the beat of the music. It also has a number of switches on its nose, head and tail which allow it to react to user input.” - Wikipedia
Yes, yes… he is amazing. He is King after all. He wears his winter clothes all of the time. His favorite colour is sky blue. He loves the Beatles and only dances to live performances. Peter also enjoys the theme song to The Andy Griffith Show. He doesn’t go out much, but enjoys company when they are around. He has a trustful sidekick named Finn (shown in photograph above). He is a mere 3 years of age, so be gentle with him. Just know that he is loyal. Besides, who can pass up good looks like his?
Calvin MacBook. 100GB. 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor.
Oh, Calvin. Where do I start with you. He turned one in January, but is very mature for his age. He does performs tasks with great speed. Although sometimes he falls behind, that’s only because he gets lazy. On his good days, Calvin is a hard worker. He hardly ever goes to sleep, so from time to time he gets cranky and asks for a nap. But after a well rounded rest, he is up and ready for action. He does have a few characteristics that aren’t so great. He doesn’t receive compliments well, so beware. Don’t say anything good about him in his presence. He’ll get too excited and start up his fan and that could be greatly embarrassing when you are in public, if you know what I mean. Calvin is a real jokester; sometimes he plays pranks and will make you believe that he is broken, when really he’s just messing around. Be kind to Calvin, and he might actually love you back.
Anakin iPhone. 8GB. 3.5-inch widescreen Multi-Touch display. 2.0 megapixel camera.
8GB of greatness. Anakin is the ruler of all gadgets. He is an island surrounded by ego. Do NOT by all means make Anakin angry, for if you do there WILL be some serious consequences. He isn’t as physically dashing as he puts himself out to be. He can’t even stand up on his own. Luckily his physique does not match what’s on the inside. Because beyond the ego and the plans for world domination, Anakin is good. He has a few temper tantrums and sometimes enjoys turning black, but deep down inside he has great intentions. For instance, most people can’t tell, but the reason Anakin wants to achieve world domination is because he wants everyone to be equal, he wants to end poverty, and he wants to bring everyone together. True, he is ambitious, but he does have the capability of connecting to anyone, from anywhere. His alert system is very good and so far has not failed. His maintenance is pretty high, but how else is he supposed to be all powerful?
Padmé iPod. 40GB. Classic Fourth generation. No color.
Padmé is much older than Anakin, but somehow they both manage to work together in incredible ways. Padmé has been so faithful, she is very special. A gift, basically. She has reigned for so long, but starting from a young age it was predestined. She has spasms from time to time, but still she pushes through and manages to deliver with upmost quality. Padmé loves to play classic games, she does not believe in the new mumbo jumbo, like colour. She is timeless, classy, and always well dressed. She is a member of a line of leaders that shook the ages, that created a revolution and shaped the world as you know it today. She truly is a great leader and a great friend.
R2-D2 (R2 for short) AppleTV. 40GB hard drive for up to 50 hours of video. 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless.
I remember the day that R2 randomly appeared in my mailbox. At first, he might appear as a hologram to you, but he really is there. He has emotions and loves to entertain. R2-D2 is the kindest of them all (sorry Anakin). He cares about others the most and really has a unique way of showing it. R2 remembers the little things, like looking through your flickr account or making sure that you’re up to date with your subscriptions on youTube. He also enjoys playing music for you as you sleep, yes he is very talented. He’ll make you smile, cry, laugh, and sometimes angry; he is that good. R2 is only a couple months old, but I believe that he will last a very long time.
Edmund Nikon Coolpix P3. 8.1 Megapixels. 3.5x Optical Zoom. WiFi Capability. Vibration Reduction. 2.5-inch (6.35 mm) LCD Display. 16 Scene Modes. D-Lighting. Face Priority AF.
Yay! Edmund is but a Prince. He gets jealous very easily, especially when he is forgotten. Although he is not always wanted in certain areas of the world, he finds a way to sneak in anyway. The best thing about Edmund is his capability to remember everything. He manages to bring out the best moments in everyone’s lives, even the embarrassing ones! Although, Edmund sometimes chooses what memories he wants to bring back to you. Even if you want to remember one really badly, it’s to no avail if Edmund says no…
Chewbacca Mac Mini. 80GB. 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 processor. 256 MB RAM.
Chewie, Chewie, Chewie. Chewbacca is very old. He runs slowly and sometimes doesn’t even run at all. He does not take kindly to updates, specially if they require him to change his name to something ridiculous like “Leopard”. Chewie is a grumpy old man; he only shows his kindness when left alone. He really enjoys carrying his eyeTV around; he can’t help it if the best thing he can do is watch TV through a tuner. He doesn’t like it when worthless things take up his memory either. Another thing you should know about Chewbacca is that he really likes taking trips to the Apple Store, even if there is no purpose for him to be there once he arrives.
Roger External Hard Drive. 500GB Western Digital My Book Premium Combo FireWire USB Drive.
Hello Roger!! Although his outward appearance makes him seem brutish, he is very wise. Wise beyond his years. A true hero, yes. He has saved the life of yours truly twice. Although they were merely false alarms, if they were real, those two events would have been catastrophic if not for Roger. He is the source behind everything. He is no Yoda, but he is on his way. He guards Chewbacca and Calvin as if they were his two sons. He isn’t very social, and doesn’t talk much. Most of his days are spent sitting on a desk. But when it is his turn to work, he’ll stay up all night if he has to just to get the job done. Roger has been reliable for the most part; everyone should have a Roger in their lives.
Okay. I hope you enjoyed that. And well… if you didn’t I hope you lie and say you did.
Last night I ordered a pizza for the first time online. It was an interesting experience. The great thing about doing it online is that I had a lot of time to think about the options that I wanted, which is great for someone who spends so much time making decisions. I also didn’t have to deal with anyone over the phone, another great feature.
The only issue I saw was that, since it was my first time, right after I ordered it… I spent the next 30 minutes wondering whether they had gotten my order or not. Since I had not received any sort of confirmation from a person; I did get one by email, but of course that was a machine.
Anyway, I was fairly happy with the results. I ordered a small pizza with pepperoni, bacon, and sausage… just in case you were wondering. I would recommend the service if you haven’t tried it out.
They also have a feature where you can “plan” a delivery online. I think it’s about 24 hours in advance, you can schedule a time for the pizza to arrive. So if you are having some sort of get together tomorrow at 6:30 PM. You can tell the pizza people ahead of time what you’re going to order and by when you need it. I don’t know whether this feature works, or how well if it does since I haven’t tried it. So if you have done this, let me know if it’s good!
“21 is the fact-based story about six MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings.” - imdb.com
If you’re looking for Ocean’s 11 without the glam and organized by college students then maybe you should think about watching 21. Check out the trailer: here.
Jim Sturgess stars as Ben Campbell, a mathematical genius. He’s finishing his year at MIT and looking for money to pay for Harvard Medical School. Long story short, he ends up in Las Vegas playing cards to get the money. The most interesting part about this film is that it’s true.
For the most part, I would recommend the movie. The way it was directed made it fast-paced, not allowing the audience to fall asleep. Although, there were a few loop holes and the “sex” scene that was inserted was quite frankly… a bit ridiculous. Aside from that I really think that this is an important role for Kevin Spacey. It’s been a while and I’m glad to see him do this character.
Kevin Spacey plays the professor (Mickey Rosa) that groups these students together to create a “team” that pays weekly visits to Vegas in order to play the game. What is most complex about this character is the way that he starts as a protagonist and converts into an antagonist. The good guy that we were all cheering for at the beginning of the film is the one that we hate in the second half.
I would say that Sturgess and Spacey do the best job with their acting abilities. And although Kate Bosworth is also mentionable… in my opinion she looks too old and acts too old for the part.
If you find the trailer intriguing then I suggest watching the film. It was entertaining and kept me attentive the entire time. But just as a warning… this film is better than the trailer puts it out to be. I was not expecting it to be as watchable as it was.
There is something that has been bothering me, which I think that I should share with you all.
Recently I have been hearing phrases such us: “I want to be a part of history” or “We want to make history!” or “This is a chance to be a part of history!”
Most of these statements have been made in reference of voting for Barack Obama. Therein lies my problem. I keep hearing everybody say that they want to vote for Obama because they want to influence history. They want to be able to say that they voted for the first Black President (African American to be politically correct). Now, I ask myself wouldn’t voting for Hillary Clinton have the same effect? Wouldn’t voting for a WOMAN to be in the White House be making history just as much as voting for a black man?
Now, I have also met a select group of women that are upset with Oprah for supporting Obama. That this was her chance to represent herself and support a strong woman in excelling in a “man’s world.” Although I am a supporter of Clinton, I find this statement to be ignorant.
Which brings me to the real problem that scares me the most. If people are just voting for Obama only to make history, or people are doing the same for Clinton… then I think that we are very wrong in the way that we select the leader of our country. We should not be voting for someone just because they are black or just because they are female or Chinese or maybe just because he/she is blonde. We should be selecting our next president based on their experience and the issues that they support or have plans for. I would not support a woman just because I too am a woman. I will support her if I think that she is strong and if I think that she is capable of doing what she claims she can do.
Making history is important, but it should not be based on the colour of a person’s skin or their ethnicity. If you want to make history, you need to scrutinize the candidates and choose someone that can really influence history by making changes or improving things for the better.
I have not heard anybody talking about this issue and I would love to know other people’s opinions on this, so drop a comment.
I’m a little bit late with this, but hey what can I say… I’ve been busy!
Last week I saw Charlie Bartlett directed by Jon Poll and written by Gustin nash. Here is a synopsis from IMDb.com if you have no idea what movie I am talking about: “A rich kid (Yelchin) becomes the self-appointed psychiatrist to the student body of his new high school.” Check out the trailer: Here.
If you have already read other reviews about this, I am sure that you have heard the comparisons made with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or that it is a “rip-off” of said movie. Whatever you may have read along those lines… forget it!
Charlie Bartlett is a high school comedy that subtly breaks a few boundaries in said genre. The film focuses on the teen angst theme, embodying the ever popular “parents just don’t understand” phrase. We follow on a journey that Charlie goes on trying to get others to accept him, while facing the difficulties of accepting himself.
The best part about this film is that they made the bold move of using young actors that do not have familiar faces (ie: Lindsay Lohan). Anton Yelchin did a fantastic job as the complex and quirky character Charlie Bartlett. Kat Dennings took a role that could have very easily been a burned out character and managed to make her into a unique and very memorable person.
Although this film is not filled with knee-slapping moments such as Superbad, Charlie Bartlett was able to capture high school moments that actually happen and make them laughable (as they so quite often are in reality). The film makes it easy to relate to with these awkward instances, whether you went to a high school like the one portrayed in the film or you didn’t. It focused so much on each student as individuals as opposed to grouping them into cliques as in Mean Girls.
During the Q & A with Gustin Nash, in response to the question of whether the film had some autobiographical events in it, he said that all of his projects had a touch of his life in them. It is quite clear that there was a little bit of Charlie Bartlett in all of us, especially as we were growing up in high school. Charlie Bartlett is insecure, he’s confident, always seeking approval, yet doing things his own way. Sounds like a teenager, doesn’t it?
If you enjoyed movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or The Breakfast Club, then you will enjoy Charlie Bartlett and every nostalgic bit of it.
A message that will hopefully reach Time Warner Cable in time.
My morning routine:
I open my eyes and look around, deciding if there’s a enough light yet to fully wake me up. I lay in bed for about an hour thinking about my to-do list and sometimes pondering on the many perplexities of the mysterious universe that surrounds me. I stretch in bed and realize how it’s just too cold to get out from under the covers. I turn on the television to watch my daily dosage of a Windows error dialog box in the center of my screen.
Wait. WHAT?!?
It’s all true; I would not lie about such a serious matter. WSI (Weather Services International) created a service that features “a number of technological advances” that bring local weather to your television in a fast and reliable way. That really is innovative and I appreciate their efforts because I like knowing what the state of the weather is at all hours of the day. I don’t know how anybody managed to stay alive before (in the time when we had to figure out if it was raining for ourselves).
For those of you who have Time Warner Cable and live in South California, I am sure that you understand just how I felt when I turned on the TV to Channel 97 to find out just what was going on outside.
“scan32 has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.”
That doesn’t look like a forecast to me!!! What’s going on?!?! I can’t see the temperature!!! I CAN’T LEAVE MY HOUSE WITHOUT KNOWING!!! This is a huge inconvenience.
Time Warner Cable, if you are out there and reading this:
I need you to fix the problem. It has been more than a few days now and as I said before I cannot leave my house. This is not only crucial for my health, but it is a factor that affects thousands of people that want to know what their local weather is.
“If you were in the middle of something, the information you were working on might be lost.
Please tell Microsoft about this problem.
We have created an error report that you can send to us. We will treat this report as confidential and anonymous.”
Time Warner Cable, I beg of you… for the sake of humanity… do NOT send an error report. Do NOT tell Microsoft about this problem. Think about it, it’s their fault there is a dialog box on hundreds of TV sets. The ratings for this channel have gone down immensely since this occurred. I urge you to press “Don’t Send” and let us continue enjoying the weather forecast that you so faithfully supply to us hourly.
Actually, I didn’t really… I got a Macbook Paper. It now sits on my desk and looks beautiful. I would definitely recommend this tiny piece of technology. It was also very cheap to get.
If you want to get your own Macbook Paper… it’s only a click away: Here.
On to more important matters… It’s been raining in Los Angeles! It seems that most people here are quite afraid of the rain or maybe they are just allergic. The traffic reduces, hardly anybody is seen walking on the sidewalks, and people refuse to leave their houses to come visit you. It’s quite tragic, but also somewhat comical. Perhaps a dark comedy?
Speaking of genres let’s move on to the film industry. There are rumors circulating that the writer’s strike will end in about three weeks (let’s keep our fingers crossed). If this is true, we will all be working in no time again. And if you actually don’t work in film, well… be glad that your shows will be back and running again on the air with new episodes!!! Yay, no more reruns!!!
Alright enough of that. Now this is really important… I was told about the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. Website: Here. I need to go to this place. For those of you that don’t know, I’m fond of cheese. And chocolate. Anyway, if you’ve ever been there let me know!!!
Romina Espinosa is an artist who lives in Los Angeles, California. She popped out on January 13, 1988 at 3:14 AM. Her greatest passion is films. She happens to be a writer and is developing her acting career.
