Age and music, they should work together and for the most part they do, however that does not seem to be the case with some people. I've always said that a good song is a good song, no matter when it was made, be it five, ten, twenty, or thirty years ago.

I hear people say "oh, that song is old," if I was listening to for example "Closing Time" by Semisonic which was released in 1998. I also hear that comment when I listen to for example "Blasphemous Rumours" by Depeche Mode, which is supposedly "too 1980s." Just because a song was released more than say three years ago does not make a song bad or unlistenable. It's stupid that some people would avoid listening to an "old" song, because it's "not hip" to do so. That just does not make sense to me. It's one thing if you don't particularly like a song, but to judge it based on age is ridiculous.

On the flipside, this also applies to people who say there's nothing good in music today. Some people are so stuck in the past that they can't appreciate some of the good songs that are recently released. If you can't find any good current songs, then you aren't looking hard enough.

Fallen From the Random Sky

the Test (video)

Hott 4 Hill (video)

Kimbo Slice vs Tank Abbott (video)

an otter playing with a stone (video)

Frozen Grand Central (video)

top 10 : cops on a power trip (video)

SI swimsuit 2008 (video)

Best place to get shot (video)

veneral plush toys (link)

untangle (game)

Movies I've Seen Recently...

There Will Be Blood  (2007)  B+

There is really one main reason to watch "There Will Be Blood," and that is for the very great acting by Daniel Day-Lewis. As the very memorable character Daniel Plainview, I couldn't keep my attention away from Daniel Day-Lewis, playing a guy who needs to be the best at what he does, and may God help you if you get in his way. There's a lot of themes and commentaries that director/screen writer Paul Thomas Anderson brings into the movie, and it only makes the story more epic than it really is. I also like how the film captures the early 1900s with it's creative lack of use of light in a lot of scenes. The story however can be a little slow moving at times and the unique musical score can be awfully distracting. I've gotta say though, that I love the ending sequence of the movie, which also produced one of the most memorable lines of dialouge I've heard in a long time.

The Bourne Ultimatum  (2007)  B

As the end of the "Bourne trilogy," "The Bourne Ultimatum" does a good job in wrapping things up. There's a lot of excellent spy espionage sequences and ofcourse the expected chase sequences by foot or by vehicles, that dominate the majority of the movie. I gotta give credit to Matt Damon in the main role of Jason Bourne, as a true action star in his own right. I question however with the decision of using the "shaky cam" in a movie like this, especially for scenes were it's just two people talking to each other. There are also some logical flaws in some sequences, seemingly being ignored just for the purpose of moving the plot along. The Bourne Ultimatum isn't the perfect spy/action film, but it is rather enjoyable to watch either way.

For most "true gamers," it's never about owning a particular console that matters, it's always about the games. Currently in this generation of video games (PS3, Wii, xbox360), the xbox 360 is currently the king in having the most games available out there. However there is one huge problem with that console, and it questions whether owning a particular console does matter afterall. The hardware failure rate for the xbox360 is frankly too high, and despite the free 3 years warranty that Microsoft has for the console, it's still unacceptable. When a hardware failure happens with the xbox360, the indicator lights in front of the console's face becomes the "Red Ring Of Death" (RROD). That is similar to the "Blue Screen Of Death" (BSOD) that used to plague the Windows operating system, and it is also something a 360 owner does not want to see.

After two years and almost three months later, my launch unit xbox 360 recently
got it's very first RRoD. What surprised me the most, was the total
lack of a reaction on my part. The first thing that I thought was "I
don't get to play Rock Band for a while?" The second thought was "at
least the 3 years warranty should still be active." Then the third
thought was "I guess more time for DVDs and my DVR." Afterwards I just
text messaged my brother (also has a 360) to tell him the news. No
fists of anger, or signs of gaming panic from me, or me looking for
something to blame. Odd reaction or am I being too rational for my own
good? I didn't even think about turning on the Wii as an alternative.

Well
this is how it happened.... I haven't even played a game on it for about 8 hours before I turned on the console again, although I was
downloading some videos off the xbox Live Marketplace on "background download" mode.
I logged on to xbox Live, and then I saw those vertical white pixel dot
things that you would get from a dying graphics card flash on my screen
and freeze the xbox dashboard. I had a feeling about what was going to
happen next. I rebooted and those dot lines appears and freezes the
xbox logo loading up. Reboot again and it doesn't even load up. Then I
see the dreaded RRoD. 5 minutes later however, it seems to be working
again. I tried the Devil May Cry 4 demo, Gears of War, and Rock Band, to see if
it'll happen again. Still alive and looking good so far as I'm typing
this. The question is how long is that going to last?

It's a shame really, because Microsoft was really able to pull off a really great line up of games for the xbox 360. The xbox 360 itself is overall a really great video game console, that also has a much welcome unified online gaming community with xbox live, and was one of the primary reasons why 2007 was arguably considered to be one of the best years in video gaming ever. They are able to hold their own against Nintendo and Sony in the gaming landscape, and that deserves recognition. However in the end, the video game console itself shouldn't hamper a gamer's game time because of hardware problems.

The Random Hill

Indiana Jones IV teaser trailer (video)

Controversial college funding bill passed-P2P proviso intact (link)

Star Wars Clone Wars the MOVIE Aug 15, 2008 (video)

Polaroid stops the Polaroid (link)

Wacky Japanese Potato Chip Commercial (video)

hollywood physics (link)

10 second IQ test (video)

50 hottest women of sports (link)

gaming's ladies of the evening (video)

can you beat a breathalyzer (video)

In our modern society, there are many things that we take for granted now, like running water for example. Recently, I wake up to find out that there is a water outage in my neighborhood. I usually take a shower to freshen up, but I couldn't do that to start my day. I was literally just waiting and waiting for the water to come back on. Being a bit OCD, I tend to wash my hands more often than the average person, so you can imagine what life without water was for me. The water company said that they were working on the problem, but it's estimated to be several hours before it's fixed. It took about four hours, since I woke up to find out there was no water, to when they finally got it fixed. That's a lot of time that I literally just loafed around at home, not having the drive to do anything productive. At one point, it was about three hours away before I normally leave for work, and I was tempted to just call in for the day. After this experience, I don't know what's worse now, getting a blackout or having a water outage.

As I'm writing this, the writers strike that started late 2007 is pretty much over. It even looks like the writers were able to get their much wanted payment for internet videos; or "new media" as it's being called. It's not a complete win however, since they weren't able to bring in the writers of animation and reality TV into the Union like they wanted. There's a sigh of relief everywhere in the entertainment industry though, because things are going to go back to normal. Or is it?

Pilot season was greatly affected by the strike, which means that the fall TV season is already a wash. Talks about moving pilot season to the summer changes the whole yearly routine that TV goes through. If you ask me, it's about time. I've never been a big fan of American TV relying on the whole Fall, Winter, Spring, then Summer programming format. It's primarily the fault of the nielsen ratings as well. With "time-shifting" now a very real reality, the studios needs to consider relaxing their format into a more "yearly" approach, as opposed to relying on the seasons to dictate when the shows need to be aired.

TV shows also have to be a little creative in finishing their season, by either shortening the current run. Some shows altogether are delayed until the fall, or as late as early next year. While other shows were cancelled, by losing momentum because of the writer's strike.

During the writer's strike, I actually added new alternative programming into my DVR. Now with some shows coming back as early as late April or May, I'm going to have even more TV to watch now. In fact I still have several hours in my DVR of shows I haven't seen yet, as well as some that I've been hoarding away to watch since the strike happened. I better get a move on and finish up some of the stuff still in my DVR, or I'm going to get overwhelmed again with things to watch.

- Who won the writer's strike? (link)
- As Hollywood writers strike end nears, a status report on TV shows (link)

Random Gold

Clarity Sought on Electronics Searches (link)

Late Night talk show fight (video)

google earth, so helpful it's scary (video)

send me a voicemail (link)

you suck at photoshop (video)

street hockey (video)

party cat (video)

if banner ads were forced to be truthful (link)

the Count, censored (video)

Street Fighter The Later Years pt.8 (video)

Movies I've Seen Recently...

Rambo  (2008)  B

The first thing you'll notice about "Rambo" just from the very first scene, is that wow is it really violent. This isn't the over the top "cool" violence that you see in most action films, but it's more a case where it's very down to earth that it can pretty jarring to watch. Such is the nature of life living in the current military rule in Burma, which this movie attempts to replicate on screen. Director, Writer, and Acting star Sylvester Stallone does a stellar job in trying not to make this Rambo movie anymore than it should be, a Rambo movie. The story is no more than what it is, a plot that will pit Rambo against a whole army. Sure there are several action sequences that come off as too convenient at times, but Rambo is the kind of movie that works well with that. This is a good traditional action movie (with well intented exposure of the problems in Burma), and probably second best in the Rambo franchise after "First Blood."

The King Of Kong : A Fistful Of Quarters  (2007)  A

Who would have thought that a documentary chronicling a battle for the highest recorded score for the 1980s arcade game Donkey Kong, could be so damn entertaining. "The King of Kong : A Fistful of Quarters" is pretty much a david vs goliath story. The david here is regular man Steve Wiebe who realizes that he is capable of beating the highest score in Donkey Kong made by video game icon Billy Mitchell. The problem here is that Mitchell's high score, and the people who record video game high scores seems to treat Wiebe as sort of an outsider invading their "empire." It's unbelievable how this documentary plays out, because there were so many choice scenes that works so well to the narrative, that you would think it was all staged for the "plot" of the story. Despite the whole sports movie angle that the plot seems to take, it's the characters and some of the things they say and do in the movie are what makes this documentary work so well.

Robotech : The Shadow Chronicles  (2007)  C-

As somebody whose young life was engulfed in the mania that was Robotech (primarily the Macross saga it adapted from it's original Japanese series), I was looking forward to how "Robotech : The Shadow Chronicles" was going to turn out. Coming straight off the heel of the series ending episode of the TV show, it's hard to recommend this movie to anybody besides the fans of the original. With that said, I have to regretfully say that the movie isn't that great. The problem comes from it trying to be too ambitious for it's own good, as well as trying to replicate poignant scenes from the original series, but failing in execution. The much touted CGI graphics mixed with traditional hand drawn animation isn't that good here either. The CG looks "too CG" and the art style in general looks too antiseptic. The new story that adds to the mythos of the TV series also doesn't feel interesting nor warranted.