I figured I'd start posting movie reviews of movies I go see. First of all, it takes a lot to impress me movie-wise. I'm extremely critical of movies. That said, let us begin.
Let me start by saying that I have read Twilight. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. It was geared towards teenage girls but I tried my hardest to enjoy it. I was looking forward to the movie, as anyone would be when a book they have read is adapted for the big screen.
I thought the casting was probably the best thing about the movie. I think the producers did a good job selecting actors that fit the characters, most notably: Edward, Bella, Charlie, Jacob, and Alice.
The acting was... bad. And honestly, I can't really blame the actors because the script wasn't that great either. A lot of the dialogue just sounded so forced. Like, the writers just didn't put a lot of thought into it. They knew they had to get certain information across but didn't strive to make it sound natural. Over acting was an issue. For example, Rosalie. We all know that she is not supposed to like Bella, but the movie made it BLATANTLY OBVIOUS. It was just too over the top. Also, the "high school" students in this movie are apparently at a junior high or lower maturity level.
The worst part about this movie is the music. Good music in a movie should be transparent. What I mean by that is, it should blend in with the current mood so that you don't notice it's there. There were several moments in this movie that I found myself pondering, "What is up with this music?" Another movie no-no is dead air space. Generally, you should always be hearing some background noise or music so that there is something to be heard when there is no dialogue. This movie didn't follow this idea, and there were points when nobody was saying anything and it was dead silent, which I feel is uncomfortable for the audience.
All in all, this movie almost felt like an Independent Indie Film. Sub par acting, weird music, forced dialogue, over acting, the only thing that is missing is a low budget, which apparently this movie did not have because the special effects were actually quite nice. The vampire movements looked ok, although I didn't feel they were adapted too well. Sometimes when they were running there was this sort of blur effect, and other times they just were running at an incredible rate. I prefered the latter, when reading the book I didn't picture the blurred movements that the movie depicted. Maybe that one is just personal preference.
So what it all comes down to is that you'll enjoy the movie if you were a fan of the book. Maybe. I, for one, felt that it could have been done so much better. I've heard other people say they loved it and honestly I feel that is only possible if you tell yourself you're going to love it before you watch it because as far as films go, it's just not that good.
5/10
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Real Game
So Cassie and I went to he Real Salt Lake game Saturday night. We had to make a quick stop at a wedding reception for one of Cassie's friends before heading to the game. It look longer than I wanted but we still arrived at Sandy City Hall about 20 minutes before kickoff, which should've been plenty of time.
Now, since Rio Tinto Stadium doesn't have a large quantity of parking spaces, there are a lot of buses that stop off at certain places that shuttle fans to the stadium. As we were approaching the City Hall we were right behind one of the buses, which was mostly full. We were bummed since we obviously weren't going to make this shuttle and would have to wait for the next one.
After we parked the car we started heading to the bus stop only to behold a massive mob of people waiting for the next shuttle. We make our way to the end of the line and wonder if we should just walk to the stadium. I decide to wait for the next shuttle and see what it looked like. I mean, they have Staff people at the bus stops that (I would assume) are able to communicate with the bus people. Obviously this stop was in need of some empty buses to get all these people to the stadium before kickoff.
So the next bus comes and it is almost full. Maybe 5 more people were able to get on. Cassie and I looked at each other for a brief moment and then began hoofing it down the road towards the stadium. So, according to Google maps we walked about 1 mile to the stadium, but it felt like a lot longer. Mainly since it was mostly uphill.
The first part of the walk was ok, because we would see buses full of people pass by us and we would think, yeah we made the right choice. Then towards the 2nd half of our trek we started to notice empty buses pass us by...
Crap.
Anyway, we made it and thanks to the national anthem and starting player announcements we only missed about 3 minutes of the game. Yay.
Then RSL lost. But hey, they gave us a good season and I look forward to the next.
Now, since Rio Tinto Stadium doesn't have a large quantity of parking spaces, there are a lot of buses that stop off at certain places that shuttle fans to the stadium. As we were approaching the City Hall we were right behind one of the buses, which was mostly full. We were bummed since we obviously weren't going to make this shuttle and would have to wait for the next one.
After we parked the car we started heading to the bus stop only to behold a massive mob of people waiting for the next shuttle. We make our way to the end of the line and wonder if we should just walk to the stadium. I decide to wait for the next shuttle and see what it looked like. I mean, they have Staff people at the bus stops that (I would assume) are able to communicate with the bus people. Obviously this stop was in need of some empty buses to get all these people to the stadium before kickoff.
So the next bus comes and it is almost full. Maybe 5 more people were able to get on. Cassie and I looked at each other for a brief moment and then began hoofing it down the road towards the stadium. So, according to Google maps we walked about 1 mile to the stadium, but it felt like a lot longer. Mainly since it was mostly uphill.
The first part of the walk was ok, because we would see buses full of people pass by us and we would think, yeah we made the right choice. Then towards the 2nd half of our trek we started to notice empty buses pass us by...
Crap.
Anyway, we made it and thanks to the national anthem and starting player announcements we only missed about 3 minutes of the game. Yay.
Then RSL lost. But hey, they gave us a good season and I look forward to the next.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Blog Gender Analyzer
This is in response to http://www.genderanalyzer.com giving me a "51% written by a male" analysis.
Pork Ribs. Deathblow. Testosterone. High School Football. Quentin Tarantino. Vault Soda. Rated R. Bloody Stump. Budweiser Commercials. Sperm Count. Black & Decker. Bench Press. Auto Zone. Pornography. Motocross. Jack Bauer. No Ma'am. Bicep. Hernia. Remote Control. Penis.
Pork Ribs. Deathblow. Testosterone. High School Football. Quentin Tarantino. Vault Soda. Rated R. Bloody Stump. Budweiser Commercials. Sperm Count. Black & Decker. Bench Press. Auto Zone. Pornography. Motocross. Jack Bauer. No Ma'am. Bicep. Hernia. Remote Control. Penis.
Football
First of all, this blog as nothing to do with that silly sport where they wear pads and helmets and is referred to as "American Football" by 95% of Earth. This is about the most popular sport on the face of the planet: Football (or Soccer as we Yanks call it).
Soccer is the most popular sport in pretty much every country except here in the good 'ol US of A (oh and let us not forget Canada, they have their pond polo all for themselves). I think it is really lame how negative some of us Americanos are towards Soccer. I roll my eyes every time someone complains about it being "boring" or "devoid of action". Although it is true that games oftentimes have low scores it is not by an means boring. To enjoy Soccer you have to appreciate the skill involved. Let's face it, what else have you done with your feet besides walk yourself from the couch to the kitchen?
Here's my definition of boring: Time outs, waiting for the next pitch, commercial breaks, waiting for the next play, and delay of game. Do these sound familiar? Well guess what, Soccer has none of them. The halves are 45 minutes, no commercial breaks or time outs whatsoever. Sometimes play is delayed due to injuries or post foul arguing, but all that time is tacked on at the end of the half anyway.
And another thing. Soccer players are freaking fit. The average play in football is probably around 5 seconds, with about 30 seconds in between plays. Basketball is a little more tough as the players constantly have to run up and down court. But even these sports have time outs, commercial breaks, substitutions and whatnot. I'm not even gonna go into baseball. Soccer players play the entire 45 minutes, no stopping. No time outs, no commercial breaks. Each team is allowed 3 substitutions, and they usually keep that last one for emergencies. This means of the 11 starting players, 9 of them will play the entire game.
So give Soccer a break, if you think it's boring then all of the other sports out there are even more boring. There's a reason every other country out there worships soccer.
Go RSL.
Soccer is the most popular sport in pretty much every country except here in the good 'ol US of A (oh and let us not forget Canada, they have their pond polo all for themselves). I think it is really lame how negative some of us Americanos are towards Soccer. I roll my eyes every time someone complains about it being "boring" or "devoid of action". Although it is true that games oftentimes have low scores it is not by an means boring. To enjoy Soccer you have to appreciate the skill involved. Let's face it, what else have you done with your feet besides walk yourself from the couch to the kitchen?
Here's my definition of boring: Time outs, waiting for the next pitch, commercial breaks, waiting for the next play, and delay of game. Do these sound familiar? Well guess what, Soccer has none of them. The halves are 45 minutes, no commercial breaks or time outs whatsoever. Sometimes play is delayed due to injuries or post foul arguing, but all that time is tacked on at the end of the half anyway.
And another thing. Soccer players are freaking fit. The average play in football is probably around 5 seconds, with about 30 seconds in between plays. Basketball is a little more tough as the players constantly have to run up and down court. But even these sports have time outs, commercial breaks, substitutions and whatnot. I'm not even gonna go into baseball. Soccer players play the entire 45 minutes, no stopping. No time outs, no commercial breaks. Each team is allowed 3 substitutions, and they usually keep that last one for emergencies. This means of the 11 starting players, 9 of them will play the entire game.
So give Soccer a break, if you think it's boring then all of the other sports out there are even more boring. There's a reason every other country out there worships soccer.
Go RSL.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The Story of the Stupid Samaritan
So I ducked out early from work yesterday to take care of some things related to my pharmacy externship that I was starting. On my way home from my errands traffic suddenly slowed in the lane that I was in while the left lane continued at cruising speeds. The last of the cars in front of me switched to the left lane I beheld a stalled car several yards in front of me. The lights were off and the engine was not running. Since I had a couple hours before I had to be at the pharmacy and since it was raining I decided to be a good citizen and help this guy with his problem. I switched on my emergency blinkers and hopped out of my car. The guy was just getting out of his car and asked if I had any jumper cables, I suggested we first push his car to the side of the road.
Some redheaded girl in a white SUV also stopped to help this guy and together we pushed the car to the side of the road. I ran back to my car and parked behind his car. I didn't have any cables but luckily the redhead (I didn't get either of their names) had some brand new ones. So she turned her SUV around to face the dead car so we could get the cables to reach.
Now, let me explain that I haven't had a whole lot of experience with jumper cables. I thought I knew the jist of it but at this point I was more than willing to let someone else take the lead because chances are they would have a better idea of the procedure than I.
Well the girl handed me the cables, so I went to the dead car's battery and checked it out. I was fairly confident that the cables attached onto the battery and you had to know which cable was attached to which polarity (positive or negative). I looked for the plus or minus sign but couldn't see them. I asked the guy if he knew which was which. He took the cables and hooked them up. I thought, good this guy must know what he's doing.
So I go to the SUV's battery. I hesitate because I'm not sure which cable is attached to which polarity at the dead battery's end. The guy then instructed me where to put each clamp. So we fire up the SUV and the guy tries to get his car started.
Nothing.
Since I'm so naive I think the problem must be unrelated to the battery. I also notice that there is smoke coming off of the clamps on each battery. Anyone who knows about this stuff would recognize this gigantic red flag. Me, on the other hand, having limited experience with jumper cables just assumed this was the norm. Regardless, we realize the jumper cables failed so I go to remove them. Part of my hand touched the metal part of the clamp I got a nice dose of searing hot pain. That's when we noticed that the rubber sheilding of the cables were melting away from the inner wiring... for the entire length of the cable. Part of the cable was touching my shirt and the rubber was fused onto my shirt, that is, the rubber liquified from the heat and then solidified on my shirt. Yeah, it was that hot.
So what happened was (I did some internet research when I got home) that the cables were not hooked up correctly and there was WAY TOO MUCH current going through the wires. Not only was it generating a massive amount of heat in the cable, it was also heating up the battery as well and we were all lucky the battery didn't explode showering us in magma battery acid.
Anyway, I told the girl to not use those cables again (apparently none of us had a lot of experience with this and we figured the (brand new) cables were faulty). So I just bailed. I offered to call someone for the guy but he had a phone. The girl offered to drive him somewhere but he declined. I figured I'd done all I could and just got the eff out of there.
So, without further ado, proper jumper cable procedures:
Start with both engines off.
Step 1: Attach red cable to the Positive end of the working battery (Positive is the bigger of the two)
Step 2: Attach black cable to the Negative end of the working battery.
Step 3: Attach the other red cable to the Positive end of the dead battery.
Step 4: Attach the other black cable to a metal part of the dead engine. Some will say to attach it to the Negative end of the battery, which will work, but it is not the preferred way. You just need to ground this cable.
Step 5: Start up the working engine.
Step 6: Attempt to start the dead engine.
Thanks for playing.
Some redheaded girl in a white SUV also stopped to help this guy and together we pushed the car to the side of the road. I ran back to my car and parked behind his car. I didn't have any cables but luckily the redhead (I didn't get either of their names) had some brand new ones. So she turned her SUV around to face the dead car so we could get the cables to reach.
Now, let me explain that I haven't had a whole lot of experience with jumper cables. I thought I knew the jist of it but at this point I was more than willing to let someone else take the lead because chances are they would have a better idea of the procedure than I.
Well the girl handed me the cables, so I went to the dead car's battery and checked it out. I was fairly confident that the cables attached onto the battery and you had to know which cable was attached to which polarity (positive or negative). I looked for the plus or minus sign but couldn't see them. I asked the guy if he knew which was which. He took the cables and hooked them up. I thought, good this guy must know what he's doing.
So I go to the SUV's battery. I hesitate because I'm not sure which cable is attached to which polarity at the dead battery's end. The guy then instructed me where to put each clamp. So we fire up the SUV and the guy tries to get his car started.
Nothing.
Since I'm so naive I think the problem must be unrelated to the battery. I also notice that there is smoke coming off of the clamps on each battery. Anyone who knows about this stuff would recognize this gigantic red flag. Me, on the other hand, having limited experience with jumper cables just assumed this was the norm. Regardless, we realize the jumper cables failed so I go to remove them. Part of my hand touched the metal part of the clamp I got a nice dose of searing hot pain. That's when we noticed that the rubber sheilding of the cables were melting away from the inner wiring... for the entire length of the cable. Part of the cable was touching my shirt and the rubber was fused onto my shirt, that is, the rubber liquified from the heat and then solidified on my shirt. Yeah, it was that hot.
So what happened was (I did some internet research when I got home) that the cables were not hooked up correctly and there was WAY TOO MUCH current going through the wires. Not only was it generating a massive amount of heat in the cable, it was also heating up the battery as well and we were all lucky the battery didn't explode showering us in magma battery acid.
Anyway, I told the girl to not use those cables again (apparently none of us had a lot of experience with this and we figured the (brand new) cables were faulty). So I just bailed. I offered to call someone for the guy but he had a phone. The girl offered to drive him somewhere but he declined. I figured I'd done all I could and just got the eff out of there.
So, without further ado, proper jumper cable procedures:
Start with both engines off.
Step 1: Attach red cable to the Positive end of the working battery (Positive is the bigger of the two)
Step 2: Attach black cable to the Negative end of the working battery.
Step 3: Attach the other red cable to the Positive end of the dead battery.
Step 4: Attach the other black cable to a metal part of the dead engine. Some will say to attach it to the Negative end of the battery, which will work, but it is not the preferred way. You just need to ground this cable.
Step 5: Start up the working engine.
Step 6: Attempt to start the dead engine.
Thanks for playing.
Monday, November 3, 2008
People Who Care
I've added gadget that allows you to "follow" my blog and get updates when I post new stuff. I titled it "People Who Care". Right now there is a zero next to People Who Care, indicating that nobody cares. Please do something about this, it is very depressing.
:)
:)
Creepy Guy
First of all, my bad for not blogging for so long. I'm a horrible blogger, and I have let you all down. For shame.
Now that that's out of the way, let's get to my story. I went to Albertson's the other day to pick up my wife's prescription and do some grocery shopping. Since perishables were on my list, I decided to head to the pharmacy first.
So I went to the drop off place and they told me the Rx was ready I just needed to pick it up and the pick up place. There were about 4 people in the line to pick up prescriptions, so I found my place at the end of it.
Shortly afterwards I felt someone take their place behind me in line. "Have you been here long?". I replied that I just barely got here. "Yeah, I'm just picking up my pill that helps me lose weight. It's great." I'm thinking, ok dude I didn't ask for your life story. "Yeah, before I was on this pill I had a serious weight problem, do you have that same challenge?"
wtf?
Ok, now bear in mind I hadn't looked at or even offered up anything to advance this one sided conversation, so I don't know what propelled this guy to up and call me fat. So I finally turn and look at the guy. Now, I'm well aware that I have packed on some poundage in the past years so I sympathize with pleasantly plump personnel because I know how easy it is to put it on and how hard it is to take it off. I'm not gonna go easy on this guy because you gotta be some kinda douche to call a stranger out like that in public. If this guy used to have a weight problem it must of been pretty freaking serious cuz I'd say he still has a pretty bad problem. His man boobies jutted out as though he was wearing one of those crazy Madonna cone bras underneath.
He started counselling me on how my "problem" may not by my fault. I told him I was pretty sure it was my fault because I happen to like fast food and don't get enough exercise. After this conversation we moved on to business. This guy was starting to scare me. He could not sense my disintersted aura and silent prayers for him to shut up and leave me alone. He kept talking to me about business management and how employees are liabilities. After everything he said he would follow up with "You understand what I'm saying?". Soon I was just waiting for him to pull out a knife and stab me.
Finally it was my turn to pick up my prescription. This pleased me because there is a line you're supposed to stay behind to protect patient confidentiality. This line did not phase Creepy Guy. He crossed the threshold without hesitation and continued his mundane ramblings. Still, I felt a little better. In the presence of a pharamacist, protected by 3 feet of counter, the chance of a flash stabbing might have decreased a little.
Luckily for me, Creepy Guy transitioned away from me and started talking with the pharmacist. I finalized my transaction and got the eff outta there. I still had to buy groceries. I kept one eye out for Creepy Guy the whole time, prepared to abandon my shopping cart full of unpurchased groceries had he decided to track me down and retreat home quasi-victorious with the medication. Luckily I didn't see him again. Does Cassie go through an episode like this every time she goes shopping?
Now that that's out of the way, let's get to my story. I went to Albertson's the other day to pick up my wife's prescription and do some grocery shopping. Since perishables were on my list, I decided to head to the pharmacy first.
So I went to the drop off place and they told me the Rx was ready I just needed to pick it up and the pick up place. There were about 4 people in the line to pick up prescriptions, so I found my place at the end of it.
Shortly afterwards I felt someone take their place behind me in line. "Have you been here long?". I replied that I just barely got here. "Yeah, I'm just picking up my pill that helps me lose weight. It's great." I'm thinking, ok dude I didn't ask for your life story. "Yeah, before I was on this pill I had a serious weight problem, do you have that same challenge?"
wtf?
Ok, now bear in mind I hadn't looked at or even offered up anything to advance this one sided conversation, so I don't know what propelled this guy to up and call me fat. So I finally turn and look at the guy. Now, I'm well aware that I have packed on some poundage in the past years so I sympathize with pleasantly plump personnel because I know how easy it is to put it on and how hard it is to take it off. I'm not gonna go easy on this guy because you gotta be some kinda douche to call a stranger out like that in public. If this guy used to have a weight problem it must of been pretty freaking serious cuz I'd say he still has a pretty bad problem. His man boobies jutted out as though he was wearing one of those crazy Madonna cone bras underneath.
He started counselling me on how my "problem" may not by my fault. I told him I was pretty sure it was my fault because I happen to like fast food and don't get enough exercise. After this conversation we moved on to business. This guy was starting to scare me. He could not sense my disintersted aura and silent prayers for him to shut up and leave me alone. He kept talking to me about business management and how employees are liabilities. After everything he said he would follow up with "You understand what I'm saying?". Soon I was just waiting for him to pull out a knife and stab me.
Finally it was my turn to pick up my prescription. This pleased me because there is a line you're supposed to stay behind to protect patient confidentiality. This line did not phase Creepy Guy. He crossed the threshold without hesitation and continued his mundane ramblings. Still, I felt a little better. In the presence of a pharamacist, protected by 3 feet of counter, the chance of a flash stabbing might have decreased a little.
Luckily for me, Creepy Guy transitioned away from me and started talking with the pharmacist. I finalized my transaction and got the eff outta there. I still had to buy groceries. I kept one eye out for Creepy Guy the whole time, prepared to abandon my shopping cart full of unpurchased groceries had he decided to track me down and retreat home quasi-victorious with the medication. Luckily I didn't see him again. Does Cassie go through an episode like this every time she goes shopping?
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