My brother was home from school and work yesterday, so we watched Star Wars:Revenge Of The Sith.
How do you assemble a cast that includes Ewan McGregor, Sam Jackson, and Natalie Portman, and then end up with the Special Olympics of bad acting. It's terrible, absolutely painful to watch. Nevermind that the dialogue is so amazingly bad it seems like it was written for the Power Rangers. Everything is "More power!" this and "dark side!" that. Every third line, I swear. The only thing they didn't do was name their lightsabers and shout out the color when they drew them.
And now I watch A New Hope, and it's nearly as bad.
I respect Star Wars as important cinema landmarks, but how on earth did it achieve that status?
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Facepalm
Saw an example last night of the behavior that is destroying this country.
Guy (30-40s) comes into our store, he's ordered a movie. He asks me to hold it for longer than the regular 2 weeks. Seems his unemployment claims are being investigated, and he won't have the cash to buy the movie for a couple of weeks. He'd have the cash now, but he just borrowed $168 dollars from his dad to pay for his cellphone bill (he had a RAZR, I have no idea how in the HELL you rack up $168 on one of those, I used to sell them).
While he's in our store, he orders another $27 movie.
You're in debt, you don't have a job. What do you do? Don't cancel your cellphone, cut your spending and look for a job. No, borrow to pay off your superfluous technology, buy crap you don't need, and bitch about the taxpayers not coughing up your government cheese fast enough.
If you don't have a bad attitude right now, you're not paying attention.
Guy (30-40s) comes into our store, he's ordered a movie. He asks me to hold it for longer than the regular 2 weeks. Seems his unemployment claims are being investigated, and he won't have the cash to buy the movie for a couple of weeks. He'd have the cash now, but he just borrowed $168 dollars from his dad to pay for his cellphone bill (he had a RAZR, I have no idea how in the HELL you rack up $168 on one of those, I used to sell them).
While he's in our store, he orders another $27 movie.
You're in debt, you don't have a job. What do you do? Don't cancel your cellphone, cut your spending and look for a job. No, borrow to pay off your superfluous technology, buy crap you don't need, and bitch about the taxpayers not coughing up your government cheese fast enough.
If you don't have a bad attitude right now, you're not paying attention.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Fast And Furious
Someday, movie reviewers will look back and say that the Fast And Furious movies were too our generation what Don Johnson's Miami Vice was to the last: Good, dumb entertainment. Beautiful women, fast cars, explosions, gun play, and a pointless plot to tie it all together.
Vin Diesel, unfortunately, is not the unknown he was in the original movie. He doesn't play Dominic Toretto in FAF, he plays Vin Diesel in FAF. He was the shining star of the classic TFATF, and he just can't pull it off in the new one. He's still good, but he's not his character.
It's worth watching, just for that dumb, over-the-top fun factor.
Vin Diesel, unfortunately, is not the unknown he was in the original movie. He doesn't play Dominic Toretto in FAF, he plays Vin Diesel in FAF. He was the shining star of the classic TFATF, and he just can't pull it off in the new one. He's still good, but he's not his character.
It's worth watching, just for that dumb, over-the-top fun factor.
Watchmen
Good movie. Not great, but good. The characters are all quite unlikeable in some way, even the greatest anti-hero of all, the finger-breaking Rorschach.
Good comic book adaptation too. Sometimes they duplicate panels out of the book, which is an impressive feat.
And no, the blue nudity does not ruin the movie.
Good comic book adaptation too. Sometimes they duplicate panels out of the book, which is an impressive feat.
And no, the blue nudity does not ruin the movie.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Shooty Goodness
Twice now out to the range, this Thursday and last.
Last week I took a friend, Paul Nelson, Jim Doyle, and my built battle rifle. The battle rifle did a decent job at 50 yards (which is the only distance I'm shooting rifles at now). At 15 yards, my friend and Paul Nelson kept all the rounds on a sheet of printer paper, and I chewed the left center out of another sheet with the USPc9.
This week was just .22s and 12ga. Another friend chewed the center out of the target at 50 yards with the bolt action .22, while I kicked up a LOT of dust and made few holes with an ancient Marlin semi-auto.
A Browning Buckmark was our only pistol and once we figured out how the sights were regulated, we were shooting quarter sized groups at 15 yards.
Then we just went out and blasted with the 12ga.
Lots of fun. My friends are getting more and more serious about owning firearms too.
Last week I took a friend, Paul Nelson, Jim Doyle, and my built battle rifle. The battle rifle did a decent job at 50 yards (which is the only distance I'm shooting rifles at now). At 15 yards, my friend and Paul Nelson kept all the rounds on a sheet of printer paper, and I chewed the left center out of another sheet with the USPc9.
This week was just .22s and 12ga. Another friend chewed the center out of the target at 50 yards with the bolt action .22, while I kicked up a LOT of dust and made few holes with an ancient Marlin semi-auto.
A Browning Buckmark was our only pistol and once we figured out how the sights were regulated, we were shooting quarter sized groups at 15 yards.
Then we just went out and blasted with the 12ga.
Lots of fun. My friends are getting more and more serious about owning firearms too.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
More Much Needed Humor
The old priest lay dying in the hospital. For years he had faithfully served the people of the nation's capital. He motioned for his nurse to come near.
"Yes, Father?" said the nurse. "I would really like to see Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi before I die", whispered the priest. "I'll see what I can do, Father" replied the nurse.
The nurse sent the request to them and waited for a response. Soon the word arrived. Harry and Nancy would be delighted to visit the priest. As they went to the hospital, Harry commented to Nancy "I don't know why the old priest wants to see us, but it will certainly help our images." Nancy couldn't help but agree.
When they arrived at the priest's room, the priest took Nancy's hand in his right hand and Harry's hand in his left. There was silence and a look of serenity on the old priest's face.
Finally Nancy spoke. "Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?"
The old priest slowly replied, "I have always tried to pattern my life after my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
The old priest continued...
"He died between two lying thieves. I would like to do the same."
"Yes, Father?" said the nurse. "I would really like to see Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi before I die", whispered the priest. "I'll see what I can do, Father" replied the nurse.
The nurse sent the request to them and waited for a response. Soon the word arrived. Harry and Nancy would be delighted to visit the priest. As they went to the hospital, Harry commented to Nancy "I don't know why the old priest wants to see us, but it will certainly help our images." Nancy couldn't help but agree.
When they arrived at the priest's room, the priest took Nancy's hand in his right hand and Harry's hand in his left. There was silence and a look of serenity on the old priest's face.
Finally Nancy spoke. "Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?"
The old priest slowly replied, "I have always tried to pattern my life after my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
The old priest continued...
"He died between two lying thieves. I would like to do the same."
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Some Much Needed Humor
A cowboy named Bud was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in California when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.
The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, 'If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, Will you give me a calf?'
Bud looks a t the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, 'Sure, Why not?'
The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.
The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg , Germany
Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses an MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.
Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, 'You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.'
'That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves,' says Bud.
He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.
Then the Bud says to the young man, 'Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?'
The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, 'Okay, why not?'
'You're a Congressman for the U.S. Government', says Bud.
'Wow! That's correct,' says the yuppie, 'but how did you guess that?'
'No guessing required.' answered the cowboy. 'You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows...this is a
herd of sheep. ..
Now give me back my dog."
The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, 'If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, Will you give me a calf?'
Bud looks a t the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, 'Sure, Why not?'
The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.
The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg , Germany
Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses an MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.
Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, 'You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.'
'That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves,' says Bud.
He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.
Then the Bud says to the young man, 'Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?'
The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, 'Okay, why not?'
'You're a Congressman for the U.S. Government', says Bud.
'Wow! That's correct,' says the yuppie, 'but how did you guess that?'
'No guessing required.' answered the cowboy. 'You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows...this is a
herd of sheep. ..
Now give me back my dog."
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
More Camel In The Tent
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/04/01/235493/us-to-enforce-cyber-security-in-private-companies.htm
The US government could gain powers to enforce cyber-security standards in private companies for the first time under new laws designed to dramatically step-up the US cyber-defences.
Legislation expected to be introduced in the US Senate today will extend the US government's cyber-security programme from military networks to private systems used to control critical infrastructure such as electricity and water, The Washington Post reports.
The legislation calls for the appointment of a White House cyber-security "czar" with the authority to shut down both government and private computer networks during a cyber-attack, according to officials interviewed by the paper.
The news comes following disclosures of the extent of cyber-espionage activities of Chinese hackers against western governments.
Research by a Canadian security group has revealed that the Chinese operation, dubbed GhostNet, infiltrated more than 1,000 computers in more than 100 countries.
US Intelligence officials have warned that a major attack on private computer networks could compromise systems used by banks, utilities and transport networks, causing social and economic panic.
The US has begun a 60 day review of its defences against cyber-attacks.
---------------------------------------
What is scarier? Chinese viruses running amok in our computers, or government officials running amok with the power to commandeer computer networks?
I'd like to know if private networks include the networks of private citizens. Also, for how long are they going to be authorized to shut down the networks, and what exactly constitutes such an emergency that they'd be authorized to do this.
Maybe my tinfoil's just a little too tight today, but the idea of the government shutting down the "backbone" because of imminent rumblings of revolution seems like a likely possibility down the road.
The US government could gain powers to enforce cyber-security standards in private companies for the first time under new laws designed to dramatically step-up the US cyber-defences.
Legislation expected to be introduced in the US Senate today will extend the US government's cyber-security programme from military networks to private systems used to control critical infrastructure such as electricity and water, The Washington Post reports.
The legislation calls for the appointment of a White House cyber-security "czar" with the authority to shut down both government and private computer networks during a cyber-attack, according to officials interviewed by the paper.
The news comes following disclosures of the extent of cyber-espionage activities of Chinese hackers against western governments.
Research by a Canadian security group has revealed that the Chinese operation, dubbed GhostNet, infiltrated more than 1,000 computers in more than 100 countries.
US Intelligence officials have warned that a major attack on private computer networks could compromise systems used by banks, utilities and transport networks, causing social and economic panic.
The US has begun a 60 day review of its defences against cyber-attacks.
---------------------------------------
What is scarier? Chinese viruses running amok in our computers, or government officials running amok with the power to commandeer computer networks?
I'd like to know if private networks include the networks of private citizens. Also, for how long are they going to be authorized to shut down the networks, and what exactly constitutes such an emergency that they'd be authorized to do this.
Maybe my tinfoil's just a little too tight today, but the idea of the government shutting down the "backbone" because of imminent rumblings of revolution seems like a likely possibility down the road.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)