Category: Movies

Posted on

Mike Gravel

There’s been a lot of buzz with Mike Gravel and Ron Paul recently in the news. Both have been very controversial candidates and with big news outlets not allowing users to vote for either and actually deleting user comments that mention Ron Paul, people have been striking a storm over the net.

I first came across this video on Digg: Sen. Mike Gravel at SC Debates 04/26/07 – Former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska … Former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska won Best of Show at the Presidential Debate in South Carolina. http://petulantrumblings.com Full debate footage available at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18296908/

I’ve got to say, despite being a bit crazy, I really like this guy and his positions. From his website: Gravel 2008:

The War in Iraq
Immediate and orderly withdrawal of troops followed by aggressive diplomacy

Iran
Senator Gravel firmly opposes a military confrontation with Iran and advocates a diplomatic solution to the current situation.

National Initiative for Democracy
Empower Americans and turn every citizen into a lawmaker by enacting a national initiative.

A Fair Tax
Eliminate the income tax and replace it with a progressive national sales tax – Fair Tax.

Global Warming/Climate Change
We must reduce America’s carbon footprint in the world by passing legislation that caps emissions and improve energy efficiency while generating energy from low-carbon sources.

Universal Healthcare Vouchers
A National Health Care Voucher plan will provide health care for all Americans.

I’m shocked. I actually agree with every stance he has on the above issues. I personally think that income tax is unfair and if the government needs more money, it should raise sales taxes. Xyon and a couple of us has discussed this to some extent and if you search the web, you’ll noticed that the IRS has been unable to provide any evidence that supports income tax is legal. We’re just paying because they’re “big brother”.

I’m really starting to like this guy. Many say he doesn’t have a chance at office, but this is the first man that’s willing to stand out and say the truth. Others as he mentioned are just doing the political dance around the main issues.

Here’s an additional video that I really enjoyed: Mike Gravel for President! Straightening out the Media (from Digg) – All too brief example of speaking truth to media.

Random Crap:

2xav – a new comic from Below the Mean. Punchline: What have you been doing for the past 3 hours?! Watching 9 hours of lecture.

Spider-Man (Marvel) and Superman (DC) discuss the state of their respective film divisions in this take on the Mac/PC ads. Let me know what you think! These are some hilarious sketches done with Superman and Spider-Man action figures. They’re parodying the Mac ads which show PC on one side and Mac on the other. He’s made 4 additional videos which also introduce the Hulk and Batman:

Magicians sue over revealed tricks – A group of Japanese magicians sued TV broadcasters on Tuesday for revealing closely guarded secrets behind a series of coin tricks, a news report said. Forty-nine magicians are seeking $16,000 in damages from Nippon Television Network Corp. and TV Asahi Corp. for airing shows last year that revealed how magicians perform tricks involving coins, according to Kyodo News agency. Haha! Now they just have to prove that they own the tricks. ;p

Confused by your neighbours? Then Ask a Mexican! – Why do Mexicans use their car horns as a doorbell? Why is Mexican television so obsessed with dwarfs and transvestites? Why do they park their cars on the front lawn? Do Mexican children get tamales at Christmas so that they have something to unwrap? What is it about the word “illegal” that Mexicans don’t understand? The chances are that you will know the answers to some of these questions if you live in the United States and read the wickedly funny “Ask a Mexican!” column syndicated in more than a score of weekly newspapers across the country.

Good samaritan canoeists get $85 tickets – Canoeist Dennis Bohrn and his companions were stunned when they saw a woman jump off the Perrine Bridge, her body landing near them in the Snake River. Many in the group were crying by the time they managed to reach the woman and paddle her body to shore. So Bohrn was shocked when an officer walked up and instead of thanking or comforting the group last Sunday, wrote out a couple of $85 tickets for failing to have life jackets on board either of the two canoes.

Tiny terrier dies after saving 5 kids – A plucky Jack Russell terrier named George saved five children from two marauding pit bulls, but was so severely mauled in the fight that it had to be put down, its owner said Wednesday. That’s why dogs will always be greater than cats.

Scientists: Emergency resuscitation procedures may be the killing blow (from Deadlock) – Today’s life-saving techniques could be killing potential survivors, a Dr. Lance Becker from Pennsylvania suggests, in an article written by Newsweek’s own Jerry Adler. In an emergency room, in a desperate situation where paramedics are trying their hardest to get the flatlining patient’s heartbeat back, they might be doing more harm than good.

The real Computer Monster (from Consumerist) – Another great one from Henson and Oz. Parodying the Cookie Monster, this is the Computer Monster which eats electronic parts. Wait till the end for the surprise.

Posted on

Random Crap

15 ways stores trick you into spending (from Consumerist) – Ever notice how you can go to a store to pick up just one thing and then, by the time you get to the check stand, you have five or six things in your cart and a bigger bill than you had anticipated? The list is in my opinion pretty much common sense. That’s why retail stores are so much about will power and people who purchase online don’t often have this problem. Unless of course if you browse deal sites all day long. Like this weekend, I purchased a new KitchenAid knife set ($54 shipped), some software (make $13 after rebate shipped), leather case for my Canon PowerShot SD1000 ($21 shipped), a photo color printer (make $4 after rebate shipped). See why my wallet cries every night?

Woman ‘tricked into sex’ by penis cream treatment (from Digg) – A Syrian-born airline pilot allegedly tricked a schoolteacher from Haverfordwest into having sex with him by pretending he had to administer ointment on the end of his penis, a jury heard yesterday (Tuesday).

Gene explains why people are night owls – A genetic mutation called the “after-hours gene” may explain why some people are night owls, it is revealed in Science journal today. I so must have this gene! I’m typing this at 4:52am.

German thief betrays himself to get free beer – A German phone thief led police right to his front door when they called the stolen mobile to say he had won some free beer and he willingly gave his address.

Legendary ‘Hogzilla’ to hit big screen – Hogzilla, a near-mythical monster hog that roamed south Georgia, is about to get a little bigger.

hogzilla
That’s one giant hog!

Porn dominates Saudi mobile use (from Digg) – Up to 70% of files exchanged between Saudi teenagers’ mobile phones contain pornography, according to a study in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom.

Only another 5,500 calories to go … (from Digg) –

A Swedish university has replicated Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me junk food binge under lab conditions. The early results are surprising, says Marten Blomkvist.

…

Well, at one Swedish university, a group of students are getting the chance. At the University of Linköping, the Spurlock experience is being replicated under clinical conditions. In February, seven healthy medical students in their early 20s spent weeks stuffing themselves with hamburgers, pizzas, milk shakes and 200g bacon breakfasts – all on the university’s tab. A second group of subjects are just now hitting the junk food. Physical exercise is to be avoided. Bikes are out. To discourage walking even the shortest distance, free bus passes have been issued.

…

The students managed to gain between 5-15% extra weight over the month. They felt “tired and bloated”, especially during the first week, but there seemed to be no signs of the mood swings towards the end that the rather despondent Spurlock reported.

Final results from the questionnaires will be released at the end of the study. But judging from the provisional results, no one suffered anything like as much as Spurlock. One of the most shocking scenes in the film is when his three doctors urge him to abandon his experiment after getting the results of blood tests which show that his liver is so badly damaged it looks as though it is the result of heavy drinking – “You’re pickling your liver!”. While Nyström and his team also noted “significant” changes in the liver, relating to the liver enzyme levels in the blood, and the content of fat in the liver, the changes were “never even close to dangerous”.

Japanese patch measures pet stress – Wondering if your dog or cat is stressed? Just stick a special patch on the bottom of its paw and you’ll be able to tell, according to a Japanese company. Reminds me of those flat heat sensor things that measure your stress by the color it changes to when you put a finger on it.

Pipe cleaners are the new sexy (from Digg) – With that in mind, it’s no surprise that nobody put me in charge of the “Really Cool 3-D Video Game Pipe Cleaner Sculpture” department. Someone over at HumorMe has, thankfully, filled that spot. Those pipe cleaner models are actually pretty cute.

Indian groom too drunk to wed, so brother steps in – Villagers at a wedding in eastern India decided the groom had arrived too drunk to get married, and so the bride married the groom’s more sober brother instead, police said on Monday. … “The groom apologised for his behaviour, but has been crying that word will spread and he will never get a bride again,” Singh said by phone.

Feeling Cingular (from Consumerist) – Check out the Feeling Cingular music video. Watch as the tragic story of Feeling, the spurned Cingular customer, trying to find his missing, depressed speaker, Most Blown 2 after his other speaker Most Blown 1 was killed by Cingular/ATT’s GSM RF interference. Ever experience your speakers going tk tk tk tk when your cellphone is next to your speakers and is about to ring? Well, this guy made a pretty cool video of how his cellphone blew out his speakers.

Incredible monitor setups (from Derek) – So many LCDs! *drools*

The voice of Pikachu (from RayAlome) – this is awesome! The Japanese voice of Pikachu!!! She even sounds like Pikachu in real life!

9 things I learned about the world according to anonymous stock photo models. (from Digg) – The list is hilarious. The ones I enjoyed included:

  • Attempts to portray sincere parent/child relationships always seem creepy.
  • Kids love manual labor.
  • That one-handed, one-knee laptop bullshit is the preferred way to get real work done.
  • Random-ass white dudes should be placed all over your corporate website for no fucking reason. – Ungsunghero said instead of “ass”, it should be replaced by “douchey prick“

Inmates take swipe at toilet paper cuts – One side effect of the policy could be that toilet paper will become a new form of currency among inmates.

Duck penises show “arms race” between sexes – An exception is ducks — especially mallards. Although mallards pair off to mate, females are often raped by stray males. Yet studies show that these rapes do not pay off for the males. “Even in a species where 40 percent of the copulations are forced copulations, the ducklings still are mostly sired by the mates,” Brennan said. … What they found surprised them — corkscrew-shaped oviducts, with plenty of potential dead-ends. “Interestingly, the male phallus is also a spiral, but it twists in the opposite, counterclockwise, direction,” said Yale ornithologist Richard Prum in a statement. See what real duck genitals look like in this article: Duck genitals locked in arms race (from Digg).

Posted on

300

I finally got to see 300 and it was pretty awesome. If you didn’t know, 300 is another comic by Frank Miller, who also happened to be the one who drew Sin City. Anyway, I spoiled the ending of the movie by reading the Wikipedia entry on Leonidas even before the movie came out. Anyway, the movie was excellent and gory, but people’s complaint of the slow motion action was infact true. I think they overdid the dramatic effect a bit too much. The cinematography was amazing once again.

Official Site
IMDb: 7.9/10 (104,008 votes)
Yahoo! Movies: The Critics: B / Yahoo! Users: B+
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 61% / Average Rating: 6.2/10
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com DVD
Amazon.com Soundtrack
Amazon.com Comic
MY RATING: 7.5/10

300 movie poster300 movie poster300 movie poster300 movie poster300 movie poster300 movie poster300 movie poster300 movie poster300 movie poster300 movie poster

Spoilers: (Show)

Posted on

Sherbert vs Sorbet

The other weekend at Bellevue Square, Stanman, Saran, Carolyn and I were discussing about ice cream, which ended up either Stanman or I bringing up ordering Rainbow Sherbet at Thrifty (before they got bought by Rite-Aid). Rainbow Sherbet has been and still is my favorite ice cream flavor (I think…). Anyway, we got to the point where we were debating how to pronounce sherbet and what sherbet really was.

When I was small, I called sherbet, well sher-bet or sher-bert, but then I learnt the word sorbet (pronounced sor-bay), so I thought, maybe that’s how you pronounce it (i.e. sher-bay). Others chimed in that sherbet was a derivation of sorbet (but pronounced differently) or that it was just another way of spelling sorbet and are in fact the same thing.

Then I mentioned that sherbet wasn’t really ice cream because it didn’t contain any milk (needed for the cream part of ice cream), but Stanman argued that it was an ice cream and does in fact contain milk. I’ve always associated sherbets with frozen fruit juices and they don’t really taste like they contain any type of milk in them. I mean when I get a “dream” smoothie from Jamba Juice, those taste like it has milk.

According to Merriam-Webster, the correct pronunciation is sher-bet, with a variant: sher-bert.

Anyway, thank god for Wikipedia: Sherbet (U.S.)

Sherbet (often pronounced and even occasionally spelled sherbert in American English) is a frozen dessert made from iced sweetened fruit juice or puree. Sherbets usually have more ingredients, such as milk, egg whites, or gelatin, than sorbets, which are generally made from iced fruit puree and other ingredients. Sherbet in the United States must have a milkfat content between 1% and 2%, and a slightly higher sweetener content than ice cream; else, it must be sold as ice cream if the fat content is higher or sweetener content lower, ice milk if milk or sweetener content is lower, or as sorbet if no milk is present at all. American sherbets have a minimum density of 6 lb/gal (720 g/L) and are flavored either with fruit or other ingredients.

There you have it. Sherbet does in fact contain milk, but is not ice cream due to the lower milkfat content and the higher sweetener content.

Random Crap:

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader – Larry pledge (from SueOn) – Contestant Larry gets confused on a 1st Grade Grammar question.

Mathematicians set Chinese test – Maths enthusiasts are being challenged to answer a sample question from Chinese university entrance tests. The Chinese math entrance exam is actually quite difficult. I was able to solve i and ii, but iii has been giving me trouble. Plus my math skills are still rather rusty. On the other hand, the English Math test was a joke.

‘Kryptonite’ discovered in mine (from Digg) – Kryptonite is no longer just the stuff of fiction feared by caped superheroes. A new mineral matching its unique chemistry – as described in the film Superman Returns – has been identified in a mine in Serbia.

Police: Thief tries to trade stolen Jeep – A Bridgeport man has been arrested after he tried to trade in a Jeep to a car dealer, a month after allegedly stealing the same Jeep from that same dealer, police said.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Sprite Comparison (from Digg) – Man, Ryu has never looked so slick! French website Gamekult has posted this “confidential” slide from a Capcom press conference showing a comparison between the original SSFII Ryu sprites scaled up to HD resolution and what the new HD sprites will look like. What a difference, eh? If the other characters and backgrounds look as good as this one (which one naturally assumes they will), this will be one of the must have games on XBLA and well worth the MS points to purchase it. The evolution of Ryu!

Exclusive Cakes You’ve Never Seen (from Digg) – “It is sweet miracle cake, a piece of childhood in a serious adult world. All you need is to blow out a candle and make a wish. Cakes are very different, but made with sincerity and therefore loved.” Enjoy. These custom cakes look awesome.

Man cuts off penis in restaurant – A man cut off his penis with a knife in a packed London restaurant.

The Most Expensive Movies Ever Made (from Digg) – interesting list. Read the story here.

The Most Excruciatingly Painful, Yet Typical, Customer Service Call Ever – I was listening to a call recording from our Service Quality Tracker, and the call was so ordinary, yet pointless, that I was inspired to create some video commentary.

Suspected robber flushes money in toilet – Deputies with a search warrant removed the toilet from its plumbing and found shredded U.S. currency in the toilet trap, Swanson said. I’m actually curious. Since it’s confirmed that the $50,000 stolen was shredded and flushed down the toilet, does the bank get the money back, in the form of new bills or depositing electronically into their account?

CalTV: UC Berkeley’s Online TV Station (from MS newsgroup) – sounds like the cal press has gone video.

WordPress Theme Generator (from Digg) – This online generator creates your own custom unique WordPress Theme. Without any need for HTML, JS, PHP, or CSS knowledge. Change the colors, settings, layout, preview live, click “save” and download your unique WordPress theme zip-file. Extract, upload, set, and you are done! If you have any questions or need additions email me. Interesting… I haven’t had time to play with it yet, but let me know what you think about it.

GH2 – Dead! – XBOX360 – Expert (8 Years Old) (from Digg) – Guitar Hero II – XBox 360 – Dead! – My high score is 259,820

Cities plagued by rodents, emergency declared – The rodent population in six Peruvian regions has ballooned due to unusual weather patterns and the government declared a state of emergency on Tuesday to control the plague, including in the capital city, Lima.

Posted on

The Illusionist

Just saw this movie. This movie came out at the same time The Prestige, and since both were magician movies, I had opted to watch The Prestige with Christian Bale instead. But I’ve heard good things about The Illusionist so I finally decided to see what type of magic movie it was. I would have to say, the movie was somewhat easy to predict, though there were still some that I didn’t get.

Official Site
IMDb: 7.7/10 (31,377 votes)
Yahoo! Movies: The Critics: B / Yahoo! Users: B+
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 75% / Average Rating: 7/10
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com DVD
Amazon.com Soundtrack
MY RATING: 7.5/10

the illusionist posterthe illusionist posterthe illusionist poster

Spoilers: (Show)

Posted on

Random Crap

Experience the hardest Mario ever (no fluffing required!) (from Ungsunghero) – If you are ever in a situation where your little sister complains about a Mario game being too hard, please just slap her and show her this video. Created by a random somebody in Taiwan (my vote is for escaped mental patient), this Mario mod is like a sick work of art. Granted, I would most likely give up after about one minute, but the sadomasochist inside of me wants to play it to death until I complete it. I mean, seriously, beating this would give you the ultimate video game bragging rights. I don’t even think Lucas would stand a chance. This is the ultimate Super Mario Bros. level. You can also watch the version with commentary: Super Mario Bros: Frustration, which makes it a whole lot funnier. He does cuss a lot, so be warned. I love the hidden coin blocks which just so conveniently blocks many of his jumps causing Mario to fall to his death. Once you get to level 2, it starts getting really repetitive, so you might as well stop watching it. Both Ungsunghero and I noticed that he could have actually jumped to the top of the ceiling during one of tries. Ungsunghero theorizes that if he did it, it’d take him to the warp zone. I wonder if I could get ahold of this game and give it a try. I would however actually need to have quick state save.

Ipod saves Soldier’s Life (from MS newsgroup) – I have talked to Kevin and he has told me the real story of getting shot in the iPod. The Armor stopped the bullet. Kevin didn’t know he was shot. The iPod was how he found out. The full story: iPod tells soldier he was shot – the real story

Joke from MS newsgroup:

Two guys were speeding along in their beat up old pick-up. They approach a red light and the driver blasts right through. The passenger, startled, exclaims “that was a red light!” The driver turns to him and says, “don’t worry, my brother runs red lights all the time”. The passenger replies, “oh, okay”. They come up to the next light screeching to a halt. The passenger again startled exclaims “it is green, go!” The driver replies, “what are you crazy, my brother could be coming the other way”.

Someone replies: That’s not a joke, that’s driving in New Delhi 🙂

Cal Dining wins the Oscar of eateries (from MS newsgroup) – Chez Panisse, French Laundry, Spago, Charlie Trotters … and Cal Dining? That’s right. Berkeley’s campus dining service recently earned its place among these much-lauded establishments when it snagged (as the others have in the past) a prestigious Ivy Award. Given by the trade publication Restaurants & Institutions, Ivy Awards — the equivalent of Oscars for the food industry — recognize excellence in food service by restaurants, hotels, and institutions. Industry peers (and the previous year’s winners) submit nominations, a ballot is assembled, and the magazine’s 154,000 readers vote for their selections. What happened!?!?! The Dining Commons back when I was there was horrible!

Gates vs. Jobs (from Digg) – Bill Gates and Steve Jobs square off in the clean white virtual world of the iconic Mac ads. The voice of Bill Gates reminds me of Kermit the Frog.

spiderman 3 speed painting in photoshop 7 (from FuzzyWuzzy) – great paint session in photoshop 7! four hours in three minutes. music by Danny Elfman, spiderman’s sountrack composer. Wow! This drawing is amazing!

So I mentioned nightmares the other day to Ungsunghero and he replied back, don’t you mean daymares, which got me thinking what the etymology of the word nightmare is. I mean the word night is simple, since it just refers to it occurring at night (most people sleep at night and have nightmares I guess), but does mare (by itself refers to a female horse) mean bad dream? According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, mare refers to goblin that causes nightmares.

Jack Bauer, Dammit! (from Digg) – Students would like Bauer to run for president in ‘08 because first of all, he’s better than anyone else trying to get nominated, and second of all, he helps students relax. Every time he says, “Dammit,” someone lifts a brew in his honor. As proof, check out the Jack Bauer Dammit video, if you haven’t already. Haha! A 24 drinking.

13 Little Things That Make A Geek Happy (from Digg) – The list is pretty accurate. Things I totally agree with include:

  • Someone submits something I wrote to digg.
  • A new referrer pops up
  • Someone posts a real comment on one of my blog entries.
  • My code works perfectly on the first try.
  • Technorati and Alexa Ranking that increases each week.

Errol Morris: Commercials (from Consumerist) – a bunch of amusing Miller High Life commercials. Reminds me of the Real Men of Genius commercials from BudLight.

Gentlemen, rate yourselves: cucumber or banana? – Singapore’s Society for Men’s Health and a pharmaceutical firm are proposing a four-point scale for erectile dysfunction, allowing men to rate their own hardness with four categories: cucumber, unpeeled banana, peeled banana and tofu (bean curd).

Posted on

Letters From Iwo Jima & Flags Of Our Fathers

So I just finished watching Clint Eastwood’s 2 latest movies which I found out recently that they were meant to tell the same story, but from 2 different perspectives. Both are about the battle of Iwo Jima, but Letters From Iwo Jima was the story from the Japanese perspectives and Flags Of Our Fathers was from the American perspective. I thought both movies were done really well, and the message conveyed from both movies are rather different, yet feel the same.

Letters From Iwo Jima
Official Site
IMDb: 8.1/10 (9,924 votes)
Yahoo! Movies: The Critics: A- / Yahoo! Users: B+
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 91% / Average Rating: 8.2/10
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com DVD
Amazon.com Soundtrack
Amazon.com HD DVD
Amazon.com Blu-Ray
MY RATING: 8/10

letters from iwo jima posterletters from iwo jima posterletters from iwo jima posterletters from iwo jima posterletters from iwo jima posterletters from iwo jima posterletters from iwo jima poster

Flags Of Our Fathers
Official Site
IMDb: 7.2/10 (14,102 votes)
Yahoo! Movies: The Critics: B+ / Yahoo! Users: B
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 73% / Average Rating: 7/10
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com DVD
Amazon.com HD DVD
Amazon.com Blu-Ray
MY RATING: 7/10

flags of our fathers poster

There’s really not much spoilers to these movies as they’re based on an actual events and we already know the outcome. Letters From Iwo Jima is shot almost completely in Japanese and attempts to reflect the view of the Japanese during the war time. The Japanese were a very proud race and they would rather suicide honorably when they’ve lost instead of begging for mercy from the enemy. It was suppose to be “an honor” to serve and die for the country, yet like us, many of them also have fear of going to war and never coming home. Their views of American soldiers were that we were pigs and barbaric like. Led by a great general, they have resorted to hiding in the mountains and what was supposed to be a couple day battle led on to last over a month. The story follows an ex-owner of a bakery who tries his best to survive in order to see his daughter which was born after he had left to prepare for war.

Letters From Iwo Jima mostly takes place on the island itself from the preparation of the battle to the end of the battler. Flags Of Our Fathers is a bit different in that it mashes 2 story lines together. The focus of this movie was on the photograph of the 6 men who had lifted the flag and stuck it in Iwo Jima. This story follows a corporal who was a medic for his platoon. The story goes back and forth between the battle grounds as the remaining heroes tour the country asking people to buy bonds. They message from this movie is that these are just regular people and not really heroes as we put them to be.

While watching Pumpkin Scissors, they talked about a secret unit which utilized flame throwers, and due to the inhumanness of burning enemies to death and the fact the soldiers who operated flame throwers for long periods of time suffered burns and problems in themselves, the project was scrapped. I recalled in WW2 movies that flame throwers were used and they’re actually quite effective. When I sawed them used in these movies, it got me thinking, are they banned now or did we just decide to stop using them. According to Wikipedia: Flamethrowers have not been in the U.S. arsenal since 1978, when the Department of Defense unilaterally stopped using them, because of public opinion concerns that found their use inhumane, although they are not banned in any international treaty the U.S. has signed. Thus, the US decision to remove flamethrowers from its arsenal is entirely voluntary. The USA Army does, however, use the M202A1 FLASH, a rocket launcher with four triethylaluminum-packed warheads.

Posted on

Peaceful Warrior

Didn’t really have much expectations in regards to this movie when I first watched the trailer. Looked like an interesting feel good movie, and that was what it was. I personally thought the story was pretty good and the cinematography was excellent. They did a really good job with the slow motion effects (nothing spectacular, but it fit the story nicely). Plus the fact that this was shot at UC Berkeley (tons of free advertising for Cal). w00t! There were couple places I didn’t recognize, but oh well, maybe I’ll try to find it next time I visit.

I do have to say, the trailer had misguided me quite a bit. The storyline did not flow as I had expected it to according to the trailer. Also there were scenes that were intertwined with dialog that occurred much later on.

Official Site
IMDb: User Rating: 7.0/10
Yahoo! Movies: The Critics: C+ / Yahoo! Users: B-
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 21% / Average Rating: 4.6/10
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com Soundtrack
Amazon.com Book
MY RATING: 6.5/10

peaceful warrior poster

Spoilers: (Show)

Posted on

Random Crap

Funny or Die (from Ars) – Comedian Will Ferrell and partner Adam McKay quietly launched their newest contribution to the pool of ever-growing video sites last week, called FunnyorDie.com, which allows users to upload their own comedy videos to the site to be voted on by other viewers. FunnyorDie functions more or less like the other video sites already in existence, except with one key difference: the votes determine whether the videos stay on the main site, where they are categorized, or whether they get banished to “The Crypt.”

Only 244 copies of Genuine Windows Vista sold in China (from /.) – Microsoft spent millions of dollars advertising its next generation OS ‘Windows Vista’ in China, in fact the IT juggernaut threw up the biggest Vista Ad on the 421 meter high Jin Mao tower in Shanghai China. However after 2 weeks (Jan 19 to Feb 2) from launch Microsoft managed to sell a mere 244 copies of Windows Vista. Software piracy is rampant in the middle kingdom and a pirated version of Vista sells for a mere $1 on the streets. The following numbers are quoted by Windows Vista chief distributor in Bejing.

Oh, and I’m supposed to take the ring back, too… – Bernd Dressler, who charges 50 euros ($68) to tell people they have been dumped, says he has helped end 200 relationships in the last 11 months.

Russia trains seals for submarine defence – Russian marine biologists are training seals to defend the country’s fleet of nuclear submarines, the Izvestia newspaper reported on Tuesday. Haha! Reminds me of those Warner Bros. cartoons back in the day.

Wisconsin law hinders lewd library case – A law protecting library records’ confidentiality has hamstrung officials pursuing a man who reportedly masturbated among the books at the Neenah Public Library earlier this month. City Attorney James Godlewski said the library can’t turn a surveillance video of the man over to police without a court order.

Elephant dung helps scientists develop new biofuel – Scientists in the Netherlands have discovered a fungus in elephant dung that will help them break down fibres and wood into biofuel. Bioethanol firms currently extract sugars from crops like grains and sugar beet, but some are developing technologies to extract energy from fibre such as wheat bran, straw or wood.

Semi driver checks on doughnuts, crashes – A semi driver whose truck rolled on its side, dumping a load of specialty sunflower seeds, says it happened when he tried to check on a couple of doughnuts. Doughnuts! They’re EVIL!!!

Jack Thompson Blames VaTech on Bill Gates (from Ungsunghero) –

‘Several Korean youths who knew Cho Seung Hui from his high school days said he was a fan of violent video games, particularly Counterstrike, a hugely popular online game published by Microsoft, in which players join terrorism or counterterrorism groups and try to shoot each other using all types of guns.’

Mr. Gates, your company is potentially legally liable the [sic] harm done at Virginia Tech. Your game, a killing simulator, according to the news that used to be in the Post, trained him to enjoy killing and how to kill.

Despite what crazy J.T. claims, Counter Strike (or Half Life) is created by Valve, not Microsoft. However, apparently Microsoft did “publish” the Xbox version. Thompson Targets Microsoft in Latest Crusade (from Ungsunghero) –

Unfortunately, there are at least two glaring issues to be found in Thompson’s latest letter. First, as mentioned earlier, The Washington Post article referenced by Thompson has since been edited to remove any references to Counterstrike and any other video game. Second, while Microsoft did publish the Xbox version of Counterstrike, the game was originally developed by Valve Software, with Vivendi Universal handling the publication of the game on the PC.

WaPo writer talks VT shooter/Counter-Strike connection, removal (from FuzzyWuzzy) – Apparently the mention of Counter Strike was from Washington Post and friends mentioned they saw him playing at a cybercafe. I’m assuming it’s a PC version since most cybercafes do PCs and CounterStrike is really a PC game. Roommates in college said they never recall him playing video games on his computer.

ロボットに変形するNIKEシューズ (from Angelus) – The Japanese there translates to Robot Transforming Nike Shoes. I wonder if you can actually wear these Transformer shoes.
transformer nike shoes

SAVENETRADIO… Please join us! (from Consumerist) – I hope you’ll join us. To add your voice to this movement, please take a minute to sign the PETITION urging your representatives in congress to act at the new website Savenetradio.org. RIAA is going to raise fees, and services such as Pandora won’t be able to survive. Contact your congressmen via the Petition and make them do the right thing.

Food delivery gone bad (from Angelus) – One of the crazy scene from “Resurrection of the little match girl” Edit: Let me explain, this guy came to this company to deliver jajang noodles, the receiptionist answer rudly and told him off as no ones even order takeout while a guy in the background laugh. At the end, he says that he remember his voice from over the phone. The song playing in the background is the English version of SES – Dreams Come True.

Grayson (from RayAlome) – John Fiorella adaptation of DC comics… John Fiorella adaptation of DC comics Robin. Fan made trailer about the death of Batman and the Boy Wonder’s search for the truth. Wow! This trailer/film was amazing! If you didn’t know, Robin’s (from Batman and Robin) real name is Dick Drayson. It’s also been said that Superman protects New York during the day and Batman protect Gotham City (also representative of New York) at night. Superman actually appears in this video, as well as Wonder Woman, Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Cat Woman, etc.

TypingMania 4 (from FuzzyWuzzy) – Remember Typing of the Dead game, where you have to type fast enough for your gun to kill the Zombies. Well, this game is similar where you have to type the romanji or words of these songs. Extremely difficult.

floppy disk on fridge
Floppy Disk on Fridge (from SueOn) – The note says: Hello Dear, I found the disk you were so frantically looking for yesterday.

Posted on

Rocky Balboa

I had very low expectations for this movie, given that Sylvester Stallone is already 60 years old. He actually looks pretty bad in the movie, age wise, though one heck of an acting skill he’s obtained. When I heard hew was going to be making a new Rambo and Rocky movie, it just felt like he ran out of money and needed to take advantage of these 2 franchise to make some more. But I was surprised how well this movie was done and I only watched after several friends gave their recommendations.

Official Site
IMDb: 7.4/10 (27,249 votes)
Yahoo! Movies: The Critics: B / Yahoo! Users: B
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 76% / Average Rating: 6.6/10
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com Blu-Ray
Amazon.com DVD
MY RATING: 6.5/10

rocky balboa posterrocky balboa poster

Spoilers: (Show)

I did notice there were a bunch of advertisements/product placement. There were the ones related to boxing like Everlast, but then there was Mandalay Bay, HBO, and even GoldenPalace.com on the breasts of those round girls (or whatever you call those girls that walk around with the current round number signs). The actual boxing ring also had their big logo (GoldenPalace.com) imprinted in the center.