Yesterday our trust iPod Nano died. It was a first-generation model, white, with a custom inscription. We mourn the loss. Mostly me though.

I was working a few nights ago, but I noticed on the way home the battery was running low, so I took it in to charge it. Yesterday I grabbed it on the way out the door, and sadly I noticed that it would not respond to any button commands. I tried to recharge it. I tried to reload the software. No dice. It does not want to recognize any button presses.

Sucky. Because my antenna is and has always been busted on the 4Runner, so the signal I get is lousy at best. That and even if it did magically get decent signal, there’s not much in the way of radio worth hollering about around here.

Sigh. May finally be time to look into a new iPod. Sad.



Clinton Wins Penn
I really wish that people would wise up. What are you voting for? Did you decide who to vote for based on looks? Did someone talk a good game?

No I’m not saying that Obama is a bad contender. I’m actually more referring to the fact that recently it was polled as such to reveal that McCain is about even in the race to the White House with the Democratic candidates.

Seriously America, where have you been the last eight years? Been around long? Not sure if you noticed, but nothing good has come from our “war” in Iraq. Al Queda is now a presence where it was not prior, and gas? Oh yeah, while our servicemen die, our prices for gas go to $4 a gallon. Nice.

I need to convince the area I call home to secede. We could be our own country. Or maybe convince us and everyone in between to just join Canada. I would not be opposed.

Peace.

Tags: Politics, hate

So yeah watched Across the Universe last night. It was… well, it was… like an art school project gone horribly wrong. Yes, remind me next time to avoid like the plague any and all arthouse flicks. Wow what a horrible movie. Dammit I cannot stand musicals!

I’m not sure what they were thinking. I mean, it takes a lot of effort to ruin a story like they did. The actual plot wasn’t that bad, but then they incorporate all these damn singing sequences that really detract from the point of everything else, because it’s so damn corny. Sorry, I’m not a West Side Story kinda guy; groups of people break out spontaneously into song and dance and I break into a wild frenzy in which someone – perhaps multiple retarded singers/dancers – must die, that’s just the way it is.

And they damn near ruined the entire Beatles Catalogue as well. Few if any of the voices and performances were worth listening to. I would have preferred just listening to a CD of it all and being done with it.

Do not watch this movie. Do not believe the hype that it’s “visually stunning” or “a storytelling masterpiece;” it’s absolute crap I can attest. A real, honest-to-goodness F-minus.



This is why Republicans suck
Mccain has been busy in the campaign trail simplifying the issues in such a way as to prey on the fears of the constituents to get elected. This is not right. It is not right to say that if we withdraw “Al Queda will have won,” because you’re implying that we are fighting Al Queda, and that they are the reason we got involved.

Little-known fact (read the above-linked article), but there was no Al Queda presence in Iraq until after we invaded in 2003. So in all reality, if “Al Queda wins” it’s because we went there in the first place; the republicans don’t want to admit this of course, because it was their idea and they're wholly responsible for the threats they have created there.

So they continue to frame it in such a way as to imply that we’re the heroes doing god’s work. Oh yeah, it’s the modern-day Crusades folks, don’t be fooled by the smoke and mirrors.


Safe to say that I hate republicans like I hate musicals…

Peace.


Across the universe review - Worst Movie Ever?

Tags: Politics, hate

If you’ve seen the first one, you’ve seen the last one, only better. There’s things that strike me, though.

Like, how full of himself Mr. Stallone must really be. I mean, he really wants people to root for him real bad. He wants to be everyone’s hero, which I can understand myself, but man… 6 movies? About a chump named Rocky? More than anything, it seemed to me that Rocky 7,000 or whatever was mostly a vehicle for him to show us how good the HGH is doing for him.

It wasn’t bad, but there was some corny sh!t. Like, stuff that was just in there so show a soft spot or to justify #7,001 or whatever episode this was. Aw, his wife died. Aw, his kid is a chump. Aw, he still hangs out with his wife’s loser brother. Well sh!t, take your shirt off and beat a black man! That’ll make it all better!

Speaking of chump kids, this Milo Guy is really kind of a shitty actor. I mean, he kinda gets by as a two-bit act on Heroes (that Lost Clone I no longer watch), but to me it seemed he really stunk up the big screen. It wasn’t all his fault, they wrote him in as a real bitch of a character, but he didn’t help matters any. Every time he spoke I felt that I should yawn or change the channel or something, look for a commercial maybe. Kinda hard when you’re watching a disc.

It’s completely passable. And by that I do not mean that it passes as a watchable flick so much as I mean that it can totally be bypassed and not only will life continue to dredge on, but it might actually be a little rosier. I’ll give it some bonus points for the Rocky Theme Music, because that totally rocks, but still it’s pulling up the rear with a paltry D+.



Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
We rented this movie because I stumbled across it on the list of available titles. We had wanted to see it when it first came out, but somehow managed to forget about it entirely. What a shame too, because it’s actually quite good!

Well it was to me, anyway. The Girl did not so much care for it as the random bob did. I thought it was darkly funny, had a good story that kept you engaged, and the acting was overall well-acted…? No but it was, with the possible exception of the main character. Robert Downey Jr is a passable actor, but having seen him in this and also A Scanner Darkly recently, I can’t figure out why they went and cast him for the lead in the upcoming Iron Man movie. It still looks hella-cool, but I’m just not sure that he’s the best choice for it is all. He was annoying enough as a supporting character in “Darkly,” and although better in “Bang Bang,” I could see someone else doing a better job.

Anyway, back to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Look, I think you should see it. It’s got a good plot. The acting’s good. And if you care or need it, there’s a hot chick in it that bares her breasts. I didn’t think it needed it, but hey I’m not going to turn my eyes, either. It may not change cinema, but not many do. Still though, A solid “A”-film I think.



American Psycho
Where to begin with this movie. I just don’t know…. OK, got it.

The acting was good. It has a decent-enough cast, headed up by Christian Bale, whom I hate out of pure jealousy (him & Ryan Reynolds). And he delivers a great performance. But the thing was, I just didn’t care. As in, despite the good shows, nothing really drew me in. I just didn’t care about what was happening on the screen. Not a lick. Was kinda hoping it would end soon so I could just go to bed or something.

Now who’s fault is that? The storywriters? The Director? Editors? Maybe all. I just don’t know really, I can’t put my finger on what exactly it was that I didn’t really care about. I mean I guess it’s perhaps that there’s no real development of the main character. They introduce him as being crazy and knowing it, but there’s no background as to why he’s this way. And you watch the movie, sort of thinking that there will be some sort of climax and resolution (as this is typically what makes a story tick). Yet there is none. It ends. And worse, it ends and leaves you with questions that aren’t even hinted at through the film.

Was he crazy? Did he just imagine all the things he did? Did he do them and people just covered up for him? Hard to say, kind of ambiguous. Hellaciously ambiguous, actually. And that always irks me. There’s a rare few films I like that leave you “guessing” at the end. You have to do it right. Total Recall comes to mind (was it all real? Or was it the dream he asked for?). Basic Instinct was OK. I don’t know, it seems there’s a ton of films in the wasteland that tried to pull it off and failed. And to that list, I have to add American Psycho.

I can’t rate it any better than a straight C. It’s not that good. But if you had to sit and watch it, you could. Just, uh, try not to notice the hooker’s horrible haircut. It’s bad. Real bad.



And that concludes our Movie Reviews…
I thought I’d through these up right quick, before I had to come and say that I had no seen 4 movies and not said anything about them. Tonight after dinner we watch The Usual Suspects. It stars Kevin Spacey, back when we was making good movies instead of crap movies. I’ve seen it before, but it’s been a long time, and quite honestly I wasn’t following along all that well at the time. Hey, I was young and stupid then.

Peace.

Tags: Entertainment, hate

This morning on some morning “news” show (I don’t know or care to find out which), Rosie O’Donnell was a guest. This was a big deal, because you may not recall but she was on another morning-esque show called The View (11 years now, no way!), where she had a falling-out with the only good-looking chick on the show over the whole Iraq Debacle we now find ourselves in.

Anyway, some thoughts on the matter:


ROSIE, YOU’RE RIGHT ABOUT the WAR AND SUCH, OK?
Look, I agree with you. The war is a farce. And in fact I think your views are much less cynical than my own are. The pretty bitch was wrong, she’s dumb and she doesn’t think passed her own perky, plump boobs. But c’mon! You gotta tone down the oinking, OK? People see your ugly mug, badgering away with that obnoxious attitude of yours, and they then try to label all liberals as “Rosie clones” or something.

Look: I even agree that you have to fight hard against the right-wingers. They throw sticks and stones and you need to throw sticks and stones back. But you’re dropping bombs, and more importantly, you’re just annoying. Shut up. Do all of us left-leaners a favor, and have someone else make your points for you. Write them down. Give them to me if you must. Dammit!

And I also agree that rather than arguing over silly, minute differences, Barack & Hilary need to realize that they’re both running for the highest office in the world. A black man & a woman, this would have been less than a pipe-dream 30 years ago. It would have been considered suicide – in the literal sense – a mere 60 years ago. Yes, they need to get over themselves, and get to at least being polite and sincere with each other.

But again, coming from you, it means so much less. You’re destroying the very foundations you hold dear every time you talk. Stop talking, OK, before you unravel democracy!

HOW YOU'RE DOING IT
You say things that are just so out of the realm of reality. Yeah sure, you don’t watch any TV or have any internet access at home. How the hell do you know what’s being said about you then? Guess what? You’re not front-page news on the New York Times, dear. And uh, the rest of america cannot fathom how it is that someone who is so often plastered all over the damn devices cannot have access to them. Hey guess what, it would be hard for you to blog (video blogging to boot!) if you aren’t using a computer, OK? Give us a break, even the dumbass right-wing nutjobs can figure out that if you have a blog (with video!) that you probably, must maybe, might be using a computer. And the internet.

So you’re a liar. And a hypocrite. And so much more. Like extremely annoying. Even to those who agree with your premises. And to be quite honest, you’re just not that special. I don’t care. I don’t think a lot of people do. And those who “worship” you? Yeah, the rest of us “normies’ feel about the same towards them as we do towards you. Are you getting it? Picking up what I’m throwing down, as they say? White on rice? You good to go? We connecting yet?



And more on the important point (and peoples)
Barack… Hilary… Seriously you two, get over whatever it is. And get real, too. I feel like you two are giving the public lines they want to hear (rescue! Pull out! Yay!), when in reality we can’t achieve the overall goals we need to and actually do what you say.

Like, uh, pull out of Iraq? Have you thought through that quagmire? Seriously? Yes, that's what we should do, tear apart a country with war... and then leave. Yeah I'm sure that wouldn't stain our image in the world any, huh? Oh, and saving the housing market? Are you for real? How the hell are your constituents going to afford homes if you don’t let the prices settle down to normal levels? You can’t bail out the mortgage industry and lower prices at the same time, sorry. Gonna have to let that crumble, my dears, if you really have the people's interests in mind here.

Dammit you two, I don’t want to have to run myself. I can’t. I have a few more years before I’m eligible. Get it right.Or email me. I’m available for consulting.

I’ll be checking my inbox. Hourly.

Peace.

Tags: Politics, hate

I have seen three movies since last I updated; you’ll notice that there haven’t been any reviews. They are forthcoming.

What were the special flicks? One was Rocky Balboa, another was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and the other was American Psycho.



How they came to be
The first two showed up as they should have, from Netflix. The third was a surprise last night, as we didn’t have any movies scheduled to show up. And it wasn’t from Netflix.

When we bought our Blu-Ray Player oh-so long ago, they were running a promotion for 5 free movies. Hell I like free. So yeah we filled out the paperwork, sent away… and waited. And waited some more. We waited for so long we damn-near forgot that at some point we were supposed to get free movies.

Until yesterday, when they finally showed up. Yay us!



The others are… (drumroll please)
We also received Chain Reaction, S.W.A.T., Swordfish, & The Prestige. All except for The Prestige are born losers, of course. This was not our fault.

5 free movies sounds like a lot of fun. Except they don’t give you any 5 free movies of your choice. Oh no, they have 5 “categories,” if you will, and you have to select one from each of the 5 “categories,” as they were. Now these aren’t “categories” as in Horror, Action, etc. No, these are “categories” like A- choose from these 4 sucky movies, B-choose from these 7 sucky movies, C-choose from these 5 corny-ass sucky movies, etc.

So as you see, we did the best we could. Hey I’m just glad something the caliber of The Prestige was even on the list.

Peace.

Tags: Entertainment, hate

Today I got in my workout. Yay for me, except that I had to laugh at myself once I was damn near through.

See, I had started doing my back exercises, and I felt really strong. So I upped the weight a little, then a little more… 20 pounds more than I would normally do. Like, 20 pounds more than I would have done the last time I did them. That’s quite an improvement! Trust me!

Well it seemed like quite an improvement. Until I was damn near done, and I realized that I had put on the 25lb plates instead of the 35lb plates I normally use. Whoops!

Anyway, I guess it goes to show that I know my limits rather well. (2x25+20=70; 2x35=70).



The Guffaw over LeBron & Vogue
I got a glimpse of the “provacative” Vogue Cover featuring LeBron James & Giselle Bundchen (she’s hot btw). But have you heard all the ruckus over the perceived “racial overtones” of the cover? You know, that it portrays black males in a “vicious manner,” with an angry face and “clutching” a helpless white woman…

I know it sounds absurd, but in reality I see where they’re coming from. It DOES look like a scene from King Kong (the good version, not the “Jack Black’s in it totally f*cking it up version.” I hate Jack Black, btw). What would have been so bad about him being dressed to the nines? He could have still held a ball or something. Why have him in such an “active” stance, with such a scowl on his face (yes I know he’s almost smiling, but still it’s not a “hi nice to see you” sort of appearance either)?

They may not have necessarily meant it in that way, but they should have nabbed that before it went to print. Voque’s been around awhile, their covers are usually pretty well-conceived; this might not have been intentional, but it probably wasn’t an accident, either.



Did you see this video yet?
If you know me personally, then I already emailed it to you. But if you don’t know me personally, then maybe you haven’t seen this video.

It’s a rather lengthy video by internet standards (upwards of 20 minutes), but also very important. It’s also very spot-on. I’ve been saying essentially the same thing for years, and I’ve seen how people tune out; it’s funny how quickly people will bury their heads in the sand and just claim ignorance, so they can continue being someone else’s pawn.

Anyway, I didn’t learn anything from the video. Which isn’t to say that I’m smarter than anyone, only saying that it’s not news, if you’ve listened to me you may recognize some of what the narrator says. But it’s put together well, and ties a lot of things together nicely.

Definitely worth checking out. What are you waiting for? Click already!

Peace.

Tags: earth conditions, hate, Gym

Today’s movies are in large part not up to this task. It’s hard to remember the last movie I saw that I thought was good. The Departed? It was a good movie. What the hell do I recall since then? Well there was The Prestige that came out, but that was the same damn month in 2006 so that doesn’t count.

A SAMPLE MOVIES I DEARLY LIKE

• The Departed

• LA Confidential

• There’s something About Mary

• Snatch

• Cast Away

• 300

• Shrek (Original only)

• Batman Begins

• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

• The Prestige

• Wedding Crashers

• The Matrix

• When Harry Met Sally

• Shawshank Redemption

• Way of the Gun

• Apocalypto

• The Labyrinth

• Number 23

• Michael Clayton (sorta)

• I Am Legend

• 3:10 to Yuma

• The Fountain

• 40 Year Old Virgin

• Sunshine

• Babel

• Syriana

• No Country for Old Men

Tags: Entertainment, hate

George Lucas doing Star Wars: The Clone Wars as an animated special. Not. A. Bad. Idea! I mean, now you don’t have to worry about Hayden Christensen sucking up all the quality of the movie with his “acting,” as he calls it, and you can do all the special effects you want without it looking like it doesn’t belong! What a freaking great idea!

Now if we could only get someone else to read his scripts, modify them, and take a decent idea and hone it into a decent movie experience. Sort of act as a liaison between George’s crazy skull and the viewing public, making sure that we aren’t subjected to crap-for-movies. Obviously George Lucas cannot do this, see exhibit’s A, and B, and also C. And just for the record, let me get this off my chest: F*ck Jar-Jar Binks. F*ck that thing in the ear. F*ck it in the nose. Make a new hole in its head and f*ck it there, too. F*ck it until it bleeds and dies. Then pick it up and slap George Lucas across the face with its bleeding ass for having “created” such a poor excuse for a character.



Speaking of Star Wars
Know what? Despite the Lucas-bashing (totally deserved, btw), I like the concept of the Star Wars saga. I’d love to see it redone someday, with actual quality acting, and actual quality special effects, all tied together nicely. I imagine a more noir style, a little more serious tone perhaps, but humor notwithstanding. I mean, a laugh here and there is good, but I’d totally get rid of the “kiddie” aspects of it. Think something along the lines of Star Wars done in the style of LOTR, or the original Matrix (but without the techno soundtrack). Dark, stylistic, with a point and most importantly, no gaping plot holes. It’d be a gas to behold, methinks.

Peace.

Tags: Entertainment, hate

So last night I was closing @ work. But I wasn’t really closing, I was supposed to be “training” on the computer. But it turned into a busy night, and I got pulled/volunteered to help the real manager on duty to get everything caught up, so that we’d all get out on time or at least close to it.

Somewhere along the course of the night, it came up in conversation that some of the closing requirements seem sort of redundant and wasteful (of time at least), such as counting all the debit/credit receipts. Seems silly, because if we’re off according to what the computer has tallied, we then go into the computer and print the missing receipts… so it would seem rather redundant to make sure we have paper copies, when if the paper copies are off, we just print the transaction out of the history of the machine. Where it’s already stored. So uh, couldn’t we just not worry about the paper copy?

Anyway, I mentioned something along the lines of “once I’m the store manager…” at which point the other manager asked if I’d fire her if I was the store manager. Uhhh……

How do you answer this when the honest answer is “yes”?

Here’s how: you stutter, say something along the lines of “I’m not qualified to make that sort of assessment now,” and wait – no, hope – for some sort of timely interruption. That’s how.



Decór decisions
The place The Girl works at is a little, well, strangely decorated to say the least. It’s not modern, it’s not old-fashioned, it’s a mishmash of ideas that don’t really flow so well. I’m sitting at the place right now, looking around, wanting to smack a certain someone.

That certain someone is a local artist whose work is locally acclaimed. He’s like a god around these parts. And most definitely, the bastard is talented. I have seen some work from him that is very very good. But his taste… his taste is that of Picasso at his Cubist best.

F*ck Cubism. I’m sorry, it’s not good art. Whenever I look at it, I want to pull it off the wall and wipe a certain nether-region with it, then flush. It’s a crock. It’s not art. It’s bullsh!t. It’s Pablo Picasso selling his 3 year-old son’s work to someone for lots of money, and laughing. And more people buying crap like that thinking it’s “high art,” and him laughing at them. I can’t help but think that it’s all one big joke, and Pablo just laughed and laughed, sort of like the guy who faked the Sasquatch footprint, let it build into a huge thing, and never told anyone; just laughed and laughed at everyone’s expense over their own naiveté.

Yes, that’s what it is. I am convinced. Pablo is laughing at all of you who think cubism is art.

Ha- freaking ha. Losers.

Tags: hate

Sadly, it only helped me to prove a point. Check out this page it linked to. See the weekly tips? For Leopard as I write this, there’s about 6 tips for Leopard. Now I’m no math whiz, but since leopard’s been out for 4 whole months, shouldn’t there be 16 tips of the week? Not 6? What the hell.

But it gets worse. Apple also recently released new MacBooks & MacBook Pros. Little speed bumps, not a bad update overall, except for one glaring shortfall: Apple’s laptops have been equipped with a remote for about the last two years. That’s great and all, I don’t use mine because it’s sort of useless to me, BUT –

They went from making it an included peripheral, to charging you an extra $19 for it with this iteration of their MacBook lineup.

Know what? F*ck you, Apple. F*ck your remote. F*ck your muther-f*cking remote control, no one really cares about it anyway. It’s got like 6 buttons, and most of them are completely useless anyway. I hope your remote burns in freaking fruit-hell. Not even sure if that exists, but damn I hope it does, just for your stupid $19 remote control. So it can rot there, alone. Maybe with a Zune for added punishment. What the hell were you thinking? Know how many you’re going to sell? 2. One for Steve Jobs, one for Walt Mossberg. That’s it. A**holes.

There, I feel a smidgeon better now.

Tags: Technology, hate

Right now, tops on my list of P&S cameras to get is the Canon SD870 IS. I was debating whether to go with this or to cheap out a lil’ and get a camera more like The Girl’s. What to do, what to do….

I got it! I’ll get that camera, then she can get it too. Here, let me explain.

I got her the camera I got her because it was going to be her first digital camera. It’s a really great camera, but for me, coming from what I am coming from, I really would like to have as much control/featureset as possible, to make the transition easy and enjoyable. I think I’m really going to enjoy (yeah, that’s right, enjoy) the move to a P&S camera, but I don’t want to go too far down the spectrum and just be frustrated, either.

Now here’s the hairy part. If I have a camera that’s similar to hers only better, then of course she’s going to be upset with me. She says she won’t, but let’s be frank here: it’ll look like I shafted her on her gift, but felt perfectly OK splurging on me. And it’s not like that, I swear. Which is why I’m totally prepared to get her a matching one as well. But to make sure it’s a good fit, I’ll be the first to have it, this way we can compare & contrast, then make informed decisions.

Plus, you’re totally welcome to buy it for me.



About AAA….
Yesterday I mentioned how great AAA can be, but threw in a last-minute curveball about my experience. Something that ended like “more on that another day.” Today’s another day, so how’s this?

OK so what happened was as we left, I got stuck about 4ft off the side of the paved road. Looks flat, looks fun, but in reality it was a trap. Well crap now that I was stuck it was time to get started figuring a way out of this mess I’d gotten myself and my two dogs into.

So of course you reach for your wallet, right? Grab that AAA card? Yes of course! Well, except if you make the conscious decision to leave your wallet at home so as to lessen the chance of having it a) lost somewhere in the wilderness, or b) stolen from your vehicle as you’re too far away to keep tabs on it. This wasn’t a one-day decision, I never take my wallet with me when I take the dogs out.

And for reasons unbeknownst to me, I left my AAA info in my wallet, not in my car. So I grabbed the cell phone – which luckily I didn’t forget to bring – and called…. 411. Because I also didn’t have the # to AAA’s roadside assistance hotline that’s printed on the back of the AAA card. Getting their local office yields me a recording of their hours, but luckily (as I had counted on) they had a link to the roadside assistance hotline. I pressed 5. I waited on hold. Eventually I got ahold of someone and explained that I was a member, however I did not have my ID or anything on me, etc, was there any way they could otherwise look me up?

Now thus far all of this has been my fault, and I haven’t even spoken to anyone that doesn’t bark in the night. So let’s end that streak. First thing I hear is a hesitation, followed by