It’s A Dark Chocolate Factory

Well this past Sunday I managed to get myself out of the house to do a little shopping, but before that I went to see a little movie called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Rotten Tomatoes has their requisite meta-review up on their site.

Being as how this movie is directed by Tim Burton, and if you have seen any of the trailers, one expects this to me an enjoyable, if disturbing, ride. I have to say it was all that I expected. As always with Burton’s films, many of the visuals and set design were attention grabbing themselves. Several times I found myself looking beyond the characters to the scenery. That’s not to say the characters don’t draw your attention. Charlie and his Grandfather are two of the only people that really pass out of attention for long periods. I found myself being mesmerized by the colors and faces of the mismatched little troop of parents and children and their absurd leader. There are definite times when I wished to slap one of the characters and say, “Quit looking like that. Your freakin’ me out.” I also like the bit of dry, British, word based humor as well.

Johnny Depp does an excellent job playing one of our favorite confectionary geniuses. Gene Wilder will always hold a place for his original portrayal of the “Through the Looking Glass” Willy Wonka in the original movie. Depp, on the other hand, seems to remember a visit to Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, if MJ were mildly retarded. Very different takes on the same character, but both interesting and disturbing in different ways.

In summary, If you like Tim Burton stuff then you should like this. If you like the original movie you should like it as well. I say go see it even, if you have to go during peak ticket price hours. Try to bring your friends as well, but watch out for the noisy children.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

Out for a week

My mother recently retired from teaching, and to celebrate she wanted a vacation with the entire family. Consequently I will be leaving Monday evening and will not return until the following Monday morning. I will be accompanying my family on a vacation of Boston, Mass. Given the unclear nature of event’s I am unsure of I will be able to check my e-mail or this blog. However, I will have my cell phone on me if, those of you who have it, need to get in touch with me. I still have work tomorrow, and I plan on posting another movie review then.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

The Learning of the Green

As you may have noticed by the lower part of the right hand column, I have finished (Much to my surprise at the speed.) yet another work. How the Irish Saved Civilization: … by Thomas Cahill actually turned out to be a surprisingly easy and compelling read, hence the speed of finishing it. My mother’s family is of Irish decent, and I had heard good things about this book from a relative.

Follow on to the rest of my ramble if you want my opinion of the book.

As I have said I was surprised at how compelling and easy a read the book was. There was some language I had to think about, but the biggest hurdle was pronouncing the Irish names. Luckily the book has a small pronunciation guide in the back for just such emergencies.

I say that the title is a bit of a misnomer. The book covers the time from the beginning of the fall of the Western Roman Empire up through the Middle ages of Europe, therefore it is a Eurocentric book. Truthfully civilization was not in danger of becoming extinct. There were formidable civilizations all around the world, and the vestiges of Roman civilization were visible in Europe and something similar would have arisen again. Really the book is about how the Irish saved European civilization as we know it.

The book covers a time in history that is seldom examined in a work. Usually the Roman Empire is discussed, or the Middle Ages are discussed, but the transition usually falls between books, chapters, or is glossed over as “just something that happened.” The first part of the book discusses the state of decay of the Roman Empire in the 4^th and 5^th centuries. The second part covers the state of the Irish people, folklore, and religion before St. Patrick came to Ireland, the peaceful conversion of the people to Catholicism, and the devouring and copying of texts from all over Europe. Finally, the book talks about the state of Europe as the Irish Monks set out to spread classical manuscripts, gospels, Christian teachings, and literacy back across the ravaged European continent.

The story the book tells is awe inspiring in its scope and the extremely short time frame it covers. I have never read a book that covered this period in history. I always wondered why so many of the images of great gospels and manuscripts from the Middle ages contained such obvious Celtic influence in their flamboyant adornment. It’s because most of them were copied by Irish or Irish taught scribes and monks.

One of the things that makes the book a joy and interesting is that it is told by means of examining and following the literature of the day, because that is truly what was saved by the Irish. Cahill almost rejoices and sings the praises of all the people that helped save much of the writings of Rome, during a time when only Christian writings were to be copied and studied. His love of the subject and the Irish people come through so much, that I was often left wondering if he was attributing too much to the Irish. However, I cannot point to anything that is an obvious falsehood.

As you can tell I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys history, literature, or religion studies. I have to say that the book taught me something as well. I have always found myself to be different, strange or weird in my thoughts, actions, logic, point of view, thirst for knowledge of all types, distrust of elitist experts, and ability to find humor in any situation, and I never knew where it came from or why I felt different. After reading this book I know why. With the exception of the outbursts of emotion, I’m friggin’ Irish. And you know, I couldn’t be happier.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

Extensions, but not of the hair variety.

I’ve been using Mozilla Suite as a second browser since about version 0.7. At version 1.4 it became my primary browser. I still like a few of the menu and download layout options more than Mozilla Firefox, but that may change with the next versions of Firefox. I recommend checking out the Thunderbird E-mail client as well.

Follow the rest of my rambling for the point of the post.

One of the great things about the Mozilla project and applications is that it is open source and designed so that people who see a need can write extensions to the applications that give them new options and customizability. These extensions or plug-ins can be extremely useful. I realized today that some of my friends might not realize this. Therefore, I decided to create a post with some of the extensions I use on a daily basis.

I use my laptop to re-encode video clips into a more compressed form. I found that some of my favorite sites used Flash ads that caused Mozilla to use a lot of CPU cycles. Sometimes it would pass 15%. You can imagine what that did to my processing times, not to mention it can shorten my batter life for my laptop. At the recommendation of a friend at work I tried a Mozilla extension called FlashBlock. The extension replaces all Flash on a web page with a play button. You can selectively play specific flash items, or you can exempt a site from blocking. I find it amazing how much annoyance is removed from blocking the ads.

One of the great things about Mozilla Suite and Firefox is the use of tabbed browsing, keeping multiple pages open in one window using tabs. It dramatically cleans up the desktop if you do a lot of surfing. Plus I can keep organized by opening all search results or shopping items in tabs in one window. In fact the next version of Internet Explorer 7.0 will have tabbed browsing, years after Mozilla. Anyway, one of the things that made me think about switching to Firefox was that it handles tabs and tab options better. Then I found an extension called Tabbrowser Extension. It opens up lots of possibilities for tabs. I group my tabs, color the groups, open tabs in the background, open all bookmarks in new tabs, open external links in new tabs, and various other options.

Another thing that has come into it’s own in the past 6 months has been RSS feeds. In fact the Mozilla Suite doesn’t really work with RSS, but Firefox does. This was also a point that made me look at switching, but then I found the infoRSS extension. RSS is a feed that alerts you to updates to web sites that have discrete components. Currently I use it to monitor news updates on Ars Technica, Anandtech, G-mail, and I plan on adding news services and other items. The feed is checked periodically and new items scroll past in the status bar at the bottom of the browser.

The final item is that you can get themes for the browsers as well. Themes allow you to change the colors, button type, fonts, menu setup, and more. I am currently using Smoke as my browser theme. There are hundreds to choose from.

I recommend you take a look at Mozilla and the extensions that are available, though you might want to make backups of bookmarks, because everything always works like it’s supposed to. And remember, Mozilla and Firefox are platform independent. That means you can have the same browser, extensions, and themes on Windows, MacOS X, and Linux. And it’s all free.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

At Journey’s End

In Memory: James Doohan

James Doohan, known to many as Scotty the chief engineer aboard the Starship Enterprise NCC 1701, died this morning at the age of 85. I remember with fondness watching Star Trek and hearing the commanding yet jovial voice of Scotty as he went about performing technical miracles. I have no doubt it influenced many, including myself, to strive to understand machines and seek a career in engineering.

Mr. Doohan we will miss you.

I suggest you read the CNN article.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

Are you jerking my tail?

What is it about humans that takes pleasure in messing with other animals? I’m not talking about messing with other people so much. I’m talking about messing with what some people would call lesser animals. I don’t condone hurting animals, but I get a great deal of pleasure from messing with them in a rather harmless fashion. Pets make the most common fun, but wild animals are a rare treat.

The point was brought to my attention today while leaving work. I stepped out the door and passed a trash can with a lid like roof above it to keep the water out. I heard a rustle from within the can that could only be the result of an animal. I assumed it was one of the gray squirrels that inhabit campus. For some reason I enjoy teasing rodents, pigeons, and seagulls. I kicked the bottom of the can, causing the squirrel to shoot out of the top. He took his prone stance on the ground 7 feet away and glared at me as if he knew what happened. Normally it would bark, but the squirrels on campus are indeed very tame. I laughed.

On previous occasions I have accidentally snuck up behind squirrels and ground hogs without their notice. Most of the rodents around here are very tame. You almost have to push them off the sidewalk with your foot. I generally yell “HAAAY SQUIRREL!!,” or some such thing, at the animal from less than 5 feet away. You get the most curious reactions. I had one squirrel clear a 2 foot circle of all leaves in 1.5 seconds before shooting towards the nearest tree. The most fun though had to be the time a scared a ground hog. I don’t think that anything matches the hilarity of a ground hog, plump for fall, hauling ass across a grassy lawn. The undulations of the winter fat stores almost made me collapse.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

And this little piggy went to the IT department.

Ars Technica has a news item up about an eWeek article. It appears that Piggly Wiggly is rolling out a biometric payment system. The only thing you need for a purchase is money in the bank and your finger. With all the recent problems of database and information security they are creating a database of fingerprint information that will bill accounts automatically. One can only hope that they will be better about securing that information than other groups. I have to admit though that relieving myself of one more thing to remember is mighty tempting, especially those damned store loyalty/ information tracking cards. I personally would like my credit card to require my fingerprint and a passcode as well.

From the NYT it looks like Piggly Wiggly may be seeing another new technology (free subscription required) that I endorse. For all of you tired of those little stickers on all your fruit, (It’s not so much the stickers as it is the bad stickers that never want to come off.) They are now using laser etching to emblazon the fruit codes directly onto the skin of the fruit. No peeling, no residue, and no trash. There is even talk of putting bar codes directly onto some of the larger fruit. I’m waiting for the advertisements and logos to start appearing. It’s only a matter of time, but in the short term, here’s to having a peach or apple without using adhesive remover first.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

Mr. Pendragon goes to New York

I’m making supper right now, so I’m making good use of the wireless Ethernet connection at the house. I’m making hotdogs with chili by the way. I’m not going to say “World Famous,” because it isn’t, but I like it. I like a lean ground beef with chili powder and a little cayenne paper just so that you start to sweat and your nose starts running.

Anyway, as the column at the bottom right indicates I have just finished reading Knight Life by Peter David. For those of you who haven’t heard of him Peter David is a rather prolific writer. He’s well known for having penned some of the best Star Trek novels, 12 years on The Incredible Hulk comic graphic novel, television, and film. In other words he’s been around, has an impressive resume, and is good at what he does.

Oo Hot dogs are done. I’ll ramble on in a few minutes at the link below. Right now hunger calls.

Mmmm, good hotdogs. Now I have to decide if I want peaches, a promising looking cantaloupe, or desert crack known as a blackberry cobbler of the Mrs. Smith variety. I’ll have to study on that.

And now back to the book.

It’s basically the story of King Arthur coming back to near present day New York City. Once there he begins to meet up with previous acquaintances and family. He has to work hard to make himself known to the people and avoid the pitfalls that politics bring. All of this must be done while fending off the traps being laid by opponents and old enemies, and while trying to keep his identity hidden.

All in all it’s what I expect of Peter David. It is a wonderful, well written, entertaining romp. I could sit down and read the 343 page paperback in a day, and I read slowly. Accomplished readers should be able to read it in hours. Chapters are broken into sections that never extend more than about 8 pages. It’s really easy to read in the spare minutes that often occur. Just be careful, because there are parts that made me have to laugh out loud. It’s interesting to think that this is the same man who wrote Q-Squared, a book I liked for its intricately woven story.

I’m going to recommend this book to anyone who likes history, fantasy, humor and a little politics. It’s a great diversion from weightier reading material too. I’m planning on getting the sequel One Knight Only. For right now I’m off to reading my latest book, How the Irish Saved Civilization.

P.S. This was the second publication of the book. Apparently the first pub met with some problems and it never saw a second printing, and is almost impossible to find. For this publication Peter David took the opportunity to fix some problems he had with the original book. He described it as basically fixing some out he gave himself originally by using some literary tools that he didn't have at the original writing. A library may have the original, but bookstores should have the new edition.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

Too much time.

I've been to this web site before, but I had forgotten it's location. I was reminded of it today and I sought it out. It's pretty fun for those that watched too many sicoms int heir past. The first time I went there I chose Vicki the robot girl from Small Wonder. The darned thing got it right to. anyway, a small diversion on this slowly passing day.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

Not it!

A friend of mine put up this challenge on his blog, and being the easily manipulated person I am, I was moved to respond.

Follow my ramble.

So here it goes.

1. First Name:
Joel

2. Were you named after anyone?
Not really. I guess I was partially named after the Book of Joel and Saint Andrew. Which I find interesting that the names mean “God is willing, and “Manley, courageous, valiant,” respectively. My parents almost named me Andrew Steven, until they realized it would make my initials A.S.S. Thank god they caught that one. I would have hated to have had to kill them.

3. Do you wish on stars?
Not ordinarily, though I did recently see Jessica Alba in Fantastic 4. I would be lying if I said that some ideas for wishes didn’t pop into my head. She got naked invisible 3 times.Same thing with Sin City.And when she smiles she reminds me of Linda Carter, and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with Linda Carter.

4. When did you last cry?

Shoot. I usually don’t, because it makes my sinuses swell and gives me a sinus headache for hours. I could have during Cinderella Man.

5. Do you like your handwriting?
I did, but I’m getting out of practice.I need to start writing more.

6. What is your favorite lunch meat?
Oven roasted turkey oh yeah

7. What is your birth date?
Sept. 7, 1976 There’s a lot of stalking information in this. Should I include my SSN and mother’s maiden name?

8. What is your most embarrassing CD?
Meatloaf “Bat out of Hell II: Back Into Hell.” Damn I had almost forgotten I had that. And now a song is stuck in my head. Crap!

9. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?
I assume you mean would a person with your personality and likes be friends with you. I think so. I’m not too much of an arrogant ass. Though I have to admit the smartass comments would run thicker than ragweed pollen in September.

10. Are you a daredevil?
By no stretch of the imagination of which I can conceive.

11. Who is your favorite cartoon character?
Why Lucky Bob of course.

12. Do looks matter?
Yes, duh. Call me shallow or what have you. I’m not going to say it is the most important thing, but it usually is the first sensory input you get about a person. Not to mention that visual processing takes up a huge amount of brain space, so you can see how influential it could be. However, I’ve noticed that it seems that my idea of good looks isn’t often as narrow as others.

13. How do you release anger?

I talk to myself or others. I analyze the source of the anger to determine if it is valid or worth the effort. I usually forgive, ignore, or exact a little vengeance later.

14. Where is your second home?
The town I grew up in.

15. Do you trust others easily?
Fairly easily, though I am guarded around some people. I’m usually quiet with new people so I can learn about them without giving away too much of myself. “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”

16. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Oooo it’s close, but I’ll have to go with Legos. Transformers was a close second.

17. What class in high school do you think was totally useless?
My government class was taught by a man that didn’t give a shit and ran off 89 octane coffee all day. I used to get caffeine highs just by entering his room.

18. Do you have a journal?
I have this blog, but I’ve never kept a journal. I have been thinking of keeping a tape recorder by the bed so I can record accounts of dreams.

19. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
“I wouldn’t say that I’ve been missing work Bob.”

20. What are your nicknames?
Hmmmm. Lucky Bob, Yethhnow, Joelman, Smartass

21. Would you bungee jump?
Not very likely.

22. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Usually. I can’t normally get them off otherwise.

23. Do you think that you are strong?
Sometimes in the morning, but then I usually shower.

24. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Homemade – banana Store bought – strawberry

25. Shoe Size?
10 ½ B Damn narrow feet

26. Red or pink?
I like a somewhat warm red center to my steak.

27. What is your least favorite thing about yourself?
When I accidentally kick someone while my foot is shooting along it’s trajectory into my mouth.

28. Who do you miss most?
Mr. Rogers

30. What color pants and shoes are you wearing?
Black to both

31. What are you listening to right now?
The A/C system running

32. Last thing you ate?
Poptarts and a glass of milk.

33. If you were a color what would you be?
One solid color: a dark blue like the depths of a deep cave mineral spring.

Actual color Opal.

34. What is the weather like right now?
Warm and muggy

35. Last person you talked to on the phone?
My Mom

36. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex

Usually it’s the face. Her eyes and the way she smiles, which naturally includes the eyes as well.

Next, or if the face isn’t visible or something is attention grabbing, it falls to breasts, hair, legs, behind (read ass), arms, back, shoulders, the list goes on.

Out of visual range I have been attracted by a laugh.

37. Do you like the person who sent this to you?

Why yes I do.

38. Favorite Drink?
I really like Dr. Pepper, diluted orange juice (65% OJ 535% vodka), and 12 year Canadian Club Whisky neat.

39. Favorite Sport?
Football, college not pro

40. Hair Color?
Brown, with red highlights if I’ve been in the sun

41. Eye Color?
Hazel cause it’s the color that no one knows what it is.

Actually I’m a blue-green-gray with a golden brown ring, but that won’t fit on the driver’s license.

42.Do you wear contacts?
Oh yeah. I got tired of the creases the glasses were putting in my nose.

43. Favorite Food?
Home made macaroni and cheese, or home made country fried steak with rice and milk gravy. Now I’m hungry.

44. Last Movie You Watched?
Hellboy, last night

45. Favorite Day of the Year?
Whenever I’m visiting and Mom cooks up a good Sunday dinner.

46. Scary Movies or Happy Endings?
Happy endings, but you usually have to pay extra for that.

47. Summer or Winter?
I work on a college campus, so the warm parts of the semester. Those guys that have been to Clemson know what I mean.

48. Hugs or Kisses?
Sometimes you just need a good hug.

49. What Is Your Favorite Dessert?
Out somewhere: a really good cheesecake

At home: homemade blackberry cobbler

52. Living Arrangements?
Renting a house with two friends

53. What Books Are You Reading?
It’s on the front page, but right now, Knight Life by Peter David.

54. What's On Your Mouse Pad?
No mouse pad

55. What Did You Watch Last night on TV?
Not much on. King of the hill and then recordings of Teen Titans and Justice League Unlimited.

56. Favorite Smells?
apples baking, meat roasting, cookies baking , butter cream icing,

57. Favorite Flower?
Day lilies

58. Rolling Stones or Beatles?
Beatles

59. Do you believe in Evolution or Creation?
Yes

60. What's the furthest you've been from home?
Soon to be New York.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

A Marvelous Quartet

I am a little late in posting this, but this past Sunday I had the chance to go to the movies. Think what you will, but my choice was to go see “Fantastic Four.” Rotten Tomatoes didn’t give it a very enthusiastic rating, but I find that I have to take the genre and unusual nature of some movies into account when consulting RT. If a movie seems interesting and gets better than 20% I’ll consider seeing it. As I’ve said before (right before the review), I like looking into people’s imaginations, even if it may be their bad idea of a movie.

In all I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. I had hopes, from reading the positive reviews on RT. Sometimes you have to do that, because critics can be rather elitist about some things. Quite frankly I don’t want every movie I watch to be like Citizen Kane or Rear Window. Sometimes I just want to be entertained by a simple plot. Anyway, some of the acting seemed a little stiff, but then those characters were supposed to be stiff themselves, Mr. Fantastic and The Invisible Girl. The hot heads were played very well, The Human Torch and The Thing. Julian McMahon did a good job as Doom.

In superhero origin movies like this it can be hard to get a really good movie out of it. There is a lot of inflexibility in the story, and certain details have to be told. I think they did a pretty good job of adding the right amount of humor to ofset some of that. Most of the work to reverse their changes included enough personal interaction to learn about the characters, but it was still slow. Most of the actual action occured rather late in the movie. I concur with one of the positive reviews that when they finally come together as a team it kicks ass and makes you wanna yell, “Bring on the sequel, and make it more of that.”

If you liked Hellboy then you will probably find this movie enjoyable, but not quite to that level. I suggest a matinee or perhaps wait for a rental.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

Location Location Location

As you can tell from the list at the bottom of the right column, I have indeed finished Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond. By some strange chance of fate, I was put in the position to read this Pulitzer Prize winning book, that I borrowed from a friend of mine. He had enjoyed it a great deal, and both he and I thought I would do the same. There are reviews both here and here, as well as purchasing information.

The book is very simple in its idea, but very broad in its scope. Basically the book starts with a question and then proceeds down a path to try to illuminate some of the larger components of the answer. The question is simply, Why did Europe explode onto the world stage and extent it’s power, influence, and peoples to nearly every corner of the globe, instead of some other continent doing it first? It’s a question that has enticed scholars for centuries, and plagued the conquered for even longer.

Jared Diamond is a professor of physiology at the UCLA School of Medicine, but he delves into numerous branches of science to tackle the question. Many explanations have been put forth for the incredible differences in technological and sociological advancement in different human societies. Some of the more familiar are religion, trade, societal acceptance of change, racial differences, and environmental harshness. Diamond puts forth that most of these are secondary aspects. For him the ultimate causal point is location. Almost all human expansion and differences in advancement and change can be traced to geography and the types of flora and fauna present or imported.

The book is written in an easy to follow style that does an excellent job of explaining the reasoning and evidence behind the path Diamond has taken. He isn’t a one discipline pony either. He pulls from genetic information, archeological evidence (bones, tool designs, boat designs, carbon dating, societal structure, etc.), nutritional anthropology, botany, climatology, zoology, and linguistic anthropology.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes history, science, and a little bit of politics wrapped up in big picture kinds of ways. The above links to reviews have the books at 4 stars in both locations. I give it 5. It won the Pulitzer for crying out loud. I personally think it kicks ass and am going to recommend it to everyone I know that would enjoy it.

Now it’s off to the next book in my pile. I’m only two chapters in and so far,and it’s pretty funny.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

Reflections of the Observer

So the guy I mentioned in the War of the Worlds review below (lets call him Radioman), saw the movie with another student worker (lets call him Lefty). Well I didn’t mention that Radioman thought the movie was really just one big advertisement for joining the military. I said, “Why? The military was basically useless. At best is showed them making an attempt to help people run and try to provide a speed bump to the aliens.” Radioman is a little arrogant and he doesn’t listen as well as he should. I expect him to have many wonderful jobs for a year or two and then be forced to leave them.

Lefty said he was disgusted by the father and son scene with the son saying he needed to see this, right before they were separated. If anything it pointed out that it was a stupid thing for the son to want to do, but his own arrogance and realization that his dad had little more plan than run and survive, told him to go against his father. Lefty also thought the movie was fear-mongering at its worst. It was designed to play up people’s fear of war and terrorism for money and political purposes. You see why I call him Lefty. I asked him if he had read the original book. He hadn’t. I also asked him if he realized that the book was written during the power buildup of Germany and other countries in the late 19^th century, and reflected the common understanding that a Great War was eminent in Europe. He said he did, but he didn’t look like he had thought much about it. Sure there were pictures of the towers and stuff in the background. Lots of places up north still have those up. Yes the billboards were reminiscent of the ones after 9/11. People have been putting those things up at disasters for decades. They do it after train wrecks, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc. It’s fairly common in circumstances that cause mass movements and separations. And if Spielberg had deviated from the book even more people would be crying foul of that. Swear you can’t please anyone.

Lefty and I have interesting conversations though. At first he thought I was Libertarian, because I believe in States’ rights, small government, and decisions made on the most appropriate level of government. However, I also believe in peace through overwhelming force, and maintaining capitalism by limiting monopolies. Anyway, I might be able to share some other Lefty stories later. Stay tuned.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

I wonder what Fox would have done.

I followed a link off one of my favorite web sites again that lead me to this. Apparently John Davison from 1up.com was duped into coming onto "The Big Idea" with Donny Deutsch on CNBC for what he thought would be a Q&A/ discussion about games. I'll let you read Davison's rendition of what took place. It isn't that suprising, just disappointing. The fanning of flames and ratings are more important than the spreading of useful information. I keep thinking of the movie "Wag the Dog" and the infamous, if probably fictitious, quote from Hearst, "You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war." I think I've already made most of my opinions on this fearmongering of games clear.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.

Going to the Wells for a Drink

Well I got back Monday afternoon from my extended Fourth of July vacation, and promptly took a nap. I guess staying up until 4:50 AM in the morning can do that. All in all I had a really good time getting to see friends and ate way too much meat and too little fiber.

While in Atlanta (Dang it was hot) some friends and I went to a late showing of War of the Worlds. As you would guess it’s based on the story by H. G. Wells, the 1938 Orson Welles radio adaptation, and maybe the 1953 movie adaptation. I read the story years agoand listened to the broadcast on tape, after I had seen the 1953 movie. For anyone that likes classic Science Fiction or good storytelling I recommend reading many of Wells’ works. I liked the broadcast and the movie from ’53, but the book was just an enjoyable read of the imagination of a different era.

Anyway, I found the movie to be highly enjoyable and entertaining. Spielberg does an excellent job of maintaining suspense throughout the movie. I like a lot of the camera shots and angles. There was some shaky-cam that got on my nerves a little, but at least it didn’t make me sick. Tom Cruise shows that he can still act, even if he can’t give a coherent interview anymore. Dakota Fanning continues to impress the hell out of me with her acting ability. I hope she does well and doesn’t have all the problems that other child stars have. It’s also nice that there are a lot of extras and short screen time actors in this movie, but you only really follow 3 people without cutting away. It gives you lots of time to see and know them. And of course that frees up a lot of budget for special effects, which kick ass. One of the biggest guys I know said he realized he was about to start pulling his knees up to his chest. Now I think that’s good suspense for a movie that you know what’s going to happen.

What follows are spoilers. Highlight the text to view.

First of all you know that they will live in the end and the invaders will be stopped, big surprise. I think they did a good job of working around that. Some people complained about why the machines were buried for a million years. First of all, that is the unsubstantiated ranting of what can be described as a mentally unstable man, in the movie. In fact most of the machines could have arrived as late as 500 years ago, a lot even after that. They could have dropped several on San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake without notice. My guess at an explanation would be that they have very limited resources and so it took decades to build a machine and produce enough energy to send it to Earth. Therefore they needed to seed the earth for centuries with enough machines to ensure swift victory and to have a large enough ground force to make a transport facility. The machines were pretty mice. I like how they looked like the aliens themselves, 3 legs and toes, large ray shaped head, small hands under the small torso. Is it me or did their horn sound like a giant Wagner Power Painter? Were the things powered by people (he he Biodiesel) or was it was converting the organic mass of the people into a substance to help with the terraforming? I still think they died of Athlete’s Foot.

Overall I found it a thoroughly enjoyable summer movie. I know of at least one person that hated it, and thought it had too much running and was just a disaster movie. He also thought Wells wrote the book from an original radio transcript. Take his opinion as you will. My opinion says to go see the movie on the big screen. It’s worth a full price ticket and possibly a matinee viewing as well. I’d wait for the extended or special edition on DVD though. I expect nice extras.

Click for the rest of the rambling >>.