What the Wednesday!! OK GO.

I love OK GO videos. I love them all of them. We all know the legendary treadmill video, and the uber domino effect video directed by Rube Goldberg is catching on quickly. But this is one that I saw recently that I think is every bit as awesome. If not more so. Congrats OK GO, you made say What the awesome videos!? How do they keep the awesome going?

-TravLCox_

Tough Guy Tuesday - Week 3

I know it's technically the forth week, but I was in DC the third week and I didn't work out at all... so this counts as the third week of working out. I've kind of abandon the program. Now I just work out as much as I have time to whenever I have time to. I've added protein shakes, and some various dumb bell exercises when I get a chance. I feel better... and I think I look better. Maybe not much better than week 2. But definitely better than week 1. Onward and upward!

-TravLCox_

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_

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_