th3midnighter's Blog - 2old2play

Generation WTF

Ok, so I love love love this show Generation Kill and well, I was a huge fan of the Wire so I knew this show would be well written, well acted but I'm confused about something. Are real military leaders this retarded? Actually, I’m insulting all Down syndrome and autistic people by comparing them to the military leaders on this show. I know the show is based on the real life experience of a reporter who was embedded with a recon Marine Battalion but I'm not sure if they are embellishing the stupidity of the military leaders for entertainment value or whether this is how it is in the real world as well. Since I'm Canadian, my experience with military life consists of choosing the right perk in COD4 so when I see some crazy decisions made by company commanders like dropping a bomb 200 yards from Marines or leaving a fully stocked military vehicle behind, I scratch my head. I'm amazed the marines haven’t turned the gun on their superiors yet. So far, they’ve been made to run a gauntlet through a small town without air cover or artillery, they’ve been told to eat 1 ration a day, leave behind a supply truck only to see it blown up, and on top of all that, they have maybe the most retarded leader I've ever seen in TV or movies in Encino Man. That dude might be mildly comatose. The show is excellent but all I keep thinking is, when are they gonna mutiny? Anyways, it’s on HBO on sunday nights so watch the show if you can. You won't be sorry. So ex military guys and gals, is this how it actually is?

[4 Comments]

To Ferberize or not to?

So our son just turned 7 months a few days ago and me and the wife have decided that its time for him to sleep on his own. He's been sleeping with us for the last 7 months in our bed with a co-sleeper but we'd like to be able to sleep through the night and you know, actually get to sleep together so we are moving him to his spacious crib in his spacious room. So we thought about all the different methods and are going with the Ferber Method. Its named after some Doctor in Boston who after doing years of research and studies found that babies after 4/5 months who have trouble sleeping through the night can be taught to sleep by a system of soothing, quiet bed time and letting them cry it out. We are on night number 2 and let me tell you, hes got a set of lungs. He lasted 34 mins the first night and last night he lasted 49 mins cause I made the mistake of picking him up. We are going to stick to it for a few weeks to see how he responds but once he was able to fall asleep, he stayed asleep for most of the night. My question is this. How many have tried the cry it out method and when did you see a dramatic difference. Also, if you had a baby who wasnt able to sleep through the night and woke up every few hours, what other methods did you use? Who knew parenting was so complicated. I have more respect for my parents with each passing day.

[11 Comments]

Oil, what is it good for?

Am I the only one that thinks that the price of Oil going up is a good thing?

I realize short term, it creates some stress for the middle to lower class because its more expensive to go to the cottage, to do that vacation, to drive to work but I think the long term effects of this phenomenon is being missed or at least ignored by the vast majority of people. Oil is by far the most resourceful commodity we have right now. Oil is a key ingredient in plastics, rubber, pharmaceuticals, cement, electronics, clothing, and on and on. So we have this product that can be molded, melted, sculpted to create many of our every day products and yet we use like 90% of oil to burn as fuel. That just seems incredibly wasteful and short sighted.

We waste oil so freely and have been doing it for over a hundred years and finally the price of Oil is at a point where we are starting to question our daily habits and rituals. In a single year, the price of Oil has done what countless Gov’t policies, commercials, documentaries, books, and environmentalists couldn’t do. Make the consumer rethink and re-evaluate how they travel, work and live. For the first time, I heard my dad say “I think I’m going to bike to the corner store.” The man hasn’t ridden a bike in over 20 years. For the first time since the early 90s, a pick up truck isn’t the best selling vehicle in the states. The incredibly fuel efficient Honda Civic was the best selling car in May. GM just announced that they are closing one of their bigger plants near Toronto that used to make pick up trucks because people are moving towards smaller sedans. Toyota and Honda both have announced fully electric cars to be released in Japan by 09, and most likely in the North American market a year or two after that.

All of these changes in the market have nothing to do with a shift by the consumer to be more environmentally conscious cause lets be honest, most of us don’t give a shit about the environment. We care about our comforts and maintaining our lifestyle. The minute our lifestyle becomes too expensive for our budget, that’s when we force the market to change. This shift is going to force governments to invest in more public transit, its going to force Auto companies to make their cars as oil free as they can and it’s going to force the consumer to use less gas, whether it be for our car or for our home. So from my point of view, I hope the price of Oil keeps going up, up, up. Over $200 a barrel would be perfect. It’s been too cheap for far too long and we really need to wean ourselves off it and God knows, we aren’t going to do it for the drowning Polar Bears.

[11 Comments]

Movies...

One of my earliest memories growing up are my dad taking me to movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Superman so I grew up being a huge movie buff. Lately, there have been some terrible movies that have been released (Indy and the Skull of Shittyness and Hulk) so I started thinking about movies that I get excited to watch even if I’ve seen it 10 times. These are movies either I own or watch anytime I catch on TV. I thought I’d limit it to movies that have been made in the last 10 years so at least if you are at Blockbuster, you might find it there if your first and second choice is out. I left out Oscar winners like BrokebackMountain and Saving Private Ryan because I assumed most people have seen them already.

So here goes:

Fight Club: Probably my favorite movie of the last 10 years. Brad Pitt in his best role as a “fuck you” Soap salesman and Ed Norton, a insurance claims specialist who create a club for guys who need to well fight to get through the mundaness (made up word) of everyday life. I loved the book so to see it translate so well onto the big screen was a bonus for me. Fincher and Pitt at their finest, even better than Se7en imo.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: I always fuck up the title but the movie is brilliant. Charlie Kaufman has written a bunch of great scripts like Being John Malkowich and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind but this is by far his best “feel good” script and more than that, it’s a beautiful love story set within a non traditional storyline. I’m not a huge fan of Jim Carrey but as a broken down man who wants to literally forget the love of his life he does a great job, and it’s a great script and directed with a lot of soul by one Michel Gondry.

Office Space: Before Steve Carrel made middle management a one liner, this movie made me realize I wasn’t the only one out there with a moron for a boss. So many good one liners in this movie and easily one of the funniest movies of the last 10 years. “I'm thinking I might take that new chick from Logistics. If things go well I might be showing her my O-face. "Oh... Oh... Oh!" You know what I'm talkin' about. "Oh!"”

Memento: Before he blew up big with Batman Begins and now Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan made a name for himself with this murder mystery that really should’ve been nominated for an Oscar. I’m not even doing the movie justice in my description and I’d love to say more but I don’t want to ruin it. Just go rent it if you can’t find what you’re looking for in Blockbuster. You won’t be sorry.

In The Company of Men: Ok, this movie breaks the 10 year rule since it was from 97, but I have this on DVD and couldn’t ignore it. Two execs who are friends make a bet and go out of their way to ruin a woman’s life. Sounds cruel I know but I was amazed how honest the movie was. I actually think it paints men in a true light…for the most part.

Magnolia: People tend to either love P.T. Anderson movies or hate em and I love love loved this one. Huge cast, big story involving multiple characters that gets revealed at the end. You have to go into this movie with an open mind because it does tend to wander into the surreal for a bit but it’s worth the ride. Oh, Tom Cruise actually does a good job in this movie which you can’t say too often.

Requiem for a Dream: I don’t know which I love more, the score by Clint Mansell or the movie by Aronofsky. Story is about 4 characters that get into drugs in very different ways and how their lives are incredibly and completely ruined by it. If you want kids to stop using drugs, make em watch this movie. Brilliant and scary.

Oldboy: Korean movie about a man who is kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years then released and he has 5 days to discover his kidnappers. Now this sounds like any normal Hollywood movie until you watch the style and the way its shot. The pain that the character endures throughout the movie, not just the physical kind is overwhelming.

28 Days Later: I realize the Boyle will forever be known for Trainspotting but this movie imo is the best Zombie movie made in the last 25 years. Easily. Scary, fun, hopeful, and well directed. A zombie movie that makes you think. MMMM Brainz.

Well that’s it for now; hope everyone has a great weekend.

[6 Comments]

It's hard out here for a Pirate...

Last week, the Canadian Federal Gov't proposed Bill C-61, a comprehensive restrictive bill that would limit how a Canadian citizen could attain, use and share almost any form of digital media. In layman terms, it pretty much makes it illegal to share songs that you bought from iTunes, rip music, download almost anything and even upload a video onto YouTube. If you want more information of what exactly the Bill covers, I've included a link below. Aside from the fact that its pretty obvious that our Federal Conservative government is taking its cues on this bill from individuals such as David Wilkins (US Ambassador to Canada) who has been extremely vocal in his support for more stringent laws on digital media in Canada as well as other American politicians like the Governator, I think the bigger picture here is that the government is totally missing the boat on this issue. Digital Media in the last 5 to 10 years has changed the way we communicate, watch movies & TV, and listen to music and even how we get our news. The Canadian and well as the American Gov't have gone out of their way to make it impossible to share all this data freely and has pushed the file sharing community underground.

Ever since Napster broke out onto the scene many, many years ago, the internet has been the main conduit for many consumers to get their music, movies, TV shows all for free of charge. Now while I may or may not partake in such activity, it’s very obvious why torrents and newsgroups are so popular and take up such a huge % of the net bandwidth. The home PC combined with high speed internet accounts combined with 19 to 32" LCD screens at very reasonable prices have created an environment whereby the consumer can get his fav HD TV show downloaded on his pc within an hour without commercials and be able to watch it at his own time. What I don’t understand is why the Cable companies, the Federal Gov’t, the advertisers, the Music studios haven’t seen this as the perfect storm to take file sharing to the next level. 5, maybe even 10 years ago, you had a very small % of the population that understood how to search and find what they were looking for online and get it in a timely manner. With the advent of Torrents and sites like mininova, piratebay, my mom can hop online and find her favorite Desperate Housewives episode in less time than it takes me to write this blog. So with a savvy consumer base, and the technology available to support that consumer base, why haven't these governments seized the opportunity to change and amend laws to make it not only easier for the consumer but more importantly, more profitable. I get that advertisers lose all of their investment if you aren't watching Lost on Thursday night on ABC but really, doesn’t the PVR already negate advertisers?

To me, there are some really simple solutions that the Cable companies and Music Studios could implement that would bring in millions into their coffers and satisfy the thirst of the net pirates. For TV shows, simply release the episodes an hour after it airs as .wmv files or .mkv files to download either directly of the studios site or through your PVR. Don’t force me to watch the show on my PVR or on the website itself. Give me the ability to download the file (with commercials built in) so I can watch it on any medium I choose whether it be my Iphone, PSP or my sexy HD TV. Once the TV show is aired, it’s not like you are losing any more money on it. As for music, don’t force me to go iTunes to use their proprietary software in order to buy one song. I know there are similar services to iTunes but they don’t have nearly the selection that iTunes has. The artists really need to get more involved in this process similar to what Radiohead has been doing lately. Let the artist control how their art gets shared to the world. Give the artists more input on how their music should be shared instead of forcing the consumer and the artist to follow archaic laws that don’t apply in the Digital age. Movies are a bit tougher to open since it would take away from direct profits in the theatre but I heard last year that Stephen Soderbergh (director of the Oceans 11 series) was going to release a movie straight to DVD as well as Download as well as theatre to see if it would increase total sales. The options available for a Movie Studio might be limited in comparison to Cable companies but I think they can still release movies over the web for Download and charge consumers a price without making the consumer feel like he got ripped off. If I could DL Iron Man a month after it’s been in the theatres for $10 bucks and it expires a month after I download it, then I’d defin take advantage of that.

With more and more people having home entertainment centers with big ass HD projectors, give them the opportunity to watch new movies at home while still charging them a fair price. I know I'm not the first to come up with any of these ideas but it amazes me that Gov’t officials and cable companies and studios are looking at new ways to stifle the use of technology instead of using it to entice more consumers to buy their products. People are not going to stop downloading simply because it’s just too convenient, quick and yes, free. Instead of punishing and limiting the options of the consumer, they should be looking at ways to take advantage of a brand new marketplace, one where you get everything with just one little click.

www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080613.COPYRIGHT13//TPStory/Front

[0 Comments]

Wanna Vote? Take a test.

To drive a car, you need to take a test. But to elect the leader of your country, step right up and vote. Leave your Brain at the door. I've always wondered why we don't require all citizens to have some basic knowledge and intelligence in order to have the privilege of voting for their candidate. I'm not necessarily advocating an IQ test although I think they should have an IQ test for anyone getting a drivers license cause there are way too many idiots on the road but thats another topic. Its kind of amazing the power and the responsibility that a President or Prime Minister is entrusted with and yet the people that elect him aren't held to the same level of scrutiny. I seriously think a mandatory national test whereby every interested voter would be forced to take a test on the issues of that election would reduce the sway that the window lickers have on an election. I'd like to live in a country where the people that vote with me are as knowledgeable about the issues as I am, if not more. If these candidates knew that the people that were electing them had some education, some knowledge about the issues, then maybe when they say "Our citizens aren't stupid, they get whats going on", they'd actually mean it.

Instead of using religion, race and gender to divide and alienate the masses, they would actually give us some real solutions to solve our economic and political woes. They'd be somewhat scared to give us false promises and grand sweeping plans without any concrete detail because they'd know, "shit the guy that votes for me passed the test, I can't just say what ever the fuck I want." (Or maybe their lies would just get more elaborate.) Right now, the people in power take the every day man for granted because well, they can feed gen pop any kind of nonsense and the majority of the people out there swallow it up without questioning the source or the validity of said nonsense. If nothing else, knowing that the voters weren't total morons who could actually identify Iraq on a map, and ask intelligent pertinent questions, maybe they'd be scared of the people instead of the people being scared of them. The law that states every man and woman has the right to vote should be changed to every INTELLIGENT man and woman has the right to vote imo. I would also pass that law for anyone that wants to be a new parent but thats just me.

[26 Comments]

From wheelchair to fade away

I consider myself a sports fan, not a rabid one but a passionate one. I tend to follow the NFL and NBA quite closely but I also follow a bit of European soccer and some baseball when the playoffs kick in. Last night was Game 1 of the Lakers and Celtics and if you are any sort of NBA fan, this HAS to get you excited. This is like if baseball finally came to its senses and separated the Sox and the Yankees so they could meet each other in the World Series to finally decide who has the bigger budget, er the better team. Or if the Pats and the Colts said FU to the NFL and played their own game to decide the real champ. This is THE premiere match up in the NBA and I don't know how many refs Stern had to bribe to get this matchup but I'm glad he did because you couldn't ask for a better final. On one side, you have the hard nosed, defensive oriented Celtics, from a blue collar sports crazed city versus the finesse, offensively gifted Lakers, whose fans leave early during playoff games because of the traffic and whose mascot is a geriatric Jack Nicholson. On a side note, do the teenagers Jacko's dates know that he was alive during WW 2?

The series really does have it all. Names? Yeah its got that. You have the most passionate athlete I've seen play in any sport since LT in Kevin Garnett. The most gifted and talented player to play in the finals since his Airness himself. I know Kobe will never ever be Jordan but hes the closest thing we have until Lebron learns how to shoot a 19 footer. Legacy? Check. The Lakers and Celtics have combined for 30 titles between them. Thats almost as much as ALL of the other NBA teams combined. Showtime vs. the Gaaaarden. Anyways, you get the picture. If you were an NBA fan, this is your dream match up. So the intro to the game happens and I hope some of you saw it. They had Clint Mansell playing in the background while they showed clips of the Celts. If you dont know Clint Mansell, he is the composer behind some of the best music in film. The score on Last of the Mohicans, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, Smoking Aces just to name a few. Anyways, his music comes on, the crowd goes crazy and you can tell, the people in the arena GET IT. This is a big deal.

Anyways, the game starts and its very competitive in the first half. It's going back and forth. Very entertaining, pretty plays. Celtics defense seems to be giving Kobe fits cause he cant seem to get inside but Kobe being Kobe is able to suck in the defense and give Odom and Gasol easy layups. I've always thought Kobe's passing was underrated. He can get his shot off anywhere but he is also a great passer. Halftime comes and goes and both teams exchange the lead back and forth until the end of the 3rd quarter when Paul Pierce, the captain of the C's goes down with what looks like a very painful, knee injury. Now i watched the play like 3 times and he looked like he was in more pain with each replay. My heart sank right at that moment not because I'm a Paul Pierce fan but I knew, if he's gone for the series, the Celtics have no chance in this series. They had to take him out on a wheelchair cause he couldn't put any weight on his knewe. Wheelchair people! It was like the Boston fans just learned Marky Mark was releasing another rap album. I've never seen a crowd get taken out of a game sooo quickly. I had no rooting interest, I just wanted an entertaining series but I was almost certain this would kill the series. So you watch the Celtics scratch and claw to keep their slim lead and about 5 mins after he was carted off in a wheelchair, through the dark tunnel, you see #34 jogging back into the arena. I've never seen the Willis Reed come back in Game 7 of the Finals back in the 70s but I imagine this is what it felt like. Goosebumps. He comes hopping back into the arena, and the crowd goes insane. Standing O. He has this crooked grin. Phil Jackson calls a timeout before the fans all rush the Celts bench to give Pierce a 20,000 person group hug. (Side note: I wish the announcers had shut the hell up so the tv audience could've heard how loud the crowd really was when he walked back in. Pissed me off)

He comes back, hits 2 3's back to back after being almost near tears in pain less than 10 mins ago and really at that point regardless of the score, I knew the Celts were gonna win. If I'd seen it in a movie, I'd have walked out, thats how cliche it was but when it happens in the sporting world, well, it just doesn't get any better. For the rest of the game, I just sort of sat back and took it all in because as a sports fan, GOOD championship games/series are few and far between. The Celtics went on to win the game and really, I don't think any Celtics fan had any doubt after P.P came back in the game and now we have a real series. Celts were the dogs heading into the series and now you have to wonder how LA matches their emotion for Game 2. Kobe will bounce back from his bad game, I'm positive of that but I don't know if he can carry LA on his own. LA seemed confused in their offense all night long and never got in a rhythm like they did in their other pervious series so I'm curious to see what Phil Jackson does. You know he has some trick up his sleeve. Either way, I'm not missing a game in this series, not after last night.

Lots of reading so I added some eye candy to make it easier:

Seriously, i get it she has fake boobs and probably couldn't do a BXB to save her life but jesus shes hawwwt. Its a dress like that on a body like that sometimes makes me think God really does exist.

If Reggie studied holes on the line like he studied her....well you get what I'm sayin...

[6 Comments]

Bizarro George W. Bush

So I'm watching the victory speech by Barrack Obama on Tuesday night, seeing how energized the crowd gets with his every word, how he seems to be able to control the audience with the tone and the volume of his voice and I find myself smiling just watching him do his thing. Its amazing to me how incredibly different he is from George W. Bush. In almost every way in fact. This blog isn't about me gushing over Mr. Obama because in all honesty, whomever wins the election in November has a hell of a challenge to get the US out of its economic and political funk. The last Administration has done a great job of killing any faith the public has had in the Government and flushed it down the toilet. Surveys released by CBS as recent as June 3rd have Bush with an approval rating of 25%. What I find fascinating is how incredibly different Obama and Bush are portrayed in the media and how they are perceived by the public.

Bush is white. Obama is black. Bush is from the south. Obama from the North. Bush has had trouble grasping the English language at times. Obama almost sounds more like a Reverend leading his congregation than a politician giving a speech on public policy. Bush is depicted as using fear and hate to pass laws and policies. Obama seems to focus on hope, faith and the promise of a better future to unite his followers. Bush seems to be heading down the same path as Nixon, to be remembered as one of the most unpopular Presidents of the last 100 years. Obama is portrayed as a second coming of JFK, exciting the college kids and grandmas alike by the thousands. Its fascinating to me how incredibly different these two men are portrayed. If the Democratic party went into a science lab and created a human being who would be the Bizzaro G.W., they couldn't have done a better job than Obama.

Even with all the positive vibes that Bizarro Bush is exhibiting, and all the excitement he is generating among the younger voters, I have one major concern. How can he possibly fix all these issues all at the same time? If you listen to his speeches, he wants to fix the economy, the crumbling school system, the corruption in Washington, the environment, the war in Iraq, and bring universal health care to all Americans. How exactly hes going to solve all these issues without bankrupting the country I don't quite understand but maybe thats why I'm a Canadian. lol.

When you make such grand sweeping plans for a country, and you get millions of people to believe again after giving up for the last 8 years, you better be able to live up to those promises. After all the bad news we've had the last few years, people are ripe for some hope and faith. Bizarro Bush is coming in at the perfect time for that. If he does get elected in November, I hope he does have some super powers because hes going to need it to deal with the mess thats ahead of him.

[6 Comments]

Things that made me go hmmm.

Marriage made in heaven....Brett Ratner and Beverly Hills Cop 4. I wonder if he'll be able to top the masterpiece that was BH Cop 3 or Indy 4. Probably not.
www.aintitcool.com/node/36906

I liked this list but how the hell did the yellow line in Madden not show up on this list? They had that in the game which eventually made it into the TV broadcasts. Shame I tell you. Btw, I loved making Gretzky bleed and flop on the ice like a lil goldfish. Me and my buddies used to play NHL just to see who could make the other person bleed first in the game. Makes sense why I play Halo now.
sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story

I can't wait to have another Windows OS that makes me reboot every 20 mins. Is Vista going to replace Windows ME as the worst OS theyve ever released?
gizmodo.com/393552/windows-7-first-official-photos

I found this article pretty interesting. A fully web based OS is not that far in the future me thinks. (if it isnt out already)
www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/29/the-next-gen-web-browser-storage-support/

Seriously, I read this and screamed at my screen. I was sayin this in site chat the other day. I am Legend could've been a great movie if not for the "smart" Zombie plot twist. If you are going to follow the message of the Book, follow it all the way. Don't tease us then go back to shit exploding. Brilliant Zombies WTF? Isnt that an oxymoron?
www.cracked.com/article_16258_5-awesome-movies-ruined-by-last-minute-changes.html

You know, when i read this yesterday I wondered why he did this now. What is he trying to get out of it. I know all of W. Senior staff are jumping ship because they see the dead end ahead and maybe hes trying to distance himself from W. as much as possible but burning the Prez on such a public stage cant improve your chances of finding a new job in Washington can it? It's funny that he kept his mouth shut until AFTER he left his job, and AFTER his book got published. You want to make a name for yourself? When the whole should we / shouldn't we go to Iraq argument was going on, he could've gone on TV and told the public what he really knew. If he'd done that, it would've had a much more meaningful effect than what his book is going to accomplish. He might even have been more popular than Barrack.......Ok maybe not THAT popular but still.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/29/former-bush-aide-mclellan_n_104102.html

[0 Comments]