Primer

Primer is an independent film that won both the Grand Jury Award and the Alfred P. Sloan Award at the 2004 Sundance film festival. I was introduced to this movie last night by my roommate Chris. It starts up a little slow. You are introduced to the main cast consisting of four friends who all have full time jobs, but have been taking turns trying to come up with a business idea that will take off. So far, none of the ideas have been winners. They spend an extra 30 hours a week doing experiments in the garage of a generic house in an unnamed town. One day the two main characters Aaron and Abe make an astonishing discovery in the garage. They must decide how to use the device they invented and then how to deal with the consequences of using it.

The actors' dialog was excellent in that it sounded like they were actually talking. This movie was definitely worth seeing. The end becomes difficult to follow which warrants watching it multiple times. Apparently out of the 80 total minutes shot for the movie, only 4 were cut out. That's one hell of a good ratio. I give this movie a 8/10 for it's dialog, budget, and intelligence. Primer is no action or comedy movie, it is for the mind.

WORK!

I have been so busy this week. I can see how some people can't just leave work at work and go home when they know they've worked enough. I have started to do that lately. Letting things go for a while never killed anyone (I don't think). I get about a 30 minute break today because I created it, not because I don't have anything to do. So much stuff to do that its ridiculous. THat's about it.. I'd rather spend my break not writing this blog. ;)

Indie Music CD

I am currently looking through as much of the internet as I can get my hands on in order to put together an indie CD of maybe 17 songs or so. I will post a link to this CD for your enjoyment on this and maybe the other blog as well. I am really looking forward to it. I have gotten about 24 songs so far, but I want to get about 40 so I can narrow them down to the best. Hopefully I'll be done with this in about a month or maybe before. I am looking everyday. :)

Busy Yet Bored

Lately I've been too busy to write on this blog, but not busy enough to not be bored at times. I still don't know how that works. So this is just going to be my current mind dump. I got my KVM switch and it's working fine for my Slackware server and my PC at home. I'm working on securing my lniux box and have implemented several things, yet I realized there's really nothing on it to protect... yet. I have been busy trying to write a good review of a new album by Dave Doobinin on my other blog http://auralreview.blogspot.com/. I am just about half way through with In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality, but it, too, is a little boring at times. One of the main things I can count on to NOT be boring is my girlfriend, Diana.

I have decided to dual boot my PC at home AND my work laptop to both Windows and Linux. Slackware on my work laptop and Ubuntu on my home PC as soon as the new one comes out. That might keep me busy for a while. I still keep up my routine of going to work out 3 times a week. I think I may want to start going to a coffee house with my work pc so I can work on linux, my server, and my work work at the coffee house. Of course they have to have free internet.. so this limits it to two places that I'm aware of in Memphis. Java Cabanna or Atlanta Bread company. We shall see what will come of this. Until then, check out my other blog. I listen to music until I get sick of it just about daily. You never know what you're going to find.

-Pro

Our government/economy is destined to collapse

You heard it here first (maybe). Our government or economy is set for a crash unless those who are greedy and in power do something about it. This won't happen. It's depressing. Too bad money, oil, and greed run this country incorrectly I might add. Every empire in the past has come to its collapsing point. They reach their peak and then begin to fall. Do you think it's any coincidence that the Euro has gained so much on the dollar? Do you think it's happenstance that arabic banks have started changing their money from the US Dollar. I think not. I think it all means something and I think that we should be prepared. I keep getting really bad feelings about the United States. I read an article today about how the federal government won't be able to pay off its debt unless we do something... how is this even possible? We keep spending... but on what? I haven't seen any money go to schools, roads, public anything. I believe power should be shifted back to the states since our name is the United States of America, and not the federal government of america. The government's job is to serve the people, not exploit them. Though I supposed pretty much every government has had to exploit the weak and the poor in order to gain more money and power themselves. Why should the supposed best country in the world be any different? The masses are too fat, happy, apathetic, and selfish to change anything. I think for this reason that the US of A will spiral downward towards a collapse. Even Alan Greenspan retired... I think the economy just about killed the poor guy. There are plenty of signs and there are few options. I don't know if we can make it to the next presidential election. May God have mercy on our souls and our corrupt country.

Trip to Beaufort, SC

It has been yet another week with no blog. Surprising since when I first started this, I was doing almost two a day. I recently took a trip with my girlfriend, Diana, to see my Dad in Beaufort, SC. I didn't even know how much I needed a vacation until I was on it. I shuffled some hours around last week so that I could leave at about noon Wed. 3/8/06. I went home, ate lunch, and packed. Nick picked us up at a little before 3PM so we could catch our Delta flight. Diana apparently hates flying. Luckily we made it fine to Savannah, GA (about one hour away from Beaufort) at about 9PM. My stepmom, Kay, and my Dad picked us up at the airport and we talked for the hour it took us to get to their house.

My dad had a guest house built and barely finished before we got there. The guest house sits back and to the right on the property and includes a single car garage, a small workshop for my Dad's woodworking tools, and a guest suite with a kitchenette. The colors are French, blue and yellow, which make the guest suite look bright, happy, and open. There are many windows in the guest room as well which also adds to the openness.

Wed. night we pretty much got there and unpacked, then went to bed. Thursday morning I had to wake up at 6:30AM to do some work for about 4 hours. This was extremely frustrating considering that my Dad's internet connection kept cutting out since their ISP Hargray is horrible in their area and can't keep a connection. By the way Hargray, it's not CLIENT SIDE you IDIOTS. INCOMPETENT PEOPLE THAT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THOSE WHO KNOW LESS BY TELLING THEM IT'S THEIR FAULT MAKE ME SICK. That being said, I had to 'borrow' the neighbor's wireless. Their wireless wasn't very strong in my Dad's house so thanks to the new and "better" asset management software hogging all the bandwidth, I got cutt offline probably 10 times until it was finally done making my life a living hell. After that things went smoothly. Once I was done with the work, I helped my Dad clean up his office for a new desk so I could set up his computer. While I was doing all this work, I felt bad for Diana who had to entertain herself for countless hours, but I knew I had to work and I'm pretty sure she knew when I asked her to come, though I dunno if either of us knew how much I had to work. Luckily that day we got to take a couple of walks, one to the big dock and one to the smaller one. Later that night we took a car down to Beaufort's downtown area. We ate at a restaurant called Panini's. It was alright, but my lasagna was a little over cooked. There were plenty of shops to take a look in after we ate.

Friday I worked again in the morning setting up my Dad's new office fruniture and computer... then I finally got to a near completion stopping point and Diana and I went to the beach. On the way we stopped at a small seafood restaurant and got fried pickle spears and chicken fingers. The chicken fingers weren't exactly cooked all the way through and I ate a whole one. This made us both lose our appetite. After they took those off the bill and we paid, we continued to the beach. We walked up and down the beach without shoes collecting shells along the way. It was extremely windy that day and a little overcast. We both had on light jackets to shield us from the wind and the sand that it carried. After we collected enough shells, we headed back to the homestead. A little later that night we grilled out steak and greens. That was a great dinner. It was hard to believe that we would be leaving the next day.

Saturday morning we woke up and ate corn pancakes which were quite good. We also got to take a boat ride and check a crab trap to see how many were in it. This day it was very sunny and much less windy than the day before, though the boat ride was still bumpy. We got to see an old plantation house which was very cool. I took my Yashica camera with me so I could get some good black and white pictures. This was one of them. This reminds me... I hope that putting the camera through the Xray machine didn't destroy the film. Oh well, a little late to worry too much about that now. After we got back, we packed and headed out about 1PM to Savannah, GA where we ate lunch and drove around to see all the pretty squares in the downtown area. We also walked along the touristy area on the riverbank so Diana could do a bit of shopping. After a couple of hours, my Dad dropped us off at the airport so that we could come home. We each checked a bag and waited for our flight.

The two flights home were much better than the two going to Savannah, GA. Delta seemed to sense our bad flights and tried to make up for it this time. The flights were fine, but Delta promptly lost our baggage and didn't bother to tell us. We had to go to the window and wait in line to give them our information. This consequently bumped Chris over the free 30 minute time frame for short term parking. Delta says they don't have anything to do with parking and parking said the same thing about Delta when we asked if we could get the ticket validated. Funny thing they're both at the airport. It being completely Delta's fault that we went over the 30 minute time limit, I don't see why they couldn't pay for the parking. Fortunately we got our bags yesterday and they, and everything in them, smell of jet fuel. Thanks Delta.

I don't know what it is about me and companies/corporations, but it seems they always try to screw me (Delta, Airtran, Cingular, Sprint, Buy.com, Time Warner, MLGW to list a few). I guess it's fitting that I am currently employed by one. I really enjoyed the trip and I'm very glad that Diana got to go with me. It leads to a less stressful work week.

AOL Opens up AIM Code

When I saw this article on Slashdot, I must say I got pretty excited. According to Red Herring,AOL is releasing AIM's code, which will provide developers with the code they need to interact with the AIM servers. I'm hoping we will be able to see many many more features on these newly developed instant messenging programs. It makes me want to make my own.. or act on an idea I had earlier with Nick. We will see what happens.. but hooray for open source!

Watching a DVD on your Computer

Watching a DVD on your computer may not be as easy as it sounds. I have been frustrated year after year of all of this software that comes with DVDs to supposedly let you watch it on your computer. All of this software is half assed and my computer has crashed so many times when trying to view a DVD that I bought. I think that it's a load of crap that you cannot watch a DVD you bought on your or any computer. The reason you need this software is because the DVDs are encrypted with CSS (Content Scrambling System). The DeCSS is the program needed to decrypt the DVDs, but is not available free because the people who created CSS wants you to use hardware to play the movie so they could receive royalties on it. Crock of shit. Anyway, now you don't have to have non free software or hardware to play DVDs on your computer. This program is called DVD43. It runs in your background and recognizes when you put a DVD in and will decrypt everything allowing you to watch the DVD in a multitude of media players. While it's not the ideal solution, it's still one that works. Hope you enjoy.

Ultraviolet

Last night the movie Ultraviolet opened. I agreed quite some time ago to see it with Lofidelity at the Paradiso. So we gathered some friends and prepared to be awed by action. It turns out the only thing worse than the acting was the script they were reading. Ultraviolet was THE worst movie I have ever seen in my life and I have seen some horrible ones. The action was not even that good and that is the reason we went to see it in the first place. Everything you have ever heard that made you cringe because it was so corny in other movies was conveniently packed into this one half assed action movie. Ultraviolet is 88 minutes of pure shit. Do not waste your money on this movie like I did.
Rating: 1/10 (The 1 is because I don't see how they could possibly even put this movie out. The fact that they did means they know something I don't.)

Comedy on the Web

In a previous post called Comedy Shorts, I briefly mentioned two websites. One was Channel101.com and the other was Channel102.net. They have some funny skits on there such as The 'Bu, Dick Richards, Private Dick, Wastelander, Locked in a Closet, and more. After watching The 'Bu, and then seeing Andy Sandberg on Saturday Night Live, I was interested to find more of his skits. Today Nick IMed me with a link to a video in which there was a link to thelonelyisland.com. How interesting. It seems these three guys have started really making names for themselves from Andy Samberg performing on SNL to Akiva directing two of the videos from We Are Scientists. Who would have thought?! Anyway, keep these three in mind because I think they can only get bigger and funnier with more direction.

Indie Music and Aural Review

I decided that I need another blog to keep track of the music that I really like and/or want to review. This way I can remember what I've heard and what I thought of it easily. There are so many bands out there that it's pretty hard to keep track of them all, especially when you listen to as much music as I do. The address of my new blog is: http://auralreview.blogspot.com/ so write it down. ;) I'm going to try to do up to 3 reviews a week if possible, but I may slack off a little. So far I like the format because it's pretty simple, but if you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks for reading.

Microsoft Genuine Advantage

This article is specifically to tell you how to disable Microsoft Genuine Advantage. You know, the software that doesn't allow you to check for updates without verifying your CD key on the Microsoft Update site. So here we go...
First, you must navigate using Internet Explorer of course to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/. Once you get past installing whatever things you need to get to the page that has two buttons on it that say:
"Express"
"Custom"
You need to paste the following code in your browser's address bar and hit enter:
javascript:void(window.g_sDisableWGACheck='all')
This turns off the trigger for the key check. Once you've done that you're home free.
On a closing note, Internet Explorer is awful. Please consider using Firefox for all of your browsing needs that don't include Microsoft Sites. Thank you and good day.

Beaufort, SC

I found my dad a new computer courtesy of Dell.com. He promptly ordered it the other day and now I have scheduled a trip down to Beaufort, SC with my girlfriend, Diana, to see him and to set up his new Dell. We are leaving Wed. afternoon March 8, 2006 and returning Saturday March 11, 2006. The weird thing is that he's run out of hard drive space on his old machine.. not to mention it's so very slow. He will be blown away by this new one.

One must always remember that the FIRST thing you need to do if you buy a pre built computer is to format the hard drive. Yes that's right... erase the whole thing because there is no telling how much CRAP is on there. That way you can control exactly what goes on your computer. That is the first thing I plan on doing, getting rid of all the bloated software.

The trip itself should be fun with boat riding, fishing, and eating good seafood which Diana hates. This should be fun. He has a guest house that is currently being completed so I think we will be the first to actually stay in it which is exciting. I wonder if he thought to run ethernet out there... somehow I doubt it, though he does have wireless. I'm excited about it and hope the flights are better than my recent trip to Philadelphia, PA.

Oh, Crap!

This topic isn't all that deep or inspiring, though it can be at times. I was just thinking, what is the ONE thing you don't want to happen when you're in a stall at work? You don't want anyone to know that it's you. You don't want coworkers to be able to identify you in a stall by your shoes, grunting, coughing, talking, or any other identifiable trait. And most of all, you don't want to be associated with your length of time it takes, stentch, grunting, straining, shouting, sighs of relief, or any other audible noises. Most of the time, none of this is a problem at all. But every once in a while there comes the guy that you thank God that you aren't. He's identifiable by most of, if not all, of the above mentioned items. Not to mention the king of all giveaways... he drops his ID Badge face up and readable just about in your stall and takes his time picking it up. Every day I'm so glad that I'm not that guy. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Act One, an Indie Memphis Film

Tuesday Feb. 21, I went to see Act One at the Studio on the Square. It is an local Memphis, TN independent film from East Memphis' filmmaking collective Old School Pictures. It got 3 stars from film critic John Beifuss in the Commercial Appeal. Act One also won an award at the Indie Memphis film awards as documented by Chris Herrington of the Memphis Flyer.

Basically this movie is a Comedy (with a little Drama) about a guy who wants to be a writer and uses his own life experiences to help him write a script that will be made into a movie. He's from Memphis, TN, but has moved out to California to be a writer. I thought all in all this movie was a 4/5 when it comes to Indie Memphis films. The first 3/4ths of it was better than the last 4th. Be that as it may, I would definitely recommend going to see it.

West Philadelphia, Born and Raised

It's been a while since I've blogged.. one week exactly, but that was because I was getting ready to go visit Joel and Ally west of Philadelphia this past weekend. I took two days off work and visited them from Feb. 17-20. It was a lot of fun. I got to see the house they're renting from Ally's Dad and Uncle. It used to be her grandparents house before they passed away. It has 2 floors not including the basement. The second floor is unfinished and the basement needs some repairs, but the main floor is in great condition. They have a dog named Macy that is a small, yet vocal dog who will bark at you for about 8 hours before she gets used to you.

I flew Airtran because they have cheap tickets and let me tell you 3 out of 4 of my flights were late because of the weather. That was just sad, but at least I didn't have to spend the night in ATL. I arrived Friday at about 6:20 PM or so and Ally picked me up from the airport. We got to their house about 7 and Joel was already home. He has to commute 1.5 hours EACH WAY to work in New Jersey. And you thought your commute was bad. That night we went out to a pub that Joel and Ally go to every Friday night. It's a little weird that despite the fact that they've been going there for months, the people there still don't know them.

The next morning I woke up around 9:30 or so and Ally made us chocolate chip pancakes! They were awesome. We decided to go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You know, the one where Rocky runs up the long set of stairs in front like the winner he is. They had a large selection of art from various artists including Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, and many many others. There was also a pretty cool photography exhibit on the first floor. That tired us out a little, so we went back to their house to eat sandwiches. That night we went out to a couple of bars in another suburb/college part of Philly. They were alright, but I'm glad I don't have to be in crowded places like that. Good times.

The next day was Sunday and right after we woke up, we went to watch Georgetown get whooped by Bella Vista in basketball thanks to Allyson's dad, who then took us out to lunch with Graham, Ally's little brother, and her mother. We went to an Italian place that was awesome! After that meal, we went back to Joel and Ally's house to rest a while and we ended up watching Guess Who, which I thought was pretty funny, but not nearly as good as The Butterfly Effect. Sunday night we decided not to go out and to watch some of the Olympics and snack some since we were all too full to eat a meal.

Monday morning Joel had to wake up at 5 AM to get to work a little early and Ally and I woke up about 8 AM so she could take me to the airport. Unfortunately my flight had been delayed and I didn't check before we left so I had plenty of time to finish my book The Love of the Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was a pretty good book, but I liked The Great Gatsby better.

All in all, I had a really good time and I'm glad I got a chance to see Joel and Ally's place and to visit Philadelphia. Hopefully I can go back and visit their beach house in the summer!

Politically Enlightened

Today I was fortunate enough to run across an article about a man named Mark Warner, a former governor of Virginia who lives in New Hampshire. This led me to talk about the Democrats' counter-State of the Union address by Tim Kaine with Ben. We both agreed that we just want a president with good morals and some sense. It doesn't mean he or she has to be black, white, purple, Democrat, or Republican as long as whoever s/he is has common sense and stands firm for something that is important to us all. I am, by nature, a very logical person and the current administration is severely lacking that quality. Here is an excerpt from the speech:

"No matter what political philosophy you hold, or what state you call home, you have a right to expect that your government can deliver results. When there’s a crime or fire, you expect that police and firefighters have the tools to respond. When there’s a natural disaster, you expect a well-managed response. When you send your children to school, you expect them to be prepared for success. And, you have a right to expect government to be fiscally responsible, pay the bills and live within its means.

Tonight, we heard the President again call to make his tax policies permanent, despite his Administration’s failure to manage our staggering national debt. Over the past five years, we’ve gone from huge surpluses to massive deficits. No parent makes their child pay the mortgage. Why should we allow this Administration to pass down the bill for its reckless spending to our children and grandchildren?"

I believe that this speaks directly to what I have been complaining about recently about the attitude of our current administration. It seems to me, the attitude is one of "let the next generation figure it out". For a couple of examples, take a look at Social Security and the environment.

I am hoping that Tim Kaine runs for the Democratic candidate in the next election. He is the first Democrat or Republican I have heard of that has said, "There’s a better way. Two years ago in Virginia, Democrats and Republicans worked together to reform our budget." 'Democrats and Republicans' is the important part. I think, as he says, that it's time for a change. With all of the progress he, other Democrats, and Republicans have been able to make in the state of Virginia, he would be an excellent candidate.

New Music

I'm thinking about posting a new music blog every once in a while (once every week or two) and including some sample songs for those who want to hear. They will only be online for about a week and there will be a maximum of 25 downloads using YouSendIt.com. Perhaps I'll start this next week or so, but stay tuned for more. ;)

More Respect for George Clooney

I never thought that an actor turned writer/director could be so politically charged, ready and willing to make a difference. I guess I would then have to say that George Clooney is my new hero. After reading this article and this article on George Clooney, I found a man who is refreshingly using his influence for the greater good. Making movies to educate the general public that always seems like they're in a trance. Clooney is who I want to be like. Extraordinary. Two movies he has been involved in creating are Goodnight and Goodluck as well as Syriana.

Screw MLGW

For those of you who don't know, MLGW (Memphis Light Gas and Water) is THE utility company in Memphis, TN. They provide electricity, gas, and water for an excessive fee. MLGW is a somehow legal monopoly supported by the City of Memphis. I'm sure this is normal along with the money laundering that goes on through them. (Yay for our Mayor Willie Herenton!) In the past when I have tried to switch the utilities to my name since my roommates moved out, I was threatened multiple times that if I did not pay my bill on time they would cut off my utilities and charge me a $200 deposit. Up until that point I had never been late with one bill or a customer of MLGW. I'm glad they welcomed my business and treat their customers with respect, otherwise I would have gone to their competitors.

Now that you know who or what MLGW is, you should also know that they have been jacking up the price on heat during the winter supposedly due to the increased demand. Outrageous utlity bills are quite usual here in the midsouth. Well, my roommate and I received a bill for about $140 last month which was double our highest bill in the summer of about $70. We did not even turn on the heat that much and took the time to turn it off during the night and while we were gone during the day. Chris, my roommate, and I just said screw it and he switched the heat off which is where it has been ever since. We each have a small electric heater in our room that neither of us really use that much. (It causes a short when we use it and the microwave. Thanks again MLGW and faulty, old wiring! But that's another story.) We just received this month's utility bill and low and behold it was $67. We cut that murf in half back to where it was. We are not only ecstatic about getting a lower bill and damning the man, but we also offer hope to those that still have exorbitant utility bill. Our actions set an example and also lower the average cost of gas by 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%. Pretty sweet deal huh? In conclusion, screw MLGW and the horse that they stole to ride in on!