Monthly Archives: June 2009

Casados con Hijos: MTV Tres and ESPN Ocho

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ESPN 8: The Ocho

You may have heard that MTV recycles a lot of ideas. I say “heard” because you probably tuned out when they stopped airing Remote Control, Aeon Flux, and the T2 music video.

You can tell what summers in Iowa consisted of for me.

Which is bigger, the hair or the remotes? It’s so outdated, the veejay hasn’t heard of the name “Marisol”.

MTV is recycling something already recycled by Argentina. Twice the recycling – @algore is excited.

Have you seen Casados con Hijos? You may have seen it as the epic tale of Peggy and Al Bundy. Well, Argentina re-wrote it to be la historia de Lola y Paco.

In our area it’s on channel 40 (non-cable) at 4pm and 7pm in Spanish with English subtitles. It’s the same show plotlines, just now in subtitles with new actors. It’s even the same set. I don’t know which is better for Spanish acquisition, watching a telenovela with no subtitles and picking out a few words or having a sitcom with subtitles (do I rely too much on the subtitles?) and catching most of the words.


It’s not Destinos, though. Way better show with only half the mind rot.

Did Raquel ever make it to Don Fernando’s and figure out who the Rosario chica was? We never finished it in Spanish 102.

Click here for episode 1. It may ask you about pop-ups. Apparently Annenburg loves Windows Media Player to embed their videos. Blargh.

You probably shouldn’t set your trivia encryption to EASY

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I miss Rogue Squadron.

I actually have only played the games on someone else’s machine – I’ve even played Super Bombad Racing, if you can believe the levels of Star Wars fandom. I remember hanging out in a Toys ‘R Us on a double date playing Rogue Squadron II on a demo Gamecube.

These are games where you play as Wedge Antilles and you visit planets like Bakura to interact with Tycho Celchu. This is the Expanded Universe.

There was a new Rogue Squadron game being developed for Wii by Factor 5. Then Factor 5 went bankrupt. To avoid surrendering their assets (in the process doing some shady business) they set a fake company called Blue Harvest and started transferring source code to the servers of that company.

Blue Harvest? Really? Like a mild Star Wars fan couldn’t pick up on that.

You might as well have hid the plans in an R2 unit. No one would have seen that coming.

What the bloggh started as

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Long-time readers may remember my masters degree and me needing a place to test out technology.

Today I’m testing out some web stuff for J.

You will see things that shock and amaze.

You may also see that the bloggh crashes. That’s how we do it at the bloggh. If we make it out of this alive, Will Smith and Harry Connick, Jr. get to light their cigars.

Let’s kick the tires and light the fires.

Let it also be known that this character’s voice annoys the junk out of me, especially when troubleshooting code:

I just realized that Sid the Science Kid’s dad has red hair, his mom has blue hair, and Sid has purple hair.

But why does his little brother have orange hair? Hmmm?

Update: His grandma has orange hair. I guess it may be a recessive gene.

Indy 5 and Tintin

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While in the UK promoting Revenge of the Fallen, Shia LeBeowulf commented that Spielberg and Lucas have been working on a storyline for Indy 5.

I still baffle that it took them so long for Crystal Skull.

They’re staying with an old Indy and not passing the torch just yet to Mutt (remember, LeBoubou’s character? I forgot his name, too.)

What’s also interesting is watching these directors who have made huge action films now making films like G-Force (Bruckheimer) and The Adventures of Tintin: Schindler’s List 2 Secret of the Unicorn (Spielberg).

It’s like they’re fans of money or something.

Spielberg will be challenging Pixar’s The Bear and the Bow
.

Also, check out where AMC is now streaming B movies.

Catching Fire review is up – and have you seen Mike’s group?

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Many updates today…

I put up a review of Catching Fire on the professional site.

One week until Conduit’s release. I am excited for a co-op game for my wife and I, though. The new Super Mario looks promising, and perhaps the next Ultimate Alliance could be good. I’m not current on my printed comics. Wasn’t Captain America dead? Now he’s back?

Japan is now going to have movie rentals on the Wii.

I guess I shouldn’t be blown away by the response to Mike’s Ghostbusters III group on Facebook. Since he ain’t afraid of no ghost, it’s the only logical progression. I do like Wil Wheaton’s thoughts on the busting of ghosts:

If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, you should call the police, contrary to what the song suggests.

I also appreciate his thoughts on current events:

Pretty sure the City of Los Angeles can find a better way to spend a million dollars than on a parade. Teachers come to mind.

It’s not that I don’t like the Lakers (I always forget, from time to time, that there are professional sports ever since the NBA started playing on cable instead of free TV).

But I am a fan of irony, and I guess some other Twitterers agree with something interesting that I noticed this weekend:

Riots in the same weekend. What do you stand for, Lakers or fair elections? #iranElection

Catching Fire has reminded me of what large masses of angry people look like.

Thanks to everyone who re-tweeted that. It’s been crazy watching Twitter hold CNN accountable for going light on the coverage of world events. They focus on Iran if it relates to something gossipy, but now the public demands more info on a government that cracks down on free speech.

On the topic of free speech (literally free…no cost to you, right?):
Shi Weihan was arrested for printing Bibles for free, which I guess is illegal in China still. Argh.

I’m intrigued by Kiva. I’m not a big fan of throwing money at a problem, but I know what it’s like to have an expense come up.

I must also confess that I am entertained on Twitter with pictures of director Adam Shankman with his dog on the movie set watching 3D monitors for Step Up:

as well as finding it fun that Miley Cyrus watches Funniest Home Videos to cheer herself up.

Keep those last two secrets to yourself.

Today and That Day

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John mentioned this morning that quite a number of people had been lost in the transition from analog to digital.

For months, many places have directed viewers to https://www.dtv2009.gov/ (Kent Dana and Bob Vila, people…names you can trust) for more information about the transition. Also, I was very appreciative of the coupon to apply towards the purchase of the converter box. My recording schedule is all askew, having to keep the box on and turn the VCR to channel four, but at least I can still watch TV.

317,450 people called the FCC help line, 1-888-CALL-FCC, when most stations made the switch on Friday. 4,000+ FCC workers plunged through the 700,000+ phone calls this week about the digital transition.

I guess June 12 snuck up on people. If only we had been warned in February…

We’ve always got time, right?

My wife has Proverbs 3:5-6; I have Hebrews 10:23-25 for me. These verses really rang true with me throughout the latter half of college. They were emphasized this morning:

23Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

We don’t live like That Day is coming anytime soon. It’s tough to, like always walking around ready to pounce. But reminders of it pop up throughout our lives with enough glances at eternity – the trick is what to do between those reminders.

You can tell that we don’t have That Day on our minds as we exist Every Other Day, as evidenced by how we treat each other. Imagine what the world would look like with eternity on our minds.

Since finishing Catching Fire

yesterday I’ve been reminded of my own mortality and have felt a renewed call to action.

Just giving you a heads up.

What do we do? It’s far away, so how do we act? Iran screams like Panem:

Protesters battled police over Iran’s disputed election and shouted their opposition from the rooftops Sunday, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the unrest as little more than “passions after a soccer match” and drew his own huge rally of support.

Just after sundown, cries of “death to the dictator” echoed through Tehran as thousands of backers for Ahmadinejad’s rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi, heeded a call to bellow from the roofs and balconies. The deeply symbolic act recalled the shouts of “Allahu Akbar,” or God is Great, to show opposition to the Western-backed monarchy before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“Don’t worry about freedom in Iran,” Ahmadinejad said at the news conference after a question about the disputed election. “Newspapers come and go and reappear. Don’t worry about it.”

Dan Aykroyd, we’re talking to you!

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Ghostbusters III is in the beginnings of production. By signing this petition, you agree that Mike (drama teacher, community theater player) should be allowed to play one of the young Ghostbusters being mentored by the veteran heroes.

The petition is here:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Ghostbuster_Mike/

Please spread the word. It is only through grass roots movements that we can see true change, like proton packs for drama teachers.

When all creativity dries up, go back to what works: Beverly Hills Cop IV and Ghostbusters III

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axel_foley_575

Axel Foley is slated to make a return appearance in “Beverly Hills Cop IV” in 2010, the role being played reprised by Eddie Murphy. In a recent interview with Extra TV, Eddie Murphy expressed doubt in returning as Foley as “the movie wasn’t ready to be done.” In a later interview with MTV, Murphy stated that he would be returning for a fourth installment. One reason he stated was that “the third Beverly Hills Cop was horrible!” and that he “didn’t want to leave it like that”. Michael Brandt and Derek Haas were hired as screenwriters for the film. Director Brett Ratner has been quoted as saying, “It’ll be back but it’ll be a whole new interpretation.” What that means in code is, “We want to make money, and the way to make money is to make it rise to a similar quality as the original.”

If they can’t bring back Pinchot, they could certainly bring in Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs to fill in for him, I’m sure he would be more than happy to do it considering his team won’t be getting very far in the post-season anytime in the near future.

Check out the similarity:
bronson

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Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters III is another 80′s franchise that has been talked about for some time, only as a fanboy’s dream and fantasy, that is up until now. In a telephone interview, Comingsoon.net talked to writer/director Harold Ramis (Year One, Analyze This, Groundhog Day) and received some details about the upcoming Ghostbusters III project. Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd wrote the scripts for the first two movies and both starred with Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Sigourney Weaver. Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, who are regular writers for “The Office”, are developing a first draft of the script and Ramis says that he’s confident that the new movie will feature most if not all of it’s original cast:

“I wrote the story for the new movie with Eisenberg and Stupnitsky, and Dan Aykroyd and I’ve been consulting. We’re just waiting to see a first draft and where we are … Everyone says they’ll do it; they’ve all said they’ll do it. No one has signed anything yet–we haven’t signed anything either–but there’s the spirit of willingness in the air.”

Ramis also touched on whether or not the original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman will take control of the new movie:

“I don’t think he wants to; I’m not sure I want to. It’s just a lot of open questions. Until we see a script, I don’t think anyone really knows how they feel about it. Everyone’s open to doing it, that’s the main thing, that’s what got it moving forward.”

Ramis says there will be a much younger team of Ghostbusters for this adventure, with the original characters taking on more of mentorship roles(Bill Murray a mentor?).

With all of that said, “Ghostbusters III” is currently slated for a release sometime in 2012, if that actually comes to fruition or not we will find out.

My only request is that if you are going to bring back installments of these great franchises, please put forth a product that is going to be worthy of the names. If you don’t believe you can produce a great product, don’t do it…otherwise you’ll end up with George Clooney and Val Kilmer trying to be Batman-like results..the same thing that teachers tell us from a very early age about anti-drugs applies directly to this concept, “just say no”.

Twitpocalypse is Nigh

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2,147,483,647

In many programming languages, that’s how large your int variable can be. Anything past that returns a “Hey! That’s not 32-bit!!” error from the CPU.

I’m trying to think if I’ve seen a video game with a higher score than that. What about that Steve Wiebe Donkey Kong guy recently? He just needed to listen to Rush, right?

Why a Twitpocalypse? The number of Tweets is approaching 2,147,483,647. Each Tweet is assigned a number. Once the Tweets go past that, it may go into negative numbers, it may cause a core dump, it may even kill Spock.

I always got that error when I was working in C++ (the core dump, not the Spock death). If I could go back in time, I would fix my integer definitions. That’s right – nothing life-changing, just better code.

What does it mean for you? Programs like TweetDeck or Twhirl or Twslapmeintheface may freak out and not update properly. We may also see a visit from the Fail Whale.

Check here for more details on when the Twitpocalypse shall arrive: http://www.twitpocalypse.com/

Much like my samurai counterpart, I blame Oprah. But can you imagine being the last tweet to send it over the edge?

Jedi Plan to Take Over the Senate

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Actually, the House of Representatives, but that didn’t sound as epic.

This guy used to be a high-ranking LucasArts employee.

Jim Ward is looking to oust Harry Mitchell in the 5th congressional district. I think they’re both using red lightsabers, though, so you know what that means…

Simulated 2010 election

The most disturbing part for me is that he’s modern LucasArts. If he was from the X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, Grim Fandango era, I might be more receptive.

Wait…he brought us Battlefront?

And finally, what you all came here for…people in Star Wars costumes.

No Longer an Escape from the Real World

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While thinking about Project Natal (and how Electronic Arts just announced, “I was going to say that”, much like Adam Sandler in the Jerry Seinfeld teacher sketch) I hadn’t even considered Universal Access.

This slipped past my mind, even after completing my Wii Fit regimen this morning.

Video games are a great escape. You can be whoever you want to be (or close to it…the barbarian librarian with a laser sword is still in the concept-development stage) and perform feats that would normally cause you great injury.

But as we get into more motion-based game controls, we run the risk of creating fewer games for people whose minds are free but their bodies are not. Someone who is wheelchair bound, but has control of the hands, will not be able to pantomime their foot like a car accelerator.

How is Natal going to handle assistive devices, like what some have to use to drive a car in real life?

A positive, though, is the voice recognition technology. If we can get computers to recognize voices near flawlessly, we can get more people hooked up to modern technology applications at a cheaper price.

It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out. What’s really fun is watching all of the people who criticized the Wii for being a gimmick (I started out as one, when I first saw Ultimate Alliance…but then was won over by Wii Sports) now on those same video game message boards defending Microsoft (the even funnier ones being the PS3 owners, afraid that Sony will now target casual gamers…you live with your mom, now she’s going to frag you in Resistance-type fears). It’ll be great when the creativity, innovation, and execution of great storylines will be the determining factor, and not hardware choices.

Who am I kidding? We created this dearth of creativity by buying the same game, over and over again, with different packaging. And the companies have watched us do it and are taking notes.

Zack Morris and Fallon, Barack Obama and Colbert

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This is why I love streaming video.
Stephen Colbert was doing a show to encourage the troops, much like a Bob Hope-type thing. Obama orders Colbert to get a haircut:

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Obama Orders Stephen’s Haircut – Ray Odierno
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Iraq

“No, my ears are that big.”

And then, like I advertised yesterday, MPG was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as Zack Morris:

Have you seen Jimmy’s cut-outs graphing the Saved by the Bell Reunion? Slater, Spano, Turtle, Morris, and Belding are in – we just need Kapowski and Screech.