New Band I like (The Gossip)

I never do this, but I just had to talk about this new band, I just herd. This morning, I was reading my emails, and news of the day when I was pointed to this interview on CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/24/tbr.ditto/index.html. In the article, it had a link to the bands "My Space" page http://myspace.com/Gossipband (god how I hate My Space!!!); I clicked on the link; it started to play one of the bands songs, and before I could find the mute button, I found myself liking the song. Take a look

The Gossip

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The Departed / Infernal Affairs

Big cast, big director, a good story taking from a good movie ( Infernal Affairs ), so was this a good movie? Was it as good as the first movie Infernal Affairs? I would say yes.

Infernal Affairs, with Andy Lau Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Driected by Wai Keung Lau.

A friend told me to watch this movie, he said I would love it, however took me a long time to take the time to see it but when I did, I loved it. I loved the concept, of the story, and all the crap that the characters had to go through. I was a story that I have not seen before, and it felt fresh and new. When watching it, I found myself stopping and pausing to read all the subtitles, and take it all in. If you do see this film, do not watch a dubbed version.

I did find some things hard to understand, but don't let that turn you off, this is a vary good film and a well told story

8/10. I really nice surprise, a fresh new story that I have not seen before

Now For the movie The Departed with Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin and Anthony Anderson, Directed by Martin Scorsese. With all this star power behind this film, how could it go wrong, and it did not go wrong, it was a really good movie, long but good. But why remake a movie that was good in the first place? I don't know, however I enjoyed both. However there were some thing that were changed or added to the story that was not need, and took away from the original story. There was a love story that was put in, that was not need and did not fit. Also some of the scenes were not necessary, but did not take away from the movie as a whole.

Some of really good things about this movie; the Mark Wahlberg character, for me he was the best part of this film. also I like the ending of this film a little better then in the original one.

7.5/10. In the end I like and appreciated, Infernal Affairs just a little better, but this film was very well made.

Just Friends

This was a forgettable movie, that did not say too much, however I enjoyed. Anna Faris and Ryan Reynolds were ok, but I don't think they were anything special. Reynolds plays high school over weight geek, turned hot music executive, and tries to get back with Faris, but things just keep going wrong. For me the real star of the movie was Anna Faris, of Scary Movie fame. She plays an over sexed pop star, that Reynolds character has to baby sit. In the end, this movie had a number of scenes that made me laugh, so if you want to see a movie that does not have too much depth, but not to dumb to turn you off, this just might do it for you.

6.5/10. Made me laugh for what it was.

My New Windows Mobile 5 Phone, O2 Atom

Anyone that knows me, knows that I have been waiting for an all in one device, that is a phone, for a long time. I first wanted a Palm phone, however, after using a Palm for a few years without a phone, it just became a toy, a toy that was taking up space in my pocket. Also it was not convenient to use; like moving files from my computer to my Palm, using it on the Palm, and them moving them back to the PC, was not seamless or strait forward. So now I got a new Windows 5 enabled phone with WiFi, the O2 Atom from Europe; it looks like the all in one devise that I have always wanted. It’s a phone; it’s an MP3 player; it is a video player; I can read eBooks on it; it can send and receive emails; I can take pictures; I can brows the web using WiFi. And because it is using Windows Mobile 5, I can install almost any program I want on it, to do almost anything, I should be jumping for joy, however I’m not.

Microsoft did not deliver with the new Windows Mobile 5 OS. Some of the problems I have had with the phone are:

• The number one complaint that I have is that you can not use the phone with one hand. I can open and run programs with one hand. However if I want to close the program, and the program does not have an exit option in its menu, I have to use the “ok” or “x” button in the top right corner. I should be able to navigate up to this button using the hardware navigation buttons, but I can’t. (I had to go into the hardware button setup and change one of the buttons, to do this for me)
• I find myself rebooting all the time. Programs hang, or the system starts to really slow down, a lot. This did not happen to me with the Palm.
• Some programs interfere with the phone. At one point, I was always getting disconnected from calls after one minute. I thought it was the phone; however I found out that it was not the phone, but a program that was disconnecting me. What made it even more baffling was that program did not have anything to do with the phone functionality.

There just seems to be this list of little things that keep giving me problems. But The one main thing that really bugs me, is that Microsoft does not have a good RSS reader, that will download text, video and Audio files. I love to read news on my phone, and I have really gotten into listening to podcasts. What I have to do today, is get the podcast from iTunes, then move them into my play list in Windows Media Player, then sync it with my phone. After I have listened to it on my phone, I delete it from my play list in Windows Media Player, sync again, and then delete it from iTunes, I hate doing going though all those steps, however if I want to listen on to the podcasts on my phone I have to do it. If I had an iPod, I would just have to sync. but I want my all in one device, not just an MP3 Player.

I really hope that Microsoft has some major updates in the works for Windows mobile 5; updates that I can just download. I don’t want to have to get a new phone, just to get some new features. I still really like the phone, and it does all the things I want, however, it just not ready for people that aren’t tech savvy.

The Sentinel

Ok what was this movie about? I just did not get it; no I just did not care. This was so boring, and I just did not care, I just want to say don’t watch this, watch the show “24”.
The only thing I like about this movie was that fact that part of the movie takes place in Toronto, and they had a nice fly over of the city.
But really; I don't know why they made this movie, it looked like a poor mans 24. The story felt like it was done befor; Kiefer Sutherland was just playing the same person that he plays in 24; Michael Douglas did not feel like the big hero (I don't think it was his fault); and Eva Longoria did not really matter. On the other hand Kim Basinger did play her role well, for what is was.

3.5/10 This movie sucked

Olbermann's special commentary on Clinton vs Fox

This is something that we all should watch, get someone else take on the whole thing

Working with Canada’s next top model, Jessica Frampton

A co-worker is working to become a model, and now she just got her new business card. If you know someone, or you are in the industry, contact her, through dawn@sutherlandmodels.com, or call (416)839-2805 and ask to use Jessica Frampton.

Mission Impossible III

This Summer, I did not rush out to see a movie each weekend, however I did go and see the big ones. Well the first one for me was, Mission impossible III, and you might think that I’m crazy for this but I when and saw this movie on my vacation when I was in Vancouver, (it was fun, to go out to a movie out side of Toronto)
I really did not have plans to see this movie, at that time, however with all the good reviews for it, and all the bad reviews for the The Da Vinci Code, we went to go see this one

Ok, this movie was blah. What do I mean by that? Well, it just did not do anything for me, and I don’t think it was worth my time and money to go and see it in a theater. I would say that it’s an ok rental, but that is all. But what really pissed me off about this movie, was not anything in the movie, but the things that the critics were saying about it.
Some things people were saying about it :

The perfect summer movie -- fast-paced, action-packed, emotionally engaging (without demanding too much investment), and pure, unadulterated eye candy. Whattya want for 10 bucks?
Full Review

For all of the movie's professional craft and lovely vertigo, the experience is like eating popcorn in a guillotine.

Full Review

Ok I, must be completely off in left field, but I did not enjoy this movie at all, I felt like I was watching a movie from the 80’s, or early 90’s. It was the same old formal, good guy, and girlfriend having a good time, just being good people; bad guy does something bad, and kidnaps girlfriend; good guy goes underground to get bad guy, and save the girl; blah blah blah…… I’m so boarded. Maybe I watch too many movies, and I have become too cenacle; and you may love this movie, with all of its predictable twists and turns, its super human stunts, and all of its special effects. So I would not try to stop people from seeing it, it looks like a lot of people had a good time with it, but I did not.
5/10 nothing new here.

Playing with my PSP again

One of the things I got for my Birthday was two $50 EB (Electronics Boutique) gift cards. Well I just used them on two new games for my PSP. Tekken Dark Resurrection and Def Jam: Fight for NY: The Takeover, now I can dust off my PSP. Both games play really well, and I do not have problem pulling off the fighting moves in them. Right now I’m playing Def Jam (not a game for the little ones), and I’m having a good time playing it. If you have a PSP and like fighting games you need to get these two games, good times all around.
But don’t get Def Jam for your kids.

Poseidon

This weekend I saw the movie Poseidon, I did not expect too much from this movie, and my initial impressions were correct, this was a hard movie to watch. I’m really sick of seeing dumb people do dumb things just to move a story in a certain direction.
There was one thing that was good about the film. The flipping of the boat, looked as real as I possibly could image, it was well done, however it was way to short.
Now the story it self is poorly written, and just annoying too watch. You can read Al's review as well, at Al’s Blog Spot

4/10 a 4 for the good effects, 0 for the story

I got my New/Safer Dell Battery

Well I received my new; and Safer Dell Battery today. I really wanted to keep my old one, because I did not have any problems with it, however they are going to charge me for the new one, if I don't return the old one within 10 business days. Funny how they have 20 business days to get me the new battery, but I only have 10, oh well. I'm happy with the service, so I can't complain too much.

The Black Dahlia

Ok, it has been some time since I have been out to see a movie on a Friday night. Well this Friday, some of us from work went out to see a movie, and we ended up seeing this one: The Black Dahlia, with Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank and Aaron Eckhart. They all did a good acting job in the movie, and it had a really nice look to it as well.

Ok lets get down to the nitty-gitty, this movie sucked the big one!!, I was so board, I did not care for any of the characters, the story was convoluted, and felt very contrived. It's tries to weave a complex mystery, and draw you in, however, in the end it does not make any logical sense, and I don't care.

Good acting, but a crap story, 3/10

Holy air conditioner Batman!!

We visted our friends, Tony and Mark on the weekend for a BBQ. The food was great and their house looks amazing. We could not help but notice a new addtion to their backyard, The Koolatron 5000 air conditioner. I think the same one cools the skydome.

Dan's Front Door Paint Project

Dan had this week off, so he gave himself some project to do around the house. One of those projects was to paint the inside of the front door, a dark colour. Now I did not want to do this, but after seeing our friends home, and what they did with their door, he was going to do it and not be stopped.

Day 1

I was not too happy with the way it came out, and neither was he. Now this looked really good in our friends house, but it did not work in ours.

Day 2

he decided to go with a lighter colour. This looked really good however, there were problems with the paint, and when you got close to the door, you could see lots of cracks

Day 3

After going to home Depot, and spending 3 days on this door project (that should have taken 1h), the front door now looks really good.

Silent Hill

I really did not want to see this movie, I mean I really really did not want to see this movie, however my brother told Dan that it was a good movie, so we rented it. I don't like movies with spooky kids, I find the plot device tired, and this movie was all about the spooky kid. That was one thing, the other item that was tired, was all the running around, finding nothing, and being chased by things that had no purpose other than to chase you around. This went on for over 1 hour of the movie, before any real story was told, but to my surprise I found myself interested in the story. Also I understood what happened at that end of the movie, and I liked that part. (If you do see this movie and don't understand what happened just ask and I will tell you what I think). The One thing I would say is that having a Christian background, helps you understand it better.

5.5/10 It takes way to long to get to the interesting stuff, however I like the fact, that they don't spoon feed you what happened, or what is going on. to to

Derailed

Hmm....

What should I say about this movie, with Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen. I did not have any real problem with this movie, however I was able to see what was coming, which does not say much. I'm someone that can't see twists and turns in movies, so that fact that I could see this one coming does not say much for this movie. I would say watch this movie for the two actors, and not so much for the story, I thought that they were good in it.

5/10 I did not hate it

Red Eye

Ok, I'm going to start and give my 2cents about the movies I have seen, so lets get to it.

Last week I saw the movie "Red Eye" with Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy, and I would have to say that the movie was enjoyable to watch. Now there were a lot of problems with the story that you have to look past, however the two main characters were written well, they were both smart and believable and the pace was good. The airport scene had alot of problems, but I let that pass, because I liked the characters. However there was one person that I had a problem with, but I don't want to say, with out giving to much away.

6.5/10 good acting, with some story problems

Well Summer is over

Ok with the end of volleyball, comes the end of summer, (well at lest for me)

This summers volleyball, was not that good. it was hard to get people from work to come out, witch was strange, because last year we always had lots of people coming out to play, oh well.

I do have to thank the few people that did come out all the time, and when they could make it.

Next year I don't think I will put a team togeter though work, I will just ask people from work if they would like to "pay too play", that way I will get people that really want to play.

I can't really put the blame on people at work, people have other things they want to do, and volleyball might be fun, but you have to want to make the time for it.

Getting too old for games

I hope it is not true, but I find I'm not into games, the way I use to be. The only games I want to play, are the ones that are short, and quick to play. However I feel this is the fault of the game makers, games take way too much time to play, and you can't just stop save, and come back later to continue playing.

Also I find that when I play a game for a long time, it now feels like I wasted all that time doing nothing, and getting nothing out of it. I is strange that I don't feel that way about TV watching.

Oh well just something I was thinking about on my way to work.

My Dell is going to Blow!!!

Well, my Dell XPS has one of the Batteries that can catch on fire, if I don't have it plugged in. I will call them this week to get a new one.

I have not used this Blog in a long time, Did not feel like saying anything, but now that MS, has changed it a bit, I will see if the changes are any good. Maybe I will start putting in some movie reviews again, or talk about Naruto (2 more weeks until the good stuff).

Well that is it for now, I'm going to go and read a comic book, then go to bed, if stargate does not download.

Update on the Dell Battery:

I went to the Dell website, and placed a order for a new battery, and they sent me this (I love how they point out, that it's a Sony battery):

Battery Recall

Order Confirmation

Thank you for placing your Battery Recall Request. Your Request Number is: *******

You will receive an email when your Order has been shipped.

Please allow up to 20 business days for delivery.

Thank you for participating in the Dell recall of certain Sony batteries. Your replacement order has been received and you can expect to receive your new battery within 20 business days. You may continue to use your notebook computer safely by turning the system off, ejecting the battery, and using the AC adapter and power cord to power your system until your replacement battery is received.

Email: To Acknowledge Order of New Battery

Date 8/28/2006 8:30:51 AM

Dear Customer,

We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this issue. Shipment of quality products always has been and continues to be our foremost concern. As always, if you have questions or concerns about this or any other subject, please feel free to contact us.

http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/regionalSupport.aspx

Sincerely,

Dell Inc

This is my first Blog entry from the boat :)

Just saying hi to all. I don't have time to say much. I hope to get more time later. Hope you all are having a good week.

Later

Advance Volleyball Champions for winter 2005/2006!!!!

Oh my god. When Lynn (the person that put our volleyball team together) asked me to be on her advance volleyball team, I told her, that I thought that, advance volleyball may be too much for me, and that I was not good enough to play on a advance team. Well she talked me into it.

We got off to a shaky start, but the team was fun to play with, so it was going to be a fun season win or lose. By the end of the regular season play, we were in 4 place; out of 14 teams, so just made it into the Championship Round (better then I expected).

The Semi-Final game was the best game of the whole season. We were up against the #1 team in the league, they did not lose one game, and we just lost to them the week before. But somehow we pulled it off and won 2 out of 3 games. Each game was won by 2 points, and they were amazing to play with. After that game we all went out for drinks. They really deserved to get second place, but they came in third.
Last night was the Finals, and we won all three games, so we are the Champs!! It feels really good.

Now, on to beach, for some beach Volleyball.

Oh no, I'm getting old. 70 music explosion

Oh my god, I'm getting old. I fell asleep yesterday, and woke up to an infomercial. An infomercial, about hits from the 70's. and I found myself really liking the songs that they were promoting, and now I'm on a quest to get all the songs. I know that most people would not understand why I like music from the 70's. but I guess that does not matter.

Now I have over 150 songs to find, using iTunes, and the apple music store. lol, I'm so sad lol

Saw II

 Ok I'm back, and yes I know, it has been a long time, I just did not know what to talk about. However I'm going to try keep the blog going from now on.

 

Ok Saw II. Well This was not the a grate movie, however I did enjoy the movie. If you liked the first SAW then I would say that you will like this one more. Also if you did not see the first one, it might be a good Idea to see it first before looking at this one. The only thing is that you may hate the first one, and not want to see this one.  

One other note, some people will love to know that Donnie Wahlberg from New kids on the Block fame is one of the stars of the film; blah he was ok...

6.5/10  to  to

 

Crap, I could not lose the weight

Well it is my first week, and I did not lose all the weight I needed

I checked my weight this morning and I was 177.5 lbs. I only lost 0.5 lbs. and I know why. I had way too much bread this weekend. (Also it might have been the fact that I went to McDonalds two times this week ).

Well, I will try harder this week.