Superbad

I assume Gary has already seen the trailer for Superbad so this link is for Dan (this is movie I was talking about). It looks hilarious.

Extra protection for those heavy flow days

Next time a woman points what appears to be a tampon applicator at you, beware! It could be the Pink Stinger, a 50,000 volt taser ingeniously disguised as a feminine hygiene product. Anybody want to start a pool on how long it will take for an embarrassing accident to happen?

Awww yeah

How can one person get the Bird Flu so many times?

I'm sick. Today was the first sick day I have taken since May 2001 and I'm doing it again tomorrow. I was hoping I'd feel better after sleeping all day but no dice. It all started last Thursday and the worst of it came yesterday so I should be feeling healthy for Dan's visit this weekend.
If you haven't already, check out the Se7en clip below. It has been modified from the original and it's pretty funny.

The stars at night, are big and bright....

(clap, clap, clap, clap) Deep in the heart of Texas.
So my company is giving everyone the shaft sometime next year and moving east. I have been doing some research for the past couple months and will likely move with them. Their new destination will be Dallas, TX. When I first heard about the move and the offer they gave the employees I laughed and said I would never move to Texas. Now after doing some investigating it seems like a good move for us. Aside from the fact that they will pay all our moving expenses and give me a $10,000 sign on bonus, we could easily afford a house out there ( a real house).
Looking in the town of Rockwall and Royse City I have been very impressed. They are about 25 to 30 miles east of Dallas. Emily and I could move into a 3,000 sq ft new home on 2 acres of land for $250,000. If I put $100,000 down from the equity in my place I could cut my mortgage from $1,600 to $800-$900 a month. Also our HOA dues of $200 a month with be cut to 0$ a month. That's a savings of $1,200 a month right off the bat. Not to mention the cost of living is substantially cheaper. So we would save $1,200 a month to move into a house that is more then double the size we have, plus land so our neighbors will not be living on top of us. I almost can't pass it up. I need some elbow space, I want to hit golf balls off my back lawn, and I'm tired of all this crowding.
I'm going to find out next week if the company will pay to have us fly out and look at property. It's still early to say, but I would peg our potential move close to the end of this year. There are still alot of details to work out so that estimate could change. Now the only bad thing about this is that it will now be a 16 hour drive to Vegas. This does not change the frequency of our Vegas trips. However, I guess we will have to fly.

What's in the box?

Hopefully you all remember this scene from Se7en.

Pathfinder

Pathfinder was alright. It had some good action but, overall, it was just average. There wasn't enough character development, the special effects were pretty horrid at times, and the fight scenes were often a blurry mess because of darkness and/or tight camera angles.
I'm getting sick of this new technique of getting in super close to the action in fight/battle scenes sometimes cropping so close that you only see a small part of one person. It seems to be popping up in every action movie now. If done well, it is good for conveying the hectic pace and visceral feeling of a battle but ONLY if it is done well. Too often it is done poorly and only serves to confuse and irritate. For an excellent example, see Ridley Scott's flawless use of the technique in Gladiator. Then watch Pathfinder and see how it all falls apart.
Karl Urban's female co-star in the movie Moon Bloodgood (not her real name) was one of Niki's classmates at Esperanza. She has also been in Win A Date With Todd Hamilton, Eight Below, the TV show Daybreak, and she played a stripper on CSI.

Shawinggggggg!

Rumor has it Kate Beckinsale will be playing the Jane Fonda character in the remake of Barbarella. This is very good new if there is any truth to it. If you have seen the original Barbarella you know what I mean.

Whatcha got for me Dan?

I was wondering if you have decided on a set list for when you play my guitar next weekend. As you said, the first song is critical. Any chance there is some Avenged Sevenfold in there?
I haven't played an entire "real" song yet so it's still waiting for you to christen. I have played the stupid little songs that are part of beginner courses but those don't count.

103 Rabid Christians

Self flagellating Philipinos who tore themselves to shreds for Good Friday are now being treated for rabies after one of them died of the disease. As if their actions weren't stupid enough already, they shared blades when they flayed their own flesh. Serves 'em right. Read the rest here.
Speaking of rabid christians, the pious pontificators of Westboro Baptist Church are at it again. You may remember them as the group who held protests at the funerals of American soldiers killed in Iraq. You know... cuz dead soldiers are our punishment for tolerating homosexuals.

WBC to Preach at Funerals of Virginia Tech Dead
WBC will preach at the funerals of the Virginia Tech students killed on campus during a shooting rampage April 16, 2007. You describe this as monumental horror, but you know nothing of horror — yet. Your bloody tyrant Bush says he is ‘horrified’ by it all. You know nothing of horror — yet. Your true horror is coming. “They shall also gird themselves with sackloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads” (Eze. 7:18).

Why did this happen, you ask? It’s simple. Your military chose to shoot at the servants of God today, and all they got for their effort was terror. Then, the LORD your God sent a crazed madman to shoot at your children. Was God asleep while this took place? Was He on vacation? Of course not. He willed this to happen to punish you for assailing His servants.

Isn't it about time these nuts pulled a Heaven's Gate?

Live Free Or Die Hard

I was skeptical when I heard another Die Hard movie was being made but the trailer actually looks pretty cool if a bit Bruckheimeresque. I'm just glad they didn't cop out and have John McClane fighting al-Qaeda.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters

Niki and I saw ATHFCMFFT this weekend. Niki put it right up there with Bubba Ho-Tep which is a compliment in my opinion. Unfortunately, to her, that comparison has very bad connotations. As with Bubba Ho-Tep I thought ATHFCMFFT was hilarious. I knew it would rule right from the beginning when, in an homage to old school concession stand ad, theater snacks performing death metal (performed by Mastodon) explain exactly what they will do to you if you talk during the film. Any hardcore Aqua Teen fan will absolutely get his/her money's worth. For others... maybe not so much.

Dan!!!

I've been in the mood to listen to some Neil Diamond. Could you bring your CD's or at least a "best of" so I can burn it? If I think of anymore, I'll let you know. :)

Movie night?

I will see a movie tonight (or at least this weekend). The question is which movie. Two movies that I am extremely excited about, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters and Pathfinder, hit theaters today and I am having trouble deciding which to see. Whichever I don't see this weekend, I will be able to watch next weekend. Niki will be abandoning me next weekend to make a California run so I will have plenty of time to kill between monster jam sessions.

What is that? A Ritz?

Well it happened. The most devastating sports injury to date. If you are queasy I would advise you not to continue reading.

Vancouver D Brent Sople missed the first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after hurting his back trying to pick up a cracker from the floor Tuesday.

Now my question is this. Did he drop a cracker and was trying to beat the 5 second rule? Or maybe he saw someone fall down and was going to help the "cracker" get back up?
You would think hockey players would be tougher then this.

I should be a roadie

Now that my strings have streched, some of my fine tuners were turned as far as they would go so I needed to retune from the head. With some experience under my belt and without the dread that preceded my first tuning, I was able to perform a complete retune in about 10-15 minutes (I'm guessing cuz I did not bother to time myself). It's really a piece of cake once you get the hang of it.
Dan, I will show you my technique when you visit. If you still have trouble with your BC Rich, you may need to get it set up again. I have read that tuning can be difficult to impossible if the springs are not set to the right tension or imbalanced.

Hit it out of the park Bill!

I just heard that Bill Maher will be making a documentary in which he attacks any and all religions. It will be produced but the producers of Borat who are no strangers to pissing people off. No doubt buoyed by the popularity of recent books such as Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion and Sam Harris' Letters to a Christian Nation (amazingly, the nation's two top sellers in the "Religion" category according to Publishers Weekly), Maher is prepared to take on the most sacred of subjects and I can't wait. I'm so tired of people tip-toeing around religion insulating it from scrutiny. Religion has enjoyed a huge revival since 9/11 and it's time to call people on their bullshit.
My only fear is that the backlash (and there WILL be one) doesn't cause the demise of Real Time. HBO is generally fiercely independent and not afraid to ruffle feathers so it may be safe.

Best Razor Ever!

I was skeptical about all the new fixed-blade razors that you put a battery in. I thought it was just the next gimmick since you can only add so many blades before anarchy breaks out. After hearing some good things about them, I bit the bullet and bought a Gillette Fusion Power Phantom (if you can't add another blade, I guess you have to add more words to the name). It's freaking amazing! The razor just glides over your face and effortlessly gives you a clean shave. I remember thinking as I pulled the razor across my skin "The vibrations are keeping this thing from getting close to my skin. It must not be removing much hair.". Miraculously, the hair was gone when I inspected. I have almost no irritation after a shave now. I may actually be able to shave more than once a week now.
I wouldn't normally blog about a freaking razor but thats just how impressed I am.

Retraction

I was wrong about the acoustics at the Grand Garden Arena. We saw Josh Groban perform there this weekend and it sounded pretty good. The arena at Mandalay Bay sounded better but not by much. I guess Aerosmith just had crappy equipment.

Time for a new Xbox

I tried GH2 again yesterday and disaster struck. After it crashed again, I restarted and got the dreaded "flashing red lights of death".
FRLD indicates hardware failure and was common among Xbox 360s purchased around release time. Units that were manufactured later are not nearly as prone but still fall victim occasionally. Microsoft responded by extending the warranties to one year. I never had a problem before this week so I thought I was safe. Unfortunately, judging by what I have seen in forums, something about GH2 can push otherwise healthy Xboxs past the breaking point. How Red Octane will respond to this problem has yet to be seen.
Anyway, my Xbox is still within the warranty period but I have a better idea. I purchased it at Costco which guarantees most items for life. I can get a full cash refund which can be applied towards the Xbox 360 Elite that hits shelves at the end of this month. The Elite has a 120GB drive (as opposed to the original 20), HDMI output, and comes in a cool matte black finish. I will still return GH2 but I want to wait a bit and see what Red Octane has to say. There may be a recall or a downloadable patch. Given the frequency of problems, I don't think Red Octane can ignore it.

Blades of Glory

BoG was pretty funny but I was expecting a little more. Of course some of the funniest parts were in the trailers but a few good laughs were reserved for the big screen. As far as Will Ferrel movies go, it isn't on the same level as Old School or Talladega Nights. I recommend it if there aren't any other movies you are really interested in. If you are having trouble finding the time to see every movie you want, this one could wait for DVD.

Finally!

Guitar Hero II for Xbox360 hits shelves today. I will be going to the nearest Best Buy at lunch today. If only Guitar Hero could teach me how to play an F chord.