Fonolo, Honesty in Web Sites, & Avoiding Buses in Canada

Fonolo: Sign me up
You haven’t heard of it yet most likely, but I urge you to go and read about it in-depth. The basic low-down though, is that it’s a website that has already mapped out all the phone trees of all the large corporations. Log on, find the service/person you want, call them (fonolo) and they hook you right up and transcribe the call, as well.

How sweet.



DPReview.com: Negativity is frowned upon? Way to keep it honest, guys
After my recent tirade about our horrible experiences with Canon Elphs, I went to this site to write my reviews/experiences on both the SD870 model & the SD1000 model. I wrote the reviews, but they never showed up on the site.

Apparently, you’re not allowed to create a truthful review pointing out actual issues with real hardware. Which I think is horrible. How the hell do you have a site composed of user reviews, but censor/delete/not post reviews by those users? It’s doubly as bad, having read their ‘rules’ on reviews, first of which is “don’t write reviews about hardware you have not used,” and one of the first reviews I saw that day was a review by someone about a just-announced (and not released) camera that so much as said “I haven’t used this camera, but there others are good so I’m sure this one will be too.”

Anyway… The Girl got hers back yesterday, and all seems dandy. They replaced the whole optical unit and it seems to be working flawlessly anymore. Mine was sent away, and if Canon can fix the issues and make them not come back, then I’ll be satisfied.

We went and looked at other brands of cameras, just in case. Truthfully, none of the others are anywhere in the neighborhood of Canon’s equipment. So I’m still pulling for them.



Holy f*ck, Canada’s becoming America
Found this sad news on another blog I stop by occasionally. Holy cow, is it not totally horrible? I linked it to a friend of mine over IM, and his response was to “never send me anything like that in the future.”

So, having just read that, why don’t you go ahead and hop on over and read it? And then you, too, can wonder: “no one bothered to – I don’t know – help?”

Movie: The Bank Job, & Netflix Upgrades

The Bank Job
Yesterday Netflix saw fit to grace us with a couple of movies. One we decided to pop in for the night was solely The Girl’s decision to watch. It’s supposedly “based on a true story,” revolving around a 1971 bank heist in London that was never solved. How true the movie itself is however, is not quite clear. But I’ve heard it said that it’s true like the Titanic is true: yeppers, there was a big ship that sunk in the ocean. Well with that out of the way, how was the movie on its other merits?

Surprisingly, I think I liked it more than The Little Woman did (she normally picks out some big-time losers. “Let’s watch The Animal!” Dear god). It was a pretty watchable movie I must say, though not without its own folley. Some of the stuff you watch just seems so ridiculous, as in “there’s no way that happens” or “wow how convenient for them…”

The basic idea is that the crooks were sort of guided to the mission by MI5 agents, because there’s something in a certain safe deposit box that they want buried instead of held against the Royal Family. Namely, revealing photographs of Princess Margaret (Who, by the way, has an awesome rack).

But again, I stress that this movie is probably true like Titanic is true, so don’t get too carried away looking for truth in the details. Yes there’s rookie mistakes that make you cringe, but those rookie mistakes were actually real: their radio conversations were recorded (why didn’t they bother to cover themselves better? Duh!), and in the context of the movie – that these guys weren’t professional bank robbers – it makes sense. So you can give it a little leeway and not feel stupid in doing so.

It’s not surprisingly awesome though, just surprisingly watchable. You could definitely do better (Ocean’s 11, anyone?), but it’s also definitely possible to do worse. It’s worthwhile entertainment that doesn’t get added to the library, is what I’m saying. It’s a B-. Rotten tomatoes this time almost agrees with me to the letter.



Considering more Netflix goodness
We’re currently on the Two Movies At Once plan, which means that we have two in our possession at most at any given time. This seems to work out OK most of the time, except if we have 3 days of movie time and especially if there’s a Weekend in between.

Because, if we watch one on Monday, send it in on Tuesday, we don’t get that refilled until at least Thursday. Which means that we only have one movie to watch from Tuesday to Thursday. Now, this works so long as we watch a movie between Sunday and Tuesday; as soon as we pop one in on a Wednesday, things get a little tight. We watch one on Thursday night, it gets sent in on Friday, they receive it on Saturday… We’re not receiving it until Monday or Tuesday. Almost a week later.

Which, truth be told, is probably fine for the most part. I mean, on a typical workweek, that’s probably fine. It’s just that on a nonstandard workweek, it could really suck. Like, for instance, if I was on vacation. We get by during the slow times with a rental from the local video store, but at almost $5 a pop, how often do you do that before the additional cost of Three Movies At Once starts making fiscal sense?


The answer is once. The difference between 2 and 3 movies is a whopping $3.

Movie: Invincible

So I totally forgot to write anything about it, but yeah, we saw Invincible about two weeks ago. My bad.

Well actually, not quite. You see, it was the movie featured in this recent blog about Netflix Rocking (if you read that one).

Anyway, the movie. It’s a Disney adventure, if you didn’t know, that’s only loosely based on a true story. What, did you think Pocahontas Really sang in perfect english? Yeah, anyway... The characters are real, the era is real, the basic outline is real. But did I mention it’s a Disney movie? Which means that of course, everything in between is complete fluff. The good guy is 100% good, the bad guys are all 100% a**holes, and “The Girl” is of course both beautiful, smart, and perfectly in-tune with the hobbies & interests of the good guy. You meet her near the beginning, and it’s not like there’s any doubt that she’s going to get f*cked by the end. You know, except it’s a Disney movie, so no one ever has sex. Sort of puts a damper on the whole f*cked idea I know, but hey: it’s not like we didn’t fill in the blanks.

The movie is OK. Just OK. Not even really all that good, really. I thought I’d take a chance on it because of the Star Power. I like Marky Mark dammit, he typically does a good job picking out roles and them playing them (seen The Departed? Yeah). Of course, there are exceptions, right (seen Shooter? Yeah). This movie, I must say is one of those exceptions.

I’d have preferred they called it “Invisible,” and made it as such, as well. That way I could have skipped it.

It’s just not – as I said – that good. It’s not worth watching. If you’ve ever seen a Disney movie before, then you already know what happens, and there’s not really much of a surprise in store for you. And since you know how it’s all going to play out – how the fluff is fluffed, you could say – it’s just not ever interesting. You get bored. Immediately.

Such a forgettable movie. So much so, in fact, that I forgot to blog about it for two weeks. Fittingly.

Salomon Lace Install: The Best Way

About almost three years ago now, I found myself the most perfect shoes ever. They are trail-running shoes from a swedish company named Salomon. I wasn’t really even interested in them when I first saw them, but once I tried them on my feet… love at first lace-up, I tell you, love at first lace-up. I bought two pairs because there was an awesome sale, and now I’m on the last of those two pairs.

I can probably spread out another year out of them. These shoes are so well constructed, I swear I’ve never seen anything better. Except maybe my 4Runner, but hey that’s a Toyota, right? Only thing is, they don’t use typical laces, which is actually one of the things I really liked about them. They use a Kevlar lacing system with a special lock, so you don’t have to worry about undone laces in the middle of a run or anything. No loose shoes!

Downside is that when they eventually fray & break, you can’t just go down to the local store and pick up a new pair; you have to order them (I ordered mine through REI.com). And I have done this now 3 times in the last handful of months: twice to replace the original laces on each foot, and then again once because the new puppies got ahold of one pair and bit the laces off. And There’s a bit of a trick I’ve found to “install” them properly. The fist couple times I tried this, I had a hell of a time, so much so that I got more frustrated than I should at a pair of shoes and damn near threw a fit.

The problems stem from the fact that the directions call for you to trim off the excess lace, shove it through a teeny tiny hole in an adaptor, and tie off a knot to keep it from slipping back through. The problem is, once you cut the lace, it frays terribly and there’s no f*cking way that you can put the frayed lace through the damn little hole. Well, there is, and I found it out this last time on a hunch, and I will tell you so that if you ever end up having to replace some Salomon laces, you can avoid my frustrations and just instead deal with sweet success. The first time.

If you’ve already cut the laces, you’re screwed. It won’t be easy, I’m sorry. However there’s two ways to make it a little easier. The first is to try and burn the frayed ends so that they stick together. The problem with this is that it typically melts too wide, and when you try to skinny it up, it just frays again. But you can be successful with it, you have to just keep trying. The other way is to take some good tape, and tightly coil the tape around the frayed end and down the shaft a little for grip, and also up into nothing in a skinny tail that you can easily fit through the hole in the adaptor. Then, you have to pull and simultaneously twist & push from the bottom until you get it all through. This is how you end up a frustrated Sicilian, you see.

Anyway, if you’ve yet to undertake the task, that’s because you’ve failed already on another attempt and you’re trying to find a better/ the best way to install Salomon replacement laces before you screw it up again. And I can help you out. The trick is to take a step from the above “I’ve already f*cked up” recovery plan, and apply it earlier in the process. What you do is, when you’re ready to “cut” out the excess lace, instead you should “burn” out the excess lace.

What I’ve found is that if you burn the lace apart, the ends taper nicely without bulging, meaning you don’t have to worry about frayed ends or huge bulges not fitting through the hole in the adaptor. So you can actually complete the “lace install” without bulging forehead veins and somewhere under 5 minutes.

“Lace install.” Kinda makes you wonder, huh? Maybe a little too complicated? Maybe a little?

Movie: I Am Sam

Before we begin: No, this is not the first time I’ve seen the movie, dammit. Not even close. This is at least the second time :-P

But what a great movie. It’s really one of those movies that I would say deserves the highest of grades. How good is it? I’m a man. Or at least I play one on the internet. But, damn! I can’t stop crying, from beginning to end. Yeah it’s sappy, but the point is that you’re experiencing life through this guy’s limited perspective. And you know what? It’s a big world. It’s a big, scary world. It’s a big, scary world, and that’s the basic consensus from normal, average-intelligence adults. So imagine this same world through a character’s eyes such as Sam.

I’m not totally alone on this, but I do admit that I’m clearly in the minority in liking this movie. I’m not sure why that is, normally I’m pretty spot-on with the critical consensus, but what the f*ck ever – it’s a good movie with lots (lots) of emotion, and very well-played parts from all of the cast members. Dakota Fanning is too damn cute for her own good; I hope her family is having her watched 24/7. And Sean Penn? WOW. Let me just say this: the first time The Girl saw this movie, she thought that Sean Penn was actually retarded. You know, like in the same fashion that my little brother thought dinosaurs were still alive the first time he saw Jurassic Park. Same thing. Without the scales.

And hey, before I go, let me say this: If you’re a fan of the Beatles music, and you’d just love to see a movie that is composed totally of Beatles Songs that have been covered by someone else… totally avoid Across the Universe, and just watch I Am Sam. Better covers, better acting, a real story, no corny musical acts, and the songs, they are sung by actual singers, which is a far cry better than anything that could be said about Across the Universe. Seriously. In between all my damn crying while I watched I Am Sam, I kept thinking to myself “you know, I love the Beatles, I love movies, and I cannot fathom why anyone would ever choose Across the Universe over I Am Sam. Unless they hated themselves or had some sort of death-wish.”

So: I Am Sam? Give it the Good Ol’ A. And manage to knock Across The Universe again too. Two birds, one stone.

Avoiding Canon Elphs like the PLAGUE they are

Do yourself a big favor and just avoid the Canon SD1000 and the like. You know, as much as I enjoyed my old Canon Digital Rebel DSLR, I cannot say it’s been all fun & games with their Elph-Series Cameras. Let’s see, what’s the toll been?

First I got my Canon SD870. It had issues with it not selecting the right ISO & Shutter speeds when zoomed at or above about 70%. Sent it back.

Then I got a Canon SD1000 for myself, similar (except in color) to the one I had gotten for The Girl for her birthday. Peachy, right? I wish! No, not long after I had it, it developed a “Lens Error” that prevented it from opening. As I was contemplating sending it back a few days later, the problem seemed to self-alleviate. OK fine, I can deal with a strange anomaly, right?

Well, then The Girl’s camera did the same thing. It also self-rectified, but it did it too. So now we’re cautious about it...

Last week The Girl had to send hers in for warranty service. Because the camera had forgotten how to focus. It just wouldn’t do it unless it was zoomed in. Like, I wasn’t even a false focus, where the camera says “OK we’re good” but we’re not; no, the camera would look at the scene, then beep at us like “yeah, sorry, you know, I just can’t see it.”

Great.

Well now yesterday, mine developed another Lens Error. Except that this time, the thing’s not going IN. It’s stuck out, and it’s not even trying to budge.

Seriously, I think I’ll try to get Amazon to take it back and pick up a Panasonic or something else. Something. This has been utter bullsh!t.

So really, if you’re considering a Canon SD1000 or one of its siblings… don’t. Do yourself a huge favor, and stay away. I hear Casio makes some good pocket cameras. Didn’t they used to make watches or something? Yeah. Anyway, don’t. You’ll be sorely disappointed.

Three Weeks: Thoughts on the New Dogs' Perosonalities

So now that we’ve had the dogs a good three weeks, I thought I’d throw in some of my observations thus far with regards to their budding personalities. I mean, they are two different dogs, brothers or not, right? Right.

Things I think I prefer about Chase over Hunter:
Chase is of course black, like the ever-venerable Miles. He is also much more into getting into the water to give chase to something than his brother, much the way that Miles is game to chase something down if it involves getting wet. In fact, Miles so much as prefers water chase. You can almost touch his desire to crawl into the water for something. Chase is going to be that way too, I think, whereas Hunter’s more into land-based pursuits. He’ll crawl into the water, but he’s not nearly as gung-ho as his brother when it comes to the water; Hunter is content to let them get wet whilst he stays dry. Chase also seems to be more a people person than Hunter. Not that Hunter’s an outcast or weary of human contact. Actually, Hunter came right up to me when I first found them, where Chase actually needed a little more coaxing, but still – Chase seems more interested in what I’m doing at any given moment than Hunter does. Like he just cares a little more to be close to his people at all times.


Things I Think I prefer about Hunter over Chase:
Hunter’s more independent, like the ever venerable Miles. Miles doesn’t care about this or that or that some dog is barking; he’s not going to give in to peer pressure or fear something just because another dog does. Nope. With the exception of the water, he’s very much more curious and adventurous than his brother. The first time we started the vacuum, Chase got some distance to see what was up, in case it tried to eat him. Hunter though, saw that I was holding it, and concluded that if I was holding it in my hands it couldn’t be that bad. And thus he was just curious about it rather than scared about it. Of course now both of them are fine with it, and Chase doesn’t care any more than his brother, but that initial “whoa just hold on a minute” was confined solely to him. Hunter’s more like a smart person, whereas Chase is a smart dog, if that makes sense.


Things I’m still on the fence about:
I cannot decide who’s the more affectionate of the two. I know I said that Chase seems more into whatever it is that I’m doing, but Hunter’s much more excitable when I am doing something. If I run around the house, he’s much more waggy than his brother. He also likes to wallow on me more than Chase, as well. However, when he gets his petting time, he sort of eventually decides when it’s over and goes on to other things. Chase though, when petting time comes for him, he’s very attached to it. He will not call quits on the session, preferring to stay put and accept as much attention as you’ll lay upon him; and the look is one of “thank you, Daddy. I… I love you… I really love you… Do you love me?” Hunter’s look is different. It’s not less loving, just different. Chase looks at you with his eyes and his feelings, but Hunter seems to want to get into your soul. There’s no tinge of sadness or the evacuation of sorrow like his brother; just soulful content.

They’re both affectionate, but just in different ways.


What it means in regards to Miles:
Miles is very much Super Dog. And even more to his credit, it seems as though it is going to take two dogs to equal One Miles. He’s the soulful, content go-getter that’s not afraid of nothin’, smarter than some people I’ve met (and some I’ve been related to), willing to wallow on occasion, but independent enough to spend some time alone and be OK. Yeah, he loves chasing the ball into the water, but c’mon, it’s just a ball, and sometimes, he just figures that since he did the work, it’s his ball and he’ll do with it as he pleases. Maybe he won’t bring it back, maybe he won’t chase it. He’ll decide thanks.

I wanted to eventually have an exact replica of Miles; it seems as though that might never be a possibility. I guess I’ll have to settle for two half-replicas.

As if that’s really settling much, right?

Politicians to the Anti-Rescue!

Housing bill sent to the White House. I am not pleased, I am not pleased at all. Why the heck are we bailing out the very people who are responsible for the Housing Bubble? What bullsh!t. Thanks, politicians. Thanks, politicians who are not really trying to solve the problem but rather look like they’re “for the people.” This basically amounts to taxing me for their idiocy. F*ck that. I’m the people, be for me, dammit.

Look, I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again, but I’m going to say it once more at least: If you really want to help out the most people, let this bubble completely implode. Yes, some people will get hurt. But you’re hurting far more by letting the prices stay artificially high. You’re damning entire generations to be continual renters, or slaves to a mortgage they can’t afford. It’s freakin’ impossible anymore to simply buy a home that’s at or less than 30% of your income.

Unless you want to get mugged daily. Which, uh, hey? Count me out.

Trying out Financial Softwares

So I’ve been using Quicken 2005 since, oh, about 2005? It came pre-installed on The Girl’s original iMac that we bought, and I had been using something similar at that time that was confined to my Palm Pilot (yes, I had one of those).

Anyway, Quicken for the Mac has always been sort of the redheaded stepchild in Intuit’s collection, and by this time you can imagine that it hasn’t dated all that well. We do keep good financial tabs on ourselves, but anything that can make the process more seamless & easier can only help us to keep finer control over the budget, you know with trying to find a more up-to-date program, preferrably one that makes good use of the Mac’s built-in tools. And recently, I thought I had found it in iBank from igg Software.

“Thought” being the key operative, there. It’s definitely more of “the look” I wanted in a product, but there’s too many usability shortcomings as compared to even Quicken 2005 for me to ignore. The budgeting tool is pretty, but also pretty useless, giving me just a bar graph for each category. In Quicken, I don’t get a graph, just the totals, but I can click down on that to see the list of what makes up those totals; something iBank cannot do. Yes, the graphs are pretty in iBank, but the same usability flaws remain: I cannot click all the way to the transaction! In Quicken, I can click on a graph to get a list of the transactions (to its credit, iBank DOES show a listing of the transactions in its graphs, unlike its budget tool), and then I can go even futher and click on the transactions themselves to see the actual occurrence in the account where it took place. So say I see that my spending has shown that perhaps I mislabeled a transaction (“what the hell did I spend $100 on in ‘Tax Annuities?’”), I can click all the way down to the transaction and see the memo, and discover I meant to put the category as “Taxable income” and fix it on the spot, as well as have all the graphs & reports I was looking at to get there auto update immediately. In iBank, it looks good, and yeah, I can even show the transactions that make up that part of the graph, but I cannot click all the way to the actual transaction like I can in Quicken. Which means if I were to notice an anomaly, I’d have to find it, then leave the graph, then try and find that transaction, and then fix it. See how much easier it is in Quicken, even if it’s not as pretty? Click, click, click, done. iBank? Click, “what the f*ck?”, click, “how the hell?”, back up back up back up, click, “OK where are you you little bugger,” click, “ah, there you are,” click, click click click click (it takes more clicks for each transaction too) and we’re done.

I really really want to like iBank. Hell, I do like iBank, but I cannot seem to find it easy enough to drill down from report to transaction. I’m always backing up out of the damn graphs to get where I need to be. Not in Quicken, though.

Quicken’s like that homely girl your mom always tried to set you up with when you were a teenager; yeah she sure it ugly, but damn can she cook, you know?

Anyway, yeah, chew on that whilst I continue to play around some.

Some may ask why I would bother writing such a diatribe. I mean, it seems mean, no? Well yes and no. I really want to like iBank, but I’m not going to buy it because it looks pretty; it needs to outperform my current tool in pretty much every fashion. Any shortcomings, and I’m not going to pull the trigger. Period. Which means, they won’t get my money. So in essence, I’m actually being pretty nice. If someone who cared were to stumble upon this rant, they would have a window into the minds of potential customers who aren’t really interested in becoming actual customers; they learn what’s important and what could make us pull that trigger and deliver funds to their coffers. It may seem mean, but in actuality, “yes men” rarely do much to further any particular product.

I’m trying to help them fix the things that need fixing. Things they may not have even known needed fixing. I’m ultimately being helpful. Yes it’s in a rant pointing out the flaws. But it can be helpful nonetheless.

Sometimes, you need to see through your own Marketing, and just tackle what’s really at the core.

In-Home Marketing, & Jumper

Having Fun with Home Organization
So yeah, having your home well-organized really makes things more efficient and typically more enjoyable. But yes, getting it all organized can be a pain the butt, and might even make you feel like one of those “boring” people or something. But hey, it doesn’t have to. You can have fun with it. Be Dry! Be English! Be Cheesy and Campy, all at the same time! It works for me! (a little later I’ll be asking if anyone would like a chance to win a 3-day-2-night paid vacation for listening to a Time-Share plan I have…)

Every time we open the Freezer we get a laugh at my expense. And I don’t care, because I think it’s damned hilarious, and I laugh every single time myself, when I contemplate the confused looks on peoples’ faces if/when they were to see it. What is “it”? “It” is how we keep our freezer organized and discernible. How do you quickly tell which bag is which when you’re looking for Ground Beef? Well if you’re doing it right, you have large re-sealable, re-useable bags. And you write on them. But go ahead, have fun with it. I mean, how boring is “Ground Beef”? Instead, try this (click for larger version):

And Waffles? What the hell? Try this:

And yeah, it may seem a little heartless, but it’s not like it’s remotely untrue, I’m just actually saying it:

You know you laughed. :-D



Jumper
2nd on our recent Netflix queue stars one of my most favorite Actors Ever!, Hayden Christensen. How awesome is he? He can single-handedly make the most powerful villain ever (Darth Vader) appear no more than to be a whiny bitch. Seriously. He – with truckloads of help from George Lucas – pretty much ruined any chance the last two prequels of Star Wars had to be any good. (George Lucas Single-handedly ruined the first prequel, and God shall judge him for creating Jar-Jar Binks)

Anyway, yeah, it’s not like he’s any better in this movie. Picture a carboard cut-out. Now dial that down a notch. There, that’s about par for the course with good ol’ Hayden.

However, the suckfest again does not belong solely to him. The movie would have sucked even if it had starred someone worth casting. The movie just sort of starts, gives you a character, gives you his power, and then suddenly he’s thrust into a “war,” but no one ever bothers to tell us anything about it. I mean, apparently it’s a big war and people have known about it for centuries, but no one ever bothers to fill us in. Which sucks as an audience, because like, isn’t that why we’re there? Yeah, thought so. I thought the movie premise had some promise to it, and in fact this movie in our queue far outclassed the last movie in our queue, so it’s not without some value to it. But hey, background stories can be great, and I think the new breed of Hollywood directors need to realize that it’s not all about the next special effect; yeah believe it or not, we still want to care about the characters we’re watching.

Except for maybe Hayden Suckensen. He can die a wooden death already. I would think it would be a shallow display, complete with ill-placed smirk and probably 8 out of 10 people wouldn’t actually believe he died. But I still think he should try.

For cinema’s sake.

First Day of Vacation, & The Golden Compass

Swimming & Footwear
Swimming in running shoes can really be no fun. I have what would to the layman appear to be hellacious love marks down my back. I assure you, they are not. Mostly.

Today was the first day of my vacation. We took the dogs (all four of them) out to the river. I wanted to help Hunter (the Chocolate Lab) get over his apprehension to jumping into the water to get stuff. I don’t get it, but for some reason the Black Labs seem more “in” to the water than the other labs of another color (even from the same mother). Hunter will go and swim, but he doesn’t just hop right in and go, and if there’s other dogs going after the same thing, he’s content to let them (the two Black Labs) jump right in and go. But if the other dogs go one way, and he has no competition going another way and can take his time, he’ll crawl in and go.

So I figured I’d go wading through across the river, and then of course he’d follow me. The hope is that if he sees me going with no hesitation, that he’ll forget his own hesitations. And while the idea is solid, again I refer to to the first sentence: Swimming in running shoes can really be no fun.

The dogs, they are fast. Faster than I gave them credit for. And when I go, well, they catch up to me. And the paws… oh, the paws. They scratch me. Badly.

Swimming in running shoes is no fun when you have dogs tailing your ass.



The Golden Compass
So we watched The Golden Compass tonight. The reviews are sort of all over the map. I tend towards the lower end of that scale. The whole movie seems to jump around here then there, then here, then there, and throughout it all, you’re going “wha…?” and you feel like you should care or something or at least know more than you do. But you don’t. And it’s not your fault, you’re not missing anything. The movie just sucks.

Look: Give a girl a compass, she gets lost. Give her a Polar Bear, and she gets eaten. Give her Sam Elliot, and… well, she gets a Western Side Kick, because that’s all Sam Elliot ever is. Give her Nicole Kidman, and she also gets a monkey? OK whatever, right? Exactly. Look, All I’m saying is that maybe they should have given her a script for a better movie. What’s the worst that could have happened?

Right. Whatever. Just don’t bother watching it. Your eyes will thank you.

Trust me. Trust. Me.

Edit: If you haven’t seen this movie yet, but you’d like to know what’s up without having to actually suffer through it, I present to you The Abridged Script Version. It’s fun, take a read.

Netflix Rox

While there is the occasional hiccup, for the most part we’ve been big fans of Netflix since we joined. We’re in the midst of a good example of ‘why’ over the course of the last two weeks. Right now, we have two discs, one we received a couple of days ago, and one that was received last week sometime. We haven’t had a chance to watch either as I’ve closed every night since then and we don’t plan to be able to watch until tomorrow at the earliest.

Two weeks ago, we were without Netflix-supplied entertainment and had to walk across to the video store on the corner. Not a big deal and there’s definitely something to be said for the immediacy of it, but after we got through watching movie (Invincible, which I’ve yet to critique), we let it sit for a damn week on our mantle. It just sat there. Didn’t do anything. The place isn’t that far away, but it’s not something we frequently remember to do. It’s not a trip we make often enough to think about.

So it just sits there. And a week later, we finally say “sh!t we just got hit with a late fee” and have to take the damn thing back.

Netflix? Nope. See, it’s a great idea. I pay a fee for a service, and I’m limited in that service’s utility by when I return them. Which is as easy as putting it in my mailbox. I don’t have to remember much else.

There’s not some large financial penalty for letting them sit a week like we currently have. It’s just there for us, on our terms. Which is really cool.

Well OK technically it’s their terms, but they’re pretty darn close to the terms we’d have made up so we’re still cool.

What movies do we have? Jumper & The Golden Compass. I added Jumper before I knew it sucked and forgot it was there, so please? C’mon, don’t rib me.

Peace.

Impetus to Move: Round Table, & The Dark Knight talk

OK it’s settled; we have to move SOON
The Round Table Pizza near my work has far superior pizza than the one by my current home. This cannot stand. It is a situation that must be rectified, and soon. We must move. Now.

More people I talk to…
Seem to agree that something important was missing from The Dark Knight. The stories were a little too muddled, too much was going on, and it left you feeling as though you had no real connection to the characters.

Though I do seem to be the only one that I know that really grasped the idiocy of the whole Joker Plan Thing®, as I like to call it. You know, that whole thing where The Joker planned each & every thing that happened, even the things he couldn’t have planned or known. That ‘Thing.’

I am starting to wonder how the reviews got to be so good. I think more & more that the first one was definitely the better of the two.

Also: A friend of mine pointed out that the Bank manager in the opening? His name is “Edward Nigma.” E. Nigma. Enigma.

Batman fans will understand.

Peace.

Jujutsu, Work, & Play

What’s up with the Jujutsu
I’m quitting. Kind of. Here, let me explain.

The new additions to our family, being the young pups they are, need time and attention. Those 2-½ hours I’m at Jujutsu practice 2-3 times a week, well that’s their training time! That’s their play time. That’s the time they need to form good, healthy bonds. And since I want to leave them to their own devices as little as possible, that’s also more than likely (what with The Girl’s work schedule) 2-½ hours of time they have unattended to destroy more stuff.

I plan to go back, once they’re more acclimated to their new surroundings, and once they are trustworthy enough to leave at home for two additional hours alone. But right now, and for probably the next 6-8 months, that’s simply not the case.



Work is (hopefully) going well
The transition to a new store has been 10 days in the making now. It’s been kinda weird because although everything’s the same, everything is also slightly different. And for the first few days/nights, I was just trying to get my bearings. Which was difficult, because I’d be trying to think through my mental task list, and that list would resemble more of the store I came from than the store I as at, and then I’d get some wires crossed and really just end up a little off track, honestly.


But that’s calming down now. I’m getting into a slight groove, and now when I close I’m able to get us out of there quicker than the employees are ready for. I’m feeling good enough about it & getting done fast enough, that I’m prepping the morning paperwork before I leave at night. I get ready to walk the floor sooner than everyone’s prepared (through years of training) to be ready for.

Hopefully, it’s because I’m getting that good, not because I’m wholly missing some important piece. Hopefully.



Vacation begins in 3, 2, 1…
I’m so giddy I could almost fall asleep. No really, this is a good thing. I could use the rest. I think I may have mentioned it, but just in case: were you aware this is my first real vacation in like 7 years? I can’t wait.

Or I can wait about 3 days. Whatever.

Forearm Woe, Immigration, & Home Buying

More Forearm hurts a lil’
And not the same one as last year, either. I don’t know what’s up with my forearms, they seem to give me more grief than any other body part.

Immigration Reform Proves Difficult
I refer you to this article in the Washington Post. I am totally against the whole “let the immigrants stay” sort of mentality, if you didn’t know already. I don’t think that they bring more to the economy than they take away; I think they’re simply a vehicle for the bourgeois to continue raping the middle-classes of jobs, status, and wealth. Yeah, really. A job hired out for $4/hour to an illegal immigrant is a job not given to a legal American worker, and also the difference in pay is then skimmed and stays with the bourgeois, never reaching middle America — it furthers the rich/poor divide, y’all. Anyway, the real solution comes from punishing the businesses that harbor & hire illegal workers, I have said this before. But the problems in doing this are many, apparently:

Companies tell me, 'We have an immigration system that allows us to hire illegal workers, legally,' Baker said. Asked to defend President Bush's track record, he said, "Why are employers not punished more often? Because the laws we have don't really authorize that.

They go on to talk about how it’s a difficult situation because all that’s required of the businesses is that they have some “facially valid” form of ID, which meant more than anything that a large Fake ID market sprung up to support the illegal hirings, not so much the limiting or abolition of those hirings.

It’s definitely broken. Hopefully someone fixes it. Random Bob for President, 2016!

As an aside, I must say that this is one of those instances that I cross the line and Vote Republican – The Democrats want to give everyone a free ticket, sort of “illegal immigration is A-OK with us,” whereas republicans want to protect American’s jobs (at least on face value). And for that I support the cause.



Serious about Home Buying
With the addition of the new pups into our brigade (they are a force to be reckoned with), we’re really looking more seriously into buying a home with some property. Because as it is, our current “yard” is really just big enough to poop on. Which means when it comes play time, the options are a) try to avoid the landmines, or b) move it inside. See previous post regarding that situation.

See though, prices are still dropping. I’d like to last here as long as possible really. I don’t want to buy a home for $200k when I could wait 6 more months and get it for $175k. But also, I don’t want the dogs to be old and decrepit when they finally get the play areas they deserve. Decisions, decisions.

Oh, and me and The Girl have to get married officially before any of this happens. Because when ti comes time for a mortgage, methinks that “Mr. And Mrs. Random Bob” will be taken much more seriously than “Mr. Random Bob & The Girl.” Just a hunch.

So hey, who wants to fly up and throw us a wedding?

Peace.

Vacation Approaches, & The Hounds of Hell

Yay Me!
I start vacation in about 4 days. Yes, starting Thursday, I have 9 days off in a row. This is monumental. I haven’t had an actual “vacation” since I left the Military in 2001. Sure, I took a week here and there to travel up to here for interviews and whatnot, but that wasn’t really “vacation” so much as it was “different work.” Now though, I get to kick back and relax. For the first time since 2001. WOW.

Nowhere
Everyone keeps asking me “where are you going?” heh. Look, I live here by choice. Where am I going? To bed. Really. I’m not trekking anywhere, because simply, there’s nowhere else I’d rather go. I live in my perfect vacation spot.



Must Kill the Dogs
Last night The Girl got home slightly before I, and found at her feet two dogs who had mortally wounded our indoors. They had gotten into our hall closet and took out some clothes to play with, and also found a bag of books that were destined for Good Will. Since of course dogs don’t read (They prefer TV), they decided to put the books to use some other way. And since they are Labradors, that ‘way’ was oral destruction. Books, books, everywhere. Yay!

Actually I should probably be more specific: Pieces of books, pieces of books, everywhere! Yay!

That wasn’t bad enough though. They also managed to get into the entertainment center cabinet which has – I should say had – The Girl’s old photo albums. You know, before she got wise and went digital and sh!t. So Bobby Two-Face & Auntie Em are toast now. As are a few magazines we had next to the couch, oh and a Haynes Manual for The Girl’s Tundra, as well.

It’s seriously like night & day with these two. When we’re home they’re perfect little angels. When we’re gone, it’s as if they’re the Hounds of Hell sent here to destroy or something.

Last night I even tried calling the answering machine and telling them to behave. Apparently, they didn’t get the message.



Postscript
In looking for a decent “Labrador” link, I read multiple times that you should put your dog into a little crate when you’re away. Wha…?

Look it may be easier for you, but I feel that it borders on cruel to put a dog into a little cage. What better way to tell them you love them, eh? Locking them up in a little box.

I fail to see how being locked in a box is somehow the answer to a hyperactive breed. Dolts.

Peace.

New Doggy Gallery

The Albums
Just real quick, I put up a new gallery of images today. Nothing too major, but I figured that since we’ve had our new kids for about two weeks now, they probably deserve to have some images of themselves up on the ‘bob’s website, no?

So yeah, take a stroll on over there. I put some up celebrating their arrival, and I also put a couple of pics of them up in the Family Album as well. Enjoy!



The ensuing question: answered
The easiest way to tell people who have owned labradors from those who haven’t: People are going to see those pics, and the ones who haven’t had Labs are going to scream bloody murder “why do they have those horrible-looking collars on!??!?!”

Those that have had Labs? No comment, because they know the answer: Labs are as focused & stubborn a breed as they come. They won’t even notice that collar as it is. Anything less, and you just get pulled into bad situations, am I right? Seriously. If you want them to pay attention to you when you’re trying to give them commands or keep them safe from harm… a proper training collar is absolutely necessary.

I once read a book about the dogs. They were talking about how to keep them from running around and getting into trouble. One thing they talked about was an electronic collar that goes with an electronic perimeter. If they cross the perimeter, they get jolted. Well apparently, when they do installs for Lab Families, it’s typical for them to come back and put two collars on the dog. Because with just one, the dogs decide to just keep going anyway.

Now leave me alone.

Peace.

Movie night with the Dark Knight

We Saw it: The Dark Knight
Tonight we decided “to hell with waiting on Blu-Ray!” And we caved and went to go and see “The Dark Knight” in the theatres.

If you’re a male and under the age of 40, you’re probably aware of this movie. It’s been building hype since at least last Summer. And even more so, if you’re in the target demographic, you’ve probably by now read all the early reviews on the damn thing. So? Is the Hype deserved?

I’d say that for the most part, yeah, it’s deserved, but maybe not all of it. I had read a lot about it being compared to “The Godfather” or “The Departed,” it’s that good apparently. But I do disagree with that. Look, it’s a good movie, and I’m going to add it to my collection, but let’s be serious: It’s a caped-crusader movie still. It’s a superhero flick. And while it is indeed more heady and contains a number of moral quandaries, it’s not quite without its faults. Which, I will share with you in a vague, don’t-give-up-the-movie sort of way. I hope.

For one, they don’t spend much time on the characters. Mainly because there’s a lot of them. Of course there’s Batman, and then The Joker, but what about… Two-Face? Yep, he’s there too. Commissioner Gordon? There. Mayor? The New DA? All there. All have parts that need time, and quite frankly, even at over 2½ hours long, there’s not enough time for all of them. So it all sort of gets compressed a little.

Hey, we all know who these peeps are, so I can forgive them that a little. I mean, it is a sequel, right? So it’s not like this is the first time we’ve met the characters. BUT, there’s another issue that I had more beef with: The intricate plans that The Joker makes is too perfect to have actually been.

What I mean is, when they made the movie, it’s like they started backwards, having an idea for what the last scene was, worked backwards from there. The problem was, that means that the course of events that leads up to that scene have to be a certain way. And I know what you’re thinking, “duh that’s how all movies are, it has to be that way to have that scene” and you’re right, but here’s the thing: The Joker has this master plan that once you step back from the movie, it took up nearly ⅔ of the entire film. And it’s like a 26-part plan, OK?

So what I’m saying is, Scene Z is not possible unless Scene Y happened exactly according to plan. And Scene Y wasn’t possible unless, Scene X happened exactly according to plan. And that in itself is all fine and good, but the problem is, too much foreknowledge is required to actually have made this plan a reality; there were too many variables that couldn’t be known to have masterminded this plan in the first place.

When you aren’t in control of every aspect leading up to a certain thing, it’s kind of hard to say that this is how it’s going to be. I’ll give up one scene from the movie to give you an example of what I mean --

At one point, the Joker & gang are trying to route a convoy. They set up a diversion to take them off-course. Fine and dandy, except that all the booby traps are along a particular direction, which is only 1 of 5 choices the convoy could have made to go. Which means that there was only a 20% chance that they’d have gone that direction. And then, all sh!t breaks loose, and things happen that are beyond The Joker’s control, but still, when they make a random turn here, it so happens that he’s got guys at that very exit that happen to shoot cables across buildings to take down a Helicopter that he knew would be there waiting, at the exact altitude that it happened to come by at.

And believe me, it gets worse than that. Those cobbled-together scenes I just described for you are scenes L-N of this 26-Scene master plan. And once you step out of the movie and really think about everything that had to happen in order to make this scene or that possible, you start to realize that it’s just not really feasible that any of it happened or could have even been remotely planned out;

The short way to word this complaint is to say that everything that happens is just too convenient.

It’s still a likable movie though, and like I said, I plan to add it to my library. I feel, however, that the 1st one is the better of the two. It has more emotion, and the way the scenes play out in the 1st have a more gritty, realistic feel to them; you feel like it’s not at all convenient for anyone, they’re all doing the best that they can do under the circumstances. There is a plan, but there’s deviations from it due to things that happen, and that’s what the movie’s about. But TDK, it’s not like that: Everything that happened was part of the plan. And that plan required more knowledge than God could have had. Which is why I have to take it down a notch. Say, B-? I feel that’s fair, because honestly as good as the first one was, I wanted more Batman Ass-Kicking Action so I would have graded it a B+.



Annoyed on the Way in, too
So we get there about 15 minutes early for the 5:00pm showing. There’s a little bit of a line, which we kind of didn’t expect for a 5pm showing, but hey, we left early just in case. Well the line gets substantially longer because of some dumb old hag a few people in front of us.

Oh wait! Before I go there, I have to get this off my chest: If I worked the front counter at a movie theatre and people gave the movie name wrong, I wouldn’t just assume what movie they wanted tickets too and ring it right up. Nope, I’d politely tell them we don’t have “Batman” playing at this theatre. Yeah that’s right, people came up saying “two tickets to Batman please,” which is all fine & dandy except that there’s NO MOVIE CALLED “BATMAN” THAT’S PLAYING IN THEATRES AT THE MOMENT. Period. You can try and defend them and say well Batman’s in the movie, but hey, when I went to see Superman, I didn’t ask for Tickets to “Lex Luthor” or “Louis Lane” please. No, I referred to the movie by it’s title dammit. F*ck’s sake people, it’s “The Dark Knight,” and I would think that if you’re coming to view it on opening night you probably know enough about it to know that. Sh!t.

Anyway, the longness of the line. So there’s this old hag a few people up that is trying to buy gift tickets or something for someone. They have packages, and they start explaining them to her, but she doesn’t get it. They tell her about one that’s $30 that’s two tickets, two drinks, two popcorns, two candies, etc etc. Well that’s too much for her! So she just wants the basic one, which is $20. But that’s still too much for her to give! So she asks if they have any gift certs for just the matinee prices. Oh my god. Seriously, b!tch. Just give your nephew the $12 and get the F*CK out of the line, dammit.

But it gets worse. Yep it does, because the people in line behind me actually got in ahead of us. Here’s how.

They open up another lane (finally, like 5 minutes later thanks to Ms. “Oops I crapped my Pants”), and we end up in this line. We pay, and wouldn’t you know it, their ticket machine jammed. Well she tells us to hold on and goes out of the box, leaving us to wait at the front for her to do something. Leaving us. Out front. Instead of, say, letting us into the Theatres? Yeah.

So this goes on for a few minutes, and of course I’m starting to get livid, until finally she gets wise and just comes around and walks us through. Finally. Duh.

Look, there’s the right way this could have gone down, and then there’s the way it went down. Firstly, take the old b!tch off to the side and explain the gift certs to her. Don’t hold up everyone else that’s there to watch an event that starts by the clock because some old hag is too cheap to just buy the damn thing or too dumb to understand what the value of money is. This isn’t our problem, don’t make us suffer. Take her to the side or around to talk to a manager, that’s what we’re for dammit.

Second, as soon as my ticket machine jammed, I’d have helped the people out at that point. I wouldn’t have made us sit and suffer a time penalty because my machine is busted. Period. Go around and take us to the movie, and then get tech to fix the damn thing. Go to a different counter after the fact. Don’t penalize us for your mechanical malfunction, huh?

I seriously have half a mind to call & complain about the service. Half a mind!

The other half, though, is on my money, and my money’s on that same half of my mind.

Peace.

Damn We Want a New HDTV

Almost Pulled the Trigger on a 67-incher. Again.
About two weeks ago we were in the mood for a new TV. We sort of started joking about it, then next thing I know we’re in Sears looking around at TV’s, and shopping via amazon for good deals on things. Well on Amazon, we found this new 67” LED-powered DLP Projection TV from Samsung that got really good reviews. So off we trekked back to Sears today to take a look-see (we had seen before that our local Sears happened to have the 61” version on the show floor).

We just sort of wanted to make sure that it still looked good. It’s definitely the biggest set that Sears has on their floor, and we just wanted to make absolutely sure before we spent that kind of dime, you know?

And it’s a terribly good thing we went back. We got there and looked, and looked, and accidentally saw…. The Samsung LN-52A650 about two TV’s down. This TV is a bit smaller than we want – it’s actually the same 52” that we currently have – but… I almost can’t describe it. I did say almost, so hey, here’s the thing(s):

This TV had a depth to it that I have not seen anywhere else. The blacks… One of the sorer spots of LCDs has always been that they have typically poor black reproduction; it’s more like “dark grey.” but this set was not like that. Blacks were black, and the screen was so ‘deep’ that thus, all the colors seemed so much punchier than any other set (even after I fiddled with the settings), and made the Rear-Projection model look like complete ass. Seriously, ass. Hairy ass.

Anyway, it was so good that we just ended up looking at it the whole time. It seemed 3-dimensional, it looked like you could reach inside the screen and pick things up. I did not try this, but yes, I was tempted.

And now, we can’t pull the trigger on the RPTV. We just can’t. We want a Large Samsung LCD. We want that Series 6 set we saw (but in a larger size), or maybe a Series 7, 58” set (though we’d still like bigger, and cheaper). So we’ll just have to wait, I guess. Wait until the Samsung LCDs get to 60+ inches, and within an affordable range.

And wait we shall.



The Things you Learn about HD when you go to buy a TV
There’s three basic competing technologies right now: Plasma, LCD, and Rear-Projection. RP is what we have now, Plasma’s the Old Dog, and LCD’s the never-quitter. Each has strengths and weaknesses, so it’s not as simple as “This is better than That” and to get the best you just pay more, it’s just not that simple (apparently).

For instance: Plasmas I guess generally have deeper, more detailed blacks, and not suffer from motion blur as older LCDs were prone to. However, their whites are not as bright as LCD sets (though better than RPTVs).

LCDs tend to have washed-out blacks as compared to Plasmas, but their whites are second-to-none. However, they also tend to suffer from motion blur. All this, however, was before the recent Samsung Series 6, 7, and above panels with their “Ultra Clear Panel” that brings out the vivid blacks about on par w/ the top-of-the-line Plasmas, and their skimpy 4ms response times & 120hz refresh rates which all but obliterate motion blur, as well. To me, this makes them “The Buy,” as their typical weaknesses have almost been erased, and yet they retain their typical strengths.

Where do the RPTVs fit into this? Well, they’re the “bang for the buck” sets. You can’t get a bigger picture for anywhere as low a price as the RPTVs offer. I mean, the 67” set we looked at, the current top of the line, is still 3x cheaper than the 58” Samsung LCD. Yikes. But there’s just no real strengths other than price. The picture’s not as bright, the colors aren’t as good, and the viewing angles tend to suck, as well.

So yeah, we’re going to wait. We figure (mostly me, I guess) that in another year, Samsung will have these series sets in the sizes we want (65”+), and hopefully the prices will come down. All this, and while we the let the techs sort themselves out, it should only get better. What am I looking forward to, then? Well, another year & a half with our current set, and then hopefully a Series 6 or Series 7 65” LCD.

Peace.