These are the movies I saw during the month of July. A bold title indicates that the movie is "Worthy".
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
- Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
- Wes Craven's New Nightmare
- Millions
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
- The Naked Gun
- Frost/Nixon
- [Rec]
- Twilight
- House on Haunted Hill ('99)
- Young Frankenstein
- Splinter
- Taxi to the Dark Side
- Funny People
Friday, August 7, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Be a Good Environmentalist and Kill an Animal
Me and a friend of mine were at a mall last week trying to kill some time and we started talking about Buddhism and religion (great mall topics, I know) and somewhere along the way we got to talking about evolution and environmentalism when something struck us as ironic.
I'm making fairly large assumptions here but I think it's safe to say that most of the more extremist environmentalists also prescribe to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, a major component of which is the concept of survival of the fittest.
So why are environmentalists so concerned about saving species from extinction? If a species becomes extinct, then it obviously wasn't fit enough to survive and so there's no harm done. If we're really killing all these various species then we ought to be celebrating. We are the fittest species so we deserve to survive.
On the other hand, if they are concerned that by our actions we will cause humanity to go extinct that doesn't make much sense either. If indeed this does occur then we obviously weren't fit enough to survive and so there's no harm done.
Any good evolutionist should either fight nature with all he can muster or just lay down and die. Me? I'm going to crank up the AC, drive my car and eat McDonald's hamburgers.
Not too much though because all that stuff can be kind of expensive.
I'm making fairly large assumptions here but I think it's safe to say that most of the more extremist environmentalists also prescribe to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, a major component of which is the concept of survival of the fittest.
So why are environmentalists so concerned about saving species from extinction? If a species becomes extinct, then it obviously wasn't fit enough to survive and so there's no harm done. If we're really killing all these various species then we ought to be celebrating. We are the fittest species so we deserve to survive.
On the other hand, if they are concerned that by our actions we will cause humanity to go extinct that doesn't make much sense either. If indeed this does occur then we obviously weren't fit enough to survive and so there's no harm done.
Any good evolutionist should either fight nature with all he can muster or just lay down and die. Me? I'm going to crank up the AC, drive my car and eat McDonald's hamburgers.
Not too much though because all that stuff can be kind of expensive.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Adventures In Unemployment: Week Three
"What?" you say. "Did I miss weeks one and two?"
Nope. I did.
The idea for this only came to me today so rather than recount three whole weeks of unemployment, we shall begin at week three. The two weeks previous has mostly consisted of sitting on my butt all day switching off between filling out applications and playing video games so we aren't really missing much.
A couple weeks ago I applied for unemployment insurance and I received all three of their official looking letters on Thursday. One contained the form that I have to fill out every two weeks explaining what jobs I've applied to or if I've worked at all and if I was available to work. The second contained a letter saying that I needed to fill out a profile/resume on some government job search website. The third had a letter letting me know that I have a phone interview scheduled in July to talk about my work availability, what work I'm trying to find and my work experience.
I'm having a hard time grasping the reason for a phone interview when everything they're asking me has already been stated or is being stated in my bi-weekly logs. I'm starting to feel like a broken record here. I get the same feeling after filling out my twelfth application with the exact same information on it.
There are benefits to filling out countless applications. I memorized my social security number two years ago when I was filling out endless applications. Give me a few more and I'll be able to recite my entire employment history and at least four references, contact info and all.
Unemployment has been kind to my social life though. This week I actually went to the beach with some friends and played volleyball and threw a Frisbee around. If I keep this up, I may be rid of my pasty whiteness and stop blinding people when I take my shirt off like it's my superpower.
I usually avoid the beach because, and this is fact, 94% of the most terrifying, deadly creatures on Earth live in the ocean. The other 6% lives in Australia. All of these animals want you dead and are just waiting to wrap their tentacles around you or sting you with paralyzing venom or bite you in half or all three.
This is one of the more cuddly examples.
So that's been this week of unemployment. 22 days and counting.
The summer has only just begun.
Nope. I did.
The idea for this only came to me today so rather than recount three whole weeks of unemployment, we shall begin at week three. The two weeks previous has mostly consisted of sitting on my butt all day switching off between filling out applications and playing video games so we aren't really missing much.
A couple weeks ago I applied for unemployment insurance and I received all three of their official looking letters on Thursday. One contained the form that I have to fill out every two weeks explaining what jobs I've applied to or if I've worked at all and if I was available to work. The second contained a letter saying that I needed to fill out a profile/resume on some government job search website. The third had a letter letting me know that I have a phone interview scheduled in July to talk about my work availability, what work I'm trying to find and my work experience.
I'm having a hard time grasping the reason for a phone interview when everything they're asking me has already been stated or is being stated in my bi-weekly logs. I'm starting to feel like a broken record here. I get the same feeling after filling out my twelfth application with the exact same information on it.
There are benefits to filling out countless applications. I memorized my social security number two years ago when I was filling out endless applications. Give me a few more and I'll be able to recite my entire employment history and at least four references, contact info and all.
Unemployment has been kind to my social life though. This week I actually went to the beach with some friends and played volleyball and threw a Frisbee around. If I keep this up, I may be rid of my pasty whiteness and stop blinding people when I take my shirt off like it's my superpower.
I usually avoid the beach because, and this is fact, 94% of the most terrifying, deadly creatures on Earth live in the ocean. The other 6% lives in Australia. All of these animals want you dead and are just waiting to wrap their tentacles around you or sting you with paralyzing venom or bite you in half or all three.
This is one of the more cuddly examples.
So that's been this week of unemployment. 22 days and counting.
The summer has only just begun.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
How I Went from a Hater to a Lover by Getting Lost
Pre-2005, I thought modern TV was crap. I didn't bother watching anything on TV because I was convinced that there was nothing good happening on the small screen anymore. I knew and loved many a show from yesteryear like The Twilight Zone, The A-Team, Rocky and Bullwinkle, The Muppet Show, and pretty much any show that was playing on Nickelodeon in the early-to-mid 90s. All I knew about the television of today was that it was full of crap.
My eyes were opened in my freshman year of college. A friend of mine in the dormitory that I lived in had gotten the first season of Lost on DVD. We and 3 others began watching and as I saw that incredible pilot episode unfold before my eyes, I was sure that I was watching the second coming of good TV. Little did I know that this show was just the tip of the iceberg.
Over the course of my two years in that dormitory I was introduced to Lost, Arrested Development, Battlestar Galactica, MXC, South Park, The Office, Futurama, Family Guy, Robot Chicken and Heroes. Many of these are now among my favorite TV shows while two in particular grew rather sour and I no longer have any interest in (*coughfamilyguycough* *coughheroescough*). Recent additions to my TV watching are House M.D., Dexter, Fringe, and Dollhouse.
My current TV schedule looks like this:
Monday
- House
Tuesday
- Fringe
Wednesday
- Lost
- Mythbusters
- South Park
Thursday
- The Office
Friday
- Dollhouse
Sunday
- Kings
I'm still looking for a show to take the Saturday slot.
As you can see, I have become something of a TV fiend. There are a ton of shows that I want to eventually get caught up on like 24, The Sopranos, The X-Files, Pushing Daisies, etc. I still look back on those nights of watching those first two seasons of Lost with those same four people to be the highpoint of my TV watching experience. Yelling at the characters, theorizing about what the heck was going on and screams of "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" at the end of nearly every episode.
So thank you, Lost for helping me find my way in TV land.
Ironic, no?
My eyes were opened in my freshman year of college. A friend of mine in the dormitory that I lived in had gotten the first season of Lost on DVD. We and 3 others began watching and as I saw that incredible pilot episode unfold before my eyes, I was sure that I was watching the second coming of good TV. Little did I know that this show was just the tip of the iceberg.
Over the course of my two years in that dormitory I was introduced to Lost, Arrested Development, Battlestar Galactica, MXC, South Park, The Office, Futurama, Family Guy, Robot Chicken and Heroes. Many of these are now among my favorite TV shows while two in particular grew rather sour and I no longer have any interest in (*coughfamilyguycough* *coughheroescough*). Recent additions to my TV watching are House M.D., Dexter, Fringe, and Dollhouse.
My current TV schedule looks like this:
Monday
- House
Tuesday
- Fringe
Wednesday
- Lost
- Mythbusters
- South Park
Thursday
- The Office
Friday
- Dollhouse
Sunday
- Kings
I'm still looking for a show to take the Saturday slot.
As you can see, I have become something of a TV fiend. There are a ton of shows that I want to eventually get caught up on like 24, The Sopranos, The X-Files, Pushing Daisies, etc. I still look back on those nights of watching those first two seasons of Lost with those same four people to be the highpoint of my TV watching experience. Yelling at the characters, theorizing about what the heck was going on and screams of "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" at the end of nearly every episode.
So thank you, Lost for helping me find my way in TV land.
Ironic, no?
Monday, March 23, 2009
Hi, My Name Is David and I'm a Geek
Every once in a while I am reminded of just how much of a geek I am. So much so that I surprise myself sometimes. Today is a good example.
I had tweeted with a friend about Diary of the Dead. Because of this, I was followed by a tweeter by the name of "zombiebrains". Basically, this person just tweets variations of "Brains!". This bugged the heck out of me. Not because it's a stupid idea for a twitter, not because I get at least 5-6 of these stupid spam twitters a week (although on recollection that too bugs the heck out of me), but because this stupid person is perpetrating the falsity that zombies are only interested in eating your brain!
Zombies don't care what part of your body they snack on. Human flesh is what the zombie craves. Every bit is just as delicious as the next. Meat is meat is meat to the zombie. Your grey matter is just as desirable as your spleen or your foot. Just because one movie (a zombie comedy no less) says that this is so, it suddenly becomes gospel!
Anyway, after venting this frustration on my friend and seeing their dumbfounded look, I realized, more than ever before, that I am an enormous geek.
It's those moments of self-realization that make life enjoyable.
I had tweeted with a friend about Diary of the Dead. Because of this, I was followed by a tweeter by the name of "zombiebrains". Basically, this person just tweets variations of "Brains!". This bugged the heck out of me. Not because it's a stupid idea for a twitter, not because I get at least 5-6 of these stupid spam twitters a week (although on recollection that too bugs the heck out of me), but because this stupid person is perpetrating the falsity that zombies are only interested in eating your brain!
Zombies don't care what part of your body they snack on. Human flesh is what the zombie craves. Every bit is just as delicious as the next. Meat is meat is meat to the zombie. Your grey matter is just as desirable as your spleen or your foot. Just because one movie (a zombie comedy no less) says that this is so, it suddenly becomes gospel!
Anyway, after venting this frustration on my friend and seeing their dumbfounded look, I realized, more than ever before, that I am an enormous geek.
It's those moments of self-realization that make life enjoyable.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Killing Dogs: Worse Than Killing People or: Everything I Hate About Video Game Criticism
I read this article on GamePolitics.com (a most excellent source of video game news) today and my first reaction was to laugh. As I kept reading, I grew frustrated. All the things I hate about most video game criticism are in the article. Let's see the five points that this article brings up.
1. "...a group of students at a Massachusetts high school are upset about the need to shoot dogs in CoD:WaW"
High School students? Guess what, High School age teenagers are not who this game is targeted to. The game is rated M by the ESRB which is similar to the MPAA's R rating for movies. From their website: "Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language." Stores require an adult of 18 years of age to buy the game. But let's forget this little fact because video games are bad!
2. "Killing dogs as a form of entertainment ... over and over again. That's one of the objects of the game... Killing animals should not be a form of entertainment..."
This kind of comment is typical from someone who's never played a video game in their life. It is not entertainment to kill the dogs, it's about survival. The game never gives you the objective to "kill all the dogs" or even "kill all the Nazis". The objectives are things like rescuing hostages, taking out enemy radio towers, capturing enemy leaders and reaching an extraction point. Yes, you do kill a lot of enemies but this is a war game. People at war do not accept hugs and chocolate. It's a fact that people at war use attack dogs. You aren't shooting little puppy dogs as they bound toward you to lick you in the face. These are vicious dogs that will rip your throat out if you do not defend yourself. But let's forget this little fact because video games are bad!
3. "Parents need to know what they are buying their kids."
Exactly! Parents, if you buy a game for your 12 year old kid who can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality then both you and your kid are idiots. The rating is clearly shown on the front of the box and includes the reason for the rating. If a parent buys Call of Duty for their child you don't blame the company that made the game, you blame the parent. Activision did not put the game into the hands of the child and buy it for them, the parent did. But let's forget this little fact because video games are bad!
4. "My little 12-pound Pomeranian, Winnie the Pooh, is sitting next to [my brother, who is playing CoD:WaW], and I'm thinking, 'This looks horrible!' My brother is a sweetheart. He won't be killing dogs after playing. But some people might."
First of all, "Winnie the Pooh" is a terrible name for a dog and I'm sure that it hates its owner. Secondly, video games do not suddenly turn on some kind "murder switch" in people. If they play a video game and then kill a dog, that person had far deeper psychological problems before playing the game. How many people do you know who played Grand Theft Auto and then went out and hijacked a car? Out of the millions of people who've played Grand Theft Auto, how many of them have hijacked a car? How many people who have hijacked a car have ever played Grand Theft Auto? But let's forget this little fact because video games are bad!
5. "I feel like these video games are dangerous for a lot of reasons. We can all rationalize and say it's just pretend. Even so, why pretend shooting people and dogs? They really desensitize kids and adults to what that violence signifies."
There has been a lot of studies showing a supposed link between violence on screen and violence that ensues from that. These studies are basically split in half over whether or not video game violence has any negative effect in real life so there really is no definitive answer. Speaking from personal experience, video game and screen violence does NOT have a desensitizing effect. I've been playing video games for nearly 20 years and my video game shelf is currently stacked with violent, M-rated video games like Resident Evil 4, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Grand Theft Auto IV, Condemned, Gears of War, Doom 3, God of War, Fallout 3, Call of Duty 4, and Left 4 Dead. I play these games regularly. I've also been a movie buff for as long as I can remember and two of my favorite genres of film are the horror and zombie genre. Both of these genre feature many people dying in a variety of unpleasant and sometimes gruesome ways.
Now here's the kicker: I am still squeamish about real-life violence and wounds. I hate watching the news for this very reason. When a friend says, "Hey check out this gash I got falling off my skateboard," I say, "No thanks." You know why this is? Because I can mentally separate fantasy from real life. If you or your child is incapable of this simple task, you shouldn't be playing video games. Also, as I mentioned earlier, you are an idiot. But let's forget this little fact because video games are bad!
And so from points 1-5 we can conclude that video games are nothing but murder simulators that train people how to kill things in real life. Thanks, Jack Thompson!
1. "...a group of students at a Massachusetts high school are upset about the need to shoot dogs in CoD:WaW"
High School students? Guess what, High School age teenagers are not who this game is targeted to. The game is rated M by the ESRB which is similar to the MPAA's R rating for movies. From their website: "Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language." Stores require an adult of 18 years of age to buy the game. But let's forget this little fact because video games are bad!
2. "Killing dogs as a form of entertainment ... over and over again. That's one of the objects of the game... Killing animals should not be a form of entertainment..."
This kind of comment is typical from someone who's never played a video game in their life. It is not entertainment to kill the dogs, it's about survival. The game never gives you the objective to "kill all the dogs" or even "kill all the Nazis". The objectives are things like rescuing hostages, taking out enemy radio towers, capturing enemy leaders and reaching an extraction point. Yes, you do kill a lot of enemies but this is a war game. People at war do not accept hugs and chocolate. It's a fact that people at war use attack dogs. You aren't shooting little puppy dogs as they bound toward you to lick you in the face. These are vicious dogs that will rip your throat out if you do not defend yourself. But let's forget this little fact because video games are bad!
3. "Parents need to know what they are buying their kids."
Exactly! Parents, if you buy a game for your 12 year old kid who can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality then both you and your kid are idiots. The rating is clearly shown on the front of the box and includes the reason for the rating. If a parent buys Call of Duty for their child you don't blame the company that made the game, you blame the parent. Activision did not put the game into the hands of the child and buy it for them, the parent did. But let's forget this little fact because video games are bad!
4. "My little 12-pound Pomeranian, Winnie the Pooh, is sitting next to [my brother, who is playing CoD:WaW], and I'm thinking, 'This looks horrible!' My brother is a sweetheart. He won't be killing dogs after playing. But some people might."
First of all, "Winnie the Pooh" is a terrible name for a dog and I'm sure that it hates its owner. Secondly, video games do not suddenly turn on some kind "murder switch" in people. If they play a video game and then kill a dog, that person had far deeper psychological problems before playing the game. How many people do you know who played Grand Theft Auto and then went out and hijacked a car? Out of the millions of people who've played Grand Theft Auto, how many of them have hijacked a car? How many people who have hijacked a car have ever played Grand Theft Auto? But let's forget this little fact because video games are bad!
5. "I feel like these video games are dangerous for a lot of reasons. We can all rationalize and say it's just pretend. Even so, why pretend shooting people and dogs? They really desensitize kids and adults to what that violence signifies."
There has been a lot of studies showing a supposed link between violence on screen and violence that ensues from that. These studies are basically split in half over whether or not video game violence has any negative effect in real life so there really is no definitive answer. Speaking from personal experience, video game and screen violence does NOT have a desensitizing effect. I've been playing video games for nearly 20 years and my video game shelf is currently stacked with violent, M-rated video games like Resident Evil 4, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Grand Theft Auto IV, Condemned, Gears of War, Doom 3, God of War, Fallout 3, Call of Duty 4, and Left 4 Dead. I play these games regularly. I've also been a movie buff for as long as I can remember and two of my favorite genres of film are the horror and zombie genre. Both of these genre feature many people dying in a variety of unpleasant and sometimes gruesome ways.
Now here's the kicker: I am still squeamish about real-life violence and wounds. I hate watching the news for this very reason. When a friend says, "Hey check out this gash I got falling off my skateboard," I say, "No thanks." You know why this is? Because I can mentally separate fantasy from real life. If you or your child is incapable of this simple task, you shouldn't be playing video games. Also, as I mentioned earlier, you are an idiot. But let's forget this little fact because video games are bad!
And so from points 1-5 we can conclude that video games are nothing but murder simulators that train people how to kill things in real life. Thanks, Jack Thompson!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
