- I really don't get what the fascination is for news stations to give mundane, uneventful and inherently repetitive "reporting" on dead celebrities. First of all, it's unfortunate that Johnny Carson/Anna Nicole Smith (well, notsomuch)/Heath Ledger/River Phoenix/Elvis passed away. What I don't give a damn about is anything afterwards besides perhaps the cause of death. That shouldn't take more than about a minute of reporting! Is there really nothing else in the world more important than MJ's dead body and where it's at?
I don't even have cable, so I miss out on most of the fun times. I really would like to know why there's such a fascination and desire to waste my time with crappy reporting that doesn't change my life in any way whatsoever. I get it. He's dead. Let's move on! Everyone dies, and every day more people die.
I wonder what the ultimate reasoning is behind so much coverage. How many people out there really spend hours on end watching bullcrap newcasts on old news? I'm sure there are plenty who have their televisions on just for noise. Others have no CHOICE but to watch the news because other shows are pure crap and/or cancelled thanks to this momentous occassion. I also believe that about 1-2% really CARE about MJ's latest news.
How can they tell what the ratings are for their news? Also, doesn't having nothing on television BUT news of MJ greatly skewer the relevance of such viewing statistics? I don't really know anyone that likes to spend all day wasting away with such garbage. It's possible that all stations have to waste their time on reporting MJ because they're afraid that if they DON'T then they'll lose out on some ratings because they'd be the only ones not doing it. Perhaps - they think - most people ARE hanging on every second to find out about his friends, family, fans - whatever - that loved him. Perhaps they feel our lives and desires are being fulfilled vicariously through them.
I propose that at least ONE station breaks away from MJ crap, and starts reporting something that is more akin to REAL REPORTING. It would be quite a risky dare, because they might lose 2% of their regular audience. The problem is that the homes that DO have the Nielsen box (a box that tallies what someone is watching) are likely to be the very kinds of people who perpetuate the disease that rages on with shitty pointless dead celebrity reporting. And reality TV. I think those that don't allow or WANT a ratings box are too smart to even give a cursory glance at the latest "news" on MJ. The dead person.
I want this week's SNL to feature an opening where there are newscasters reporting current events. It's just very general reporting at first, like "MJ has passed away" and it quickly escalates to obscure news on MJ such as "This just in!... reports show that MJ's last bowel movement was NOT in the Neverland Ranch. I repeat, it was NOT at the Ranch! It was at the local IHop just down the street from the front entrance!"
Somewhere just before it starts getting that ridiculous, they say "In other news: North Korea just bombed China. And MJ's cat appears to be crying!"
The absurdity of these times. *shakes head*
6/25/09 - R.I.P. David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson
- It's been a wild few days as three iconic celebrities have passed away. The biggest surprise of course is Michael Jackson. I'd be curious to know the cause of death. I'm sure that I'll find out real soon and won't hear the freaking end of it thanks to the fact that everywhere I turn I'll get nothing BUT MJ reports for the next several weeks. I'm NOT looking forward to that. However, at 50, no matter how odd he was with his surgeries and lifestyle, he came across as a hypochondriac who was obsessed with not just his looks but also his health. Was it accidental overdose on something that he might have believed to be good for him? Or perhaps it was suicide. Whatever the case, you can't deny that he was an immensely talented performer who has made music that will never be forgotten. His dance style is unmatched, even to this day. I don't know whether he really fiddled kids or not, but I believe that chances are really good that due to his love of children, odd living conditions and personality, mixed with his fame and fortune that he would be an easy target for unkind rumor spreading. That sadly ruined his image even more than the strange excess of plastic surgeries.
Farah Fawcett has been a pinup Charlie's Angels girl that was well respected for many adolescent boy-like reasons. She was certainly a loopy broad who was most likely under the influence of one or many chemicals over the last decade. I will say something positive, though: she always had a good attitude. No matter how much people made fun of her or got weirded out by her strange behavior, it never phased her one bit from being someone that she's not. This might be due to her being too dense to realize it. I think it was more that she just plain didn't care, and wanted to have fun and worry not about the naysayers. To have anal cancer be your end, it's quite a bummer. I'm so sorry about that horrible, unkind double pun.
Ed McMahon... everyone knows him. Much like Fawcett's whimsical happiness, he seemed to always have a smile on his face. I don't recall a time when he seemed angry. I am sure there's something somewhere that shows his bad side, but I remember him as a man who loved the entertainment business and lived for the search for stars. And of course his laugh on the Johnny Carson show.
David Carradine was one cool dude. I watched a lot of KUNG FU as a kid, but I also watched KUNG FU: THE LEGEND CONTINUES in his older years during the 90's more than I care to admit. It's not because it was a good show; I was always hoping it would get good because he's so rad. Of course he's loved as the Bill that needs to be killed. I myself got to watching a lot of his low budget cash-in-the-paycheck roles as well because many times a bad movie amuses me, and his being in the movie was enough to keep me entertained. I loved his work in Crank 2. Even under the old Chinese man makeup he was recognizable and seemed to have a great sense of humor about his persona (old Chinese man who's not Chinese. Much like a young Chinese kung fu master who isn't Chinese). Perhaps it was autoerotic asphyxiation that killed him. I am sorry for the embarrassment if that is the case, but whatever the case he was a real trooper in my book.
6/22/09
- I do spend a decent amount of time playing video games. I decided to buy Ghostbusters: The Video Game for thirty bucks. Was it worth it? Read on and find out!
6/17/09
- I sometimes forget what true horror is. Then, a movie comes along that scares me so badly, I remember how truly horrible movies can be. Friday the 13th (2009) did just that!
6/14/09
- I finally got two movies reviews out, even though they are WAY overdue. I've been busy putting together computer components this last week, and before that I did LOTS of reading, movie watching and work.
Either way, here are the two new reviews: Up
and The Hangover.
6/2/09 - You Can't Make This Stuff Up... Can You?
I'm sure the criminal with a baseball bat was converted to Islam from the shotgun-wielding clerk by the sheer power of his verbal conviction.
6/1/09
- This last weekend I watched Drag Me to Hell as well as Up - which were both VERY good!
I will try to review Up tomorrow. I would have today, but I'm busy watching Sin City and finally did ONE review. Better than none.
5/22/09
- I saw Terminator Salvation on opening night. It sucked. I will review it soon (I'm over halfway through), but I'm currently on vacation in Seattle area and will be out in the boonies in Spokane tomorrow, so it might be a couple/few days before I post the review.
Bottom line: It's not good.
.... OK, here's the review: Terminator Salvation.
I like to call it TERMINATOR SALIVATION, because it's almost funny or witty.
5/15/09
- My computer (not my laptop) has been broken a long time. Now that I have it up and running again (minus hundreds of gigabytes of movies that were on my crashed hard drive), I found another article headline I wanted to post from CNN.COM:
... it's the highlighted headline that reads:
Sex offender wins lottery that helps rape victims
That's so offensive that I wouldn't even post an article about it!
- I'm planning on watching Star Trek tonight. I'm also planning on seeing Wolverine within the next couple of hours. So be ready for some more reviews!
Why would they post a headline about a baby being thrown out onto the side of the road, with an article below about "Largest Roadside Attractions"? That's not right.
5/3/09
- I'm in Thailand right now. I'm having a good enough time, but I wasn't really financially ready for a vacation. I thought I'd capitalize on cheap plane tickets NOW is all. I also planned on going from here to Vietnam and save a few hundred bucks (leaving from Hawaii was roughly $600 more than coming here to Thailand). Problem is, tickets are all of a sudden MORE here than they were two years ago to head to 'Nam. I didn't think it would be worth paying $400 for a week in Vietnam.
I was in Bangkok for almost a week. I went to the same bar every night and spent lots of money. Each drink is almost three dollars, and after about 6 hours of Cokes and a few beers each night, the price tag kept adding up and up and up. I also went to some real upscale restaurants for the heck of it (yummy!), and went to Tony Roma's for the first time in my life. Had ribs. Wasn't too shabby. On top of that, I bought glucosamine because I don't want to stop the constant transfer through my system for 2 weeks and it costs as much here as it does in America ($40)!! I also had to buy a phone since I lost my old cell phone that I used for years when visiting Asia... so now I'm poor!
I wanted to head over to Hua Hin, because it's just one long beachfront. There were no tour buses heading to that area, so I would have had to have taken a taxi for 2000-2500 baht (about seventy dollars).... and then I'd have to pay that to get BACK into Bangkok!
A Navy friend of mine said he was in Pattaya, so I got here (Pattaya) yesterday. He's nowhere to be found, so that was a bust. Good thing is, drinks are HALF the price they are in Bangkok! Yes! I'm also in a pretty cheap hotel ($20 a night), so I think I'm staying here for a few more days to recoup the financial losses from nightly money spending for DRINKS. Although, I kinda don't really like Pattaya. It's the Ass End of Thailand, IMO. But cheap. Problem is that I got to really liking the workers at the bar I went to in Bangkok, and they have very nice dice for the Jackpot game ("Jackpot" is a simple game where there's a wooden box, and the numbers 1-9 are flipped up as you roll each number. If you don't roll any of the remaining numbers on a turn, then you lose the game), with a comfy gaming box. That sounds silly, but here I am playing on some Jackpot boxes here that are too high on the sides making it less comfortable to rest my hand on the sides as I roll; some have wooden number tags that are too fresh and looked unused; worst of all, many of the bars here use WOODEN DICE. What junk! I'm essentially saying that I don't feel as "at home" anywhere here in Pattaya, and I don't like constantly getting pestered by the women as I walk down the street at night.
I will stay here for a few more days anyway. I might find some place worthy of my company. I get paid on Saturday Thailand time, meaning I will have some money to spend again for my last few nights in Bangkok... drinking and playing pool and dice. Again. But with great people!
In other news... I finally reviewed Crank High Voltage. I feel bad that I reviewed it when it was basically too late to be in the theaters. Oh well. No biggie.
4/19/09
- It's been a busy weekend (actually did things with friends, and sort of preparing for the vacation next Saturday), but I did see Crank High Voltage and I rather enjoyed it. I'll probably review it soon.
4/15/2009
- I'm playing a lot of Street Fighter IV on my PS3 (YES! I finally have a game on the PS3! It's no longer a big paperweight!).
I wanted to share a video I took while my friend was trying to do a very high level combo during actual matches (he failed)...
The player's name is "globe-globe". If you can't tell what's going on, here's the breakdown:
During opponent select, it says "best of 2 rounds" with "99 second" timer.
By the time you thoughtlessly press the "Ready" button for battle, he/she ("he") switched up the settings to "one round, 30 second timer".
Of course, the goal at that point is to damage your opponent only enough to have lower HP than you before the timer runs down.
And of course, he has no Icon or Title status (a little picture and a comment stating your playing style or abilities), so he will draw as many people as possible to compete (with the implication that he's basically starting out, since most beginner's don't have titles or icons).
With over 11,000 Battle Points, it's a sure bet that he logs off the match if it looks like he won't have more HP before the timer runs down.
This is an occasional exploit, but globe-globe's dedication is something to admire!
4/11/09
- I will say it right now: Feast 3: The Happy Finish sucks. I reviewed it anyway, because I loved the first installment.
4/6/09
-
FIGHT MY BRUTE! Click here and fight against my brute! Basically, make a name and then watch the fight. You don't do anything else. It's so simplistic, yet somewhat amusing. Hard to explain.
BTW, that Seagal clip isn't straight from a movie. It's edited. But I think it's funny!
I haven't watched any movies in theater lately, because well... nothing is out that I would really like to see. Screw Fast and Furious!
Speaking of said badly-titled movie... I had an idea about that one!
I would love to have seen Fast and Furious if it was a direct shot-for-shot remake of The Fast and the Furious. The only difference is that Vin Diesel and Paul Walker switched cars!
Even better was if the trailers were made specifically for preview purposes, but had NOTHING to do with the actual movie! The scene where the gas truck is robbed would be only shown for trailer purposes, but it would not be in the actual movie at all. That would have been High-LARIOUS! Think how many people would be pissed off! The studio heads could just shrug and say, "we didn't think anyone would notice!" Boo-yah!
3/29/09
- I've been watching Seagal movies for my own sick amusement. His straight to video releases are bizzare, and completely incompetent. I was amused by this:
3/21/09
- Well I got to see I Love You, Man. Did I love it? Read and find out!
3/19/09
- Every cell phone I've ever had seems to become slower, and less reliable the longer I own it. I pretty much just use my phone to send and receive calls... I don't use it as a multimedia device, take lots of pictures, use the internet, watch movies or anything like that. I'm pretty basic; the occasional text, store phone numbers, and set the alarm clock to wake me up in the mornings. If I have mp3's, they are the same songs since I GOT the phone.
Why is it that after just over a year, EVERY SINGLE PHONE I've owned has become less reliable? For example my current model. It was great until about 6 months ago. Now it stops telling the time properly - it will freeze on a time earlier in the day and no longer update. I swear it takes much longer to load menus than it used to. Worst of all, the battery meter fails to tell the proper amount of power! It will say "you're at three bars out of four; almost full of power!" Next thing I know, my phone is shutting itself down.
Usually it will refresh the time and power meter if I turn the phone off and on again. The issue I have is that I shouldn't HAVE to do that several times a day. Moreover, the problems always start with the battery meter not showing proper power reserves. With every phone I've owned.
My guess is that they are made to last only a certain amount of time on purpose. Give the life of a cell phone one year. After that, you're going to be running into one small problem after another which will only snowball into more and MORE problems until you have to justify buying a new phone.
No, I haven't disappeared from the face of the earth.
In fact, I'll have a couple of reviews up real soon.
In other things... I'm shifting into "game playing mode". Every few months I switch from doing two of four things: playing guitar a lot, reading lots of books/comics, watching lots of movies/TV shows, and playing video games. I'm moving into "game playing/movie watching" mode now.
I also went for a run yesterday, and today my ankle doesn't hurt. I'll try again on Thursday (go two days a week for a couple weeks before moving up. Knock on wood).
- I see that Feast 3: The Happy Finish has come out. Wow. Haven't they already said enough with the first one? Me, being the stupid fool I am, am going to see it.
2/15/09 - Color ME surprised at the box office!
I can't believe that Friday the 13th made $42 million opening weekend. That is an ASTOUNDING take! Even more surprising is that Paul Blart: Mall Cop gained 8% MORE of an audience than last week! What the heck, man? I am pretty confused right now.
I watched a few movies over the last couple weeks. I'm not only lazy right now, but I've also been doing stuff with people. Meaning that I have spent more time out in the world than at home on the internets.
Soon, there will be some reviews. I think. hehe.
- I tried watching THUNDERBALL yesterday. I fell asleep. It was about 6pm-ish. I didn't wake up until about midnight. What the heck is that bullcrap? I want to be AWAKE on my weekend hours! Jeesh.
1/26/09
- Here's my review of My Bloody Valentine 3-D.
I'm thinking of making a quick, single-page list of movies from 2008 that got left behind - meaning that I haven't reviewed them yet, but am too lazy to post several reviews. Part of the reasoning behind this is that they don't require much of me to write about.
1/20/09
- Finally posted a review of Gran Torino. I have another review popping out soon. But it's for My Bloody Valentine 2009. Which means that it's nothing special.
1/17/09
-
Anyone that's been around me these last couple months are sure to have heard something about my love for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
I'm reviewing it because I enjoyed it more than any movie I've seen for 2008 so far.
Even if you don't read the review, buy yourself a copy or two on Amazon and enjoy!
1/16/09
- I hate really long days at work. At least I got paid today. Yayyy!
1/14/09 - RIP Ricardo Montalban
- What a shame. Mr. Montalban has passed away. Even at 86 years old, the man had a lot of charisma. At least it was a long and fruitful life of 88 years.
1/6/09
-
Eek. I watched fewer movies in 2008 than I have in the years before it. I also think I've given out a huge number of "F" grades. I try to keep those to a minimum, but darned if it wasn't a really bad year for movies. It's really scary when my two favorite movies of the year are both completely un-serious and not very critically-minded movies (RAMBO and TROPIC THUNDER).
I even watched a few movies that I didn't review because I felt BAD about giving out so many low grades (STEP BROTHERS, and SEMI-PRO for example). I'm sure hoping that 2009 will bounce back - at least a little.
