The Boondock Saints II - All Saints Day
While I'm not sure if it is as good as the first (probably not- just because there would be no way for it to replicate that underground, cult classic sort of vibe), it was pretty decent. Perhaps I'm even happier with it considering I entered the viewing experience expecting to be let down, but I must say- I liked it.
"You ready for this sh*t, my dear brother?"
"Let's do some gratuitous violence."
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Is this the future?
An interesting presentation covering the new generation of 'psychological hack' games, the obsession with reality, and his idea of the soon-to-come, always connected, 24/7, game of life. (Be sure you have some time to watch- at 28 minutes it's not a quick view)
Monday, February 22, 2010
The Olympics
Simply put... I love the Olympics! The reasoning is quite simple: I love sports, and so the thought of athletes from all over the world coming to one place to compete and represent their country- well, I don't think it gets any better than that! Two years ago I managed to catch all but one of Michael Phelp's races despite being on vacation, as well as Usain Bolt's individual races and many of the gymnastics competitions.
This past week has been more of the same, catching every moment of Olympic action I can. I watched Hannah Kearney win the moguls gold in dramatic fashion, knocking Canadian Jennifer Heil from the top spot and dashing the hopes of a nation (Canada had never won gold in an Olympics hosted on Canadian soil). Then the very next night I watched those hopes come true when Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau won gold in the men's moguls. After missing it live, I stayed up til 5 in the morning to catch the re-airing of Shawn White winning the gold. I've watched with excitement as the US ski team has claimed medal after medal. I've fallen in love with curling, which is now high on my list of things that I'd like to try. Every night brings new excitement in some form or another, perhaps none yet as exciting as the United States men's hockey team beating favored Canada last night. The list goes on and on- and I've barely touched on the never ending supply of great storylines provided by the athlete's stories in all these competitions! As I said- I love the Olympics.
But I'm starting to think I may have to adjust that to say- I love the Olympic competitions. The reason for considering this adjustment I will explain with two current stories. The first is the small controversy surrounding US snowboarder Scotty Lago. The quick summary: Lago finished third behind Shawn White to win the Bronze medal on men's halfpipe. During the ensuing celebrations that evening, a couple of "controversial" photos where snapped. Decide for yourself, but in my opinion- the first is the closest to anything scandalous, and overall nothing to get in an uproar about. A 22 year old caught having a good time celebrating winning an Olympic bronze medal. When informed of these pictures, Lago issued an apology to the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), and according to an United States Olympic Committee spokesman: “Scotty left on his own accord. He wasn’t forced to leave.” Ah but wait- according to two sources close to Lago, the true story is that he left after being presented with the options of leaving quietly or face a formal trial process and risk being formally ejected. And so rather than staying and enjoying the rest of the Olympics with his teammates like he wanted to, he opted to leave as to not endanger his chances of competing in future Olympics. Where his actions captured in the pictures in bad taste- sure. Should he have faced some form of disciplinary action because athletes had been told to be on their best behavior- sure. Should he have been essentially forced out and not allowed to enjoy the rest of his Olympic experience- absolutely not!
Second example: this story I caught from Boing Boing. In a nutshell- on a blog maintained by Swix Sports, a US distributor for equipment maker UVEX, a congratulatory message was posted to Lindsey Vonn, who wears UVEX goggles, after she won downhill gold. In return, they received a message from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stating the post must be removed via some legal mumbo jumbo, which is sort of explained on the blog. Also mentioned on the blog is that they believe messages of congratulations are exempted- but either way I find this completely ridiculous! Why the IOC believes they have the right to take over the rights to names and images of competitors during the Olympics is beyond me! However, the blog's response (which unfortunately has also been taken down) was amazing and should I ever get into snowboarding like I want to- I will look into getting UVEX gear. Here it is...
"Blonde Who Uses Our Stuff Wins Downhill (Last Name Rhymes With "Bonn")
There once was a lawyer from the IOC,
who called us to protect "intellectual property."
This past week has been more of the same, catching every moment of Olympic action I can. I watched Hannah Kearney win the moguls gold in dramatic fashion, knocking Canadian Jennifer Heil from the top spot and dashing the hopes of a nation (Canada had never won gold in an Olympics hosted on Canadian soil). Then the very next night I watched those hopes come true when Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau won gold in the men's moguls. After missing it live, I stayed up til 5 in the morning to catch the re-airing of Shawn White winning the gold. I've watched with excitement as the US ski team has claimed medal after medal. I've fallen in love with curling, which is now high on my list of things that I'd like to try. Every night brings new excitement in some form or another, perhaps none yet as exciting as the United States men's hockey team beating favored Canada last night. The list goes on and on- and I've barely touched on the never ending supply of great storylines provided by the athlete's stories in all these competitions! As I said- I love the Olympics.
But I'm starting to think I may have to adjust that to say- I love the Olympic competitions. The reason for considering this adjustment I will explain with two current stories. The first is the small controversy surrounding US snowboarder Scotty Lago. The quick summary: Lago finished third behind Shawn White to win the Bronze medal on men's halfpipe. During the ensuing celebrations that evening, a couple of "controversial" photos where snapped. Decide for yourself, but in my opinion- the first is the closest to anything scandalous, and overall nothing to get in an uproar about. A 22 year old caught having a good time celebrating winning an Olympic bronze medal. When informed of these pictures, Lago issued an apology to the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), and according to an United States Olympic Committee spokesman: “Scotty left on his own accord. He wasn’t forced to leave.” Ah but wait- according to two sources close to Lago, the true story is that he left after being presented with the options of leaving quietly or face a formal trial process and risk being formally ejected. And so rather than staying and enjoying the rest of the Olympics with his teammates like he wanted to, he opted to leave as to not endanger his chances of competing in future Olympics. Where his actions captured in the pictures in bad taste- sure. Should he have faced some form of disciplinary action because athletes had been told to be on their best behavior- sure. Should he have been essentially forced out and not allowed to enjoy the rest of his Olympic experience- absolutely not!
Second example: this story I caught from Boing Boing. In a nutshell- on a blog maintained by Swix Sports, a US distributor for equipment maker UVEX, a congratulatory message was posted to Lindsey Vonn, who wears UVEX goggles, after she won downhill gold. In return, they received a message from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stating the post must be removed via some legal mumbo jumbo, which is sort of explained on the blog. Also mentioned on the blog is that they believe messages of congratulations are exempted- but either way I find this completely ridiculous! Why the IOC believes they have the right to take over the rights to names and images of competitors during the Olympics is beyond me! However, the blog's response (which unfortunately has also been taken down) was amazing and should I ever get into snowboarding like I want to- I will look into getting UVEX gear. Here it is...
"Blonde Who Uses Our Stuff Wins Downhill (Last Name Rhymes With "Bonn")
There once was a lawyer from the IOC,
who called us to protect "intellectual property."
"During the Olympics", she said with a sneer
"your site can't use an Olympian's name even if they use your gear."
"No pictures, no video, no blog posts can be used..."
Even if they are old? "No!", she enthused.
While Olympians chase gold the IOC pursues green.
Cough up millions, or your logo cannot be seen . . ."
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Stay in coma...
I loved the original and I was floored when I heard this acoustic version!!
"I’m still stitching up the stabs you left, weaving in and out slowly.
I grow accustomed to the piercing flesh, and find evil in the holy.
And still, I see the line between the stars, your scars, and mine.
And as this coarse thread pulls, I feel the veins of the frozen.
Stay in coma. It’s the only defense we have left."- Dead Poetic
"I’m still stitching up the stabs you left, weaving in and out slowly.
I grow accustomed to the piercing flesh, and find evil in the holy.
And still, I see the line between the stars, your scars, and mine.
And as this coarse thread pulls, I feel the veins of the frozen.
Stay in coma. It’s the only defense we have left."- Dead Poetic
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Valentines Day playlist
My soundtrack for the day. All links are to Youtube "videos" of the songs.
Three Days Grace- World So Cold
Skillet- Don't Say Goodbye
Celldweller- So Long Sentiment
Eighteen Visions- Broken Hearted
Owl City- Meteor Shower
Three Days Grace- Lost In You
Cascada- Everytime I Hear Your Name
Further Seems Forever- For All We Know
Celldweller- Eon
Trapt- Waiting
Owl City- Vanilla Twilight
MuteMath- Picture
Skillet- Don't Wake Me
Basshunter- I Will Learn to Love Again
Three Days Grace- World So Cold
Skillet- Don't Say Goodbye
Celldweller- So Long Sentiment
Eighteen Visions- Broken Hearted
Owl City- Meteor Shower
Three Days Grace- Lost In You
Cascada- Everytime I Hear Your Name
Further Seems Forever- For All We Know
Celldweller- Eon
Trapt- Waiting
Owl City- Vanilla Twilight
MuteMath- Picture
Skillet- Don't Wake Me
Basshunter- I Will Learn to Love Again
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
For your listening enjoyment...
Totally random- but I was listening to this stuff this afternoon and was once again reminded how much I love Celldweller. Definitely always up there in my favorite artists! Here's the four songs he's released (he's been doing them in 2 song 'chapters') so far for the new album Wish Upon A Blackstar
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Late one snowy night
So kinda bummed to be sitting here at home right now. Plans were that I was hoping to be able to make it down to Nate's house after work and get snowed in there. Unfortunately the snow didn't hold off long enough and the roads were crap by the time I got out. So it was back home instead of the drive down there.
But I digress. If you're reading this- chances are you followed the link from my facebook page and want to see the video, not hear me whine about being snowed in at home. And I guess if not for being at home 2nite, this post would not be coming into existence.
But yes... the video. I would in no way ever claim to be a political person. In some ways, I do count this as a flaw- because I do think it important to have an awareness of the things going on around us, especially in our governing body. But at the same time, I just quickly grow tired of all the politics in government that I tend to shut it out more than I should. I also dislike news outlets that seem to be trumpets for certain political parties. Again, I don't follow these things very closely- so I'm not about to start pointing fingers and citing examples, I just think that the news should be delivered as such. Here's a story- here's what happened, fact, fact, fact. Yes, political opinion shows have their place, and I'm even ok with that place being on a news network. I just dislike when the line is seemingly blurred and news shows have twinges of opinion show to them.
Anyway, all this rambling is to say this... I enjoy, from time to time, watching a variety of "news" shows. Two of which are The Daily Show and The O'Reilly Factor. I put "news" in quotes because, yes- I realize the former is a comedy show and the latter more of an opinion show. However, both shows are based on current news and I think both shows do a good job presenting their ideas in the arenas they are in. That is not to say I always agree with things being presented on either show at any given time- it's saying I, majority of the time, find entertainment as well as the occasional thought provoking ideas from each show. For this reason- I was excited to stumble across this complete clip of The Daily Show's John Stewart as a guest on The O'Reilly Factor. As I just mentioned, I found the piece highly entertaining, as well as thought provoking at times... and really just wish it would've kept going because I could just listen to these two go back and forth all day long. So without further ado, the link
John Stewart v Bill O'Reilly
Currently Listening To:
To Plant A Seed
by We Came As Romans
But I digress. If you're reading this- chances are you followed the link from my facebook page and want to see the video, not hear me whine about being snowed in at home. And I guess if not for being at home 2nite, this post would not be coming into existence.
But yes... the video. I would in no way ever claim to be a political person. In some ways, I do count this as a flaw- because I do think it important to have an awareness of the things going on around us, especially in our governing body. But at the same time, I just quickly grow tired of all the politics in government that I tend to shut it out more than I should. I also dislike news outlets that seem to be trumpets for certain political parties. Again, I don't follow these things very closely- so I'm not about to start pointing fingers and citing examples, I just think that the news should be delivered as such. Here's a story- here's what happened, fact, fact, fact. Yes, political opinion shows have their place, and I'm even ok with that place being on a news network. I just dislike when the line is seemingly blurred and news shows have twinges of opinion show to them.
Anyway, all this rambling is to say this... I enjoy, from time to time, watching a variety of "news" shows. Two of which are The Daily Show and The O'Reilly Factor. I put "news" in quotes because, yes- I realize the former is a comedy show and the latter more of an opinion show. However, both shows are based on current news and I think both shows do a good job presenting their ideas in the arenas they are in. That is not to say I always agree with things being presented on either show at any given time- it's saying I, majority of the time, find entertainment as well as the occasional thought provoking ideas from each show. For this reason- I was excited to stumble across this complete clip of The Daily Show's John Stewart as a guest on The O'Reilly Factor. As I just mentioned, I found the piece highly entertaining, as well as thought provoking at times... and really just wish it would've kept going because I could just listen to these two go back and forth all day long. So without further ado, the link
John Stewart v Bill O'Reilly
Currently Listening To:
To Plant A Seed
by We Came As Romans
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