1:28 PM
We saw Revenge of the Sith over the weekend. It was definitely the best of the prequels, but it still wasn't as good as the three original movies.
The dialog was unbelievable - literally. George Lucas, please stop writing scripts. The diction and formality of everything was over the top. Nobody talks like the people in the Star Wars prequels do - not even the people in your original Star Wars movies!
When a wookie flew into the scene on a vine and does a goddamned Tarzan yell, I wanted to stand up and yell "Bullllll SHIT! Who made this movie!?"
There wasn't a single non-CGI droid in the entire film - excluding C3P0 and R2D2. My favorite part about the old Star Wars movies was seeing all the scary looking droids that made terrifying motorized sounds when they moved and gave you nightmares. Remember all those half-assembled droids on the jawas' sand crawler? Of course you do - that's because they were believable and if you're anything like me they scared the shit out of you. But these stupid CGI 'battle droids' and from the prequels? Their movements are unnatural and unimpaired by silly things like 'gravity' and 'wind resistance', they look like they're made of plastic, they're dumb as rocks, and any motors that may be powering their joints are completely silent.
Honestly, if I saw an RA-7 or a Power Droid (from the old movies) coming towards me, I would get the hell out of the way. Battle droids and other CGI creations are not scary in the least.
So yay, at least this is the last Star Wars movie ever. I don't know how much more scarring my pleasant childhood memories of Star Wars can take at this point.
9:48 AM
Sirius updated their channel lineup this week.
New channels include Jimmy Buffett's Radio Margaritaville on 98 and Martha Stewart Living on 131.
Sirius Vacation has moved from 99 to 97, and while the programming remains the same the channel has been renamed "Sirius" on the program guide, leading me to assume that Vacation is not long for this world. I'd guess that Margaritaville will play everything that Vacation plays now.
The "Our Time" women's channel has been removed from the lineup. Our Time programming is still played on 125 but is now pre-empted by sporting events.
AirAmerica on 144 is now called Talk and should get some new programming once AirAmerica leaves Sirius for an exclusive deal with XM. (I guess hippies just love working with ClearChannel - go figure!)
2:28 PM
Scannerbase's 246T Audio Recorder 1.0 is a simple and effective piece of freeware that'll work with Uniden's BC246T and SC230 scanners to automatically record any audio that comes through the scanner.
When pasted into an mp3 player's playlist these recordings effectively eliminate the silence between tramissions to provide you with a continuous listening experience - very useful if you spend a lot of your time tuned in to stations with very little radio traffic.
11:16 AM
Nutmeg has laminitis. We were at the barn late last night with the vet shooting her up with drugs, an IV - the works. In the next few days we'll have some x-rays done to see how bad the damage is and then make some more decisions from there.
This came at the worst possible time. Tammy's going to be in Las Vegas at a tradeshow next week and we've spent a frightening amount of money to have workers beautify our house just a few days ago. That won't even be done for two weeks, so I'm having to walk around air compressors and wood splinters in my living room, making my own home not feel like the most comfortable place to be. So I'm a little tired and frazzled today. I can only imagine how Tammy feels. She's the strongest person I know and she's holding up really well.
9:52 AM
Thurl Ravenscroft died over the weekend. If you ever wondered to yourself why Tony the Tiger was narrating your trip on the Disneyland Railroad, it's because Thurl Ravenscroft was doing the talking.
An accomplished voice-over actor, Thurl provided narration and voices for countless Disneyland attractions, and he can still be heard in many corners of the park even today.
9:58 AM
Our pal Stacy's been out of town on business for a week, so we took Steve out to Sushi on Saturday night. I stuffed my face. After dinner we went back to his house and hung out around the fire pit.
9:19 AM
I have it on good authority that Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom will start its public beta on Monday the 23rd. Visit the site on Monday to sign up.
8:57 AM
You may have seen what the Game Boy Micro looked like, but have you actually held it in your hands? If not, look at these photos. It's seriously miniscule...just a little bigger than a box of toothpicks. Even with 20/20 vision I think playing games on this thing would be a struggle.
12:41 PM
GreenZap is an upcoming PayPal competitor. From everything I've heard/read/seen about PayPal, they could really use some competition.
GreenZap is giving away $25 to anyone who signs up before they officially open this summer. Do me a favor and use this link to sign up, and that way we'll both get money!
2:06 PM
I spotted this curious van on the way home from work yesterday and had to take a picture.
It's covered in grass. It's fake grass that looks very real, but grass nonetheless. The company that owned the van installs synthetic lawns and I thought it was a clever way of advertising!
A quick Google search came up with a bunch of synthetic lawn photos. Some of the cheaper grasses are totally ridiculous (RT560, I'm looking at you,) but other denser options like the LS520 look really attractive and would definitely fool me. If my tiny lawn ever decides to spontaneously die, I might be tempted to consider a synthetic replacement! All because of some stupid van!
9:14 AM
Aaand here's some photos of Nintendo's Revolution. That sucker is TINY.
Of the three newly announced consoles, I'd have to say that the XBox360 is the winner in the looks department. The Xbox and PS3 controllers, however, make me want to cry. Going wireless was a great decision, but making controllers so bulky and ugly was a mistake, I think.
I'm curious to see what the Revolution controllers look like. Nintendo has a history of screwing up their controllers and hasn't produced quality gamepads since their SNES days.
9:14 AM
I finished ICO (review) over the weekend. Some of the puzzles in the beginning of the game are really tough, but once you get past those it's not too hard to finish. What a great ending too! I was totally into it.
ICO was released way back in 2001 and the graphics are so good it looks like a current-generation game.
Now I'm more excited than ever to play Shadow of the Colossus! I mean god, just look at those screenshots! How could you not want to play that game?
10:20 AM Sveasoft's Alchemy firmware for the Linksys WRT54G is one of the more popular firmware replacements available for that router. Sveasoft has taken a lot of heat for charging money to access the latest versions of their firmware in the past, so I won't rehash all that drama here. However this morning brings news that the latest version of the Sveasoft firmware, Talisman, has just been leaked with its accompanying copy-protection scheme stripped out. It's being called 'Freeman'. Enjoy!
10:29 AM
Wow. That Xbox show on MTV yesterday was 100% worthless, completely devoid of any substantive information about the new Xbox. But hey, you got to listen to some crappy band called "The Killers" and watch some motorcycle builders customize an old Xbox case. WOW. That really made me want to keep watching. Way to really latch on to the video-game-playing demographic! The MTV show actually killed a large part of my enthusiasm for the Xbox 360.
Here's a downloadable version (31mb, wmv) of the GOOD video linked to earlier. That'll get you where you need to be.
6:32 PM
The OurColony viral marketing promotion for the Xbox 360 came to a close today.
The prize for finishing the game was this video (streamed, wmv) that shows what the new console is all about. I'm a little excited, to be honest! Every game is in HD and 5.1 surround. I don't know if EVERY game really needs to be 'Xbox Live-Enabled' but I wasn't on the design team.
5:57 PM
Southern California may soon be getting an NFL franchise. Where the team will be located remains to be seen, but the four cities
competing for the tax revenue are Pasadena, Carson, Los Angeles (downtown,) and my own hometown of Anaheim.
I don't know if Anaheim really needs the money or the additional traffic congestion. The Disneyland resort seems to pull in quite a bit of both, and the upcoming GardenWalk project along Katella promises more of the same.
The OC Register speculates about what a football stadium could mean for the area around Angels Stadium. Either way, it's exciting stuff! I may not give a crap about football, but I sure wouldn't mind more money flowing into my city. The tourist revenue that we get now from Disney and the convention center helps keep my roads clean and my utility bills low!
If you're asked for logins at the OC Register's site, the BugMeNot Firefox plugin will make you happy!
1:31 PM
The 1GB NEO Flash is now on sale, but at $269 it's one of the biggest ripoffs in the exotic world of flashcartery.
You could gain essentially the same functionality by buying a 1GB EZFlash III and installing the FlashMe firmware on your Nintendo DS, thereby negating the need for a DS cartridge altogether and saving yourself $100 in the process.
11:16 AM
Remember, tonight is the Xbox 360's official unveiling to the world on MTV. Granted, photos have alreadybeenleaked and specs have already been released. but actual gameplay video has been pretty hard to come by.
Here's a Tivo Link to schedule a remote recording.
"With over 15 years experience and 160 patents in carbon nanotube technology and flat panel displays, we have developed a technology that could enable the next generation of large-size flat-panel displays to deliver an extraordinary visual experience at a fraction of current prices," said Jim O'Connor, vice president of Motorola technology incubation and commercialization.
He said a 40-inch screen will cost less than $400. This compares with 40-inch liquid-crystal plasma screens costing $2,500 and up today.
9:52 PM
With only two pressings ever made - each 50 years old - ABC's original soundtrack discs for Disneyland's live opening day telecast are a rare find indeed.
11:46 PM
"Your local weather on the 8s" is something we've all gotten used to watching on The Weather Channel. But how, you may have wondered, does your local cable company manage to splice your local forcast into TWC's national broadcasts? Whelp, TWC provides every subscribing cable company with something called "WeatherStar" and this dedicated piece of hardware automates the process of retrieving and displaying current weather forecasts at the appropriate time.
In the early 1990s, "WeatherStar 4000" was in use. It has since been officially retired in favor of newer technology, but is still in use by many cable companies around the country.
Behold, the WeatherStar 4000 Emulator. It takes about 20 minutes to get it configured properly, but boy howdy it's a pixel-perfect emulator, right down to the announcer's voice and smooth jazz background music.
I watched a lot of The Weather Channel when I was younger, and I'm not really sure why...Usually when there wasn't anything on TV I'd just turn it on to have something playing in the background. This emulator brings back those golden days.
"Well, I knew that either the company was going to mandate us to do something to be supportive of the 50th or we'd come up with something on our own. Usually there's never any time to put these things together, to put a lot of thought into stuff. I had been thinking about it for five years, so I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do, and when I played the little montage I had made for our sales and marketing teams, they were jumping out of their seats saying "Oh my god, I remember that!... That's going to be on there too?" Getting that reaction from them really meant something. They were all behind it."
9:58 AM
This morning a US Court of Appeals killed the broadcast flag, something that would have effectively prevented you from recording certain television broadcasts and then using those recordings for your personal use in whatever manner you see fit. After a certain date, all home theater hardware sold in the US was to be 'broadcast flag-enabled' to prevent illicit copying of audiovisual materials across different devices.
The ruling today (PDF) basically says that the FCC had no authority to mandate the creation and enforcement of the broadcast flag.
As the television industry slowly moves toward an all-digital use of the broadcast spectrum this is GREAT news for consumers who value a high-quality television experience!
9:43 AM
Going to Disneyland on weeknights turns me into a zombie the next day. I'm so wiped out it's not even funny.
By the time we got to the park after work last night the crowds had died down a fair amount:
We made it to the Blue Bayou for dinner. The standby line was only like 15 minutes long!
I got chicken florentine and cleaned my plate
After dinner we moseyed on over to the hub and managed to get great spots to see Remember just 45 minutes before the show started. The crowd watching today was a lot more vocal than the one watching on Monday. People were hootin' and hollerin' and breaking into spontaneous applause all throughout the show. It was a great atmosphere and we really enjoyed ourselves.
Cameraphones suck in general, and for nighttime/firework shots they suck TIMES TEN.
"Remember" only gets better with repeated viewings, and I highly recommend repeated viewings!
2:39 PM
Do you have what it takes to operate the controls of a nuclear reactor without blowing yourself to kingdom come?
The BWR Reactor Simulator will allow you to hone your uranium-shufflin' skills without being a danger to yourself or all those around you within a 500 mile radius.
9:46 AM
TOILET SEAT ASSISTANCE IN ROW NUMBER ONE PLEASE THANK YOU
If you missed Rosie O'Donnel's riveting performance as a mentally handicapped lady in "Riding the Bus With My Sister" on CBS the other night, tvgasm.com has very nicely assembled a video montage of the best parts.
9:17 AM
I got a tip yesterday that Disneyland was going to do the first test run of the new fireworks show, completely unannounced, for the public last night. Sure enough, 20 minutes after the "official" park closing time we were there in the hub watching the new show.
Steve Davison, the show's producer, was mingling through the crowd nametag-less to get a feel for reactions and there were more than a few camera crews documenting everything.
I don't think I've ever seen a better fireworks show in my life. There's tons of low-level pyro launch stations encircling the hub, and the end result is that there's so many different layers of effects shooting off in front of you and all around you that you almost feel like you're in the center of a fireball.
If you're thinking of visiting the park soon, you really do need to be standing in the hub to get the best view.
The show starts 'for reals' on Thursday and plays at least through the summer. Check the resort calendar for showtimes.
You'll have to indulge me over the next few days as I go Disneyland crazy. I realize it's not everyone's cup of tea, but you have to admit that lasting 50 years is a major feat for any theme park...especially when it's the first "theme" park that we're talking about.
Australia's channel 7 was shooting live video in the hub this afternoon. Tammy and I are now Australian TV superstars! Well not really, but we walked by the cameras while they were filming. I was also lucky enough to pick up a copy of the 6-disc Limited Edition Musical History of Disneyland at the park this afternoon, right before they sold out.
Coming home to a nice warm class of Southern Comfort was the perfect ending to a sweet, sweet day.
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