So, the world is a buzz with talk of the new MacBook Air, and I find I don't really care. I'm not saying I don't find it incredible, but for the money, the trade off is too much. Having never really been a fan of Apple's proprietary nature, I dislike the lack of a user replaceable battery. I use my own optical drives too much to bid them farewell, and the price tag is far to high to be logical given the somewhat limited nature of the machine... (No, this isn't all we'll be discussing today...)
For what I would use it for, the ASUS EEE PC makes far more sense and far more capability in terms of features and cost. Sure, it isn't as thin, but thinness isn't the be all and end of all of the size factor.
So, if the price became more sensible, if they included the super drive, if they add more than 1 USB port, included 3G or at least Ethernet... then maybe, maybe I'd consider ditching this 15.4" behemoth I'm using now. Until then, I'll let the rich little AppleTards enjoy their (unnecessary) feeling of superiority.
Pandora
I came across Pandora some time back, and recalled the articles I'd read about the Music Genome Project, but I'd not had time full check them out. I now wish I had because I feel I've been missing out.
The concept is pretty ingenious: You enter a song or an artist you like and they build a 'station' of streaming music based on everything that makes that song a song, not just Genre and Artist, but Tone, Composition, Vocal style, and a plethora of other criteria.
It's been interesting hearing some of the work they compare to artists such as The Mars Volta and Radiohead, and it's opened me up to some artists I probably never would have heard of, while also playing stuff I already know and enjoy.
The only problem that I have with the site is that the player they use seems to be extremely resource intensive. I was playing music and found that my system seemed less responsive. As a test, I tried streaming on a different machine and found the same problem there. It's not a huge deal, but you wouldn't want to be trying to do anything else that requires your system to be stable.
Death Sentence
I finally got around to watching this movie. It was the epitome of stupid. I'm not saying that the movie wasn't watchable, there were just so many things that were completely unbelievable, there were times that I couldn't help just laugh out loud, and of course, I'm sure that wasn't the intention of the film writer.
The concept of the movie is that a VP of an insurance company has a happy family, 2 sons he loves, a good wife, nice house and cars. While taking his oldest son home from a hockey game in the city, they have to stop for gas and while the father pumps gas the son goes in to get himself a slushie. While in the store, some gang members bust in and in the process, he's killed as an initiation for some kid to join the game.
When the DA tells the dad they are going to make a deal for the kid to get 5-10 years, rather than the life the father wants, he claims it was too dark to see and lets the guy walk. Then, he goes after the kid himself, which leads to a stand off between the gang members and himself. The result is that his wife is killed, he's shot and his other son nearly dies.
Fresh from the hospital, he runs off and procures several guns and goes after the crew. Surprise of all surprises, he manages to wipe them all out.
What's frustrating is that this yupi manages to wield these weapons with such skill, while the punk kids who seem to use them on a regular basis can never seem to hit him.
The battle is fun to watch, certainly, and there's some pretty brutal violence and gore, which is always fun, but the fact that this one guy tracks these punks down and then takes them down on their home turf. Earlier in the film, they come after him, and in the ensuing brawl, they aren't able to kill him, as a matter of fact, when the first one closes in on him from the get go, his spidey senses seem to go off and he's able knock the gun from his hand, though he had no way of knowing what was coming.
Something else that is frustrating is the fact that the police seem completely incapable of doing their jobs. There's also far too much of an attempt to have 'touching moments' which are just not necessary and only serve to slow the story down more.
Most of the acting isn't terrible, but some of the characters are more than over the top, including the father of the punk gang's leader (Dan Goodman), who is supposed to be some kind of crime boss, his role is so ludicrous that you can't imagine how his kid hasn't killed him years ago, let alone any of the other people he's probably ever talked to. The only acting that really drives me crazy is the 'detective' (Aisha Taylor) who seems incapable of acting herself out of a paper bag. What's strange is that I've seen some of her other work and never found it that offensive, but this just made me want to throw things.
Overall, I just don't think it's worth seeing. Certainly, your mileage may vary, but I'm kinda wishing that I had my 2 hours back.
Cloverfield
Tomorrow I will see Cloverfield. I've been excited about this, but trying not to get my hopes up, but a fried of mine saw an advanced screening the other night, and called to tell me that it's pretty darn good, which means that my excitement level is now through the roof. I hate getting my hopes up, it just makes my disappointment so much more robust.
Here's to hoping, I suppose.
Neil Gaiman Short Story
I love when an author is so prolific that they're willing to publish some of their works on the interwebs. Neil Gaiman is one of those author's. I've enjoyed a great deal of his stuff in the past, so when I get a chance to devour more of his work, I'll jump at it.
So, when I stumbled upon "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" I was glad for another opportunity to enjoy his work. To be honest, it's not his most brilliant piece ever, but it's still quite enjoyable. It's worth checking out, especially since it is free.
Rubber band Mini-Gun
Alright, this thing is just neat. Read about it at engadget.
And that's it for me....
we'll see you here next time... maybe.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Inevitably...
It's January of 2008. This means that in a month, I'll be 27 years old. I've come to the startling conclusion that, for all intents and purposes, I don't want to be 27. 27, to me, is far too close the 30 for comfort, and 30, to me, is when the universe comes to a screeching halt. Near as I can tell anyway...
Of course, I'm entirely serious, so all of you 30plusers out there can stop trying to type your angry emails with your gnarled arthritic fingers, trying to remember why you launched Outlook to begin with. (There I go, thinking someone actually reads this blog). I'm serious in that I've actually hit a point, already, where I'm just simply not wanting to get older, and it mostly has to do with the fact that I've not accomplished near as much as I've wanted to so far, and just a dash of the fact that I see it as a slippery slope toward death.
30, for some reason, looks like the true half way mark. For the most part, you don't see many sexagenarians going around having the rock and roll lifestyle. I am well aware of the exceptions to that rule, but the fact is that I've not taken good enough care of myself so far, and certainly don't see my habits changing enough in the foreseeable future that I'm pretty sure I will be your atypical 60 year old, completely feeble and out of touch with the world around me. My real hope is that when the time comes, my senility will be blissful.
Also, and forgive me for this, but I have some level of excitement that I'll likely then be able to get away with screaming at little kids for no reason, running around stark naked in the streets and just simply doing things that are contrary to social norms, and being an old codger will mean that people will just accept my insane behavior.
I certainly don't get away with any of it now, I can only hope I'll get to enjoy it.
On to other things.
I recently watched the movie "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead." I can't say it's the best movie I've seen lately, but it was certainly very good. The acting in the film is spectacular, and there are a great number of scenes where you're really able to feel the emotion being cast off. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is one of those guys I normally just don't like, but I have to admit that his role in this film was stellar. The story itself isn't exactly cutting edge, but it was fresh enough to make it enjoyable, and although the pace tends to drag a little at times, it still remained engaging enough. My only real complaint was that the story wasn't tied up much at the end.
Still, I would recommend seeing it. It's not exactly on par with those I think it was aspiring to be, such as "A Simple Plan," but still worth your time.
Also, there's more...
I also had the chance to watch "He Was a Quiet Man," which was another one of those movies that kind of hit me from left field. I'd never heard anything about it, and then there it was, in all of it's brilliance.
It's really hard to describe everything that makes this movie great. The acting was phenomenal, the story was well written, the actual cinematography stands out as well. The concept behind the movie is relatively fresh, and while not entirely over the top, just out there enough to be pleasing.
Overall, all I can really do is recommend taking the time to see this one. It's dark, twisted, funny, and has a few decent twists.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Another movie I watched recently (and understand that I'm just trying to throw out some titles of lesser known movies that I think are worth watching), was "Black Irish."
This was a movie I'd never heard of before watching it, so I didn't know much going into it, except that it was clearly about a Black Irish family. I was very pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. Again, this isn't a movie that treads completely new and different ground, but it is still very touching, well written, meaningful, and well acted.
Information edited because I'm an idiot.
Meanwhile, the older brother in the movie, the troubled, angry one, is played by Tom Guiry, who played Jimmy Donnelly, the troubled, angry brother, on "The Black Donnellys," to which this movie doesn't even hold a candle.
The story follows Cole, the youngest boy of a Black Irish family, who, at the start, is seeking a life in the clergy. He's the younger brother of Terry, who's a rotten apple and Kathleen, the sister who's found herself pregnant. To pay for her boarding, they must take Cole out of the parochial school he attends, which he almost welcomes, being that he's more interested in baseball than the clergy. All along, he seems determined to win the favor of his father, a man who drinks constantly and seems unable to hold down a job. Mean while, his mother seems to be a stalwart pillar of the household, much to the disbelief of those around her.
It's a solid coming of age story, brilliant in its telling and acting, and one that is well worth watching. As I understand it, it's a tale that's many years in the making, and there is something to seeing someone's long held vision come to life that makes a movie just a little more satisfying.
Which leads me to...
Why can't I really love or hate any movies anymore? I mean, with the exception of "No Country for Old Men," I have a really hard time finding real love for movies. Perhaps it's my cynical old age, or perhaps it's the fact that I've just become downright picky, but it drives me crazy, to say the least.
I think the hardest thing for me is that I'm no longer the target demographic of most movies. I think I'm having a really hard time coming to grips with that. Most Hollywood blockbusters are written for someone other than me.
The other problem I seem to have is that I can't seem to feel good about anything that has a hint of regurgitation. I feel like every idea must have been exhausted by now, because every movie I see seems to be merely a re-take on something that's been done, and unless that's its purpose, it bothers me.
It's like watching a movie based on a novel you've read, you expect so much more than you get (with the exception, of course, of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, which was brilliant).
I guess, with that...
I will depart for now. I'm amazed that I managed to find some time to blog. I miss blogging. It's so therapeutic.
Of course, I'm entirely serious, so all of you 30plusers out there can stop trying to type your angry emails with your gnarled arthritic fingers, trying to remember why you launched Outlook to begin with. (There I go, thinking someone actually reads this blog). I'm serious in that I've actually hit a point, already, where I'm just simply not wanting to get older, and it mostly has to do with the fact that I've not accomplished near as much as I've wanted to so far, and just a dash of the fact that I see it as a slippery slope toward death.
30, for some reason, looks like the true half way mark. For the most part, you don't see many sexagenarians going around having the rock and roll lifestyle. I am well aware of the exceptions to that rule, but the fact is that I've not taken good enough care of myself so far, and certainly don't see my habits changing enough in the foreseeable future that I'm pretty sure I will be your atypical 60 year old, completely feeble and out of touch with the world around me. My real hope is that when the time comes, my senility will be blissful.
Also, and forgive me for this, but I have some level of excitement that I'll likely then be able to get away with screaming at little kids for no reason, running around stark naked in the streets and just simply doing things that are contrary to social norms, and being an old codger will mean that people will just accept my insane behavior.
I certainly don't get away with any of it now, I can only hope I'll get to enjoy it.
On to other things.
I recently watched the movie "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead." I can't say it's the best movie I've seen lately, but it was certainly very good. The acting in the film is spectacular, and there are a great number of scenes where you're really able to feel the emotion being cast off. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is one of those guys I normally just don't like, but I have to admit that his role in this film was stellar. The story itself isn't exactly cutting edge, but it was fresh enough to make it enjoyable, and although the pace tends to drag a little at times, it still remained engaging enough. My only real complaint was that the story wasn't tied up much at the end.
Still, I would recommend seeing it. It's not exactly on par with those I think it was aspiring to be, such as "A Simple Plan," but still worth your time.
Also, there's more...
I also had the chance to watch "He Was a Quiet Man," which was another one of those movies that kind of hit me from left field. I'd never heard anything about it, and then there it was, in all of it's brilliance.
It's really hard to describe everything that makes this movie great. The acting was phenomenal, the story was well written, the actual cinematography stands out as well. The concept behind the movie is relatively fresh, and while not entirely over the top, just out there enough to be pleasing.
Overall, all I can really do is recommend taking the time to see this one. It's dark, twisted, funny, and has a few decent twists.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Another movie I watched recently (and understand that I'm just trying to throw out some titles of lesser known movies that I think are worth watching), was "Black Irish."
This was a movie I'd never heard of before watching it, so I didn't know much going into it, except that it was clearly about a Black Irish family. I was very pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. Again, this isn't a movie that treads completely new and different ground, but it is still very touching, well written, meaningful, and well acted.
Information edited because I'm an idiot.
Meanwhile, the older brother in the movie, the troubled, angry one, is played by Tom Guiry, who played Jimmy Donnelly, the troubled, angry brother, on "The Black Donnellys," to which this movie doesn't even hold a candle.
The story follows Cole, the youngest boy of a Black Irish family, who, at the start, is seeking a life in the clergy. He's the younger brother of Terry, who's a rotten apple and Kathleen, the sister who's found herself pregnant. To pay for her boarding, they must take Cole out of the parochial school he attends, which he almost welcomes, being that he's more interested in baseball than the clergy. All along, he seems determined to win the favor of his father, a man who drinks constantly and seems unable to hold down a job. Mean while, his mother seems to be a stalwart pillar of the household, much to the disbelief of those around her.
It's a solid coming of age story, brilliant in its telling and acting, and one that is well worth watching. As I understand it, it's a tale that's many years in the making, and there is something to seeing someone's long held vision come to life that makes a movie just a little more satisfying.
Which leads me to...
Why can't I really love or hate any movies anymore? I mean, with the exception of "No Country for Old Men," I have a really hard time finding real love for movies. Perhaps it's my cynical old age, or perhaps it's the fact that I've just become downright picky, but it drives me crazy, to say the least.
I think the hardest thing for me is that I'm no longer the target demographic of most movies. I think I'm having a really hard time coming to grips with that. Most Hollywood blockbusters are written for someone other than me.
The other problem I seem to have is that I can't seem to feel good about anything that has a hint of regurgitation. I feel like every idea must have been exhausted by now, because every movie I see seems to be merely a re-take on something that's been done, and unless that's its purpose, it bothers me.
It's like watching a movie based on a novel you've read, you expect so much more than you get (with the exception, of course, of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, which was brilliant).
I guess, with that...
I will depart for now. I'm amazed that I managed to find some time to blog. I miss blogging. It's so therapeutic.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
My thoughts on 2007
It's now 2008.
And, as many people do, I feel somewhat compelled to look back on 2007 and wonder what's new and different now, apart from the fact that I have to remember to write 2008 instead of 2007 on everything, that is...
of course, I don't really understand the arbitrary calendar celebration.
I mean, why do we not reach July first and reflect on the first 6 months of the year? Why don't we consider how things are as of September 1st, when three-quarters of the year has past?
In most cases, when my birthday comes around, I usually consider the advent of another year of existence on this planet, which makes sense since it's the actual benchmark of my time so far. Why then do people always feel that they need to also celebrate this intermediary anniversary, based on the Gregorian Calender.
To the point, though.
The ball dropped (being rebroadcast, of course), and where I was, on the particular meridian of the planet, it was generally accepted that one year had ended and another begun. It was in that moment, clinking glasses, kissing my girlfriend, saying happy new year, I was able to take stock.
As it turns out, 2008 doesn't seem to be much different than 2007. I'm still in debt, and flat broke, all the problems of 2007, many of which were problems of 2006, and so on, stretching back throughout the time I've been alive.
Perhaps it's my own incompetence that has left me in the state I'm in, perhaps it is the fact that the world is out to get me. Either way, I'm not where I want to be, and try as I might, I don't seem to be getting anywhere fast.
So, of course, there begins my new year. On that note, resounding through my mind, reverberating throughout each deep corner of my skull. That doesn't mean that I don't have any joy, or happiness. I'm certainly bringing plenty of good things through with me into the new year, it's just hard to focus on that sometimes.
So, as of now, January 1st, 2008, all I can do is keep an eye on the future, live in the now, and try and deal with the past as best I can. Between the work and the hope, and possibly some luck, there's a chance that 2009 might find me less cynical at the start.
Movies
There's quite a few things to look forward to this year, including some excellent films.
There's a few decent lists out there, telling me what's coming.
I'm looking forward to a lot of the 'coming attractions,' knowing full well that hope usually equates to disappointment. One that I'm only lightly looking forward too is Cloverfield. I say that hoping you can understand what I mean. What I mean is that the first trailer I saw of this film left me feeling excited. Then I saw that J.J. Abrahms and Drew Goddard of Lost were involved (as it's a Bad Robot production, the company responsible for Lost), even the fact that Matt Reeve's directing experience seems limited only to a handful of episodes of Felicity and some other stuff I've never heard of (rather than just not seen), I thought, "wow". But, I'm trying not to get caught up, because it always happens that I see a trailer for something that looks good, then I go see the film and find that it's just cookie cutter, mass produced to make all the little kids and parents happy and that level of disappointment is really starting to get to me.
There's a lot of other films I'm looking forward as well, but, I'm sure you can check out the various lists yourself and see what's coming, and I'm sure you'll have your own movies to salivate over.
Other things
Another sour note is that I'm presently sick as a dog, which is a horrible way to ring in the new year.
It's also the reason why this entire post seems to be meandering so much, and it's also the reason I'm done typing....
now.
And, as many people do, I feel somewhat compelled to look back on 2007 and wonder what's new and different now, apart from the fact that I have to remember to write 2008 instead of 2007 on everything, that is...
of course, I don't really understand the arbitrary calendar celebration.
I mean, why do we not reach July first and reflect on the first 6 months of the year? Why don't we consider how things are as of September 1st, when three-quarters of the year has past?
In most cases, when my birthday comes around, I usually consider the advent of another year of existence on this planet, which makes sense since it's the actual benchmark of my time so far. Why then do people always feel that they need to also celebrate this intermediary anniversary, based on the Gregorian Calender.
To the point, though.
The ball dropped (being rebroadcast, of course), and where I was, on the particular meridian of the planet, it was generally accepted that one year had ended and another begun. It was in that moment, clinking glasses, kissing my girlfriend, saying happy new year, I was able to take stock.
As it turns out, 2008 doesn't seem to be much different than 2007. I'm still in debt, and flat broke, all the problems of 2007, many of which were problems of 2006, and so on, stretching back throughout the time I've been alive.
Perhaps it's my own incompetence that has left me in the state I'm in, perhaps it is the fact that the world is out to get me. Either way, I'm not where I want to be, and try as I might, I don't seem to be getting anywhere fast.
So, of course, there begins my new year. On that note, resounding through my mind, reverberating throughout each deep corner of my skull. That doesn't mean that I don't have any joy, or happiness. I'm certainly bringing plenty of good things through with me into the new year, it's just hard to focus on that sometimes.
So, as of now, January 1st, 2008, all I can do is keep an eye on the future, live in the now, and try and deal with the past as best I can. Between the work and the hope, and possibly some luck, there's a chance that 2009 might find me less cynical at the start.
Movies
There's quite a few things to look forward to this year, including some excellent films.
There's a few decent lists out there, telling me what's coming.
I'm looking forward to a lot of the 'coming attractions,' knowing full well that hope usually equates to disappointment. One that I'm only lightly looking forward too is Cloverfield. I say that hoping you can understand what I mean. What I mean is that the first trailer I saw of this film left me feeling excited. Then I saw that J.J. Abrahms and Drew Goddard of Lost were involved (as it's a Bad Robot production, the company responsible for Lost), even the fact that Matt Reeve's directing experience seems limited only to a handful of episodes of Felicity and some other stuff I've never heard of (rather than just not seen), I thought, "wow". But, I'm trying not to get caught up, because it always happens that I see a trailer for something that looks good, then I go see the film and find that it's just cookie cutter, mass produced to make all the little kids and parents happy and that level of disappointment is really starting to get to me.
There's a lot of other films I'm looking forward as well, but, I'm sure you can check out the various lists yourself and see what's coming, and I'm sure you'll have your own movies to salivate over.
Other things
Another sour note is that I'm presently sick as a dog, which is a horrible way to ring in the new year.
It's also the reason why this entire post seems to be meandering so much, and it's also the reason I'm done typing....
now.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
No Movie to Watch but....
No Country for Old Men
We (Mike, Melissa and Myself) went to see this movie the other day. It's not often that I choose to describe a movie going experience with one word, such as "Wow", and it's been some time since I've really had a good movie experience, so to be able to say both things about this movie makes me very happy.
Wow. I loved this movie. I didn't love the theater experience, but the movie was great...
We went to Saturday matinée with reasonable expectations. The Coen brothers are brilliant, there's no other way to put it, and with every film they produce, you remember how good their previous films were and feel compelled to go back and watch them.
Well, maybe that's just me.
In any case, this is one of those must see movies that you can't allow to pass you by. Unless you're stupid (as in "I really liked Spider-man 3" stupid). If you're stupid, your best bet is to skip this movie. You'll probably find yourself very confused when the credits roll, possibly even shouting something like, "What?" or "That's it?"
That's not to say that the ending is particularly difficult to understand for most people. The reason why the ending is so difficult for people to understand, I think, is because it doesn't end with a wild shootout and the hero riding off into the sunset. It ends, and I can say this without ruining the film, I think, with the main character reaching a conclusion about himself and his life.
Now, don't let the above paragraph dis-color your opinion either. This movie has an amazing amount of gun play, wicked battles, and blood / guts. The primary villian, for example, spends most of movie using a bolt stunner and a shotgun with a silencer (the size of a coffee can).
The greatest thing, however, about the Coen brother's writing is that the movie is allowed to move at it's own pace. This is great because you feel a building tension throughout the entire film, it's spectacular. It doesn't move too slow, and it doesn't move too fast. It's nearly flawless.
They also have a knack for symbolism and imagery that makes it just a treat to watch.
The only problem I had with the movie wasn't the film, but the theater experience. While I was prepared for the idiocracy of some of the patrons, something that seems to be impossible to avoid in this world, there was a couple behind me that spent the better part of the first hour of the movie basically restating all the action of the screen. It wasn't just one of the two, it was both, in a near alternating manner. The progression throughout the film left them making more and more idiotic statements per minute, resulting in my turning around and having to ask them to stop talking. When that didn't work after another ten minutes, I finally had to turn around and say, "the movie's happening on the fucking screen, I'd prefer to wait for the DVD for commentary, shut the fuck up." This resulted in the woman, who apparently hadn't been graced with common sense in the first 50 years of her life, saying, "What?" with such confusion that I was forced to laugh out loud while her husband (I assume) actually explained it to her.
This experience, however, did not ruin the film for me, but I certainly could have done without it.
The one this this movie did, which no movie has done for a while, was compel me to want to watch it again immediately following the final fade to black. That is to say, I would have gladly sat for another two hours and watch it again, if I'd had the money (or if it was playing immediately following).
All I can do is make the recommendation. This was one movie that I was looking forward to for a long time, the next movie on my list of 'must sees' is "I am Legend," which has all the makings of something great. Post apocalyptic horror starring Will Smith? Yes, please. I don't have the same standards for that as I do a Joel and Ethan Coen's work, but I am still putting it on an unfortunately high pedestal. I hope it doesn't disappoint.
We'll see, won't we.
We (Mike, Melissa and Myself) went to see this movie the other day. It's not often that I choose to describe a movie going experience with one word, such as "Wow", and it's been some time since I've really had a good movie experience, so to be able to say both things about this movie makes me very happy.
Wow. I loved this movie. I didn't love the theater experience, but the movie was great...
We went to Saturday matinée with reasonable expectations. The Coen brothers are brilliant, there's no other way to put it, and with every film they produce, you remember how good their previous films were and feel compelled to go back and watch them.
Well, maybe that's just me.
In any case, this is one of those must see movies that you can't allow to pass you by. Unless you're stupid (as in "I really liked Spider-man 3" stupid). If you're stupid, your best bet is to skip this movie. You'll probably find yourself very confused when the credits roll, possibly even shouting something like, "What?" or "That's it?"
That's not to say that the ending is particularly difficult to understand for most people. The reason why the ending is so difficult for people to understand, I think, is because it doesn't end with a wild shootout and the hero riding off into the sunset. It ends, and I can say this without ruining the film, I think, with the main character reaching a conclusion about himself and his life.
Now, don't let the above paragraph dis-color your opinion either. This movie has an amazing amount of gun play, wicked battles, and blood / guts. The primary villian, for example, spends most of movie using a bolt stunner and a shotgun with a silencer (the size of a coffee can).
The greatest thing, however, about the Coen brother's writing is that the movie is allowed to move at it's own pace. This is great because you feel a building tension throughout the entire film, it's spectacular. It doesn't move too slow, and it doesn't move too fast. It's nearly flawless.
They also have a knack for symbolism and imagery that makes it just a treat to watch.
The only problem I had with the movie wasn't the film, but the theater experience. While I was prepared for the idiocracy of some of the patrons, something that seems to be impossible to avoid in this world, there was a couple behind me that spent the better part of the first hour of the movie basically restating all the action of the screen. It wasn't just one of the two, it was both, in a near alternating manner. The progression throughout the film left them making more and more idiotic statements per minute, resulting in my turning around and having to ask them to stop talking. When that didn't work after another ten minutes, I finally had to turn around and say, "the movie's happening on the fucking screen, I'd prefer to wait for the DVD for commentary, shut the fuck up." This resulted in the woman, who apparently hadn't been graced with common sense in the first 50 years of her life, saying, "What?" with such confusion that I was forced to laugh out loud while her husband (I assume) actually explained it to her.
This experience, however, did not ruin the film for me, but I certainly could have done without it.
The one this this movie did, which no movie has done for a while, was compel me to want to watch it again immediately following the final fade to black. That is to say, I would have gladly sat for another two hours and watch it again, if I'd had the money (or if it was playing immediately following).
All I can do is make the recommendation. This was one movie that I was looking forward to for a long time, the next movie on my list of 'must sees' is "I am Legend," which has all the makings of something great. Post apocalyptic horror starring Will Smith? Yes, please. I don't have the same standards for that as I do a Joel and Ethan Coen's work, but I am still putting it on an unfortunately high pedestal. I hope it doesn't disappoint.
We'll see, won't we.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
About the new logo....
Wallpapers that remind me of yore...
Alright, I'm not sure what Yore is, but if you were wondering about the new logo, it's part of one of my new wallpapers. I took to making wallpapers out of old video games years ago, and I get asked about them frequently. If you're curious about what I do, read on...
First of all, this post is only for you if you actually care about making wallpapers like these. If you're the type of person that just right clicks some hot chick in Internet Explorer and picks 'set as wallpaper', this probably isn't for you. The same goes if you only use pictures from your cellphone.
With that said, these wallpapers are simply sprites with a little design thrown in.
For the Mario papers, I like GSA and VGMaps, but there are quite a few sites out there. And don't think for a second that you're limited to Mario, you can hit up everything from Bad Dudes to Q-Bert to Double Dragon to Zombies At My Neighbors.
There's actually a great source for pre-made retro game wallpapers, Desktop Gaming, which I've been meaning to upload to. (Note: As of this writing, the site was down due to bandwidth issues, so I hope they will come back up soon).
For my needs, I usually just find a level I like, and layer it together, clean up the bottom to fit my task bar, and add a few design elements to make it look good and SHAZAM! I've got a brand new wallpaper. If you've got any experience with photoshop, you'll find it pretty easy to work with.
There are a few things that you need to keep in mind: Technically, any sprite you use is copyrighted material, which means that you shouldn't repost it on the interwebs, even if you modified it for your own wishes. You can try and get around that by posting something like "copyright 1985-2007 © Nintendo" but they can certainly tell you to knock it off. So far, it doesn't seem like many companies are really pounding down the doors to issue cease & desist letters, but you should be aware of. Also, you might find that while perusing sprite, many of them features copyright notices from whoever ripped them. This does not qualify as a legitimate copyright, since you can't copyright copywritten materials without permission (it's like me re-shooting Fight Club with a new cast and claiming it mine. Yes, I hold the copyright on the new material, but not on the original...)
Anyway, that's it for now... but maybe I'll post some more later. Pieces.
Alright, I'm not sure what Yore is, but if you were wondering about the new logo, it's part of one of my new wallpapers. I took to making wallpapers out of old video games years ago, and I get asked about them frequently. If you're curious about what I do, read on...
First of all, this post is only for you if you actually care about making wallpapers like these. If you're the type of person that just right clicks some hot chick in Internet Explorer and picks 'set as wallpaper', this probably isn't for you. The same goes if you only use pictures from your cellphone.
With that said, these wallpapers are simply sprites with a little design thrown in.
For the Mario papers, I like GSA and VGMaps, but there are quite a few sites out there. And don't think for a second that you're limited to Mario, you can hit up everything from Bad Dudes to Q-Bert to Double Dragon to Zombies At My Neighbors.
There's actually a great source for pre-made retro game wallpapers, Desktop Gaming, which I've been meaning to upload to. (Note: As of this writing, the site was down due to bandwidth issues, so I hope they will come back up soon).
For my needs, I usually just find a level I like, and layer it together, clean up the bottom to fit my task bar, and add a few design elements to make it look good and SHAZAM! I've got a brand new wallpaper. If you've got any experience with photoshop, you'll find it pretty easy to work with.
There are a few things that you need to keep in mind: Technically, any sprite you use is copyrighted material, which means that you shouldn't repost it on the interwebs, even if you modified it for your own wishes. You can try and get around that by posting something like "copyright 1985-2007 © Nintendo" but they can certainly tell you to knock it off. So far, it doesn't seem like many companies are really pounding down the doors to issue cease & desist letters, but you should be aware of. Also, you might find that while perusing sprite, many of them features copyright notices from whoever ripped them. This does not qualify as a legitimate copyright, since you can't copyright copywritten materials without permission (it's like me re-shooting Fight Club with a new cast and claiming it mine. Yes, I hold the copyright on the new material, but not on the original...)
Anyway, that's it for now... but maybe I'll post some more later. Pieces.
It's The Smashing Pumpkins...
Looking at the almost silly number of people who are landing on my blog right now by searching "I don't want to fight" in Google, I just thought I would post some help.
The song you are looking for is called Tarantula, by The Smashing Pumpkins, off their new album, Zeitgeist.
It's a great album, and definitely gets back more to their roots, even without the original band members.
I'm not kidding, there are tons of hits to this page for this. Hope it helps...
While you're here, feel free to look around for a while, or come on back after you order the album off amazon, I'll still be here.
The song you are looking for is called Tarantula, by The Smashing Pumpkins, off their new album, Zeitgeist.
It's a great album, and definitely gets back more to their roots, even without the original band members.
I'm not kidding, there are tons of hits to this page for this. Hope it helps...
While you're here, feel free to look around for a while, or come on back after you order the album off amazon, I'll still be here.
Time for my semi-monthly...
post frenzy...
It isn't that I don't care. It isn't even that I don't have time. It's that I don't choose to use what time I have for posting. I'm not sure why, because I am plenty of stuff to talk about. Today, we'll be covering the new Zune launch, a couple of movies I've seen, including a I'm Not There by Todd Haynes, and I'll mostly expound upon how awesome I really am (such as that new header I made up there... look at it, it's spectacular).
If you're ready, feel free to click the "read more" thing...
The Zune Social(ly inept music listeners hiding in their headphones all the damn time)!!!
As I'm sure you'll recall the words I wrote regarding the Zune. I became an owner, a proud one, as a matter of fact, around Christmas time last year. Since then, I've spent all sorts of time using it. I found it to be a wonderful replacement for the terrible iPods that I've had, and overall, I thought that Microsoft was definitely on the right track with it.
Not too long ago, I was talking about the rumors surrounding the new Zune 2, and more over, I was talking about the fact that Microsoft was going to do something new and different, they were going to support their original user base, like myself. If you didn't know, Apple went through 2 terrible initial generations of iPods, and never supported their original users after each release. As a matter of fact, they rarely support their users from one generation to the next. Much like now with the price drops on their iDoodad so soon after launch, what do they do? They offer a 'store credit' for half of what they dropped the price for. Seems weak to me, but I guess it's the usual Apple attitude. And most Apple Fanboys will just keep taking it because they think they're elite.
So, anyway, on Tuesday, Microsoft released the new Zune Firmware and Zune Software. Now, I wish I could say that it was fantastic and wonderful, because that would really make this whole thing complete. But, the sad fact is that they borked the software pretty bad.
It's not a complete failure, the new firmware for the Zune is fantastic. The interface is cleaner, the fonts look better, the main menu is bigger and everything seems more polished. The main new feature, the WiFi Sync is pretty slick and works well. I'm very happy with the player, and I'm just going to hold out for the new 80gb model, which apparently got pushed back until December some time.
However, the new Zune software did some terrible things to people. Basically, if you were upgrading, which obviously a lot of people are, the new software seemed to take your metadata information, run it through a blender, drink it like a frou frou drink with a little paper umbrella and then urinate it out into a trough. Then, once it finished that, it decided to go through and misplace all of the album art, for no logical reason. Users and devteam alike were able to post a fix to the forums right away.
The other glaring issue is missing features. The problem with the original Zune software is that it's slow, and the reason it was slow is because they build the whole damn thing from Windows Media Player, a mistake they rue to this very day. It was such a mess that they decided to build the new Zune Software from scratch. The problem with that is they spent most of the time trying to build the interface and make it look pretty (there's even an option for video hardware enhanced visual effects), but once they got close to launch, they abandoned a slew of features that were big talking points in the original software. Notably, the ability to drag and drop songs to match metadata, the ability to directly edit metadata, the ability to find album information on the web manually, bitrate conversion before syncing with the device, the auto-playlist feature, and a host of other things that were really bloody handy to have.
People keep posting as if the developers just forgot these features, but they didn't forget anything, they just didn't time to build these things before their launch date. They had to hit the launch date or they risk losing any chance on the Zune making money this season. It's just economics.
The problem isn't that they got it fixed right away, nor is it that some people had to run through the fix a few times just to get it right. The problem isn't that there are some big features missing. The problem is that they had a year to build this thing, and it seems so strange that they could have not gotten any further than they did.
Seriously, Microsoft has, what can only be described as, an army of developers, and something like 935 kabajillion dollars at their disposal. I'm not sure how many people they put on the Zune project, but considering that it's a niche they really want to be successful in, and that they really want to take some market share from Apple, I imagine that they have to have stuck quite a few people on the task. As far as I can tell, they really did a great job with the firmware, but didn't get started on the software until about 2 weeks ago, got as far as an interface and then, en masse, they went for a 1 week and 5 day smoke break, never to be heard from again.
Oh well. I'm still happy with the player, and now that my music is labeled right (some suckers actually need to move their music around still), and has the right album art, I'm ok with the software. I'm waiting for some patches, but for the moment, everything is working well enough, and the bottom line is that I can listen to music on my Zune. Mission accomplished.
Anyway, if you're interested, you can see my Zune Card at my profile, or just right here. Note, they are still having some issues, it seems, in getting the plays right. I assure you, I've played a lot more music than I'm getting credit for.
In closing, I still support Zune, and Microsoft for what they're doing, I just hope they get things fixed before the holiday hits in force.
I'm Not There
Melissa had to go to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis for school. She asked that I come with, and had mentioned that it was a Todd Haynes film. I've heard his work is good, so I thought, ok. Had I know what I was getting into, I probably would have decline.
Walker's Premier of I'm Not There
“Producer Christine Vachon will be on hand to introduce the film and take questions from the audience following the screening.
“[Bob Dylan] created a new identity every step of the way in order to create identity.”—Anthony Scaduto, author of Bob Dylan (the line inspired the film)
A film inspired by the life of Bob Dylan, Todd Haynes’ stunning directorial achievement I’m Not There brings together six actors playing characters who craft a unique response to the elusive artist in different phases of his life, career, and persona. Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale (the literal Dylan), Richard Gere (Dylan and Billy the Kid), Heath Ledger (an actor haunted by the legacy of Dylan), Marcus Carl Franklin (Dylan in Woody Guthrie mode), and Ben Whishaw (Rimbaud as Dylan) are set in the political and cultural reality of the era, and filmed in the cinematic styles of the 1960s. Seven years in the making, I’m Not There is a true labor of love. Multiple award-winner at the 2007 Venice Film Festival. 2007, 35mm, 135 minutes.”
I'm not going to say it sucked... but it sucked. The thing is, I don't really like Bob Dylan much, so even a biopic that follows characters based on Bob Dylan in different parts of his career will hold nearly no interest for me, although it would have been more tolerable had it not been over 2 hours and 15 minutes long. However, I will say that there was plenty good things about the film. The directing was good, the acting (it had a stellar cast), much of the filming was phenomenal (while some was just really annoying). There were a few things that I hated, most notably the first minute and a half that felt like a stereotypical art student type piece. Seriously, if you’ve seen / recall the student film that Diane, the reporter on Family Guy, did when she was in college, the first few minutes of this movie made that seem coherent. (I tried to find something in the internet to show you what I was talking about but had no luck).
So, the bottom line is that I didn’t really enjoy it, but there were certainly some redeeming elements. Not enough that I would recommend to anybody seeing it. It was, in my opinion, too ambitious, and focused too much on details of Dylan that it wasn't enjoyable to me without know more about his life.
Other movies...
Alright, the plain and simple fact is that I've fallen way behind on my movie reviews. I watched Balls of Fury last night (good, not great), P2 not too long ago (bad, not terrible), and about 25 other films since I last really reviewed anything. At this point, I don't even know how I would compile all my thoughts on them, so, I probably wont. Maybe if I discover some extra time, I will give it a shot.
Radiohead: In Rainbows
Damn, I love Radiohead. Thom Yorke's voice is great, and while they've diverged a lot from their intermediate rock / technical sound on The Bends and OK Computer, and even more from their rock only sound on Pablo Honey, I've still enjoyed everything they've done since. Even Thom's solo work is absolutely exceptional as well. This new album, In Rainbows, is being released under a different concept. The first CD of the set is being offered for download at a pick your own price rate. It's only a 160 Kbps release, which is good, but far from optimal in my opinion. I ponied up a few bucks to download it, and while I wish I could afford to pay a bit more than I did, because they certainly deserve it, I appreciate the concept of the pick your own price, a concept that's been gaining slow momentum over the last few years. (It's common on the coasts to find cafe's, restaurants, and coffee shops with this structure. $0.37 cup of coffee is offset by $20 cup of coffee, depending on opinion and means.) As to the music, it's Radiohead, and there's not a lot else that can be said about it. It's tight, it's spectacular, its aurally stimulating.
Anyway, all I can say is that you should head over to their website and dish out a few pounds for the tracks. Perhaps, when December rolls around, you'll pick up the disc box, which will apparently include a second disc and some other features. That, however, as I understand it, will not be at a pick your own price.
Other news...
As I might have mentioned before, Melissa was filming 3 movies for school. Of those, I wrote one of the scripts and did some major editing (and finishing) on another. The movies are shot, the sound is almost done, and I'm working on editing 2 of the 3 (her brother is doing the 3rd). It's been fun, and a lot of hard work. I'd love an opportunity to work on a feature length film, but one with a budget and equipment.
Depending on Melissa's thoughts, I may show them here when they are complete, via the great YouTube. Perhaps.
In the meantime, Jim has come up with a fairly brilliant business concept and is working on getting funding for that, and he's asked that I be a part of things. If that takes off in any way, I'll talk about it more here for sure.
Finally, I've been itching for more writing time because I've got some ideas I really need to get out. Of course, there's about a million other things I should be doing besides posting here in the first place, but with any luck....
It isn't that I don't care. It isn't even that I don't have time. It's that I don't choose to use what time I have for posting. I'm not sure why, because I am plenty of stuff to talk about. Today, we'll be covering the new Zune launch, a couple of movies I've seen, including a I'm Not There by Todd Haynes, and I'll mostly expound upon how awesome I really am (such as that new header I made up there... look at it, it's spectacular).
If you're ready, feel free to click the "read more" thing...
The Zune Social(ly inept music listeners hiding in their headphones all the damn time)!!!
As I'm sure you'll recall the words I wrote regarding the Zune. I became an owner, a proud one, as a matter of fact, around Christmas time last year. Since then, I've spent all sorts of time using it. I found it to be a wonderful replacement for the terrible iPods that I've had, and overall, I thought that Microsoft was definitely on the right track with it.
Not too long ago, I was talking about the rumors surrounding the new Zune 2, and more over, I was talking about the fact that Microsoft was going to do something new and different, they were going to support their original user base, like myself. If you didn't know, Apple went through 2 terrible initial generations of iPods, and never supported their original users after each release. As a matter of fact, they rarely support their users from one generation to the next. Much like now with the price drops on their iDoodad so soon after launch, what do they do? They offer a 'store credit' for half of what they dropped the price for. Seems weak to me, but I guess it's the usual Apple attitude. And most Apple Fanboys will just keep taking it because they think they're elite.
So, anyway, on Tuesday, Microsoft released the new Zune Firmware and Zune Software. Now, I wish I could say that it was fantastic and wonderful, because that would really make this whole thing complete. But, the sad fact is that they borked the software pretty bad.
It's not a complete failure, the new firmware for the Zune is fantastic. The interface is cleaner, the fonts look better, the main menu is bigger and everything seems more polished. The main new feature, the WiFi Sync is pretty slick and works well. I'm very happy with the player, and I'm just going to hold out for the new 80gb model, which apparently got pushed back until December some time.
However, the new Zune software did some terrible things to people. Basically, if you were upgrading, which obviously a lot of people are, the new software seemed to take your metadata information, run it through a blender, drink it like a frou frou drink with a little paper umbrella and then urinate it out into a trough. Then, once it finished that, it decided to go through and misplace all of the album art, for no logical reason. Users and devteam alike were able to post a fix to the forums right away.
The other glaring issue is missing features. The problem with the original Zune software is that it's slow, and the reason it was slow is because they build the whole damn thing from Windows Media Player, a mistake they rue to this very day. It was such a mess that they decided to build the new Zune Software from scratch. The problem with that is they spent most of the time trying to build the interface and make it look pretty (there's even an option for video hardware enhanced visual effects), but once they got close to launch, they abandoned a slew of features that were big talking points in the original software. Notably, the ability to drag and drop songs to match metadata, the ability to directly edit metadata, the ability to find album information on the web manually, bitrate conversion before syncing with the device, the auto-playlist feature, and a host of other things that were really bloody handy to have.
People keep posting as if the developers just forgot these features, but they didn't forget anything, they just didn't time to build these things before their launch date. They had to hit the launch date or they risk losing any chance on the Zune making money this season. It's just economics.
The problem isn't that they got it fixed right away, nor is it that some people had to run through the fix a few times just to get it right. The problem isn't that there are some big features missing. The problem is that they had a year to build this thing, and it seems so strange that they could have not gotten any further than they did.
Seriously, Microsoft has, what can only be described as, an army of developers, and something like 935 kabajillion dollars at their disposal. I'm not sure how many people they put on the Zune project, but considering that it's a niche they really want to be successful in, and that they really want to take some market share from Apple, I imagine that they have to have stuck quite a few people on the task. As far as I can tell, they really did a great job with the firmware, but didn't get started on the software until about 2 weeks ago, got as far as an interface and then, en masse, they went for a 1 week and 5 day smoke break, never to be heard from again.
Oh well. I'm still happy with the player, and now that my music is labeled right (some suckers actually need to move their music around still), and has the right album art, I'm ok with the software. I'm waiting for some patches, but for the moment, everything is working well enough, and the bottom line is that I can listen to music on my Zune. Mission accomplished.
Anyway, if you're interested, you can see my Zune Card at my profile, or just right here. Note, they are still having some issues, it seems, in getting the plays right. I assure you, I've played a lot more music than I'm getting credit for.
In closing, I still support Zune, and Microsoft for what they're doing, I just hope they get things fixed before the holiday hits in force.
I'm Not There
Melissa had to go to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis for school. She asked that I come with, and had mentioned that it was a Todd Haynes film. I've heard his work is good, so I thought, ok. Had I know what I was getting into, I probably would have decline.
Walker's Premier of I'm Not There
“Producer Christine Vachon will be on hand to introduce the film and take questions from the audience following the screening.
“[Bob Dylan] created a new identity every step of the way in order to create identity.”—Anthony Scaduto, author of Bob Dylan (the line inspired the film)
A film inspired by the life of Bob Dylan, Todd Haynes’ stunning directorial achievement I’m Not There brings together six actors playing characters who craft a unique response to the elusive artist in different phases of his life, career, and persona. Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale (the literal Dylan), Richard Gere (Dylan and Billy the Kid), Heath Ledger (an actor haunted by the legacy of Dylan), Marcus Carl Franklin (Dylan in Woody Guthrie mode), and Ben Whishaw (Rimbaud as Dylan) are set in the political and cultural reality of the era, and filmed in the cinematic styles of the 1960s. Seven years in the making, I’m Not There is a true labor of love. Multiple award-winner at the 2007 Venice Film Festival. 2007, 35mm, 135 minutes.”
I'm not going to say it sucked... but it sucked. The thing is, I don't really like Bob Dylan much, so even a biopic that follows characters based on Bob Dylan in different parts of his career will hold nearly no interest for me, although it would have been more tolerable had it not been over 2 hours and 15 minutes long. However, I will say that there was plenty good things about the film. The directing was good, the acting (it had a stellar cast), much of the filming was phenomenal (while some was just really annoying). There were a few things that I hated, most notably the first minute and a half that felt like a stereotypical art student type piece. Seriously, if you’ve seen / recall the student film that Diane, the reporter on Family Guy, did when she was in college, the first few minutes of this movie made that seem coherent. (I tried to find something in the internet to show you what I was talking about but had no luck).
So, the bottom line is that I didn’t really enjoy it, but there were certainly some redeeming elements. Not enough that I would recommend to anybody seeing it. It was, in my opinion, too ambitious, and focused too much on details of Dylan that it wasn't enjoyable to me without know more about his life.
Other movies...
Alright, the plain and simple fact is that I've fallen way behind on my movie reviews. I watched Balls of Fury last night (good, not great), P2 not too long ago (bad, not terrible), and about 25 other films since I last really reviewed anything. At this point, I don't even know how I would compile all my thoughts on them, so, I probably wont. Maybe if I discover some extra time, I will give it a shot.
Radiohead: In Rainbows
Damn, I love Radiohead. Thom Yorke's voice is great, and while they've diverged a lot from their intermediate rock / technical sound on The Bends and OK Computer, and even more from their rock only sound on Pablo Honey, I've still enjoyed everything they've done since. Even Thom's solo work is absolutely exceptional as well. This new album, In Rainbows, is being released under a different concept. The first CD of the set is being offered for download at a pick your own price rate. It's only a 160 Kbps release, which is good, but far from optimal in my opinion. I ponied up a few bucks to download it, and while I wish I could afford to pay a bit more than I did, because they certainly deserve it, I appreciate the concept of the pick your own price, a concept that's been gaining slow momentum over the last few years. (It's common on the coasts to find cafe's, restaurants, and coffee shops with this structure. $0.37 cup of coffee is offset by $20 cup of coffee, depending on opinion and means.) As to the music, it's Radiohead, and there's not a lot else that can be said about it. It's tight, it's spectacular, its aurally stimulating.
Anyway, all I can say is that you should head over to their website and dish out a few pounds for the tracks. Perhaps, when December rolls around, you'll pick up the disc box, which will apparently include a second disc and some other features. That, however, as I understand it, will not be at a pick your own price.
Other news...
As I might have mentioned before, Melissa was filming 3 movies for school. Of those, I wrote one of the scripts and did some major editing (and finishing) on another. The movies are shot, the sound is almost done, and I'm working on editing 2 of the 3 (her brother is doing the 3rd). It's been fun, and a lot of hard work. I'd love an opportunity to work on a feature length film, but one with a budget and equipment.
Depending on Melissa's thoughts, I may show them here when they are complete, via the great YouTube. Perhaps.
In the meantime, Jim has come up with a fairly brilliant business concept and is working on getting funding for that, and he's asked that I be a part of things. If that takes off in any way, I'll talk about it more here for sure.
Finally, I've been itching for more writing time because I've got some ideas I really need to get out. Of course, there's about a million other things I should be doing besides posting here in the first place, but with any luck....
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Open Mon. thru Closed Tues. Sun. 1:00 - 4:30
You'll understand soon...
Yesterday was the first time in several years I've gotten to make the drive to see the fall colors. I went with Melissa, and we more or less just drove north, it was wonderful day, and one I've been needing for a while. It was as close to an adventure as one might have these days.
Warning, there are a lot of photos in this post...
We started driving up 35W north to where it becomes just 35 and before long I saw the sign indicating Taylors Falls. It's been years since I've been there, and historically it's been a great place to see the beautiful fall colors.
Along the way, we drove past the Fraconia Sculpture Park and decided to stop and take a look around. There's some pretty spectacular pieces there, which you can see more of on their site, or even in person. Melissa and I were carrying 3 cameras, so we were able to get quite a few shots.
A lot of the work didn't really appeal to me as much as others, but that's how it is with art. One that I thought was really interesting was this strange maze made from giant wooden posts and pallet cellophane wrap. What was interesting was that you could almost see an intent that was there that was never quite realized. I wonder if the artist planned to make a full maze and realized that it was be impossible to do with the medium they chose. There was, amongst everything, a series of 'rooms', the doors to which got smaller and smaller, the last of which I couldn't get into, but contained merely 1 giant pillar in the center.
I found that the most interesting thing there was a shack that had been hung from large metal frame with some packing straps and rope. There was just something compelling about it.
There were several other pieces scattered about, but as I said, you'd do well to check out their website, or just take the drive to get a feel for it.
Finally, however, we got back on the road, and we were only a few minutes from Taylors Falls. We started rolling down into the river valley and Melissa was amazed at the view. Apparently she'd never been to Taylors Falls before, and never done the St. Croix for fall colors. So, she started taking shots out of the car window as we rolled down toward the Interstate State Park on the border of Wisconsin. This is one of the greatest places to go for fall colors for a few reasons. First, the scenery is gorgeous year round. On the Minnesota side of the St. Croix is mostly State Park and on the Wisconsin side is mostly Federal Forest land which basically means that there are a lot of trees and it's all protected.
We parked the car up the hill near the Taylors Falls Community Center and walked down to go under the interstate bridge into the State Park. Under the bridge was this interesting graf stencil. It's things like this that always have me curious. What is the meaning behind this? Who left it there?
We walked into the park and along the river and up the cliffs that line it. It was a big more of a climb that either of us were really dressed for, but it was still very much worth it.
One of those rare treats that are so-called because of their rareness occurred when I stumbled upon a pair random yellow snapdragons growing along the cliff side as we made our way up. I was hoping to get a better shot of it, but we were not in the best position to set up a good shot. I snapped what I could and continued up after my lady fair who was setting a pretty good pace in her platform style shoes.
We made our way back down the easy way (along the road) and then back under the bridge and up another hill where we parked. That's we found this sign, and the source of today's blog title. I don't know why I find these so funny, but I just can't read it logically without staring at it for a while.
We got back into the car and started driving north again. This time we just took random roads. I was trying to follow the St. Croix a bit, but whatever county road I ended up heading more west. We didn't really care though. At this point we just drove. We ended up on a dirt road and after a while we stumbled across a barn that had crumbled. From the road you could see the barn next to the silo, but it wasn't until we stopped and went back to take the photos of it that we saw the house set back in the trees.
This is one of those subjects I love shooting, and this was a pretty beautiful specimen. There's something about a place that someone lived in, that people may have grown old in, that families may have gone through live in. Then, for whatever reason they are gone, perhaps even forgotten, perhaps not. I always just wonder at the memories that must be contained in the walls.
After stopping, we drove again. Mostly north, but the roads would end and we'd be forced to take a right or left, so back and forth we went, crossing 35 again and again always following the signs to the next town. The trees lining the road gradually got more and more colorful.
Eventually we found ourselves in Hinckly where I spent some time in my youth. My Great-Great-Aunt Bernice (Maternal Grandmother's Maternal Aunt) lived in a tiny little house just down from Main St. and I felt compelled to drive by, just to see if it was still there. It was, and I was reminded of spending time there so many years ago. Going to the small creek just across the street where there is now a new playground, going to the city fair that was held just down the street. It's strange how little that part of the city has changed given the complete makeover the area just off the highway has received.
After this, neither of us felt all that interested in going home, so we headed up the highway a little further and got off on the next county road and continued to just drive. It was fantastic. The trees got more gorgeous until we couldn't see them in the darkness. It was colder that far north, less humid. And still we drove.
It was now very dark and very foggy. It wasn't the kind of fog that just made everything a little misty, this was a hanging, clinging fog you feel certain you could cut through. It made the few lights we saw cast incredible halos. Eventually we saw a light from overhead that we just had to find. A quick left turn presented us with a very interesting image. It was this military chopper, still adorned with mini-gun and rocket launchers mounted up on a stand. The warning lights spun green and then white over and over and with a long shutter speed, I was able to capture a reasonable idea of the effect. This was, by the way, the Moose Lake Carlton County Airport, though I'm not sure why there was a U.S. Military chopper mounted here, since I always see these as the place where local folk keep their toys. Perhaps, I mis-understand their place in the world.
After taking this shot, which I think made the whole trip worth it on it's own, we continued north. But we didn't go far, it was late and we were both pretty hungry. We'd decided earlier in the day that we wanted to try and find a small hole-in-wall type place to eat at, something other than your regular McDonald's or Perkins joint. Where we ended up at was a small joint called Art's Cafe in Moose Lake, which turned out to be very quaint. The food was alright, although nothing to write home about, the service was reasonable, a bit slow but pleasant at least, but mostly it was the ambiance. A large mural was painted on the wall featuring moose, a lake, a mountain, and one of the most poorly implemented waterfalls I've ever seen.
This, I think, was a great end to an amazing day. From Art's Cafe we found our way back on 35. Had we gone a little further north, only 45 miles, we would have been in Duluth, instead, we went south to make the approximately 115 mile trip home. Melissa fell asleep and we drove home in near silence.
A fantastic day.
Yesterday was the first time in several years I've gotten to make the drive to see the fall colors. I went with Melissa, and we more or less just drove north, it was wonderful day, and one I've been needing for a while. It was as close to an adventure as one might have these days.
Warning, there are a lot of photos in this post...
We started driving up 35W north to where it becomes just 35 and before long I saw the sign indicating Taylors Falls. It's been years since I've been there, and historically it's been a great place to see the beautiful fall colors.
Along the way, we drove past the Fraconia Sculpture Park and decided to stop and take a look around. There's some pretty spectacular pieces there, which you can see more of on their site, or even in person. Melissa and I were carrying 3 cameras, so we were able to get quite a few shots.
A lot of the work didn't really appeal to me as much as others, but that's how it is with art. One that I thought was really interesting was this strange maze made from giant wooden posts and pallet cellophane wrap. What was interesting was that you could almost see an intent that was there that was never quite realized. I wonder if the artist planned to make a full maze and realized that it was be impossible to do with the medium they chose. There was, amongst everything, a series of 'rooms', the doors to which got smaller and smaller, the last of which I couldn't get into, but contained merely 1 giant pillar in the center.
I found that the most interesting thing there was a shack that had been hung from large metal frame with some packing straps and rope. There was just something compelling about it.
There were several other pieces scattered about, but as I said, you'd do well to check out their website, or just take the drive to get a feel for it.
Finally, however, we got back on the road, and we were only a few minutes from Taylors Falls. We started rolling down into the river valley and Melissa was amazed at the view. Apparently she'd never been to Taylors Falls before, and never done the St. Croix for fall colors. So, she started taking shots out of the car window as we rolled down toward the Interstate State Park on the border of Wisconsin. This is one of the greatest places to go for fall colors for a few reasons. First, the scenery is gorgeous year round. On the Minnesota side of the St. Croix is mostly State Park and on the Wisconsin side is mostly Federal Forest land which basically means that there are a lot of trees and it's all protected.
We parked the car up the hill near the Taylors Falls Community Center and walked down to go under the interstate bridge into the State Park. Under the bridge was this interesting graf stencil. It's things like this that always have me curious. What is the meaning behind this? Who left it there?
We walked into the park and along the river and up the cliffs that line it. It was a big more of a climb that either of us were really dressed for, but it was still very much worth it.
One of those rare treats that are so-called because of their rareness occurred when I stumbled upon a pair random yellow snapdragons growing along the cliff side as we made our way up. I was hoping to get a better shot of it, but we were not in the best position to set up a good shot. I snapped what I could and continued up after my lady fair who was setting a pretty good pace in her platform style shoes.
We made our way back down the easy way (along the road) and then back under the bridge and up another hill where we parked. That's we found this sign, and the source of today's blog title. I don't know why I find these so funny, but I just can't read it logically without staring at it for a while.
We got back into the car and started driving north again. This time we just took random roads. I was trying to follow the St. Croix a bit, but whatever county road I ended up heading more west. We didn't really care though. At this point we just drove. We ended up on a dirt road and after a while we stumbled across a barn that had crumbled. From the road you could see the barn next to the silo, but it wasn't until we stopped and went back to take the photos of it that we saw the house set back in the trees.
This is one of those subjects I love shooting, and this was a pretty beautiful specimen. There's something about a place that someone lived in, that people may have grown old in, that families may have gone through live in. Then, for whatever reason they are gone, perhaps even forgotten, perhaps not. I always just wonder at the memories that must be contained in the walls.
After stopping, we drove again. Mostly north, but the roads would end and we'd be forced to take a right or left, so back and forth we went, crossing 35 again and again always following the signs to the next town. The trees lining the road gradually got more and more colorful.
Eventually we found ourselves in Hinckly where I spent some time in my youth. My Great-Great-Aunt Bernice (Maternal Grandmother's Maternal Aunt) lived in a tiny little house just down from Main St. and I felt compelled to drive by, just to see if it was still there. It was, and I was reminded of spending time there so many years ago. Going to the small creek just across the street where there is now a new playground, going to the city fair that was held just down the street. It's strange how little that part of the city has changed given the complete makeover the area just off the highway has received.
After this, neither of us felt all that interested in going home, so we headed up the highway a little further and got off on the next county road and continued to just drive. It was fantastic. The trees got more gorgeous until we couldn't see them in the darkness. It was colder that far north, less humid. And still we drove.
It was now very dark and very foggy. It wasn't the kind of fog that just made everything a little misty, this was a hanging, clinging fog you feel certain you could cut through. It made the few lights we saw cast incredible halos. Eventually we saw a light from overhead that we just had to find. A quick left turn presented us with a very interesting image. It was this military chopper, still adorned with mini-gun and rocket launchers mounted up on a stand. The warning lights spun green and then white over and over and with a long shutter speed, I was able to capture a reasonable idea of the effect. This was, by the way, the Moose Lake Carlton County Airport, though I'm not sure why there was a U.S. Military chopper mounted here, since I always see these as the place where local folk keep their toys. Perhaps, I mis-understand their place in the world.
After taking this shot, which I think made the whole trip worth it on it's own, we continued north. But we didn't go far, it was late and we were both pretty hungry. We'd decided earlier in the day that we wanted to try and find a small hole-in-wall type place to eat at, something other than your regular McDonald's or Perkins joint. Where we ended up at was a small joint called Art's Cafe in Moose Lake, which turned out to be very quaint. The food was alright, although nothing to write home about, the service was reasonable, a bit slow but pleasant at least, but mostly it was the ambiance. A large mural was painted on the wall featuring moose, a lake, a mountain, and one of the most poorly implemented waterfalls I've ever seen.
This, I think, was a great end to an amazing day. From Art's Cafe we found our way back on 35. Had we gone a little further north, only 45 miles, we would have been in Duluth, instead, we went south to make the approximately 115 mile trip home. Melissa fell asleep and we drove home in near silence.
A fantastic day.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Consecutive posts?
Not quite...
But close. I'm doing better than I have anyway. There's only a few things I really wanted to talk about today, and then you can be on your way...
Zune 2!
Alright, the more I look at it, the more excited I am about the new Zunes and Zune software. Microsoft confirmed the rumors, there are new Zunes and us long time Zune owners are getting upgraded software so that the only drawback to owning the original Zune would be the fact that they are big.
If you're interested, there's a great write-up on Wired's site that gets pretty in depth about not only the hardware, but the whole Microsoft plan for the Zune. There's some interesting things happening with the Zune brand, and I'm really glad to see that Microsoft is being very bullheaded about it. I did worry that the pitiful initial sales and slumping sales in the industry coupled with the killer selection that Apple has would keep them from trying to compete, perhaps just sweeping the massive Zune bricks under the rug like a toddler cleans their room.
If I've now convinced you to join the social, you can pre-order the new Zunes on Amazon's site.
Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane
I said I was going to watch this. I said I was excited and that I thought it would be terrible.
I wasn't disappointed!
To say that this movie was terrible would be putting it mildly. I was actually amazed by the quality of some of the effects. I love to see these movies that are this bad intentionally. The acting was terrible, which seemed very intentional in some cases (such as Erick Avari, who's been in at least one episode of every television show that has ever aired, ever).
All I can say is that this is a brilliantly done splatter festival with Zombies galore. It's silly, fun, and everything one hopes for in a Zombie flick.
Cheap 40GB PS3?
Alright, I can't help but laugh when articles like this show up. Apparently a 40GB PlayStation 3 has shown up in the UPC Database.
What does this mean? Well, it means that there will be a cheaper PS3 hitting the market. Maybe, just maybe what it means is that Sony has finally accepted that they need to at least pretend to be competitive. Is is possible that Sony has realized that not every gamer can just pony-up near infinite sums of money to play the 'best system', even if it has their name on it.
Of course, the best part of this is that it turns out that there's....
A free Public UPC Database?
It's pretty neat. Here are a few things on my desk that I could check....
Vitamins
Coke
Sprite
Door Chain (It didn't know what it was, but it knew who made it, which is still interesting...)
Altoids Cinnamon
Altoids Wintergreen
A book
Anyway... let's move on...
Parallel Universes Exist?
If you know me, you know that this shit just fascinates me!
Gogol Bordello
You would do well to check these guys out! Gypsy Punk?!?! YES! Mike made me do it, blame him! Insanity!
And with that...
I shall bid you all, adieu!
But close. I'm doing better than I have anyway. There's only a few things I really wanted to talk about today, and then you can be on your way...
Zune 2!
Alright, the more I look at it, the more excited I am about the new Zunes and Zune software. Microsoft confirmed the rumors, there are new Zunes and us long time Zune owners are getting upgraded software so that the only drawback to owning the original Zune would be the fact that they are big.
If you're interested, there's a great write-up on Wired's site that gets pretty in depth about not only the hardware, but the whole Microsoft plan for the Zune. There's some interesting things happening with the Zune brand, and I'm really glad to see that Microsoft is being very bullheaded about it. I did worry that the pitiful initial sales and slumping sales in the industry coupled with the killer selection that Apple has would keep them from trying to compete, perhaps just sweeping the massive Zune bricks under the rug like a toddler cleans their room.
If I've now convinced you to join the social, you can pre-order the new Zunes on Amazon's site.
Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane
I said I was going to watch this. I said I was excited and that I thought it would be terrible.
I wasn't disappointed!
To say that this movie was terrible would be putting it mildly. I was actually amazed by the quality of some of the effects. I love to see these movies that are this bad intentionally. The acting was terrible, which seemed very intentional in some cases (such as Erick Avari, who's been in at least one episode of every television show that has ever aired, ever).
All I can say is that this is a brilliantly done splatter festival with Zombies galore. It's silly, fun, and everything one hopes for in a Zombie flick.
Cheap 40GB PS3?
Alright, I can't help but laugh when articles like this show up. Apparently a 40GB PlayStation 3 has shown up in the UPC Database.
What does this mean? Well, it means that there will be a cheaper PS3 hitting the market. Maybe, just maybe what it means is that Sony has finally accepted that they need to at least pretend to be competitive. Is is possible that Sony has realized that not every gamer can just pony-up near infinite sums of money to play the 'best system', even if it has their name on it.
Of course, the best part of this is that it turns out that there's....
A free Public UPC Database?
It's pretty neat. Here are a few things on my desk that I could check....
Vitamins
Coke
Sprite
Door Chain (It didn't know what it was, but it knew who made it, which is still interesting...)
Altoids Cinnamon
Altoids Wintergreen
A book
Anyway... let's move on...
Parallel Universes Exist?
If you know me, you know that this shit just fascinates me!
Gogol Bordello
You would do well to check these guys out! Gypsy Punk?!?! YES! Mike made me do it, blame him! Insanity!
And with that...
I shall bid you all, adieu!
Monday, October 1, 2007
And I still haven't mentioned....
It's the best season! Fall has come to visit again, and while it's short lived, it remains the best season of the year. There's nothing like the crisp cool mornings, warm days with cool breezes that carry colorful leaves. HAPPY OCTOBER!!!
I meant what I said.
Time...
Is still not on my side, but I am making a real effort to blog. Of course, I don't want it to go to your head that I'm doing this just for you. I do this for me, because after a while, I've had so much information built up I feel like I might explode. Trust me, this is better than running around telling people about the new game, or the big movie blockbuster. So, read on.... I'm going to type it anyway.
Heroes
Amazing! Well, not quite as great as I'd been hoping, but I'm pretty happy so far. I'm glad that we haven't caught up with Nikki yet. I'm mildly entertained by Hiro's story, but I'm upset that his father died without us seeing what his power was. Of course, we know it's not flight or regeneration, which is good since they felt the need to reuse those powers already...
Alright, so maybe I'm a bit salty from the fact that they've already run out of powers. That seems so asinine. I understand that they might need Claire's new boyfriend to fly so he can spy on her, but it seems like they could have done something a bit more interesting, and Hiro's hero can regenerate, really? That's just sad. The writers can't possibly have plumbed the depths of their creativity, can they? I can only assume they are trying to show that each power is not entirely unique, that there is likely to be multiple people all around the world that can do new things. I hope that's their plan.
Either way, Peter's amnesia seems like a bit of a cop-out, but I'll take it, thought only because of the adorable Irish accents. I'm confused by Parkman's new found ability to not remember everything that's happened over the last season, although I could be wrong about that.
The Suresh / HRG taking down 'The Company' scheme is a bit odd. Why do I say that? Because 'The Compay' seems to be stupid now, how could that be? The last season we were led to believe that 'The Company' was nearly omnipotent, and suddenly they don't remember the Haitian that was so near and dear to HRG? They send Suresh to help the guy who supposedly kidnapped Claire in the last season and shot HRG. So, it's no hard feelings? If the company can know the Haitian was sick, then they should be a bit more on top of things.
Oh well. I was very happy with the last season, and so far I'm pleased with this season, I'm holding out hope that they get things rolling a bit more in the next couple weeks.
Look what my Girlfriend found!
Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane! I'm so excited about this movie, I can't even express it in a healthy way. Zombies on a Plane! ZoaP! The only thing that could be better than Snakes on a Plane!
New Zune
Yep, it seems that there's actually going to be new Zunes released as the article seems to confirm the rumors. This one seems to have been kept pretty quiet, unlike the original Zune. Of course, I think it's because Apple just dropped their new Nano and iPod Touch. I got a chance to hold the new Nano the other day, and it is pretty fucking impressive, and now that I've discovered the iPod Touch has all the features of the iPhone without the actual phone (that is WiFi + Music + Video = Neat), I'm actually interested in getting one, if only it wasn't solid state memory, or at least solid state flash memory that supported my entire library.
Either way, there are new Zunes coming, and by the looks of things, they're still not that impressive. (Note, I'm still a very happy Zune owner, and I've had zero problems with mine). It appears that there will be new HDD units as well as flash based models with this release.
Maybe a few more people will 'join the social' as it were.
(Note: There's more 'confirmation' that there will be a big firmware update to give the old zunes a bit more life.
30 Year Laptop Battery
Holy hell! That's really all I can say. A laptop battery that will last 30 years. I've been a little picky about my 2.5-3.5 hours I get on this machine, but I never imagined that kind of leap. Best of all, it's all green, that is, environmentally friendly. They're called 'betavoltaic cells', but really, you should just check out the article.
Of course, I for one will take the whole thing with a grain of salt. As a whole, I find that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But, if we can all be running around with affordable radioactive laptops, so be it.
And with that...
I'm off to finish watching Jay Leno reading the headlines... good times.
Good night internet!
Is still not on my side, but I am making a real effort to blog. Of course, I don't want it to go to your head that I'm doing this just for you. I do this for me, because after a while, I've had so much information built up I feel like I might explode. Trust me, this is better than running around telling people about the new game, or the big movie blockbuster. So, read on.... I'm going to type it anyway.
Heroes
Amazing! Well, not quite as great as I'd been hoping, but I'm pretty happy so far. I'm glad that we haven't caught up with Nikki yet. I'm mildly entertained by Hiro's story, but I'm upset that his father died without us seeing what his power was. Of course, we know it's not flight or regeneration, which is good since they felt the need to reuse those powers already...
Alright, so maybe I'm a bit salty from the fact that they've already run out of powers. That seems so asinine. I understand that they might need Claire's new boyfriend to fly so he can spy on her, but it seems like they could have done something a bit more interesting, and Hiro's hero can regenerate, really? That's just sad. The writers can't possibly have plumbed the depths of their creativity, can they? I can only assume they are trying to show that each power is not entirely unique, that there is likely to be multiple people all around the world that can do new things. I hope that's their plan.
Either way, Peter's amnesia seems like a bit of a cop-out, but I'll take it, thought only because of the adorable Irish accents. I'm confused by Parkman's new found ability to not remember everything that's happened over the last season, although I could be wrong about that.
The Suresh / HRG taking down 'The Company' scheme is a bit odd. Why do I say that? Because 'The Compay' seems to be stupid now, how could that be? The last season we were led to believe that 'The Company' was nearly omnipotent, and suddenly they don't remember the Haitian that was so near and dear to HRG? They send Suresh to help the guy who supposedly kidnapped Claire in the last season and shot HRG. So, it's no hard feelings? If the company can know the Haitian was sick, then they should be a bit more on top of things.
Oh well. I was very happy with the last season, and so far I'm pleased with this season, I'm holding out hope that they get things rolling a bit more in the next couple weeks.
Look what my Girlfriend found!
Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane! I'm so excited about this movie, I can't even express it in a healthy way. Zombies on a Plane! ZoaP! The only thing that could be better than Snakes on a Plane!
New Zune
Yep, it seems that there's actually going to be new Zunes released as the article seems to confirm the rumors. This one seems to have been kept pretty quiet, unlike the original Zune. Of course, I think it's because Apple just dropped their new Nano and iPod Touch. I got a chance to hold the new Nano the other day, and it is pretty fucking impressive, and now that I've discovered the iPod Touch has all the features of the iPhone without the actual phone (that is WiFi + Music + Video = Neat), I'm actually interested in getting one, if only it wasn't solid state memory, or at least solid state flash memory that supported my entire library.
Either way, there are new Zunes coming, and by the looks of things, they're still not that impressive. (Note, I'm still a very happy Zune owner, and I've had zero problems with mine). It appears that there will be new HDD units as well as flash based models with this release.
Maybe a few more people will 'join the social' as it were.
(Note: There's more 'confirmation' that there will be a big firmware update to give the old zunes a bit more life.
30 Year Laptop Battery
Holy hell! That's really all I can say. A laptop battery that will last 30 years. I've been a little picky about my 2.5-3.5 hours I get on this machine, but I never imagined that kind of leap. Best of all, it's all green, that is, environmentally friendly. They're called 'betavoltaic cells', but really, you should just check out the article.
Of course, I for one will take the whole thing with a grain of salt. As a whole, I find that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But, if we can all be running around with affordable radioactive laptops, so be it.
And with that...
I'm off to finish watching Jay Leno reading the headlines... good times.
Good night internet!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
I wish I could say...
I wish I could say...
that I was back. I wish this was my triumphant grand return, a massive blog post cataloging my more than a month and a half absence. I wish that I could say that I was sorry and then catch you up on all the things that have been happening.
Unfortunately, want of a thing doesn't make it so. However, I can tell you...that I haven't forgotten about you. I want to blog constantly, I just haven't had the time.
Firstly, I've been dead broke, and without having any other choice, and trust me, I've exhausted every means available, I've needed to get a second job. I started delivering pizzas, a great second job because you can make good tip money and the hours are good as an opposite of a day job. I wouldn't say I enjoy it, but it accomplishes what it needs to.
That has left my with very little free time. Even though I only picked up 3-4 shifts a week, it's still hard to find any extra time. What little extra time I've had, I've devoted to my kids and Melissa. I hope it goes without saying that I've had to cut back on some of the things I do in my spare time, and unfortunately, one of those things is blogging.
I've still found time to watch movies, play games, read, write, and such like, but I have less time to do them, and even less time to talk about it. I've still been keeping up on as much current news and information as I can, but I can't tell you what I think about it.
Now, a week and a half ago, I injured myself at my day job. It was a lower back injury, which left me on pain meds and muscle relaxers. Being laid up and drugged up meant that I wasn't in a good position to drive around and deliver pizzas to people. When I called to explain this, I was told that I needed to cover my shifts or I would have to come in. I haven't spoken to them since.
I know I could have easily fought it, I know that I they were in the wrong, but I just wasn't up to dealing with it at the time. At this point, I'm ready to find another pizza joint to drive for, and I imagine that will only take me another week.
Since I had this breather, it seemed like it would be a good idea to post. I have to take the opportunities as they come.
In other news, things with the girlfriend and I have been going great, really great, which is good since she practically lives with me now. I've honestly not been this happy is a very long time.
I've started playing the great Bioshock, which is a pretty amazing game, although I'm already starting to find some components repetitive. The graphics are spectacular, but I do think the lack of variety in the enemies is a little annoying. The concept, however, is excellent, I love the feel of a retro sci-fi environment. I'm going to finish it at least once because I'm that interested in finding out how the story ends.
As to movies, I've seen a lot of movies in the last couple months. I doubt that I will ever have time to review them all, but I wish that I could. I want to talk about two more recent jaunts, though.
First, Resident Evil 3: Extinction. The third installment of this movie surprised me quite a bit. I won't say it's the best of the series, but it's on par for sure. It's the first threequel that I've seen in a long while that I've enjoyed. And, the plain and simple truth is that they've come a long way with the Resident Evil storyline from the original game, and the original dialog.
I wish I could find this with the original gameplay video as well, because it's the funniest thing that I've ever enjoyed. Now, I've been playing and enjoying Resident Evil since the original PSOne version, so I would say I'm a pretty die hard fan, but I've been really impressed with the quality of the movies compared to the games. At least, they are much less convoluted, for sure.
Anyway, the other movie I wanted to mention was Stardust. I really enjoyed it, a lot more than I expected too. It's a great story that's well done. Of course, I was a little reluctant to go at first, but that's because I didn't realize it was Neil Gaiman's work. I would really recommend catching it in the cheap theater before it's gone, like I did, or else, I would guess it will be out on video soon.
There's a lot more I'd love to cover, but right now I'm exhausted, and I feel the need to cuddle up with the girlfriend. I'm hoping to update a bit more frequently now, though not with the gusto I used to. We'll just play it by ear.
P.S. Melissa and I have added to our 'family'.
Meet Nelly and Ginger, a pair of young cavies, or more commonly known as guinea pigs. They are wonderful little critters and have been added to the family as my home becomes more and more like a zoo.
See you soon, I hope.
that I was back. I wish this was my triumphant grand return, a massive blog post cataloging my more than a month and a half absence. I wish that I could say that I was sorry and then catch you up on all the things that have been happening.
Unfortunately, want of a thing doesn't make it so. However, I can tell you...that I haven't forgotten about you. I want to blog constantly, I just haven't had the time.
Firstly, I've been dead broke, and without having any other choice, and trust me, I've exhausted every means available, I've needed to get a second job. I started delivering pizzas, a great second job because you can make good tip money and the hours are good as an opposite of a day job. I wouldn't say I enjoy it, but it accomplishes what it needs to.
That has left my with very little free time. Even though I only picked up 3-4 shifts a week, it's still hard to find any extra time. What little extra time I've had, I've devoted to my kids and Melissa. I hope it goes without saying that I've had to cut back on some of the things I do in my spare time, and unfortunately, one of those things is blogging.
I've still found time to watch movies, play games, read, write, and such like, but I have less time to do them, and even less time to talk about it. I've still been keeping up on as much current news and information as I can, but I can't tell you what I think about it.
Now, a week and a half ago, I injured myself at my day job. It was a lower back injury, which left me on pain meds and muscle relaxers. Being laid up and drugged up meant that I wasn't in a good position to drive around and deliver pizzas to people. When I called to explain this, I was told that I needed to cover my shifts or I would have to come in. I haven't spoken to them since.
I know I could have easily fought it, I know that I they were in the wrong, but I just wasn't up to dealing with it at the time. At this point, I'm ready to find another pizza joint to drive for, and I imagine that will only take me another week.
Since I had this breather, it seemed like it would be a good idea to post. I have to take the opportunities as they come.
In other news, things with the girlfriend and I have been going great, really great, which is good since she practically lives with me now. I've honestly not been this happy is a very long time.
I've started playing the great Bioshock, which is a pretty amazing game, although I'm already starting to find some components repetitive. The graphics are spectacular, but I do think the lack of variety in the enemies is a little annoying. The concept, however, is excellent, I love the feel of a retro sci-fi environment. I'm going to finish it at least once because I'm that interested in finding out how the story ends.
As to movies, I've seen a lot of movies in the last couple months. I doubt that I will ever have time to review them all, but I wish that I could. I want to talk about two more recent jaunts, though.
First, Resident Evil 3: Extinction. The third installment of this movie surprised me quite a bit. I won't say it's the best of the series, but it's on par for sure. It's the first threequel that I've seen in a long while that I've enjoyed. And, the plain and simple truth is that they've come a long way with the Resident Evil storyline from the original game, and the original dialog.
I wish I could find this with the original gameplay video as well, because it's the funniest thing that I've ever enjoyed. Now, I've been playing and enjoying Resident Evil since the original PSOne version, so I would say I'm a pretty die hard fan, but I've been really impressed with the quality of the movies compared to the games. At least, they are much less convoluted, for sure.
Anyway, the other movie I wanted to mention was Stardust. I really enjoyed it, a lot more than I expected too. It's a great story that's well done. Of course, I was a little reluctant to go at first, but that's because I didn't realize it was Neil Gaiman's work. I would really recommend catching it in the cheap theater before it's gone, like I did, or else, I would guess it will be out on video soon.
There's a lot more I'd love to cover, but right now I'm exhausted, and I feel the need to cuddle up with the girlfriend. I'm hoping to update a bit more frequently now, though not with the gusto I used to. We'll just play it by ear.
P.S. Melissa and I have added to our 'family'.
Meet Nelly and Ginger, a pair of young cavies, or more commonly known as guinea pigs. They are wonderful little critters and have been added to the family as my home becomes more and more like a zoo.
See you soon, I hope.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Enemy of the State
Enemy of the State, which I just got done watching again, is still one of the best movies of all time in terms of 'spy v. spy' type stuff.
Food for thought?
I've never understood that...
Food for thought? It's just never made sense to me. I mean, I get the basic concept, but where does it come from. Who actually thought to say, "food for thought" thinking that it was a logical statement.
There's a lot to be said of things that I've been doing of late. I haven't had a lot of time for the web. But, there's a few things I've done that I feel I should mention, which is why I'm blogging.
Wow. I started writing this post a couple weeks ago, and I've just found a few minutes to try and type.
I'm in some dire straights at the moment, in terms of money anyway. I'm in the process of trying to find a second job, which is something I've not wanted to do. However, I don't have a lot of choice at the moment. It's not that big of a deal, because I've worked 60 to 80 hrs a week in the past, so it isn't that I can't do it. It's more the principle, at this point in my life, I'd like to be past needing to work two jobs to make ends meet.
Of course, I will do what I need to do. And it's not that I've never known people in even better positions than myself who've done it as well. It's just frustrating. Hopefully, though, it will only be a year or so, and I'll finally be where I want to be. Out of debt.
The way that I figure it, there's 168 hours in the week. If I'm working 80 and sleeping for 40, that leaves me 38 hours a week for everything else. It's not as nice as having nearly 80 hours a week of free time. Of course, no matter what you do, it never feels like you have as much free time as you do time at work.
In News of Movies
My God! I can't even remember the last time that I updated you on the movies I'd seen. I think I might have mentioned how bad the Transformers was, but I don't think I've talked about The Simpsons, or Harry Potter.
I've actually been watching a lot of movies, mostly due to the fact that I haven't had the money to do much of anything else lately. I watched the first two Bourne movies yesterday, and realized, again, how great they are. I absolutely love them, even if I generally hate Matt Damon. I'm hoping to get out and see the new one very soon.
The new Harry Potter is pretty good, but I was pretty upset at the sheer volume of cop-out montages. Considering the fact that The Order of the Phoenix is longest of all the books, it's ridiculous that they would make the movie the shortest of the series to date. Apart from that, however, it was a pretty great movie. I was really hoping that they would done more with the Weasly Twin's spectacular departure from Hogwarts, but I could even over look that and accept the movie.
The Simpsons, however, just pissed me off. It wasn't near what I was hoping for. Considering how long the damn thing had been in productions, it's ridiculous to me that they could have done such a pathetic job with it. It was basically just a really long episode that had nearly nothing they couldn't and hadn't done on the network, save Homer flicking off the entire town and Bart's exposed penis. And, I can say that neither of those were really so risque that I was wowed. I was very disappointed.
I've also gotten to see a few more of the After Dark Horrorfest series films. Specifically Wicked Little Things, Reincarnation (RINNE) (From the director of The Grudge and the Grudge 2), and The Gravedancers. That means that I have seen all of them except The Abandoned, and Dark Ride.
As to what the quality, I really enjoyed Reincarnation, however, The Gravedancers was terrible and Wicked Little Things was only mediocre. But, overall, I enjoyed them, as a whole, I still stand by my thought that I would have loved to go to the actual Festivle, maybe I'll make it out this year, the new Horrorfest is supposed to be November 9-18 with 8 More Films to Die For.
That's it... for now.
There's a lot more for me to talk about but I haven't got the time right now, but I'm sure that you could have guessed that I don't have a lot of time these days.... what time I do have I don't want to spend typing here.
Later.
Food for thought? It's just never made sense to me. I mean, I get the basic concept, but where does it come from. Who actually thought to say, "food for thought" thinking that it was a logical statement.
There's a lot to be said of things that I've been doing of late. I haven't had a lot of time for the web. But, there's a few things I've done that I feel I should mention, which is why I'm blogging.
Wow. I started writing this post a couple weeks ago, and I've just found a few minutes to try and type.
I'm in some dire straights at the moment, in terms of money anyway. I'm in the process of trying to find a second job, which is something I've not wanted to do. However, I don't have a lot of choice at the moment. It's not that big of a deal, because I've worked 60 to 80 hrs a week in the past, so it isn't that I can't do it. It's more the principle, at this point in my life, I'd like to be past needing to work two jobs to make ends meet.
Of course, I will do what I need to do. And it's not that I've never known people in even better positions than myself who've done it as well. It's just frustrating. Hopefully, though, it will only be a year or so, and I'll finally be where I want to be. Out of debt.
The way that I figure it, there's 168 hours in the week. If I'm working 80 and sleeping for 40, that leaves me 38 hours a week for everything else. It's not as nice as having nearly 80 hours a week of free time. Of course, no matter what you do, it never feels like you have as much free time as you do time at work.
In News of Movies
My God! I can't even remember the last time that I updated you on the movies I'd seen. I think I might have mentioned how bad the Transformers was, but I don't think I've talked about The Simpsons, or Harry Potter.
I've actually been watching a lot of movies, mostly due to the fact that I haven't had the money to do much of anything else lately. I watched the first two Bourne movies yesterday, and realized, again, how great they are. I absolutely love them, even if I generally hate Matt Damon. I'm hoping to get out and see the new one very soon.
The new Harry Potter is pretty good, but I was pretty upset at the sheer volume of cop-out montages. Considering the fact that The Order of the Phoenix is longest of all the books, it's ridiculous that they would make the movie the shortest of the series to date. Apart from that, however, it was a pretty great movie. I was really hoping that they would done more with the Weasly Twin's spectacular departure from Hogwarts, but I could even over look that and accept the movie.
The Simpsons, however, just pissed me off. It wasn't near what I was hoping for. Considering how long the damn thing had been in productions, it's ridiculous to me that they could have done such a pathetic job with it. It was basically just a really long episode that had nearly nothing they couldn't and hadn't done on the network, save Homer flicking off the entire town and Bart's exposed penis. And, I can say that neither of those were really so risque that I was wowed. I was very disappointed.
I've also gotten to see a few more of the After Dark Horrorfest series films. Specifically Wicked Little Things, Reincarnation (RINNE) (From the director of The Grudge and the Grudge 2), and The Gravedancers. That means that I have seen all of them except The Abandoned, and Dark Ride.
As to what the quality, I really enjoyed Reincarnation, however, The Gravedancers was terrible and Wicked Little Things was only mediocre. But, overall, I enjoyed them, as a whole, I still stand by my thought that I would have loved to go to the actual Festivle, maybe I'll make it out this year, the new Horrorfest is supposed to be November 9-18 with 8 More Films to Die For.
That's it... for now.
There's a lot more for me to talk about but I haven't got the time right now, but I'm sure that you could have guessed that I don't have a lot of time these days.... what time I do have I don't want to spend typing here.
Later.
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