bortz65

213th entry: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season One Notes

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:22:53 GMT

Just watched the Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season One DVD's and it was surprisingly good (especially considering how bland the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie was.) One of the interesting things they do is each episode can feature different characters so one episode might be Yoda teaching Clone troopers and the next could have Padme and Jar Jar on a diplomatic mission (yes, sorry to say Jar Jar makes occasional appearances.) Plus, some characters that just had cameos in the films are fleshed out a little bit. The CGI animation can be really beautiful on occasion with some of the lightsaber battles looking real cool. There are extras for each episode that explain story development and who various characters are so if you don't know Aayla Secura from Aurra Sing you can see where they fit into the Star Wars universe.

212th entry: Used Up

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:20:43 GMT

One of my facebook friends commented on someone else's picture and it showed up on my facebook and I looked at it and saw it was a girl I knew in high school. Man, I remember this girl in high school she was very pretty. She didn't have much of a personality I could relate to, but she was Fine. I can still see her in my mind's eye at a street fair wearing a tight blue and white stripped top tossing for bottles. Just beautiful. I saw her a few years after high school and even then she was starting to wear out. The thin trim beauty was gone. It went fast, by then she'd had a couple kids and was not fat but fatish. I could hardly believe it. Still looking at the pictures on the web I don't really recognize her. Her long straight hair is gone and done up in a MOM hairstyle old ladies wear and she looks used up. It really bums me out.

211th entry: Writer's Block: Forgive and forget?

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:03:16 GMT

Do you tend to forgive and forget or hold grudges? What is the longest you've ever stayed angry with someone? Is there anything the other person could say or do to win back your friendship and trust?

View 1516 Answers

In all my life I can't remember anyone asking me to forgive them for any serious bad behavior toward me. I would if they asked me, but the real problem is I remember any serious slight for the rest of my life and it colors any future interaction with that person. Even today there's this one girl I love and adore who really kinda hurt me I'd forgive her in an instant, but she's not asking for that. Everyday I wonder how to fix this and a friend advised me to do nothing. So everyday I do nothing and everyday it injures me in some weird way. I'm driven to repair this kind of stuff. Maybe Someday. . . (as The Cure song goes.)

210th entry: Movie Guilty Pleasures

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:30:37 GMT

I was reading a magazine where various editors chose their favorite guilty pleasure movies and I was struck how good some of the movies were; I mean two different people chose the animated Beauty and the Beast!! Come on, people really. . . Beauty and the Beast that's a great movie. I thought the idea was to pick something that was bad, but you still love watching it anyway. People also picked: Mary Poppins, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit Ummm. . .Nothing wrong with those pictures. Some of the other pics people chose while the films have flaws they are still worth watching without guilt: Ladyhawk, Somewhere in Time, Excalabur, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Well, maybe Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but I always thought the music lifted the film a bit.

So what is my guilty pleasure I hear you asking (all 2 of you.) Okay, after much thought I finally settled on Lifeforce I can see where it's not great. Basically, the movie is about space vampires that live off the life energy of people instead of blood. The editing and timeline of the film jump all over the place and the vampire creatures look really fake, but when it's on I'm sitting right there watching every crappy minute of it. I think it's mostly due to the natural talents of the lovely Mathilda May. She's very sexy and very naked throughout most of the picture.

I always laugh whenever I watch the MI5 (aka Spooks) television series and see Colin Firth since his character in Lifeforce could easily have changed his name and started working with MI5 to become the Spooks character. Hey, Lifeforce even has a pre-Star Trek: TNG Patrick Stewart in a small role. Hmmm. . .I think I know what I'm watching tonight.

209th entry: Surrogates

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:22:47 GMT

There is an argument out there that technology, despite the fact that it connects us all over the world, can tend to isolate us. We can spend days on the internet interacting with people on the other side of the globe, yet never talk to anyone at all when we do something as simple as going to the grocery store. That's the idea Surrogates explores.

The first problem with Surrogates is the title which conjures up the idea that it's about couples trying to conceive children and all the problems it brings up. But, no, the hook for the movie is people have these personal robots that they can experience life through without ever physically going into the real world. The robots can look like the real person or be totally different, sometimes switching races, ages or genders. You never really know who's living through the robot. Then someone figures out a way to kill the robot in such a way that it creates a feedback that kills the operator. Bruce Willis as FBI agent Tom Greer steps in and tries to figure out how to stop him which turns into a bigger conspiracy.

I'd talk about the acting here, but this whole movie pretty much rests on Bruce Willis. Bruce does what he does best: he gets beat up a whole bunch and despite some major physical fights never seems to sweat the damage. Sure, he carries some scratches throughout the movie, but somehow never gets hurt so bad he can't do his job.

Most of the CGI effects are subtle and aren't really noticeable, like the way the Robots skin seems to glow and looks slightly off. The practical effects like a helicopter crash and chases are well done with some CGI tweaking of the robots so they appear to be able to do incredible leaps and take a lot of damage.

The big problem with Surrogates is the conspiracy and the main villain doesn't make a lot of sense. It's okay and does drive the movie, but there is some real problems with its believability. Despite that, the movie does have a core idea that technology can create problems connecting with other people that worth thinking about.

208th entry: Sad Puppy

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:46:37 GMT

I was talking with someone the other day and toward the end of the conversation she said I seemed like a "Sad Puppy." Oh geez, I don't see myself that way at all, but I wanted to talk about her sister (Kelly) but couldn't figure out how to bring it up and it must have showed on my face more than I realized. Sometimes when I'm relaxed and around people I enjoy talking to my emotions are more apparent than I realize. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but a "Sad Puppy?" Wow, That's not me. I project a different guy then that (if I'm paying attention) but I have to acknowledge communication about the things that are really important to me can be frustrating.

207th entry: The Prof, the policeman, the Pres USA Today article

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:45:39 GMT

Read an article in the USA Today newspaper today. A black Harvard Professor was arrested by a cop when the neighbors saw the Prof trying to open the door to his house and it was thought he was breaking in. The cop arrested him for disorderly conduct (later dropped) when the Prof. repeatedly called the cop a racist and yelled at him. I sent a note to the USA Today. It's unlikely they will print it but here's my thought:

USA Today:

It seems to me the article (The Prof, The Policeman and the Pres.) misses the main point, this isn't as much about black vs. white as much as it's about (excuse my language) a couple of dicks arguing about whose is bigger. Neither of these guys likes to have their authority challenged and neither will ever back down so any interaction between two guys like that is nothing but a constant elevation of trouble.

It sure is interesting to talk about, but it's nothing but rude behavior by both parties that's snowballed into a big story.

Looking back on it I think I made a grammer error it should go: "who is bigger" instead of "whose is bigger." Oh Well, you get the idea.

206th entry: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:24:37 GMT

Richard Harris is truly missed. He had a certain whimsy and charm as an actor that many others never manage to achieve. Other than Camelot, he rarely found a role that suited his charm until the Harry Potter movies came along. It's funny, he went from playing kings like Arthur to playing wizards like Dumbledore and even though he was only in the first two movies when watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince his subtle magic is a vast difference to Michael Gambon's bland allure.

This movie focuses heavily on Dumbledore as he and Harry review memories of people who knew Voldemort. Of special interest is the memories of one Professor Horace Slughorn who may hold the key memory that explains Voldemort's tremendous endurance. The problem is how to get to the story when Slughorn is doing all he can to avoid it. The Half-Blood Prince also contains the usual Potter sorcery and strange ends

After all this time with Harry Potter it's difficult to figure out where the the actor begins and the character ends. Is Emma Watson playing shrill and stiff because that's the way she sees Hermione? Is Daniel Radcliff glum and stoic, or is that the way he has to play Harry? Either way it fits the characters perfectly. Particularly, Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood she's quirky and very funny. It's hard to tell if it's just the actress or the character. There is no doubt that Rupert Grint (aka Ron Weasley) is a comic genius. He was very funny in the previous film and absolutely rules in this one when he plays a suddenly lovestruck Ron. Mooning over. . . Well, the moon, falling over stuff and suddenly being buddy, buddy with Slughorn. It all makes for some very good bits in the overall story.

I'm really impressed with the almost throw away CGI magic bits peppered through the movie. Whether it's the owl on Dumbledore's podium or the pictures that move or the wand blasts, they all fit in with out being obvious. In The Half-Blood Prince the effects enhance the story and don't run the story, which a lot of movies don't seem to get. (Cough, Trans, Cough, formers, Cough)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a fine movie with some great things in it. It is said Harris played King Arthur as a man with greatness thurst upon him, but I can't help but wonder how he would played Dumbledore in this key moment for the character. As a man born to magic, or a man with magic thurst upon him?

205th entry: Knocked Out Cold

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:55:49 GMT

Now, I've been knocked out a few times in my life, most of them from falls. One time I threw an old vegetable into the field behind our house from an icy back porch and threw myself off right with it. Got up. Staggered back to the house and passed out half in and half out of the house. But here's the weirdest knocked out story I got.

I was in Boy Scouts and for me the only reason to be in boy scouts was to go on the camping trips and outdoor events that were scheduled a couple every year. My parents were not outdoor types in the least and this was the only way I could experience camping. So, one time (I don't know where the hell it was) we went to this camp where there were long trails and big rocks. The only people I know for sure that were on this trip were Bryan B. and Tim D. This was late November or early December and while it was cold enough for snow it was also warm enough that you could be outside for quite a while and just enjoy the trails and snow and hills.

Hills and Snow do you see what's coming?

Well, we get the bright idea that some simple plastic sheets would make great sleds and we take them out with us for sledding, but the hills in this place aren't set up for sledding and there is a very thin line where it really works, but there are trees staggered around on both sides of the lane we start for sledding. I get to sled a couple times and get cocky and just barrel down and I can still remember it starting off badly and picking up momentum and slamming into a tree real hard and bouncing into a tree on the other side.

You ever drop a video camera while filming and watch it back later? You know how the picture breaks up and static noise and you see and everything is weird and distorted for a bit? That's what it was like. Coming back from unconsciousness is the weirdest thing: The first thing I'm aware of is a high pitch ringing and a loud almost static roar that slowly fades as you start to put yourself back together. Then comes the knowledge of who you are and something seems really wrong. Then your eyes start to see with little sparkles all around you and you realize there are 8 or 9 kids looking at you like you've just had an alien pop out of your chest.

Apparently, while I was unconscious I had some sort of seizure and was flailing around and scared Tim enough he took off right away to get some adults. I've got to hand it to Tim no one else seemed that concerned and in fact I later learned that some of the other kids thought I was faking it.

I was done sledding for the day I get up and start the long walk back to camp alone. I've thought about this event a lot over the years and wonder how no one wanted to walk back with me. I remember the adults meeting me about half way and Tim might have come back with us, but I really have to wonder about what kind of kid I was that no one seemed to care all that much about me. I know I could be annoying and I certainly never fit in, but for them to think I was faking and to just have no concern. . . Wow, even today I think about that.

Fortunately, I never hit my head, I just walked it off, but the next day I had huge bruises on both my upper right leg and my left hip.

Boy I can remember bits and pieces of that weekend like it was yesterday. I remember Bryan B. betting me I couldn't tag him even if he gave me a head start and being right. I remember putting some salt on my pancakes just to see what it tasted like and weirding everyone out. I remember the blue knit liner my Mom had just put in my sleeping bag. And I remember sitting at the lunch table by myself and wondering just what the hell just happened to me on that hill?

204th entry: Transformers Revenge of the Fallen

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:22:19 GMT

Some summer movies are review proof. They could be the biggest hunk of junk in the world and people will go anyway. It's mostly about the explosions and the spectacle over sensibility. Hey, there is a certain entertainment in watching a loud noisy pieces of junk pounding into each other. Which brings us to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

If you saw the first Transformers film the plot of this one is exactly the same. It has as much depth as a coat of paint. Essentially, it's Good robots (Autobots) vs. bad robots (Decepticons) with some dopey humans thrown between them.

The dopey humans are Sam (Shia LaBeouf) and Mikaela (Megan Fox.) Acting is secondary to the action in a film like this and whether it's good or bad is hardly noticeable. The robots almost seem like better actors than the humans. They give a lot more to Megan Fox to do in this picture as she ascends to the throne of hot babe of the moment. Knocking Jessica Alba and Scarlett Johansson to the side with as much force as a Decipticon hitting an Autobot. (Here's a fun game to play while watching between explosions. Whenever Megan Fox is on screen try to get a good look at her odd looking thumbs. I was fascinated.)

The CGI and special effects really sell this film. It's not just that they are totally integrated, but the CGI artists seem to have a weird joy to making walking talking giant robots look as real and as nutty as possible. It's the best part of the movie watching the robots become planes and cars. You gotta appreciate the work and skill it takes to make a stealth plane turn into a geriatric robot.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a bit like going to a demolition derby. It's kinda fun watching giant machines plowing into each other and trying to beat on each other till they are nothing but junk. But if you don't like demolition derbys you'd be further ahead seeing something else.

203rd entry: Feelin This

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:55:35 GMT

I'm in a caustic mood so please forgive me if I seem bitter. My mother hasn't been well lately and Everyone that knows it wants to talk about that. It's nice that people want think I have some deep attachment to my mother, but if you allow me to be totally honest: I care, but not all that much. Everyone seems to think I have some deep feelings about this, but it's more of a distraction to what I really want to talk about. There's this girl I like and she may or may not have liked me back. And everyday I wonder how I can talk about her. Everything I'm feeling is tied up in what to do about the girl. And maybe nothing is all I can do. The feelings of frustration and disappointment over this leave me . . .Just tired. So, Yeah, I've got some problems, but they ain't the problems you might think. As Blink 182 said in "Feeling This" ♪Look to the past and remember and smile and maybe tonight I can breath for a while ♪ I'm not in the scene I think I'm falling asleep ♪ But then all that it means is I'll always be dreaming of you♪

202nd entry: Harlan Ellison: Dreams with Sharp Teeth

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:22:40 GMT

I watched a Harlan Ellison: Dreams with Sharp Teeth last week. Now, I've read a lot of Ellison over the years and have always felt ambivalent about his fiction. The stories are angry chaotic bits of broken sidewalks that don't go anywhere good, but his non-fiction, his essays and his reviews are some of the best reading around. The all that anger and bitterness suddenly have a place to go. Anyway, Ellison reads some of his works in the documentary and he reads a section from a essay called "Valerie" and I was struck about how deep it goes. I start digging through my pile of Ellison books and couldn't find it in any of the books I have; I did some checking online and found it's included in his out of print Hornbook (incidentally a hornbook is an old term for some sort of children's primer, but how that relates to the essays I've yet to figure out.) The book is included in the Edgeworks Vol III and I find a copy available on Amazon and when it arrives I go right to "Valerie" read it once.
Think about it.
Read it again.
Think about it some more.
Here's what Ellison read in the documentary:

"I know one more thing. And it's this: In every human being there is only so large a supply of love. It's like the limbs of a starfish, to some extent: if you chew off a chunk, it will grow back. But if you chew off too much, the starfish dies. Valerie B. chewed off a chunk of love from my dwindling reserve... a reserve already nibbled on by Charlotte and Lory and Sherri and Cindy and others down through the years. There's still enough there to make a saleable appearance of a whole creature, but nobody gets gnawed on that way without becoming a little dead. So, if Cupid (that perverted little motherfucker) decides his lightning ought to strike this gnarly tree trunk again, whoever or whatever gets me, is going to get a handy second, damaged goods, something a little dead and a little crippled.

Having learned that, all I can advise is an impossible stance for all of you: utter openness and reasonable caution. Don't close yourself off, but jeezus, be careful of monsters with teeth."

Most of us have been chewed on a bit at some point and it Harlan's words just resonate all over the place, and it could apply to trust as well as love.

Oh yeah, here's what I thought of the documentary:

"What does Naomi Campbell have to do with Lawrence of Arabia? Nothing really, but it's fun to listen to Harlan Ellison try to figure it out in one of the funnier moments of Harlan Ellison: Dreams with Sharp Teeth. The documentary is a overview of Ellison's life and various writings. It's mostly successful at conveying what Ellison is like, but it's all a bit like scattered mirrors reflecting different aspects but none show the whole man. An example would be the on screen text which tells Ellison stopped speaking to his sister after his mother's death. The why of this is and other explanations are never provided. Everyone interviewed loves Ellison. Where's the other side? Someone who has a contrary opinion on Ellison would have been good, but with Ellison's tendency to go bugnuts on people it may not have been worth their while. Still, it's worth watching. Ellison is very entertaining with his personality and stories and Neil Gaiman drops by for pizza. That's pretty awesome. (Well, maybe not awesome, but certainly fun.)"

201st entry: Star Trek - - Terminator Salvation

Mon, 25 May 2009 21:58:25 GMT

In the movies the future is usually depicted with two basic themes: The future where things are mostly good, but some person or group of people have a problem. Or the dystopian future where technology is the problem. The recent Star Trek and Terminator Salvation movies represent both extremes. Yeah, it's Star Trek vs Terminatior.

In Star Trek Earth is threatened by Romulans. Romulans, despite the alien makeup and costumes, are just people with a problem. Whereas in Terminator Salvation technology is the problem . The machines built by man and have spun out of control and the future is threatened. Strangely, both movies touch on that time travel aspect where the future has to be maintained, despite the tampering of others.

Here's a brief description of what happens in both movies: 1. Opening teaser set in the past. 2. Explosions. 3. Familiar characters show up. 4. More explosions. 5. Star crossed love that seems a little rushed. 6. Iconic characters show up for a small part. 7. Big explosion finale. 8. Ending narration promising continuing adventures.

In the acting department another coincidence is Anton Yelchin appears in both films playing semi-iconic characters that were established by another actor. In Star Trek he plays the young Chekov and in Terminator Salvation he plays the young Kyle Reese. He does a good job with both roles and is lucky the movies are so close together otherwise people might not realize he can do more than a Russian accent. Zoe Saldana really stands out as Uhura. She has more to do in this one Star Trek movie than Nichelle Nichols had to do in all three seasons of the TV show. The acting overall is good. The actors find the right tone for their characters keeping it both new and old at the same time.

Both movies have the standard great effects. It's amazing how good these things look. Whether it's the Enterprise flying through space or the various Terminators chasing John Conner it is a seamless melding of computer generated images and real people.

Overall, both movies are entertaining, but they make less sense the more you think about them and there are some plot holes and bad science that take away from the enjoyment. Star Trek has the edge in the characters, but Terminator Salvation has the edge in the technology. The future is yours to choose.

200th entry: The Watchmen

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:59:04 GMT

Alan Moore has written many great comics, but it is surprising to find that he feels that some of the work was stolen from him. In the contracts Alan signed for The Watchmen all the rights to the work would revert back to him (and co-creator Dave Gibbons) once the book was out of print for a certain length of time. No other comic before had ever been kept in print, but The Watchmen has never gone out of print. It Sold. And it Sold. And then it Sold some more. Now (the inevitable) movie version comes into play.

In the movie version The Watchmen someone has killed the hero called the Comedian and as other heroes try to figure out what happened it uncovers a larger conspiracy that could end the world.

The amazing thing thing about the movie is just how much it looks like the comic. Scenes and dialog are taken exactly from the book. The comics are a template for everything: from the props in the scenes, to the nudity of the characters, to the breakdown of the story. It's all here. In fact, the only real change is the ending is altered slightly from the inter dimensional squid monster to something that makes a little more sense. (I love the book version of The Watchmen but every time I get to that part I think, "Really, A inter dimensional squid monster? You couldn't come up with something better?")

The acting in The Watchmen is mostly average. Usually acting isn't important in super-hero action movies, but in this case acting is very important. The characters drive the story not the action. Unfortunately, Matthew Goode as Ozymandias plays the part like a comic book super villain. He seems very glib about the serious decisions his character makes. Ozymandias carries tremendous emotional weight, but Matt doesn't seem to connect to that fact making the character two dimensional instead of three dimensional. Also, Carla Gugino as the first Silk Spectre doesn't seem prepared to play a supporting role as a mother figure. All the scenes with her daughter seem flat and unemotional. This is a real surprise since she is so good in everything else she's been in.

The movie runs about 3 hours and is as dense as the book and will hold up to several viewings. Alan Moore has had his name removed from The Watchmen and it's too bad since this is a pretty good version of his book, but if you feel your best work has been taken away from you would you really be stoked by a movie version?

199.5th entry: The Bachelor

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:29:06 GMT

I'm not quite ready to post my 200th entry. I want to think about it a little bit, thus the 199.5 entry. My numbering isn't consistent anyway.

So, I don't know how this happened, but I got sucked into watching The Bachelor this season. And you know what? The show is EVIL! Totally Entertaining, but Evil! You put a bunch of girls in a highly competitive battle for one dopey guy in a highly unreal environment and bad decisions fly left and right.

It's not just that the girls get all wrapped up in declaring their love for this guy. He gets all wrapped up thinking he's god's gift to women. So Jason narrows his decision down to two girls (Melissa and Molly), decides on one of them (Melissa.) Then 6 weeks later changes his mind and wants the other girl instead.

Why did he make this decision? I think he fell for the fine, fine trim Melissa represents. Melissa screams fun sex party and Molly showed not fun sex material (although, she is very sexy) but serious relationship work. So give the guy a choice between these two things and the fine trim wins everytime. . .

. . .in the short term.

I think once he'd blown his load over the first girl he realized despite Melissa's beauty she was as hollow and empty as a beer bottle drained and tossed aside by some sports jock. I noticed Jason was carefully dancing around the reasons he was dumping Melissa. There was a lot of talk about chemistry and how things had changed, but he was discreet and didn't mention events or actions. Melissa's parents refused to appear on any of the shows, so they may have been aware of things no one else knew. Hmmmmm. . .

On one level Jason is the most brilliant man alive. He managed to get Both girls, but he comes across as the biggest douche on the planet. Cripes, he cried more than some of the girls on the show. Even with that he may have managed to bed each girl.

Amazing.

Well, here's my predictions: Melissa will go on to The Bachelorette and make the same mistake Jason made. (Choosing a fine empty guy.) Jason and Molly will date publicly for awhile then quietly end their relationship. And Melissa's parents will continue to make the best decision and continue to avoid the show all together.

198th entry: Writer's Block: Priorities

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 20:55:29 GMT

What quality do you think is most important in a significant other?

View 501 Answers

Well, I've thought about this a lot and what it really comes down to is if they love you and you love in return. That's the starting point. The real question is how do you keep that going. What do you do when you grow tired of the other person? Do you keep pushing them to be more exciting? Or do you just let it go?

197th entry: Push

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:50:07 GMT

You know that episode of Heroes where everyone goes to Hong Kong and they all look different, but really all the powers are the same and they all run around looking for this drug that boosts their abilities? No? You don't remember that?. . . Oh, that's wasn't an episode of Heroes. Maybe, I'm thinking of a 4400 episode. I could swear I saw Tom Baldwin (Joel Gretsch) running around. I know! It wasn't any television show, it was the movie Push.

Originality aside, Push follows Nick (Chris Evans) who has telekinesis and Cassie (Dakota Fanning) a girl who can draw the future as they run around Hong Kong searching for a girl, Kira, that has been injected with a drug that has increased her ability to "push" people. That is, force them to do her bidding. Kira stole the drug and went on the run so some shadowy government organization is hunting her. Along the way they meet lots of different people that have lots of different abilities.

Push is well directed with lots of interesting visuals and shots that were obviously well planned. The effects are thought out and executed with the standard excellence that these types of movies have been doing lately. There is a fight scene between two telekinetics that takes the idea to a different level that was fun to watch.

The acting is certainly adequate. The actors almost become props is a movie like this, though, where every scene is a set up for some sort of super-power conflict.

Where this movie fails is the writing. The plot is needlessly complex and the characters little more than cyphers where their ability is all that defines them. The reason that moves the story along is this drug, that has only worked on Kira, and its effects on others is never defined. Why is this one shot so important? It's never explained in the movie other than the future of those who have abilities rests on possessing it, but it almost killed Kira and she still needed some sort of follow up treatment. Anyone else taking it would need the same care. Plus, at the end of the movie a lot of it rests on a character knowing something he shouldn't know and pulling a trick that really shouldn't work.

Push is worth seeing if you want to see some fine special effects and some cool locations, but the more the more you pull at the plot threads the more it comes apart. You may be better off watching an episode of Heroes.

195th entry: Buyer's Regret

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:51:06 GMT

Buyer's Regret: You know, when you buy something and then for whatever reason, you wish you hadn't. That happened with me recently. I thought it would be fun and I would learn something. But really it was like throwing $65 down a hole. Here's the story.

I have a handfull of rare comics. One of which is The Incredible Hulk #181 which is the first full appearance of Wolverine. Now, there is a service where you can send your comics to a third person grader. Since there is no reason for the grader to overvalue the book you can be sure their grade is generally correct. The system is basically a number system running from 1 to 10 with 10 being the absolute best. Older books cost more to grade than newer ones and the Hulk book just falls onto the cutoff point (which is sometime around '74.) So it had to go the older book grade route.

Now, having a comic professionally graded can increase the price that you can sell it for tremendously. Sometimes the professionally graded books can go for HUNDREDS of dollars more than book value. The thing is: I don't plan on selling it. I was just curious what the professional grade on the book would be.

So I got it back the other day graded 8.0 which is about what I expected and that's cool. It is one of 383 8.0 (as of this writing) Incredible Hulk #181 comics the CGC has graded. It's sealed in a protective case and if you break the seal you invalidate the grade and since I plan on keeping it all I can do is look at it in its case and wonder. . .Now what? Was this worth $65 to me? Really, No.

194th entry: Writer's Block: Been There, Done That

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:23:22 GMT

If you could live one day in your life over and over, which day would it be?

View 501 Answers

My first question are what are the limitations of living this day over and over. Do I have to do everything exactly the same with no changes? Can I be like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day and constantly make it different? Either way, even if I choose the best day of my life, at some point it would become hellish. No, I'd rather not live any day over and over. Maybe, once or twice on some days that I wish I could have been better on, but that would be it.

193rd entry: USA Today Dream article

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:14:08 GMT

The January 19, 2009 edition of the USA Today had an article about MLK Jr's dream speech and this one paragraph jumped out at me.

"He added a caution: Joseph was a dreamer. And so his brothers tried to kill him. And don't you know that that's what we do to the dreamers. We try to destroy dreamers, lest dreamers destroy the status quo. We love dreamers after they are dead. But while they are alive we try to destroy them."

This is very perceptive. Certainly, I have big personal dreams, and people don't get it. Hell, they try to get in the way of it (Sometimes, I get in the way of it)and I'm not sure how to get around them (or me.) Somedays I'm not even sure I can communicate how I feel, so many blocked roads. I'm just so tenative about things, sometimes. Well, Kel, I'm still trying. I hope you understand that dream.

192nd entry: Colors of Emotion

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:51:42 GMT

Different emotional states have different colors. I've been thinking about this lately. None of these states is really better than any of the others. They all have a purpose, some can be maintained longer than others but they are all kind of emotional traps.

GOLD: This is the state of grace. Where everything is calm tranquil and you are kind of a part of everything, but also kind of above it all. Tough to get to and tough to maintain.

GREEN: My favorite state. The color of spring and life returning. Here a person is totally engaged with life and living. Pretty easy to get to and easy to manage.

RED: Anger. Real Anger. Impossible to maintain for any length of time, but if someone pushes me into this state, it is almost impossible for me to forgive them. Everytime I run into them later no matter what state I'm in the Red anger flash runs through me. This state is acid on my interactions.

BLUE: Sadness. Depression. The worst state. Just the sense of hopelessness and weight of living just presses down on you so hard. This state is too easy to keep going and is real tough to get out of. Sometimes you can feel yourself spiraling around this state and you have some time to pull yourself out of it. When you are deep in this state you are a danger to yourself.

GREY: Numb. All emotions are dimmed. Anger, sadness, happiness, etc are all muted. Things mean very little, but you aren't totally cut off from life, but you are moving toward Black.

BLACK: You have no feelings. You have moved from caring to not caring about anything or anyone. The future has no meaning and it's a very dangerous state to yourself and others. This could be deadly by a sudden flash of the Red phase. With all other emotions dead the a sudden flash of anger is 100 can overwhelm any rationality.

WHITE: Here lies Madness. . . and Dreams. Mostly accessed when asleep. If you take to much of it into the waking world people will put you away. The funny thing is it can cycle back into Gold.

191st entry:Whiney Blah

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:52:21 GMT

Please Read Something Else on Here. You've been warned.

I don't know where I'm going with this entry. I've started it a couple times then backed off. It all feels so whiney. And damn if I don't love to whine here sometimes, but it's really my only outlet. I was trying to explain this to someone a little bit ago. Every day is Grey and empty to me. I go to work. Pretend to care about what other people think. Go home and try to get myself out of myself. 90% of the people I meet (while quite nice) mean nothing to me and the girl that compleatley engaged my head, heart and mind won't return my calls. (I was listening to a radio talk show the other day and one of the callers called with that complaint. And the talk show host said not returning calls was a douchy move. So it's not just me.)

Sorry, about that brief interruption.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, I only call once every 3 months or so, just wanting to check in, but what she doesn't realize is she is killing the part of me that Cares about things. If we are done then I truly won't care about anyone anymore. I'll walk. I'll talk. I'll even phoney up an emotion for people. But I'll be dead inside. Truly dead. Everything is grey now and it will move to black. A black hole where no hope endures, but is sucked away transformed into some black awful thing lurching around inside of me.

UGH!! Let's not dwell on that. I've got to believe there's a place for us together. I've got to believe. Believe in something. . . Or . . .

190th entry: Thundercats Ho

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:48:27 GMT

Holy Geez! This is So good I have to share it. How would a Thundercats movie look with Brad Pitt as Lion-O and Vin Diesel as Panthro. Here's a link to a fake Thundercats trailer. It's pretty remarkable. See how many films you can recognize.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb50GMmY5nk

189th entry: Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:08:59 GMT

I've read a lot of harsh stuff in my time, but Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door might be the harshest. I'm not sure how I feel about it. The story is based on true events that happened to Sylvia Likens in the 1960's. In this fictionalized version it is moved back to the 1950's and in the story two young girls are forced to live with a cousin after the deaths of their parents. The cousin slowly starts torturing the girls and it gets consistently worse for one girl, Meg, and neighborhood kids get drawn into the torture. Then it gets about as bad as it can get. . . then Worse.

Like I said, I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I kinda feel manipulated by it since the person telling the story is involved with the abuse, and since this is his story you are forced to view the events through his eyes, thus becoming complicit with the things Meg is put through. This type of thing builds resentment toward The Girl Next Door and may dilute its message.

Here's the question: Would I recommend this book?

Yes, but bear this in mind: 1) This not a book that when you finish it you will easily forget it, and it may depress you. 2) While this is Fiction, it is prompted by true events. 3) I'm not giving anything away by saying this book does not end happily. 4) Some really awful things happen to characters that do not deserve it. 5) The author wants to make the reader a co-conspirator to torture. (Really, That's what he wants.)

188th entry: Bolt

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:08:58 GMT

Here's the thing about child stars. Every now and then some TV show will haul out some old child star and they will herk and jerk around the screen like zombies reenacting "Thriller." The interest is in seeing how they've degraded rather than how good they look and it's the scandals we remember far more than their successes. Come on, isn't a coked out Maureen McCormick far more interesting than the quiet success of Kirk Cameron? It makes you wonder what career decisions Miley Cyrus will make. They kinda of touch on that in her part of Penny in the animated Disney movie Bolt.

The idea of Bolt is he's a dog that works on a TV show that makes it look like he has super powers. The production staff of the TV show go to tremendous ends to make the dog think he actually has these powers, but then he gets shipped to the real world he finds that he's just a normal dog. His new mission is to return to his "person" (Penny) who is also his co-star on the TV show. On his journey home he runs into a sarcastic cat called Mittens and a hyper-fan guinea pig called Rhino. Penny misses Bolt, but has to keep working on the TV show, so they bring in a replacement Bolt. Eventually, Penny realizes TV isn't for her.

Vocally Miley Cyrus and John Travolta do a good if somewhat standard acting job. The real key performances are Susie Essman as Mittens and Mark Walton as Rhino. Essman manages to keep an overly sarcastic and manipulative cat sympathetic and caring and Walton brings such an unrestrained enthusiasm to Rhino that he steals every scene he's in. The replacement Bolt never has any lines, but it is a missed opportunity to have some fun and get Nicolas Cage to come in and do some lines as the replacement dog since this plot point of Bolt is reminiscent of the Travolta/Cage movie Face Off.

The CGI animation is the usual Disney excellent. The opening action scenes of the TV show are particularly well done with some humorous action scenes and fun CGI stunts. The effects of movies like The Matrix: Reloaded are trickling down to the animated films. There are parts of the opening scene that look just like the freeway chase from that movie.

Wherever Mily Cyrus ends up Bolt is a good movie for her resume, but you can't help but wonder whether she'll learn anything from the part of Penny, or if she'll end whacked out and on Oprah. Either way, we'll be watching.