Eye of Eugene

My Favorite Phillies of All Time

2012-01-21T17:26:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been awhile since I wrote anything of interest but I've been dying here waiting for the 2012 Phillies season to begin. Everyday I wait for some breaking news on the Phillies that I can pour over during my lunch break but being arbitration time, baseball is at an all time low right now. That got me thinking about my all time favorite Phillies from the time I started actually paying attention to baseball around the age of 10 in 1993 to, of course, the present day Phillies. Obviously, there's going to be a huge chunk of players from the '93 and '08 teams....so with out further adu:

10. Tyler Walker- Who in the world is this guy? Well, Tyler Walker was a relief pitcher for the 2009 Phillies. He was a decent relief pitcher who pitched quite well during the end of the season but he missed his one chance at achieving an extension with the Phillies when he blew one save in when the Phillies were rotating in relief pitchers to see who would play the Lidge replacement in the '09 playoffs. The reason I liked Walker was pretty easy to see. He was a fans player. He would talk to the fans, throw balls to them during batting practice and even went out of his way to acknowledge them. This may have to do with the fact that not many fans bothered with him in a town with MVPs but he always threw me a baseball during batting practice, so that's why he's awesome.

9. Mitch Williams- Seriously, was there any guy more exciting than the "Wild Thing" to watch during the Phillies run at the title in 93? This guy really knew how to put on a show. He even got the game winning hit at 4am during that crazy 1993 season. His hair, style, and play made the blood pressure of many Philly fans race through the roof every time he wound up to pitch. Even though he went into hiding for a few years, Mitch has come back big as sports announcer and we're loving it!

8. John Kruk- Great guy, great player even better commentator. Kruk finished his career batting .300 and made many Philly fans wonder if they could still play the game even at the age of 50. I'm guessing he was the inspiration for many people across the tri-state area who were contemplating many of their dreams. I mean if this guy can play baseball, why can't I finish my novel I've been thinking about for 20 years. Kruk was also a great field with an award winning personality.

7. Aaron Rowand- He ran into the wall to catch a ball, busting his face but turning a big page for the Phillies. In my mind, that play was the turning point for the Phillies. Rowand played a big part in transforming the Phillies into a die hard team that has led them to 5 straight NL East Divison Champions. He caught the ball for "His Team." That's not what this town is use to hearing with many selfish players giving the backhand to Philly time and time again.

6. Mike Liberthal- Probably the best all around Phillies catcher of all time. Not to say Ruiz or Daulton aren't super duper awesome people but Liberthal posted some great numbers playing on the most dismal Philly teams of all time. He was one of the few bright spots during the playoff drought after the '93 team to the '07 team. Libby at least made the games bearable. If he ended up playing on any of the winning Philly teams he would definitely have much more recognition.

5. Shane Victorino- This guy is just all out crazy. Always flying around the field. Giving his best, starting fights, getting the team going and just playing hard all the time. You can just see the look in his eyes every time he makes a great play. His fierce playing style makes all Philly fans hope Ruben signs him to an extension real soon.

4. Roy Halladay Day in and day out this guy give it his best. His composure on the mound is unmatched but what truly made Philly fans fall in love with Roy was his Perfect game during one of those pointless night games against the Marlins. It was even more amazing when he pitched a no hitter in his first playoff game. Even though he still chases that ring we always know that he will be giving his best every time he takes the mound.

3. Darren Daulton- The leader of the '93 Phillies really took the town by storm, surprising the nation with their never give up attitude. "Dutch" as he was known around the clubhouse. He was the sharpest looking individual amongst a bunch of hitchhiker looking fellows. His knees would soon fail him but he played good baseball for the Phillies in a very hard position while helping lead them to the '93 WS. What made Daulton a true Philly hero was his ability to constantly play through pain. From black eyes, to messed up knees he gave it his all everyday.

2. Cliff Lee- How in the world can you not like a guy who got traded numerous times throughout the last few years while still proving his worth in many uncomfortable trades. In 2009 when the Phils surprised the baseball world with a shocking trade for him we were a little upset because we didn't get Halladay but we he showed us he was worth every penny. Then Ruben had to prove he could get Halladay but wanted to trick all the Philly fans into thinking it was a three way trade and said goodbye to the only guy who kept the Phillies from falling flat on their faces in the '09 playoffs by trading him to Seattle. Cliff was pissed, as anyone would've been but he swallowed his pride by taking a huge salary cut by signing with the Phillies over the Yankees. Keep in mind, Ruben would've never done such a thing by swallowing his own pride in such a case. If he was a humble being like Cliff, we might still have Madson and Werth on the team.

1. Chase Utley- Do I really have to say anything about Chase? He is the best all around baseball player in my opinion. Albert Pujols is amazing too and his hitting is far superior to Utley's but he plays first base and doesn't get injured for playing so hard like Utley. Utley has done sooo many great things, from hustling out routine ground balls to faking a throw to first then going home in the World Series. If he doesn't get injured in 2007 or 2008, he's the MVP. Look up Utley's WAR and you will see just how amazing he really is for the number of seasons he has played.

2011-03-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Moleskine Post #7

2011-03-20T19:32:00.000-07:00

A really rough sketch of Philly.

Moleskine Post #6

2011-03-13T20:24:00.001-07:00

Moleskine Post #5

2011-03-10T20:54:00.001-08:00

Moleskine Post #4

2011-03-09T19:47:00.000-08:00

A rather interesting drawing of mine.

Moleskine Post #3

2011-03-08T21:43:00.000-08:00

Another Moleskine Drawing of Mine

2011-03-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

This is a combination of a few famous artist. I did this in pen. No tracing or sketching.

Check out my Moleskine Project

2011-03-01T20:38:00.000-08:00

Songs that help achieve self-realization

2009-02-27T00:49:00.000-08:00

We all have that simple on/off switch in our heads that makes us creative. With the help of music that switch can go on and allow us do things we never thought possible. Although there are many different genres people listen to, I believe the ones with as little words as possible are the best to concentrate and achieve ones inner creative thoughts. Still, there are a few that are able to attain ones attention with words while not losing oneself in the singers words.

Here is a list of songs, in no particular order, that have help me forget about everything around me:

1. The Day the World Went Away - Nine Inch Nails
2. Just Like You Imagined - Nine Inch Nails
3. Hungarian Rhapsody - Franz Liszt
4. The Past is a Grotesque Animal - Of Montreal
5. Lux Aeterna (LOTR remix) - Clint Mansell
6. Clubbed to Death (Kuryayamino Variation)- Rob Dougan
7. Corona Radiata - Nine Inch Nails
8. The Final Countdown - Europe
9. Fix You - Coldplay
10. Romance - Apocalyptica
11. Last of the Mohicans - Randy Edleman and Trevor Jones
12. Preparations for Battle - James Horner
13. Symphony No.40 in G Minor - Mozart
14. Death is the Road to Awe - Clint Mansell
15. Truman Sleeps - Philip Glass
16. Beside You In Time - Nine Inch Nails
17. How It Ends - DeVotchKa
18. Hands On the Bible - Local H
19. Hysteria - Muse
20. Rebellion - Arcade Fire
21. Float On - Modest Mouse
22. Zombie - Cranberries
23. Minerva - Deftones
24. Karma Police - Radiohead
25. 17 Ghosts - Nine Inch Nails
26. 12 Ghosts - Nine Inch Nails
27. Lose Yourself - Eminem

and once your done, your going to need something to snap you out of that mood, so kick on this-

27. Drunken Lullabies - Flogging Molly

Going Green World's Fair

2008-11-24T04:51:00.000-08:00

In my travels I have always come across amazing places that were usually reminisces of a World's Fair. In my studies I have always come across many interesting stories that not only added to a jump in innovation but also an increase in technology and entertainment. What I wonder now is where have these World's Fairs gone? The last one was the 2000 Hanover Exposition. It seems that nations are too worried about getting revenue on such a minuscule investment that reaps benefits for generations to come. Not only do these fairs provide a reach history for the future, they showcase amazing architectural buildings along while providing a landscape for people to enjoy years later.

Certainly they still have fairs here and there but nothing like they use to have. We need a World's Fair that is for today's economy and technology that will usher in a new set of ideas that Expositions and Fairs of the past use to do. Most of the modern days fairs are located in the Eastern world. There isn't really a problem with that, but why not have another one in America or South America that promotes "Going Green." This is something that should be taken note of. We obviously are in a changing world, and like fairs of the past, it will provide a gateway to the future that will further our knowledge and know how of keeping the environment safe and clean for generations to come.

They can build numerous buildings that are completely green.
Showcase new types of food that are organic and all green.
Present to people information about the ever increasing problems about our environment.
Let people know about the problem with seafood production as well as the problem with dumping into the ocean. (Almost 3 times as much weight in trash gets put into the ocean as seafood that is taking out each year.)
Let children from around the world showcase their new ideas for the fair with great prizes.
Allow the area to be easily accessible and the use of modern technology to lower the pollution.
Focus around every one's carbon footprint.
Open the eyes of the world by making it educational, entertaining, and FUN.
Have concerts and celebrities there.
Make sure it's open for at least 6 months.
Make sure it makes change.

Enough with the Live 8 and Live Earth.....we need this and we need it now. Not to say those programs were bad but they were only one day and we as a great world can do so much more with an awesome World's Fair. Put it in 4 locations if need be. Still it needs to be done and it needs to be done now.

Oh My God

2008-10-17T02:20:00.000-07:00

Finally, after 15 years of waiting, waiting, and waiting some more, it is here. Chinese Democracy will go on sale November 23, 2008. That's right Guns N' Roses will finally release the most anticipated album ever. The only other wait that compares to this is the coming of the Messiah. The most impressing part about this is the shitty album cover that is on display at the Best Buy online store. Surprisingly enough though, there have been reports that the guys behind the recent Sasquatch hoax are also behind this, so be warned. I just hope that most of the songs are different from the initial leaked versions that came out in May, although there seems to be a good amount of new songs on there, which is somewhat promising.

It was such shocking news that the CEO of Dr.Pepper, who promised to offer a free soda to every American if Axel came through on his promise of releasing the album this year, that he applied for some bailout assistance. Axel said, "I finally realize that my music is bigger than my ego and I want to give my fans, who were there from the beginning, a chance to purchase my music before they enter a retirement home."

Two songs have been released in the mainstream already, "Shackler's Revenge," on Rock Band 2, and "If the World," is played during the end credits of Body of Lies. Aside from all this, there is also word that a new video is being shot. Many promoters from around the world have already started buying up overstocked Manny Rameriez giveaway cornrow braids to give out at Best Buy locations, since the Dodgers will no longer have any use for them.

The list of the songs are:

1. Chinese Democracy
2. Shackler's Revenge
3. Better
4. Street Of Dreams
5. If The World
6. There Was A Time
7. Catcher N' The Rye
8. Scraped
9. Riad N' The Bedouins
10. Sorry
11. I.R.S.
12. Madagascar
13. This I Love
14. Prostitute

New Video...The Beginning and End

2008-10-14T00:57:00.000-07:00

The much anticipated new video is FINALLY here.....

for better quality check it out here

http://losttosociety.com/The_Beginning.mov

size is about 65 megs

Done with the help of Kenny Kling and Nick Mainville

Photo of the Day

2008-10-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

Phillies Clinching 2008 NL East Division

Photo of the Week

2008-10-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

Fire Away

Photo of the Week

2008-10-02T13:14:00.000-07:00

Falling into Fall

Photo of the Week

2008-09-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

Fisherman by the Sea

Huge Snapper Turtle

2008-09-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hilarious Video of Huge Snapper Turtle

Top 5 Free IPhone Apps

2008-09-06T02:53:00.000-07:00

IPhone Apps

#5- Shazam
This application is very handy. The technology has been on a few phones before the IPhone, but the idea of having it for free on your IPhone is awesome. Shazam allows you to figure out the name of songs by accessing the internet to get a the name of a song after listening to it for 10 seconds and downloading the basic beat to it. Convenient for people that love listening to new songs.

#4- Smug Shots
A must application for any aspiring photographers. Not only do you get 50% off if you sign up for Smug Shots through this application, (which saved me 75 bucks) but it does so much more. It allows you to tag, geo tag all your photographs and upload it no matter where you are the second you take them on your IPhone. You can even upload pictures from your library.

#3- Urban Spoon
Ever just want to try something new when you are hungry, but have gone completely blank. This is what you need. Simply pop in you local area, type of food desired, and amount willing to pay. They jump the slots and there ya go.

#2- Pandora
The glorious website for music mongrols taking to the Iphone, which means I can check out new songs and run various other application on my slow computer. It also means I can play all kinds of stuff on my IPhone while driving and running around town for free. Great for those who get tired of the same old stuff, yet still like their style music. Push in your favorite band and they will play numerous other bands and songs similiar to them. It even keeps track of the ones you like so you can go home and download them, ahem, legally.

#1- Brain Tuner
Yea, that's right, I'm going with a game on this one. I love the whole idea. It's simple, sweet, and to the point. Whenever I feel a little out of it or want to be an introvert in a crowded place I just pop this application on for a little tunning. You are giving 20 or 100 problems, which ever you chose, that are either plus, minus, or mutplication. Don't worry they are nothing to crazy. Usually the highest it goes is 10 x 10. Keep track of your high score and see if you can beat mine...somehow I manage to get 10.442508....It seems my best scores come at the weirdiest moments.

Picture of the Week

2008-09-03T23:32:00.000-07:00

Walking along the beach in Wildwood I came across this interesting setting. A lifeguard chair filled with all the necessities.

Songs of the Summer of 2008

2008-09-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

My Top 12 Songs for the Summer of 2008

1. M.I.A. - Paper Planes
2. O.A.R. - Shattered
3. Shinedown - Devour
4. Metro Station - Shake it
5. Nine Inch Nails - Discipline
6. MSI - Never Wanted to Dance
7. Crystal Method - Name of the Game
8. Scars on Broadway - Funny
9. Weezer - The Greatest Man That Ever Lived
10. Coldplay - Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love
11. Girl Talk- Hands in the Air
12. Royworld - Dust

A Journey up the Coast to Complete the NJ Lighthouse Conquest

2008-09-01T22:36:00.000-07:00

Well I finally finished the Jersey Shore tour of capturing all the lighthouses that I could possibly get while onshore. The final three were quite impressive with a wonderful trip to go along with the quest. Starting at Wildwood, NJ from my shore house at 8 am, I worked my way up the coast, stopping at the Absecon Lighthouse first. This lighthouse was quite impressive with a height of 169 feet, coming in at 5th tallest in the nation. Sadly I had to jump the fence to get good pictures since I arrived too early and couldn't walk up to the top since it was closed. The surrounding area is on the outskirts of Atlantic City, but there seems to be some promise with a huge casino going up only a block away from the lighthouse. Hopefully this will improve the area at least within a few acres of the lighthouse. It is definitely worth a trip to the area for a scenic purposes and to see the most ridiculous mixes of two complete opposite ends of classes at each others doorsteps. Just about a quarter mile away is the inlet where you can see a dilapidated boardwalk begging for repairs, while people weave in and out of the areas where you can ride your bike. Underneath waves are crashing into rubble left behind from fallen buildings. The most fascinating thing had to be the huge hotel at the corner of the coast and inlet that was pretty much left abandon except for the first few floors. The other 40 stories or so were empty or home to things you don't want to think about. About a mile west, hugging the bay area is another nice set up. There are a bunch of cozy little shops set up in sheds with an aquarium accompanying them. Check it out but be careful to go only during the daylight hours, and I'm not kidding you.

The second stop on my tour was Smithville, which came out of complete surprise. It's a small historic town that is set around the idea of a quaint little village concept. You can walk around and check out numerous shops and feel like you are living in the colonial area. I found the best aspect of the places were its variety of shops they had set up. No shops were any bigger than 250 square feet inside. It is meant to cut you off from the rest of the world by surrounding you in the village when you walk in. Smithville gives you a glimpse at the not so distant past while being able to shop in present times. If you don't want any material goods at least grab a bite to eat with their various offerings of delicious foods.

About 25 or so minutes up the road is Tuckerton, home to Tucker's Island Lighthouse. This is the site of the first resort area used by people in the late 1700's for trips to the shore. This is were it all began when people from Philadelphia decided they needed a break from the heat. Tucker's Lighthouse is unique because it was rebuilt after it went crashing into the ocean. The lighthouse is far from prestigious but has quite an interesting history. Along with the lighthouse the people of Tuckerton have set up a neat little area for you to visit. Tuckerton Seaport is a small boardwalk around a bay area with little shops open for history fans. Each shop explains in detail about what its main topic is. For example they have a decoy duck shop, which seems to be the big deal in Tuckerton, where you can check out a guy hand carving fake ducks. Tucker's Lighthouse is the keystone to the whole attraction and is worth a visit.

Barnegat Lighthouse was the finally destination on the journey. After traveling at turtle speed on the huge Long Beach Island, there she blew. It was an amazing site, standing at 172 feet, 4th largest in the nation, it was begging to be conquered. The walk wasn't that bad at all especially for such a breath taking site of the marvelous LBI area. I couldn't believe my eyes after seeing how clear the water in the area was. The bay had a light greenish sparkle to it, something that I thought was only possible in the oceans further down south. Always swimming in Wildwood, I was caught off guard by the crystal clearness of the bay. You could see a a good amount of feet down in the water with out any murkiness or pollutants. The whole area is set up beautifully and is just amazing. There are tons of jetties and various paths to walk on and check out the inlet. The preservation down on the lighthouse is worth taking note of. What really made this town besides that clean water was the various wildlife that has been lost in other jersey shore beaches. Different types of coral could be seen and I saw a starfish pulled right from the bay. To go along perfectly with all this shore awesomeness was the mom and pop like stores everywhere. It provided a sweet uniqueness that has since been lost to fast food chains, and Wal-Mart-esque places in most parts of New Jersey.

The trip was fascinating and definitely worth taking. Check out my NJ collection of Lighthouses here.

Wanted: Review

2008-06-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

Wanted=Best movie of the summer so far.

I was really impressed on many different levels with this movie. Right from the get go with Nine Inch Nails playing in the background, which made perfect sense, got me hooked in. Everyday is Exactly the Same gave you the feeling of the dismal lifestyle that the main character, played by James McAvoy, had to deal with. From the get go, the action starts and never stops. Angelina Jolie steals the show with her beauty and relentless style to take action to that whole other level only a few people can. People were giving this movie bad reviews based on the reality of the whole thing, but this is a damn movie, not reality. Things are allowed to be different and they were. The concept couldn't have been a better one. I am tired of these boring action flicks with big explosions and typical car chases that make you think that the human population is just so dumb they can easily be fooled with another one.

Wanted takes the cake and the buffet too in the creative aspect of this film. When Fox, played by Jolie, slides 720 into McAvoy with the door open in a Dodge Viper doing 35 mphs to pick him up, there I was ready to applaud and walk out happily at that point. Finally a creative way to start a car chase. The effects and storyline were truly something different and didn't look cheesy at all. When McAvoy breaks through to become the person he is, there was a little part of me wishing that I could some how do the same thing, that is if I had the same boring life he did.

With the beat downs coming along to build character and train McAvoy it stepped up to a whole other knoch. I don't want to give away too much more but the movie is something that I will definitely see again. I realized how good Wanted was soon after I saw it. I tried to go see Wall-E right away but had to wait about 20 minutes before it started. I snuck into the Hulk and sat down for about 5 minutes and was like wow this really is an awful movie with horrible effects and computer graphics that Pixar could've done in 1990. Before that I thought it was an ok movie meaning about 5 out of 10 only because I felt a little a sympathy for Edward Norton. That is beside the whole point though, Wanted was great. The storyline takes you all around the town and back up the block. Unstoppable action that I feel is groundbreaking except for the part were bullets collide in mid-air like 4 times in a row, no need for all that now. Jolie steals the stage but McAvoy puts on a damn good show for the ladies as well. With the moral of the story, trying to change the world, and the last line were McAvoy says, "What have you done lately?" That was probably as good as the Eye of the Tiger playing after Rocky first came out. That's how pumped you got after that line and the twisted ending. This movie is worth every penny. 9 out of 10, and I would love to see it again in that special quick fix wax bath. I give it a 9 only because to be perfect now days you gotta be perfect, and I believe I may have to save that 10 out of 10 for Batman.

First Game for the Phils

2008-03-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

The weather wasn't bad, and the stage had been set for something much more than last year. Yet, it ended up the same way as last year.

The future of America is already decided

2008-03-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

I have recently finished reading the book Where Does the Money Go?, by Scott Bittle & Jean Johnson. The book finally gives relevance to the wake up call that the American people need. The subtitle is: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis. The whole book maps out what has happen, what will happen, and what can be done. Although they give no direct way of fixing any of the problems or offering their own opinions, they do help by explaining all the different options and ways to fix the problem at hand.

What we have in our hands is a 9 trillion dollar deficit that will be a huge problem come 2030 if we don't start fixing things. By 2030 we will only have enough money for Social Security, Medicare, and the interest to pay back to other countries who had to cover are over spending. Yes, that means no defense spending, or anything else. No helping out students with college loans, or even simple subsidies for anyone. It's not like we can't step back from defense spending because America has been the biggest spender on National Defense out of all the countries in the world.

What we need is a huge wake up call as this book points out numerous times. Tax increases, along with program cuts are needed no matter what. There needs to be a bi-partisan agreement to get things going. Senators, congressmen, and the president must take a strong stance on not backing down or giving in to tax cuts. We have to approach this situation while we can. If we extend the Bush tax cuts past 2010 we are making a huge mistake. On top of that we have to stop earmarks, the use of pork, and wasteful spending. Even with those being considered we have to cut spending everywhere. I believe we must stop wasting money on Homeland Security and pointless programs. Obviously people are going to argue no matter what, but we must not waste spending on programs that reinstate "fear." In other words anything that is considered part of the Big Brother cause should be wiped free from the budget.

The government can also start allowing some programs to join the private sector and run themselves. National Parks, and the Postal Service could be part of that movement. I can not overstate that something must be done, and must be done soon, or else the world will be the shoulders of the generation of Americans who have the current recession, unemployment, stock drops, housing problems, inflation, and a lower level of living already effecting them. Pretty soon if we don't fix these problems head on, there may be more problems that can only be fixed with ideas that come would consider extremely radical.

This book is a great read for all ages past high school. It has detailed graphs and up-to-date information. The best part about this book is that the authors are not bias. Pick it up and start the revolution.

Southland Tales: A Confusing Epic of a Truly Possible Future

2008-03-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

Before we dive head first into this labyrinth, I must add that I am a huge fan of Donnie Darko. Therefore I was hoping for something grand, and also expecting something weird, I believe that is exactly what I got.

Southland Tales has a pretty stellar cast. A plot with more twists than a twizzler. A futuristic view of society that seems so real, with lots and lots of symbolic meaning intertwined into the whole movie.

For starters there was a lot of resemblance to Donnie Darko, especially in the end. Any fan would notice how the endings of both movies are almost the same with the relation of one characters sacrificing himself for the greater good, because of the time/space continuum. Then there is the dance scene before it all goes down, tagging along with the sad realization of reality all around us. How some of the characters realize how fake the world has become. The meaning for something greater to be achieved out of life is realized by a few, while others give into the artificial pleasures around them. The bullet hole in one eye of a main character, who is from the future. There is so much more, but I want to look at other parts of the movie as well.

The biblical meanings are way over my head. I am a true catholic but I can even begin to decipher what was going on. Justin Timberlake was playing Pilot Abilene (possible reference to Pontius Pilot??) who narrates the whole movie through the final book of the bible, Revelations. Extremely cool idea btw. If you know anything about prophecies, when they come true the interpretations that relate them to something happening are sometimes ridiculous. This movie kind of points that out, at least I think so, but makes everything come together in the end. You might have to watch this over just listening to Pilot reading his revelations.

Then there is the Rock who plays Boxer and Jericho. Two different people, at least we don't know that until the end. I am not to sure about the symbolic meaning of Jericho here. I love the acting that the Rock does, but it's just hard to seem him play the coward that Boxer is. When he does the Montgomery Burns finger taps, it has meaning in the end, but seems kind of weird throughout the whole movie. Also when he dies in the end and Jesus is seen bleeding through his back, I don't quite get that because he really doesn't save anyone. Although he does take down the strong conservatives in the Zeppelin with him, while the Neo-Marxist are getting destroyed down below.

We then come to Seann William Scott. This is really odd, not sure at all what's happening here, except that he is the one who went through the 4th dimension. I then came to realize that maybe the 4th dimension made it possible to transport the Elixir of God, or that crazy alternate energy they were using. I don't know just throwing that out there. It was also maybe a way of saying don't mess with God's powers too.
This also becomes relevant when people are trying to play God, they are eventually killed in the end too. (These are the people that play the role of Homeland Security, aka Dent in the movie.) They are overseeing everything, trying to control everyone.

Krista Now, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar is probably my favorite character. Although she seems to be clueless and out for herself, she also wrote the whole story down with Boxer in the beginning of the movie too. Maybe she plays the role of Mary Magdalene.

Then of course there are the many other numerous characters who appear throughout the whole movie. I couldn't believe the characters from SNL and Mad tv in the movie, playing crucial roles, but also mocking the characters by playing those roles. That is probably why they were playing them.

The best part about this movie is the whole obvious plot that anyone can notice. The future with constant observation, and control by the government.

I like the whole idea of using Robert Frost and the saying "This is the way the world ends." Throughout the whole movie there is so many references to all types of literature, art, religion, and pop culture. It's so hard to understand this movie, and this is why I believe it will be a masterpiece in due time. I hope that many people respond to this blog with their ideas and personal reviews of this movie.

Still there is much more that I missed I just wanted to get some of this down with hopes of responses.

I wish I could've seen the extra 20-25 minutes that we cut out of the original, maybe that extended version will be out shortly. I give this movie a 4.5 out 5. I didn't quite get it after watching it, but the hundreds of themes, ideas, views, references, and use of symbolism is amazing. For a person to direct and write such an epic movie, he should be recognized on a much larger level than right now. Although I am still very confused I feel I will eventually put the pieces together.

There Will Be Blood - For Sure

2008-01-16T21:24:00.000-08:00

Afraid to walk in on a movie that seemed so agonizing long, I took a chance. What a great idea it was. After seeing Atonement with no battle scenes, and getting heart broken by the dehumanization ending with No Country for Old Men, I only hoped for something better. Critics were claiming this were the best movies of the year along with TWBB, or maybe there just wasn't anything else better out.

Daniel Day-Lewis stole the screen as Daniel Plainview. He was the epitome of greed, while Eli was the sum of fake religion. It was an amazing movie, along with the score and acting. Most of all I enjoyed the settings of the various time periods.

From the opening scene that allowed the audience a quick view of the hardships of being down in a whole looking for treasure, to the last line of "I'm finished."

Sure there were parts that were hilarious to me, but that's who I am, I won't go into detail though. I was a bit weary since I heard some critics didn't enjoy the ending, I myself found it to be quite a fitting end to such a storyline. The characters were both equal with goodness and evil. Greed controlled but their intentions and well.....brought them both to ruin, if not monetarily then physically and mentally.

Eli's role as the fake prophet was the one I hated. He did no good, while Daniel actually made the town a little better place to live in.

There is no good vs evil theme. Daniel doesn't even battle himself, his confession to hating everyone makes him more of a lovable character than Eli, who is trying to convince others around he is not a fake. Although that is exactly what Daniel is doing. Both characters are out for themselves but claim to be for the better of those around them. It is funny to see battle it out between each other. There lives are completely different, yet exactly the same.

Oh btw Eli and Paul are twins, at first I thought Eli had a bi-polar or split personality disorder but after reading a few things, the director had confirmed that Eli was a twin.

That was another thing that stump me along with H.W trying to kill Henry after reading the diary. I wondered if he knew how to write, because if he did that would've sure made a lot of things easier for everyone if he had a pencil and paper. It is surprising that Daniel killed Henry because he had used his adopted son as a business ploy and only he knew who Henry was. That struck me kind of weird that he did that.

All in all this was definitely one of the best movies of the year. I found it fitting 1927 was the last year in the film because that was when the book was written from which it was adopted. Also the many movie props and a look at the life of being an oil digger during that time period made the movie that much better.

There were many things about this movie that I enjoyed. The music(although I believe the key theme song was stolen off of Lost and one other song was from ARVO PART), sound effects, props, setting, time period, acting, and the great storyline of evil vs evil....but in a religious vs business way. Business vs religion, but both need each other to survive and actually thrive when working together as shown in the movie.

Friday night movies you can't go wrong with.

2007-11-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

Fight Club- If you are looking for a good movie with action, suspense, mystery, and a quick education on getting the most out of life; this is your movie. Watch it with your friends; watch it with your girlfriend. Brad Pitt puts on a remarkable performance, and Edward Norton makes you his best friend as he narrates you through this twisted movie of the underground society that tries to get back at the world.

Spider-Man- The original movie that started the series. It is one of those few movies that actually got the adaptation to big screen perfectly. From beginning to the end you become sympathetic with Parker and start to develop character alongside him as the powers turn him into the hero he is destine to be. The visual effects were perfect, the storyline untouchable, and the actors involved have made this a classic of American culture.

American History X- Edward Norton somehow loves playing the skinny/smart guy that could. He welcomes us into a radical underground world of Neo-Nazis that are fighting for their beliefs in our modern society. If you are looking for something disturbing but with a plot that is worth watching this is the movie. From the shower scene in jail, to the infamous curb stomp, you’ll walk away clenching your cheeks and rubbing your jaw. You won’t be disappointed. This movie also supplies a good amount of knowledge and a different look at the world of those filled with so much hate.

Matrix- The movie that started the digital revolution in films, and made everyone think they were the chosen one with the ability to defeat the world with their physical gifts. The rotating 360-degree views in slow-motion while Keanu Reeves fights for the sake of mankind controlled by robots in the future. This movie is eye-candy at it’s best; with a bleak look at the future of the world if computers obtain the power we are trying to harvest for them.

Death Proof- The second half of Grindhouse offers one of the best car chase spectacles in a time when we thought we have they saw it all. The car chase is simply one of the best ones on film, and there aren’t any fancy explosions. It is pure and simple. The character build up sets the stage for a grand slam performance by Stunt Man Mike played by Kurt Russell.

Smokin Aces- A little known movie that had a short brief moment in theaters in January of 2007, blew me out my seat. Even though there were tons of characters, they still manage to have a huge all out gun battle with tons of different people in the end of the movie that left most people with their jaws being dragged on the floor when they left. Even with the confusing plot that makes you really think in the end, it still offers some of the most intense shoot out scenes with multiple characters you understand since they did a pretty good job explaining who they were in the short time span. As a side note, this movie is pretty damn funny too.

The Illusionist- Backed up by Edward Norton, this movie came out the same time as The Prestige, everyone figured the better one was going to be the latter, but we were all wrong. This movie not only made you think but also made it interesting without being mind-numbing. The plot is simple yet complex enough to make you wonder. The tricks are amazingly intriguing with different ideas not seen in todays overdosed magical play-land filled with a bunch of smoke and mirrors. The actors al fit their roles perfectly. There is also a special sepia like atmosphere mixed into the quality of the film to make you go back to the time span it takes place in. Although it is love based movie, it's the magic accompany with sudden twists that make this movie special.

Forrest Gump- History buffs will love this one about the lifetime of one infamous character who is mildly retarded, yet makes a significant impact on society from so many different levels. With a loving character, played by Tom Hanks, and a new adventure almost every 20 minutes, this is the movie for anyone who has a short attention span. It's also a great history lesson that gives people a pretty good view of the world from the 60s-80s. The world is seen through an innocent man with a strong determination to do his best at whatever he does without even knowing it.

Truman Show- Another great loving, fully innocent character that we can all relate to on one level or another. This is the first true movie to make us a little paranoid and probably can be part to blame for many of the reality TV shows across the cable. Truman is a character whose every move is being observed as the world watches him grow up in an artificial world. Jim Carrey plays one of his best roles ever by being a man who how life as already been determined by the creators of this little world. It is an uplifting movie that has you rooting for Truman and hoping this isn't happening to you right now.

Batman Begins- Christian Bale makes his major film debut in stunning fashion. The effects, story line, characters, and new generation of Batman has made this a great movie. It explains the reason for Batman being a man of reason and a vigilante acting to protect society. It shows a different side of Batman as he hates to fight with his own demons, never before seen in other movies. This movie is worth watching every second of as you will be introduced to technologies only James Bond can compete with, along with a Batman played by an actor that truly fits the role.

Sixth Sense- If you believe in ghost, and in horror movies, this one is for you. Bruce Willis stuns the audience with an ending that started off an array of various surprise endings for years to come in movies. M. Night Shyamalan begins his rising career with this thriller as Haley Joel Osment sends shivers down spines with his secret sense that would top the murderous ways of Jason Vorhees. The random appearances of the supernatural, taking place in historical Philadelphia, will make you jump more than once. Besides just having this secret sense, he must also help these unknown spirits finish undone tasks.

Back to the Future- A movie that finally made us feel as if the impossible was possible, and by that I mean the hover board that Michael J. Fox uses to get around town on. Christopher Lloyd puts on another remarkable role by playing the crazy stereotypical scientist who has gone nuts over his recent discovery. Doc and Marty not only go back in time but also to the future, where so many things seemed so possible back in 1985. It is only now that we know that the hover board and cool jacket are not possible for mass production yet. With the flying De Lorean, traveling in time was never cooler.

1-18-08....Copy Cat?

2007-08-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

So I was doing a little research on the web trying to figure out what the movie 1-18-08 was about. I typed in 1-18-08 in google image search, within a few pages I found this picture.

Which I find to be quite funny, because if you see the trailer for the movie with no name, by J.J Abrams, that people are calling 1-18-08 because of its release date, you will see the head of the Statue of Liberty being thrown across the NY sky way. A little odd considering that this movie poster from Escape from NY came up for the search. Coincidence I don't know. Maybe the movie will be a remake.

Summer Reading

2007-07-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

Summer Reading

So it’s time to kick back, relax and enjoy the summer for what it’s worth. The summer is here with endless adventures waiting around every corner and sizzling summer days accompanied by mild sweaty nights. Here are a few of my favorite books that are probably best for checking out and enjoying during the summer.

Fight Club- the book that made fighting popular again. Check this is out because it’s not exactly the same as the movie and may even inspire you to get a little more out of your summer than you ever thought.

Devil in the White City- A nonfiction book on history of the World’s Fair in Chicago along with a serial killer set in the 1890’s. About as accurate as you can get for a historical book with the most descriptive story telling from a time period that is lost in time.

Will Storr vs the Supernatural- Wondering what lies after the end, is there a beginning to the end? Will Storr surely puts on a great show as he explores all aspects of the supernatural that surrounds all us in.

Over the Edge of the World- One of the best researched and written accounts of Ferdinand Magellan circulation around the world as the first European. The numerous journals, and historical papers used to put this work together make this story come to life, making it an experience as genuine as being on the ship itself.

Rant- A twisted new look at the future with time travel being thrown in the mix. This book takes on a different way of story telling as it uses oral biographies from others associated with the main character to get the story across.

Afghan Campaign- Alexander the Great stormed across nations taking control with such ease never before seen. He would soon reach Afghanistan and this is a personal account of one soldier’s side of the story as he tries to cope with remaining moral and surviving in this strange new world himself.

Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kid- Probably one the best-researched accounts of who many consider one the most notorious pirates ever to sail the world. Although the research may shock many pirate fans, its in-depth accounts give someone a true look at the world of piracy.

Transformers Review

2007-07-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

4th of July, the day that promises more than the celebration of our country along with fireworks, but also action packed movies with much build up. Usually this day is reserved for an All-American known as Will Smith who steals the show and weekend This year was something different, an old cartoon brought to life by those with much money and knowledge in computers. Transformers had everything going for it, the only thing I didn't let about it before I saw it was the fact that the release was on a Monday night at 12am. Seriously how far back are we going to push these openings.

Well the time came for me to see it. The suspense built up all around me and goosebumps slowly started sliding there way down my spine. When the time came I thought of nothing more than Optimus Prime vs. Megatron in a climatic ending of apocalyptic proportions. The story like all others starts out with a little information about the past and how the robots came to be, not knowing anything really of the Transformers it was a bit odd to me that this cube possessed the energy to create life. At first it wasn't fully clear until the main character Sam, played by Shia, gives a little background as well showing why the robots would target him. They did so in a genuine fashion, and although some scenes were a bit cheesy, I did enjoy the part where Sam kicks his weirdo friend out of the car for the sweet ass looking girl known as Mikeala played by Megan Fox, she's going places I can assure that.

The robots come into play around 45 -60 minutes into the movie. The best scene for laughs is when Sam sneaks back into his bedroom all alone to find the glasses and the girl Mikeala is found in there by his drunk parents who seem to enjoy the episode very much. The robots look amazing in every aspect, transformed and in car/truck mode as well. I enjoyed the beginning when Sam first got the car with a cameo by Bernie Mac, he sure knows how to steal the show with his typical dialogue and personality.

Once the robots come around and everyone is familiar with each other, and the story is laid out. The Men in Black then come in and a whole different world is seen. I also found this part truly interesting. Known as Sector 7, an underground government that controls everything while keeping all the secrets from everyone in the world. The one part I found kind of pointless was the hackers which was at least 20 minutes of nothingness. The climatic ending was pretty cool, along with the dessert troops fighting in the Middle East. The one problem that I found really annoying was that the camera was jittery, and always changing angles at a constant 2 second beat. It was hard to concentrate on anything, let alone a bunch of battles happening at once. I do give my props to the sheer magnitude that the robots had with their presence on the screen. The robots were done perfectly, the storyline pretty good, but I must say this movie had everything going for it to make it one of the best movies of the year yet it feel sure in more places than one. From the shifting camera, pointless hackers, and why in the hell did they bring that square in the city to defend it amongst civilians everywhere, I will never have a clue. This movie still gets a 4 out of 5 from me. The visual effects were beyond stunning and there wasn't your everyday stunts in this one, but little treats that were different than what we are use to seeing.

Afghan Campaign Review

2007-07-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

With many best sellers under his wing, Steven Pressfield prepares you for a journey unlike any other taking you back in time 2,300 years while giving you a little taste of what are forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are up against today. Based around Alexander the Great's campaign to rule the world, the novel is a first person memoir of a fictional character known as Matthias.

Starting off the first chapter with a bit from one of the end chapters, it doesn't build up the hype the way it should, but it does give you the kind of war they are fighting right from the get go. Put in the driver seat of a young eager male set about to prove himself and become a great hero, the experience throughout the book is riveting. Never before have I felt such agony with each obstacle of pain Matthias overcomes, along with pride over each accomplish. It becomes a coming of age story through hell, the trials, pursuits, escapades, and near death experiences make the war come to life in you hands. Even the way Alexander is described in the book makes you understand how much respect these men had for him.

Not only does this book bring to life the all to real war in the Middle East then and now but also explains the realities of war that are never looked at, and how even back then the soldiers kept the truth to themselves. The most intriguing factors are the beliefs that the Afghanistan people hold true to and the way they kept the most scared things in their life during the most intense times. Pressfield truly knows how to write a masterpiece. He brings three worlds together in this epic novel; the Afghans, Alexander's Men, and the reader himself. What I found truly enlightening were the Afghans beliefs; the Macedonia's way to mobilize such a huge army and keep track of so many people, as well as a behind the scene's view on a graphic war fought in the most unconventional of ways. Pressfield deserves the utmost of honor for this great novel, and gets a 5 out of 5 from me.

The Sex Lives of Cannibals Review

2007-06-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

Don’t let the title deceive you this book has nothing to do with cannibals or the sex lives of anyone, don’t let that deceive you either because this book is well worth the read. I’m not quite sure why Troost choose the title but it did catch my attention when I was exploring the bookstore, and once I saw the synopsis on the back of the book I knew that I just had to check it out.

Maarten Troost is the author and the main character. In this novel he starts of confused, lost, and selfish. Living off of anything he can get his hands on while doing nothing with his life the author is looking for something more, something that offers adventure without the fee. His girlfriend and him soon start searching for jobs around the world where they can help out others while getting away from things back home in the states. Soon enough his girlfriend Sylvia gets a phone call to take a job at a place called Kiribati, which is not pronounced that way, they take it in a heart beat and off to the far corners of the earth.
As soon as they get they enter a world so different from their own it seems as if they have walked on to a different planet. The island is so small is can just about contain the population, then there is the concern of trash and fecal waste that is deposited into the ocean forming a reef right along side the island. Maarten does such a great job getting the attention of the reader with his highly descriptive use of words. Although there is no need to try and get the attention with the author with similes and metaphors because the stories are just so ridiculous that it is even hard imagining living on the island let alone actually staying there. The struggles faced by Maarten as he learns to adapt to the world around him is turned into a comical outlook of the way of life the islanders have lived in for centuries. All the hardships he face allow him to become a better person and a great comedian looking for a joke out of every sort of situation he encounters.

Deprived of electric, news, water, food, and almost ever thing that comes to us in America so simple, life suddenly becomes an epic battle to live. There is no need for movies or cheap entertainment on this island, everyday is interesting and worth getting up for as Maarten is sure to note. The island and novel are full of mysterious characters, crazy adventures, and events that are hard to even imagine. If you find yourself allured to tropical islands with their mystic qualities, and adventurous books this is the one for you. Maarten does a great job making a parody of his life and failures to adopt at first to the culture around him. This book contains tons of knowledge from the world beyond ours. The curious lifestyle that soon takes place for Maarten and Syliva is by far one of the most interesting topics I have read to this date. This is a summer book if I have ever seen one.

The author goes on a journey of self-exploration trying to find himself, and before the book concludes he not only finds himself but ends up with much more in his life than he could ever have expected. This book gets a 4.5 out of 5 because the title was misleading and the author gets a little intense with his use of vocabulary words at times. Overall the book is a great read and to miss out on it would be missing out on a world that is unknown to the rest of us. Trust me on this you have got to check it out. The reason I loved it too, was that as an American with confusion floating all around and not sure what to do with my life as well as knowing what I can and can’t do, I related completely to the author. Check it out because its worth every page.

Ratatouille Review

2007-06-29T23:45:00.000-07:00

Pixar is just one of the companies that you expect the best of the best from, no matter what the situation or scenario. They just have that reputation and Ratatouillie was no exception. The quality of the movie was strikingly perfect as usual, even though I saw the movie on a blow up screen on a beach in Wildwood NJ during fireworks and lights all over the place. The storyline like all of the other Pixar movies was original in every sense and provided enough knowledge to actual make it a learning experience for the movie-goer. Then of course there is the comedy that hits you in a face the way you want see an unsuspecting person get smacked in the face. This movie has it all. The only flaw that I may have sensed was a steering away from the older crowd and more towards children, as well as the stereo typical villain with complete shadowy background and facial features that make him as distinct as anything.

The movie starts off with Remey the rat who is the main character, but the kind of character with ambition, intelligence, talent, and compassion. He is the perfect kind of character that is so easy to fall in love with. Then we have his partner in crime, the silly garbage boy who has nothing going for him, until of course he meets the rat and everything in his life is suddenly turned around in such an unsuspecting matter.

This is were the movie gets a little typical as most movies. The chef gets a little full of himself, has a falling out with Remey and then falls for a girl. The same classic storyline that is the backdrop for the main plot. This is one thing that everyone saw coming from the start and is kind of annoying when Pixar is the one producing it. One must take in mind though that this is still a kid movie, and you can only be so clever at such a low level when trying to keep the attention of children.

Overall this movie is a 4.2 out 5. I loved the ability for Pixar to approach the audience about something we are all so familiar with and make it educational along with entertaining at the same time. The numerous characters were full of life and each added something different to the movie. The plot was creative to say the least. Then there are the flaws with your typical villain, classic boy and girl, someone gets famous and ditches the one who made him famous kind of plot, and the average age for the movie was probably between 3-12. Although there were some adult jokes, gun in break-up then quick make up scene...you'll see what I mean, but for the most part it was meant for children. It was good just not amazing. I do suggest you see it though, you won't be disappointed.

Live Free or Die Hard Review

2007-06-27T22:33:00.000-07:00

I see at least one movie every 10 days, that's an underestimate. So with that in mind I'd like to consider myself a good critic with being able to distinguish dirt from gold. I've waited for a good movie to come out that I didn't expect to be good and just blow me away this summer. I mean Pirates was awesome but I expected that, Knocked-Up was funny but who didn't see that coming. 300 was awesome with the trailer and hype leading the way though it was also expected. With that said, Die Hard was something I was looking forward to, still I mean how good could a 4th movie be about some guy who is suppose to be a hero saving the world as Bruce's age. Some how though this movie pulled it off. If you weren't blown out of your seats by the action you might have laughed your way out of it, with the perfect complementing role I have seen in ages played by Justin Long. Together Bruce and Justin are like Peanut Butter and Jelly. It may sound cheesy but never in my life have I seen a duo that could put on such a show without the weak guy being annoying as all hell, and the tough guy just going over the top with his attitude. I mean they were even better than Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. This movie also had a cool concept that most people don't realize with our government. It's not always an outside person who may attack us, and we may get attacked by one of our own strengths, technology. The villains do there thing, but aren't stupid in the ways they meet their demise. John McClane (Bruce Willis) is just a bit more experienced in this line of work, in other words his wisdom is much greater than anything they could hack.

From the get go the action is non-stop, McClane has the lovable I don't get a shit attitude. If you kill me, you kill me, but odds are I'm going to kill you first...can you honestly think of a better attitude in life, probably not. Meanwhile hacker boy Matt Farrell played by Justin Long, lives in a world of virtual reality and it's because of him that America may soon be on its knees. Justin also has the ability to bring it back to life. The journey around the the east coast let's John and Matt bond while they figure out a way to prevent things from getting worse after the villians have already shut down everything they could that involves computers. Action, Laughs, Action, Laughs, Interesting idea on the government can be attacked, Action, Laughs, Action....Damn Bruce Willis is crazy cool. That's what you will experience during this movie. I don't want to give much more away, but you will enjoy this movie. I mean sure some of the action scenes are a little over the top, but remember this is John McClane we are talking about so if you put that into consideration then anything is possible. I'm going to give this a 4.5 out of 5.....the .5 is because some of the action really is ridiculous at times. I mean why does every big action movie have to some how top the next one with some explosion that with all the bombs America has in store would still be impossible to replicate. Either way this movie ROCKS in ways you will never expect. Bruce and Justin better be working together real soon. I hope Bruce plays the PC in the next Mac commercial....yea, they were that good together.

Fight Club Review

2007-06-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a month since I have showed any sign of life on this blog, but I'm back with a vengeance. Life has been a bit rough, and I've taken my hits low and high. With that said I took Fight Club under my wing, the perfect book, during this time. This is Chuck Palahniuk first book, and it's was masterfully written.

Fight Club has an interesting beginning, starting at the end. If you are like most people and have seen the movie, well just expect the book to be twice as good. The movie blew me away, but the book made my world spin twice as fast with a huge overdose of anarchism associated with it. The ideas, plot line, characters, and situations encountered can really make one think about their existence on this measly planet we call earth. The main character let's say Cornelius, since we never really no his name, is living a worthless life, dragging on silently while working his day job for a huge car business. Until he meets Tyler Durden, someone that does everything and anything Cornelius is afraid to do. Pretty soon Cornelius finds himself facing the end of his own existence when he comes home to nothing one day. The thoughts that fly through his head after he meets Tyler are those of many middle age men in society caught in the age of nothing. As Palahniuk takes note that we have no wars, but we are own great depression. We were raised to think we would be rock stars, famous actors, or athletes; after we swallow the hard truth we take our desk job and just play are little role in society. This is the main point behind the whole book, "Accepting nothing." This can be looked at from two views. As not accepting what we are suppose to, or by just accepting nothing more out of life. Tyler builds an army of revolutionaries who aren't going to accept nothing. They are saying no, they are finally going to change their lives. Tyler shows people that they can do what they want, and there is nothing more brilliant then the one passage were Cornelius holds a man at gun point telling him to follow his dreams, and that he will keep his license to check on him every so often to make sure he's not working at a convenience store but going to school to become a veterinarian. As well know though the whole back setting to this book is everyone has join a club were they fight to release themselves of everyday issues. This fight club grows so quickly, and soon overtakes all males around the nation.

With this new found power of being a leader, and showing males that they can go back to the stone age by pounding on each others faces once again. That they can do so much more with their lives if they can take these harsh beat downs once a week. In one part Palahniuk perfectly explains that the world slows down in a way that can only be experienced after you have been punched so much. This book is a classic, it should get a Pulitzer Prize, and be part of 8th grade literature classes across the world. It let's people know that you will fail in life, but that shouldn't stop you from following your dreams. Not everyone is going to make it to the big leagues, but there are many more things out there that individuals can accomplish on their own. The climatic almost ending that takes place about 3/4 in the book when Tyler is really Cornelius makes perfect sense. That everyone wants to be something, but they are just afraid to act a certain way in the eyes of others. This is no more obvious then in today's society with people living behind computer screens and doing the talking from the comfort of their home. Most books are for pleasure or just for a good story; this book has a harsh lesson, get up and live your life or else you will regret it. 5 out of 5.....I really mean it, this book is by far one of the best to come out of the 90s. This should be on everyones to do list and I mean like top 10 before you die.

Secret Pirates Ending

2007-05-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

If you went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 already, and didn't stay for the after credits ending please read on, if not you may just want to go see the movie yourself before you read it. Below you will the secret ending worth sticking around for.

-SPOILER-
"Ten Years Later," appears on the screen, as a young boy around 10 years of age is seen singing "Hoist the Colours" as Elizabeth is walking with him. It is understood that this is the child of Will and Elizabeth. The sun then sets, followed by a green flash. Will then appears on the mast of The Dutchman, sailing towards the shore.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3 Review: One HELL of a movie

2007-05-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

This month may have been one of the most dynamic, action-packed, expensive movie month in the history of film making. The tri-fecta of third installments is sadly over. It started off with a poor excuse for Spider-man 3, got a good boost from Shrek 3, and I was swept out of the water with the eye-dazzling Pirates 3. I did my best to stay away from other reviews before venturing into the high seas of the Caribbean this time. It payed off much better than I could have even hoped for.

Pirates of the Caribbean is a franchise that will be around for decades to come. It started off with the stunning first installment, and one of the first actual Pirate movies to be a hit since the elaborate movies of the 40s and 50s. It caught the hearts and attention of people all around the world. Based on the Disney ride, and with many inside jokes about the pirate world and the ride itself, the movie exceeded expectations to the point that they were able to announce a 2nd and 3rd installment at the same time. Now the 2nd one caught me completely off guard and I wasn't sure how to digest it. It was confusing, long, and I will admit a little boring at times. Still I stuck by my wits and claimed to all my friends it was a good movie. The reason I said this was because there had to be a reason why Disney, of all companies, would make viewers have to sit through this. It all made sense it the final or at least the 3rd one.

I am still trying to recall all the fascinating moments in the movie, the characters were played perfect, the storyline couldn't have been better, the action was definitely not what you would expect from a Disney movie, the score kept you heart beat up the whole time, and everything finally coming together in this movie was just perfect in every sense. There are numerous scenes in this movie that will make you want to go back for more. It starts off with Pirates around the world being hung, and sentenced. Then quickly shoots over to Singapore where the map of World's End is in the hand of Captain Sao Feng. The setting around him is done up in with details that makes you just wish you could pause the movie and take a virtual tour of the place. We join the main characters who were looking for Sparrow. Will Turner is having problems with Elizabeth and they haven't spoken for the whole trip. This time it seems as if everyone has there own plans in front of the loyalty of one another. The double crossing gets a little out of hand at times, and makes you want to just give up, but pay attention closely, good ol' Jack knows what he's up to.

It gets really crazy when we visit Jack is Davy Jones' Locker. There are dozens of Jacks as he hallucinates in this afterlife like state. This is probably one of my favorite parts, the weirdness of it all makes me feel like I'm in some type of Led Zeppelin/Pink Floyd world. Later on everyone meets up with Jack as they cross the into World's End. Pirates and pirates there are many in this movie, they do just the right amount of time on each character to get the point across and develop a sense of personality for each. Elizabeth comes on as beautiful as ever, Will is becoming the pirate he is destine to be, Captain Jack is at his best, and Barbossa is a good guy...maybe?

The movie really gives you an idea of just how intelligent, and famous Captain Jack Sparrow is outside of the first two movies. He is a legend not be reckon with, his father also is the oldest pirate known, played by Keith Richards. In the end it's as almost every character has some goodness left in him except Lord Beckett, and even he shows a sign of giving in to the pirates in the end. I wasn't sure why he did what he did in the end, but it sure made one hell of an awesome seen with splinters flying everywhere....you'll see. There were definitely a lot of camera angles that can be traced by to Neo in the Matrix style. With Sparrow and Jones fighting on the mast inside the maelstrom with a spinning 360 view, Lord Beckett's death walk, to Elizabeth and Turner marrying each other.

This movie is worth 20 bucks to see, and if you see it once you should see it again. The best part of it all is probably when there is the meeting before the huge battle between all the main characters. The electric guitar with the bass, and the camera spinning around them from miles away while they approach each other on the virgin sand surrounded by crystal clear sea water. That is by far one of the best scenes in any movie I have seen. The sudden twist at the end, which really makes the whole story come together is even more surprising. Although there were a few things I still don't get, that's probably because it's a little over my head, this movie was just down right amazing. I will see it again, probably today, and I will give further feedback on it. The most important message in this movie is that Pirates just can't be trusted, and that's what made the movie from the start. Sparrow used this to his advantage but also he did help everyone in the end. Elizabeth and Will finally do what we have all be waiting for, yet there is a question that I was still curious about and that is of Calypso. Maybe that question was answered after the credits, I wouldn't know because I walked out, but please stay for the whole thing. I give Pirates of the Caribbean a 5 out of 5 for a hell of a swashbuckling time.

Shrek 3 Review

2007-05-24T13:45:00.000-07:00

3-D animation is what color movies were in the 1940s. It is still fascinating to see these creatures come to life on screen, and they quality has been getting better with each film. Shrek 3 will make your jaw drop when you see the first close up of Shrek. He looks so real with his freckles it's a little scary. What I love about the Shrek movies is that they are meant for kids, but has lots of adult humor, so adults have an excuse to sit through a cartoon. All of the Shrek movies take an extra step that crosses the boundary that Disney movies dare not to, that's why I enjoy them so much.

The 3rd movie was a little short, but for the most part I was entertain the whole time. The best thing about short movies is that there is never any down time if it is a relatively good movie. Although this movie kind of annoyed me a little bit when Shrek runs into more problems again and he gets down on himself again. I wish they would try and find something else to work the plot around then the fact of him having to overcome some impossible odds while questioning himself throughout the whole time. The best thing about this movie was Gingerbread man, Pinocchio, and Donkey of course. They steal the show around the sobbing Shrek who is always having problems that everyone else around him deals with just fine.

The movie overall is a decent one. The laughs are non-stop, the incorporation of other classic fairy tales is great, and the animation is the best I have seen so far. I wish they would make a spin-off of Gingerbread man or Pinocchio. Shrek is a cool guy and all, but I think we've all had enough with his poor misfortunes that lead him to the best of things. I give Shrek 3 a 3.7 out of 5, it was a great addition to this series, and I am looking forward to the Puss-in-boots spin-off and the supposedly next 3.

Top Alternative Songs of the Week 5/14/2007

2007-05-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Well the summer is here and that means time to roll down the windows, crank up the music, and enjoy the ride around town. Here are the top ten songs of the week:

Top Alternative Songs of the Week for May 14, 2007

Nine Inch Nails- Me, I'm Not
The Used- The Bird and the Worm
Modest Mouse- Fire It Up
Nine Inch Nails- Capital G
Sparta- Taking Back Control
Kings of Leon- Knocked Up
Chevelle- Well Enough Alone
Mika-Grace Kelly
Cold War Kids- Hang Me Up To Dry
Reggie and the Full Effect- What the Hell is Stipulation

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk Review

2007-05-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

All of the sudden, I have become hooked on Palahniuk and his out of this world works. Ever since picking up Haunted two months ago I have been reading all of his books. I dropped everything the day the new book by Chuck came out on May 1st, even though I was in the middle of finals week. The book was a little different then any of his last, written in an interview type of way. The book chronicles the life of Rant Casey, by having interviews of people who were directly involved or somehow affected by him in life. The way it is done is quite genius, to write something from different perspectives keeping all the characters in mind, and then actually putting a story together with each character having different input on the main one. This book like all of Palahniuk's books has facts that relate to how the government is somehow controlling us, and plans to have absolute control over us all eventually. There are random facts throughout the books about certain civilizations that used disease or viruses to control or just wipe out people. Then there are the little weird habits of certain characters, not as much sexual in this book as you would expect, but this book sure has a boat load of actions that aren't typical in our everyday nature.

Do I dare say that Chuck is slowly approaching the status of a great author known as George Orwell with his talk about the future concerning government intervention in our everyday lives? Chuck closes the gap between imagination and reality with this novel. Maybe one day this will be classified as nonfiction, or maybe it already was nonfiction as he says in the end. If there ever was something to take away from a fiction book that seemed so far fetch, yet so possible was the idea of "boosting" as explained by Shot Dunyon, who is one of the main characters influenced by Rant Casey. The concept behind "boosting," is that humans in the future will have neural transmitters in the back of their necks. They can plug devices into them or record certain moments of their lives for future pleasure. Think of them kind of like a USB port, but they record all five senses. Matrix mixed with real life kind of thing going here. The future doesn't have books or movies, just boosting. Then the other futuristic idea was "Party Crashing," were Nighttimers drive around hitting people with their cars, of course there are certain rules that pertain to running full speed into people. What the idea is like though, is kind of like the idea in "Fight Club," putting yourself in a position of fear and pain that will make you feel euphoric for a little, possibly even reaching a sense of enlightenment.

Nighttimers and Daytimers is the gap between people. More or less like Vampires and real people. The lines are drawn to provide more of a racial separation though. On top of all this is a rabies outbreak caused by Rant Casey which attacks the whole world in a violent zombie like stage that makes people go mad. It's a shame Palahniuk didn't concentrate on this part of the book a bit more. He eventually ends the book with a cool twist on time-travel from his perspective, explaining how it is possible to live forever and become stronger by having sex with those who gave birth to you. It's way to complex for me to explain on here, but it's a neat idea for someone to think of. Then the idea of Rant being his own dad was kind of odd. I mean in the beginning of the book he hates his parents and his dad's a dick, so why would he's dad be a dick to himself. I wasn't sure of that, and how could his dad fall for the tricks he did to himself. The gold coins were also interesting, but how he exactly got them was confusing as well. There are so many things left open for the reader to explore once he reads the book.

Palahniuk puts on another terrific showing of his brilliant skills with Rant. In the end I was satisfied with the plot, although the time-travel theory was almost too much, but maybe it was just enough since I love to think of time-travel and somehow he explained the different possibilities and how it work to one's advantage if executed properly. The future always seems bleak, but as Rant put it, "The future you have tomorrow, won't be the same future you had, yesterday." I give this a 4.6 out of 5. I was completely enthralled with this book once I hit the party crashing chapters, then I hit time-travel and it blew my mind. I love how Chuck gives reasons of why things are possible if something per se like time-travel is possible. The best of authors can only convince you of the impossible, and Chuck sure does that. I just wish the ending was a little more clear, and we had some input from Rant on this oral interview besides the few lines he said before he vanished. Plus if he goes back in time again, wouldn't that cause more problems, and would that mean he would be his own grandfather? If anyone could maybe explain there different view on this book, I would like to hear it, I thoroughly enjoyed but I bet I missed a lot or at least looked at things a lot different.

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28 Weeks Later Review

2007-05-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

This movie has all the potential to become something amazing. The on-site location of a London to shoot to the movie, lots of people, a larger budget than the last, and there aren't any big name actors in it. That said let's take a look at a movie with zombies that are jacked up on steroids. Going into this movie I expected a decent amount of gore with an alright storyline to tag along. The concept behind this movie was 28 weeks later after a huge virus broke out in England, the US government has come in to help clean up and move people slowly back into their homes. Of course there is that one damn person who becomes a carrier, and doesn't get infected by the disease.

The story starts out with a bunch of random strangers shacked up in a farm house, when a kid comes to the door to escape zombies, he brings all the havoc with him. Of the 7 people inside only 1 was thought to make it out, this was the father of the children the movie is based around. The twist occurs because the father had abandon his wife to escape in fear he might get bit. When the children come back to the city they escape to areas where they aren't allowed to go to. They find there mother, but she has been bit. The rest I'll leave to the imagination.

With a mellow, yet intense theme song representing the movie, it seems you can almost do anything and scare people. As you will see in the first 20 minutes. The movie starts out pretty damn cool, no introduction of cast members, just an all out zombie fest. I'm not sure of the technical term for the use of mixing sound, and special effects with timing of attacks by monsters, but they use it well. Sad to say they didn't use the same skill with the video editing and camera work. Whenever the zombies attack the camera goes all "Blair Witch" on the viewers, and it's quite annoying. Trust me, I understand that complete havoc is occurring and that everyone is turning on their fellow man. Yet, I don't need a headache. Some of the best parts of this movie are ruined by the camera work. There is one part were a lady is leading the children away from the US Army, and she is using a night vision scope lens on a rifle. Instead of having them follow her, we are looking through this lens for about 5 minutes as she tells them to make a left or right and all we see are the big eyes of these lost and confused children. This really hurts the appeal of the movie.

Then we have some flaws in the script. Why in the world is the army killing innocent people, when it's obvious if someone is infected or not. Why does the helicopter pilot go nuts when the one guy jumps on for help? Why didn't they use gas right away instead of bombing and destroying the whole city? Why in the world with lock down and security everywhere, weren't there people around the mother guarding intruders? How in the hell did the father become a thinker when he got the virus? Why were some soldiers just dead on the ground without having turned bad? Why did they lock the people up without protecting them in the cellar?

So many unanswered questions, make a poor excuse for a movie. This may be the end of the zombie generation of movies at least for a few decades. I hope they make a trilogy out of this, even though I just bashed it. I would love to see American forces storm the beaches of Normandy again and just complete destroy these damn zombies. Although the smart thing would be to drop the bomb, but hey, we're America when do we ever make civilized decisions?
The score is great, the setting is perfect, the acting alright, the script is pathetic. Mix it all up and shake it around, throw in some carnage and crazy scenes where zombies bang there heads against glass at a rate of 100 times a second, and you get a 3 out of 5. It's entertaining, but it will also give you a headache with all the camera angles, and loopholes.

Lullaby by Chuck Palahinuk

2007-05-05T16:59:00.001-07:00

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk Review

2007-05-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

The story itself is a bit odd, the focus of it is based around journalist Carl Streator who is trying to understand the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. He soon finds out it is more than he had actually hoped for. Sooner or later he realizes that he himself has a great power and is not quite sure if he is the only one. A single song that puts people to death after they hear it in the most relaxing way is what he has uncover. It can be said anywhere and affect anyone in the world if they are thought of when the poem is said. As the book starts to unravel more and more people die and he learns that there are others who also know the poem. These others, most of them parents of dead babies, have no clue that they have the power of life and death with in their household. The story starts to get pretty good when he meets up with someone else with the same power, and knows they have it, they start to travel across America eliminating each book they come across.

Throughout the novel there are two people young adults, hippies, who constantly remind Carl of how power is abused and when certain species are introduced to a new area they destroy it and repopulate it benefiting it themselves but harming the environment. This means that we as humans have taking complete control of our surroundings for our own benefit, but have destroyed it for the use of other species around us. This message is flashed on again and again. Then there is the other message of Big Brother throughout the book. If this poem gets into the hands of the wrong people or even the government it would destroy free thought, and everything would have to be handled in a different way with the government filtering out almost everything and controlling our thoughts.

During his journey across America he falls in love with Helen. Helen is in the same shoes as Carl and knows of the power, but craves for more. Her secretary who brought along her boyfriend on the trip, believe in supernatural powers, and are looking for a book that contains spells for almost everything.

Here and there you will encounter a chapter with italics in the book, weird mysteries or sitings of people doing abnormal stuff. They are using the power of this book to alter the thoughts of mankind for the better of the world, so at least they think. The book isn't a bad read, it's just a little to much. From the beginning to the end the thought of a poem that could destroy the life of another is kind of ridiculous, but Chuck as always puts on a great show with facts and history lessons from the past to back up the credibility of some characters throughout the book. The endings is the best part, it's a shame he didn't continue on for another 50-100 pages or so to conclude the books and get the bad guys. It would've made the book a perfect read, instead this fictitious book does get the idea across about Big Brother and how silly things like this could destroy a perfectly modeled society like ours. I give this a 3.7 out of 5. Probably my least favorite Palahniuk book. Although the facts and ideas raised from this book are just as good as any I have read. My favorite part is when Carl thinks that maybe you don't go to hell for what you do, but you go to hell for what you don't do in life.

Spider-Man 3 Review

2007-05-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

When I go to the movies and watch all the eye dazzling trailers I usually forget what I am watching, sometimes even wishing that I was watching one of those movies instead. Spider-Man 3 was one of those trailers, notice how I said trailers and not movies. I went into this movie expecting the best of the best. The movie took the crown for most expensive budget ever for a movie at $258 million, and third overall when numbers are adjusted for inflation. War and Peace coming it at a surprisingly high cost at 560 million. Either way this movie had everything going for it, it could be just an average film and somehow still manage to please all the fans, because Spider-Man can do no wrong .

Now let's get to the movie. It started off alright, although the introduction was a bit longer than most movies, and everyone knows how pointless and annoying they are especially when it's like the cherry on top of the trailers, commercials, and trivia questions that appear over and over. The movie starts out with little pathetic Tobey Maguire finally happy about his life, and everything is just going fabulous. School is great, Mary Jane loves him, and well the movie takes a sudden downfall about 2 minutes into it. Kirsten Dunst is singing a duet, and Parker is lip-sync hing it in a way you might find a fool who knows the song but not the words. Things take a quick down turn when Mary Jane loses her job and starts to complain like a typical girl about her life to Peter. Did we forget how much of a bitch she was in other movies to Parker when he wasn't known as Spider-man, and her life was just amazing? I didn't. Soon enough she makes his life fall apart, and Harry the little rich boy comes after Peter for payback. It's not really anything personal, he's just a bored young man, has no women, and wants to use his power on somebody. Anyway good old Spidey is nice and saves his life, and what do you know Harry forgets what happens.

Sooner or later, like the other two Spider-Man movies, he starts to question himself. After Mary Jane does enough crying and whining you start to want to smack her yourself, and then Harry comes back again in a vicious way. Mary Jane betrays him, and makes her big move on Harry. He then gets infected with the parasite tarish stuff. He becomes an Emo douche bag, pointing fingers and walking down New York like a jackass for about 15 minutes. Then he does the most embarrassing pelvic thrust I have ever seen on the big screen. This isn't a 1 second thrust, but about a good 30 seconds of him thrusting his pelvic. Parker then tries out his new style, and starts to become Jim Carrey, NO LIE. Just like the club scene with Cameron Diaz in the Mask, Tobey breaks out in the most atrocious display of a spoof of the Mask since it came out. There is about a 10 minute scene of him dancing around, gliding on a chair down the dance floor defying gravity, and get this, he brings down the house with his moves and piano playing skills. I honestly was waiting for him to open his mouth up and say "Smokingggg."

Bring in the villains, the Sandman is a joke, how do you defeat him? Then we got Venom played by Topher Grace, and he does an alright job in human form, but in no way is he a Venom. Things only get worse from here on. Harry and Peter have it out with a bang bang score during the whole fight scene, if this wasn't the score from Friday the 13th I don't know what is. Fast-forward a little more, the final battle takes place, Harry comes to help Spider-Man who wants again is left with his mask all ripped apart at the very end of the movie. He saves the day and manages to defeat the ever powerful Venom, and say good day to Sandman. Harry finally dies, and puts his life before Peter's. Mary Jane cries again in the end, for about the 18th time.Right before it ends the classic cemetery scene takes place like the first one. The movie is concluded the way it started, with Dunst singing. Ear plugs pleaseeeeee.

The acting was the worst I have ever seen by any of these actors. Mary Jane was just downright annoying, and pointless. Tobey was over the top, and I don't even know what Franco was smoking during his part. On top of that the score had to be an inside joke or something with other composers. The action scenes were all the same. They started off intense, slowed down at times, and switched the camera angles so much you weren't sure if you were looking from the ground up, or from inside Parker's camera lens. The whole movie seem like a horrible spoof on Spider-Man, throughout the whole 2 hours and 30 minutes there was stupid, pointless scenes. This movie gets a 2 out of 5, I just hope they stop producing this series now before it turns into Star Wars 1,2,3. Just so everyone knows I give the first Spider-Man a 5 out of 5. That was one of my favorite movies, I don't hate Sam Raimi or anyone else in the series, it's just that this movie was THAT bad.

Hot Fuzz Review

2007-05-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

From the crew who brought you Shaun of the Dead, comes another comical look at intense action with "Hot Fuzz." The expectations were high going into this, and it was like an ice cream cone with a little treat at the very bottom that makes you finish it. This movie, although a little annoying at some parts, with the camera close-ups and the sound effects for certain parts to spoof those action movies, was enjoyable. These guys can make something that is suppose to be joke, and turn it into a rather serious concept. The brutal killings that happen around town are quite graphic for a comedy. The whole time as we wonder what exactly is going on there is that confusion that you would normally not get in a real action movie. The two main characters Sergent Angel and Danny played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost put on another good performance. They compliment each other just as good as peanut butter and jelly, for without one of them, neither part is funny.

The movie is rather dull at some parts, especially in the middle, and it makes you cringe with the suspense that may or may not be building up. Then the climax comes and makes up for it, in ways you would never suspect from a movie like this. The western, Eastwood like shootout in the end is something that Hollywood should take notes on. This made all the difference for this movie. I give it a 3.8 out of 5, only because the British accent at times was a bit tough to understand, and some parts are just extremely pointless. Still the way it pokes at action movies and still gives back more action than others makes it a winner in my book.

WAKE UP

2007-05-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

Rage Against the Government

Some Silly Boy at Mainstreet

2007-04-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

Watch the whole thing...you won't be disappointed

Clip from Saturday nite @ DOWN ON MAIN STREET - Glassboro

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Why the Phillies will Win the World Series

2007-04-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

They started off with a 4-11 record in the first three weeks of the baseball season. Fans were already throwing in the towel, but there are reasons to believe again. Aside from the 5 game win streak they are currently on, there is a lot more promise.

If their bullpen didn't blow there last two loses, they would be on an 8-game win-streak and 10-9 for the season.
They led in all of the loses except for 2 games.
They lost 4 games out of 11 in extra-innings
Utley is finally coming around
Howard has just started to hit the ball again
Rollins is off to an amazing start
Our problem was hitting and relief-pitching, know one thought that hitting was going to be a problem, but it seems like we finally solved that problem in the last couple of games.
Relief pitching has just received a huge bolster to their staff, adding ace Brett Myers as a set-up man, and possible closer.
Cole Hamels is proving to be quite the pitcher with 15 k's in his last outing
Having Hamels, Garcia, Moyer, Lieber and Eaton is pretty damn good.
Victorino is being a solid 2nd lineup man, he is providing a torpedo like arm in right field, dominating the bases, and giving the team another everyday player.
Burrell has finally started to play again, leading the team in batting average with runners in scoring position. (Where in the world did this come from)
Howard, although has been throwing a few tantrums, has started hitting homers again.
Dobbs, and Helms are proving they aren't just no namers.
Our early problems in the season are best to get out of the way in the beginning than in the end of the season.
The Phillies are an end of the season team, if they can work their way out of April with at least a .500 winning percentage we should be pretty content as Philly fans.
Manual enjoys the double switch all of the sudden
Madson is still a solid relief pitcher, and Gordon hasn't lost his touch. If they can keep it together and work out the rust they showed in the beginning of the season, we should be right up there with the Braves and Mets.
Remember Gillick likes to trade away players that we as Philly fans adore, expect a Burrell/Rowand trade to come real soon with new batting skills. Maybe we will actually get someone of this trade. (Gillick you will never be forgiven for giving away Abreau, Cormier, Dellucci, and Lidle(RIP))
Rowand has really been showing off his batting skills, and should be moved behind Burrell in the line up.

The one suggestion I have is maybe switching Eaton with Myers.

All things consider, everyone seems to have worked out their kinks thus far. Howard is still struggling with .207 average, besides that we are looking deliciously good. With a 5 game win streak, and a current record at 9-11. Watch out, because there just getting started.

Simple Rules to Live by

2007-04-24T15:54:00.000-07:00

Never betray anyone, but if you must, never betray someone who has impacted you life for the better.
Always think of others when you do anything. Drive as if you are behind yourself, speak as if you are talking to yourself.
Treat people with respect, make them comfortable even if that means at your own expense.
Live life to the fullest by enjoying it with friends and family.
Don't do something for a moment of pleasure that will be lost in guilt.
Act the way you want to act, don't drink or do drugs because you want to act the way you do when you are drunk or high.
Regrets are a part of life, living with no regrets is impossible, just learn from those mistakes.
Set goals, keep accomplishments on the down low, and acknowledge the feats of others.
You are who you are, make the best of it.
Religion is different for everyone, if you dare to speak of your own, make sure you listen to the views of others.
People will change and so will time, adjust reasonably.
The world is a gateway to new and interesting ideas, stories, events, lifestyles, cultures, and most importantly of all different people...use it.
The outside world is much more exciting than a computer screen, we are humans now go interact with ones in PERSON.
Don't do something because others are doing it, do it because you want to. Honestly who really wanted to wear those baggy pants back in the 90s, what benefit did they bring besides extra pockets and the ability to conceal unknown objects.
Stray out of your comfort zone, if only once in awhile, you will be surprised of the treasures hidden behind your fears.
Take care of your body, and you will reap many benefits.
There are many mysterious to life, it is one of the joys of living, don't worry too much about most of them, odds are you won't solve them, but if your lucky you may live long enough to see some of them solved.
God is important, without him there is no faith, without faith there is no afterlife, with out afterlife there is no hope, don't take that away from someone, even if you believe that you have got it all figured out and think there is no such thing. Odds you have not a clue except a lot of education, and who knows if that is even right.
You will make mistakes and do stupid things, laugh at it, apologize and move on.
Live your age, don't act older, when you are young, because the rest of your life you will want to be young again.
Be productive, make something that makes you proud, write a journal, paint a picture, make a song, but don't watch TV to much.
Give without expecting something in return.
Smile, it will make a difference.

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero

2007-04-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

Only two years later, and Trent Reznor has finished his second album after coming out of retirement. With promises of at least one more and a movie to tag along with an alternative reality game in the mix. So much after having promised nothing. Trent takes a different spin on life in this album. Focusing on the government and politics, he lashes out at post 9-11 government actions. The way they are starting to control us more, putting a leash around our necks and making sure we do only what they allow us to do. This new CD is something a little different than his older stuff. Listening is kind of hard at first, with weird beats, and a low voice in the background, but once you get into it, it's worth listening to. Me I'm Not is a true work of art, with the catchy chorus "Hey/Can We Stop/Me, I'm Not." There is no doubt this is about the way the government is treating the people in the US. Hyperpower is about as close as you are going to get to his old style music. Survivalism, isn't that bad with pretty good beats, and one of the few songs were you can actually hear what he is singing. The titles of each song are strong and speak volumes without even listening to the song. This CD is worth at least a listen to because it is so much different than what you might find out there today in alternative music. Some songs may have had little thought actually given to them, if he had put some more time into them he may have had one of the best albums heard in awhile. The Great Destroyer has one part that sounds like Saturday morning cartoon from the 70s, "I am the Great Destroyer," then a bunch of noise just follows, and I do mean noise. Almost every song is about the 1984ish attitude that is a growing concern in society. The game associated with the CD is even more convincing with apocalyptic art connected to codes and hidden messages. When you buy the CD you will have just a plain black cover, but once it's played it turns a tanish color with a binary code that leads to a certain site. Check out the Wikipedia page to stay updated on found clues, and impressively designed web pages. I give the album 3.5 out of 5, but I am sure once I start to get use to it, it will be around a 4.5 out of 5. It is different, but stuff like this takes getting use to. Reznor is on to something with the government and his ideas may open the minds of others, hopefully for best, and prevent the US government from gaining any more control over its people. This album is more about the message than the music, Reznor doesn't care what people really think about his music this time around. This is something he did while on tour, and he just wanted to put it out there for the true fans.

Fracture Review

2007-04-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well it was a long weekend. A good weekend besides the fact that I wasted my time with Fracture. Do I need to go into details? Any movie that has the plot like Fracture better have some diamond in the ruff turning point. This movie didn't. It was slow, boring, and not even educational. At the least, they could've thrown some law jargon at me. Instead, from the beginning to the end it was pretty much understood what had happen, what was happening, and what would happen. No tricks, no gimmicks, not even the classic car chase. The most dazzling image the movie has to offer are the rather mysterious ball mechanism you might find in a mouse trap game. Ryan Gosling, and Anthony Hopkins, who usually put on quite a show in any movie they star in, were merely playing average parts. Ryan Gosling, who plays Willy, added a little bit to much to the confidence of Willy with the walk and cocky attitude. As for the genius Anthony Hopkins who had it all figured out, well he didn't and he also was a bit annoying with the way he played his role. There is no need to even go any further in this review. If you like a little mystery, with a little suspense, and a lot time to waste; well watch this movie. 2 out of 5, what a shame for such a cast.

Movie News

2007-04-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

Opening this weekend at the box office for 4/20:

Hot Fuzz
In the Land of Women
Fracture
Vacancy

Disturbia and Vacancy will end up topping out the weekend around 30 million.

As aside note, it has been confirmed that Spider-Man 4,5,6 will be made with or without the director and stars from the previous ones.

Year Zero, Alternative Reality Game

2007-04-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

NIN released Year Zero this week. Why in the world would anyone want to buy a CD, unless there was something more to it. Maybe a kind of twist, or hidden message. That is exactly what NIN is doing so perfectly. They are offering a little game this is going along with the purchase of the CD. Where it will take us, no one is sure, it is still fun though to try and uncover these clues. In the booklet of the CD, there is this hidden message which leads to a website called: Another version of the Truth After you go to the site, hold down your mouse and erase away the image, then double click and there is this weird sort of message board. The whole concept behind the game is that we are being controlled by the government, or at least will be. I agree with this, in the inevitable future it will happen. This game is cool, and might finally open the eyes of the public. For more information check out Wikipedia, they have a time line of the events that are occurring.

Video, Game, and Story

2007-04-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Check out this Will Ferrell clip, pretty damn good:

Now check out this addicting game:
It is also pretty damn good

After you are done all that, check out these life lessons:
Also very damn good

Phiadelphia Sports Heartbreaking Moments

2007-04-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of heartbreaking moments for the Philadelphia Sport fans of the generation who has never saw a Championship. These dates will forever haunt our lives

Phillies-1993 World Series Game 6, October 23, 1993...Phillies vs Blue Jays...1 out, 2 men on..down by 1, bottom of the 9th, Joe Carter hits a blast to deep left field, breaking up one of the most interesting teams in all of sports history. Phillies fans every where remain devastated till this day
Eagles-2005 Superbowl February 6, 2005- McNabb and Reid take way to long to get the ball down field. By the time they get a touchdown it's to late for a chance to get the ball back. They miss the on-side kickoff and lose the game 24-21 to the Patriots. A sudden collapse occurs with TO demanding more money, and the downward spiral begins and for the first time in 5 years they miss the playoffs the next season.
Flyers-1999-00 Eastern Conference Finals Game 5, May 22, 2000- Up 3-1 in the series to the New Jersey Devils, the Flyers hosted them and were ready for the trip to meet Stanley. They lose 4-1 and lose the next two. Becoming the first team in NHL history to lose a series in the playoffs after being up 3-1. Lindros comes back in the 7th game and gets destroyed at center ice by Scott Stevens, leading to his eventual demise as the star in Philly.
Flyers-2003-04 Eastern Conference Finals Game 7, May 22, 2004- After taking the hardest path possible, against their strongest rivaliries, Devils then the Maple Leafs. The Flyers won a heroic Game 6 in overtime against the Tampa Bay Lighting to even the series at 3-3. The ended up losing 2-1 in Game 7, and the lock-out would purse the following year.
Eagles-2002: 1-27-02, 2003: 1-19-03, 2004: 1-18-04 Conference Championships, Eagles- Although the first one was an unexpected surprise. The St.Louis Rams game was the closest of them all losing 29-24. We thought the Eagles would win at least one of the next two. The second one against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a heated rivarly all season long. They beat them twice before in the season, but of course no one team had ever one three times in a single season against another. They were outplayed and ended up losing 27-10. Carolina beat them for the 3rd one, and depressions sunk into the stomachs of fans all over, they did manage to come back the following season by picking up TO and going all the way to the Superbowl.
Phillies-2006-After trading away the better half of them team, the young players took this as an insult and came back with the best record in the majors since the All-Star break. They manage to come within 2 games of the Wildcard, and maybe if that Chase Utley homer was ruled fair instead of foul in Washington they might have been in the playoffs. They actually had a better record than the champions that year (No disrespect to the Cardinals, since they destroyed the Tigers). At the start of the 2007 season they had practically collasped into one of the worst starts ever seen. They are now 3-9.
76ers-2000-01 NBA Finals June 15, The Philadelphia 76ers put together an amazing season, with a 10-0 start. Then the chemistry was lost in the locker with Theo Ratliff getting injured. Yet, they got good ol' Mutumbo who would help fill that gap. They beat the Pacers in the first round 4-0, and then took the Raptors, and Bucks all the way to Game 7. The 76ers were then summed to face the Lakers who had not lost a game yet in the playoffs. They would come up striking first with a win, and put hope in the hearts of all fans. They soon became America's team with the all-out Allen Iverson playing style. Eventually they would soon lose the next 4 games, and ever since the team has spiraled downwards.
Flyers-2007 NHL Draft, April 11, 2007- The Flyers with the worst record and only 56 points, lose the draft to the Blackhawks who had 71 points at season end.
Phillies-Horrible trades- Curt Schilling 7-26-00, Scott Rolen 7-29-02, and Bobby Abreau 7-30-06. What does it mean when a team gives away its best players for rookies or no namers, while everyone though they still had potential to compete. It means the management is horrible and the players want to leave.

Photoshop Effects

2007-04-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

Some of the effects you can use on your pictures with Adobe

Phillies.....

2007-04-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

3-8 for the season and now 2 games postponed due to the Nor' Easter. Normally I would consider this a relief, but they had finally one a game and of course the next two ones were rained out. Just as they were about to get on a roll. I could feel it, hopefully this little break will help them. Garcia is finally going to pitch, after must speculation about getting him from the White Sox, and after being hurt in Spring Training, he gets the ball tonight with the spotlight all over him.

Philadelphia Experiment

2007-04-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

Philadelphia Experiment – Whether it is true or not, this story is one that will intrigue many people. It occurred during the middle of World War II, involved Einstein, and used theories that are just now starting to come into light. The concept focused around time travel, and teleportation. The idea behind the experiment was for a warship to become invisible to sonar. During the testing something went horribly wrong, and a cover-up soon followed. This case has it all; famous people, an American government cover-up, World War II, and science write from the sci-fi channel.

Before you read any further you must have an open mind, a clear understanding science at the time of World War II, and understand that these stories are meant to look like hoaxes when they are finally exposed. It occurred sometime around October 28th 1943. In the height of the experiments taking place worldwide during WWII. Lots of different tests were going on all around the world, countries hoping to make the next best weapon that would end the war, or lead to their total control of the world.

Einstein who fled Germany right before the beginning of Poland’s invasion by Germany, was lucky to be alive, and probably felt that he needed to attack back at Germany for their treatment of him and other Jewish people. He was also very familiar with the many different dimensions in the universe that we still have no clue about. There are so many new theories coming out now, with quantum theory that it almost seems possible to do what they did on the fateful day.

What happened on October 28th was they had made the ship disappear from the Philadelphia Navy Shipyard and reappeared in Norfolk, Virginia shipyard for a few minutes before being seen again in Philadelphia. The ship was the USS Eldridge, and the experiments leading up to the actual case on Oct 28th were focusing around invisibility and they had almost accomplished the task in July of that year when the ship turn into a greenish fog but many sailors on board complained of nausea and the experiments came to a halt until October. When the ship had come back to the Philadelphia shipyard much of the crew suffered from different sorts of mental illness, some had just vanished, and even more disturbing; five had been fused with the metal on the ship. Their bodies were sticking out in one room and then another. Apparently the survivors were brainwashed, men in black style, and discharged from the navy. There was also a story of two brothers who had jump ship during the transportation and had landed in the year 1983 where they were interrogated by the scientist who were involved in the case but 40 years older.

After experiment the story was swept under the carpet, in 1955 a graduate student who had just published a book on UFOs received a letter from a person called Carlos Allende. He told him everything about the ship and that he was on another merchant ship, he could also give out all this information to him if he would contact him. After trying to contact him his name had changed and he wanted to be hypnotized to recall everything; the graduate student, Morris Jessup, soon cut off ties with him. He would later get a job at a the Office of Naval Research where he would find a letter marked “Happy Easter,” with his book in it. Inside the book were three different color pen markings all over the book with quotations about his work. The quotations seem to be a conversation about his work between the three different writers, one quotation stated, “He has no knowledge, he could not have, only guessing.” Referring to his UFO work in the book. Awhile later he would fail trying to get rich off his next book and soon died in 1959.

Overtime various other researchers would publish books, and make movies similar to the Philadelphia Experiment theory. Still there have been documents supporting that the Eldridge was not in Philadelphia at the actual time of the ship’s disappearance. There has also be evidence showing that Nikola Tesla was close to publishing a report on the unified field theory, which the experiment was based around, but he had died in 1943 and the papers were taking away by the FBI. This could be the reason for the experiment. As for my own theory, the story became extremely popular during the height of the Cold War. It could’ve perfect propaganda for the US. Of course the US can come up with documents to show the ship was somewhere else, and there are many other ways they could avoid testifying to the truth. Claiming that Carlos was crazy would also help them out a lot, but remember they did experiments on the survivors who had lived in order to try and make them forget. So in essence they would be crazy. If this did happen, which it probably did because of all the scientific happenings that occurred during World War II, it would be a piece of cake for the government to cover up, and claim all those involved were just looney. It is possible that one day once we finally figure out quantum physics and the many dimensions in our universe, that this will be a case solved and closed. I am sure people like Chad Jackson, and Kevin George. The ones who had jumped off the ship will finally be regarded as heroes. Case CLOSED.

GRACE KELLY

2007-04-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

CHECK OUT the GRACE KELLY video by some weird fella called Mika

Best Workout Music

2007-04-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

Best Music to Workout to, if you like Alternative Rock, in no particularly order:

Artist/Song

Blur- Song 2
Orgy- Blue Monday
Audioslave- Cochise
Rage Against Machine- Sleep Now in the Fire
Nine Inch Nails- The Hand that Feeds
System of a Down- Chop Suey
Nine Inch Nails & Static X- Closer (Trance Remix)
Nine Inch Nails- Mr.Self Destruct
Offspring- Gone
Gravity Kills- Down
Rammstein- Du Hast
Mindless Self Indulgence- Shut Me Up
Rob Zombie- More Than Human
Prodigy- Firestarter
Gravity Kills- Guilty
Prodigy- Breathe
Korn- Freak on a Leash
Lo Fidelity All Stars- Battleflag
Metallica- Whiskey in a Jar
Linkin Park- Numb
Foo Fighters- My Hero
Sevendust- Enemy
Rob Zombie- Reload
Jimmy Eat World- Pain
Eminem- Lose Yourself
Disturbed- Down with the Sickness
Kasabian- Club Foot
Muse- Hysteria
Korn- Make Me Bad
30 Seconds to Mars- Attack
Chevelle- Send the Pain Below
Rage Against Machine- No Shelter

Disturbia Review

2007-04-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

From the beginning this movie was rolling right along, not slow, not boring, not second of being annoyed. Well except for the scenes where they decided to use home video camera, and you kinda felt a little dizzy, but that just added to the goodness of the overall effect. It was funny, sexy, scary, and surprising. The concept was old, dating back to good old Alfred Hitchcock, and Rear Window of 1954. The modern twist on it made it worth seeing. A young kid stuck up all summer long in his house, after losing his dad. His mom seeing the guy who he thinks is a killer, a hottie next door has just moved in, and his best friend is just wacky. Throw all this stuff together, add some adjectives and mix it up just right and you got yourself a pretty damn entertaining movie. It doesn't stop, not for a second. It's over before you know it, and you are satisfied.

Shia LaBeouf does a pretty good job, and is going to have a promising career. He doesn't make you annoyed by his actions or moves, but does exactly what you would expect him to do. Aaron Yoo will have you laughing threw out the movie for his silly antics that continue through out the whole thing, with a curiously funny introduction to his character. A nice relief after the disturbing beginning of the movie. Sarah Roemer does a good job at dropping jaws, and plays the perfect tease. David Morse is just downright bad ass, but makes you hate his guts with his sneaky acts. Carrie Anne Moos is just hard to imagine as a mom, but her role is really annoying, treating her son like crap after everything he's been through. The movie has its good moments, and great moments, nothing really that bad to report at all. This isn't an Oscar movie, nor a straight to video show. It is the perfect date movie. It is a movie you can watch be entertained, maybe learn a few things about technology, and just hate the government some more. 4 out of 5 for this weekend thriller.

Tomorrow will bring much

2007-04-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

Disturbia review coming tomorrow, it was damn good. As well as some other cool stuff that will blow your mind. Phillies won too somehow. Making themselves 3-8. Yippee

What a Night

2007-04-13T23:07:00.000-07:00

Phillies lose again: making them 2-8....this is beginning to look really bad. Although the game was pretty fun. The highlight came when some young kid ran onto the field, no doubt wasted, and slide head first into second base. When the first security guard fell down and missed him he got back up and ran into the outfield. He tried to climb the fence only to be pushed off but other fans and have a bottle thrown at him. He would fall once again, not on purpose this time, and another security guard fell on top of him and also couldn't wrap him up. After that though the last security guard got lucky enough to handle, and of course this is were they all think they are tough and start to punch this poor drunken fan who was just trying to give us something to cheer for, because the Phillies sure didn't. Even though they abused, strangled, and hit him the whole time they were carrying him off, he was still able to put up his hands for the fans. Something many players don't do even when the crowd is going wild. You gotta love this a fan who goes all out for the crowd. Booo Secuirty, three cheers for that crazyyyy fan. The Phillies lost 9-6 and Carlos Lee got 3 homers, one was a granny. Oh well what can you do at this point.

Phillies Blow Another

2007-04-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

Rollins gets two homers in another lost to the Mets, and the Phillies are now 2-7. What are we to do as Philly fans, every year same old stuff. To put the cherry on top, The Flyers got the second draft pick in the the 2007 draft. Even though they had a total of 56 points, and the Chicago Blackhawks who ended up with 71 points for the season got the first pick in the 2007 draft. Do I dare mention that the previous 4 years, Pittsburgh has had two first, and two second draft picks. Whatever, so the Phillies are 2-7, the Flyers the worse record ever have lost the first draft pick, and the Sixers who had a chance to get a decent player are slowly losing that too. What are we to DO?

Funniest thing EVER

2007-04-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

Poor fella caught in the act with an blow up doll, may I point out that he is really taking this thing to town.

Phillies Win Another

2007-04-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

2-6, not bad, that's how they started the last 3 out of 4 seasons. Let's just hope that they are able to overcome the odds of the past. No team has ever made it to the World Series since 1945 after starting 2-6. Will the Phillies overcome it, well if I know anything about Philadelphia sports, it's that we sure like to overcome great odds, and once we do, we usually fall flat on our face. Anyway, they one a game that was gift wrapped, and handed to them on a silver platter. They had four walks and a hit batsmen in one inning. I mean a total of 11 walks should led to a win for any team. Although I'm not taking anything away from the great Adam Eaton's performance. Throwing a solid seven innings while allowing only 2 runs. I mean this is what we expect from our starters, but the real kicker came when the bullpen and Gordon didn't give up a single run since they took over. First time of the year, WOW. Let's give a HOO-RAH to that. We beat the Mets, and are now 2-6 with are only other winning pitcher (Jamie Moyer aka 60 mph fastball guy) taking the mound tonight against future HOF Tom Glavine. If we can start swinging our bats at the right time, we can possibly gain back some lost ground on team batting average and start winning. Why is Burrell the one coming through? What is Howard doing, and why in the world is this bullpen so horrible? Let's push the past 10 days aside and start fresh and new in our own mind set. Phillies all the way in 2K7. I feel it, do you?

Pure Humor

2007-04-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

A 1st grade teacher handed out the first half of proverbs to her students, and each gave their thoughts on the second part. Check it out.

Diagnose Yourself

2007-04-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

Listen to this music. Listen to all the songs until you are familiar with them all. Finally after you have listened to them all at least 3 times. Write down your thoughts as you listen to the songs. You will be able to figure out what your inner thoughts, goals, feelings, and cravings in life are all at once. If you can't figure yourself out but would like me to, please just fill out your thoughts for each song and send them to this email-baseball83@gmail.com

Here are the songs:
Hands on the Bible - Local H
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
Rebellion - Arcade Fire
We are the Champions - Queen
Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins
Imagine - John Lennon
Fix You - Coldplay
Yesterday - Beatles
Float On - Modest Mouse
Hands in the Sky - Straylight Run
Dream On - Aerosmith
Zombie - Cranberries
What If - Coldplay
Preparations for Battle - James Horner
Two Towers Requiem - Lord of the Rings
Only the Good Die Young - Billy Joel

Two Cool Videos

2007-04-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

Check out this well done clip of a slob:

The first clip of Kermit the Frog ever:

Website of Websites

2007-04-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

Check out this cool link that will pretty much give you every possible website you might ever need. It is a list the nominated best websites across the web for each category possible.

Webby Nominees

Survivor Review by Chuck Palahniuk

2007-04-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I have a thing for Chuck Palahniuk books. They are just the oddest fictional books I have read thus far in my life. Survivor is no different. A survivor of a religious cult that sent him out in the workforce as a slave for the elders, he works day in and day out. Then one day everything he knows blows up in his face with his whole following committing mass suicide. He is suppose to follow the law and kill himself when he hears of this as many of the other followers do around the world. After 10 years go by he is the last one left standing, (or so he thinks) and becomes famous overnight. Tender Branson is the main character who never ever thought for himself, and after being famous he gives in to all the indulgences of normal everyday life besides sex. The whole concept behind the book is completely backwards, it starts off at the last page and works it way to the first one. Tender is on a plane that will soon run out of fuel and crash, but before he dies he leaves his whole life story on the black tape. Shockingly enough there is little to do with sex in this book except one thing, he donates all the 20,000 acres of his cult to the porno industry for disposing of porn. The whole time he is still contemplating suicide to follow his cult, then he meets up with is older brother just when he thought he was the last one. He learns a lot from his brother since he was the first born, and the first born stay in the community and live off the slaves sent out into the world to work (Branson).

As with his other books he exposes the flaws in society and the way we are controlled by everything around us. How the rich live in complete control and take advantage of innocence of youth so that they can gain from it. Then there are the religious views Palahniuk also tackles. I love the part about rebelling and becoming your own person. The first step to doing this is having sex, and most people who don't have sex, will never develop into anything. They will be controlled and afraid to break rules, that sex is the first rule to break. Once you start doing this you become your own person. That religions try to make sex bad because they know that if you have sex you will develop your own identity, but if you have sex on their terms they are still in control. Great point here, and probably one of the best points in all his books. Maybe that is why he refers to sex so much in all his books, maybe it his way of saying break free and become who you are meant to be. The book is not as sexual as other Palahniuk books, and the character is a little less lovable because he doesn't think for himself. The story keeps you wanting to read on, just as all the other Chuck books do. The twist and turns of the ill-fated Tender is quite interesting, and if you are wondering how to do little household chores like taking out stains of clothes there are lots and lots of tips of how to do that in here. It is a completely different book and concept for out times, but the timing is also perfect. There are lots of weird little controlling cults out there, and this gives a look at the innocent, misunderstood life of a Survivor. 4 out 5 because the story is already over when you open the book, plus I was hoping for a more mind bending ending this time around and got what I saw coming from page one.

Top Songs of the Week 4/8/2007

2007-04-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

Here are the top songs of the week, for April 8, 2007, in no particular order.

Thnks fr the Mmrs- Fall Out Boy
Survivalism- Nine Inch Nails
Knocked Up-Kings of Leon
Ruby- Kaiser Chiefs
What I've Done- Linkin Park
The Bird and the Worm- The Used
Fire It Up- Modest Mouse
House of Cards- Madina Lake
The River- Good Charlotte

Just in case you're planning a revolution

2007-04-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

Dragon Skin Body Armour, the name may look like something out of Dungeons and Dragons or a Warcraft game, but it's real. It may be the coolest thing to hit the market since slice bread back in 1859.

NIN-Survivalism Video

2007-04-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

Check out the new off the wall music video of Suvivalism by NIN.

Host Review

2007-04-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

A Godzilla like creature strikes out at the Korean people in this new type of comedy/horror picture straight from the silly folks who also brought those weird candies and crackers that you can only find in New York. The movie starts out pretty quick and gets the viewer asking for more right from the start. Of course America is the bad guy in this film. The creature develops from a bunch of chemicals being spilled into a river. Somehow within 5 years or so, the creature is this huge monster who goes unnoticed for years, and just one decides to start collecting humans. Sorry I want to know how exactly this creature had never bothered the population of humans that have lived so close and then one day he decides to attack and eat tons of people. The beginning starts out with it going back and forth across the river view attacking people everywhere. The main characters are a little to annoying to love. From the silly father who can't get anything right, to the grandfather who never really speaks up. Then we have the college hero who for some reason is doing the right things, just in the wrong way. Lastly is the national archer champion who is to slow to like.

The movie is funny no-doubt, but I'm not sure if it's suppose to be funny at some parts where the father is being tortured and withheld while the family is trying to save their daughter who was abducted by the creature and after long thought dead called them from a sewer somewhere on along the river that was being protected by the government. It has some interesting concepts with America dumping waste, trying to cover-up as if they know what's going on, and not really helping the people involved; but being more concern about those who haven't been affected yet.

The main character is funny, no-doubt, but kind of annoying funny after the movie drags on and on with little creature action. It is one of the few movies that introduce the creature right from the start and slowly take it away as the movie goes on. The comedy will keep anyone entertained if you are in a good mood for this kind of movie. Still the movie definitely over played its true length. Make it 20-25 minutes shorter, explain what happens with the characters a bit more and have the creature attack the military as they search for it. Then you have got yourself a classic King-Kong/Godzilla movie. Instead they try and stray away from the classic style, and make a mockery out of the characters. Although one of the most classical movie scenes of complete satire was involving the family as they all fall to the ground crying, kicking and punching at the mass funeral for their lost daughter. Give or take about 3 years before this movie has an American spin-off. I give this a 3.5 out of 5.

Phillies and side notes

2007-04-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

1-6....Need I say more. Sure they have had the lead in 5 out of the 6 games, and yea the bullpen did blow them all. Still we have one of the best lineups in all of baseball, and when Garcia and Lieber finally come back hopefully we will be able to use one of those guys as a relief pitcher. This is a team to beat, not a team to beaten upon. This is nothing new, the past 3 out of 4 seasons they had to dig themselves out of a huge April defiect. Hopefully with the Utley and Howard finally get back into their groove, and the starting pitchers getting back and ready. The fightin Phils will be back to their normal status.

Interesting side notes:

They are 1-6 for the second straight season...yep they did this last year too.

Howard has become only the second player to homer in 5 straight games vs the Mets, only other person to do accomplish such a feat is Hank Aaron.

Bullpen is 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA

Team batting average is .248

Phillies have the 9th highest payroll at $89,368,000 with a 3 way tie for last place in the whole league .

2 out of the 4 highest paid players haven't played yet.

Adam Eaton and Tom Gordon are 5th and 6th highest paid. Good thing because they have earned it.

Then there is Abraham Nunez making a whopping 2 million after a year floating around the Mendoza line, meanwhile Ryan Howard who led the team in every aspect is making $955,000

Let's go Phillies

Strangest Music Videos

2007-04-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

This blog shows what the author considers to be the weirdest music videos to date. I suggest checking out NIN-Closer.

Check it out

Grindhouse Review

2007-04-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

Before I go any where with this review, I just want to say what I great year this has been, and will be for movies. This double feature is what a night out to the movies should be. I am not a horror movie fan, but after these two flicks, I think I may have to reconsider. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect going into this. All the trailers just showed random scenes with no movie or plot explanation. I can also say that I didn't expect much from movies with such advertisement as well. Then I sat down, and once the "Prevues" came up I was hooked. This old theater style aka "Grindhouse" was something the younger generation of movie goers just isn't use to, but should start getting use to. Even though the whole idea of both films were suppose to be a complete spoof of older films, and cheesy overacted scenes, it worked. Too many directors and producers try to make their movie the next movie of the year, but the movies are about entertainment. This movie does just what all movie goers want, a good wholesome time that kills a night with sheer entertainment.

Planet Terror by Robert Rodriguez is about biochemicals that cause brain eating zombies to be unleashed upon Texas. Nothing new of course, but the way it's written with humor and gore will make your jaw drop. I will spare the details since the best part about these movies were that the trailers didn't let the viewers really get the idea of the movies. Bruce Willis does a great job along with El Ray. 4.8 out of 5. The .2 is for daring to have a missing reel scene during that pivotal part, and for showing me too many balls.

Next we got Death Proof by Quentin Tarantino. Ok so maybe the first 30 minutes are slow, and the breakfast diner scene might kill you if you don't understand the building up of characters with dialogue as Tarantino loves to do. Either or, the rest of the movie will blow your mind, put you on the edge of your seat, soak your palms in sweat, and kill your insides with laughter. Taratino is a genius. This may have the single best car chase ever filmed, and that involves a car chase with NO SPECIAL EFFECTS, just complete director and writer brilliance. I will say nothing more of the movie. I give it a 5 out of 5

Grindhouse 5 out of 5. Instant Classic....I almost forgot about the trailers. Don't was hilarious, Thanksgiving might have the most disturbing scenes ever from Hollywood, SS has the lovely ladies, and Machete was done so well it's going to turn out to be a real movie. See this movie, see it now, see it tomorrow, and see it again.

Awesome Ghost Video

2007-04-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

I have seen endless videos of ghost, most of them fake of course. This one right here though was not only footage from a cop chase, but it may be the freakiest video you will ever see. In the sense of HOW THE F*** did that happen.

Sasquatch

2007-04-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

Today we will examine the magical hairy monster who avoids almost the whole population of California and endless searches. Bigfoot is his famous name, and there has been rare footage of him caught on tape. The most famous tape is that of the Patterson incident. Recently a few years ago this was also revealed as a hoax.

Still there have been many other reportings about Bigfoot, and there are some different ways to think about it. Scientist claim there is still large areas of California wilderness that are so vast that it wouldn't be odd if they found a whole species of Sasquatch living in them. There are forest so large they would be able to hold a small population of dinosaurs without fear of humans bothering them. Then there are theories as to whether Bigfoot is like an American Werewolf. There are also many different relations and other similar reports of Sasquatch like animals all over the globe. The most familiar one that may be able to be considered a cousin of Sasquatch is the Abominable Snowman.
A truly interesting piece of evidence that supports the Sasquatch story is the local art and pots designed by Native Americans in that area over 200 years ago. There are many different symbols that represent a beast much larger than man and full of hair. More than likely if Sasquatch does exist he is a dying bread. Extinct by most standards, but to think that someone so close to the chain of humans and monkeys not yet discovered is shocking. Maybe it is a government cover-up so that the evolution change doesn't get rocked by this. Maybe they are even results of experiments by the government that have also gone wrong. Either or, the odds are in favor that Bigfoot is probably not real, and that all the evidence and videos are just hoaxes done up by people who crave attention. There have never ever been bones found of any type of Sasquatch, which may mean that they are smart enough to bury their dead, but still with all their hair and such these ape like creatures are more likely to be found south of the equator. Then there is the theory that maybe they crossed the Bering Strait years back, since there is evidence that such creatures did exist millions of years ago in a forests very similar to those in the US, in China. Still if they did ever exist it was probably over 1 million years ago, any sightings of them now are probably larger than life humans who have been abandon by their families because of mental/physical problems.

Another Collapse by the Phillies

2007-04-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

Only the second game of the year, and Phillies have already lost two games in extra innings. Allowing the Braves to come back then put them away twice this season. Ryan Madson takes another lost, and the starting pitching has to be a little furious. What are we to expect of the season now. Howard was thrown out at the with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th, that would've given the Phils a 3-0 led, and they probably would have won. The play right before that a runner was caught stealing who also would have been another run added to the score after Utley hit a double. 0-2, I don't care if they lose, but losing this way is like asking if the Braves want to live in their locker room while their at Citizens Bank Park to make their stay more comfortable. Come on Phils what are you doing to us.

Atlantis, Mayan Calender, and the 4th, 5th ,6th worlds

2007-04-04T12:00:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing that has always caught my attention is that of the afterlife, and past that we have left behind. One thing that I recently started to wonder was about different civilizations through out the world. It is amazing to think that Carthage had working plumbing as early as 500 BC, and maybe even earlier. I thought about other civilizations that dated back even further than 500 BC, and were still pretty educated. There was the other Greek colonies, Babylon, and of course Egypt. What came before Egypt though, I am sure there is some evidence as to other civilizations in the Middle East and Asia. Still there has to be some others that were there way before Egypt and were completely civilized. I mean there is no way we were hunters and gathers and then only a few centuries later we are building pyramids. It is possible that there were civilizations far more advance than we are now that have existed, but were possibly wiped out by a "nuclear war" of some sort. The pyramids were built around 3200 BC, around this time Atlantis is supposedly to have sunk. This in turn ended the 4th world. The 5th world then began. There are theories according to the Mayan calender that we are working on our 6th World which will begin in December of 2011-2012. Not exactly sure what this means, but it would make sense. This would mean that there were other civilizations that did exist before Egypt that were complex, but lost some how to history.

The Most Mind Twisting Unsolved Mysteries and Conspiracy Theories

2007-04-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

Afterlife
Time Travel
Aliens
JFK Assassination
Philadelphia Experiment/Montauk Project
Sasquatch
Loch Ness Monster
Atlantis
Money Pit
Freemasons
Atlantis
Mayans December 12/2012 Calender

All of these theories will be explained over the following month, and I will do my best to offer my own educated opinion of each. Bookmark this blog to here my theories of each project over the next month.

Oh Phillies....High Quality Pictures

2007-04-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well if opening day was a sign of things to come, then welcome back Phillies. Don't worry guys we are use to this, it's only when you start winning, that is when we get nervous. That means something just isn't right. I mean leaving 3rd and 2nd stranded with 0 outs in the bottom of the 9th with clutch hitters at that plate in front of a sellout crowd, hey it's cool. I thought maybe this year would be different, but why did it have to start this way.

Sorry not much today...but I got a cool link to a website with some nice high quality pictures

http://www.picli.com/

A day at work

2007-04-02T14:48:00.000-07:00

So I'm working at some random shopping plaza in Bucks County; a rich and beautiful area. As we are working on digging out a sewer drain a young man with autism comes over. A guy that I am working with called Paulie looks up at him, as he lifts a heavy rock into the back of the dump truck. The young man takes notice of what we are doing to his parking lot, (he is the cart guy for the local food place in the plaza). (Also keep in mind that Paulie is an older man who looks to be about 50 but is 40, and has a pot belly). After walking by and talking to us Paulie says that he works out every day to the cart boy. The young man with down syndrome says to him in the most sarcastic way I have ever heard someone with autism speak, "Yea right, I'm not that stupid." If you knew this guy Paulie, you would understand that this might be the most hilarious thing ever heard, considering it came from the source it did. I must give credit to the young man, he was far brighter than one might think of one with his condition. But for him to put Paulie in his place, was one of the funniest things I have witnessed in person.

Top Chewing Gums

Big League Chew
Chicklets
Fruit Stripe
Bubble Yum Cotton Candy
Bubble Bubble
Juicy Fruit
Gumballs in 25 cents machines
Bubble Tape
Bubblelicious
Stride

RUTFME? Cover Songs on Youtube

2007-03-31T17:50:00.000-07:00

Here are a bunch of the worst song covers I found on youtube...maybe I'm just as bad for watching them. In no particular order:

Silly bastard trying to play guitar I wonder if anyone hurt themselves after seeing this.
This funny fella thinks he is the Mr.Coldplay himself
India's biggest cover band to hit the American scene
WTF, what is this guy DOING
Don't even know what to say about this, what is that guy doing in the background
He must have autism or a soar throat
Not bad at all, if you have ear plugs in
Not a cover, but some china kid, and a kid with an awesome glob of hair on his head lip syching
If he took his mouth on the mic...that might help

Philadelphia Film Festival

2007-03-31T09:28:00.001-07:00

Philadelphia Film Festival

2007-03-31T09:28:00.000-07:00

From April 5-18, Philadelphia will be hosting its annual film festival. Most of these films will probably never make any high notoriety than this festival, but that doesn't mean that they should all be ignored. Some are definitely not meant for the general public, while others are made by sexual lusting perverts. The main idea is for no namers to get their names out there. Here is a few movies that seem quite interesting:

American Fork-from the creators of Napoleon Dynamite, comes the story of an obese grocery store worker who sets out on his dream to become an actor.

Bothersome Man- about a young man sent into a world of bizarre occurrences and everyday rituals.

Consequences- An annual weekend football get away in Philadelphia about five old friends, whose lives take a miserable turn for the worst in this sex-crazed, underground world of Philly.

Curse of William Penn- takes a look at the frustrated lives of Philadelphia fans and their hard luck over the recent years.

Dante's Inferno- cardboard cut-out view of a modern day Dante's Inferno.

Dead Daughters- International horror film sensation from Russia, about three vengeful female spirits.

End of the Line- a group of strangers unites in an effort to escape blood-crazy Christian cult-members in a subway chamber fueled by apocalyptic fever.

Fair Play- careerism gone wrong in this corporate way of life, where the action takes place in a natural setting of cliffs and waterfalls where it is much easier to get revenge on your co-worker.

Feel- A sexy view on the lives of four men who lives are all connected through an Asian massage parlor they all seek out on the same day to fill their emotional spaces.

Mojave Phone Booth- based on true events, a film about a phone booth in south Nevada that serves as an otherworldly support system of mystifiyng sorts.

Princess- a Danish film about a priest who seeks revenge on pornographers who exploited his dead sister.

Red Road- in the not so distant future, everyone is monitored by the government to ensure the safety of the society. A government employee must confront a man who has resurfaced from the past.

Severance- A British horror film that lives up to its promises.

Slumming- a twisted road of events occur for two young slackers, after a cruel, practical joke is played on a drunk homeless guy.

What to do....What to do

2007-03-31T09:18:00.000-07:00

So as the days longer and the nights get shorter....what are we suppose to do with all this free time? You think the government or somebody would create a place that is socio-economic friendly and allows for us to grow as a community of intelligent people. A hangout that isn't particularly meant for older people, but fashion towards younger adults. Maybe a cross between a library/bookstore/starbucks/pizza parlor. An upscale place that caters towards hanging out. Maybe a sort of research & development building meant for reading/writing/talking/working on personal projects, but open for everyone. Is this too much to ask from a government that spends more and more money overseas each year than on its own people. Last time I checked this is a country ran by the people for the people, but why does a small percentage of say about .00001% determine where OUR money goes. If when it's time to vote we get a choice of what to do with those few extra dollars and where to spend it, but I don't think it should work like that. We should determine were most of the money goes, educate our children with politics and how to do every stuff...like files taxes, open a business, get a mortgage. Now what type of rock that is, or the distance to the sun. That stuff is useless and pointless unless you are a scientist. If we educate our young, they become part of the system that will determine spending and we can take back the power that older generations have on us and their pull with our money.

Hills Have Eyes 2: Horrible

2007-03-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

I like to apologize to my friends for making them see this movie. That is how I will begin this review. Let me remind you of the graphic, disturbing, and some what interesting plot of the first one. It was definitely at least a 3.5 out 5 star movie, with terrifying images that you would never expect to see on the big screen without an NC-17 rating. Word on the street was this was suppose to be twice as disturbing. I did not seem to notice that. The first two minutes may be the only odd and unexpected scene in the movie.

The rest of the movie had cheap effects, pointless deaths that could be seen in almost any horror movie, and blue screen angles that were more than obvious. This movie had no relation at all to the first one, there was no feeling for any of the characters and this movie had some of the worse acting I have seen in years. It is also pretty hard to watch characters on screen do stupid pointless mistake after stupid pointless mistake. I mean we are humans because we have the ability to make educated decisions, and this movie took that away from the characters. If this movie should've had at least one thing in its favor going into it, it was that the deaths of the characters should have been down right awesome. Instead your left with two guys getting shot, two guys falling off a cliff, one guy getting pulled through a hole, and then another guy being blown up. This movie had no life, no pulse, and no acting. Even when they had a chance to scare us they use a loud bang from the soundboard of another movie. That is about all. After discussing this with a friend I feel it is only right to give this movie a 0 out of 5. Because anything lower that a 1 would mean the average everyday person could make, and that would take away the Hollywood lure behind the movie. This movie is trash, worthless, and shouldn't even be released to DVD. Don't see it, don't talk about it, don't even think about it.

Funniest Video Clips Online

2007-03-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

This isn't that bad either, and it is brand new. Kermit (Rainbow Disconnection)

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk Review

2007-03-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is right, I can't get enough of this Chuck guy. I'm really glad I found out about him two months before his anticipated new released of "Rant." I am reading all his past work, and it's pretty damn good. Choke was a story that I definitely should've heard about from somebody years ago. It is twisted, disgusting, revolting, hilarious, and educational. A sandwich with layers you never thought would go together.

It is about a sex addict, whose best friend is also a sex addict, who tries to deal with his ever depressing life by making people think their his hero. Everyday he goes to a different restaurant to choke, almost to death, in order for someone to save him. By doing so, they then fall in love with him and constantly keep in touch while sending money to make sure he is ok. That is just one part of the characters life. He also works at a Colonial Village set in 1734, constantly visits his sick mom, and screws almost anyone.

Palahniuk visits the past of Victor (main character) to construct the reason why he is the way he is. A medical school dropout, ashamed of his mother, and a pathetic loser. Every chapter will turn into four more as you wonder what in the world could possibly happen next. His crazy sexual drive that keeps you turning page after page is topped off with a climax that shakes you in suspense. You will finish Choke only hours after you pick it up for the first time, because you won't be able to put it down. If you want crude, unusual and bizarre behavior, along with some knowledge of the medical world; get this book. 5 out of 5 for Palahniuk and Choke.

Greatest Movie Lines

2007-03-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

"What we do echos an eternity."- Gladiator
"Give them nothing, but take from them everything."-300
"Say hello to my little friend."- Scarface
"You can't handle the truth." -A Few Good Men
"Freedom." -Braverheart
"Are you not entertained."-Gladiator
"Here's looking at you kid." Casablanca
"Hey you guys." -Goonies
"I'm Jack Sparrow." -Pirates of the Caribbean
"May I ass you a question?" -Ace Ventura Pet Detective

Top Mascots

2007-03-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

1. Phillie Phanatic
2. Geico
3. Spud McKenzie
4. Burger King Guy
5. Kingsway Dragon
6. Chucky Cheese
7. Pet Puppet (PetSmart)
8. McGruff the Crime Dog
9. Ronald McDonald
10. Smokey the Bear

More good stuff coming later today.

Sitting and Thinking

2007-03-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a thought for the wise. Why are they completely trying to wipe pray out of our society, when the foundation of America was based on it? Why in the world does it matter if they have to prove everyone in the world wrong that religion doesn't exists? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, but even if the slight thought of an afterlife gives people hope, WHY take that away from them? If you are so smart and know for sure that life doesn't matter after death, do everyone a favor and go kill yourself. Stop your suffering since you are so smart, go take out 20 people with you and prove to everyone you are right by wiping yourself away from civilization. Honestly what is the point of trying to prove that religion and the afterlife don't exists. I am sure that some people believe that the afterlife is possible without religion and I agree. Yet there are others who think we are merely dirt after this. Ok, so if you die and we don't exists you were right, but how would you prove it. It's the people who believe and actually move on who will be right.

All Time Best Videogames

2007-03-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

1. Golden Eye 64
2. Warcraft II
3. Sim City 3000
4. Halo
5. Super Mario (NES)
6. Mario 64
7. Mario Kart 64
8. Fallout Tactics
9. Age of Empires
10. The Sims

Best Music Videos (Based Around Alternative Rock)

2007-03-26T14:08:00.001-07:00

Best Music Videos (Based Around Alternative Rock)

2007-03-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

Freak on a Leash- Korn
I'm Not OK- My Chemical Romance
Keep Fishing- Weezer
Rebellion- Arcade Fire
Whiskey in a Jar- Metallica
Weapon of Choice- Fatboy Slim
Hurt- Johnny Cash
Smack My Bitch Up- Prodigy
All the Small Things- Blink-182
Hit Me Baby One More Time- Britney Spears

Shooter Review

2007-03-26T12:32:00.000-07:00

Mark Wahlberg is the only reason I even thought about seeing Shooter, he is really starting to become an enjoyable actor to watch on the big screen. He is the home grown hero in a lot of roles. Deep down we all have that feeling that one day we will probably be called to do something great, a reason for our being. Most of his movies seem to center around that. Shooter is one of those. I conspiracy theory about the government trying to use an scapegoat to make another one of their plans follow through, usually involving money. I am sure a lot of the stuff they discuss and talk about in the movie actually does happen everyday. The cover ups, conspiracy theories, scapegoats, and illegal actions for money.

Shooter starts out with a decent introduction, as any action movie should. Then of course comes the slow part to build up to the climax. Wahlberg's character is a government trained killing machine, and is more patriotic than most presidents, and this is his own downfall. He is offered to help prevent the assassination of a president he doesn't like as he states. Of course he is referring to George Bush, he later obliges and does his duty for the cause. After doing what they wanted him to do, they use the information he found out to assassinate. This back stabbing eventually leads to the his own fight for his life.

The rest of the movie is chase involving one person who was trained by the government who can't be caught by thousands of others who were also trained by the government. Although he does have that one particular sniper skill, this point doesn't make much sense. There is one part were at least 50 agents surround him at a house and he remarkably comes out alive, in good old Rambo fashion. I thought the movie were he played a Philadelphia Eagle was named Invincible.

The best part about this movie is that the topic they cover is all to real in toady's society. This is propaganda at its best against the government and the all too corrupted officials who are in control of our every move. Maybe it was about non-stop action or this could be more of an eye-opener movie for all those pro-war southern people who are guaranteed to see such a movie. If they were thinking of the general audience and trying to get to the point of political corruption by using action and Wahlberg (America's hero) this is a work of genius. Otherwise it is just an average movie, that will probably be on TBS and USA in a few years, every Friday night for years to come.

I do love the fact that Wahlberg is starting to bring Hollywood to Philadelphia. Maybe it was a concidence that of his last few movies, two were centered in Philadelphia. I honestly hope that he keeps playing these roles, and playing them in Philadelphia. Maybe the city is the perfect place for the characters he plays, no-namers who rise to the occasion while sacraficing themselves for the greater good. Props to him on this movie, future roles, and future Philly movies. I must say there is nothing more intriguing then seeing locations that you work at, drive by, walk around in, on the big screen. Being able to relate to art of any sort, is just one part of understanding it.

I give this movie 3 out of 5. Good, not great. Interesting, but nothing new. Yet the concept about corrupt government officals, and how Wahlberg handled them is awesome.