I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... but when is that anything new? Today I've decided to divert my attention to the RCMP after learning about yet another event that will further taint the RCMP's spiraling reputation. This will more than likely end up with absolutely nothing happening, a slap on the wrist, a wag of the finger? When is the RCMP finally going to have to pay for its numerous mistakes? (To which, there are way to many for me to cover in simply one blog post) How many more people are going to need to be beaten or killed? How many more police officers are going to need to be charged with assault, murder, or worse, (I know, you're thinking what's worse than murder, right?) before major change will be eschewed into a federal organization that has bizarrely managed to steer clear of any kind of major punishment.
Robert Dziekanski's death shed light over various RCMP ineptitude to such a degree that it could not be ignored and those involved will be punished. Tazered five times and restrained despite his obvious screams of pain, he received no medical attention and there was nobody on scene that could even speak his language so he was immediately assumed hostile. Excuse me, what the fuck is that? Is it not the job of a police officer to assess a situation before acting, rather than run in 'guns blazing' as it were. Perhaps Robert would still be alive today if the international airport, heaven forbid, had one staff member on duty that could speak polish and help this man rather than getting the RCMP to act like uniformed thugs.
The mind boggling fact to me is that it has taken them two years of inquiries to decide that the combination of excessive force on the behalf of the RCMP combined with a failure of 'the system' (aka The Airport, although they are maintaining they are not responsible when they arguably deserve more blame than the RCMP...) to guide the visitor to help. The inquiry also lead suggestions that the RCMP by not being answerable to the (provincial) legislature is undemocratic. I don't believe the provincial legislature would do very much to change this, and that's a whole other can of worms I don't want to delve into in my attempt to remain focused. In addition to the inquiries findings. I also find it promising that the RCMP Officers involved in Dziekanski's death will not be spared from being found at fault. The B.C Court of Appeals is still looking in to this matter and although I remain skeptical that the officers will be held accountable, at least there is hope.
The story of Ian Bush is another that caught my eye. Bush, a 22-year-old sawmill worker, was arrested for having an open beer outside a hockey game and giving a false name to police. He was taken without contest to the RCMP detachment and was dead 20 minutes later. The next morning the RCMP had reported to his sister that he had died. They did not even provide a cause of death, citing that "All that we can say is that he is dead." How did he die, you may ask? From a single, close range gun shot wound to the back of his head.
The thing most alarming to me are some of the parts, particularly on the third page of that link. An RCMP Staff Sergeant is quoted as saying "The public doesn't have a right to know anything." Furthermore, the fact that politicians are afraid to stand up against the RCMP for the fear of their careers is alarming. To what depth do the RCMP need to fault before people will seriously consider what a cluster-fuck that they have become? I think the people have EVERY right to know what is happening around them. The Police work for The Government, which is supposed to work for The PEOPLE. Not the other way around!
I think the whole Maher Arar situation is another glaring piece of evidence pointing toward the ineptitude of not just the Canadian but American government as well. If you're not familiar. Arar was detained in New York's JFK International Airport on Sept 26, 2002 and interrogated over links to Al-Qaeda. He was later taken to Syria, and held there for close to a year while being tortured and forced into a false confession. (It's quite proven psychologically that torturing someone would get them to say whatever you want them to say, but Torture is not the discussion here) It was not until the relentless campaign of his wife for his return and the further protest of Canadian human rights organizations that Arar's name was finally cleared in 2006 almost 4 years after his original detaining when the Canadian Government confirmed that the RCMP wrongly told US border officials that Arar was suspected of being a terrorist.
This whole incident forced then commissioner of the RCMP Giuliano Zaccardelli to resign but one of the most mind boggling things out of all of this is the fact that the RCMP officer who led the national security unit that provided false information about Arar to US Authorities was PROMOTED to the rank of Assistant Commissioner. Where is the sense in that? You would think that the officer in charge of providing a faulty report that resulted in the wrongful arrest and torture of a Canadian citizen would be, oh I don't know, fired?
The thing that irks me the most about the RCMP is the fact that, by and large, the RCMP is responsible for policing itself. This is completely undemocratic and unconstitutional. The RCMP does everything in its power to keep its image squeaky clean despite growing evidence to the contrary. This article, which is posted on a ridiculous website, is still a copy of a National Post article where the RCMP Watchdog speaks of how she has no way of knowing if the RCMP is abusing their new anti-terrorism powers. Another article I dug up talks of how the RCMP is uncooperative with the watchdog's inquiries. What good is an external body to monitor RCMP activity if the RCMP can simply IGNORE it?
I feel kind of crazy (if the name of my blog wasn't indication enough...) for even needing to discuss this. It's the rational thought of the average citizen to trust the police force because that's simply the right thing to do. They're there to protect the public and the law, so its only natural to want to trust them. The fact of the matter is however that they are beyond trust, they're beyond the law. If the police don't need to respect the law they are working to uphold than something is wrong. If the police don't need to respect the rights of the citizens that they are sworn to protect, than there is something wrong. The police are so consumed with protecting the prestige of the RCMP that they feel any negative media will taint that. WRONG. Breaking the law for the sake of the prestige of the RCMP will only further taint the RCMP's reputation. I would be willing to bet that if the RCMP showed greater initiative to police itself, punish the corrupt members of its force and strive to (at the very least) appear like the legitimate, respectable federal force that it is supposed to be. THEN people would feel confident about them.
A gut reaction is to suggest that if you don't support police than you're just anti-authority, you don't trust the government, bla bla bla, it's all bullshit. And I'm pretty sure anybody that's read my blog could draw that conclusion but it couldn't be further from the truth. I respect the law. I do not respect the police force and I do not respect the government because they have time and again shown me (and all of Canada) that they are not capable of doing their basic duty. There are great steps that need to be taken by the RCMP and the Government to restore their faith in the people, and it seems for every 'step forward' they may take. They are most assuredly taking two or three steps backwards. The other problem is for every person who may give a damn there are a dozen people who are more content living in their ignorant little bubbles, not giving a shit.
http://www.rcmpwatch.com/ Is an excellent website I've found that has documented not just hundreds, but thousands of instances of RCMP misconduct of various forms. Abuse, cover-up's, corruption, discrimination, harassment, there's pretty much a alphabetical decipherable of the RCMP's outright failure to do their duty in which it is supposed to be done.
http://www.bcrevolution.ca/index.htm Is another website I've found that more focus' on the ineptitude of RCMP in British Columbia (the whole province is a an absolute mess, right down to its crooked Premier Gordon Campbell) Now I have to say this website looks a tad ludicrous and borders a bit on some more conspiratorial elements in some cases but overall its a great resource for the complete facade of the RCMP and especially its representation in B.C.
Until next time my fury meter is entering the red...
PEACE
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
How the mighty have fallen (And why it doesn't really matter)
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... Let me tell you all a little story. It's the year 2001 and gamers are happy. Playstation 2 is the greatest thing since Jesus and everyone's enjoying the multiple capabilities of their little box that was created by Sony. Plays movies? check, Plays old PSOne games, you betcha! In sum, despite its flaws (and anyone that has a raging boner for Sony needs to take a cold shower, the PS2 had many flaws...) the Playstation 2 sold over 500,000 units in the FIRST DAY and netted over 250 million dollars. Who could blame them, Microsoft wanted to get a piece of this money pie!
So here comes: THE XBOX!
While the Xbox managed to sell out on its launch day. Most gamers welcomed the Xbox with the ease a middle age man welcomes a proctological exam. Microsoft's brash system with its bulky, massive design and impossibly giant controllers perplexed the gaming community. But it didn't take long for it to win over the doubters either, thanks to a little game called Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo launched the Xbox into gamers hearts and into the mainstream gaming fold.
I for one, was wary of the Xbox. I play sports games, so I'm immune to the effects of First-Person Shooters. My beloved PS2 and I had been through so much; through it, breaking down on me than me being forced to buy a new one which inevitably also broke down on me. (I wish I was lying...) It wasn't long before I decided "fuck it..." and bought an Xbox, used off my friend for 200 bucks that came with a few games and an extra controller. Score!
The Xbox was a true beast, NOTHING could stop it. It's disc tray even looked like it had its own set of testicles. That's how well put together this machine was. Macho Man could've given it a Savage Elbow from the top rope and it would've destroyed his elbow. If you threw the xbox into a mosh pit, it awesome display of brutality wouldn't just obliterate the moshers but the band as well. The Xbox is a modern marvel of computer engineering. Something gamers should be proud of. (Not to mention that it could be rather effortlessly modded and turned into a gaming pirates dream! Throw in a larger hard drive and your Xbox has just turned into a literal LIBRARY of video games from past and present! Though, I never modded mine, honest!)
(These two cars were pwned after being struck by my xbox)
Now as I ranted about in another blog entry... It wasn't long before my Xbox became obsolete. The gaming scene was changing, evolving, and you needed to open your wallet big time if you wanted to get in on the fun. The Xbox 360 was born!
Its EVERYTHING the original Xbox is not, its the 360!
It was everything the original Xbox was not, it was sleek, stylish, and the odds were 50/50 that your new 360 had a manufacturing defect and would need to be replaced. How did the Xbox fall from a mammoth of the gaming industry that could simultaneously defeat Superman and The Incredible Hulk to some mincing Polly of a machine that can barely play the games it's designed to run without glitching, freezing, scratching the shit out of the discs or red-ring-of-death-ing? (and yet, still surpassing the PS3 in sales? But that's a whole other can of worms...)
I will tell you, GREED. They had to preempt the Sony PS3 beast and Nintendo's innovative "Wii". They needed to be the first on the next generation scene. They only began production on the 360 a mere 69 days before its release date. If that's not a recipe for disaster I don't know what is! They released the 360 Elite in sync with the release of their flagship title Halo 3. The Elite was supposed to have done away with the manufacturing inefficiencies that caused the original 360 to malfunction. There should've been a serious initiative for the Elite in the event that your shitty 360 pro malfunctioned (The odds were pretty heavy that they did. They offered a futile $50 dollar rebate for the Elite provided you met their requirements...)
It wasn't until after this that I experienced a bit of deja vu. I bought a 360 off my buddy for 200 dollars, came with a couple games and an extra controller. His 360 was of course of the original run and It had an astonishing go of things before eventually dying on me, but I took care of that.
So I can't help but wonder, where the hell did things go wrong? Was it when they decided that the 360 needed to be beautiful or was it when they had the bright idea to start production less than 3 months before the release date of the machine?
It's no doubt that when history is said and done with the 360 it will be looked at as a success. It's sold over 39 million units world wide and earned Microsoft hundreds of millions of dollars. Their Xbox Live format is really the most innovative internet console gaming utility right now, you have to pay for it but the benefits are worth it, and it's no doubt earning Microsoft some admirable coin on the side. I really wish, though don't expect, that Microsoft will learn from the mistakes of the 360 but if they've learned anything its that...
1) It doesn't matter if we rush a poorly manufactured product because the Xbox 'brand' is strong enough to stand on its own.
2) If we have a big problem, we can just slap an extended warranty that covers only one of the many defects with our product (The Red Ring). That shitty band-aid will pretty much do the trick.
3) Since Sony's alienated their core fan base with ineptitude in marketing and Nintendo is hell bent on appealing to the niche 'family' market. We're now the mainstream gaming system and can do whatever the fuck we want.
I am NOT looking forward to the 'next gen' as I've previously pointed out, and I really worry to see what kind of put-together-in-a-few-weeks piece of shit Microsoft will throw at us next. My only hope is that Sony has learned from its many millions of dollars worth of mistakes and manages to put out a quality product that will effectively fuck whatever Xbox is put out right in its stupid ass. Then again it's a virtual guarantee Sony will take whatever they're selling, package it with some truly shit games and sell it for at least 100 dollars more than the competition is selling its inferior console for. So let's just give up on hope of Sony dominating the gaming industry ever again.
Until next time, may the force be with you!
PEACE!
So here comes: THE XBOX!
While the Xbox managed to sell out on its launch day. Most gamers welcomed the Xbox with the ease a middle age man welcomes a proctological exam. Microsoft's brash system with its bulky, massive design and impossibly giant controllers perplexed the gaming community. But it didn't take long for it to win over the doubters either, thanks to a little game called Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo launched the Xbox into gamers hearts and into the mainstream gaming fold.
I for one, was wary of the Xbox. I play sports games, so I'm immune to the effects of First-Person Shooters. My beloved PS2 and I had been through so much; through it, breaking down on me than me being forced to buy a new one which inevitably also broke down on me. (I wish I was lying...) It wasn't long before I decided "fuck it..." and bought an Xbox, used off my friend for 200 bucks that came with a few games and an extra controller. Score!
The Xbox was a true beast, NOTHING could stop it. It's disc tray even looked like it had its own set of testicles. That's how well put together this machine was. Macho Man could've given it a Savage Elbow from the top rope and it would've destroyed his elbow. If you threw the xbox into a mosh pit, it awesome display of brutality wouldn't just obliterate the moshers but the band as well. The Xbox is a modern marvel of computer engineering. Something gamers should be proud of. (Not to mention that it could be rather effortlessly modded and turned into a gaming pirates dream! Throw in a larger hard drive and your Xbox has just turned into a literal LIBRARY of video games from past and present! Though, I never modded mine, honest!)
(These two cars were pwned after being struck by my xbox)
Now as I ranted about in another blog entry... It wasn't long before my Xbox became obsolete. The gaming scene was changing, evolving, and you needed to open your wallet big time if you wanted to get in on the fun. The Xbox 360 was born!
Its EVERYTHING the original Xbox is not, its the 360!
It was everything the original Xbox was not, it was sleek, stylish, and the odds were 50/50 that your new 360 had a manufacturing defect and would need to be replaced. How did the Xbox fall from a mammoth of the gaming industry that could simultaneously defeat Superman and The Incredible Hulk to some mincing Polly of a machine that can barely play the games it's designed to run without glitching, freezing, scratching the shit out of the discs or red-ring-of-death-ing? (and yet, still surpassing the PS3 in sales? But that's a whole other can of worms...)
I will tell you, GREED. They had to preempt the Sony PS3 beast and Nintendo's innovative "Wii". They needed to be the first on the next generation scene. They only began production on the 360 a mere 69 days before its release date. If that's not a recipe for disaster I don't know what is! They released the 360 Elite in sync with the release of their flagship title Halo 3. The Elite was supposed to have done away with the manufacturing inefficiencies that caused the original 360 to malfunction. There should've been a serious initiative for the Elite in the event that your shitty 360 pro malfunctioned (The odds were pretty heavy that they did. They offered a futile $50 dollar rebate for the Elite provided you met their requirements...)
It wasn't until after this that I experienced a bit of deja vu. I bought a 360 off my buddy for 200 dollars, came with a couple games and an extra controller. His 360 was of course of the original run and It had an astonishing go of things before eventually dying on me, but I took care of that.
So I can't help but wonder, where the hell did things go wrong? Was it when they decided that the 360 needed to be beautiful or was it when they had the bright idea to start production less than 3 months before the release date of the machine?
It's no doubt that when history is said and done with the 360 it will be looked at as a success. It's sold over 39 million units world wide and earned Microsoft hundreds of millions of dollars. Their Xbox Live format is really the most innovative internet console gaming utility right now, you have to pay for it but the benefits are worth it, and it's no doubt earning Microsoft some admirable coin on the side. I really wish, though don't expect, that Microsoft will learn from the mistakes of the 360 but if they've learned anything its that...
1) It doesn't matter if we rush a poorly manufactured product because the Xbox 'brand' is strong enough to stand on its own.
2) If we have a big problem, we can just slap an extended warranty that covers only one of the many defects with our product (The Red Ring). That shitty band-aid will pretty much do the trick.
3) Since Sony's alienated their core fan base with ineptitude in marketing and Nintendo is hell bent on appealing to the niche 'family' market. We're now the mainstream gaming system and can do whatever the fuck we want.
I am NOT looking forward to the 'next gen' as I've previously pointed out, and I really worry to see what kind of put-together-in-a-few-weeks piece of shit Microsoft will throw at us next. My only hope is that Sony has learned from its many millions of dollars worth of mistakes and manages to put out a quality product that will effectively fuck whatever Xbox is put out right in its stupid ass. Then again it's a virtual guarantee Sony will take whatever they're selling, package it with some truly shit games and sell it for at least 100 dollars more than the competition is selling its inferior console for. So let's just give up on hope of Sony dominating the gaming industry ever again.
Until next time, may the force be with you!
PEACE!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Shooting from the hip
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... I got like 5 hours of sleep and I'm powered on Tim Horton's, LET'S GO!
The American political scene (and the Canadian one, for that matter. Sorry for leading off with politics) is a complete joke. I think that the political template needs to be thrown into a wood chipper Fargo style and rewritten. Politics is all a bunch of bullshit. Men in suits, trying to out-do one another at sounding like they know what's best for our country while representing the 'wholesome values' of those they wish to appeal to. Throwing around buzz words like "socialist" "liberal" "conservative" "democrat" "republican", not in the ways which the words were intended to be used, but in ways that they NEED them for whatever means they're trying to justify.
Nobody cares about what's best for the people. Unless you're Stephen Harper in response to the Haiti earthquake. He just sent people to help, when he was asked about them not 'requesting' for the aid. His response was that they did not have telephones to ask for it.
That's the only smart thing I've seen Stephen Harper do in the ENTIRE time he's been at the forefront of the Canadian Political Scene and it wasn't even in the benefit of CANADA! (not to depreciate the tragedy of Haiti, they really need all the help they can get) If Stephen Harper showed that kind of relentless haste, and optimism in some form of quest to make Canada a better, stronger nation instead of doing the exact opposite. The country wouldn't be divided over which flavor of the month they want to elect into office just to get him out.
THIS hit... (It occurs at about 1:05 into the video)
Is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen on a hockey rink. And you know who delivered that cold-hearted elbow? The Captain of Canada's world junior team! Are you fucking shitting me? I've been a hockey fan a long time and I've seen the Marty McSorley head-slash, and the Todd Bertuzzi incident and both pale in comparison to this. This is cheap, dirty, and a player of such esteem shouldn't just know better. It should be in his best interests to preserve the integrity of the game.
I don't care what kind of drama was occurring on the ice of this game. There is absolutely no excuse for coming off of your bench and elbowing an opposing player in the face who is also, not just coming off his own bench but is nowhere near the puck to begin with! Its cowardly, and he should be banned from the game! These kinds of hits not only tarnish the timid reputation of the game of hockey but they reflect an attitude of play that's dirty, violent and abhorrent instead of what hockey should be about. Fun!
What's worse? New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello doesn't even think a suspension is neccesary for the hit!
"All I know is the incident that transpired. I certainly have spoken to Patrice. Only because of the rhetoric. I asked him how he felt because of the rhetoric. There is no issue from my end of it."
Mikael Tam, the player who received the elbow, went into convulsions after the hit and had to be taken off the ice in a stretcher. It's one thing when you're laying out a player with his head down who's paying more attention to the puck than what's going on in front of him, Scott Stevens style. Elbowing an unsuspecting player in the head who is nowhere near the active play is dirty and it's cowardly.
So Spider-Man has a new director. Mark Webb, the director of 500 days of summer. Fanboys who had huge boners for Sam Raimi and his vision are already crying foul. Listen guys. I hate even bringing this up but there's nothing else I feel like talking about. Creative types aren't restricted to whatever movies they've made in the past. Just because a guy has made a summer romance movie doesn't mean he doesn't have it in him to make a ballsy action flick either. Unless you're, say, Cameron Crowe.
I, for one, am happy that Raimi's gone and I hope it means that we won't see Tobey or Kirsten Dunst either. Spider-Man has needed fresh blood since the second movie. Tobey Maguire is one of the most stoic, boring actors playing one of the most genuinely funny, smart-ass characters in all of comics. The Spectacular Spider-Man Cartoon should be a blue print on how to make Spider-Man awesome. He actually mocks his criminals while he's fighting them. WHILE he's fighting them! That is what spider-man does!
Pardon me while I get fan boy for a second. Mary Jane, she's supposed to be the "Girl Next Door" with insatiable looks and endearing charm that Peter just can't do without. Kirsten Dunst plays Mary Jane just as boring and unwatchably as Tobey does Peter and maybe that's why they're made for each other. It wasn't until I saw How to Lose Friends and Alienate People that I'd seen Kirsten act with a teaspoon of talent and charisma. Where was that in ANY of the spider-man movies?
While I'm on it.. comic book fanboys get so worked up over their precious properties. It's kind of ridiculous. I love Sports Games and I would defend their honor TO THE DEATH, whenever someone defames their quality. Yes, I am a fan boy and I'm able to admit when we're acting like fucking retards but who honestly gives a shit if Ryan Reynolds is going to be playing Deadpool AND The Green Lantern?
Who cares if they re-cast the Spidey films. I will be absolutely baffled if they manage to find actors to portray the leads worse than Tobey and Kirsten did. Throw a couple of rocks, and unless you hit Keanu Reaves and Renee Zellweger you will end up hitting two better actors.
I want to end things on a more positive note. If you're anything like me than you love video games. Few video games have left more of an impression upon me than Mass Effect. The sci-fi epic by BioWare. (who are MASTERS of the RPG format by this point.) Their latest release, Dragon Age: Origins, got a 9.5 on Gamespot just to prove its prowess. They also created the incredibly awesome Neverwinter Nights games. If you're unsure of Mass Effect 2, you should check out this awesome preview.
PEACE
The American political scene (and the Canadian one, for that matter. Sorry for leading off with politics) is a complete joke. I think that the political template needs to be thrown into a wood chipper Fargo style and rewritten. Politics is all a bunch of bullshit. Men in suits, trying to out-do one another at sounding like they know what's best for our country while representing the 'wholesome values' of those they wish to appeal to. Throwing around buzz words like "socialist" "liberal" "conservative" "democrat" "republican", not in the ways which the words were intended to be used, but in ways that they NEED them for whatever means they're trying to justify.
If politicians weren't so preoccupied with alienating those who follow their opposition and spent that time trying to unify the people toward a common goal than maybe more people would be inclined to vote. Politics comes off so much like high school drama but instead of the douche bag with too much hair gel and the whore with a short skirt and no panties. You have adult men in fancy suits squabbling over who holds the best interests for the people when anyone knows that once they have power that they will begin to pander to those who threw the largest amount of money at their campaign.
Nobody cares about what's best for the people. Unless you're Stephen Harper in response to the Haiti earthquake. He just sent people to help, when he was asked about them not 'requesting' for the aid. His response was that they did not have telephones to ask for it.
That's the only smart thing I've seen Stephen Harper do in the ENTIRE time he's been at the forefront of the Canadian Political Scene and it wasn't even in the benefit of CANADA! (not to depreciate the tragedy of Haiti, they really need all the help they can get) If Stephen Harper showed that kind of relentless haste, and optimism in some form of quest to make Canada a better, stronger nation instead of doing the exact opposite. The country wouldn't be divided over which flavor of the month they want to elect into office just to get him out.
THIS hit... (It occurs at about 1:05 into the video)
Is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen on a hockey rink. And you know who delivered that cold-hearted elbow? The Captain of Canada's world junior team! Are you fucking shitting me? I've been a hockey fan a long time and I've seen the Marty McSorley head-slash, and the Todd Bertuzzi incident and both pale in comparison to this. This is cheap, dirty, and a player of such esteem shouldn't just know better. It should be in his best interests to preserve the integrity of the game.
I don't care what kind of drama was occurring on the ice of this game. There is absolutely no excuse for coming off of your bench and elbowing an opposing player in the face who is also, not just coming off his own bench but is nowhere near the puck to begin with! Its cowardly, and he should be banned from the game! These kinds of hits not only tarnish the timid reputation of the game of hockey but they reflect an attitude of play that's dirty, violent and abhorrent instead of what hockey should be about. Fun!
What's worse? New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello doesn't even think a suspension is neccesary for the hit!
"All I know is the incident that transpired. I certainly have spoken to Patrice. Only because of the rhetoric. I asked him how he felt because of the rhetoric. There is no issue from my end of it."
Mikael Tam, the player who received the elbow, went into convulsions after the hit and had to be taken off the ice in a stretcher. It's one thing when you're laying out a player with his head down who's paying more attention to the puck than what's going on in front of him, Scott Stevens style. Elbowing an unsuspecting player in the head who is nowhere near the active play is dirty and it's cowardly.
So Spider-Man has a new director. Mark Webb, the director of 500 days of summer. Fanboys who had huge boners for Sam Raimi and his vision are already crying foul. Listen guys. I hate even bringing this up but there's nothing else I feel like talking about. Creative types aren't restricted to whatever movies they've made in the past. Just because a guy has made a summer romance movie doesn't mean he doesn't have it in him to make a ballsy action flick either. Unless you're, say, Cameron Crowe.
I, for one, am happy that Raimi's gone and I hope it means that we won't see Tobey or Kirsten Dunst either. Spider-Man has needed fresh blood since the second movie. Tobey Maguire is one of the most stoic, boring actors playing one of the most genuinely funny, smart-ass characters in all of comics. The Spectacular Spider-Man Cartoon should be a blue print on how to make Spider-Man awesome. He actually mocks his criminals while he's fighting them. WHILE he's fighting them! That is what spider-man does!
Pardon me while I get fan boy for a second. Mary Jane, she's supposed to be the "Girl Next Door" with insatiable looks and endearing charm that Peter just can't do without. Kirsten Dunst plays Mary Jane just as boring and unwatchably as Tobey does Peter and maybe that's why they're made for each other. It wasn't until I saw How to Lose Friends and Alienate People that I'd seen Kirsten act with a teaspoon of talent and charisma. Where was that in ANY of the spider-man movies?
While I'm on it.. comic book fanboys get so worked up over their precious properties. It's kind of ridiculous. I love Sports Games and I would defend their honor TO THE DEATH, whenever someone defames their quality. Yes, I am a fan boy and I'm able to admit when we're acting like fucking retards but who honestly gives a shit if Ryan Reynolds is going to be playing Deadpool AND The Green Lantern?
Who cares if they re-cast the Spidey films. I will be absolutely baffled if they manage to find actors to portray the leads worse than Tobey and Kirsten did. Throw a couple of rocks, and unless you hit Keanu Reaves and Renee Zellweger you will end up hitting two better actors.
I want to end things on a more positive note. If you're anything like me than you love video games. Few video games have left more of an impression upon me than Mass Effect. The sci-fi epic by BioWare. (who are MASTERS of the RPG format by this point.) Their latest release, Dragon Age: Origins, got a 9.5 on Gamespot just to prove its prowess. They also created the incredibly awesome Neverwinter Nights games. If you're unsure of Mass Effect 2, you should check out this awesome preview.
PEACE
Monday, January 18, 2010
Deja vu
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... Did we all of a sudden forget what happened to WCW in the late 1990's? Well lets step back into the ol' time warp of memory and have a look. its 1996. Some of your favorite WWF wrestlers, Diesel, and Razor Ramon, well, they don't look so good. They look... different. That's because they're different people. The real wrestlers who portrayed those characters, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, have jumped ship to WCW, with one powerful player. Hulk Hogan.
The trio's emergence onto the competition sparked one of the most infamous and memorable events in the history of professional wrestling. The birth of the n.W.o. The n.W.o sent shock waves through WCW. The trio of wrestlers (which eventually turned into a full fledged mob) took out everybody who did, or did not, stand in their way. Every week I would tune in to WCW's Monday Nitro to see who the nWo would strike next. To see Hulk Hogan turned in to a bad guy didn't just enrage the wrestling community, it intrigued them. To see the Hulkster as a bad guy was so shocking but we could not look away. The n.W.o was a force, and a cash cow to WCW. The momentum that WCW gained by this pushed the WWF into the corner, and it almost bankrupted the company. If it weren't for Stone Cold Steve Austin, the landscape of Professional Wrestling would be a very different place.
Fast-forward to 1999. WCW has milked the n.W.o teat worse than Hollywood milking the Saw franchise. The downward spiral was in full effect by this point, and WWE had all but completely regained the momentum they had lost, and then some. WCW was freezing in the ocean like Leo DiCaprio and there was no damsel there to hold its frozen hand, until Vince McMahon came along and bought out WCW. In its final year, WCW lost 80 million dollars and Vince bought WCW, in addition to ECW to complete his monopolization of professional wrestling.
Lets fast forward again to 2002. Total Non-stop Action Wrestling, or "TNA" was formed. Co-founded by wrestler Jeff Jarrett, TNA quickly established itself as an alternative to the now bland WWE product. It had a 6-sided hexagonal ring. The exciting "X-division" which exemplified a high-flyin, high-risk style of wrestling that was not just exclusive to "cruiserweights". TNA had set to establish itself as a refreshing brand of wrestling. One that I found myself drawn towards having grown bored of the tired approach the WWE has to wrestling. Though I didn't exactly have a total fondness to TNA, I appreciated it for being many things the WWE was not.
I liked how TNA pushed its young stars, in particular, AJ Styles. Nicknamed the "phenomanal". AJ Styles wrestling techniques were solid. Athletically, he's probably one of the most gifted wrestlers to enter the ring since Rob Van Dam. I appreciated that TNA would chose to give spotlight to a worker like this, rather than giving spotlight to some old has-been like Scott Steiner. TNA used older stars to boost their rating but they gave spotlight to established stars like Kurt Angle while giving main event time to wrestlers like Christian Cage and Jeff Hardy who would not be given such attention in the WWE.
TNA was putting itself in a position to become another direct rival to the WWE juggernaut which, since its monopolization, has grown stagnant and boring. failing to innovate the industry in any way now that it has no competition. The new stars that the WWE tries to develop are bland, uninspired, they may be the stars that joe-blow wrestling fan wants to see but I (like many) have loved wrestling since my childhood and none of these wrestlers are imaginative or captivating in any way.
For whatever reason, TNA just hasn't been able to get to the next level. So they brought in the big guns. Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan. Bischoff, though not a part of the TNA creative process, was a large reason for WCW's rise, and eventual fall. He is said to be integral to Hogan's involvement in TNA. The debut of Hulk Hogan on January 4th, 2010 marked the first time the WWE had monday night competition for RAW in nearly 9 years since the last airing of WCW's nitro. The introduction of Hulk Hogan introduced what was supposed to be a "new age" for TNA wrestling.
The following iMPACT gave me little reason for hope. The Dudley Boys (now, Team 3-D) started a feud with The Nasty Boys (remember them from WCW 13 years ago? I only did because they were an old school WWF tag team when I was a kid.) who trashed their locker room to instigate a confrontation and Kevin Nash's old n.W.o cronies, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman (otherwise known as 1-2-3 Kid, Xpac or, the guy who has sex with this woman) were out parading around, attacking Beer Money Inc. (Yes, that's the tag team's name) after their match. It wasn't long for the "Xpac sucks" chants to start pouring out and Scott Hall looked visibly drunk off his ass. (I was a huge Scott Hall fan but its hard to support him now when he's in the shape he is now. I can't respect that. He was a incredibly talented wrestler who's demons erroded that all away. He's now just a husk of what he once was) this is not a new age. This is the old age, over a decade older, fatter, and less interesting.
At TNA Genesis, their latest PPV event, they got rid of the 6-sided ring (which I thought was pretty damn cool, and original but what do I know) they introduced Ken Anderson (Formerly Mr. Kennedy of WWE) and The Brian Kendrick (why does he have 'the' before his name... I guess its better than his previous ring name "Spanky") Hall did not wrestle though he was originally scheduled to do so. Beer Money Inc. won that match. AJ Styles is still their world champion. There's still the whole Team 3-D vs Nasty Boys feud to solve, which they hopefully get over with sooner rather than later. My point is, this new TNA era is looking an awful lot like the WCW calm-before-the-storm. The TNA has some upside, but they have a lot of glaring weaknesses that shoot out like an eye sore. I've been trying to get back into wrestling for a while looking to TNA to help with that but it seems like they're doing everything to get me not to watch their program.
At the very least, Vince Russo is nowhere to be seen.
Until next time, PEACE.
The trio's emergence onto the competition sparked one of the most infamous and memorable events in the history of professional wrestling. The birth of the n.W.o. The n.W.o sent shock waves through WCW. The trio of wrestlers (which eventually turned into a full fledged mob) took out everybody who did, or did not, stand in their way. Every week I would tune in to WCW's Monday Nitro to see who the nWo would strike next. To see Hulk Hogan turned in to a bad guy didn't just enrage the wrestling community, it intrigued them. To see the Hulkster as a bad guy was so shocking but we could not look away. The n.W.o was a force, and a cash cow to WCW. The momentum that WCW gained by this pushed the WWF into the corner, and it almost bankrupted the company. If it weren't for Stone Cold Steve Austin, the landscape of Professional Wrestling would be a very different place.
Fast-forward to 1999. WCW has milked the n.W.o teat worse than Hollywood milking the Saw franchise. The downward spiral was in full effect by this point, and WWE had all but completely regained the momentum they had lost, and then some. WCW was freezing in the ocean like Leo DiCaprio and there was no damsel there to hold its frozen hand, until Vince McMahon came along and bought out WCW. In its final year, WCW lost 80 million dollars and Vince bought WCW, in addition to ECW to complete his monopolization of professional wrestling.
Lets fast forward again to 2002. Total Non-stop Action Wrestling, or "TNA" was formed. Co-founded by wrestler Jeff Jarrett, TNA quickly established itself as an alternative to the now bland WWE product. It had a 6-sided hexagonal ring. The exciting "X-division" which exemplified a high-flyin, high-risk style of wrestling that was not just exclusive to "cruiserweights". TNA had set to establish itself as a refreshing brand of wrestling. One that I found myself drawn towards having grown bored of the tired approach the WWE has to wrestling. Though I didn't exactly have a total fondness to TNA, I appreciated it for being many things the WWE was not.
I liked how TNA pushed its young stars, in particular, AJ Styles. Nicknamed the "phenomanal". AJ Styles wrestling techniques were solid. Athletically, he's probably one of the most gifted wrestlers to enter the ring since Rob Van Dam. I appreciated that TNA would chose to give spotlight to a worker like this, rather than giving spotlight to some old has-been like Scott Steiner. TNA used older stars to boost their rating but they gave spotlight to established stars like Kurt Angle while giving main event time to wrestlers like Christian Cage and Jeff Hardy who would not be given such attention in the WWE.
TNA was putting itself in a position to become another direct rival to the WWE juggernaut which, since its monopolization, has grown stagnant and boring. failing to innovate the industry in any way now that it has no competition. The new stars that the WWE tries to develop are bland, uninspired, they may be the stars that joe-blow wrestling fan wants to see but I (like many) have loved wrestling since my childhood and none of these wrestlers are imaginative or captivating in any way.
For whatever reason, TNA just hasn't been able to get to the next level. So they brought in the big guns. Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan. Bischoff, though not a part of the TNA creative process, was a large reason for WCW's rise, and eventual fall. He is said to be integral to Hogan's involvement in TNA. The debut of Hulk Hogan on January 4th, 2010 marked the first time the WWE had monday night competition for RAW in nearly 9 years since the last airing of WCW's nitro. The introduction of Hulk Hogan introduced what was supposed to be a "new age" for TNA wrestling.
The following iMPACT gave me little reason for hope. The Dudley Boys (now, Team 3-D) started a feud with The Nasty Boys (remember them from WCW 13 years ago? I only did because they were an old school WWF tag team when I was a kid.) who trashed their locker room to instigate a confrontation and Kevin Nash's old n.W.o cronies, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman (otherwise known as 1-2-3 Kid, Xpac or, the guy who has sex with this woman) were out parading around, attacking Beer Money Inc. (Yes, that's the tag team's name) after their match. It wasn't long for the "Xpac sucks" chants to start pouring out and Scott Hall looked visibly drunk off his ass. (I was a huge Scott Hall fan but its hard to support him now when he's in the shape he is now. I can't respect that. He was a incredibly talented wrestler who's demons erroded that all away. He's now just a husk of what he once was) this is not a new age. This is the old age, over a decade older, fatter, and less interesting.
At TNA Genesis, their latest PPV event, they got rid of the 6-sided ring (which I thought was pretty damn cool, and original but what do I know) they introduced Ken Anderson (Formerly Mr. Kennedy of WWE) and The Brian Kendrick (why does he have 'the' before his name... I guess its better than his previous ring name "Spanky") Hall did not wrestle though he was originally scheduled to do so. Beer Money Inc. won that match. AJ Styles is still their world champion. There's still the whole Team 3-D vs Nasty Boys feud to solve, which they hopefully get over with sooner rather than later. My point is, this new TNA era is looking an awful lot like the WCW calm-before-the-storm. The TNA has some upside, but they have a lot of glaring weaknesses that shoot out like an eye sore. I've been trying to get back into wrestling for a while looking to TNA to help with that but it seems like they're doing everything to get me not to watch their program.
At the very least, Vince Russo is nowhere to be seen.
Until next time, PEACE.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Eat it, Microsoft!
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... and with good reason. Yesterday was a bizarre day. I got money, which wasn't expected but always good. I was able to buy groceries and eat for a little while longer, which is always nice because you never know when you're going to run out of food when you're unemployed. I was playing Smackdown vs Raw 2010 on my Xbox 360. I rented it from Blockbuster on the weekend and since, I had played it quite consistently. It's a fun game and I was really enjoying it. But then, the unexpected happened...
Now, I shouldn't say it was unexpected. I was thoroughly expecting it in the back of my mind, but as it hadn't happened yet I thought just maybe my Xbox was one of the less than 35% of Xbox Pro's to ship from the manufacturing line without a defect. As it turned out, no such luck. As I hit the A button to continue on with my game. Nothing happened. Eventually the screen went to black, I couldn't power it down with my remote as per usual. I turned off the box, and when I turned it back on that heart stopping moment many 360 owners have felt. Those three red lights started to blink, the red ring of death had finally come to my Xbox.
Panic set in, but Natasha was certain of one thing "I can fix this..." we began to look up videos online of do it yourself repair. Many heralding their own 'do it yourself kits' which would repair the defect, provided you bought their kit to follow their instruction.
The defect, X-clamps which held the heat sinks over the CPU and GPU in place. The clamps design cause the motherboard to bend in ways that are problematic over time, and thus, cause those red lights to appear on your box. The repair is simple, take out the x-clamps and secure your heat sinks with screws and washers. Easy enough.
Day one was a pain, we spent the day looking for anything to do the job, be damned if we were to order somebodies kit online when we could just procure the needed pieces ourselves. We needed screws, we couldn't find the exact kind that we needed so we looked for something that was close. We lucked out, the screws we found were in fact a perfect fit for the heat sinks. There was one problem however, the washers we had were too big, so when we re-installed the heat sinks the heat sink over the GPU was not parallel with the chip. When the box started up, it sounded like a miniature hot rod engine was roaring up. Instead of three red lights coming to the light ring, only two lit. Which signaled to us that the box was overheating. We were winning, but we weren't victorious yet. It was a long day by this point, much of it had been spent procuring resources it was time to give up for the day.
I have to say here, that I don't deserve any of the credit. Natasha was the driving force of this effort. Though I have small knowledge of computers and their working parts. This knowledge is completely eclipsed by Natasha's computer knowledge and her know how is the only reason I'm telling this story. I had pretty much given up on my Xbox but Natasha's perseverance and utter refusal to give in was the only reason I'm even telling this story.
This morning, she was driven, last night she had formulated a plan and she was certain she could get my 360 functioning again. We set out to find nylon washers as opposed to metal ones. Home Hardware was a dead end of sorts. We couldn't find nylon washers but we did find fiber washers, which ended up being what we wanted to use to begin with so we doubly lucked out there. By this point, disassembly and reassembly of the xbox was like second nature to us. We'd taken it apart a few times already so it was quite easy by this point. We spent the majority of our efforts this morning cleaning off the CPU, GPU and heat sinks of the old thermal paste that had effectively caked itself on, before applying new thermal paste.
We re-attached the heat sinks and put it back together and tested it out. Same result, what the hell? Natasha then decided to tell me that we should use two washers instead of the three that we had used. So we opened up the box, yet again, and made the modifications, applied a new layer of thermal paste and closed it back up again. As I plugged in the Xbox I was doubtful, our efforts to this point had been void of reward and overall very stressful on both Natasha and myself. As I powered up the 360, the unexpected had happened.
The four power lights blinked green, and the familiar pattern of the lights rolling around the power button had begun. The Xbox successfully booted up, no red lights of failure. Only smooth, excellent running Xbox. Needless to say, I was elated, and still am. I feel happy to say that I repaired my box for only about 20-30 dollars. To date, I have given no money to Microsoft for my purchase. (aside from any royalties they may receive from game purchases anyway...) I bought my Xbox used. I didn't send it in for repairs, we did it ourselves and we got it done. My xbox works. I feel vindicated. Eat it, Microsoft!
Now, I shouldn't say it was unexpected. I was thoroughly expecting it in the back of my mind, but as it hadn't happened yet I thought just maybe my Xbox was one of the less than 35% of Xbox Pro's to ship from the manufacturing line without a defect. As it turned out, no such luck. As I hit the A button to continue on with my game. Nothing happened. Eventually the screen went to black, I couldn't power it down with my remote as per usual. I turned off the box, and when I turned it back on that heart stopping moment many 360 owners have felt. Those three red lights started to blink, the red ring of death had finally come to my Xbox.
Panic set in, but Natasha was certain of one thing "I can fix this..." we began to look up videos online of do it yourself repair. Many heralding their own 'do it yourself kits' which would repair the defect, provided you bought their kit to follow their instruction.
The defect, X-clamps which held the heat sinks over the CPU and GPU in place. The clamps design cause the motherboard to bend in ways that are problematic over time, and thus, cause those red lights to appear on your box. The repair is simple, take out the x-clamps and secure your heat sinks with screws and washers. Easy enough.
Day one was a pain, we spent the day looking for anything to do the job, be damned if we were to order somebodies kit online when we could just procure the needed pieces ourselves. We needed screws, we couldn't find the exact kind that we needed so we looked for something that was close. We lucked out, the screws we found were in fact a perfect fit for the heat sinks. There was one problem however, the washers we had were too big, so when we re-installed the heat sinks the heat sink over the GPU was not parallel with the chip. When the box started up, it sounded like a miniature hot rod engine was roaring up. Instead of three red lights coming to the light ring, only two lit. Which signaled to us that the box was overheating. We were winning, but we weren't victorious yet. It was a long day by this point, much of it had been spent procuring resources it was time to give up for the day.
I have to say here, that I don't deserve any of the credit. Natasha was the driving force of this effort. Though I have small knowledge of computers and their working parts. This knowledge is completely eclipsed by Natasha's computer knowledge and her know how is the only reason I'm telling this story. I had pretty much given up on my Xbox but Natasha's perseverance and utter refusal to give in was the only reason I'm even telling this story.
This morning, she was driven, last night she had formulated a plan and she was certain she could get my 360 functioning again. We set out to find nylon washers as opposed to metal ones. Home Hardware was a dead end of sorts. We couldn't find nylon washers but we did find fiber washers, which ended up being what we wanted to use to begin with so we doubly lucked out there. By this point, disassembly and reassembly of the xbox was like second nature to us. We'd taken it apart a few times already so it was quite easy by this point. We spent the majority of our efforts this morning cleaning off the CPU, GPU and heat sinks of the old thermal paste that had effectively caked itself on, before applying new thermal paste.
We re-attached the heat sinks and put it back together and tested it out. Same result, what the hell? Natasha then decided to tell me that we should use two washers instead of the three that we had used. So we opened up the box, yet again, and made the modifications, applied a new layer of thermal paste and closed it back up again. As I plugged in the Xbox I was doubtful, our efforts to this point had been void of reward and overall very stressful on both Natasha and myself. As I powered up the 360, the unexpected had happened.
The four power lights blinked green, and the familiar pattern of the lights rolling around the power button had begun. The Xbox successfully booted up, no red lights of failure. Only smooth, excellent running Xbox. Needless to say, I was elated, and still am. I feel happy to say that I repaired my box for only about 20-30 dollars. To date, I have given no money to Microsoft for my purchase. (aside from any royalties they may receive from game purchases anyway...) I bought my Xbox used. I didn't send it in for repairs, we did it ourselves and we got it done. My xbox works. I feel vindicated. Eat it, Microsoft!
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