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tomdo98@aol.com |
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Archives |
April 2007 Archives |
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posted 04/30/2007 Hoarding Monex Gold and Silver
I watch headline news every day while I'm getting ready for work and I always see this commercial from Monex. They like to ask the question, if you had the option of having one thousand dollars in gold or dollars, and you couldn't cash it in for 5 years, what would you choose?
The point is cash will eventually lose it's value due to inflation and you'll be able to buy less with it in 5 years than you could now. Gold on the other hand will probably appreciate in value.
You can either have the gold sent to you or have them store it at some bank safe. How weird would it be to have a stockpile of gold at your house? Where would you even hide it? In the matress? In a safe?
Either way I don't think it's a good idea to have a ton of cash nor gold at your house.
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posted 04/28/2007 I Have To Return Some Videos and Blockbuster Keeps Calling Me
I remember back in the 80's when people were obsessed with returning their VHS rentals. Christian Bale kept saying he had to return some videos throughout the 80's set movie, American Psycho. I have to return some videos myself to Blockbuster. I have the Night Listener (one star because of the ending) starring Robin Williams and The Holiday (two stars) staring Kate Blanchett and some other big stars. Some of you Blockbuster customers might remember an add campaign they had last year that promised "No More Late Fees." There was a huge uproar and a class action suit against this because it was basically a lie. There are still late fees but it just works differently. For example, if you get a movie from Blockbuster that has a seven day rental agreement you can keep it for 14 days without paying a late fee. An automated robot from Blockbuster will actually call you right after those 14 days are over. The number comes in my cell phone caller id as 00000000. If don't respond to that caller from 000, they will continue to call you every few days telling you that you have their movie. At about the 21 day or so mark, they will send you a postcard saying you better return their videos. At this point, you already owe a $2.50 restocking fee on each video. They like to make it clear to you by calling you and sending you postcards that they really want their movie back because what happens after 31 days? Well let's find out.
In the 80s, VHS movies were not priced to sell. If you were to steal a movie or lose a movie, it was about $80 or so. VHS tapes were treated like GOLD back then. You would only have one single day to watch the movie. That means if you rent it that night you better watch it that night or the first thing tomorrow afternoon if you didn't want to be charged another full day's rental. You could try to watch the it the next night but you have to make sure to return it by midnight if your rental place of choice was even open. It was a big risk. I remember constantly having late returns in college. I'd rack up like a week's worth of rental fees on the movie, "The Specialist" (Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone) which I have not seen to this day. I did catch a little bit of a nudie scene with Stone once when it was on HBO. The movie seemed really bad with the big lipped Eric Roberts so I was never able to power through. And of course you were really playing with fire if you left it in the car in the summer because those tapes would melt.
Random memory alert: I recall being at the library and there was an actual melted VHS tape and a melted LP record and a sign that said "DON'T LEAVE VHS TAPES OR RECORDS IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT BECAUSE THIS WILL HAPPEN!" It would probably be a cool retro sculpture if I saw it now. I remember thinking we were really one upping the man by getting free rentals at the library!
So let's get back to Blockbuster. I suppose it is clear on some tiny print on your rental agreement that you must return the movies after 31 days or else. These days, DVDs are not 80 dollars like their VHS counterparts back in the 80s. New DVDs can go from $20-$30 and used DVD's are even cheaper. They can be anywhere from $5 - $15. So one day, I'm returning "Mr. 3000" with Bernie Mac and a couple of other movies I can't remember to Blockbuster. I used the overnight drop off slot. They next time I go to Blockbuster, they say I have some fees or some such for Mr. 3000. I say, forget that noise, I returned that to you already. The guy looks all confused and goes to talk to like 3 people. He comes back with 3 movies bound by a rubber band and proceeds to explain to me that I now own Bernie Mac's masterpiece. I am flabbergasted. The damage was only about $8 per movie but I sure as hell didn't want to own Mr. 3000. That movie was god awful. After 31 days, you must buy the movie or never rent from Blockbuster again!
Needless to say, I think some people might interpret a $2.50 restocking fee or buying the movie at a used price after 30 days constitutes as some sort of late fee.
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posted 04/26/2007 Why Did Boxers Become Cool And Tighty Whities Become Nerdy?
There was a time when almost every red blooded American male wore tighty whities. Maybe it was just in the 70's and 80's. When and who decided that boxers were cool and tighty whities were nerdy? To me, this goes beyond just fashion trends. This is about functionality over form. To keep up with the times, I bought plenty of boxers myself. Now I know from sex-ed in high school that the testicles need to be a certain distance from the body to produce a high sperm count. I'm not exactly sure why I need such a high sperm count since I am not trying to get anyone pregnant but it may be healthier in some way.
Some people might contend that they like the luxurious roominess of boxers. I know that I personally can't wear very tight jeans because they tend crush the groin area if you sit down for long periods of time and then you're constantly pulling on your jeans to make room. Tighty whities do not have to be skin tight. There are all kinds. You can get loose ones or tight ones and you don't even have to get white anymore. They pretty much come in any color you want. At least a compromise was made with boxer briefs. Not quite as tight but not quite as roomy.
Even so. I think girls were the ones to change the trend because they just prefer the look of a man in boxers. They don't tend to be as graphic or visual as men and would like to leave things to the imagination. They like the male form alright but they're not interested in seeing the package all bunched up. I don't see a guy caring whether another guy wears "boxers or briefs."
Some days I think the boys just need a solid home and some days I go for the boxer brief compromise but I never go for just boxers. No need to go clanking around everywhere. It's just like girls don't like to go clanking around without a bra. Plus some guys are just a little more sensitive and all that clanking around friction isn't all that comfortable. I guess it's similar to the thong. That can't be comfortable but women wear it for the look.
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posted 04/25/2007 Moview Review: The Movie Grindhouse is Half Good
I saw the movie Grindhouse recently and I was only half satisfied. For some reason Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez feel the need to work together all the time (Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, 4 Rooms, Sin City). Robert Rodriguez loves Quentin so he even lets him act in his movies as main characters! Quentin was actually decent as the creepy brother in From Dusk Till Dawn. I'm sure they spend all day calling each other a genius. "No, I'm not the genius, you're the genius!" I actually do think Quentin is a movie writing/directing genius but I don't feel the same way about Rodriguez. I liked Rodriguez's Desperado but that's about it. I thought half of Dusk Till Dawn was good but the second, Monster Movie half was awful. Sin City was a bit soulless to me as was 300 and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. He's actually made some real stinkers too like Shark Boy and Lava Girl and the Faculty.
On the other hand I pretty much like all of Quentin's movies. He hasn't made that many but I think all of them are high quality such as Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, and Kill BIlls. I think his biggest skill comes from his writing and that is evident as to which part of the movie Grindhouse is better.
Grindhouse is two completely separate movies. The two directors are going for double feature nostalgia as if you were transported back into the 70's or 80's and watching two slasher movies in a row for 4 hours. They use tricks like making the film scratchy like damaged, old film stock, melting film, and they even have a part that says "missing reel" "You're the genius, no you're the genius!"
The first movie is a zombie movie by Rodriguez. To me, I didn't find this to be any sort of re-imagining. I felt like I was watching a zombie movie made in 2007 and it made me realize why they stopped making movies like this. At least the movies Scream and Saw did something new with the horror genre. This is making a zombie movie as cheesy as the ones that were made back in the 70s. I just have no desire to see that anymore ever since the second Night of the Living Dead.
The second movie is Quentin's. Even though this has a lot of 70's inspiration it still feels like a new movie to me. Quentin puts in a lot of his style of dialogue (some may find this long but I still find it enjoyable) and there are 4 star car stunts scenes at the end. Kurt Russell plays the villain in this movie with relish and intensity.
Robert's half one star * Quentin's half three stars ***
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posted 04/24/2007
Last Christmas, I wanted to buy my girlfriend The Clapper as a stocking stuffer. Don't worry, it wasn't her main gift. I just assumed they sold it everywhere because it seemed like such a great product. I looked for it at Frye's, Walgreens, Sharper Image, and Target but I couldn't find it. I thought perhaps I was just looking in the wrong spots but no one seemed to have it. I thought to myself, how is this possible? I can still find the Chia Pet, which is about as useless as a pet rock but a little prettier to look at, but I can't find this great invention with one of the best hooks in commercial history (clap on, clap off, the clapper!) Remember that old lady that wakes up and realizes the lights are on? She's frustrated at first but then claps authoritatively and goes back to sleep.
What does a person do when they can't find a product in a brick and mortar store? Well they order it off the internet of course. Surprisingly, Amazon.com had it. For some reason I like to order a lot of things off of Amazon. Anything from books to electronics to toys mainly because they have an interface I'm used to and they save my credit credit card and shipping address information.
I was excited to try out the Clapper after Christmas. There are a couple of settings on the clapper, one is to set it to 2 or 3 claps. Now why would anyone set it to 3 claps? That seems like a lot more work. The reason someone would set it to 3 claps is that the clapper is actually very sensitive when you don't want it to be. Any sharp noise can be considered a clap by the clapper. I can turn the clapper on and off by merely clicking my tongue really loudly. You can even activate the clapper by chirping, squawking, or talking in a baby voice. Even though it's sort of unpredictable when the clapper will turn on unintentionally, it's actually also hard to get it to react the way you want it to intentionally. The clap detection mechanism definitely works but the clapper expects these claps to have a certain rhythm or to be spaced out in a particular way. Sometimes you'll mess up and have to stop and wait for the clapper to reset. You can tell if the clapper is satisfied by these red lights that turn on when it detects each clap. If you clap too fast or too slow, the clapper won't work.
With the Clapper's issues of intentional and unintentional activation, the clapper is actually kind of useless. It gets you so frustrated that you would just rather turn the lights on and off yourself by taking your lazy ass across the room.
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posted 04/23/2007 I Used To Have A Compulsive Gambling Problem
The coolest profession in the world might be professional gambler. Now I don't know how many actual professional gamblers there are in the world, or how long they're going to be a "professional" before they lose everything and have to get a real job, but the idea of it is pretty awesome. If you were like a professional card player you'd basically live in a casino, or near one, eat comped food from restaurants and buffets, drink and hang out in bars, meet interesting people from all over the world, and have a ton of money made from gambling all the time.
If you were just a professional sports gambler, you could live where you want and just place money with your local bookie. Right before college, I was trying to figure out a system to bet on football. I barely watched football back then but the action made the game exciting. Betting on any sporting event makes that particular sporting event exciting no matter what the event is. You could bet on kid's soccer and then all of the sudden you won't be able to take your eyes off the game.
I didn't exactly know a lot of people I could make bet's through in high school. It's was always someone who knows someone. I also didn't have very much money at all working weekends at Target so I couldn't really do much damage back then. Once I got to college that was a whole different story.
In college, everyone's trying to be somebody. Either from just studying and getting good grades, or dabbling in things they could never do living at home while being under the watch of their parent's eye. Poor kids wanted to be rich kids, nerdy kids were trying to be cool kids, sober people were trying to be drunk people, and good kids wanted to be bad kids. It's typically a case of getting it out of your system. I know so many people that would fail out after their first year of being on their own or those that would struggle at first and then eventually buckle down.
One of the scratches I apparently needed to itch was my need to try to become a hot shot sports gambler. I still didn't have much money when I went college. I worked in the dorm's mailroom but that only paid me a measly 5.25 an hour for 20 hours a week. I wanted money for a car, for clothes, for dates, for electronics. Plus I liked the excitement of gambling and for some reason, I always thought I could "figure it out" because I was so smart (or rather only thought I was.)
I eventually found people who would take my bet. One of the problems or benefits of using a bookie instead of placing a bet at a legal establishment is that you don't have to put up a single penny up front. What usually happens is that you'll decide about how much you'll initially bet by the amount of money you actually have. So let's say I have a 100 dollars in my wallet. My first bet would probably be something like 100 dollars on the Cowboys this Sunday. Now let's say I lose that. My next line of thought would be, well, I'll make another 100 dollars from my paycheck next Friday so for the Sunday night game, I'll bet another 100 dollars on the Giants, 100 dollars I have yet to make. A responsible gambler would stop after they lose that first 100. It's responsible because you actually have that 100 dollars, you could probably afford to lose it, and you had some fun trying to win. A kind of degenerate gamble would bet that second 100 dollars on a paycheck they have yet to earn. They're degenerate because they don't even have that money yet, they probably can't afford to lose it because they don't have any extra money in the bank, and they're basically working at a job to get nothing in return at this point.
Now I was a degenerate compulsive gambler because I would lose that first 100, the second 100, and put up 250 dollars on the Monday night game. Why 250 you say instead of just 200 to break even? Well, so I could be happy with a profit of 50 bucks if I won. Why break even?? I played to win or lose. How's that for flawed logic?
So how does a college kid afford to pay 450 in one week in football loses? What I used to use to supplement my pitiful wages were credit cards. I had a lot of them. Credit card companies love to give college kids credit cards. I think they operate under the guise of teaching kids responsibility and building a good credit history, but they really just know that if a college kid screws up, there's usually a parent that will bail them out. Credit cards always give cash advances, too. It's usually at a ridiculously high service charge, but what did I care? My college degree was going to make me a millionaire in 4 years anyway right? I just needed to pay the minimum amount until then. I would often take my Discover card and go to the local Sears and get cash money on the spot for a fee and an exorbitant service charge. I don't even think they do that anymore.
It took a while to get it through my head that whatever "system" I had employed was not working. I maxed out that credit card and a couple of others. I even paid for gambling services. You know the ones that promises you "a lock of the year"? I may write more about those jerks another time. I think I fantasized that these gambling services had ties with the Mafia and had the games fixed. They didn't and they sucked. Their picks weren't any better than a monkey picking a name out of a hat.
I was able to quit when I convinced myself that in the long run I would never EVER be able to make back all the money that I've lost. It helped me to stop trying.
I was a full grown adult before I paid off that Discover card. I held on to that debt for years long after I was out of college. I still gamble from time to time but I never chase anymore. At the start of the football season I give myself one set allowance. If I lose that allowance then I'm done gambling for the rest of the season. Sometimes I kick in a little extra for the playoffs. I was actually on the plus side for the past two football seasons but I wouldn't bet nearly the amount of money I did when I was in college. I do the same thing at casinos. I know I didn't invent the "allowance." Gambler's Anonymous commercials are always telling people that for years but I think that's all you need to do to maintain tight controls around fun gambling and destructive gambling.
More on gambling and me and the poker craze at a later time. |
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posted 04/20/2007 The Movie 300 Kind of Stinks
All of my friends who have seen the movie 300 said it's "good" or "pretty good." I think it's pretty bad. The appearance of it doesn't look like any movie that I've ever seen. It's this weird blend of computer graphics and distorted colors that gives it an interesting dreamlike appearance. I believe this movie was done using the same technology as Sin City where there is basically no real set. Everything around the actors is computer generated. The actors are charismatic but it's kind of hard to tell if they're actually good actors because most of the characters just do things like yell "Spaaaarrrtttaaa." Everyone also dresses like a Chippendale dancer. They wear a cape, no shirt, and a codpiece and also have very little body fat. Even if the temperature is hot all the time in Sparta, I still like to wear a light t-shirt or something.
I think this movie is supposed to make you think of really great movies like Braveheart or even Lord of the Rings for it's epic feel and its large scale battles. The movie is nothing like that in terms of having a heart. In Braveheart and Rings, we cared about the characters. There was an intriguing plot and real emotions. All of these 300 characters feel soulless to me and although they are constantly spouting some melodramatic lines, they barely stand out past the background. Now that I think about it, there was another strange thing about the method in which they created this movie. Since everything was done on a computer generated set, it didn't make the environment around them look deep. For example, there is a scene were King Leonidas is climbing a mountain to reach the Oracle. The mountain looks great but you couldn't see anything past the mountain and the sky is some weird watercolor shade. It looks like there is nothing else on the landscape except for one single mountain making the movie actually feel small in scale.
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posted 04/19/2007 I Don't Think I Like Shopping In the Mall for Clothes
I haven't shopped regularly in the mall for a long time. Even when I did, I stuck to the big department stores like Dillard's or Foley's. I might have ventured off to Express for Men some. They were good for nice button down, business casual clothes that I needed to wear as a consultant. Now that I don't have a fancy job anymore, I just really need plain casual clothes but I don't want a billowy t-shit and tapered jeans. I'd still like a nice, athletic fit, thin t-shirt and some cool, boot cut jeans so it's not like I can just get my shirts from Walgreen's. I still want to look somewhat decent.
I was bored at lunch today so I decided to go tool around in the mall and look for some t-shirts. Big department stores like the ones I mentioned above don't really have salespeople. They have people that work the cash registers, answer questions, and clean up the joint but they're not out to really put the pressure on to sell you something. The little places are the ones that turn up the heat. They're the places that keep the dressing room doors under lock and key so that you have to deal with some pushy salesperson. I guess it's ok if they just ask you once if you need any help but most of these people don't take no for an answer. You can tell them you're just looking but it seems like no matter what you do, they want to tell you about some deal, some sale, something looks good on you, or if they can help find it for you in your size. Some people may find this helpful but I find it really annoying. Forget trying to be left alone if you're going during lunch. For the most part, there will usually be one really bored salesman in a big place that doesn't have a single thing to do other than look at you, try to sell you stuff, and just make you generally uncomfortable. I guess I'll have to go back to Tarjay or the internet to find some clothes.
Macy's leave you alone but other little places don't. Banana Republic isn't too bad.
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posted 04/18/2007 Freedom Boat or Coming to America
Some of my white friends like to call this the "Freedom Boat Story." I hope I do my mom's story some justice.
I actually never knew the specifics of
the events that brought my family to America. I don't know if I
never asked, they never told, or I never listened or understood. All
I knew were vague, general things. I knew we came in a boat and I
knew we had to "run". I would hear random things from time to time
but nothing I could put together in a tight narrative or picture in
my head.
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posted 04/16/2007
I think I talk about food a lot but it just seems like everything revolves around food and drink in this country. People eat three meals a day. They snack on things like popcorn at the theaters. They have dinner parties and dinner dates. They drink at bars and social events. They want a coffee beverage in the morning. Some people like warm milk at night. Anywho. I really like a big, fat Chipotle burrito and I was delightfully surprised when a brand new one opened about 4 blocks from me. They even announced their coming by sending me a free burrito coupon.
In the beginning I went there all the time. It was my quick dinner or after drinking food place. I eventually stopped eating it because it started to feel like a brick in my stomach but it was still tasty. I kind of want one now just writing about it.
I hadn't thought about Chipotle for a while but my friend Simon said he used to eat it 2-3 times a week but quit. He didn't think it was that bad for him and maybe even relatively healthy. Well let's break it down. So there's fajita meat if you get the fajita burrito. That's not so bad. There's sour cream and cheese, that's bad. There's rice, whatever. There's some veggies and a big flour tortilla. You can also get some refried beans and then add some salsa. And then you can splurge and get some guac if you're feeling frisky. Guac costs extra.
So how to add this up? Here's a nifty Chipotle calculator that turned Simon off of the burrito: http://www.chipotlelovers.com/calculator.asp
10 years ago I would have laughed in people's faces who counted calories or drank diet soda. I would think the person who wrote this article would be completely gay (I'm not gay.) I vividly remember back in 2000, my friend Enrique ordered a soup and salad and a restaurant and I would laugh and laugh. He's about 6 years older than me. Not soon after I started gaining a lot of weight, I started ordering salads every once in a while. Of course it was probably a Chicken Caesar Salad so that might make it a little more manly or not. |
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posted 04/16/2007 Americans and An Infinite Variety of Food
In this one episode of King of Hill, where Kahn was trying to go back to his Asian (Laotian, what ocean?) roots, he quipped about how he didn't miss eating an infinite variety of foods like Americans do. Of course he actually meant he missed it a lot as he was was trying to get through his daily helping of the same old rice dish.
I like my variety of foods so much that sometimes I'll try to get that infinite variety into a single meal. Often, I don't even care that I'm ordering too much food as long as I get a little taste of everything. The other day me and my gf went to Sam's Boat for a meal. I made to sure to order no less than three different items: crawfish, raw oysters, and fried shrimp (that came with fries.) Delicious. What's better than eating a soggy, wet, and raw oyster and then immediately eating a crispy, salty shrimp right after? When her and I got to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, we order a thin vermicelli dish that has four different types of meats (shrimp, meatballs, chicken, and pork called the Four Seasons), a large bowl of Pho (beef stew with meatballs and sliced steak), and two empty bowls so we can split. We also usually get an appetizer of either spring rolls or egg rolls (not both.)
Maybe Kahn was exaggerating. I'm Asian in descent and while growing up in America, I pretty much ate a rice dish every day. But it was always a rice dish and some other dish. The other dish could be anything. It could be ribs, fish, sea food, chicken, or a number of things mixed with different vegetables and sauces. We were never much of a dessert family although my dad was the one in the family with the sweet tooth as he always kept ice cream in the refrigerator. But I think that qualifies as pretty decent variety.
I don't know what it's like in other countries but I bet we have the most buffets in the world.
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posted 04/12/2007 80's Movie Website
Sometimes I like to peruse this web site that has a ton of trivia information about 80's movies. Some of it's reviews are kind of unintentionally funny too. It might just be because the reviewers love 80's movies so much. Check out this review from the Karate Kid:
The relationship between the boy and his Okinawan handyman teacher is truly on of the most engaging teacher-student relationships ever committed to film . Even Daniel's relationship with his mom is one of the most realistic portrayals seen in a mainstream movie. I love this movie as much as the next person but this reviewer is overstating it a bit. Now that's a big popular movie. I like to browse their list and see some f'ed up movie that I might have watched on HBO in the 80's on some boring Sunday. How about movies like Soul Man, Streets of Fire, Secret Admirer, Some Kind of Wonderful, Raising Arizona, Once Bitten,
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posted 04/12/2007 I Watch Minor League Baseball Games For the Food There's a local, minor league baseball team in Austin called the Roundrock Express. They're associated with the Houston Astros. I can't tell you one player that's on this team and yet I go watch them maybe about twice a month. I don't think I even like baseball. The best part about watching any professional team is drinking beer and eating ballpark food. The biggest draw in town would be the UT foot ball team. I only like watching the University of Texas play on television because it's a real cluster trying to watch them at the stadium. Parking is difficult because there are tailgaters as far as the eye can see. The stadium itself is packed and about half of the stadium doesn't sit so you have to stand for the entire game. They also don't serve any beer and the temperature always seems to be 95 degrees during the height of college football season. Forget trying to get food because you're shoulder to shoulder and there isn't much room to operate. No forget that, I'd much rather go to the far less popular minor league stadium. For the most part, there's always plenty of seating and it can be very roomy depending on where you sit. I constantly get in and out of my chair for beer, food, and potty breaks. I recently went to a game last Friday and here is my gluttonous intake list in order: nachos with extra cheese, hotdog with chili, pretzel and fries, and funnel cake. I also had around 4-5 beers. I wanted more of a "main course" like a turkey leg, wings, hamburger, or something that but I didn't want to bust at the seams.
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posted 04/10/2007 New Section: Nerdy Topics - Video IPOD and MY DVD to IPod Converter Software
I'm going to start a section where I'm going to talk about nerdy stuff. It's not the stuff you talk about when you want to look cool or when you're talking to a pretty girl. It's like when I once talked about red eye reduction, picture altering software and my friend Simon wanted to poke his eyes out.
I recently upgraded from my old clunky 15 gb IPod to the new 30 gb video IPod. I paid about 230 dollars plus tax. I really wanted the 80 gb one but I couldn't justify spending 350 dollars on a new gadget. I probably have about 60 gb of music on my computer, most of which I never listen to but that I kept from the old Napster days. I finally made the move to upgrade because I thought it'd be cool to carry around Movies, TV shows, or fights.
First I tried to imagine when I would have the desire to watch a video on this 2 x 3 inch screen. I remembered seeing my friend's video IPod and being really impressed by the resolution on the screen but it's still a pretty small viewing area. I think the two most useful places for a video IPod would be the airport or the gym. Since I don't travel anymore, I don't need to use it while I'm waiting for planes or shuttle buses. I stopped going to my commercial gym and now I mainly work out in my home gym which is equipped with two televisions, an Xbox, and a computer with a wide screen monitor, so I don't really need it there.
Could I actually watch a movie while I'm at work or would that be too distracting? Would there be enough situations where I'm waiting (like for an oil change) that could possibly justify the upgrade? Probably not but I decided to pull the trigger anyway.
When I got my new IPod I realized that the upgrade was giving me more than just video capabilities. It was giving me a fresh, longer lasting battery. It gave me a bright screen that was easier to read than the greenish screen on my old IPod. It gave me double the hard drive capacity from 15 GB to 30 GB and it also gave me a sleeker, thinner IPod (I think the 80 gb IPod is actually thicker than the 30 GB one.)
I had read that IPod had it's own video file format MP4. Most of the videos and movies I have at home are in AVI/Divx format and I had heard that there was software out there that could do this conversion but I wasn't exactly sure how to go about it and if it even worked.
I did some Googling and came across this review for Cucusoft's DVD to IPOD converter. This software suite would either convert your AVI files or convert a DVD directly into the IPod file format. I converted the Karate Kid Part I, one of the greatest movies of all time even though they could never beat a Jujitsu guy, and Les Miserables in concert (gay). The conversion is perfect. The video and sound are great. I love my new IPod. watching the Karate Kid while I work
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posted 04/09/2007 My Love Affair With the 80s
I have a love affair with all things 80s. I think it's because I'm sort of mentally stuck in this time period. It's kind of similar to how Michael Jackson is stuck in his childhood except that I am NOT a child molester. I'm more stuck in my high school time period similar to Al Bundy who always likes to reminisce about his high school, football playing days. I think this sometimes happens when people don't feel like they got everything out of a certain period in their life or not sure about all the decisions that they made right after.
My parents were very strict when I was growing up so I couldn't really do all the things socially that I wanted. I had an early curfew and I couldn't date so that really limited the fun I could have. I was also terrified of my dad's wraith after seeing him go at it with my siblings so at the time, sneaking out was not a real option for me. I didn't drink my first beer until I was a freshman in college. Oh my deprived childhood! I also remember having this huge crush on this girl, Kelley, who I think also liked me but not being allowed to date her. That rattled resentment in my brain for a number of years. I was also a pretty decent artist back then but didn't end up going to art school. That was actually probably a wise decision because trying to churn out a living as just a fine artist is next to impossible.
So for a while I think I was always a little behind socially. I remember going to my first dance in college and feeling completely ridiculous. I remember getting drunk for the first time and thinking it was weird how liquor sort of made my head feel numb. I think I caught up on everything during my college years and have become a well adjusted adult, but I still love the 80s.
I think a lot of people also love the 80s that are my age because they love their memories of being young. They associate that time as being a cool pre-adult that's having fun right before the responsibilities start to set in.
My friends and I had an 80's party and about 90% of the people dressed up (you can see those pics in the karaoke section.) I started thinking about the 80s this morning because I downloaded a bunch of tv theme songs and it got me in an 80s mood. I was listening to the theme songs of Quantum Leap, 21 Jump Street, Saved by the Bell, Empty Nest, Full House, Major Dad, and My Two Dads.
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posted 04/06/2007 5 Quick Fire Movie Reviews
Norbit - Critics hated this movie. It received only 9% on the tomato meter. I watched this movie with expectations that were less than 0 and had a decent time. One critics said she thought it was stupid that Eddie Murphy's Asian character mixed their L's and R's and that was clearly a Japanese and not a Chinese speech impediment. I don't think people that do racial stereotypes care that much about the accuracy of their depictions. As an Asian man I also wasn't offended so 2 stars **.
the Queen - This movie is old news but I finally saw it. The acting and the story was interesting enough to watch the whole thing but I don't think Americans care that much about the royal family. I could be wrong. 2 stars **.
Snakes on a Plane - This movie stinks. Once we get on the actual plane and the snakes are released it gets very repetitive. Let me see, a snake on the eye, on the crotch, on the tongue, on the tit. It gets very old. 1/2 star.
I Think I Love My Wife - This is Chris Rock's movie and is apparently some French remake with a little urban flair. Critics also disliked this movie. Rock's not exactly an awesome actor but I still like his shtick and the movie felt pretty real. 2 stars **.
Night at the Museum - Total kid's movie with very little redeeming qualities for adults. 2 stars **.
Black Snake Moan - Dark comedy with great performances by Sam Jackson and Christina Ricci. Justin Timberlake also chips in and he wasn't too bad. 3 1/2 stars *** 1/2.
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posted 04/05/2007 The Von Erich Family and Never Really Knowing Quite What Happened
Before the internet and Wikipedia, I think I was in the dark about most things. Bar bets were never settled and I would always hear random stuff on the news, but I never knew quite what happened. Recently, when I get bored, I sometimes think about things I heard about back in the 80s but never knew quite what what happened. That might be a new bit.
As a young man that grew up in Texas and was a fan of pro wrestling (pro wrestling is a joke now), I looked up to Kerry Von Erich and the Von Erich family. Texas had it's own pro wrestling circuit in Dallas and they were Texas's first family of pro wrestling. Now I had always heard that one of his brothers committed suicide and later on Kerry also died. I also think I heard that he had a prosthetic foot that no one knew about while he wrestled but I'm not sure if some kid made that up. That's all I can remember and that could have also been the only thing the media told me at the time. To exorcise my own personal urban myths, I Wiki'ed it.
Kerry Von Erich did lose his foot in a motorcycle accident in 1986 and was wrestling with a fake foot. He did die by taking his own life. Apparently he had a huge drug problem and was one time caught with 300 pills hidden in his crotch at the airport. He feared going back to prison for cocaine possession while he was on probation on a different occasion and shot himself in the chest. He was not the second, but the third brother to commit suicide. His brother Mike committed suicide 1987 and Chris did so in 1991.
So now I know.
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