I use Firefox to regularly browse the internet wasteland.  I will also use Opera from time to time, and I love it enough to put it on the "Stuff We Use" list below Firefox.  I'm not enamored by Chrome, but hey... I've used it, as well.  What do they all have in common?  Besides other potential similarities that I don't want to hear about from any smart-alecks, the answer I'm looking for is tabs.

Tabbed browsing is not what I grew up used to.  For a very long time, it was Internet Explorer for me.  When I first discovered Firefox, it didn't take.  I usually don't adjust well to change.  I went back for a second chance and never looked back.  Firefox is now my staple: it checks my gmail every few minutes, I have it customized up the wazoo, and through it I've been able to learn even more about web design.  In other words, it's been a good time.  These tabs, though, are a double-edged sword.  On the one hand I love the freedom of opening new tabs while reading articles, or for opening images, or whatever else people use tabs for.  On the other hand, they've ruined my life.

Okay, so perhaps they haven't ruined it completely (that was done long before they came around, actually), but I certainly have a love/hate relationship with my tabs.  Why?  Well, as I type this, on my main computer's Firefox I have 20 tabs open.... 21 if you count the one I'm typing into right now.  And these tabs aren't all from today.  Oh, no... they're collected over weeks.  They're filled with things that I've come across that I want to look into or do something with at a "later time" from when I discover them.  They're not quite bookmark worthy, and even if they were - being tagged into my long list of bookmarks guarantees that I won't pay attention to them again for a very long time.  So, they sit there, begging for me to pay them attention.

I never pay them attention, though.  I think about it, but I don't usually get around to it.  I sometimes get annoyed that they are there and just do a clean sweep and add things to my bookmarks (the death knoll for "to-do" links in my life)... but they return.  They always return.  The tabs, they haunt me.  They are so easy to use, and yet before I realize what has happened they multiply and grow in numbers beyond what I am capable of handling.  They eat away at my soul and cause me more strife than the facts that I live at home and have no job... COMBINED!

Curse you, tabs.  Curse you.

Up Next: Why Having So Much Free Time Isn't Good For A Man's Sanity - The Mark Mushakian Story.

In a bit of a departure from the norm, Facebook actually got this bit of news sooner than my site.  Of course, considering that it's 11:30pm on a Saturday night, I don't imagine anyone noticing either for a little while .

Some time ago I had an idea for a quick little video to put on my site for this Valentine's Day.  Actually, it was something I wanted to put on YouTube since the amount of videos I have uploaded there is a measley 1.  It was to be the start of a new web-series I decided to call shortMUSH.  Earlier this week I happened upon another great idea for this series, so I pushed the premiere forward to today.  I wouldn't expect the regular frequency to be THIS close together if I were you (one posted tonight and another in a week just isn't a pace I could ever imagine keeping up with), but unlike some of my intended projects I've talked about on here before... this one is actually coming to you with something done for it already!

These aren't really movies, and the ideas I've had for it so far are very basic and quick to shoot and put together, so don't expect anything too grand.  shortMUSH is more just about putting things out there for a few laughs and a little bit o' fun.  They'll be "short" and they'll be "MUSH"(akian, get it?), just don't expect any beautiful drama.  Remember the madness that was "Mark and The Box of Mystery" posted on Facebook awhile ago?  Yeah... that's the kind of thing I'll be doing here, just a little more planned out.  This is my excuse to share my silly and comedic side, which I tend not to do with movies.

shortMUSH - "Website Rap"

I'm planning on keeping these just on YouTube for now, but I'll post any new additions here for ya, and you can always find the link to my YouTube channel in the left menu under Contact.  Enjoy!

(or don't, really, but I hope you do enjoy.  and if you do enjoy, mind telling your friends and spreading the word of love and fun that is www.MarkMushakian.com and my wonderful new video series shortMUSH?  Thanks.)

Part 1

2 of 5 - "Birth Through Junior High"

First, quite obviously, none of us choose our clothes when we're babies.  Some poor kids now-a-days are treated to mohawks, shirts with obscene references to how they were conceived, and many other things.  I, on the other hand, lucked out...

Look at that little stud!

Even once I started to dress myself, though, not too much changed, so the beginning of this period isn't very interesting for two reasons: my mom picked my clothes and it was the 80's.  I was usually a pretty dapper little kid, though, but just about everyone was back then.  Sure I'd wear t-shirts or shorts, but my wardrobe also consisted of corduroy pants and a plethora of collared shirts and polos.  Exhibit A, my first day of first grade:

Man, white tennis shoes, missing teeth, and a plastic lunch box... I was two-thirds old man.  Of course, things change, and as I got older, I began to take more of an interest in being cool, as is evident by my ensemble for the first day of third grade:

When I just now confronted my mom about those socks she said, "I wouldn't have done that, it must've been you.  You always were a strange little boy."  I certainly was.

My goodness, things can only get better, right?

I know the blog series titles don't transfer to Facebook, but for those of you who visit my site (I like you more, by the way), let me mark this as the final Behind The Counter... for obvious reasons.  I'm also posting this on a Tuesday, which is the same day I'd post my Behind The Counter weekly reviews - a touch of irony.

Ten years ago I began working at Blockbuster.  Five years ago I left and went on to pursue and try different things.  Two years ago, eight years to the month of when I started the first time, I went back.  I was going back to school full time and decided Blockbuster would be the perfect part-time job to have while I did.  So, this time it was very different.  Of course, it was very different for far more reasons than that .

I went to the store at Crown Valley/Golden Lantern, as my BFF Nick Reiber had ironically also had the same idea to return to our former company for some extra cash, and this is where he ended up.  I had an interview with the store manager, Katrina, and obviously got in without a problem.  Nick ended up leaving not too long after he started, but I stuck around for awhile... that is, until the store shut down January 10 of this year.

A two year tour on the front line of Blockbuster isn't quite the same as a previous five year stint, but you'd be surprised what a person can pack into that short time - even when he only worked one day a week .  So, though I may be a couple of weeks "late" I have my reasons, and for those of you who worked there (and those who didn't, too) I wanted to take a little look back at final time at Blockbuster.

Last month's focus of writing a kid's book proved to be a bit more difficult than I'd imagined, however, more than that, it just came about at the wrong time.  With other things going on in my life, it wasn't something I could focus on.  I'm not talking about running out of free time, of course, but just that I wasn't in the right creative space to work on that particular project.

What I learned:
The hardest part was finding my words.  I know the story I want to tell, and I do well working with kids and conversing with them - however I have spent a very long time writing for adults, and transitioning myself to a language that was more appropriate for younger ages was something I had to work on more than I thought.

Sometimes, as a creative person, you're just not in the mood for certain things.  The point of this little self-disciplined exercise of mine is not to necessarily force myself to work on something just to complete it within a certain time, but instead to take my free-time attention and harness it as best I can.  Sometimes projects will click, and sometimes they won't.  Grinding it into the ground won't work, though, so I'm leaving the book to rest for now.

For February I'm focusing on something I've mentioned before, my project with Nick and Danny - Let's Make Movies: 2010.  This isn't an arbitrary selection, either.  While I was mostly creatively stagnant with the kid's book last month, I managed to come up with the three short movie ideas for this little endeavor... all within the span of a couple of days, too.  The first one has made it through it's first draft, and if you care to spoil the end product by reading it, you can find it posted on the project blog under my latest post "For Pete's Sake."

I have the other two movie ideas lined up and am working on first drafts of each of them, as well, so as to give myself a break before returning for a second revision on For Pete's Sake.  I may very well have all three first their first drafts by month's end, and I can move on to something else but for now... this'll be my monthly project.

Even after all of these years, Marty McFly's mom is still a heck of a good looking woman .

1 of 5 - "An Introduction"

This is the first in what will be a five part blog series, running each Wednesday from now until the end of February.  Wow, a five part blog?  It must be about something absolutely AMAZING and quintessential to who Mark Mushakian is, right?  Movies?  Women?  BUNNIES??!  Good guesses, but no... it's all about style.

Oh, of course, sty- pwahhhh?

That's right, style.  More specifically, my personal SENSE of style.  No, I'm not gay, I simply love design, and I have for most of my life.  I used to enjoy looking through the Homes For Sale section of the newspaper to admire the different implemented designs.  I grew up watching gardening shows because I loved seeing the different ways of creating interesting yard setups.  Even in regards to my prime passion, movie-making, two of my favorite aspects are costuming and set design.  I have a certain sense of style that I enjoy bringing to every arena of my life, as is probably most evident by what I choose to wear on a daily basis.  I haven't bought new clothes for quite some time (for a lack of excess funds), but I take pride in consistently trying to do new and fun things with what I already have.  I take it as an opportunity to express myself every time I step out of the house, and it's something that is continually evolving.  I also happen to be a bit out of the norm - I wear suspenders for pete's sake, but in regards to my fashion tastes this wasn't always the case.  Surprisingly enough, I didn't pop out of the womb with suspenders on.

As the topic of my style sense has come up quite a few times, lately, I kind of wanted to take this little trip down memory lane and explore exactly how I got to this point.  More than any other creative aspect, including my taste in movies or music, my personal sense of style has undergone the most dramatic changes, and since the aspect of design is such an interesting topic to me, I wanted to go through that here.

I'll eventually get into the ideas of how I've been inspired and changed over the years, in subsequent posts, from suits, Nazis, James Dean, gangsters, hippies, and yes... even the suspenders, but first I want to simply talk about style itself.

If you focus only on one side and ignore the other, you'll never have the whole picture:

Note: I didn't make this, and this may not be the first time you've seen it, but I'm sharing for those who haven't.

Avatar
Time/place: 3:30 showing at Ocean Ranch 7 (w/Tex) with Scott

I'm a bit late to this party, but I was never that interested in the movie anyway, so the delay wasn't too hard to deal with.  So, what did the man with the ever-confusing opinions on movies think?  Eh.

The most positively talked about aspect of Avatar is its visuals.  Obviously, yes, I'd have to be blind or a fool trying just to disagree if I said that technically this movie wasn't very impressive.  The giant blue people, for as much as my mind knew that giant blue people aren't real, looked photo real.  The same goes for the environments and other creatures and effects.  When James Cameron is behind a movie, it's going to look good... and he's topped himself again.  That being said, though, I didn't really care.  I was amazed when I saw dinosaurs come to life in Jurassic Park as a kid, but other than that childhood experience, visual effects like this don't mean much of anything to me.  A movie review from some joe off the street that is centered around the "good effects" doesn't do much to pique my interest.  Of course it isn't that great effects make a movie BAD, but for me what the effects were showing was a major factor in my dislike for the movie.

"What??  You FOOL!  James Cameron made an entire alien world and it was BEAUTIFUL!"  Eh, I didn't think so.  Sure, there was a great deal of work put into things, but I didn't think the world was that great.  Talking about it later, I realized why I felt disconnected through most of the movie.  And, I did feel disconnected.  Throughout the entire movie, my interest continually waxed and waned.  I started off rather with it, and then I became very detached and nearly bored.  What kept driving me away was the fact that I couldn't connect with the world.  This alien world is nothing that I'm used to seeing, so it takes me out of the moment.

What DID bring me back, though, is the story.  It's nothing new and that may have added to the boredom, but I personally respond very strongly to a group fight for survival.  Even in the cheesiest and worst movie, if there is a moment with a call to arms or something else along those lines - I can feel it in my chest.  The only problem was, that even though I loved the story, I didn't love the movie.  I wanted to, and I certainly didn't hate it, but there was nothing very amazing or interesting about it for me.  It was a very strange experience, having such an uneven reaction, because when I loved it, I could've cried or applauded, but for the rest of the time (and the majority at that) I just wasn't that into it.

I'll talk about James Cameron and other spoiler-ific things below, but the most important thing in a movie for me is story, and while I appreciated the ideas and plot behind Avatar (and, Nate, if you read this, I think you're very silly for taking what you took out of it), the execution of it did little for me overall.

Grade: C-

P.S. Is it wrong that I when I saw Sigourney Weaver's avatar, I thought she was oddly pretty?  Dang it.. yeah, I thought so .

Flower
Platform: PS3

Not a movie and not a book, Flower marks the first video game review here.  Hurrah for diversity!

Flower is a download-only game available only on the PlayStation Network (sorry XBOX and Wii folks).  I had heard a great deal about this game, with every single review I read lauding it as "beautiful" and "a relaxing, wonderful experience" so when they offered a deal this December for half-off select PSN games, I finally decided to give it a whirl and purchased it for $5 (as of now, it has returned to it's regular $10 price).  It was a blind purchase based purely on what I had heard and my knowledge of the game's concept and gameplay - no demos here.

The reviews were very right .

In the midst of other games that I love which usually involve guns, destroying cities, causing car crashes, and a great deal of other "bad" things, Flower is a very pleasant treat.  To very simply explain the gameplay, using the PS3 controller's motion abilities, and with a single button press (any button), you control the wind.  That's it.  You use the wind to control flower petals, blooming them to progress through various "levels."  This is a very basic overview, though, because what really makes up the elements of this game are far more lovely.

The details in the art direction and choice of how the game actually progresses take Flower to a level of craft not usually reached in most games.  It, to me, was a piece of art.  Each "level" is really the dreams of a flower stuck in a pot looking out of a dreary apartment window.  Succeeding brings new life to the flower and then grants you the opportunity to do the same for a new potted flower.  Within each level, the music and sound effects really do create an absolutely beautiful experience.  I found it to be completely engaging, and just as I did with the LittleBigPlanet demo and often do playing The Beatles: Rock Band, I found myself smiling very big and very hard as I fought fervently for these little flowers and their dreams.

That's where the game amazed me.  For such a simple and silly little concept, the amount of depth in the overall "story" and the emotional weight of it all was more than one would expect.  Through the first few flowers, I was cheerfully bringing flowers to bloom and saving the day - haha, it's so very weird to say, but since I was so enraptured it felt almost heroic.  Then, however, things began to get dark.  For the last few, I was almost at the point of tears a couple of times.  The dream world that I had been able to make so bright and sunny before, was becoming dark and nightmarish.  I won't tell you how it all ends, but rest assured - Mark generally isn't a fan of tragic endings .  Speaking of endings, even the final CREDITS are freaking beautiful.

Flower obviously won't appeal to everyone, but it has a charm and artistic touch to it that absolutely delighted me, and knowing what I know now... I would happily pay the full $10 price for it.  While, as with any PSN game, it isn't the longest game you'll ever play, it more than makes up for it's quantity with the highest of quality.  If any of this review sounds appealing, I suggest you certainly take a chance and download this game today.  It truly is, as every review has already said, a beautiful, relaxing, and wonderful experience.

Grade: A

Youth In Revolt
Time/place: 7:15 showing last night at Kaleidoscope with Nick and Bree

This isn't going to be long, it isn't going to be deep... and it certainly isn't going to be pretty. I had no interest in this movie, but I was able to spend the evening with Nick and his gal, so he chipped in for my ticket to keep the party going .  I probably even wouldn't be offering a review for this (just like I didn't for Adventureland, which was seen in similar circumstances), but a certain someone said that he paid for this... so here you go.

I didn't like this movie.  Not. One. Bit.  I was hardly shocked by this, though.  The story was eye-roll inducing in its approach to any type of potential message or meaning, it was dirty from beginning to end, and more than anything it was simply dull.  Highlights?  Sure...

Youth In Revolt did manage to entertain me to some degree.  It was a very SMALL degree, but I did chuckle a few times.  I loved seeing Steve Buscemi, Fred Willard, and even Justin Long.  There was a quick moment near the end with Buscemi fighting someone in which I liked how seriously he played it - yet in the scope of the movie I didn't quite get why we might be rooting AGAINST Buscemi in this moment, when he is clearly in the right.  These guys, and even Michael Cera, gave me a couple of laughs, but that was minimal.  The only other nice thing I can say about this movie is that the women in it were attractive.  That's right.. half of this movie's only redeeming qualities were cute girls.  That should tell you something about how much I enjoyed it.

Youth In Revolt?  Eh.

Grade: D

Since I care that any visitor we get here enjoys their experience as much as possible, I'd like to present you with a little informal survey/poll.  If you care to share your responses, you may do so in the comments.

1. Are you familiar with the term "hover text" as it applies to images on the Internet?
2. If not, please go to xkcd.com and place your cursor over today's comic for just a moment.  The box that pops up is known as "hover text" (it also applies to links, as well, as you may have noticed if you clicked on that link).  Are you now familiar with the meaning of this term?
3. Are you aware that other websites also employ this method of attaching humorous bonus text to their images?
4. Do you realize that this text is NOT transferred when certain sites upload their blog entries to Facebook?
5. Will you now begin checking CERTAIN websites for this type of image text?
6. Are you aware that CERTAIN websites have been doing this since, oh, sometime around February of 2009?
7. Were you already aware of ALL of this, and are somewhat disappointed that I have now ruined your special secret knowledge?
8. Do you even care about any of this, and only visit my site to see pictures of good looking women and/or because you pity me?
9. Do you know which Batman villain this entry's title is parodying?
   
10. Are you ready for this poll/survey to be over?

Sherlock Holmes
Time/place: 4:35 showing at Ocean Ranch 7 (w/Tex) with Korkie

First, until I get another job, pretty much all of my reviews are going to come from a viewing at Ocean Ranch 7.  I needs to save the cash .

Most folks think I only enjoy movies that are heavy drama or have some sort of beautiful outlook on the world.  I'll give it to them, that for the most part those are the movies that will top my list nearly every time.  It may surprise you to know that there are exceptions.  I loved Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl because it was nothing more than exceptionally fun.  It didn't point out a beautiful world or pull at the heart strings.  It was simply a well-made movie that also happened to be a blast.  Sherlock Holmes falls into the same category.

This is by no means a new release, as it's been in theaters since Christmas day.  The holidays were no time to go to try and brave the theater, and then I got sick and had car trouble... so it's taken me awhile to get to see this movie.  This isn't a movie I was DYING to see, but I thought it would, at the very least, be fun.  I'm a fan of the director, Guy Ritchie.  It all started when Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels came out, followed by Snatch.  This was a director who had a handle on great fun, and I would have been happy to see him make these kinds of movies until the end of time.  Then he made a little movie called Revolver, though, that blew my mind and followed it up with RocknRolla.  Guy Ritchie still had fun, but he was shifting into something else, and I enjoyed it.  I wasn't sure how that change may transition into something more established with Sherlock Holmes, but I found it to be absolutely fantastic.

And on to the actors?  Indeed.  Everyone involved is a very talented person, and I think they were all magnificently placed in their roles.  Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law both brought equal charm to their roles, and their acting abilities shouldn't even have to be explained by this point, yet it was their bond that I really enjoyed.  These are two characters with whom I never once had a problem believing that they had shared a very long history.  Eddie Marsan and the beautiful Rachel McAdams were as splendid as usual, too, and the subtleties of Mark Strong made a villain that was not just fun and engaging (as someone like Captain Barbosa might be described), but very deep as well.  Though it mostly showed through at the end, there were moments throughout in which a lesser actor may have played the character without a soul, but this isn't the case at all with Strong.

A great deal of why I enjoyed the movie overall, though, is because it was so darn smart.  It wasn't just brash and entertaining, filled with fun characters and situations... it was really brilliant.  When a giant monster of a man (the one you've seen in the trailer) shows up, he doesn't just get lumped into the cliche position of the "big, but slow and moronic" character.  This isn't the only refined moment, but it was one of my favorites.  How many times have we all seen the giant, lumbering henchman stumbling after our hero?  This guy was just as fun and interesting as any other character in the movie, and I thought it was a very pleasant surprise to see such attention given to even the more minor characters.  That was my fault, though... I forgot that this is a Guy Ritchie movie .

Besides treating its characters with respect, the script and dialogue were also completely British in their humor and tone.  The wit was fast and smart, and I thought it was a very fitting world for a new Sherlock Holmes to inhabit.  This movie could have fallen into a trap of feeling "Americanized" but I think it retained its English heritage absolutely beautifully.  Speaking of beauty, a large aspect of who Guy Ritchie has become is steeped in giving his movies moments of great heart.  I won't talk about it all in detail, of course, but I cared about these folks because they were more than caricatures - they were all well-rounded, with problems, history, and depth.  As elements started to come about in the ending moments, I found myself getting very excited at the prospect of returning to all of this in a sequel.  The movie does not demand a sequel, as this was not an origins story... but I'd sure love to see one .

So, while it did initially take me a little while to get into the movie (though that may have been in part to the pestering of my viewing partner), by the end I was completely enamored by Sherlock Holmes.  It is a rousing, fun, intelligent little adventure of a movie, and if you couldn't tell - I recommend it wholeheartedly.  For those who haven't already seen it, at least .

Grade: A

The facts are not important.  You don't need to know where I first saw it or when.  You don't need to know what it's from or why it exists.

All you need to know is that it is real, and I have it posted here just for you...

Don't get the Takumi (sp?) reference?  That's okay... that was just for my game night pals .

I feel like I've gone over this topic before, and I know I have, but I do hope that this approach will at least be different.  I have a problem with focusing.  No, that isn't in reference to my slowly deteriorating vision, either (though I'm sure there will indeed be glasses in my immediate future as soon as I find a new job).  I have a great number of creative projects stockpiling up inside my head, but I can very rarely focus on any one thing long enough to see it through to completion.

You see, I have a problem shifting between various intensities of focused attention.  I'm either full bore or aloof and scattered.  That makes it hard to sit myself down and start up a creative endeavor because I know how obsessed I can get.  So then I err on the side of not doing ENOUGH.  This past week I found a reignited interest in "doing things."  What things?  I am, of course, referencing that stockpile of creative projects mentioned earlier: kid's books, short videos, scripts, and a plethora of other things.

These ideas continually add up, and at times the thought process gets so overwhelming that I freeze up and end up working on nothing at all.  Here's to putting an end to that.  I'll always be very scattered when it comes to creative inspiration - that I can't help.  For example, just this past week I had a new idea for a movie script which I haven't worked on in years.  Out of the blue - POP, just like that.  What I can try and do, though, is concentrate on one thing at a time.

So, from this point on, I'll dedicate the present month to one project in particular.  That was alot of P's... I feel like Daffy Duck.  Anyway, we'll see how this goes.  If a project gets done sooner (a short story, for example) I'll set a new one for the month.  If one goes longer (a script), I'll judge what kind of flow I'm in and may or may not continue it into the next month.  By setting these public goals, I'm hoping that this little system will give me enough direction to start getting things done without being a detriment to my creative free spirit by being too confining.

I've been at a particular script for awhile without writing a word, but I need a break from it so I'm choosing something else for this first month.  This is an older idea I've wanted to do for awhile (a running theme), so for what remains of January, I'm going to focus on one of my ideas for a kid's book.  Perhaps at the announcement posting each month I'll give a report on how the past month's project is doing, and outline what I'm up to for the next one.

"So, a kid's book, you say?"  Yeah - colored pictures and everything .  Well, I may actually go with black and white to cut the cost, but we'll have to see.  This one's based on a story a friend told me, and I will be publishing it through Lulu.com at cost.  First I need to write out the script, then I'll figure out the best/cheapest layout, and finally I'll illustrate it and slap the whole thing together.

Wish me luck, folks.