Dear 2011

Dear 2011,

It's really great to finally meet you... welcome to my life. I have to say I've been looking forward to meeting you for quite a while, and if I'm honest, I have really high expectations for you. Hopefully by the time we part ways we'll have some really amazing stories to tell. Together (and I mean this in the cheesiest, yet sincerest way possible) we can make some dreams come true.

I plan on stepping it up this year, and really doing all I can, so all I ask of you is that you open a few doors for me, and throw me a bone now and then. If you could keep the tragedies to a minimum and let the good times roll for my friends and family that would be great as well.

Thanks a million, let's have a good one-

-Travis Lincoln Cox

"The List"

* Exercise (a lot)

* Blog (more)

* Write (a lot more)

* Act (as much as possible)

* Organize my Life (easy peasy)

* Budget ($$$)

* Take More Pictures (of everything)

* Live with No Regrets

**As for this Blog**

I am going to revive the old Blog schedule. So, if you care to read... this is what you can expect:

Movie Monday- I'll lend my opinion on a random movie that I will have watched that week.

Tough Guy Tuesday- This is really just me using the public eye as motivation to exercise. you can expect weekly photo updates on my (not sexy yet) body, and any random workout tips I might feel are useful.

What the Wednesday- There are a lot of crazy videos on the internet. On Wednesday, I'll post a good one.

Theatre Thursday- This could be anything remotely related to Theatre and/or acting. ie: a play review, a something cool I learned in class, a script I read etc... I'll try to keep it interesting.

Photography Friday- I have a not so secret passion for photography. On Friday, I show off. I post one of my favorites from my collection.

Thanks for taking the time to read! Happy New Year!

-Travis

Movie Monday - Raging Bull

Raging Bull

I have to preface this review with the awareness that I couldn't give this movie my full attention. I was doing laundry / doing push-ups. That said I think I was paying enough attention to write an accurate review. The movie of the week is none other than 'Raging Bull.'

I was introduced to this movie by my wife. Believe it or not I had never heard of it, I've never seen a preview, and I didn't know anything about the plot. What I did know was that it was directed by Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro won an Oscar for it... and that's about it. I love going into movies blind.

It's because of movies like 'Raging Bull' that we respect Scorsese so much. It is a beautifully filmed piece of theatre. The editing is brilliant and the black and white stylization is superb. The small splash of color right in the middle of the film is refreshing and excellent.

Let's just talk about the acting for a minute shall we? I want to use a word like succulent, or divine, or astonishing, but really 'great' is just the word I need. Everyone was great. De Niro was genius. And the rest of the cast was right up there with him. Excellent job all around.

The story was solid. Triumphant and tragic all in one swoop. The story of the great boxer Jake LaMotta. We love him we hate him. We cheer for him and we curse him. A complex character to say the least. My only complaint is that it runs a bit long. Other than that it was a really fantastic film. I definitely recommend it.

One of these days I'm gonna watch a movie I don't like... until then I give 'Raging Bull' an 8/10.

__________________

On a side note I've been invited by this website to publish my reviews. It's pretty cool. If you're looking for a great place to read movie reviews I recommend it.

-TravLCox_

Fotography Friday - Calgary, AB

This weeks photo will always be one of my favorites because it was taken while I was on my mission for the LDS (Mormon) Church. I had been out barely over a year when I was made Zone Leader and transfered to this area. Downtown Calgary. A missionaries heaven... or hell depending on how you looked at it. Our days were filled with crazy amounts of street contacting (almost no tracting) and preaching to people on the street. Most of our contacts we were able to make ended up living outside of our area because they just came into town to work. Which meant few investigators in our pool. Our ward was always shifting with new young couples coming and going almost weekly. And I was serving with an amazing companion who was called as a Mandarin speaking missionary. We taught an English as a second language class, met with several Chinese families (who spoke little to no English) and had some of the busiest days I can remember. Unfortunately I was only here for one transfer. But it was one of my favorite six weeks of my whole mission. This picture was the view from the balcony of our 17th floor apartment. It was taken with a simple point and click camera, and needed no color boosting at all. It really looked like this. Not to shabby eh?

For more photos of mine visit my flickr page.

Fotography Friday - Arlington Cemetery

Because I've been in DC this week I really wanted to use a picture taken here for this weeks Photography Friday. I've decided to use a photo from Arlington Cemetery. Not because it's the best picture I've ever taken, but because I enjoyed my time there so immensely. No picture, especially not this one, can capture the feeling of reverence and awe that is felt as one walks those grounds. I loved it there.

There is a strange type of beauty there. Even though it is tragic that these men and women have fallen. What they fell for is beautiful. And that makes them beautiful. I thought that the beautiful Cherry Blossoms that have fallen to the ground were, at least somewhat, symbolic.

-Travis_

To see this, or last weeks photo, full size visit my flickr page.

What the Wednesday? - Awesome Barking Guy

What the Wednesday!?

It's that time again for me to share something that made me go 'What the..." this time I'm in awe. This guy is amazing. He goes flawlessly from his normal speaking voice, into rabid dog, and then back to normal again. Well done sir... you made me say 'What the barking old man?'

-See you next week.

-Travis_

Tough Guy Tuesday - Week 2

Well it's been another week, and for the most part I stuck to the game plan. I started last Tuesday doing 75 push-ups, 10 pull-ups, 50 sit-ups, and 50 lunges. With each new day I added 5 push-ups, 1 pull-up, 5 sit-ups, and 5 lunges. Which means today I did 105 push-ups, 15 pull-ups, 70 sit-ups, and 70 lunges. The only thing I haven't had time to get around to is the running... I did jump rope for about 10 minutes one night.

As you can see from the picture there is no drastic change in my appearance from last week. I think there's a small improvement though, which makes me feel like this might be worth it. I know I feel a lot better, and I can tell that working out is getting easier.

I'm worried about next week cause I'll be on vacation. It's hard to exercise on vacation. But I'm determined to make it work. The only thing is that I can't pack my pull-up bar.

Anywho, that's all. See you next week.

-Travis_

Movie Review Monday - Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland Review

I have to be honest with you. I waited a long time to see this movie because I was very very skeptical. When the screen shots were first released a million years ago I was pretty excited. From what I could tell all of the design elements were really clicking, and everything looked super interesting. But then I remembered Sweeney Todd. The screenshots of that movie also looked awesome. But I did not enjoy the film at all. Also adding to my skepticism was Tim Burton's take on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Big disappointment in my book. Anywho, what I'm saying is that I was very worried that I would not like this movie one bit... I went and saw it anyway.

Honestly, it was quite good. As I expected visually it was stunning. I'm not sure if Tim Burton is a great director, but as far as I'm concerned he's one of the best designers in the business. The 3D element was not abused and I didn't feel like it took over the story, but simply added to it.

The greatest success for this film, in my opinion, is the casting.

I, for one, can't blame Tim Burton for casting the same people over and over again ie Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Timothy Spall, Alan Rickman, etc... if they consistently do a good job.

Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter had this great duality to him which was wonderful to watch. I loved the Scottish war hero that popped out now and then, even if there were some Jack Sparrow traces mixed in their somewhere.

Alan Rickman was perfect for the Blue Caterpillar, and Matt Lucas was, well, adorable as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Of course Helena Bonham Carter and Timothy Spall were great, respectively, as well.

My favorite character, though, was Stephen Fry as the Chesire Cat. I don't know what it was, but something about him was extremely like-able. In a freaky, not quite sure if I should trust you kind of way...

If I'm honest I wasn't really bothered by Mia Wosikowska as Alice, but I also wasn't extremely impressed. Her choices seemed obvious and safe. I was never taken out of the story by her... I just think she could've gone further is all.

The only casting choice I didn't agree with was that of Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. Not that I don't like her as an actress because I do. I can't even pin down what it was that I didn't like about her in this role. There was just something that I didn't like about her in this role.

The biggest failure for this film is the script.

Right from the beginning we know how it's going to end. We know she's the real Alice, we know she's gonna kill the Jabberwocky, and there are no great surprises along the way. Even the obstacles Alice had to overcome seemed conveniently easy to surpass. Particularly the whole get the magic sword mission. "Here's your eye back big creepy thing, thanks for the key."

The one nugget of unexpectedness that I liked was the little romantic sub-plot between Alice and the Mad Hatter. That was fun for me.

Other than that, the dialogue is fine, it's just the arch of the story that is unoriginal and predictable.

To wrap it up.

Beautiful visually.

Great casting, and acting.

Lacking in the script area.

I give it a 7 1/2 out of 10.

So Funny Saturday

So Funny Saturday - Off the Cuff and other funny things.

Many of you know that I play in an amazing improv troupe called Off the Cuff and they are great! The shows are usually Friday and Saturday night. So every Saturday I will post highlights, things I learned, and some great one-liners from the show before. If you were at the show before I'd love to hear your favorites of the evening as well.

Because this is my first week I'll give you my brief journey into Off the Cuff.

It all started last summer when I was in Biloxi Blues with three members of the troupe. Wendy, Rev, and Bodily. They were awesome actors and just great people so when they told me to come to Off the Cuff... I did. And I LOVED IT!!! Then I started going to Improv University (which is a free class they teach every Friday at 4:00. You should go to it.) Then I became an alternate and now I'm a full time member of Off the Cuff's touring team.

Great story right?

Moving on!

Last night was one of the best Off the Cuff show's I've ever seen.

Some Highlights:

The entire 'Hecklers' scene. Hecklers is similar to Mystery Science Theatre 3000 where there is a serious scene taking place on stage (last night it was a son (Wade) telling his dad (TJ) that he was eloping) while three hecklers well... heckle. It was three minutes of non-stop laughter. Absolutely brilliant.

Wade's light bulb character. Two of our characters (Wendy and Loren) were in grave danger when they couldn't change the light bulb in the dark. But then our blind hero (Wade) stepped in to save the day. The best moment was after the triumphant replacement and the switching on of the light he asked blindly... did it work?

What I learned.

I'll keep this to one new thing per week. Though there are always more things I have learned.I

I'm noticing that most of my favorite players end up taking on some sort of character in a scene and sticking with it. (Rev and Dave's casting buddies, Wendy's Mrs. D etc...) I have a tendency to simply play myself in Improv. I'd like to try more characters.

The One-Liners.

My favorite part. Remember that if you were at the show and you had some favorite moments please post them here!

"I will Cracken you if you don't shut up." - TJ

While describing 'Over Actors Anonymous'

"It's like a really bad soap opera... or a Keanu Reeves Movie." - TJ

Classic Sunny D reference that only six people got: "Sorry, all we have is milk, soda, and purple stuff." - Wendy

The Notebook Spoof:

"I'm sorry but I was kind of in love with him a long time ago... and look! He wrote me all these letters! I mean seriously, look at these! (grabbing stacks of letters) You can't expect me to marry you now! I mean I know we've had a really great time together, and you're a really great guy, and you gave me this ring, and I kind of said yes, and you've been nothing but nice to me... I'm kind of a ho, sorry."

-Wendy

"Just like my dreams, it shattered."

-Loren

"Good thing I'm blind!! Squeaky, Squeaky, Squeaky..." -Wade

"...well she took me killing John pretty well." - Me

"I hate T9 word because when I try to type my friend Brian's name it spells Asia, and when I try to spell Jordan it spells Korea."

-Loren

"If we melt the ring down into the pancake mix we can have one pancake to rule them all."

-Rev

(Later that night.)

"So... you want two 'One pancakes to rule them all..."

-Me

"It's because of LeRoy Jenkins I lost my arm... well, not my whole arm. Just my ability to use it for casting."

-Rev

"I was talking to the Kindergartners and they told me that your son was lightbulb poop."

-Dave

"He was like an ice cold bottle of Coke with little droplets of sweat all over his buxom body."

-Bodily

And there were so many more! I realize that if you weren't there most of these won't make sense. But if you were there you can remember with me how freaking funny they were!

If you're free tonight come check us out at Saturday Night Cedar at The Pizza Depot in Cedar City. It's a whole different show with Long Form improv, sketches ala SNL, and much much more! The show starts at 9:30. Be there or be square! And being square sucks.

-Travis_

Fotography Friday - Ireland

It's Fotography Friday here at Life is That Random. What does that mean you ask? Well, in my spare time I like to pretend that I'm a photographer so I thought that this would be a good place to post some of my favorite pieces.

Todays picture comes from my first trip into Ireland. I was 17 or 18 years old and we were traveling along the western coast trying to get to our B&B before it got too dark. I kept watching this amazing sunset getting darker and darker begging my dad to stop the car. Finally, he did stop just in front of a bridge that had a pretty clear view of the ocean. But I didn't really like the shot from their so I grabbed my tripod and went running down a short path towards the water, and there was a sailboat. I was so excited. With great haste I pulled out my camera strapped it on the tripod and took a picture. (This was back before I had a digital camera so I had to wait three weeks to see if it turned out alright.) The skies were completely dark about five minutes after this photo was taken.

To see the un-cropped full scale picture just click the image. Or go to my flickr page.

Thanks for reading.

-Travis Cox_

"What the? Wednesday" - Crazy Awesome Bike Tricks!

You may be noticing that I'm giving everyday of the week a really lame and cheesy theme. Well, Wednesday is no exception. This is the day where I will be posting stuff that makes me go 'What!?!?" For good or for bad. Today it's for good. I stumbled across this video on youtube... and it's amazing. This guy makes this stuff look so easy. I'm amazed at how he really uses the environment of Edinburgh, Scotland... backflips off of trees, riding sideways on walls... he should be dead. But he's not dead. He's awesome. His name is Danny MacAskill... enjoy.

Tough Guy Tuesday - Week One

I've began to notice that my arms are getting smaller and smaller while my pants keep getting tighter and tighter. I've decided to use public embarrassment and shame as my motivation for getting into better shape. Every Tuesday I will post a picture of my shirtless self to track my progress. It's also kind of an experiment to see if an average guy, with a hectic schedule, and no gym membership can still find enough time to make a difference in his appearance.

This Weeks Stats:

Push-Ups: 0

Pull-Ups: 0

Sit-Ups: 0

Lunges: 0

Minutes Ran: 0

Current Weight: 196.8lbs

Other: I think it's important to have a plan. As of now my only plan is to focus on the previous five categories and improving in them everyday. ie do 75 push-ups one day do 80 the next and so on. I also eventually want to gain wieght... bulk up if you will. But first I want to lose my little cushion around my belly... So my first goal is to lose ten pounds.

As you can see I've got some work to do. So, here's to hoping for a better week next week! Wish me luck!

-Travis Cox_

Movie Review Monday - Men Who Stare at Goats

I know it's no technically Monday anymore... but it's close enough. I'm going to start reviewing a random movie here on this blog every week. If you have a movie you'd like me to review let me know. I'll be rating on a scale of One to Ten. This weeks movie is:

'Men Who Stare at Goats.'

From the moment I saw the poster for this movie I could not wait to see it. It is chalk full of actors whom I love. ie: Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, George Clooney, Kevin Spacey... you have to love them. Then I saw the trailer and wanted to see it even more. Witty dialogue, quirky humor, and truly unique premise. I thought I was in for a treat. Then it came out in theatres. I wasn't able to see it... and I didn't hear much about it. Then I forgot about it... for a while.

Then I walked past a redbox and saw it there, then I rented it, then I watched it. Now I'm reviewing it.

Overall I'm going to say that it's a good movie. Maybe not quite as good as I had hoped, but still quite excellent.

Here are the reasons it is good:

1) Great low stress acting - No super amazing acting moments, but beautifully simple and honest reactions.

2) Incredible dialogue - The dialogue is very honest and believable. It never feels forced or contrived.

3) Jeff Bridges - This man can do no wrong in my book. He is amazing and then some.

4) Everyone else - No weak links in the actor line-up. Great to see these guys playing characters they don't normally play.

5) The Announcement at the Beginning - "More of this is true than you would believe." So awesome.

6) The Dancing - You just have to see it. It's fantastic.

Here are the reasons I probably won't watch it again for a while:

1) The Story is About the Reporter - I understand why it had to be that way... but, (no fault of Ewan McGregors) he's not the interesting one. I was more interested in the psychic powers of the soldiers not the journey of the reporter.

2) It's Fairly Slow Moving - Don't watch this while twittering or playing pacman... you'll get bored. Make sure there are no shiny objects to distract you.

That's about it! Other than that it's a fantastic movie. I think I have to give this movie a 7ish out of 10... If you haven't seen it yet, do.

-Travis_

Angels Landing by Travis Cox

It has been one crazy week! Dixie State College hosted the biggest annual theatre festival in our Region: The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival... and it was awesome. The highlight of the week was most definitely when my wife, Whitney Cox was named as one of the Regions Winners and told that she would be traveling to Washington D.C. to compete in the National competition. That moment is still pretty surreal in my mind and I don't think that Whitney has come back to earth yet... I don't blame her.

A small part of what made that moment so awesome is that she took her scene from a play that I have written called Angels Landing... part of my script will be performed in the Kennedy Center. Wow.

Because I've had several people since then ask for the full script and a friend pointed out that some people might be trying to find it on line I'm going to tag this blog with as many possible google search ideas as I can... hopefully if anyone wants it, they will find this post.... if you're one of those people please e-mail me at TravLCox@gmail.com and I will happily e-mail you the script.

Double Vision

Well, in keeping with the 'random' part of this blog I thought I'd share this way cool optical illusion I stumbled across. When you look at it up close you should see Albert Einstein. But if you go across the room and look at it you should see Marilyn Monroe. How cool is that! And apparently it's more than cool. Check out this article to see how scientists use images like this to study how our brains process light. It's pretty interesting.

Star Trek Review

I know this is old news for the majority of you… but I just saw the new Star Trek movie and I thought I would share my thoughts. Before I start getting all analytical and stuff let me just say: Awesome! I’m sorry, I don’t like to shamelessly praise movies but every so often there comes a movie where one just can’t help it. I loved it. Here’s why:

This movie literally had everything the movie-goer could ask for.  High energy action, just the right amount of comedy, some genuinely touching moments, and pretty people! Speaking of pretty people… the casting was absolutely brilliant. They managed to find the perfect person to play every role! Some particular favorites were Simon Pegg as Scotty (Love him!) Zachary Quinto as Spock (He was great in Heroes he was great in this.) And Eric Bana as Nero. (Didn’t even realize it was him until the end.) Oh, and of course Leonard Nemoy was also cast spot on. ;) While we’re on the subject of pretty people I need to give a head nod to the make-up crew of this film. Everything from prosthetics, to cuts, shaving eyebrows, to painting bodies green. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an Oscar nominee for those folks. They helped us believe that these were the younger versions of all the characters we know and love in the original Star Trek.

Now, while I am by no means a qualified ‘Treky’ I do know a little about the original and from what I could tell die hard Star Trek fans should thrilled about the care taken to protect the integrity of the franchise. Everything from the costumes, the sets, the design of the starships, the history, even the dialogue just ‘fits’ into the original. My only qualm on this issue is that Scotty never said “We need more power!”  But he did say “That’s all she’s got!” though, so I’m fairly satisfied…

Well, I guess I never got to the “all analytical” part of this review. But I think that’s because while you’re watching Star Trek you just don’t care about that kind of stuff. The movie is just so much fun.  If you’re one of the few people left who haven’t seen it yet… you should. And see it in the theatres. It’s just not gonna be as good if you RedBox it.

 

I give it an A

Renaissance Faire and Inverted: Two Great Thinsg at the Same Place!

Hey, it's Saturday, it's Memorial Day Weekend, you need something fun to do in St. George! Some of you may have heard about the Renaissance Faire that is going on out at the Washington County Fairgrounds this weekend. Well, my acapella group 'Inverted' performed there yesterday and it was actually a lot of fun. I had to work immediately following our set so I didn't have too much time to walk around. But from what I could see it looks like a pretty sweet set up. Very similar to the Dickens Festival. There are games, shops, dressed up characters wandering about, lots of activites for the kids, contests, and of course live entertainment several times throughout the day.
If you get a chance I recomend heading out there today to support this great event. If you happen to head over there around 6:30 make sure to stop by the King Arthur Stage to listen to 'Inverted.' We do abot an hours worth of acapella songs, several of which are original arrangements... but it's not your mom's acapella. (Not that there is anything wrong with your moms acapella.) We sing songs like: I'm Yours by Jason Mraz, Used to Love You by John Legend, Smooth Operator by Sade, and a bunch of other cool stuff. Anyway, it's a great way to spend a Saturday night, whether you're on a date, or spending time with the family. While you're there you might want to check out the Big Dinner Feaste as well. Check out Roger Dunbars blog for more info on that. Hope to see you there!

Angels and Demons

I saw Angels and Demons last night, and I have to say I loved it. I've never read the book, but I thought that the story telling by Ron Howard was phenomenal, and the Acting by Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Stelin Skarsgard, and really the whole cast was suburb. Dan Browns writing is so great at grabbing audiences, and keeping them on the edge of their seats. Angels andDemons had me guessing the whole way through.

I've heard that some book fan's are a little upset about some inconsistencies, and even some major characters being completely left out. To them I say: so what? My wife has read the book and she explained some of the major differences (ie: the description of the bad guy, the wheelchair guy, the love story etc...) and to be completely honest with you if any of those things had been left in the movie it would've been too much. Dan Brown's storys are so complex already that anymore relationships, or plot twists, would've been overwheliming, and too hard to follow for the average movie-goer. I give kudos to Ron Howard and the writers for simplifying and only keeping what was needed to tell the story.

Without giving away too much of the story allow me to tell you some of my favorite things:
1- Tom Hanks. He has always been one of my favorite actors, and I think he can do anything. He nails this younger version (even thoughTom is now older) of Robert Langdon. Without going overboard he subtly makes us believe that this character is actually 'that good'. When he finds the clues we don't say "oh that was convienient..." we say "this guy is awesome!"
2- I have to say that Ewan McGregor was perfectly cast! I can't think of anyone better to play the role of the Camerlengo. His performance was excellent.
3- I think that Catholics will be very pleased with the way thier church was portrayed overall. I know that there was a lot of fuss over The Divinci Code, but I feel that both Ron Howard and Dan Brown were very delicate in the way they handled religion in this movie. This is a fictional movie, I hope people remember that.
4- The ending was great. But then again the whole movie was great. You laughed, cried, cringed, gasped, cheered, and in the end you were completely satisfied. It was $7.50 well spent if you ask me.

I give it an A-