I Love the Sound of Leaf-Blowing in the Morning... Right.

Ah... Nothing says summer like the piercing scream of a leaf-blower. Not surprisingly, it also signifies (at least to me), the relative proximity of a DUMBASS or possibly a group of dumbasses!!!!
Yes, it's rant time again. Turns out people and their habits REALLY get on my nerves. Who knew?

By the way, this rant is brought to you courtesy of the pinhead who decided 7:30 was a good time to blow some stuff off his property onto someone else's property, so that the whole thing could start over again. Truth be told... it could have been at anytime during the day, night, or century and I'd still feel the same.

Wow... I guess nature is just not 'clean' enough for these people. And then to not even put out the physical effort of... oh, PICKING UP A F$%#ING RAKE!!!... No, instead, I'll just start up this noisy, smelly, gas-powered (yeah, some are electric... so what?) pollution-omatic machine and start blowing crap all over the place.

Here's what I think you should do with your Leaf-blower in a few easy steps:
1. Start blower
2. Bend over
3. Stick blower where the sun don't shine
4. Start blowing like there's no tomorrow...
Hopefully after step 4 the rest of us won't have to worry about you and your noisy toys any more.

Of course, not being a property-owner, how can I truly relate to the shame of 'messy lawn' or the dreaded 'bits 'o stuff on my drive-way'? How will I ever live down the country club members having seen a leaf on my front porch?

Geez... I'm so pissed I did even look for a pic.

Indiana Jones and the Middle of the Road

I saw the new Indy movie...

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of ** whew... take a breath** the Crystal Skull. That's a mouthful. Who comes up with these titles?

Some background - The first movie of the franchise, Raiders of the Lost Ark (note... no 'Indiana Jones and the' in the title), may well be at THE top of my all time favourite movies list... if I had such a list. The next two, while I don't think are quite as good, stayed true to the spirit of the genre and the character. This one... not so much.

Why? Hard to put my finger on it. The previous movies (especially Raiders) struck the right balance of pulp, b-movie, action, comedy, and slap-dashedness (add anything else you can think of to the list). The action sequences were perfectly interspersed with witty, tongue-firmly-in-cheek dialogue, so that you wouldn't get a crease in your butt from the edge of your seat... Maybe they were formulaic, but it was a formula that worked.

I think Kingdom missed the mark. Basically... it was too clean. Too 'polished'? I know... It sounds weird. Maybe all the CG did it. Maybe the subject matter (sorry, no spoilers). I know that the changes they made in the Indy character... I didn't like those at all. Yeah, yeah... he's supposed to be older and all that crap... I still don't buy it. Not in an archetype like Indiana Jones, especially one that draws on an established pulp tradition.

Honestly... the writing wasn't all that hot either. Most of the time, the wry wit that Indy is supposed to spout... fell right on its face. Barely a chuckle. The action sequences... TOO over-the-top. There's a fine line between suspension of disbelief and suspension of brain activity.

I think they (writers, producer, director) may have fallen into the trap of trying to please today's audience too much and of sticking to what made the Indy franchise too little. I know... some of you are saying... 'Today's audience rules! Who else should they make movies for, idiot?'

I say F&%$ today's audience. 85% of people are mediocre... Doesn't mean you cater to them. If you do that you end up with a country/planet run by the mediocre, for the medio... Oh... right.

What it comes down to is... Indiana Jones and the Kingdom...etc... is a thoroughly OK movie. Only I was expecting something more than just OK.

Tubin'

Ahhhh... What a wonderful way to waste time. For those of you who are into 'extreme' sports, or at least watching them.

Bah! Extreme. Whoever tagged that term should be shot into deep space with no life-support. Ruined a perfectly good word.

Anyway... some very cool stuff to watch at http://tubeguide.tv/. Easily seachable.... even more easily addictive. Sigh. Just what I need another excuse. Now I'm wasting time watching people doing stuff that I should be doing instead of wasting time watching people doing stuff I should be doing. Um... Well, you know what I mean -- Wow... That sentence could have kept right on going! Like looking into two mirrors facing each other. I think I may be at the nexus of the universe...

Don't know how often I'll be able to hit the surf this season. I've taken a pretty rigid stance when it comes to the oil industry/car industry/ pollution thing. That means getting to a surf spot is going to be nigh impossible without causing some psychic turmoil... unless I walk or something. Being this high and mighty is a real pain in the ass, But if you want to 'lord it' over everyone else, you've got to make some sacrifices ;)

Sigh... I can't wait until I turn into that hermit/mountain-man/ recluse living off the land in the wilderness. Then I won't have to worry about all this...

Violence Abounds... So Do Idiots.

Wow... What's it been? Almost two weeks I think. Thankfully, I get no traffic on this thing, so no complaints.

I've sent out feelers in the industry... Maybe its time to get back in a studio. One in particular I'm hoping to hear from. 'Twould be quite the thrill to work on this project in question (which I won't name).

Anyway, I ran across this interesting article (op-ed piece) by Mr. Stephen King no less, about the ongoing debate on violence in videogames...

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20188502,00.html

Some great points... most of which I've been espousing for years.

The major problem is that videogames (all consoles, PC, genre, type, you name it) are still seen as something for the kiddies, and only the kiddies, at least by a majority of people... and that majority are what we would call non-gamers. Those of us in the industry are so surrounded by the culture, that we fail to realize that games are still not what you would call 'mainstream'. That's a failing on our part. The failing on their part is not doing their research.

Games are certainly not just for kids anymore. Consider the price, the subject matter, and the fact that more and more of the population have grown up gaming.

Violence has a place in games... Well, as much as it has a place in anything... film, literature, newscasts... life. Just as much as sex, or drugs, or whatever we do, does...

Don't get me wrong... I am NOT a proponent of violence in games (sex is a different story ;). BUT I'm not an opponent either. If parents (read politicians) want to cast blame they should look in their own backyards. The ratings system is there for a reason. Use it.

... and as far as the rebuttal of 'But kids can get a hold of it despite the ratings sytem' goes... Maybe you should be keeping a better eye out on your kids... Or better yet, actually talk to them about games, reality, etc... Maybe then they won't turn out as stupid as you are. After all don't we all want our kids to turn out better than ourselves?

Reverse Airbags

Rant time! Expect them with some regularity, as I hate people in general.

The more I think of it, the more I think the design of cars and airbags is completely backwards...

(I'm not talking about the environmental issue. I'll probably address that at some point but suffice it to say that any species stupid enough to create/invent/develop something that spews out a poisonous gas into an atmosphere which they need to BREATHE TO LIVE... Well, maybe they shouldn't survive.)

Anyway, if it was up to me, airbags would be on the outside of cars, protecting people from the irresponsible idiots who are driving... and that irresponsiblity DOES include environmental issues along with everything else.

By the way, this rant is brought to you courtesy of my being almost run down by some dumbass yapping on the phone... AGAIN. This happens to me with an alarming regularity that REALLY intensifies in the summer, because then, while cycling, I may as well be invisible. Plus, there are more distractions around (some of these don't bother me so much... ladies, I'm talking to you).

For some reason people are so selfish/oblivious/etc (take a pick) , that even though 85% of them can't chew gum and walk at the same time, when they get behind the wheel they decide its time to make a few calls, or adjust their make-up, or get a hand-job from the tarted-up fashionista in the passenger's seat.

So here's the solution. Airbags on the outside protecting the world from the idiots... and on the inside? Spikes that deploy upon impact, right through the frontal lobe. They're activated if the car detects a cell-phone in use, or if its speeding, or if the driver's biometrics indicate that they are distracted, etc... Or if the radio is tuned to some bubble-gum B***S***. BS, I'm looking at you.

Does anyone really want these genes in the pool?